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1852-1853. WUZZEERABAD
Wuzzeerabad cantonments -
City - Flying column—Public conditions—The hot season—Rainy
season—Sickness and death—Birth of a daughter—Australian gold
fever—Struck by soldier— Assault and confession—The "Iron Duke "Items of
news—Snake-bite----Prowling animals—Routine life of a soldier— Attempt
at improvement—Book club—The sick soldier—Illness of wife— Incident of
travel—Traite - Murree—Murder of Mackeson - Its outcome - Hazarees
attack Murree—Wife's adventure—Charitable hospital.
IMMEDIATELY after the
decisive battle of Goojerat,' by which the Sikh army was completely
overthrown, a position for troops was selected on an extensive plain
stretching for many miles along and from the left bank of the Chenab.2
That portion of the plain chosen as a site for what were to be
cantonments was at the time under indigo cultivation; on it tents were
pitched and "lines" drawn out in accordance with regulations bearing on
the subject. With the approach of hot weather the tents were walled and
covered in by mud, straw, and such other materials as under the
circumstances were obtainable; then the tents were struck, partitions of
mud "run up," and so houses or bungalows formed. By similar means
"barracks" for the soldiers and their establishments were erected; the
whole declared to be the station of Wuzzeerabad.
Six miles away stood the
city of that name in its centre the palace occupied by General Avitabile,
in the service of Runjeet Singh, and under him Governor of Peshawur at
the time of the first war against Affghanistan. Extending from the main
entrance to the city, what in former days must have been an imposing
avenue of trees is represented by dilapidated willow trunks; at
intervals smaller towns and villages occur, all surrounded by richly
cultivated fields. Across the river, said to attain a breadth of
fourteen miles during the rainy season, is seen the town of Goojerat;
towards our left the position of Chilianwallah; in the far distance the
Pir-Punjal and other peaks pertaining to the Cashmere range of the
Himalayahs.
Our force, equipped as a
"Flying Column," was so held prepared and ready, if need arose, for
emergent service. Rumour had it that among the people the state of
things incidental to recent annexation did not meet with universal
acceptance; that the system of Thug- gee had extended to their country
from Bengal, where for some years previous it had been relentlessly
hunted down by Colonels Sleeman and Graham. At the new station of
Sealkote an English church was in course of being erected. In reference
thereto the strange report circulated among the natives that their
children were being kidnapped, to be there offered as sacrifices.
Meanwhile two expeditions were in progress of formation: the one to
Swat, under command of Sir Cohn Campbell; the other to Burmah, under
that of General Godwin.
The hot season was soon
upon us. As it advanced we became painfully aware how unsuitable, under
the circumstances, were the extemporised "houses" already mentioned. By
the aid of tatties and thermantadotes, it was possible to reduce
temperature within doors to something like 112' F. ; but such
contrivances were themselves expensive, and in some instances beyond the
means of individuals. The sense of oppression from the prevailing heat
was greater during the night than in daytime; the stillness of the air,
laden with impalpable dust, affected not alone people, but quadrupeds
and birds, while over everything a yellow haze lay thick and heavy. Then
would come a thunder burst; forked lightning threatened, and in some
instances struck our houses; a downpour of rain would follow, and for a
few days thereafter all would be comparatively agreeable. Later on
hurricanes of dust burst upon us, their violence sufficient to unroof
some houses and barracks, to be followed by storms of rain, and
ultimately by the season so called. Early in September the hot season
was at an end; the moist atmosphere became even more oppressive than it
had been while dry heat prevailed, so that all of us looked forward
anxiously to the advent of cold weather properly so called.
All belonging to the
regiment suffered considerably in health; deaths of soldiers were
numerous, the physical powers of all much depressed, a large proportion
thus unfit to take the field in case of emergency. It was felt, however,
that hospital régime was likely rather to increase their disability than
benefit their condition; hence they were permitted to remain in
barracks, though exempt from duty—a circumstance here noted as
indicating the insufficiency of mere statistics to represent conditions
of physical fitness of troops.
Among the deaths was that
of a young surgeon, only a few months in India when attacked by climatic
illness, to which he succumbed. For some time before life passed away,
incapable of expression by voice, his look of terror told plainly his
state of mind as he faced approaching death. The scene was most painful
to witness.
On September 5, '52, a
daughter was born to me. The event took place in early morning. Shortly
after mid-day information reached my beloved wife, through tittle-tattle
of servants, that a guest,2 who occupied a tent in our compound, was
dead by heat apoplexy. Several of our men were struck down by the same
disease, so that absence from my own domestic sphere was unavoidable
under the trying circumstances of the day.
Within a week from her
date of birth, an attempt was made by her ayah to poison the infant, the
reason for the intended crime neither then nor subsequently ascertained.
The prostrate mother from her bed saw the native woman put "something"
in the mouth of the babe, who was immediately thereafter seized with
tetanic spasms; nor was it without much difficulty that her young life
was saved.
The recent discovery of
gold-fields in Australia led to a somewhat unpleasant state of unrest on
the part of a few soldiers serving in India. Letters from friends and
relatives in the colonies instigated them to endeavour by means, whether
foul or fair, to get sent thither, where fortunes could very quickly be
made. The result was the outbreak, as if epidemic, of crimes of assault
on officers and non-commissioned officers, the idea being to get tried
before a General Court-Martial and sentenced to transportation; after
which, once in Australia, it would be an easy matter to find one's way
to the gold-fields. This "gold fever" resulted in a Resolution by the
Commander-in-Chief to put a stop to the assaults in question; in one
instance—and it sufficed for the purpose in view—the death penalty
awarded was carried out.
On a morning in June,
while examining a soldier who was about to appear before a Garrison
Court-Martial on the charge of striking a sergeant, I received from the
prisoner a somewhat severe blow on the forehead. Astonished at the
occurrence, some little time was needed to collect my thoughts and
decide upon the line of official action most suitable under the
circumstances. In the interval I learned that the Garrison Court-Martial
had been intentionally ordered to assemble for the express purpose of
defeating the object the man was known to have in view, and this being
the case it was natural to assume that in assaulting me he had in view
trial and sentence by the more important tribunal. Aware as I was that a
sentence of death. might be the possible award, and desiring to avert
such a penalty, in making the official report of the assault I suggested
that an inquiry should take place as to his mental condition at the
time. Three months elapsed, and then the man appeared before that
ordeal; he was found "not guilty" on the plea of "insanity." In due
course he was sent to Calcutta, to be taken there into the Lunatic
Asylum. At the end of a year he was discharged "cured" from that
establishment, and while en route to rejoin the 10th he died of cholera.
So ended that episode.
About the time I was
struck a similar assault was committed upon the surgeon of the 3rd
Light Dragoons, occupying barracks also at Wuzzeerabad. He took steps to
have an inquiry made into the mental condition of his assailant. On that
inquiry I sat as president, and this is the substance of the story told
me by the man. From the time when he first enlisted he had been haunted
by visions of a murder committed by himself and his "pal" on Wandsworth
Common in 1845; he made every endeavour to get killed while charging the
Sikhs in battle; he had committed offences so that he might be taken to
the guard room, and thence made pretended attempts to escape in the hope
of being cut down by the sentry; but failing in all these he had struck
the officer, in order that for so doing he might be tried, condemned,
and shot. These particulars were duly entered in the report submitted to
the authorities; meanwhile, the regiment to which he belonged received
its orders for home, and left the station, taking with it as prisoner
this unhappy man. It was not till long thereafter that the sequel of his
story was heard of.
The death of the "Iron
Duke" of Wellington, news of which was received early in November, was
made the text of remark and discussion, the official acts and demeanour
of His Grace towards officers and the army generally being looked at
from different and at times directly opposite points of view,—the
impression which seemed most generally to prevail being that although no
one denied him the credit of great services performed in the first
fifteen years of the century, yet for many years thereafter he had been
"past his work "—a commentary which bears interpretation in more ways
than one. It cannot be said that many signs of mourning for his loss
were apparent.
Early in 1853 English
papers brought news among other matters that Louis Napoleon had been
recognised as Emperor by the Powers of Europe, though not with good
grace, that a suspicion existed of a possible attempt at invasion was
under consideration, an order for the concentration of troops of the
regular army and militia at particular points being the outcome of that
suspicion. Another item in those papers reads strangely while these
notes are being transcribed, and conditions alluded to have developed in
significance; namely, "The influence of the lower orders is fast on the
increase, and altogether we seem to be on the eve of a crisis, the
ultimate issue of which it is impossible to predict." Shortly thereafter
came news of the Emperor's marriage to a Spanish lady,' his personal
popularity in the army not enhanced thereby. According to Indian
journals, overtures had been made to the British Resident at
Moorshedabad by Sirdars of Affghanistan with a view to approach
Government on the subject of taking over that kingdom. The truth or
otherwise of the report did not transpire; but that the rumour was
current was itself a suggestive circumstance.
As the hot season
advanced, snakes, poisonous and otherwise, became numerous in
cantonments. A sepoy while asleep was bitten by one of those reptiles.
He soon became unconscious; blood oozed from two small punctures on the
instep where he had been bitten, from his mouth, nostrils, and from
under his finger-nails. He was treated by means of large doses of
ammonia and turpentine, and ultimately recovered.
Prowling beasts of prey
made night hideous. On one occasion much alarm was occasioned by one of
them becoming "rabid," rushing violently at and biting animals and
people. Considerable numbers of both were so injured by the pariah dog;
some of those bitten were treated, some not, but no specific results
followed the injuries. In the bazaars within cantonments prowling
jackals and wolves were so many dangers to infants asleep on charpoys at
night; some instances occurred in which they were carried away and
devoured by the larger animals mentioned.
The conditions of a
soldier's life in India at the time alluded to were calculated rather to
weary than enliven him. The climate ill suited for out-of-door exercise;
many of the men unable to read, and disinclined to learn; their two
resources the bazaar and the canteen; their tastes and pursuits animal;
mind a blank; the body a ready prey to disease. Absolutely no good
result was to be gained from official reports on these points, and
suggestions for improvements. I addressed letters to the journals in the
hope of enlisting attention in favour of- station reading rooms, lecture
rooms, etc., but with the result that little notice was taken of my
representations.
In the 10th Regiment
itself; through the action of two or three officers, some of the
soldiers enrolled their names as members of a "Mutual Improvement
Society." Meetings were held; tea and other light refreshments served in
view to attracting men; lectures and demonstrations given on such
subjects as Forts and Battles mentioned in the Bible,' Strata of the
Earth's Surface, Uses of the Human Body; classes for reading and writing
also set on foot. Not long thereafter, a General Officer, by order of
the Commander-in-Chief; arrived at Wuzzeerabad "to put a stop to so
dangerous an association." Military opinion was not then ripened for the
innovation.
After some delay, and
with considerable difficulty, a Book Club for the soldiers was launched
in the regiment; the officers were already well provided in that
respect. As with the one class, so with the other, works on "service"
subjects were mostly read, but intellectual occupation was thus
available whereby to pass the weary and exhausting days of the hot
season. [Recollecting these endeavours made by a small number of us in
1853 to advance the intellectual condition of the British soldier in
India, the few of us who still live attach suggestive significance to
the extract now given from the most interesting work by Lord Roberts,
entitled Forty-one Years in India. Under the date 1887 he wrote: "My
name appeared in the Jubilee Gazelle as having been given the Grand
Cross of the Indian Empire, but what I valued still more was the
acceptance by the Government of India of my strong recommendation for
the establishment of a Club or Institute in every British regiment and
battery in India. Lord Dufferin' Government met my views in the most
liberal spirit, and, with the sanction of Lord Cross, 'The Regimental
Institute' became a recognised establishment."]
The second hot season of
our residence at Wuzzeerabad proved even more severe than the first upon
the health of our soldiers, large numbers of whom suffered from illness
special to the climate and locality. Unfortunately for those so
prostrated, the apathy and indifference of the native servants connected
with the hospital were such that many lives were thus sacrificed which
under more favourable circumstances would in all probability have been
saved. For example :—A soldier in barracks, during the hottest hours of
the day, is discovered by his comrades to be seized with heat apoplexy,
or to be suffering from the scarcely less alarming symptoms of ardent
fever. He is by them placed in a dooly and so dispatched to hospital.
The bearers who carry him are indifferent to life and suffering among
themselves, but if possible more so in respect to the white man, and so
their pace is by no means rapid. They reach the "surgery"; but there, if
they find no one present, they put their dooly down, while they
themselves sit in the verandah to smoke, perhaps to sleep. After an
interval more or less long, the presence of the sick—it may be
unconscious—soldier is discovered; the circumstance, after another
interval, comes, or is brought to the knowledge of the subordinate, who,
just roused from his siesta, and considerably narcotised by his
"hookah," takes time to collect his energies, and so be able to visit
him. Even then the actual nature and severity of the attack is not
always recognised and dealt with so when the surgeon pays his evening
visit, the patient is dead.
Among those struck down
by severe illness was my dear wife, vitality brought to so low an ebb
that only by holding a hand mirror to her lips and observing the slight
moisture left thereon could the fact be realized that she still
breathed. In this our time of trial, sympathy and aid came unexpectedly,
but not from sources whence they were looked for as an outcome of
services rendered. When her removal became practicable, she proceeded by
dooly dâk towards Murree, then newly established as a hill station and
sanatorium. Our cavalcade—for I was of the party—crossed the Chenab,
partly by boat, partly by being carried through shallow water and marshy
tracts. Arrived at Goojerat, the field of battle, at a little distance
from the city, was found to be so overrun by vegetation as to be
recognisable only by monuments to individual officers erected on spots
where they had fallen. The day wore on; a messenger arrived, bringing,
with "salaam from the Collector Sahib,"' soup and other delicacies
suitable for an invalid and infants. He had heard casually that a lady,
severely ill, was in the dâk bungalow; hence this outcome of kind
thoughtfulness towards complete strangers to him, as we were.
Jhelum, on the river so
named, was the next stage of our anxious journey. Thence, next night to
Pucka Serai. Arrived at the dâk bungalow, it was found that the building
intended for travellers consisted of one room; in it a single bedstead,
on which lay an elderly field officer, who, in transit to the hills, had
arrived shortly before us. Attendants were absent; supplies
unobtainable; there was no alternative but to carry my sick wife from
her dooly and place her alongside the sick officer. How the child and
infant fared all day is not recorded. Resuming our weary way as the cool
breezes of evening set in, early morning found us at Rawul Pindee, then
as still a favoured military station. Thence, in evening, towards the
foot of the hilly range towards which our journey was directed. Night
had closed in before the actual ascent began. As yet there existed no
road properly so called. Progress was slow: rocks and boulders in the
way caused many difficulties; but these surmounted, the light of our
torches showed that in our progress we had attained a region of
precipices, rugged valleys, and rapidly running streams.
As morning dawned we were
set down at Trait, a place the loveliness of which—surrounded by
pine-covered hills; its rich green vegetation, the purling rivulets that
traversed the valley, the coolness of the breeze that wafted over us—all
these, delightful in themselves, exerted upon my wife an effect to be
described as magical. Then it was that from her dooly the pale,
emaciated form emerged. Enthusiastically she clutched a twig of pine
tree I had just cut; its grateful resin scent brought to recollection
associations of bygone days. From that moment her recovery began.
The further journey to
Murree was continued, the cool air at the elevation of six to eight
thousand feet, to which we had attained, enabling us to travel by day,
instead of only by night as in the plains. A road was in course of being
made, but as yet that by which we continued was little else than a
rugged mountain path, leading upwards through forest composed of
sycamore, pine, chestnut, and other trees familiar in our English woods
; the altered conditions of temperature, scenery, and general
surroundings were health-giving in their effect. Before many hours had
passed we were welcomed and hospitably received by our friends, Dr. and
Mrs. Banon.
A few days elapsed, and
through the station bazaar rumour circulated that on the 11th "a great
earthquake would take place at Peshawur," "a native prophecy" having so
declared. On the 13th information was received that on the 11th —namely,
the date indicated—Major Mackeson, Chief Political Officer at Peshawur,
had been assassinated by an Affghan from Jallahabad; the murderer having
delivered his thrust raised his hand to repeat the blow, when—so it was
stated—a native rushed between them and received it. Subsequent
information led to the belief that the murder of political officers at
various other seats of local government had been intended, the existence
of a conspiracy with that object well known among the native population.
Rejoining the ioth
without delay, like every other officer who observed the signs of the
times, I could not help seeing that as an immediate outcome of the
Peshawur murder, the aspect of public affairs, not only on the
North-Western frontier, but throughout India, rapidly became such as to
cause anxiety to administrators, while it led officers and soldiers to
speculate on the chances of active service. The prime mover in the
murder of Major Mackeson was believed to be Sadhut Khan, chief of the
Lalpoora State. Immediately on the occurrence of the murder British
troops were moved onwards from Rawul Pindee, orders issued for others to
march from other stations to take their place. These proceedings
occupied several days, as all such movements had to be performed on
foot. In the meantime the troops arriving at Peshawur were received with
signs of disaffection by the Mahomedans of that city; while Rawul Pindee,
left for the time being with a diminished garrison, was threatened with
attack by a band of Hazara men under an impostor named Peshora Singh,
who pretended to be a son of Runjeet Singh. That attack did not take
place, but a movement somewhat threatening in character was made towards
Murree, at the time occupied by invalid soldiers and their families,
wives of officers (mine included), and the small number of officials
required for the inconsiderable dimensions it had then attained.
On the night of September
28, some hours after darkness had closed in, messengers sent round for
that purpose spread the alarm throughout that station that the Hazarees
were rapidly advancing up the hill towards it; orders at the same time
issued by which all should forthwith repair to the residence of the
Commissioner, leaving their houses "standing." A heavy thunderstorm
prevailed at the time; lightning flashes at intervals lit up the miry
pathways along which the ladies and children had perforce to walk, in
some instances a distance of a couple of miles. My own dear wife, as yet
unrecovered, and unequal to such an exertion, was carried, together with
her two children, and so reached the general rendezvous, where earlier
arrivals had barricaded themselves as best they could by means of
tables, chairs, and other articles of furniture. Meanwhile the
Commissioner collected such officers, soldiers, and police as could be
brought together in the emergency. Marching as best they could in the
darkness, they came in contact with the rebels at daylight, and after a
smart skirmish dispersed them, the Commissioner being wounded in the
rencontre.
By the middle of October
my wife, though far from restored to health, was sufficiently well to
return with her two children to the plains. Starting from Murree in the
evening, her palanquin-bearers speedily showed themselves to be
ill-disposed; while she, unprovided with a guard, as some other ladies
had been, was rendered helpless in what proved to be a most painful
position. Frequent halts, unnecessary delays, repeated demands for
buxees (presents), and general disregard of her requests to keep the
palanquins together, continued throughout the long dreary hours of
darkness, and well on in the following day. It was afternoon before she
was deposited at the dâk bungalow of Rawul Pindee; but the party
conveying her infant was nowhere in sight, nor could tidings of it be
obtained. Thus did several hours pass. Then it was that the arrival of
an officer I enabled my wife to communicate to him her state of anxiety
and alarm. Without delay he proceeded to the residence of General
Breton, in command, with the result that a cavalry escort was dispatched
in search of the missing ones. Another period of delay, fear, and
anxiety, and the palanquin with the infant arrived. It appeared that her
carriers had simply deposited her on the roadside in the jungle, and
dispersed. What might have happened is painful to contemplate.
For some time past a
charitable hospital for the benefit of the native population in and
around cantonments had been maintained by subscriptions and other
contributions from officers of our regiments, the professional duties
connected therewith being performed by myself. Gratitude on the part of
those who benefitted by that institution was never expressed verbally,
and in many instances not at all; indeed, claims were in some made for
pecuniary reward, on the plea that individuals had submitted themselves
to be operated upon. In a few instances, however, active gratitude was
expressed, even in a somewhat demonstrative manner. The use of
chloroform was then in its very early stages. In the instance of a
child, that anaesthetic was administered while it lay placidly in its
mother's arms. When under the influence of the drug, the little patient
was gently lifted, placed upon a table, operated upon, then replaced in
the position from which it had been taken, still apparently asleep, and
placid. The surprise of the mother was very great; the whole thing
declared by her to be jadoo - that is, witchcraft. |
