Battles of the nineteenth century, vol. 1 of 7Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
Battles of the nineteenth century, vol. 1 of 7
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Battles; Military history, Modern -- 19th century
Let one of Nicholson’s officers now take up the tale:--“Our guns went
away to the flank. We got ‘Fix bayonets; quick--march!’ On we went,
in a beautiful line, at a steady pace. On we went, and we got within
some fifty yards of them, when the men gave a howl, and on we dashed,
and were slap into them before they had time to depress the guns. It
was bayonet to bayonet in a few moments, but we cut them up and spiked
the guns. We had very few men killed in the charge, as we got in
before they fired the grape. Lieutenant G., 61st, was bayoneted by a
sepoy after cutting down two. N. shot the man that did it. He had his
horse shot under him, and I saw him hand-to-hand with a sepoy, whom he
polished off with his sword.... On we went after the brutes, and cut up
a heap at the serai and behind it. We then drew up in line, rallied,
and went at the camp, took it, sent a party to take the village, and
then we went and took the guns at the bridge, over which the enemy was
bolting in thousands. Here we took six guns more. Up came our guns, and
blazed away at the enemy, and off they went, leaving a host of stores,
etc., all along the road.... I was so tired that I lay down on a hide
and fell asleep. Next morning the work of destruction was finished,
and off we marched with a lot of treasure, etc., and thirteen guns,
and brought all safe into camp, after a hard march, arriving at the
camp-bridge just in the cool of the evening, when the camp turned out
to meet us, and gave us ‘three times three,’ and played us in with some
lively airs, with a final ‘Hip--hip--hurrah!’ for the gallant 61st, who
had reserved their fire, as the Highlanders of the ‘thin, red line’
had done at Balaclava, until they had almost seen the whites of their
enemy’s eyes, and then ‘given them beans’ with bullet and bayonet.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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