In Times of Peril: A Tale of IndiaHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
In Times of Peril: A Tale of India
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
India -- History -- Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-1858 -- Juvenile fiction
From Meerut to Delhi is thirty-two miles, and the mutineers of Meerut,
marching all night, arrived near the town at eight in the morning.
Singularly enough, the ancient capital of India, the place around which
the aspiration of Hindoos and Mohammedans alike centered, and where the
ex-emperor and his family still resided, was left entirely to the guard
of native troops; not a single British regiment was there, not a
battery of white troops. As the center of the province, a large white
population were gathered there-the families of the officers of the
native infantry and artillery, of the civil officers of the province,
merchants, bankers, missionaries, and others. As at all other Indian
towns, the great bulk of the white inhabitants lived in the cantonments
outside the town; had it not been for this, not one would have escaped
the slaughter that commenced as soon as the Third Cavalry from Meerut
rode into the town. The Fifty-fourth Native Infantry, who had hastily
been marched out to meet them, fraternized with them at once, and,
standing quietly by, looked on while their officers were murdered by
the cavalrymen. Then commenced a scene of murder and atrocity which is
happily without parallel in history. Suffice to say, that with the
exception of some half-dozen who in one way or other managed to escape,
the whole of the white population inside the walls of Delhi were
murdered under circumstances of the most horrible and revolting
cruelty. Had the news of the outbreak of Meerut been sent by a swift
mounted messenger, the whole of these hapless people would have had
time to leave the town before the arrival of the mutineers. Those in
the cantonments outside the city fared somewhat better. Some were
killed, but the greater part made their escape; and although many were
murdered on the way, either by villagers or by bodies of mutineers, the
majority reached Meerut or Aliwal. The sufferers of Delhi did not die
wholly unavenged. Inside the city walls was an immense magazine
containing vast stores of powder, cartridges, and arms. It was
all-important that this should not fall into the hands of the
mutineers. This was in charge of Lieutenant Willoughby of the royal
artillery, who had with him Lieutenants Forrest and Rayner, and six
English warrant and non-commissioned officers, Buckley, Shaw, Scully,
Crow, Edwards, and Stewart. The following account was given by
Lieutenant Forrest:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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