The native mine which had been slowly preparing exploded in May of the same year. On the morning of the 12th the belated news was flashed over the wires to Peshawur that three regiments of sepoys had revolted at Meerut two days before, and massacred every European not in the British lines. The Great Mutiny had begun in earnest. How Edwardes, Nicholson, and the other British officers at Peshawur received the startling tidings we learn from Lord Roberts, who was on special duty in the city at the time. Roberts, then a youthful subaltern in the artillery, acted as secretary at the council of war which was immediately held at the house of General Reed, the divisional commander. There were present, he tells us, besides Reed, Brigadier Sydney Cotton, Herbert Edwardes, Nicholson, Brigadier Neville Chamberlain, and Captain Wright. The last-named had been summoned to act in a similar capacity with Roberts. The question to be decided was how to make the Punjaub secure and prevent a general rising there, and the point to be borne in mind was that there were only some 15,000 British troops with 84 guns in the province, as against over four times the number of natives armed with 62 guns. Almost the first proposal was made by Nicholson. To raise a strong force of native levies who could be trusted was his recommendation, warmly supported by Edwardes, and it was unanimously approved by the council. All along the border which they had brought into submission during those arduous years of labour at Bannu, Attock, and other stations, Nicholson and his chief had staunch friends among the Sikh warriors. To these they now turned for help in the time of need. And so it was that the Movable Column came into existence, that splendid body of picked men who made themselves and their leader ever famous in Indian history. In the meantime it was arranged that General Reed, as senior officer in the Punjaub, should join Lawrence (now Sir John) at Rawal Pindi, to act in concert with the Chief Commissioner, and that Brigadier Cotton should succeed him in command at Peshawur. As a measure of precaution, the "treasure" (computed at 24 lakhs of rupees) was now removed from the cantonments to the fort outside, where a European garrison guarded it. At the same time, for the security of the ladies and children in the station, Brigadier Cotton made his headquarters at the Old Residency, a strong, double-storeyed building which was capable of being well defended.