Jones of the 64th: A Tale of the Battles of Assaye and LaswareeBrereton, F. S. (Frederick Sadleir)
General
Jones of the 64th: A Tale of the Battles of Assaye and Laswaree
Brereton, F. S. (Frederick Sadleir)
Maratha War, 1803 -- Juvenile fiction
Only those who have experienced the feeling can know what it is to be
one of a storming party, or the curious sensations with which men are
filled. Happily for Owen he was a high-spirited, merry youngster, and
had been in tight places before. He allowed nothing to damp his ardour,
and when the men broke into a trot, crushed well towards the front. Very
soon he found himself beside the ranks of one of the two Highland
regiments which were with this force, and just in front of a Sepoy
battalion. There was a shout, bayonets came down to the charge, while
the kilts of the men swung out still wider. There was a hoarse growl of
excitement, and then a roar from the throats of the gallant fellows.
They were in the ditch. Owen caught his foot on a piece of masonry at
the very summit and pitched head foremost to the bottom, alighting on
the shoulders of a brawny Highlander, who shook him off with an oath,
recognised an officer, and helped him to his feet. Then, side by side,
Owen sabre in hand, and the kilted soldier armed with his fearsome
bayonet, they scrambled up the steep slope and into the breach.
"Hang on, sir. Give me your hand!" shouted the fine fellow as Owen was
forced back. "Hah! that's as muckle as ye'll want."
He stretched out a huge paw and dragged Owen up, turning just in time to
ward off a thrust made by one of the enemy. Then he lifted his weapon
and brought the butt with terrific force against the man's chest,
dashing him to the ground so suddenly that the unfortunate native split
his head against a portion of tumbled masonry. Then there was a fierce
mêlée for a few seconds, a mêlée in which bayonets crossed, and tulwars
and swords flashed in the sun. The air was filled with the shouts of the
Mahratta foot, and with the guttural exclamations of the Arabs. Blows
fell thick and fast, while from attackers and attacked there came the
sound of deep-drawn breathing. Then a shout was heard. "Forward! into
the town!" A fierce excited cheer answered the summons, and in a moment
the Highlanders flung the enemy aside as if they had been but spray from
the ocean, and won their way through the breach.
"Charge! Don't give them time to get to the houses, men," called out the
commanding officer.
At once the ranks, which were already broken, divided altogether, and
the Highlanders charged against the houses clustered near at hand. But
the enemy were before them, and for some little while Owen and his new
comrades had tough work to carry through.
"Sahib, come here, where you can shelter," said one of the Sepoys, with
whom he now found himself fighting. "You have no musket and can do
nothing. Presently we will charge and then you can lead."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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