An officer of the 78th (the Ross-shire Buffs) writing home, says:--“I can see the Highlanders are too much thought of here, for we get the brunt of everything. If there is anything to be done, the old General calls out, ‘Highlanders to the front! Charge that battery! You only require the word from me. Soldiers, up and at them!’ The word is no sooner said than done, for in the next moment the bagpipes are heard skirling, and our wild ‘Hurrah!’ resounding from the mountains; and look a little to the front and you will see the Scots charging up to the cannon’s mouth. But many of these brave men never come back. Poor fellows! We have laid a great many of them in the dust since we came here; and peace be with them.... The 78th did for the rebels, and sent them spinning in the air and on the road in all directions, and in three hours there was nothing of them to be seen but legs, arms, and heads.” With his enfeebled force, it would have been madness on Havelock’s part to have gone further forward into the rebel-infested territory, so, on 5th August, he sorrowfully commenced his return journey to Cawnpore. Toiling on, they reached the Ganges, where they were again attacked by the rebels, who opened a terrible fire upon the 78th. The Highlanders did not stand idle as targets for the mutineers, but with a yell of rage and hatred they dashed at the guns, and once again the rebels tasted the terrible bayonet. “Well done, my own brave Highlanders!” cried Havelock. “You have this day saved yourselves and your comrades.” The shattered force was allowed to proceed to Cawnpore without further molestation, and the expedition had not been in vain, for the rebel army which was besieging the Residency at Lucknow was drawn off to meet Havelock, thus allowing the garrison freedom to lay in provisions and strengthen the fortifications. Havelock did not put off much time in resting, for, four days after his arrival, he set out a second time, at the head of 1300 troops. Once again the enemy were met at Bithoor, which Havelock described as “one of the strongest positions in India.” The plain in front of the enemy’s position was covered with thick sugarcane, which reached high above the heads of the men, while their batteries were defended by thick ramparts, flanked by entrenched quadrangles. The British guns made little impression, but once again the bayonet made them flee, and the British pursued them for some distance, killing many in the wild rush. The force returned to Cawnpore next morning, and took up a position on the plain of Subada, where Havelock issued a flattering note to the force to the effect that it “would be acknowledged to have been the prop and stay of British India in the time of her severest trial.”