The battles of the world : $b or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military eventsBorthwick, J. Douglas (John Douglas)
History
The battles of the world : $b or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military events
Borthwick, J. Douglas (John Douglas)
Battles; Military history
Of the European soldiery, eight officers and 162 rank and file were
killed, with 52 officers and 510 rank and file wounded; of the
Sepoys, 413 were placed _hors de combat_, of whom 103 were slain
outright. The total number of casualties thus amounted to 1145,
or one-third of the entire assaulting force. Among the mortally
wounded was Brigadier Nicholson, whose death was justly deplored as
a national calamity.
Simultaneously with these main attacks, a diversion was made by
a fourth column, consisting of Sikhs, Ghoorkas, and Cashmerians,
on the suburbs of Kishengunge and Pahareepore. But, in spite of
their most strenuous efforts, these troops failed to overcome the
desperate resistance offered by the enemy, and, in the end, were
compelled to retreat, though not ingloriously.
The day following the assault was consumed in shelling the palace,
and in battering the magazine. A breach was effected, and, at
daylight on the 16th, a storming party dashed forward with such
impetuosity that the rebel artillerymen dropped their lighted
port-fires and fled, leaving undischarged six guns of large calibre
commanding the breach and loaded with grape. On the 17th, the
British troops became masters of the Bank, formerly the palace of
the Begum Sumroo, and shortly afterwards, of the Jumma Musjid, or
principal mosque. Heavy guns were now brought to play upon the
palace and the bridge of boats, and, by the evening of the 20th,
the rebels entirely evacuated the city and its suburbs. Then was
seen the extent of the damage sustained by the former capital
of the Mogul dynasty. Whole streets had been laid in ruins;
dead bodies tainted the air in all directions; the inhabitants,
reduced to beggary, were crouching, terror-stricken, in obscure
lurking-places. But the British soldier is merciful in victory, as
he is irresistible in battle. To armed rebels, no mercy was shown;
but women and children, and the defenceless citizens, were spared
and protected.
The venerable descendant of Timour--venerable only by reason of his
gray hairs and extreme old age--had fled, with his principal Begum,
two sons, and a grandson, to the tomb of his ancestor, Hoomavoon,
son of the mighty Baber. He was discovered and seized by captain
Hodson, of the 2nd European Fusiliers. His own life, and that of
his queen, were respected--but the princes were led out and shot,
and their dead bodies publicly exposed at the kotwalee, or mayor’s
court.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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