tant object, and to which all our present efforts were to be directed, was the reduction of Lucknow. In carrying out that object at once, we would have the aid of the Ghoorka force, 10,000 strong; which, were it put off till autumn, would be lost, as they were certain to retire to their native hills before the summer heats. The fall of Lucknow, it was expected, would produce such dismay amongst the rebel ranks as would lead to their immediate submission: this would be followed up by the conquest of Bareilly; despair would seize upon them, and everywhere a vanquished people would bow their heads beneath the yoke, and submit to our rule as to the stroke of fate. His plan was to strike at the centre, and trust to the moral effect of a great blow there to induce the rebels to submit at the circumference. looked upon it as of more consequence to take Lucknow, than to re-settle our own provinces, because he thought the first would inevitably induce the last. Sir Colin viewed the matter differently; he desired to secure every step as he advanced, to leave nothing behind him, but steadily pressing on, to roll back the rebel force on one point, and destroy it there.

He

The orders of the Governor-General for the abandonment of the invasion on Rohilcund, and for the reduction of Lucknow instead, having been received, a pause became inevitable, to enable a suitable train of siege guns and stores to be collected, and an army large enough to operate with success to be concentrated. The present force, sufficiently numerous to subdue Rohilcund, was quite inadequate for the conquest of Oude. One brigade of infantry was consumed by Cawnpore. Futtyghur, and its communications through the Doab, required at least another. The movement of a large body of the Oude troops down upon Benares, and the road between that point and Allahabad, had necessitated the employment of three European regiments, and a battery of artillery, under Brigadier Franks, to reinforce the Ghoorkas (six Regiments), and stem the torrent in that quarter; and these last had to be taken from

the upward stream of reinforcements. Several weeks must therefore necessarily elapse before fresh troops could be brought up to Cawnpore sufficient to enable the advance on Lucknow to be undertaken; while an equal time would be necessary to procure a siege-train from Agra, and the 68pounders of the Shannon from Allahabad, and to bring together at the same spot the required amount of ammunition, provisions, and carriage, and the numerous requisites of the artillery and engineer parks. Not a moment, however, was lost in issuing the orders and making the arrangements necessary for this great undertaking. As this, however, would occupy at least three weeks, the point most immediately pressing upon the Commander-in-Chief to consider was, where he could best take post to cover the concentration of his resources at Cawnpore, and at once overawe the re-conquered territory and keep in check the still unsubdued possessions of the enemy.

The point on which his choice fell was Futtyghur, and it afforded an admirable instance of his deep knowledge of strategy. The forces threateningus at present were (1), The forces of Rohilcund, a very numerous body, who were gathering on the Ganges, and were known to have in view an invasion into the Upper Doab, and the consequent interruption of our communications with Delhi. (2.) The Oude forces, who had collected in heavy masses, and threatened to cross the Ganges either below or above Cawnpore, and, uniting with the Calpee people, cut us off from Allahabad. (3.) The remains of the Gwalior Contingent at Calpee, who had ten guns, which had been left there when they advanced on Cawnpore, and were being joined by numerous recruits from Banda and Bundelcund. Now all of these were threatened and kept in check by the force at Futtyghur. Being on the high-road to Bareilly, from which it is only seventy-seven miles distant, it threatened that point, and prevented the invasion by any very numerous body of the Upper Doab. A country road leading direct from it to Lucknow (111 miles in length), made it doubtful

whether this was not its immediate object, and, together with the force under Outram at Alum Bagh, and Inglis at Cawnpore, gave sufficient cause of anxiety at home to the Oude troops to keep them from undertaking any distant expedition; while the road along which Walpole had marched by Mynpooree and Etawah give the opportunity of striking a back-handed blow at the Gwalior people, should they leave Calpee and throw themselves into the Lower Doab. This position also effectually covered from the attacks, both of the Oude and Rohilcund forces, the transport of the siegetrain from Agra to Cawnpore, a distance of 179 miles, or 16 marches; -the important and indispensable preliminary to any attack on Lucknow. The movement of troops from Benares to Allahabad was protected by Frank's column; that of guns and stores from Allahabad to Cawnpore by the fortified post of Futtehpore, and Carthew's brigade of Madras Sepoys, together with the numerous detachments on their way, and Inglis's brigade at Cawnpore. Protecting thus at all points the concentration of his resources in men, materiel, and guns on Cawnpore, and occupying a position which, by threatening alike Bareilly and Lucknow, gave no certain indication of his intentions, Sir Colin calmly, amidst the astonishment of his own troops and the abuse of the Indian press, waited the development of his plans. But his was no lethargic inaction. Movable columns were constantly sent out to scour the surrounding country, and reduce the still insurgent villages. Hope did good service in this way; and he had no sooner returned to camp, on the 12th January, than Walpole with his brigade, guns, some cavalry and sappers, marched out for eight or ten miles along the Rohilcund road to the banks of the deep Ramgunga river. Here the bridge had been broken by the rebels, and Walpole, with much parade and ostentation, made numerous attempts to restore it; while, still more to keep up the illusion, the Commander-in-Chief rode out to examine the spot, and

the whole army believed that a move into Rohilcund was about to be undertaken. The demonstration perfectly succeeded; both friends and enemies were deceived; and the great mass of the Rohilcund troops kept at home watching Walpole on the banks of the Ramgunga. A column of them, however, 5000 strong, with 5 guns, crossed the Ganges about twelve miles above Futtyghur, and reoccupied a village in which our authorities had been established. On the 27th January, Hope marched out against them, and had a most brilliant affair. The enemy waited to receive him. Placing a troop of horse-artillery on each flank, he charged them with his cavalry-two squadrons 9th Lancers, and Hodson's Horse. Some of the enemy's Sowars fought most desperately, and four of our cavalry officers, including Hodson himself, were wounded; but they were soon completely overthrown, four of their guns taken, their camp captured, and the pursuit continued for nine miles.

The siege-train having now started from Agra, and being well on its way, the mask could be thrown off; and Sir Colin accordingly prepared, as soon as it was past, to quit Futtyghur and move upon Cawnpore. The 82d Regiment were to be left in garrison at the fort. Our departure would necessarily leave the Delhi force exposed to the incursions of the Rohilcund troops, in spite of the garrisons left both at Mynpooree and Allyghur; but to keep them at home, instructions had been sent for as large a force as could be got together from the Punjaub to be collected upon the frontier, and an invasion of their province threatened, and if possible carried out. It was expected that the column destined for this purpose would be at Umballah about the 1st February. On that day the Commander-in-Chief set off with the cavalry and horse-artillery, and proceeded by forced marches to Cawnpore, which he reached in four days. Hope's brigade, with the artillery park, followed by regular stages, while Walpole's and half of Seaton's remained for some days longer, to cover to the last our com

munications with Agra. The siegetrain from that place had now reached Gosaigunge, and a large convoy of women and children was soon to follow. Shortly after his arrival at Cawnpore, Sir Colin made a run down for a day to Allahabad to see the Governor-General, who had arrived there. At Cawnpore, meanwhile, the greatest activity prevailed; the works had been greatly increased, and now formed a large intrenched camp completely covering the boat-bridges over the Ganges. By the middle of February the greater part of the army destined for the attack of Lucknow had crossed over and was stationed in echelon along the road to Alum Bagh, to cover the advance of the enormous siege and ordnance stores, together with the commissariat and other supplies, which were daily and hourly arriving. The gatheringplace for the siege-train was at Onoo, eleven miles beyond Cawnpore. The movement against Lucknow would now have commenced, had the Ghoorkas been ready to move; but they were not so; and for political reasons it was considered advisable to wait till they could co-operate.

The accounts at this time received from Calpee showed that the progress of the Bombay column was causing the Gwalior Contingent great alarm, and would prevent its making any move upon our communications. It was full time that the pressure of the Bombay and Madras troops should begin to be felt. Both these Presidencies appear to have been invited to operate with their whole disposable force in Central India; and it was hoped that January would have seen their battalions crowding the banks of the Jumna; but January came, and Saugur was hardly passed. The exertions of the Madras Presidency seem at this period to have been particularly lukewarm. During the early part of the campaign, Bengal owed much to the strenuous and efficient assistance it had received from Madras, both in men and materiel. The Madras Fusiliers, with Neil at their head, had pressed on with Havelock to Lucknow, and been second to

VOL. LXXXIV.-NO. DXVI.

none in devoted heroism. Valuable aid in keeping open the communications had been afforded by Brigadier Carthew's Madras Sepoys and rifle companies. But when the appearance of the whole available force of that Presidency was looked for in the heart of Central India, pressing down from Jubblepore upon Calpee, there was seen only Whitlock's feeble brigade (containing little more than a regiment and a half of Europeans) painfully toiling far in the rear, and hardly making itself felt at all in the great struggle which was going on. And yet Madras had the only native army which could be depended on in India.

Though extremely tardy in their movements at first, the ultimate cooperation of Bombay was very different. That Presidency had been exposed to the greatest dangers its army, recruited to a considerable extent from the same districts, though from lower castes than that of Bengal, had in many regiments been ripe for revolt. With great firmness, resolution, and skill, however, had the crisis been surmounted, and the large arrivals of European troops had delivered it now from all peril. Two columns, under Rose and Roberts, were directed from it on Central India. Though started much later than had been at first hoped, their progress was at last beginning to make itself felt. Soon Jhansi and Kotah sank beneath their blows, and ere the end of the campaign the wonderful energy and perseverance of Rose, in his vigorous movement on Calpee and countermarch on Gwalior, had won for him a deathless reputation. But these are the events of a later period.

Towards the end of the month the convoy of ladies from Agra reached Cawnpore in safety. The whole of the siege-train had come up; the long files of hackeries, laden with ammunition, had passed on. The engineer park, the artillery park, the commissariat supplies, the legions of campfollowers, the dense battalions, the glittering squadrons, the well-horsed batteries, had traversed the bridges, and disappeared across the muddy waters of the Ganges, amidst the

2 L

sandy plains of Oude. Such a force India had never seen. Under the Commander-in-Chief, 17 battalions of infantry, 15 of which were British; 28 squadrons of cavalry, including four English regiments; 54 light and 80 heavy guns and mortars, were arrayed'; while from the south, right across the country of Oude, Franks, with 3 European and 6 Ghoorka battalions, with 20 guns, was pressing; and from the south-east, Jung Bahadoor, with 9000 men and 24 guns, was marching, all to rendezvous together beneath the stately palaces of Lucknow.

The war was entering on a new phase-grand and imposing was now to be its progress. On the 28th of February, Sir Colin Campbell, quitting Cawnpore, placed himself at its head, and the curtain rose on the last act of the drama of Lucknow. With the passage into Oude came a great word-painter, from a far land, who has sketched, in brilliant colours, and with a master's hand, the subsequent progress of events-and he who would read the story of the siege, and listen to the dull sound of the falling walls, may turn to the letters of Mr Russell to the Times.