39 CHAPTER III. AGRA, ALIGARH, AND MUTTRA. THE next district, according to the map, is that of Aligarh, but the events there were not sufficiently grave to furnish much matter for a special narrative. The same may be said of the adjoining district of Muttra-or, Mathura, as now written-and the magistrates of these two districts, Messrs. Bramly and Thornhill, have described their mutiny administration with such brevity and lack of literary skill, as to render the events there less interesting, even, than might otherwise be the case. men were there who did good deeds; but they are in the same condition as the brave who lived their lives before Agamemnon. It will therefore be enough if we briefly consider Aligarh and Muttra in connection with Agra, to which they served as satellites. Good The district of Aligarh is named after an old fort about two miles north of the city of Koil. Originally bullt under the Mughal Government, this fort had been strengthened by the Mahrattas and their French officers; but it was taken by Lake in 1803 by a brilliant coup-de-main, as described, under the chapter of Láswari, in Colonel Malleson's Decisive Battles of India. It was not occupied during the early part of the Rebellion, and need not further detain us here. About halfway between the town and the fort stands the "Station," a small collection of bungalows grouped about the public offices. At the time of the outbreak, several neighbouring estates were in the hands of British planters, amongst whom the most noticeable were Messrs. Paterson Saunders and John O'Brien Tandy,* cousins, and men of great spirit and influence. The force present in May consisted of 300 men of the 9th Native Infantry, commanded by Major Eld; reinforced on the news of the Meerut outbreak by the right wing of the 1st Regiment of Cavalry of the Gwalior Contingent, under Captain Alexander. On the evening of the 20th the Infantry broke into mutiny, burned the offices, and carried off about thirty thousand pounds in specie, with which they marched off to the insurgent head-quarters in Dehli. The officers, civil and military, were allowed to depart to Háthras, a town south of Aligarh, on the road to Agra, which they reached in safety. Here they were joined by a planter named Nichterlein, and other refugees, Mr. Nichterlein's son having been killed on the way. On the 26th they were reinforced by a body of mounted Volunteers raised by Mr. Saunders, and commanded by Mr. Wilberforce Greathed,† of the Bengal Engineers, one of three brothers who took very distinguished parts in the events that were going on in the neighbourhood. Other members of this little force were Messrs. Arthur Cocks, C.S., J. O'B. Tandy, Harington, and Castle; Ensign Ollivant (since a prominent officer of the Provincial Police), and Ensign Marsh. These gallant fellows, having performed the main object of their expedition-which was the relief of a factory-proceeded to Abigarh, where they reinstated Mr. William Watson, the then magistrate (who afterwards died of cholera in Agra Fort), and remained there till the 2nd of July, when they were driven out by overwhelming invasions, and retired to Agra. Meanwhile, Mr. Mark Bensley Thornhill, of Muttra, who had taken the field with a body of Bhurtpore troops under Captain * I believe Mr. Tandy was not actively concerned in the management of these estates, but had come up from Calcutta on a visit. Afterwards Colonel Greathed, C.B., Secretary to Government, North-West Provinces. Already distinguished during the Panjab campaign of 1848-9. Nixon, was recalled to his chief station by news that the detachment of the 44th Native Infantry had mutinied, murdered Lieutenant Burlton, their commandant, and plundered the Treasury. This occurred on the 26th. On the morning of the 30th Mr. Thornhill returned; but finding the Station ruined and deserted, proceeded to Agra to seek assistance. Not succeeding, he returned next day—having been repeatedly shot at on the road—buried Burlton's body (which he found naked in a ditch near the ruins of the Treasury), and endeavoured, with the aid of some wealthy native bankers, to restore order. this he was only moderately successful. Fifty thousand pounds had been carried off; the jail-birds had broken loose; the police had mutinied, and spread abroad with arms in their hands; many of the zemindars refused to pay revenue, and set themselves up in all directions as Rájas. Thornhill seems to have done what he could in these trying circumstances. He took up his quarters in the city, which he protected by barricades; he raised fresh police, and, on being joined by some of the Contingent of the Kota State under Captain Dennys, proceeded into the district, and seized one of the ringleaders of the rural revolt, who was immediately hanged for the discouragement of the others. Seven more were executed soon after, and a number of minor offenders severely flogged. The magistrate further evinced his resources by submitting to the Lieutenant-Governor at Agra a plan for utilising the loyal landowners, by giving them special powers to enforce authority, which was sanctioned and carried out. These measures, working surely, if slowly, gradually brought about some semblance of tranquillity. To return to Aligarh. It has been said that the Volunteers remained there till the 2nd of July. That is, however, not strictly true, though so stated by Mr. Bramly. The fact is, that only eleven so remained, the majority having been recalled to Agra on the 21st of June. On the 30th of that month, these eleven gentlemen performed a notable exploit. Receiving intimation that the rabble of Koil were on the way to attack them in a factory where they were temporarily quartered, flying the green flag of Islám, and sworn to have their heads posted over the city-gates by nightfall, they mounted their horses to receive the visit. Presently the advanced guard, a body of more than 500 men, were perceived marching up the road. Watson's party immediately charged. Fourteen of the assailants were slain; the rest fled in every direction, and their stragglers fell into the hands of the villagers by the wayside, who stripped them to the skin. The names of Watson's intrepid comrades are given in the note,* for such a deed ought to be fully recorded. Outram was son of the famous Sir James, whom he succeeded in the baronetcy. Marsh and Tandy were doomed men. The former, a most promising young officer, was shot in a subsequent skirmish. On the same occasion, Tandy, reckless, as Irishmen of good birth are apt to be at the sight of combat, jumped his horse over the wall of an orchard crowded with fanatics, by whom he was immediately cut to pieces. Saunders-an equally fearless man-lived for many years after; and most, if not all, of the others still (1883) survive to look back, as on a dream, to those stirring times. It is unnecessary to dwell for the present on events in these outlying districts. Early in July Watson and Thornhill were both driven from their districts and forced to take refuge in the fort of Agra, to which place our scene now changes. Agra, at the time of the outbreak, was the official capital of the province of Hindustan proper, or "North-West Provinces," to use the technical term. Here were stationed the Lieutenant-Governor, at that time the Hon. John Russell Colvin, a man of signal ability; the Chief, or "Sudder," Court of Judicature; the Board of Revenue; and the head-quarters of the several departments of the public service. The garrison comprised a battery of Horse Artillery, a newly-raised battalion * A. Cocks, C.S., Outram, C.S., Ensign Ollivant, Ensign Marsh, Messrs. P. Saunders, J. O'B. Tandy, H. B. Harington, Hind, Castle, and Burkinyoung, Stewart Clark, M.D of Foot-the Company's 3rd European Regiment—and the 44th and 67th Native Infantry. This force was commanded by Brigadier Polwhele, and the chief civil officer of the district was the Hon. Robert Drummond (brother of Viscount Strathallan). The population consisted of about 150,000 souls, of which over 2,000 were Christians. On learning the news of the mutiny at Muttra, Mr. Drummond, a man of strong character, at once promised the sanction of the Government to the disarming of the sepoy regiments. This was effected on the morning of the 31st May without bloodshed, and the men dispersed "on leave of absence." This step was followed by the enrolment of the Christians capable of bearing arms; expeditions were sent in the direction of the Bhurtpore frontier, and order was maintained, tant bien que mal, for about a fortnight. On the 15th June the force stationed at Sindhia's capital, under the designation of "the Gwalior Contingent," mutinied, and the example was followed by the detachment of that force which had been hitherto serving in the Agra district. Soon after came news of the mutinies at Nasirabad and Nimach, and of the approach of a strong body of the mutineers from those places. According to the invariable practice, these men were to join the great gathering at Dehli; but, encouraged by sympathisers at Agra, they had resolved to make a slight deviation in order to capture and kill the English at Agra on their way. This would be a good feather to wear in their caps as they presented themselves before the King, besides gratifying the instincts for slaughter and loot, which were just then very active in sepoy bosoms. Their hopes, however, were destined to be disappointed. The encounter between the mutineers and the defenders of Agra has been described in the histories of the period (notably in Malleson's Indian Mutiny), and has no special claim to be noticed here, but for two reasons. One is that, though successful in so far that the mutineers were repulsed from Agra, it was attended by disasters; the other that, while not remark |