The Living History Engineer's The Adventures of Ian McKay, Royal Engineer

Following is the fictitious history of the eponymous Major McKay.  As part of researching the character of Ian McKay, James Mathews has woven these tales from a variety of historical sources; the major events referenced in the stories did take place, but minor details and the fact of Ian McKay's existence are works of fiction.

© 1999, James Mathews, all rights reserved. Contact Mr Mathews for permission to reproduce.

Part I

Upon my graduation from school, and when all the celebration hoopla had settled down, I realized that I faced the decision of exactly what I wanted to do with my new found knowledge. I had always been keen on "taking the colors" upon my completion of school, but I found that the closer that I approached the date of my graduation, the more that my father, a career military officer himself, cooled to the idea. I found out later that this was his way of requiring me to "think my way through the problem." I had always been interested in geography and mapping and had done some work with a local surveyor. I had done quite a bit of reading in school on geography and map-making and I had read much of my fathers extensive library on the same subjects. At this time he was a retired light Colonel of Royal Engineers and the desire to follow after my father in the service was strong upon me. In these years, much attention was being given to improvements in India to enable that country to grow a larger portion of the food that she needed to feed her population. As a large part of this effort, new irrigation canals were planned for areas in India on a large scale and in particular in the state of Bengal, in Northern India, where there were some magnificent historic public canal works that had been designed and built centuries before the coming of the British Raj and which were still in operation to some degree, but many years of total neglect had taken their toll. The Viceroy of India had convinced Queen Victoria and the sitting government that the repair and extensions of this existing canal system within the state of Bengal would be most beneficial to India as a whole as well as the tremendous advantage to the local farmers. These works were to be rebuilt with an eye to improving commerce and crop production in the north of India and I was very eager to be a part of this new effort as soon as I heard of it. One of my military options was the Indian Army. Since the Engineering establishments of the Indian Army and the Royal Army are totally separate, it took a leap of some faith to bridge that gap. My father had gathered quite a lot of information for me, but was steadfast against "advising me" on what action I should take.

He did, however, encourage me to seek out experienced officers, peers, and relatives and discuss with my intended actions so that I received a great deal of advice and information. As a result I found that the information was much more useful than the advice, and my father's interest in me and his methods were fully justified. At long last looking at the many options and opportunities I settled upon the Royal Bengal Engineers.

In preparation for this new canal project, the Royal Bengal Army was seeking a few young engineers to swell their numbers and were accepting applications for their Corps. I was one of the first to apply and be accepted and after my initial decision, my father was of great assistance to me, actually clearing away much of the "pukka-sahib" paper work. I passed out of the Engineering Officer's Course at Addiscombe in the upper one/fourth of the class, thus assuring my choice of duty. This was a most happy circumstance as you will see, and set the stage for my first glimpse of service life in a military expedition rather than a construction site. Also at this time there were many rumors flying about in Great Britain, that the Viceroy of India had been instructed by the Queen to make some show of force against the mountain tribes in Afghanistan who were trying to discourage the Royal Indian Army from moving through the mountains of Northern India to the City of Kabul.

Part II

At this time of my life, it was much more exciting to contemplate the honors of war, rather than the satisfaction of building canals. Anyway, not much else was going on throughout the Empire to excite a young subaltern, and so the decision was made and in short order my kit was completed, and I found myself on board ship bound for India. I will pass over the memory of that miserable trip to the sub-continent, by way of East India Merchantman, except to say that it was interminable, boring and at times dangerous due to the rise of piracy in those Eastern Seas through which we were required to pass. Twice during the passage, the crew stood to their guns against would-be pirates, but both times the villains sheered off in the face of our superior fire power.

There may be better countries for a soldier to serve in than India, but I have not seen them. You will have heard of the talk of the heat and flies and filth and the natives and the diseases; the first three you must got accustomed to, the fifth you must avoid--which can be done with a little common sense--and as for the natives, when you got to know them they were anxious to please, and with a little effort could be trained into good laborers, or with some education even into fair soldiers. They held to their beliefs of course, and could be pushed too far, as the Great Mutiny showed, but for the most part I became very pleased with my posting and began to look forward to the move up-country. I liked them better than the Irish and their language adapted itself better to English, surprisingly, than did Gaelic. While I never got to be as proficient with the dialects as some of our Politicals, I managed after a fashion, and never had much trouble in making myself understood. Actually, dealing with the Indian men is a great deal like dealing with a woman. If you take some time, are patient and understanding of the poor creature's shortcomings and short-term moods, almost anything can be done with them.

If all of the above was meant to be in the way of drawbacks, pray consider the other side. In India there was and is power--the power of the white men over the black and power is a fine goal to work for. Then there was ease, and time for any amount of sport, and good company. If you were fairly well off and well connected, as I was, there was the social life of the best folk who clustered about the Governor-General, There was opportunity here too, and fortunes to be made if you knew where to look. Many officers of the Royal Bengal Engineers rose to great honor and wealth during their service in India.

Of course I knew little or nothing of all this when we dropped anchor in the Hooghly, off Calcutta and I looked at the red muddy river banks, sweated in the boiling sun, and smelt the stink of unwashed India and wished I was in hell rather than here. As I said previously, it had been a miserable four months voyage on board the crowded and sweltering Indiaman, with no amusement of any kind and I was prepared to find my new world no better. At that moment, my feelings about my great decision were very negative, and had I been given a choice, would have exchanged my hard-won commission and all my other valuables for the clean sweet air of the Scottish highlands.

Part III

The Honorable East India Company (or John Company as it was known) at this time drew it's artillery, engineering and infantry officers from the Addiscombe training establishment which I had just completed. I will pass over that tour of schooling for now, just saying that it was a tour of some difficulty. I had applied myself fully to the course that was set up for the young engineers, because of the suggestions of both my father and many of his service friends, indicated that this was an effort that would pay off in the years to come. I was now graduated at the top of my class and therefore only bright stars awaited, or so I thought.

The course at Addiscombe included all of the following:

At long last I had passed out of that school and now looked ahead to my new career. As I previously stated, I was to be posted North to the Royal Bengal Engineers, after my schooling, but army inefficiency kept me in Calcutta for several weeks, dangling my heels, so to speak, before the appropriate orders came through, but by then other courses of action had taken effect, as you will see.

Part IV

At first I messed at the Fort with the artillery officers, and although I was treated well, I was considered a Johnny Newcome and my comments about the dinner meals raised a storm among the gentlemen. I was not too complimentary about the food served. It was a kind of "stew" called Curry, redolent with strange eastern spices, but hiding, and not very well, the disgusting flavors of old meat and grease. Yet to be fair, I found that their mess was no worse than any other in India and better than some. The enlisted men's messes were indescribable, and I wondered how they survived such dreadful food in such a climate. The answer was that they did not, many of them at least. I was determined, however, that I would be better off looking after myself, so I went to the Fort guardroom, found a native who spoke English passably well and went out to find a house.

The company did not believe in maintaining houses for transients and visitors. These people were expected to find hospitality with British residents or pay for their own lodgings. I found a small house, not far from the Fort, a pleasant place with a little garden of shrubs an a verandah with screens. My native had rounded up a cook, butler, groom and a half dozen other servants that he assured me that I needed. These people were to be hired for virtually nothing. I gave a very serious talk to the cook and the others about the preparation of food and with cleanliness, and with my black native acting as the head of the household, we settled into the place with my establishment. The staff paid heed to my comments, after I impressed them with my seriousness a time or two with a walking cane and my native kept them at it. The cook as it turned out was a good one and my native whose name was "TIMBU-BRODAHUR-SINHALI" kept the house running very well.

So, this was how I spent my time in Calcutta, my nights in my own bungalow, my evenings at one of the military messes, or someone's house and my days riding, shooting, hunting or simply wandering around the town itself. I became quite well known to the natives since I could speak with them, unlike the vast majority of officers in British or East India Company service at the time. It was during this period that I learned a great deal about India and began to appreciate many of the benefits earlier mentioned.

Part V

I became at this time quite interested in the Corps of Lancers which were quite the thing in India. I knew of them of course from reading in my father's library, but to see them on parade on the Maidan was quite a different thing. Since I had all the time that I wanted and more while I waited for my orders to be issued, I looked up some officers in a lancers unit and was in turn invited to their mess. They were a jolly group of chaps, and very free with their money. I could not buy a drink in their mess, but they seemed very interested in the Engineers, So I paid my way, as it were, by showing them a little about map-work and land navigation which they were very keen on, while they regaled me with stories about their regiment's prowess in the field, and the intricacies of lance-work on horseback. Finally I was determined to try my hand at "working with the lance" as my friends called it. This was to be a new adventure for me, but I did not wish to show myself the tyro in front of my new friends. My plan was to hire an instructor, and if all went well, I should show off before the lancer officers at a time of my choosing. Also, I had a feeling that I should be furthering my military training in some way. I had made some sketches of the more important military structures in the area, but I really craved some active work and learning the lance appealed to me. As it turned out this work had an immediate result on my career as you shall see, and saved my life more than once in later years. I had done fairly well in sword drill and horsemanship in school and had won some small praise in the mastery of those skills, but the lance is something quite different to use with skill. Any minimally trained trooper can couch the lance and ride straight, but if he is to be any use at all, he must learn to handle all nine feet of it so that he can pick a playing card off the ground with the point, or to pink a running rabbit. As I became more aquatinted with the lance, and watched the native lancers practicing, I became determined to shine among the Company men, Engineer or no.

I hired a native Rissaldar (native officer commanding a cavalry troop) of the Bengal Lancers to teach me. I had no idea, at this time of anything beyond tilting at dummies or wild pig sticking, but it settled the question of my immediate future in an odd way, so it was effort and money well spent. I was out on the Maidan (plain; exercise ground) one morning with my rissaldar, a big, lean, rangy soldier of the Pathan people of the Indian Frontier whose name was Muhammed Iqbal. He was a splendid horseman and managed a lance perfectly, and under his guidance I was learning quickly. That morning we were tilting at pegs, and I speared so many that he said, grinning, that he must charge me more for my lessons.

He were trotting off the Maidan, which was fairly empty that morning, except for a palankeen escorted by d couple of officers, which excited my curiosity a little, when Iqbal suddenly shouted:

"See Huzzoor, (lord, master, in the sense of 'sir'--Pushtu equivalent of 'Sahib') a better target than little pegs!" and pointed toward a pariah dog which was snuffling about, some fifty yards away. Iqbal couched his lance and went for it, but it darted out of the way, so I roared "Tally-Ho" and set off in pursuit, Iqbal still ahead of me, but I was only a couple of lengths behind when he made another thrust at the pi-dog, which was racing ahead of him, screaming and yelping. He missed again, yelled a curse, and the pi-dog suddenly turned almost beneath his hooves and leaped up at his foot. I dropped my point and by great good luck spitted the beast through the body.

With a shout of triumph, I heaved him, twisting and still yelping, high in the air and he fell behind me. Iqbal cried: "Shabashi" (bravo) and I was beginning to crow over him when a voice shouted:

"You there! You sir! Come here if you please, this moment."

It came from the palankeen, towards which our run had taken us. The curtains were drawn, and the caller was revealed as a portly, fierce looking gentleman in a frock coat, with a sun-browned face and a fine bald head. He had taken off his hat and was waving insistently, so I rode across.

"Good morning," says he, very civil, "May I inquire your name?"

It did not take the presence of two mounted dandies by the palankeen to tell me this was a highly senior officer. Wondering, I introduced myself.

"Well, congratulations, Mr. McKay," says he. "Smart a piece of work as I've seen this year; if we had a regiment who could handle a lance as well as you we'd have no trouble with Sikhs and Afghans, eh, Bennet?"

"Indeed not sir," Said one of the exquisite aides, eyeing me, "Mr. Ian McKay; I seem to know the name, Are you not awaiting orders for Company Service?"

"Eh, what's that?" said his Chief, giving me a bright grey eye. "And you're bound for Company Service are you? Well the pay is good, but it's a damned shame. Waste your life teaching Sowars (troopers) how to perform on galloping field days. Damned dusty work! How long have you been here in Calcutta?"

I suppose that I was just enough of a novelty to rouse his interest, so I answered his questions; and in my turn found out that he was General Crawford, on the staff of the Governor General, and as such a commander of influence and importance. I was on the verge of explaining that the lance was not my profession, as he seemed to think, even though his aide, Bennett seemed to know, when he exclaimed: "Well, well, McKay, I wish you every success, Good Day to you sir." And that would have settled that, no doubt, but for a queer chance. I had been sitting with my lance at rest, the point six feet above my head, and some of the pi-dog's blood had dribbled down onto my hand; I gave an exclamation of disgust, and turning to Iqbal, who was sitting silently behind, I said:

"Khabadar, rissaldar! Lance sarf karo, juldi!" Which is to say, "Look out, Sergeant-Major. Take this lance and get it cleaned, quickly.'' And with that I tossed the lance to him. He caught it, and I turned back to take my leave of Crawford. He had stopped in the act of pulling his palankeen curtains.

"Here McKay," says he. "How long have you been in India? What three weeks you say? But you speak the lingo dammit!"

"Only a word or two, sir."

"Don't tell me, sir: I heard several words. Damned sight more than I learned in thirty years. Eh Bennett? Too many 'ees' and 'ums' for me. But that's damned extraordinary, young man. How'd you pick it up?" I did some more explaining about my curiosity about languages, and he shook his bald head and said he had never heard the like. "A born lancer and a born linguist too, Bigod. Rare combination--too damned good for the Company Cavalry--all ride like pigs anyway. Look here, young McKay, I can't think at this time of the morning. You call on me tonight, d'ye hear? We'll go into this further, eh, Bennett?"

And with that away he went, leaving me in somewhat of a quandary, since I had not had the opportunity to explain that I was an engineer not a lancer. I did not quite to know what to make of it all, but I did know that my father had often told me that it was not wise to keep a senior officer waiting. So, at the earliest calling hour of the British social period, I presented myself, that evening, resplendent in my Royal Engineer's full dress uniform. As I was ushered in to the waiting room, the General caught a glimpse of me, and walked through the library door. He took a long look at me standing by the windows and said: "Well, an engineer as well, you've some explaining to do young McKay," as he fumbled for his pipe and took an expectant seat on the lounge just in front of me.

Part VI

Since I had done nothing wrong, part of me felt that a simple explanation of the misunderstanding should suffice, but another, deeper part of me, made cautious by my father's constant warnings and advice about dealing with senior officer's and their usually strange ideas about right and wrong, brought me up short. Should I concoct a story that would fit my host's obvious anticipations, or should 1, as my brother in the Navy would have said, 'Go at them directly and leave off all that maneuvering.' Being basically a lazy person, my second inclination won the day, together with the puzzle that I really did not have the slightest idea what the General's anticipations were. There was the additional advantage, that if I made the story short and to the point, I would not have to memorize any lengthy stories of doubtful truthfulness.

"As you see sir, I am an engineer and not a lancer as you suggested on the Maidan this morning. I am genuinely sorry for any misunderstanding which may have arisen." I stated this all firmly hoping that General Crawford would not see the doubt lurking behind my eyes. He never even looked up.

"An engineer outdoing a rissaldar in lance work, and one who can speak this nigger lingo as well! By God, Emily Eden must not miss this. She'd never forgive me!"

To my surprise this was his way of indicating that I should go with him to the Governor General's Palace, where he was due for dinner, so of course I went. and had the privilege of drinking lemonade with their excellencies on their great marble verandah, while a splendid company stood about like a small court, and I saw more quality in three seconds than in my previous three weeks in Calcutta.

Crawford regaled their excellencies about my prowess on the Maidan with lance and crowned the story with the part about me calling out to the rissaldar to clean my lance. He finished the story by indicating that as their excellencies could clearly see, I was an engineer and not a cavalry officer at all. Lord Auckland had known my father in some staff position where he was posted previous to his tour in India and Lady Emily became downright civil and pressed me to translate some words that she had heard in the bazaar, that day. As it turned out they were pretty tough words directed I suppose, at the undisguised wealth and arrogance of the Governor General's Staff and entourage. Lord Auckland, I believe, fully understood the words and his face stiffened as his sister repeated them to me. When I passed them off as a harmless Hindi saying and provided a much lighter translation to the passage than it warranted Lord Auckland's face relaxed and Lady Emily clapped her hands with delight.

Lady E. was definitely on my side now, and bending forward she asked me where I was to be stationed. I told her about my expected posting and then explained the incident on the Maidan. I explained that I had been drawn to India by the extensive discussion of the new canal system that was being considered in Bengal, but that my exercises with the rissaldar, in the last three weeks, first begun as a way to counteract the boredom of awaiting the issuance of my orders, had, in fact quickened my blood for action on the frontier.

"Don't blame him either," said Crawford. "Man's a positive Pole on horseback, an engineer and, as you heard, speaks Hindustani too. Shouldn't be wasted eh, McKay?"

"That shows remarkable zeal in study, Mr. McKay," says Auckland. "Perhaps that reflects upon your most excellent father's direction?"

"Why must you take Mr. McKay's credit away from him?" says Lady E. "I think it is quite unusual. I think he should be found a post where his talents can be properly employed. Do you not agree General?"

"Own views exactly match," says Crawford.

Now you can imagine that this was heady stuff for me; this morning I had been any old subaltern, and here I was hearing compliments from a Governor General, and the First Lady of India. I wondered at where this would all lead and my answers came soon enough. "Why not find something for him then?" said Auckland to Crawford. "General was just saying only yesterday that there was some sort of shortage in the engineers, on his staff, due to some illness up-country."

" Bigod," says Crawford, "your excellency's right. What do you say McKay? Care to ride on the staff of an Army Commander, hey? Better than Company work at the back of beyond, what?" I naturally said that I would be deeply honored, and was starting to thank him when he out me off. "You'll be more than thankful yet when you know where the service'll take you," says he grinning. "By God I wish I was your age and had the same chance. It's a Company Army mostly, of course, but it has the makings of a damn good one. They will need some time to shake down, but then so will you, Great chance!''

I must have looked all eagerness, because Lady E. sighed and smiled together. "Poor boy," she said, "you must not tease him."

"Well it will be out tomorrow anyway," says Crawford. "You don't know of course, McKay, but General commands the section or he will until midnight tonight. Then, he will take command of the newly formed Army of the Indus. What about that, eh?" It sounded very good and I made enthusiastic noises. "Aye you're a lucky dog," says Crawford beaming. "How many young blades would give their right leg for the chance for service with him? It's the very place for a dashing lancer or a sharp engineer to win his spurs, Bigod!" Excitement tickled my spine, with just a touch of foreboding, and I asked Crawford where this service might be. "Why Kabul, of course," says he. "Where else but Afghanistan?" A cold shiver ran over me, as Crawford mouthed those words. He was sure that I must be delighted at this news and of course in a way I was. But, I had listened in the bazaars this last three weeks past to the surge and take of the discussions there about little else but the "Afghanistan Question." In a hundred British drawing rooms all over the city as well in every corner of the filthy streets in Calcutta that topic was being aired at every level. The barbarity of the hill tribes, the unpleasantness of the country, the new army that was coming together somewhere up-country and the Kabul Expedition that was to put the hill tribes in their place and a puppet King upon the throne of Afghanistan, all been discussed again and again together with the interminable twisted skeins of ideas relating to the very complicated native political questions that were involved. I was sure that in spite of their lofty positions, that my hosts knew little of what the natives knew or professed to know, simply because they did not have the language. I was sure that any young officer in India would have jumped at the opportunity and I did my best to look gratified and eager, but it was an uphill battle with the sinking feeling inside. I had thought that Lady Luck had me in her grip at last, what with my sudden introduction to the exalted in the land, and what it had won me, on the surface at any rate, was a posting to the hottest, hardest and most dangerous place in the world to judge by all accounts.

Thinking quickly, I kept my eager smile in place, but wondered aloud whether General might not have preferences of his own when it came to choosing a staff; there might be others, I thought, who had a better claim.....

"Nonsense", says Crawford. He would go bail that General would be delighted to have a man who could talk the language, ride well and handle engineering problems. Lady Emily said that she was sure that he would find a place for me. So that was it I would be on the General's Staff. I had tried to angle around Lady Emily and had tasted the point of the hook for my pains. I kept telling myself it was what any young subaltern would want as General Crawford had said, but I could still hear the whispers in the bazaar about the British blood that would be spilled in the mountain lands far to the North.

That night the servants walked wide around me at the cottage, and even my cheerful "Major-Domo" sent in a message that his aunt was very sick and he would have to sit with her that evening. I was not fit company for anyone even the servants that night.

Part VII

I was not even given a decent period of time in which to prepare myself. Lt. General J. Keane received me the next day and turned out to be on first view a stiff-necked old soldier who had seen much of warfare on the frontier, did not appreciate the interruptions of a mere subaltern and who was totally taken up with preparations for the Army of the Indus. I prepared myself mentally for a rough go of it before I was through. It was beginning to look less and less like a plum posting and more and more like a posting into the nether regions. I stiffened my stance even more and riveted my gaze on the corner of the window wainscoting. An unfinished rasher of bacon with one half eaten biscuit on its greasy plate, was holding down a stack of troop returns, and a large scale map of Northern India and the Indus River was spread out on a small table nearby. Two staff clerks, who very properly ignored my entrance, were busy dashing off orders in their round copperplate handwriting, while the general himself, dressed in a solid black undress uniform of the 4th Hussars, sipped coffee from a purple and green matched cup and saucer, while he reviewed the papers that the Viceroy's office had prepared for me to deliver to him.

He looked me over pretty stiff, I can tell you, and asked me in his gravelly voice, more used to the parade ground than the parlor, if I could write Hindi as well as I could speak it. I replied that I could write some, but that I was much more comfortable in speaking that language than in the writing of it. At this General Keane merely sniffed and bade me to take up a quill and charge it from the ink reservoir on his desk. "Write down as much as you understand of what I dictate to you."

With that he dashed away into a letter to a civilian authority of some standing in Calcutta about army supplies in a Hindi dialog that was at once twenty to the dozen in speed, while similar in a strange way, to his native highland dialect. I struggled to keep up with him, and as he progressed the dictation took on more and more of the usual Hindi flowery phrases. After a fractions beginning, I managed to settle down to writing down two out of every three words. The two staff clerks had stopped in the midst of their work and were watching with great interest as we proceeded, in a way that told me that what the General was doing was far above their skill level. That encouraged me to some degree and I continued to struggle. After about a page and a half, the words came easier and I began to get more and more of what the General was saying. After just over three pages, he abruptly stopped his narration and asked to see my work. He studied the scribbled pages intently and at some length, before handing them to one of the clerks. With a gesture from the General, the two clerks again bent over their labors after a glance or two at me. I wondered what those glances portended and I soon found out.

The general looked up from the laboring clerks and said in Hindi, "Did you come by cab or on horseback?"

"By cab your honor", I replied now just a bit surer of myself now that I was speaking the language once again.

"A pity", the general said. "It would have been amusing to see an engineer sticking little pegs. Here now McKay, give your attention to this map. If you had to choose where the best place to put a portable bridge across the Indus to move the Army from the Southern Bank to the Northern one where would it be and why? Give your answer some thought now," he warned solemnly.

I reviewed the map closely. It was a fairly new updated version of an old Indian survey map and had several corrections inked upon it's surface. There were many things to consider in this problem and I was not familiar with the army's makeup. However, I doubted that a newly formed army such as the Army of the Indus would have a pontoon train with it, particularly due to it's location so far up-country and the fact that it was headed to the mountainous terrain around Kabul underlined that fact. Without a pontoon train the bridge would have to be scratch-built from boats available on the river and lumber would be scarce in this country. Lumber would be available, up river from the forested lands, but the river would be far too swift and tumultuous to attempt the crossing there. It had to be lower down, and the timber, floated down to the crossing point, a hundred items passed through my mind, such as rope, anchors, fasteners, wagons, etc. but the important things were boats and timber. I stabbed my finger at a fairly large sized city marked prominently on the map called Roory. The general looked at me strangely for a moment, and then turned to one of the clerks. He gave them some curt instructions about making up a package and then turned back to me. He asked me several questions regarding my decision which covered the very things that I had just weighed in my own mind. Why so far down the river? Where was were the bridge timbers to come from? What about rope and anchors? I was just about convinced that I had mucked up this interview past all saving when the General fixed me with his eye.

"That was a shrewd choice you know," he said laconically, as he seated himself at the desk. "I had just made the same determination just this morning. Good Man!"

Even with the best of luck and good intentions, I spent a week in the British compound at Calcutta, seeing to my kit and making arrangements to move north. Had I not been as knowledgeable, as I was, regarding the political situation, because of my "listening in" the cafes and houses of relaxation around Calcutta, I would have been thrilled with the whole idea of making preparations to begin the long journey up-country to join the "Bengals" as we were known in those years. I was to join the Army of the Indus under the command of Lt. General J. Keane, whose task it would be to occupy Kabul, Afghanistan and restore to the throne of that unhappy country the refugee ruler Shah Sujah. I personally was to join the Engineering Staff of this great army at Ferozepore over a thousand miles from Calcutta to the northwest. In actuality this posting was a unique one in that I was not to go to the Royal Bengal Engineer's Headquarters, but rather report directly to the commander of the army for staff duty. Of course I had already had a meeting with him, but that really did not count. It was the "reporting in" that was important. Usually one had to spend a lot of time and effort in order to get a chance like this. Here it was being given to me, and again had I not known the feelings of the Indian peoples, I would have been much happier.

My kit had been put together by myself, with the assistance of my father, while in England with the needs of the regular Royal Bengal Engineer Cantonments in mind. Now things had changed significantly and a change i n my kit was also required. I carefully packed away my dress uniforms and packed the few items of luxury that I had purchased in Calcutta, and I only kept to hand one undress uniform and of course my personal weapons. On the advice of Muhammed Iqbal we all shed our uniforms for native dress. I doubt that we would have survived other-wise. Our long and weary way wound through desert, scrubby plain, through rocky hills, through forests and we visited a thousand tiny mud vi1lages and caravan camps and small filthy towns. The heat was horrible and ceaseless. Your skin scorched, your eyes burned, and you felt that your body was slowly turning into a dry bag of bones, but in the native clothes and robes one felt cooler, that is, one fried without turning quite black.

Timbu, Iqbal and I rode horses and we had paid off the servants and vacated the little house in Calcutta. He were now on the march with a small camel train managed by a grey bearded old camel driver with one eye, a great lean, ugly Jewish-looking creature, who was heavily armed and two younger helpers that stayed to themselves. Iqbal had talked with the old man and two boys before we left and there seemed to be an understanding between them, probably based on the quickness of Iqbal's sword knife. He vouched for them, however, and after a day or two I accepted their presence with hardly a backward glance. After the first few days of settling into our journey we began to push along faster.

Part VIII
Bridge of Boats or Zoracks Across the Indus River

The description below is taken from the the History of the Royal Engineers In India and the book The Fierce Pawns by P. MacRory.

Ian McKay appears as an adjunct to the story told in the above references and as the creator of this young engineer, the author would hope that this young man's adventures blend well with the story of the Army of the Indus and their march to Kabul, Afghanistan.

If ever a war was ill-conceived, badly managed, unnecessary and disastrous it was the invasion of Afghanistan which was ordered by the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, in 1839. The plan of campaign violated all the principles of strategy; the leaders for the most part were mediocre in ability, and were bound hand and foot by political control. The country was far from British India, mountainous, barren and almost unknown, arctic in winter, torrid in summer and unreachable except through narrow passes. The lines of supply were badly organized, the artillery and transport unsuitable and the troops inexperienced in mountain warfare and encumbered by hosts of non-combatants. Henry IV of France once said of Spain; "Invade with a large force and you are destroyed by starvation; invade with a small one and you are overwhelmed by a hostile people." Such was the problem of Afghanistan.

I finally arrived with my little cavalcade in late November and reporting in to the army was quickly accomplished. Our arrival at Ferozepore and the sprawling great army camp was most impressive. The tents stretched to or heard of in my young life. Looking upon this great example of the power of my native land, and I was filled with a great over-pride in my country and her great military establishment. It is well I suppose, that I was so proud and so filled with admiration at first, because what later occurred was a great disappointment, which to some extent modified my first close look at the mighty but sometimes lacking military machine to which I now belonged. immediately sought out the Commanding General and reported myself and my companions as present and ready to start duty. In short order I was introduced to Colonel R.H. Sale who was the Command Duty Officer of the Day. General Cotton being absent on business to Shah Sujah's encampment. Col. Sale was busy with some problems of weapon repair and quickly summoned Captain Thomson to his tent. It was to this man and his body of Engineers that I was attached as the junior officer. The engineer that was supposedly ill and for whose position I had been dispatched to fill, had recovered his health, but the reporting of that change had been slow in being forwarded to Calcutta. I was somewhat apprehensive in regard to my reception, but I need not have been concerned, as I was received most cordially by Captain Thomson and for the moment was assigned to him as an Asst. Engineer. A place was made for me within the staff line and Iqbal was continued in my service, during the march to Kabul. My other companions (it was difficult, after all we had been through together, to think of them as servants) were accepted willingly into our force. Most of the officers that I met had many more servants than I and so little notice was taken of my modest three additions to the army.

For the most part, the job of Assistant Engineer consisted of listening carefully to the plans being laid out for the advance to Kabul, and later committing to paper all the arrangements being made. It was apparent from the first that Captain Thomson was an experienced field engineer and most of the Engineers who were in the contingent had no allusions about the march to Kabul. It would not be an easy march, and the engineers spent their days in organizing what field equipment that was available, seeking out additional material, tools, and transport that would be useful during our march. All through the day I was with Captain Thomson as he moved in a familiar manner through the morass of the army camp making lists, searching out materials and people who could aid the engineers in their coming task. In the evening, in our mess we had many a jolly dinner, led by our young commander who ever was ready with a joke, toast or story to enliven our party. He worked hard to create the feeling of camaraderie in our officer's mess and in my eyes he succeeded brilliantly. Indeed, in my eyes, the man could do no wrong and I realized in short order that this was indeed an ideal place and the ideal command in which to start my career. Later I was to realize that perhaps we could have looked for better leadership from our senior officers, but for the moment I was totally immersed in the military world for which I had so long trained. After supper in the mess, each night, and a last chota peg (literally small glass--in this usage an alcoholic toast or drink) we all retired to our respective places of business to continue for and hour or two readying our reports for presentation to the Chief Engineer in the early morning. In the morning our jolly companion of the night before was all business, and one learned early that "The Morning Report" was not to be treated lightly, or done sloppily. The Chief Engineer then met with General Cotton and made his report to the General about the engineer's progress. General Cotton was a merry soul and his attention to duty was at times hard to define or judge. He seemed to respect Captain Thomson, however, and was always attentive to his reports and ideas. There was also the matter of my Journal. Capt. Thomson hit upon the idea that it would be good to have a record of that which we did day by day, and it fell to me as the junior with no assigned specific duty or body of men, to keep that record. I labored long and hard over this document, as it was my very real desire to please my commander. Through this medium, both Captain Thomson and Captain Sanders passed their knowledge and experience on to me, and I have always considered their efforts to be of great value. It was in this school that I began to learn my business, and I will say at this point that I have never served with a finer group of companions. In retrospect, one could not have learned his craft under two better senior engineering officers. The work was demanding, but the camaraderie in that group was outstanding and much of my present success, such as it is, was due to those gallant officers, as we moved toward the Northwest Frontier. It may be that, as I look back upon it, this was the Lord's way of softening the long road ahead as well as for what he was to extract from our company in service and suffering at a later time.

Shah Sujah's force started from Ferozepore on December 2, 1838. On December 10th, of that year, Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton began the march of the first division of the Army of the Indus, toward the distant Kabul, Afghanistan, in five columns. This eastern division consisted of three brigades of infantry, and one of cavalry. Some artillery was attached to this force together with the 2nd and 3rd Companies of Bengal Sappers and Miners under Captain Edward Sanders of the Royal Bengal Engineers. The Chief Engineer was Captain George Thomson of the same Corps.

This division of the Army of the Indus was to join with a second division from Bombay under the command of Major-General T. Wiltshire. This division consisted of one brigade of infantry, one brigade of cavalry, some light artillery, and the 1st Company of Bombay Sappers and Miners under Captain Alexander Peat of the Royal Bombay Engineers.

There was a mixed force of British and Sikhs assembled at Peshawar to operate in the Khaibar Pass, and some attempt was made to strengthen and organize the soldiery in Shah Shujal's Military. The whole was placed under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Keane, Commander-In-Chief in Bombay who was expected to join his command on the Indus where he would be at the head of 39,000 men including reserves.

Although the final objective of the Army of the Indus was to be Kabul, Afghanistan, and the direct route to it lay through the Punjab and the Khaibar (Khyber) Pass, Lord Auckland, then the Governor - General of India, rather than offend the Sikh's of the Punjab sent the army down to Rohri and Sukkar on the Indus River, up to the Bolan Pass to Quetta, through the Khojack Pass to Kandahar, and so by Ghazni to Kabul.

About a week before the Army marched into Rohr!, Captain's Thompson, Sanders and the other Engineers, with the 2nd and 3rd Companies of Bengal Sappers and Miners, had arrived there and were soon collecting and preparing materials for a bridge. The Indus River, at this point, ran in two channels separated by the fortified island of Bukkur, the width of the western channel being 133 yards, and the Eastern 367 yards. James Broadfoot one of the Engineering staff commented that the river at this point had a "torrent like a mill stream." The main current was rapid to say the least, and the bottom was rocky and uneven. Given trained men, good boats or pontoons, and plenty of material to hand, to bridge such spans would not be difficult. But Captain Thomson had every handicap. He had no pontoons, and could only find eight boats at Rohri when he arrived, though he managed to collect 120 more by the time they were needed for the bridge. All the good timber had to be floated 200 miles downstream from Ferozepore, and we were obliged to supplement that timber with local stuff, as poor as it was. There were several groves of date paIM3 near Sukkur, which the Sappers felled and split to provide necessary timbers for the bridge. No rope was available so the Sapper Companies were detailed to weave 500 cables of "a peculiar kind of grass" fetched from a hundred miles away. Anchors were made of small trees joined together and loaded with a half ton of stone. Timbers from upriver were collected and sawn into beams and planks, nails were made on the spot, as none were available. The beams were lashed to the boats, placed twelve feet apart and the planks were nailed to the beams to make a roadway.

The engineers had no experience with large floating bridges and could not speak the language of the local boatmen who assisted them. Floating trees coming downriver often out the grass anchor cables and floods on several occasions endangered the entire structure. Yet the narrower of the two channels was bridged with 19 boats in four days, and the wide channel with 55 boats in sixteen days. With remarkable skill, the sappers in 20 days, had produced an improvised pontoon bridge, and everything was ready by February 3rd. It was a fine achievement and proved of great service to the army, enabling about 38, 000 tr oops, and camp followers, 30, 000 came I s, the artillery and ordnance carriages, and a long train of bullock carts to cross the Indus River rapidly, easily and safely. By the 18th, every man, beast and wagon, was on the right bank, and the eastern section of the bridge was then dismantled so that the boats could be uses as ferries. The engineers who assisted Captain Thomson in building the bridge were Capt. E. Sanders, and Lieutenants J. Anderson, H.M. Durand, J.L.D. Sturt, N.S. McCleod, James S. Broadfoot, and R. Pigou, as well as myself, all of the Royal Bengal Corps.

You may imagine that at this period, I was kept busy. In addition to my task as an Assistant Engineer to Capt. Thomson, T was also known as "George" because of my junior status, and inherited many of the myriad of jobs that are assigned to junior officers in such a situation. I was, in addition to the other areas of duty, which Captain's Thomson and Sanders kept me hard at work on, the mess caterer and collected the dues of the officers and mess and was responsible for the menu, foodstuffs and limited wine cellar of the meals provided in our mess. Also I was often in the field helping with the gathering of the special grass for cable weaving, collecting and bringing the river boats to our little harbor, and the shaping and stockpiling of the timber balks and planks that would make up our bridge. Captain's Thomson and gander believed that the way to learn the duties of a field engineer was to do the work and I was included in all the work parties and was the pupil of many a hard-bitten NCO as the mysteries of being a good Sapper not taught at the University or at Addiscombe , were revealed to me by these experienced men in the Engineering Companies. During these field lessons there was no special privilege of rank or position displayed or allowed and I was hard put to it at first to match my instructor's virtually limitless endurance. However, slowly I learned and adapted. This period proved very advantageous to me later, with my natural ear for languages. I picked up much more than just engineering lessons, which stood me in good stead when I was finally appointed to my first platoon.

The history of the First Afghan War shows that, whatever the mistakes and miscalculations in the operations, the Engineers at least proved their worth. Indeed, it is remarkable how junior officers such as Thomson, George Broadfoot, Sturt and Peat became constant advisors of their divisional and brigade commanders. There were many clever heads on young shoulders in this unfortunate campaign: the trouble was that there were also several stupid ones on old shoulders.

Part IX
The Indian Mutiny
Adventure #1:
How 1st Lt. Ian McKay protected his Company, killed his first men and joined the Kurnal Brigade as the Acting Chief Engineer

He had been mapping along the eastern extremity of the Indus River and the southern entrance to the Shipki Pass which leads into China. This was my first long term assignment in command of a mapping party in the year 1857 when the Great Mutiny burst upon the British Raj. He were originally to stay out for 6 months in the field and draw supplies from the Army Commissary Command at Simla. When the news reached Simla of the mutiny, we were immediately recalled and given orders to move south to Ambala to join with the Commander-In-Chief of the Simla Command, General Anson.

We immediately broke our camp, hid all but the most portable of our equipment and supplies and moved south under the cover of darkness. The man about whom we are speaking, joined my small company along the Great Trunk Road about 10 miles south of Simla. He was in the hands of a dozen or so Pandies and they were torturing him in their beastly way, when my company and I came upon them. He immediately attacked the Pandies from the furze around the clearing, where they were, and drove them off. Knowing that they probably would return in force I gave orders to unbind their prisoner and bring him with us. We made up a makeshift dhoolie and set off with the wounded man being carried by four Indian jawans who were with the company. We marched the rest of the night toward Ambala and made camp at dawn in a patch of thicket on a hill just above a small stream, 100 yards or so from the Trunk Road.

The company rested, but I put out a heavy guard, in case the Pandies found us and my havildar and I took turn about on watch. The Frenchman, for he said he was of French ancestry, ate a little biscuit dipped in wine and dropped into a fretful sleep. His hands and head had been burnt by the Pandies, but at least he would be able to walk come nightfall. During that day we sighted three groups of Pandies moving up and down the road, but they did not see us. My havildar had done an excellent job in concealing our departure from the road. At dusk we made arrangements to slip out on the road and continue our journey. Just as we were about to move out, we were attacked by a group of Pandies, mostly local badmashes armed mostly with jezails but some had more modern arms. There was little coordination or thought to the attack, and I later thanked the good Lord that no British trained mutineers were in the group. We exchanged fire and with the havildar holding the main line of our defense, I took five jawans and moved quietly to the right, to flank their position. We were successful and succeeded in breaking the back of the attack. Seven of the attackers were killed, three were seriously wounded, and four were captured. Then began the hardest job that I ever had to do. The dead were no problem, and they were covered hastily with brush. The wounded were not able to walk, and were very weak, so I staked them out away from the road, as I knew that if I let them go they would bring others down on us. The four captured fellows were asked if they would give their parole not to notify others of our presence, and they sneered at me and the havildar calling us feringhee pigs and laughing at us as they detailed what their friends would do to us. The havildar and my jawans looked to me in fear and askance as to what we should do. I didn't really know what to do, but I know that staying there was tantamount to a death sentence, and I was determined to get my men and I to Ambala all in one piece. We had sustained no injuries in the attack. So I decided to execute the four badmashes. Once having made that decision, I killed the four with my pistol. The havildar looked at me in awe, but did nor demur when I directed that the four bodies be hidden with brush as the others had been. The Frenchman, however, was another matter. He immediately upon my action began abusing me in the worst way, calling me murderer and other assorted names.. We finally had to gag him, tie his hands and bring him along at the end of a rope. Late the next day by dint of forced march the company was inside the British lines at Ambala.

I turned over the Frenchman to the civilian police for confinement until something could be done for him, and then I reported myself and my company to General Anson. He was extremely glad to see me, as he had been in telegraph communication with the Governor General in Calcutta and with Sir Henry Lawrence in the Punjab, and he had been ordered to gather all loyal troops and proceed south to Delhi. Mine was the only force of engineers to have reached him, and as soon as they had rested they were to be put to work readying a makeshift Engineering train to accompany his force on their way South. reported about the Frenchman and about the four Pandies that I had shot. General Anson looked at me steadily for nearly a minute, without speaking, and then asked in a very soft voice, if in my opinion the engineering company would have arrived intact without that action. I thought for a moment, and although I felt sick at what I had done, my reply was a firm no. General Anson then told me to put it all in my report, and then begin to scavenge an Engineering Train from the available stores at Ambala.

I completed my report, handed it to the Brigade Major and hurled myself and my company into my duties. Within five days the force, now called the Kurnal Brigade, advanced to Kurnal, where General Anson was stricken with a fatal case of cholera. General Sir Harry Barnard was appointed to command in after General Anson's death, and immediately moved upon Delhi. As the only engineer officer present, I was appointed Chief Engineer, acting and placed in charge of gathering transport for the Brigade. There was very little transport available and the engineering company worked around the clock to identify and procure every wagon, cart, piece of harness or draft animal in the area, bring it to the temporary transport yard, for strengthening and repair before making it available to the Brigade Commissariat to use as necessary.

The command was notified that the 60th Rifles and two squadrons of the 6th Dragoons coming from Meerut under Brigadier Archdale Wilson crossed the Hindan River and inflicted a heavy defeat on a force of mutineers which had been sent from Delhi to oppose the crossing. General Barnard was joined by the Meerut Force at Baghpat. Together they launched a specific attack against the mutineers which was most successful and drove the enemy back into the gates of Delhi.

Almost immediately General Barnard decided to launch an attack on the walled city of Delhi itself, without the benefit of a reserve. You can imagine that during this period I was fully engaged as the acting Chief Engineer. The Army was still frightfully bereft of transport. Some additional engineers had arrived, but no senior officer, and I continued in my post. Now the attack on the city of Delhi was badly coordinated and planed and had to be called off. General Barnard after his repulse decided to await the arrival of a siege train and badly needed reinforcements.

It was at this point that I called upon General Barnard to explain to him about the shooting of the 4 Pandies. He listened to me, impatiently. and immediately upon finishing he told me that he had read my report, and thought that I had done properly in bringing it to General Anson's attention, but considering the situation that the British Raj now faced he said he would recommend me for a decoration and to forget about it, and continue to support him as I had done. The Frenchman, i t turned out , was part of a group of French Officers who had been sent to stir up the revolt in the beginning. He had been present at Cawnpore when the garrison with women and children had been massacred and had been escorted under guard and in chains to the French Authorities in Bombay, with the recommendation that he should be shot. I know that the Frenchman whose name was Pierre Ragnine, believed me to be a murderer and a fiend, and he could not have been very well disposed toward me after that forced march, gagged and tied and led (sometimes dragged) with a rope. However, the thought of that beastly animal standing with the Pandies as they slaughtered the innocents at Cawnpore makes the bile boil in my throat. What I did, which I am not proud of and which is always in the back of my mind, I did for my Company and my Queen. They were the enemy and although I am tortured by the cold-blooded murder of those four badmashes, I am as certain as I am that I will one day stand before God, that it was the only way to deal with the situation. I do not comfort myself with the approval of two General Officers , since it was I and I alone who can justify my action. I know that what I did was right, even though I will carry the deed with me the rest of my life.

Part X
The Indian Mutiny
Adventure #2:
The Attack On the Walled City of Delhi, India

At this point, General Barnard's force was totally exhausted from the three major engagements of the day. and both he and General Reed (Provincial Commander In Chief) who had joined the force resolved to maintain their position on the ridge. It was at this time that General Barnard became ill with cholera, and Brigadier Archdale Wilson now took command of the now-called Delhi Field Force and was given a field promotion to Brigadier General, by General Reed. The new commander immediately sent dispatches back up the Grand Trunk Road requesting a Siege Train and an order to raise three companies of Pioneers. Experienced laborers were desperately needed to build siege works around the city. Lt. Home was an Engineer of some ability who was building a canal at Madhopore, with a recruited labor force of Muzbee Sikhs. Upon hearing from the Delhi Field Force Lt. Home was designated to select 240 laborers and divided them into companies of 80 men each. These men under Sergeant Robeson and later Lt. Gulliver. together with Lt. Home's scratch companies C3) of Pioneers reached Delhi from Madhopore in just two weeks. Sgt. Robeson was killed in a skirmish on the Grand Trunk Road, on the way to Delhi. Meanwhile Lt. Home raised an additional two companies and journeyed south with them to Delhi to take the place of the unfortunate Lt. Gulliver who was very ill with cholera. Lt. Home arrived in Delhi with his two companies, bringing into the British Camp a total of 5 companies of Sappers. All of the Engineer Companies had received weapons from the Phillaur Arsenal en route to Delhi. Meanwhile, I was relieved of the post of Chief Engineer of the Dehi Field Force, with the genuine thanks of Brigadier General Archdale Wilson, by the arrival of Colonel Richard Baird Smith who had been the senior instructor of the Engineering College at Roorkee. He was accompanied by Captain Alexander Taylor to whom fell most of the daily work, Col. Smith being very ill. This officer had been until very lately in command of building the Grand Trunk Road from Sutlej to Peshawar. The Ridge position was a good one for the British to hold, but to do it efficiently, batteries had to be built for the British guns. It was for this work that Lt. Home's Force and mine was so urgently needed. Brigadier General Wilson ordered Smith and Taylor to put Lt. Home in charge of his Pioneers and start building the batteries.

I was back with my company, at this time repairing several gun carriages that had been damaged by both enemy shot and the rapid rate of advance, following the Pandies as they retreated into the city of Delhi. You may imagine my surprise when Lt. Home asked me if I would consent to work under his command building the artillery batteries. Lt. Home was senior to me by six weeks. I knew him, of course, as we had met in various messes, and we had enjoyed a Chota Peg (literally small glass) together but nothing more serious. He said that Brig. Gen. Wilson had confided to him about my arrival at Delhi, and he wanted me and my company to join his in this maximum effort. He needed experienced Sappers to act as foremen for the new scratch companies, and I was to serve as his Asst. with the job of constructing heavy gun batteries close to the city walls. I was very keen on the idea, and thanking him, agreed on the spot. He looked at me oddly, at that time, and said very softly, "I hope that your fate will be kinder than mine," I felt a chill crawl over me even though it was beastly hot in my tent. We both recovered quickly, shared toast from his flask and I went out to find my havildar (sergeant).

During the last week of August the engineer officers were involved in a number of preparatory tasks to the planned assault on Delhi; cutting down trees and scrub to open up fields of fire for the guns, gathering brushwood to manufacture facines and gabions, floating logs down the Jumma River and hauling them forward to build causeways and revetments. In this work Lt. Home I s scratch companies of Muzbees ("Punjab Sappers" ) were joined by regular Indian troops of the Bengal Sappers and Miners, 129 of whom had "remained true to their salt", as well as my mapping company who for the most part served as group foremen due to their education in field engineering..

On the 14th of August General John Nicholson's column, 4,200 strong marched into camp and swelled General Wilson's Delhi Field Force to near twice it's former size. Meanwhile the siege train was moving slowly and ponderously on it's way, it's line of guns, limbers, carts, and tumbrells, extending over thirteen miles of road from the Artillery Depot at Ferozepore. On 4 September it ground it's way into the British Camp behind the Delhi Ridge. Included in this train were:

As a mere matter of pride, I report that the combined forces of the Engineering contingent of the Delhi Field Force had gathered material and constructed 10, 000 military facines, 10,000 gabions and 100,000 sand bags with a large number of platforms and scaling ladders.

The Siege Train provided General Wilson the means to breach the walls of Delhi and he wasted no time in moving the heavy guns into the forward batteries that had been built for them. On the 7th of September the "ground was broken" for the siege and that night the first Siege Battery began the assault on the walls of the OdPit0l. The battery was in two divisions;

*#IA 4 24-Pdrs directed against the Cashmere Bastion (range 850 yards);
*#IB 5 18-PdrS and I 8-Inoh Howitzer against the Shah Bastion (range 200 yards);

By the morning of the 12th of September, three more batteries had been built and were in action against the city:

*#2 directed against the curtain wall of the Cashmere Bastion;
*#3 directed against the Water Bastion (range 180 yards);
*#4 directed against the curtain wall of the Water Bastion.

On the 13^th two breaches near the Water and Cashmere Bastions were reported. Lts. Home, Medley, and myself moved to within 25 yards or so from the breaches, at night, and concurred that they were suitable for assault infantry to climb.

Orders for an assault the next morning at daybreak, were issued. The Delhi Field Force was divided into 6 columns. I was attached to the 3rd column with Lts. Home, Salfeld, and Tandy. The key to this whole operation lay in the blowing up of the Cashmere Gate, by an Engineering Party, at that point the assault would begin. Lts. Horne and Salfeld were chosen by lot to do the job and Sgts. Smith and Carmichael both volunteered. Command of the engineers with the 3rd Column devolved upon me as the next senior, although I would have given 5 years of my life to accompany Home and Salfeld in the venture.

The explosion party took their places in the early morning dawn. The party was in two echelons, the first was Lt. Home and 3 other men. They were to lay 3 25 lb. bags of powder at the doors of the gate, with fuses exposed for ignition. Lt. Salfeld was to follow with the "firing party". They would have with them slow-match and "tamping bags" of sand to hold the powder charges firmly against the doors of the gate. The start line for Lts. Home and Salfeld and their parties was the ruined Ludlow castle about 1/2 mile from the Cashmere Gate. They were to be initially covered by a skirmish line provided by the 60th regiment, and upon reaching the road would sprint the last 200 yards to the gate proper. A bugler (Hawthorn) went with the party to signal the advance of the assault columns when the gate was destroyed.

I was invited that morning to watch Lt. Home's "Forlorn Hope" as they made their attack. With me on the walls of the ruined Ludlow Castle were Brigadier-General Archdale Wilson and Colonel Baird Smith. When both parties had reached the causeway over the ditch, the firing from the gate wickets became very heavy. The Carrying Party (Lt. Home) was through the outer gate which had been burst apart by cannon fire, and across the timber cause way. The mutineers had removed the timbers of the bridge, and there was not much room for the party. Home and Hawthorn the Bugler slipped into the ditch to make room for the firing party. Lt. Salfeld arrived to fire the charges, but was hit in both arm and leg by musket fire. Sergeant Smith realized that the slow-match had gone out, and he crouched, over the charge and relighted the fuses. Then he turned to slide into the ditch when the explosion of 100 lbs of black powder hurled him off the bridge and into the ditch below. As soon as the smoke cleared, Lt. Home bade the Bugler to sound the signal to start the assault.

On the morning of 14th September the assault of Delhi began, and by the 20th of September it was all over, the few surviving mutineers streamed away across the Jumma River and the capitol city was once more in British hands. General Wilson's next task was to clear his lines of communication and to assist Sir Colin Campbell's veterans from the Crimean War in the recapture of Lucknow and Cawnpore. I will not at this time outline the details of the recapture of the city of Delhi except to say that the loss of our troops amounted to 3,807 killed, wounded and missing. You may imagine that this loss did not endear the mutineers to our hearts. You may see from what I have said, that there was a great deal of hard work and risk involved in the action, and Many gallant British Officers and Soldiers gave their all to avenge the murder of the women and children at Cawnpore.

The army only had four days in which to take stock of the city. Lt. Horne and myself with a small band of Bengal Sappers and Miners were designated to review the weapons found in the city. We were to destroy unstable weaponry so it would not fall into the hands of the Pandies, and provide the remainder to the column for their use. Under our protection was a team of young officers, who were to go about with us and collect any valuables to be Placed in the hands of a group of prize agents that were elected by the officers of the command and approved by General Wilson. This group's task was fairly simple on the face of it, but in the case of Delhi, because of the high feeling against the "Pandies" it was worth any Indian's life to refuse or even object to this search. The reader must understand, that this "loot" was a part of the war, and when it was totaled, it was then allotted to the soldiers according to a long established menu. The Commanding General got one third, the Officers within his command shared another third, and the remaining third was divided among the soldiery with varying amounts going to NCOs and Private Men. It was called "Prize Money" as in the Royal Navy, and was allotted out in the same fashion. I believe later that "head money" was offered for killed mutineers, but little was paid out, as few if any records had been kept of the "death" of the "Pandies." I will admit that there was a lot of wholesale butchery that went on, and we shall probably never know how many were killed. It was said by those in the British Forces that took Delhi, "The Pandies were well aware of the atrocities that they had accomplished, and they never looked for nor received the slightest mercy."

The valuables that were left to be found by our forces in Delhi were not fabulous as we had been led to expect. Much of it had been taken by the "Pandies" who had fled the city, and we were about to leave this place to look

for them. The story of the intrepid duo, one by the name of Pintle, has a hollow ring in spots, for the entire column moved out of the city of Delhi on the 24th of September, llg I ad to l eave behind the stinking streets still

littered with bodies and the debris of battle." To my knowledge no-one was left in the city, because of it's condition. The city streets with their burden of dead would have brought sickness to the most steadfast European soldier. I received my share of the booty (Prize Money) some months later, and I made sure to check with several of my Indian jawans (soldiers) and my havildar (sergeant) to insure they had received their share as well, which they had.

One of the greatest hauls of loot, however, did not come from Delhi proper, but rather an old Fort at Malagarth about five miles from the city of Delhi. It was found to be packed with loot stolen by the mutineers from British homes and convoys. More importantly, the fort had been used as an arsenal, as well as, a manufacturing base for weapons and explosives. Lacking professional supervision, and having abandoned it in a hurry, they had left large quantities of munitions scattered all over the place. The whole fort was a powder keg and d danger to anyone entering it, Lt. Horne and I together with Lt. Stevenson of the 23rd were given the job of dealing with these materials and blowing up the fortifications so that it could not be reoccupied by hostile forces after the British moved on. It took all of three days to catalog what was Found, separate the stable munitions from the unstable, destroy the one and send the remainder to the columns The loot was also catalogued and turned over to the prize court. It was my understanding that the looted material together with the munitions, guns, carriages found at the Malagarth Fort was fully half of the total worth of the loot from the Delhi action.

The last thing that we had to do was to blow up the fort's principle bastion. Lt. Home had buried munitions under each strong point, and the mines were large, given the excess of munitions that were found. He had already blown five of the mines and when he cleared the field and stepped forward to light the fuse, instantaneously the mine sprang. The force of the explosion hurled Lt. Home's body a good fifteen yards, broke both legs and nearly tore off his arm. He must have died instantaneously, and so passed one of the most impressive men that I would ever meet in my service in India. It was my sad duty to complete the destruction of the fort, and take the body of my friend back to the Column

In this case this column was commanded by Col. Greathed of the 8^th Regiment of Foot. The Delhi Field Force had been organized into new columns and sent them out to clear the surrounding area. Col. Greathed's column was given the task of clearing the Gangetic Doab (area between the rivers Jumma and Ganges). Lt. Duncan Home had been assigned to this column as the Chief Field Engineer. I arrived back at the column with the engineer company and Duncan's Body. Col. Greathed was greatly disturbed by Duncan's death as was I. His body was taken to Bolandshahr for burial, and he rests there still to my knowledge. Col. Greathed indicated that I should take over Duncan's duties, which I did, but not without many sorrowful feelings.

As I have said Duncan was a very special person in my eyes and in other's as well. He was a favorite with all in camp, brave, active, so very good-natured and always laughing. I am sure everyone will mourn his loss, as I do, most deeply. Poor fellow! Fancy escaping untouched from the blowing in of the Cashmere Gate where he and Salfeld earned the Victoria Cross, to meet his end in exploding mines before a deserted fort!

The Following is a list of the roll of honor of the officers and men who succeeded in reaching the bridge leading to the Cashmere Gate:

Four of these men (Horne, Salfeld, Smith, and Hawthorne) were awarded the highest form of recognition for valor which a British monarch may bestow --The Victoria Cross

© 1999, James Mathews, all rights reserved. Contact Mr Mathews for permission to reproduce.

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