Survivors of Cawnpore

As Olphert’s Battery and the 84th were hurrying towards Cawnpore, they were surprised by the arrival of 4 men in their camp close to Fatehpur. They were sunburned and dressed in Indian clothes, escorted by five men belonging to the guard of a local zamindar, on the back of a bullock hackery. Dressed as they were, they were at first mistaken for a party of Afghans when, to their surprise, one of them leapt out of the cart and greeted his fellow soldiers of the 84th Regiment with a resounding shout. They found it was Private Murphy of their regiment, and his companions were Lieutenants Delafosse and Thompson of the 53rd BNI, and Private Sullivan (1st Madras Fusiliers), the last survivors of Satichaura Ghat and the ill-fated Cawnpore garrison. They had been, since the fateful month of June, at Moorar Mhow under the care of Raja Dirigbijah Singh. Their whereabouts had not been a secret, at least not to the Indians – during their long stay, they had been frequently visited by men of the 56th and the 53rd NI who spoke freely with them of the state of affairs in Oudh and beyond. Some of the stories Thomson heard from the men he had once commanded were fantastical. It was said that Nana Sahib had sent a sowar on a camel to Russia to bring reinforcements from that erstwhile land; then, with the aid of the northern folk, he would conquer India. He would then board a ship and sail to England, which would, after no resistance, capitulate to the Nana’s will. When Thomson said,
“Why, you Brahmins will not go to sea, will you?”
“Oh yes, ” the men replied, “only we shall not cook upon the voyage.”
They further believed the Russians were all Mohammedans and were coming in great force to save their brethren from the yoke of English rule. Not only were the Russians coming, but so was Prophecy- the pundits had said English rule would only last 100 years, and this, the centenary of the Battle of Plassey, would see them all run into the sea.
Only three times during their stay were they menaced by the Nana, who demanded the Raja surrender his guests to him – the final time, the order was brought by a sowar of the 2nd Cavalry and a few sepoys of the 56th who were less interested in the heads of the officers than in knowing how they managed to escape.
Each time, the Raja let the Nana know that he was a tributary of the King of Oudh – he recognised no Nana, no Peshwa and no Bithur Court. Attack him if he might, but the four men would remain under his protection.
As for news outside of Oudh, it was not only scarce but misleading. One day, Thomson was told the Maachi Bawan at Lucknow had been blown up with 200 Europeans in it; on another, the Punjab was lost, then Madras, and then Bombay. 100,000 Sikhs were said to be marching on Oudh to “exterminate the English.” For all Thomson and the others knew, they might soon be the last Englishmen in India, that is, until the Raja himself informed them a steamer had been seen, going up the Ganges towards Cawnpore. They were sailing ahead of Sir Henry Havelock, scouting the river – and for the first time, the Raja was worried. There had been other tales, of the cruelty of the English and their all too blatant disregard for Indians they met on the line of march. They might be led to believe that he was in fact holding the men prisoner – as such, for their sake as much as his own, he sent them off to a small hamlet close to the river, where they would be kept under close guard until it was safe to convey them back to the British. After only a week, and with no other steamers sighted, the Raja arranged for them to be given over to the care of a friendly zamindar closer to Fatehpur, who had been instructed to bring them, when possible, to the nearest English camp. So it was the Olphert brought with him to Cawnpore, the only survivors of the ill-fated station; four men who, despite their personal stories, all reported to Havelock, ready to take up the fight where they had left off. Unfortunately, Private Sullivan succumbed to the old scourge of cholera barely 2 weeks later, dying in the same station where he had nearly met his death 2 months earlier. Thomson, Delafosse and Murphy would join Havelock’s force.