Arrah in June and July
While Herwald Wake and the official civilians insisted they would remain in Arrah, come what may, the others, comprising of planters, railway men and other non-official civilians contended they would prefer to form themselves into a cavalry corps, a grand idea when none of them were actually able to ride with any proficiency to fight on horseback.
“Their opponents, on the other hand, suggested, with some show of reason, the possibility that the horses might not stand fire; that the unpractised cavaliers might do them or themselves a mischief with their own swords or that if, during the anticipated flight or skirmish, an unfortunate fell from his horse, there would be considerable difficulty to pick him up again. These cavaliers, however, it must be confessed, had not been accustomed to riding across the country; their arguments, therefore, were treated with becoming contempt by the equestrian majority. In short, nothing was determined.”
Of the men assembled at Arrah on that day, only one, Mr. Cock volunteered to stay. The rest of the non-officials (except two) remained; they followed the women and children, “made the best of their way, some by boat, some on horseback, to Dinapore, carrying with them a formidable battery of double-barrelled guns and revolvers, and leaving the party at Arrah reduced to eight men, who afterwards took up their abode together at the Judge’s house.”
These eight were Mr. Littledale, the judge; Mr. Coombe, the officiating collector; Mr. Wake, the magistrate; Mr. Halls, the civil surgeon; Mr.Colvin, the assistant magistrate; Mr. Field, the sub-deputy opium agent; with Messrs. Kelly and Tait, of the Civil Engineers. The last two chose to stay as volunteers. They were then reinforced by Mr Boyle, the resident railway engineer who had escorted the families to Dinapore and returned to Arrah on the 11th of June, and Mr Armstrong, assistant sub-deputy opium agent who had come down from Patna. Armstrong would be ordered by the Government back to Patna, and in his place came Mr Anderson. Mr Kelly, too, was called away to do his duties as a railway engineer and was unable to find a way back to Arrah.
For the next six weeks, this band of men, sometimes eight in number and never more than ten, managed to hold Arrah from rising. They actively worked to keep anarchy at bay, even managing to keep the prisoners in jail while contending with an increasingly hostile jail guard. Mr Wake headed the operation, establishing a secure and quick communication between Arrah and Dinapore and with Buxar. To do this, he set up ekkas with horses at different parts of the road, a veritable pass-the-message service that exceeded even the efficiency of the regular dak.
At his insistence, public business carried on as usual during the day, calmly and regularly, thus reassuring the people of Arrah that the sahibs were very much present. At night, an increased force of native policemen, chowkidars and volunteer Europeans patrolled the streets, divided into four watches of two hours each “…commencing at nine o’clock p.m., when two of the party, armed and mounted, went over all parts of the town and about three miles of the Dinapore road; a fresh pair relieved these at eleven p.m., and so on till five a.m., the first couple having frequently to take the last watch in addition to their own; besides this arrangement, one or another kept watch in the house throughout the night…”
In a letter to his wife at Dinapore, one the men wrote on the 11th of June:
*Here we are all right and very comfortable! Wake’s arrangements are perfect. We get information from all sides. The Sikhs (sent from Patna for the treasure) came in this morning, and we knew of their approach many hours before their arrival. Littledale is most kind and hospitable.
We have horse patrols throughout the night. I myself, not being an equestrian, promenaded round the station on foot, visiting the collectorate and jail. The table in what was the billiard room bristles with weapons of all descriptions. We had a merry dinner yesterday; your letter (the first news), telling of the safe arrival of you all at Dinapore, tended much to promote our comfort. What a night you must have had of it in that abominable boat!
Boyle came in this evening. I always expected him back. The town is quiet, the Mahajuns in a stew, and the population generally in a state of excessive curiosity, crowds staring into the Compound when the gates are open. Fifteen or twenty horses are tethered to trees and bamboos in the said enclosure so that there is some life in the scene.”
The Sikhs were of Rattray’s regiment and had been sent by Tayler, who, with his usual foresight, realised early that should Arrah be attacked, no matter how optimistic Wake sounded, the little band of men did not stand a chance. Fifty of the Sikhs stayed behind while the rest returned to Patna with the bulk of the Arrah treasury. On the 17th of June, a house was chosen to serve, in case of an attack, as a place of defence. This was none other than the billiard room. Situated 60 yards from Mr Boyles’ house, it was not picked by chance but by consideration. Two-storied and flat-roofed, it was a small building admirably built and perfectly defensible after Mr Boyle had completely remodelled it. He constructed new walls of stone to withstand musket bullets, the low arches except one which would serve as a loophole, were bricked up, while on the upper floor, Boyle directed the construction of “a sort of breastwork was formed, upon which numerous sandbags were placed, having intervals left between them for the guns of the besieged.” He then provisioned the building with rice, grain, biscuits and a small quantity of beer and brandy. It was an imperfect fortification, but they never thought they would actually have to defend it.
News continued to arrive in Arrah – the murder of Sir Norman Leslie in the Santhal Parganas was swiftly followed by reports of the mutinies in Neemuch, Peshawar, Shahjahanganj, Fatehpur and Sultanpur. Then came the news of the annihilation of the Cawnpore garrison. The ladies and children from Fyzabad descended on Dinapore with their own tales of horror, while the death of Tucker was much lamented. They listened in horror as the tale of Lyell’s death at Patna was related until finally the news they had been dreading, finally arrived in the form of a note from Dinapore.
The hopes of Arrah now lay squarely with General Lloyd – surely in the event of an uprising, the mutineers would not only be hotly pursued but the crossing at the River Son would be secured by Mr Palin – he had after all promised to take care of the boats. We have already seen, in the previous chapter what happened in Dinapore and the less said about Mr Palin perhaps the better.
The 26th of July
As reports came into Arrah of the crossing of the sepoys, it quickly became apparent that Wake’s efficient message system was in tatters; the messengers had been fired upon by the mutineers and had, in the face of death, run away. Around 10 in the morning, Messrs Delpeiroux and Hoyle, two railway inspectors who lived on the Arrah side of the Son, together with another man, came riding into the Littledale’s compound with a tale of their own. The sepoys were well and truly coming to Arrah – they had burned the engineer bungalows on their way and destroyed the railway works; the inspectors had had just enough time to mount their horses and flee. It was decided the time had come to test Boyle’s fortification in earnest.
Accordingly, the men met at Boyle’s house and, for a few brief moments, turned their attentions to their loved ones, writing what they expected would be their last letters, which they hoped would one day be read. Boyle sent a few extra provisions to the house, including, of all things, 5 dozen cases of port and sherry, belonging to the doctor. The Sikhs took in a supply of water for their own use, and the men prepared to occupy the little fort.
They were somewhat surprised when suddenly standing in the judges’ compound were three European women with their children who had rather injudiciously left Dinapore to rejoin their husbands at Arrah! Wake and Littledale were having nothing of the sort – they quickly organised palankeens to send the women back to the boats they had come from and hastened them on to Dinapore. Arrah was not a place for women. However, a few more welcome reinforcements did make their appearance.
“The Europeans and Sikhs were joined at Mr. Boyle’s by Mr. Cock and Messrs. Godfrey and Da Costa, and by Syed Azimoodeen Hossein, a Mussulman gentleman, the deputy collector of Arrah, who, with a rare fidelity, resolved to enter the fort with the Europeans; a young boy, his servant, refused to leave him, and together with another native (Mr. Anderson’s bearer) was afterwards most useful in cooking such provisions as the besieged could command, and in general attendance upon all.”
This brought up their number to 68. They entered the house and bricked themselves in.
Mutiny Reflections 
Fascinating. I must come back to read at leisure. My family lived in India for two centuries. Since the mid-1700’s to mid 20th century. My little sister and I were the last born there. On the Pakistan side, after the partition. Most of my ancestors were indigo planters. My great-grandfather worked for Scindia in Gwalior, after the Mutiny.
Thanks for your posts. I will be back.
Brian
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Thank you Brian!
I have a few posts about Gwalior and Scindia though it isn’t quite finished – I hope you find it interesting.
That is fascinating about your family! If there is anything you would like to share to my site in regards to your family, that would be thrilling. The site started originally to examine the people of the Indian Mutiny, it has however morphed into something rather larger than I expected. I try to find my way back to the original intent when I can; there is just so much history!
Indigo features quite often in the history of the Indian Mutiny. The planters were men made of quite stern stuff! They deserve a history of their own. I just finished reading the history of indigo factories in Bihar, very fascinating.
Thank you again and I hope you continue to find my writing interesting!
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Pleasure Eva. My great-grandmother was a Goutière. A family of Indigo planters near Calcutta. One of her nieces was Chritine Weston, née Goutière, born in India. She later became an American writer. Two of her novels, Indigo, and The Hoopoe are based on her childhood memories. I have all her books because though a generation “older”, she and her siblings were contemporaries of my father’s. Books might be available on Amazon though.
My father wrote a quite extensive family history, but it is inFrench. As strange as it may sound, we are French. I’ve been slowly translating the history into English, but I haven’t reached the India part yet. I will let you know.
And I will definitely come back to your Gwalior and Scindia posts and others…
🙏🏻
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That is fascinating! Out of curiousity, I quickly searched Goutière in FIBIS (Families In British India Society) and I came up with quite a few names in the basic search, Births, Deaths and Marriages in Azimghar, Gorrackpur, Dinapore and Benares, Beoree Factory Gorruckpore, Chandernagore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Unao…basically all over northern India and and Indian Army Reserve Officer, serving in 1918 in the
2-69th Punjabis, Delhi who had previously served with the 4th Dragoon Guards, Jan-Mar 1916. FIBIS records are most 19th and early 20th century. It is wonderful to find a family with French roots in India – it is not a widely researched and deserves more attention!
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Fascinating back. Thanks for the tip about FIBIS. My father did his research in the 70’s and 80’s. No Internet then. All written sources.
The French roots come from the French “counters” in India that we kept after Dupleix “lost” India to the Brits… Our “Indian” roots go back to Chandernagor. My Goutière great-gradnmother married a French Gentleman named Henri-Felix Onraet. The one who worked for Scindia. He was “Sarsubar”, chief of police or something like that. (I think the English liked to have “Europeans at key positions with the Indian princes after the Mutiny. His son Franck Onraet was later “head of hunts” for Scindia. He appears on several photos with the Prince of Wales (Later George V) on a tiger hunt.
The Onraets go back to Chandernagor where arrived during the French Revolution and married a Marie-Rose de Solminhac de Chaunes whose father, I believe, was Captain of the port of Pondichéry… (Can’t remember the current name of the city…)
I will definitely look up FIBIS. Thank you.
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Very interesting! The British liked having their people in princely courts even before the mutiny, they were called Residents. In the case of Scindia of Gwalior, they were also European officers present in the Gwalior Contingent and often Europeans, many French for that matter were found to be in the employ of princely states as private officers. There is even a case of some beheadings for refusing to fight against the British in the Maharatta Wars.
Another family who were in the employ of the Oudh court for generations were the Orr family, the last being Alexander Orr. Their father and grandfather had been employed in various positions in the Oudh court, from the military to librarians until the annexation in 1856.
Keeping Europeans in the princely courts carried on in a greater or lesser degree until independence in 1947 and the posts were coveted for many reasons, besides being an ideal jumping board for higher political positions.
All this information from you is really making me more and more curious about the French in India. There were in all 5 French colonies in India Pondicherry, Karaikal in Tamil Nadu and Yanaon in Andhra Pradesh on the Coromandel Coast, Mahe in Kerala on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagore in West Bengal. A wealth of history to be explored!
If you like I can look through my books and see if I have anything more detailed regarding Scindia’s court, indigo factories and French India?
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Beheadings? Hmmm. Those were dangerous times. I know my father wrote about the mutiny based on books and other sources he had access to.
I will see wether there is any reference to Mr. Orr in his writings.
My great-grandfather, Henry-Felix Onraet and all his family survived the Mutiny because they lived around Calcutta maybe? Again I have to look.
Henry-Felix was Scindia’s “sarsubar” whatever that means. I understand he fought and defeated the Dacoïts in Gwalior.
And yes, there were 5 counters in India. A lot of history to explore. Interestingly, in the case of my family they remained French. Signing up the children at Chandernagor every few years. Though the last generation had double nationality. (And were bilingual). My great-uncle René Onraët was born in Agra and eventually moved to Singapore, where he became Chief of Special Branch before WWII.
If you have time, and documents on Scindia, that would be lovely. There were many photos of the court in the family but the last cousin who had them died and I don’t know where those pictures are. What a loss.
I need to gather some material to send you.
I shall. In due time.
‘Best
Brian
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I have found some traces of the Onraet family in Bihar as well – it was a district well known for indigo and for opium; I don’t know if Narainpore factory which was in or around Bhagalpur and was the abode of a P.T. Onraet in 1837 would be familiar? According to the history of the Bihar Indigo factories, there were some 300 people in Bihar directly involved with indigo in 1857 so it was fairly full of planters and their families.
Besides the occaisional panic Calcutta remained untouched by the mutiny directly and Chandernagore does not feature in any particular way unless one includes the dealings of one Mr La Font who was looking for a way to gain support of Nana Sahib of Kanpur infamy to help him overthrow the British! Nothing came of that, especially when the French realised that the overthrow of the British would very likely mean their own demise shortly after. In Calcutta the French merchants were among the first to send their offer of arming volunteers and putting them at the disposal of Canning’s goverment. They and all the others (Americans, Germans, Armenians. Italians..) were refused until Canning had no choice but to finally to accept their offers.
I also found an puzzling entry in FIBIS which reads: P. Onraet, 1797, District of Residence: Zillah of Nuddea, Place of Residence: Neemtollah, Employment: Iindigo Planter, Year Arrive India:1797, Authority to reside: Captured in a Ship. At the time of the entry he had been in the district 1 year. I am not sure what the captured in a ship is all about!
https://fibis.ourarchives.online/bin/aps_detail.php?id=930568
I even found an Onraet in my old home of Dhaka, Bangladesh. When I return to India next year, I shall certainly keep an eye out for all the surnames on your family tree when I go through the graveyards on my rather long list of places to visit!
I will send what I an about Gwalior as soon as I can. Best wishes, Eva
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Hi Eva, thank you so much for spending the time.
P.T. Onraet would be Pierre-Thomas, my great-great grandfather. I will check next week my father’s notes on him. I seem to remember very little is known about him.
And P. Onraet was his father. He’s the one who sailed to India from France during the French Revolution. Though according to our records, he arrived in 1794… I’ll look your link up. “Captured in a ship”. The story my grandmother told was that they were two brothers who were set prisonners by the English on a pontoon, if you remember those demasted ships the English used on the Channel during the Napoleonic wars. But my parents’ research sort of contradicted that family story. Maybe he sailed on a French ship to Chandernagor and was captured on arrival? I know there was frequent squabble between the English and the French at Chandernagor, so maybe it was one of those.
And aas for an Onraet in Dacca it’s possible. My great-grandfather had several brothers. One ran a steamer on the Hooglie. The others I don’t know. One may possibly have “moved” to Dacca. (That was the old spelling of Dhaka, right? I get confused with Mumbay, Kolkatta and others…)
Cheers
Brian
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You are most welcome! I find family stories fascinating and sometimes I can get quite stuck in histories. Yours is very interesting, and I am sure there is so much to find out. FIBIS is a good place to start. All the data is transribed by volunteers, I still do a bit on there from time to time and the people there are very helpful especially when it comes to deeper research. I have never used this site: http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/anom/fr/ but apparently it has a searchable section on French overseas territories.
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Volunteers? You don’t say? Maybe that’s why 1794 came out as 1797? I have to check my father’s sources…
And you volunteer too? Compliments.
I’ll check your link to the Archives in “Frog”.
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Just been there. As a typical public French site it might be a bit complicated… I need to spend a little time finding my way around. Thanks for the tip anyway.
have a great week… 🙏🏻
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Just went to your link. That Fibis is quite amazing. My parents would have been delighted to have such tools at hand. Thanks for the tip.
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