The Barrackpore Plots…

The 2nd BNI, to whom Hearsey was addressing his remarks, had been causing untold mischief; their concerns were not just with objectionable fat, but they were complaining loudly that the paper being used to make up the cartridges at Barrackpore looked different, something we have explored at length in Rumours and Cartridges. The issue had been taken seriously — enough so that special instructions were issued by Hearsey to address it. He ordered the officers commanding regiments at Barrackpore to explain to their men just how the cartridges were produced. One officer, Captain Boswell, commanding the left wing of the 2nd Grenadiers, left an account of their parade.

“I took the cartridges into the ranks, and showed them to the men (having one broken open), and upon my asking several of the men, here and there in the ranks, if they could see anything objectionable in them, their reply, made in the most civil but soldier-like manner, was, that the paper was not same as that used for the old cartridges, and that they thought there was something in it.” Boswell took their answers to heart and requested that the old paper be supplied instead. However, the concern was enough for a Special Court of Inquiry to be held on 6 February to investigate the matter further. All nine witnesses from the 2nd Grenadier Regiment objected to the paper, one helpfully suggested it should be replaced for the old paper, another claimed he would not use it because his comrades would not, another had only heard it smelled like grease when it was burned, Havildar Major Ajoodiah Singh said he himself had no prejudice, but would not bite the cartridge as his men would object to it, while Jemadar Wazir Khan objected “in consequence of the suspicion which exists generally in the cantonment.”

The board closed without drawing any conclusions, but recommended the paper be exchanged for any that the sepoys would not find objectionable. Meanwhile, two depositions taken after Hearsey held his parade on 9 February should have sent up at least a few red flags.

Deposition of a Jemadar of the 31th Regiment Native Infantry, taken at Barrackpore on the 10th day of February, 1857, in presence of Brigadier C. Grant, C.B., Commanding at Barrackpore; Colonel S. G.
Wheler, commanding 34th Regiment Native Infantry; Captain C. C. Drury, 8th Company 34th Regiment Native Infantry; Lieutenant B. H. Baugh, Adjutant, 34th Regiment Native Infantry; Interpreter, Lieutenant Corbett, 43rd Regiment, Native Infantry.

Jemadar — solemnly affirmed , states as follows:

On the night of the 5th instant, February 1857, soon after 8 o’clock roll-call, two or three men, sepoys, came to me, and made me accompany them to the parade-ground, where I found a great crowd assembled, composed, to the best of my belief, of the men of the different regiments at this station. They had their heads tied up with cloths, having only a small part of the face exposed. They asked me to join them; and I asked them what I was to join them in. They replied, that they were willing to die for their religion, and that, if they could make an arrangement that evening, the next night (February 6, 1857) they would plunder the station and kill all the Europeans, and then go where they liked. I told them they had better go to their lines, and explained to them that if they did anything of this kind they would not get such good masters in future. I went away after this, and the crowd dispersed.

Q. How many men do you suppose were assembled ? — A. About 300.
Q. Did you recognise anybody in the crowd ? — A. The two men who took me away were sepoys.
Q. Were there any non-commissioned officers, or commissioned native officers, in the crowd ? — A. I cannot say ; they all had their heads so tied up that I could not recognise any,
Q. How long were you with the crowd before they dispersed ? — A. About a quarter to half-an-hour.
Q. What arrangements were made with regard to killing the Europeans and the plunder of the station ?
— A. Nothing further than that if they could settle anything that night, then the affair was to come off on the ensuing night, February 6, 1857.
Q. Did you recognise the voices of any of the speakers in the crowd ? — A. I think I recognised that of Mookta Persaud Pandie, Drill Havildar, 34th Regiment Native Infantry.
Q. What prevented the proposed assembly taking place on the night of the 6th February, 1857? — A. I don’t know.
Q. Has any similar meeting taken place since the 5th instant, or do you know if any such is contemplated by the men ? — A. There has been none since, nor do I know if any meeting is contemplated
Q. You say you recognised the voice of the Drill Havildar, 34th Regiment; can you state anything that he said ?— A. No, I cannot.
Q. Are you aware of any particular regiment that takes the lead in these disturbances ? — A. No, I think they are all equally implicated.
Q. Do you know how the late fires in the station originated, and whether they were the work of sepoys, or others ? — A. I do not know ; I was only relieved from fort-duty on the 3rd February.

The above deposition was taken in presence of us, the 10th day of February, 1857.

C. GRANT, Brigadier, Commanding at Barrackpore.
S. G. WHELER, Colonel, Commanding 34th Regiment Native Infantry.
CHAS. C. DRURY, Captain, in charge of No. 8 Company 34th Regiment Native Infantry.
B. H. BAUGH, Lieutenant, Adjutant 34th Regiment Native Infantry.
A. F. CORBETT, Lieutenant, 43rd Regiment Light Infantry, Interpreter

Examination of a Sepoy of the 8th Company, 34th Regiment Native Infantry

Question. Are you aware that a meeting of the Sepoys of the different regiments at this station was held on Thursday, the 5th instant.— Answer and statement:

Yes, there was; but I only heard of the assembly next day, and cannot state with certainty what took place then. I only know that a second meeting was arranged for the following night (Friday), at which I heard that the sepoys intended taking an oath ,and arranging what their future proceedings were to be. I understood that delegates or representatives, from each of the four regiments at Barrackpore, were to attend on this occasion ; this is all I know on the subject of the first meeting, but I considered it my duty to go to the officer in charge of my company, and whom I knew well, having been in the habit of writing for him for several years, and whom I believed to have confidence in me. I waited till evening on Friday before I gave the information, as I was anxious to be quite certain that the second meeting was to take place, and having ascertained that it actually was to be at the time appointed, I then proceeded to the quarters of Lieutenant Allen, the officer in question, and imparted the information to him, at the same time begging that if he doubted me he would go himself to the appointed place between 8 and 9 o’clock , when he would be sure to perceive some assembly or meeting going on. I returned to the lines of my regiment, and shortly afterwards at 8 o’clock , roll-call was held as usual, when all were present; but on their names having been answered, and between 8 and 9 o’clock, the men began to proceed to the place of assembly; this I saw with my own eyes and forthwith returned to Lieutenant Allen’s quarters to tell of it, and suggest his proceeding to the place indicated at once; Lieutenant Allen was not in his house, but returned in a short time, when I mentioned these circumstances to him , and I then went back again to the lines; shortly afterwards the roll was called ,when all were found present in their lines. I am convinced the reason of there being no assembly that night was owing to a suspicion having gone abroad among the men of the different regiments that their intentions had been discovered, and that, consequently, it would be both unadvisable and dangerous for them to meet together that night; but if Lieutenant Allen had been to go to the parade-ground, near the magazine, about 9 o’clock, he must have seen some sepoys about the place, either going or returning. I do not think that the calling of the roll about 10 p.m. had any effect in preventing their assembling , as their intention was abandoned for that night on their becoming aware that news of the affair had got abroad, and come to the knowledge of the authorities. The various orderlies or sepoys of the different guards about cantonments could easily have sent information to the different lines that something was going on connected with their intended proceedings.

The foregoing statement has been written down by me from the sepoy’s own mouth, and on being read over to him , he declared that it was what he meant to state, and that it was not in his power to give any more information on the subject of these meetings, nor could he mention the names of any of those concerned ; at least, if he did, he would not reveal them , saying, and truly, that though he had his suspicions, it would be impossible for him to bring direct proof, as all concerned would combine together against him , and a single man’s evidence would be worthless in such a case. Thave no doubt of the correctness generally of this sepoy’s revelations, as I have always found him a respectable, well-behaved man , and also whose word may be relied on as far as my knowledge of him goes.

A. STEWART ALLEN, Lieutenant, 34th Regiment Native Infantry.
S. G. WHELER, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding 34th Regiment Native Infantry.
Barrackpore, February 11 , 1857.

There was little Hearsey could do. He could not prosecute the men solely based on what the Jemadar had stated, as it would be no more than hearsay; nor could he proceed on the statement of the sepoy who recognised no one. All he could do was hope that he would catch someone red-handed as the statements continued to come. A native doctor claimed he overheard a sepoy of the 2nd Grenadiers talking to someone at the hospital that a messenger had been sent to the 19th BNI at Berhampore and to the regiments at Dinapore, informing them that twelve sepoys had made up their minds to revolt and they wanted their support. However, he neither remembered when he had heard the conversation, nor who the speaker was, but at least in this case, a telegraph was sent to Berhampore and Dinapore informing the station commanders to arrest the messenger and trace the letter. However, neither was found. On 27 February, the 19th BNI mutinied, and for the next few weeks, a Court of Inquiry sat to decide the regiment’s fate, keeping Hearsey busy. Then on 29 March 1857, one lone sepoy at Barrackpore decided to start a mutiny of his own. The fizzling powder keg Hearsey feared had blown up.