Newsletter #4 – From the Desk – Mutiny Reflections

Dear Readers

I admit, this has been a slow year on this site, but there was a reason, and I can finally reveal what that was – a new book.
Yes, I was putting the finishing touches on my new book, “Gallant Men.” For those of you who read Mutiny Reflections regularly will probably recognise the topics in the book, as it covers Jhelum, Arrah, Fatehpur Sikri, Indore, Kolhapur, Kumaon, Rajputana and East Bengal. The idea was to deviate from the larger campaigns and shift towards the battles and events that are too often overlooked.

I also want readers, with this book, to question who was gallant and who was a cad, masquerading as a gallant man. Did the sentiments of the sepoys in Dhaka and Chittagong justify how they were hounded out of existence? Was Durand’s persecution of Holkar justified, and who, in that particular party, was really the gallant man? Did Rattray’s Sikhs receive the recognition they deserved after Arrah? It is these nuances that are often overlooked in the British telling of the Indian mutiny.

Should the book be of interest for purchase, it is available from all the usual suspects, as always:

barnthornpublishing.co.uk/product-page/gallant-men-forgotten-battles-and-acts-of-valour-in-the-indian-mutiny

https://amazon.co.uk/dp/1917120664 – It is available on Amazon in Europe, Australia, and the USA. It is still not available as a physical book on Amazon India, but it should be available shortly as an eBook.

There will be a live chat with Barnthorn on

12th August work, 7.30pm UK time / 8:30 PM in Central European Time (CET/CEST) and 9:30 PM in Eastern European Time (EET/EEST). Unfortunately, this corresponds to midnight in India, but it will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube, yet I do hope my readers from India can make it to the live chat. These chats are fun and in the past have been most interesting – I do wish you can join, and please bring your questions.

As for Mutiny Reflections, I am currently working on a few new things – the history of Sindh, which came out a few days ago, is a precursor to the actual mutinies in Sindh. This has been something of a hair-pulling experience since no one seems to want to talk about either the history of Sindh or the mutinies. which occurred in September 1857. While the larger events of 1857 have been covered, there are still other, less prominent ones to look at.
1858 has hit a small roadblock right now, as I am undecided who to follow first; should I dash off after the Sarun Field Force again, should I stay with Hope Grant, and what on earth is Sir Colin Campbell up to? So for now, there are notes galore and books open but I have not decided on a single course of action. My excuse is that since most of the campaigning did not resume until after the rainy season of 1858, I have a few weeks still to figure out where to go.