In the Bihar State Archives are various documents pertaining to the mutiny in the district. They range from court proceedings to reports and letters. Among the latter was a handwritten report written by Hewald Wake to William Tayler following the Siege of Arrah.
The letter is transcribed here in full.
From
A. C. Wake Esq
Magt. of Shahabad
To
W. Tayler Esq.
Commissioner of the Patna Division
Sir,
I have the honor to forward for the information of his honor the Lieut. Governor the following narrative of our extraordinary defence and providential escape. On the evening of Saturday July the 25th I received an express from Dinapore warning us that a disturbance was apprehended on that day, but giving us no other information. On the morning July the 26th a sowar whom I had posted at Koelwar ghat on the Soane came in and reported that numbers of Sepoys had crossed and that more were crossing.
I found that Mr Palin the Railway Engr. stationed at Koelwar had contented himself with sending over for the boats to the Arrah side the night before but when leaving had failed to destroy them as he had promised to do. The police I imagine bolted at the first alarm.
All efforts to ascertain the amounts of the force of the rebels were unavailing, and the police left the City on Sunday the 26th. Thinking it highly unadvisable to abandon the Station when the rebels might be few and having 50 Sikhs on the spot & finding the rest of the Officers of the Station of the same opinion and the few residents in the district who had come in to us willing to remain we on the night of Sunday the 26th went into a small bungalow previously fortified as much as possible by
by Mr. Boyle the District Engineer of the Railway Comp.
Our force consisted of 1 Jemadar, 2 Havildars, 2 Naiks, 45 privates, a Bhustie and cook of Captn Rattrays Sikh police battalion. Mr. Littledale Judge, Mr. Combe Offg. Collector, Mr. Wake Magistrate, Mr. Colvin Assistant, Dr. Halls Civil Ast surgeon, Mr. Field Sub Depy. Opium Agent, Mr. Anderson his Assistant, Mr. Boyle District Engineer to the Railway Company, Syed Azimooddeen Husein Depy. Collector, Mr. D’Oyley Moonsiff, Mr. Godfrey School Master, Mr. Cock Offg Head Clerk of the Collectorate, Mr. Tait Asst to Mr. Boyle, Messr. Delpeirou & Hoyle Railway Inspectors and Mr. De Souza.
We had enough stock of grain for some days of short Allowance and a good deal of water for ourselves but owing to the shortness of our notice nothing but the barest necessaries could be brought in and the Sikhs had only a few days water; but as we expected the rebels to be followed up immediately we had not much anxiety on that score.
On Monday the 27th of July about 8 A.M. the insurgent Sepoys the whole of the 7th 8th and 40th N. I. arrived in the station and having first released the prisoners rushed to the Collectorate where they were at once joined by the Nujeebs and looted the treasure amounting to Rs. 85,000; this did not take long and they then charged our Bungalow from every side but being met with a steady & well directed fire they changed their tactics and hiding behind the trees with which the compound is filled and occupying the outhouses and Mr Boyles residence which was unfortunately within 60 Yards of our fortification they kept up an incessant and galling fire on us during the whole day. They were joined by numbers of “Koor Sings”
“Koor Sings” men and the Sepoys repeatedly declared that they were acting under his express orders and after a short time he was seen on the parade and remained during the siege. Every endeavour was made by the rebels to induce the Sikhs to abandon us heavy bribes were offered to them and their own countrymen employed as mediators. They treated every offer with derision shewing perfect obedience and discipline
On the 28th 2 small cannons were brought to play upon our Bungalow one throwing 4 lbs shot and these were daily shifted to spots the rebels thought to be our weakest spots, finally the largest was placed on the roof of Mr Boyles dwelling house, completely commanding the inside of our bungalow and the smaller behind it at a distance of 20 Yards. Nothing but cowardice & want of unanimity and only the ignorance of our enemies prevented our fortification being brought down about our ears.
During the entire siege which lasted 7 days every possible stratagem was practiced against us. The cannons were fired as frequently as they could prepare shot with which they were at first unprovided and incessant assaults were made upon the Bungalow: not only did our Sikhs behave with perfect coolness and patience, but their untiring labor met & prevented every threatened disaster. Water began to run short & a well 18 feet by 4 was dug in less than 12 hours. The rebels raised barricades on the top of the opposite house, our own grew in the same proportion: a shot shook a weak place in our defense, the place was made twice as strong as before. We began to feel the want of animal food and short allowance of grain. A sally was made at night and 4 sheep brought in & finally when
we ascertained beyond a doubt that the enemy were undermining us, a countermine was quickly dug.
On the 30th the troops sent to our relief from Dinapore were attacked and beaten back close to the entrance
of the town; on the next day the rebels returned & telling us that they had annihilated our relief offered the Sikhs & the women & children (of which there were none with us) their lives & liberty if they would give up
the Government officers.
August the 1st we were all offered our lives & leave to go to Calcutta if we would give up our arms. On the 2nd the greater part of the Sepoys went out to meet Major Eyre’s Field force & on their being soundly thrashed the rest of them deserted the station and that night we went out & found their mine had reached our foundations and a canvas tube filled with Powder was lying handy to blow us up in which however I do not think they could have succeeded as their powder was bad and neither stroke of the pick would have broken into our countermine we also brought in the one gun which they had left on the top of the opposite house; during the whole siege only one man a Sikh was severely wounded, though 2 or 3 got scratches and blows from splinters of bricks. Everybody in our garrison behaved well but I should be neglecting a duty did I omit to mention specially Mr Boyle to whose Engineering skill & untiring exertions we in a great measure owe our preservation & Mr Colvin who rendered the most valuable assistance & who noted neither night nor day & took on himself far more than his share of every disagreeable duty. In conclusion I must earnestly beg that
his honor the Lieut. Govr. will signally reward the whole of our gallant little detachment of Sikhs whose service & fidelity cannot be overrated. The Jemadar should at once be made a Soubadar & many of the rest are fit for promotion of whom asymmetric I will submit a list with details.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most Obedt Servt
H. C. Wake
Sources:
Bihar State Archives – unfortunately, the sub-site “Independence Day” is currently down but while it was accessible, the documents were available as Webcopys with no attached copyright. With any luck, the site will be up and running again in the future.
https://archives.bihar.gov.in/independenceday
Mutiny Reflections 