June 11th.—Early this morning a false alarm was brought in from the Cawnpore road, that the enemy was upon us. Captain Evans, who had been sent out to gain information, returned with the above report, which created for a short period some needless alarm. We continued hard at work getting in supplies and adding to our defences. Many vague reports of disturbances were in circulation to-day.
June 12th.—On this day an instance of disaffection from within the camp occurred. The regiment of military police, commanded by CaptainOrr, mutinied in a body, rushed to their lines, seized their arms, and then set off in the direction of Cawnpore, giving themselves no time to inflict any damage in their quarter of the city. So great was their haste, that they failed to empty their own barracks, and left behind them their clothes and baggage. Information of this was given to headquarters; on which two guns of Major Kaye's battery, two companies of Her Majesty's 32nd, and some seventy Seikhs of the 1st Oude Irregular Cavalry, the whole under the command of Colonel Inglis, were despatched after them. They were pursued for some eight miles before they were come up with, and it was only by pushing on the cavalry and guns, without waiting for the slower movements of the infantry, that they were overtaken at all.
The guns opened fire as soon as practicable; they had come up well over some difficult ground, but their horses were, in consequence, so done up, that there was some difficulty in taking up the most desirable position. Once the cavalry charged well, but neither the result of their charge, nor of the practice of the artillery, was such as might havebeen expected. The enemy's loss was not exactly ascertained, but it was supposed that they had some twenty killed, and ten prisoners were brought in. Of Captain Forbes's men, two Pathans were killed on the spot; and some others, including a gallant old native officer, wounded. Mr. Thornhill, of the civil service, charging with them, was also wounded. All this time the infantry were far behind, unable to get up. A village lay to the front, in which many of the insurgents had taken refuge. Colonel Inglis forbade its bombardment, as it would have entailed much injury to innocent villagers; and the evening was, by that time, so far advanced, that the measure would probably not have sufficed to dislodge the mutineers.
About an hour remained to sunset; the guns and cavalry were a long way from the infantry, and many miles further from home. A return movement was therefore ordered, and accomplished successfully: the whole force returned about 8 o'clock, having gone over some sixteen or eighteen miles of ground.
The Europeans had marched well to the front.It was a hard day's work for them, and two men were lost from apoplexy, for the heat was dreadful.
On this day the horses of the men of the 7th Cavalry were brought down and picketed close to the Baillie Guard; as, with a very few exceptions, the 13th, 48th, and 71st Regiments of Native Infantry and 7th Cavalry had been ordered to proceed on leave till October, and their arms and accoutrements were brought down and deposited in the Residency. (Vide No. 1 in the Appendix.)