1857." HEROES OF THE MUTINY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 09, 11 January 1908, Page 12

1857." HEROES OF THE MUTINY.

INDIAN VETERANS HONOURED. | At the jubilee of Hodson's Horse at Lahore, Colonel Cowper led th© inarch past and saluted its jiative retired veterans. Thie evoked a spontaneous demonstration of loyalty oil the part of tog pative soldiers. A native officer was cheered enthusiastically when he solemnly declared that the native sbldiera had not participated in the recent unrest, and that — they abominated all sedition-mon-gers. — Cable message. "HODSON— OF HODSON'S HORSE." DEEDS BEFORE DELHI. STIRRJNG TALE RETOLD. Colin Campbell, Lawrence, Havelock, Nicholson, Neill — and Hodson. Names (says the Sydney Telegraph) that will live in "history with those of men who fought before, and have fought since, the terrible days of the mutiny. Names that half a century ago were on the tips of the tongues of the people of the old Home Land, beloved and honoured, and were mixed with the curses and the fears of the rebellious enemy in the distant Eastern land. * And Hodson— "Hodson, of Hodson's Horse" — the man whose memory has now been so conspicuously honoured, and the honouring of whose corps has brought forth renewed expressions of loyalty from Indian subjects of the Emperor— what of hjm? Histories of thp mutiny are full of reference to him; always* as plain "Hodson." Oue has to turn up records to find that he wns Lieutenant Hodson, and that his famous command consisted of irregular cavalry — two squadrons — mostly Ijjiikhs and 6oorkhas. 'He had ifeen "under a cloud, and under the censure of .the Commander-in-Chief, but we are told how the crisis of the mutiny had naturally given to the most daring horseman and most brilliant light cavalry leader in India the great opportunity, and from that opportunity Jig won a place in the records of his time. It was befoTe Delhi that ho was first conspicuously a figure in the fight against the rebellious patives. He had been with the Guides, but, leaving them, reached the invested city ahead of them, and was there when they, detached from Lawrence's frontier force, came into camp after rputing the Sepoys. In the camp they found Hodson, and what happened explains graphically the man, and his character as a leader, for the Guides crowded round him with wild gesticulations and deep voiced, guttural shouts; and he himself wrote how "they seized my bridje, my dress, my hands, and feet, and literally threw themselves down before the horse with tears streaming down their'faces.' 1 When troops do that sort of thing tcith a leader that leader is a, man of the right quality — a Hodson. "He Was tall, fair-haired, with, bloodless complexion, heavy curved moustache, and keen, alerii and 'unforgiving' eyes>. . . A brilliant swordsman, of iron nerve, and, courage as steadfast as the blade of hia own sword." Truly a born leader, he was always making light of what he did, and, outsjde Delhi, upon an occasion that the present Earl Roberts describes as having been for a dozen minutes a deadly hand-to-hand encounter," Hodson called '"a very comfortable little affair." And another character sketch of the man, and the native troops behind him, was afforded during the assault on Delhi, when the etory goes that ; "The cavalry could not charge, for this would bring them under the fire of the walls ; they would not withdraw, for this would uncover the camp. They could only sit grimly in their saddles and hold back the enemy by the menace of their presence, while men and horses went down unceasingly under the sleet of fire which broke over them." Ilodson reported that "For more than two hours wo had to sit on our horses Hinder the heaviest fire, without the -vchanco of doing anything. My young regiment behaved admirably, as did all hands. The slaughter was great." And another officer wroto that "Hodson sat like a man carved in stone, apparently as unconscious as the sentries at the Horse Guards, and only by his eyes and his ready hand, whenever occasion offered, could you have told that he ■was id deadly peril ; a.Ti<3 the balls flying among us as thick as hail." But the true command that Hodson had over his native followers, his immense personality in the face of hos-' tile surroundings, his indomnitablo pluck, quick, determination, and unflinching resolve was best shorfn. When the King of Delhi, finding flight impossible, sought refuge in a cluster of buildings known as Humazon's Tomb, seven miles oufc of Delhi, it was Hodson who extracted — "extracted" is the historian's word — permission to attempt the capture of the monarch. He took with him fifty nicked men of his regiment, and started on one of the most audacious expeditions ever undertaken. When they came to the gate of the Tomb he demanded the surrender of the King, and while the mebsengers passed to and fro he— lhe one white man among a host of natives — sat quietly in his saddle, determined to secure hia prisoner or perish. The King gave himself up, and the solitary Englishman led his prisoner to the city, followed by thousands of wondering natives Next came the capture of the three Princes, two sons, and a grandson of the King. They were men of evil faint, and with several thousands of followers had occupied Humazon's Tomb after the King s capture. Hodson sent for 100 men pf his regiment, and rode out to take the tomb. When he demanded the surrender of the Princes they asked that • their lives be spared, but such pledge was refused, and the mutineers could be heard begging to be led out against the white leader and the infidels. "But," relates the historian again, "Hodson's audacity and iron resolve again prevailed, os they had prevailed in the case of tho King. The Princes surrendered, and with them all the armed retainers. He personally disarmed those followers — sonio 6000— -and then rode after the} Princes, who had been sent on their road to Delhi. Overtaking them, ho found them surrounded by natives, and feared he could not get I them safely through. "What shall we do with them?" she asked his lieutenant, and, q-pswering his pwn question, added, "1 think we had better shoot them here : we shall never get them in." And he shot them — taking a; carbine from one of his own troopers, and himself being the executioner, while "the shuddering crowd gazed at this tall, stern, inflexible sahib, with his flowing beard, white face, qnd deep, overmastering voice, shooting one by one thi'ir Princes — but no hand waß lifted in protcbt " ¥or this act ttod&on was widely and

generally condemned, and Lord Roberts, in his records, says that his feeling "is one of sorrow that such a brilliant soldier should have laid himself open to so much adverse criticism." But these men had murdered, mained, and tortured white prisoners, they had donb much that was brutal and unforgivable, and Hodson himself wiote, after the event : "I made up my mind at tho time to be abused. . . . These have not been, and are not, times when a man who would serve his country dare hesitate as to tho personal consequences to himself of ' what ho thinks tis duty " ''The outrages which accompanied the mutiny had," says Fitchett, "kindled his fierce nature into a flame." M'Dowell, who was 'Hodson's second in command, wrote of the death of the Princes that "so ended tho career of the chiefs of the revolt, and of the greatest villains that ever shamed humanity." Then, after Delhi, on to Lucknow There died "Hodson, of Hodson's Horse." They were after flying Sepoys, come of whom had hidden in a room, and Forbes-Mitchell, in his narrative, tells the rest of the story. "Hodson shouting 'Come on,' was about to rush in. I implored him not to do so, saying, 'It's certain death ; wait for tho powder ; I've sent men for powder bags ' Hodson made a step forward, and I put -out my hand to seize him by the shoulder to pull him out of the line of the doorway, when he fell back, shot through the chest. He gasped out a few words, either, 'Oh, my wife,' or 'Oh, my mother' — I cannot now rightly remember — but was immediately choked by blood " Thus died tho man whose name and memory have now, half a century later, been honoiued by. his successors, and the veterans of his command. ' When he was buried Colin Campbell himself stood by the grave, and "As the coffin of the dead soldier sank from sight, the British Commander-in-Chief burst into tears."