A MEMORABLE ARM ANNIVERSARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11347, 16 April 1900, Page 3

A MEMORABLE ARM ANNIVERSARY.

[BY OXF. OF THE STAFF.] Yesterday, April 15, was the anniversary of a memorable day to many •of Her Majesty's veterans, especially Her. Majesty s Highlanders, who in 1858, were sent, after, the capture of Lucknow, in pursuit of the miscreant,;Niina, who massacred- our people —men,' women, and children—at Cawripore, in 1857. ; ; We left Lucknow on April 8, marching about 10 miles a day . before sunrise, the heat being wry great after eight a.m. The column was commanded •by General Walpole, of the Rifle Brigade, and. consisted of some of the most distinguished; regiments of the British army, namely, the 9th Lancers, the 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch), the 79th Highlanders (Camerons), the 93rd Highlanders (Sutherland), a large party of artillery (including Tombs' famous troop), and several native cavalry and infantry regiments. All went well until the' morning of April 15, when we. reached Rooyah, where a native prince occupied a fort surrounded by tall bamboos. In answer to the. general's demand for immediate and unconditional surrender, the Prince said that as none of his ancestors had surrendered to anyone, lie could not do so, but that he had no intention of attacking, or in any way inconveniencing Her Majesty's troops.' Thereupon the general, despising the enemy, without waiting for his heavy guns, and without sufficiently reconnoitring the' position, sent small bodies of Highlanders and Sikhs to storm the fort. Under the mistaken idea of saving th& lives of his men, the general did ~ not send any whole regiment against the fort, though the 4th Punjab Rifles begged to be allowed to storm it, unsupported by Europeans. The driblets of Highlanders sent up to the fort suffered as the Seaforths did in December last at Magersfontein, without making any impression on the enemy. Being on the staff of the column I had a good opportunity of knowing all that was done, and j neglected to be done. Among the many gal-' lant fellows shot down like rabbits was the brigadier commanding the Highlanders, the gallant Adrian Hope, colonel of the 93rd, a splendid soldier, the idol of the Brigade, youngest son of the 4th Earl of Hopetoun. The Black Watch alone had 40 casualties. In the afternoon a blinding duststorm came on," followed by a deluge of rain, and the troops' wero withdrawn to' what was con-' sidered a safe distance. No tent« were put up. During the night the fort was evacuated, the enemy carrying away their wounded and dead. . . - , . ■ '

■' On the following morning I rode into the fort without dismounting, so shallow, in. places was the,surrounding ditch. In the afternoon of the 16th the dead bodies were buried in two pits, the helmet in each case being placed over the face before the earth was thrown in. It was the special wish of tho Highland regiments that the service at the grave should be that of the Church of England, out of respect for their beloved brigadier. ; Accordingly, the chaplain at headquarters said the burial sen-ice by heart, a psalm and a. lesson being read respectively by the two Presbyterian chaplains of tlio brigade. : The irrepressible sobs and the distressful faces of many of the old bearded Sutherlands as they stood around the pits will never be forgotten by those who, like myself,, on that melancholy day, deplored the loss of Adrian Hope, and thought how the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, and we far away on the march.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory; We carved not a line, and we raised not a

• .stcneBut we left him alone with his glory.

Mortal: Generals should never despise their adversaries, or neglect to reconnoitre their position.