A MIDNIGHT CHARGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2659, 27 July 1889, Page 5 (Supplement)

A MIDNIGHT CHARGE.

Tun following after-mess story is related by " Pilpay" in the columns of the Madras Mail:—lt was a big night at mess, the 100 th Hussars were dining with us, and our No. 1 Champagne had diffused geniality around. Even tho Major was a shade less cynical than usual, and as for the Colonel, he was in topping form. We asked for the story of Chtirrackpore, and he gavo it in his happiest manner, adding one or two interesting details that in former recitals had escaped his memory. Major Tackle who regarded with cold suspicion everything that lay beyond the region of his own experience, and would have resigned his commission sooner than have accepted an unproved assertion as a fact, sat during tho narration, glass in eye, glaring gloomily at the coiling. As soon as the Colonel had finished his recital, we heard the harsh voice of the critic breaking through the hum of admiring satisfaction with whioh the account of tho Colonel's gallant feat of arms was invariably acknowledged. ,e Tliat achievement of yours, Colonel Bowlong is without exception, the most remarkable episode in military history that it has ever been my fortune to hear recounted. Now, may I ask you a few questions, sir, regarding certain points in the narrative that appear to me to be, ahem ! a trifle obscure ?" Tho tone of the Major's voice and the peculiar smile that played over hia thin lips, warned the Colonel that mischief was afoot; he parried tho attack iu his own inimitable manner. " A trifle, sir, a mere trifle. I have done better things than that, thank God. Why, at Churruck I was assisted by tho threo of the coolest men in the Barcilly division ; but at Dslhi, at Delhi, sir, I was alone." " And what pray did you do at Delhi, sir?" inquired the Major icily. "At Delhi, when the fate of British India hung quivering in the balapce, I turned tho fortunes of tho day single-handed." " Single-handed !" ejaculated Tackle with an incredulous smile. " Singlehanded," replied the Colonel sturdily, and armed only with a trumpet." " Marvellous indeed. It reminds ono of tho fall of Jericho. Your feats, Colonel, are positively Homeric," said the Major with an air of scornful indulgence. " I was followed by three hundred horses, you must know," interposed the Colonel with a sly wag of the head, n You were followed by three hundred horses !" exclaimed the Major triumphantly ; "three hundred is not, as a rule, you know, held to equal unity." Three hundred horses, Major Tackle, not horse," replied the Colonel, " I was followed by three hundred riderless horses, with not so much as a strap to their backs." " May we be favouied with an account of that—ah !—unique exploit?" asked the Major, adding under his breath something about Baron Munchausen; but the remark was lost in the general expression of eagerness to hear the tale. The "enemy" (for such was the name that Tackle had earned for himself) settled himself comfortably in his chair, and screwing his eye-glass more firmly into his eye, fixed a contemptuously sceptical glanco upon his commanding officer, who proceeded as fol-

lows . . " On recovering from my injury after the aifair at Churruckpore, I was poster! to the Ruttamoola Irregulars, now the 49th Bengal Cavalry, then commanded by old Lash em Harde, whose ruling idea was that good cavalry could do anything from furnishinsr a picquet to taking a man-of-war. We formed part of the flying column sent by forced marches to capture the Fort of Muzbutjak, a deuced strong place, but as it was quite unprepared to resist an attack, the Cxeueral intended to take it by surprise. The column advanced cautiously with the cavalry scouting just a littlo in advance ; our leading files sighted the fort at daybreak ; the gates wore opon, and tho appearances disclosed a senso of absoluto security. Suddenly tho idea occurred to that madman Harde to rush the place with his Sowars, so, without waiting for orders, he took us across the open at full gallop, dismounted us at the gate, and led us at the double into the fort. But the garrison, as you will see, was not caught quite napping, and they had spotted us as soon as we emerged from oover. Between the outer and the inner

gate was one of those zig-zag approaches peculiar to Indian forts, and the regiment was soon crowded together like herrings in a barrel. In the rush I tumbled down, and by the time I had pickod myßelf up again, the last man was disappearing round the angle. Then came a roar like that of a hundred and fifty pounder, and when I turned the corner I saw the entire regiment lying dead, or dying in front of me." The Major here snorted scornfully. "In the inner gateway," proceeded Bowlong, paying no heed to the interpellation, "the enemy had posted an enormous gun, loaded with chains, bullets, slugs and spearheads, and on the top of all they had rammed down a cask of tenpenny nails. The iron blast, gentlemen, had simply blown away the regiment !" The Major here emitted a sound botween a grunt and a hiccough, his face was very red, and he appeared to be in imminent danger of suffocation.

"Yes, gentlemen, there lay the redoubtable Rathainoola Light Howe, every officer and man dead as the doornails that studded him."

"Pray tell mo, Colonol, how many men," staked the Major, his lips quivering with suppressed fury, "how many men, Sir, do you compute were killed by the single discharge?" "Threo hundred, Major, three hundred," said the Colonel, airily, and then correcting himself, he added in a tone of lofty moral rectitude, " Stop, I am wrong, Major, I am wrong ! Three hundred was our full compliment. My, troop Sergeant-Major Swankor Yee was in the bay-hospital, and I, of course, was not among the victims; the number destroyed by that charge, Tackle, was 295." The Colonel gazed blandly at the Major for a moment, and then resumed. "In the above circumstances I thought it best to halt a bit, so I lay down by a buttress, aud waited for reinforcements. The Infantry was not far behind, aud in a very short space of time the fort was in our hands. The question then was, what was to be done with the horses. The General might have drafted them to other corps, but ho would still have been a cavalry regiment short, so froze to the nags, and applied for drafts to fill the saddles. In the meantime I was put in charge of the manege, and better trained cattle you never saw. I used to exercisc them by call, sounding the calls tnvself. lam by no means a bad trumpeter." The Major grinned bitterly, ami glanced significantly round the table, but lie failed to evoke a responsive smile even from the youngest and most irreverent stranger. " I used to have little field-days of my own," continued the Colonel. "It was beautiful to see those animals at work, they could perforin every manoeuvre in the cavalry drill-book, and a great many in the infantry, and I added one or two of my own. All the fellows oIF duty used to come over and look at us. as if we were a circus troupe. Well, after the capture of Muzbutjak, our column joined the army outside Delhi, and it was decided that my riderless command should be broken up. On the day that I received the order, I went round the lines, and gave every nag a bit of carrot. Hodsou'n follow had just brought iu ten bandy loads, and I had begged a handful or two for my beauties. They knew there was something up, and whinnied like children- I felt like whinnying, too, but did not like to expose tny weakness to the syces. I went to bed that night the saddest man iu the army, and couldn't sleep a wink for thinking of next day's parting. About midnight I heard a shot, then another, then the bugle went., and in half a minute earth aud air shook with the roar of cannon and musketry. Bullets, round-shot, shell, and shrapnel came crashing into the camp like hail— the diu was awful. The whole Delhi garrison had turned out to try once for all if they could not by a tremendous effort sweep us off the face of creation, And they precious nearly did, it was only my nags that saved us." "I had no regiment to join, so I climbed up the Chief's flagstaff just to seo what I could of tho fight. The night was very dark, and I could not distinguish much of what was going on, but from the heavy firing in front it was evident that the attack was of a desperately determined nature. Soon I heard our bugles calling up the reserves, and in a minute or two every available man was hurrying to the front. I could Boon make out by the flashing of our guns that we were rapidly taking up position in the rear of our original alignment, and it was evident that before long we should be fighting for our lives in the camp itself. Now, defeat at that juncture meant tho rising of the Punjab, and a teetotal collapse. A round shot carried away the flag-staff on which I was seated, and as I fell I resolved upon a desperate enterprise. There was no time to be lost. I mounted my horse, and galloping to the lines ordered tho syces to turn the horses loose. I then sounded the fall-in, and in a minute of the finest horses in India stood behind mo, drawn up in squadrons. I then led them at a trot through tho camp, mads a pretty wide circuit to tho right, cantering unperceivcd in the darkness round the enemy's flank, till I was well in the rear of them ; I then formed lino, put myself six horses' lengths in frout of tho centre, and advancing successively at tho walk, trot, canter aud gallop, I sounded the charge —•my word, Sir, wo did fly over the around! You, gontlemeu," turning to some of our guests, " had only seen charges made by ridden horses carrying tho weight of a trooper, and his accoutrements in addition to that of then own trappings. You should seo a charge without. It is like a stampede of mad mustaugs." The remark evoked a maniacal laugh from the Major, whose face was now turning a fine navy-blue, but nobody heeded him, and the Colonol proceeded — "I had taught my cattle to neidi, or rather to scream, as they advanced to the attack, and we swirled along leaping, bucking, squealing, and roaring like a legion of devils, Slap dash we charged into the very thick of the Paudies. Off went their cavalry full gallop back to Delhi. The guns were silenced in a moment; I can see now the long lank gunners, with their lighted linstocks leaping over their pieces like harlequins in a pantomime. The infantry broke aud ran, and iu all directions, you heard nothing but douro ji, ji douro, douro ji! Such a yelling skedaddle was never witnessed. On we went helterskelter till wo came to our own lines, when we made a rapid wheel round the left flank, and I found myself in front of the General and his staff. I halted tho regiment for a moment just to report myself. I had only my trumpet to salute with. .The enemy is in full retreat, Sir, I am about to pursue," said I, and bringing my trumpet to tho recover I wheeled the regiment, and chased the fugitive enemy to tho gates of Delhi, we then gavo the troinbling°foe a squeal of triumph and went threes-about ho-ne. When I counted the horses thcro wasn't ono missing, but, straugo to say, evory ono of 'em had lost all his front teeth." " How do you account for that, Colonel r" we asked. " I couldn't account for it till tho next day, when wo found tho enemy's dead lying ' thick as poas on tho ground over which wo had charged, and every man jack of them had a splinter of a horse's tooth in the back of his skull. Curious wasn't it ? A glass of wine with you Tackle." . But the Major's chair was vacant, its occupant, after struggling for some time with suppressed emotion, and, feeling apopletic symptoms rapidly supervening, had gone home,