nce they had come. The
company of the Ninety-Third lost heavily, having one officer wounded and
sixteen men killed or wounded. The officer, Lieutenant Cunyngham (now
Sir R. K. A. Dick-Cunyngham of Prestonfield, Edinburgh), was reported to
have lost a leg, which caused general sorrow and regret throughout the
regiment, as he was a most promising young officer and very popular with
the men. During the day when more correct and fuller reports came in, we
were all very glad to hear that, although severely wounded, the
lieutenant had not lost a limb, and that the surgeons considered they
would not only be able to save his leg, but that he might be fit to
return to duty in a few months, which he eventually did, and was present
at the siege of Lucknow.

During the afternoon of the 3rd of November more stores of provisions
and ammunition crossed the river with some of Peel's 24-pounder guns,
and on the morning of the 4th, long before daylight, we were on the
march for Lucknow, under command of Colonel Leith-Hay, leaving Cawnpore
and its horrors behind us, but neither forgotten nor disregarded. Every
man in the regiment was determined to risk his life to save the women
and children in the Residency of Lucknow from a similar fate. None were
inclined to pay any heed to the French maxim that _les represailles sont
toujours inutiles_, nor inclined to ponder and moralise on the lesson
and warning given by the horrible catastrophe which had overtaken our
people at Cawnpore. Many too were inclined to blame the
Commander-in-Chief for having cancelled the brigade order of General
Neill.

Before concluding this chapter I wish my readers to note that I merely
describe facts as they appeared to me in 1857. Nothing is further from
my intention than to revive the old race-hatreds. The real causes of the
Mutiny and its horrors have yet to be written. I merely mention facts to
show the incentive the troops had to make light of forced marches, under
short rations and a double load of ammunition for want of other means of
carriage, with an overwhelming enemy in front, and no means whatever of
obtaining reinforcements or recovering from a defeat.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Bad characters, scoundrels.

[3] This story was current in Upper India at the time.

[4] Sweeper, scavenger; one of the lowest castes.

[5] See Appendix A.

CHAPTER III

START FOR LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN--THE DILKOOSHA--MARTINIERE--SECUNDRABAGH

When proceeding on our marc