Sepoy Sunny, one of the bloggers on this site, was last seen leaving Jhansi, along with the small contingent following Rani Laxmibai.
He has not been heard from since and we have received reports that he may have been captured by the British forces near Gwalior.
We all pray for his safety!
The struggle to oust British from India, and whatever small way this blog contributes to it, will continue.
Today nearly 500 sepoys under Ramadhir Singh, Pratap Singh, Debi Singh and Himmat Singh all Thakurs of Bargi area north of Narmada attacked and destroyed the Mijhauli Thana in Jabalpur.
After defeating Le Grand, Babu Kunwar Singh returned to his beloved Jagdishpur. He was exhausted and badly wounded, this was his last trip home. On this day, he passed into eternity.
The news of the return of Babu Kunwar Singh to Jagdishpur took the British authorities at Arrah by surprise. Last night, i.e. April 22, Captain Le Grand, the British commander at Arrah moved out to attack the old chief with 300 men and two guns. He probably thought that it would be easy victory, after all, Kunwar Singh’s forces were disjointed, badly prepared and without guns, numbering at most a thousand with very few trained soldiers, but once more, the enemy was in for a nasty surprise; for in the battle that took place on this day, Kunwar Singh’s ill-equipped forces managed to defeat a far better trained and well rested British force, armed with guns and other more sophisticated weapons of war.
The British losses were heavy - their casualties amounted to 130 men including their commander Le Grand himself. This was one of the worst defeats suffered by the British in this war. The nationalists followed the retreating British forces till they were within three miles of Arrah!
țānŤŸ孀ǚed villagers and made his way to his ruined home at Jagdishpur.
Babu Kunwar Singh reached Shivpur Ghat today. Douglas, who was in hot pursuit of Kunwar Singh’s army, arrived at the river bank rather late because the loyal villagers had misled the British about the route taken by the “rebel” leader. So, by the time the enemy arrived, most of the boats carrying Kunwar Singh’s men had crossed the river. However he had time to sink the last of the boats. Something terrible happened at this stage, a stray bullet hit Kunwar Singh’s arm and shattered it! And what followed, left everyone stunned. Without showing the slightest emotion, Kunwar Singh looked at his mangled arm and realised that his only chance of survival was to amputate it. As his followers watched in shock and horror, the old warrior raised his sword in the undamaged hand and in one blow hacked off the wounded arm at the elbow and sacrificed it to the sacred river. Such an act of heroism is indeed unique in history.
Once in Bihar, Kunwar Singh was received by his brother Amar Singh with seven thousand armed villagers and made his way to his ruined home at Jagdishpur.
A leading light of the nationalist forces in Jharkhand was extinguished today. Ganpat Rai Panre, a former Diwan of the Maharaja of Chhota Nagpur had been making surprise attacks on the enemy and making their life miserable. In another assault on the British, recently, Ganpat Rai, along with Thakur Biswanath Sai and their followers had entrenched themselves in Nawagarh hills, closed the Ghats and obstructed military movement. However, their luck seems to have run out Their attack on Lohardaga ended in their defeat and they were captured. Today was Ganpat Rai Panre’s last day on earth. He was hanged from one of the trees in the compound of the Commissioner’s office at Ranchi.
After galloping on for miles, the enemy forces caught up with Kunwar Singh’s men at a village called Naghai. But in the encounter that ensued this day, they suffered a defeat. The gallant Kunwar Singh moved on towards Shivpur Ghat on the river Ganga. The whole countryside was in sympathy with him and furnished him with accurate news regarding the movement of the British troops while they misled and misinformed the British commander.
Today General Lugard appeared on the opposite bank of the river Tons which flows past Azamgarh. He was heading three regiments of European infantry, 700 Sikh Cavalry and eighteen guns. Lugard probably thought that he was coming up with a clever strategy. Since he knew that Kunwar Singh had posted the cream of his troops on the bridge of boats on Tons river, he thought that the rebel leader intended to give a fight to sustain his hold on Azamgarh. But, of course the Lion of Jagdishpur proved to be far more clever.
Kunwar Singh knew that he stood no chance against such a formidable enemy. He therefore decided to abandon Azamgarh, take the road to Ghazipur, cross the Ganga and return to his beloved Jagdishpur. With this objective in view, he resorted to a clever stratagem. He stationed some of his best soldiers on the bridge of boats who could give a tough fight and he himself with the bulk of his troops would then move on and would be as farther as possible from Azamgarh before his flight could be discovered by the enemy.
The stratagem of Kunwar Singh was eminently successful. His troops held the bridge of boats with great resolution and it was not until they had, by their long resistance, ensured the safety of their leader , they fell back and as planned beforehand succeeded in joining their chief. But they were pursued and harried by a detachment of European Cavalry under Brigadier Douglas.
Our hopes are now pinned on Narpat Singh of Ruya, a fearless Rajput leader of Rohilkhand. He has been doggedly battling the British and is determined to fight the enemy to the very end.
Narpat Singh’s jungle fort near the village of Ruramau, has been attacked by the 93rd Highlanders under the command of General Walpole today. Narpat’s men fought with tremendous courage and managed to kill some of the outstanding enemy officers; the most notable one being Brigadier Adrian Hope. The total casualty on the British side was more than one hundred.
We got the information that the enemy troops were very upset with the death of Adrian Hope, who was a very popular officer, and they blamed it on the inept handling of the whole affair by General Walpole. We further learnt that the Highlanders were so incensed that, had they been free to do so, they would have hanged the General on the spot!
In the mean time, Narpat Singh, finding his position unsafe, slipped away. We will always remember that he defeated the best equipped movable column in India.
Babu Kunwar Singh’s continued occupation of Azamgarh was a source of great consternation to Lord Canning, The Governor-General. who was then camping at Allahabad , immediately ordered Lord Mark Kerr, a Crimean War veteran to march against Kunwar Singh.and relieve Azamgarh. In an encounter that took place at a location fourteen kilometres short of Azamgarh on the morning of April 6, Babu Kunwar Singh’s left flank kept up an incessant fire of musketry from some buildings on the road which they had occupied. Though he had no guns, still Kunwar Singh managed to bring his army to the rear of the enemy. This sudden attack was so unexpected that it upset the plan of the enemy totally and they fell back. This was the signal for the revolutionaries to rush forward with a triumphant war cry. Kunwar Singh had, by this time, tightened his grip on the English rear so firmly that the English elephants began to run amuck. Seeing his rear endangered, Lord Mark Kerr pressed ahead and sought refuge in the entrenchment at Azamgarh .
Rani Laxmibai reached Kalpi just before midnight today. Her energy amazes even the enemy troops. It is no mean feat, even for a man, to cover a distance of 160 kilometres through this rough and rugged country. But the Rani was inexorable, showing no signs of fatigue, and storming through enemy barricades like a whirlwind.
At midnight on this day, accompanied by a small party wearing armour and carrying a dagger and two loaded revolvers, the Rani left the Jhansi fort in her white horse. Her party was attacked just as it had got out of the city and a fight ensued. In this skirmish many were killed but the Rani used her revolver skilfully and her horse galloped on .As soon as they were clear of the enemy’s scouts , the Rani took the road to Kalpi.
Jhansi was captured by the British forces on this day and was sacked. No mercy was asked for and none was given. There was mayhem all around. But the valour with which the Rani’s troops fought will be remembered for a long time. Fifty men of Rani’s bodyguard, in particular, displayed conspicuous heroism. They were holed up in a stable and driven from there by bayonets, but unfazed, they retreated behind some houses, still firing and fighting with their swords in both hands till they were shot or bayoneted. Even in their death throes, they were slashing madly with their swords at their British assailants inflicting mortal injuries to them.
Ganesh is the god of obstacle removers; with bad news coming from Betwa, we can use all the help we can.
Here is a picture of the Ganesh temple at the fort
News from Tatya Tope’s forces is that they are retreating! How can that be? They are 20,000 men strong.
Please, lord ganesh, please help us.
Today was fought the Battle of Betwa. Tatia Tope had come with his army for the assistance of the Rani of Jhansi. He had under him a large number of troops, estimated to be about 20,000.
Rose, the British commander was busy attacking Jhansi. The disconcerting news of Tatia’s approach and his having crossed the Betwa river was brought to him by a messenger. Without lifting the siege of Jhansi or slackening his fire, Rose moved out to meet Tatia Tope’s army with about 1200 men out of which only about 500 were Europeans. On this occasion, the soldiers of Tatia failed to prove their mettle. They were routed and were driven across the Betwa with a frightful loss.
Tatya Tope’s forces are engaged in a fierce battle with the British at Burwa Sagar.
We hear that the Tatya has chosen to attack in two lines and hopefully he has a plan to use the second line to help end the Jhansi fort siege.
There is some talk in the fort to burst out of the fort and attack the British while they are fighting Tatya’s forces. But the bombardment at the fort has not diminished any and frankly that worries us.
But we trust Tatya Tope. He has 28 guns with him and with enough man power, he will be able to overcome whatever obstacles he encounters.
We have just heard that Tatya Tope is at the Betwa river, and guess how strong his army is! 20,000 men! and 28 guns!
At least in Jhansi, the end for the British is near now! We are all getting ready to burst out of the fort and start fighting the British.
The siege will not last very long and victory for us is with in hand.
Of course we expected Nana Sahib to help, but we thought he might send a contingent of 4-5,000. But 20,000 men and elephants and horses, and strong guns and fresh supplies is more then what we could have hoped.
Rose’s can not contain and keep the siege on the fort and fight Tatya Tope’s army.
More as the information being available.
Today Kotah was captured by the British troops under Gen Roberts after a very heavy artillery bombardment. Fifty-seven brass guns fell into the British hands. The defenders had, however, fought to the last man with conspicuous bravery. But the one that will standout like a beacon in the memory of the nationalists is one nameless soldier who rode to the top of a fortification with great difficulty in order to get a clear view of the position of the British troops. To his consternation he found that the English were pressing into the town and that before he could descend, the enemy would be upon him.
He chose death rather than the disgrace of falling alive into the British hands. And this nameless hero, spurred his horse to the rampart and even as the enemy watched in awe, he took a mighty leap, the horse rose bravely and jumped to a fall of 120 feet. Both were smashed to smithereens in one mangled mass. But the tragedy is that there was no one to bury the corpse with the reverence such valour deserved. Instead, it was left to be desecrated by stray animals.
From what we can tell, British are using immense fire power. We have been able to confirm the following so far:
Two 24 pounders to attack the mound and the wall of the fort
Two 18-Pounders to dismantle the defenses of the Fort.
Two 10-inch Mortars
Two 8-inch Mortars and one 8-inch Howitzer to act on the mound and adjacent wall and City.
Those 18 pounders are murderous.
Here is what an 18 pounder looks like; well, they weigh 18 pounds with diameter of 5 inches. Imagine a hot ball of this size coming at you!
Have you ever seen an 18 pounder shell coming at you? When it hits the wall, things start crumbling. 24 pounders are too heavy to reach us but those 18 pounders make it through.
We are working very hard and all our guns are stable and working properly and thankfully have not seen any direct hit.
We have also been able to repair some damage and I wouldn’t say that we are answering each of the shot with one of ours, we are keeping pace with the enemy’s firepower and
Two canons need special mention:
Kadak Bijli - operated by Ghaus Khan
Bhawani Shankar - operated by Moti Bai
Moti Bai was a dance performer at the King’s palace and I tell you she is performing the dance with the canon better than she ever dance on the courtyard.
We thank you both.
I have posted a picture of the Bhavani shankar Canon here. The picture of the Kadak Bijli (strong lightening) is here.
I wished I could make you hear the deep boom these canons make when they are fired.
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