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this small redoubt was but a preparatory and necessary step before we commenced a regular siege against the strong fort, and equally strong town, both of which, however, they gave up, being fully satisfied of the impossibility of holding either.

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CHAPTER VII.

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I was obliged to nurse myself a little, as the strong fort of Bhurtpore was, we understood, to be our next job. Having but in part led the last party in, I became a volunteer to lead the Forlorn Hope at Bhurtpore. This offer his Excellency, Lord Lake accepted, with encomiums on my zeal, and a promise that, if I escaped, I should have a commission. We arrived before this place about the 29th day of December; encamped about two miles from it and immediately commenced our operations against it. Hoolkah was lying under its walls, with his immense body of cavalry, who committed every kind of cruelty on the camp-followers that fell into their hands, such as cutting off their hands from the first joint of the wrist, cutting off their noses, ears, &c. ; but seldom killing them out-right. During the preparation for the siege, when off duty, I amused myself with going out to the advanced piquets, where there were continual skirmishes with Hoolkah's cavalry, who were always loitering about, day and night. On one of these occasions, I nearly paid dear for my imprudence. I ventured far beyond the piquet, in hopes of picking off a fellow who was showing off his horsemanship. As I was mounted on a good horse, and was well armed, I rode after him, gaining ground fast; but, on ́looking behind, I found myself a considerable distance from the piquet, and that several horsemen had got between me, to prevent my return. To have run away would have given them encouragement; no other remedy was left but to dash through them. Our piquet, seeing

my situation, got a six-pounder, and fired a long shot at them. During the consternation caused by the ball striking near them, and smothering them in dust, I made the best use of my horse's legs, got safe to the piquet, and never ventured so far from home again.

On the 1st day of January, 1805, we broke ground against this strong fortress and town. I was again on the working party, my wound being nearly closed. We halted near a wood, and a party having been sent on to reconnoitre, we at last pitched upon a place, and commenced our nocturnal labours. We had not been at work ten minutes, when they heard our working-tools, and commenced a most terrific cannonade. We were ordered to desist, and to lie down behind the earth we had thrown up, which, fortunately for us. was of a sufficient thickness to be musket-ball proof, or we must have suffered dreadfully; for their little rough iron balls flew about as thick as bees. The cannon-shot were generally high some that fell short, rolled, and were brought up by our little mound of defence. They kept it up gloriously for half an hour, conceiving that we intended to take them by surprise; but, from the reports of this fortress containing 100,000 soldiers, and the enormous sum of nineteen croer of rupees, our orders were to approach it by a regular siege. I fear I shall be thought rather tedious in relating the disastrous events at this place; but we must take the gall with the honey. The firing having ceased, except at intervals, we re-commenced our labours; and glad indeed were we to set blood again on the move. The night was bitterly cold, and the ground damp; but we kept ourselves in exercise with our work, and by daylight we had completed our trenches, and four-gun breaching-battery, within five hundred yards of the town wall. The moment the day dawned, our night's work was, observed. The fort was again in a blaze ;-flags were hoisted; the parapet of the town wall was one general mass of spears and little flags, as far as the eye could reach; and the heads of soldiers studded the rainparts with variegated colours,-their turbans being generally of the most prominent dyes,-red, yellow, and pink, Such shouting, roaring of cannon, whistling of shot.

grumbling of rockets, and waving of flags and spears, made me reflect for a moment on the folly of having ever sold my "leathers," to participate in such a scene; but this thought was soon buried in the shouts of defiance. from our trenches. We did not show hands, as we had none to spare; but as we were, of course, anxious to see what kind of a place this said Bhurtpore was, we took every opportunity of peeping, whenever we saw a gun fired, crying out, "Shot," which was a signal to bob our heads. On the firing subsiding in the slightest degree, we continued our work, and at length completed our batteries and magazines, and widened our trenches to seven feet, leaving just sufficient room to pass and repass, so as to communicate with our principal depôt under shelter. During the whole of this day, the enemy kept up an almost incessant fire, both with great guns and small arms, and we had some few men wounded. A soldier of the Light Company, named Murphy, stood upon the bank, exposing himself, and drawing upon us the fire from the fort. Some of us remonstrated with him on his imprudence, when Paddy coolly replied, "Never fear, honey; sure I have got my eye on them; and, if they kill me, bad luck to me if I don't be after paying them for it when I get into that same fort." In the course of the day he was shot in the finger for his disregard of our advice, which, he said, was "just because he was looking another way at the time."

In the evening we got our guns into battery, erecting two small batteries of twelves and sixes. A constant fire was kept up by the enemy during the night, and blue lights were to be seen at intervals, as though to inform us that they were on the watch. From the debauched habits of the Musselmen, in any situation of life, they seldom retire to rest till very late; and then, indeed, so stupified with eating and smoking auffeem, (opium,) that they are incapable of being roused to any active duty, From their constant use of this intoxicating drug, they are dull companions when the spirit is absorbed and dead within them; but, when revived, I know no set of people more talkative, communicative, and jovial. Often have I listened with delight to an old Musselman soldier's rela

tion of his campaigns and stories. We heard drums and music the whole night, now and then accompanied by the inharmonious roar of their guns. The guns used in India by the natives are of cast iron; but, from their using ball beat out instead of cast, the guns labour and roar dreadfully, and the rough surface of their balls tears the muzzles to pieces.

matter.

When the morning bestrewed its bright rays abroad, we threw a little farther light upon the subject, by opening our breaching battery with a salvo, accompanied with such terrific cheering and shouting, as seemed to startle the new risen sun, which at that identical moment peeped from behind its golden curtains to see what was the The enemy, after a moment's pause, were seen in a tremendous bustle, mustering their full force; and their heads were so thick, that, had our shelling-battery been ready, we might have made dreadful havoc among the motley group. They shouted, yelled, screamed, groaned; small arms whistled, cannons roared; and, in an instant, the fort was enveloped in smoke. It was altogether a most terrific scene. At this moment a soldier called out, Shipp, have you made your will?” I said, "Yes; which is, that I will lead you into that fort undaunted, for all their smoke and rattle.". "Well done, Jack!" said one; "That's a hearty!" said another; and many a joke followed: but, to confess the truth, I thought it no joking matter, but wished most earnestly that I could say with Macbeth, "I have done the deed." Notwithstanding this, I saw no cause for fretting. Without parents, or ties of any other kind, I felt that I was fully justified in acting

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"As if a man were author of himself,
And knew no other kin."

My ambition was to signalize myself in the field of honour; and, if it was to be my fate to fall, I consoled myself with the reflection, that I could not die in a better cause than fighting for my king and country. These were my real feelings, but the business that was going on during the whole of this day afforded me but little time

for reflection. Towards evening, however, we were relieved from the trenches, and obtained some rest,

The next day I took another peep at the Pins, who were in immense numbers in front of our piquets. My fingers itched to be among them, but my last escape withheld me. It was truly tantalizing to see these fellows chuckering their horses not more than a quarter of a mile from our post; but what irritated us still more was, that these miscreants, that evening, sent into our camp about twenty grass-cutters, belonging to the 8th Dragoons, some with their right arms cut off by the wrist-joint, and others with the loss of their noses and ears. These poor creatures paid dearly for their disobedience of general orders, which forbade any grass-cutter from going out alone; but, for the love of plunder, they will at all times risk their lives. It will appear scarcely credible to the general reader, when he is informed, that to every fighting man in an Indian army, there are at least ten camp-followers. The majority of these live by plundering the adjacent villages round the camp and on the march; robbing every hut and field within ten miles round. There is no possibility of checking them, or preventing these abuses. Among these fellows are thieves of every description, and the most notorious are jugglers. They commence their nocturnal pilferings in a state of nudity, oiling themselves all over to prevent their being held if caught; they then creep on their hands and feet like dogs, and frequently imitate them in barking and howling, as well as most other animals, more particularly goats, sheep, and asses. In the course of my narrative, I shall have occasion to mention several instances of this nature that happened to myself.

On the following morning, I went again on duty in the trenches. We retired into the wood before mentioned, which had a path of communication with the trenches, though it was a considerable distance from the grand breaching-battery. Our operations against the fort continued active and resolute; but our balls made but little impression upon the mud bastions and curtains. Many of them scarcely buried themselves, and others rolled down into the under-works of the enemy, and were kindly sent

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