At last they fled, and there was no cavalry to pursue them.
As yet nothing was known of the butchery of the women and children.
Havelock halted for the night, and next morning marched his force into
the station at Cawnpore. The men beheld the scene of the massacre, and
saw the bleeding remains in the well. But the murderers had vanished, no
one knew whither. Havelock advanced to Bithoor, and destroyed the palace
of the Mahratta. Subsequently he was joined by General Neill, with
reinforcements from Allahabad; and on July 20th he set on for the relief
of Lucknow, leaving Cawnpore in charge of General Neill.
The defence of Lucknow against fifty-two thousand rebels was, next to
the siege of Delhi, the greatest event in the mutiny. The whole Province
of Oudh was in a blaze of insurrection. The _talukdars_ were exasperated
at the hard measure dealt out to them before the appointment of Sir
Henry Lawrence as Chief Commissioner. Disbanded sepoys, returning to
their homes in Oudh, swelled the tide of disaffection.
Pages:
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683