1 THE MUTINY SUPPRESSED, 581
2 Nicholson. He was a glorious soldier; it will be long before we shall look
3 upon his like again.” The gallant John Nicholson, who was not unworthy to be
4 compared with Nelson and Wolfe, is dead, but his fame cannot die so long
5 as the British power in India shall last.*
6 It is to the honour of the English nation that, in the midst of victory,
7 when the British soldiers made their triumphant entry into the city and the
8 palace, no children or women, and few, if any, of the inhabitants suffered
9 at their hands. :
10 The loss on the side of the victors, from the beginning of the invest-
11 ment of Delhi to the close of the siege, was great, being 38,837 killed and
12 wounded; that of the besieged will never be known.
13 _In honour of the capture of Delhi a royal salute was fired at all the
14 principal stations in the Panjéb, and the services of the gallant army were
15 thus deservedly acknowledged by the Chief Commissioner, whose own in-
16 defatigable exertions in supplying troops and munitions of war had contri-
17 buted so much to the achievement of this most important victory :—
18 All honour to the noble army which, under command of Major-General Wilson, has
19 effected the most important conquest by which the widespread -rebellion of the mutinous
20 Bengal army has received a complete defeat in Upper India, The days of Clive and
21 Lake are again revived among us. Neither the devastations of that terrible scourge, the
22 cholera, nor the deadly stroke of an Indian summer sun, which so grievously thinned the
23 ranks of our small army, during the past three months, the harassing and almost incessant
24 duties of the camp, the ever-recurring combats with a highly trained and veteran enemy,
25 who out-numbered us by thousands in men and hundreds of guns of all calibres, the stub-
26 born and desperate resistance offered by the mutineers, during and since the assault of the
27 14th instant, nothing has abated the ardour of our troops, European and Native, nor equal-
28 led that indomitable courage and persevering energy which take no denial and will brook
29 nothing short of success.- :
30 It will be for a grateful Government to acknowledge, as they deserve, the services
31 of Major-General Wilson and his army to the British empire in India ; but the Chief Com-
32 missioner cannot refrain from offering them the warm tribute of his heart-felt ad-
33 miration. - :
34 On the Sunday after the occupation of the city, divine service was
35 held in the throne room of the Moghals, in thanksgiving for the final
36 victory gained by the British arms, and from every grateful heart and every
37 lip flowed the sweet yet humble acknowledgment—
38 **Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the praise!”
39 At the same place, at a fitting opportunity, the British officers and
40 soldiers, flushed with joy, drained goblets of wine to the health of Her
41 Majesty the Queen, when a thousand triumphant voices filled the air with
42 the strains of their beloved National Anthem, “ God save the Queen!”
43 Thus, cool, resolute and prepared, did the Panjab save India. Not
44 only did the five classical rivers run clear of the revolt, but head and hand 1
45 ready to devise and carry out measures for maintaining the prestige of
46 British arms in the Kast, the Panjab became a nursery of troops for the
47 reconquest of the North-Western Provinces. The honour of an empire was
48 at stake when General Wilson held his ground before Delhi with an insuffi-
49 cient number of troops, resting his hopes of succour on the Panjab and his
50 hopes of success on the inherent bravery of the British soldier. The posi-
51 tion was critical, but the Panjab proved itself a tower of strength to India.
52 * An obelisk at the head of the Margalla Pass (Peshawar) was erected to his memory. The
53 monument is seen from long distances in all directions. Within the basement is the following
54 inscription :-—
55 This column is erected by friends, British and Native, to the memory of Brigadier-General John Nicholson,
56 who, after taking a hero's part in four great wars for the defence of British India; Kabul, 1840; ist Sikh war, 1845;
57 2nd Sikh war, 1818; Sepoy Mutiny, 1857; and being as renowned for his civil rule in the Panjab as for his share in its
58 conquest, fell mortally wounded on 14th September, in leading to victory the main column of assault at the great
59 The behaviour of
60 British soldiers,
61 Heavy losses.
62 Chief Commissioner’,
63 acknowledgment of
64 the services of the
65 army,
66 _ Divine service held
67 in the palace of the
68 Moghals,
69 The joy of the
70 soldiers,
71 The Panjab saved
72 ndia,
73 siege of Dela paaeen ares PRE SING PRESS by the two races\with ay RSME RB ry@ gm ail.com