'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎457] (476/622)

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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAYY.
457
first took the place of the natives. The order to mount was
given and obeyed, but two-thirds of the saddles were in
the next instance vacated, as the horses, unused to Eno-lish
drivers, who were very much heavier men, would have none of
them." At length the native drivers took the battery from the
square in which it had been parked, and it was made over to
the Royal Artillery on the Grand Trunk Road, when the sailors
gave their old battery a parting cheer.
During this critical time it was well that the large station
of Barrackpore, within sixteen miles of Calcutta, was com
manded by that fine old soldier. General Sir John Hearsey, by
whose bold bearing and able measures mutiny was stamped
out at its inception. Lieutenant Carew's position was one of
great anxiety until the arrival of H.M.'s 84th Regiment from
Burmah, and other troops of the China Expedition, and he then
had the unpleasant duty of blowing from his guns some of the
mutineers. He says of this time " Very many an anxious
night have I spent by my battery ready at a moment to limber
up and march against the men whom we all knew were onlv
waiting the signal to attack us. Now all anxiety was past,
and stern retaliation upon those who caused it, was left for my
battery to make ; but even while I admitted the justice of the
punishment, I could not but feel admiration for the coolness
and courage displayed by the men who, lashed to my guns,
with the portfires lighted ready at the word to destroy them,
could await that moment without the play or twitch of a nerve
or muscle in face or body.*
In April, 1858, Lieutenant Carew, after repeated applications,
received permission to proceed up country, and was directed to
join Brigadier Corfield, who was then operating in the Jugdes-
•pore district. His force consisted of one hundred and ten men,
drawn partially from the old hands in No. 2 Detachment—to
the command of which Lieutenant A. T. Windus succeeded—
and recruited to its full strength of one hundred and ten
effectives, by a draught of seamen from the Indian Naval dep6t
in Fort William. The officers were Midshipmen An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. Brownlow and
Cotgrave, and the Detachment, officially known as No. 7, was
supplied with two 9-pounders, from the arsenal, and with two
5|-mch mortars, on their arrival up country. The Detachment
* He gives the following as an instance :—" On tlie second occasion of my
having to execute some of the native officers, while waiting for the conclusion of
General Hearsey's address to the assembled troops, one prisoner lashed to the
gun nearest to me, said in a calm tone, ' Sir, may I speak to the adjutant of my
regiment?' I immediately despatched one of the gun's crew to make known his
request. Upon the adjutant arriving, he thanked me for coming, and said,
'There are some rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. due to me for pay. Will you send them to my wife?'
mentioning her village. To which the adjutant replied, 'No; all property of a
mutineer is forfeited to Government.' ' True,' said the prisoner; 4 but this was
due before I became a mutineer.' The next moment I saw the signal from the
Major of Brigade, and gave the word that sent him to eternity."
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