'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎460] (479/622)

460
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAYY.
eight p.m. I have every reason to be satisfied with my nien,
as they had performed a march of fourteen miles in a burning
sun, and before there was time to obtain a meal had again to
march against the enemy through a sun that struck seven of
H.M.'s 6th Regiment dead.*" I did not hear a complaint from
any one of them. The Brigadier commanding was pleased to
say they served their guns admirably. On the morning of the
12th, under instructions from the Brigadier commanding, I pro
ceeded with my Detachment to destroy certain villages pointed
out, which service was performed without loss, the enemy
retreating to the jungle on our approach." The Detachment
lost three men from the effects of exposure to which they had
been subjected during the day's operations.
* Lieutenant Carew writes :—" Those who were in the field during the month
of April, 1858, must well remember it from its excessive heat and the loss it
caused in men. We would start about half-past three in the morning and arrive
at the new encampment at nine or ten, but tents were but little protection, as it
was the atmosphere and not the actual sun that killed the men. From intense
heat they died in two or three hours of heat apoplexy. The debilitating effects
of this great heat was felt by the strongest, and I believe that it was only the
hope of our soon meeting the enemy that kept many of us from despondency.
The Colonel of H.M's 6th Regiment was found dead in his tent one day, and it
was said that no one had seen him die, so sudden was it. After some days'
marching we arrived at a place called Peeroo. Here we pitched our camp, and
sought the rest which a fourteen miles' march in such weather required, but this
proved to be the last earthly rest for many, for before we could procure the much
needed breakfast, the assembly sounded, and we marched out to attack the enemy.
Our line of march was marked by the dead bodies of our men who were struck
down by the noonday sun. We found the enemy occupying an entrenched
position in the jungle, and engaged him till sunset, when having fired the houses
in rear with shell, the position was stormed, and we marched back to camp.
The neighbourhood of the enemy reanimated the men, and did them good, and
being anxious to keep up the excitement, I obtained permission from Brigadier
Corfield next day to take as many of them as I could spare from duty to attack
certain villages. We marched out before sunrise for that purpose, and by sunset
had destroyed four ; the absence of proper food, and the exposure of the last two
days, made me ill. Jaundice and congested liver obliged me to keep to my
charpoy, where I was tended and cared for by a Lieutenant Poulson of Dineley's
Battery. We had been always together on the line of march, and the same
tope of trees was shared at the halt ; he was my great stay in my present
disabled condition, and I was deeply grieved when news was brought to him of
the death of Dineley, the Captain of his battery (a man much beloved) ; a
settled despondency took possession of him upon learning it, and I was too ill to
give him all the consolation I could have wished. He would shake his head and
reply to my efforts to comfort him that he would follow Dineley before long.
Some few days after this conversation he was sitting by my charpoy trying to
cheer me in my sickness, when his servant came to report his dinner ready; he
put his hand on my shoulder and said, smiling, ' I shall be back, old fellow,
in a few minutes, it's only ration beef for dinner.' Presently, in about ten
minutes, the doctor of his battery came hastily in, and inquired for mine. I
told him he had gone to hospital, and asked,— 4 Anything serious ?' ' Yes, poor
Poulson is down to day.' Upon hearing this, I insisted upon being conveyed to
his tent, which was next to mine, and I got there to find him dying of heat
apoplexy. I spoke to him but he did not know me. His body was carried past
the door of my tent to be buried within four hours of that time. ' He had gone
to join his Captain.' At this time the doctor told me we were burying fiiteen
men a day from apoplexy and liver complaint."