१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
without thinking of guilt or innocence ! ³ The place,
where, after such a holy oath, English officers sit down
in order to condemn all “natives”, guilty or innocent,
to be hanged, is known in the English language as a
court-martial !
Wreaking all along the line of his march such a de-
moniacal vengeance on thousands of innocent men for the
handful of Englishmen killed at Delhi and Meerut, Com-
mander Barnard sought to join the white troops at
Meerut before marching right up to Delhi. It has al-
ready been noted that the English had a considerable
force at Meerut. This force was coming down from
Meerut to join the army from Umballa. But the national
army of Delhi came forth to fight with the Meerut army
before the junction could be effected. On the 30th of
May, the opposing armies met on the banks of the river
Hindan. The right of the Indian army was safe on ac-
count of powerful guns, and the English could do no-
thing against it. While the fight was raging on this side,
the left of the Indian army could not stand before the
English onslaught. There was confusion in their ranks,
and they retreated to Delhi, after leaving five guns in the
field. But before the English could take possession of the
guns one brave Sepoy of the 11th regiment, rather than
leave his place, chose death instead. Others might do
their duty or not, but he was determined to do something
for his country before he lost his life. With this noble
inspiration, this Sepoy of the 11th regiment, seeing that
the guns would otherwise fall into the hands of the
3. “Officers as they went to sit on the court-martial swore
that they would hang their prisoners, guilty or innocent and, if
any dared to lift up his voice against such indiscriminate vengeance,
he was instantly silenced by the clamours of his angry comrades.
Prisoners condemned to death after a hasty trial were mocked at
and tortured by ignorant privates before their execution, while edu-
cated officers looked on and approved.”—Holfes's History of the
Sepoy War, page 124.
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