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

CAWNPORE AND JHANSI
broken heads, severed hair, chopped-off arms and legs,
and a stream of blood! The whole Ganges became red!
As soon as anyone took up his head above water,
he was shot by a bullet; if he kept it under water,
he would die of asphyxia! Such was the wrath of
Har Dev! Such was the one hundredth anniversary
of Plassey!
It was ten o'clock in the morning. It is said that, at this
time, Nana Sahib was quietly pacing a hall in the palace.
What wonder that he was uneasy in that palace, while
an account of the century's wrongs was being settled!
Such moments are epochs in history. They are the final
strokes of a period, the summary of an age. Heaven
knows his thoughts, at that time, when he was pacing the
hall! But he was not allowed time to think much longer;
for, a cavalryman came galloping fast and informed him
that the Sepoys had commenced an indiscriminate
massacre of the English on Sati Chowda Ghat. Hearing
this, Nana Sahib remarked that there was no necessity
of molesting the women and the children and made the
same man gallop back fast with the stringent order, “ Kill
the Englishmen! But no harm is to be done to the women
and children! ”⁹ We must notice, while passing, that the
second part of Nana Sahib's order is conspicuous by its
absence in Neill's orders! When Nana Sahib's order
reached Sati Chowda, the Sepoys were in the height of
their dread work. Some Englishmen were burning in the
heap of tottering boats, while some were attempting to
swim across the river. The Sepoys also jumped into the
water and followed them like wild dogs, shouting and
foaming with rage. With their swords in the teeth and
revolvers in the hand, the Sepoys began the terrible hunt
in the water. General Wheeler was killed in the first rush.
9. Forrest’s State Papers. Almost all English historians admit
that Nana sent this order as soon as he heard the report. Also
Kaye and Malleson's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 258.
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