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

THE FIGHT IN DELHI
their cannon. Lord Roberts writes : “ The mutineers
routed us.” Hope Grant had a horse killed under him,
himself was terribly wounded, and, but for the loyalty
of a Mahomedan horseman standing near by, would have
been killed in a minute. Such fighting continued till the
middle of the night, but still the advance of the Sepoys
could not be checked, and so, at last, the English retired
from the battlefield and left the Revolutionaries in com-
plete and victorious possession of an important position
at the rear of the British camp !
That night the British commander could not sleep for
anxiety. For, had the Revolutionaries retained the posses-
sion they had so bravely won, they would have completely
cut off the British communications with the Panjab. To
avoid this evil, the British, early in the morning, were
preparing to offer a further resistance to the victorious
Swadeshi army. But owing to the want of ammunition
and further additions to their numbers, the Sepoys retired
into the city, leaving the English to take possession of the
ground they had vacated. The news of this battle and
the dogged march of the Sepoys had encouraged the Delhi
people and, the cannon on the wall being of long range,
they kept up a constant and unceasing fire on the British
army. These onslaughts of the Delhi army effectively
prevented the British army from assuming the offensive,
by constantly compelling them to be themselves on the
defensive. And the difficulty which the English found
even in maintaining the ground they had occupied made
it impossible for them to advance even a step further
without receiving new succour from the Panjab. And,
to add to all these difficulties rose to-day—the 23rd of
June, 1857 !
This 23rd of June of 1857 is the centenary of the battle
of Plassey ! It was on this day that, a hundred years
ago, in the gamble for empires, the Indian dice proved
unlucky on the battlefield of Plassey. One hundred years
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