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

THE FIGHT IN DELHI
as in the past, this assault too was perfectly planned.
And on the 3rd of July, the English army, all the while
standing ready to march, did begin to move—but, lo !
someone has just brought the news that General Bakht
Khan has spared them all the trouble of marching on
Delhi ; for he himself has marched upon them ! On the
4th of July, Bakht Khan again came forth and pressed on
the English rear as far as Alipur itself !
That the city of Delhi, about which the English had been
openly boasting before the siege began that to see it was
to conquer it, should not allow him even to take one step
further on in spite of new forces pouring from the Panjab
to his help, even after the constant struggle of a complete
month, was too much of an anxiety and shame to the
sensitive nature of Barnard. The English were so eager
to take Delhi and so confident of their ability to do so
that, long before June had ended, the news of the fall of
Delhi would reach Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras ! And,
no sooner did this usual news prove as usually groundless
than the English people all over India would begin to
ask each other, “ What are the English forces doing at
Delhi, at all ?” This anxiety and shame were working
on the mind of Barnard. And to this gloomy view of
the past there could be seen nothing in the future but a
still darker sequel ! He was not allowed even a moment’s
rest by the constant attacks of the Sepoys ; nor could he
fail to see that every day that rose was lessening the hope
of carrying any bold or straight assault on the city of the
Revolutionaries. At last, Barnard, the commander of the
British forces, emaciated in body and eaten up in mind
by this hopelessness and dark despair, fell an easy victim
to cholera, on the 5th of July. This came up like a shock
over the English forces in the camp. This was the second
commander of the English forces who tried to enter the
city of Delhi but succeeded only in entering the grave,
instead ! General Reed, now, took up the charge and
became the third commander of the English forces !
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