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

THE CONFLAGRATION
jealousy of the two officers, Neill remained to guard
Cawnpore and Havelock marched towards Oudh at the
head of the troops going for the relief of Lucknow. Neill
hit upon a new plan for the defence of Cawnpore. He
formed a corps of Mahars and gave the town in their
charge. The trick of inciting these low class men against
the higher classes succeeded wonderfully. When the di-
vision among the Hindus and Moslems vanished, this
caste difference was thus made use of ! After the defeat
of Cawnpore, Nana Sahib Peshwa left Brahmavarta and
crossed the Ganges with his treasure and his army. His
first camp was at Fattehgarh ; the English army under
Havelock, not being able to ascertain Nana's whereabouts,
marched towards Lucknow. By the end of June, the
whole province of Oudh was a perfect beehive of the Re-
volutionaries, and it was not easy task to march through
the province and to relieve Sir Henry Lawrence and raise
the siege of Lucknow. Still, in the flush of victory, Have-
lock and his army thought lightly of the work of crossing
the Ganges and relieving Lucknow. Just as the idea, “ to
see Delhi was to conquer Delhi,” possessed the English
army which descended from the Panjab, so, the idea that
it was only necessary to cross the Ganges in order to take
Lucknow now haunted Havelock's army going up from
Cawnpore. It is true Lucknow is not very far from
Cawnpore. It is also true that the energy and quickness
which was displayed by Havelock on his march from Alla-
habad to Cawnpore inspired him to undertake stupendous
tasks with a light heart. But now, there was not an
inch of space in Oudh that was not involved in the flames
of the national Revolution. Oudh being the cradle of the
Purbhayya Sepoys who began the revolt in India, the
parents, the children and relatives, and friends of these
Sepoys, in every hamlet and every cottage, were inevit-
ably burning with Revolutionary spirit. Still, this terrible
state of affairs did not daunt the English commander who
was full of his victory. He was in such high spirits that
he hoped to conquer Lucknow at the very sight thereof,
312