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

DELHI FALLS
which had gone towards Jumma Musjid. Though there
was no resistance till the mosque was reached, as soon as
the troop came there, a terrible war-cry was heard and,
in the subsequent fight, Campbell was wounded.
Thus ended the first day of the assault on Delhi. Of the
four columns, three had their chief commanders wounded;
sixty-six officers, and eleven hundred and four soldiers
were killed ! Reckoning in the evening the advantages
gained at this expense, the English commander, Wilson,
found that he had taken only one-forth of Delhi! Fear,
despair, and anxiety maddened general Wilson and he said
that an immediate retreat must be ordered. “The town is
yet unconquered; and thousands of the Revolutionaries are
proudly inviting those that remain alive to come forth
for battle. Shall we now sacrifice everyone of us or suffer
the ignominy of defeat ? We must now retreat ! ”—such
was the opinion of Wilson.
When the dying Nicholson who had been taken to the
hospital heard the news, that hero said, “ Retreat ! By
God’s grace, I have still strength enough in me to shoot
the retreating Wilson ! ” All the living Englishmen
agreed with this dying hero and, on the night of the 14th
of September, the English troops stuck to the posts they
had conquered.
The English council of war overruled General Wilson’s
opinion as to retreat. The movements in the Revolu-
tionary camp itself that night showed that the force of
the Revolutionaries was spent. One party declared that
it was better to give up Delhi and renew the war in the
province, and the other insisted that Delhi should never
be surrendered, even if everyone of them was killed. In
the English camp, whatever the differences of opinion,
the majority was always respected and the differences
were merged in the unanimity of action. This virtue,
however, was conspicuous in the confused Sepoy ranks
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