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

THE CONFLAGRATION
impulse of the ideal of Swaraj, they later on insulted, dis-
obeyed, and mocked. And thus, the Revolution tended
to end in anarchy. Under these circumstances, had there
arisen a hero who, by his individual prowess and the might
of his all-conquering sword, could have won the hearts or
awe of those followers who, incapable of being unified by
an abstract ideal, could have still been bound together
by a common hero-worship, the Revolution might have
been crowned with success. But, in the absence of such
a hero on the one side and the inherent tendency of an
uncontrolled Revolution to lapse into anarchy on the other,
there were more rabble than disciplined soldiers in the
army of the kingdom of Oudh. The martyrs, by their
undaunted, unconquered, and unconquerable determina-
tion to do and die, kept the field busy for three years ! In
the camp at Lucknow, the men of the first kind were much
more numerous than those of the second, and the orders
of several officers appointed by Begum Hazrat Mahal
were never strictly obeyed. And the Sepoys became im-
pudent, oppressive, disorderly, and self-willed.
But still some brave heroic spirits who were staying among
them inspired the Sepoys with their bravery, noble ideas,
and natural excellence of spirit. And as these valiant
men insisted, it was resolved to make the first great attack
on the besieged Residency on the 20th of July.
On the morning of the 20th of July, the Revolutionary
artillery which had been very active so long, suddenly
stopped firing. About eight o'clock, the Revolutionary
party laid some mines under the Residency walls and filled
them with dynamite. The mines were blown up and the
Sepoy ranks rushed forth after the explosion. At the
same time, the guns again began a terrible fire on the
English. The Revolutionary army fell upon the English
from different directions—toward the Redan, on the house
of Innes, on the Cawnpore Battery. The part of the
army which attacked the Cawnpore battery made a des-
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