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

LUCKNOW
last the assailants were masters of the place more than two
thousand rebel corpses lay heaped around them. It is
said that, of all who garrisoned it, only four men escaped,
but even the escape of four is doubtful."⁸
Oh, you two thousand martyrs that died fighting for inde-
pendence in Sikandar Bagh, let this grateful history be
dedicated to your memory ! The blood of two thousand
patriots ! This history is dedicated to that blood ! Who
were you that started to fight thus for the country ?
What were your names ? Who was the brave leader that
led you to the fatal battle ? The good fortune of relating
all this, the good fortune of pronouncing the names of you
who sacrificed your bodies in the hope of serving humanity,
has not fallen to our lot ! Let, then, this history be dedi-
cated to your nameless memory alone ! Victory was gone,
but you did not allow your fame to be tarnished ! Let
your blood and bravery purify and adorn the Past and
incite and inspire the Future !
You did not soil your fames, O Heroes of Independence,
but if your self-sacrifice in Sikandar Bagh had begun at
its proper time, victory also would have been yours !
Now, the might of your enemy has increased manifold.
Thousands of new soldiers have come to fight on their
side, their strain has become less after the fall of Delhi,
their moral strength has augmented by victory and yours
has diminished by defeat. Such a dry and lifeless soil,
even the blood of two thousand men will not fertilise.
If, however, as soon as the Revolution began, at the first
onslaught on the feeble Residency, you had rushed up
with the cry of “ Victory or Death ! ”—then, in half an
hour's time, the crown of independence would have shone
on the forehead of Hindusthan. You died as you should
die but the auspicious moment was gone ! Time and
opportunity were gone. In a war of Revolution, what is
8. Malleson's Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 132.
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