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

TATIA TOPE
But the enemy understood his game and, in the face of
the fire, crossed from Ayodhya to Cawnpore before the
30th of November. In the camp of Tatia, Nana Sahib
and Kumar Singh had also arrived. These leaders deter-
mined that, instead of leaving Cawnpore, it would on the
whole be more creditable to meet the commander-in-chief
in battle, especially as “ they had, as their leader, a man
of very great natural ability ! ”³
Tatia stationed his left wing in a well-protected position
between Cawnpore and the Ganges. His centre was right
in Cawnpore city. And his right extended behind the
Ganges canal and held a bridge over it. In his army, there
were ten thousand trained sepoys. With these he kept
Sir Colin busy on the 1st and 2nd of December. On the
2nd, he actually opened fire on Sir Colin’s tent. On the
6th, Sir Colin was forced to accept the open challenge of
the Revolutionaries. Consolidating, therefore, his army
of seven thousand in an admirable manner, he began his
attack on these insolent “ mutineers ” who could dare to
attack the camp of the commander-in-chief himself. See-
ing the right wing of the Revolutionaries unprotected, Sir
Colin determined to charge on the right.
But in order to draw off their attention from the right
and direct it towards the wrong direction, the English
opened fire early in the morning of the 6th on the left
wing of the enemy, who were soon engaged in repelling
the attack. A mock charge was meanwhile made on the
centre, too, by Greathed. So believing that the enemy’s
objective was the left and the centre, the Revolutionaries
began to concentrate their strength on these. While the
left was seriously suffering from the artillery of the Bri-
tish, the English began suddenly to turn to the right of the
Revolutionary army. But the Gwalior contingent station-
ed on the right by Tatia began a furious cannonade on
3. Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 186.
385
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