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

THE CONFLAGRATION
the Sikhs and the English who were charging. The rifles
of the Panday army, too, were very active. But the Sikhs
made "double march" and rushed forward, being backed
up by Peel's white troops, and the Gwalior army, under
this double fire, showed signs of retiring. As soon as that
was apparent, the fire of the enemy was reduced and soon
the Gwalior army was scattered completely. All their
guns were captured and a furious pursuit of them began
on the Kalpi road. A complete victory was thus obtained
by Sir Colin so far as the right wing was concerned; but,
he was not satisfied with that. He had an idea of block-
ing completely the road to Brahmavarta on the left, as he
had blocked the road to Kalpi on the right, and thus, of
capturing Tatia with his whole army. So he despatched
Mansfield to the road leading to Brahmavarta. On this
day, the well-established proposition about Asiatics,
referred to above, seemed to have been confirmed both
positively and negatively. The feigned attack on the left
made by Greathed was so weak that, had the Pandays
made but one attempt to repel it, not only would Greathed
have been punished in a way he would have remembered
to the end of his life, but the very fortunes of the day
would have been changed. As it was, the Revolutionaries
began to give way under the straight attack of the English.
While this affirmative part of the proposition, viz., that,
at a good charge and at a show of audacity, the Asiatics
lose heart, was being confirmed on the centre emphatical-
ly; on the left, the negative part too was being realised
in an unmistakably clear way. For when the Revolu-
tionaries saw Mansfield coming, crouching in a round-
about and concealed manner, they attacked him even
though he had a large division. Nana himself commanded
the left. He took full advantage of the slow movements
of Mansfield. When Sir Colin was inquiring whether
Tatia had been hemmed in or not, he heard with regret
that through the dilatory movements of Mansfield, he had
been foiled in his desire. He did not succeed in capturing
Tatia Topé!
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