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

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
pylae, the ramparts of Breccia, or the stand of De Reuter
in the Netherlands ! All glory to Itawa ! Itawa for ever !
When Walpole reached Itawa, Seaton too had passed Ali-
garh, Kashgunj, and Minpuri, and was engaging in small
skirmishes the Revolutionary bands. The two armies
met at Minpuri on the 8th of January, 1858. In accord-
ance with their previous plans, the banks of the Jumna,
near the Doab, had been reconquered by the British army
from Delhi and Meerut as far as Allahabad. Meanwhile,
Sir Colin had been marching along the Ganges. He had
crushed the Nawab of Fatehgarh and had thus destroyed
the last resort of the Doab Revolutionaries, and he was
now going towards Fatehgarh from Cawnpore, bent on
clearing the territory of the Doab, as far as the Ganges
and the Jumna on either side, of the enemy altogether.
The Nawab of Farrukabad, as has been already told, had
declared his independence at Fatehgarh. The Doab Re-
volutionaries had flocked into Fatehgarh from all the
adjoining parts. Sir Colin had many small engagements
with these. As these Revolutionary troops were mostly
composed of undisciplined people who had been defeated
at Delhi and Cawnpore and had run away from the
battle-field in those places, they used to fly before the
English, before the engagements had even begun, just to
save their lives. But did they succeed in saving their
lives by these dastardly means ? Not at all. The Eng-
lish pursued them hard and, at times, would kill 600 or
700, sometimes even a thousand of the fleeing enemy.
What a world of difference between the dying of those
Itawa heroes and these ! And the Nawab of Far-
rukabad had soon to suffer the consequences of this
dastardly conduct of these bands. His capital, his forts,
and his military supplies fell into the hands of the British
and all the Revolutionaries were driven across the Ganges
and into Rohilkhand. With the military supplies that
were captured, Nadir Khan, the avowed enemy of the
British, also fell into their hands. This Nadir Khan had
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