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

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
erected right from Dilkhwush Bagh to Kaisar Bagh ; the
palace itself was reinforced with armed Sepoys and mount-
ed with guns. In short, all parts except the northern
portion of the city were fortified admirably by the Revo-
lutionaries.
Sir Colin recognised the weakness of the northern side
and, from this very side, he began the attack. Before
this, neither Havelock, nor Outram, nor Colin himself
had attacked Lucknow from that side and, as the Gautami
was on that side, the Revolutionaries naturally thought
that the north needed no protection. But Outram took
full advantage of this weak link to the chain of their
defences and, as this point gave way under the charge of
Outram, the other defences were rendered useless. On the
6th of March, the British began their operations on the
north of Lucknow. Soon after, the troops under Sir Colin
had increased to nearly thirty thousand, and so the Eng-
lish attacked simultaneously from the north and the east.
Sir Colin had so divided his army that not a single Revo-
lutionary should escape alive from Lucknow. Though all
the plans of the Pandays had been upset on account of
the attack on the quarter least expected, namely, the
northern side, they carried on their struggle, day and night
from the 6th to the 15th of March. For the third time
in a single year, blood flowed freely in this unfortunate
city. The British troops stormed one fort after another
—Dilkhwush Bagh, Kadam Rasool, Shah Najeef,
Begum Kothi, and others—and continued their ad-
vance. On the 10th, Hodson was killed by the
Revolutionaries. It was this man that had shot
down in cold blood the surrendered, innocent, un-
armed Mughal princes of Delhi. Lucknow then
avenged Delhi by killing this wicked criminal. On
the 14th, the British army entered right into the Palace.
Giving a description of this triumph, Malleson writes :
“ Its greatness and magnificence were due mainly to the
Sikhs and the 10th foot ! ”
409