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

KUMAR SINGH AND AMAR SINGH
he come to Jagadishpur after the death-dealing struggle
in East Oudh, and he and his forces had not even taken
one day's rest. According to the English official report
itself his forces were “ disjointed, badly armed, and with-
out guns,” numbering at the most to a thousand, with
very few trained soldiers amongst them, and the octogena-
rian chief himself was wounded mortally in his hand !
Against this army was marching the fresh, the vigorous,
the disciplined forces of the British, well armed with guns
and led by General Le Grand. The issue of the battle was,
then, a foregone conclusion ! And with this full confid-
ence, the English army entered the forest which was about
one mile and a half from the town. The English guns
began to thunder forth unchallenged, for Kumar Singh
had no guns to oppose them. But, still, it seems that he
means to smother us in this thickly grown jungle by
stretching out his forces round us ;—well then, let the
all unfailing stroke be given. Let that straight and bold
front attack of the Europeans, which had always been the
terror of the Asiatics, be ordered ! It was ordered ; the
Europeans rushed forth irresistible ; the army of Kumar
Singh, too, began to contest ; and none knows how, but
in a moment, the brave Briton got confused and struck
with terror and sounded the retreat. But, though the
bands sounded the retreat, as Kumar Singh held the Bri-
tish force in his grip, it was more dangerous to attempt
a retreat than even to try to make a stand. But, if re-
treat is as ruinous as a stand, then, O brave Briton, why
not make a stand to prove that unflinching courage of
your people which so many times you have boasted that
you possess ? Matters not whether it is proved or dis-
proved, he alone lived who ran ! And run they did ; all
the British forces, like hunted deer, left the jungle and
began to fly wherever the way led, while Kumar Singh's
army pursued them hot and the rout was complete ! One
of the men who himself was present in this rout, writes
to this effect of his experience, in a letter written at the
time :—“ Indeed, it makes me extremely ashamed to
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