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

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
The death of this brave general, Hope, came as a shock
over all Englishmen resident in India. Lord Canning and
Sir Colin, why, all England was overwhelmed with grief.
Not even the death of hundreds of soldiers would have
inflicted such a sorrow and mourning on the English
nation as did the death of this Hope—one of the bravest
and most energetic of the English officers of that period.
The tiny chieftain, Narapat Singh, had done what he said,
“he had his vengeance,” and then left the fort with his
handful of men, and went on fighting with the unsullied
banner of liberty in his hand!
After these different divisions had swept off the Revolu-
tionaries from the province of Oudh towards the north
and then to Rohilkhand, the commander-in-chief got all
the forces united and marched on to Rohilkhand in person.
All the leaders of the Revolutionaries had now assembled
in Shahjahanpur. There was Nana Sahib of Cawnpore
and Moulvie Ahmad Shah. These two men had baffled
all the innumerable attempts of the British generals to
get hold of them and were still as energetic and uncon-
quered as ever. So, when the news was brought to Sir
Colin that these two leaders of the Revolutionaries were
within his reach in the same place and perhaps ignorant
of his movements, Sir Colin formed the shrewd plan of
closing the town from all sides. He marched and closed
on Shahjahanpur—but only to find that the birds had
flown away! It was but natural that Sir Colin should
be extremely piqued at this, as he had ordered four dif-
ferent forces to guard all the four sides, and the Revolu-
tionary leaders escaped by the side guarded by the com-
mander-in-chief himself!
Now that the plan of Shahjahanpur was frustrated, Sir
Colin was desirous of reducing at least the city of Bareilly.
So, leaving a division of his forces with four guns in
Shahjahanpur, he started and arrived on the 14th of May
within a day’s distance of Bareilly. The Rohilla, Khan
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