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

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
white and the black forces of Hope Grant would naturally
have dispersed the incautious Revolutionaries at once—
but, Sepoys, stop ! It is not yet a week since the Moul-
vie was killed—so, stop ! They stopped and they stood
up ready to give battle even under such odds. And, lo !
such an exhibition of bravery was seen on the side of
the Revolutionaries as is rarely witnessed no matter any-
where. It was such as to make the usually spiteful
enemy to be carried away by a natural admiration of
heroic bravery. The English general, Hope Grant,
writes :—“ Still, their attacks were vigorous, if unsuc-
cessful, and we had much ado to repel them. A large
body of fine, daring Zemindari men brought two guns in
the open and attacked us in the rear. I have seen many
battles in India and many brave fellows fighting with a
determination to conquer or die ; but, I never witnessed
anything more magnificent than the conduct of these
Zemindars ! In the first instance they attacked Hodson's
horse, who would not face them and by their unsteadi-
ness placed in great jeopardy two guns which had been
attached to the regiment. I ordered up the 7th Hussars
and the other four guns belonging to the battery to with-
in a distance of five hundred yards from the enemy and
opened a fire of grape which mowed them down with a
terrible effect, like thistles before the scythe. Their chief,
a big fellow with a goitre on his neck, nothing daunted,
caused two green standards to be placed close to their
guns and used them as a rallying point. But our grape-
fire was so destructive that whenever they attempted to
save their pieces, they were struck down. Two squadrons
and more now came up to our side and forced the sur-
vivors to retire, waving the swords and spears at us and
defiantly calling out to us to come on. Around the
two guns alone there were one hundred and twenty-
five corpses ! After three hours' fighting, the day
was ours.” ⁵
5. Hope Grant’s Incidents of the Sepoy War, page 292.
511