elf close to one of Blunt's
guns. Mansfield and Hope Grant were on either side, and Augustus
Anson and I were directly behind, when I heard the Commander-in-Chief
exclaim, 'I am hit.' Luckily it was only by a spent bullet, which had
passed through a gunner (killing him on the spot) before it struck Sir
Colin on the thigh, causing a severe contusion, but nothing more. It
was a moment of acute anxiety until it was ascertained that no great
damage had been done.

By this time one of Travers's guns and a howitzer, which with
considerable difficulty had been dragged up the bank, opened fire on
the point selected by Sir Colin for the breach--the south-east corner
of the wall surrounding the Sikandarbagh.[12] Instantly Hardy (Captain
of the battery) was killed and the senior Subaltern wounded: Blunt's
charger was shot, and of the few men under his command 14 Europeans
and 6 Gun Lascars were killed or wounded; 20 of the troop-horses were
also knocked over.[13]

While the heavy guns were at work on the breach, Adrian Hope, with the
53rd, cleared off a body of the enemy who had collected on our left
front, and connected the barracks with the main attack by a line of
skirmishers.

In less than half an hour an opening three feet square and three feet
from the ground had been made in the wall. It would have been better
had it been larger, but time was precious; Sir Colin would not wait,
and ordered the assault to begin. The Infantry had been lying down,
under such slight cover as was available, impatiently awaiting for
this order. The moment it reached them, up they sprang with
one accord, and with one voice uttered a shout which must have
foreshadowed defeat to the defenders of the Sikandarbagh. The 93rd
under Lieutenant-Colonel Ewart, and the 4th Punjab Infantry under
Lieutenant Paul, led the way, closely followed by the 53rd under
Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon[14] of the 93rd Highlanders, and one of the
battalions of Detachments under Major Roger Barnston.

It was a magnificent sight, a sight never to be forgotten--that
glorious struggle to be the first to enter the deadly breach, the
prize to the winner of the race being certain death! Highlanders and
Sikhs, Punjabi Mahomedans, Dogras[15] and Pathans, all vied with each
other in the generous competition.[16]

A Highlander was the first to reach the goal, and was shot dead as he
jumped into the enclosure; a man of the 4th Punjab Infantry came next,
and met the same fate. Then