them, to be over-sensitive.

It was a sad little assemblage; all were more or less broken down and
out of health, while many were widows or orphans, having left their
nearest and dearest in the Residency burial-ground. Officers and men
accorded them a respectful welcome, and by their efforts to help them
showed how deeply they felt for their forlorn condition, while our old
Chief had a comfortable tea prepared for them. When night set in, the
road having been carefully reconnoitred beforehand, the melancholy
convoy with its guard of soldiers started for the Dilkusha, where it
arrived in safety, and was warmly received by the officers of the 9th
Lancers and the rest of the garrison, who did all that circumstances
would allow to make the ladies and children comfortable.

During the 20th, 21st, and 22nd, everything that was worth removing
and for which carriage could be provided was brought away. Such a
miscellaneous collection it was--jewels and other valuables belonging
to the ex-royal family, twenty-five lakhs of treasure, stores of all
kinds, including grain, and as many of the 200 guns discovered in the
palace as were considered likely to be of use.

The troops were not moved away from the Residency till midnight on the
22nd, and I had several opportunities before then of going over the
position, to every point of which some thrilling story was attached,
and of renewing acquaintance with many of the garrison whom I had
known before. Amongst them was Sam Lawrence, of the 32nd Foot, a
friend of Peshawar days, who, for his gallant defence of the Redan,
was awarded the Victoria Cross. I was shown Innes's advanced post,
named after McLeod Innes,[2] a talented Engineer officer, who also
subsequently gained that coveted reward; the Cawnpore battery, where
so many valuable lives had been sacrificed, and the room where Sir
Henry Lawrence received his mortal wound; then I climbed up to the
tower, from which a good view of the city and the posts held by the
enemy could be obtained.

The more I saw, the more I wondered at what had been achieved by such
a mere handful of men against such vast numbers. It was specially
pleasant to me to listen to the praises bestowed on the officers of my
own regiment, of whom nine were present when the siege commenced, and
only one escaped to the end unwounded, while five were killed or died
of their injuries. Of the other three, one was wounded three different
times, and both the others once.