s given for the Commander-in-Chief, as he called the
officers round him to give instructions for the disposition of the
force for the night. As it was Captain Dawson and his company who had
scaled the breach, to them was assigned the honour of holding the Shah
Nujeef, which was now one of the principal positions to protect the
retreat from the Residency. And thus ended the terrible 16th of
November, 1857.

In the taking of the Secundrabagh all the subaltern officers of my
company were wounded, namely, Lieutenants E. Welch and S. E. Wood, and
Ensign F. R. M'Namara. The only officer therefore with the company in
the Shah Nujeef was Captain Dawson. Sergeant Findlay, as already
mentioned, had been taken over as hospital-assistant, and another
sergeant named Wood was either sick or wounded, I forget which, and
Corporals M'Kenzie and Mitchell (a namesake of mine, belonging to
Balmoral) were killed. It thus fell to my lot as the non-commissioned
officer on duty to go round with Captain Dawson to post the sentries.
Mr. Kavanagh, who was officiating as a volunteer staff-officer,
accompanied us to point out the direction of the strongest positions of
the enemy, and the likely points from which any attempts would be made
to recapture our position during the night. During the absence of the
captain the command of the company devolved on Colour-Sergeant David
Morton, of "Tobacco Soup" fame, and he was instructed to see that none
of the enemy were still lurking in the rooms surrounding the mosque of
the Shah Nujeef, while the captain was going round the ramparts placing
the sentries for the protection of our position.

As soon as the sentries were posted on the ramparts and regular reliefs
told off, arrangements were made among the sergeants and corporals to
patrol at regular intervals from sentry to sentry to see that all were
alert. This was the more necessary as the men were completely worn out
and fatigued by long marches and heavy fighting, and in fact had not
once had their belts off for a week previous, while all the time
carrying double ammunition on half-empty stomachs. Every precaution had
therefore to be taken that the sentries should not go to sleep, and it
fell to me as the corporal on duty to patrol the first two hours of the
night, from eight o'clock till ten. The remainder of the company
bivouacked around the piled arms, which were arranged carefully loaded
and capped with bayonets fixed, ready for instant action sho