Delhi, and
throughout the siege the men of this regiment proved the most daring
opponents of the British Army. According to Mead's _Sepoy Revolt_, "The
dead bodies of men bearing the regimental number of the Ninth Regiment
were found in the front line of every severe engagement around Delhi and
at the deadly Cashmere Gate when it was finally stormed." After engaging
Doorga Sing it was not long before I made him relate his experiences of
the siege of Delhi, and afterwards at Lucknow and in Oude, and one day I
happened to ask him if it was true that there were several Europeans in
the rebel army. He told me that he had heard of several, but that he
personally knew of two only, one of whom accompanied the mutineers from
Meerut and was killed at the battle of Budlee-ke-Serai,--evidently the
deserter alluded to above. The other European was a man of superior
stamp, who came to Delhi from Rohilcund with the Bareilly Brigade, and
the King gave him rank in the rebel army next to General Bukht Khan, the
titular Commander-in-Chief, This European commanded the artillery
throughout the siege of Delhi, as he had formerly been in the Company's
artillery and knew the drill better than any man in the rebel army. I
asked Doorga Sing if he had ever heard his name or what rank he held
before the Mutiny, and he said he had heard his name at the time, but
had forgotten it, and that before the Mutiny he had held the rank of
sergeant-major, but whether in the native artillery or in one of the
native infantry regiments at Bareilly he did not now recollect. But the
Badshah promoted him to be general of artillery immediately on the
arrival of the Bareilly Brigade, and he was by far the bravest and most
energetic commander that the rebels had, and the most esteemed by the
revolted sepoys, whose respect he retained to the last. Even after they
had ceased saluting their native officers they continued to turn out
guards and present arms to the European _sahib_. Throughout the siege of
Delhi there was never a day passed that this man did not visit every
battery, and personally correct the elevation of the guns. He fixed the
sites and superintended the erection of all new batteries to counteract
the fire of the English as the siege advanced. On the day of the
assault, the 14th of September, he fought like _shaitan_,[60] fighting
himself and riding from post to post, trying to rally defeated sepoys,
and bringing up fresh troops to the support of assaile