! you are my own
lads, I rely on you to do the work!" A voice from the ranks called out:
"Ay, ay, Sir Colin, ye ken us and we ken you; we'll bring the women and
children out o' Lucknow or die wi' you in the attempt!" and the whole
regiment burst into another ringing cheer, which was taken up by the
whole line.

I may here mention the service rendered to the relieving force by Mr.
Kavanagh, an enterprise of consummate daring which won for him a
well-deserved Victoria Cross; only those who know the state of Lucknow
at the time can fully appreciate the perils he encountered, or the value
of the service he rendered. My own company, made up to one hundred men,
with a troop of the Ninth Lancers and a company of the Fourth Punjab
Infantry, formed the advance piquet at which Mr. Kavanagh, who had made
his way from the Residency through the heart of the enemy, disguised as
a native scout, arrived. I will not give any account of his venturesome
march. He has already told his own story, and I need not repeat it. I
only allude to the value of the service rendered, and how it was
appraised in the force at the time. Oude had only been annexed in 1856,
and the Mutiny broke out in May, 1857. There had been no time to
complete a survey of Lucknow and its surroundings, and consequently the
Commander-in-Chief had no plan of the city, and there was no officer in
the force, or, for that matter, no European outside the Residency, who
knew the strong positions of the enemy or the intricacies of the
streets. When Generals Havelock and Outram forced their way into the
Residency, their advance was through miles of intricate and narrow
lanes. The sequel is well known. The relieving force got into the
Residency, but they had lost so many men in the attempt that they were
unable to come out again in charge of the women and children, and so
they were themselves besieged. In our force, among the ranks (I don't
know what the plans of the Commander-in-Chief were), it was understood
that we were to advance on the Residency by the same route as Generals
Havelock and Outram had done, and that the streets were all duly
prepared for giving us a warm reception. But after "Lucknow" Kavanagh,
who thoroughly knew the ground, came out to act as a guide to the
relieving force, the Commander-in-Chief was supposed to have altered the
plan of his line of advance. Instead of forcing his way through
loopholed and narrow lanes, he decided to avoid the city altogether,