His body lay in a small grave in the Alumbagh. The flag of
England was thrown over him in his death, and his country, though
mourning her loss, found another, second perhaps to none, to step into
the gap.

"You will take the command of your regiment this day, Major Hughes,"
said Sir Colin Campbell, as that officer reported himself on the morning
of the 26th November, 1857. "You will find the 150th attached to
General Outram's brigade, holding the Bunnee Bridge. Report yourself at
once, and take your command," he continued, rising as he spoke.

This order was given in the sharp tones of one who had not a moment to
lose; and Hughes, saluting his superior, turned to carry it out, without
a word.

The general's tent was pitched in the Dil Kooshah Park, and the scene of
confusion through which he picked his way was enough to confuse anyone.
Regiment after regiment passed him. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery,
all moving in one direction towards the Alumbagh, and it became evident
that some great movement was going on. Ladies were to be seen wandering
hopelessly about with children poorly provided for, only lately rescued
from imminent peril. Guns lay here and there, which not being worth
taking away, had been burst. Camp followers were shouting and
quarrelling, and a scene of more inextricable confusion could hardly be
imagined. Moving along with the crowd, Major Hughes found his way to
the Martiniere, where lay Brigadier Little and a cavalry brigade. On
the banks of the canal the 63rd Regiment and the 4th Sikh infantry were
bivouacked, and soon he stumbled on the lines of the 93rd Highlanders,
and of Captain Peel's gallant Naval Brigade. The heavy dome of the Shah
Nujeef mosque lay before him, its walls pierced for musketry, and
breached by the fire of the British guns; and there stood the
Secunderabagh itself, with its yawning breaches and shattered walls.
The gardens of the doomed city had been destroyed, the mosques, houses,
even to the European mess-house, had been in detail carried by storm.
In one spot alone, the bodies of three thousand mutineers had been
found, every corpse showing that death had been caused by the deadly
bayonet. Major Hughes had proceeded thus far, and was just asking his
way from a captain of the Royal Artillery, when down a roughly cut road,
his horse white with foam, came an officer of the 9th Lancers.

Pulling up with a sharp jerk, which brought the tired animal on his
haunche