The interest excited amongst all classes of our countrymen by the events
which happened during the momentous crisis of 1857 in India can scarcely
be appreciated by the present generation. So many years have elapsed
that all those who held high commands or directed the councils of the
Government have long since died, and the young participants in the
contest who survived its toils and dangers are all now past middle age.
But the oft-told tale will still bear repetition, and the recital of the
achievements of Englishmen during the great Indian rebellion will fill
the hearts of their descendants for all time with pride, and incite them
to emulate their actions. In the hour of danger the heart of the nation
is stirred to its profoundest depths, the national honour is at stake,
and that heritage bequeathed to us by our ancestors must at all hazards
be preserved. Thus it happened in 1857, and the result is well known. So
it may again occur, and with confidence it may be predicted that, as of
yore, Britain's sons will not be found wanting in the hour of trial,
that, keeping well in mind the glorious traditions of their race, they
will maintain unsullied the reputation of their forefathers, and add to
the renown of that Empire on which the sun never sets.

It is unnecessary, in this place, to enter into the causes which led
to the mutiny of the Bengal army. These can be read and studied in the
graphic pages of Kaye and Malleson. My intention is to give, as far as
in me lies, a truthful account of the events in which I personally bore
part, and which came under my own immediate observation.




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