At the barracks of Meerut the senior officer, a man lacking in compassion or understanding, stupidly decided to test his men’s obedience by lining them all up and ordering them to load their weapons, but tear off the cartridge, instead of biting them. They refused and were arrested. They were all tried by a native court and each given ten years hard labour. This wasn’t all, they were also marched to the parade ground to be ritually stripped of their uniforms before being shackled and led off to jail. Not only did they think their religion was being infringed upon, now their honour was in shreds. The company might have thought they had set a standard for all to follow here but they were badly wrong, as feelings were now at fever pitch, so much so that other native soldiers broke into the jail and freed all the convicted men. They now went on a rampage, attacking British soldiers in the streets and having tasted blood, they were in no mood for civility, or mercy, or rational behaviour as they rampaged through the cantonments in a frenzy, slaughtering every European man, woman and child they got their hands on. Bizarrely the natives saw this slaughter as somehow breaking the mystique of the invincible British and ending their aura of supremacy. It was a step even the thugs had shied from and knowing they were now beyond any possible mercy, there was only one thing to do and that was to raise their own army and destroy the Brits. To do this they immediately approached the old rulers of the Mogul empire in Delhi, before news had spread that far, where they demanded that the old king appoint one of his sons to lead them. With that they would have a certain legitimacy. They ended up with an 82 year old dope addict instead but at least he was a Mogul leader. His name was Bahadhur Shah. With a leader in place and many flocking to the banner, suddenly they turned on the British in Delhi, who had no idea of events elsewhere and suddenly they were all being slaughtered in their homes, nobody was spared. A few brave officers managed to get to the city’s magazine and blow it up, so preventing mass arms and ammunition landing in their hands. The frenzy united the old enemies of Hinduism and Islam and soon they were destroying everything European, churches, graves and even half castes. Some 50 or more Indian converts to Christianity and other Eurasions were thrown into jail and later brought out into the courtyard and in front of the whole gathering, they were slaughtered, man woman and child. Amongst the spectators was Bahadur Shah, who being a part of it, was now irrevocabley committed.

When my brother landed in Canada in 74 he came across quite a number of people from various British colonies. Now this might sound odd, but where we grew up, there were no foreigners. We had friends with surnames that looked like an eye test, but they were from Poles, left over from the war and they weren't foreigners. We didn't know what a foreigner looked like and the nearest thing we had were the Welsh. In my school we learned German and when we were 13 a group of German school kids were going to visit the school and I remember us all thinking.... wonder what foreigners look like? If they had walked into the classroom with two heads each we wouldn't have been shocked. Anyway, I'm wandering but when my brother got there he came across quite a few people from former colonial countries, most notably in Africa and the Caribbean and he would always ask them what it was like under the British and virtually all of them would say..... we had law and order and we got educated. There's a lot to be said for those two concepts.

Bahadar Shah was now Emperor and he wrote.... The English, who conquered Persia and defeated the Czar of Russia, has been overthrown in India by a simple cartridge. Things were bad for the Brits but not lost for the time being. Their problem was numbers and the fact that they were facing a foe trained by them to their standards, one that was about to explode in numbers, as thousands flocked to the banner. Throughout the region there was approximately 130.000 Sepoys, who in varying degrees shared the concerns of their fellow Sepoys and to make matters worse, news of the uprising had spread with a speed that had taken the British by complete surprise. As time went by, more and more regiments were deserting to the rebel cause, killing their officers and families as they did. As the authority of the British began to diminish, many peasants took the opportunity to settle old scores too and not just with the British, as many now turned on people such as money lenders and settled their debts by murdering them. Gangs of people roamed the towns and cities robbing offices, banks, business and merchants. This kind of act alienated a swathe of the professional Indian classes, who sided with the British, who they naturally saw as the people of law and order. Well they would, wouldn't they? Was the attitude of the masses but the business classes knew that defeat of the Brits would be their total undoing. There was only five British regiments available and they were scattered far and wide and following a number of other native regimental desertions, only the Sikhs and Gurkhas would be truly trusted. Fortunately, thousands of possible enemy, in the form of the hill tribesmen, decided to sit on the fence and await their decision on which side they were on, as their interjection could have proved fatal. For the British, their main response at the time was the siege of Delhi but they were desperately short of men right across the region but with a breathtaking speed for the day, Britain was mobilising troops from all quarters. Two regiments of Highlanders were diverted mid voyage to Burma and a further Highland regiment diverted from Hong Kong, where they were being sent to convince the Chinese of the advantages of opium. Others were transferred from Malta, Mauritius, Cape Town and Britain, all heading for India. Meanwhile, the crisis worsened with mutinies at Luknow, Cawnpore, Gwalior, Jhansi and a number of other garrison towns, many accompanied by the stories of further atrocities. This was not a one sided affair though, as the two British leaders, Generals Neill and Havelock, especially Neill, a religious Scot, whose path you could easily follow by the trail of men hanging from every branch of every tree, were ruthless with any person so much as thought to be a mutineer. There was one atrocity though that would spur on the British more than the rest and that followed the siege of Cawnpore.

At this time there was only 5 British regiments and trusted native troops to tackle a problem that was rapidly spreading and to say they had been caught off guard was a understatement to say the least. Fortunately, many Indians remained on the fence, waiting to see which way it went because the fact was, they were so convinced of the power of the company, they just couldn’t conceive of its actual weakness. In many parts of the world, the Empire was just a con trick, all smoke and mirrorsMany of these troops could not go on the offensive because they were tasked with protecting the bases with the women and children in them and these were strung out over a thousand miles. This left around 3500 to keep Delhi blockaded, which was the hotbed of the revolt now and the commander of those forces was threatening to break off the blockade without reinforcements. Without the blockade, there was the possibility of thousands of combatants rampaging across the country. The British leader Sir John Lawrence submitted to his demands but feared the worse, yet still the masses remained on the fence and they were to get away with the gamble but by now though, reinforcements were beginning to arrive by sea, many of these being the Highland Regiments, our home grown savages. 4000 troops now forced marched to the hot spots, where they arrived in the nick of time to hold the present lines but things were suddenly to accelerate badly as another half dozen towns went over to the revolt. Ironically, the greatest enemy of these new troops was the heat, which laid many low and killed a  good number. The most serious problem for the Brits was Lucknow and Cawnpore, the latter of which was led by the grisled, old campaigner, Sir Huw Wheeler, a man who had managed to be in every hot spot in India for the last 50 years. He commanded just 200 soldiers, and was charged with protecting around a thousand civilians, a third of them being women and children. His woes were raised when suddenly some of his native soldiers went over to the other side, doing their best to convince the others to follow but many remained loyal. The besieging leader was one Nana Sahib, a once trusted Indian leader who had completely shocked the company when he went over to the rebels. With the hope of giving up the unequal defence of Cawnpore, General Wheeler put his trust in Nana Sahib, mainly because of what he thought he was, instead of what he was and agreed to terms, whereby they would be allowed to abandon the town and and be shipped down river to Allahabad but it was not to be.

During the evacuation the rebels turned on them and a massacre ensued. Many were shot or drowned in the river and when the killing was over, they had taken 125 women and children as prisoners. For the time being they were just forced to undergo ritual humiliation, whilst Nana Sahib used them as proof of his great victory and confirmation of the superiority of the Hindu and Muslim faith, but retribution was on its way as he spoke, for Havelock and Neill were on their way with a force of 2000 men. These men were on a mission and thrashed every band of mutineers who gave battle on the way. Although Sahib’s army outnumbered the advancing Brits by 3 to 1, constant news of their defeats began to take a toll on their morale and beset by panic, he ordered the murder of the women and children. The rape and slaughter went on for two days and they even brought in a meat butcher to carry much of it out. Sahib fled the scene before Havelock got there and the revulsion and rage of his men when they suddenly came across the scene knew no bounds. The bodies had all been stripped and thrown down a well and the task of recovering them broke a lot of men, leaving the Brits in a real killing mood. They began immediately, directed by Neill, who killed any who had been involved or just associated with the rebels. The condemned men were made to lick up a patch of the dried blood of the victims off the ground, before being forced to eat either pork or beef, depending on their religion, then whipped towards the gallows, where they were strung up. Cawnpore became somewhat of a shrine, where soldiers were taken and had the the story recited to them, leaving them in no mood for pity and many an innocent person would end up being killed as a result.

most notably in Africa and the Caribbean and he would always ask them what it was like under the British and virtually all of them would say..... we had law and order and we got educated. There's a lot to be said for those two concepts.Sorry for going back but you should have also added Canada because we also had law and order and got educated to British standards. A perfect example on the law and order side is how are west was opened up and police controled compared to how the American west was.
The need for law and order in the West became apparent after Riel's Red River Rebellion. America's experience made it obvious that Indian Treaties were needed, as was a measure of control - of the white population. 
Foremost in  Sir John A. Macdonald's mind as he considered the problem of the plains was the violence of the Indian wars during America's westward expansion, which had cost hundreds of lives and millions of dollars. Canada could not afford to follow America's example.  Macdonald resolved to have law and order before settlement, and it worked.

The British numbers were swelling by the month now, as the navy began landing more regiments and if it wasn’t clear to the mutineers that they had lost their chance, it soon would be. The British army, with all its contingents, including loyal Indians, Punjabis, Gurkhas and Sikhs were still greatly outnumbered but much better organised. For many of the new arrivals from Britain, it wasn’t the mutineers that would kill them, it was the country itself. Thrown in immediately, without time to acclimatise, the overpowering heat, something these Brits had never imagined before, never mind experienced, took a heavy toll. Add the various diseases they had no immunity to as well and and it was a cocktail of death. The military mindset was not discarded soon enough, whereby men had to march in heavy tunics, or wear brass helmets etc, which burned their heads. Forced marches during the oven temperatures of the daytime wiped out hundreds of them and thousands with cholera, sunstroke, burns, boils and total fatigue. Despite all this morale remained very high and their enthusiasm to come to grips with the mutineers was fierce, due to the harrowing stories being fed to them and when they did, they fought with a demonic energy and utter contempt for the odds, which were always stacked against them. Another stroke of luck came the Brits way when two of their senior generals died of cholera. They were too staid, hated in most quarters, incompetent and didn’t have the confidence of their officers. The new man in charge was the ubiquitous Sir Colin Campbell, a man who most people on earth had had a shot at at one time or another, such were his numerous campaigns. At this stage the rebels were continuing to fight piecemeal, instead of the large concentrations they could have been capable of. They still massively outmanned the British army but their initial inability to concentrate their overwhelming forces cost them dear. Their problem was structure. An army needs a recognisable structure of command and direction for without it they were often just a mob and against a disciplined and experienced foe like the Brits, they were just swept away at times, despite their overwhelming numbers. One capable man did emerge amongst them, his name was Tanti Topi and he ran a fast moving guerrilla campaign but it was all too late. Meanwhile, the Brits now had their eye on the rebels capital, Delhi.

There were other great leaders too Tom, most notably Irishman John Nicholson and Englishman William Hodson, two dashing and charismatic leaders who took the fight right through their front doors. Sir Colin Campbell was another of those Scottish (born in Glasgow) career soldiers who rose through the ranks from ensign to Knighted General, then Field Marshall. He was the son of a carpenter, born with the surname Macliver, which he shed for his mother’s maiden name of Campbell. He joined the army at the age of 15 but due to his lack of social standing, his promotions were slow. He was one of those remarkably common colonial soldiers that the enemy couldn’t kill. Only nature could kill them and she had to wait until they were past their sell by date. In an age where a scratch could prove fateful, he survived some terrible wounds. So let’s get started, he fought in the Peninsular war (his only brother was killed there ) the Walcheran campaign, the quelling of the slave revolt in Demerara, the war of 1812, the 1st opium wars against the Chinese, the second opium war, the Sikh wars, the Crimean war and the Indian mutiny. He was wounded many times and his courage knew no bounds. He survived the leading of a ‘forlorn hope’ at San Sebastian in the Peninsular campaign and most famously, he commanded the 93rd Regiment (Sutherland Highlanders) at the incredible defence of Balaklava during the Crimean war, an action which cemented the reputation of ‘The thin red line’ into military folklore. A forlorn hope was a essentially a death wish, a suicide note, in which an officer would volunteer to lead from the front, an attack through say a breech in a fortress wall, as with San Sebastian, where the likelihood of survival was nil but if you did survive you got instantly promoted. It’s amazing how many young officers volunteered for this stunt. Being 65 when he took command, some say he was too cautious but Campbell was always mindful of his soldier’s’ wellbeing and too many had died needlessly from over enthusiasm for his liking. He was laid to rest in the halls of the country’s great and good, in Westminster Abbey aged 70.

Amazing when you read of such people of history, Major. Do we have any of such waiting in the wings to take command & save us from the savage? Don't see any on this side of the pond.

Look to your North then Tommy. lol

A word about the 'Thin red Line.' During the battle of Balaclava, famous for the charge of the Light Brigade, the main British concentration was either on the heights or in the valley below. The blunder was, their main base, the heart of their communications, supply and administration, was in the port of Balaklava and it was left comparatively unguarded, meaning that only 500 men of the 93rd highlanders, commanded by Sir Colin Campbell stood between the Russians and possible victory in the war. The Russians spotted this and sent their heavy cavalry to capture the town. Had they done this, the war could have been over. They could have destroyed the storehouses, burnt the ships, wrecked the harbour and killed all the logistics wing of the army. The British army would have become a stranded whale. Although the Russian cavalry numbered around 2,600 they only sent around 450-550 (numbers vary) to destroy the infantry and open the way. In the real world, heavy cavalry can literally plough through soldiers standing a hundred deep, no problem, and all that stood in their way was a line two deep. Campbell addressed his men and said....93rd, there is no retreat from here, you must die where you stand. The contingent of Turks on the wings fired an ineffective volley at too distant a range and fled. When the Russians got to 500 yards the 93rd let off a volley, followed by a second at 200 yards followed by a third, which checked the Russians. Then, some of the 93rd went to bayonet charge themselves and had to be checked by Campbell screaming...stand fast 93rd, Damn you eagerness! The cavalry was in disarray and retreated from the field.

Delhi was the centre of the revolt and was a magnet for those wishing to join up. It contained virtually all of the British trained mutineers as well as their leader, Bahadur Shah. Volunteers flooded in from far and wide, bringing their army to possibly around 40 to 50,000 men. Eventually the first Brits turned up at their door but they only numbered about 7000 and many of those were too sick to fight. As the rebels had the superior artillery, they had to stay at a range which rendered their own artillery ineffective for the time being. The rebels launched a number of attacks which were repulsed, sometimes desperately at the point of a bayonet but the Brits were losing men they couldn’t afford, but gaining a decisive moral victory, which began to eat away at their opponents confidence, so much so that many of them were now abandoning the city. Eventually reinforcments arrived, carrying the heavy siege canon and the job of breaching the walls could begin in earnest and not too soon for the men, who were now desperate for revenge for Cawnpore. When the breech was made, they stormed the city and in six days of vicious, street to street, house to house, hand to hand fighting they cleared it of rebels, taking and giving no quarter. It was a total slaughterhouse, with many none combatants being killed along the way, as all were seen as complicit in the Cawnpore massacre in one way or another. The fall of Delhi was a blow to the rebels they would not come back from, although the war was far from over yet. Two of Bahadur Shah’s sons and a grandson were captured in Delhi and Hodson personally shot all three.

Hodson had pulled one of the babies out of the well in Cawnpore, so he wasn't in the mood to negotiate. This kind of behaviour, especially from a British officer, is always looked upon with a kind of horror only reserved for our own, as if when we do it, it's always beyond the pale. Why are our sins always blacker than theirs for the same crimes I wonder? Is it because we're Christians for example? White maybe? I'm sure you have experienced likewise in your career Tom. Distance does lend enlightenment.

Delhi was now comprehensively sacked and looted, the age old payment for the victors and as they couldn’t reasonably be stopped, they were left to burn themselves out. Selling a single bottle of wine could make a man rich for life. The mutineers now fell back to the city of Awadh, making it the new centre of resistance. Lucknow was still under rebel siege and Havelock’s forces had failed to get through to it, but a second advance did, only to find themselves trapped and under siege. It was left to Campbell’s army to make an advance and on the way he was confronted and badly outnumbered by a large rebel army, bands playing, horns blowing, flags flying as far as the eye could see, which he promptly handed a lesson in generalship. He was assisted in his efforts by sailors from HMS Shannon, who manned their own 68 pounder guns and rockets, which were under the command of Captain William Peel, the son of the former Prime Minister and inventor of the police force. Following this, there was a big push for Lucknow, which was achieved, followed by Jhansi, where the Rani (female leader) was shot off her horse and killed. Then Gwalior fell and it was just down to mopping up. Bahadur Shah was captured and spent the rest of his days in comfortable exile. They never caught up with Nana Sahib, who was thought to have fled to Nepal and died there. They finally caught unto Tanti Topi, who was betrayed by one of his trusted men for money and they eventually hanged him in 1859. This is just a generalisation of the epic events of the time, which many have wrote volumes on. There’s always two sides to every war and many years ago I was waiting for an op in hospital and reading a book on the mutiny, when an Indian doctor spotted me. We don’t look at it this way, he said, tapping the book. I don’t suppose you do, I replied.