[Footnote 8:  See Kaye’s ‘History of the Indian Mutiny,’ vol. ii., p. 120.]

[Footnote 9:  The late Sir Douglas Forsyth, K.C.S.I.]

[Footnote 10:  See ‘The Life of Sir Douglas Forsyth.’]

* * * * *

CHAPTER IX. 1857

John Lawrence’s wise measures—­Disarmament at Peshawar —­Salutary effect in the valley

I will now continue my story from the time I left Peshawar to join the Movable Column.

On the 18th May Brigadier Chamberlain and I arrived at Rawal Pindi, where we joined the Chief Commissioner, who had got thus far on his way to his summer residence in the Murree Hills when tidings of the disaster reached him.  One of Sir John Lawrence’s first acts after talking over matters with Chamberlain was to summon Edwardes from Peshawar, for he wished to consult with him personally about the question of raising levies and enlisting more frontier men, the only one of Edwardes’s and Nicholson’s proposals regarding which the Chief Commissioner had any doubt; it appeared to him a somewhat risky step to take, and he desired to give the matter very careful consideration before coming to any decision.  I remember being greatly struck with the weight given by Lawrence to Edwardes’s opinion.  He called him his Councillor, he eagerly sought his advice, and he evidently placed the utmost reliance on his judgment.

During the six days that we remained at Rawal Pindi waiting for the Movable Column to be assembled, I spent the greater part of my time in the Chief Commissioner’s office, drafting or copying confidential letters and telegrams.  I thus learned everything that was happening in the Punjab, and became aware of the magnitude of the crisis through which we were passing.  This enabled me to appreciate the tremendous efforts required to cope with the danger, and to understand that the fate of Delhi and the lives of our countrymen and countrywomen in Upper India depended upon the action taken by the authorities in the Punjab.  I realized that Sir John Lawrence thought of every detail, and how correct was his judgment as to which of his subordinates could, or could not, be trusted.  The many European women and children scattered over the province caused him the greatest anxiety, and he wisely determined to collect them as much as possible at hill stations and the larger centres, where they would be under the protection of British troops; for this reason he ordered the families of the European soldiers at Sialkot (who were being withdrawn to join the Movable Column) to be sent to Lahore.  But, notwithstanding all that had occurred, and was daily occurring, to demonstrate how universal was the spirit of disaffection throughout the Native Army, Brigadier Frederick Brind, who commanded at Sialkot, could not be brought to believe that the regiments serving under his command would ever prove disloyal, and he strongly