subside, and they were eager to find a pretext for refusing to march on such hazardous service. This excuse was soon found. There was a scarcity of available carriage-cattle for the movement of the troops. Neither bullocks nor drivers were to be hired, and extravagant prices were demanded for wretched cattle not equal to a day’s journey. The utmost efforts of the commissariat failed to obtain the needful supply. In this conjuncture a lie was circulated through the Sepoy lines at Barrackpur, that as the Bengal regiments could not be marched to Chittagong for want of cattle, they would be put on board ship and carried to Rangoon, across the Bay of Bengal. Discontent developed into oaths of resistance, and the regiments warned for service in Burmah vowed they would not cross the sea.
The 47th Regiment, commanded by Colonel Cartwright, was the foremost in the movement. That officer endeavoured, by conciliatory measures, to remove the cause of complaint; and Government offered to advance money for the purchase of such cattle as could be obtained. These measures were without avail, and the regiment broke out into mutiny on parade on the 30th October. The Sepoys declared that they would not proceed to Burmah by sea, and that they would not march unless they were allowed ‘double batta.’ Another parade was held on the 1st November, when the behaviour of the Sepoys was still more violent. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Edward Paget, a stern disciplinarian, next appeared on the scene. He proceeded to Barrackpur with two European regiments, a battery of European artillery, and a troop of the Governor-General’s Bodyguard. Next morning the rebellious regiment was drawn up in face of the European troops, but they still clung to their resolution. After some ineffectual attempts at explanation and conciliation, the men were told that they must consent to march or ground their arms. Not seeing the danger,—for they were not told that the artillery guns were loaded with grape, and the gunners ready to fire,—they refused to obey the word, and the guns opened upon them. The mutineers made no attempt at resistance, but broke at once, and, throwing away their arms and accoutrements, made for the river. Some were shot down; some were drowned. Many of the leading mutineers were hanged, and the regiment was struck out of the Army List.
Barrackpur was one of the military stations in which the signs of the great military rebellion of 1857 first became apparent.
