Page:The Indian Mutiny of 1857.djvu/258

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230
A Glance at the Situation.

Patrick Grant; Sir James Outram, appointed to command the united Dánápur and Kánhpur divisions, is on his way to Allahábád; Captain Peel and Captain Sotheby are forming naval brigades from the crews of the Shannon and the Pearl; the Residency of Lakhnao is still holding out; Agra, after a calamity, which will have to be recorded, is in a state of siege; the British troops before Dehlí are holding their position on the ridge; Sir John Lawrence is despatching from the Panjáb Nicholson, with a compact force, to join them; Lord Elphinstone is bearing himself bravely at Bombay, Lord Harris in Madras, Sir Bartle Frere in Sind; there have been disturbances in Rájpútáná and in the dominions of Holkar; Mahárájá Sindhiá remains loyal, but his troops are gathering against the English at Kalpí. The situation is on the whole more hopeful than it was in June and July, because it is more defined. The wiser statesmen have recognised that the real enemies of the British are the sipáhís and the populations of the North-western Provinces, of Bundelkhand, of Rohilkhand, and of Oudh. To crush these the recently arrived resources of Great Britain must be directed. But, first of all, it is incumbent to attempt the relief of the Residency of Lakhnao, too long delayed by the action of the Calcutta Government, recorded in this chapter. I must, then, return to Kánhpur.