Mizoram, 1872: Khalkom
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BY LONDON: 1873. Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees |
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Khalkom
The Western chiefs, Sukpilal and Khalkom, had not yet made their appearance, and Colonel Rattray, who was then commanding at Pachui, received orders to explore the roads in their direction, in order, if possible, to put press* ure upon them.
According to the Lushais, Khalkom was ill and could not move. His illness, however, was never satisfactorily explained, and it was generally be- lieved that he was wounded either at EJiolel or Tipai Mukh.
As the time necessary for making roads could not be spared, the General determined to trust to the country paths from this point, taking on only the Artillery elephants. Those belonging to the Commissariat thenceforth worked only between Tipai Mukh and Chepui ; the supplies being taken on from the latter place by coolies.
On the 22nd January, the advance was con- tinued along a very rocky path, the head-man, and two others from Tingridum, and three men from Chepui, accompanied it. The troops, who camped about three miles and a half from Chepui, on the banks of a little stream called Sairumlui, the next day climbed up to station No. 11, on the Gnaupa ridge, near the site of an old village called Bohmong.
Colonel Roberts, taking Engloom with him, went to explore the road ahead. The path divided into two shortly after leaving camp, one running along the ridge, the other along the east &ce of the hill towards Surklang. The latter was the route intended to be taken by the troops, and this was found blocked by a rude representation of men hanging on gallows ; and a small red gourd, fixed in a tuft of grass, symbolised scalped heads for those who should go that way.
The path descended to a pretty little fordable stream called the Tuila, and crossed a steep spur of the Surklang to another stream, near which good camping ground was found.
The Route
On the return of the reconnoiterers, Mr. Edgar informed the Lushais with us that the Tuila route would be the one followed, and the head-man of Tingridum and Darpong were directed to go on and inform Poiboi that we should pass by his villages, but that, unless we were opposed, no harm would be done to them, and also that he must give up certain captives.
The Lushais earnestly begged that the General would reconsider his decision about the route, and take the Gnaupa one instead. This, they were told, was impossible, and they then asked that two young men of their number should be allowed to go on to the villages ahead.
The Lushais had expected us to cross the Lengteng by Gnaupa, and had fortified several strong points on it ; and here they determined to make a great stand. The chiefs had declared their intention, if they succeeded in turning us back there, of harassing our retreat in every possible way, and not leaving off the pursuit till the troops reached the cultivated portion of Cachar ; while oo tbe other band, if we overcame all their opposition and crossed the Lengteng in spite of it, it was understood that our further ad- vance on Chumfai would be unopposed.
In avoiding the steep and rocky passage of the Lengteng by that route, and choosing the easier one by Surklang and Muthilen, it was not the General's intention to avoid a collision with the Lushais ; indeed it was desirable that a real trial of strength should take place between us and the whole force of the South-eastern tribes. Conse- quently when Darpong intimated that the real object of the two lads in wishing to leave us, was to recall the men stationed on Lengteng, they were allowed to go.
The interview between Mr. Edgar and the Lushais was carried on over our camp-fire after dinner, and loud and earnest were the sounds of the discussion which from time to time reached the ears of officers already retired to rest, one of whom, " little recking, if they would let him sleep on," of the great issue involved, and thinking they were some gossiping servants,* requested them, in language more forcible than polite, to cease chattering. No attention, however, was paid to his modest request, and it was far into the night when the Lushais at last left the camp. Shortly afterwards two shots were heard by the advanced picquet in the direction taken by the lads, but nothing else occurred during the night.
Narrow Ravine
In the morning, Darpong and the Tingridum man also departed, and at eight o'clock the force marched for the next camp ; halting for a couple of hours at the Tuila to allow the coolies to cook and eat. As the supply of water at No. 11 had been very limited, the General, Colonel Roberts, and other officers, went on ahead to reconnoitre the road in the afternoon. The path followed the coarse of the ravine along its left bank. The ravine was very narrow here, with densely wooded sides, and the path, running over rocks and roots of trees, in some places barely afforded a foothold, while on the right below it was the rocky bed of a mountain stream.
About a mile from camp the path again divided, leading in one direction to the south over Muthilen to the village of Kungnung, and in the other to the east, up Surklang. The latter was the road reconnoitred. After climbing through some very steep jooms, it ran along the south side of the hill. It was a tolerable road here, some three or four feet wide, and evidently made in some parts in others cut with da6s out of the hillside, the best Lushai path we had yet met with.
After pursuing it for some time, and just as it was so late as to necessitate a speedy return, several large granaries were discovered in a joom, and while these were being inspected, Darpong and his companion appeared upon the scene. On questioning him as to his presence there, when he was expected to have gone towards Poiboi's village, which was in quite the opposite direction, he said that the two shots we heard the night before had been fired at the Lushais who left our camp by people from Taikum, a large village a mile or so further on the road, and that he had been to inquire into the matter. He also pointed out to us Kungnung near the summit of Muthilen, and said that both the villages were full of armed men. He then departed, promising to be in camp next morning.
Order Of March
From the point where we met Darpong it was easily seen that the onward route must be by Kungnung, as Chelam, Poiboi's village, was not visible over the high intervening hill. This being determined on, the reconnoitring pdrty returned to their camp.
The night passed off quietly, and the troops marched again shortly after eight a.m. on the 25th. Darpong had come in and given the General to understand that an attack would be made on us in the ravine. Fifty men of the 44th went in advance, then the General and staff, and the wing of the 44th; sixty men of the 22nd being left as a guard for the Artillery and coolies, for whose safety all felt very anxious.
Such was the order of march for the small force with him, and considering the precipitous nature of the hill-sides, which completely com- manded the narrow rocky stream, the General felt that he could not search the banks as he went along.
About half a mile from camp, however, as the advanced guard were climbing over a steep rocky part of the path, the first shots were exchanged, and as if by magic along the whole line and in front, the gloom of the forest was lighted up by a myriad of flashes, and bullets and slugs fell around us,
- As on a July day.
The thunder shower falls pattering on the way."
At the first discharge the General's orderly was shot dead from the the right bank, and almost immediately the General himself was wounded in the left arm and hand by a Lushai on the left bank,' not eight yards off.
The Sepoys replied well, and Captain Robert- son's advanced guard extended as they reached the rocky ground on the left flank, while the rest of the 44th, under Colonel Nuthall and Captain Lightfoot) flinging down their packs and great- coats, dived into the rocky stream, and meeting the enemy in their own jungle, almost hand to hand, drove them up the hill before them, scatter- ing them most effectually. Thirteen Lushais fell almost in one spot in the stream, those who were not dead being despatched without mercy.
One man was trying to escape up the face of a piece of rock over whieh some water trickled into a pool below. The slippery rock hindered him, and ere he could mount it a Goorkha bad overtaken him and cut him down with his kookrie. He fell on his face in the pool, looking painfully like a woman, as he lay there with his smooth cheek and neatly braided hair and knot.
The General's wounds having been speedily bound up, he was enabled shortly to overtake the troops again.
At the very commencement of the firing, a note was sent by Mr. Edgar from the camp, telling the General that he had forced Darpong to state what he knew about the intended attack. His statement was, that the Lushais meant to avoid the troops, but to attack the coolies and artillery elephants. Two of Mr. Edgar's Cachari coolies were wounded at the outset, and this dispiriting the others, that gentleman determined to remain with them. Captain Thompson also remained behind.
Some of the Lushais managed to slip past the column, and attacked the rear, and as we climbed the hill in pursuit of the Lushais, we could hear the firing below.
On collecting the scattered columns, the ad- vance followed the Kungnung path through some open jooms, from which we could see the Lushais running wildly about on the spurs and ridges above, apparently endeavouring to collect for a stand at the village.
At length the path ran along the face of a huge precipice, and was commanded for a long distance by a small stockade, constructed at the most difficult part of the road, where a few resolute men might have stopped the advance of an army, while a few rocks detached from above would have inflicted heavy loss on the troops passing beneath, as escape would have been impossible. At this very point, a fortnight later, a small hill pony, belonging to an officer, slipped and went over the path, and falling three hundred feet, was killed at once.
Successful Manceuvre
The rapidity with which the advance had been conducted, had left the Lushais no time to defend this stockade ; but passing onwards, the path suddenly emerged on a joom, above which, and on the high crest of another precipitous ridge, was another long stockade. The foremost Sepoy, on showing himself at the edge of the joom, was at once saluted with a shot, which fortunately missed him. It was found useless to take this stockade with a rush, owing to the nature of the ground, and so two parties of the 44th, under Capts. Robertson and Lightfoot, skirmished round to their right, taking advantage of some long gi*ass jungle which concealed them from the defenders of the stockade, who kept up a steady fire on the road, expecting to see the troops appear every moment.
The rest of the force had been halted under shelter of the bank, till the result of the flank movement should be apparent. This manoeuvre was most successfully executed, and great must have been the surprise of the Lushais, while keeping their attention and fire directed on the path in front, to find themselves suddenly taken in flank. They fled, scarcely exchanging a shot with their unexpected assailants ; and, when the troops advanced through the stockade to the vil- lage, a couple of hundred yards beyond, not a Lushai was visible, all having vanished in the forest and down the hill-side.
The troops at once occupied the village. The fires were found burning in the houses, domestic articles were lying about as if abandoned in haste ; and a few dogs, cowering in corners, testified to the unpreparedness of the Lushais for this result of their attack. In some houses were picked up white skirts, which had been distributed to some of the people who had visited us at Chepui
The artillery elephants could not be got up to the village that evening, being unable to climb the latter part of the track, and so encamped below the stockade. The coolies, with the whole of the baggage, arrived in camp by seven p.m.
Owing to the excellent arrangements made for the protection of the elephants and coolies by Major Moore, in charge of the Coolie Corps, Cap- tain Udwy, 44th, commanding the rear-guard, and Lieutenant Hall, 22nd, commanding the supports, the casualties were less than might have been ex- pected, only one coolie being killed, while two were wounded severely, and one slightly. The other casualties for the day were as follows : killed — two non-commissioned officers and one man of the 44th; wounded Artillery, two severely; 44th, one severely ; Police, one severely.
Narrow Escape Of The General
General Bourchier's wounds were re-examined as soon as the medical officers arrived at Kung- « nung. He had a very narrow escape. He him- self at first thought that he was wounded in the left hand only, and it was not till he took off his coat that a hole was discovered under and behind his left elbow ; and a wound which was found in his fore-arm at once accounted for the pain he felt there. Fortunately for the Left Column, the General's wounds, though painful, did not dis- able him, excepting so far as they neccessitated a sling for a short time.
