"... Mrs. Christian, the wife of the commissioner, struggling to get on with her little child in her arms, a girl two-and-a-half years old, and her husband with her carrying a boy about six months old .... I took the child from her arms, and with the aid of Quartermaster-Sergeant Morton, of my regiment, got it away safe and sound; all three escaping unscathed through the fearful showers of bullets sent after us as we crossed the river, and hid ourselves in the friendly jungle. No sooner had Mr. Christian crossed the stream when a bullet struck him and he fell dead. The widow took the babe, and sat down by her husband's corpse. It was but a moment, and mother and child joined the father."
History of the Indian Mutiny by G W Forrest, volume 1, pp 205-206.
Full of pathos. One feels for the mother, despairing, giving up, sitting by her husband's corpse waiting for sure death. Still, I do wonder where the stories of the despairing Indians are? Those who, equally unceremoniously lost their loved ones during the sepoy mutiny?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment