Page:The Indian Mutiny of 1857.djvu/125



news of the insurrection at Mírath reached the station of Fíruzpur on the 12th of May. Fíruzpur lies immediately south of the river Satlaj, on the direct road from Dehlí to Láhor. There were stationed the 61st Foot, the 45th and 57th Regiments N. I., the 10th Native Light Cavalry, and about 150 European artillerymen. The Brigadier, Colonel Innes, had only arrived the day before, and had had no opportunity of testing the temper of the native troops. But on receiving, on the morning of the 12th, news of the Mírath catastrophe, he ordered a brigade parade, that he might judge for himself. The impression made by the demeanour of the infantry was not satisfactory, but the commandants of the three regiments reported favourably regarding the disposition of their men.

That same afternoon information reached the Brigadier of the startling events at Dehlí. He at once directed arrangements for relieving the sipáhís of the 57th N. I. of the charge they had held of the magazine and arsenal. But his orders were either misunderstood or carelessly carried out, for the sipáhís, though relieved by a company of the 61st and some European gunners, were allowed to remain in the intrenched position in which the magazine was located. At five o'clock of the same day the Brigadier paraded the native troops, with the intention of marching