Page:Volunteering in India.djvu/73

Rh have been most disastrous to this and the adjoining district of Azimghur. As it was we lost something of the prestige which at first surrounded us, by the ineffectual blow struck at the fort of Belwa.

The attack on the fort having terminated unsuccessfully, the conquered village was evacuated, and the Brigade retired in good order, and by moonlight fell back to the same bivouac, whence it had started in the afternoon with a view to capture the rebel stronghold.

Perceiving the favourable turn affairs had taken in his behalf, and emboldened by temporary success, the enemy did not remain inactive; for not many hours after we had bivouacked, detachments of his infantry were reported to be crossing the Ghagrā, and hurrying to Belwa.

There was, therefore, a sort of “council of war,” in which good counsels prevailed, inasmuch as they decided our return to Amorah; and by resorting to this retrograde movement, it was suggested that the enemy would probably be encouraged to encounter the Brigade in the field, with the result no doubt of a terrible thrashing overtaking him; besides, it was hoped that in the open country the victory would be not only sure, but decisive, so decisive as to reassure the unfortunate peasantry, who had to a man fled the country.

As Amorah was destined to become the scene of more than one sanguinary action, and fated to obtain considerable celebrity, I will just remark in passing that it is a village very superior to those generally found in that part of the country; and the high