Brigadier Stuart and all his staff were on the sick list. Out of 36 men of the 14th Light Dragoons who went from Guláulí to reinforce a party escorting supplies and threatened by the enemy, 17, after being out only three hours, came home in doolis. Out of less than 400 men of the 25th Bombay Native Infantry whom I took to reinforce the Second Brigade, 200 fell out of the number after two hours.'
Sir Hugh Rose added: 'The Sepoys having sworn by the Jumna, and full of opium, made a fierce attack on my camp. The first on May 20th was only on our right. It was of course beaten back; but I did not advance because I knew the enemy's tactics were to expose us as much as possible to the sun, and I had made arrangements with Maxwell to attack Kálpi on the 22nd after he had shelled the enemy's defences in and in advance of the town. The second attack was on May 22nd. It was a general one and by their whole force. They made a real and violent attack on our right, and a strong feint against our centre and left. Hearing a heavy fire on our right, I sent to ask Brigadier Stuart if I should send him any of the Camel Corps. He asked for 100. I went myself with 200 to his support. I found him with very few men, half of whose rifles would not go off on account of bad ammunition[1]; and 40 men were lying close to
- ↑ It was a proof of the inadequacy of musketry instruction at that time that the troops, having been trained to fire at so short a distance, fired generally with a bad aim and too high. The enemy's casualties were consequently few, and those chiefly from the bayonet. The men had not, moreover, been trained either
