file (besides 1240 natives) were killed in action or died of wounds, no fewer than 109 British officers and 8878 rank and file (exclusive of natives of whose casualties under this head the author has been unable to obtain an accurate return) died from exposure and sickness[1]. These figures speak for themselves, and fill the mind with mixed feelings; for deeply as we may regret that the apparent advantages of the Crimean Campaign were afterwards wrested from us piecemeal, we must rejoice that by the sacrifices in the Indian operations we regained, against great odds, one of the most valuable possessions of the British Crown.
What more can we say as to the events so inadequately recorded in this volume ? Can we think of them for a moment without revering the lives and memories of such men as Henry and John Lawrence, Robert Montgomery, Bartle Frere and others of the Indian Civil Service; that Service which by its courage, calmness and inestimable qualities of decision proved the mainstay of the Empire in the crisis of the Mutiny? Can we look back to the past without
- ↑ The records of the Mutiny period were of necessity somewhat imperfectly kept. For arriving at these figures, quantum valeant, the author owes much to the kindness of the Indian military authorities, and to Director-General Sir W. A. Mackinnon, K.C.B. He may be pardoned for adding that Lord Clyde was warmly attached to his friend Mackinnon, who served on his personal staff during the campaign, after a distinguished training in the Crimea. 'Mac' was well known in the Crimea, India, New Zealand, and Ashanti for his 'combative qualities,' and for his coolness and gallantry in the field.
