Brigadier-general Seaton at Bewar, and on the 4th the combined columns under Walpole entered Fathgarh, taken on the previous day by Sir Colin Campbell. From 5 to 14 Jan. Scratchley was employed, with five officers and one hundred men under him, in blowing up the nawab's fort at Farakabad. Scratchley was attached to a company of royal engineers during the operation before the final siege of Lucknow, and at the siege he was orderly officer to Brigadier-general Robert Cornelis Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala) [q. v.], who was chief engineer. He was in the storming party under Adrian Hope which carried the Begam's palace on 10 March, and was in personal attendance on Napier in the most exposed positions until the final capture of the city on 21 March 1858.
Scratchley was appointed adjutant of the engineer brigade of the army corps under Sir Hope Grant during the operations in Oudh. He marched from Lucknow on 11 April 1858, and took part in the action at Bari on the 13th. On following up the enemy to Bitaoli it was found that the Begam and his army had already evacuated it, and the force then marched southward to protect the road between Lucknow and Cawnpore, then threatened at Onao. Scratchley reached Jalalabad fort, near Lucknow, on 16 May, and remained there for some time. On 13 June he was at the action of Nawabganj. On 22 July he accompanied a force under Hope Grant, which relieved Man Singh at Shahganj, and marched thence to Faizabad, Ajudhia, and Sultanpur, where the rebels were repulsed on 28 Aug. 1858. Operations were then suspended until after the rainy season.
In October 1858 Scratchley commanded the engineers of the column under Brigadier-general Wetherall, and, marching from Sariam, took part in the attack on and capture, on 5 Nov., of Rampur-Kussia; in the attack on Shankarpur and its capture on the 9th; in the passage of the Ghaghra on 27 Nov.; and in the action of Machligaon on 4 Dec. Marching by the fort of Banhassia and by Gonda, he arrived at Balrampur on 16 Dec.; thence he accompanied the column in pursuit of Bala Rao, brother of Nana Sahib, to Kandakot, where, on 4 Jan. 1859, the rebels were driven across the border into Nipal, with the loss of all their guns, and Oudh was practically cleared of rebels. Scratchley was mentioned in despatches by Major-general Windham, Brigadier-general Wetherall, and Sir Colin Campbell. He received the Indian war medal, with clasp for Lucknow.
On 1 Oct. 1859 Scratchley was promoted to be second captain. On the appointment of Napier to a command in the China expedition Scratchley was chosen as his aide-de-camp; but in April 1860 he was ordered instead to take command of a detachment of royal engineers proceeding to Melbourne for employment on defence works. He arrived at Melbourne in August, and was employed under the Victorian government to design the works and to superintend their construction. He also filled the appointment of colonial engineer and military storekeeper. He threw himself with enthusiasm into the volunteer movement in the colonies, was one of the founders of and became honorary lieutenant-colonel of the Victorian artillery and engineers' volunteers. In September 1863, the colonial legislature having failed to provide funds for the defence works, Scratchley resigned his appointment. He received the thanks of the government of Victoria for his services in the colony.
Scratchley arrived in England at the end of 1863. On 15 March 1864 he was promoted to be brevet major for his war services. He was stationed at Portsmouth until October 1864, when he was appointed to the war office as assistant inspector of works for the manufacturing departments of the army, and later he became inspector of works.
Scratchley was promoted to be first captain in the royal engineers on 20 Dec. 1866, regimental major on 5 July 1872, and brevet lieutenant-colonel on 20 Feb. 1874. In 1877 he was selected by Lord Carnarvon, secretary of state for the colonies, to accompany Lieutenant-general Sir William Jervois (then governor of the Straits Settlements, and, in July 1877, appointed governor of South Australia) on a mission to the Australian colonies to advise as to their defences. Scratchley left England on 8 March 1877, and arrived in Sydney with Sir William Jervois on 30 April. In accordance with their able and elaborate report, the defence works of Sydney harbour, Port Phillip, Adelaide, and Brisbane have been mainly constructed. He was promoted to be regimental lieutenant-colonel on 1 Oct. 1877, and was thenceforth engaged by the governments of the different Australian colonies as their consulting military engineer and adviser. The fort, designed by him and executed under his orders, which protects the harbour of Newcastle was named after him by the New South Wales government to commemorate his services. He also designed and constructed, among other works, the fort on Bare Island, Botany Bay, the
