At the Point of the Bayonet

At the Point of the Bayonet, by G.
A. Henty,

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Henty, Illustrated by Wal Page
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Title: At the Point of the Bayonet A Tale of the Mahratta War
Author: G. A. Henty

Release Date: March 3, 2007 [eBook #20729]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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AT THE POINT OF THE BAYONET:
A Tale of the Mahratta War
by
G. A. HENTY.
Illustrated by Wal Paget.
1901

Contents
Preface.
Chapter 1
: A Faithful Nurse.
Chapter 2
: A Strange Bringing Up.
Chapter 3
: A Change In Affairs.
Chapter 4
: A British Resident.

Chapter 5
: Down To Bombay.
Chapter 6
: In The Company's Service.
Chapter 7
: An Act Of Treachery.
Chapter 8
: Nana's Release.
Chapter 9
: A Popular Tumult.
Chapter 10
: A Mission By Sea.
Chapter 11
: A Prisoner.
Chapter 12
: The Defence Of Johore.
Chapter 13
: The Break Up Of The Monsoon.
Chapter 14

: The Great Andaman.
Chapter 15
: Assaye.
Chapter 16
: A Disastrous Retreat.
Chapter 17
: An Escape.
Chapter 18
: An Awkward Position.
Chapter 19
: Bhurtpoor.
Chapter 20
: Home.

Illustrations
For a year he worked with the shikaree. Harry went up to him and
salaamed. Harry . . . saw a party of soldiers coming along the road.
There was a little haggling over the terms. Harry ran up to the
proclamation and tore it down. As he rode through the streets he saw . . .
how fierce a feeling of resentment had been excited by the news. 'Well,
sir, I will now return to shore,' the governor said. Without a cry the
rajah fell back, shot through the head. The rattle of musketry broke out
again. Plan of the Battle of Assaye. Plan of the Battle of Laswaree.

Harry succeeded in crossing the river. Abdool at once slipped down.
Harry drew out his handkerchief, and waved it. View of the Rajah's
Palace, Bhurtpoor.

Preface.
The story of the war in which the power of the great Mahratta
confederacy was broken is one of the most stirring pages of the
campaigns which, begun by Clive, ended in the firm establishment of
our great empire in the Indian Peninsula. When the struggle began, the
Mahrattas were masters of no small portion of India; their territory
comprising the whole country between Bombay and Delhi, and
stretching down from Rajputana to Allahabad; while in the south they
were lords of the district of Cuttack, thereby separating Madras from
Calcutta. The jealousies of the great Mahratta leaders, Holkar and
Scindia, who were constantly at war with each other, or with the
Peishwa at Poona, greatly facilitated our operations; and enabled us,
although at the cost of much blood, to free a large portion of India from
a race that was a scourge--faithless, intriguing and crafty; cruel, and
reckless of life. The Mahrattas, conquering race as they were, yet failed
in the one virtue of courage. They could sweep the land with hordes of
wild horsemen, could harry peaceful districts and tyrannize over the
towns they conquered; but they were unable to make an effective stand
against British bayonets and British sabres. They were a race of
freebooters; and even the most sentimental humanitarian can feel no
regret at the overthrow of a power that possessed no single claim to our
admiration, and weighed like an incubus upon the peoples it oppressed.
The history of the Mahrattas, as written by Grant Duff, whose account I
have, throughout, followed, is one long record of perfidy, murder, and
crime of all sorts.
Chapter 1
: A Faithful Nurse.
On a swell of ground, in the wild country extending from Bombay to

the foot of the Ghauts, stood a small camp. In the centre was a large
pavilion; the residence, for the time, of Major Lindsay, an officer
whose charge was to keep the peace in the district. It was no easy
matter. The inhabitants, wild and lawless, lived in small villages
scattered about the rough country, for the most part covered with forest,
and subject to depredations by the robber bands who had their
strongholds among the hills. Major Lindsay had with him a party of