The women had a
softer appellation for me, and called me 'Mushook,' or charmer.
"Well, I shall not describe Delhi, which is doubtless well known to the
reader; nor the siege of Agra, to which place we went from Delhi; nor
the terrible day at Laswaree, which went nigh to finish the war. Suffice
it to say that we were victorious, and that I was wounded; as I have
invariably been in the two hundred and four occasions when I have found
myself in action. One point, however, became in the course of this
campaign QUITE evident--THAT SOMETHING MUST BE DONE FOR GAHAGAN. The
country cried shame, the King's troops grumbled, the sepoys openly
murmured that their Gujputi was only a lieutenant, when he had performed
such signal services. What was to be done? Lord Wellesley was in an
evident quandary. 'Gahagan,' wrote he, 'to be a subaltern is evidently
not your fate--YOU WERE BORN FOR COMMAND; but Lake and General Wellesley
are good officers, they cannot be turned out--I must make a post for
you. What say you, my dear fellow, to a corps of IRREGULAR HORSE?'
"It was thus that the famous corps of AHMEDNUGGAR IRREGULARS had
its origin; a guerilla force, it is true, but one which will long be
remembered in the annals of our Indian campaigns.
*****
"As the commander of this regiment, I was allowed to settle the uniform
of the corps, as well as to select recruits.
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