Havelock and Outram had cut their way into the Residency, but the question was how to get out again. It was comparatively easy to lead enthusiastic battalions into a beleaguered fortress, but it was a very different thing to convoy 400 women and children, 600 sick and wounded, and a quarter of a million sterling in silver, through the narrow streets of Lucknow exposed to the fire of swarms of rebels thirsting for blood and rupees.
There was, however, no alternative. Provisions were exhausted. Suddenly the commissariat discovered a vast stock of grain which had been overlooked after the death of Sir Henry Lawrence. The problem was solved. The oxen which dragged the guns, ammunition, and baggage of Havelock's column would furnish the garrison with butcher's meat for months. Accordingly it was determined to remain behind the defences of the Residency enclosure until another European army advanced to the conquest of Oudh.
Sir James Outram was now chief commissioner of Oudh, and general in command of the garrison. Many positions were wrested from the rebels, and the area of defence was enlarged. The garrison was no longer in daily peril, and it was felt that an avenging army of Europeans and Sikhs would soon deliver them.
[Sidenote: Advance of Sir Colin Campbell, November.]
§17. Meanwhile, Sir Colin Campbell, one of the heroes in the Russian war, had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Bengal army, in succession to General Anson. He reached Calcutta in August, and prepared for a second expedition against Lucknow. In October an army of 4,700 Europeans and thirty-two guns was assembled at Cawnpore. In November the expedition set out for Lucknow, under the new commander-in-chief.[32] It included a detachment of sailors from the _Shannon_ frigate, who had brought their guns to bear upon the rebels, under the command of Captain William Peel, a son of the illustrious Sir Robert. The sailors excited the wonder of Asiatics, especially as it was reported that they had fish-tails like tritons, and were harnessed to the guns.
[Sidenote: Deliverance: death of Havelock.]
Sir Colin Campbell did not attempt to drive the rebels out of the city of Lucknow. His one object was to bring away the besieged from the Residency. By Outram's advice he did not advance through streets or by-ways, but made a detour through the palaces and other royal buildings. After much hard fighting, he reached the Residency, and brought away all the besieged at twenty-four hours' notice. The besiegers were outwitted. They knew nothing of what was going on, and continued to fire upon the Residency for hours after it had been abandoned.