The Indian Mutiny
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the British had come to
believe they were a chosen race; chosen to distribute the benefits
of western civilization to the backward areas of the globe. That
the inhabitants of such areas often didnt want these benefits and
certainly not the accompanying British control of their lives was
immaterial to Britains sense of a mission. Native opposition
frequently required military force to be brought against it and few
years passed without the British Army being involved, somewhere in
the empire, in a continual series of border skirmishes and punitive
expeditions.
Of course the British had been involved in European wars much more
expensive in blood and treasure than any that ever occurred in the
overseas possessions, but they didnt seem to catch the imagination
of the British public in the same way that colonial conflicts did.
In 1857, the Indian Mutiny broke out and it rapidly became the
greatest of all the imperial wars. It was followed avidly by the
British public and as the myths of the Mutiny grew it came to be
seen almost as a latter-day British Iliad with gentleman-warriors
of homeric proportions manfully defending the position, dignity and
God-given duty of their race.
It was even called the 'epic of the Race' by the historian Sir
Charles Crostwaithe and though this may sound ridiculous to the
modern ear it was nothing more than a reflection of the confidence,
indeed arrogance, with which the British of Victoria's 20th year on
the throne viewed the world in general and their empire in
particular. It also reflected the shock and horror that the Mutiny
had provoked in Britain and the pride that followed on the heels of
Britain's ultimate victory; one seemingly achieved against great
odds. Though the Mutiny dragged on for almost two years it was
effectively fought and won in a six-month whirlwind of murder,
siege, atrocity, forced marches, heroism, savagery and brutality.
Women and children were butchered by both sides. Great cities were
sacked and the British armies which swept across the north of India
to relieve their besieged comrades and avenge their murdered
compatriots were perhaps the most enraged and cruellest troops ever
to have been put in the field by the government and people of
Britain.
