two in the morning
`` If there is to be fighting , and the hazur pleases , '' said Ahmed , `` I should like to go with the Guides . '' `` Very well , '' said Hodson , giving him a keen look ; `` but do n't put on the uniform . You are going to be useful , I think , and the secret had better be kept a little longer . '' It was half-past two in the morning when a little force , consisting of three hundred and fifty men of the 61st Regiment , Hodson with the cavalry of the Guides , and Major Coke with some batteries of horse artillery , left camp to do battle with the mutineers and prevent if possible the attack on Alipur ; if not , to intercept the rebels on their return . The force was under the command of Coke , of the Panjab Irregular Cavalry , who had arrived on the Ridge a few days before . He was a gallant officer , with a great reputation for his achievements in border warfare ; no better man could have been chosen for the work in hand . Alipur was eight miles distant on the Karnal Road .