Army of Retribution
A heavy day in the batteries on the Delhi Ridge, 1857. NAM 1971-02-33-495-15
On 7 June 1857 a hastily-raised force of 4,000 men, including the 60th Rifles, 75th Highlanders and the 1st and 2nd Bengal Fusiliers, succeeded in occupying a ridge overlooking Delhi. Known at the time as the ‘Army of Retribution’, in reality it was far too weak to attempt to retake the city.
Faced by over 30,000 mutineers they came under increasing pressure themselves. The army began to suffer losses through cholera, including its commander Major General Sir Henry Barnard.
Reinforcements gradually arrived from the Punjab, including a siege train of 32 guns and 2,000 men under Brigadier-General John Nicholson. The British had to fight the conditions as well as the rebels. In searing heat, the British held off repeated efforts by the mutineers to take the ridge.
Advance of the siege train to Delhi, 1857. NAM 1971-02-33-495-19
By 14 September the British had about 9,000 men before Delhi. A third were British while the rest were Sikhs, Punjabis and Gurkhas.
Fall of Delhi
The storming of Delhi, 1857.
NAM 1971-02-33-495-21
The assault began when artillery breached the city walls, blew in the Kashmir Gate and breached the Lahore Gate. The troops had to make their way down long narrow lanes flanked by flat-topped buildings, from which the sepoys and their allies maintained a heavy fire. It took a week of vicious street fighting before Delhi was finally taken. The British and their Indian allies then ransacked the city in an orgy of looting and killing. The recapture of Delhi proved the decisive factor in the suppression of the revolt.
