Siege of Cawnpore
Major-General Sir Hugh Wheeler at Cawnpore, 1857. NAM 1988-07-54
Cawnpore was a major crossing point on the River Ganges, and an important junction, where the Grand Trunk Road and the road from Jhansi to Lucknow crossed. In June 1857 the Bengal Army sepoys stationed there rebelled, looted the treasury and laid siege to Major-General Sir Hugh Wheeler’s garrison. The latter had retreated to a dry earthen trenchment just outside the city.
Nana Sahib
The rebels were led by Nana Sahib. He was heir to the throne of Baji Rao II, the Maratha Peshwa and Maharajah of Bithur. On the latter’s death in 1851 the Company stopped the pension it had granted Nana Sahib on the grounds that he was only an adopted son. He sent ambassadors to England to argue his case, but was unable to convince the British to restore his pension.
The sepoy revolt gave him the chance to reclaim his estate. For nearly three weeks, under constant fire and a burning sun, around a thousand Britons waited for a relief force. The entrenchment had almost no shade, and contained only one well.
Major-General Sir Hugh Wheeler's entrenchment at Cawnpore, photographed by Felice Beato in 1858. NAM 1965-11-113-14
Safe conduct
Nana Sahib, c1857. NAM 1959-11-372-1
On 25 June, Nana Sahib offered safe conduct to the River Ganges for all those inside the entrenchment, and boats to take them down to Allahabad.
Wheeler accepted, and two days later the Europeans marched out towards the landing stage. As they embarked in their vessels, a shot was heard. The Indian boatmen, instead of pushing off, jumped overboard and made for the shore.
Treachery
The Cawnpore massacre, July 1857. NAM 1971-02-33-106
Fearful of treachery, the British immediately opened fire. The Nana’s men replied with grapeshot and the boats were soon full of casualties. Most of the 60 men who survived the short battle were immediately killed by the Nana’s troops.
The surviving women and children were imprisoned in a nearby house, the Bibigarh (or House of the Ladies). On 15 July news reached Cawnpore that the British were approaching.
Nana Sahib decided to eliminate any witnesses who might identify the leaders of the uprising, and ordered all remaining prisoners to be killed.
‘The Chamber of Blood’, Cawnpore, 1857. NAM 1992-10-18
A party of sepoys was told to shoot the women and children, but they deliberately fired high. Butchers were then called from the city, and together with some of the Nana’s troops, they finished the job with knives. The bodies of the victims were then dragged out and thrown down a nearby well.
