Greatest Battles
LUCKNOW, INDIA, 30 MAY – 27 NOVEMBER 1857
The city of Lucknow, located on the west bank of the Gumti River some 42 miles east of Cawnpore, was the capital of Oude province. The province itself had been annexed by the British East India Company only the year before the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, after which the incumbent ruler, Wajid Ali, was exiled to Calcutta. This caused much resentment among both the people of Oude and the local sepoy army. The subsequent arrival of the insensitive Coverley Jackson as chief commissioner of the province only further inflamed what was already a fragile situation. Long before the mutiny broke out, Lucknow was a hotbed of discontent.
Jackson would later be replaced by Sir Henry Lawrence, a man who possessed far greater understanding of the peoples of India and acted with much sensitivity towards them. During his time in the Punjab he had won the respect of many Sikhs – had time been available, he may well have diffused the tensions at Lucknow. As it was, his appointment came a mere six weeks before the commencement of the mutiny.
Nevertheless, this sensitivity served Lawrence well. He observed with great concern the growing discontent within the ranks of Lucknow’s garrison, principally made up of the 13th, 58th and 71st Native Infantry (NI). Rumours also reached Lawrence that disaffection within the 7th Irregular Cavalry had reached boiling point, and so on 3 May he took with him a force of British soldiers from Her Majesty’s 32nd Regiment of Foot, some loyal sepoys and a battery of artillery to the cavalry’s barracks to disarm the dissenters. It was a timely intervention, but unfortunately there was little he could have done to prevent the looming bloodshed.
THE SIEGE
News reached Lucknow of the mutinous events at Meerut and Delhi on 16 May. Lawrence immediately set about fortifying the chief commissioner’s house – known as ‘the Residency’ – the compound measuring some 2,150 feet by 1,200 feet. Windows were blocked up, trenches dug, and outlaying structures demolished to give clear fields of fire. Into this fortified position Lawrence ordered all men of 32nd Regiment of Foot and their families, all Eurasians and the sick. The Macchi Bhawan, a fortress containing vital supplies, was also strengthened, its defence entrusted to a company of the 32nd with 30 guns.
As Lawrence made these preparations, much of Lucknow and Oude came under the effective control of mutinous rebels. On the night of 31 May, the 71st NI mutinied and burned down their bungalows. Lawrence responded by ordering the 48th NI and 7th Light Cavalry to pursue these rebels, but large numbers of his sepoys and sowars simply deserted – many also decided to throw
