page_title: Siege of Cawnpore
section_title: Assault on 23 June
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Cawnpore / Attack on Wheeler's entrenchment / Assault on 23 June
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: india00surr (find matches) Title: India; Year: 1909 (1900s) Authors: Surridge, Victor MacCormick, Arthur David, 1860- ill Subjects: India -- History India -- History British occupation, 1765-1947 Publisher: London, Edinburgh&#160;: T. C. &amp; E. C. Jack Contributing Library: New York Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: MSN View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: y precision in their advance. The men,jaded and ill, stumble along anyhow. Nor is theremusic to stir their blood and quicken their steps.No sound is heard save the cries of the nativebearers as they groan in monotonous cadence witheach swing of the palanquins. A vast multitudehas gathered to watch the march down to the river—a concourse of silent spectres who await, motion-less and impassive, the tragedys culminating scene.Presently the procession reaches the river-side,where forty ungainly, straw - roofed boats aremoored. With difficulty the wounded are carriedon board, the women and children take their places,and the men scramble in after them. Thus farTantia Topi has watched the embarkation in silence.Then he turns and gives a signal. Suddenly the shrill note of a bugle rings out onthe morning air. Ere its last echoes have diedaway the river-side scene has undergone a swift andterrible change. The thatched roofs of the boatsare blazing furiously, while from the rebel soldiers,264 Text Appearing After Image: The thatched roofs of the boats blazing furiously REVOLT OF THE SEPOYS concealed in the thick undergrowth, comes a mur-derous storm of bullets. Nan£ Sahib is accomplish-ing by treachery what force has failed to effect.Many of the unhappy fugitives are struck dead bythe flying shot, some try to escape by swimming,some stand resolutely and return the enemys fire.Three of the boats manage to push out into mid-stream, and drift slowly with the tide. Two arecarried by the currents over to the opposite shore,where a horde of Sepoys are waiting to massacrethe crews. The third continues its perilous coursedown-stream under a constant hail of lead. Mean-while the Sepoys have ceased their fire, and all whohave survived the massacre—one hundred and twenty-five in number—are roughly dragged ashore. The fate of General Wheeler has been vividlydescribed by a native witness—a half-caste Christianwoman:— General Wheeler, she said, came last in apalkee. They carried him into the water near th Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The Siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The besieged Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore were unprepared for an extended siege and surrendered to rebel forces under Nana Sahib, in return for a safe passage to Allahabad. However, their evacuation from Cawnpore turned into a massacre, and most of the men were killed. As an East India Company rescue force from Allahabad approached Cawnpore, 120 British women and children captured by the Sepoy forces were killed in what came to be known as the Bibighar Massacre, their remains being thrown down a nearby well in an attempt to hide the evidence. Following the recapture of Cawnpore and the discovery of the massacre, the angry Company forces engaged in widespread retaliation against captured rebel soldiers and local civilians. The murders greatly embittered the British rank-and-file against the Sepoy rebels and inspired the war cry "Remember Cawnpore!".
context_section_description: The sniper fire and the bombardment continued until 23 June 1857, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Plassey, which took place on 23 June 1757 and was one of the pivotal battles leading to the expansion of British rule in India. One of the driving forces of the sepoy rebellion was a prophecy which predicted the downfall of East India Company rule in India exactly one hundred years after the Battle of Plassey. This prompted the rebel soldiers under Nana Sahib to launch a major attack on the British entrenchment on 23 June 1857.
  The rebel soldiers of the 2nd Bengal Cavalry led the charge, but were repulsed with canister shot when they approached within 50 yards of the British entrenchment. After the cavalry assault, the soldiers of the 1st Native Infantry launched an attack on the British, advancing behind cotton bales and parapets. They lost their commanding officer, Radhay Singh, to the opening volley from the British. They had hoped to get protection from cotton bales; however, the bales caught fire from the canister shot, and became a hazard to them. On the other side of the entrenchment, some of the rebel soldiers engaged in a hand combat against 17 British men led by Lieutenant Mowbray Thomson. By the end of the day, the attackers were unable to gain an entry into the entrenchment. The attack left over 25 rebel soldiers dead, with very few casualties on the British side.
caption: Attack on 23 June 1857
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