Battle of Chinhat The Battle of Chinhat was fought on the morning of June 30 , 1857 , between British forces and Indian rebels , at Ismailganj , near Chinhat ( or Chinhut ) , Oude ( Awad / Oudh ) . The British were led by The Chief Commissioner of Oude , Sir Henry Lawrence . The insurgent force , which consisted of mutineers from the East India Company ' s army and retainers of local landowners , was led by Barkat Ahmad , a mutineer officer of the Company ' s army . Opening moves . Conflicting intelligence reports had indicated the approach of a small insurgent force towards Lucknow . Sir Henry , who was in bad health , under pressure from subordinates and whose fighting days were well behind him , ordered a force consisting of three companies of the 32nd Regiment of Foot ( later the Duke of Cornwall ' s Light Infantry ) , several companies of the 13th Native Infantry and detachments of other regiments , a small force of Sikh cavalry and European volunteer cavalry as well as Bengal Artillery ( Europeans ) and Native Artillery , to proceed up the Faizabad road with the intention of intercepting what he believed to be an opponent several hundred strong . The battle . On approaching Ismaelganj , Lawrences ' s force was suddenly fired on by the insurgents , who greatly outnumbered the British , by about 6 , 000 to 600 . The rebels were in well prepared positions , behind stone walls and in the village , and soon inflicted heavy casualties on Lawrence ' s force , especially the 32nd Foot . The regiment ' s acting commanding officer , Lieutenant Colonel William Case , was killed , as were several officers . The 13th Native Infantry were slightly more successful in attacking to the right of the village , but the rebels were well entrenched and well led . To the latter fact may be attributed one of the few major victories which rebel forces obtained in open combat with the British , during the whole of the ' Mutiny ' . At a crucial moment , many of Lawrence ' s soldiers , especially Indian artillerymen , betrayed him by going over to the other side , and the Sikh cavalrymen fled . As the British retreated towards the bridge over the Kukrail stream , the only access they had to Lucknow , an outflanking movement by the rebel cavalry threatened to cut them off . A charge by the 36 volunteer cavalrymen , consisting partly of civilians , threw the rebel cavalry into confusion and a significant part of the force was able to cross the bridge and retreat towards Lucknow . Lawrence ordered a battery of European artillery to occupy the bridgehead , with the intention of dissuading his enemy from following him . The artillery had no ammunition left , but achieved their aim of giving the retreating force a breathing space . The retreat . On the retreat , feats of great courage were performed by those who helped wounded and exhausted men to escape . Prominent among the rescuers were the native troops of the 13th NI , who often abandoned their own wounded in order to help British soldiers . An officer of the 13th NI , then Lieut . William George Cubitt , would be awarded the Victoria Cross for helping save three men of the 32nd Foot . Seeing that the retreat would be generally successful , Lawrence left the force in order to organize the defence of the Lucknow residency . Brigadier John Inglis , commanding officer of the 32nd , who had opposed the ' adventure ' , was left to bring the survivors in . As a last attempt to break the momentum of the rebel pursuit , Lawrence ordered one company of the 32nd , which had not been at Chinhat , to hold the final bridge before Lucknow , over the Gumti river . The success of this company , under Lieut . John Edmondstone , and its orderly retreat under enemy pressure , probably helped save many lives . By about 11 : 30 a . m , the retreat had been successfully completed . The British Residency at Lucknow , to which Lawrence withdrew , was then the scene of the Siege of Lucknow until November 1857 . References . Gubbins Martin Richard , " Besieged in Lucknow " ( Leonaur Ltd 2006 ) Reprint of original edition Gubbins Martin Richard , " An Account of the Mutinies in Oudh and of the Siege of the Lucknow Residency ' ( Richard Bentley . London . 1858 ) . Malleson Col . G . B . , " The Indian Mutiny of 1857 " ( Leach & Co 1993 ) Reprint of original edition of the same title - 4th edn . ( Seeley and Co . London 1892 ) White Hugo , " One And All . A History of the Duke of Cornwall ' s Light Infantry . " ( Tabb House Padstow . 2006 )