Lucknow under siege
Sir Henry Lawrence, c.1857.
NAM 1999-09-42-2
When news of the uprisings reached Sir Henry Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner of Oudh, he fortified the group of buildings that made up his Lucknow Residency. The building stood on high ground above the River Gumti, overlooking the city. Lawrence had about 1,500 troops, half of them loyal sepoys, to defend the Residency, and a similar number of civilians to protect.
A strong force attacked the compound on 4 July 1857. Lawrence was killed almost immediately when a shell exploded in the room where he was resting. Command passed to Colonel John Inglis of the 32nd Regiment, which formed the main British part of the garrison during the siege. The defenders held out desperately, as the hastily fortified Residency was shot to pieces around them.
The Residency House. NAM 1971-02-33-499
The Campbells are coming
The 93rd Highlanders storming the Secundra Bagh, 16 November 1857.
NAM 1987-06-12
A relief force under Sir Henry Havelock fought its way into Lucknow on 25 September, but was too weak to evacuate the defenders of the Residency. It added its numbers to the defending force, and waited for help. A month later a stronger force under Sir Colin Campbell arrived. On 16 November 1857 his troops stormed the Secundra Bagh, a walled enclosure that barred the way to the Residency.
The British turned their guns on this building, knocking through the brick walls and eventually opened a breach. The 93rd Highlanders and 4th Punjabis then entered. In fierce fighting they killed between 1,700 and 3,000 rebels. Lord Roberts who witnessed the assault later recalled:
Interior of Secundra Bagh, showing the bones of dead rebels, 1858.
NAM 1962-11-63-7
'Inch by inch they were forced back to the pavilion, and into the space between it and the north wall, where they were all shot or bayoneted. There they lay in a heap as high as my head, a heaving, surging mass of dead and dying inextricably entangled. It was a sickening site, one of those which even in the excitement of battle and the flush of victory, make one feel strongly what a horrible side there is to war. The wounded men could not get clear of their dead comrades, however great their struggles, and those near the top of this ghastly pile vented their rage and determination on every British officer who approached, by showering upon him abuse of the foulest description'.
