Siege of Cawnpore

Siege of Cawnpore
Part of Indian Rebellion of 1857
A contemporary engraving of the massacre at the Satichura Ghat.
Date 5 – 25 June (1857) Location Cawnpore, India Result Rebel victory Surrender and killing of the besieged Company forces, followed by recapture of Cawnpore and violent reprisals by the Company forces
Belligerents
East India Company	Nana Sahib's forces Rebel Company soldiers
Commanders and leaders
Major General Sir Hugh Wheeler † Brigadier Alexander Jack† Major Edward Vibart† Captain John Moore †	Nana Sahib Tatya Tope Bala Rao
Strength
Around 900 including civilians and 300 soldiers	Around 4000 sepoy mutineers and mercenaries
Casualties and losses
All, except five men and two women	Unknown

The Siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The besieged Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) were unprepared for an extended siege and surrendered to rebel forces under Nana Sahib, in return for a safe passage to Allahabad. However, under ambiguous circumstances, 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 outraged 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!".

Cawnpore was an important garrison town for the East India Company forces. Located on the Grand Trunk Road, it lay on the approaches to Sindh (Sind), Punjab and Awadh (Oudh).

By June 1857, the Indian rebellion had spread to several areas near Cawnpore, namely Meerut, Agra, Mathura, and Lucknow. However, the Indian sepoys at Cawnpore initially remained loyal. The British General at Cawnpore, Hugh Wheeler, knew the local language, had adopted local customs, and was married to an Indian woman. He was confident that the sepoys at Cawnpore would remain loyal to him, and sent two British companies (one each of the 84th and 32nd Regiments) to besieged Lucknow.

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