View source for First Siege of Lucknow

{{Battles_Infobox
|partof=[[Indian Mutiny]]
|date=1 July-27 September 1857 
|location=[[Lucknow]], Uttar Pradesh
|presidency=[[Bengal]] 
|co-ordinates=[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=26.812966,80.903192&z=16&t=h&hl=en 26.812800°N 80.901300°E]   
|result=British success 
|territory=
|combatant1=[[East India Company]] 
|combatant2=Rebel Sepoys
|commander1=[[Henry Lawrence|Sir Henry Lawrence]]<br> [http://www.archive.org/stream/dictionaryofindi00buckuoft#page/216/mode/2up/search/Inglis Brig John Inglis]
|commander2= 
|strength1=855 British troops<br>712 Indians<br>153 civilian volunteers<br>1,280 non-combatants 
|strength2= 8,000 sepoy<br>Several hundred local irregulars
|casualties1=  
|casualties2= 
}}
[[Image:Lucknow 1857.jpg|thumb|Lucknow 1857]]

'''This was part of the [[Events at Lucknow]] during the [[Indian Mutiny]]'''

== Summary ==
After the mutiny of the 1st Oude Infantry was quelled on 3 May, [[Henry Lawrence]] anticipated trouble and brought civilians into the Residency which he fortified. Mutiny broke out on 30 May in the [[13th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry|13th]], [[48th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry|48th]] and [[71st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry|71st Bengal Native Infantry]] stationed in the cantonment some four miles from the city. They were driven out by the [[32nd Regiment of Foot]] though a number of Europeans were killed.

News came on 30 June that rebel forces were gathering north of Lucknow. Lawrence set out to meet them with the 32nd Regiment and remaining loyal elements of the Native Regiments. At the [[Battle of Chinhut]] numbers of sepoys defected and the force was compelled to retreat to Lucknow where the siege proper began. Lawrence was wounded and died on 4 July being succeeded by Brigadier John Inglis.

At the end of July Maj-Gen Henry Havelock attempted to relieve the city from Cawnpore but was forced to retire due to lack of forces. In September [[James Outram|Maj-Gen Sir James Outram]] with reinforcements took command at Cawnpore and mounted a relief expedition under Havelock who drove the rebels from their strongpoint at the [[Battle of Alambagh (Lucknow) Sept 1857|Battle of Alambagh]]. Havelock fought his way through to the Residency but it proved impossible to evacuate the sick and non-combatants. He therefore remained besieged while a small force occupied the Alambagh.

== External Links ==
[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/mutiny/mutiny.htm  Indian Mutiny 1857-58] The British Empire website<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lucknow Siege of Lucknow] Wikipedia<br>
[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IzQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA316&dq=Lucknow+Residency&hl=en&ei=TRIyTMOQBsvcsAaupeTNBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false The Story of the Lucknow Residency] Google Books<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Oxenham William Oxenham's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hope_Moncrieff_Aitken Robert Aitken's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Dempsey Denis Dempsey's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George_Gore-Browne Henry Gore-Browne's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Duffy_(fusilier) Thomas Duffy's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lambert_(VC) George Lambert's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Boulger Abraham Boulger's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Mylott Patrick Mylott's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James_Thompson James Thompson's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hill_Lawrence Samuel Lawrence's VC] Wikipedia<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dowling_(VC) William Dowling's VC] Wikipedia<br> 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucknow Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh] Wikipedia

== Historical books online ==
[http://www.archive.org/stream/personaljournalo00anderich#page/n1/mode/2up ''A Personal Journal of the Siege of Lucknow''] by Capt R P Anderson 1858<br>
[http://www.archive.org/stream/personalnarrativ00reesrich#page/n5/mode/2up ''A Personal Narrative of the Siege of Lucknow''] by L E Ruutz Rees 1858<br />
[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AGgLAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+defence+of+Lucknow:+a+diary+recording+the+daily+events+during+the+siege&hl=en&ei=wtq7TdfQDc6SswaroImHBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The defence of Lucknow: a diary recording the daily events during the siege of the European Residency''] by at Staff Officer 1858 (Google Books)<br />
''A Memoir, Letters, and Diary of the Rev. Henry S. Polehampton, Chaplain of Lucknow'' ed. by E. and T.S. Polehampton. [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b294468?urlappend=%3Bseq=9 2nd edition 1858] HathiTrust with 3 images (rotatable); [https://archive.org/details/amemoirlettersa01polegoog Third edition 1859] clear text but no illustrations. Archive.org.
<br>He arrived in India 1856. Appointed to Lucknow. Wounded and died during the Siege of Lucknow July 1857.<br>
[https://archive.org/stream/siegelucknowadi00inglgoog#page/n4/mode/2up ''The Siege of Lucknow, A Diary''] by The Honourable Lady Inglis 1892 (Archive.org). The author was Julia Inglis, the wife of Lieutenant- Colonel John E. W. Inglis, [[32nd Regiment of Foot]].

== Recommended Reading ==
''"Indian Mutiny"'' by Saul David 2002 ISBN 0141005548<br>
''"My Indian Mutiny Diary"'' by WH Russell 1967 ISBN 0527781207

[[Category:Battles|Lucknow, First Siege of]]
[[Category:Events at Lucknow|Lucknow, First Siege of]]
[[Category:Indian Mutiny|Lucknow, First Siege of]]