Delhi Campaign
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Summary
Once the news of the mutinies at Meerut and Delhi became known, units were called to Umballa to form a siege army for Delhi. Major General George Anson, Commander-in-Chief in India, died of cholera on 27 May and was succeeded by Major General Henry Barnard. Joined from Meerut by Brigadier Archdale Wilson, Barnard reached Delhi on 8 June where he established a position on a ridge north of the city.
The 3,000 British forces, vastly outnumbered by the rebels, were too weak to storm the city. They fought a series of engagements with the mutineers during June and July. Barnard died of cholera on 5 July and was succeeded by General Thomas Reed who relinquished command to Wilson twelve days later due to ill health.
Brigadier John Nicholson arrived with his movable column on 14 August and on 8 September Sir John Lawrence brought reinforcements with heavy siege artillery. The assault on the city began on 14 September and by 21 September Delhi was recaptured.
Related articles
Mutiny at Delhi 11-16 May 1857
Battle of Ghazee-ood-din-Nuggur 30 May
Battle of Hindun River 31 May
Battle of Badli-ki-Serai 8 June
Action at Subzee Mundee 9 June
Capture of Metcalfe House 12 June
Attack on the Idgah Battery 17 June
Action at Ochterlony Garden 19 June
Capture of the Sammy House 23 June
Action at Subzee Mundee 9 July
Action at Subzee Mundee 13 August
Action at Khurkowdah 15 August
Battle of Rohtak 17-18 August
Battle of Nujjuffghur 25 August
Recapture of Delhi 14-20 September
Delhi Army
1st Umballa Brigade
Brig Halifax, 75th Queen's Regiment
- 75th Queen's Regiment
- 1st Bengal Europeans
- One troop of Horse Artillery
2nd Umballa Brigade
Brig Jones, 60th Royal Rifles
- One wing of 60th Royal Rifles
- Two squadrons of 9th Lancers
- One squadron of 4th Bengal Lancers
- One Troop of Horse Artillery
Meerut Brigade
Brig A Wilson, Royal Artillery
- One wing of 60th Royal Rifles
- Two squadrons of Carabineers
- One Field Battery
- One troop of Horse Artillery
- Native Sappers
- 120 Siege Artillerymen
Biographies
Entries in the Dictionary of Indian Biography 1906:
Henry Barnard (1799-1857)
James Hope Grant (1808-1875)
William Hodson (1821-1858)
James Neill (1810-1857)
John Nicholson (1821-1857)
Thomas Reed (1796-1883)
Henry Tombs (1824-1874)
Archdale Wilson (1803-1874)
External Links
1857: A Brief Political and Military Analysis by Maj (Retd) Agha Humayun Amin Chapter Six: "The Delhi Campaign" defencejournal.com (Pakistan). January 2000 Issue. now archived.
1st Bengal European Fusiliers in the Delhi Campaign Google Books
Map of Delhi 1857-58 www.columbia.edu
Siege of Delhi Google Books
Siege of Delhi Wikipedia
rlc-conductor.info then click on "Articles, Features & Essays" then click on "A Trying Occasion: An account of the Indian Mutiny" which gives an account of the blowing up of the Delhi[ammunition] magazine on the 11th May 1857 by Ordnance Officers and Conductors
Richard Wadeson's VC Wikipedia
Historical books online
- History of the Siege of Delhi by An Officer who served there. [William Wotherspoon Ireland, MD] 1861 Archive.org. He was Assistant Surgeon, attached to the Bengal Horse Artillery. He was wounded and retired a few years later.
- With H.M. 9th Lancers during the Indian Mutiny. The letters of Brevet-major O.H.S.G. Anson 1896 Archive.org
- An Englishwoman in India : the memoirs of Harriet Tytler, 1828-1858 by Harriet Tytler. Edited by Anthony Sattin. 1986. Archive.org Lending Library. Harriet Tytler, the wife of Captain Robert Tytler, was the only woman present at the siege of Delhi in 1857.
- The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 by William Dalrymple 2006 Archive.org.