Siege of Delhi

The Siege of Delhi considered was one of the pivotal battles of the 1857 Indian uprising. The insurrection against the East India Company's rule stretched across much of Northern India. However, it was ignited primarily by a large uprising by the sepoys of the Army divisions that the Company had established in its Bengal Presidency (which covered a vast area from Assam to Peshawar). The first sepoys to revolt aspired to restore the power of the Mughal Empire, which had dominated the whole Indian subcontinent during the preceding centuries, as a rallying point. Many of those who later rebelled went to Delhi due to a lack of general direction. For two reasons, this made the siege decisive.

To begin with, a huge number of rebels were committed to defending a single fixed place, possibly to the disadvantage of their chances elsewhere, and their failure in Delhi was thus a severe military setback. Second, the British recapture of Delhi and the refusal of the ailing Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II to continue the fight took away much of the rebellion's national character. Even though the rebels still controlled wide territories, there was no coordination among them, and the British were eventually able to defeat them individually.

The inauguration of the unique Pattern of 1853 Enfield rifle marked a turning moment. After years of rising tensions amongst the sepoys (Indian militaries) of the British East India Company's Bengal Military, the sepoys at Meerut, 43 miles (69 kilometers) northeast of Delhi, publicly defied their British leaders. It was widely assumed that the cartridges for this were smeared with a mixture of cow and pig fat and that biting them open while loading the rifle (as required by the drill books) would dirty both Hindu and Muslim soldiers.

Eighty-five troopers from Meerut's 3rd Bengal Cavalry refused to receive their cartridges. They were court-martialed quickly, and on the 9th of May, 1857, they were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment and paraded in irons before the garrison's British and Bengal battalions. The Bengal troops (3rd Light Cavalry, 11th and 20th Infantry) rebelled the same evening, liberating the imprisoned troopers and killing their British leaders and several British citizens in their cantonment. Meerut's senior company officials were caught off guard. Despite having ample warning of discontent among the Bengal Army following previous outbreaks of unrest at Berhampur, Barrackpur, and Ambala, they assumed that the Bengal units would not risk open revolt Meerut, where the amount of European to Indian troops was higher than anywhere else in India. They were fortunate that calamity did not strike. On Sunday, when European troops attended the evening Church march without arms, the Bengal regiments rose in revolt. The Church services on the 10th of May were half an hour later than in previous weeks due to the growing hot summer weather, and when the breakout happened, the British militaries had not yet left their camp and could be collected and equipped rapidly.

The Company's commanders at Meerut took little action beyond defending their barracks and armories, not even contacting neighboring garrisons or stations. They discovered Meerut was calm, and the sepoys had marched off to Delhi after rallying the British forces in the cantonment and preparing to disperse the sepoys on the 11th of May.

The Mughal Empire had been reduced to obscurity over the previous century, and Delhi was its capital. The East India Company had notified the Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, eighty-two years old, that the title would pass to him. Although Company authorities handled the City's finances and courts, Delhi was not a major centre of Company administration at the time. They and their families lived in the City's "Civil Lines" area to the north. At Delhi, neither the British Army nor the East India Company's "European" forces were there. The thirty-eight (38th), fifty-four (54th), and seventy-four (74th) Bengal Native Infantry regiments were stationed at barracks 2 miles northwest of the City. They provided guards, working teams, and other details to a "Main Guard" building at the Kashmiri Gate on the northern circuit of the walls, the arsenal in the City, and other structures. By chance, as the regiments paraded early on the 11th of May, their superiors read them the General Order announcing the execution of sepoy Mangal Pandey and the disbandment of his regiment, who had attempted to raise a rebellion near Barrackpur earlier in the year (the 34th Bengal Native Infantry). There was much murmuring in the ranks as a result of this.

Later that morning, the rebels from Meerut arrived unexpectedly, crossing the Jumna River on a boat bridge. Bahadur Shah summoned them to a different palace outside of the City, where their case would be heard later. The 3rd Light Cavalry's foremost sowars (troopers) paused underneath the Palace's windows and requested that the Emperor lead them. Officials from the Company attempted to seal all city gates, but it was too late to prevent the sowars from entering through the Rajghat Gate to the south. When the sowars entered, mobs swiftly joined them, attacking Company officials and robbing bazaars. Some Company commanders and citizens attempted to seek sanctuary in the Main Guard, but the sepoys there joined the mutiny and murdered them. Other officers, led by two field guns and several companies of sepoys who had not yet joined the insurrection, arrived from the barracks and recaptured the Main Guard, carting the remains of the deceased officers to the cantonments. Meanwhile, in the City, nine British officers from the Ordnance Corps, led by George Willoughby, were defending the Magazine (containing artillery, stocks of firearms and ammunition).

They discovered that their troops and laborers were deserting, climbing over the palace walls with ladders given by the Palace. To prevent the armory from falling into the hands of the rebels, the commanders opened fire on their men and crowds. After five hours, they ran out of ammo and blew up their Magazine, killing several rioters and bystanders and severely destroying adjacent structures. Only three (3) of them made it out alive and were awarded the Victoria Cross. The men of the Main Guard were instructed to retire shortly after this. The sepoys who had previously remained unconcerned about the uprising turned on their superiors, a handful of whom managed to flee when the sepoys went to join the plundering. About half of the European citizens in Delhi, the cantonments, and the Civil Lines were able to flee, first to the Flagstaff Tower on the Ridge to the northwest of Delhi, where telegraph operators were attempting to alert other British stations of the revolt. Most Europeans escaped to Karnal, several miles west, as it became obvious that no relief could arrive from Meerut or elsewhere. The wagon bringing the remains of the officers slain at the Main Guard arrived at the tower by mistake in the morning. On the trip, some were aided by villagers, while others fell prey to plunderers.

Bahadur Shah had his first official audience in some years on the 12th of May. Several ecstatic sepoys were there who treated him with familiarity or even contempt. Despite his displeasure with the looting and chaos, Bahadur Shah publicly supported the revolt. On the 16th of May, sepoys and royal attendants' assassinated 52 British prisoners imprisoned within the Palace or discovered hiding in the City. Despite Bahadur Shah's objections, the executions took place under a peepul tree in front of the Palace. The killers' stated goal was to incriminate Bahadur Shah in the murders, preventing him from reaching an agreement with the Company.

The City's government and the new occupying army were disorganized, yet they continued to operate erratically. The Emperor appointed Mirza Mughal, his eldest surviving son, as commander in chief of his army, but Mirza Mughal lacked military experience and was despised by the sepoys. The sepoys also couldn't agree on a general commander, with each regiment refusing to obey commands from anybody other than their leaders. Despite Mirza Mughal's efforts to reform the civil administration, his authority was limited to the City. Outside, Gujjar herders began imposing their road tolls, making it more difficult to feed the City. The news of Meerut's uprising and Delhi's conquest travelled quickly throughout India. The rebels' rumours and envoys disseminated the news swiftly, sparking widespread rebellions and upheavals, but the Company learnt about the events in Delhi even faster, owing to the telegraph. Station commanders who were both active and suspicious of their sepoys prevented some of the most deadly revolts.

Despite numerous Company units in the cool "hill stations" in the Himalayan foothills, it took time for any action to be made to retake Delhi. Part of this was due to a shortage of transportation and supplies. The Bengal Army's transport divisions were abolished after the Second Anglo-Sikh War as a cost-cutting measure, and transportation had to be built from scratch. Furthermore, many top British commanders were universally considered dotards, far too frail to act decisively or prudently.

Nonetheless, on the 17th of May, a Company army led by General George Anson, India's commander in chief, was able to advance from Ambala to Karnal. They were joined in Alipur on the 7th of June by force from Meerut, which had fought many skirmishes along the way. Brigadier Archdale Wilson headed the Meerut army, which had failed to stop the rebel sepoys from moving to Delhi on the 11th of May. On the 27th of May, Anson died of cholera at Karnal. The united army marched on Delhi under his successor, Major General Henry Barnard. On the 8th of June, they discovered the mutineers had taken up residence outside of the City. At the Battle of Badli-ki-Serai, 9.7 km (6 miles) west of Delhi, they drove the massive but disorganized rebel army from the field, capturing Delhi ridge 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the city Bengal infantry battalions' barracks to the west. They set fire to the barracks as a show of defiance and disrespect. This was a foolish decision, as it forced the besiegers (along with all of their ill, wounded, and noncombatants) to live in tents during the hot summer and monsoon rain seasons.

The Ridge, which extended from a position only 1,100 m (1,200 yards) east of the Kabul Gate, beside the city walls to the Yamuna River 4.8 km (3 miles) north of the City, was made of hard rock and stood roughly 60 feet (18 m) tall. Fortunately for the besiegers, a canal flowed west of their encampments from the Yamuna, sheltering the back of their camp and supplying drinking water. The besiegers held various strong positions around the top of the Ridge. The "Hindu Rao's home," which was closest to the City and most vulnerable, was guarded by the 60th Rifles and Gurkhas of the 8th (Sirmoor) Local Battalion. The Subzi Mundi, a network of towns and walled gardens south of it, was where the rebel troops might concentrate before attacking the British right.

Delhi was immediately revealed to be far too well-fortified and well-held to succumb to a coup de main. On the 13th of June, Barnard ordered a morning attack, but the instructions were muddled and did not reach most of his subordinates in time. After considerable recrimination, the attack had to be called off. After it, it was understood that any assault would fail due to the overwhelming odds unless the besiegers were reinforced. Continual influxes of rebellious sepoys and volunteers arrived in Delhi. During June and July, most of the Bengal army's ten horse regiments and fifteen infantry regiments revolted and marched on Delhi, accompanied by huge irregulars, mostly Muslim mujahaddin. The rebels launched several days of attacks against Hindu Rao's house and other outposts as each new group arrived. On the 19th of June, a massive onslaught from three directions nearly drove the weary besiegers to flee, but the rebels had no idea how close they had come to triumph. (It was thought that the East India Company's presence in India would end one hundred years after this memorable war.) On the centenary of the Combat of Plassey, the 23rd of June, another massive offensive was launched.

Even though all of these attacks were repulsed, the besiegers were worn down by exhaustion and disease. The hilltop and the campsite were both exceedingly unhealthy and unappealing. On the 5th of July, General Barnard died of cholera. Infected with cholera, his successor (Reed) was obliged to pass up leadership to Archdale Wilson, who was elevated to Major General. Wilson made efforts to clear unburied bodies and other trash from the Ridge and campsite and reorganize the outposts and reliefs. Still, he was barely capable of exercising leadership, and he complained of his weariness and prostration in every letter he sent. On the 14th of July, Brigadier Neville Chamberlain, a considerably younger officer who may have given superior leadership, was badly wounded in repelling a sortie.

Meanwhile, the failures of Mirza Moghul and Bahadur Shah's similarly unmilitary grandson, Mirza Abu Bakr, had lowered morale in Delhi. Bakht Khan, an experienced artillery officer in the Company's army, led a huge contingent of troops from Bareilly. Bahadur Shah appointed Bakht Khan as the new commander in chief, pleased with the spoils they had brought with them. Bakht Khan was able to refill the City's coffers and re-energize the rebel warriors. On the other hand, Bahadur Shah became disillusioned and refused down offers of help from other rebel leaders.

The Bengal Native troops were rapidly disarmed to prevent them from rebelling or crushed when they did rebel in one of India's most important areas, the Punjab (which had only been conquered by the East India Company eight years earlier). The majority of the Company troops were stationed there, as were units of the Punjab Irregular Force, made up of Sikhs and Pakhtuns. They had nothing in common with the Bengal Native Infantry groups' upper-caste Hindus. As the situation in Punjab stabilized, reinforcements for the besiegers in Delhi could be despatched. The kings of Patiala, Jhind, and Nabha were also persuaded to help the East India Company by deploying contingents of their troops to safeguard the besiegers' lines of contact with Punjab.

The Corps of Guides, the first troops to arrive in Delhi, embarked on a powerful forced march of several hundred miles through the warmest season of the year, which coincided with Ramadan when its Muslim soldiers could not eat or drink during the day. When they got to the Ridge, they went into action almost immediately. A "Flying Column" of 4,200 troops led by Brigadier John Nicholson and a siege train was deployed from Punjab to Delhi. On the 14th of August, Nicholson came. The rebels had learned of the siege train's impending arrival and dispatched a detachment outside the City to intercept it. At the Battle of Najafgarh on the 25th of August, Nicholson led a force against their position. Although the rain had burst and the roads and fields were inundated, Nicholson led his army on a quick march and won an easy win, boosting European confidence while decreasing rebel morale. The siege train, which included six 24-pounders, eight 18-pounder long guns, six 8-inch howitzers, and four 10-inch mortars, arrived in early September, accompanied by over 600 ammo wagons. Four more weapons came on the 8th of September. The besiegers had a total of fifteen (15) 24-pounder guns, twenty (20) 18-pounder guns, and twenty-five (25) mortars and howitzers with the artillery they previously possessed.

The British had gathered 9,000 men by early September, consisting of 3,000 regular troops and 6,000 Sikhs, Punjabis, and Ghurkas. Richard Baird Smith, Wilson's top engineer officer, had devised a strategy to breach the city walls and launch an attack. Wilson was hesitant to risk an attack, but Nicholson persuaded him to accept Baird Smith's proposal. If Wilson refused to consent to the attack, there were plans among British commanders, led by Nicholson, to replace him as commander.

To make the gun in a silent mode on the Mori Bastion, Company troops built "Reid's Battery," or the "Sammy House Battery," with two 24-pounder and four 9-pounder guns at the southern end Ridge, on the 6th of September. The first siege battery proper was built on the 7th of September, 700 yards (640 m) from the Mori Bastion, under the shelter of Reid's Battery. Four of its guns opened fire on the Kashmir Bastion on the 8th of September, while six guns and a heavy mortar silenced the rebels' weapons on the Mori Bastion after a protracted engagement. The rebels were also duped by the attack's direction, which led them to believe that the assault would come from the east rather than the north. On the 10th of September, a second battery, consisting of nine 24-pounder guns, two 18-pounder guns, and seven 8-inch howitzers, was stationed outside "Ludlow Castle," a flamboyantly built mansion Civil Lines, and started the fire on the Kashmir Bastion. [10]: 478 the next day, the third battery of six 18-pounder guns and 12 Coehorn mortars were stationed outside the ancient Custom House, some 200 yards (180 meters) from the city walls, and started the fire on the Water Bastion near the Yamuna. On the 11th of September, the fourth battery of 10 heavy mortars was covered near the Khudsia Bagh and firing.  However, the batteries quickly made breaches in the bastions and walls. The fortifications began to collapse as 50 guns continued to fire day and night. The start of this phase of the siege appears to have corresponded with the depletion of the ammunition the rebels had taken from the Magazine since rebel firing became noticeably less effective. By this time, the rebels had become disheartened due to a shortage of food and money, as well as defeatist rumors spread by William Hodson's agents and spies.

The first three columns collected at and behind the Khudsia Bagh, a former summer palace of the Mughal Kings, about a quarter-mile from the north walls, under Nicholson's overall command. The fourth column was only supposed to assault after the other columns opened the Kabul Gate on the west side of the city walls from behind. The cavalry and the fifth column were in reserve. The attack was intended to start at daybreak, but the defenders had used sandbags to patch some of the breaches overnight, necessitating further shelling. Nicholson eventually gave the signal, and the assailants charged. The first column rushed through the Kashmir Bastion's breach and the second through the Water Bastion's breach near the Jumna River, although it was not easy because most of the scaling ladders were damaged before they could be installed. The third column attacked the Kashmiri Gate on the north wall. Lieutenants Home and Salkeld (both later awarded the Victoria Cross) led a suicide expedition; a small group of British and Indian sappers planted four gunpowder charges and sandbags against the gate while under fire from barely 10 feet (3.0 m) away. While attempting to light the fuse, some of them were injured and murdered. A bugler accompanying the party signalled success, and the third column surged in after the explosion demolished part of the gate.

Meanwhile, the fourth column ran upon a rebel group outside the Kabul Gate in the Kishangunj area before the other columns attacked and were thrown into chaos. The column's commander, Major Reid, was badly hurt, and the column was forced to withdraw. The insurgents retaliated by seizing four weapons from Kashmiri troops and threatening to attack the British camp, stripped of its guards in preparation for the assault. The artillery batteries stopped them at Hindu Rao's House, which Chamberlain from a doolie controlled until Hope Grant's cavalry and horse artillery could move up to replace Reid's column. The cavalry remained in place under gunfire from the Kabul Gate, suffering severe casualties until the infantry arrived to relieve them. Despite this setback, Nicholson was eager to continue into the City. He led a detachment through a small road north of the Kabul Gate to seize the Burn Bastion. Most of the flat roofs and walled enclosures were occupied by rebel forces, and cannons positioned on the bastion sprayed grapeshot down the alleys between the homes. Nicholson led the third attack and was severely wounded after two rushes were halted with heavy losses. The British fled to the Church of Saint James, close inside the walls of the Kashmir Bastion, after being temporarily repelled. The attack had resulted in 1,170 casualties. When Archdale Wilson arrived at the Church, he decided to order a withdrawal due to the setback. When Nicholson learned of Wilson's hesitation, he threatened to shoot him. Baird Smith, Chamberlain, and other officers eventually convinced Wilson to keep the British gains.

The British and Company armies were in a state of disarray. Many British officers had been killed or injured, leaving their battalions in disarray. Many liquor stores were under British control, and many British soldiers were intoxicated and disabled due to the plundered alcohol during the next two days. On the other hand, the rebel sepoy regiments were demoralized by their defeats and a shortage of supplies. The irregular mujahadeen maintained their fortified compounds with zeal but were unable to organize a counter-offensive. Wilson finally ordered the destruction of all hard drink, and order was restored. The assaults gradually drove the insurgents out of the City.

On the 16th of September, they snatched the Magazine. Lieutenant Thackerey was awarded another Victoria Cross for putting a fire in the Magazine while under musket fire. On the 18th of September, Bahadur Shah and his entourage abandoned the Palace, and the next day, a British army took the magnificent mosque, the Jama Masjid, and the abandoned Palace. They also took the Selimgarh Fort, which was connected to the Palace and dominated the Yamuna River's boat bridge. The majority of rebels who had not already fled the City did so before the Company soldiers seized and trapped them at all of the City's gates. On the 21st of September, the City has ultimately proclaimed conquered. The next day, John Nicholson died.

From the commencement of the siege until the liberation of the City, the British, Company, and loyal Indian troops lost 1,254 men killed and 4,493 wounded, including 992 dead, 2,795 wounded, and 30 missing in action during the final six days of intense combat in the City during the final assault. There were 1,677 loyalist Indian soldiers among the 3,817 casualties during the City's capture. It's very difficult to say how many rebels and sympathizers were murdered during the siege, although the figure was undoubtedly far higher. Over 5,000 rebels have been killed, according to unofficial reports.

It's also hard to say how many people were murdered in Delhi during the war, whether they were slain by the rebels, the British, or those killed inadvertently in the crossfire. Following the siege, many residents were evacuated from the City and relocated to temporary camps in the surrounding countryside. There was no means to feed them until the entire area was restored to order. Soldiers from the British, Sikhs and Pakhtun tribes were all quite heartless when it came to life. Following the City's capitulation, there was widespread theft for four days, but many British soldiers were more interested in alcohol than material goods. Later, prize agents moved into the City behind the army and organized a more systematic search for hidden riches. However, the British ruler was not in the very eager mood to capture captives to avenge the deaths of several of their countrymen in Delhi, Cawnpore, and elsewhere in India. Hundreds of rebel captives and suspected rebels and sympathizers were executed without a trial or much judicial procedure after this. Officers of the "Queen's" Army tended to be forgiving in many situations, while East India Company administrators like Theophilus Metcalfe were vindictive.

Along with three of his sons, Bahadur Shah had sought sanctuary in Humayun's Tomb, located 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) south of Delhi. Despite being encouraged to join Bakht Khan and raise more soldiers, the elderly King was convinced that the British were looking for retribution against the sepoys they considered mutineers and that he would be spared. On the 20th of September, a group led by William Hodson kidnapped him and brought him back to the City on the promise of forgiveness. The next day, Hodson brought three of Bahadur Shah's sons into custody, but with no guarantees. Hodson killed the three princes at Khooni Darwaza on the excuse that a crowd was going to liberate them (Bloody gate). Bahadur Shah was later presented with their heads.

The British and Company forces gave the Indian Army mutineers a severe military and psychological blow by recapturing the Indian capital city while also freeing soldiers to assist in the rescue of Lucknow, leading to another British triumph. During the Siege of Delhi, 29 Victoria Crosses were presented to gallantry winners. For the Indian Mutiny Medal, a Delhi clasp was approved.