British Under fire at Kanpur

Heavy fighting was going on in Kanpur between our troops of the Gwalior Contingent and the British forces. For a while we had the upper hand and a number of British soldiers succumbed to our bullets. We managed to kill Brigadier Wilson and five other officers and succeeded in putting General Wyndham in a very tight spot.

All this while, as the battle raged, the evacuees of the Residency at Lucknow, including women, children, civilians, sick and wounded numbering 2000 were making their way towards Kanpur. By evening, we got the news that they had crossed the Ganga by the Bridge of Boats and had arrived at Kanpur. It had taken the evacuees several hours to cross the rickety Bridge of Boats which was under more or less continuous fire all the while.

They were camped near the new entrenchment by the riverside and the round shots were flying over the tents. For a while the evacuees were under as much fire as they were in Lucknow but the arrival on the scene of Commander-in-Chief, Sir Colin Campbell gave a boost to the British morale.