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Totally disheartened, the nationalists abandoned the fort of Fatehgarh, and made their way across the Ganga to Rohilkhand. As a result, Campbell and his army arrived at Fatehgarh without any opposition today. The fact that the nationalists had not offered any resistance must have surprised Campbell. We were so demoralised that even the Gun Carriage Factory inside the fort was left intact.
We knew that Sir Colin Campbell and his army were headed towards Fatehgarh. We also knew that the to reach Fatehgarh from Kanpur, they would have to cross the river, Kali Nadi just south of Khudaganj and 8 kilometres (5 miles) north of Gursahaiganj where the road from Kanpur forks right for Fatehgarh.
We were determined to block their passage. So, in a desperate bid to foil the British from crossing over, about 5000 of our men, with some guns marched down from Fatehgarh at night.
Apparently, from the well, British found a few gold coins and a lot of silver but not as much gold as we expected Nana Sahib to have.
He did spend a lot of money supporting the rebellion and paying the sepoys but his family had sold gold Ganesh and several other important pieces that have not been recovered.
We are hopeful that Nana Sahib took it with him and will use it to continue the struggle.
We got the story of the search for Nana’s treasure from an eye witness.
He told us that after all the water was drained out they discovered heavy beams of wood at the bottom of the well. The beams were lifted with great difficulty and lo and behold! Under the beam lay unimaginable amounts of glittering treasure! There was so much treasure that the men worked for more than ten days to bring out all the silver, gold and the priceless gems from the bottom of the well.
There was much excitement in the British forces as it was being circulated that each private would receive over a thousand rupees in prize money. However, they got nothing. We are told that everything was claimed by the Government.
“Tantia Topee’s Soldiery” Click for a better view.
British are still searching for Tatia Tope (Topee) right now!
Chances are he went to Audh territory because he knows that the British will come looking for him in Bithoor area.
We are disappointed that his mission was not successful but he tried. It is time to regroup and plan for the next attack.
It was a bleak day, not just for Nana Sahib but for the nationalists in general. Hope Grant today proceeded to Bithur to perform the work of destruction. With devilish glee he set Nana’s palace and temple ablaze and we watched helplessly as it burnt to cinders.
But wreaking havoc was not the only reason for Hope Grant’s arrival at Bithur. He had another mission. It was a well known fact that when Nana had escaped to Avadh in July, he had been unable to carry his fabulous treasures and it was widely rumoured that before fleeing, Nana had thrown most of his precious possessions into the great well in the palace. So it was Grant’s plan to drain all the water from the well and discover Nana’s treasure.
Hope Grant’s forces defeated the nationalists today at Serai Ghat in an artillery duel. In the encounter Tatia lost fifteen guns with some fine bullocks. After all had bolted, a single soldier of Tatia’s army continued to load and fire a gun until at last, he too was killed.
This date (the date of defeat of the Gwalior Contingent), marked the turn of the tide for the British. Now, instead of being on the “defensive”, the mood in the British camp had become upbeat.
At 1 pm today, Sir Hope Grant set out with two thousand men in pursuit of the defeated troops of Tatia. Though they had taken the Bithur Road, Hope Grant guessed correctly that the nationalists would make for Avadh territory and for this they would have to cross the Ganga at Serai Ghat which is 5 kilometers from Sheorajpur.
Yesterday was the third battle of Kanpur (Cawnpore). The British pursued the nationalist forces, which consisted of sepoys from the Gwalior Contingent, to Bithur.
We are about 5,000 men strong (to the British, it looked liked we were 25,000; they tend to exaggerate our numbers any way, so they can claim credit for defeating a larger enemy or have a reason if they lose). We also had about 20 guns.
True, we are not all disciplined soldiers, but we are all adepts in the use of arms, and accustomed to fighting. You have to fight when your life and liberty is at risk.
We had two groups, one composed of the Gwalior Contingent, and the second one from the regiments which had been stationed in Bundelkand.
As far as we can tell, British have 5,000 Infantry, 600 Cavalry, and 35 guns.
We knew we were outnumbered, out-experienced, out-organized and our weapons were somewhat deficient. But Tatya thought that this might be the only chance that we might have.
Tantia Topi was in command of the whole force, while the Nana remained with his own people on the left flank.
The attack on the 6th was a surprise on us really. Till about the 5th December, we only had some skirmishes, nothing major. It seemed like we were being attacked from the left but we knew the real attack was coming from the right.
At 9.00AM we heard the heavy guns and the cavalry and the horse artillery was upon us by 11.00AM.
We had no choice but to retreat along the Kalpi road.
The best we had was a 9 pounder gun and what we faced was a 24 pound gun.
We lost some fine bullocks and a good supply of gun powder.
Dark clouds seem to be darkening our fate. The nationalist forces were far from upbeat this (Sunday) morning when we set forth for the Third Battle of Kanpur. It is being fought between the British and Tatia Tope’s forces consisting of 25,000 men, a great majority of whom are the soldiers of the Gwalior Contingent. There is also a sprinkling of Nana’s forces and those of some minor chiefs. We know that Sir Colin had already reconnoitred the area and had decided to attack Tatia’s army by the plain on their right flank. The odds are obviously stacked against Tatia, the lone crusader on the nationalist’s side. On the other hand, his adversary, Sir Colin is being assisted by veterans of many battles; outstanding soldiers like Sir Hope Grant, Brigadier Adrian Hope and Col Greathed. He also has the support of Peel’s Naval Brigade with its heavy guns and Irregulars of Hodson’s Horse.
Despite heavy odds, Tatia’s forces, offered stout resistance with obstinacy for a while but were soon overwhelmed. All of Tatia’s guns have been captured. And the Gwalior Army moved towards the Kalpi road and Nana’s forces retreated towards the road to Bithur.
Sepoys of the 11th Irregular cavalary at Jalpaiguri, tried to burn the Bridge of Boats at Kanpur by floating down some rafters on fire.
Unfortunetely the attempt didn’t succeed, but their effort is appreciated. We need all innovative ways to defeat the British as we can muster.
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.
The column of British forces reached Mynpuree today.
The king, who has not been in the best of terms with the British, knew that they were coming and wisely decided to leave the fort. Unfortunately he also left about 2 Lakh Rs. in the treasury behind. I don’t know why didn’t he hide the money but I guess when one is forced to worry about the life and death, nothing else matters.
Raja Tej Singh has been an enigmatic character during the rebellion. He was the savior of British during the early part and then later put his weight behind the rebel forces.
His uncle Bhawani Singh has been a traitor and has never left the side of British. He also claims that the Mainpuree belongs to him.
In any event, today Tej Singh has fled to the nawab of Farrukhabad and British forces are occupying the fort for one more day.
At this rate, they will reach Cawnpore on 25th or 26th October.
Babu Kunwar Singh reached Banda and linked up with the forces of Nana Sahib led by Tatia Tope.
Hopefully our combined forces will give us an advantage over the British. We’ll just have to wait and see.
It was almost about mid-day, August 16, 1857, when the confrontation between Havelock’s and Nana Sahib’s forces took place. Havelock with his army, comprising about 1300 men had marched from Kanpur to Bithur, a town situated 11 miles north of Kanpur, to take on the nationalist forces that had assembled there. A pitched battle ensued and Nana Sahib’s forces fought with such valour and determination that even the enemy was impressed.
Havelock had to grudgingly report that “I must do the mutineers justice to announce that they fought obstinately”.
But the “mutineers” had to contend with Havelock’s powerful artillery fire spewing from Maud’s battery and Olphert’s battery. The result was that Nana’s forces were compelled to beat a retreat towards Sheorajpur. Havelock suffered major losses as well. Besides the 49 men who fell in battle, his numbers were further reduced by sunstroke and cholera
Col Neill defeated the left wing of Nana Sahib’s forces which was occupying a position in the vicinity of Kanpur and drove them back to Bithur.
From Avadh, the entire force of Havelock re-crossed the river Ganges, on August 13, 1857, and it took them about six hours to reach Kanpur.
The British at this stage were not in a happy situation as cholera was wreaking havoc on their troops and depleting their strength. Out of the total strength of 1415, the number of sick and wounded had gone up to 335. Also, the nationalist forces had gained in strength during Havelock’s absence from Kanpur.
Nana Sahib’s forces had been strengthened by the arrival of 31st and 42nd BNI from Sagar , the 17th from Faizabad and a portion of 34th which had been disbanded at Barrackpur, along with troops of three cavalry regiments. Nana had intended to advance upon and recover Kanpur
Here is the actual order issued by Brig. Neill at Cawnpore for the ghastly retribution that Subedar discussed.
Read it only if you are not faint of heart.
But then freedom is not for the faint of heart either.
The trial and condemnation, following the Bibighar massacre had already taken place. And on 25th July 1857 Neill issued a brigade order.
According to this order, all prisoners suspected of being guilty of having taken part in the murder of European women and children, were to be taken into Bibighur by Major Bruce’s mehtar police, and there made to crouch down and with their mouth, lick a square foot of ground before being taken to the gallows and hanged.
The procedure: The dried blood on the floor was first moistened with water and then the prisoners were brought in and struck with lashes by the warder till the wretches fell down on their knees and began licking the blood on the floor. Neill justified his action in the following words “My object was to inflict a fearful punishment for a revolting, cowardly , and barbarous deed, and to strike terror into the rebels.”
