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Not that we had any hope in Lucknow, but it seems like the city of Lucknow has now fallen to the British.
The picture is that of small imambara in Lucknow.
Audh is still strong and will continue to resist the British.
Yes, the city has been battered, but at least the British are gone.
Before the rebellion:
Last week:
Hope you recognize the tower and the pillars of the balcony.
Lucknow Residency Before 1857
Lucknow Residency now
It was never our intention to harm the women and children in the residency. That mistake was made by a crazy non-sepoy in Kanpur and will never be repeated. All we want is for the British to GO AWAY.
I just want to remind and reassure other Sepoys that Lucknow is still under our control and will always be under our control.
Many sepoys died on the grounds in front of the residency and we salute you!
The evacuees of Lucknow Residency— the ladies and men ( civilians ) , children in all numbering about 2000 , this day started off for Allahabad en route to Calcutta at 10 pm in the night escorted by 2 guns and some native cavalry.
We are told that the ladies were grumbling a great deal as they were not at all satisfied with the covered carts and felt that better conveyance should have been provided. When the Commander -in-Chief was informed of their dissatisfaction, he sent them a curt message that they should be more than satisfied, they should be thankful for what they had got.
The state of the Billiard Room at the Residency. Hope it gives you an idea as to the fierce battles that were fought from these rooms.
He has been responsible for killings of so many sepoys; the number is so large that just thinking of it sends a shiver down my spine.
At least the British are out of Lucknow forever.
It is a celebration for sepoys too because they are leaving.
British Withdraw from Lucknow.
And we hope we never see them ever again.
Most of the British left last night at midnight.
British are at Moti Mahal now and fierce battle is going on. I will update you as more information becomes available.
The first news coming from Lucknow - and it is not very good.
The chances that we will be able to defend against the British attack do not look good.
At the time of the rebellion, this building was being used as the boy’s school. We took over it and fortified it.
It is not know what the status is right now, whether British have occupied it or have moved on to the residency.
We will keep you posted.
For three miles as the British column moved to the east of Alambagh, we were in no position to offer any resistance.
When the British reached Dilkusha park, we attacked them with muskets but alas we were outnumbered and out powered.
The British column then advanced to La Martiniere. By noon, the Dilkusha and La Martiniere were lost.
We vigorously attacked the British left flank from the Bank’s House but the British counter attacked and drove us back into Lucknow.
They are much better supplied and have a lot of fire power.
Bank house’s picture is here:
We will fight tomorrow at Secunderabagh.
Yesterday, some sepoys reported a funny incident.
The sepoys were on a hill not too far from Alambagh and saw a column of British soldiers move. And suddenly, the soldiers were moving all around and running like being followed by some invisible force and removing their jackets and and helmets.
It turned out that they had inadvertently stepped on a bee hives and the bees were following them.
With the uniform that they have, if a bee gets in to it, it would be impossible to get it out!
It was a funny site.
We should use this technique when nothing else works!
On the left is the palace (click on it to see the current context) and above is the map of the Alambagh; see that square enclosed area at the bottom, thats Alambagh. There is a small palace and a mosque and British are occupying it now.
See how close it is to Lucknow!
I have also shown the path that Havelock and Outram took on 25th September, after they captured Alambagh. I do not think that the Collins will take the same path.
British are very close to Alambagh and have sent some forces in town for bringing in supplies for their assault on Lucknow.
We have heard reports that there is a long line of carts and camels laden with provisions and ammunition.
One of the Jamindar near Alambagh, kept several sepoys hidden in his house and allowed some ammunitions and guns to be stored.
They attacked the small British party that was scouting for a camp site, but British not only have better weapons but they also have better horses! We scared them but not sure if that was the right thing to do.
Alambagh was a good fort, we should have maintained our hold there but we lost it on September 24. Sigh! Below is a picture from that fight.
Rebels lost the Khajwa battle today. British had a lot more fire poser, the 9 pounder gun did a lot of damage and we don’t really have anything to retaliate with.
British experienced significant losses too; Col. Powell who commanded the force at Khajwa was killed.
For a brief period of time, it seemed that rebel forces might prevail but alas, it was not to be.
The cross marks the location of the battle in Khajuah (not to far from Bindki and north of Fatehpur)
Aurangzeb fought here almost 200 years ago (5th Jan 1658) with his brother Shah Shuja and it was one of the fiercest battles involving lots of elephants.
There weren’t too many elephants in this battles, but it was fierce for sure.
How can this be? He just started from Calcutta on the 25th October.
We got the news today that he might be in Cawnpore already.
We have received a telegram that Collins has started from Calcutta. We should expect him in Kanpur in mid November.
Time is running out, after the loss of Delhi, our only hope of saving the nation is to defeat Collins.
The next battle is going to be in Lucknow! Here is a map of Lucknow city
I am sorry the image is not very clear, but the British forces are expected to come from Cawnpore (kanpur) and Alambagh is the place they will decide whether to come straight up, go over the canal or cover both routes.
Residency is secure but we are expecting the attack any day now.
Havelock has to take this road, he has no choice and we will be ready for him. It is just half a mile to the residency on this road and it will the most difficult half mile that he ever traveled.