The Battered Barracks, Cawnpore 1857 (litho)

The Battered Barracks, in which General Sir Hugh Wheeler defended himself, Cawnpore 1857. Tinted lithograph by Vincent Brooks after Lieutenant Charles Wade Crump, Madras Artillery, published by Henry Graves and Company, London, 8 February 1858. When news of the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) at Meerut reached Cawnpore, General Sir Hugh Wheeler built a fortified position, based around two barracks, outside the city as a possible refuge for the European community. In early June 1857 all the Europeans made for the entrenchment, whose enclosing wall, built of dry crumbly earth, was not yet finished. The subsequent Siege of Cawnpore lasted just over three weeks, and took place in June when the sun is at its hottest. The entrenchment had almost no shade, and contained only one well. This was in an exposed position, covered by enemy fire.