The Lucknow Campaign 1857-1858

ISBN-13: 9781494486914 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 160 str.

Agha Humayun Amin

Opis

Lucknow was the capital of Oudh state since 1775. It occupied an area of about twelve square miles and its population varied between 600,000 to 700,000 . River Gumti flowed north of the city from northwest to southeast. There were, however, some suburbs of the city north of the river also. The city was full of Palaces and Gardens built on the western style by various rulers of Oudh. Most prominent of these was the Kaisar Bagh completed in 1850 by Wajid Ali Shah. North of it was the old Palace Chattar Manzil on right bank of Gumti. King Ghazi Ud Din Haidar To the south and east of the city was the Ghazi-ud-Din Haider canal built during the reign of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider(1814-27) with the purpose of bringing water from Ganges river in the South to river Gumti which it hardly ever probably did. East of the canal was the Dilkusha Bagh Palace a hunting lodge built during the reign of Saadat Ali Khan (1798-1814). Campbell had a big Army for the final capture of Lucknow; larger than the British Forces at Chillianwala or Gujrat against Sikhs (or even those in First Afghan War. Again in all previous campaigns the native element had constituted the bulk of British Armies whereas here out of 17 Battalions of Infantry which formed the bulk of the Army all but two were of European origin . Detailed Composition of Campbell's Force was as following: - (The Nepali Gurkha Contingent under Jang Bahadur had entered Oudh via Gorakhpur District and alongwith General Franks who had his own Gurkha Force was marching towards Lucknow to join Campbell's Force). The Sepoys defending Lucknow meanwhile had made great improvements in the defences of Lucknowthough again without tactical insight. They had constructed three strong lines of earthworks for defence of the city but left the area north of the river undefended thinking that the British would confine their operations to the south of the river. The first line was along the canal starting from west of Char Bagh till the canal joined the river. The second line was half a mile to the rear was from the river till the Imambara in the south, whereas the third line was along the Northern and Eastern wall of Kaisar Bagh. Colonel Robert Napier Campbell's Chief Engineer suggested that a British Force should operate north of the river to outflank the defences of Lucknow. Campbell accepted the suggestion and gave Outram the command of the northern force. Campbell's final plan for the capture of Lucknow was as following: - a)Main attack under Campbell was to be launched from Dilkusha towards Kaisar Bagh South of the River via Hazrat Ganj the main street going towards Kaisar Bagh from the general direction of the canal. b)Outram's Force to cross the river Gumti by means of two pontoon Bridges move north till Faizabad Road and from there turn west coming towards the general direction of Iron Bridge to envelope the city from the North. This Force was also to establish Artillery Batteries along the Northern bank of the river to enfilade the Sepoy lines of defences and to provide general flanking Artillery firesupport to Campbell's main attack. c)The area between Char Bagh and the axis of the main attack was only to be blocked by a small force. Campbell reached Alam Bagh on 1st of March and in the early hours of 2nd March captured Dilkusha Bagh from the Sepoys