1857 INDIAN REBELLION SIEGE OF DELHI SWORDS HORSES GUNS 1860 Art Print Engraving

Description: REPULSE OF A SORTIE FROM DELHI Artist: unknown ____________ Engraver: unknown NOTE: The title in the box above is also in the white border below this scene. PRINT DATE: This engraving was printed circa 1860; it is not a modern reproduction in any way. PRINT SIZE: Overall print size is 6 1/4 x 9 inches, actual scene size is 5 by 7 3/8 inches. PRINT CONDITION: Condition is excellent. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. Paper is quality woven rag stock paper. SHIPPING: Buyer to pay shipping, domestic orders receive priority mail, international orders receive regular air mail unless otherwise asked for. Full payment details will be in our email after auction close. We pack properly to protect your item! PRINT DESCRIPTION: On 7 June 1857 a hastily raised force of 4,000 British and Indian soldiers succeeded in occupying a ridge overlooking Delhi, but it was far too weak to attempt to retake the city. Faced by over 30,000 mutineers they came under increasing pressure themselves. The army began to suffer losses through cholera, including its commander Major-General Sir Henry Barnard. Reinforcements gradually arrived from the Punjab, but throughout the searing heat of the summer, the soldiers on the ridge were forced to hold off repeated rebel sorties from the city. The Siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian rebellion of 1857. The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass uprising by the sepoys of the units of the Army which the company had itself raised in its Bengal Presidency (which actually covered a vast area from Assam to Peshawar). Seeking a symbol around which to rally, the first sepoys to rebel sought to reinstate the power of the Mughal Empire, which had ruled the entire Indian subcontinent during the previous centuries. Lacking overall direction, many who subsequently rebelled also flocked to Delhi. This made the siege decisive for two reasons. Firstly, large numbers of rebels were committed to the defence of a single fixed point, perhaps to the detriment of their prospects elsewhere, and their defeat at Delhi was thus a very major military setback. Secondly, the British recapture of Delhi and the refusal of the aged Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II to continue the struggle, deprived the rebellion of much of its national character. Although the rebels still held large areas, there was little co-ordination between them and the British were inevitably able to overcome them separately. The first three columns, under Nicholson's overall command, gathered in and behind a building known as the Khudsia Bagh, a former summer residence of the Mughal Kings, about a quarter of a mile from the north walls. The fourth column was intended to attack only when the Kabul Gate on the west of the city walls was opened from behind by the other columns. The fifth column and the cavalry were in reserve. The attack was supposed to be launched at dawn, but the defenders had repaired some of the breaches overnight with sandbags, and further bombardment was required. Eventually, Nicholson gave the signal and the attackers charged. The first column stormed through the breach in the Kashmir Bastion and the second through that in the Water Bastion, by the Jumna River, but this was not without difficulty as most of the scaling ladders were broken before they could be emplaced. The third column attacked the Kashmiri Gate on the north wall. Two sapper officers, Lieutenants Home and Salkeld (both of whom subsequently won the Victoria Cross), led a suicidal mission, a small party of British and Indian sappers which placed four gunpowder charges and sandbags against the gate, under fire from just 10 feet (3.0 m) away. Several of them were wounded and killed trying to light the fuse. The explosion demolished part of the gate, a bugler with the party signalled success and the third column charged in. Meanwhile, the fourth column encountered a rebel force in the suburb of Kishangunj outside the Kabul Gate before the other columns attacked, and was thrown into disorder. Major Reid, its commander, was seriously injured and the column retired. The rebels followed up, capturing four guns from the Kashmiri troops, and threatened to attack the British camp, which had been emptied of its guards to form the assault force. The artillery batteries at Hindu Rao's House (directed by Chamberlain from a doolie) stopped them until Hope Grant's cavalry and horse artillery could move up to replace Reid's column. The cavalry remained in position under fire from guns on the Kabul Gate and suffered heavy casualties, until relieved by infantry. In spite of this reverse, Nicholson was keen to press on into the city. He led a detachment down a narrow lane to try to capture the Burn Bastion, on the walls north of the Kabul Gate. Rebel soldiers held most of the flat rooftops and walled compounds, and guns mounted on the bastion fired grapeshot down the lanes between the houses. After two rushes were stopped with heavy casualties, Nicholson led a third charge and was mortally wounded. Temporarily repulsed, the British now withdrew to the Church of Saint James, just inside the walls of the Kashmir Bastion. They had suffered 1,170 casualties in the attack. Archdale Wilson moved to the Church, and faced with the setback, he wished to order a withdrawal. When he heard of Wilson's indecision, the dying Nicholson threatened to shoot him. Eventually, Baird Smith, Chamberlain and other officers persuaded Wilson to hold on to the British gains. The British and Company forces were disordered. Many British officers had been killed or wounded, and their units were now in confusion. The British foothold included many of the liquor stores and over the next two days, many British soldiers became drunk and incapacitated on looted spirits. However, the rebel sepoy regiments had become discouraged by their defeats and lack of food, while the irregular mujahhadin defended their fortified compounds with great determination but could not be organised to make a coordinated counter-attack. Wilson eventually ordered all liquor to be destroyed, and discipline was restored. Slowly, the attackers began to clear the rebels from the city. They captured the magazine on 16 September. Another Victoria Cross was earned here, by Lieutenant Thackerey for extinguishing a fire in the magazine, whilst under musket fire. Bahadur Shah and his entourage abandoned the palace on 18 September, and a British force captured the great mosque, the Jama Masjid, and the abandoned palace the next day. They also captured the Selimgarh Fort, attached to the palace and dominating the bridge of boats over the River Yamuna. Most rebels who had not already left the city now did so before the Company forces captured all the gates and trapped them. The city was finally declared to be captured on 21 September. John Nicholson died the next day. THIS IS AN ACTUAL ENGRAVING PRINTED IN THE 1860s! A GREAT SCENE FROM A BATTLE OR KEY MILITARY EVENT WHICH BEGAN IN MAY 1857 AND IS KNOWN VARIOUSLY AS THE INDIAN MUTINY, THE SEPOY REVOLT, THE INDIAN REBELLION AND THE FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE!

Price: 16.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-11-11T18:09:34.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.95 USD