The Advance Commences

Before dawn, the rebel cavalry was observed making its way towards a village where the day before, the force’s baggage carts had been left. The movement was swiftly reported, and the request was made that a gun might be ordered to protect the rear-guard. The gun was not sent, and the men on duty,

“…unsuspicious of danger, straggled away from the post of alarm, with the exception of a few who remained on the alert. At length, the cavalry, which had been so long hovering in the distance, like a bird of prey watching its victim, dashed suddenly on the road, accompanied by a body of Sepoys, making much noise and shouting vociferously. This so terrified the drivers and other camp followers that they hastily fled, abandoning the baggage. So simultaneous was their flight, and so rapid, that it resembled the sound of a rushing storm sweeping over the plain…
Fortunately for me, as the event proved, I had, on the previous evening, moved my palanquin carriage nearer to our lines than the position which it had occupied amongst the baggage. Only a few minutes before this onslaught, I had been indulging in such a bath as was attainable, and which greatly partook of the character of a mud one, the water being taken from the roadside, where it had lodged after the rain. My servant poured it over me as I sat luxuriating in this attempt at ablution, the first I had had for some days, in front of the space occupied by my palanquin carriage. Luckily, I was dressed in time to have returned when this attack was made; otherwise, I could never have escaped. For some minutes the confusion was extreme, and Sowars rode up amongst the carts, cutting down unarmed men, till they were met by the guard, which succeeded in repelling them, but not without the loss of an officer and several men.” (Major North).

A few men of the 78th poured a withering fire into the cavalry and the sepoys, strewing the road with the bodies of men and horses, while Olpherts’ battery, late in the running with the Volunteer Cavalry, swept up, but the mutineers had already affected their retreat. Lesson learned, the baggage train was moved into the grounds of the Alambagh.
The 24th of September was a day of rest and the Alambagh was prepared for further operations and the Generals remained in close conference for most of the day, discussing their final plans for the next day.
Meanwhile, the hospital was opened for brisk business at the Alambagh, tents pitched and the men who now had tents attempted to dry their sodden garments on any dry patch of ground they could find.
As for Outram and Havelock, they were determined to hold the Alambagh from the first, but what they could not decide upon was how to reach the Residency.
They had two possible routes – one led up the Cawnpore Road, the Charbagh Bridge, and then straight through the heart of the city for a distance of just over a mile, to the Bailey Guard Gateway. The road, however, was cut through by trenches and crossed by palisades at very short distances, while the houses all around were loopholed. Havelock, for the sake of the men in his force, immediately vetoed this option. However, the second was a little better.
For this one to work, they would need to force the Charbagh Bridge and then turn off to the right and advance on a long, circuitous lane skirting the left bank of the canal until they reached open ground. Then, with a turn to the left, they could advance on the Residency via the plain between the Kaiserbagh Palace and the river.
They still had two further options, and both involved following the canal to the Dilkusha Palace. The third option was to avoid the open road completely and give the city a wide berth by proceeding to the Dilkusha Palace from whence they could turn to the left, cross the canal, and come back to the plain between the Kaiserbagh and the Residency. However, the one which appealed to Havelock the most was to proceed to the Dilkusha, size it and then, under cover of that position, ford the Gumti River. They could then gain the Fyzabad and Lucknow road at the Korail Bridge and, on their way, seize the Iron Bridge and the Badshah, which would serve as an admirably defensible position and direct communication with the Residency. Havelock had brought canal boats with him from Cawnpore for just this purpose – only to discover, much to his disappointment, they would be useless.
Colonel Napier had undertaken a reconnaissance on the 24th to put to the test the last plan – he reported the rains had rendered the surrounding countryside too heavily flooded to move heavy artillery, which Havelock insisted on taking with him on the advance. The only option then would be through the city, and as such, plan two was agreed upon. Should all go well, they would advance upon the Charbagh Bridge, turn right, and, after manoeuvring a half-circle around the city, they could establish themselves at the Fareed Baksh, a palace adjacent to the Residency. On one point, Havelock would have his way – the heavy artillery would proceed to the Residency with the advance. His conviction was based on the “all but fateful result of having left the heavy guns at Candahar when the army marched to Ghuznee. He had therefore formed the fixed determination never to leave them behind when there might be a possible occasion for their use.”
Remaining at the Alambagh would be, besides the sick and wounded, all the baggage, food and ammunition reserves under the careful command of Colonel McIntyre of the 78th Highlanders, along with 6 officers, 42 NCOs and 250 men. Those proceeding on the line of advance were to rake only 60 rounds of ammunition in their pouches, while an “equal reserve per man was to be carried on camels.” It would prove to be a harrowing day.

^{Sources:
Forrest, G. W., ed. Selections from the Letters, Despatches and Other State Papers Preserved in the Military Department of the Government of India, 1857-58. Vol. 2, Lucknow, Cawnpore. Calcutta: Military Department Press, 1902.
Goldsmid, F. J. James Outram: A Biography. 2 vols. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1880.
Headley, J. T. The Life of General H. Havelock. New York: Charles Scribner, 1861.
Malleson, G. B., ed. Kaye’s and Malleson’s History of the Indian Mutiny of 1857–8. Vol. 3. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1892.
My Journal, or What I Did and Saw Between the 9th June and 25th November, 1857: With an Account of General Havelock’s March from Allahabad to Lucknow. By a Volunteer. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1858.
North, Charles Napier. Journal of an English Officer in India. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1858.}