“…the floors of the room were still covered in congealed blood, littered with trampled, torn dresses of women and children, shoes, slippers, and locks of long hair, many of which had evidently been severed from the living scalps by sword cuts…”
It was September 1857 when William Forbes-Mitchell of HM’s 93rd Regiment arrived in Cawnpore. His regiment had been detailed for duty in China but was diverted, arriving in Calcutta in August. Too late to save the garrison, too late to rescue the women and children in the Bibighar. Although the massacre had been perpetrated in June, the remains of horror were still evident 3 months later.
“The first place my party reached was General Wheeler’s so-called entrenchment, the ramparts of which at the highest place did not exceed four feet and were so thin that at the top they could never have been bullet-proof! The entrenchment and the barracks inside of it were complete ruins, and the only wonder about it was how the small force could have held out so long. In the rooms of the buildings were still lying strewn about the remains of articles of women’s and children’s clothing, broken toys, torn pictures, books, pieces of music..”
As a memento, Forbes-Mitchell picked up a New Testament written in Gaelic, without a name in it. All the blank pages had been torn out, most probably used as gun wadding during the most desperate days of the siege. Unlike Lucknow, where there was always a chance of rescue and eventual relief, where supplies, though monotonous, were still available, drinking water was procurable, and shelter was provided for, Cawnpore had nothing. Over 1000 people entered the entrenchment in early June 1857 – only 450 walked out again 3 weeks later, and barely a handful survived at all.
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Mutiny Reflections 
The cavalry cadet named Mainwaring was Cornet Charles Mainwaring of the 6th Bengal Light Cavalry. I wrote about his death in the massacre by the river at Cawnpore in https://anneyoungau.wordpress.com/2023/04/11/i-is-for-indian-mutiny/
Charles Mainwaring is remembered on a tablet in All Souls Church, Cawnpore.
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I have added your site information to the Cawnpore posts and am currently in the process of fixing the casualty lists. It is a rather long and laborious task but hopefully I can get it finished this week.
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Hi there Darth Sahib. Thankyou for your kindly comments. I have made a third trip to India since my last comment and produced a documentary of sorts, that I hope will help heal. Filmed in Lucknow and Kanpur mostly. I will go back again for sure as I have much unfinished business connected with my dear family who perished in Cawnpore, especially Bibighar. I will try to add the link below, but if I can't, please search Youtube and type \”India Sepahi Rising 1857 Remembering Cawnpore\” The film is short on narrative during the first 20 minutes because I needed ananimity , but the narrative should help explain in book form the second half. Namaste and God bless then, Mark Ji. New Zealand.
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I found myself reading about the history of colonialism in India and could not believe that such an atrocity was committed. I don't know how the people that committed such an act justified it morally, or how they were able to continue with their lives afterward. It is a scary thought to imagine that people are capable of this. My family comes from India and although I live in North America, I am so very sorry for the barbaric murder of the innocent women and children, which should never have happened. Although this event is reprehensible by today's standards, I'm certain that even back then, most individuals would have been totally against such brutality (including my ancestors). I hope that we can all collectively learn from these past mistakes, in the hopes that such things never happen again.
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For a certainty Anil; this I know for sure having travelled twice to India in the last 4 years and with my Father also born in Allahabad, actually my family trace 4 generations in UP. The kindness, gentleness and respect I have found in my travels from Ahmedabad to Kangra in the north, Agra, across to Lucknow and right down to Calcutta is simply wonderful. The world that was during the 19th century, with a different kind of normal than that of today, is history and would seem very foreign to you and me I am sure and if we were to travel back to that time. Namaskar – Mark
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Very sorry to read this horryfic truth.this is not Indian culture
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Well done Eva. I have just read your work on Cawnpore and you have meticulously covered nearly every aspect of that terrible drama during June and July of 1857. Your references are impeccable and beyond any questioning and there is nothing more that I might add. If anyone wants to make contact, I will leave my email if that's okay and would happily correspond, as I have already with a number of descendents of Cawnpore families. mark@gafelk.co.nz Kind thanks Eva for adding my family connection too, is truly appreciated and an honour. Respectfully yours – Mark Probett (New Zealand)
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