A British Officer Describes the Great Revolt of 1857

Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806–1857) was an officer of the British army in India. Born in Ceylon to a British army officer, he was educated in Britain but posted to India in 1823, where he gained considerable military and political experience as part of the British colonial force. Appointed chief commissioner of the British territory of Awadh in 1857, Lawrence was nominated as the next governor-general of India by the British East India Company. Before he could fully assume that post, a popular revolt among Indian troops spread throughout India, and Lawrence was killed defending British control of the city of Lucknow (retaken by British and Nepalese forces in 1858). The rebellion marked the end of the East India Company’s rule and the start of direct British state control of India. Lawrence’s letters give an intimate account of how the British military saw the rebellion, the empire, and the indigenous people of India.

My dear Colvin,

I wrote a long letter yesterday telling you of the sad succession of misfortunes in this quarter. Today I have had confirmation of the fate of Sooltanpoor & Fyzabad.6 A native letter bearing the stamp of truth tells that the troops rose & butchered the Europeans at Sooltanpoor. From Fyzabad Mr Bradford writes (no date, probably the 6th) that the officers & ladies had all been saved, that everything had been conducted with the utmost regularity, the native civil officer taking prominent places, & that the King of Delhi had been proclaimed. In all quarters we hear of similar method & regularity — at Duriabad, Secrora & Seetapoor individuals have been obliged to give up their plunder, & the treasure is carefully guarded. The quiet method bespeaks some [leading] influence. We cannot get certain tidings from Cawnpoor, altho’ we have sent many messengers, but we have no reason to doubt that Gen. Wheeler still holds his grounds. The mutineers hold the river bank for many miles above & below Cawnpoor & search all papers. They at once seized all the boats and drew them to their own bank. Would that we could help the besieged, but our numbers, the distance and the heat forbid the thought — this is frightful weather for field operations for Europeans. Yesterday we lost two out of about 130 from exposure after 3 p.m. in our pursuit of the mutinous Police Battalions,7 & yet Mr Gubbins would be continually sending 50 men on Elephants, 40, 50 and more miles off. He is perfectly insane on what he considers energetic, manly measures. His language has been so extravagant that were he not really useful I should be obliged to take severe measures against him. He is the one malcontent in the garrison — all others, I believe, are satisfied that as much energy has been evinced as circumstances permitted. Yesterday the mutineer police about 1000 strong were followed about 8 miles by 100 H.M. 32nd,8 2 guns, 50 Sikh horse & 20 European volunteers. It left for an hour the Residency Post9 with only 100 Europeans, with the jail close by, over which these Policemen had held guard. Fortunately in an hour 100 Europeans came with Treasure from the Muchee Bawan10 & were retained till the near return of the detached party. I had also instantly got up 2 companies of Irregulars11 to the jail. All was quiet during the night, and the result of the pursuit has been good. This morning the zemin­dars [tax collectors] brought masses of musquets that the mutineers had thrown away. About 50 of them seem to have been killed. Our loss of 2 Europeans from the sun is a serious loss. 2 horsemen were killed, & Mr Thornhill, C.S, wounded. We have seen sad details of this butchery of officers & ladies who escaped from Jhaligshanpoor between Mohomdee and Seetapoor. Mr Thomason fell with them, Capt. Oor alone escaped, being protected by some men of his old Regiment. Of the Seetapoor party Sir M. Jackson, one of his sisters, Lt. Burn & a child of Mr Christians’s escaped to the jungles beyond Seetapoor. Capt. Jester found his way here. All our Regulars except about 200 have taken leave to their homes, where many will go, for I believe their numbers were well purged on the 30th & 31st May, but there was a frantic fancy of Mr Gubbins to get rid of them all including those who have evinced unmistakeable fidelity, and to trust implicitly the Police & Irregulars, who have all gone with the herd. To my mind the Police have behaved in some respects the worst of all. I should have preferred keeping 500 of those men as more likely to be true than any other, but under Mr. Gubbin’s pressure an order was issued when I was ill, to encourage all the Sikhs to be off. I have saved a few. We have still about 1000 Irregular Infantry, 200 Cavalry, 200 Regular Infantry, 30 Regular Cavalry & the Town Police, few of which can be expected to stand any severe pressure. We however hold our ground & daily strengthen both our Tower positions, bearing in mind that the Residency is to be the final point of concentration. The health of the troops is good & the weather propitious as long as there is not exposure to the sun. The conduct of the Europeans is beautiful. By God’s help we can hold our own for a month, but there should be no delay in sending succor. The appearance of 2 European Regiments would soon enable us to settle the Province, but if succor be lost & this force destroyed, the difficulty would be vastly increased.

I have the honor to be yours,

H. M. Lawrence.

Letters of Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence: Selections from the Correspondence of Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806–1857), ed. Sheo Bahadur Singh (New Delhi: Sagar, 1978), 28–30.

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