Siege of Cawnpore
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The Siege of Cawnpore was an event in the Indian rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company rule. In June of that year, sepoys under General Wheeler in Cawnpore, (now Kanpur) rebelled — apparently with tacit approval of Nana Sahib — and besieged the European entrenchment. The British lasted three weeks with little water, suffering constant casualties. On June 25 Nana Sahib requested surrender and Wheeler had little choice but to accept. Nana Sahib promised them safe passage to a secure location but when the British boarded riverboats, their pilots fled, setting fire to the boats, and the rebellious sepoys opened fire on the British, soldiers and civilians. One boat with 4 men escaped.
The surviving women and children were led to Bibi-Ghar (the house of the women) in Cawnpore. On July 15, three men entered it and killed everyone with knives and hatchets and hacked them to pieces. Their bodies were thrown down a well.
The British were aghast and the pro-Indian proponents lost all their support. Cawnpore became a war cry for the British soldiers for the rest of the conflict. Nana Sahib disappeared.
When the British retook Cawnpore later, the soldiers took their sepoy prisoners, some of whom had surrendered, to the Bibi-Ghar and forced them to lick the bloodstains from the walls and floor. The prisoners when then summarily executed, some by being tied across the mouths of cannon that were then fired.
