Month: June 2015
The Battle of Chinhat – Beginning of the Epic Lucknow Siege
On the morning of 30th June 1857, the village of Ismailganj, near Chinhat (or Chinhut), Avadh (Oudh) witnessed a decisive battle between the British and the Indian rebel mutineers.
The British army led by Sir Henry Lawrence consisted of several companies of the 13th Native Infantry, detachments of other regiments, a small force of Sikh cavalry, European volunteer cavalry, Native Artillery, three companies of the 32nd Regiment of Foot as well as Bengal Artillery. The British intelligence had suggested that a small troop of few hundred rebels were approaching Lucknow over whom the British can obtain an easy victory.
However on nearing Ismailganj the British army came under sudden attack from the mutineers. The insurgents led by Barkat Ahmad and consisting of mutineers from the East India Company’s army and retainers of local landowners outnumbered the British troops by few thousands.
The mutineers well led by Barkat Ahmad were successful in meting out heavy casualties on the British from their well prepared positions. The casualties of the battle included the death of the acting officer Lieutenant Colonel William Case of the regiment of 32nd foot as well as several other officers. Another heavy blow to the British army was rendered when many of the soldiers, particularly the Indian artillerymen under the army switched sides to join the mutineers. The Sikh cavalrymen under the British fled the battle as well.
Source – Wikipedia
Facing stiff resistance from the rebels Sir Lawrence decided to retreat towards Lucknow by crossing the bridge over the Kukrail stream. The rebels tried to sabotage the retreat attempt but were rendered unsuccessful by a group of 36 volunteer cavalrymen who valiantly fought the rebels and created confusion amongst their ranks. Following which a group of European artillery took their position on the bridgehead and held off the rebels, thus allowing the British army to retreat. In a last attempt to thwart the rebels from pursuit Sir Lawrence ordered one battalion of the 32nd regiment who were not a part of the battle to hold off the last bridge to Lucknow over the Gumti River. The British troops managed to retreat to the Lucknow Residency where they were besieged by the rebels.
The resounding victory of the rebels at Chinhat over the British allowed them to take over Lucknow and the historic siege of Lucknow Residency commenced from July 1st 1957.
The rebels under the leadership of Begum Hazrat Mahal (former wife of Wajid Ali Shah) set up a new government for Lucknow as well as Avadh. Sir Lawrence was killed by the rebels within a few days on 4th July 1957. Raja Jai Lal Singh (Nazim of Azamgarh), a close confidante of Hazrat Mahal was in charge of the military command of the rebels. Another important leader of the rebels during the siege was Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, the ‘maulvi of Faizabad’.
The British had to deploy armed forces on a very large scale to crush the Revolt in the capital of the erstwhile kingdom of Avadh. After several attempts the British under the leadership of Colin Campbell were able to lift the siege and occupy Lucknow on March 21st 1858.
The battle of Chinhat marks one of the few wins of the rebels against the British in the history of the Great Uprising of 1857. The revolt and siege of Lucknow and the gallant defence of the city by the mutineers as well as the common people constitutes a magnificent episode in the history of the anti-colonial struggle of India.
Source: The Tribune ; World Public Library ; People’s Democracy
Sophia Alekseyevna – The Regent of Russia (1682-1689)
Sophia Alekseyevna named herself the Regent of Russia on 29th June 1682 during the minority of her brothers, Peter I and Ivan V. The event was marked as an extraordinary one in history since Muscovite women generally did not participate in politics.
Sophia was the third daughter of Tsar Alexei I of Russia by his first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya. She displayed outstanding intelligence and received her education from Belorussian monk Simeon Polotsky. After the death of her brother, the then ruler Fyodor III in April 1682, her 10 year old half-brother Peter I was proclaimed the successor to the throne. Peter was the son of Alexis and his second wife, Natalya Naryshkina. However, Sophia objected the election of Peter to the throne since it would result in a government dominated by the Naryshkins.
Source: Encylopaedia Britannica
The Moscow Uprising of 1682 helped the Miloslavsky family to proclaim Sophia’s younger brother Ivan V, to the throne. Supported by the streltsy (household troops) Sophia assumed the role of Regent for her brothers under the direction of her chief advisor and courtier Prince Vasily Galitzine. However soon fearing a reverse in support by the streltsy Sophia replaced the commander of the rebels Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky with Fyodor Leontyevich Shaklovity, who was her ally. As an added measure she also annulled several privileges given to the troops when she seized power.
During her regency Sophia encouraged the development of industry and called for the foreign craftsmen to settle in Russia. She faced the dissatisfaction of the landed nobles owing to the lax in detention policies of the escapee surfs and peasants. The foreign policy highlights of her rule include the Eternal Peace Treaty signed with Poland in 1686 and the Treaty of Nerchinsk with China in 1689.
However, during 1687 and 1689 her rule witnessed two devastating military campaigns, led by Prince Vasily Galitzine, against the vassals of the Turks, the Crimean Tatars. The failure of Vasily added to the growing discontentment among the nobles, the Naryshkins as well as the general population.
Sensing the growing discontent, Sophia again made an attempt to initiate a new uprising in the year 1689 among the streltsy to prevent Peter from ascending the throne. However, most of them supported Peter this time. In September 1689, Sophia was forced to step down from the throne and was confined in the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow.
Roughly 10 years later, during the Streltsy Revolt in 1698 her supporters among the streltsy tried to reinstate her to power. The revolt was suppressed and Sophia was tried by a special tribunal and forced into veil as Nun Susanna of the Novodevichy Convent. She was kept in strict isolation and she eventually died there after 6 years on 3rd July 1704.
Source: Great Russian Gifts ; russia-ic.com ; Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Tale of “Molly Pitcher” – Battle of Monmouth (American Revolution)
The legend of “Molly Pitcher” at least in part refers to one Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley born in 1754, near Trenton, N.J., U.S. However, there is a debate among the historians regarding the true identity of the legend. The other name who is believed to be the legendary Molly Pitcher includes Margaret Corbin. It is also believed that the title “Molly Pitcher” is a composite character of all the women who assisted the Continental army.
Source: Encyclopedia.com
Though details of Mary Ludwig’s childhood remains debated it is believed that her parents were immigrants settled in New Jersey. At the age of 13 she worked as a domestic help of Dr. William Irvine in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. During the same period she married a man named William Hays, a barber who during the American Revolution became a gunner in the Pennsylvania Artillery. Sometime later Mary joined her husband in the battlefield during the Philadelphia Campaign (1777-1778).
Mary earned the title “Molly Pitcher” in the Battle of Monmouth, where she carried buckets, or pitchers, of water to her husband’s artillery crew. On June 28, 1778, her husband fell wounded and Mary earned a name for herself when she reportedly took his place at the cannon for the remaining part of the battle.
Post the war they returned to Pennsylvania and settled in Carlisle. After her husband’s death around 1789, she remarried another Rev War vet by the name of John McCauley around 1792.
After being widowed a second time, in the face of financial difficulties she applied for a soldier’s widow’s pension. On 21 February 1822 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania instead awarded Molly an annual pension of USD40 for her own military service during the Revolution.
After her death on January 22nd, 1832 in Carlisle, the legend lived on. Her contribution to the American war of Independence was recognized and later monuments were built near the Monmouth battle site and at Mary Hays’s burial site in Carlisle. In 1928 a postal stamp was issued in her name by the U.S. Postal Service, a battleship during World War II was named after her and a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike was also named in her honor.
Source: Encyclopedia.com; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Courier-Post; Revolutionary-War.net
Blogging on History - An Offbeat Chronicle 