1800-1859 | Civilians slaughtered | India | Looting and plunder | Massacres | Prisoners murdered | Wounded killed

At least one thousand slaughtered as British troops sack Delhi

ByAlisdare Hickson

20 September 1857 Today in 1857, after a week of fierce street fighting, British troops under General Sir Archdale Wilson finally obtained the surrender of the remaining pockets of Indian Mutineers still holding out in the city.  Much of the city had already been sacked and many murdered in their homes [see 13 September 1857]….

1800-1859 | Executions | Pakistan

Indian mutineers blown apart, wounding civilian spectators

ByAlisdare Hickson

17 June 1857 Today in 1857, British troops, having disarmed Indian mutineers at Lahore the previous month, executed twelve of them. Two by hanging, one of whom ‘lingered out for a considerable time, as the knot slipped under his chin,’ and a further ten by lashing them to the cannons and then loading blank cartridges…

1800-1859 | India | Media propaganda

Indian mutiny incites press demands for ‘bloody vengeance’

ByAlisdare Hickson

10 May 1857 On 10 May 1857, the Indian Mutiny broke out in the garrison town of Meerut, 40 miles north east of Delhi.  A day earlier, on 9 May, 85 Sepoys, serving as soldiers for the East India Company,  had been severely punished for refusing to handle cartridges covered with paper greased with cattle…

1800-1859 | Burning towns and cities | Burning villages | Civilians slaughtered | India | Massacres

British army slaughters ‘every native that appeared in sight.’

ByAlisdare Hickson

11 June 1857 On 11 June 1857, Colonel James Neill, who had been ordered to crush the slightest sign of support for the Indian mutiny, seized the city of Allahabad. In the days which followed he implemented a reign of terror, unprecedented in Indian history. Thousands were slaughtered, including many innocent women and children. One…

1800-1859 | India

Indian soldiers refuse orders to use cartridges greased with pig and cow fat

ByAlisdare Hickson

24 April 1857 On 24 April 1857, eighty five Indian soldiers of the Third Bengal Light Cavalry stationed at Meerut, a town 40 miles north east of Delhi, refused orders to use cartridges covered by paper greased with pig and cow fat.  They had been ordered to bite off the greased paper before loading the…

1800-1859 | Burning villages | Civilians slaughtered | India | Prisoners murdered

29 JUNE

ByAlisdare Hickson

‘SLAUGHTER ALL THE MEN’ – BLOODY RETRIBUTION AGAINST AN INDIAN VILLAGE [ 29 June 1857 ] On 29 June 1857, Colonel James Neill ordered his Redcoats on a mission of bloody retribution against an Indian village, outside the city of Allahabad, suspected of harbouring mutineers. He ordered that ‘the village of Mullagu and neighbourhood be…

1800-1859 | Executions | Pakistan

26 JUNE

ByAlisdare Hickson

BRITISH TROOPS RANSACK WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY. [ 26 June 1777 ] During the American Revolution, British troops ransacked and pillaged hundreds of American communities, but there was rarely any attempt to accurately account for what was taken. One exception is the ransacking of Westfield, when 13,000 Redcoats camped outside the small New Jersey town on…

1800-1859 | Executions | India

4 JUNE

ByAlisdare Hickson

BRITISH REIGN OF TERROR AT BENARES [ 4 June 1857 ] On 4 June 1857, Colonel James Neill, after crushing the mutinous Indian soldiers of the 37th Native Infantry, imposed a reign of terror in the city of Benares. He armed civilians so that they could form ‘volunteer hanging parties,’ and so pacify the population…

1800-1859 | Executions | Pakistan

22 MAY

ByAlisdare Hickson

LORD MANSFIELD – THROWING SLAVES OVERBOARD CANNOT BE MURDER. [ 22 May 1783 ] On this day in 1783, Lord Mansfied, the Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, issued his verdict on the case of  132 men, women and children thrown overboard from a British owned slave ship, the Zong, on 29 November 1871.  It was one…

Uncategorized

10 MAY

ByAlisdare Hickson

INDIAN MUTINY INCITES PRESS DEMANDS FOR ‘BLOODY VENGEANCE’ [ 10 May 1857 ] On 10 May 1857, the Indian Mutiny broke out in the garrison town of Meerut, 40 miles north east of Delhi.  A day earlier, on 9 May, 85 Sepoys, serving as soldiers for the East India Company,  had been given long prison…