Siege of Delhi - Company Moves

Company Moves

Although there were several Company units available in the cool "hill stations" in the foothills of the Himalayas, it took time before any action could be taken to recapture Delhi. This was partly due to lack of transport and supplies. After the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the Bengal Army's transport units had been disbanded as an economy measure, and transport had to be improvised from scratch. Also, many of the senior British officers were widely regarded as dotards, far too senile to act decisively or sensibly.

Nevertheless, a Company force was able to move from Ambala to Karnal starting on 17 May. At Karnal, they were joined by a force from Meerut under Brigadier Archdale Wilson (who had conspicuously failed to prevent the rebel sepoys' move to Delhi on 11 May). The British commander-in-chief, General Anson died of cholera at Karnal on 27 May. Under his successor, Major General Henry Barnard, the combined force advanced on Delhi. On 8 June, they drove a large but disorganised rebel force from the field at the Battle of Badli-ki-Serai, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Delhi.

The British captured Delhi ridge, and the Bengal infantry units' barracks to the west of it. As a gesture of defiance and contempt, they set fire to the barracks. This was a senseless act, as it condemned the besiegers (and all their sick and wounded and noncombatants) to live in tents through the hot weather and monsoon rain seasons.

The ridge was of hard rock, about 60 feet (18 m) high, and ran from a point only 1,200 yards (1,100 m) east of the Kabul Gate on the city walls to the Yamuna River 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the city. Fortunately for the besiegers, a canal ran from the Yamuna west of their encampments, protecting the rear of their camp and also providing drinking water. The besiegers occupied various fortified posts along the top of the Ridge. The nearest to the city and the most exposed was known as "Hindu Rao's house", defended by the Gurkhas of the Sirmur Battalion. South of it was a maze of villages and walled gardens, called the Subzi Mundi, in which the rebel forces could gather before launching attacks on the British right.