Hugh Wheeler (officer)

Hugh Wheeler (* 1789 in Ireland ; † June 27, 1857 in Kanpur ) was a British officer. As a major-general , he commanded the garrison town of Kanpur in the Bengal presidency during the Indian uprising of 1857 . He is one of the British people who died after the surrender of Kanpur during the Sati Chowra massacre .

Life

Hugh Wheeler served in the troops of the British East India Company from the age of 16 and was one of the highly respected officers of these troops. The military historian Saul David describes him as a type that was often found among the senior officers of the British East India Company. He had lived almost exclusively in India since he was 16, married an Indian woman and was familiar with the cultural customs of his Indian compatriots. This distinguished him from the representatives of the British East India Company who came to the country after 1830 and for whom a contempt for the Indian way of life was often characteristic.

When the Indian uprising broke out in 1857, however, it misjudged. He expected that the Sepoy troops in Kanpur would rebel. However, he assumed that the troops would withdraw very quickly to Delhi, the center of the uprising. However, the Indian prince Nana Sahib was able to persuade the Indian troops to attack the garrison city. Between 900 and 1000 Europeans, Eurasians and Indians who had converted to Christianity had holed up in the garrison. Only 400 men, around 300 soldiers and 100 combat-capable civilians were available for defense. From June 6th to June 23rd he defended the garrison. During this time, around a third of those entrenched died from injuries from artillery fire or from diseases that were rampant among those trapped. On June 23, he was persuaded by the remaining officers to accept Nana Sahib's offer of surrender, which had promised an unhindered withdrawal by boat to Allahabad . While the British were boarding the boats on the banks of the Ganges on June 27, Indian troops suddenly opened fire. The male British survivors of this firefight were executed on the spot. Hugh Wheeler was also killed in the attack.

Eliza Wheeler as the heroine of the uprising

The youngest daughter of Hugh Wheeler, Eliza Wheeler , is one of the tragic figures of the uprising of 1857. While most of the surviving women and children were brought back to Kanpur, where they perished in the Bibighar massacre on July 15, Eliza Wheeler became kidnapped on the banks of the Ganges by one of the rebellious sepoys and made his concubine. According to Victorian lore, Eliza Wheeler killed her kidnapper and members of his family and then committed suicide. Her pretended fate has been the subject of numerous Victorian plays and stories.

supporting documents

Single receipts

1. ↑ David (2006), p. 309

literature

• Saul David (2003): The Indian Mutiny: 1857 , Penguin Books, 2003
• Saul David (2006): Victoria's Wars , Penguin Books, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-14-100555-3
• Christopher Hibbert: The great mutiny: India 1857 , London [u. a.]: Penguin Books, 1988
• Lawrence James: Raj - The Making of British India , Abacus, London 1997, ISBN 978-0-349-11012-7
• Dennis Judd: The Lion and the Tiger. The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600-1947 , Oxford 2004
• AN Wilson: The Victorians . Arrow Books, London 2003. ISBN 0-09-945186-7