Thomas Henry Kavanagh

Thomas Henry Kavanagh

Thomas Henry Kavanagh (born July 15, 1821 in Mullingar, County Westmeath , Ireland ; † November 11, 1882 ) is a British civilian who achieved fame in England during the Indian Uprising of 1857 . He was awarded the Victoria Cross , Britain's highest medal of valor, for a successful mission during the Siege of Lucknow , and is one of the few civilians to receive this award. He gained popularity with the British public.

background

Thomas Henry Kavanagh was a civil servant with the Bengal Civil Service , a civil administration of the British East India Company . He worked in Lucknow , one of the British garrison towns in the Bengal presidency . Lucknow was one of the most important locations for the British and was besieged by insurgent troops from June 1857. British civilians, loyal Indian soldiers and British soldiers had holed up in one of the residences in Lucknow and offered fierce resistance for weeks. In the besieged residence, however, cholera and dysentery broke out very early , so that in August more than 20 people per day died not only from the shelling by the Indian troops, but also from disease. Sir Henry Havelock tried the garrison, who attributed it high on the British side strategic and symbolic value to in September shock . However, his troops suffered so high losses during the advance on the garrison that an evacuation of the besieged was not possible. The troops remained in Lucknow to reinforce the besieged. In November new British troops, led by Sir Colin Campbell, reached the vicinity of the garrison. In view of the numerical superiority of the Indian rebels, however, there was a risk that they would suffer such high losses, similar to the troops of Sir Henry Havelock previously, that a relief of the besieged troops would again fail.

On the evening of November 9th, Thomas Henry Kavanagh offered to smuggle a plan to Sir Colin Campbell that would give him more detailed information about the formation of the Indian troops. This proposal was initially rejected by Sir James Outram and Henry Havelock because, in their view, there was no chance for a European to get through the Indian lines. Kavanagh convinced them after they failed to recognize him in Indian disguise and reprimanded him after he sat in their presence without being asked. Thomas Henry Kavanagh left at 8:30 p.m. and, together with an Indian companion, reached Sir Colin Campbell's troops at 5 a.m. the following morning. The military historian Saul David wrote of the events of that night that they would probably fill a chapter of a book. Among other things, Kavanagh got lost, fell into a canal and was repeatedly questioned by suspicious sepoys . For this act he received the Victoria Cross, making him the third civilian to have received this award. The other two, William McDonnel and Rose Mangles, were, like him, employees of the Bengal Civil Services and were honored for their services in Arrah on July 30, 1857.

supporting documents

Single receipts

1. ↑ David (2006), p. 339 and p. 340

literature

• Saul David (2006): Victoria's Wars , Penguin Books, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-141-00555-3

Web links

• Thomas Henry Kavanagh VC