ABSTRACT
When General Windham heard of the advance of the Gwaliar Contingent towards Cawnpur, he represented the insufficiency of his force to hold the position, and on the 15th received orders to retain all detachments arriving from Allahabad. He then encamped near the junction of the Dehli-Kalpi roads, to the south-west of the city, 3 miles from the intrenchment which covered the bridge-head. General Windham heard that Colin Campbell’s troops had reached the Residency, and that the women and children were coming back to Cawnpur. Sir Colin Campbell, in his first despatch to the Governor-General on the Cawnpur operations, implied that he was not satisfied with General Windham’s conduct. Seaton had left Dehli for Cawnpur on December 9 with a column of 1900 Effectives, escorting a provision convoy. The escort consisted of a squadron 6th Dragoon Guards, with a few 9th Lancers attached, 1st Bengal Fusiliers, Hodson’s Horse, 7th Panjabis, and 13 cannon of various calibres.
