Onward Christian Soldier: Havelock’s March to Cawnpore and Lucknow

BIHT Lecture, Monday 14 October, 6:30pm

Valerie Haye, of the British In India Historical Trust, has supplied the following details about a lecture being given on Monday 14 October by BACSA President Sir Mark Havelock-Allan, KC, on Major General Henry Havelock (1795-1857), and his march to Cawnpore and Lucknow.

Onward Christian Soldier: Havelock’s March to Cawnpore and Lucknow
Sir Mark Havelock-Allan
Monday 14 October, 6.30-8.00pm
University Women’s Club, 2 Audley Square, London W1K 1DB

‘In mid-Victorian Britain, Major General Henry Havelock was the most celebrated military commander since Nelson and Wellington. His heroic march across northern India to relieve the beleaguered British garrisons at Cawnpore and Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny captured the public’s imagination like no other since Waterloo.

With his small force of 1500, Havelock set out from Allahabad in July 1857 to march through searing heat and monsoonal rain the 175 miles to Cawnpore and Lucknow. Opposed by tens of thousands of mutinous sepoys, he fought three battles to reach Cawnpore, arriving too late to save the garrison there, and a further five battles before he fought his way into the British Residency at Lucknow, preventing its fall and the massacre of everyone in it. In this lecture Sir Mark Havelock-Allan recounts the life and deeds of his soldier ancestor, who was as renowned for his evangelical fervour as his military achievements.

The lecture will be preceded by drinks from 5:30pm and followed by an optional two-course meal from 8pm to 9:30pm. Tickets for the lecture cost £20 and for the lecture and meal £58.50. Drinks can be purchased from the pay bar before and after the lecture. Dietary requirements accommodated. All welcome.’
Bookings: https://www.britishinindia.org.uk/live-lectures.

Valerie Haye