NAM.1983-08-126-1

The Tower at Jhansi. Printed lithograph by E Walker after Watts Phillips, No 2 in the series 'Incidents in the Indian War'. Published by Ackermann and Company, 106 Strand, London, 31 Mar 1858. An extract from 'The Times' newspaper, 2 Sept 1857, describes how Capt and Mrs Alexander Skene and Capt Francis Gordon met their deaths in the tower. Associated with Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). Mrs Skene and her husband, Captain Alexander Skene of the 68th Bengal Native Infantry, were killed at Jhansi Fort on 8 June 1857 during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). Captain Skene was British superintendent at Jhansi. At the first sign of unrest, he had ordered all Christians in Jhansi to take refuge in the fort. They remained under siege there until 8 June when the rebels offered to spare their lives if they surrendered the fort. Skene agreed, believing that the Rani of Jhansi had guaranteed their safety, but the 56 Christians were all hacked to death with swords. The Rani’s personal responsibility for the massacre is still hotly debated.

Indian Mutiny (1857-1859)