Personal info
- Name: Edward Talbot THACKERY
- D.O.B: 19th Oct, 1836
- D.O.A: 16th Sep, 1857
- D.O.D: 3rd Sep, 1927
- Award: Victoria Cross
- Occupation at time of action: Second Lieutenant, Bengal Engineers, Honourable East India Company Forces
- Book: The Complete History - Volume 1
Delhi Magazine, India 16 September 1857
16 September 1857
The Indian Mutiny 1857-59
On 16 September 1857 the British stormed and captured the Magazine, which lay to the north of the Red Fort inside the city wall as it ran beside the River Jumna and had been rebuilt by the mutineers after the British destroyed it on 11 May. On the same day the mutineers attempted to recapture the Magazine, starting fires within it. Despite a desperate resistance by the mutineers, the British were strengthening their hold on the city. On 18 September the rebel commander Bakht Khan left for Lucknow, while Bahadur Shah, the King of Delhi, took refuge at Humayun’s tomb six miles from the city. By 20 September the whole of Delhi was in British hands.
Citation
For cool intrepidity and characteristic daring in extinguishing a fire in the Delhi Magazine enclosure, on the 16th of September, 1857, under a close and heavy musketry fire from the enemy, at the imminent risk of his life from the explosion of combustible stores in the shed in which the fire occurred.