These white soldiers and their families were probably the only people of their race there; at their elbow was that swarming population of warlike natives, a race of born soldiers, brave, daring, and fond of fighting.

On high ground just outside the city stood the palace of that great personage, the Resident, the representative of British power and authority.

It stood in the midst of spacious grounds, with its due complement of outbuildings, and the grounds were enclosed by a wall--a wall not for defense, but for privacy.

The mutinous spirit was in the air, but the whites were not afraid, and did not feel much troubled.
Then came the outbreak at Meerut, then the capture of Delhi by the mutineers; in June came the three-weeks leaguer of Sir Hugh Wheeler in his open lot at Cawnpore--40 miles distant from Lucknow--then the treacherous massacre of that gallant little garrison; and now the great revolt was in full flower, and the comfortable condition of things at Lucknow was instantly changed.
There was an outbreak there, and Sir Henry Lawrence marched out of the Residency on the 30th of June to put it down, but was defeated with heavy loss, and had difficulty in getting back again.

That night the memorable siege of the Residency--called the siege of Lucknow--began.