Sir Hugh Wheeler, KCB | |
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Born | 30 June 1789 County Tipperary, Ireland |
Died | 27 June 1857 (aged 67) Cawnpore, India |
Allegiance | United Kingdom East India Company |
Service | Bengal Army |
Years of service | 1803–1857 |
Rank | Major General |
Battles / wars | First Anglo-Afghan War First Anglo-Sikh War Second Anglo-Sikh War Indian Rebellion of 1857 |
Awards | Order of the Durrani Empire KCB |
Sir Hugh Massy Wheeler KCB (30 June 1789 – 27 June 1857) was an Irish-born officer in the army of the East India Company. He commanded troops in the First Anglo-Afghan War, and the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars, and in 1856 was appointed commander of the garrison at Cawnpore (now Kanpur). He is chiefly remembered for the disastrous end to a long and successful military career, when his defence of Wheeler's entrenchment and surrender to Nana Sahib during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 led to the annihilation of almost all the European, Eurasian and Christian Indian population of Cawnpore, himself and several members of his family included.