Delhi & the Mutiny. A manuscript letter from Colonel Kendal Coghill about the death of John Nicholson at the storming of Delhi in 1857

The letter is written on eight sides of four folded sheets of writing paper [each side 8 x 6 ins]. Written from Castletownshend, Co. Cork, dated 15th Feb /17 the letter is addressed to Dear Sir George Birdwood .  I found the writer’s signatue impossible to decipher but a kind friend and dedicated reearcher has helped me by realising is was Kendal Coghill who was adjutant of the 2nd Bengal European Regiment throught the Mutiny and was at Delhi at this crucial period. There was much speculation about the events of the fateful shooting of John Nicholson during the Indian Mutiny. The letter ahows how the events sere still being heatedly discussed over 50 years after the event. This letter could well reward much more careful research. Other figures mentioned in the letter include Col. Cadell, V.C. and John Jones [commanding at the storming].  aug18/2

Colonel Kendal Josiah William Coghill, C.B. [1832-1919] was the son of Vice Admiral Josiah Coghill. In 1879 he exchanged from the Bengal Staff Corps into the 19th Hussars, which he commanded in the Egypt campaign of 1882. His better known son, Nevill, was awarded a posthumous V.C. for bravery in the Zulu War of 1879. One of our photographs show’s Kendal’s War \services entry from Hart’s Army List 1907.