ten in the morning
This he at once assented to , and arrived at Nawabgunge a few hours later , with six hundred troops and four guns ; and his first act was to divide the contents of the English treasury there , which had been guarded by his own troops , among the mutineers . Having destroyed the European buildings , the force marched to Kulleanpore , on its way to Delhi ; but on its reaching this place the same evening , Nana Sahib called together the native officers , and advised them to return to Cawnpore and kill all the Europeans there . Then they would be thought much of when they arrived at Delhi . The proposal was accepted with acclamation , and during the night the rebel army marched back to Cawnpore , which they invested the next morning ; the last message from Sir Hugh Wheeler came through on that day , fighting having begun at half-past ten in the morning . The first proceeding of the mutineers was to take possession of the native town of Cawnpore , where the houses of the peaceable and wealthy inhabitants were at once broken open and plundered , and many respectable natives slaughtered . The bombardment of the British position began on the 6th , and continued with daily increasing fury . Every attempt to carry the place by storm was repelled , but the sufferings of the besieged were frightful .