six in the evening
they went at it with a wild rush , delighted that at last they were to get hand to hand with their foe . Not a shot was fired or a shout uttered as they threw themselves upon the mutineers ; the bayonet did its work silently and thoroughly . A breach once made in the enemy 's line , position after position was carried -- Highlanders , Sixty-fourth men , and Sikhs vieing with each other in the ardor with which they charged the foe , the enemy everywhere fighting stubbornly , though vainly . At last , at six in the evening , all opposition ceased , and the troops marched into the old parade ground of Cawnpore , having performed a twenty-two miles ' march , and fought for five hours , beneath a sun of tremendous power . On the morning of the 17th of July the troops rose with light hearts from the ground where they had thrown themselves , utterly exhausted , after the tremendous exertions of the previous day . Cawnpore was before them , and as they did not anticipate any further resistance -- for the whole of the enemy 's guns had fallen into their hands , and the Sepoys had fled in the wildest confusion at the end of the day , after fighting with obstinacy and determination as long as a shadow of hope of victory remained -- they looked forward to the joy of releasing from captivity the hapless women and children who were known to have been confined in the house called the Subada Khotee , since the massacre of their husbands and friends on the river . Just after daybreak there was a dull , deep report , and a cloud of gray smoke rose over the city .