59cm (23.2in) x 89cm (35in)
Oil on canvas. After Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) alternatively titled ‘Highland Jessie’ or ‘The Campbells are Coming, Lucknow’. Defenders of the Lucknow residency compound look on sceptically as Jessie Brown points in the direction of a long awaited relief force about to fight their way through a beseiging forces of up to 30,000 mutineers and rebels. Contained in period Victorian gilded frame.
Inspired by a broadside ballad of 1857 entitled 'Jessie's Dream at Lucknow’, Goodall’s painting depicts Jessie Brown, a coporal’s wife heralding the arrival of the Sir Colin Campbell’s relief force by the distant sound of the bagpipes of the 78th Highanders that only she at first could discern. Jessie was a fictional character inserted into the very real suffering of hundreds of women, children and other non-combatants numbered among the 3,000 strong garrison in the prolonged seige of the British Residency at Lucknow which lasted from 31 May until 27 November 1857.
The first relief attempt occurred on September 25 when a force under the command of Major General Sir Henry Havelock fought its way across rebel-held territory to Lucknow. However, by the time he reached the Residency, Havelock had lost so many troops that he considered it too risky to attempt to evacuate the civilians. The relief force joined the garrison, improved the defences, and waited for a second relief. On November 16, a much larger force approached Lucknow, led by Lieutenant General Sir Colin Campbell. By now, the British soldiers had learned of the massacre at Cawnpore, and no mercy was shown to the rebels. The British reached the Residency on November 19 and began evacuations. By November 27, the residents had been removed and relocated to safe locations. Campbell would return in March and recapture Lucknow.