William Jonah Shepherd

William Jonah Shepherd had a remarkable series of breaks that led him to be one of the very few survivors of the siege. As a Eurasian, he volunteered to act as a spy or to open negotiations. He was captured soon after sneaking out of the entrenchment, although his captors did not realise he came from within the entrenchment. Events and negotiations passed him by as he was imprisoned - this probably saved him. Sadly for him, his family was not so lucky and they were killed probably at Sati Chowra which he overheard from the prison. Later on managed to escape in the chaos of the British relieving force approaching Cawnpore. In his sorry state, he was lucky not to have been shot by the British who nearly misidentified him as a mutineer. His adventures were published as A Personal Narrative of the Outbreak and Massacre at Cawnpore