In December 1840 he returned to India, as part of the escort of the captive ruler of Afghanistan Dost Mohammad Khan who had been replaced by Shah Shujah Durrani.

[4] Amongst the British and Indian forces who remained in Kabul was Thomas Oliver, lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Native Infantry and the husband of Wheeler's partner Frances.

[10] At the end of the fighting Wheeler resumed his command in Jullunder Doab, being promoted to major-general in June 1854, and made a visit to Ireland on furlough in 1853–1855.

He was a small slight man, described by Captain Mowbray Thomson of the 53rd Native Infantry as: "short, of a spare habit, very grey, with a quick and intelligent eye; not imposing in appearance except by virtue of a thoroughly military gait... a first-rate equestrian".

By the time Wheeler took up his post as commander, Cawnpore was connected to Calcutta by telegraph and steam boats, and there were plans to bring the railway to the town.

[14] North of Cawnpore was the small town of Bithoor, where, at the end of the Third Anglo-Maratha War the captured Peshwa, Baji Rao II had been installed by the British with his entourage and a large pension.

In spite of his disagreement with the British over his entitlement to inherit the pension he was on friendly terms with them and frequently entertained Company officers and civilians.

[18] Wheeler has sometimes been criticised for selecting a position that would prove difficult to defend, rather than the fortified magazine on the Delhi road several miles away from Native lines.

Others have sought to justify his decision, suggesting that a withdrawal to the magazine might have provoked an uprising, and that he could not have foreseen the rebellious troops remaining in Cawnpore, or being joined by Nana Sahib.

[19] Nana Sahib's biographer concludes: "It is unfortunate that a General with a brilliant career such as Wheeler's should be remembered mainly for the blunder he committed towards the end of his life.

"[20]At the beginning of June Wheeler felt confident enough to send two officers and about fifty men from his small British force to help Henry Lawrence at Lucknow.

[21] But on the night of 5 June the 2nd Bengal Cavalry and the 1st Native Infantry rose up and left the barracks, although, unlike at other places such as Meerut and Delhi, they did not harm their officers.

Food was not plentiful, water was a particular problem as the only well was in an exposed position, guns were in short supply, and the hospital building burned down when hit by a missile.

[24] According to Mowbray Thomson, one of the very few British survivors of Cawnpore, the original plans for defending the entrenchment had been made by Wheeler and Captain John Moore, who was in command of the invalids depot of the 32nd Foot.

[27] On 25 June, nearly three weeks after the beginning of the siege, Nana Sahib sent a messenger to the entrenchment with the offer of safe passage to Allahabad in return for surrender.

According to Mowbray Thomson, Wheeler was against surrender: "Sir Hugh Wheeler, still hopeful of relief from Calcutta, and suspicious of treachery on the part of the Nana, for a long time most strenuously opposed the idea of making terms; but upon the representation that there were only three days' rations in store, and after the often-reiterated claims of the women and children, and the most deplorable destitution in which we were placed, he at last succumbed to Captain Moore's expostulations, and consented to the preparation of a treaty of capitulation.

During the early morning of 27 June, Wheeler and the survivors of the entrenchment were led down to the River Ganges where boats were waiting at the Satichaura Ghat.

In 1842, Wheeler married Frances Matilda, daughter of Frederick Marsden, an officer in the East India Company Army, and an Indian woman.

At the time a story circulated that she had killed the sowar and several members of his family and committed suicide to preserve her honour; this was used as propaganda in the British press.

[32] Another account relates that, fifty years after the mutiny, a missionary doctor and Roman Catholic priest were called upon to attend a dying woman, who, "speaking cultured English", claimed to be Miss Wheeler and to have married the Indian who saved her life.