The Government of India, on 28 June 1857, removed General Hewitt from the command of the Meerut Division. That is at least some justification for the opinion that the handling of the European troops on the evening of 10 May was not creditable. However, Wilson was left to fight another day; and the decision to remove Hewitt was taken by Sir Patrick Grant in Calcutta, when he certainly did not have full information about all the circumstances on the evening of 10 May. So his decision is not conclusive. It cannot have been uninfluenced by the outcry against the Meerut commanding officers which rose immediately and grew louder as the disasters of May and June 1857 accumulated, disasters for which these officers at Meerut were held indirectly responsible in addition to their alleged defaults on that evening itself. Every historian has added his voice to the chorus of blame, but in detail often injudiciously and in general perhaps excessively. At any rate, the fair and right way is to scrutinise with care the steps which were taken that evening and the charges based upon them.

The first and most sweeping charge is that of delay in bringing the European troops into action. This is given some colour by taking the time limits as about 5 p.m., the first outcry in the bazar; and 8.30 p.m., the arrival of the Carabiniers on the native parade ground. Those limits are, of course, too wide.