The battle of Bithoor was the conclusion of Havelock’s first brief, but brilliant campaign for the relief of Lucknow. In a few weeks with a single column he had defeated the enemy, who were vastly superior to him in numbers, in five pitched battles; thrice he had advanced in the direction of Lucknow, and thrice he had been compelled to retire, not by the rebels, but by the ravages of disease, and the want of transport for his sick and wounded. Every victory he gained weakened his numbers, and might almost have justified the exclamation of Pyrrhus—“Another such victory, and I am undone.” Every urgent appeal for reinforcements remained unheeded, and his little army required repose. It was not that the authorities were unwilling to reinforce him, but they had really no troops to spare, so fiercely had the tide of rebellion set in on every side. When he returned to Cawnpore on the 19th of August, he had seventeen officers and four hundred and sixty-six men on the sick list; or, in other words, about one-fourth of his army was unfit for service, and the rest were so exhausted that they could scarcely take the field. Havelock and Neile thirsted to encourage their handful of men by leading them against the enemy; but they knew that personal feeling must be subordinate to the one great object of the campaign—the relief of Lucknow. It would have defeated that object to have frittered away their forces in gaining victories which ended in nothing; all that could be done was to recruit the exhausted energies of their men, and to wait for reinforcements.