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Rh was so great that his advance was impossible. Cholera had broken out in his camp, and his fighting men were less than a thousand, while the rebels between him and Lucknow were fully 30,000 strong. During August and early September he was unable to move forward, though he did not remain idle, as he was constantly attacking detached bands of rebels wherever he could hear of them. On the 15th of September he was joined by Sir James Outram and 1,700 European soldiers, and four days later he crossed the Ganges in the face of the enemy and advanced upon Lucknow. After severe fighting, in which there was a great slaughter of the rebels and heavy losses by the English, the forces of Havelock and Outram entered the Residency. The relief thus brought to the besieged was more in name than any thing else; it was the intention to escort the garrison to Cawnpore, but the unexpected strength of the rebels and the heavy loss sustained in the entrance made a safe retirement impossible. There was nothing to do but wait for other British troops to come to their relief. Havelock's arrival gave additional strength to the number of the defenders, but there were more mouths to feed, and the entire garrison was put on very short rations. The rebels continued their siege, but by this time the fall of Delhi had released a considerable force of troops that might be employed elsewhere. Through October the siege went on, and on the 9th November Sir Colin Campbell left Cawnpore with a force of 4,000 men, partly European and partly Sikhs who had remained loyal to the British. By the evening of the 15th he was within three miles of Lucknow, and on the next day he assaulted the rebel lines and entered the Residency. The retirement with the women and children was accomplished by strategy; the rebels held nearly the whole city and surrounding positions, and the line of retirement resembled a tortuous lane with many points of attack.