Following the arrival of the siege train, Wilson finally relented to the pressure from the other officers and permitted the assault to be launched at sunrise on 14 September. Nicholson was to lead the first troops attempting to storm the breach at the Kashmir Bastion. In the face of withering fire from the defending Indians, Nicholson led his column to the wall and was the first of his men to scale the escarpment made by the breach. He then helped clear the remainder of the walls of the Mori bastion but became separated from his column whose assault had become bogged down in the face of fierce resistance as they advanced further into the city. Upon hearing of his column's plight and that a full-scale retreat looked likely, Nicholson rushed to the streets below and began rallying his men. Drawing his sword, Nicholson called for his men to follow him as he led a charge down a narrow alley which his troops had been unable to advance through in r to capture the Burn Bastion. Just as he looked back to urge his men to follow his lead, Nicholson was hit from a shot fired by a sepoy sniper on a rooftop.