He was 36 years old, and a civilian in the Bengal Civil Service during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 9 November 1857 at the Siege of Lucknow, India for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:
Mr. Thomas Henry Kavanagh, Assistant Commissioner in Oude
On 8 November 1857.
Mr. Kavanagh, then serving under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, in Lucknow, volunteered on the dangerous duty of proceeding through the City to the Camp of the Commander-in-Chief, for the purpose of guiding the relieving Force to the beleaguered Garrison in the Residency, a task which he performed with chivalrous gallantry and devotion.

An erratum appeared in a later edition of the London Gazette stating that the deed was actually performed on 9 November as follows:
The Act of Bravery for which Mr Thomas Henry Kavanagh has been awarded the Victoria Cross, was performed on 9 November 1857, instead of the 8 November, as stated in the London Gazette of the 8 July 1859.
He was 36 years old, and a civilian in the Bengal Civil Service during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 9 November 1857 at the Siege of Lucknow, India for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:
Mr. Thomas Henry Kavanagh, Assistant Commissioner in Oude
On 8 November 1857. Mr. Kavanagh, then serving under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, in Lucknow, volunteered on the dangerous duty of proceeding through the City to the Camp of the Commander-in-Chief, for the purpose of guiding the relieving Force to the beleaguered Garrison in the Residency, a task which he performed with chivalrous gallantry and devotion.
An erratum appeared in a later edition of the London Gazette stating that the deed was actually performed on 9 November as follows:
The Act of Bravery for which Mr Thomas Henry Kavanagh has been awarded the Victoria Cross, was performed on 9 November 1857, instead of the 8 November, as stated in the London Gazette of the 8 July 1859.
Thomas Henry Kavanagh