till the 16th. On the 17th their main body, consisting, according to the Sikh accounts, of 25,000 regulars and eighty-eight guns, under Lal Singh, took possession of the wells around the village of Ferozeshuhr; while Tej Singh, with 23,000 men and sixty-seven guns, remained opposite to Ferozepoor.
When the news reached the camp of the Governor-General, of the Sikhs having crossed, he ordered Brigadier Wheeler to march with 4,500 men and twenty-one guns, early on the 14th, from Loodiana to Busseean, where the Commander-in-Chief arrived with the main body on the 16th. The united forces then proceeded towards Ferozepoor, and by one o'clock on the 18th the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief arrived at Moodkee, from which village a few Sikh cavalry retired as the British column advanced. The troops had just taken up their encamping ground, and were commencing to cook, after a fatiguing march of twenty-two miles, when news was brought by one of the scouts that the enemy was only three miles distant. The Sikhs were estimated at 30,000 men, with forty guns; and the forces under Sir Hugh Gough amounted to 12,350 rank and file, of whom 3,850 were Europeans, and forty-two guns.
"The troops," says the Commander-in-Chief, in his despatch, "were in a state of great exhaustion, principally from the want of water, which was not procurable on the road, when, about three P.M., information was received that the Sikh army was advancing; and the troops had scarcely time to get under arms, and move to their positions, when the fact was ascertained. I immediately pushed forward the Horse Artillery and cavalry, directing the infantry, accompanied by the field-batteries, to move forward in support. We had not proceeded beyond two miles when we found the enemy in position.
"To resist their attack, and to cover the formation of the infantry, I advanced the cavalry under Brigadiers White, Gough, and Mactier, rapidly to the front, in columns of squadrons, and occupied the plain. They
