Sikh camp at Ferozeshuhr at half-past eleven A.M. The force from Ferozepoor effected its junction a few minutes before one, near the village of Misriwalla. Skirmishers were then thrown forward, but some considerable delay occurred before the arrangements could be completed, and it was within an hour of sunset before the assault was commenced. The whole country is a dead flat, studded with trees and jungle, except in the immediate neighbourhood of the villages; and what with dust and trees, the movements of troops became very difficult to direct.
The British force now concentrated comprised 5,674 Europeans and 12,053 natives, making a total of 17,727 rank and file, and sixty-five guns. According to the Sikhs' account, their force at Ferozeshuhr consisted of 25,000 regular troops, and eighty-eight guns, exclusive of the Jazedarees and irregular soldiers, making their force in camp upwards of 35,000. Besides this force, Tej Singh, with 23,000 regulars and sixty-seven guns, was only ten miles distant.
The Sikh intrenchment was in the form of a parallelogram, of about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth, including within its area the strong village of Ferozeshuhr, the shorter sides looking towards the Sutledge and Moodkee, and the long one towards Ferozepoor and the open country.[1] But the Sikhs were fully prepared to place their guns in position on whatever side the attack should be made. They were thoroughly acquainted with the country; and knowing by what roads their enemy could advance, they readily prepared for their reception. Thus it mattered not much whether our approach was made on the longer or shorter side, though the preparations on the side fronting Ferozepoor showed that it was considered by the Sikhs as the proper front of their position.
"The ground in front, like that of Moodkee, was jungly; the three divisions of the British, under the
- ↑ The Commander-in-Chief's Despatch.
