Page:Our Indian Army.djvu/636

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612
OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY.

taken by a column of the Bombay and another of the Bengal army, the first colours being planted in Mooltan by a serjeant-major of the Company's Fusiliers. The citadel, however, still held out, and therein Moolraj had shut himself up with a very considerable force. Against this formidable work regular parallels of approach were made, and mines were sunk, while the walls were incessantly battered by shells and shot. On the 18th the counterscarp was blown into the ditch by the explosion of three mines. On the 19th the sap had reached the crest of the glascis, and by the 21st two practicable breaches were made, and orders were issued to the troops, to hold themselves in readiness for storming the fort on the morrow. But when the morning came, and the British columns were formed for the assault, Moolraj surrendered at discretion. He was afterwards put upon, his trial for the murder of Mr. Vans Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, and sentence of death was passed upon him, which was, however, commuted into imprisonment, for life.

We must now revert to the movements of Lord Gough, who on the 10th of January, 1849, received an official communication that the fortress of Attock, which had so long been defended by Major Herbert, had fallen, and that Chuttur Singh was advancing to join his forces to those under his son Shere Singh, which then amounted to near 40,000 men, with sixty-two guns. He, therefore, determined to lose no time in attempting the complete overthrow of the Sikh army in his front; and, at daylight on the morning of the 12th, marched from Loah Tibbah to Dingee. The succeeding movements of the battle of Chillianwallah may be narrated in the words of his lordship's despatch: –

"Having learned from my spies, and from other sources of information, that Shere Singh still held with his right the villages of Lukhneewalla and Futteh Shah-ke-Chuck, having the great body of his force at the village of Lollianwalla, with his left at Russool, on the Jhelum, strongly