The Sikhs (Gordon)/Chapter 10
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST SIKH WAR WITH THE BRITISH, 1845-46.
On the 11th December 1845 the Khalsa, confident of victory in all its pride of strength, crossed the Sutlej with 60,000 men and over 100 guns, and proceeded to invest the British garrison in Ferozepore, cutting off its line of communication before reliable information had reached British headquarters of the movement. While the Sikhs were concentrating on their side of the river, the Government of India, cautious to a fault, loth from political reasons to precipitate a collision, took no steps to strengthen their frontier posts of Ferozepore and Ludhiana beyond being ready to move up troops in case of actual aggression. These two posts, eighty miles apart, were each held by a division numbering between them 12,000 men and 36 guns, while at Amballa, 160 miles distant from Ferozepore, there was another strong division in support, the intervening country being practically roadless with a scanty water-supply. The enemy's plan of campaign was to cut off the British troops in detail by intercepting those coming up from the rear. Ferozepore, their objective, was the nearest point to their base and the farthest from British support.
Sir Henry Hardinge, the Governor-General of India, then in camp near Ludhiana, on hearing of the invasion of British territory declared war, and Sir Hugh Gough, Commander-in-Chief, marched on the 12th with the Amballa division, effected a junction on the way with that from Ludhiana, and by forced marches reached Moodkee, twenty miles distant from Ferozepore, on the 18th. On hearing of their approach the Sikhs moved out with 30,000 men and 40 guns to fall on them, hoping to fight only one division, but found that as the result of magnificent marching they were faced by two, numbering 11,000 men and 42 guns. This force had just concluded a long tedious march over sandy tracks when the information was received that the enemy was advancing in strength. They rapidly prepared for action at 4 p.m. The Sikhs took up a strong position among low sandhills in bush jungle and opened fire. The British horse artillery and cavalry vigorously assailed them in flank, and sweeping along their rear routed their cavalry, while they were attacked in front by the field-guns supporting the infantry, which, charging with the bayonet, drove them from position after position with great slaughter, and captured 17 guns. The Sikhs fought fiercely and retired sullenly in good order, seizing every opportunity to turn on their foes. Night only saved them from worse disaster. They retreated in the darkness to their main camp and Ferozeshah, ten miles off, which was strongly intrenched. They had tasted of British resolution and steel, and knew what to expect. They now laboured night and day to further strengthen their position, which consisted of a parallelogram one mile long by half a mile broad, surrounded by a ditch and earthworks ten feet high.
Reinforcements having reached the British army on the 19th, it was decided to follow up the victory of Moodkee by an immediate attack on this formidable work. Delay was dangerous; no further reinforcements could arrive for some time, and a decisive blow had to be struck to keep the protected Sikh states true to their allegiance. The invested Ferozepore division by a masterly movement effected a junction with the Commander-in-Chief near the enemy's work at Ferozeshah on the afternoon of the 21st, bringing his force up to 17,000 men and 69 guns; and although there only remained three hours to sunset and the troops had been marching since early morning, it was resolved to deliver the assault at once. In the words of the despatch, "a very heavy cannonade was opened by the enemy, who had dispersed over the position upwards of 100 guns, more than 40 of which were of battering calibre. These kept up a heavy and well-directed fire, which the practice from our far less numerous artillery of much lighter metal checked in some degree but could not silence; finally in the face of a storm of shot and shell our infantry advanced and carried these formidable intrenchments: they threw themselves upon the guns with matchless gallantry, and wrested them from the enemy; but when the batteries were partially within our grasp our soldiery had to face such a fire of musketry from the Sikh infantry arrayed behind their guns, that in spite of the most heroic efforts a portion only of the intrenchments could be carried. Night fell while the conflict was everywhere raging." The British attack on the left was repulsed, but a firm foothold was secured in the centre and right, despite fierce hand-to-hand fighting, when again and again the Sikh batteries were charged and the gunners bayoneted. The reserve division was brought up. "The 3rd Light Dragoons with a troop of horse artillery charged over the intrenchments, cutting down the gunners of some batteries which still kept up their deadly showers, dashed among the infantry and swept through the Sikh camp; yet the brave dogged enemy remained in possession of a considerable portion of the position, whilst our troops, mingled with theirs, kept possession of the remainder and bivouacked upon it, wellnigh exhausted by their gallant struggles, greatly reduced in numbers, and suffering severely from thirst and intense cold, but still animated with an indomitable spirit. In this state of things the long night (the longest in the yet wore away."
The Governor-General, General Sir Henry Hardinge, a Peninsula veteran, who chivalrously served with the army as second in command, in a letter to Sir Robert Peel, the Prime Minister of the day, graphically described the situation: "The night of the 21st was the most extraordinary of my life. I bivouacked with the men without food or covering, and our nights are very cold—a burning camp in our front, our brave fellows lying down under a heavy cannonade, which continued during the whole night—mixed with the wild cry of the Sikhs our English hurrah, the tramp of men, and the groans of the dying. In this state, with a handful of men who had carried the batteries the night before, I remained till morning, taking very short intervals of rest by lying down with various regiments in succession to ascertain their temper and revive their spirits. I found myself again with my old friends of the 29th, 31st, 50th, and 9th (regiments which had served in the Peninsula), all in good heart. My answer to all and every man was that we must fight it out, attack the enemy vigorously at daybreak, beat him, or die honourably in the field. When morning broke we went at it in true English style." Headed by Sir Henry Hardinge and Sir Hugh Gough, the infantry in line, supported by horse artillery, advanced steadily, unchecked by the enemy's fire, without a halt, from one end of the Sikh camp to the other, capturing more guns as they went along, which were served obstinately to the last, and dislodging the enemy from the whole position. The line then halted "as if on a day of manœuvre," receiving their leaders as they rode down its front with a hearty cheer, and displaying the captured standards of the Khalsa army, which was now in full retreat to the Sutlej, having lost 73 guns and several thousands of their numbers, and abandoned all their camp equipage and stores. The great object of checking the advance of the Sikhs had been accomplished by invincible energy and unbending determination.
The British casualties in these two actions of the 18th and 21st December amounted to about one-fifth of their number, the English troops suffering most in proportion, as the enemy specially directed their fire on them. Generally they lost about one-third of their strength, exceeding that of many hard-fought battles in Spain, in which some of the corps engaged had taken part. The loss of the Sikhs was never accurately known, but it was estimated at from 5000 to 8000, the number of guns captured being 90.
The battle of Ferozeshah was one of the most momentous, and certainly the hardest fought-out one, ever engaged in by the British in India. It has been said that the Sikhs then shook our Indian Empire to its base: The British soldiers, however,—true pillars of the Empire,—animated with all their prestige and pride of race, were strong and firmly rooted enough to stand the shock and uphold the fabric. The enemy were attacked at a late hour in the day when their force was divided, one portion being then still engaged in watching Ferozepore (probably intent on its plunder), where a small body of British was left intrenched, while the main portion, realising from their Moodkee experience the danger of fighting in the open, remained on the defensive within their earthworks, which they were actively engaged in strengthening. The British leaders knew the danger of even one night's delay, which might bring fatal consequences; a battle at once was absolutely necessary. They were obliged to be the assailants, and thus to incur heavy loss at the commencement; but they relied on the bravery and discipline of their men to make amends for disadvantages, and well were they justified. They had confidence in themselves and in one another; their disparity in numbers only made them act as if every man felt that the result depended on his own single conduct. They were conscious of their instinctive soldiership at close quarters and inspired with unbounded audacity. The attacking brigades were formed of an English regiment in the centre with a native one on each flank: the white-capped English corps formed the steel head of the lances which penetrated the Sikh works, marking out the path for their native comrades, hence their greater loss from the brunt of the fighting falling on them.
After Ferozeshah the British force took up positions near the Sutlej, and there awaited the reinforcements of all arms which were now moving up from India, preparatory to advancing on Lahore. The Sikhs rallied on the right bank of the river and commenced energetically to prepare to renew the contest. Though twice sorely defeated they were not subdued; they were yet destined to suffer on other "stricken fields" before they were left without excuse for defeat—without hope of recovery. With large bodies of well-trained old soldiers who joined them, and a fresh supply of guns from their arsenals, they became almost as strong as before. Under the direction of a Spanish officer they threw up batteries and extensive earthworks on both banks in a skilfully chosen position at a loop of the river, connected by a bridge of boats and a ford. Having lost all their great store of food-supplies their army delegates were sent to Lahore to demand more from the Durbar, as they were starving, and also to induce the Dogra Raja Gulab Singh to join them with his Dogra troops. They offered to make him Wuzir though not a Sikh, and to despatch their Brahman leaders, whom they distrusted; but he thought of himself, of his slain brothers and sons, and of the fickle Khalsa. He had undertaken the office of Minister after the defeat of Ferozeshah, and opened negotiations for peace; but when told the first demand of the British Government was the immediate disbandment of the Sikh army, he declared he was helpless to effect it, as he could not deal with the turbulent soldiery. He now cajoled the deputies, temporised, and collected supplies. The Maharani, however, was getting desperate; the Khalsa was on her nerves; she was in terror at the thought of their returning. She with the little Maharaja Duleep Singh received the deputation in Durbar, and heard their appeal. She upbraided them as cowards, took off part of her dress and threw it among them, saying, "This is your dress. Remain at home; I will go and fight." The resolve to get them destroyed was known to them, but such was the stern democratic discipline of their army councils, such their devotion to their warlike faith, that determination even now animated every man. They fiercely reproached her and her courtiers. Addressing the Maharaja, they said, "We will go and die for you, your kingdom, and the Khalsaji"; but to the others who had incited them to war and now taunted them with their folly in hoping to vanquish the conquerors of Hindostan, "We will leave you to answer to your God and your Guru, while we, deserted and betrayed as we are, will do what we can to preserve the independence of our country."
From this time on the Sikhs fought with doom against them. They now made a further effort upon the Upper Sutlej, which they crossed with 15,000 men and 67 guns to invest Ludhiana and cut off its communications. They met with some slight success at first, but a British force of 11,000 men and 32 guns sent from headquarters camp and Amballa having concentrated in that quarter relieved Ludhiana, and attacked the enemy at Aliwal on the 28th January 1846, signally defeating them, capturing their guns, and driving them over the river with severe loss. The Sikhs took up a strong semicircular position, within which was the village of Aliwal, their flanks resting on the Sutlej. In front lay open undulating hard grass-land; some manœuvring took place on both sides previous to the action. The local conditions were ideal for a set battle as a trial of strength. "There was no dust; the sun shone brightly, and the manœuvres were performed with the celerity and precision of the most correct field-day and with all the pomp of war." The enemy opened artillery-fire from his whole line upon the advancing British, who, throwing forward their right, captured at the point of the bayonet the village of Aliwal on the left of the position. The whole line then advanced and the battle became general; the British cavalry on the right flank charging that of the Sikhs, driving them on to their infantry, while the British infantry attacking in front drove everything before it, capturing battery after battery. The enemy, driven back on his left and centre, held on to a village on his right covering the passage of the river. There stood Avitabele's French brigade, so called from its organiser, 4000 strong with guns—the élite of the Sikh army. The 16th Lancers charged right through a square of their infantry, wheeling about and re-entering it to finish it off with the deadly lance. The Sikhs fought fiercely and with much resolution, maintaining hand-to-hand fighting. In one charge of their infantry upon the lancers they threw down their muskets and came on sword and shield in hand, after the manner of the Scottish clansmen, who were wont, when the decisive moment arrived, to drop their firelocks, draw their claymores, and rush upon the English dragoons. The British infantry concentrated upon the village held, carried it and the guns there, the remnants of Avitabele's brigade being driven to the river. The enemy, completely hemmed in, precipitated themselves in disordered masses into the boats and ford, while horse artillery galloping up committed great havoc among them. The débris of the Sikh force appeared on the opposite bank in full flight to their base position there. Fifty-six guns were taken and the rest sunk in the river. The victory was complete. The conquerors fired a royal salute in its honour, which was repeated by the vanquished on the other side as their au revoir. The Sikh camp at Sobraon was soon made aware of the defeat by the sight of the many dead floating down the river.