with them, advanced, however, with splendid bravery. This brigade had
not been present at the previous battles, and had been specially
selected for the desperate service of effecting the first breach in the
enemy's lines because their ranks were still intact, and they had not
gone through the terrible ordeal at Ferozeshah which had, in spite of
their eventual success, greatly impressed those engaged in it with the
courage and obstinacy of the Sikhs in defending a strong position. Well
did the seventh brigade deserve the confidence the commander-in-chief
placed in it. With scarcely a pause the troops pressed steadily
forward, surmounted every obstacle until they reached the crest of the
intrenchments, and drove the Sikhs from their guns.
The moment the success of the attack was apparent General Gilbert and
Sir Harry Smith were ordered to advance with their divisions, and
Brigadier Ashburnham began to move forward his brigade to support
Stacey. Gilbert's advance took him in front of the centre and strongest
portion of the enemy's line, and although unsupported by artillery, the
29th and the 1st Light Infantry dashed forward under a withering fire
and crossed a dry nullah in front of the intrenchments, but they then
found themselves in front of a high wall too steep for them to climb and
exposed to a terrible fire from above. To remain there would have been
to be annihilated, and the regiments were withdrawn, but only to charge
again at a fresh point.
Thrice they reached the walls, thrice they had to fall back, each time
followed by the Sikhs, who cut the wounded to pieces. The second
division, however, managed at several points to effect a lodgment within
the intrenchments, while Stacey's and Ashburnham's brigade maintained
themselves in the position the former had captured, in spite of the
desperate efforts of the Sikhs, who in vast numbers swarmed down upon
them and tried to recapture it. Thus for a while the battle raged, nor
were the British able to advance beyond the points where they had gained
a footing, until the sappers cut a narrow opening through the works, by
which the cavalry were able to pass in single file. As soon as the 3d
Dragoons had entered the work they formed up, and charging along in the
rear of the intrenchment, cut down the Sikh gunners in their batteries
and captured their field-guns.
As their fire ceased the rest of the infantry poured into the works, and
advancing along the whole line, while the field batteries which had
entered joined their fire to that of the musketry, they pressed the
Sikhs before them in masses across the river. The bridge was an
excellent one, but one of the Sikh commanders had caused two of the
boats forming it to be removed, in order that his men, seeing there was
no mode of retreat, should defend their works the more desperately. The
river had risen during the night, and the ford, which had the day before
been but breast-deep, was now scarcely passable.
The scene was a terrible one; the crowded masses of the enemy threw
themselves into the river, and strove to cross by wading and swimming,
while the guns of the British horse-artillery, which had come up, played
upon them unceasingly, and the infantry poured volleys of musketry into
them, all feeling of pity being for the time dissipated by the fury with
which the murder of our wounded by the Sikhs during the early portion of
the fight had inspired the troops.
Hundreds of the enemy fell under the cannonade; very many hundreds were
drowned. The battle terminated at noon, the infantry having been
engaged without intermission for three hours. Sixty-seven cannon were
captured, and upwards of two hundred camel guns. This great and
decisive victory cost those engaged in it dearly. The 29th Foot had 13
officers, 8 sergeants, and 167 men killed and wounded; the 1st European
Light Infantry, 12 officers, 12 sergeants, and 173 men; the 31st, 7
officers and 147 men; the 50th, 12 officers and 227 men; the 53d, 9
officers and 111 men.
These were the heaviest losses, but all the regiments engaged suffered
severely, as the total loss was 2383 in killed and wounded. The losses
among the staff of officers wore small compared to those which they had
suffered at Ferozeshah, as it was not necessary at Sobraon for the
governor-general and commander-in-chief to expose themselves close to
the enemy's intrenchments as they had done on that occasion. General
Sir Robert Dick, who had gone through the Peninsular War, and led the
42d Highlanders at Waterloo, was killed as he led his men forward
against the Sikh intrenchments; and Brigadier-generals M'Laren and
Taylor also fell. The loss of the Sikhs was never known; but the
carnage was, in proportion to the numbers engaged, enormous, and many of
their leading sirdars were among the slain.
At Ferozeshah, the greater proportion of the loss among the assailants
was caused by the grape-shot from the enemy's guns. At Sobraon, on the
other hand, in spite of the number and weight of the enemy's guns, and
of their very numerous camel pieces, it was the musket that inflicted
the great proportion of loss. This was due, in the first place, to the
fact that a large number of the skilled Sikh gunners had fallen in the
previous battles, and that the artillery fire was in consequence very
wild and ill-directed. In the next place, the artillerymen were unable
to depress their pieces sufficiently to play upon the British when they
reached the foot of the intrenchments, while the infantry, well
sheltered behind their earthworks, were able to keep up a murderous fire
upon their helpless foes. These facts account for the unusually large
number of men wounded in proportion to the killed.
As the division of Sir Harry Smith had only reached the camp two days
before the battle, Percy remained attached to his staff and rode behind
him in the engagement. He had wished his two men to remain in camp, but
they resolutely declined to do so.
"If you were killed, sahib, how could we face the colonel, and tell him
that while you were killed we were cooking our dinners four miles away?
No, sahib, whatever comes, we must ride behind the general's escort.
Had we not seen Ferozeshah, we should say that success to-morrow is
impossible, for the intrenchments there were but dirt-heaps in
comparison to the great works opposite. We can see with our own eyes
how big and high they are. They say there are three lines of parapets
for the infantry to fire over, besides all their guns. But now we know
that nothing is impossible to the white troops, and believe that
somehow, though we cannot say how, they will capture it, and drive the
Sikhs across the river. If we live through it, it will be a thing to
talk of for the rest of our lives; and if we die, you will tell the
colonel, sahib, that we did our duty. He told us to watch over you, and
though no watching can turn the course of shot or bullet, we can at
least be near to carry you off should you fall wounded."
However, Percy escaped without being hit, as did most of the staff,
though he did his share in carrying orders to the officers commanding
the different regiments in the division. As they rode back from the
field after the engagement was over the general called him up to his
side.
"I ought to have kept you out of the battle, lad," he said kindly; "but
I did not like to baulk you again. You have done very well, and I shall
mention your name in my report as among the members of my staff who did
good service."
The battle of Sobraon completely broke the power of the Sikhs. In these
and the preceding fights all the picked regiments of the regular
infantry had been destroyed or dispersed, and two hundred and twenty of
their guns captured. No time was lost by the commander-in-chief in
following up his success. A bridge of boats had been already thrown
across the river half-way between Ferozepore and Sobraon, and messages
were sent to Sir John Grey, who commanded a force there, and to Sir John
Littler at Ferozepore, to cross at once. At daybreak next morning six
regiments crossed the Sutlej from Ferozepore, while Sir John Grey, with
two regiments of cavalry, three of infantry, and a battery, crossed by
the new bridge, both forces thus placing themselves on the road by which
the defeated Sikhs would retire upon Lahore. This speedy movement
completed their discomfiture. Cut off from the capital, and deprived of
the leadership of all the principal sirdars, they dispersed to their
homes, and the bridge at Sobraon having been repaired on the day
following the battle, the British crossed without opposition.
Ghoolab Singh, who had all this time been negotiating secretly with the
British, while promising the Sikhs that he was on the eve of advancing
to join them with his whole force, now endeavoured to figure as
mediator, and came secretly into the British camp with the object of
persuading the governor-general to abstain from making an advance
against Lahore. Sir Henry Hardinge refused to receive him, and sent a
message to him by his political officers that terms of peace would be
dictated at the capital. The crafty sirdar was not to be defeated;
riding back to Lahore, he took the young maharajah and rode with him to
the British camp. Sir Henry received the young prince kindly, but was
not to be diverted from his purpose of moving forward to Lahore, where
the army arrived without a shot being fired.
Here terms of peace were dictated to the humbled Sikhs. The expenses of
the war, estimated at a million and a half, were to be paid, all the
guns taken were to be retained, and all others that had been used
against us during the war were to be handed over; the troops were to be
disbanded, and the fertile province known as the Jalindar Doab, situated
between the Beas and Sutlej rivers, was to be handed over to the
British. Many of the officers considered that it would have been better
to have annexed the whole of the Punjaub, but even with the army that
was marching from Scinde under Sir Charles Napier the force was
insufficient for the work. The Sikhs had strongly fortified cities,
that could scarcely have been taken without a regular battering train,
and the hot season was coming on. Besides, although the army trained
with so much care by Runjeet Singh had been broken up and scattered, the
Sikh nation had as yet taken but little part in the struggle. It was,
however, certain that they would, under their great chiefs, fight
desperately to preserve their independence, and the whole of the
dispersed soldiery would speedily be reunited under the banners of the
leaders.
The crafty Ghoolab Singh gained the advantages he had hoped, for the
treasury of Lahore was empty, and with the greatest difficulty half a
million was raised to pay the first instalment of the indemnity.
Ghoolab Singh, therefore, out of his vast resources paid another half
million, on condition that Cashmere should be handed over to him, and
that from being merely the governor of that province, he should become
its independent ruler. The price paid by him for this rich province was
absurdly inadequate, but so far as the British were concerned the
bargain was a politic one. There was little doubt that a second war
would, sooner or later, have to be undertaken; Ghoolab Singh could put a
very large army into the field, and by making him ruler of Cashmere his
interests were at once separated from those of the Sikhs, and his
neutrality, if not his active alliance, were secured in any future
struggle. It was arranged that a British force should remain in Lahore
for a year, nominally to insure the payment of the rest of the
indemnity, but really to maintain the authority of the maharanee and the
boy maharajah, who were in no way responsible for the war against us,
and who doubtless would have been overthrown by some ambitious sirdar,
aided by the disbanded troops, had they been left unsupported by British
bayonets.
*CHAPTER XI.*
*AN AMBUSH.*
"Mr. Fullarton had accompanied the army to Lahore, his knowledge of the
country and people being so valuable that the governor-general sent over
on the evening after the Sikh intrenchments at Sobraon had been stormed,
to request him to join the army at once, as Loodiana had for the present
ceased to be a station of importance. He had, as soon as he joined the
camp, claimed Percy Groves' services, and in the negotiations that
followed, and as interpreter between the British and Sikh authorities,
he was found of great use, especially after they reached Lahore, where
many of the Sikh sirdars, especially those whose possessions lay in the
Jalindar Doab, considered it prudent to come in and to assume an
appearance of friendship with the British.
"Now, Groves, what are your wishes as to entering the service?" Mr.
Fullarton said to him one day, when the various court ceremonials were
over, and preparations were beginning for the withdrawal of the main
body of the army. "The governor-general mentioned your name to me
to-day, and said that you had rendered very valuable services during the
campaign. Mr. Broadfoot had reported most favourably of you; you had
acted as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief at Ferozeshah and to Sir
Harry Smith at Sobraon; the latter had mentioned you in his report, as
Sir Hugh Gough and himself had both observed your coolness and readiness
to carry messages under the heaviest fire at Ferozeshah; and that since
then your services as interpreter had been very valuable.
"He said that you had earned an appointment, and that he should be glad
to write to the Board of Directors to request one for you, but that he
feared the board would consider you too young. He said, however, if you
strongly desired to enter the service at once, he would put the matter
in such a light that they could hardly refuse; for as you had been doing
man's work throughout this campaign, you could do it during peace time.
I think his own opinion was that it would be better for you to wait for
another two or three years, for that, if you received an appointment
now, you might be sent down to an office in Calcutta. You see that at
your age you could hardly occupy a post that would not only place you in
communication with native chiefs, as the British representative, but
might place you in a position where, as political officer, you might
have to requisition the assistance of troops and of officers old enough
to be your father."
"I quite think so," Percy said, "and would much rather not enter the
service for another three years, sir; even then I shall only be
nineteen."
"That is about the right age to enter," Mr. Fullarton said, "and you
will have great advantages over other young fellows just out. There
would be your record in your favour, and your knowledge of the language
and people, and you would be certain to obtain an appointment in this
province such as a man direct from England could hardly hope for until
after at least ten years' service. I think if I were you, I should turn
my attention for the next two years to acquiring as thorough a knowledge
of the Pathan language as you now have of Punjaubi. When we have
annexed the Punjaub, which is a question of a few years, we shall be in
direct contact with the hill tribes, who are nominally subject to
Afghanistan, but are practically independent, and if you happened to be
stationed in any of the northern districts you would find the knowledge
of that language invaluable. You have evidently a knack of picking up
languages, and your knowledge of Punjaubi will, of course, help you
considerably in learning Pathan."
As Percy was anxious, now that everything was settled, to return as
speedily as possible to his uncle's, he at once wrote a formal request
that his services as a volunteer might be dispensed with.
The next day Mr. Fullarton said to him: "I informed Sir Henry Hardinge
yesterday evening that you had sent in your resignation, and he requests
me to bring you to him this morning that he might say good-bye to you,
and thank you for your services."
The commander-in-chief was with the governor-general when Mr. Fullarton
called at the palace, where he had taken up his quarters, but on his
name being taken in he was requested to enter at once, which he did with
Percy.
"I should have been sorry had you gone without saying good-bye to me,
Mr. Groves," Sir Henry said. "Both the commander-in-chief and myself
have noted your conduct very favourably, and reports to the same effect
have been made by Mr. Broadfoot and Sir Harry Smith. I think you are
wise to decide to wait another three years before entering the service.
I shall write to the Board of Directors requesting them to appoint you
to their civil service at once. But I shall ask them to date the
appointment three years on, and at the same time to send instructions to
the officer who will remain as Resident here to the effect that should
there be any signs of fresh trouble before that time, he can at once
ante-date the appointment and employ you in any way in which your
knowledge of the country and language, and your zeal and activity, can
be utilized. Should I still be in India, I shall make it a point to see
that you have an appointment in this province; and should I return to
England before that time, your name will be placed in the list I leave
behind for my successor of promising and intelligent officers. Sir Hugh
Gough will also, he tells me, keep an eye on your interests, and
doubtless you will receive a notification from the Court in due time as
to your appointment. You will do well, after you receive it, to write to
the Resident here, telling him that although you do not wish for
employment until the date of your appointment, your services are at his
disposal should they be required. I have no doubt Mr. Fullarton will,
before leaving, speak to him personally on the matter."
The commander-in-chief added a few words, and Percy on returning to the
house began preparations for his departure.
"We shall have to be careful as we ride back, sahib," Bhop Lal said.
"Things are quiet enough about here, but from what I learn the country
is overrun with disbanded soldiers. They have gone back for the most
part to their own villages; but what will they do there? They have
lived an idle life for years, and quite considered themselves masters of
the country. They will never set to at steady work to plough the
fields, they will soon tire out their friends, and then they will wander
away and gather in bands, and become dacoits. I hear in the bazaar that
the country is everywhere unsafe for travel; that merchants dare not
send their goods except in strong parties guarded by a force of
disbanded soldiers they pay to act as guards. The peasants are robbed
and plundered, and things are even worse than they were before the war
began. After getting through the battles without so much as a scratch,
it would be unfortunate, indeed, should ill befall us now that the war
is all over."
"There is one thing, Bhop Lal. We shall have no dangers except from an
accidental encounter with robbers. Now that Ghoolab Singh is ruler of
Cashmere, he will have too many other matters to think of to trouble
further about my uncle and his little district."
"Nothing is too small, as nothing is too large, sahib," Akram Chunder
said, "for the greed of Ghoolab Singh. He may now have a kingdom, but
that will not prevent him from fleecing a trader if he has an
opportunity. See how he has filled his coffers at the expense of the
people. Has he not paid half a _crore_ of rupees to your people for
Cashmere, and I doubt not he would have paid three times as much if it
had been needed. There are many other sirdars could have paid the half
crore, but they say that Ghoolab could buy up any four of them. It is
true there is no fear that he will now try to seize the colonel sahib's
government by force, at least until fresh troubles begin; but if he can
have him quietly removed you may be sure he will do so, as he could then
easily enough get the maharanee and the Lahore durbar to confirm the
former appointment of his son as governor.
"The colonel need no longer fear force, but he must be more than ever on
his guard against treachery. Still, sahib, I agree with you that just
at present Ghoolab must have too many things to think of to be giving
attention to your matter, and that we can travel without fear of him.
As for the _budmashes_, we shall have to be careful of them, as my
comrade says; and we must mind that no one suspects for a moment that
you are English; for although the people here are respectful enough, you
may be sure that outside the range of your guns there is not a Sikh,
save perhaps the humblest cultivators, who is not full of rage and
hatred against the English. Have you not defeated them in four battles,
humbled their national pride, and taken their richest province? To be
suspected of being an Englishman would be your death-warrant in the
smallest village of the Punjaub. The sahib would do well to-morrow not
to wear his dress of a sirdar, but to dress as he did when we visited
the camp of Tej Singh. Then, if we are questioned, it is we who will do
the talking; while, if you are dressed as a chief, it is to you the
questions will be put. Besides, most of the sirdars are known by name,
at least to the bulk of the people, and it would be difficult for you to
reply to close questioning; whereas, passing as disbanded soldiers, who
are tired of doing nothing in our native village, and are going north to
take service with Ghoolab Singh, our story is simple and natural
enough."
"But Ghoolab himself cannot be popular in the country at present," Percy
said; "they must all see now that he has been playing a double part; and
that he has, moreover, wrenched from the Punjaub a territory as valuable
as that which we took after such hard fighting."
"That is so, but Ghoolab is everywhere feared; no man offends him or his
without paying for it; and besides, they may hope that if there is again
trouble, Ghoolab may join them against the British. They may not like
him, but there must be many disbanded soldiers who have been going to
take service under him, and the people will bear us no ill-will for
that: it is the most likely story for us to tell, and the one that will
be least questioned."
"I think you are right, Akram Chunder; at any rate I will ride to-morrow
dressed as you are."
The next morning they started from Lahore at daybreak, and rode north.
They had agreed to travel by the main road, as they would there attract
no attention; whereas passing through villages on unfrequented roads,
their passage would excite comment. After riding for fifteen miles they
came upon a party of ten men, evidently disbanded soldiers, seated in
the shade of a clump of trees by the roadside, cooking their breakfast.
"Better stop and talk with them," Bhop Lal said; "it will look strange
if we ride on."
They reined in their horses, and Bhop Lal gave the usual salutation.
After the customary return of greetings, one of the men said, "Will you
not dismount and share our breakfast?"
"We took food before we started from Lahore," Bhop Lal replied.
"Ah, you came from Lahore: what is the last news there?"
"There is nothing new, everything is quiet, and they say that most of
the English will soon march away."
"We will make short work of the maharanee and her son as soon as they
go," the man said savagely. "They are but puppets now in the hands of
the English, and have signed away the best doab in the Punjaub so as to
buy protection for Dhuleep Singh. He is no longer a Sikh prince, and we
will speedily place one of our own sirdars on the throne."
"That is what we all mean to do," Bhop Lal agreed; "we want no boy as
our ruler now, but a sirdar who can lead us to battle. It will be
different next time; last time we despised the English, and so they beat
us; next time it will be they who will make too sure, and we shall beat
them."
"Where are you going?"
"We are thinking of taking service under Ghoolab Singh."
"The old fox is a traitor," the man said angrily, while a general murmur
broke from his comrades.