from coolies who had been forced to assist in carrying the enemy's
baggage and were now returning to their homes, that they had halted at
Khangurh. This was a disappointment, as it showed that they were making
for Soojabad instead of, as he had hoped, for Mooltan; and a few hours
later he received a letter saying that two thousand men with four guns
had already been sent from Mooltan to Soojabad, and orders had been
issued for another two thousand men to march there. Had the nawab shown
a little more activity he could easily have possessed himself of
Soojabad, in which case the army of the Indus must have fallen back to
Mooltan, against which town the allies could then have marched without
opposition; whereas Moolraj was now concentrating his whole force at
Soojabad, and it was evident that a battle would have to be fought there
before advancing against Mooltan.
The next day Edwardes' anxieties were greatly increased by the news that
the column of Jowahir Mull Dutt, which was at last approaching Leia, was
in a state of disorganization, and that one of the cavalry regiments had
deserted and joined Moolraj. This fresh proof of the general
disaffection of the Sikhs was alarming, especially as the Sikh force at
Bunnoo was composed almost entirely of old soldiers who had fought
against us on the Sutlej. Fearing for the safety of his assistant,
Lieutenant Taylor, at that place, he sent him orders to leave Bunnoo and
establish himself at Dera-Ismail-Khan.
*CHAPTER XVI.*
*SEVEN HOURS OF SUSPENSE.*
Lieutenant Edwardes pressed forward with all speed, in hopes of
effecting a junction with the Bhawulpoor force before the Mooltan army
could fall upon them. Unfortunately the River Jelum intervened between
the allies, and had the rebel army used expedition they could have
annihilated the Bhawulpoor contingent before Edwardes joined them. The
latter had already made every preparation for his advance, having sent
on messengers ahead to collect boats at Koreyshee, with instructions
that his ally should avoid battle if possible and retire before the
enemy until joined by him.
On reaching the Jelum late in the evening he heard that the Mooltan
force had just arrived at a point three miles from the camp of his ally,
but had established themselves and evidently did not intend to attack
until the next morning. "You had better start at once across the river,
Groves, and see that the nawab's force is in a position to defend itself
if the enemy attack before I can get across. Its commander is an old
man, and, as I hear from our agent, Peer Ibraheem Khan, hopelessly
muddle-headed and inefficient. You will find Ibraheem himself a
thoroughly good and reliable officer, and he will aid you in every way.
It is he who has got all these boats collected in readiness for us. Two
or three of the nawab's regiments are commanded by Englishmen. If you
find that the general will do nothing, I authorize you to take the
command out of his hands, and to make the best dispositions you can
under the advice of Ibraheem. The boats are coming up fast, and I shall
begin to cross at daylight with the infantry to aid the Bhawulpoor men
in keeping the enemy at bay until Cortlandt can get the guns across.
Until we have them to help us we shall be at a terrible disadvantage,
for the enemy have at least twelve pieces. Remember to-morrow is the
18th of June, the anniversary of Waterloo; it is a good omen for us."
As Percy was about to ride down to the river bank a boat came across,
and he stood chatting with Lieutenant Edwardes until it arrived. It
contained a messenger from Peer Ibraheem, saying that the force would
march down to a point opposite the ferry during the night and so cover
the crossing.
"Could you guide this officer," Lieutenant Edwardes said, "so that he
can meet the army on the march?"
The messenger said that he could do so, and Percy with his two men and
horses took his place in the boat. After two hours' ride from the other
side of the river they met the head of the approaching column, and
Percy, hearing that Peer Ibraheem was with the regiment that followed,
waited till he came along and then handed him a pencil note that
Edwardes had given him, repeating to Peer Ibraheem the instructions he
had already given Percy.
"I am very glad that you have come, sahib," the officer said. "Futteh
Muhommud pays no attention to what is going on, and is in fact no better
than an idiot. I received authority from Edwardes sahib yesterday to
supersede him if it were absolutely necessary, but it might possibly
cause discontent among the troops, and it were better to leave him in
nominal command."
The morning was breaking when they approached the river. When half a
mile distant they met three thousand of the Pathans, who with fifty
mounted chiefs had effected their passage during the night under the
command of Foujdar Khan, a capable and energetic native officer who
acted as Edwardes' adjutant-general. A halt was ordered, and Percy and
Peer Ibraheem tried to get the men into line and to remedy the
tremendous confusion that prevailed, baggage animals, waggons,
elephants, and guns being all mixed up in the column. There was the
more occasion for haste, as the rising sun showed the enemy marching
towards them. Their object had evidently been to take possession of the
ferry and thus separate the two allied forces; but the night march of
the Bhawulpoor men and the passage of the Pathans had forestalled them,
and they at once took up their position on the salt hills of the village
of Noonar and their guns in a few minutes opened.
Two or three of the nawab's guns were with the greatest difficulty
extricated from the confused mass and returned the fire of the enemy,
and the Bhawulpoor men, uttering, as was their custom before fighting,
the name of the rajah in a sonorous shout, rushed headlong without order
or regularity against the enemy. In vain Percy and Peer Ibraheem and
their own officers shouted to them to stand their ground. They went
forward at a run until they were checked by volleys of musketry from the
traitorous Sikh troops, while the guns swept them with grape. Though
accustomed to irregular warfare, the nawab's troops were new to fighting
disciplined soldiers, and, confounded at the storm of lead and shot to
which they were exposed, they fell back in disorder.
At this time Lieutenant Edwardes, who had crossed the river in a small
boat, arrived upon the spot. He found the most utter confusion
prevailing; the excitement had apparently dissipated the remains of
sense in Futteh Muhommud's brain, and the old man was sitting under a
tree counting his beads apathetically, while a group of officers were
standing round vainly endeavouring to recall his shattered senses and to
get him to issue orders. Lieutenant Edwardes at once took the command.
He saw at once that after the severe check the Bhawulpoor men had
received, and amid the confusion that prevailed, the battle was lost if
the enemy at once advanced. Turning to Peer Ibraheem, who had just
arrived, and the chief officers, he pointed out that the enemy had taken
up a strong position and evidently expected to be attacked, and that
therefore they had time to get the men in order and to retrieve the day.
The guns of the nawab were old pieces of various sizes, quite unfit for
service, and there was no hope of successfully contending against the
far better guns and experienced artillerymen of the enemy. Nothing
could therefore be done until General Cortlandt arrived with his
artillery, which was a match for that of the Sikhs. He therefore
ordered that the troops, after being got into order, should all lie
down, and that the guns should keep up an incessant even if an
ineffectual fire. Feeling confident now that they had a commander on
whom they could rely, the officers hurried away to carry out their
instructions, and similar orders were sent to the Pathans, who had with
the greatest difficulty been restrained from following the example of
the Bhawulpoor men and rushing against the enemy's position. A
messenger was instantly sent off to Cortlandt, urging him to get his
guns across the river with the greatest possible despatch and to bring
them forward to the field of battle.
Lieutenant Edwardes then rode along the line, and was loudly cheered
both by the allies and his own men. The latter had stuck their
standards upright in the turf and were lying down in a line behind them.
When he had made an inspection of the line and seen that his orders had
been carried out, Edwardes despatched another messenger to Cortlandt
lest the first should have gone astray, telling him that he thought it
possible to hold the position until three o'clock in the afternoon, but
that if he did not arrive with the guns by that time the battle would be
lost.
It was now but eight o'clock in the morning, and for several hours this
body of undisciplined troops would have to support in patience the fire
of the enemy, a situation most trying even for the most disciplined
soldiers. For six hours it continued without slackening. The enemy's
guns were directed principally to the right, where the Bhawulpoor
artillery continued to fire steadily, but sufficient shot fell among the
Pathans to work them up into a state of desperation, so that numbers
kept leaping to their feet and demanding to be led against the enemy
instead of lying there to be killed without even firing a shot.
At two o'clock Futteh Muhommud recovered his senses sufficiently to
issue an order for his army to retire, and as it was supposed that the
order was authorized by Edwardes it was obeyed, and without the latter
being aware of what was taking place the Bhawulpoor force gradually fell
back. From his position on the opposite hill Rung Ram, who was in
command of the enemy, observed the movement and at once prepared to take
advantage of it. He sent forward his cavalry to reconnoitre, and moved
his infantry and artillery slowly down the hill. Hitherto ten camel
guns that the Pathans had brought across the river with them had been
silent, as the men were partly concealed in the jungle, and Lieutenant
Edwardes was anxious to avoid betraying their position and drawing the
fire of the enemy upon them by the use of these small pieces, which
could do but little execution at that distance.
It was now necessary to run the risk, and the camel guns opened upon the
enemy's cavalry, who cantered back to their lines in disorder. Their
guns, however, at once began to play, and their shot tore into the
jungle, rendering it more difficult than ever for Lieutenant Edwardes to
restrain the impetuosity of his men. The enemy's cavalry soon rallied
and again advanced. As nothing had been heard of the guns, and the
moment was most critical, Edwardes ordered Foujdar and all the chiefs
and mounted officers to form into a compact body and charge the enemy's
cavalry. Delighted at being at last employed on service however
dangerous, the brave fellows mounted and with a shout charged down upon
the enemy, and, in spite of their inferior numbers, drove them back in
headlong flight upon their infantry. They rallied quickly, however, and
the whole line again advanced.
"I can no longer delay," Lieutenant Edwardes said to Percy; "our only
chance is in a general charge. If we remain here we must be beaten,
whereas if we go at them and escape annihilation by the artillery and
musketry as we advance it is just possible we may be successful."
He rose from his seat under a tree to give the order, when a bugle sound
was heard in the rear. As if by magic the sound of excited and angry
talk along the Pathan line ceased, until a minute later the bugle-call
was again heard.
There was no mistaking it. Van Cortlandt's guns had passed the river
and would soon be at hand, the long and terrible time of waiting was
over, and at last the tables would be turned. Messengers were sent off
to the guns to tell their commander how urgent was the need of their
arrival, while officers were despatched all along the line of Pathans to
bid the men stand up, and, when the word was given, to advance in good
order and in regular line, company by company, against the enemy. With
shouts of delight the Pathans sprang to their feet, standards were
plucked up and waved enthusiastically in the air, and then the long line
stood panting, eager as greyhounds in the slips, for the order to
advance. Soon the rumble of guns was heard, and then amid wild cheers
the six guns passed through a space opened for their passage,
unlimbered, and opened fire upon the advancing enemy.
The effect was instantaneous. The Sikhs, believing that the day was
won, were advancing in good order through the intervening fields of
sugar-cane, breast-high; but as the balls sung overhead they disappeared
from sight, dropping among the canes as suddenly as if each had been
mortally struck. They had believed that the only guns opposed to them,
those on the right, had left the field, and at the discharge in regular
order of guns of equal weight and calibre, the truth broke upon them
that the force under the white officer who had so long withstood them
had crossed the river and was ranged on the field before them. Not only
had the guns arrived, but Van Cortlandt had managed to send two of his
Mussulman infantry regiments with them, and these, breathless with the
speed at which they had hurried after the guns, now came clattering up.
They were ordered to lie down to the right and left of the guns, while
the Pathans took post behind them.
For a few minutes the guns of the contending forces discharged volleys
of grape at each other, but Cortlandt's gunners were better trained and
cooler. Two of the enemy's pieces were silenced and as the men serving
the others were in confusion, Edwardes gave the word for the Mussulman
regiments to charge. With a cheer the brave fellows dashed forward at
full speed, but not so swiftly but that a little party of seven or eight
of the Pathans' mounted officers dashed past them, and charging the guns
captured two of them while the gunners were in the act of hastily
withdrawing them before the approach of the charging infantry. The
infantry captured the only other gun which awaited the assault. During
the charge Cortlandt's guns poured grape into the canes where the
enemy's infantry were lying. Hearing their own artillery retiring, the
infantry abandoned their cover and retreated at full speed, rallying,
however, at the point where their guns halted, when the artillery on
both sides renewed their duel. The Pathans were now ordered to charge,
and with a yell expressive of their delight at the prospect of avenging
their losses during the long hours of the day, they rushed forward
through the smoke.
The enemy were unable to withstand the onset of the brave irregulars and
the two newly arrived regiments, but hastily retired, falling more and
more into confusion, and pressed in their retreat by the eager Pathans,
while the nawab's troops, anxious to retrieve their first retreat, now
hotly pressed on the enemy's left. Something like order was maintained
by the Sikhs until they reached the crest of the hill on which they had
been posted during the early hours of the day. Then they threw away
their arms and fled in utter disorder towards Mooltan, pursued by the
nawab's cavalry, and mowed down by the guns that opened upon them as
soon as they could be got into position on the hill.
Eight out of the ten guns that they had brought from Mooltan were
captured by the victors. Some twelve hundred were slain, and great
numbers of the fugitives at once made for their homes. Their Pathan
cavalry had, for the most part, remained inactive during the day, and
the heaviest loss fell upon the revolted Sikh regiments, the Goorkhas
who had so basely deserted Agnew suffering very severely. The loss upon
the part of the allies amounted to three hundred killed or wounded. The
enemy's tents, ammunition, and stores at Noonar all fell into the hands
of the victors.
Percy had remained with Lieutenant Edwardes but a short time, having
been despatched by him to aid Peer Ibraheem in keeping the Bhawulpoor
men in their position. When the order had come for them to retreat he
had made his way as rapidly as possible through the jungle to inform
Edwardes of what had taken place, but arrived only in time to see the
charge of the mounted officers.
"You must get them back into their places again, Groves. Here is an
order to Peer Ibraheem;" and he scribbled a line on the page of a
note-book and tore it out. "He is to bring them back into position
again, and to disregard any orders that Futteh Muhommud may give."
Percy hurried away again, and by his exertions and those of Peer
Ibraheem the Bhawulpoor men were brought up in time to join in the final
charge and pursuit of the enemy. He accompanied the native cavalry as
they chased the fugitives across the country, and it was almost dark
before he returned to the scene of battle. Edwardes shook him warmly by
the hand as he dismounted.
"It has been a great day, Groves, but I would not go through those seven
hours' waiting again for any money that could be offered me; it was an
awful time."
"It was, indeed," Percy agreed. "I thought at one time that it was all
up with us."
"So did I. It was well indeed that you were able to bring up the
nawab's men in time. They were not wanted for the fighting, but if it
had not been for their horse the rebels would have got away in some sort
of order, and their leaders might have taken them in a body into
Mooltan. As it is, I expect the great proportion of them will scatter
to their homes. I have just sent off a messenger with my report of the
engagement to the Resident. It will be a relief to him, for although he
gave way at last to my entreaties, I know he thought I ought never to
have crossed the Indus. Now, if they will but give us leave, I think
that we can take Mooltan."
A few days later Lieutenant Lake, who had been appointed political agent
to the nawab, arrived at the camp, thereby relieving Edwardes of the
anxiety caused by the inefficiency of Futteh Muhommud, as Lake's
authority completely overrode that of the general. He was, too, an
intimate friend of Edwardes, and being full of life and animation, he
was a great addition to the pleasure of the little mess. Marching
forward, they were joined by Sheikh Emamoodeen with the remains of his
division. His Sikh troops had all deserted him, and he had with him but
a few Mussulman infantry and a strong body of cavalry.
On the 1st of July the force started for its last march towards Mooltan.
They had received news that the Sikh _gooroo_--a man regarded with the
greatest veneration--had, after consulting the stars, declared that day
to be a most auspicious one, and that Moolraj had decided, therefore,
upon again giving battle. He came out in great force, and took up his
position at a bridge across a wide and deep canal. As this could not be
forced without heavy loss, Edwardes moved along the west of the canal
towards Mooltan.
Moolraj followed on the other side of the canal, crossed by a bridge
near Mooltan, and at one o'clock moved forward against Edwardes in order
of battle. The Bhawulpoor men, commanded by Lieutenant Lake, were on
the right; General Cortlandt's two regiments and ten guns were on the
right centre; the Pathan levies were next to these, having on their left
Sheikh Emamoodeen's troops. The battle began on the right, Lieutenant
Lake seizing some mounds in front of him, and placing his guns there
opened a heavy fire on the enemy's left. This was returned by the Sikh
guns, and in a short time the battle became general along the whole
line. The village of Suddoosam was in the centre of the enemy's
position. His troops lay for the most part concealed in jungle, the
guns occupying two or three small villages. The allies were superior in
artillery, and the rebel guns were presently obliged to withdraw from
their position.
The order was then given for an advance, and the whole line pressed
forward. Village after village was captured at the point of the
bayonet, the Sikhs, inflamed with religious ardour, offering most
determined resistance, favoured by the nature of the ground, which was
largely covered with jungle and date groves and intersected by
irrigation canals. There was, however, no check in the advance. A
brilliant charge was made by one of Cortlandt's regiments led by Mr.
Quin, a young man who had a few days before come up as clerk or writer
to Lieutenant Edwardes. The guns were captured, the whole line then
went forward with a rush, and the enemy broke and fled in complete
disorder.
The loss on the part of the allies in killed and wounded was under three
hundred; that of the enemy was vastly greater, being the result to a
large extent of the cowardice of Moolraj, who was the first to leave the
field, and who, in order to check pursuit, planted guns at the bridge
over the canal, with orders to allow no one to pass. The Sikh fugitives
on their arrival were fired at by the artillery; the greater part of the
crowd, pressed hard by their pursuers, forced a passage, but hundreds
were drowned in trying to cross the canal. At the close of the day the
allied force halted for the night within range of the guns of the
fortress.
Percy saw but little of the fight, as early in the advance he was struck
by a matchlock ball while riding forward with the Pathan cavalry. He
for a moment lost sensibility and fell. When he recovered himself his
two followers were beside him.
"Where am I hit?" he asked.
"In the left shoulder, sahib; it is a bad wound, and will be
troublesome, but thanks be to Allah, it might have been much worse. Now
that you have recovered I will fetch up a _dhooly_ with its bearers and
carry you on after the others. The white sahibs will know best what
should be done with your wound."
A few minutes later Percy was placed in a _dhooly_, and was borne in the
rear of the advancing troops, and as soon as these halted for the night
he was brought forward to the house which had been chosen by Edwardes as
his head-quarters.
"Not badly hurt, I hope, Groves?" that officer said, running out from
the house as soon as he heard that Percy was outside. "I have been
wondering what has become of you, but had no idea you had been hit."
"I do not think that it is serious," Percy said. "My left shoulder-bone
is smashed, I think, by a ball, but my men were close behind me, and
bandaged it up; then one of them fetched a _dhooly_ for me, and we have
been following pretty close behind you all the afternoon."
"Lake and I will bandage it up properly, and will soon have you
comfortable. It is a nuisance that we haven't an English surgeon with
us. These native doctors are quite useless. If it is nothing worse
than a smashed shoulder I think we can manage well enough, and you may
hope to be about again with your arm in a sling before long. The only
thing we have to be afraid of in this hot place is fever. Still, I hope
that we shall avoid that."
During the weeks that followed Percy lay on a _charpoy_. The heat was
terrible, although everything possible was done by putting _tatties_ in
front of all the windows and keeping them soaked with water; Bhop Lal
and his comrade sat by turns night and day fanning him, while a _punka_,
made of a door taken off its hinges, was kept constantly going overhead.
He was not alone in his misfortunes, for Lieutenant Edwardes was lying,
also wounded, in a bed in the same room. Two days after the battle he
had, on the news that the enemy were again sallying out, hastily thrust
his pistols into his belt, but being engaged in giving orders he paid
little heed to what he was doing. The hammer of one of the pistols
caught in his scarf, and without looking down he seized the barrel in
his right hand to pull it down, when the pistol exploded. The ball went
through the palm of his hand, shattering the bones and inflicting a
wound that deprived him of the use of his right hand for life.