The Sikhs had intrenched themselves in a camp a mile in length, and half
a mile in breadth, with the village of Ferozeshah in the centre. They
numbered nearly 60,000 men, and 108 pieces of cannon of heavy calibre in
fixed batteries.
The Umbala and Sir John Littler's forces, having formed a junction, now
arrived. The British army, thus increased, consisted of 16,700 men, and
69 guns, chiefly horse artillery. The united forces advanced at about
four o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st, to attack the intrenched camp
of the Sikhs. The Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge, had offered his
services to Sir Hugh Gough as second in command, and was actively
engaged in the operations of this and the following day. The divisions
of Major--General Sir J. Littler, Brigadier Wallace, and Major-General
Gilbert deployed into line, having the artillery in the centre, with the
exception of three troops of horse artillery, one on either flank, and
one in support. Major--General Sir H. Smith's division and the cavalry
moved in a second line, having a brigade in reserve to cover each wing.
Sir Hugh Gough directed the right wing, and Sir Henry Hardinge the left
wing of the army.
The infantry advanced under a terrific storm of shot and shell from
upwards of 100 Sikh guns, 40 of them of battering calibre; but nothing
stopped the impetuous onset--the formidable intrenchments were carried--
the men threw themselves on the guns, and with matchless gallantry
wrested them from the enemy. No sooner, however, were the Sikhs'
batteries won, than the enemy's infantry, drawn up behind their guns,
opened so tremendous a fire on the British troops, that in spite of
their most heroic efforts, a portion only of the intrenchment could be
carried.
Sir Harry Smith's division advancing, captured and retained another
point of the position, and Her Majesty's 3rd Light Dragoons charged and
took some of the most formidable batteries; yet the enemy remained in
possession of a considerable portion of the great quadrangle, whilst the
British troops, actually intermingled with them, held the remainder, and
finally bivouacked upon it, exhausted by their gallant efforts, greatly
reduced in numbers, and suffering extremely from thirst, yet animated by
that indomitable spirit which they had exhibited throughout the day.
Whenever moonlight, however, exhibited the British position, the enemy's
artillery never failed severely to harass them.
Sir John Littler's division, which had advanced against the strongest
part of the work, suffered severely, especially Her Majesty's 62nd
Regiment, which had 17 officers killed and wounded out of 23.
It was not till they had done all that men could do that they retired.
The 3rd Dragoons in this desperate charge lost 10 officers, and 120 men
out of 400. When the Sikhs found that Sir Harry Smith had retired from
the village, they brought up some guns to bear upon the British. The
fire of these guns was very destructive. When the Governor-general
found this, mounting his horse, he called to the 80th Regiment, which
was at the head of the column, "My lads, we shall have no sleep until we
take those guns." The regiment deployed immediately, and advancing,
supported by the 1st Bengal Europeans, drove a large body of Sikhs from
three guns, which they captured and spiked, and then retiring, took up
its position again at the head of the column, as steadily as if on
parade. "Plucky dogs!" exclaimed the Governor-General; "we cannot fail
to win with such men as these." His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel R.
Blucher Wood, was severely wounded in the attack. For the rest of the
night the column was unmolested, but its position was one of great
danger,--150 yards only from an overpowering foe, while neither the
Governor-General nor Sir Hugh Gough could tell in what direction Sir
John Littler and Sir Harry Smith were to be found. It was suspected,
also, that the Sikh army had been greatly reinforced by Tej Singh. The
two generals therefore agreed to hold their ground, and at earliest dawn
to attack the enemy, taking their batteries in reverse, and to beat
them, or to die honourably on the field. The whole of Sir Henry
Hardinge's personal staff had been disabled, except his son, Captain A.
Hardinge, who had his horse killed under him.
Of that memorable night he himself has given us a most graphic
description:--"It was the most extraordinary of my life. I bivouacked
with the men, without food or clothing, and our nights are bitterly
cold. A burning camp in front--our brave fellows lying down under a
heavy cannonade, which continued during the whole night, mingled with
the wild cries 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 tempers and revive their spirits. I
found myself again with my old friends of the 29th, 31st, 50th, and 9th,
and 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 on the field.
"The gallant old General, kind-hearted and heroically brave, entirely
coincided with me. During the night I occasionally called on our brave
English soldiers to punish the Sikhs when they came too close, and were
imprudent; and when morning broke, we went at it in true English style.
Gough was on the right. I placed myself, and dear little Arthur by my
side, in the centre, about thirty yards in front of the men, to prevent
their firing; and we drove the enemy without a halt from one extremity
of the camp to the other, capturing thirty or forty guns as we went
along, which fired at twenty paces from us, and were served obstinately.
The brave men drew up in an excellent line, and cheered Gough and
myself as we rode up the line, the regimental colours lowering to me as
if on parade. The mournful part is the heavy loss I have sustained in
my officers. I have lost ten aides-de-camp _hors de combat_, five
killed and five wounded. The fire of grape was very heavy from one
hundred pieces of cannon. The Sikh army was drilled by French officers,
and the men the most warlike in India."
This letter describes the commencement of the struggle on the 22nd. The
line was supported on both sides by horse artillery, while from the
centre was opened a fire by such heavy guns as remained effective, aided
by a flight of rockets. The British, however, in the advance suffered
much from a masked battery, which, opening on them, dismounted the guns
and blew up the tumbrils. But nothing impeded the charge of the
undaunted British, led on by their two heroic generals, till they were
masters of the field. Their rest was short: in the course of two hours
Sirdar Tej Singh, who had commanded in the last great battle, brought up
from the vicinity of Ferozepore fresh battalions, and a large field of
artillery, supported by 30,000 Ghorchurras, hitherto encamped near the
river. He drove in the British cavalry, and made strenuous efforts to
regain the position at Ferozeshah.
Scarcely had this attempt been defeated, when more Sikh troops and
artillery arrived, and a fresh combination was made against the flank of
the British, with so formidable a demonstration against the captured
village that it was necessary to change the whole front to the right,
the enemy's guns all the time keeping up an incessant fire, while those
of the British were silent for want of ammunition. Under these
circumstances Sir Hugh Gough ordered the almost exhausted cavalry to
threaten both flanks of the enemy at once, while the whole infantry
prepared to advance. With the swoop of a whirlwind the gallant 3rd
Dragoons and other cavalry regiments rushed on their foes. The Sikhs
saw them coming, while the British bayonets gleamed in front. Their
courage gave way; abandoning their guns, they fled from the field,
retreating precipitately towards the Sutlej, and leaving large stores of
grain and the _materiel_ of war behind them. Thus in less than four
days, 60,000 Sikh troops, supported by 150 pieces of cannon, were
dislodged from their position, and severely punished for their
treacherous commencement of the war.
The regiments which bear the word "Ferozeshah" on their colours are the
3rd Light Dragoons, 9th, 29th, 31st, 50th, 62nd, and 80th Regiments;
while they and the 1st European Light Infantry of the Honourable East
India Company's Service received the Governor--General's thanks for
their courage and good conduct.