[31] The batteries at Ferozeshuhur were attacked in front. Had they been taken in flank or reverse many heavy guns in fixed positions could not have been brought to bear readily against the assailants.
[32] That is, they might have reached Moodkee by the 28th of December. The advanced guard of the reserve were within hearing of the cannonade of Ferozeshuhur.
[33] The inscriptions on these guns, like that on the celebrated pocket-pistol at Dover, were much given to boasting.
ASSEMBLAGE OF THE BRITISH FORCES ON THE SUTLEJ—SIKHS THREATEN TO RECROSS—SIR HARRY SMITH DETACHED TOWARDS LOODIANA—SKIRMISH NEAR BUDDEWAL.
During the first week in January, the reserve force, under Sir John Grey, joined the main column of the army, and took post near the river, along which pickets were thrown out by the divisions nearest the enemy's position, to watch their proceedings on the opposite bank.
Nearly every soldier in the north-western provinces was at, or approaching, the head-quarter camp, which extended over no inconsiderable portion of ground. Large supplies had been laid in for the army at Ferozepore and from the country bordering on Bussean. The British generals now became masters of their own time for the planning and prosecution of further operations.
On the opposite bank of the Sutlej, the Sikh camp, with its hives of parti-coloured canvas, speckled the country as far as the eye could reach, and appeared to shelter a mighty host, notwithstanding their recent losses. Nearly opposite the village of Sobraon the tents appeared more closely packed together, about a mile distant from the river, and thence the banks sloped gradually towards the water; but, about three miles higher up, and immediately above the fords of Hureeka, the banks rise precipitously, on the right shore, to a height of about forty or fifty feet, and overlook the British side of the river where the slope is very gradual and nearly uniform.