On the 30th of November Lieutenant-general Thackwell was ordered to cross the Chenab above Rumnugger, where an indifferent ford had been discovered, and where Captain Nicholson had provided boats. Thackwell was to take the Sikhs in the flank and rear, while Lord Gough observed them from his old position, ready to take advantage of any favourable opportunity for attack which the manouvre of General Thackwell might create. That gallant and skilful officer performed well the part assigned to him. He gained the right bank of the river; but Shere Singh was also a skilful commander, and did not allow Thackwell even to menace his rear or flank, for he detached a strong force to attack the intruder, as soon as he saw that the river had been forded. It was the 3rd of December before Thackwell secured the passage, and on the fourth he began his march along the right bank towards the lines at Rumnugger. He soon discovered that a strong body of Sikhs were marching in a north-west direction. They threatened his flank with cavalry, and cannonaded him severely. Thackwell’s orders did not allow of his taking any measure for attack, and the enemy drew off after a sharp and heavy cannonade. As soon as this officer’s artillery was allowed to open upon them, they marched towards the Jhelum. Perhaps the enemy were decided in abandoning their strong positions, not only from fear of their left flank being turned by General Thackwell, but also by the energetic proceedings of Lord Gough, after the force detached to observe Thackwell had departed. Lord Gough opened a heavy cannonade upon the island, and upon the batteries on the right bank of the Chenab. On the morning of the 3rd a brigade of infantry, under Brigadier Godby, passed by a ford not far from Rumnugger, his passage being covered by the approach of General Thackwell, who had by that time been advancing from the passage at Wuzerabad. Shortly after, the 9th Lancers and 14th Light Dragoons, under General Gilbert, were ordered to cross the river, and harass as much as possible the retreating enemy. The British generals seem to have believed that the Khalsa army would abandon their chiefs and disperse to their homes, and this impression influenced their proceedings; for although Gilbert with his cavalry followed the enemy briskly, there was not that celerity in the movements of the British which actual circumstances demanded.
On the 28th of December Lord Gough, with his whole army, crossed the river and encamped. The right bank was now clear of the enemy, Shere Singh having followed the previous division of his army to the Jhelum, where he ultimately took post in the formidable position of Russool, with a force which was augmented to forty thousand men, and a powerful artillery, estimated variously from sixty-two to ninety guns.
While these events were passing, Chuttur Singh, who, as before noticed, had retired to his own province, pressed the fort of Attock, which had been long and gallantly maintained by Major Herbert. When it fell the major contrived to send tidings to Lord Gough, and to warn him that Chuttur Singh had repaired with his army to the upper Jhelum, to form a junction with the army of Shere Singh. Lord Gough determined at once to follow the Sikh forces, and bring them to a decisive action. On the morning of the 12th of January he marched from Loah Tibbah to Dingee. The sirdar was represented by the British commander-in-chief in his despatch as holding with his right the village of Lukhneewalla and Futteh Shah-ke-Chuck, having the great body of his force at the village of Lollianwalla, with his left at Eussool, on the Jhelum. This position lay on the southern extremity of a low range of hills, intersected by ravines, and difficult of access to assailants. The post was well chosen by the sirdar, who showed a subtle generalship throughout the war. The information furnished by Lord Gough’s spies was not always faithful, and his lordship, therefore, was not accurately in possession of the forces of the sirdar, nor of the topographical peculiarities of his position. The British commander directed his march upon the village of Bussool, and there reconnoitred.
The advance to the ground chosen by the sirdar was impeded by a jungle, to avoid which, and to distract the enemy’s attention, Lord Gough took a considerable détour to the right. He succeeded in avoiding the intricacies of the jungle, but not in distracting the attention of Shere Singh. That general moved from his encampment, and took ground in advance, a manouvre calculated to hide the strength of his position, and to disconcert any previous arrangements of the British commander.
About noon on the 13th, Lord Gough was before the village of Bussool, and finding a very strong picket of the enemy on a mound close to that place, his lordship, after some fighting, dislodged it. Ascending the mound, the general and his staff beheld the Khalsa army ranged along the furrowed hills in all the majestic array of war. The British officers gazed with admiration and professional ardour upon the long lines of compact infantry and the well-marshalled cavalry, mustered in their relative proportions and positions with scientific exactness. The sirdar’s batteries were chiefly masked by jungle. The scene was striking in its aspect, from the magnitude of the events associated with it, and the excitement it stirred up within the hearts of the brave. Alas, how many noble hearts were necessarily to bleed before victory crowned the arms of England, and that fine Khalsa army succumbed to the destiny of England’s Asiatic foes!
Lord Gough found that he could not turn the flanks of the sirdar’s army, they were so protected by jungle, unless he detached a portion of his army to a considerable distance, which he deemed unsafe. The day was too far advanced to begin any operations. The engineer officers were ordered to examine the country in front, and the quartermaster-general was about to take up ground for the encampment, when the enemy advanced some horse artillery, and opened a fire upon the skirmishers in front of Bussool. Lord Gough ordered his heavy guns to open upon the enemy’s artillery, and for this purpose they were advanced to an open space in front of the village. Shere Singh did not act with his usual good strategy, in exposing the positions of so many of his cannon, which the jungle had concealed, and which might have remained hidden until an attack upon his line would have afforded him opportunity to use them with sudden and terrible advantage, as he afterwards was enabled to use those on his right. As it was, he replied to the British cannonade with such a powerful field-artillery as constrained Lord Gough to draw up in order of battle, lest in the night the sirdar’s guns should be moved still more forward, and open on his camp. His lordship, keeping the heavy guns on his centre, placed Sir Walter Gilbert’s division on his right, flanked by Brigadier Pope’s brigade of cavalry, strengthened by her majesty’s 14th Light Dragoons, and three troops of horse artillery, under Colonel Grant. This arrangement was necessitated by the large force of cavalry observed upon the enemy’s left. On the left of the British line, Brigadier-general Campbell’s division was formed, flanked by Brigadier White’s cavalry, and three troops of horse artillery under Colonel Brind.
The demonstrations of the enemy were such that, late as was the hour, and weary as the troops were with marching, Lord Gough determined to attack at once. His lordship’s critics, influenced by the events which followed, have severely censured him for attacking under such circumstances, more especially as the ground was unknown to his lordship. It was true that sufficient time had not been obtained to reconnoitre the enemy’s positions, but it was not correct to allege that Lord Gough was entirely unacquainted with the ground, as he had previously known it, especially the country to the left of the enemy. It was generally supposed by his lordship’s censors that the attack was a wanton waste of life, and arose from the brave, rash, and unreflecting temperament of the general, and the irritation caused by the sudden and severe artillery fire opened upon him. On the other hand, the Duke of Wellington declared that he would, in Lord Gough’s place, have acted as he had done; and so full of confidence were the Sikhs in their numbers and resolution, that had not the general given battle, he would have been obliged to defend himself from a desperate night attack under circumstances far less favourable. There can be no doubt, on the part of any who know the noble old soldier, that he acted from his sense of duty to his army and his country, and not from personal irritation.
The battle began, or, it may be said, was resumed, by a heavy cannonade which lasted for more than an hour when Lord Gough ordered his left to advance, making a flank movement. In executing this manouvre, the troops exposed their own flank to a galling fire from heavy guns, the positions of which had remained covered by jungle, and the Sikh batteries were so placed as to pour a most destructive cross-fire upon the British. When the 3rd and 4th brigades reached the enemy’s guns, they were received by a cannonade so overwhelming that they were obliged to retire. As soon as it was known that these two brigades were engaged, the 5th, under Brigadier Mountain, was ordered to storm the centre. They were received with round-shot the moment they moved; with grape and canister as they advanced through the jungle; and, finally, with musketry within close and deadly range. Many of the Sikh soldiers, at the cost of their own life, advanced and shot down the British officers. Brigadier Mountain had distinguished himself in China, and had the entire confidence of Lord Gough, under whom he had served there. Under his able guidance, the British stormed the batteries and spiked the guns, under a flank fire from other guns which they also spiked, while the enemy, without giving way, poured upon them musket balls thick as hail. Detachments of musketeers took them on each flank, and some getting to their rear among the jungle, fired upon them with deadly aim. The British were thus compelled to cut their way back to their own lines through hosts of encircling foes. While this was going on upon the centre, Sir Walter Gilbert advanced against the enemy’s left. That general occupied the extreme right of his division, and Brigadier Godby the extreme left. They marched through a dense jungle almost unmolested, and then were confronted by infantry. Had the British at once charged with the bayonet, the result might for them have been less sanguinary; they, however, opened fire, and the Sikhs, more numerous, returned the fire and outflanked them. Two companies of the 2nd (or Queen’s) British regiment charged with the bayonet, but were surrounded. These gallant and skilful soldiers immediately faced about, and after some file-firing charged, rear-rank in front. At this critical moment, Deane’s battery arrived, and drove back the enemy by the precision of their fire. Several guns were here captured by the British. The heroism and losses of the 2nd regiment were very great. While the infantry had thus been engaged in close and deadly battle, the cavalry also were occupied both on the left and right. On the former flank of the British, Brigadier White’s brigade charged the enemy, covering the retreat of the infantry. On the extreme right Brigadier Pope’s brigade, strengthened, as has been already shown, by the temporary attachment of the 14th Light Dragoons of the Queen’s army, was ordered to charge a body of the enemy’s cavalry, the numbers of which were much superior. Instead of obeying the orders given, they wheeled right about, and galloped off the field, breaking through the artillery, upsetting artillerymen, drivers, and waggons in their course, until they reached the field hospital. According to some narrations of this transaction, the men galloped away under a mistake of orders; other accounts represent this to have been impossible, because their own officers and officers of the artillery endeavoured to stop and rally them without success, except so far as a portion of the 9th Lancers was concerned. The enemy was not slow to take advantage of this extraordinary flight; they pursued—dashed in among the horse artillery—cut down seventy-five gunners, and took six guns. The arrival of artillery reserves, the rallying of a portion of the 9th Lancers, and the steadiness of the infantry, prevented the destruction of the whole right wing. The fresh artillery which came up opened upon the Sikh cavalry with grape and canister, with such precision and fury that they retreated. Two of the captured guns were recovered in the retreat. The Sikhs gradually withdrew, leaving the field of battle in possession of the British, who, on this account, claimed the victory. The enemy, in the night, carried away all the guns which the British had spiked during the action, the four pieces of horse artillery which they took on the British right, and five stand of colours, and on these grounds also claimed the victory; and a salute of twenty-one guns in honour of the triumph was, as the English thought, most impudently fired. This was also done at Attock, in the capital of Chuttur Singh, and wherever the Sikh troops held a position. The Sikhs also claimed the victory for the same reason as the English did—being left in possession of the field. It was, in truth, a drawn battle. The Sikhs having began the engagement, and the English having retained the ground on which they fought, while the former retired their line, the battle may more correctly be said to have been won by the British; but the advantages gained were altogether on the part of the Sikhs, who continued to occupy for a month positions from which the British did not attempt to dislodge them. During that time Lord Gough waited for reinforcements, and felt the tardy arrival of some of the troops whose presence had been detained before Mooltan, as has already been shown.
The loss sustained by the Sikhs it is impossible to calculate; according to themselves it was much less than that of the English; and this is credible when the strength of their position is considered, and the losses to which the unaccountable flight of Pope’s brigade exposed the British light. The English loss, according to the official returns, was three thousand men in killed and wounded, nearly one-third of whom belonged to the former class; this, however, did not comprehend all the slain, for many were so horribly wounded by the close discharge of artillery that they died in a few days. The proportion of the wounded who were hit mortally was beyond that which usually occurs in battle. There were also many desertions of Sepoy soldiers to Shere Singh, but more especially of Sikh soldiery under Lord Gough’s command.
The flight of the large body of cavalry under Brigadier Pope was the subject of much investigation and of shame. The brigadier was too old for the duties imposed upon him; he had no experience in war, and was placed in the command from seniority. This gave occasion, in England, to denounce the substitution of seniority for fitness, so common in the British army. Unhappily, the officer himself who was so much concerned in the responsibility of the event, and who had been much respected by his brother officers and his commander, was placed beyond all human accountability, for he fell in front of his fugitive soldiers. Colonel King, of the 14th Light Dragoons, who succeeded Colonel Havelock, who fell at Rumnugger, was also much censured. His defence was, that he did his utmost to rally his men in vain; that they were generally light small men, mounted upon light small horses; whereas the cavalry immediately opposed to them were not only much more numerous, but cuirassiers—powerful, heavy men, with long and superior swords, and admirably mounted. The colonel complained of the bad manufacture of the English weapons, which bent or broke against the swords and cuirasses of the Sikh cavalry, When Sir Charles Napier arrived to command the forces in India late in the spring, he inspected the 14th, and addressed them, referring to the allegations of their colonel, and telling them that they were fine, stalwart, broad-chested fellows, that would follow anywhere that they were led. Colonel King took this so much to heart, that he retired from the field of inspection and shot himself. Sir William Napier (brother to Sir Charles) afterwards denied in the London newspapers that his brother intended to cast any reflection upon Colonel King. It was, however, generally believed in the army, that Sir Charles levelled a censure at the unfortunate officer, whose sensitive honour could not endure such a reflection from so high an authority. His fate excited deep commisseration, and the address of Sir Charles was disapproved of indignantly by the whole army.