Battle of Goojekat.—Lord Gough’s artillery was in excellent order, and an overmatch for that of the enemy. He determined upon using this arm of offence to the uttermost, and opened along his line a murderous cannonade. His chief danger lay in the difficulty of passing his troops over the “nullah” (or dry bed of the river) under the enemy’s fire; for it was impossible for his infantry to enter the bed of the stream in any direction without being exposed to their musketry; his guns kept those of the enenry hotly engaged. The numerous cavalry of the foe threatened his flanks, and exposed him, inferior as he was numerically in this arm of the service, to another peril. Both these risks he provided against with skill, and conquered them with resolution and energy. The array of battle was superb; the order of the engagement scientific; and all its parts conducted with obedience and alacrity by those to whom they were committed.
The first fault of the enemy was opening his artillery practice at too great a distance; this indicated the number and position of his guns, as well as their range, and enabled the British general to make his calculations accordingly. He advanced his right wing under cover of his superior artillery fire; the infantry dashed into the nullah, cleared it, and stormed a village on its banks, where a strong body of infantry was posted. The enemy’s left and centre were thus separated, and while the British right pressed upon the Sikhs’ left centre, the British left cleared the nullah, stormed another strong infantry post in a village, and completely doubled up the centre of the sirdar’s army. His cavalry made various efforts to fall upon the flanks of the victorious infantry, but the British horse-brigades, with horse artillery, prevented the success of these movements, and punished the rash approach of the Sikh troopers. The Khalsa soldiers fled through their own tents, Brigadier Campbell and the Honourable Major-general Dundas, sweeping round the town or village of Goojerat, drove them in confused flight. Major-general Gilbert followed the fugitives with the cavalry; the defeated Sikhs cast away their arms and accoutrements in the utmost panic. Never was victory more complete, and seldom did victorious battle redound to the honour of a victorious general so signally as at Goojerat.
The loss of the British was three officers killed and twenty-four wounded, the total killed of men and officers did not exceed one hundred, and the killed and wounded of the whole army did not reach in number one thousand men. The Sikhs lost thousands in slain, all their guns but two were captured, and many thousand men were left wounded and prisoners in the hands of the pursuers. The following extracts from Lord Gough’s despatch will throw additional light on the course of the conflict:—
“With my right wing I proposed penetrating the centre of the enemy’s line, so as to turn the position of their force in rear of the nullah, and thus enable my left wing to cross it with little loss, and in co-operation with the right to double upon the centre, the wing of the enemy’s force opposed to them.
“At half-past seven o’clock the army advanced in the order described, with the precision of a parade movement. The enemy opened their fire at a very long distance, which exposed to my artillery both the position and range of their guns. I halted the infantry just out of the fire, and advanced the whole of my artillery covered by skirmishers. The cannonade now opened upon the enemy was the most magnificent I ever witnessed, and as terrible in its effects.
“The Sikh guns were served with their accustomed rapidity, and the enemy well and resolutely maintained his position; but the terrific force of our fire obliged them, after an obstinate resistance, to fall back. I then deployed the infantry, and directed a general advance, covering the movement by my artillery, as before.
“The village of Burra Kabra, the left one of that name, in which the enemy had concealed a large body of infantry, and which was apparently the key of their position, lay immediately in the line of Major-general Sir Walter Gilbert’s advance, and was carried in the most brilliant style by a spirited attack of the 3rd brigade, under Brigadier Penny, consisting of the 2nd Europeans, and the 31st and 70th regiments of native infantry, which drove the enemy from their cover with great slaughter. A very spirited and successful movement was also made about the same time against a heavy body of the enemy’s troops in and about the Chota Kabra, by part of Brigadier Harvey’s brigade, most gallantly led by Lieutenant-colonel Franks, of her majesty’s 10th foot.
“The heavy artillery continued to advance with extraordinary celerity, taking up successive forward positions, driving the enemy from those they had retired to, whilst the rapid advance and beautiful fire of the horse artillery and light field-batteries, which I strengthened by bringing to the front the two reserve troops of horse artillery under Lieutenant-colonel Brind (Brigadier Brooke having the general superintendence of the whole of the horse artillery), broke the ranks of the enemy at all points. The whole infantry line now rapidly advanced, and drove the enemy before it; the nullah was cleared; several villages stormed; the guns that were in position carried; the camp captured; and the enemy routed, in every direction—the right wing and Brigadier-general Campbell’s division passing in pursuit to the eastward, the Bombay column to the westward, of the town.
“The retreat of the Sikh army, thus hotly pressed, soon became a perfect flight—all arms dispersing over the country, rapidly pursued by our troops for a distance of twelve miles, their track strewn with the wounded, their arms, and military equipments, which they threw away to conceal that they were soldiers.”
At dawn next day Major-general Sir Walter Gilbert took the command of a corps of the army, principally consisting of cavalry, in pursuit. The retreat of the Sikhs, or rather their flight, was covered by fifteen hundred Affghan horse, who had arrived just before the battle. These, however brave, constituted a very irregular force, and soon became mixed with the mass of the fugitives. The flight of the Khalsa army was in the direction of the Khoree Pass. At the entrance General Gilbert halted, with the Bombay division, and sent General Mountain through the gorge to Pooran. It was necessary to secure this pass, as, if the enemy had been able to hold it, considerable difficulties might have been thrown in the way of the pursuers, especially as torrents gushed from the mountains, and the weather was wet and tempestuous.