Through the Sikh War: A Tale of the Conquest of the Punjaub

by G. A. Henty

The other brigade of the division, at whose head Colin Campbell had placed himself, was more fortunate. The 61st Foot repulsed several desperate attacks, and pouring in heavy volleys swept the Sikhs before it. Wheeling round it fought its way along, and retook the guns from which the 24th had been driven. The capture of the guns was, however, but of little avail, for as soon as they were abandoned the Sikhs managed to draw the spikes, and in a few minutes they were again in action. Two native regiments fought worthily by the side of the 61st.

The cavalry on the extreme left, under General Thackwell, did good work by checking a very large body of Sikh horsemen, a squadron of the 3d Dragoons charging and riding right through them; then gathering again with a desperate effort they cut their way back to their friends, two officers and thirty-six men having been killed or wounded in this brilliant charge.

Night was now approaching. A portion of the jungle had been for the moment cleared, but beyond this the Sikhs still swarmed, and during the battle large bodies had worked round and had only been prevented by the fire of the guns from falling on the rear. Nothing more could be done; some of the officers advised that the force should fall back to the village of Chillianwalla, in order to obtain water and to afford protection to the baggage Lord Gough at first refused to do so, on the ground that any wounded left behind would be massacred. The troops, especially the Sepoys, were, however, so distressed by thirst, that the wounded were as far as possible collected, and the force concentrated round Chillianwalla.

Had the enemy attacked at night the consequence would have been terrible, for the regiments were broken up and separated, and the confusion was absolute; but at eight o'clock the rain came down in torrents, and this and the fact that their own loss had been severe, especially among the gunners, checked the ardour of the Sikhs, and probably saved the British force. In the morning the enemy were seen encamped on an eminence three miles distant. The cavalry scoured the field of battle to collect any wounded that had been left, and bring in the captured guns. Twelve small cannon, however, were the only trophies of the fight. The rolls were called, and the loss ascertained: it consisted of eighty-nine officers, two thousand three hundred and fifty-seven men killed and wounded—an enormous loss in proportion to the number of men engaged. Six guns were lost, together with the ammunition that had accompanied several of the corps into the fight.

It was so far a drawn battle that the armies at night occupied the same positions they had held at the commencement of the battle, but the advantage was all with the Sikhs, for the fighting strength of the four English regiments that had formed the backbone of the force was lessened by half; while the Sikhs had proved to their delight that British troops were not always invincible, and that occasionally they were even subject to panic. The result was that their confidence was greatly increased, and their losses were far more than balanced by the great number of recruits who, at the news of the repulse of the British attack, poured into Sher Singh's camp.

The British army remained stationary at Chillianwalla from the 13th of January to February. Large numbers of the Sikhs at various times penetrated to Dingee, and cut the lines of communication through that place; there was indeed another line open through Hayleh, where the force that had been engaged at Sadoolapore had remained since that battle, to prevent the Sikhs from advancing towards Lahore. The regiments that had been left behind at Ramnuggur rejoined the army, their place being taken by the 53d Regiment from Lahore.

General Whish's force which had captured Mooltan was now on its way to join that of Lord Gough. The siege of Mooltan had been renewed after the departure of Sher Singh's army, and reinforcements having reached General Whish, it was pushed on with great vigour. Two breaches were effected in the walls of the fort, and the great mosque, which was used as a magazine by the rebels, was pierced by a shell, which caused a terrific explosion, entirely destroying the building, leaving a great chasm where it had stood, levelling the Sikh works near it, and killing five hundred men. Soon after this misfortune, Moolraj, finding further resistance impossible, came out and surrendered unconditionally, just as the British columns were formed up in readiness to storm the breaches. He was taken to Calcutta and there tried; he was found guilty, but it being considered that he had acted under a pressure from his troops that he was unable to resist, he was sentenced only to imprisonment for life.

At the battle of Chillianwalla Percy Groves had been severely wounded. He was sitting on his horse with Mr. Fullarton and two or three other political officers at a distance of a hundred yards from the head-quarters staff, when Pope's cavalry issued in headlong flight from the jungle. An exclamation of dismay burst from each member of the little party.

"It is a regular stampede," Mr. Fullarton exclaimed; "there come the Sikhs after them! Why, they are comparatively a handful! What on earth possesses the men? Why, they will be over the guns! Did you ever see such madness?"

On came the fugitives.