Tempo:
— CHAP. IX
WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
265
ground before they were attacked by a detach- 1845-6. ment of the Sikh army, believed at the time to be upwards of thirty thousand strong, but which really
their
have consisted of less than two thousand by about twenty-two pieces of Lai artillery, and eight or ten thousand horsemen.' Singh headed the attack, but, in accordance with his design, he involved his followers in an enoriginal gagement, and then left them to fight as their undirected valour might prompt. The Sikhs were repulsed with the loss of seventeen guns,- but the success of the English was not so complete as should have been achieved b}^ the victors in so many battles; and it was wisely determined to effect a junction with the division of Sir John Littler before assailing the advanced wing of the Sikh army, which was encamped in a deep horse-shoe form around the village of P'beerooshuhur, about ten miles both from Mudki and from Ferozepore.-' This position was strengthened by more than a hundred pieces of artillery, and its slight and imperfect entrenchments had, here and there, been raised almost waist high since the action at Mudki. It
seems
to
infantry,
supported
was believed at the time to contain about fifty thousand men, but subsequent inquiries reduced the infantry to twelve regiments, and the cavalry to the See Lord Cough's dispatch of the 19th December 1845 for the estimate of 30,000 men, with 40 guns. Capt. Nicolson in his private correspondence of the period, and writing from Ferozepore, gives the Sikh force at about 3,500 only, which is doubtless too low, although subsequent inquiries all tended to show that the infantry portion was weak, having been composed of small detachments from each of the regiments in position at Ferozeshah. The Calcutta Review, No. XVI, p. 489, estimiates the guns at 22 only, and, the estimate being moderate, it is probably correct. - The British loss in the action was 215 killed and 657 wounded. (See Lord Cough's dispatch of the 19th Dec. 1845.) The force under Lord Cough at the time amounted to about 11,000 men. In this action the English may, in a military sense, be said to have been surprised. Their defective system of spies left them ignorant of the general position and probable objects of the enemy; and the little use their commanders have usually made of cavalry left the near approach of the Sikhs unknown, and therefore unchecked. [Among the killed was Ed.] Sir Robert Sale, the defender of Jalalabad. ^ The correct name of the place, which has become identihed with an important battle, is as given in the text: 'P'heeroo' being the not uncommon name of a man, and 'shuhur' an ordinary termination, signifying place or city. The name 'Ferozeshah' is erroneous, but it is one likely to be taken up ^
—
on hearing 'P'beerooshuhur' badly pronounced by peasants and others. The Sikhs call the battle 'P'heeroo ka larai', or the fight of P'heeroo simply, without the addition of 'shuhur'.
WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
265
ground before they were attacked by a detach- 1845-6. ment of the Sikh army, believed at the time to be upwards of thirty thousand strong, but which really
their
have consisted of less than two thousand by about twenty-two pieces of Lai artillery, and eight or ten thousand horsemen.' Singh headed the attack, but, in accordance with his design, he involved his followers in an enoriginal gagement, and then left them to fight as their undirected valour might prompt. The Sikhs were repulsed with the loss of seventeen guns,- but the success of the English was not so complete as should have been achieved b}^ the victors in so many battles; and it was wisely determined to effect a junction with the division of Sir John Littler before assailing the advanced wing of the Sikh army, which was encamped in a deep horse-shoe form around the village of P'beerooshuhur, about ten miles both from Mudki and from Ferozepore.-' This position was strengthened by more than a hundred pieces of artillery, and its slight and imperfect entrenchments had, here and there, been raised almost waist high since the action at Mudki. It
seems
to
infantry,
supported
was believed at the time to contain about fifty thousand men, but subsequent inquiries reduced the infantry to twelve regiments, and the cavalry to the See Lord Cough's dispatch of the 19th December 1845 for the estimate of 30,000 men, with 40 guns. Capt. Nicolson in his private correspondence of the period, and writing from Ferozepore, gives the Sikh force at about 3,500 only, which is doubtless too low, although subsequent inquiries all tended to show that the infantry portion was weak, having been composed of small detachments from each of the regiments in position at Ferozeshah. The Calcutta Review, No. XVI, p. 489, estimiates the guns at 22 only, and, the estimate being moderate, it is probably correct. - The British loss in the action was 215 killed and 657 wounded. (See Lord Cough's dispatch of the 19th Dec. 1845.) The force under Lord Cough at the time amounted to about 11,000 men. In this action the English may, in a military sense, be said to have been surprised. Their defective system of spies left them ignorant of the general position and probable objects of the enemy; and the little use their commanders have usually made of cavalry left the near approach of the Sikhs unknown, and therefore unchecked. [Among the killed was Ed.] Sir Robert Sale, the defender of Jalalabad. ^ The correct name of the place, which has become identihed with an important battle, is as given in the text: 'P'heeroo' being the not uncommon name of a man, and 'shuhur' an ordinary termination, signifying place or city. The name 'Ferozeshah' is erroneous, but it is one likely to be taken up ^
—
on hearing 'P'beerooshuhur' badly pronounced by peasants and others. The Sikhs call the battle 'P'heeroo ka larai', or the fight of P'heeroo simply, without the addition of 'shuhur'.
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