Tempo:
— HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
272
chap, ix
supplies from the country they had annexed by the pen without having secured by the sword. The petty fort of Muktsar, where Gobind repulsed his Mughal pursuers after his flight from Chamkaur, was successfully defended for a time against some provincial companies and the auxiliaries of Bikanir, which, like the legionaries themselves, were deficient in artillery am-
1845-6.
The equally petty fort of Dharmkot was held, in defiance of the near presence of the right wing of the English army; and other defensible places tomunition.
The skir-
Badowii Jan. 1846.
21,
'
wards Sirhind overawed the population, and interfered with the peaceful march of convoys and detachments.^ On the 17th January 1846, Major-General Sir Harry Smith - was sent with a brigade to capture Dharmkot, which was surrendered without bloodshed, and the transit of grain to the army was thus rendered more secure. The original object of Sir Harry Smith's diversion was to cover the march of the large convoy of guns, ammunition, and treasure in progress to Ferozepore, as well as to clear the country of partisan troops which restricted the freedom of traffic; but when it became known that Ranjor Singh had crossed the Sutlej in force and threatened Ludhiana, the General was ordered to proceed to the relief of that place. On the 20th of January he encamped at the trading town of Jugraon, within twenty-five miles of his destination, and the authorities of the son of Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, of the treaty of 1805, to whom the place belonged, readily allowed him to occupy its well-built fort. It was known on that day that Ranjor Singh was in position immediately to the westward of Ludhiana, and that he had thrown a small garrison into Badowal, which lay about eighteen miles distant on the direct road from Jugraon. The British detachment, which
The hill station of Simla, where many English families and which is near the Sutlej, and the equally accessible posts of Kasauli and Sabathu,. were at this time likewise threatened by the Lahore feudatory of Mandi, and some Sikh partisans; and as the regiments usually stationed at these places had been wholly withdrawn, it would not have been difficult to have destroyed them. But the local British authorities were active in collecting the quotas of the hill Rajputs, and judicious in making use of their means; and no actual incursion took place, although a turbulent sharer in the sequestered Anandpur-Makhowal had to be called to account. 1
reside,
who fought through the officer, [- This distinguished Peninsular War, afterwards served in South Africa, where his memory is commemorated by the towns of Aliway and Harrismith. His wife, a Spanish lady, who accompanied him through the Peninsular campaigns, also gave her name to a South African town, 'Ladysmith', a place not without fame. Ed.]
—
272
chap, ix
supplies from the country they had annexed by the pen without having secured by the sword. The petty fort of Muktsar, where Gobind repulsed his Mughal pursuers after his flight from Chamkaur, was successfully defended for a time against some provincial companies and the auxiliaries of Bikanir, which, like the legionaries themselves, were deficient in artillery am-
1845-6.
The equally petty fort of Dharmkot was held, in defiance of the near presence of the right wing of the English army; and other defensible places tomunition.
The skir-
Badowii Jan. 1846.
21,
'
wards Sirhind overawed the population, and interfered with the peaceful march of convoys and detachments.^ On the 17th January 1846, Major-General Sir Harry Smith - was sent with a brigade to capture Dharmkot, which was surrendered without bloodshed, and the transit of grain to the army was thus rendered more secure. The original object of Sir Harry Smith's diversion was to cover the march of the large convoy of guns, ammunition, and treasure in progress to Ferozepore, as well as to clear the country of partisan troops which restricted the freedom of traffic; but when it became known that Ranjor Singh had crossed the Sutlej in force and threatened Ludhiana, the General was ordered to proceed to the relief of that place. On the 20th of January he encamped at the trading town of Jugraon, within twenty-five miles of his destination, and the authorities of the son of Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, of the treaty of 1805, to whom the place belonged, readily allowed him to occupy its well-built fort. It was known on that day that Ranjor Singh was in position immediately to the westward of Ludhiana, and that he had thrown a small garrison into Badowal, which lay about eighteen miles distant on the direct road from Jugraon. The British detachment, which
The hill station of Simla, where many English families and which is near the Sutlej, and the equally accessible posts of Kasauli and Sabathu,. were at this time likewise threatened by the Lahore feudatory of Mandi, and some Sikh partisans; and as the regiments usually stationed at these places had been wholly withdrawn, it would not have been difficult to have destroyed them. But the local British authorities were active in collecting the quotas of the hill Rajputs, and judicious in making use of their means; and no actual incursion took place, although a turbulent sharer in the sequestered Anandpur-Makhowal had to be called to account. 1
reside,
who fought through the officer, [- This distinguished Peninsular War, afterwards served in South Africa, where his memory is commemorated by the towns of Aliway and Harrismith. His wife, a Spanish lady, who accompanied him through the Peninsular campaigns, also gave her name to a South African town, 'Ladysmith', a place not without fame. Ed.]
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