tillery, cut down no less than 73 gunners, who had, by the flight of the cavalry through their ranks, been deprived of the means of defending themselves, and carried off six of the guns, two of which were subsequently recovered." A fire of grape was, however, poured in upon the advancing Sikhs, and they turned and fled.

The British troops remained masters of the field, but their loss was very heavy: 26 European officers and 731 men killed; 66 of ficers and 1446 men wounded; making a total of 2269. Moreover, four of our guns fell into the hands of the enemy, and five stand of colours, and the Sikhs, aided by the darkness of the night, were able to remove the greatest part of the guns which had been taken by us during the struggle. Upon the whole, although the victory was complete, the policy and conduct of the action which had just been fought were most severely criticized. It was known by the name of the battle of Chillianwallah, from a village in the immediate vicinity of which the British army was encamped, and the news was received in England with a burst of sorrow, and, we must add, indignation. Want of due caution on the part of the General was patent on the face of the accounts of the engagement, and it was felt that it ought not to have been hazarded, nor so great a waste of life wantonly incurred. There was no need to test the courage of the soldiers who had been engaged in this campaign against the Sikhs, and the duty of the Commander-inChief was to effect the overthrow of the enemy by superior strategic skill, rather than by dashing exploits of personal valour and hand to hand conflicts with the sabre

and the bayonet. The consequence was an almost unanimous demand for the recall of Lord Gough, and the appointment of a general who would carry on the war in a more scientific and less desperate fashion. In this emergency all eyes were turned to Sir Charles Napier, the hero of Meeanee, and conqueror of Scinde, whose name was dreaded by the restless tribes of the Indus more than that of any other living man; and both the Government and the East India Company acknowledged the correctness of the public choice. Sir Charles Napier was without delay appointed Commander-inChief of the Forces, and Member Extraordinary of the Council of India; and he sailed from England at the latter end of March, to assume his duties in the East.

But in the mean time Providence had blessed our arms with a decisive and final victory, and the glory of Goojerat effaced all vindictive memory of the carnage of Chillianwallah.

On the 12th of February the Sikhs drew up their cavalry so as to interpose its masses between the rest of their army, and our troops, and under cover of this arm of their force struck their tents, and retreated in the direc tion of Goojerat. Lord Gough had now an opportunity of examining the position which they occupied when he hazarded the attack. It was found to be immensely strong, and consisting of a double line of intrenchments, in front of which they had planted large bushes in every direction, so as to mask themselves, and to prevent the movement of cavalry. Their camp had been pitched upon the slope of a hill, with a battery in the midst of broken ground. Close to this battery was a deep and

rugged ravine with a narrow bridge. To the rear of this natural fortress was a perpendicular wall of rock near the Jhelum..

On the 15th it was known that the Sikhs had gone towards Wuzeerabad, as if with the intention of crossing the Chenab there and of proceeding towards Lahore. Fortunately General Whish, with this cavalry and a portion of the infantry of the Mooltan force, had reached Ramnuggur, and a part of his force was detached from Ramnuggur to Wuzeerabad, so as to prevent the Sikhs from passing at that ford. The Sikhs plundered all the districts between the Jhelum and Chenab, and took up a position near the town of Gooje

rat.

On the 16th Lord Gough marched from Supooree to Sudalpoor, a village about five miles from the Chenab; while General Whish constructed a bridge of boats over the Chenab at Hurreke Puttam, which facilitated his movement to join the Commander-inChief.

In the mean time Chuttur Singh had effected a junction with Shere Singh, and their united forces amounted to 60,000 men, with 59 pieces of artillery. They were also supported by a body of 1500 Affghan horse, under Akram Khan, a son of Dost Mahomed Khan, who had hitherto affected to observe a suspicious neutrality. These troops were on the 20th of February all concentrated at Goojerat, a place between the Chenab and the Jhelum, but rather nearer the former river than the latter. Their camp formed a circle round the town, and the army was drawn up between it and the dry bed of a small river, which passed along two of its sides. The British forces at this time

consisted of 25,000 men; but notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, Lord Gough, who had come up with the enemy, determined to attack them on the following day.

Accordingly, early in the morning of the 21st of February the battle of Goojerat began. Its chief and distinguishing feature was the admirable service done by our artillery, which, in fact, decided the fortune of the day, and proved that in modern times a victory may be won by that arm alone, with much less loss of life than attends a battle where the hostile armies engage in a personal encounter with the sabre and the bayonet. The success of the operation at Goojerat renders it more painful to contemplate the sacrifice of life at Chillianwallah.

Lord Gough, having made the proper disposition of the various positions of his troops, ordered the attack to commence, and the following account is taken from his own despatch, which clearly and concisely details the events of the day:

"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 nulla, 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 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.

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The village of Burra Kalra, the left one of those 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 second or Chota Kalra, by part of Brigadier Hervey'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 nulla 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 coJumn 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."

The loss on the part of the British was 5 European officers killed and 24 wounded, and a total of 92 killed and 682 wounded; numbers insignificantly small when we consider the forces engaged and the magnitude of the results. We captured 57 guns, and thus almost annihilated that formidable arm of the Sikh force.

Early in the morning after the battle, a force under Major-General Gilbert resumed the pursuit of the enemy into the Khoree Pass, towards the Jhelum, and a division of infantry advanced on the road to Bimber, on the borders of the hill country, whilst a body of cavalry penetrated some miles into the hills.

General Gilbert's force reached the entrance of the Khoree Pass on the 23rd, and the Bombay division halting there, Brigadier Moun

tain went through the gorge of the Pass, which was very strong, to Pooran, in the midst of a storm of hail and torrents of rain. The march was resumed on the 24th, but the wreck of the enemy's army had succeeded in crossing the river, and were seen, when the British troops reached Noorungabad, on the left bank of the Jhelum, en camped on the right bank of the river, on either side of the town of that name. Major Lawrence, who had arrived in the camp of General Gilbert, crossed the river, and com. municated with Shere Singh, by whom he was charged with propositions, with which he immediately started for the camp of the Commander-in-Chief. Akram Khan continued his flight to Attock. On the 27th General Gilbert passed a portion of his force across one of the branches of the Jhelum, and on the 28th and following days the rest of his troops, with reinforcements, crossed the Jhelum, with considerable difficulty, the current being extremely rapid. As soon as Shere Singh heard that the British troops were crossing the river, he retired with the relics of his army, not exceeding 8000 or 10,000 men with ten guns.

The number of men under the command of General Gilbert was about 15,000, with 40 guns, and, owing to the variety of currents into which the Jhelum is divided, he did not effect the passage of the whole force until the 5th of March, and then the heavy artillery was left behind, nor was it brought across the river before the 9th.

On the 6th Major and Mrs. Lawrence and family, and other British prisoners who had been in the hands of the Sikhs, came to General Gilbert's camp and announced that Raja Shere Singh and all his

followers were ready to lay down their arms.

On the 8th the Raja arrived himself at the camp to arrange the mode and terms of submission, when he was told that the only terms which could be listened to were those of unconditional surrender. He then returned to the Sikhs to announce the result of the interview, and the British troops steadily advanced. On the 11th they reached Hoormuk, and soon afterwards Shere Singh, Chuttur Singh, and other chief Sirdars, came into the camp, followed by the guns taken from us at Chillianwallah. Shere Singh then returned again to the remnant of his army, to prepare it for the surrender that was to take place on the following day. This humiliating act occupied some time, and it was not until the 14th that the whole of the Sikh officers and soldiers had delivered up their arms. Each man as he passed received one rupee to provide him with the means of subsistence until he reached his home, and they were all allowed to retain their horses. The number of guns surrendered at this time was 41, making the whole amount of artillery taken from the Sikhs since the commencement of the campaign to consist of 158 pieces.

Sir Walter Gilbert now lost no time in attempting to overtake the flying Affghans before they reached and crossed the Indus. He commenced his pursuit the same day, and when he was about six miles from the river, intelligence was received that Attock had just been evacuated by the Affghans, who were about to destroy the bridge of boats on the river, to check the pursuit. Upon this, the General, with Major Mackeson and a small

escort of Nicholson's Irregulars, and the whole staff, galloped towards the river, and from an eminence observed a party of the enemy busy in the work of destruction, 5000 or 6000 being drawn up on the right bank. The sight of the British, supposed to have been two marches distant, caused a sudden commotion among the Affghans, and fifteen of the best boats forming the bridge were secured. The artillery being brought up, the enemy retired, after firing some guns. The fort of Attock was occupied on the 17th, and on the following morning, the small fort of Hyderabad, on the right bank of the river, and which commanded the town, was also taken. On the 19th and 20th the British troops effected the passage of the Indus, and the Affghans fled precipitately through the Khyber Pass towards Cabul.

Such was the termination of this great struggle, in which we had to cope with the most formidable enemies who have ever ventured to measure their strength with us in the East. The campaign could not have been more glorious, both in its achievements and results; and the splendid discipline and bravery of the British and Native troops were never put to a severer test, and never shone with more conspicuous lustre.

The immediate consequence of this series of victories was the annexation of the Punjab to the British Empire in India, which was made public by the following proclamation of the Governor-General, dated March 29:

When Runjeet Singh was dead, and his wisdom no longer guided the counsels of the State, the Sirdars and the Khalsa army, without provocation and without cause, suddenly invaded the British ter ritories. Their army was again and again defeated. They were driven with slaughter and in shame from the country they had invaded, and at the gates of Lahore the Maharajah, Dhuleep Singh, tendered to the Governor-General the submission of himself and his chiefs, and solicited the clemency of the British Government,

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"The Governor-General tended the clemency of his Government to the State of Lahore; he generously spared the kingdom which he had acquired a just right to subvert; and the Maharajah having been replaced on the throne, treaties of friendship were formed between the States.

"The British have faithfully kept their word, and have scrupulously observed every obligation which the treaties imposed upon them. But the Sikh people and their chiefs have, on their part, grossly and faithlessly violated the promises by which they were bound. Of their annual tribute no portion. whatever has at any time been paid, and large loans advanced to them by the Government of India have never been repaid. The control of the British Government, to which they voluntarily submitted. themselves, has been resisted by arms. Peace has been cast aside. British officers have been murdered when acting for the State; others engaged in the like employment have treacherously been thrown into captivity. Finally,, the army of the State and the whole Sikh people, joined by many, of the Sirdars in the Punjab who,

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