Sir John Little marched out
of Ferozepore with 10,000 troops and 31 guns to offer battle, but the Sikhs
preferred to surround them. Meanwhile, Sir Hugh Gough and Sir Henry
Hardinge, the new Governor-General, hurried toward the frontier with a
large relieving force. On September 18, they met the army of Lal Singh at
Moodkee and won a slender success. But for the flight of Lal Singh, the
Sikhs might have claimed the victory. The British troops now advanced on
the Sikh intrenchments, Ferozeshahar, where they effected a junction with
Little. On December 21, the British advanced in force, but encountered such
stubborn resistance that the day ended in a drawn battle. Not until after
sunset did Gough's battalions succeed in storming the most formidable of
the Sikh batteries. After a night of horrors the battle was resumed. The
Sikh soldiers, who had risen in mutiny against their own leaders, fell back
and yielded their strong position. The second army of the Sikhs under Tej
Singh came up too late. After a brief artillery engagement, all the Sikh
forces fell back across the Sutlej River.

1846

[Sidenote: Battle of Sobraon]

[Sidenote: End of first Sikh war]

In January, the hostile forces on both sides of the Sutlej River in India
were reinforced. The Sikhs recrossed the river, entered British territory,
and hostilities were renewed. On January 27, Sir Harry Smith defeated a
part of the Sikh forces at Aliwal. The Sikhs threw up intrenchments at
Sobraon. On February 10, the British army advanced to the attack under
Gough and Hardinge. The battle proved one of the hardest fought in the
history of British India. Advancing in line, the British had two battalions
mowed down by the Khalsa guns. Tej Singh broke down the bridge over the
river. After fighting all day, the British at last succeeded in driving the
Sikhs into the Sutlej at the point of the bayonet. The victory was dearly
won. The British losses were 2,000 men, while the Sikhs were said to have
lost 8,000. This practically ended the first Sikh war. The British army
crossed the Sutlej River by means of their pontoons, and, pushing on to
Lahore, there dictated terms of peace. An indemnity of a million and a half
pounds was exacted. It was paid by Gholab Singh, the Viceroy of Cashmere
and Jamu, upon British recognition of his independence of the Sikh
Government at Lahore. The British frontier was extended from the banks of
the Sutlej to those of the Ravi.

[Siden