Following the Battle of Ferozeshah, Tej Singh withdrew his Sikh army across the Sutlej River, while General Sir Hugh Gough formed his force on the south bank and awaited reinforcements. Seeing this inactivity on the part of the British and Bengali army, Tej Singh detached Ranjodh Singh with 8,000 troops and 70 guns to march east along the river and cross so as to menace the British base at Ludhiana. Read More…
The Battle of Chillianwala was fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Punjab, now part of Pakistan. Although some Britishers consider the battle a draw, (as the Sikhs had the opportunity to completely destroy the British Army), it was a strategic check to Britain, and damaged British prestige in India. Read More…
Following the Battle of Moodkee on 18th December 1845, the second action was fought three days later, on 21 December at Ferozeshah, 16 km both from Mudki and Firozepur. The Governor-General and the Commander-In-Chief, assisted by reinforcements led by General Littler from Firozepur, made an attack upon the Sikhs who were awaiting them behind strong entrenchments. Read More…
The battle of Gujrat must be reckoned as one of the most notable in the annals of British warfare in India. Never, perhaps, the British had amassed so many guns and men in any single battle. The British army now consisted of 56,636 men four infantry divisions, 11,569 horse, 96 field-guns, and 67 siege-guns including ten 18-pounders and six 8-inch howitzers drawn by elephants. Read More…
On 11th December 1845 a British army crossed the Sutlej River to attack the Sikhs in the southern Punjab towns of Ferozepore, Ludhiana and Ambala. The First Sikh War had begun. Until the death of the great Sikh ruler of the Punjab, Ranjit Singh, relations between the Sikhs and the British East India Company had been harmonious. Read More…
A temporary cessation of hostilities followed the battle of Ferozeshah. The English were not in a position to assume the offensive and waited for heavy guns and reinforcements to arrive from Delhi. Lal Singh and Tej Singh allowed them the much needed respite in as much as they kept the Sikhs from re crossing the Sutlej. Read More…