Battle of Gujrat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Battle of Gujarat, see
Battle of Surat
.

Battle of Gujrat
Part of the
Gujrat, Sikh Empire (modern-day Pakistan
)
Result British victory
Belligerents East India Company Sikh EmpireCommanders and leaders Hugh Gough Raja Sher Singh AttariwallaStrength 24,000 men (including Bengal and Maratha troops)
Over 96 field guns
67 siege guns[1]
50-60,000 men
60 guns[1]
Casualties and losses 96 killed
710 wounded[1] Unknown[1]
Gujrat City
in Punjab.

The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the

Punjab
was annexed to the East India Company's territories and Duleep Singh was deposed.

Outbreak and course of the war

After the British victory in the

North West Frontier
Region. The Khalsa regarded itself as betrayed rather than defeated in the first war, and several of its Sardars (Generals) plotted rebellion.

However, the first outbreak came at

Dewan Mulraj, resumed his authority and prepared for a siege. Rather than use large forces from the British and Bengal Armies during the hot weather and monsoon seasons, the Governor General of Bengal, Lord Dalhousie, deployed part of the Khalsa and other irregular contingents against Mulraj. On 14 September, the troops from the Khalsa besieging Multan under Sardar Sher Singh Attariwalla also rebelled. They did not join Mulraj however, but moved north along the Chenab River
into the main Sikh-populated area of the Punjab to gather recruits and obtain supplies.

Late in 1848, a large British and Bengal army took the field during the cold weather season under the Commander in Chief of the Bengal Army, General Sir Hugh Gough. Gough already had a reputation, whether deserved or not, for unimaginative head-on tactics. On 22 November at Ramnagar, his cavalry were repulsed attacking a Sikh bridgehead on the east bank of the Chenab. Then on 13 January 1849, he launched a hasty frontal attack against Sher Singh's army at Chillianwala near the Jhelum River and was driven back with heavy casualties. Several days' heavy rain followed, preventing either army from renewing the battle. After they had faced each other for three days, both withdrew.

Prelude to the Battle

The Battle of Goojerat on 21 February 1849. Coloured aquatint by J. Harris after H. Martens, published by Rudolph Ackermann, 29 July 1850.

Rather than launch a counter-attack against Gough, Sher Singh's aim was to join forces with the troops under his father, Sardar

Dost Mohammed Khan of Afghanistan had sided with the rebellious Sikhs. His aim was to recover the area around Peshawar, which had been conquered by Ranjit Singh early in the nineteenth century, but his support was half-hearted.[3] Nevertheless, when 3,500 Afghan horsemen reconquered Peshawar and approached the vital fort of Attock on the Indus River, its garrison of Muslim troops defected. This allowed Chattar Singh to move out of Hazara and link up with Sher Singh near Rawalpindi
.

On the British side, once news of Chillianwala reached Britain, Gough was almost immediately superseded. His replacement was General

Sir Walter Gilbert) and a large cavalry force (under Sir Joseph Thackwell
), with 100 guns of various weights and calibres.

In spite of his successes, Sher Singh, who commanded the combined Sikh forces, was running out of strategic options. His large army was unable to find enough food. Any move north or west to obtain supplies would involve abandoning the main Sikh-populated area of the Punjab and moving into potentially hostile Muslim areas. He therefore attempted a bold outflanking move against Gough. His army moved east, intending to cross the Chenab and then move south before crossing the river again to attack Gough from the rear. When they reached the river, they found it swollen by heavy rains, and the few fords were defended by irregular Muslim cavalry under British officers, later reinforced by some of the troops marching up from Multan.[4]

Battle

Map of the battle

Sher Singh withdrew to Gujrat, where his army hastily prepared a defensive position. The Sikhs constructed a double entrenchment, which was also protected by a ravine. Most of the artillery was grouped in a central battery, screened by hastily planted bushes. The cavalry was deployed on the flanks. Several small villages in advance of the central battery were occupied by infantry, and the houses and buildings were prepared with "loopholes" for defence.[5] Although the position was strong, it was exposed to British artillery fire, and the hastily erected screen of brush was not as effective as the belts of scrub and jungle which had hidden the Sikh artillery from view at Chillianwala.

Early on 21 February, Gough advanced against this position. When the Sikh artillery opened fire and disclosed their position, Gough halted his advance and deployed his large numbers of heavy guns against them. In a three-hour artillery duel, the Sikhs were forced to abandon their guns. Sikh and Indian sources were later to refer to the battle as the "Battle of the Guns". Once the Sikh artillery was largely silenced, the British infantry advanced. There was desperate hand-to-hand fighting for the small fortified villages of Burra Kalra and Chota Kalra.[6] However, the British guns were being advanced in successive "bounds", in many cases enfilading the Sikh infantry in the centre of their position.

On both flanks, the Sikh cavalry tried to outflank and attack Gough's army. Gough and Thackwell had deployed their British and Irregular cavalry regiments to the flanks, while keeping the regular Bengal Native Cavalry regiments in reserve. On Gough's left , the Sikh and Afghan horsemen were halted by fire from two batteries of Bengal Horse Artillery and then driven back by a squadron of the British 9th Lancers and the 2nd Scinde Irregular Horse, who delivered a charge at great speed and in close order.[7]

The entire Sikh army eventually broke in disorder. Gough reported after the battle:

The heavy artillery continued to advance with extraordinary celerity, taking up successive forward positions, driving the enemy from those [positions] they had retired to, whilst the rapid advance and beautiful fire of the Horse Artillery and light field-batteries ... broke the ranks of the enemy at all points. The whole infantry line now rapidly advanced and drove the enemy before it; the nulla [ravine] was cleared, several villages stormed, the guns that were in position carried, the camp captured and the enemy routed in every direction[8]

Battle of Gujrat, during the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849), 21 February 1849

The Bengal Horse Artillery and British and Indian cavalry took up a ruthless and merciless pursuit, which turned the Sikh retreat into a rout over 12 miles (19 km).

Aftermath

The next day, a division under Major General

Muslim
villages for eleven days, but Sher Singh was finally forced to agree to British terms for surrender. His army, reduced to 20,000 men (mainly irregular cavalry) and 10 guns, handed over its arms at a two-day ceremony on 12 March and disbanded.

The small Afghan contingent also hastily retreated, destroying the pontoon bridge at Attock behind them. The Scinde Irregular Horse followed them, and reoccupied Peshawar. Dost Mohammed later concluded a peace with the East India Company, acknowledging their possession of the Peshawar region.[3]

The Punjab was formally annexed to British territory at Lahore on 2 April.

At the end of his career, Gough had finally fought a model battle, using his vast superiority in heavy guns to drive Sher Singh's troops from their position without resorting to the bayonet as he usually did, and turning their retreat into a rout with his cavalry and horse artillery. He had also been able to operate for the first time without receiving contradictory instructions from Dalhousie. Throughout the war, Dalhousie had alternately goaded on and restrained Gough, usually at the most inconvenient moments.

After the British had withdrawn at Chillianwala, Sikh and other irregulars showed no mercy to abandoned British combatant wounded and the British at Gujrat showed no mercy to surrendered or fleeing enemies.[citation needed]

Order of battle

British regiments

British Indian Army regiments

  • 1st Bengal Light Cavalry
  • 5th Bengal Light Cavalry
  • 6th Bengal Light Cavalry
  • 2nd Bengal (European) Light Infantry
  • 8th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 15th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 20th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 25th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 30th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 31st Bengal Native Infantry
  • 46th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 56th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 69th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 70th Bengal Native Infantry
  • 72nd Bengal Native Infantry
  • Maratha Light Infantry

References

  1. ^ a b c d Roy 2008, p. 298.
  2. ^ "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 12, page 374 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu.
  3. ^ a b "Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 5, page 39 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu.
  4. ISBN 0-349-11456-0
    .
  5. ^ Hernon, p.601
  6. ^ Hernon, p.602
  7. ^ BritishBattles.com
  8. ^ Hernon, pp.602-603

Sources

External links

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