Battle of Mudki
Battle of Mudki | |
---|---|
Part of the Punjab | |
Result | British victory |
Sir Henry Hardinge
22 guns[2]
42 guns
657 wounded[1]
30°47′N 74°53′E / 30.783°N 74.883°E
The Battle of Mudki was fought on 18 December 1845, between the forces of the
Background
The
The Governor General of the Bengal Presidency (and in effect, of all British-controlled India) was
.The
British Advance
The main British and Bengal Army, under its commander-in-chief, Sir Hugh Gough, began marching rapidly from its garrisons at Ambala and Meerut towards Ferozepur. Although the march took place in India's cold weather season, the troops were enveloped in choking dust clouds and water and food were short. Hardinge accompanied the army, waiving his right to command.
The British reached Mudki, 18 miles (29 km) from Ferozepur in the afternoon of 18 December. Having commandeered grain from the village, they began preparing their first proper meal for some days. An advance guard of the Sikh army, commanded by Lal Singh, Vizier of the Sikh Empire, spotted the British cooking fires and advanced. The terrain was a flat sandy plain, with occasional villages and patches of scrub.
Battle
In the late evening the Sikh guns opened fire. As 30 of Gough's light guns replied, the Sikh cavalry tried to outflank both flanks of Gough's army. Although the irregular cavalry, the Gorchurras, were the elite of the Khalsa, and individually very skilled (for example, being able to spear a tent-peg out of the ground at full gallop), they were comparatively ineffective against the disciplined British and Bengal units. A counter-charge by a British light dragoon regiment cut down many Sikh gunners, but in turn suffered heavy casualties from the Sikh infantry.
After the initial cavalry actions, the British and Bengal infantry advanced. In the gathering darkness and the clouds of smoke and dust, the advance quickly became disordered. Some Bengal infantry regiments caused casualties among the British units with confused fire. Although outnumbered five to one, the Sikh Fauj-i-Ain (regulars) resisted desperately, and their gunners kept firing volleys of grapeshot until they were overrun.
Eventually, after two hours of darkness, the last Sikhs were driven from the field. The British returned to their camp. The British army was unused to fighting or manoeuvering at night and the battle was nicknamed "Midnight Mudki".
Casualties among British senior officers were heavy. Among those were two brigade commanders:
Results
By itself, the battle decided little. It did however confirm Hardinge in the belief that Gough was too bull-headed and unimaginative to command the army. The two officers would clash several times over strategy during the war.
On the Sikh side, it was alleged that Lal Singh had fled the battlefield early, although there was little scope for direction once the battle had been joined.
Order of battle
British regiments
- 3rd King’s Own Light Dragoons
- 9th Foot
- 31st Foot
- 50th Foot
- 80th Foot
Indian regiments
- The Governor General’s Bodyguard
- 4th Bengal Light Cavalry
- 5th Bengal Light Cavalry
- Skinner’s Horse
- 8th Irregular Cavalry
- 9th Irregular Cavalry
- 2nd Bengal Native Infantry
- 16th Bengal Native Infantry
- 24th Bengal Native Infantry
- 26th Bengal Native Infantry
- 42nd Bengal Native Infantry
- 45th Bengal Native Infantry
- 47th Bengal Native Infantry
- 48th Bengal Native Infantry
- 73rd Bengal Native Infantry
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Tucker 2010, p. 1174.
- ^ a b Perrett, p.184
- ^ ISBN 9781445650241.
- ^ Hernon, p.554
Sources
- Hernon, Ian (2003). Britain's forgotten wars. Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-3162-0.
- ISBN 9780470061916.
- Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). "December 18, 1845:South Asia: First Anglo-Sikh War(continued):Battle of Mudki". A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. Three: 1775-1860. ABC-CLIO.