Battle of Ferozeshah

Battle of Ferozeshah
	Part of the First Anglo-Sikh War
	; Battle of Ferozshah (2nd Day), 22 December 1845 by Henry Martens
Date	21–22 December 1845
Location	Ferozeshah, Punjab
Result	British victory
Belligerents
Sikh Empire	East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Lal Singh ; Tej Singh	Sir Hugh Gough ; Sir Henry Hardinge
Strength
35,000–50,000; 130 guns	22,000; 69 guns; 2 howitzers
Casualties and losses
3 guns; Unknown	694 killed; 1,721 wounded

Last updated May 27, 2024

The Battle of Ferozeshah was fought on 21 December and 22 December 1845 between the British East India Company and the Sikh Empire, at the village of Ferozeshah in Punjab.^[3] The British were led by Sir Hugh Gough and Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge, while the Sikhs were led by Lal Singh. The British emerged victorious.^[4]

Background

The First Anglo-Sikh War broke out as a result of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab falling into disorder after the death of the Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1839, and British desire to secure the Punjab. The Sikh army, the Khalsa, was goaded by some of the contenders for power in the Punjab and its own ambitions for plunder and glory into crossing the Sutlej River into British territory.

Moves prior to the battle

A British division was already stationed at Ferozepur, and a large army under the Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army, Sir Hugh Gough, accompanied by the Governor General, was already marching from the various stations around Delhi toward the frontier. While a detachment of the Sikh army under its commander in chief, Tej Singh, advanced on Ferozepur, the main force under Vizier Lal Singh advanced to confront Gough. On 18 December, Lal Singh's advance guard was defeated at the untidy encounter Battle of Mudki.

Gough's army itself was hard-hit and tired by the battle, and made no move on the next day, or the day after. This allowed Lal Singh's army to concentrate at Ferozeshah and fortify its encampment.

Early on 21 December, Gough's army advanced, and came into sight of the Sikh encampment late in the morning. Gough wished to attack immediately. Hardinge thought the odds against the British were too great, and wished to wait for the division from Ferozepur, under Major General Littler, to join the attack. Eventually, Hardinge used his civil appointment as Governor General to overrule Gough.

The battle

First Day

Littler's division appeared in the late afternoon, and deployed on the left of the British line. (The right division was under Major General Sir Walter Gilbert, and a smaller division under Sir Harry Smith was in reserve.)

Gough attacked at about 3:30 pm, on the shortest day of the year. The battle was opened by the British guns moving forward to open a preparatory bombardment. This proved ineffectual. Not only were the Sikh guns more numerous and protected by parapets and entrenchments, they were also far heavier than the British guns, many of which were light guns of the Bengal Horse Artillery. Gough's heavy 18-pounder guns had been left behind at Mudki.

As the artillery duelled, the British and Bengal infantry advanced. General Littler came under heavy fire, and believed only a rush with the bayonet would save his division from annihilation by the Sikh guns. Three of his Bengal regiments held back (being short of water and ammunition), while one of his British regiments (the 62nd Foot) lost almost half its men and was driven back. Part of General Gilbert's division broke into the Sikh encampment, but his own right flank was threatened by large numbers of Sikh irregular cavalry. The Sikh horsemen were driven back by a British cavalry regiment, the 3rd Light Dragoons.

As darkness fell, Sir Harry Smith's division launched a renewed attack, which overran several Sikh batteries and penetrated into the midst of the Sikh camp, around the village of Ferozeshah itself, before being driven back by counter-attacks. Fierce fighting continued until midnight. Many casualties were caused on both sides as a Sikh magazine exploded.

Second Day

Both the British and Sikhs were mixed up in disorder. Gough and Hardinge tried to reform their troops, while keeping up encouraging banter. In fact, Hardinge expected defeat the next day. He sent word to the camp at Mudki that the state papers in his baggage were to be burned in this event, and gave his sword (a spoil of war which had once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte) to his aide-de-camp.

When dawn broke, it became clear that the British held most of the camp, and had captured seventy-one guns. Reforming their line, Gough and Hardinge advanced north-west and by noon they had driven Lal Singh's army from the field, in spite of heavy losses from the remaining Sikh artillery.

Even as the British were congratulating themselves, they became aware that Tej Singh's army was approaching from the west. Gough's troops were already exhausted and almost out of ammunition. As they formed up again, and came under fire from Tej Singh's guns, a capitulation was seriously considered, to spare the wounded from massacre.

Gough's army was saved when, ironically, some of his horse artillery ran out of ammunition. A staff officer ordered them to withdraw to Ferozepur to replenish, and also ordered much of the British cavalry to escort them. Tej Singh claimed that the movement was an outflanking manoeuvre, and ordered a withdrawal to the north.

Aftermath

While the Sikhs temporarily withdrew over the Sutlej, Gough's army camped immediately north of the battlefield. They suffered from the stench of the many dead, and many men became ill through drinking from polluted wells. One seventh of the army had been casualties. Hardinge privately criticised Gough's head-on tactics and sought to have him replaced, but no formal change of command could take place for several weeks, by which time events made it unnecessary.

The staff officer whose apparent blunder in sending the guns and cavalry away on the second day had actually saved Gough, a Captain Lumley who was the son of a General, was judged to have been driven temporarily insane by exhaustion and heatstroke and allowed to resign his commission, rather than face a court-martial.

On the Sikh side, there was temporary dismay and much recrimination. It was evident that both Lal Singh and Tej Singh were ineffective and potentially treasonous commanders. Both were Dogras rather than Sikhs, and were prominent in the faction which was seeking to curtail the power of the Sikh Khalsa Army to intervene in the Durbar (court and government) of the Punjab. Lal Singh was alleged to have sheltered in a ditch throughout the battle, and although this cannot be proved, it is clear that he took little active part. Tej Singh had used the thinnest pretext to order a retreat when most of his officers and troops were eager to fall on the exhausted British and Bengal armies.

Gallery

Charge of the 3rd (King's Own) Light Dragoons at the Battle of Ferzshuhur [sic], 21 December 1845.
The Sikh fortified camp at Ferozeshah with the approaching British Army commanded by Sir Hugh Gough.
Night bivouac of the British Army at Ferozeshah, 21 December 1845.

Sources

Ian Hernon,. "Britain's forgotten wars", Sutton Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7509-3162-0
Byron Farwell, "Queen Victoria's little wars", Wordsworth Military Library, 1999, ISBN 1-84022-216-6

Related Research Articles

The first Anglo-Sikh war was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of Jammu & Kashmir as a separate princely state under British suzerainty.

The second Anglo-Sikh war was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab and what subsequently became the North-West Frontier Province, by the East India Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Grant (Indian Army officer)</span>

Field Marshal Sir Patrick Grant, was a senior Indian Army officer. He fought at the Battle of Maharajpore during the Gwalior campaign, at the Battle of Mudki, the Battle of Ferozeshah and the Battle of Sobraon during the First Anglo-Sikh War and at the Battle of Chillianwala and the Battle of Gujrat during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. During the Indian Mutiny, as acting Commander-in-Chief, India, he directed the operations against the mutineers, sending forces under Henry Havelock and James Outram for the relief of Cawnpore and Lucknow. He later became Governor of Malta.

The Battle of Chillianwala was fought in January 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Chillianwala region of Punjab, now part of modern-day Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by the British East India Company. Both armies held their positions at the end of the battle and both sides claimed victory. The battle was a strategic check to immediate British ambitions in India and a shock to British military prestige.

The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Sikhs were completely defeated, making this the decisive battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War.

The Battle of Aliwal was fought on 28 January 1846 between the British and Sikh forces in northern India. The British were led by Sir Harry Smith, while the Sikhs were led by Ranjodh Singh Majithia. Britain's victory in the battle is sometimes regarded as the turning point in the First Anglo-Sikh War.

The Battle of Mudki was fought on 18 December 1845, between the forces of the East India Company and part of the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The British army won an untidy encounter battle, sustaining heavy casualties.

The Battle of Ramnagar was fought on 22 November 1848 between British East India Company and Sikh Empire forces during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. The British were led by Sir Hugh Gough, while the Sikhs were led by Raja Sher Singh Attariwalla. The Sikhs repelled an attempted British surprise attack.

The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the company's control of the Sikh Empire, represented by the child Maharaja Duleep Singh who was in British custody in Lahore. The Sikh army was defeated by the British regular and Bengal Army forces of the British East India Company. After it capitulated a few days later, the Punjab was annexed to the East India Company's territories and Duleep Singh was deposed.

The siege of Multan began on 19 April 1848 and lasted until 22 January 1849, and saw fighting around Multan between the British East India Company and the Sikh Empire. It began with a rebellion against a ruler imposed by the East India Company, which precipitated the Second Anglo-Sikh War, and ended when the last defenders of the city surrendered to British forces.

<i>Flashman and the Mountain of Light</i> 1990 novel by George MacDonald Fraser

Flashman and the Mountain of Light is a 1990 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the ninth of the Flashman novels.

The Battle of Ghazni took place in the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 23, 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War.

The Treaty of Lahore of 9 March 1846 was a peace-treaty marking the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War. The treaty was concluded, for the British, by the Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge and two officers of the East India Company and, for the Sikhs, by the seven-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh and seven members of Hazara, the territory to the south of the river Sutlej and the forts and territory in the Jalandhar Doab between the rivers Sutlej and Beas. In addition, controls were placed on the size of the Lahore army and thirty-six field guns were confiscated. The control of the rivers Sutlej and Beas and part of the Indus passed to the British, with the Provision that this was not to interfere with the passage of passenger boats owned by the Lahore Government. Also, provision was made for the separate sale of all the hilly regions between River Beas and Indus, including Kashmir, by the East India Company at a later date to Gulab Singh, the Raja of Jammu.

The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army and before 1895, the Bengal Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops of the Ottoman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet</span>

Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet was a British diplomat, who had a career in the British East India Company and the Indian Civil Service. His posts included Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Member of the Supreme Council of India, Resident at Lahore and Chairman of the East India Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Broadfoot</span> Scottish Army officer

Major George BroadfootCB was a Scottish army officer in the Madras Army of the East India Company.

Raja Lal Singh was Wazir of the Sikh Empire and commander of Sikh Khalsa Army forces during the First Anglo-Sikh War. Along with Tej Singh, Lal Singh was in the employ of the East India Company during the course of the war. Lal Singh was regularly supplying information and even receiving instructions from Company officers, communicating through Captain Peter Nicholson.

The Battle of Baddowal, known by locals as Angauli Jetu Jang, was an attack on 21 January 1846 by troops of the Sikh Empire on a contingent of the British East India Company near Ludhiana in the present-day state of Punjab, India. The battle ended with a Sikh victory.

Lieutenant-General Sir Michael White KCB was a British Army officer. The son of a major in the 27th Dragoons, he received a commission in the same regiment in 1804. White served in India on the Sikh frontier; during the 1817 Siege of Hathras; the 1817-18 Third Anglo-Maratha War and the 1825-26 Siege of Bharatpur. From 1839 he commanded the 3rd Light Dragoons and led them in the 1842 invasion of Afghanistan for which he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

François Henri Mouton was a French Army officer. In his early career he served in the Garde du Corps and the Spahis, reaching the rank of captain before being placed on half-pay in 1838.

References

1 2 Sandler, Stanley (2002). Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9781576073445.
1 2 3 Tucker, Spencer C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle ... p. 1174.
↑ Sidhu, Amarpal Singh (2016). "Chronology". The Second Anglo-Sikh War. John Chapple (1st ed.). United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445650241.
↑ Battle of Ferozeshah – The Sikh Wars Archived 31 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine

External links

30°53′00″N74°47′00″E / 30.8833°N 74.7833°E / 30.8833; 74.7833

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[sand-1] 1 2 Sandler, Stanley (2002). Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9781576073445.

[Tucker1174-2] 1 2 3 Tucker, Spencer C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle ... p. 1174.

[:3-3] Sidhu, Amarpal Singh (2016). "Chronology". The Second Anglo-Sikh War. John Chapple (1st ed.). United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445650241.

[4] Battle of Ferozeshah – The Sikh Wars Archived 31 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]