Battle of Ferozeshah
Map of the war zone
| date | 21-22 December 1845 |
|---|---|
| place | Ferozeshah in India |
| exit | British victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 16-18,000 men | up to 30,000 men and at least 73 cannons under Lal Singh |
| losses | |
|
694 dead and 1,721 wounded |
about 3,000 |
.svg){kind=small}
Mudki - Ferozeshah - Aliwal - Sobraon
The Battle of Ferozeshah was a military conflict from December 21-22, 1845 between the British East India Company and the Sikh Army of the Punjab in the First Sikh War .
prehistory
One day after the victorious Battle of Mudki , on December 19, 1845, General Hugh Gough received reinforcements from four regiments and a heavy artillery division. The defeated Sikh army had withdrawn on Ferozeshah, while a second guarded General John Littler in Firozpur . Gough decided to first unite with the besieged troops in Firozpur under Littler and then defeat one of the two Sikh armies. Ferozeshah is 16 km northwest of Mudki, halfway to Firozpur.
A day later, Governor General Henry Hardinge placed General Gough under his command. On the morning of December 21, 1845, Gough broke camp and marched off. Littler had received no orders and did not leave until 8 a.m. Gough wanted to take advantage of the daylight and not wait for Littler to arrive, but Hardinge, in his capacity as governor general, forced him to wait for Littler to arrive. Finally, at 12:30 p.m., 4 miles from the Sikh army positions, Gough's army united with the Littlers, who had succeeded in capturing the Sikh forces under the command of Tej Singh , who had been assigned to guard him were to be fooled. The united British army now comprised 16-18,000 men.
course
After the unification, Gough marched towards the positions of the Sikhs, which had the shape of a parallelogram measuring 1.5 km by 800 m with Ferozeshah in the center. Littler's division on the left flank , Wallace in the middle, and Gilbert's on the right flank. Most of the artillery was in the center, with each wing supported by a brigade of cavalry . General Henry Smith's division formed the reserve with the rest of the cavalry. Hardinge took command of the left wing, Gough that of the right wing. At 3:30 p.m. the battle began. The British went ahead and the Sikhs opened heavy artillery fire. One brigade under Reed was pushed back with heavy losses, while the rest of the army managed to repel the Sikhs. On Hardinge's orders, Smith filled the void caused by Reed's retreat, crushed a Sikh counterattack and captured many cannons. On the left side of the Sikhs, the 3rd Light Dragoons managed to break into the burning enemy camp with heavy losses. Smith, however, had also managed to get into the center of the Sikh positions with 2-3,000 men. Long after dark, at 3 o'clock, he retired to Misriwala, where he found many scattered people. Hardinge and Gough regrouped troops in front of the Sikh positions. The situation was unclear, Hardinge had suffered many losses, he sent the Prince who was present as an observerWaldemar von Prussia went back to safety and gave the order to burn the documents in Mudki.
On the morning of December 22nd, Gough resumed the attack and Smith joined him. However, the positions had been left by Lal Singh and the British encountered little resistance from stragglers. The British captured 73 abandoned cannons. When the fresh troops appeared under Tej Singh, Gough had his troops occupy the northern and western positions of the Sikhs. The British troops were in a bad position despite their victory. They were exhausted, the sepoys were unreliable and ammunition was scarce. Tej Singh's artillery opened fire and his irregular cavalry threatened the right flank of Gough's infantry, whereupon Gough's infantry ordered them to be squaredto form, while the artillery could not return fire from the Sikhs due to a lack of ammunition. The Sikh cavalry dared not attack them and were thrown back by the 3rd Light Dragoons. At 4 p.m. Tej Singh withdrew and the Battle of Ferozeshah was over.
Effects
The result of the battle was a narrow British victory. If Tej Singh had not withdrawn with his fresh troops on December 22nd, but had attacked the exhausted and lacking ammunition British earlier, the result could have been a victory for the Sikhs. But as it was, the Sikh army withdrew again across the Satluj , which they had only crossed on December 11th.
literature
- George Bruce Malleson: The Decisive Battles of India. From 1746 to 1849 inclusive (Associated Reprint; Vol. 4). 2nd edition Associated Publishing House, New Delhi 1973 (reprint of the London edition 1883).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ George B. Malleson: The Decisive Battles of India. From 1746 to 1849 inclusive , p. 315f.