Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/104

100 at that moment — my brother being with Sir H. Gough — I can recollect the late Lord Delawarr, then Major West, riding up and delivering a message from the Commander-in-Chief. The men were lying down in the Sikh trenches, with only a few rounds left. The Governor-General exclaimed; 'Recollect, men, you must hold your ground to the last, and trust to your bayonets!' Our relief may be imagined when we saw the long line of Sikh infantry, camel-swivels, and artillery, moving slowly away towards the Sutlej.

Efforts were made, when the campaign was over, to ascertain the truth of these surmises, but no reliable evidence was forthcoming. The fact is on record that a fresh division of the Sikh army refused to attack a handful of British soldiers, defending the village they had captured early in the day, without ammunition and without the support of either artillery or cavalry. That some abandoned the army during the night is, I fear, painfully true. When the village was captured at break of day, and the Commander-in-Chief and the Governor-General passed down the line, the colours dropped and the men cheered. One officer commanding a Native regiment, whose men had only just turned up, stepped out and said: 'Sir, these cheers of my men are not worth having; only a few of the regiment were with me during the night.' Such occurrences were happily not common. It can only be remarked, in all fairness, that at Sobráon the Sepoys fought gallantly and kept up their old reputation for valour.