Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/112

 CHAPTER VIII

Alíwál and Sobráon

To return to the operations of the army. The Commander-in-Chief had established his head-quarters at Sultán Khán Wála, and had made a personal reconnaissance of the banks of the Sutlej at Sobráon. On the 5th January, 1846, predatory bands of Sikhs advanced to Ludhiána, burning a few of the bungalows of the civil and military residents which had been evacuated. Brigadier Godby was in the Fort with three Native regiments, an adequate force for its defence. About the same time Ranjúr Singh, with a regular Sikh force of 8000 men and 70 guns, crossed the Sutlej a few miles from Ludhiána. Some have thought that his object was to intercept the siege train coming from Delhi; others, that he hoped to divide the British army. Sir Harry Smith with an ample force (the troops from Meerut having now come up) was despatched to the relief of Ludhiána. He soon discovered that Ranjúr Singh had broken up his camp on the river and marched to Badhowál, a village which rested on the Ludhiána road directly between that city and the relieving force. There were three roads leading to Ludhiána, within two, three, and five miles respectively