Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/124

120 were again present in the field. As true soldiers, they were not satisfied with being distant spectators, but were continually under fire.

And here I would remark that, as the truth was not concealed in the earlier part of this narrative with regard to the Native troops firing into the air at Múdkí, so should the facts be now told concerning their conduct in the closing action of the campaign. I can personally vouch for the opinion then expressed by the Governor-General, and repeated on many subsequent occasions. He was more than surprised at seeing with his own eyes the steady support the Native regiments afforded their European comrades. The advance of Gilbert's and Dick's Divisions was perfect; and if for a moment there was wavering, it was shared equally by the Queen's regiments. It was, however, momentary, and both forces carried the works at the point of the bayonet. The Ghúrka battalions behaved admirably, and the returns in the Native regiments prove by the losses recorded how well they fought.

Let me now give one or two extracts from the Governor-General's correspondence, dated from Simla in the following April: — 'I should have preferred more troops in support of the attacking force, as explained in my previous letter, because the assistance, whenever it might require to be given, would have been given by the rear taking the enemy in reverse; whereas by having it in front of his batteries, when the attacking force required support, we could only give