Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/96

92 arrangements. About 3 p.m. we were formed opposite the entrenched camp, and, I think, on the weakest side, being considerably to the left of his defences raised to oppose an attack from the Múdkí road. It was scarcely possible to adopt any other alternative than to fight the battle that afternoon. Our forces were as strong as they ever would be in twenty-four hours. The men were not tired. There were three hours of daylight. No water was to be procured for so large a force within a moderate distance. If we had delayed till the next morning, our wounded might have been sacrificed at Múdkí during the night, and the town of Firozpur destroyed by Tej Singh's force in the neighbourhood. The troops were ready, and the moral effect of fighting at once prevented Tej Singh from coming up. I entirely approved of the battle being fought that evening.'

The crisis had at last arrived. The brigades were deployed into line, and advanced as steadily as the low tree jungle permitted. When they emerged on more open ground, the Sikh batteries could easily be discerned. The following letter from the pen of the Governor-General deals so graphically with what took place on that eventful evening, that it should be given in extenso. It is addressed to the President of the Council in Calcutta, and is dated January 5th, 1846: —

'The ground was intersected with low trees and bushes, affording cover to the timid to skulk behind, and rendering the advance in line very difficult; and when we did open into the plain, the fire