On January 10 Lord Gough received orders from the Governor-General to attack the Sikhs. Up to this date it had been the intention of the Commander-in-Chief to await the arrival of General Whish's division from Multan, the fall of which was daily expected. On January 13 Gough found the enemy in a strongly entrenched position at Chillianwallah, and attacked them in his usual formation, with his cavalry on the flanks, the advance being preceded by a heavy artillery fire. The Sikhs far outnumbered our forces, and their front, it is said, extended to a distance of no less than six miles, so that a turning movement with the small numbers at his disposal would have exposed Lord Gough to the piercing of his line by a counter-attack. The ground was much broken and covered with thick jungle, which rendered it exceedingly difficult for any General to exercise efficient control over even one brigade. Some confusion was the inevitable result, for it must be borne in mind that the only means of communication then known was by mounted orderlies, and I am afraid it must be admitted that this was not one of the Bengal sepoys' fighting-days. The Sikhs had abandoned their stereotyped plan, and had advanced from their entrenched position, and literally forced the hand of the Commander-in-Chief. They relied on the nature of the ground to hide their dispositions, and in this they were to a certain extent successful. The result of the day was by no means satisfactory. Our losses were abnormally heavy, amounting to 2,338 officers and men killed and wounded. The Sikhs, it is true, were driven from their position and fell back during the night, but they retired unmolested and carried off all their artillery. The Commander-in-Chief was subjected to a great amount of harsh criticism for his conduct of the operations--criticism based on but a very partial knowledge of the real facts--and in deference to public opinion, too often the offspring of the fertile brains of armchair critics, Sir Charles Napier, the conqueror of Scinde, was sent out to India to relieve the brave Gough. It is but fair to state that the Commander-in-Chief had never lost the love or confidence of the officers and men under him, and the stars fought for the genial Irishman. Multan fell; Whish, with his own and the Bombay division, joined headquarters, and before the new Chief arrived Gough had inflicted a crushing defeat on the Sikhs at Goojerat, and the Punjab had passed into our hands for ever. CASUALTIES AT THE BATTLE OF CHILLIANWALLAH, JANUARY 13, 1849.