“The battle was over by eleven in the morning, and in the forenoon I caused our engineers to burn a part and to sink a part of the vaunted bridge of the Khalsa army, across which they had boastfully come once more to defy us, and to threaten India with ruin and devastation. “The consequences of this great action have yet to be fully developed. It has at least, in God’s providence, once more expelled the Sikhs from our territory, and planted our standards on the soil of the Punjaub. After occupying their intrenched position for nearly a month, the Khalsa army had perhaps mistaken the _caution_ which had induced us to wait for the necessary materiel, for _timidity_; but they must now deeply feel that the blow, which has fallen on them from the British arm, has only been the heavier for being long delayed.” Lieut.-Colonel Spence, Captain Garvock (Major of Brigade), and Captain Lugard (Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General) of the THIRTY-FIRST, were specially mentioned in the above despatch. At the close of a despatch dated Camp, Lahore, 22nd of February, 1846, the Governor-General added the following:-- “The soldiers of the army of the Sutlej have not only proved their superior prowess in battle, but have on every occasion, with subordination and patience, endured the fatigues and privations inseparable from a state of active operations in the field. “The Governor-General has repeatedly expressed on his own part, and on that of the Government of India, admiration and gratitude for the important services which the army has rendered. “The Governor-General is now pleased to resolve, as a testimony of the approbation of the Government of India of the bravery, discipline, and soldierlike bearing of the army of the Sutlej, that all the generals, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, shall receive a gratuity of twelve months’ batta.” In writing the history of the part borne by a regiment in the brilliant victories of this glorious campaign, there are many traits of individual heroism which should not pass unrecorded. The modesty of true valour prevents officers, who have had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves, from announcing their own deeds, but the historian, who impartially records the service of a corps, can have no such scruples. No hesitation is therefore felt in giving a place in the records of the service of this distinguished corps to the following extract from the Calcutta Star, an Indian newspaper, which described the recent battles of the Sutlej:--