Historical Record of the Thirty-first, or, the Huntingdonshire Regiment of Foot;: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1850Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Thirty-first, or, the Huntingdonshire Regiment of Foot;: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1850
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 31st
The army of the Sikhs, at the commencement of this unprovoked
aggression, is ascertained to have amounted to 60,000 men, and
their artillery to 108 pieces of cannon, some of them being of
large calibre.
The Anglo-Indian forces, which had been hastily collected to
contend against this immense army, amounted only to about 20,000
men, a great proportion of which had marched one hundred and sixty
miles, in order to arrive at the seat of war.
Under the most serious disadvantages, fatigues, and privations,
the British troops, with the aid of their faithful allies, the
Native corps, nobly contended with their Sikh adversaries, “who, in
spite of their exceeding numbers and advantageous positions, were
vanquished in every battle.”
In expressing admiration of the heroic conduct of the British
troops in this short but decisive war, it is the duty of the nation
to acknowledge, with gratitude, the wonderful interference of a
Supreme Power, by whose all-wise decree the army of the Sikhs was
destroyed and dispersed; and, notwithstanding its numbers, received
a complete and signal overthrow, as a just but severe punishment
for its faithless conduct and daring violation of every honorable
and religious feeling.
When it is considered that with a disparity of force of three to
one, independent of artillery, the Sikh army was discomfited, and
the enemy was driven back to his capital to seek for safety and
peace, the British Nation must be sensible that an over-ruling
Power aided their cause, and gave strength where numbers were
deficient; and that another signal instance of Divine favour and
protection has been added to the numerous claims which demand the
nation’s humble acknowledgment and gratitude.
The campaign on the Sutlej having terminated by the destruction
of the Sikh army and the capture of the city of Lahore, a treaty
of peace was entered into. The Sikh government requested that a
force of 10,000 British troops might be left at their capital for
the protection of the city and the maintenance of good order: this
being complied with, arrangements were made for the return of the
British army to the territories of the East India Company.
The glorious news of the Battle of Sobraon was received in London
on the 1st of April, and was announced to the British public by a
royal salute from the guns of the Tower and in St. James’s Park;
and the royal standard was displayed at Buckingham Palace and at
the Tower of London. The greatest sensation pervaded all ranks of
society: no military event, with the exception of the Battle of
Waterloo, excited such wonder and surprise, mingled with joy, that
the cloud, which had hung over the fate of the British Empire in
India, was completely dissipated by this last splendid and decisive
victory, which effected the final overthrow of the power of the
Sikhs, the destruction of their army, and the capture of their
artillery, on the sanguinary field of _Sobraon_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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