The battle of Moodkee was, as we have said, a short affair. The Sikhs headed by Lall Singh, opened with a heavy cannonade, but were answered by a brisk fire from the English; the enemy's rear was then attacked by a brilliant cavalry movement which routed him; and night put a stop to the carnage. The Sikhs were defeated with a loss of 17 guns. That of the British was very great; they had 215 killed, and 657 wounded. Among the killed were Sir Robert Sale and Sir John McCaskill. It is doubtful whether the addition of the 9th Lancers would have been of service at the battle of Moodkee, because there was no extended field for cavalry movements: at Ferozeshah, however, they would have been of eminent use, for on the the second day (December 22nd,) Tej Singh advanced with a large force of horse artillery; and I have heard it deeply regretted by officers present in this action, that we were not at hand to complete the rout of the brave Sikhs. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: See Appendix I.] [Footnote 2: See Appendix, II.] [Footnote 3: The Commander-in-Chief is always so styled; the Governor-General never.] CHAPTER II. Colonel Campbell's Advance--Provisions required--Camp Followers--Samana--The Doabs--Gooroo Govind--The Akalees, their quoits--Sikhs attack Ahmed Shah--Maha Singh--Maharattas--General Thomas--Runjeet Singh--Holcar--Sir Charles Metcalfe--Ochterlony's Proclamation--The Akalees routed--Generals Allard and Ventura--Treaty with Runjeet--Runjeet's Army--Runjeet's Death--Shere Singh Murdered--Dhuleep Singh--Ajean Khan--Battle of Moodkee. IN the meanwhile the force under Colonel Campbell was rapidly advancing to the scene of action. It was as we have stated, nearly 3,000 strong, and attended by about 10,000 or 11,000 camp followers, so that we were in all 13,000 or 14,000 assembled in camp, besides numerous elephants, camels, bullocks, horses, ponies, &c. I will here remark for what purposes camp followers are allowed. Every officer, according to his rank, will have from ten to twenty or twenty-five servants; the Bengal officers and others have more than those of Madras and Bombay; but the latter servants cost as much as the Bengalese. If a polki (or palanquin) be kept, then six bearers well be required; for every horse two servants, namely a groom and a grass-cutter;[4] for every elephant, two; for camels, one to every three is the usual number; for every two bullocks, one servant is allowed. Besides these there is a host of tent pitchers, store Lascars, etc.