26 MAJOR W. HODSON. 



time the bait took. On December 11a great Sikh 

 army, well equijDped with guns, began crossing the 

 Satlaj not far from Ferozepore. 



On December 15 the 2nd Grenadiers joined the 

 main army which Gough was leading from Umbala, 

 by forced marches towards the Satlaj. " On the 

 17th," writes Hodson to his father, "we had a 

 march of thirty miles, in the daytime too, with 

 scanty food. On the 18th, after a fasting march 

 of twenty-five miles, we were summoned, at half- 

 past four in the afternoon, to battle, which lasted 

 till long after dark." This was the battle of Mudki, 

 the first of those fights which taught us to respect 

 the prowess of our Sikh foes, and to admire the 

 stubborn courage with which they fought their 

 guns. Hodson's regiment formed part of Gilbert's 

 division. " Almost the first shot which greeted 

 our regiment " (continues Hodson), " killed the 

 man standing by my side, and instantly after- 

 wards I was staggered by a ball from a frightened 

 sepoy behind me grazing my cheek and blackening 

 my face with the powder, so close was it to my 

 head ! We were within twenty, and at times ten, 

 yards of three guns blazing grape into us ; and, 

 worse than all, the bushes with which the whole 

 ground was covered were filled wdth marksmen, 

 who, unseen by us, could pick us ofi" at pleasure. 

 No eff'orts could bring the sepoys forward, or half 

 the loss might have been spared had they rushed 

 on with the bayonet. We had three officers 

 wounded out of our small party, and lost many 

 of the men. We were bivouacked on the cold 

 ground that night, and remained under arms the 

 whole of the following day." 



