THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 29 



army of the Satlaj — formed up their shattered 

 troops for the work that still lay before them. 

 In the teeth of a brisk cannonade they drove 

 the enemy out of the village of Firozshah, and 

 before noon were masters of the whole intrenched 

 camp. But their trials were not yet over, for 

 presently Tej Singh was seen in the distance 

 leading an army, reckoned at 20,000 men and 

 sixty guns. Our fainting troops nerved them- 

 selves for one supreme effort, and the cavalry 

 were sent forward from both flanks. Our guns 

 were useless for want of ammunition. But the 

 Sikh leader, for reasons best known to himself, 

 declined the challenge, and speedily withdrew to- 

 wards the Satlaj. The victory was ours at last, 

 but dearly purchased with the loss of more than 

 2400 men, of whom nearly 700 died on the field. 



On the night of the 24th our weary troops 

 marched on to Sultanpur, about five miles from 

 the scene of that terrible carnage. Here, says 

 Hodson, "we got some food, and into our beds, 

 after four days and nights on the ground, alter- 

 nately tried with heat and cold, now most severe 

 at night, and nothing but an occasional mouthful 

 of black native bread. I think, during the four 

 days, all I had to eat would not compose half a 

 home breakfast-loaf, and for a day and night we 

 had not even water : when we did get water, after 

 driving the enemy from their camp, it was found 

 to have been spoilt with gunpowder ! It was like 

 eating Leamington water, but our thirst was too 

 great to stick at trifles." ^ 



^ In one of his letters to Mr Thomason he says : " I have unfortu- 

 nately been ill ever since we moved from the scene of the action of 



