BEFORE DELHI. 243 



he " determined to draw them out into the open 

 country behind our position, and endeavour to 

 bring on a fight there." 



This perilous manoeuvre, on which Hodson may 

 be said to have staked his fame as a great military 

 leader, was carried out with brilliant success. It 

 was a manoeuvre which would have tasked the 

 steadiness of tried veterans, and two-thirds of his 

 men were little better than raw recruits. But Hod- 

 son knew that his untrained sowars could be trusted 

 to go wherever the Guides and his English officers 

 might point the way. 



"Everything," he says in his despatch, "turned 

 out as I had anticipated. My men withdrew slowly 

 and deliberately by alternate troops (the troop 

 nearest the enemy by alternate ranks) along the 

 line of the Bohar road, by wdiich we had reached 

 Eohtak, our left extending towards the main road 

 to Delhi. The Jhind horsemen protected our right, 

 and a troop of my own regiment the left. The 

 enemy moved out the instant we withdrew, follow- 

 ing us in great numbers, yelling and shouting and 

 keeping up a heavy fire of matchlocks. 



" Their horsemen were principally on their right, 

 and a party galloping up the main road threatened 

 our left flank. I continued to retire until we got 

 into open and comparatively dry ground, and then 

 turned and charged the mass who had come to 

 within from 150 to 200 yards of us. 



"The Guides, who were nearest to them, were 

 upon them in an instant, closely followed by, and 

 soon intermixed with, my own men. 



"The enemy stood for a few seconds, turned, and 

 then were driven back in utter confusion to the 



