The commanders of the Sikh armies in the field rarely took the initiative in battle, preferring to occupy a fortified position and wait for the British and Bengalis to attack. Pennycuick's brigade eventually became completely disorganised and had to make its way back to the start line in small parties. In late November, Gough attacked Sher Singh's bridgehead at Ramnagar but was repulsed, raising Sikh morale. The next day, he attacked Sher Singh's bridgehead on the left bank of the Chenab at Ramnagar but was repulsed, raising Sikh morale. His artillery numbered 66 guns, from the Royal Artillery and the Bengal Horse Artillery.
[5] The battle was a strategic check to immediate British ambitions in India and a shock to British military prestige.[6]. Account of the Battle of Chillianwallah: Commanders at the Battle of Chillianwallah: Major General Sir Hugh Gough against the Sikh general, Shere Singh. After an hour of bombardment, the infantry was ordered forward to attack. 6th Bengal Light Cavalry.
At this point, Gough intended to march round to the north of the Sikh position and attack its left flank on the following day, but from the vantage point of a mound near Chillianwala, it was apparent that the Sikhs had advanced from their original positions along ridges close to the Jhelum.
The two British regiments did the same, all attempts by the officers to halt their soldiers being to no avail. Chillianwallah was an iconic battle for the British cavalry for widely differing reasons.
* They then attacked Gilbert's right-hand infantry brigade, commanded by Brigadier Godby, from the rear, halting Gilbert's advance. His dog, Albert, remained with his master’s body for two days, until it was buried. Such a mass of men I never set eyes on and a plucky as lions: they ran right on the bayonets and struck their assailants when they were transfixed.[15]. HM 24th Foot, later the South Wales Borderers and now the Royal Welsh Regiment. While Gilbert's two brigades had at first successfully driven the Sikhs before them, capturing or spiking several guns, on their right flank, Brigadier Pope (who was almost an invalid) first ordered an ineffective cavalry charge through thorn scrub which threw his brigade into confusion, and then panicked and ordered a retreat. Many of the abandoned wounded were killed during the night by roving Sikh irregulars.
A Bombay brigade under Brigadier Dundas joined General Gough’s army for the final battle of the Second Sikh War at Goojerat, where the two regiments of Scinde Horse, Bombay Irregular Cavalry, particularly distinguished themselves.
Inscription ‘To the Army of the Punjab.’ In exergue ‘MDCCCXLIX.’ Sikh guns pulled by elephants: Battle of Chillianwallah on 13th January 1849 during the Second Sikh War. This page was last edited on 3 March 2008, at 15:37. The East India Company sent several forces of locally raised troops to help quell the revolt. The Sikhs of the Punjab looked to the sequence of Gurus for their spiritual inspiration, and had established their independence, fiercely resisting the Moghul Kings in Delhi and the Muslims of Afghanistan.
*
Gough drew up his infantry in two divisions of two brigades each: from the left; Campbell’s division of Hoggan’s and Pennycuick’s brigades, then Gilbert’s division of Mountain’s and Godby’s brigades. HM 61st Foot charged the body of cavalry and drove them away, while the Sikh infantry repulsed the 36th BNI on their right. The Government decided that Gough was to be replaced as commander-in-chief by the elderly veteran Lord Napier, but the war ended with the successful Battle of Goojerat before Napier reached India.
The fall of the city of Multan to its British and Bombay Presidency besiegers released General Whish’s division to re-join the Army of the Punjab, but Dalhousie and Gough took the view that they could not wait for its arrival.
6th Bengal Native Infantry. 2nd Brigade: Brigadier Hoggan; HM 61st Foot, 6th, 36th and 46th BNI. The Sikhs had been driven from many of their positions with heavy casualties, but were still fighting strongly. Both sides claimed a victory. At noon, they drove a Sikh outpost out of the village of Chillianwala. * The Sikhs charged the BLC squadrons which turned about and made off.
The Bengal and Bombay light cavalry regiments wore pale blue uniforms.
* The fall of Attock nevertheless allowed Chattar Singh's army to leave Hazara and move south. * The Army of the Punjab halted at the village of Chillianwallah and prepared to pitch camp, while Gough carried out a reconnaissance. * These regiments have or had Chillianwallah as a battle honour. The battle was not won by either side, although it is said that the Sikh missed an opportunity to defeat the British outright. One of the casualties in White’s cavalry brigade was the Subedar-Major of the 8. Penny’s brigade provided the infantry reserve.
History of British Cavalry by the Marquis of Anglesey. 5th Bengal Light Cavalry. Finding the missing 24th Regiment’s colour after the Battle of Chillianwallah on 13th January 1849 during the Second Sikh War. British and Indian Regiments at the Battle of Chillianwallah:
20th Bengal Native Infantry. Hoggan's troops eventually met the left-hand brigade of Gilbert's division, commanded by Brigadier Mountain, behind the Sikhs' centre positions. The Queen's colours were lost,[11] although the Sikhs never claimed to have captured them and they were either destroyed or conceivably buried with the officer who had carried them.
Many of the more senior British officers had cut their military teeth in the Peninsular War, and at the Battle of Waterloo: Gough, Hardinge, Havelock of the 14th Light Dragoons, Cureton, Dick, Thackwell and others.
Each of the three presidencies, in addition to their native regiments, possessed European infantry, of which the 1st Bengal (European) Infantry, 2nd Bengal (European) Light Infantry and 1st Bombay (European) Fusiliers took part in the Sikh Wars. HM regiments of foot wore red coats and blue trousers with shakos and white covers. Early in January 1849, news came that the British had recaptured the city of Multan (although Mulraj still defended the citadel), but also that the Muslim garrison of Attock had defected to Amir Dost Mohammad Khan of Afghanistan, who was half-heartedly supporting Chattar Singh.
Many of the younger men would go on to fight in the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny. The Left Division was commanded by Sir Colin Campbell. 31st Bengal Native Infantry in1861 became the 2nd Bengal Light Infantry, in 1903 2nd (Queen’s Own) Rajput Light Infantry, in 1922 1st (Queen Victoria’s Own) Light Infantry Bn. Battle of Chillianwallah on 13th January 1849 during the Second Sikh War, The previous battle in the Second Sikh War is the Battle of Ramnagar, The next battle in the Second Sikh War is the Battle of Goojerat. On Gough's right however, his troops had met with disaster. *
The battle ended with darkness. * In Campbell’s division on the left, Hoggan’s brigade pushed into the Sikh infantry line and drove it back. Map of the Battle of Chillianwallah on 13th January 1849 during the Second Sikh War: map by John Fawkes. Gough’s tactics were heavily criticised, even in the Indian press in letters written by his own officers. the Brigade of the Guards of the Indian Army. Combatants at the Battle of Chillianwallah: British troops and Indian troops of the Bengal Presidency against Sikhs of the Khalsa, the army of the Punjab. Pennycuick’s brigade drifted away to the right, struggling to keep order in the dense scrub. *
Pennycuick himself was killed.
45th Bengal Native Infantry.
-Dark blue with two thin yellow stripes, 1 ¼ inch wide.
On 1 December, a cavalry division under Major General Joseph Thackwell crossed the Chenab upstream from Ramnagar. They advanced very rapidly, but lost cohesion and also lost touch with the rest of the brigade in the thick scrub. Other than opposition to the British, Mulraj and Sher Singh had no aims in common. There was also a cavalry division of two cavalry brigades, of British and Indian cavalry regiments, and a brigade of Bengal Native troops in reserve. It is reported that Gough was particularly enraged when several Sikh cannon rounds came the way of his staff. A monument was erected in memory of the losses sustained by both armies, Both armies held their positions at the end of the battle and Sher Singh withdrew to the north. The Second Anglo-Sikh war broke out in the Punjab, which had recently lost much of its independence to the British East India Company following the First Anglo-Sikh War, in April 1848, when the city of Multan rebelled under Dewan Mulraj. As the fighting began, the dust clouds intermingled with dense volumes of musket and cannon smoke. Sikh guns captured at the Battle of Chillianwallah on 13th January 1849 during the Second Sikh War and now in Chelsea Hospital in London.
Because the jungle made it difficult to coordinate his two brigades, Campbell ordered the commander of his right-hand brigade, Brigadier Pennycuick, and its British regiment, the 24th Foot, to attack with bayonets, but then assumed command of his left-hand brigade. Battle of Chillianwallah The battle of the Second Sikh War fought on 13th January 1849, notorious in early Victorian Britain and India for the conduct of Brigadier Pope’s brigade of light cavalry Battle of Chillianwallah on 13th January 1849 during the Second Sikh War The previous battle in the Second Sikh War is the Battle of Ramnagar
Casualties at the Battle of Chillianwallah: Gough ordered the advance to commence at about 3:00 pm.