ear upon the British. The
fire of these guns was very destructive. When the Governor-general
found this, mounting his horse, he called to the 80th Regiment, which
was at the head of the column, "My lads, we shall have no sleep until we
take those guns." The regiment deployed immediately, and advancing,
supported by the 1st Bengal Europeans, drove a large body of Sikhs from
three guns, which they captured and spiked, and then retiring, took up
its position again at the head of the column, as steadily as if on
parade. "Plucky dogs!" exclaimed the Governor-General; "we cannot fail
to win with such men as these." His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel R.
Blucher Wood, was severely wounded in the attack. For the rest of the
night the column was unmolested, but its position was one of great
danger,--150 yards only from an overpowering foe, while neither the
Governor-General nor Sir Hugh Gough could tell in what direction Sir
John Littler and Sir Harry Smith were to be found. It was suspected,
also, that the Sikh army had been greatly reinforced by Tej Singh. The
two generals therefore agreed to hold their ground, and at earliest dawn
to attack the enemy, taking their batteries in reverse, and to beat
them, or to die honourably on the field. The whole of Sir Henry
Hardinge's personal staff had been disabled, except his son, Captain A.
Hardinge, who had his horse killed under him.

Of that memorable night he himself has given us a most graphic
description:--"It was the most extraordinary of my life. I bivouacked
with the men, without food or clothing, and our nights are bitterly
cold. A burning camp in front--our brave fellows lying down under a
heavy cannonade, which continued during the whole night, mingled with
the wild cries of the Sikhs, our English hurrah, the tramp of men, and
the groans of the dying. In this state, with a handful of men who had
carried the batteries the night before, I remained till morning, taking
very short intervals of rest, by lying down with various regiments in
succession, to ascertain their tempers and revive their spirits. I
found myself again with my old friends of the 29th, 31st, 50th, and 9th,
and all in good heart. My answer to all and every man was, that we must
fight it out, attack the enemy vigorously at daybreak, beat him, or die
honourably on the field.

"The gallant old General, kind-hearted and heroically brave, entirely
coincided with me. During the night I occasionally