1 Kindness of
2 the Governor-
3 general to the
4 wounded,
5 Kindness of
6 the Com-
7 mander-in-
8 chief.
9 122 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS,
10 call) for their comparatively snug condition on the
11 23rd and 24th, and it was a gratifying sight to the
12 Governor-general when he visited them to find so
13 much comfort where he anticipated so little. He
14 generously gave strict orders, that every thing re-
15 quired should be supplied ; and without the usual
16 formality of an indent. Sir Henry Hardinge visited
17 all the wounded men and officers, and had a cheer-
18 ful word for all. If a poor man had lost an arm,
19 the Governor-general consoled him by pointing to
20 his own sleeve, and assuring him he would soon be
21 all right. The men were delighted at the urbanity
22 and kindness shown towards them by the Governor-
23 general of India, and for a time forgot their own
24 sufferings in the admiration which his kindness eli-
25 cited. Nothing is at any time more gratifying to the
26 wounded than attention from the humblest indivi-
27 dual, but when the Governor-general thus deigned to
28 comfort and address them, their hearts were filled
29 with sentiments of gratitude and esteem. The Com-
30 mander-in-chief, whose arduous military duties did
31 not allow him to visit the wounded at Feerozpore
32 for some days later, did every thing in his power to
33 cheer the men ; he praised their undaunted bravery
34 in one of the hardest battles ever fought in India,
35 and though the casualties in killed and wounded
36 had been heavy, he was grateful that Providence
37 had enabled him to conquer a proud and fierce foe,
38 and thus sustain the honour and courage of the
39 British soldier. He spoke to all and listened to all,
40 their every want and every wish found in him a