1 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS. 303
2 been called a Comedy of Errors, and the greatest
3 commander is he who commits fewest.
4 According to the documents laid before Parlia- The great zeal
5 ment, Major Broadfoot appears to have been most Broadioot,
6 zealous throughout, and endeavoured by every
7 means in his power to gain correct information.
8 It is now clear, that from his communication to.-
9 the Commander-in-chief, on the 20th November,
10 his Excellency was led to adopt the arrangements
11 he did. Neither Major Broadfoot nor the Go-
12 vernor-general could have said with certainty that
13 the Sikhs would advance to and cross the Sutlej ;
14 but the public duty of the former was fulfilled,
15 when he gave such information as induced the
16 Commander-in-chief to make preparations. We
17 are glad, before closing our labours on the present
18 occasion, to have the opportunity of placing Major
19 Broadfoot’s exertions in their true light; and
20 equally so, at finding this gallant and deserving
21 otticer bearing ample testimony to the intelligence
22 and zeal of the late Captain Nicholson.
23 In the beginning of 1845, Major Broadfoot esti- Erroneous
24 mated the Sikh force at 16,000 men: this must eee
25 have been an error, for at no time had the Sikh inv ine porte
26 fantry fallen below 30,000 men, since the days of “***
27 Runjeet Singh. That the army was scattered, may
28 perhaps, have been true, but the force at all times
29 available in the Punjab could not have been less
30 than 30,000 men. In the beginning of 1843, when
31 the Sikhs threatened to cross the Sutlej, their force