1 206 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 the 'Gate of Dignity' to the tent of the general.
3 Mounted on a well-bred Arab splendidly caparisoned,
4 and himself radiant in enamelled armour and gilded
5 silks, he illustrated Eastern fatalism, submissive to
6 destiny, but never dejected." 1
7 On the morning of February 12 the entrench-
8 ments at Rassiil were found to be empty. During
9 the previous night, the Sikhs had evacuated their
10 position, and passing round the flank of the
11 British army had moved off" eastwards, with the
12 apparent intention of crossing the Chenab and
13 marching on Lahore. By this time General Whish,
14 who had set out from Multan on December 27, had
15 reached Ramnaggar; and, being apprised of Sher
16 Singh's movements, he dispatched a brigade under
17 Colonel Byrne to Wazirabad to prevent the enemy
18 from crossing the river. Byrne was only just in time
19 to accomplish this. On the morning after his arrival
20 at Wazirabad the Sikhs appeared on the right bank,
21 but finding the fords guarded they withdrew to
22 Gujrat. Thither they were followed by the main
23 army under Lord Gough, which, uniting with Whish's
24 division, advanced on the morning of the 21st to
25 give battle to the Sikh host.
26 There was nothing indecisive about the battle
27 of Gujrat. Reinforced by Chattar Singh and 1,500
28 Afghans under the son of Dost Muhammad, Sher
29 Singh was now at the head of 40,000 men with 60
30 guns. Lord Gough's force numbered only 25,000,
31 but for the first time since the commencement of the
32 1 Dalhousie's Administration of British India, by Edwin Arnold,
33 vol. i. p. 159.