A The Commander-in-Chief to the Agent to the Governor-General. Sir, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt, this moment, of your letters of this date, conveying to me intelligence of the hostile attitude which has been assumed by the Lahore Durbar. Under the circumstances, I have ordered the following preparations to be entered upon immediately, to meet whatever may take place: Her Majesty's 9th lancers to move at once from Meerut to Umballa. To be held in readiness to move from Meerut to Kurnal on the shortest notice; two troops of horse artillery, her Majesty's 16th lancers, the 3rd regiment of light cavalry, her Majesty's 10th foot, save one company, the corps of sappers and miners, all, save one, of the regiments of native infantry. The 8th regiment of irregular cavalry will likewise be held prepared to move from Hansee to Kurnal, and the Simoor batallion from Deyrah to Saharumpore, where it will be centrically situated, and ready to be moved wherever it may be most required; the 4th regiment of irregular cavalry will be brought up from Bareilly to Meerut. I beg that you will instruct the civil authorities at Simla to place themselves in communication with the officers commanding European corps in those hills, and ascertain from them what number of coolies will be required to enable the regiments to move, in order that they may be collected at once, Supplies for the corps in the hills will be required to be laid in on the roads leading thence to Sirhind. I shall direct the other corps of all arms in this division to draw their carriage into cantonments, in view to the troops being prepared to act on the shortest notice. Previous to adopting any further measures at present, I would await a communication of the views of the Governor-General.-I have, &c. (Signed) H. GOUGH. The Agent to the Governor-General to the Secretary to Government. Umballa, 21st November, 1845. The Durbar of the forenoon of the 18th was protracted till 2 o'clock, but I have not the details of the afternoon Durbar. Eleven A. M. was the hour found by the astrologers as auspicious for the march of the troops; not a chief stirred from his house. The officers and punchayets of the troops, regular and irregular, to the number of a couple of thousand, crowded to the Durbar and demanded the reason; the Ranee tried to soothe them, saying, that the fortunate hour being passed, the march could not be undertaken till the astrologers found another. The crowd demanded that this should be instantly done, and the court astrologer was ordered into their presence to find the proper time. He pored through his tables for two or three hours, while the Ranee sought to divert the attention of the military mob; at length he announced that the most favourable day was not till the 15th Mujsur (28th November). The military were furious, and declared that he was an impostor, and that they had to get from him two crores of rupees which he had made from the public money; the pundit implored mercy, and said the 7th Mujsur (20th) was also a good day; the military were still angry, and the poor pundit left amidst their menaces. They proposed that the Ranee and her son should march, and intimated that till they made an example of some chief no march would take place. The Ranee complained that whilst the troops were urging the march, they were still going home to their villages as fast as they got their pay; and Surdar Sham Singh Attareewallah declared his belief that unless something was done to stop this, he would find himself on his way to Ferozepore with empty tents. The bait of money to be paid, and to accompany them was also offerred, and at length the Durbar broke up at two P.M. Great consultations took place in the afternoon, but I know only one result, that the Ranee had to give to her lover his formal dismissal, and that he (Rajah Lal Singh) actually went into the camp of the Sawars he is to command, and pitched his tent. What the Ranee says is quite true of the sepoys dispersing to their houses; the whole affair has so suddenly reached its present height, that many of the men themselves think it will come to nothing, and still more who had taken their departure do not believe it serious enough to go back. On the day after this scene took place, i. e., the 19th, the usual stream of sepoys, natives of the protected states, who had got their pay, poured across the Sutlej, at Hurreekee, on the way to their homes. Every preparation, however, for war is making with probably more energy than if it had been a long-planned scheme, for every person of whatever party must show his sincerity by activity and virulent professions of hatred to the English. The Governor-General to the Secret Committee. Camp, Umballa, Dec. 4, 1845. Major Broadfoot having reported to me that the Lahore Vakeel had joined the camp from Loodiana, I directed Major Broadfoot to see him and to require from him the reply to his perwanah, remonstrating against the proceedings which had taken place at the time it was written, and demanding the cause thereof. The Vakeel waited upon Major Broadfoot, and in reply to his requisition asserted, that he had received no reply from the Durbar; that he had sent the communication immediately to Lahore, had received merely an acknowledgment of its safe arrival, and that he had repeatedly sent urging that a reply should be forwarded to him, but hitherto without success; but he asserted that he fully expected the reply by that evening's post. Major Broadfoot explicitly informed the Vakeel, as previously instructed by me, that the Governor-General would not permit the Lahore Government to trifle with him in a matter of such serious importance; that positive information had been received of the Lahore army having left the capital towards the frontier, avowedly with hostile intentions towards the British Government, to which course they had been instigated by the express and repeated orders of the Ranee and the chiefs, and that the Governor-General expected to receive, without further delay, an answer to the political agent's written remonstrance. Major Broadfoot then said, that he should report to the Governor-General the result of his interview with the Vakeel, and communicate in writing the orders he might receive. The Vakeel said very little at this interview; he protested that he had done all in his power to procure a reply to the perwannah; and on Major Broadfoot's saying that we knew positively that the Ranee and chiefs had ordered the present movement, he said he had no such knowledge. When Major Broadfoot reported to me, in the evening, the result of this interview, I immediately directed him to address to the Vakeel the written communication, a copy of which is inclosed. I considered that it was absolutely necessary on my arrival at Umballa, to take decided notice of the extraordinary proceedings that had taken place, and were stated to be still in progress. It was evident I could not permit the political agent's communications, in the face of what was going on at Lahore, to be treated with disregard. I took the mildest course in my power, consistently with the dignity, position, and interests of the British Government. I purposely left an opening to the Lahore Government to remedy, through the Vakeel, the discourtesy it had shown, by affording to that Government the facility of making any explanation it might desire. The plain construction to be put on the silence of the Lahore Government in the reply to the demand for explanation, evidently was, that the intentions of that Government were hostile, in which I did not deem it expedient to give to that Government the leisure to complete their hostile preparations; whilst, on my part, I had abstained from making any movement, expressly for the purpose of avoiding any jealousy or alarm; thus affording to the Maharaja's Government the strongest proof of the good faith and forbearance of the British Government. Major Broadfoot entertains the impression that the reply to his demands had been sent to the Vakeel, and had either been returned by him, with a protest (as is, I understand, often done), or was, at the moment of the conference in his possession, but was withheld because the Vakeel was reluctant to deliver so unfriendly a docu ment. However that may be, the perwannah from Major Broadfoot of the evening of the 2nd December was received by the Vakeel the same night, and with the reception of an acknowledgment of its receipt, no further communication has passed between him and Major Broadfoot. The Vakeel is not now in the camp. I am satisfied that the course I have adopted was imperatively required, and before I authorize any precautionary movements to be made, I shall give full time for a reply to be received from Lahore. This morning, news up to the 1st inst. has been received. The Ranee and Sirdars are becoming more and more urgent that the army should advance to the frontier, believing that, in the present posture of affairs, the only hope of saving their lives and prolonging their power is to be found in bringing about collision with the British forces. The Sikh army moves with evident reluctance, and is calling for Golab Sing, who is collecting forces at Jumboo, and is watching the progress of events. My own impression remains unaltered. I do not expect that the troops will come as far as the banks of the Sutlej, or that any positive act of aggression will be committed; but it is evident that the Ranee and chiefs are, for their own preservation, endeavouring to raise a storm, which, when raised, they will be powerless either to direct or allay. I shall, as I have before said, await the reply from Lahore to Major Broadfoot's last communication to the Vakeel. If the reply from the ostensible Government, acting under the control and at the dictation of the army, is hostile, I shall at once order up troops from Meerut and other stations to the support of our advanced positions, persevering up to the last moment in the sincere desire to avoid hostilities. |