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PROCLAMATION,

By the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India.
Foreign Department, Kussoor, February 14, 1846.

The Sikh army has been expelled from the left bank of the river Sutlej, having been defeated in every action with the loss of more than 220 pieces of field artillery.

The British army has crossed the Sutlej, and entered the Punjaub.

The Governor-General announces by this proclamation that this measure has been adopted by the Government of India, in accordance with the intentions expressed in the proclamation of the 13th of December last, as having been forced upon the Governor-General for the purpose of " effectually protecting the British provinces, for vindicating the authority of the British Government, and for punishing the violators of treaties and the disturbers of the public peace.'

These operations will be steadily persevered in and vigorously prosecuted, until the objects proposed to be accomplished are fully attained. The occupation of the Punjaub by the British forces will not be relinquished until ample atonement for the insult offered to the British Government by the infraction of the treaty of 1809, A.D., and by the unprovoked invasion of the British provinces, shall have been exacted. These objects will include full indemnity for all expenses incurred during the war, and such arrangements for the future Government of the Lahore territories as will give perfect security to the British Government against similar acts of perfidy and aggression.

Military operations against the Government and army of the Lahore State have not been undertaken by the Government of India from any desire of territorial aggrandizement. The GovernorGeneral, as already announced in the proclamation of the 13th of December, "sincerely desired to see a strong Sikh Government reestablished in the Punjaub, able to control its army and to protect its subjects." The sincerity of these professions is proved by the fact that no preparations for hostilities had been made when the Lahore Government suddenly, and without a pretext of complaint,

invaded the British territories. The unprovoked aggression has compelled the British Government to have recourse to arms, and to organize the means of offensive warfare, and whatever may now befal the Lahore State, the consequences can alone be attributed to the misconduct of that Government and its army.

No extension of territory was desired by the Government of India; the measure necessary for providing indemnity for the past and security for the future will, however, involve the retention by the British Government of a portion of the country hitherto under the government of the Lahore State. The extent of territory which it may be deemed advisable to hold will be determined by the conduct of the Durbar, and by considerations for the security of the British frontier. The Government of India will, under any circumstances, annex to the British provinces the districts, hill and plain, situated between the rivers Sutlej and Beas, the revenues thereof being appropriated as a part of the indemnity required from the Lahore State.

The Government of India has frequently declared that it did not desire to subvert the Sikh Government in the Punjaub; and although the conduct of the Durbar has been such as to justify the most severe and extreme measures of retribution (the infliction of which may yet be required by sound policy, if the recent acts of violence be not amply atoned for and immediate submission tendered), nevertheless the Governor-General is still willing that an opportunity should be given to the Durbar and to the chiefs to submit themselves to the authority of the British Government, and by a return to good faith, and the observance of prudent counsels, enable the Governor-General to organize a Sikh Government in the person of a descendant of its founder, the late Maharajah Runjeet Sing, the faithful ally of the British power.

The Governor-General, at this moment of a most complete and decisive victory, cannot give a stronger proof of the forbearance and moderation of the British Government than by making this declaration of his intentions, the terms and mode of the arrangement remaining for further adjustment.

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The Governor-General, therefore, calls upon all those chiefs who are the well-wishers of the descendants of Runjeet Singh, and especially such chiefs as have not participated in the hostile proceedings against the British power, to act in concert with him for carrying into effect such arrangements as shall maintain a Sikh Government at Lahore, capable of controlling its army and protecting its subjects, and based upon principles that shall provide for the future tranquillity of the Sikh states, shall secure the British frontier against a repetition of acts of aggression, and shall prove to the whole world the moderation and justice of the paramount power of India.

If this opportunity of rescuing the Sikh nation from military anarchy and misrule be neglected, and hostile opposition to the British army be renewed, the Government of India will make such other arrangements for the future government of the Punjaub as the interests and security of the British power may render just and expedient.

By order, &c.

(True Copy.)

(Signed) F. CURRIE,

Secretary to the Government of India, with the Governor-General.

W. EDWARDS,

Under Secretary to Government of India,

with Governor-General.

General Order by the Right Honourable the Governor-General of

India.

Camp, Kussoor, February 14, 1846. The Governor-General, having received from his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief the despatch annexed to this paper, announces to the Army and the People of India, for the fourth time during this campaign, a most important and memorable victory obtained by the Army of the Sutlej over the Sikh forces at Sobraon, on the 10th instant.

On that day the enemy's strongly entrenched camp, defended by 35,000 men, and sixty-seven pieces of artillery, exclusive of

heavy guns, on the opposite bank of the river, was stormed by the British army, under the immediate command of his Excellency Sir Hugh Gough, Bart., G.C.B., and in two hours the Sikh forces were driven into the river with immense loss, 67 guns being captured by the victors.

The Governor-General most cordially congratulates the Commander-in-Chief and the British army on this exploit, one of the most daring ever achieved, by which, in open day, a triple line of breastworks, flanked by formidable redoubts, bristling with artillery, manned by thirty-two regular regiments of infantry, was assaulted, and carried by forces under his Excellency's command.

This important operation was most judiciously preceded by a cannonade from the heavy howitzers and mortars, which had arrived from Delhi on the 8th instant, the same day on which the forces under Major-General Sir Harry Smith, which had been detached to Loodiana, and had gained the victory of Aliwal, rejoined the Commander-in-Chief's camp.

The vertical fire of the heavy ordnance had the effect intended by his Excellency; it shook the enemy's confidence in works so well and so laboriously constructed, and compelled them to seek shelter in the broken ground within their camp.

The British infantry, formed on the extreme left of the line, then advanced to the assault, and, in spite of every impediment, cleared the entrenchments, and entered the enemy's camp. Her Majestys 10th, 53rd, and 80th regiments, with the 33rd, 43rd, 59th, and 63rd Native Infantry, moving at a firm and steady pace, never fired a shot till they had passed the barriers opposed to them, a forbearance much to be commended and most worthy of constant imitation, to which may be attributed the success of their first effort, and the small loss they sustained. This attack was crowned with the success it deserved, and (led by its gallant commander, Major-General Sir Robert Dick) obtained the admiration of the army, which witnessed its disciplined valour; when checked by the formidable obstacles and superior numbers to which the attacking division was exposed, the 2nd division, under Major-General

Gilbert, afforded the most opportune assistance by rapidly advancing to the attack of the enemy's batteries, entering their fortified position after a severe struggle, and sweeping through the interior of camp. This division inflicted a very severe loss on the retreating enemy

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The same gallant efforts, attended by the same success, distinguished the attack of the enemy's left, made by the first division under the command of Major-General Sir H. Smith, K.C.B., in which the troops nobly sustained their former reputation.

These three divisions of infantry, concentrated within the enemy's camp, drove his shattered forces into the river, with a loss which far exceeded that which the most experienced officers had ever witnessed.

Thus terminated, in the brief space of two hours, this most remarkable conflict, in which the military combinations of the Commander-in-Chief were fully and ably carried into effect with his Excellency's characteristic energy. The enemy's select regiments of regular infantry have been dispersed, and a large proportion destroyed, with the loss, since the campaign began, of 220 pieces of artillery taken in action.

The same evening, six regiments of native infantry crossed the Sutlej; on the following day, the bridge of boats was nearly completed by that able and indefatigable officer, Major Abbott, of the engineers, and the army is this day encamped at Kussoor, thirtytwo miles from Lahore.

The Governor-General again most cordially congratulates the Commander-in-Chief on the important results obtained by this memorable achievement. The Governor-General, in the name of the Government and of the People of India, offers to his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, to the general officers, and all the officers and troops under their command, his grateful and heartfelt acknowledgments for the services they have performed.

To commemorate this great victory, the Governor-General will cause a medal to be struck, with "Sobraon" engraved upon it, to be presented to the victorious army in the service of the East India

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