EDWARDES ON THE SITUATION.

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heard that all was over. Certain that the British Resident would advance on Mooltan at once, I proceeded to occupy the Doab, in which I found myself so suddenly plunged. I recalled kardars, replaced those who had fled, reassured the people, set the revenue going; and withal, held myself in readiness to move on in co-operation with our friends from Lahore, leaving all in good order behind me. Day after day passed; no news, no army, no move. It was incomprehensible. People began first to look at each other, then to whisper, and at last to talk. The revenue came to a full stop. The kardars wrote to Moolraj that I had no force, the traitor in Mooltan wrote to my Sikhs to follow their example; they agreed. Moolraj sent 4,000 men and ten or twelve guns across the Chenaub; and the collision was to be the signal for desertion. I held my peace, but with a beating heart, consulted my officers, overruled their kind offers of being tukra ; * and, slowly retiring before the advancing rebels, I drew back over the Indus. Thus were they saved from disgrace, I from assassination, and the Sirkar + from the disastrous effect of a defeat. But, I ask you, is it just that I should have been reduced to such a pass? Had I not a right to calculate on a move from Lahore at such a crisis? and had a move occurred, was I not in the very position that the General would have wished me to be in, to co-operate with him in his advance?

"Well, this was on the 3rd May. On the 5th Cortlandt reinforced me at Futteh Khan with two guns and a regiment of safe soldiers. On the 7th, the enemy abandoned Leia hastily, and marched back to the Chenaub. I reoccupied Leia with a picket, and sent Cortlandt on towards Sungurh on the right bank. The fort of Mungrota fell before I arrived; all seemed going well. Suddenly the enemy again marched north from the Chenaub; and one Jus Mull, who had been appointed Hakim of Leia, by Moolraj, made a rush on Leia with 500 cavalry and some zumburruks, thinking my picket was gone. Instead of that, I heard of their advance and reinforced the picket in the night; a fight ensued; the rebels were defeated, and lost all their zumburruks; I then withdrew my picket with honour, under cover of the smoke.

"Next Cortlandt wrote that the enemy, 6,000 strong, with 15 guns, had crossed the Indus below him. I said, fall back on me at once, and we must entrench on our own ground. Next day it appeared that the enemy was only trying to cross, so I got

Tukra means being "firm."

+ Sirkar is the government.

into boats and rushed down the Indus, 32 koss, and occupied the very ghaut at which the rebels intended to come over, seven koss below Cortlandt, who joined me at this place on 20th. On the same day, some Pathans, whom we had ordered to seize the kardar (Longa Mull) of Dera Ghazee Khan, attacked that worthy, who, with his uncle, Cheytun Mull, kardar of Gungurh and Mungrota, 500 men and one gun, took up a position to fight. The battle lasted three hours; Longa Mull was taken prisoner, Cheytun Mull killed, the gun captured, and 40 of the enemy slain; 12 of our side slain and about 50 wounded. This day I sent Cortlandt to take possession of Ghazee Khan, a country of 8 lakhs, and here am I, face to face with the enemy's main body of from 4,000 to 6,000 men with 12 guns. My own force consists of 6 regular companies, 4 guns, and 2,000 Pathans newly raised; a few koss of water separate us.

What is to be the end of this? Either Moolraj will be confounded at these defeats and draw in his horns, or he will arouse himself and throw all his men and guns upon me, in which case the decisive battle will be fought on the Indus.

"Yet Sir Frederick Currie seems positively ignorant of my being in any danger, and as for sending me any help, would much more likely send me a wigging for wanting it while the weather is so warm for the poor Sepoys!

"23rd May, Night.-Again the enemy has disappeared, and not a trace of where, so that they may have crossed between me and Cortlandt, or gone to Mooltan, or to Dera Ghazee Khan; action is imperative without any grounds to act upon. Again I must stand the hazard of the die,' and have ordered Cortlandt to push on by a forced march to Ghazee Khan and be prepared there, leaving me to take the chance of the rebels having got across.

"As for the hot season; our Sepoys can stand sun, I suppose, as well as Moolraj's, and the latter seem to find no inconvenience in bullying me in May. If it is really impossible for British soldiers to move in the hot winds, still there is a remedy at hand. Bhawul Khan wants but the word to move 15,000 men over the Sutlej, and this would drive Moolraj, into his fort for the rest of the year. In vain I write this to Currie; perhaps he will agree with me when I am past helping, and then prove it wasn't his fault in the Delhi Gazette.

"One thing, I am determined that let Currie be as imbecile as he pleases, I will go on entertaining soldiers until I am strong enough to 'never mind,' and to the best of my ability, will do Moolraj as much harm as I can. After all, and above all, we

LORD DALHOUSIE'S APPROVAL OF EDWARDES.

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have the reflection that whatever is, is by the permission of the Irresistible; and that all the Curries and all the Moolrajs in the world could not put the country in danger, or the wisest save it, unless God willed it so-a reflection which puts the gentlest woman on a par with heroes."

The defeat inflicted at Dera Ghazee Khan on Moolraj, on the 21st May, by the young Gholam Hyder Khan, and his father, Kowrah Khan, resulted in the capture of the fort of Ghazee Khan, and the death of Cheytun Mull, his nephew, Longa Mull, being taken prisoner. Lord Dalhousie wrote to the Secret Committee, on the 10th June, 1848, of the effect of these successes: -"The occupation of Dera Ghazee Khan is not only gratifying in itself, but especially for the mode in which that post was gained. By the encouragement held out to a native chief of influence, and by the conquest he has effected on behalf of Lieutenant Edwardes, the sympathies of the rude Mohammedan tribes of the Derajat have been enlisted on the side of that gallant officer, securing for him a greater chance of being able to offer successful resistance to the Sikh troops in his own camp, whom he suspects of disaffection, and even of more treasonable designs, if they had the means to carry them into effect. These two actions, at Leia and Ghazee Khan, will by their complete success, operate most favourably upon the minds of those who maintain but a doubtful allegiance; and as the river has already begun to rise, and will now daily increase in depth and rapidity, we have great reason to hope that Lieutenant Edwardes will be able to maintain his position till the British troops advance to Mooltan."

Edwardes sent General Cortlandt with his force to Dera Ghazee Khan, while he remained to watch the enemy on the opposite bank, but the latter suddenly disappeared, and the cavalry made a forced march to Koreyshee, directly opposite Dera Ghazee Khan, with the object of seizing the boats, but found themselves anticipated by Edwardes, who had sent a party, 24 hours before, to secure the fleet. Edwardes marched on the 24th from Peeronwulluh, and, two days later, effected a junction with Cortlandt at Dera Ghazee Khan, having employed 33 boats to carry his artillery and infantry, and secured on the way 39 more, collected by Moolraj's Lieutenant, Longa Mull, before his recent defeat. He thus had a magnificent fleet of 72 boats, which would enable him to throw 6,000 men across the Indus at one passage, while the enemy had not one. Edwardes had now a well organised force of 6,000 men, with 12 guns, and 30 zoomburruks, (camel pieces) and as he had

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MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HERBERT EDWARDES.

got rid of the Futteh Pultan, which had been a thorn in his side, by sending them to Mithankote, he was eager for action, and, Sir F. Currie's four converging columns not putting in an appearance, resolved, notwithstanding the Resident's orders, to cross the Indus-"at this time, about 13 miles wide and roaring like a sea❞—at the first favourable opportunity and drive the rebels back on Mooltan.

On the 2nd June, Edwardes received a letter from the Khan of Bhawulpore, informing him that he was crossing the Sutlej, and, having received, on the 30th May, permission from the Resident to cooperate with the Newaub between the Indus and Chenaub, he crossed his army between that day and the 14th, and occupied Koreyshee, which had been evacuated, early in the morning, by Hur Bugwan Doss, the rebel General. On the 15th, Edwardes marched, with 3,000 men, across the Doâb to Khamgurh, on the right bank of the Chenaub, where was a large fort just abandoned by the enemy, and, learning that Moolraj had sent the whole of his disposable force to engage the Daood potra† army, east of the Chenaub, before he had effected a junction with them, he marched to their assistance with his force of 5,000 Pathan irregulars, and 1,500 regulars and 10 guns under General Cortlandt. Had the rebel leader, Rung Ram, attacked the Daoodpotras on the morning of the 17th, with his force of nearly 10,000 well-disciplined soldiers and 16 guns, the former, under Futteh Mahomed Khan, consisting of 8,500 irregulars with 11 guns and 30 camel-pieces, must have suffered a defeat. On that day, Edwardes moved to Goggianwallah, on the right bank of the Chenaub, and sent orders to Futteh Mahomed, then at Goweyn, "to strike his tents and march down to this ferry at whatever hour of the night this reaches you." The same night, 3,000 of Edwardes' men, under Foujdar Khan, effected the passage at the ferry of Kineyree, and marched to join the Daood potras.

*Sir F. Currie, writing on 20th May, declined Edwardes's offer to co-operate with Bhawul Khan, but on the Newaub requesting such assistance, he wrote, on the 21st, modifying his instructions so far as to leave it to his discretion to cross the Indus and co-operate with that prince eastward of the Chenaub. On the 5th, he wrote to Edwardes, that the state of his force "reflects the greatest credit on his zeal and perseverance, which have raised the greater portion of it and made it what it is in one month." Writing to Lord Dalhousie on the same day, Sir F. Currie said:"If the chiefs of the Durbar, or any one individual among them, had shown onetenth part of the zeal, energy, and judgment, exhibited by Lieutenant Edwardes, for the preservation of their Government, the Mooltan rebellion might have been put down ere this." The Resident had not the sagacity to perceive that the Durbar were traitors and had no wish or intention to put down the rebellion.

+ Daoodpotra means" descendants of David"; it is the family name of the chief and tribe of Bhawulpore.

THE BATTLE OF KINEYREE.

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Edwardes crossed on the following morning, leaving Cortlandt to follow with the remainder, when, suddenly, he heard the sound of heavy firing, and, with the thought in his heart that no Englishman could be beaten on the 18th June," he rode hastily forward through the jungle, guided by the smoke and roar of the guns. On the way he met a horseman, sent by Foujdar, to apprise him of the state of affairs, and guide him to the field of battle. From him he learnt that Rung Ram had marched before dawn from Bukree, to seize the ferry at Kineyree, but, finding it occupied, had taken up a strong position on the salt hills of the village of Noonar, and opened fire with his guns on the allies, who had attacked without waiting for orders, and were driven back with heavy loss. At this juncture Edwardes arrived on the scene. He says:"I arrived upon the field, a plain covered with jungle, amongst which loaded camels were passing to the rear, out of range of the enemy's guns, and detachments of wild-looking warriors, with red-stained hair and beards, were taking up a line of posts. Suddenly, a European stepped out of the crowd, and advanced to me in a hurried manner, wiping his forehead, and exclaiming, 'Oh, Sir, our army, is disorganized!'-a pleasing salutation on arriving at a field of battle! He then told me his name was Macpherson, and that he commanded one of the Newaub's two regular regiments. I asked him where his general was? He laughed, and pointed to a large peepul tree, round which a crowd was gathered. I galloped up, and looking over the shoulders of the people, saw a little old man, in dirty clothes, and with nothing but a skull-cap on his head, sitting under the tree, with a rosary in his hands, the beads of which he was rapidly telling, and muttering, in a peevish, helpless manner, Ulhumdoolillah! Ulhumdoolillah! (God be praised! God be praised!) apparently quite abstracted from the scene around him, and utterly unconscious that six-pounder balls were going through the branches, that officers were imploring him for orders, and that 8,000 or 9,000 rebels were waiting to destroy an army of which he was the General. He had to be shaken by his people before he could comprehend that I had arrived; and as he rose and tottered forward, looking vacantly in my face, I saw that excitement had completed the imbecility of his years, and that I might as well talk to a post."

Turning to the officers of Futteh Mahomed's staff, among whom were good and experienced soldiers, Edwardes learnt the position of affairs, and as he anticipated that the enemy would wait to be attacked, he made the force lie down in line in the