Battle of Mudki

2021-11-12T08:54:42Z

164.100.146.163:

{{Short description|Major Battle of First Anglo Sikh War}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
| conflict = Battle of Mudki
| image = Battle of Mudki 1845 Henry Martens 1849.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Battle of Mudki, by [[Henry Martens]]
| partof = the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]]
| date = 18 December 1845
| place = [[Mudki]], [[Punjab region|Punjab]]
| result = Indecisive
| combatant1 = [[File:Sikh Empire flag.jpg|25px]] [[Sikh Empire]]
| combatant2 = [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|22px]] [[East India Company]]
| commander1 = [[Lal Singh]]
| commander2 = [[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|Sir Hugh Gough]]<br>[[Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge|Sir Henry Hardinge]]
| strength1 = 10,000{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=1174}}<br>22 guns<ref name=Perrett184>Perrett, p.184</ref>
| strength2 = 10,000<ref name=Perrett184/>–11,000{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=1174}}<br>42 guns
| casualties1 = unknown{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=1174}}
| casualties2 = 216 killed<br>657 wounded{{sfn|Tucker|2010|p=1174}}|
}}
{{Campaignbox First Anglo-Sikh War}}
{{Coord|30|47|N|74|53|E|display=title}}

The '''Battle of Mudki''' was fought on 18 December 1845, between the forces of the [[East India Company]] and part of the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]], the army of the [[Sikh Empire]] of the [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. The British army won an untidy encounter battle, suffering heavy casualties.

==Background==
The [[Sikh Empire]] of the [[Punjab region|Punjab]] had been held together by Maharajah [[Ranjit Singh]]. Ranjit Singh had maintained a policy of friendship with the British East India Company, who held territories adjoining the Punjab, while at the same time building up the Khalsa, to deter aggression. When he died in 1839, the Sikh empire fell into increasing disorder. As several successive rulers and ministers were deposed or murdered, the army expanded and became increasingly restive. To secure their hold on power, some of the leaders in the Punjab goaded their army into a war against the British.

The Governor General of the Bengal Presidency (and in effect, of all British-controlled India) was [[Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge|Sir Henry Hardinge]]. Receiving reports of the disorder in the Punjab, he wrote late in 1845, ''"... it is evident that [[Jind Kaur|the Rani]] and the Chiefs are for their own preservation, endeavouring to raise a storm which, when raised, they will be powerless to direct or allay."'' He increased the British military force on the borders of the Punjab, stationing a division of 7,000 at [[Ferozepore]], and moving other troops to [[Ambala]] and [[Meerut]].

The [[Sikh Khalsa Army]] began the war by crossing the [[Sutlej River]], which marked the frontier between the Punjab and British territory on 10 December 1845.

==British Advance==
The main [[British Army|British]] and [[Bengal Army]], under its commander-in-chief, [[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|Sir Hugh Gough]], began marching rapidly from its [[garrison]]s at Ambala and Meerut towards Ferozepur. Although the march took place in India's cold weather season, the troops were enveloped in choking dust clouds and water and food were short. Hardinge accompanied the army, waiving his right to command.

The British reached Mudki, {{convert|18|mi|km}} from Ferozepur in the afternoon of 18 December. Having commandeered grain from the village, they began preparing their first proper meal for some days. An advance guard of the Sikh army, commanded by [[Lal Singh]], [[Vizier]] of the Sikh Empire, spotted the British cooking fires and advanced. The terrain was a flat sandy plain, with occasional villages and patches of scrub.

==Battle==
[[File:King's Own Dragoons at Mudki.jpg|thumb|left|The British dragoons charge, from an illustration by [[Ernest Crofts]]]]
In the late evening the Sikh guns opened fire. As 30 of Gough's light guns replied, the Sikh cavalry tried to outflank both flanks of Gough's army. Although the irregular cavalry, the ''Gorchurras'', were the elite of the Khalsa, and individually very skilled (for example, being able to spear a tent-peg out of the ground at full gallop), they were comparatively ineffective against the disciplined British and Bengal units. A counter-charge by a British light dragoon regiment cut down many Sikh gunners, but in turn suffered heavy casualties from the Sikh infantry.

After the initial cavalry actions, the British and Bengal infantry advanced. In the gathering darkness and the clouds of smoke and dust, the advance quickly became disordered. Some Bengal infantry regiments caused casualties among the British units with confused fire. Although outnumbered five to one, the Sikh [[Fauj-i-Ain]] (regulars) resisted desperately, and their gunners kept firing volleys of [[grapeshot]] until they were overrun.

Eventually, after two hours of darkness, the last Sikhs were driven from the field. The British returned to their camp. The British army was unused to fighting or manoeuvering at night and the battle was nicknamed "Midnight Mudki".

Casualties among British senior officers were heavy. Among those were two brigade commanders: [[Robert Henry Sale|"Fighting Bob" Sale]], who was mortally wounded and died on 21 December, and John McCaskill. Another senior officer killed was Major George Broadfoot, formerly the British representative to the Punjab and now on Hardinge's staff.<ref>Hernon, p.554</ref>

==Results==
[[File:Battle of Moodkee.jpg|thumb|Map of the battle]]
By itself, the battle decided little. It did however confirm Hardinge in the belief that Gough was too bull-headed and unimaginative to command the army. The two officers would clash several times over strategy during the war.

On the Sikh side, it was alleged that Lal Singh had fled the battlefield early, although there was little scope for direction once the battle had been joined.

==Order of battle==
===British regiments===
*[[Queen's Royal Hussars|3rd King’s Own Light Dragoons]]
*[[9th Foot]]
*[[31st Foot]]
*[[50th Foot]]
*[[80th Foot]]

===Indian regiments===
*[[The Governor General’s Bodyguard]]
*[[4th Bengal Light Cavalry]]
*[[5th Bengal Light Cavalry]]
*[[3rd Skinner's Horse|Skinner’s Horse]]
*[[8th Irregular Cavalry]]
*[[9th Irregular Cavalry]]
*[[2nd Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[16th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[24th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[26th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[42nd Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[45th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[47th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[48th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[73rd Bengal Native Infantry]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first=Ian|last=Hernon|title=Britain's forgotten wars|publisher=Sutton|year=2003|isbn=0-7509-3162-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Perrett|first=Bryan|author-link=Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Bryan perrett|title=British Military History for Dummies|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2007|isbn=9780470061916|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5Wn5WKi39EC&q=battle+of+mudki+sikh+army+30%2C000&pg=PA184}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East |editor-first=Spencer C. |editor-last=Tucker |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |title=December 18, 1845:South Asia: First Anglo-Sikh War(continued):Battle of Mudki }}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070519063719/http://www.britishbattles.com/first-sikh-war/moodkee.htm BritishBattles.com]

{{Sikh Empire}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudki}}
[[Category:Battles involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Battles of the Anglo-Sikh wars]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1845|Battle of Mudki]]
[[Category:December 1845 events]]

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Battle of Mudki