>Vijethnbharadwaj at 08:23, 31 March 2021

2021-03-31T08:23:31Z

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{{Short description|1848 battle of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in northwestern India}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2009}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Ramnagar
|partof=the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
|image=
|caption=
|date=22 November 1848
|place=[[Ramnagar, Pakistan|Ramnagar]], [[Gujranwala]] district, [[Punjab region|Punjab]]
|coordinates={{coord|32|19|N|73|50|E|display=inline,title}}
|result=Sikh victory
*British cavalry repulsed with heavy losses.<ref name="jacques">Jacques, p. 839</ref>
|combatant1= [[File:Sikh Empire flag.jpg|25px]] [[Sikh Empire]]
|combatant2= [[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|25px]] [[East India Company]]
|commander1=[[Raja]] [[Sher Singh Attariwalla]]
|commander2=[[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|Sir Hugh Gough]]
|strength1=10,000<br>20 guns
|strength2=15,000<br>50 guns
|casualties1= 22 killed and 15 wounded
|casualties2= 26 killed or missing<ref name="Raugh">''Second Sikh War (1848-1849)'', '''The Victorians at War, 1815-1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History''', ed. Harold E. Raugh Jr., (ABC-CLIO, 2004), 301.</ref><br>59 wounded<ref name="Raugh" />
|}}
{{Campaignbox Second Anglo-Sikh War}}

The '''Battle of Ramnagar''' (sometimes referred to as the '''Battle of Rumnuggur''') was fought on 22 November 1848 between [[British East India Company]] and [[Sikh Empire]] forces during the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]. The British were led by [[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|Sir Hugh Gough]], while the Sikhs were led by [[Raja]] [[Sher Singh Attariwalla]]. The Sikhs repelled an attempted British surprise attack.

==Background==
Following the Sikh defeat in the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]], British Commissioners and Political Agents had effectively ruled the [[Punjab region|Punjab]], using the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]] to maintain order and implement British policy. There was much unrest over this arrangement and the other galling terms of the peace treaty, not least within the Khalsa which believed it had been betrayed rather than defeated in the first war.

The second war broke out in April 1848, when a popular uprising in the city of [[Multan]] forced its ruler, [[Dewan Mulraj]], into rebellion. The British Governor-General of Bengal, [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]], initially ordered only a small contingent of the [[Bengal Army]] under General Whish to suppress the outbreak (partly for reasons of economy, and partly to avoid a major campaign during the Hot Weather and [[Monsoon]] seasons). He also ordered several detachments of the Khalsa to reinforce Whish. The largest detachment, of 3,300 cavalry and 900 infantry was commanded by ''Sardar'' (General) Sher Singh Attariwalla. Several junior Political Agents viewed this development with alarm, as Sher Singh's father, [[Chattar Singh Attariwalla]], the Governor of [[Hazara, Pakistan|Hazara]] to the north of the Punjab, was openly plotting rebellion.

On 14 September, Sher Singh rebelled. Whish was forced to raise the siege of Multan and retire. Nevertheless, Sher Singh and Mulraj (the [[Hindu]] ruler of a largely [[Moslem]] city-state) did not join forces. The two leaders conferred at a temple outside the city, where both prayed and it was agreed that Mulraj would supply some funds from his treasury, while Sher Singh moved north to join his forces with those of his father. This was not immediately possible, as Chattar Singh's army was confined to Hazara by Moslem tribesmen fighting under British officers. Instead, Sher Singh moved a few miles north and began fortifying the crossings of the [[Chenab River]], while awaiting developments. His army was swelled by deserters from those regiments of the Khalsa which had not yet rebelled, and by discharged former soldiers.

==Battle==
[[File:Combat of Ramnuggur.jpg|thumb|Map of the battle]]
By November, the British had at last assembled a large army on the frontier of the Punjab, under the Commander-in-Chief, General [[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|Sir Hugh Gough]]. Gough had been criticised for his unvarying frontal attacks during the First Anglo-Sikh War, which had led to heavy British casualties and some near disasters.

In the early hours of the morning of 22 November, Gough ordered a force of cavalry and horse artillery, with a single infantry brigade, to move to the Chenab crossing near [[Ramnagar, Pakistan|Ramnagar]] (In present day [[Pakistan]]), apparently intending to capture the position by surprise. The Sikhs occupied strong positions on both banks of the river and on an island in mid-stream. The river was only a narrow stream, but the wide bed it occupied during the monsoon season was treacherous soft sand, in which cavalry and artillery could become bogged down.

At dawn, the British force assembled opposite the fords. The [[3rd The King's Own Hussars|3rd Light Dragoons]] and 8th Bengal Light Cavalry drove some Sikhs back across the river from positions on the east bank. At this point, hitherto concealed Sikh batteries opened fire. The British cavalry had difficulty extricating themselves from the soft ground. Gough's horse artillery was outgunned and forced to retire, leaving behind a 6-pounder gun which had become bogged down.<ref name=BritishBattles>{{Cite web |url=http://www.britishbattles.com/second-sikh-war/ramnagar.htm |title=BritishBattles.com |access-date=2007-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521070459/http://www.britishbattles.com/second-sikh-war/ramnagar.htm |archive-date=2007-05-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The brigade commander, [[Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde|Sir Colin Campbell]], called up troops to retrieve the gun but was over-ruled by Gough.<ref>Greenwood, ch.5</ref>

Sher Singh sent 3,000 horsemen across the fords to take advantage of the British check. Gough ordered the main body of his cavalry (the [[14th King's Hussars|14th Light Dragoons]] and the 5th Bengal Light Cavalry) to attack them. These drove back the Sikh horsemen but as they pursued them down the river bank, they were hit by heavy artillery fire. The Sikh cavalry also turned about and hit the 5th Light Cavalry, causing heavy casualties.

The Commanding Officer of the 14th Light Dragoons, Colonel [[William Havelock]], led another charge, apparently without orders.<ref>Farwell, p.53</ref> He and his leading troopers were surrounded and cut down. After a third charge failed, Brigadier [[Charles Robert Cureton]], the commander of the cavalry division to which the troops belonged, galloped up and ordered a retreat. He himself was then killed by musket fire.<ref name="Raugh" />

==Results==
Official British casualties, including Brigadier General Cureton, were 26 killed or missing, 59 wounded.<ref name="Raugh" /> This may have referred to the 14th Light Dragoons only. Sikh casualties were not recorded.

Sher Singh had skillfully used every advantage of ground and preparation. Although the Sikh forces had been driven from their vulnerable positions on the east bank of the Chenab, their main positions were intact, they had undoubtedly repulsed a British attack, and the morale of Sher Singh's army was boosted.

On the British side, several shortcomings were obvious. There had been little reconnaissance or other attempts to gain information on the Sikh dispositions. Gough and Havelock had both ordered foolish or reckless charges. Cureton had a reputation from the First Sikh War as a steady and capable officer, and ought to have been in command from the start.

==Order of battle==

===British regiment===
*[[3rd The King's Own Hussars|3rd King’s Own Light Dragoons]]
*[[9th Queen's Royal Lancers|9th Queen’s Royal Light Dragoons (Lancers)]]
*[[14th King's Hussars|14th the King’s Light Dragoons]]
*[[24th Foot]]
*[[29th Foot]]
*[[61st Foot]]

===British Indian Army regiments===
*[[1st Bengal Light Cavalry]]
*[[5th Bengal Light Cavalry]]
*[[6th Bengal Light Cavalry]]
*[[9th Bengal Light Cavalry]]
*[[2nd European Light Infantry]]
*[[6th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[15th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[20th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[25th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[30th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[31st Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[36th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[45th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[46th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[56th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[69th Bengal Native Infantry]]
*[[70th Bengal Native Infantry]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Chaurasia|first=Radhey Shyam|title=History of Modern India, 1707 A. D. to 2000 A. D.|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors|year=2002|isbn=81-269-0085-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Farwell|first=Byron|author-link=Byron Farwell|title=Queen Victoria's Little Wars|publisher=Wordsworth Military Library|year=1973|isbn=1-84022-216-6}}
*{{cite book|last1=Dupuy|first1=Richard Ernest|author-link1=Richard Dupuy|last2=Dupuy|first2=Trevor Nevitt|title=The Harper encyclopedia of military history: from 3500 BC to the present|publisher=HarperCollins|year=1993|isbn=978-0-06-270056-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/harperencycloped0000dupu}}
* {{cite book|last=Greenwood|first=Adrian|title=Victoria's Scottish Lion: The Life of Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde |author-link=Adrian Greenwood
|year=2015|publisher=History Press | place=UK | page=496 |isbn =0-75095-685-2| url=http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/victoria-s-scottish-lion-26465.html}}
*{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=William Wilson|title=The Imperial Gazetteer of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjwoAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Trübner|year=1881|pages=542}}
*{{cite book|last=Raugh|first=Harold E.|title=The Victorians at war, 1815-1914: an encyclopedia of British military history|edition=illustrated|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2004|pages=299–301|isbn=1-57607-925-2}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070521070459/http://www.britishbattles.com/second-sikh-war/ramnagar.htm BritishBattles.com], includes troop strength, casualties and events of the battle.

{{Sikh Empire}}

[[Category:History of Sikhism]]
[[Category:Battles involving the British East India Company|Ramnagar]]
[[Category:Battles of the Anglo-Sikh wars|Ramnagar]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1848]]
[[Category:1848 in India]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Sikhs|Ramnagar]]
[[Category:November 1848 events]]

Battle of Ramnagar - Revision history

>Vijethnbharadwaj at 08:23, 31 March 2021