The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-02 00:00:00

Ottnilkt ‘,? )

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1849.

His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief Lord
GOUGH, one of the most lion-hearted veterans in the
British army, has more than fulfilled our expectations.
He has obliterated all recollection of his reverse
at Ramnuggur, and of his deplorable success at
Chillianwallah, by his splendid and triumphant
victory over the Seikh forces on the 21st of February
The reputation of Lord Gouou as a soldier will be
materially enhanced by his recent proceedings in the
Punjaub, and his future biographer will have to
enumerate as among the most brilliant of his heroic
achievements the triumph of his army over the com-
bined strength of the Rajas of Northern India in the
great battle of Goojerat.
We are satisfied that no Englishman will do other-
wise than rejoice in the advantages gained over his
antagonists by the veteran victor of Goojerat. Even
those who inveighed the most bitterly against Lord
GOUGH—amongst whom we are gratified to remember
that we cannot be enumerated—will not hesitate to
bestow upon him that meed of applause to which he
is eminently entitled. The recollection of many a
" well-foughten field" will be revived by the news of

the final route of the rebels between the banks of the
Chenab and the Jhelum ; and Lord Got= will hence-
forth be only remembered as having been twice
the Conqueror of the Seikhs, the most warlike and,
in every respect, the most formidable of all the native
races of Hindostan. The period during which the
British-Indian army was commanded by the Baron
of Sobraon, and during which the Asiatic empire of
.England was governed by the Earl of DALHOUSIE,
will be memorable as the time when the last of the
great provinces of India was brought within the im-
mediate boundary of our dominions—when the Pun-
jaub was finally annexed to the enormous territories
already subservient to our authority.
Since the date of the last Overland Mail
from Bombay, the Commander-in-Chief appears
to have displayed a caution and forethought for which
few were disposed to have given him credit, and
which was probably forced upon him unwillingly by
the remembrances of his recent perils and difficul-
ties. The attitude preserved by Lord Gouou up to
the 21st of February was strictly defensive. He
was resolved not to haeard a single movement to-
wards an encounter before his army bad been
strengthened by the arrival of the Bombay column,
under Brigadier DONDAS, and of the Bengal
division commanded by General Waisn. Mean-
while the enemy seems to have striven by every
device to lure its antagonists into a precipitate assault,
conscious that a terrific slaughter must inevitably
ensue among the English in consequence of the almost
impregnable character of the ground occupied by the
insurgents. Between the 6th and the 12th nume-
rove skirmishes took place, but no decisive encounter
en the side of the Jhelum near the village of
Chillianwallah. Finding it impossible to goad
Lord Gowan into an attack, either by taking
up a position to the right, so as to threaten
an outflanking movement, or by perpetually
harassing the grass cutters and camp followers
surrounding the adjacent encampment SMEIE
SINGS had by the 13th removed the heavy artillery
from his entrenchments at Itussool, had drawn up
his cavalry in the vil age of Coira, and had marched
directly towards Goojerat. It was upon this change in
the position of the belligerents occurring that the
English were first enabled ito examine at leisure the
nature of the ground upon which the last disastrous
conflict had taken place. It was then detected that
the position so long occupied by the Seikhs was one
of enormous strength—the double line of entrench•
ments being defended in front by umbrageous
thickets large enough to screen the defenders,
and to impede the cavalry of the assailants. The
whole was situated on the slope of an accli-
vity, with a battery raised in the broken
ground—a steep and intricate ravine in one direction
—and in the rear, near the river, a wall of rock
almost perpendicular. Having inspected the arena
of his last encounter with the rebels, Lord Govan
proceeded to Supooree and onwards to Sudalpoor,
the enemy having advanced in the direction of Goo-
jerat as far as Needun and Chimbur. Shortly
afterwards SIIERE SINGH was joined by the insur-
gent troops under his father, CHIITTUIL SINGH j
and Lord Govan received the important re-
inforcements of the divisions respectively con-
ducted by General Wilful and Brigadier
DUNDAS. Such being the accumulated power of the
belligerent armies, they gave each other battle on the
21st of February, in the neighbourhood of Goojerat
—a date and a locality which will not be very speedily
forgotten, seeing that they were signalised by the
complete overthrow of the leaders of the Seikh rebel-
lion, by the total rout of their forces, by a victory,
in short, so complete and overwhelming that the
standing camp, the guns and the ammunition of the
vanquished, were left in the possession of the con-
querors as trophies of their valour and as testimonies
of the total destruction of the powers of their oppo-
nents.

No details whatever have yet been received from
the field of battle, seeing that the messenger with the
brief notification of the triumph of our soldiers had
only just reached Bombay in time to forward this
brief but satisfactory announcement by the Overland
Mail to England, adding to the intelligence that at
the moment of his departure from Goojerat—a place
situated nearly hail-way betwi en the Jhelum and the
Chenwb—the British were pursuing the Seikh fugi-
tives through the country.
.Ehefortress of Moultan, captured by storm, with
all its' treasures, and fortifications—the combined
armies of the insurgents broken and routed—the
artillery and ammunition, and even the standing
camp in our hands the Moomias a captive -
CHUTTUR SIN fill and SHERE SINGII flying in the di-
rection of the Himalayas—Lahore still ours—the
Durbar awed into tranquillity by our successes—
there is surely little enough remaining to be done for
the completion of the cam paign. In the hour of vic-
tory we cannot but mourn the loss of those brave
men who fell in the preliminary struggle, with the
in
noise of great, disasters Alone ringing their ears, we