The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-03-06 00:00:00

ix kuns, only four of whi
is wen, liPatnn frnm their

rage, and with the los.
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ottter position on the left bank of the river,
in the evening, as though claiming the

This disastrous triumph was achieved on the 13th of
January. Lord Gough bad originally intended to await
the fall of Moultan before encountering Shere Singh ; but
in consequence of the long delay in the capture of that
fortress, and rumours being current that Chuttur Singh
- I'•agc a vit.G,r.,cmcnto, 134;o 1...".-clohio

uu }its wety with 1
suddenly altered his determination, and on the 11th inst_
inspected the troops, amounting to about 22,000 men,
with 125 or 130 guns, and gave the order for a move in

between the Jhelum and the Chenab.
The troops marched on the morning of the 12th, and on
the next day came in sight of the enemy, when they were
directed to form, and advance in order of battle. The
Sikh army occupied a long line, extending from their ori-
ginal position, called Moong, to a place bearing the name
of Russool or Russoolnuggur, a strong post where the
enemy's magazines were established, end near which was
a narrow gorge, well adapted for retreat in the case of dis-
aster. Lord Gough had at first intended to throw all, his
strength upon it, and thus turn the enemy's flank, but in
an evil hour he abandoned this course. The Sikh posi-
tion was seen to be strong ; the Jhelum was in their rear,
with a well-constructed bridge spanning its waters, and
their centre was protected by field works, which had the
advantage of rough and jungly ground. Between one and
two, p.m., Lord Gough decided on postponing the attack
till next day. A few shots, however, from the enemy's
batteries happening to fall close to the Commander-in-
Chief, his Lordship, with a rashness which cannot be suffi-
ciently deplored, determined to engage the Sikhs without
delay. He would hear no reason—listen to no advice,
and even, it is said, threatened to put any one in arrest
who should dare to offer him counsel ! He endeavoured
to penetrate the centre of the enemy's position, and com-
menced a cannonade, which was answered by the enemy,
and lasted between one and two hours. Brigadier-Gen-
eral Campbell, who commanded the division of infantry
on the right, was directed to make a flank movement, by
which he exposed the flank of his own troops to a tereible
cross fire from the Sikh batteries on the left, which had
not previously been observed. The 3rd and 4th Brigades
reached the Sikh guns—the latter of the two leading the
way—and so tremendous a fire then opened upon them,
that they were compelled to give way, her Majesty's 24th
Regiment in particular, sustaining severer loss than has
ever befallen a British corps since the Cabool massacre.
Unsupported by artillery, retreat was inevitable ; and the
native regiments, as well as the 24th, left numbers dead
and wounded upon the field. On this occasion fell the
Brigadier commanding, Colonel Pennycuick, Lieutenant-
Colonel Brookes, Major Harris, and numerous other offi-
cers. While this occurred on the right, Brigadier Hog-
gan's brigade on the left carried everything before it, gal-
lantly storming' the enemy's batteries, and spiking their
guns. The Brigade under Colonel Mountain was sent
against the enemy's centre, but after having seized and
spiked a battery of Sikh guns, found the enemy's infantry
close upon them, and were compelled to retire.
The Commander-in-Chief seemed to have been at first
utterly at a loss what was to be done ; at length he re-
solved to entrench himself where he was, calling up
Wheeler's brigade of about 5,000 men, and summoning
the 13th and 22d from Ramnuggur and her Majesty's 53d
from Lahore; sending back, in exchange, the regiments
that were disabled. Lord Gough having ordered that no
letters should be sent from camp until the despatches
were in readiness, wrote a brief notification to the
Governor-General, stating that the troops under Shere
Singh had been entirely defeated, and driven back at
relinquished all the positions in which they had been en- ,
trenched.
The ruse was of no avail. For three days silence was
successfully maintained, when such a host of letters from
officers with the force appeared in all the newspapers,
bearing so obviously the stamp of the highest authority,
that the despatches, when they do arrive, will take a very
secondary place in the rank of documents.
The Sikhs are said to have lost 3,000 men killed, and
4,000 wounded—our casualties being rather more than a
third of this. The enemy were busily engaged entrench-
ing themselves: they are reported to be 60,000 strong.
The Fort of Attock has been surrendered to the
Affghans, who, it is said, plundered the town and violated
the women. • Lieutenant Herbert made an endeavour to
escapetdown the Indus, but fell into the hands of Chuttur
Singh. Captain Abbott is still at large, but there are no
recent tidings of his whereabouts. Major and Mrs. Law-
rence and their children are in the power of the rebel
Chief.
The Dost himself is said to be on the banks of the In-
dus, watching the progress of events. Strong reports are
still afloat of a close league having been formed between
the Affghans and Sikhs, but it is certain the former have
not given the latter any armed aid as yet.
A late letter from the north says that the Mussulman
chiefs of Peshawur have formally conferred on Dost Ma-
homed the title of Defender of the Mahomedan Faith.
The British force bivouacked on the night of the 13th a
little in rear of the field of battle. The Sikhs withdrew
to Nussort, where they placed their guns in the position
of a besieged force, and fired a salute—a rather odd com-
bination of measures! In the night parties of the enemy
returned to the battle-field, and carried off the guns which
had been spiked by our troops ; all the wounded men
found by the Sikhs were murdered, and the dead robbed
and mutilated.

WEST INDIAN MAIL.—The Severn steamer arrived at
Southampton on Tuesday: She brings no mails from
Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, or Havannah. On her
homeward voyage the weather was fine. She came home
with only one paddle working, having broken her star-
board paddle-shaft. 11. he Avon met with a similar acci-
dent. The Severn only brings £3,000 in specie.—There
is little news of important; from the various islands. At