Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1846-03-26

there is too much reason to believe,
owe the victory to that indomltable
piueh which never knows when it IS
beaten, rather than to the science or
skill Of the leaders who commanded
them. The maneuvering on the part
of Sir Hugh Cough and Sir Henry
Hardinge seems to have been indlffer-
ent But the British -bayonstadid the
business, although the officers we have
named are not thereby steeled against
censure. The Sikhs, it is clear, as
regards discipline and courage, are
far superior to the enemies with
whom we have mostly had to deal in
India.
The subsequent dispatches from
Sir Henry Hardinge, the governor
general of India, show that he was
misled-generously, unwittingly mis-
led-as to the intentions of the Sikhs.
He did not anticipate a repture with
an ally of forty years standing, and
was unwilling to precipitate it by pre-
pairing for conflict. if he erred, it
appears to have been on the side of a
noble, manly forbearance. The con-
hict had its origin in the dissolute
conduct ofthe Rance and her para
mours, who stirred the fire that they
might escape from the consequence of
the. flames. They became fearful
that the army might destroy them
selves, and were anxious that it should
be led against an army that would do
it. 80 geek 81
Sir Robert Peel in the lower, the
Earlof Ripon in the uppe house, mo-
we'd the thanks of Parliament TO the
Indian army, in good set phrase, on
Monday night. The speech of Sir Ro-
bert Peel embraced and exhausted the
merits of the question.
GREAT BATTLE IN INDIA.
Three thousand three hundred Brt.
tish and aaatiue troops killed and
wounded, and reported loss Of Mir-
ty thousand Silks, at .Moodkee and
Ferozeshah.
Our advices from Bombay since the
sailing of the steamship Cambria,
come down to January IT, and furnish
accounts of one of the greatest battles
ever taught by the British in our lndi-
an empire, in which we have sustained
The known loss of 3, 300 of our brave
soldiers, including the gallant Sale,
Sir J. McKaskill, and Major Broad
foot. When these accounts left the
scene of action for Bombay, for trans
mission to England, there were
several regiments from which re-
turns had not been received, SO that
a further loss may be calculated up
on.
An extraordinary gazette gives the
official account of all the military OPP
erations in this great struggle. The
result, we are proud to say, is as glori-
Gus and decisive a victory as ever
crowned the British arms, and equaled
only by the field of Waterloo. Previ
Gus to laying before our readers cop
les Of the more important dispatches,
we prefix the following brief outline:-
On the 18th, 18th, and 18th of Deem
Der, the Sikh army crossed the Sutler,
with at the lowest estimate, $4,000
men (of whom 10000 or 10000 were
cavalry, and abont 100 pieces of can,
non of the largest calibre movable in
the field, anG exquisitely fnished-an'
artillery UNNECESSARILY more powerful
than was ever brought into the field by
yelling on or Napoleon. Il is only in
moral. that the Sikhs are to be ranked
as barbaroas. They are a race as
vigorous in body, as acute IN intellect,
and as skillful in all the arts they cul-
tiyate, of which war is the chief, as the
generality of Europeans. The place
at which this formidable hos. passed
the river may be about 40 or so miles
from Lahore, the capital OF the Fun
jaub, and within a much less distance
of Ferozepore, the most advanced Of
the British posts. Ferozepore is a
bout Is or 20 miles from the point at
which the Slkhs crossed the river, If
it is so much. The invaders having
established themselves and organized
their force on the British side of the
Sutlej, made some slight demons,ra-
tons of attacking Ferozepore in the
between the 10Th and 18th;
but upon the last named day, drove up
and taking the direct road to Delhi,
proceeded in southerly direction, as
if they would mask Ferozepore, leav-
ing it on their right. In this direction
division of 10000 ofthe invaders had
proceeded about rs miles to a place
called Moodkee, when on the evening
ofthe 18th, they were met by a part
of the British army commanded by
Sir Hugh Cough and the governor
general, Sir Henry Hardinge, who, as
second in command, took the field in