Battle of Mudki The Battle of Mudki was fought on 18 December 1845 , between the forces of the East India Company and part of the Khalsa , the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab . The British army won an untidy encounter battle , suffering heavy casualties . Background . The Sikh Empire of the 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 Sir Henry Hardinge . Receiving reports of the disorder in the Punjab , he wrote late in 1845 , " " . . . it is evident that 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 . This military buildup finally goaded the Khalsa into war , and they began to cross the Sutlej River , which marked the frontier between the Punjab and British territory on 10 December 1845 . British Advance . The main British and Bengal Army , under its commander - in - chief , 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 , 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 Punjab , spotted the British cooking fires and advanced . The terrain was a flat sandy plain , with occasional villages and patches of scrub . Battle . 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 Sikh army , 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 infantry 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 : " 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 . Results . 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 .