15-04-2019
It was year, 1996; when, I first time
visited Chillianwallah with a school trip. I have some of amazing memories of
that place in my mind. At that time Lahore to Islamabad motorway was not
constructed and we have to go through GT road.
 |
| at chillianwallah Monument, 1996 |
Delightful
drive through the beautiful countryside of Pakistan’s Punjab province brings
you to the site of one of the most appalling battles in Britain’s history in
India, Chillianwala. It was fought on 13th January 1849 between the Sikhs and
an invading British army under the irascible General Sir Hugh Gough. Both
armies were highly professional and had fought a number of brutal encounters
over the previous few years. But nothing would quite match Chillianwala which
was contested in gathering darkness in jungle so thick in places that the enemy
was only rarely seen. Volleys of musket fire and artillery barrages through
patches of heavy vegetation shredded hundreds of men on both sides. Although
the British declared it a victory, in truth neither side won.
However
the regiment which suffered the most debilitating casualties, Her Majesty’s
24th Foot, buried most of their dead elsewhere. The 24th had only just arrived
in India and had been in the thickest of the fighting. They were further
disadvantaged because they advanced too fast and got ahead of their supporting
units but also due to an extraordinary order delivered by Brigadier Campbell
that “There must be no firing, the bayonet must do the work”. Out of a thousand
men the 24th lost 204 killed, 278 wounded and 38 missing; a casualty toll of 50
percent. The regiment also suffered the indignity of losing the Queen’s Colour
(the other standard, the Regimental Colour, was saved and is now in Brecon
Cathedral in South Wales).
The foundations of this monument
were laid by Richard Southwell Bourke, the 6th Earl of Mayo, the Viceroy and
Governor General of India, in 1871.
AROUND THIS
TOMB WAS FOUGHT THE SANGUINARY BATTLE OF CHILLIANWALLAH, 13TH JAN., 1849 ;
BETWEEN THE BRITISH FORCES, UNDER LORD GOUGH, AND THE SIKHS, UNDER RAJAH SHER
SINGH; ON BOTH SIDES DID INNUMERABLE WARRIORS PASS FROM THIS LIFE, DYING IN
MORTAL COMBAT. HONOURED BE THE GRAVES OF THOSE HEROIC SOLDIERS! TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FELL IN THE RANKS OF THE ANGLO-INDIAN
ARMY, THIS MONUMENT HAS BEEN RAISED, BY THEIR SURVIVING COMRADES, AT WHOSE
SIDES THEY PERISHED: COMRADES WHO GLORY IN THEIR GLORY, AND LAMENT THEIR FAIL.
The Chillianwallah Battle was fought in almost the same area where Porus, with his elephants, chariots and archers had fought Alexander the Great’s cavalry.
Both armies held their positions at the end of the battle and Sher Singh withdrew to the north.
The repulse of the British, together with the loss of several guns and the colours of the 24th and two other regiments, and the rout of the 14th Light Dragoons, dealt a blow to British morale and is testament to the tenacity and martial skill of the Sikh army.
Chillianwallah bears similarities to the Battle of Ferozeshah (First Anglo Sikh War) where the British Empire hung in the balance.
