Battle of Ferozeshah 21st-22nd December 1845 (India)
By 1844 it seemed certain that British expansion in India would bring them into conflict with the Sikhs who had a well organize army including heavy artillery. In December 1845 the confrontation came to a head when the Sikh army advanced to Ferozeshah and built a fortified camp there. The British commander General Sir Hugh Gough was determined to attack so the British army started to advance by the time the battle started the light was failing and the battle continued throughout the night with the first assault being repulsed. the second attack started the next morning and was successful. By then the British guns were out of ammunition and to make matters worse a British officer suffering sunstroke ordered the cavalry to retire to Ferozopur. It was at this point that a new Sikh army 30,000 strong under Tej Singh reached the battlefield determined to retake the camp from the British. Luckily for the British Singh saw the cavalry retiring and mistook it for an attack on his fallen and rear and hastily broke off the attack. With British casualties numbering nearly 1,800 and Sikh killed and wounded around 5,000 it was one of the most bitterly contested battles ever fought by the British in India.
How to cite this article:
Dugdale-Pointon, TDP. (25 October 2000), Battle of Ferozeshah 21st-22nd December 1845, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_ferozeshah.html