Slow as the nawab’s advance was, it alarmed Moolraj, and his army was ordered to fall back from the Indus and take post at Soojabad. Edwardes was well informed by his spies of the movements of the enemy. They broke up their camp by the river before daylight on the 10th of June, and before nightfall he had conveyed a portion of his army across the wide river in the great fleet of boats he had collected. General Cortlandt was to follow with the rest the next morning, for they had been joined by so many of the chiefs from Bunnoo and by zemindars of the district, that he had no fear of disturbance breaking out in his rear, so long at any rate as all went well at the front.
Percy had been very busy during the halt at Dera-Ghazee-Khan in marshalling the native levies as they arrived, acting as Lieutenant Edwardes’ mouthpiece, and paying complimentary visits to the chiefs and thanking them for their loyalty. Bhop Lal had acted as drill-instructor to the Pathan recruits, who were formed into companies as they arrived; and Edwardes would have appointed him to the command of one of these bodies, but he declined the offer, saying that although ready to aid at other times, in the day of battle his place was by his master’s side, and nothing would induce him to leave it. Akram Chunder, not being able to speak the Pathan language, could not be utilized in the same way as his comrade, and indeed the Pathans would hardly have obeyed anyone not of their own nationality save an Englishman; and he therefore continued his usual work as Percy’s attendant, looking after his horse and cooking for him and Lieutenant Edwardes, who took their meals together.
Percy was delighted when a forward move was at last made. Lieutenant Edwardes had at first thought of attaching him to General Cortlandt’s column, but he afterwards decided to take him with him, feeling how great was the comfort of having someone with him to whom he could talk over all his plans and difficulties, and whose opinion, however modestly given, he came, as time went on, to regard as valuable.
When the force reached the opposite bank of the river, Edwardes learned from coolies who had been forced to assist in carrying the enemy’s baggage and were now returning to their homes, that they had halted at Khangurh. This was a disappointment, as it showed that they were making for Soojabad instead of, as he had hoped, for Mooltan; and a few hours later he received a letter saying that two thousand men with four guns had already been sent from Mooltan to Soojabad, and orders had been issued for another two thousand men to march there. Had the nawab shown a little more activity he could easily have possessed himself of Soojabad, in which case the army of the Indus must have fallen back to Mooltan, against which town the allies could then have marched without opposition; whereas Moolraj was now concentrating his whole force at Soojabad, and it was evident that a battle would have to be fought there before advancing against Mooltan.