[Illustration: BRONZE STAR FOR PUNNIAR, 1843.]
At Moodkee H.M.'s 9th, 31st, 50th, and 80th Regiments and the 3rd Light Dragoons were present, also the 2nd, 16th, 24th, 26th, 42nd, 45th, 47th, 48th, and 73rd Bengal Native Infantry; 4th and 5th Bengal Light Cavalry, 9th Irregular Cavalry; 4 troops of Horse Artillery and 2 companies of Foot Artillery. On the day following the battle H.M.'s 26th Foot, the 1st Bengal European Regiment, 11th and 41st Bengal Native Infantry, and 2 companies of Bengal Artillery joined the force.
=Ferozeshuhur.=--The Sikhs strengthened their position at "Ferushahr" and entrenched themselves with 120 guns; meanwhile the British army had been reinforced with heavy guns and a number of troops, while Major-General Sir John Littler had brought his division of 5,000 men from Ferozepore, making a total of about 5,674 Europeans and 12,053 native troops, with 65 guns, to be ranged against 25,000 Regulars and 10,000 Irregular Sikhs, with 83 guns, strengthened by an army of about 23,000, with 67 guns, under Tej Singh, encamped only ten miles away. The battle of Ferushahr, or Ferozeshuhur, as it is officially spelt, opened on December 21st, with a terrific cannonade by the Sikhs, under which the British infantry advanced, stormed the entrenchments, and took a number of the enemy's guns. So hardly did the Sikhs fight that they could not be forced from the whole of their entrenchments; indeed, so stubborn was the battle of Ferozeshuhur that it lasted for two days, while the intervening night was also kept lively by the Sikh artillery playing on to the ground gained by the British. The 80th Regiment was sent with the 1st European Light Infantry to silence the guns, and the 80th was successful in capturing three. "A more wonderful battle never was. Within 150 yards of one another were 8,000 British troops against an unknown number of enemies yet unbroken." All the Governor-General's staff were killed or wounded before the day of retribution arrived. The Commander-in-Chief and the Governor-General of India, Sir Henry Hardinge, placed themselves in front of the two wings of the army "to prevent the troops from firing" until they closed! Unchecked by the enemy's fire, the line advanced, dislodged the enemy and swept everything before it. Halting, as on the parade ground, the army vociferously cheered its leaders, for they were masters of the field. Sirdar Tej Singh, however, brought up his army of over 30,000 men, with a large field of artillery, and endeavoured to retrieve the day; but despite the fact that the British artillery had already expended its ammunition, he was compelled to retire, and the day was won. On the field, however, were 2,415 dead or wounded soldiers, and 115 officers, which the victorious army had lost. The men who fought and won this protracted and sanguinary battle had mostly been without food or water for forty-eight hours.