Journal of the Sutlej Campaign of 1845-6

A civilian's view of the First Sikh War



James Coley, the author of this small book, was Chaplain to the Governor General, Sir Henry Hardinge, not a serving soldier, but his account of the harrowing events he witnessed during the First Sikh War is the kind of primary source material relating to the campaign to subjugate the Sikhs of the Punjab that only an eyewitness can provide. The Sikhs were a martial nation and were not only the strongest and best trained native military force on the Sub-Continent, but also the last remaining independent army to stand in the path of the British Empire's total domination of India. Any conflict that involved the Sikhs was sure to be Hard fought and bloody and in the event the Sutlej campaign caused-for a short time-the fate of British India to hang in the balance. The first part of Coley's book, an invaluable source of information for those seriously interested in the subject, concerns the actions that were fought close to the River Sutlej, the boundary of Sikh territory; the second part is about a cold weather tour in the peace that followed.

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