Background
The Battle of Mudki was fought on 18 December 1845, between the forces of the East India Company and part of the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of then declining Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Sikh Empire of the Punjab had been held together by Maharajah Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh had maintained a policy of friendship with the British East India Company, who held territories adjoining the Punjab, while at the same time building up the Khalsa, to deter aggression.
When he died in 1839, the Sikh empire fell into increasing disorder. As several successive rulers and ministers were deposed or murdered, the army expanded and became increasingly restive. To secure their hold on power, some of the leaders in the Punjab goaded their army into a war against the British.
The Governor General of the Bengal Presidency (and in effect, of all British-controlled India) was Sir Henry Hardinge. Receiving reports of the disorder in the Punjab. The Sikh Khalsa Army began by crossing the Sutlej River into other territory held by the kingdom after provocation from the British, which the British deemed unacceptable. The main British and Bengal Army, under its commander-in-chief, Sir Hugh Gough, began marching rapidly from its garrisons at Ambala and Meerut towards Ferozepur.
The British reached Mudki, 18 miles (29 km) from Ferozepur in the afternoon of 18 December. In the late evening the Sikh guns opened fire. As 30 of Gough’s light guns replied, the Sikh cavalry tried to outflank both flanks of Gough’s army. Although the irregular cavalry, the Gorchurras, were the elite of the Khalsa, and individually very skilled , they were comparatively ineffective against the disciplined British and Bengal units. A counter-charge by a British light dragoon regiment cut down many Sikh gunners, but in turn suffered heavy casualties from the Sikh infantry.
After the initial cavalry actions, the British and Bengal infantry advanced. In the gathering darkness and the clouds of smoke and dust, the advance quickly became disordered. Some Bengal infantry regiments caused casualties among the British units with confused fire. Although outnumbered five to one, the Sikh Fauj-i-Ain (regulars) resisted desperately, and their gunners kept firing volleys of grapeshot until they were overrun. Eventually, after two hours of darkness, the last Sikhs were driven from the field.
The Game
For our last Horse and Musket Tuesday, our buddy Dannie volunteered to run a colonial battle using the Perry Brothers Valour and Fortitude rules. He had turned us on to them a couple of months ago and we have been meaning to try them out. The current second edition version came out last year as an insert to Wargames Illustrated magazine. They are also available for free on the Perry Miniatures website (I will do a separate review later). He wanted to break out his Sihk War minis and opted to go with the Battle of Mudki.
His figure collection is all 28mm, so we needed a big table! Fortunately, our FLGS can take care of that for us. We ended up using one of the entire five foot by sixteen table at the store. TJ helped with the terrain, as we needed a large arid ground cloth and a mix of trees that would work for the Punjab.
With all the terrain set up, the Sikh troops were deployed in their starting areas. The British (East India Trading Company) were set on the table in from of the areas that they would have to enter the table. The British would have the first turn.
Victory conditions would be based on the standard Valour and Fortitude rules. There were two objectives behind the Sikh lines to try to balance out the points, as the British had a substantial numerical advantage or clear quality advantage. It would be a a game of slowing down the British before time ran out!
The British started their advance across the table, but had a little bad luck and two brigades did not get their ordered and did not enter until the second turn. The Sikhs moved forward to give their defense a little more depth to their positions. There British advance continued forward for a number of turns with cannon fire piercing the open jungle and plinking away on each side.
The British cavalry swiped forward with the plan to chase of the Sikh covering cavalry and then turn on the Sikh infantry. The Sikh cavalry moved forward in an attempt to harass and skirmish. This did not work out well on the Sikh left, as the cavalry did not get their orders and got caught in the open, getting wiped out in the process. The remaining cavalry pulled back and tried to pull the British away from the main line. This worked for a little while, but time finally ran out and these units were also wiped out.
On the Sikh left flank, the cavalry had a bit more luck. There initial skirmish and harassment delayed the British cavalry and even had some luck with some timely charges that weekend the attack. Unfortunly, much like the other flank, the British finally got to grips with the Sikhs and sent them packing, but not after taking some heavy losses.
In the center, the British infantry moved forward slowly, hoping to win with their cavalry. They were also slowed by the rough terrain. The cannon fire continued to plink away as the advance continued. The British infantry finally engaged with fire and started inflict casualties, helped by canister fire from their horse artillery.
Some of the flanking cavalry managed to break off and swing around the Sikh right flank, while the infantry was pinned by the frontal assault. A timely order card and the cavalry pulled off a double move, slamming into the Sikh guard in the flank. Clearly out two battalions. At this time, time ran out for the scenario.
The Sikhs held the two objectives, but had taken way too may casualties, without inflicting may on the British. The game resulted in a historic British victory, as the Sikhs had to quit the field.
It was a fun game and the rules seemed to work well, even somewhat elegantly. We will defiantly give them a try in another period in the future!
- Manteuffel