Course of the War

Course of the War
As the cold weather season began in November, substantial contingents from the East India Company's armies at last took the field.
A contingent from the Bombay Army (administered separately from the Bengal Army) had been ordered to reinforce Whish and besiege Multan. This force was delayed by a petty squabble over seniority and could arrive only when its first commander (who was senior to Whish and refused to serve under him) was replaced by a more junior officer. Whish's army was supplied and reinforced by sea and river transport up the rivers Indus and Chenab.
Sir Hugh Gough led his main force against Sher Singh. Sher Singh's army held the line of the River Chenab against Gough for several weeks. On November 22, the Sikhs repelled a British cavalry attack on their bridgehead at Ramnagar. Although they subsequently withdrew from their exposed bridgehead, the Sikhs regarded the battle as a victory and their morale was raised.
Gough forced his way across the Chenab in December, but then paused. Meanwhile, Chattar Singh had at last recaptured the fort at Attock by treachery, and this allowed him to march west and then south from Hazara. Dalhousie had earlier ordered Gough to halt operations while waiting for Multan to fall, which would allow Whish to reinforce him. Learning of the fall of Attock, he instead ordered Gough to destroy Sher Singh's army before it could link up with Chattar Singh.
Gough unexpectedly encountered Sher Singh's position near the Jhelum River on January 13, 1849. Sher Singh had cunningly concealed his army, and Gough was faced with the choice of withdrawing, or attacking when it was late in the day. Gough unhesitatingly took the latter course. The resulting Battle of Chillianwala was desperately fought. Gough's troops, attacking into thick scrub without artillery support, suffered heavy losses. Some units lost their colours (which was regarded as a disgrace) and part of one British cavalry regiment fled in panic, resulting in the loss of four guns, also reckoned a humiliation. Sher Singh's army was also hard hit, losing twelve of its own guns, but after both armies had faced each other for three days without renewing the action, both withdrew. Sher Singh continued northwards to join Chattar Singh near Rawalpindi, which made the battle into a strategic British defeat.
There was much alarm at the losses Gough had suffered. His tactics were severely criticised and he was replaced by General Charles James Napier, who could not arrive for several weeks. Some junior officers reckoned that the true cause of the setback lay lower down the ranks. Promotion in both the British and Bengal armies came slowly, and by the time officers were appointed to command regiments and brigades, they were too old, and worn out by harsh climate and disease. At Chillianwala, several senior officers had proved unable to command their units effectively.