BATTLE OE SOBRAON. (Hansard, 2 April 1846)

§ SIR R. PEEL
thought that it would be unnecessary for him to trouble the House further than merely to propose the Resolutions, embodying a Vote of Thanks to Sir Hugh Gough and Sir Henry Hardinge, and the officers and soldiers serving under these distinguished generals. The gallant Officer (Sir De Lacy Evans) misunderstood him if he supposed that he (Sir R. Peel) intended to have made the slightest reflection on Sir Harry Smith, with respect to any loss in the baggage of his army; on the contrary, in what he had said he had been most desirous of paying an additional compliment to the gallant General for his most able and judicious conduct previously to the action of the 28th. Instead of implying any sort of blame, he intended to express his opinion that the movement of the troops previously to the battle of Aliwal had been conducted with the greatest skill and bravery. He was fully aware that it was a matter of delicacy to allude in that House to the probable exercise of the prerogative of Her Majesty. He would not, however, let the opportunity pass of observing that Her Majesty had signified, within one hour after the receipt of the despatches, Her gracious intention of conferring the honour of the British Peerage on Sir Henry Hardinge and on Sir Hugh Gough. He would take that opportunity of alluding to events which ought not to pass in silence. In a communication from Sir Henry Hardinge, which he received yesterday, that gallant Officer bore testimony to the valour of the distinguished Prussian Prince and the officers who accompanied him in the campaign 463 in India. That distinguished personage had left the army after the battle of Ferozepore, but on hearing that there was a probability of another engagement, returned to take part in it. The Prince is thus alluded to in the despatch of Sir Hugh Gough:—"We were in this battle again honoured with the presence of Prince Waldemar of Prussia, and the two noblemen in his suite, Counts Oriola and Greuben." Here, as at Moodkee and Ferozeshah, these distinguished visitors did not content themselves with a distant view of the action, but throughout it were to be seen in front wherever danger most urgently pressed. He hoped also to be permitted to supply an omission which he had made in proposing the Motion, namely, in not doing sufficient honour to the distinguished services of Major General Gilbert. The highest testimony was borne to the distinguished services and merits of this gallant officer. With respect to his conduct during the recent operations, he would refer to the words of Sir Hugh Gough, which were much better than any to which he could give utterance:— I want words to express my gratitude to Major General Gilbert. Not only have I to record that in this great fight all was achieved by him which, as Commander-in-Chief, I could desire to have executed; not only on this day was his division enabled, by his skill and courageous example, to triumph over obstacles from which a less ardent spirit would have recoiled as insurmountable; but since the hour in which our leading columns moved out of Umballah, I have found in the Major General an officer who has not merely carried out all my orders to the letter, but whose zeal and tact have enabled him in a hundred instances to perform valuable services in exact anticipation of my wishes. I beg explicitly to recommend him to your Excellency's special notice as a divisional commander of the highest merit. If he had inadvertently omitted to notice with the honour due to it the name of General Gilbert, he believed that he had now made ample compensation by reciting the highest testimony that could be borne to his conduct. He should conclude with proposing the following Resolutions:— That the Thanks of this House be given to the Right Hon. Lieutenant General Sir Henry Hardinge, Knight Grand Cross of the Most honourable Military Order of the Bath, Governor General of India, for the judgment, energy, and ability with which the resources of the British Empire in India have been applied, in repelling the unjust and unprovoked invasion of the British Territory by the Sikh nation; and for the valour and indefatigable exertions which he displayed on the 10th of February, 1846, at the Battle of Sobraon, when, by the blessing of Almighty 464 God, which we desire most humbly to acknowledge, this hostile and treacherous invasion was successfully defeated. That the Thanks of this House be given to General Sir Hugh Gough, Bart., Knight Grand Cross of the Most honourable Military Order of the Bath, Commander in Chief of the Forces in India, for the signal ability and valour with which, in the Battle of Sobraon, upon the 10th of February, 1846, he directed and led the attack, when the enemy's entrenchments were stormed, their artillery captured, their army defeated and scattered, and the Punjaub laid open to the advance of our victorious Troops. That the Thanks of this House be given to Major General Sir Henry George Smith, Knight Commander of the Most honourable Military Order of the Bath; Major General Walter Raleigh Gilbert; and Major General Sir Joseph Thackwell, Knight Commander of the Most honourable Military Order of the Bath: and to the other Officers, European and Native, for the distinguished services rendered by them in the eminently successful operations at the battle of Sobraon. That this House doth highly approve of and commend the invincible intrepidity, perseverance, and steady discipline displayed by the Non-commissioned Officers and Private Soldiers, European and Native, in the Battle of Sobraon, on the 10th of February, 1846, by which the glory of the British Arms has been successfully maintained against a determined and greatly superior force; and that the same be signified to them by the commanders of the several corps, who are desired to thank them for their gallant behaviour. The right hon. Baronet concluded by moving— That the Thanks of this House be given to The Right Honourable Lieutenant General Sir Henry Hardinge, Knight Grand Cross of the Most honourable Military Order of the Bath, Governor General of India, for the judgment, energy, and ability, with which the resources of the British Empire in India have been applied in repelling the unjust and unprovoked invasion of the British Territory by the Sikh Nation; and for the valour and indefatigable exertions which he displayed on the 10th of February, 1846, at the Battle of Sobraon, when, by the blessing of Almighty God, which we desire most humbly to acknowledge, this hostile and treacherous invasion was successfully defeated.

§ SIR DE LACY EVANS
I regret that I so imperfectly expressed myself with reference to the manœuvres of General Sir H. Smith. I did not suppose the right hon. Baronet intended any other than to acknowledge in the best spirit the honour and glory due to the gallant Officer; but I thought it right, as a military man, to object to a word that he made use of. I am glad to hear that it is Her Majesty's gracious intention to bestow the honours of the Peerage upon Sir Hugh Gough. I, for one, received that announcement with delight; and I am sure that feeling will be shared in from one end of the country to the other. For my own part, I will venture to say, I should be gratified to find that, in 465 addition, it was the gracious intention of Her Majesty to confer the honours of the British Peerage also upon Sir H. Hardinge. My hon. Friend the Member for Montrose, in alluding to the moderation of the Governor General, has expressed a doubt whether he has not shown almost too much moderation in the terms of the peace. But, in my view, in no part of his conduct has the Governor General shown more judgment, more wisdom, and more sound policy than in the course he took after the victory, more particularly as displayed in his despatch to the Secret Committee. I believe that this moderation will be found to be most conducive to the maintenance of the power of the British Government, and to the satisfaction of the vast population who are now connected with us in the north of India. Sir Hugh Gough has given us a beautiful description in his despatch of the brilliant conduct of no less than twelve brigadier officers, who commanded in the late action, and particularly of the conduct of Brigadier Stacey, who led the army into the enemy's intrenchments. He has also spoken in the highest terms of the gallantry and conduct of Brigadier Cureton. I suppose there are some precedents which have prevented the brigadiers from being included in the Vote of Thanks, upon the present occasion; but I think they might have been included. During forty years of the last war I find that no less than fifty brigadiers have received the thanks of Parliament; and if there were any precedents against it, I think that now, upon the conclusion of the war, they might have been departed from; and if the slightest colour could be found for including the brigadiers in the present vote, they ought to receive the thanks of the House.

§ SIR R. INGLIS
A generous suggestion has been made by the hon. Member who has just sat down, which would have been a proper suggestion from any one; but is doubly friendly from him, with reference to the honours that may be conferred upon Sir Henry Hardinge. I know as well as any one that it is the duty of the House not to interfere with the prerogatives of the Crown. But I perfectly agree in the allusion made by the hon. and gallant Member, that if the right hon. Baronet should feel it his duty to make any recommendation to Her Majesty upon this point, it would be followed by the grateful thanks of this House, and of the country generally. There is another gallant Officer who has not been so prominently mentioned 466 as he deserved—Major General Sir Joseph Thackwell. I do not remember anything in the annals of military history superior to the charge of the 3rd Dragoons, or to the cavalry of the left entering the entrenchments in single file, and then reforming and charging the enemy.

§ SIR R. PEEL
I feel that this is rather a delicate subject; but in order to prevent the possibility of any doubt, I may state to the House that the despatches had not been in the possession of the Queen an hour, when Her Majesty signified her intention of conferring the honours of the peerage upon Sir Henry Hardinge and Sir Hugh Gough. I may also state that the appointment of Aid-de-Camp to the Queen was made out for Lieutenant Colonel Taylor for his previous services, before the intelligence of his death arrived. I rise to make these explanations, in order to show that every wish expressed by the House has been anticipated by the Queen, in the desire to reward with distinctions those who had conducted themselves gallantly.