About the Book The book is an extraordinary work of Viscount Henry Hardinge, Viscount Hugh Gough and Sir Harry George Wakelyn Smith. It mainly deals with the Sikh Government, a large disorganized Sikh force on the frontier, the need for re- constructing a strong Sikh Government and the necessity of the Governor- General to proceed to the Upper Provinces in the autumn, with the unanimous consent of his colleagues.It shows that how the Sikh army was defeated at various places, such as Feroze shah and Aliwal. The volume infers that the chances of preserving peace will be diminished by the powerless state in which the Government would be placed, by not being able to act with decision and promptitude if in the state of Punjab the responsible authority of the Government remains more than 1000 miles off, at the other extremity of Bengal. Therefore, it is important that the risks should be averted, and their policy should be carried out more securely.
About the Authors Viscount Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, GCB, PC, PC (Ire) (30 March 1785-24 September 1856) was a British Army officer and politician. After serving in the Peninsula War and the Waterloo Campaign, he became Secretary at War in Wellington's ministry. He went on to be the Governor-General of India at the time of the First Anglo-Sikh War and then Commander-in-Chief of the Forces during the Crimean War.
Viscount Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, KP, GCB, GCSI, PC (3 November 1779-2 March 1869) was a British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer at the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope during the French Revolutionary Wars, Gough commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot during the Peninsular War.
Sir Harry George Wakelyn, Baronet Smith, was the British general, governor of Cape Colony, and high commissioner in South Africa from 1847 to 1852.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
