bayonet the village of Aliwal on the left of the position. The whole line then advanced and the battle became general; the British cavalry on the right flank charging that of the Sikhs, driving them on to their infantry, while the British infantry attacking in front drove everything before it, capturing battery after battery. The enemy, driven back on his left and centre, held on to a village on his right covering the passage of the river. There stood Avitabele's French brigade, so called from its organiser, 4000 strong with guns—the élite of the Sikh army. The 16th Lancers charged right through a square of their infantry, wheeling about and re-entering it to finish it off with the deadly lance. The Sikhs fought fiercely and with much resolution, maintaining hand-to-hand fighting. In one charge of their infantry upon the lancers they threw down their muskets and came on sword and shield in hand, after the manner of the Scottish clansmen, who were wont, when the decisive moment arrived, to drop their firelocks, draw
