The Hero of Aliwal

The fate of Empires in the balance – the experience of battle – the moment of triumph for one man The days when young Harry Smith wore the green jacket of the 95th-Wellington’s famous riflemen-campaigning in Spain against Napoleon’s French with his beautiful young bride Juana have long gone. Now, Sir Harry Smith is in his fifties approaching the end of a long career. His position in the Cape colony ends with an appointment as Deputy Adjutant-General to the army in India. There he joins the staff of Sir Hugh Gough to experience an Indian battlefield in the Gwalior War of 1843 as the power of the Marathas is finally crushed. Smith has little time for his superior’s ‘bull at a gate’ style of battlefield tactics, but independent command is denied him. Little does he realise that the greatest opportunity of his military life is close at hand. The last and most formidable force on the sub-continent remains unconquered-the Sikhs of the Punjab. As the battles of the First Sikh War rage and the fate of British India is uncertain, Smith’s destiny draws him towards Aliwal, where he will direct ‘the battle without a mistake’ and prove himself-the ‘Iron Duke’s’ most able pupil. This book contains Smith’s own words as its narrative and his experiences are enhanced by first-hand accounts of officers and ordinary soldiers of the infantry, artillery, and cavalry who shared these momentous events with him. This book-a Leonaur original-portrays the life and times of a Victorian general at the peak of his powers. The entire campaign is also described by historian Hugh Murray.