Battle of Sobraon - Folklore and Personal Accounts

Folklore and Personal Accounts

Several years after the battle, Gough wrote,

"The awful slaughter, confusion and dismay were such as would have excited compassion in the hearts of their generous conquerors, if the Khalsa troops had not, in the early part of the action, sullied their gallantry by slaughtering and barbarously mangling every wounded soldier whom, in the vicissitudes of attack, the fortune of war left at their mercy."

After hearing of the battle, the wife of Sham Singh Attariwala immolated herself on a funeral pyre without waiting for news of her husband, convinced (correctly) that he would never return alive from such a defeat.

Some accounts state that Lal Singh was present on the battlefield, and accompanied Tej Singh on his retreat. Other sources maintain that he commanded a large body of gorchurras (irregular cavalry) which was some miles away, and took no action against Gough's army although he might have attacked Gough's communications.

The friendship between the 10th Regiment of Foot and the 29th Regiment of Foot was cemented here at the battle as the two regiments met in the captured trenches that had cost so many lives to take. And to this day Officers and Sergeants of both regiments address each other as “My Dear Cousin”.

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