CHAPTER VI

DEHLI—THE BRITISH POSITION OUTSIDE THE
CITY—LINES OF COMMUNICATION GUARDED
BY SIKHS—PROPOSED ASSAULT ABANDONED
—DEATH OF GENERAL BARNARD—CAPTURE
OF LUDLOW CASTLE

THE  BRITISH  POSITION

AT the end of Chapter III it was shown how
General Barnard, after his victory at Badli-ki-
Serai, pressed on and took up a position overlooking
the bloodstained capital of the north-west of India.

Dehli was about 6| miles in circumference with
150,000 inhabitants, nearly equally divided as to
religion. The city is built on a plain, enclosed on
three sides by stone walls 11 feet thick on top, 15 Jeet
below, 16 feet high, with ditches 2 5 feet wide and 16 feet
deep. On the east side the unfordable river Jamnah
washed a much lower wall. A rocky ridge, some 50
feet above the plain, starting from the bank of the
river north of Dehli, runs southward for about 2 J miles,
offering a good defensive position, which was indeed
essential until September, when the arrival of a Siege
train and reinforcements from the Panjab enabled the
actual siege to be undertaken. The troops encamped
to the westward of the Ridge on the lines of the
Native brigade  which   had   mutinied,  occupying   the

crest  with  strong   pickets,  which  were   later   pushed

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