The band of Sikhs were closely packed in the cutting, the front rank
kneeling to fire. Nearly all were struck by stones and rocks. Major
Taylor, displaying great gallantry, was mortally wounded. Several of the
Sepoys were killed. Colonel McRae himself was accidentally stabbed in
the neck by a bayonet and became covered with blood. But he called upon
the men to maintain the good name of "Rattray's Sikhs," and to hold
their position till death or till the regiment came up. And the soldiers
replied by loudly shouting the Sikh warcry, and defying the enemy to
advance.
After twenty minutes of desperate fighting, Lieutenant Barff arrived
with thirty more men. He was only just in time. The enemy had already
worked round Colonel McRae's right, and the destruction of the few
soldiers left alive could not long have been delayed. The reinforcement,
climbing up the hillside, drove the enemy back and protected the flank.
But the remainder of the regiment was now at hand. Colonel McRae then
fell back to a more extended position along a ridge about fifty yards
further up the road, and reinforcing Lieutenant Barff's party, repulsed
all attacks during the night.
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