The War Begins

Sir Henry Hardinge was the Governor-General of British India at the time. He had participated in the Napoleonic Wars and, during the Peninsular War, had routed the main force of the French Army commanded by Soult with a remnant of seven thousand men.

During the Battle of Ligny, Sir Henry Hardinge observed that the Prussian Army was spread too thin, but neither Blücher nor the Prussian Chief of Staff, Gneisenau, would listen to the wild claims of a man in his early twenties.

The result was that the Prussian Army was caught off guard by Napoleon and routed, forcing them to be the first to withdraw from the battlefield.

Sir Henry Hardinge lost his left arm in that battle, but he did not surrender or withdraw from the fight. Instead, enduring the agony of his severed limb, he caught up with the Prussian Army and urged them to return to the war.

Blücher held this brave young man in high regard, and the Prussian Army eventually arrived at Waterloo as planned, delivering the final blow to Napoleon and his empire.

The Duke of Wellington called him the bravest of all Englishmen, and to honor his achievements, the Duke presented Lieutenant Colonel Henry Hardinge with Napoleon's own sword.

However, this brave soldier never participated in another war after the Napoleonic Wars ended, choosing instead to enter the political arena.

It was not until the eve of the Sikh Wars that he was recommended for the position of Governor-General of India.

At the time, although the war launched against the Sikh Empire was met with applause at home, no one was confident in their ability to defeat such a formidable enemy.

The Sikh Empire, once ruled by Ranjit Singh, was certainly worthy of the title "formidable enemy."

To give a more intuitive