Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is also particularly remembered for his role in the Battle of Aliwal, India in 1846, his subsequent governorship of the Cape Colony, and as the husband of Lady Smith.
Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet
Harry Smith's Annexations, 1847-1854
Image: Sir Harry G W Smith
The Battle of Aliwal was fought on 28 January 1846 between the British and Sikh forces in northern India. The British were led by Sir Harry Smith, while the Sikhs were led by Ranjodh Singh Majithia. Britain's victory in the battle is sometimes regarded as the turning point in the First Anglo-Sikh War.
Charge of the British 16th Lancers against Sikh Fauj-i-Ain infantry and artillery.
16th Lancers, Battle of Aliwal, 28 January 1846.
Captain Fyler, centre, leading cavalry charge into Sikh infantry; casualties in foreground. Chromolithograph, 1849