faced each other for three days without renewing the action, both withdrew. Sher Singh continued northwards to join Chattar Singh, which made the battle into a strategic British defeat. Gough nevertheless claimed a victory, which Dalhousie scornfully dubbed as "perhaps poetical." There was much alarm at the losses Gough had suffered. His tactics were severely criticised. Military experts in Britain described him as a "superannuated general who could not mount his horse without assistance" and he was replaced by General Charles James Napier, who would require several weeks to arrive from England. Some junior officers reckoned that the true cause of the setback lay lower down the ranks. Promotion in both the British and Bengal armies came slowly, and by the time officers were appointed to command regiments and brigades, they were too old, and worn out by harsh climate and disease. At Chillianwala, several senior officers had proved unable to command their units effectively. Battle of Gujrat Meanwhile, Whish's force completed their siege works around Multan, their batteries opened fire and made a breach in the defences, which the infantry stormed. Mulraj surrendered on 22 January. The ending of the siege allowed Whish to reinforce Gough. In particular, Whish's division had large numbers of heavy guns, which the Sikhs lacked. As Gough's army closed in on the Sikh Army, he sent William Hodson to scout the Sikh Army's position. Sher Singh attempted a last outflanking move, sending cavalry to cross the Chenab, and re-cross in Gough's rear. They were thwarted by heavy rains which made the river difficult to cross, and by British irregular cavalry led by Harry Burnett Lumsden. On 21 February, Gough attacked the Sikh Army at the Battle of Gujrat. Here, he began the battle with a three-hour bombardment from almost 100 guns, which drove the Sikhs from their hasty entrenchments. He then sent his cavalry, led by Sir Joseph Thackwell, and horse artillery after them in a pursuit which lasted for four hours. The Sikh loss was estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 men and 53 guns; the British casualties were 96 killed and 700 wounded.. On 12 March, Chattar Singh and Sher Singh surrendered to Sir Walter Gilbert near Rawalpindi. Some 20,000 men (mainly irregular cavalry) laid down their arms. The Afghan contingent hastily withdrew through Attock and Peshawar, which the British reoccupied. Dost Mohammad Khan later signed a treaty acknowledging British possession of