DE LA ROCHE, HENRI FRANCOIS STANISLAUS (d
1842), a Frenchman born in Mauritius, served in the army of Begam Samru. As the force was disbanded by the British after the Begam`s death, he came to Lahore in 1838 and took up service under Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a cavalry officer on a salary of Rs 500 per month. Apart from army duties, he was occasionally deputed to settle boundary disputes on the Sikh frontier.SMITH, SIR HARRY GEORGE WAKELYN (1787-1860), divisional commander of the British army of the Sutlej, under Lord Hugh Gough, in the First Anglo Sikh war (1845-46). Pie was a veteran of the Peninsular war and had also taken part in the battle of Waterloo. He saw action at Ferozeshah (21 December 1845), Baddoval (21 January 1846), and at `Alival (28 January 1846). His troops were stationed at Dharamkot when a division of the Sikh army under Ranjodh Singh Majithia crossed the Sutlej at Phillaur, seriously threatening Ludhiana and intersecting the Britisli line of communication.
ABBOTT, SIR JAMES (1807-1896), British Resident\'s assistant at Lahore, capital of the sikh kingdom, after the first Anglo - Sikh war (1845-46), was born on 12 March 1807, the son of Henry Alexius Abbott. Passing out of the military college of the East India Company at Addiscombe, England, Abbott received commission as a second lieutenant in the Bengal artillery in 1823. In November 1830, he joined the army of the Indus, under Sir John Keane, for the invasion of Afghanistan. In 1842, he was appointed assistant to the British Resident at Indore.