The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) (27 page)

There is no mention in the accounts either of Aristobulus or Ptolemy (my two principal authorities) of the method employed by Alexander in bridging the Indus, and I should myself hesitate to express an opinion as to
whether a permanent bridge was constructed or a bridge of boats such as Xerxes made for crossing the Hellespont or Darius for crossing the Bosphorus and the Danube.
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Nevertheless I am inclined to think that the latter method was used, if only because the depth of water is too great to allow the construction of a permanent bridge, and because, even had so astonishing a feat been accomplished, it could not possibly have been completed so quickly. Again, granting that boats were used, I still cannot say for certain whether they were lashed together and moored in line as in the bridge over the Hellespont which Herodotus describes, or whether the method was that employed by the Romans in their bridges over the Danube and the Celtic Rhine, or on the various occasions when they had to bridge the Tigris and the Euphrates; in any case, the Roman method of bridging by boats is the quickest I know of, and I shall describe it here, if only for its interest.

At the word of command, the boats are allowed to float downstream, stern first, while their way is checked by a rowing-boat which manœuvres them into position. Once they are in position, pyramid-shaped wicker baskets filled with rough stones are lowered from the bows to hold them against the current. As soon as one vessel is securely moored, another is brought up alongside of it, bows-on to the current, at the proper distance to ensure a sufficiently strong base for the superstructure; then timbers are rapidly laid athwartships from one vessel to the other with planks across them to make the structure rigid. The same process is repeated from vessel to vessel, as many as are needed to complete the bridge. On both sides of it ladders are fixed to serve as a bulwark and render the passage safer for horses and pack-animals, and also to
strengthen the structure still further. The whole operation takes little time, and is carried out in an orderly manner, in spite of much noise and bustle; shouts of encouragement there may be, on one vessel or another, or loud comments on bad work–but through it all the words of command can be heard well enough, and the rapid progress of the work is not impaired.

Such, then, is the traditional method employed by the Romans. Precisely how Alexander bridged the Indus I do not know, for there is no contemporary account; none the less, I expect it was by some very similar method. Perhaps it was not – but no matter.

Once across the river, Alexander offered his customary sacrifice and continued his march to Taxila, a large and prosperous town – indeed, the largest between the Indus and the Hydaspes. Here he was courteously received by Taxiles, the governor, and the Indians of the district, and he granted them, in return, as much of the territory bordering on their own as they asked for. He was also visited by representatives from Abisares, King of the Indian hill-tribes, with his brother and other distinguished personages among them, and by representatives from the local governor Doxareus. All of them brought presents. Here as elsewhere Alexander offered his usual sacrifices and held public games with contests in athletics and riding; then, after appointing Philip, son of Machatas, as governor of this district, he proceeded to the Hydaspes, leaving in Taxila any men who were sick and unfit for service.

News had already reached him that Porus
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with all the troops he could muster was on the other side of the Hydaspes, determined either to prevent his crossing or to
attack him should he attempt it. Alexander, accordingly, sent Coenus, son of Polemocrates, back to the Indus with orders to cut into sections the boats which had been used at the crossing of that river and transport them to the Hydaspes; the order was carried out, the smaller vessels being cut in half, the thirty-oared galleys into three, and the sections carried in carts to the bank of the Hydaspes, where they were re-assembled, so that the whole flotilla was once again to be seen, as it had been seen upon the Indus. Then, with the force he had brought to Taxila and 5,000 Indian troops under Taxiles and the local chieftains, he marched for the Hydaspes.

From the position he took up on the bank of this river he was able to see Porus, with all his forces, including his squadron of elephants, on the further side.
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At the point immediately opposite Alexander, Porus remained on guard in person, and sent pickets, each under command of an officer, to the various other points along the river where a crossing was practicable; for he was determined to stop the Macedonians from getting over. Alexander’s answer was by continual movement of his own troops to keep Porus guessing: he split his force into a number of detachments, moving some of them under his own command hither and thither all over the place, destroying enemy possessions and looking for places where the river might be crossed, and putting others under the command of various officers with instructions to keep constantly on the move, now in this direction, now in that. As supplies
continued to come in for his army from all parts of the country west of the Hydaspes, it was clear to Porus that he meant to remain in the neighbourhood of the river, until in the course of the winter the water fell sufficiently to enable him to effect a crossing at any one of a number of places. Morever, the continual movement of Alexander’s boats up or down stream, the manufacture of skin floats filled with hay, and the sight of troops, cavalry and infantry, constantly massed on the river-bank, gave Porus no chance to relax his vigilance or to concentrate his defensive preparations upon any one point rather than another.

The water was high at that time of year – the summer solstice
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– in all the Indian rivers, and the current in them swift and turbulent; for there are heavy rains at this season, and these, added to the melting snow from the Caucasus, where most of the rivers rise, greatly increase the volume of water, while during the winter the flow is checked again, the water becomes less turbid, and the level of it drops, so that here and there it is possible to get across. The Indus and the Ganges (and perhaps one other) are never fordable – but what I have said is certainly true of the Hydaspes.

Alexander openly declared his intention of waiting for the season in which the water in the river should fall, if he were prevented from crossing immediately; nevertheless he remained in the neighbourhood and kept a sharp look-out for any possible opportunity of getting his men over by a swift and unexpected movement. It was clear to him that he could not effect the crossing at the point where
Porus held the opposite bank, for his troops would certainly be attacked, as they tried to gain the shore, by a powerful and efficient army, well-equipped and supported by a large number of elephants; moreover, he thought it likely that his horses, in face of an immediate attack by elephants, would be too much scared by the appearance of these beasts and their unfamiliar trumpetings to be induced to land – indeed, they would probably refuse to stay on the floats, and at the mere sight of the elephants in the distance would go mad with terror and plunge into the water long before they reached the further side.

The river had to be crossed, so, as it could not be done openly, Alexander determined to attain his object by cunning. Every night he kept moving the greater part of his mounted troops up and down the bank of the river, making as much noise as possible – shouts, war-cries, and every sort of clatter and shindy which might be supposed to precede an attempted crossing. Porus, bringing up his elephants, followed these movements, guided by the noise, and Alexander gradually led him to make these marches, parallel to his own, a regular thing. This went on for some time, until Porus, finding that the Macedonians never went beyond shouts and yells, gave it up. Clearly, it was a false alarm; so he ceased to follow the movements of the enemy cavalry and stayed where he was, in his original position, with look-outs posted at various points along the river. Thus Porus, no longer expecting a sudden attempt under cover of darkness, was lulled into a sense of security – and this was Alexander’s opportunity.

At a sharp bend in the river there was a projecting spit of land, thickly wooded with different sorts of timber; and just off this promontory lay an uninhabited island, also well wooded. Alexander did not fail to observe the opportunity which this offered: the dense woodland both
on the island and on the river-bank beyond it was just the thing to conceal his attempt, so this was the spot where he determined to make the crossing. It was some eighteen miles from his main position, and all along the river he had stationed pickets, close enough to enable them to keep contact with each other both by sight and sound and to hear without difficulty any orders passed from any point along the line. For several nights in succession over a wide area noise and bustle were kept going and fires burning.

The decision once made, Alexander began his preparations openly. Craterus was left in charge of the original position with his own cavalry regiment, the mounted contingents from Arachotia and the Parapamisadae, part of the Macedonian infantry consisting of the battalions of Alcetas and Polysperchon, the local Indian chieftains, and the 5,000 troops under their command. His orders were not to attempt a crossing until Porus had moved from his position to attack Alexander, or until he was sure that Porus was in retreat and the Macedonians victorious. ‘But if’, Alexander added, ‘Porus opposes me with a part only of his force and leaves the rest, together with elephants, where it now is, you must stay where you are; if, on the other hand, he moves his whole contingent of elephants against me, leaving in his present position only some portion of his other forces, then you must lose no time in getting across. The only real danger to our horses, as we put them ashore, is elephants. Nothing else will worry them.’

Between the island and the main camp of which Craterus was left in charge, Meleager, Attalus and Gorgias were posted with the mercenary cavalry and infantry;
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their instructions, too, were to effect a crossing in sections as soon as they saw that the Indians were fairly engaged. The mounted troops which Alexander selected to operate under his own command consisted of the special squadron of the Companions, the cavalry regiments of Hephaestion, Perdiccas, and Demetrius, the contingents from Bactria and Sogdiana, the Scythian cavalry, and the mounted archers of the Daae; from the infantry units he chose the Guards, the battalions of Cleitus and Coenus, the archers, and the Agrianes. He took the precaution of moving at some distance from the river, in order to conceal his march to the point where he proposed to cross – the island, namely, and the spit of land opposite to it. To this point the floats had already been conveyed some time previously, and now, under cover of darkness, they were filled with hay and carefully sewn up. During the night a deluge of rain helped to conceal the preparations for the coming attempt; the clatter of arms, shouted orders, and the commotion they caused could not be heard across the river through the noise of the storm and the claps of thunder. Besides the skin-floats, most of the boats, including the thirty-oared galleys, had already arrived. These had been cut into sections, and were now re-assembled and concealed among the trees.

Just before dawn the rain stopped and the wind fell light. The mounted troops were embarked on the floats, the boats taking as many of the infantry as they would hold, and the crossing began – screened by the island, to prevent discovery by Porus’ scouts before the island was passed and the whole flotilla already near the opposite bank. Alexander himself crossed in one of the galleys with half of the Guards, the remainder following in other galleys. He was accompanied by three officers of his personal guard – Ptolemy, Perdiccas, and Lysimachus – and
by Seleucus (the Seleucus who afterwards became King).
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Once past the island, the approach to the river-bank was in full view of the enemy patrols, who galloped off with all the speed their horses could muster, to report to Porus. Alexander was the first ashore, and promptly took charge of the troops from the other galleys; the cavalry had had orders to disembark first, and these he proceeded to marshal as each squadron came off the floats. He then moved forward in battle order.

To Alexander this was all strange country, and it so happened that he had, without knowing it, landed on another island, and not on the mainland at all. It was an island of considerable extent – and therefore all the more difficult to recognize as such – and was separated from the mainland beyond by a branch of the river of no very great size. Nevertheless the torrential rain throughout the previous night had increased the volume of water, and the mounted troops were unable to find a practicable place for crossing. For a time they were faced with the disagreeable prospect that all the labour they had gone through would have to be repeated; at last, however, a ford was found, and Alexander led the way over. It was no easy task, as the water in the deepest part was up to the men’s armpits and the horses’ necks.

Once this second crossing was successfully accomplished, Alexander again marshalled his troops. His Royal Squadron and the best of the other mounted regiments he brought round to the right wing, stationing the mounted archers in the van; in the rear of the cavalry he posted the Royal Regiment of Guards under Seleucus, then the Royal regiment of the heavy infantry, in close touch with the other Guards divisions, according to their
precedence for that day.
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The archers, Agrianes, and javelin-men took their position on either wing of the main body of infantry. Having thus made his dispositions, he gave orders for the infantry, nearly 6,000 strong,
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to follow in order of march, while he himself, with only the cavalry (numbering some 5,000) in which he thought he had the advantage over the enemy, moved forward rapidly. Tauron, captain of the archers, was instructed to advance in the rear of the cavalry with all the speed he could make.