The Battle Of Hydaspes ( 326 B.c. )

[General Parmenion]

In June 326 BC Alexander fought his last great battle on the left bank of the Hydaspes against Porus, one of the most powerful Indian kings. Porus was powerful both as a man and as a king. He stood seven feet tall, a widely feared ruler and warrior. He fielded an army that was a match for the Greeks, but Porus army had an additional advantage: war elephants.



The war elephant as later adopted by the Greeks

This marked the first real encounter with elephants in battle, and it terrified the Greeks. Worse yet, Alexander met Porus during the monsoon season and faced him across a river in flood. Alexanders army crossed the heavily defended river Hydaspes in dramatic fashion during a violent thunderstorm to meet Poruss forces. Porus set up 200 war elephants, 100 feet apart and in the space between the elephants, but a little behind them, he placed his infantry. The elephants were key because the horses in Alexanders cavalry were afraid of them. Alexander realized that he had to attack some area other than the elephants so he decided to go after the enemys cavalry and ordered his phalanx not to attack until his cavalry had sent Porus army into disarray. The enemys cavalry was surrounded and fled behind the elephants. Alexanders phalanx now advanced and were charged by the elephants which stopped the phalanx in its tracks. Eventually Alexanders light infantry gained the upper hand, as the elephants were stripped of their mahouts or hamstrung by axes. The Greek phalanx in lock shield formation advanced slowly in a solid wall of pikes causing the elephants to stampede the Indian infantry.







Alexander's light infantry disabling elephants

The Indian army broke and fled. Some 80 elephants were captured and many Indians were killed in the pursuit. The battle had raged for eight hours and the Macedonians suffered many casualties themselves, more than in any other campaign. Alexander captured Porus, who had been wounded in the battle, and, like the other rulers he had defeated allowed him to continue governing his territory as his vassal. He even subdued an independent province and granted it to Porus as a gift. In this battle Alexanders horse, Bucephalus, was wounded and died. Alexander had ridden Bucephalus in everyone of his battles in Greece and Asia, so when it died, he was grief stricken and founded a city in India in his horses name.




Porus surrenders to Alexander

Alexander, with his part of army (five hipparhies of cavalry, five battalions of phalanx with added hypaspists and also two battalions of mixed bowman and javeliners) crossed the river Hydaspes in a very hard conditions involving heavy rain and deep water. But after that, they placed the Indians in a very difficult situation because Porus now had to decide which option to choose (It is illustrated very well in Fuller's "Generaship of Alexander the Great" peage 189). Porus secured the shore that Crateros was ready to cross and with the rest of his army he stood against the part of Alexander's army which was on his side of the river.

The battle itself is a brilliant show of cavalry maneuvers that became decisive factor in this battle. Until now Alexander has made very fast attacks aimed to disorganize enemy lines. He never used the schemes twice and that is why he surprised every enemy. Before the battle of Hydapes, Alexander read books that contained information on elephant warfare, such as how they can be put into a panic when approached by many horses. Thus, his plan was to drive Porus' cavalry from their formation.

I

Alexander sent one companion unit on the far left behind his infantry so that Indians would not see them. Another was sent in direction of the forces left to guard the shore. Half of the other cavalry advanced and stopped at the save distance from the enemy and waited. Alexander's infantry units advanced along with the cavalry, but with missile units placed in front of the melee infantry. He had also previously given orders to the infantry commanders to not attack before all cavalry units of Indian army were routed. Porus, seeing that all Alexander's cavalry was moving on his left, anticipated an encirclement. So, he sent all of his cavalry from his right to his left.

II

However, Porus mistaken Alexander's cavalry to be few in numbers, so he sent his horsemen to attack them, hoping that they will return very soon to the line with very few loses. When Porus' cavalry attacked, Alexander called his cavalry that he sent away from his right wing to returns.

III

When they saw what was going on in this maneuver it was too late - Porus' cavalry were attacked from the front, sides and back and all they could do was quick escape. Meanwhile, Porus moved his main body to attack the phalanx. Alexander's men were perpared to defends against the assulat. His bowmen and javeliners in the front aimed at the elephants' eyes and specially prepared soldiers attacked the elephants' legs. Some of the elephants went into a frenzy and broked out of the formation but most of them advanced forward and put the Macedonian infanty in a bad situation. Crowded with no place to step back took losses from missiles from the elephant riders. Those great "war towers" broke the phalanx line everywhere they stepped.

IV

But at that moment, Porus's cavalry was history and Alexander's companions attacked the rear and back of Indian infantryman. Poruses warriors had less space with every minute. Furious attacks incited panic within the ranks of Porus' army. Paniced, the elephants became out of control and they moved in every direction just to escape from the battlefield. Poruses formations were now ruined and in such situation they could not effectively fight any longer.