Originally published in Pearson's Weekly (C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.) vol.1 #33 (07 Mar 1891).
When we say that something happened from chance, we really mean only that it occurred without, or in spite of, previous planning by the men who wished to control events. History knows of empires which have been lost or saved "by accident"—that is, as tho results of acts which are not within the control of sovereigns and generals.
One such case was the victory, in 1845, of the British over the Sikhs of Ferozeshah.
At a critical point in the battle, the Governor-General of India, Lord Hardinge, who commanded in person, thought the battle was lost. Believing that his army would be destroyed, and not expecting to survive the defeat, he gave his watch and some other things to one of his officers, asking that they might be conveyed to his wife, with the assurance that his last thoughts were about her.
Just at this time one of Lord Hardinge's staff, also in despair, lost his head, through nervousness or fear, rode up to the commander of the British cavalry, and communicated an order, which he declared he had received, that the cavalry should retreat. The commander asked for a written order; the staff officer admitted that he had none, but spoke so positively as to the instructions which he was charged to deliver that the commander gave the order that his men should retire.
The Sikhs, seeing the cavalry drawing off, supposed the movement to be for the purpose of attacking them on their flank and cutting off their communications. A panic seized them, and they began to retreat. The British commander-in-chief noticed the disorder in the Sikh ranks, and ordered a charge along the whole line, which resulted in the rout of the enemy.
Thus a victory, which saved India to Britain, was due to a nervous officer who invented an order he had never received. If the British troops had been defeated, the whole of India would doubtless have risen to throw off the yoke of those whom the Sikhs had beaten in battle.