[1] About the same time Lord Auckland wrote to Sir W. Macnaghten: “I would have you share in the feeling which is growing strongly upon me that the maintenance of the position, which we have attempted to establish in Afghanistan, is no longer to be looked to. It will be for you and for this government to consider in what manner all that belongs to India may be most immediately and most honourably withdrawn from the country.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[2] MS. Correspondence.

[3] Mr. George Clerk at that time entertained very similar opinions regarding the danger of sending more regiments away from the North-Western Provinces. “Whatever may take place,” he wrote to Lord Auckland on the 25th of November, “in regard to Caubul, and in whatever degree our troops there may be reinforced, we should not weaken this frontier. Any reduction of our military strength causes some presumption or audacity in our native allies generally.” And on the 29th he wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces (Mr. Robertson): “I really do not see how our muster-roll is to stand this draining of more troops—and probably many more, west—whilst reinforcements are also proceeding eastward. Undoubtedly the remainder will be inadequate to the due maintenance of our high supremacy in India.”—[MS. Correspondence.] There was, unquestionably, a choice of evils at this time. But Sir Jasper Nicolls and Mr. George Clerk differed in opinion as to which was the greater of the two.

[4] On the 27th of November he wrote to Lord Auckland from Mynpoorie: “If it be decided that we are to support Shah Soojah under all circumstances and difficulties, I must entreat your Lordship’s early attention to the means of effecting this object, which may be a more arduous undertaking than the occupation of the country in 1839.” And again, in the same letter: “There is a dark, perhaps a random hint, in one of these letters that the rebellion is instigated by the royal family at Caubul. If so, I would advise the early abandonment of them, their country, and their cause.” On the 28th he again wrote: “I really would not advise our forcing either him or ourselves upon a nation so distant, and in all respects so dissimilar both to our Sepoys and ourselves, at an expense so decidedly ruinous.” And on the 30th, in still more emphatic language, he said: “My opinion regarding a renewal of our efforts to support Shah Soojah on his throne, and to establish a permanent influence in Afghanistan, is without change or modification. That we have no base of operations has been always clear; but now, were we to march a reinforcement on the best horses, we could not be sure of carrying the Khybur Pass, and if snow has fallen, the road to Caubul would still be closed.”—[MS. Correspondence of Sir J. Nicolls.]

[5] The 53rd and 64th Native Infantry.

[6] The 60th Native Infantry.

[7] Two days before, Captain (afterwards Sir Henry) Lawrence, Assistant to Mr. Clerk, whose later career justified the high expectations which were formed of him during his connexion with the North-Western Agency, on his way out after a dacoity party, met the intelligence of the Caubul outbreak, and immediately after forwarding it on to Mr. Clerk went to Colonel Wild, to urge him to push on the 60th and 64th Regiments, and to warn the Light Infantry Battalion and some details of the 10th Cavalry, for service beyond the frontier.—[Capt. Lawrence to Mr. George Clerk: Nov. 14, 1841. MS. Records.]

[8] Mr. Clerk sent forward the 30th, which was Wild’s regiment, in order that the colonel might take command of the brigade, General Boyd having thrown out a hint that he was a more efficient officer than the colonels of the other regiments.

[9] These artillerymen were on their way to Afghanistan to relieve the company then in the country, serving with Abbott’s battery.

[10] Two nine-pounders and a howitzer.

[11] Sir Jasper Nicolls to Government: January 24th, 1842.

[12] Sir Jasper Nicolls to Government: January 23rd. See also private journal, “Thanesur, January 23rd.—Mr. C. joined us on the ground. He is anxiously in favour of our sending forward more troops, in view, I believe, to our undertaking the re-conquest of Caubul. To this I decidedly object. We have neither funds nor men available, without in the latter instance leaving India so bare as to risk its safety.”—[MS. Records.]

[13] Supreme Government to Sir Jasper Nicolls: January 31, 1842.—[Published Papers.]

[14] Papers relating to Military Operations in Afghanistan. Lord Auckland’s private letters were still more decided on these points. “I should be glad,” he wrote to Sir Jasper Nicolls on the 10th of February, “to hear that Sir R. Sale has been able to withdraw his brigade from a position so perilous as to make me regard its possible fate with extreme anxiety.” Two days afterwards he wrote to the same correspondent: “I have from the beginning believed a second conquest of Caubul with our present means to be absolutely impossible.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[15] It was, moreover, of great importance to accelerate the movement, because it was believed that any day might witness the appearance of the Barukzye horsemen on the road between Peshawur and Jellalabad. “Time is most precious to us,” wrote Mackeson to Clerk; “a few days more may see a party of the Barukzye troops in the plains of Ningrahar, and then thousands will be required where hundreds now would do the work.”

[16] Shere Singh despatched urgent purwannahs both to General Avitabile and to Raee Kishen Chund, calling upon them to aid the British by every means in their power. “You are a general of the Khalsa Government,” he wrote to the former, “and noted for the confidence placed in you. This is the time to serve the two allied powers; and you will, therefore, unreservedly devote your attention to discharge your trust, so as to please the two friendly governments, and to earn such a name that the services performed shall be known in London.” To the latter he wrote, “Orders have been issued to Koonwur Pertab Chund to march to Peshawur, and the zeal of the Durbar will at once make itself manifest to Mr. Clerk (as the sun suddenly shining forth from beneath a cloud) when he is informed of all by the letters of Captain Mackeson.”—[MS. Records.] When Mackeson received from George Clerk a copy of the purwannah to Avitabile he was in conference at that officer’s quarters with the Sikh general, Mehtab Singh, and the commandants of all the Sikh battalions. “I read out this purwannah,” says Mackeson, “but was somewhat confounded to find at its conclusion that the Durbar limited the operations of General Avitabile and the Sikh troops to Futtehgurh—their own frontier post. It was fortunate that, before the arrival of this purwannah, the commandants of the auxiliary Mussulman troops had left the room, having previously engaged to march as far as Ali-Musjid in support of our troops, and to move on again with General Pollock’s brigade.”—[Mackeson to Clerk: January, 1842. MS. Records.] The passages referred to in the purwannah might bear this construction, but it is doubtful whether this was their intent. George Clerk, in a marginal note to Mackeson’s letter, says: “The purwannah did not limit it; but directed them to move on to Futtehgurh and act in concert and by Captain Mackeson’s advice.”—[MS. Records.]

[17] A cousin of Captain Mackeson. Holding no recognised place in the army either of the Crown or the Company, his services were neither fairly estimated nor adequately rewarded. But there were few more gallant episodes in the war than his defence of Ali-Musjid. Mr. Mackeson had been long disabled by extreme sickness, but was carried about in a litter to superintend the defence.

[18] See Mackeson to Government: January 27, 1842. Published papers.

[19] “The Nujeebs struck their tents when we did, and moved back to Peshawar, and the Sikhs made no demonstration, though twice we wrote to General Avitabile during the night; and just before daylight I told him they were not moving, and again at sunrise.”—[Captain H. M. Lawrence to Mr. Clerk: 19th January, 1842.] Lawrence adds: “I impute no blame to General Avitabile for the man not telling us what we might expect from his miscreant troops. His own intentions are kind and friendly to our government and ourselves.” The misconduct of the Sikh troops was rendered more atrocious, and our own mortification more bitter, by the circumstance that Mackeson had advanced a lakh and a half of rupees to the Sikh authorities, for the payment of the men whose services we hoped to retain.

[20] “We have been disgracefully beaten back,” wrote Captain Lawrence to Mr. Clerk. “Both our large guns broke down; one was on an elephant, but was taken down to put together when the other failed, but its carriage breaking too, the Sepoys lost all heart, and I grieve to say that I could not get men to bring one off, though I tried for an hour, and at last, finding we were only expending ammunition, we left it in their hands, but it was broken completely down and spiked.”—[MS. Records.]

[21] “I confess,” wrote Captain Lawrence to Mr. Clerk, “that I never heard any very heavy fire, or saw the enemy in any numbers. I was not with the advance, and therefore may be mistaken; but was afterwards within a hundred yards of the advanced gun for an hour or more, and could see into the pass, but observed no breast-work, and but very few of the enemy; certainly not above a thousand, and not half that number of fire-arms.”—[MS. Records.]

[22] The two detachments met at the mouth of the pass.

[23] Mr. G. Clerk to Sir Jasper Nicolls: November 17, 1841. I have taken this passage from a MS. copy. It is quoted, however, in the Blue Book, but with the usual fatality attending such compilations, there are two errors in these few lines. Mr. Clerk is made to say that he had called upon “the commanding officer of Lahore and Ferozepore” to send forward the regiments.

[24] It is not very clear, however, that Captain Lawrence actually made any written requisition to the commanding officer at Ferozepore (Colonel Wild) for the despatch of artillery details. He wrote a private letter to Mr. Clerk, saying: “If four guns can be made effective, they also shall be got ready.” In this letter he says that he was about to call upon Colonel Wild; and he may orally have broached the subject of the guns; but in his official letter, written on the same day (November 14), there is no mention of artillery, although he suggests the expediency of sending forward the 10th Cavalry without delay.

[25] “Though I have not yet heard that any artillery is ordered up to the frontier, I would beg leave to recommend, in anticipation of the speedy arrival of reinforcements so necessary on the Sutlej, that artillery should move forward from hence. I shall transmit a copy of this letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Wild, in case he may think proper to halt one of the regiments under his command, until the arrival of such artillery as you consider can best be spared from Loodhianah or Ferozepore; but the latter is, I believe, for want of horses, incapable of moving; and this leaves an insufficiency for the due protection of this border, during an unsettled state of parties at Lahore.”—[Mr. George Clerk to Major-General Boyd: November 27th, 1841. MS. Records.]

[26] “Having had the honour to receive from the acting Adjutant-General a statement of the reinforcements which his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief has ordered to be put in motion for the purpose of forcing the Khybur, I beg leave to state to you that I would not now wish that the 3rd troop, 2nd Brigade of Horse Artillery, should move from the British frontier on my requisition, though I do not propose, in consequence of this information, to request Lieutenant-Colonel Rich to recall the order for the intended march hence of that troop to-morrow in progress to Ferozepore.”—[Mr. George Clerk to Major-General Boyd: Loodhianah, December 2nd, 1841. MS. Records.]

[27] “Having heard that it is possible the guns which his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief has directed to move across the frontier may not be ready to move so immediately as the passage across the Sutlej of your troop may be effected, I deem it to be advisable, adverting to the emergency of the occasion, to recommend that you nevertheless proceed on, in anticipation of the sanction of his Excellency to your doing so, by orders of the Major-General commanding the division issued at my request, provided that you can do so without crippling the means of marching requisite for the artillery, which his Excellency has directed to be put in motion for the frontier, and which should follow as expeditiously as possible.”—[Mr. George Clerk to Captain Alexander, commanding 3rd troop, 2nd Brigade of Horse Artillery: December 4th, 1841. MS. Records.]

[28] “I do myself the honour to inform your Excellency that, in consequence of my receipt of your Excellency’s letter of the 2nd instant, prohibiting the advance of horse artillery as a reinforcement to proceed to Afghanistan, I have apprised Captain Alexander, commanding the 3rd troop, 2nd brigade, now on its way to Ferozepore, and Major Huish, commanding that station, that they are to consider the request made by me, for the advance of that troop to be withdrawn.”—[Mr. George Clerk to Sir Jasper Nicolls: December 7th, 1841.]

[29] See Appendix.

[30] On the 29th of January, Sir Jasper Nicolls wrote to General Pollock: “My dear General,—In some late letters Captain Lawrence has expressed himself in a very decided manner touching the disheartened and unguarded language held by officers belonging to the corps which were beaten back in the Khybur Pass on the 19th instant. God forbid that they should feel any panic, or even alarm; but if you observe it, I rely on your addressing yourself to them in a very forcible manner, and shaming them out of such very unbecoming, unmilitary, and dangerous conduct. Their duty is obedience—prompt and energetic obedience—such as executes without expression of doubt. If more has been said than the case seemed to require, take no notice of this further than to warn Captain L., if you think proper to do so.—Always yours faithfully, J. Nicolls.”

[MS. Correspondence.]

[31] Sir Jasper Nicolls to Lord Hill: Simlah, September 2nd, 1842.—[MS. Correspondence.] In this letter, which will be found entire in the Appendix, the Commander-in-Chief says: “When Major-General Pollock arrived at Peshawur he found 1800 men of the four regiments in hospital; the Sepoys declaring that they would not again advance through the Khybur Pass; the Sikh troops spreading alarm, and in all ways encouraging and screening their desertion, which was considerable. It was well that a cautious, cool officer of the Company’s army should have to deal with them in such a temper, 363 miles from our frontier. General Pollock managed them extremely well.”

[32] An intelligent and trustworthy officer of the 26th Native Infantry, whose letter is now before me, writes: “In less than forty-eight hours after our (the 9th Foot and 26th Native Infantry) arrival, active emissaries, particularly from the 53rd and 60th Regiments, were in our camp, using every effort to induce our men to desert, and to refuse to enter the Khybur; and had actually gone the length of sending Brahmins with the Gunga Jul to swear them in not to advance; and did not desist until orders were given to seize the first man caught in the lines under suspicious circumstances. This information was several times communicated to me by old Sepoys and non-commissioned officers, and the fact of the attempts made to seduce the men from their allegiance is too well known to the officers of the 26th to admit of a moment’s doubt.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[33] MS. Correspondence. I need not say that these statements would not be made except upon the testimony of officers who heard the speeches to which I have referred.

[34] See Appendix.

[35] This and other letters of Shah Soojah will be found in the Appendix. Macgregor’s answer to the private letter received on the 21st was to the effect, that they had no fear of Mahomed Akbar, to whom, please God, they would give a warm reception, if he ventured to attack them.

[36] Colonel Dennie, commanding the 13th L.I.; Colonel Monteith, commanding the 35th; Colonel Oldfield, commanding the Cavalry; Captain Abbott, the Company’s Artillery; Captain Backhouse, the Shah’s Artillery; and Captain George Broadfoot, the Sappers and Miners.

[37] The late Major-General Sir Henry Havelock, K.C.B.

[38] Memorandum by Major George Broadfoot.—“Captain Macgregor vehemently denied that we had ever received hostages at Tezeen. I mentioned several things to show that we had; but, as he persisted in his denial, I said that I had been under some extraordinary delusion, and that, of course, any argument founded on it must fall to the ground, but I still held hostages utterly worthless while the enemy had our hostages and prisoners in their hands.” Again, Broadfoot says: “Hostages were announced in General Sale’s orders, and reported to General Elphinstone. I was blamed for opposing one of them in a fight at the time; and afterwards met him in charge of Captain Mackenzie on his mission to General Pollock, when he reminded me of having nearly killed him when he was a hostage. There are many grounds for still thinking that I was right.” Both were, to a certain extent, right. The men to whom Broadfoot referred were not actually hostages. They were Afghan agents, sent into the British camp to re-establish our thannahs, &c. So Macgregor describes them in his despatch. Macnaghten, referring to them, in a letter dated October 27, says: “I explained to his Majesty that these people were not sent as hostages, but merely to assist our troops and be the medium of friendly communication.”

[39] It need scarcely be said that this account of the councils at Jellalabad, which appears for the first time in the present edition, is based upon what I conceive to be undeniable evidence, which has come into my possession since the book was first published. No one who peruses it should, for a moment, lose sight of the fact that the responsibility was with Sale and Macgregor, who had to regard the position in which they were placed with respect to Shah Soojah’s and to their own government, both of which were, at that time, believed to be anxious for the evacuation of Jellalabad. In circumstances similar to those which surrounded Broadfoot and Backhouse, I do not doubt that Sale and Macgregor would have counselled the same course of resistance. We err greatly when we judge by the same standard men in supreme and men in subordinate command. Apart even from the consideration of the paralysing effects of a sense of responsibility, it is obvious that what is a man’s duty in one case, is not his duty in another. There were no braver spirits in the garrison than those of Sale and Macgregor.

[40] The requisition crossed a letter from Brigadier Anquetel, censuring Broadfoot for taking with him an unnecessary supply of tools. The requisition was complied with, and the censure withdrawn.

[41] The work of the Jellalabad garrison was not confined to the strengthening of their own defences. The destruction of all the adjoining cover for the enemy was no small part of their labour. With reference to these works, General Sale says, in his official report: “Generally I may state that they consisted in the destruction of an immense quantity of cover for the enemy, extending to the demolition of forts and old walls, filling up ravines and destroying gardens, and cutting down groves, raising the parapets to six or seven feet high, repairing and widening the ramparts, extending the bastions, retrenching three of the gates, covering the fourth with an outwork, and excavating a ditch ten feet in depth and twelve feet in width round the whole of the walls. The place was thus secure against the attacks of any Asiatic army not provided with siege artillery.” This admirable report was written by Havelock, as were all Sale’s Jellalabad despatches.

[42] “But it pleased Providence, on the 19th of February, to remove in an instant this ground of confidence. A tremendous earthquake shook down all our parapets, built up with so much labour, injured several of our bastions, cast to the ground all our guard-houses, demolished a third of the town, made a considerable breach in the rampart of a curtain in the Peshawur face, and reduced the Caubul gate to a shapeless mass of ruins. It savours of romance, but is a sober fact, that the city was thrown into alarm, within the space of little more than one month, by the repetition of full one hundred shocks of this terrific phenomenon of nature.”—[Report of General Sale: Jellalabad, April 16, 1842.] “On the 19th of February, an earthquake, which nearly destroyed the town, threw down the greater part of the parapets, the Caubul gate with two adjoining bastions, and a part of the new bastion which flanked it. Three other bastions were also nearly destroyed, whilst several large breaches were made in the curtain, and the Peshawur side, eighty feet long, was quite practicable, the ditch being filled, and the descent easy. Thus in one moment the labours of three months were in a great measure destroyed.”—[Report of Captain Broadfoot, Garrison Engineer.]

[43] See Appendix.

[44] “The officers of the garrison,” wrote Macgregor to Pollock on the 21st of February, “came upon rations to-day. They are willing to brave all difficulties and dangers, now that they feel certain that government will resent the insult offered to our national honour by these rascally Afghans.” And again, on the same day, writing to the same correspondent, he said: “I am glad to find that government intend to uphold the national honour by resenting the insults which have been offered to it by the rascally Afghans; and I feel assured that this garrison will continue to perform the part which has devolved upon them at this crisis with credit to themselves and advantage to the state. General Sale intends to publish in to-day’s garrison orders the proclamation of the Indian Government, a copy of which you kindly sent to me by Torabaz’s Sowars.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[45] The rescue of the Jellalabad garrison had in reality been the primary—indeed, the sole acknowledged reason of the movement in advance; but the Supreme Government, whilst by no means unmindful of the claims of the Jellalabad garrison, long omitted to communicate with Sale or Macgregor—to convey to them directly any instructions for their guidance, or any expressions of approbation of their conduct.

[46] The correspondence which passed between Jellalabad and Peshawur at this time unfolds the real nature of the respective positions of the two generals. It will be found in the Appendix.

[47] General Pollock to General Sale: March 27th, 1842. MS. Correspondence. Pollock did not exaggerate the backwardness of the native regiments, or the importance of associating with them a larger body of Europeans. Even the new corps which were moving up from the provinces, and which the General believed to be “without a taint,” were openly expressing their disinclination to advance. Shere Singh mentioned this to Mr. Clerk. “Yesterday, early,” wrote the latter, “the Maharajah, Rajah Dhyan Singh, and myself, being together for a short time, quite unattended, they told me that Commandant Cheyt Singh, who had come into Lahore for a day from Colonel Bolton’s camp, to escort which from Ferozepore to Peshawur the Durbar had appointed him, had mentioned that our Sepoys in that brigade did not like going to the westward, and were sometimes grouped eight or ten together, expressing their dissatisfaction; but that on the other hand the Europeans (her Majesty’s 31st and artillery) were much delighted at the prospect of fighting with the Afghans. The Maharajah added, ‘If you could send two or three more European corps, they would penetrate the Khybur or anywhere else so successfully against the Afghans, that the Hindoos, who are now alarmed, would, after one action, all take heart again.’”—[Mr. Clerk to Government: Lahore, March 19th, 1842. MS. Records.]

[48] Shere Singh was at this time a confirmed drunkard, and he thought more of potations than of politics. When the first intelligence of our Caubul disasters reached him, Mr. Clerk wrote: “The effect which these events in Caubul will have on Lahore, will, I imagine, be as follows. The Rajahs will inwardly rejoice thereat; the Khalsa will be vexed at any Mahomedan exultation; and Shere Singh will congratulate himself on the prospect this may open to him of drawing closer his relations with us as a means of procuring good champagne.”—[Mr. Clerk to Mr. Robertson: Nov. 29th, 1841. MS. Records.]

[49] Their design was to arrest the progress of Gholab Singh’s force; and some of our officers thought that the Rajah ought to have attacked them. But Mr. Clerk was of opinion that his forbearance was a proof of his friendship towards us. “In the same manner,” he wrote, “that the reluctance of Rajah Gholab Sing to have recourse to measures of open hostility towards the Mussulman battalions, when arrayed against him across the Attock, was, I believe, in a great measure caused by his apprehension of embarrassing the British brigade coming up and near at hand, should he be found making of the high road an unseemly and uncertain field of battle for the coercion of mutinous battalions, so I conceive that he may very naturally feel disinclined hastily to pledge himself to take as far as Jellalabad, or into any arduous service, troops which for fourteen months past have generally assumed a tone of defiance of the control of their appointed officers.”—[Mr. George Clerk to Government: February 13th, 1842. MS. Records.]

[50] Gholab Singh was employed in the Hazareh country in operations against Poyndah Khan and a rebel force when he was summoned to proceed to Peshawur. At this time, too, the Jummoo Rajah had an army in Ladakh and Thibet engaged in active warfare with the Chinese, and it was sustaining serious reverses at the time that Gholab Singh was called upon to aid the British Government. “What with this reverse on the eastern frontier of his possessions,” wrote Mr. Clerk to government, “and the apprehension that in his absence his lately victorious troops will lose ground in the Hazareh country, Rajah Gholab Singh evinces little ardour to co-operate with the Sikh troops at Peshawur. It is also probable that the Jummoo Rajah would rather contemplate the difficulties of the British Government in that quarter, than be instrumental in removing them.”—[Mr. Clerk to Government: January 20, 1842.]

[51] See Appendix.

[52] “Lawrence is making out a digest of our conversation with the Rajah yesterday. I should say that not even with Sultan Mahomed Khan would the Sikhs hold Jellalabad with any advantage to themselves. If we would bribe them with offers of territory, it must be in some other direction. Would Shikarpoor do better!”—[Mackeson to Clerk: Feb. 21, 1842. MS. Records.]

[53] “My course, I think, is clear—to get what I can out of the Sikhs, and, if to my mind that is anything like substantial co-operation in advancing or even securing support in the rear, to accept it for General Pollock if he will use it, and officially to recommend to him that, if it proves serviceable, he should, contrary to the orders of government, continue to maintain Jellalabad, whilst awaiting further orders from government on the subject.”—[Mr. Clerk to Mr. Robertson: Umritsur, March 4, 1842.]

[54] This was merely an echo of what Gholab Singh had been recommending by letter to the Maharajah.

[55] There were more than enough, the minister said, to beat all Afghanistan on the plains, but it was a different thing to convey supplies through the defiles of the Khybur.

[56] “The aversion which the Sikhs have to penetrate the Khybur is not more inconvenient to the British Government than it is alarming to the Maharajah; for their resentment against the government, which has imposed upon them the arduous duty, will be enhanced, should they suffer from the swords of the Afghans. Nor can any thinking person in this Durbar fail to apprehend that by proceeding to invade Afghanistan in support of its ally, whilst deprived by the circumstances of the alliance of all latitude of securing parties among the Afghans, such as it would create and turn to advantage in aid of its encroachments, if acting on its own account, it may be raising a hornet’s nest which may involve the Khalsa in long wars for the preservation of its territories on the Indus.”—[Mr. George Clerk to Government: Lahore, April 5th, 1842. MS. Records.]

[57] The same year (1857) witnessed the death of Gholab Singh, and, alas! of Henry Lawrence, one of the best of men.

[58] See Appendix.

[59] Pollock had reduced his own baggage-cattle to one camel and two mules.

[60] “My detention here has been most annoying. We have had heavy rain, and the Sikhs begged that I would wait till to-morrow. I have consented to this, because the troops of both powers advancing simultaneously for the same purpose ought to produce a good effect. I should have been better pleased had Mahomed Akbar not sent the last reinforcement—save the guns, which I hope we shall be able to give a good account of. The pluck of the Sepoys is doubtful; but I hope when we carry the mouth of the pass, they will feel confidence. The 9th are most anxious to be let loose, and—please God! by to-morrow, we shall be well into the pass... I still much regret that I have not the 31st; but after Sir Robert Sale’s letter received some time back, I consider that he has put it out of my power to wait longer, although I am quite sure that the addition of 900 Europeans would have operated very favorably for the prisoners. I, however, hope that you will be able, through the Ghilzyes, to pave the way for their release when we reach you.”—[General Pollock to Captain Macgregor: Jumrood, April 3rd, 1842. MS. Correspondence.]

[61] The negotiations, indeed, failed altogether. The chiefs had given hostages, and were to have received 50,000 rupees, for the safe conduct of the force from Jumrood to Dhaka—one moiety to be paid in advance, and the other on the army reaching the latter place. “They were to clear the pass for us to Dhaka, and make arrangements for guarding it afterwards. They engaged to remove all hostile Afreedis from the pass, as far as Ali-Musjid, and then we were to repel any troops of Mahomed Akbar Khan sent to oppose us.”—[Captain Mackeson to General Pollock: April 2, 1842. MS. Records.] Mackeson adds: “Yesterday the Afreedis in our pay proposed to seize on the mouth of the pass; but as the Sikhs were not ready to move on, and they promised to be ready on the following day, the movement was postponed. To-day the Afreedis of our party have pleaded that Mahomed Akbar’s troops have come down to the mouth of the pass, and that they can no longer perform their agreement. They offer to return the money that has been given to them.”—[MS. Records.]

[62] Four horse-artillery guns, two guns of the mountain-train, and three foot-artillery guns.

[63] See Appendix.

[64] See Appendix, vol. ii.

[65] “The Sepoys behaved nobly,” wrote General Pollock, on the day after the action. “They merely required a trial in which they should find that they were not sacrificed. There were, however, many desertions before we advanced. Now they are in the highest spirits, and have a thorough contempt for the enemy. This is a great point gained. You are aware that Mahomed Akbar sent a party, about 800, with one or two guns, to oppose us; but they thought better of it, and abandoned the fort of Ali-Musjid this morning. I have accordingly taken possession. The Sikhs are encamped near us, and are much more respectful and civil since our operations of yesterday.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[66] Pollock saw nothing of the Sikhs till the afternoon of the 6th. They doubted his success, and held discreetly back until they found that he had made good his way to Ali-Musjid.

[67] “I have been given to understand that, on the advance of our army to Jellalabad, the Sikh authorities at Peshawur, without intimating their intentions to Captain Lawrence, and without reference to any engagements between the Afreedis and ourselves, entered into arrangements with the Afreedis to purchase, for the sum of 6000 rupees or 4000 rupees, the security of that portion of the pass they have engaged to protect for a period of two months. The parties they agreed to pay were Abdul Rahman Khan, Kooki Kheil, Mahomed Jalim Sipa, and Alia Dad Malik, Din Kheil, son of Khan Bahadur, all of whom were at that time hostile to us, although Abdul Rahman Khan has since come over. There could have been no objection to the Sikhs entering into an arrangement with the Afreedis; but it should have been done in communication with us, and without imparting to the Afreedis the term for which the Sikhs were bound to hold the pass.”—[Mackeson to Pollock: May 6, 1842. MS. Records.]

[68] “I regret to have to report that the Sikh regiments posted at Ali-Musjid, yesterday left their post, and returned to Jumrood; on their way throwing the loads off some of our mules and bullocks that they met, and employing the animals to carry their own baggage. My letter to Koonwur Pertab Singh, and his answer, are herewith enclosed. You will observe that the whole Sikh regiment was actually recalled by order, without notice being given to me, or without their being relieved, although four regiments were within a mile of them.”—[Captain Lawrence to Mr. Clerk: May 9, 1849. MS. Records.]

“I waited on Koonwur Pertab Singh yesterday. I spoke strongly on the outrage of the morning, and on the necessity of a severe example being made of the offenders.... I repeatedly returned to the subject, declaring the necessity of punishing the offenders, whom, I said, there could be no difficulty in recognising, as they were for hours in the heart of the town, and had been seen by General Avitabile himself, as well as by Captains Lane and Johnstone, and by many of the Commissariat agents. It was not denied that the men could be recognised; but I much fear that no punishment will be inflicted on them.”—[Lawrence to Pollock: May 8, 1849. MS. Records.]

[69] Mr. Gleig says that the band of the 13th went out to play them in; and that the relieving force marched the two or three last miles to the tune, “Oh, but ye’ve been lang o’ coming.”

[70] Mr. Gleig says: “On the 2nd, Sir Robert Sale proceeded to distribute the captured sheep among the corps and departments composing his garrison. The 25th declined to accept the boon. They sent a deputation to the General, which respectfully acquainted him that animal food was less necessary for them than for Europeans, and besought him to give their portion of the booty to their gallant comrades of the 13th. No wonder that between these two corps there should have sprung up a romantic friendship, which, though the accidents of service have parted them, probably for ever, neither is likely to forget, at all events as a tradition, while they keep their places respectively in the armies of the Queen and of the East India Company.”

[71] MS. Correspondence.

[72] General Sale’s Public Despatch.

[73] Mr. Gleig gives the following account of Dennie’s end: “With undaunted resolution the 13th rushed at the fort, Colonel Dennie nobly leading; and finding the aperture sufficiently large to admit of it, they rushed through the outer wall—only to find themselves exposed to a murderous fire from the untouched defences of the inner keep. Here Dennie received, just as he approached the breach, his mortal wound. A ball entered the side, passing through the sword-belt; and he bent forward upon his horse. Lieutenant and Adjutant (now Captain) Wood instantly rode up to him, and expressed a hope that the hurt was not serious. But it was more than serious; it was fatal. A couple of orderlies, by Captain Wood’s direction, turned his horse’s head homewards, and leading it by the bridle, endeavoured to guide him to the town. But he never reached it alive. He died with the sound of battle in his ears, hoping, but not living to be assured, that it would end triumphantly.”

[74] See Appendix.

[75] A letter to General Pollock, written on the 18th of March, says: “Affairs here are as unsettled as they can possibly be. The day before yesterday the commandant of the Newab’s regiment was bribed by his Majesty to desert to the Balla Hissar with all his soldiers. The Newab demanded their restoration, but was refused. Yesterday, after much dispute, his Majesty sent a message to our host, saying that the commandant should be sent to Ameen-oollah’s house if we were delivered over to the same authority. Fortunately for us the Newab refused to give us up. This proposition was made through jealousy of the Newab, and with the view to conciliate Ameen-oollah, by whom it had been represented to his Majesty that we were supplying our host with money, &c. Ameen-oollah had been for many days trying to get possession of our persons with a view to try and extort money from us. His Majesty’s proposition nearly cost us our lives.... Since the desertion of the commandant the whole city has been in an uproar. The shops are all closed, and every man has armed himself. The feeling against us is reawakened. The gates of the Balla Hissar are half shut; and each chief has collected his followers. Three or four thousand men have flocked round our host. The Barukzye’s and Suddozye’s party-spirit bids fair to be renewed with all its rancour.... The King has, however, now but few friends, and his parsimony is as a proverb; and his suspected connexion with us adds to his unpopularity.... The Naib has written for the Kohistanees to accompany him on a crusade, and unless some accommodation is made with his Majesty, the Balla Hissar will in all probability be the first point of attack. It will be a popular cause, as there are hopes of plunder.”

[76] See Appendix for translations of Shah Soojah’s letters.

[77] On the 2nd of April Mohun Lal wrote from Caubul: “A letter has been received by Mahomed Akbar Khan, which was carried by Ameen-oollah Khan and read by the Shah. It also passed under my sight through the kindness of the Persian chiefs. It contained that Mahomed Akbar has been always writing to send the troops to assist him against Jellalabad, but nobody has heard him. Now he has been informed by his trusty men at Peshawur that five battalions of the English have reached Hussna Abdal, and when they join the forces at Peshawur they, in company with the battalions of the Najeebs of the Sikhs, will force their march through Khaibur, though he has sent Sultan Jan with a few hundred men to reinforce the people of Khaibur; but if the English enter and pass the Khaibur once, no one shall be able to oppose them. Therefore the chiefs, as well as the Shah, at Caubul, should not quarrel for the distribution of the money and ranks, but exert themselves to come down immediately to Jellalabad and reduce it before the English should pass Khaibur; otherwise he (Akbar) is risking and ending his life for the faith of Mahomed, and will continue to exert himself as long as he lives.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[78] “The Shah, I am told, has made up his mind again to proceed in person to Jellalabad; but I scarcely believe that he will ever march, and if he does he will either be murdered or made blind by the Barukzyes.”—[Letter of Mohun Lal: MS. Correspondence.]

[79] The murderer was a godson of the Shah, who had shown great personal kindness to the youth. It is said that his evil passions had been greatly excited, not only by the disappointment spoken of in the text, but by the fact also that when he went to remonstrate, the King caused the purdah or curtain of his Durbar tent to be let down, and so denied ingress to the remonstrant.

[80] Mohun Lal, in a letter to Captain Mackeson, Caubul, April 10, 1842, says: “Prince Futteh Jung was taken prisoner in the fort of Mahomed Khan, Bayat, and at even released by force of Ameen-oollah and the Populzyes. As soon as he reached the palace he opened the treasury hoarded up with great pains by his father, the King. He spends a good deal of it, to employ the people and make his party strong.... It is estimated to be twenty lakhs in cash and a considerable quantity of jewels.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[81] I utterly repudiate the cant which fixes the stigma of ingratitude on the character of Shah Soojah. No one knew better than the Shah that we had carried him back to Caubul, and kept him there not for his purposes but for our own.

[82] MS. Correspondence.

[83] Macgregor was of opinion that after the departure of the British from Caubul, the conduct of the Shah indicated a friendly feeling towards us. “The Shah is, I believe, acting in a friendly manner towards us,” he wrote to General Pollock; “and will, if he has the power, prevent the march of an army from Caubul. He knows that whilst Dost Mahomed is in our possession we can make use of him as a powerful weapon against his Majesty, and this is the great hold we have upon his friendship.”—[MS. Correspondence.]

[84] MS. Correspondence.

[85] MS. Memorandum.

[86] MS. Correspondence.

[87] Major Rawlinson to Government: March 6, 1842. This important despatch was published by Lord Ellenborough in the Government Gazette, and subsequently appeared in the Blue Book. To an unpublished letter, written by Major Rawlinson to Mr. Colvin, on the 13th of December, I am indebted for the information contained in the earlier portion of this chapter.

[88] He was connected with our postal establishment.

[89] The letter to General Nott was worded as follows:

“Assistant Quarter-Master-General’s Office, Head Quarters,

Caubul, November 3, 1841.

“Sir,—I have the honour, by direction of Major-General Elphinstone, commanding in Afghanistan, to request that you will immediately direct the whole of the troops under orders to return to Hindostan from Candahar to march upon Caubul instead of Shikarpore, excepting any that shall have got beyond the Khojuck Pass, and that you will instruct the officers who may command to use the utmost practicable expedition. You are requested to attach a troop of his Majesty the Shah’s Horse Artillery to the above force, and likewise half the first regiment of cavalry.

“I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant,

“J. Paton, Capt. A. Q. M. G.

“To Major-General Nott, Commanding at Candahar.”

This letter was sent, under a flying seal, through Colonel Palmer, at Ghuznee, and Major Leech, at Khelat-i-Ghilzye—Palmer sent it on with this indorsement: “The country getting more disturbed every day. Burnett came in yesterday after being attacked on the road. He was pursued, when he fortunately fell in with some horsemen I had sent after the fifty-two camels from Candahar, which have been taken off. No tidings of Crawford.” Leech wrote:—

“Khelat, Nov. 12, 1841.

“The whole of the Ghilzye prisoners escaped from Caubul, and the family of Husan Khan from this neighbourhood. Khaker Khan and Munsoor Khan in custody, and all the other families expected by this evening to be safe at this place.——What are we to say to the appearance en route to Candahar at this crisis of Saifadeen, nephew of Atta Mahomed Khan. He was here on the evening of the 8th.”

Macnaghten’s letter was addressed to Rawlinson, and it ran in the following words:—

“Caubul, Nov. 3, 1842.

“My dear Rawlinson,—We have a very serious insurrection in the city just now, and from the elements of which it is composed, I apprehend much disturbance in the surrounding country for some time to come. It would be only prudent, therefore, that the 16th, 42nd, and 43rd, with a troop of horse artillery and some cavalry, should come here immediately. General Nott will be written to officially in this respect. We have been shelling the city all day, but apparently with little effect. I hope there will be no difficulty about supplies. Your writing to Leech will obviate this. On second thoughts I shall forward this letter under a flying seal through Palmer and Leech. Unless you send up this reinforcement there will be a probability of our supplies being cut off.

“W. H. Macnaghten.”

A line from Captain Lawrence to Colonel Palmer requested him to send on the letter express through Leech. Leech forwarded it with a few words to Rawlinson, saying, “What think you of a Prince and some treasure with the brigade? Please reinforce this post (Khelat-i-Ghilzye) by 160, or if possible, 200 men—infantry.” Another indorsement stated, “There are nearly 100 maunds of atta here, belonging to the Bengal commissariat, disposable for the brigade proceeding towards Caubul. We have six months supply for the garrison.

“H. Milne.”

—[MS. Records.]

[90] It does not appear that the conduct of Lieutenant Crawford was, in any way, open to censure. He was the bearer, as has been shown, of written instructions, authorising him to destroy the prisoners if they attempted to escape, but there seems to have been no connivance between them and the party who attacked the escort. Crawford himself says, in a narrative which he drew up, and which was subsequently published in a Bombay paper: “One prisoner was cut down by a horseman of the enemy (plainly showing there was no collusion between them), two others rolled over in a ditch, where, with their horse a top of them, and their legs chained under his belly, I left them; indeed, I now found it was impossible I could ever get my charge into Ghuznee alive, and I had only to decide on putting them to death or setting them at liberty. My instructions would have justified my pursuing the former course, but the poor wretches had clearly made no attempt to escape; they were in no way answerable for the attack made on my party, as was evident from one of their number falling by the sword of our adversaries; and I conceived then, and do now conceive, that in letting these men go with their lives, I was not only acting according to the strict letter of my instructions, but that justice and humanity required I should not slay them in cold blood. Had I put them to death, then Shumshoodeen or Mahomed Akbar would have been equally justified in taking our lives (the lives of all their prisoners) on the advance of Pollock and Nott on Caubul. I may add that the Court of Inquiry, which I called for, after investigating all the circumstances, decided that I had acted perfectly right.” These escaped prisoners, however, subsequently became the most active of our enemies.

[91] He died, after much suffering, in March.

[92] Major Rawlinson’s MS. Journal.

[93] “The mutineers moved down to the Barukzye villages in apparent expectation of being joined by the Ooloos, but wherever they went they received neither support nor encouragement, notwithstanding that they gave out our troops were on the march to destroy the Douranee villages. The Janbaz at last took up a position at Chuplanee, a village about twelve miles off, where our cavalry came up with them; Captain Leeson had to file his men across a difficult canal, and had only just formed line when the enemy charged in a body. Our men charged at the same time in line, and the flanks swept round the Janbaz horse, who were probably not above 150 strong—numbers having left the rebel standard before reaching Chuplanee. For about five minutes a splendid fight took place, hand-to-hand, when the Janbaz broke and fled, pursued by our cavalry. Of the enemy, about thirty were killed and fifty wounded in the flight and pursuit. Our loss was trifling.”—[Major Rawlinson’s MS. Journal.]

[94] Major Rawlinson to Major-General Nott: January 7th, 1842. MS. Correspondence. as end ref

[95] General Nott to Major Rawlinson: January 8th, 1842. MS. Correspondence. There is a characteristic passage in this letter which is worthy of quotation. “I have no right to interfere with the affairs of the government of this country, and I never do—but in reference to that part of your note where you speak of political influence, I will candidly tell you that these are not times for mere ceremony, and that under present circumstances, and at a distance of 2000 miles from the seat of the Supreme Government, I throw responsibility to the winds, and tell you that, in my opinion, you have not had for some time past, nor have you at present, one particle of political influence in this country.”

[96] Her Majesty’s 40th Regiment; the 2nd, 16th, 38th, and a wing of the 42nd Native Infantry; the Shah’s 5th Infantry; Anderson’s two troops of Horse Artillery (Shah’s); Blood’s Battery (Bombay Artillery); Leeson’s and Haldane’s Horse.

[97] The number of the enemy has been variously stated at all sorts of amounts, from 5000 to 20,000. General Nott, in his official despatch addressed to the Military Secretary, says: “After a march of four hours over a very difficult country, I came in sight of the rebel army, from fifteen to twenty thousand men, drawn up in a strong position on the right bank of the Urghundab.” Major Rawlinson says: “From what I myself saw, as well as from information I have received from parties in the enemy’s camp, I should estimate their entire force at 5000-3000 of which accompanied the chiefs from Sir-a-bund, whilst the other 2000 joined from the Alekozye villages.”—[MS. Journal.] There is nothing of which the historian ought to speak with less confidence than the “number of the enemy.” There is nothing more difficult to determine than the fact; and nothing more likely to draw upon him a large amount of acrimonious criticism, than his manner of stating it. As a general proposition, I think it may be laid down that military commanders seldom under-state the number of the enemy they have beaten.

[98] “Two canals in advance of the village were lined by matchlock men—the horse crowded the slope of the tuppa upon which Killa-chuk is built, and occupied the entire space intervening between that village and Kohuck, the hillocks adjoining which latter place were covered by large masses of footmen collected from the neighbouring villages to witness rather than to participate in the combat.”—[Major Rawlinson’s MS. Journal.]

[99] Major Rawlinson, in his despatch of the 6th of March, describes this affair as a “brief skirmish.” General Nott has described the action in a few pregnant sentences. A graphic account of it is to be found in Captain Neill’s Recollections of Four Years’ Service in the East. Captain Neill was present as Adjutant of her Majesty’s 40th Regiment. He speaks of the affair as the “Battle of Urghundab.”—“the first success after our recent disasters at Caubul,” as it was. He adds: “The victory having been obtained over a force so immensely superior to that which was opposed to it by the British, most effectually damped the spirit of our enemies in that part of the country.” As Nott’s force had sixteen guns, it can hardly be said that the enemy’s force was immensely superior.

[100] The Prince seems to have been inclined to desert to the British in the course of the action. He and Tej Mahomed (the Sirdar of the recreant Janbaz, who had been forced to accompany the mutineers after their attack on their British officers) had been in consultation in the morning about going over to the British camp. The chiefs had some suspicion of this, and “when they saw Tej Mahomed detach himself, they immediately accused the Prince of treachery. They talked, indeed, of seizing him; upon which the boy, with his immediate followers, galloped off the field.”—[Major Rawlinson’s MS. Journal.] Tej Mahomed would have come in; but an inopportune shower of grape from Blood’s battery kept him at a discreet distance.

[101] The Douranee chiefs were irritated against Atta Mahomed for precipitating the conflict with the British. They had been anxious to stand aloof until the issue of the Caubul contest could be more clearly seen by them.

[102] On the 8th of January, the General wrote to Rawlinson: “I am sorry that I have not the same confidence in Meerza Ahmed which you appear to have. The force under this man has been in the immediate vicinity of Candahar for the last month. Why this has been permitted I know not. He has a very considerable body of men with him, both horse and foot; and my information tells me that they are increasing daily and hourly.... You ought to be the best judge of this man’s fidelity; but I believe him to be a traitor; and I should not be surprised to hear of his being joined by his expected confederates, and before twenty-four hours marching off and forcing the young Prince Sekunder to accompany him. Yet he is on the watch, and will play his game according to circumstances.”—[General Nott to Major Rawlinson: January 8th, 1842. MS. Correspondence.] The position of Meerza Ahmed, and the near prospect of his defection, were among the reasons urged by the General in support of his refusal to quit the near neighbourhood of Candahar.

[103] Neill’s Recollections. There was, however, comparatively little snow at Candahar. It seldom lies there long upon the ground.

[104] He was not, however, completely successful. It would have been a miracle if he had been. “February 4.—There have been several squabbles in the Douranee camp already: 1stly. A quarrel took place between the Janbaz and Populzyes regarding bhoosa; 2ndly. Sufder Jung fell out with Meerza Ahmed, and abused him for not spending his money freely on the Ghazees; and 3rdly. The Janbaz have regularly cleaned out an Ishakzye Khail in another dispute about supplies.”—[Major Rawlinson’s MS. Journal.]