Forty-one years in India Part 62

[Footnote 9: The followers consisted of:

Doolie-bearers 2,192 Transport and other departments 4,698 Private servants, and _saices_ of Native Cavalry regiments 1,244 ----- Total 8,134]

[Footnote 10: DETAIL OF FORCE.

1ST INFANTRY BRIGADE.

_British_. _Native_.

92nd Highlanders 651 -- 23rd Pioneers 701 24th Punjab Native Infantry -- 575 2nd Gurkhas -- 501 --- ----- Total 651 1,777

2ND INFANTRY BRIGADE.

_British_. _Native_.

72nd Highlanders 787 -- 2nd Sikh Infantry -- 612 3rd Sikh Infantry -- 570 5th Gurkhas -- 561 --- ----- Total 787 1,743

3RD INFANTRY BRIGADE.

_British_. _Native_. 60th Rifles, 2nd Battalion 616 -- 15th Sikhs -- 650 25th Punjab Native Infantry -- 629 4th Gurkhas -- 637 ___ ___ Total 616 1,916

CAVALRY BRIGADE.---------------------------------------- _British_. _Native_. 9th Queen's Royal Lancers 318 -- 3rd Bengal Cavalry -- 394 3rd Punjab Cavalry -- 408 Central India Horse -- 495 ___ ___ Total 318 1,297

ARTILLERY DIVISION.------------------------------------------ _British. Native. Guns_. 6-8th Royal Artillery--screw guns 95 139 6 11-9th Royal Artillery 95 139 6 No. 2 Mountain Battery -- 140 6 ___ ___ ___ Total 190 418 18

TOTAL OF FORCE.----------------------------------------------

British troops 2,562 Native " 7,151 British officers 273 Guns 18 Cavalry horses 1,779 Artillery mules 450

Two hundred rounds of ammunition were taken for each Infantry soldier: seventy rounds were carried by each man, thirty rounds were in reserve with the regiment, and a hundred rounds in the Field Park.

Each Mountain battery had:

Common sh.e.l.l 264 Double sh.e.l.l 60 Shrapnel sh.e.l.l 144 Star sh.e.l.l 24 Case shot 48 ___

Total 540 rounds.

And thirty rounds per gun in the Field Park.]

[Footnote 11: British troops were allowed ponies at the rate of 2 per cent, of strength. Native troops were allowed ponies at the rate of 2-1/2 per cent. of strength. Followers were allowed ponies at the rate of 1-1/2 per cent. of strength.]

[Footnote 12:

------------------------------------------------------------- Yabus, Indian or Mules. ponies. Donkeys. Camels. Afghan ponies. ------------------------------------------------------------- Number of animals that left Kabul 1,589 4,510 1,244 912 6[1*] Purchased during the march[2*] 35 1 -- 208 171 Number of animals that reached Kandahar 1,179 4,293 1,138 1,078 177 Casualties during the march 445 218 106 42 --------------------------------------------------------------

Note 1*: With hospital equipment.

Note 2*: Only twice had animals to be taken against the will of the owners, and on both occasions the matter was amicably settled in the end.]

[Footnote 13: Major E. Hastings, Captain West Ridgeway, Major Euan Smith, C.S.I., and Major M. Prothero.]

[Footnote 14: Major A. Badc.o.c.k, Captain A. Rind, and Lieutenants C. Fitzgerald, H. Hawkes, and H. Lyons Montgomery, all of the Bengal Staff Corps.]

[Footnote 15: Lieutenant-Colonel R. Low, Bengal Staff Corps; Captain W. Wynter, 33rd Foot; Captains G. H. Eliot and C. R. Macgregor, Bengal Staff Corps; Lieutenants L. Booth, 33rd Foot, H. Elverson, 2nd Foot, R. Fisher, 10th Hussars, R. Wilson, 10th Hussars, and C. Robertson, 8th Foot.]

CHAPTER LXI.

1880

The order of marching--Ghazni and Kelat-i-Ghilzai --Food required daily for the force--A letter from General Phayre --Kandahar--Reconnoitring the enemy's position--A turning movement

Before daybreak on the 11th August, as I was starting from camp, I received my last communication from the outside world in the shape of a telegram from my wife, sent off from a little village in Somersetshire, congratulating me and the force, and wishing us all G.o.d's speed. She had taken our children to England a few months before, thinking that the war in Afghanistan was over, and that I would soon be able to follow.

Four days brought us to the end of the Logar valley, a distance of forty-six miles. So far the country was easy and supplies plentiful. I thought it wise, however, not to attempt long distances at first, that both men and animals might become gradually hardened before entering on the difficult and scantily cultivated ground between Ghazni and Kelat-i-Ghilzai, where I knew that forced marches were inevitable, and that their powers of endurance would be sorely taxed. Moreover, it was necessary to begin quietly, and organize some system by which confusion in the crowded camping-grounds might be avoided, and the physical strain upon everyone lightened as much as possible.

When it is remembered that the daily supply for over 18,000 men and 11,000 animals had to be drawn from the country after arrival in camp, that food had to be distributed to every individual, that the fuel with which it was cooked had often to be brought from long distances, and that a very limited time was available for the preparation of meals and for rest, it will readily be understood how essential it was that even the stupidest follower should be able to find his place in camp speedily, and that everyone should know exactly what to do and how to set about doing it.

On the march and in the formation of the camps the same principles were, as far as possible, applied each day. The 'rouse' sounded at 2.45 a.m., and by four o'clock tents had been struck, baggage loaded up, and everything was ready for a start.

As a general rule, the Cavalry covered the movement at a distance of about five miles, two of the four regiments being in front, with the other two on either flank. Two of the Infantry brigades came next, each accompanied by a Mountain battery; then followed the field hospitals, Ordnance and Engineer parks, treasure, and the baggage, ma.s.sed according to the order in which the brigades were moving. The third Infantry brigade with its Mountain battery and one or two troops of Cavalry formed the rear guard.

A halt of ten minutes was made at the end of each hour, which at eight o'clock was prolonged to twenty minutes to give time for a hasty breakfast. Being able to sleep on the shortest notice, I usually took advantage of these intervals to get a nap, awaking greatly refreshed after a few minutes' sound sleep.

On arrival at the resting-place for the night, the front face of the camp was told off to the brigade on rear guard, and this became the leading brigade of the column on the next day's march. Thus every brigade had its turn of rear guard duty, which was very arduous, more particularly after leaving Ghazni, the troops so employed seldom reaching the halting-ground before six or seven o'clock in the evening, and sometimes even later.

One of the most troublesome duties of the rear guard was to prevent the followers from lagging behind, for it was certain death for anyone who strayed from the shelter of the column; numbers of Afghans always hovered about on the look-out for plunder, or in the hope of being able to send a Kafir, or an almost equally-detested Hindu, to eternal perdition. Towards the end of the march particularly, this duty became most irksome, for the wretched followers were so weary and footsore that they hid themselves in ravines, making up their minds to die, and entreating, when discovered and urged to make an effort, to be left where they were. Every baggage animal that could possibly be spared was used to carry the worn-out followers; but notwithstanding this and the care taken by officers and men that none should be left behind, twenty of these poor creatures were lost, besides four Native soldiers.

The variation of temperature (at times as much as eighty degrees between day and night) was most trying to the troops, who had to carry the same clothes whether the thermometer was at freezing-point at dawn or at 110 Fahr. at mid-day. Scarcity of water, too, was a great trouble to them, while constant sand-storms, and the suffocating dust raised by the column in its progress, added greatly to their discomfort.

Daily reports regarding the health of the troops, followers, and transport animals were brought to me each evening, and I made it my business to ascertain how many men had fallen out during the day, and what had been the number of casualties amongst the animals.

On the 12th August the Head-Quarters and main body of the force halted to allow the Cavalry and the second Infantry brigade to push on and get clear over the Zamburak Kotal (8,100 feet high) before the rest of the column attempted its ascent. This kotal presented a serious obstacle to our rapid progress, the gradient being in many places one in four, and most difficult for the baggage animals; but by posting staff officers at intervals to control the flow of traffic, and by opening out fresh paths to relieve the pressure, we got over it much more quickly than I had expected.

On the 15th we reached Ghazni, ninety-eight miles from Kabul, a place of peculiar interest to me from the fact that it was for his share in its capture, forty-one years before, that my father was given the C.B.

I was met by the Governor, who handed me the keys of the fortress, and I placed my own guards and sentries in and around the city to prevent collisions between the inhabitants and our troops, and also to make sure that our demands for supplies were complied with. Up to this point we had been fairly well off for food, forage, and water.

Our next march was across a barren, inhospitable track for twenty miles to a place called Yarghati. On the way we pa.s.sed Ahmedkhel, where Sir Donald Stewart won his victory; the name had been changed by the Natives to 'the Resting-place of Martyrs,' and the numerous freshly-covered-in graves testified to the _ghazis'_ heavy losses. The remains of the few British soldiers, who had been buried where they had fallen, had been desecrated, and the bones were exposed to view and scattered about.

At Chardeh, our next halting-place, a communication from Colonel Tanner, Commanding at Kelat-i-Ghilzai, was brought to me by a Native messenger; it was dated the 12th August, and informed me that Kandahar was closely invested, but that the garrison had supplies for two months and forage for fifteen days.

On the 21st we arrived at a point thirty miles from Kelat-i-Ghilzai, whence we opened heliograph communication with that place, and were told of an unsuccessful sortie made from Kandahar five days before, in which General Brooke and eight other British officers had been killed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CROSSING THE ZAMBURAK KOTAL.

_From a painting by the Chevalier Desanges._]