Through Three Campaigns Part 18

"When Blunt fell," he said, "it was the most natural thing in the world that I should go and pick him up; and I did so almost mechanically. Luckily he was a light man but, even if he had been a heavy one, I don't think I should have felt his weight. I was scarcely conscious of the bullets whistling round me. When he fell, I knew that the tribesmen would shoot any wounded man who tried to rise, and that the only chance was to lie perfectly still, until another batch of men came along."

"You showed no end of coolness," the colonel said, "and the idea of pressing him down, and yourself lying quietly beside him showed that, in spite of confusion, your brain was clear, and that you had all your senses about you. It was a gallant action, which I shall not forget to mention when I send in my report. You deserve the V.C., but I don't suppose you will get it; so many gallant deeds were done that only a few can get the cross."

The two divisions marched on the morning of the 28th. The Northamptons and 36th Sikhs had been detached to an extremely high hill, to cover the advance. It had already been found that, although the Afridis could fight well, so long as they had the advantage of position, they were nevertheless extremely careful of their skins. After the heavy firing into camp, on the night of the return of the reconnaissance, the place had been greatly strengthened; and the positions were changed every night, a fact which so entirely surprised the enemy that, for a time, night attacks ceased altogether.

General Westmacott's brigade advanced up the Khanki nullah to the foot of the Sampagha Pa.s.s. General Gazelee's division moved along the hills, and halted at the village of Ghandaki. In the afternoon a reconnaissance pushed forward, and returned with the news that the pa.s.s appeared to be simple, and the road a good one. Tribesmen were seen upon nearly every crest. They were apparently building sangars upon the roadway.

General Gazelee was to make his attack next morning. General Westmacott, General Kempster, and General Hart, with the batteries of both divisions, were to occupy a knoll at the foot of the pa.s.s, to support the advance. The troops moved forward in the following order: the Queens, the 2nd and 4th Ghoorkhas, Yorks, and 3rd Sikhs were first; and they were followed by the 30th Sikhs, the Scottish Borderers, and the Northamptons.

In the dim light of the early morning, the distant crests were marked by the fires of the enemy. Some delay was caused by the batteries missing the tracks, but by daybreak they advanced. At half-past six the enemy fired the first shot, and then fell rapidly back. The regiments in the first line moved steadily on and, at half-past seven, the guns opened. A few sh.e.l.ls were sufficient for the enemy's advance party, and they scuttled back. When the Ghoorkhas and Queens reached the first ridge in the pa.s.s, the enemy opened fire; but they could not stand the accurate fire of the six batteries.

A mountain battery pushed up the pa.s.s, and came into action on the enemy's first position. The pa.s.s widened out from this point, and the two leading regiments moved forward to the sloping crest of the third position. The Queens had advanced on the right, with the Ghoorkhas on their flank. The pathway was covered by the fire of the enemy, hidden behind rocks; and this was so accurate that men could hardly show themselves on the path, without being immediately shot down. The Sikhs and Borderers, however, pushed up the hill and drove the enemy out.

The defence of the pa.s.s was not so determined as had been expected, after the stand shown at Dargai. The reason, no doubt, was that though they were good skirmishers, the enemy did not care to expose themselves, either to artillery fire or close-quarter fighting.

When the last crest had been gained, the force proceeded down into the Mastura Valley. The tribesmen had deserted, and set fire to, their homesteads. The villages were only a few hundred yards apart, and were well built. The valley contained many beautiful groves.

There was little food in the camp, and the Ghoorkhas set to work to make chupatties, with coa.r.s.e flour found in the villages.

There had been very few casualties during the day, and the men began to hope that, after the lesson taught the enemy at Dargai, no other resolute stand would be made. After a day of rest in the valley, orders were issued for the 3rd and 4th Brigades to move, at daybreak. The 2nd Brigade was to follow, the 1st being left to garrison the camp. The path was across a low ridge connecting higher ones, and offered no great facilities for resistance, and was overcome with the exchange of a few shots, only.

From the top of the Karanghur Pa.s.s was seen the valley of Maidan, the spot which the Afridis were wont to boast no infidel had ever gazed upon. The view was magnificent. From the foot of the slope stretched a valley, broken here and there by ravines and nullahs.

Every inch of it seemed to be cultivated; and it was one wide expanse of terraced fields, sprinkled with groves and dotted with countless habitations. There was scarce an acre which had not a fortified block house, as each family built a homestead for itself, and fortified itself against all comers.

As the column entered the valley, they found that their arrival had not been expected. The livestock had been removed, but every house in the valley was stocked with supplies. Indian corn, wheat, barley, and other grain were found in abundance; and there was an ample stock of honey, potatoes, walnuts, and onions.

Bagh was the tribal centre, the Afridi parliament ground. Its mosque was situated about four miles farther up the valley. It was at this spot that orders were issued to make war upon the British.

It was an insignificant building, with a mud roof supported by twenty-one pillars. The mosque was not interfered with.

It was thought that, as such little opposition was offered in the last pa.s.s, the enemy had lost all heart; but a foraging party, the next day, found the tribesmen in great force at the other end of the valley, and were compelled to retire. Another party of the enemy attempted to rush a picket of the 36th Sikhs; and a strong force pounced upon the baggage train, and killed several of the drivers; then, retiring till the main guard had pa.s.sed, dashed out again and killed three of the guards, and wounded several others.

For the present, no damage was done to the homesteads; as it was hoped that the Afridis would come in and surrender. Next day a foraging party was hotly attacked and, at night, there was severe fighting round the camp. A party of elders came in, to ask what terms would be given; and were told that the tribesmen would have to deliver up their rifles, and pay a heavy fine. It was evident, from their manner, that although they would be ready to pay a fine, they would certainly not deliver up their rifles.

The troops had now settled down comfortably. They had ten days'

rations in camp, and the camel convoys were coming in daily. The weather was delightful, and the nightly firing into the camp, alone, disturbed them.

A small party of foragers was, a few days later, fiercely attacked.

Captain Rowcroft, who was in command, had with him only a subadar and half a dozen sepoys, when a heavy fire was opened upon him. The party could have retired, but one of the men was shot through the thigh, and it took three others to carry him. He was presently left behind, and Rowcroft went back to the body, to a.s.sure himself that the man was dead. This pause gave the enemy time to close up, and the subadar was shot, as well as the man tending him.

A mule was luckily found, and the subadar was sent to the rear.

After this two men were hit, one for the second time and, as it was impossible for the four sound men to carry off their wounded, and face the enemy as well, Rowcroft chose the best spot, and determined to halt and wait for help. The Afridis could not bring themselves to rush the little party, but confined themselves to keeping up a heavy fire. Another Sikh was wounded; and the dust caused by the bullets almost blinded the others, who could scarcely see to reply. At last, just in the nick of time, a relieving party arrived and carried them off.

On the 8th General Westmacott started, with his brigade, to punish the Zakka-Khels for the continued night firing which, our commander had learned from prisoners, was kept up by that tribe. The brigade did its work thoroughly and, by evening, the whole of the eastern valley was in flames. That same evening, however, Captain Watson, a commissariat officer, was shot dead, as he stood at his own door. A curious fatality seemed to accompany this night firing. Out of the many thousands in camp, four officers only had been hit. Captain Sullivan, of the 36th Sikhs, was shot ten minutes after he had arrived in camp, having travelled post haste from England.

On the 9th a reconnaissance was ordered to Saransur, a lofty peak to the east of the Maidan valley. Across this is a pa.s.s, on one of the roads to Peshawar. General Westmacott, who was in command, took with him four regiments--two British and two Sikhs--two batteries, and a company of Madras Sappers. The foot of the hill to be scaled was less than three miles from camp, but the intervening ground was extraordinarily broken. It was, in fact, a series of hummocks from seventy to a hundred feet high; which were covered with boulders, and intersected by a river. This main nullah was also broken, on both sides, by smaller nullahs almost every hundred yards. Beyond this rugged ground there was a severe ascent. The hill had two spurs; one wooded, especially towards the summit, the other bare.

The path wound up the latter, then crossed a ridge beyond, and yet another ridge behind that, with a sheer summit very like the Dargai cliff.

The force left camp at half-past seven. When they had gone about a mile, desultory shots were fired at them, from a series of well-built sangars facing the termination of the nullah. On reaching the foot of the hillside, General Westmacott was much concerned about the Dorsets on the left; who were engaged in desultory firing, and were making little progress up the nullah.

Staff officer after staff officer was despatched, to direct the Dorsets to the intended line.

A little before ten the Northamptons, and Sikhs covering them in the rear, began the ascent. It was a stiff climb of a thousand feet. When the first brow was reached General Westmacott called a halt, in order that the men might get their breath and fix bayonets. Then they climbed to the next top cover, and rushed forward. The enemy evidently knew its range, and advance companies found themselves under magazine fire. Nevertheless they pushed on.

An open kotal had to be pa.s.sed. The men crossed it at the double and, although a heavy fire was kept up again, there was no casualty.

The advance guard was now at the foot of the sheer cliff. No news had been received of the Dorsets, who were in a very rough country, wooded almost to the summit; and the general could only hope that they were working up through this. The force pushed on and, a few minutes past eleven, the whole summit was in our possession, and the last of the visible enemy put to flight.

The intelligence officers busied themselves sketching the country.

It was evident that the Saransur was the retreat of the Maidan Zakka-Khels, for all round were evidences of encampments: fire-stained walls, caves, and bags of grain. It was deserted by the tribesmen, who had been taken by surprise, and had left hurriedly. General Westmacott was anxious to be off, as it was probable that the fighting men of the enemy had merely hurried off to place their families under cover, and would return as soon as they had done so.

At two o'clock the return march began. A company of the Northamptons were placed within range of the wooded slope, which should have been covered by the Dorsets, had they come up. They were suddenly fired upon, and the men fell fast. Another company came up to help them. The enemy could not be seen, but volleys were fired into the wood. The 36th Sikhs went back to reinforce them, and the whole force were withdrawn without further casualty.

As the Northamptons were retiring across the wooded zone, the first four companies were allowed to pa.s.s unmolested; but when the fifth reached the clear ground, they were greeted with a blaze of fire.

The carriage of the wounded delayed the retirement, and it was not until dusk that the foot of the hill was reached.

The enemy had taken every advantage that their knowledge of the country gave them. They had now begun to creep up the ravines, and their number increased every minute. Men were falling fast. Each man carrying a wounded comrade became a target. The Dorsets also were severely engaged. The Northamptons stuck to their work, and slowly withdrew their wounded; but the number of casualties increased alarmingly.

Then an unfortunate occurrence took place. A party of Northamptons, under Lieutenant Macintyre and Lieutenant Sergeant Luckin, turning a corner, were cut off. It appeared that they sacrificed themselves to their wounded comrades. One of the party was despatched for help, and evidently came across a small group of Dorsets. The story was, that the party were surrounded at short range when he left; for, had they left their wounded and followed him, they might have saved themselves. Next morning their bodies were found. In every case they had been wounded by bullets, before the Pathans came up and gashed them; which showed that they had fought till the last man dropped.

Lisle was not one of those who returned to camp and, in the confusion that occurred as the result of the late arrival of the troops, his absence was not discovered until the next morning. On enquiries being made, it was found that he was last seen high up in the mountains. He had been sent down, with eight men, to request the guns to direct their fire against the enemy, who were pressing the regiment during the retreat; but as he had not arrived at the guns, a strong party was at once sent out, to search for his body and those of the men with him.

Lisle had, in fact, pushed down halfway to the spot where the guns were placed, and had dismounted at the top of a nullah; when a large party of the enemy opened fire upon him. One of the sepoys at once fell dead, and another was wounded. It was impossible for him to fight his way through this force. Twilight was already falling and, owing to the rugged nature of the ground, he was by no means sure of his position.

While the men returned the enemy's fire, he looked round for some vantage ground. Fifty yards away there was a small blockhouse and, when he saw this, he at once determined to shelter in it. He and one of the men therefore lifted their wounded comrade, and Lisle shouted to the others:

"Use your magazines, and then make a rush for the hut, keeping well together."

The little party charged, meanwhile keeping up so heavy a fire, with their magazines, that the Afridis who stood between them and the house cleared off, leaving a dozen of their dead on the ground.

Before they reached the block house, two more of the men were wounded but, fortunately, not severely enough to prevent them from keeping up with the others. The place was untenanted, and they rushed in and at once began to pile its contents against the door.

Lisle ordered the unwounded men to take their places at the loopholes, which served for windows in the Afridi buildings, while he himself attended to the wounds of the others. He warned the men who were firing to withdraw quickly after every shot, for the Afridis were such admirable marksmen that their bullets frequently entered the loopholes.

Chapter 9: Captured.

When he had completed the dressing of the wounds, Lisle mounted to the upper story, which was a feature of every house in the valley.

While the lower part was of stone; the upper one was built of wicker work, thickly plastered with mud, and quite useless as a protection against rifle bullets. He set to work to cut a dozen small loopholes, a few inches above the floor. From these he commanded a view all round. Then he called up the two wounded men, who were still able to use their rifles, and ordered them to lie down, one at each of the side walls; while he himself took his place over the doorway, with the rifle of the disabled man.

From here he picked off several of the enemy. His fire was returned but, as he took care to lie well back, the bullets all went over his head.

When darkness fell, he went down and directed the sepoys to man only the loopholes in the front wall. This released three men, whom he brought upstairs and posted above the door.

The Afridis continued to riddle the upper wall and the door with bullets. Several times they attempted a rush, but were unable to withstand the heavy magazine fire which met them, when within twenty yards of the house. Twice they attempted to pile f.a.ggots at the side of the door, but the defence was so strong that many of the bearers were killed, and the survivors fled.

Knowing that the Afridis were in the habit of hiding their store of grain, Lisle prodded the floor in all directions with his bayonet and, at last, found a good supply in one corner of the room.

Unfortunately, however, there was only one vessel, half full of water. It would not have done to light a fire to cook the grain, as any illumination within the house would have shown the exact place of the loopholes to the enemy. Lisle therefore served out some grain to each of the soldiers, to eat raw. He gave some of the water to the three wounded men, and served out a mouthful to each of the others; telling them that they might not be relieved for some time, and that the little supply must be made to last as long as possible.

The enemy still kept up a heavy fire but, after the lessons they had received, there was but small chance that they would attempt another hand-to-hand attack. Lisle therefore told all the men to lie down and sleep, while he himself took up his place at the loophole nearest the door, and kept watch.

No attempt was made until daybreak was approaching; when, with wild yells, the Afridis again rushed forward. The men were instantly on their feet, and eight rifles flashed out.