1885-1886
The Burma expedition--The Camp of Exercise at Delhi
--Defence of the North-West Frontier--Quetta and Peshawar
--Communications _versus_ fortifications--Sir George Chesney
We only remained three months at 'Ooty,' for on the 8th July a
telegram arrived from Lord Dufferin announcing the Queen's approval of
my being appointed to succeed Sir Donald Stewart as Commander-in-Chief
in India, and granting me leave to visit England before taking up the
appointment.
At the end of a fortnight all our preparations for departure had been
made, and on the 18th August we left Bombay, in the teeth of the
monsoon.
Our boy, whose holidays had just commenced, met us at Venice, and we
loitered in Italy and Switzerland on our way home. I spent but six
weeks in England, returning to the East at the end of November, to
join my new command. I met Lord Dufferin at Agra, and accompanied him
to Gwalior, whither his Excellency went for the purpose of formally
restoring to the Maharaja Sindhia the much coveted fortress of
Gwalior, which had been occupied by us since 1858--an act of sound
policy, enabling us to withdraw a brigade which could be far more
usefully employed elsewhere.
At Gwalior we received the news of the capture of Mandalay, and I sent
a telegram to Lieutenant-General Prendergast,[1] to congratulate him
on the successful conduct of the Burma Expedition.
Affairs in Burma had been going from bad to worse from the time King
Thebaw came to the throne in 1878. Wholesale murders were of constant
occurrence within the precincts of the palace; dacoity was rife
throughout the country, and British officers were insulted to such
an extent that the Resident had to be withdrawn. In 1883 a special
Mission was sent by the King of Burma to Paris, with a view to making
such a treaty with the French Government as would enable him to appeal
to France for assistance, in the event of his being involved in
difficulties with England. The Mission remained eighteen months in
Paris, and succeeded in ratifying what the French called a 'Commercial
Convention,' under the terms of which a French Consul was located at
Mandalay, who soon gained sufficient ascendancy over King Thebaw
to enable him to arrange for the construction of a railway between
Mandalay and Tonghu, and the establishment of a French bank at
Mandalay, by means of which France would speedily have gained full
control over the principal sources of Burmese revenue, and power to
exclude British trade from the valley of the Irrawaddy. In furtherance
of these designs, the King picked a quarrel with a British trading
company, threatened to cancel their leases for cutting timber, and
demanded a fine of ten lakhs of rupees.
The Chief Commissioner proposed arbitration, but this was declined,
and the King refusing to modify his action with regard to the trading
company, the Viceroy proposed to the Secretary of State for India that
an ultimatum[2] should be sent to King Thebaw.
In approving of the ultimatum, Lord Randolph Churchill expressed his
opinion that its despatch should be concurrent with the movement of
troops and ships to Rangoon, that an answer should be demanded
within a specified time, and that if the ultimatum were rejected, an
immediate advance on Mandalay should be made.
A force[3] of nearly 10,000 men and 77 guns, under the command of
Lieutenant-General Prendergast, was accordingly ordered to be in
readiness at Thyetmyo by the 14th November, and as the reply of the
Burmese Government was tantamount to a refusal, Prendergast was
instructed to advance on Mandalay, with the result which it was
my pleasant duty to congratulate him upon in my capacity of
Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India.
From Gwalior I went to Delhi to prepare for a Camp of Exercise on a
much larger scale than had ever before been held. Many weak points
in the Commissariat and Transport Department having become only too
apparent when the mobilization of the two Army Corps had been imminent
the previous spring, it was considered necessary to test our readiness
for war, and orders for the strength and composition of the force to
be manoeuvred had been issued before Sir Donald Stewart left India.
The troops were divided into two Army Corps. The northern assembled at
Umballa, and the southern at Gurgaon, 25 miles from Delhi, the points
of concentration being 150 miles apart.
After a fortnight passed in brigade and divisional movements, the
opposing forces advanced, and on the 7th January they came into
contact on the historic battlefield of Panipat.[4]
Lord Dufferin, whose interest in the efficiency of the army induced
him to come all the way from Calcutta to witness the last two days'
manoeuvres, was present--with the twelve 'foreign officers'[5] from
the principal armies of Europe and America, who had been invited to
attend the camp--at a march-past of the whole force of 35,000 men on
the 18th. It was a fine sight, though marred by a heavy thunderstorm
and a perfect deluge of rain, and was really a greater test of what
the troops could do than if we had had the perfect weather we had
hoped for. The 'foreign officers' were, apparently, somewhat surprised
at the fine physique and efficiency of our Native soldiers, but they
all remarked on the paucity of British officers with the Indian
regiments, which I could not but acknowledge was, as it still is, a
weak point in our military organization.
When the camp was broken up, I accompanied the Viceroy to Burma, where
we arrived early in February, 1886. Lord Dufferin must, I think, have
been pleased at the reception he met with at Rangoon. The people
generally tried in every possible way to show their gratitude to the
Viceroy, under whose auspices the annexation of Upper Burma had been
carried out, and each nationality had erected a triumphal arch in its
own particular quarter of the town.
From Rangoon we went to Mandalay, where Lord Dufferin formally
announced the annexation by England of all that part of Upper Burma
over which King Thebaw had held sway. We then proceeded to Madras,
where I parted from the Viceregal party and travelled to Bombay to
meet my wife. Leaving her at Simla to arrange our house, which had
been considerably altered and added to, I proceeded to the North-West
Frontier, for the question of its defence was one which interested
me very deeply, and I hoped that, from the position I now held as a
member of the Government of India, I should be able to get my ideas on
this, to India, all-important subject listened to, if not altogether
carried out.
The defence of the frontier had been considered under the orders of my
predecessor by a Committee, the members of which had recorded their
several opinions as to the means which should be adopted to make
India secure. But Sir Donald Stewart relinquished his command before
anything could be done to give effect to the measures they advised.
The matter had therefore to be taken up afresh by me, and I carefully
studied the recommendations of the 'Defence Committee' before visiting
the frontier to refresh my memory by personal inspection as to the
points to be defended.
It seemed to me that none of the members, with the exception of Sir
Charles Macgregor and the secretary, Major W.G. Nicholson, at all
appreciated the great change which had taken place in our position
since the near approach of Russia, and our consequent promise to the
Amir to preserve the integrity of his kingdom, had widened the limit
of our responsibilities from the southern to the northern boundary of
Afghanistan.
Less than a year before we had been on the point of declaring war with
Russia because of her active interference with 'the authority of a
sovereign--our protected ally--who had committed no offence[6];' and
even now it was not certain that peace could be preserved, by reason
of the outrageous demands made by the Russian members of the Boundary
Commission as to the direction which the line of delimitation between
Russian and Afghan territory should take.
It was this widening of our responsibilities which prevented me from
agreeing with the recommendations of the Defence Committee, for the
majority of the members laid greater stress on the necessity
for constructing numerous fortifications, than upon lines of
communication, which I conceived to be of infinitely greater
importance, as affording the means of bringing all the strategical
points on the frontier into direct communication with the railway
system of India, and enabling us to mass our troops rapidly, should we
be called upon to aid Afghanistan in repelling attack from a foreign
Power.
Fortifications, of the nature of entrenched positions, were no
doubt, to some extent, necessary, not to guard against our immediate
neighbours, for experience had taught us that without outside
assistance they are incapable of a combined movement, but for the
protection of such depots and storehouses as would have to be
constructed, and as a support to the army in the field.
The line chosen at that time for an advance was by Quetta and
Kandahar. In the first instance, therefore, I wended my way to
Baluchistan, where I met and consulted with the Governor-General's
Agent, Sir Robert Sandeman, and the Chief Engineer of the Sind-Pishin
Railway, Brigadier-General Browne.[7]
We together inspected the Kwaja-Amran range, through which the
Kohjak tunnel now runs, and I decided that the best position for an
entrenched camp was to the rear of that range, in the space between
the Takatu and Mashalik mountains. This open ground was less than four
miles broad; nature had made its flanks perfectly secure, and in front
was a network of ravines capable of being made quite impassable by
simply flooding them. It was unfortunate that the railway had been
marked out in front instead of in rear of the Takatu range, and that
its construction was too far advanced before the question of defence
came to be considered to admit of its being altered, otherwise this
position would have been a complete protection for the line of rail
also.
Having come to a definite conclusion as to the measures to be taken
for meeting the offensive and defensive requirements of Quetta and the
Bolan Pass, I turned my attention to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass,
which were infinitely more difficult to deal with, because of the
political considerations involved.
Over the whole of Baluchistan we had entire control, so that in the
event of an army moving in that direction we could depend upon the
resources of the country being at our disposal, and the people
remaining, at least, neutral. But on the Peshawar side the
circumstances were altogether different: the tribes were hostile to a
degree, and no European's life was safe across the frontier. Except in
the Khyber itself (where the policy of establishing friendly relations
with the Afridis, and utilizing them to keep open the pass, had
been most successfully practised by the political officer,
Lieutenant-Colonel Warburton), we could not depend on the tribesmen
remaining passive, much less helping us if we advanced into
Afghanistan. While, should an army attempt to invade India from that
direction, we should to a certainty have every man of the 200,000
warlike people who inhabit the mountainous district from Chitral to
Baluchistan combining against us, and pouring into India from every
outlet.
For these reasons I recorded a strong opinion in opposition to the
proposals of the Defence Committee, which were in favour of the
construction of a large magazine at Peshawar and extensive entrenched
works at the mouth of the Khyber. I pointed out the extreme danger of
a position communication with which could be cut off, and which could
be more or less easily turned, for it was clear to me that until we
had succeeded in inducing the border tribes to be on friendly terms
with us, and to believe that their interests were identical with
ours, the Peshawar valley would become untenable should any general
disturbance take place; and that, instead of entrenchments close to
the Khyber Pass, we required a position upon which the garrisons
of Peshawar and Nowshera could fall back and await the arrival of
reinforcements.
For this position I selected a spot on the right bank of the Kabul
river, between Khairabad and the Indus; it commanded the passage of
the latter river, and could easily be strengthened by defensive works
outside the old fort of Attock.
It will be readily understood by those of my readers who have any
knowledge of our North-West Frontier, or are interested in the
question of the defence of India, that other routes exist between the
Bolan and the Khyber Passes which might be made use of either by an
army invading India, or by a force sent from India to the assistance
of Afghanistan; and by such it will probably be asked, as was the case
when my recommendations were being discussed, why I did not advise
these lines to be similarly guarded. My reply was, and is, that there
are no arsenals or depots near these passes to be protected, as at
Quetta and Rawul Pindi; that we should not be likely to use them for
an army moving into Afghanistan; that, although small parties of the
enemy might come by them, the main body of a force operating towards
India is bound to advance by the Khyber, for the reason that it would
debouch directly on highly cultivated country and good roads leading
to all the great cities of the Punjab; and finally that, even if our
finances would admit of the construction of such a long line of forts,
it would be impossible for our limited army to supply the garrisons
for them.
Having completed my inspection of the frontier, I returned to Simla
and drew up a memorandum declaring the conviction I had arrived at
after careful deliberation, that the improvement of our communications
was of far greater importance than the immediate construction of
forts and entrenchments, and that, while I would not spare money in
strengthening well-defined positions, the strategical value of which
was unmistakable, I would not trouble about those places the primary
importance of fortifying which was open to argument, and which might
never be required to be defended; these, I contended, might be left
alone, except so far as to make a careful study of their localities
and determine how they could best be taken advantage of should
occasion require. My note ended with the following words: 'Meanwhile I
would push on our communications with all possible speed; we must have
roads, and we must have railways; they cannot be made on short notice,
and every rupee spent upon them now will repay us tenfold hereafter.
Nothing will tend to secure the safety of the frontier so much as the
power of rapidly concentrating troops on any threatened point, and
nothing will strengthen our military position more than to open out
the country and improve our relations with the frontier tribes. There
are no better civilizers than roads and railways; and although some
of those recommended to be made may never be required for military
purposes, they will be of the greatest assistance to the civil power
in the administration of the country.'
Accompanying this paper was a statement of the defensive works which,
in my opinion, should be taken in hand without delay; also of the
positions which required careful study, and the roads and railways
which should be constructed, to make the scheme of defence complete.
Seven years later, when I gave up my command of the Army in India, I
had the supreme satisfaction of knowing that I left our North-West
Frontier secure, so far as it was possible to make it so, hampered
as we were by want of money. The necessary fortifications had been
completed, schemes for the defence of the various less important
positions had been prepared, and the roads and railways, in my
estimation of such vast importance, had either been finished or were
well advanced.
Moreover, our position with regard to the border tribes had gradually
come to be better understood, and it had been realized that they would
be a powerful support to whichever side might be able to count upon
their aid; the policy of keeping them at arm's length had been
abandoned, and the advantages of reciprocal communication were
becoming more appreciated by them and by us.
It was not to be expected that these results could be achieved without
a considerable amount of opposition, owing partly to the majority of
our countrymen (even amongst those who had spent the greater part of
their lives in India) failing to recognize the change that had taken
place in the relative positions of Great Britain and Russia in Asia,
and to their disbelief in the steady advance of Russia towards
Afghanistan being in any way connected with India, or in Russia's wish
or power to threaten our Eastern Empire.[8] The idea was very common,
too, amongst people who had not deeply considered the subject, that
all proposals for gaining control over our troublesome neighbours
on the border, or for facilitating the massing of troops, meant an
aggressive policy, and were made with the idea of annexing more
territory, instead of for the purpose of securing the safety of India,
and enabling us to fulfil our engagements.
Happily, the Viceroys who governed India while I was
Commander-in-Chief were not amongst those who held these opinions;
and while they had no expectation of India being invaded in the near
future, they realized that we could not unconcernedly look on while a
great Power was, step by step, creeping closer to our possessions. It
was a fortunate circumstance, too, that, for the first five years I
was at the head of the Army in India, I had as my military
colleague in Council the late General Sir George Chesney, a man of
unquestionable talent and sound judgment, to whose cordial support,
not only in frontier affairs, but in all my efforts to promote the
efficiency and welfare of the soldier, I was very greatly indebted.
[Footnote 1: Now General Sir Harry Prendergast, V.C., K.C.B.]
[Footnote 2: The ultimatum informed King Thebaw that the British
Government insisted upon an Envoy being received at Mandalay, with
free access to the King, without having to submit to any humiliating
ceremony; that proceedings against the trading company would not be
permitted; that a British Agent, with a suitable guard of honour and
steamer for his personal protection, must be permanently stationed at
the Burmese capital; that the Burmese Government must regulate their
external relations in accordance with British advice; and that proper
facilities must be granted for the opening up of British trade with
China viâ Bhamo.]
[Footnote 3: The force consisted of 364 seamen and 69 Marines formed
into a Naval Brigade, with 49 guns, including 27 machine guns, and
3,029 British and 6,005 Native soldiers, with 28 guns.]
[Footnote 4: Panipat is famous for three great battles fought in its
immediate neighbourhood: one in 1526, by the Emperor Baber against
Sultan Ibrahim, which resulted in the establishment of the Mogul
dynasty; the second in 1556, when the Emperor Akbar beat the Hindu
General of the Afghan usurper, and re-established the Moguls in power;
and the third in 1761, when Ahmed Shah Durani defeated the Mahrattas.]
[Footnote 5: I was much gratified at receiving subsequently from His
Imperial Majesty the Emperor William I. and from the Crown Princess of
Prussia autograph letters of acknowledgment of, and thanks for, the
reception accorded and the attention paid to Majors von Huene and von
Hagenau, the two representatives of the German army who attended these
manoeuvres.]
[Footnote 6: Words used by Mr. Gladstone when asking for a vote of
credit for £6,500,000 for special preparations in connection with the
Afghan difficulty.]
[Footnote 7: The late Major-General Sir James Browne, K.C.S.I., C.B.,
who, like Sir Robert Sandeman, died while holding the important and
responsible position of Governor-General's Agent in Baluchistan.]
[Footnote 8: A Statesman of high reputation in England was so strong
in his disbelief of the necessity for making any preparations in
India, that he publicly stated that if the only barrier between Russia
in Asia and Britain in Asia were a mountain ridge, or a stream, or a
fence, there would be no difficulty in preserving peace between Russia
and the United Kingdom.--Speech delivered by the Right Hon. John
Bright, M.P., at Birmingham on the 16th April, 1879.]
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