COLONEL KELLY'S MARCH
How it came that Colonel Kelly arrived in so timely a way to the relief
of the hard-pressed garrison has now to be shown. In the beginning of
March alarming reports of the state of affairs in Chitral began to
reach Gilgit, the head-quarters of the British Political Agent and
of the force of some 3,000 men stationed on this frontier for its
supervision and protection. The whole of Lower Chitral was rumoured to
be up in arms against the British, and communication with Mr. Robertson
and the officers who had two months previously marched from Gilgit
to Chitral was now entirely cut off. The flame of rebellion seemed
to be spreading, and the gravest anxiety was felt for the safety of
the detachments of troops at the various posts on the road and of the
several parties which were marching towards Chitral. Mr. Robertson
was the British Agent, deputed by the Government of India for the
conduct of political affairs on this frontier; but he was now shut up
in Chitral, and the control of our relations with the various states
round Gilgit and Chitral now, at this critical juncture, devolved upon
Captain W. H. Stewart, and it may well be imagined that his task in
keeping the various peoples on this frontier quiet and orderly, with
the catching influence of the troubles in Chitral, was no easy one.
These excitable and impressionable people of the Hindu Kush spring
to arms under little provocation when once the spirit of fighting is
abroad. News of what was occurring in Chitral would rapidly reach them,
and in every house and hamlet little else would be spoken of. Unless,
therefore, the British officers in contact with them could steady them
by their influence, there would be a great risk that, thoughtlessly,
and rashly, they might rise against us as the Chitralis had done. It
hung in a balance whether they would go with us or against us, and it
is satisfactory to find that British influence was still so secure
even in states like Hunza and Nagar, which had been subdued only three
years previously, that when in this crisis Captain Stewart inquired
through the political officer in Hunza and Nagar if any more men were
willing to enlist temporarily as levies in addition to the ninety men
already furnished and now stationed in Ghizr on the way to Chitral, the
chiefs of these two states showed the utmost feeling of loyalty, and
immediately responded by arriving in Gilgit with some 900 men of all
ranks ready to serve Government in any way required. Each man brought
a fortnight's supply in order to avoid giving trouble, and the most
enthusiastic spirit was displayed by all. A certain number of these men
were sent on to Chitral, while others were employed in guarding passes
near Gilgit, and as will be seen later on, these men who three short
years before were fighting desperately against us, now stood by us in
the time of need and rendered to Colonel Kelly in his march to Chitral
such service as he repeatedly acknowledged in terms of the highest
praise.
[Illustration: NATIVE LEVY.]
Colonel Kelly was the officer in command of the troops on the Gilgit
frontier. He was the colonel of the 32nd Pioneers, a regiment which
had a few months previously arrived upon this frontier partly for the
purpose of constructing roads and fortified posts, and partly to give a
backbone to the force of Kashmir troops who composed the principal part
of the garrison. It was the same regiment as afterwards escorted me in
Tibet.
The total strength of 3,000 men on this frontier was made up of the
regiment of Pioneers of the regular army of India; 200 men of the
14th Sikhs, also of the Indian Army; and three battalions of Kashmir
Infantry of 600 men each, and a battery of Kashmir Mountain Artillery.
This force in the beginning of March was distributed in the following
manner: At Chitral Fort 100 of the 14th Sikhs and 300 Kashmir Infantry;
at Mastuj, 100 Sikhs and 150 Kashmir Infantry; at Ghizr, 100 Kashmir
Infantry; at Gupis, 140 Kashmir Infantry; at Gilgit, a Kashmir regiment
complete. At Hunza and on the line between Hunza and Gilgit, there
were 200 Kashmir Infantry, and in Chilas 400. A Pioneer regiment, 800
strong, was located at Bunji, and on the line between there and Chilas.
When it became apparent how critical the state of affairs was, the
Government of India saw that it was necessary to move up as many
troops as could be spared from Gilgit to afford some relief to the
Chitral garrison till the large force under General Low, which was to
march from the Peshawur direction, could reach Chitral; but it was not
possible to send any large force from Gilgit, for in the neighbourhood
of that place there are several small states who had but very recently
given trouble, and would now have to be watched, however much loyalty
they might show. Hunza had only been subdued at the end of 1891, and
Chilas had been brought under submission a year later. There was no
sign of disturbance in either of these states, and Hunza especially
seemed quiet and contented; but it and the neighbouring state of Nagar
had to be guarded, and in Chilas, which is in contact with fanatical
and turbulent tribes of the Indus valley, there is always constant risk
of insurrection. Under these circumstances, and as it was not known how
Yasin and the states to the south of it might act, with Chitral in a
state of rebellion close by, it would have been unwise to send away
from the Gilgit district any larger force than the 400 Pioneers and two
guns which it was now decided Colonel Kelly should take with him to
march towards Chitral in order to aid, the garrison to prolong their
defence till relief could be sent from the Peshawur direction.
Chitral is 220 miles from Gilgit, and the road between the two places
runs through mountainous, difficult country, and crosses a pass 12,400
feet high. The valleys through which the road passes are all very
narrow, in just a few places opening out to a width of a mile, but, for
the greater part of the distance, only a few hundred yards broad, and
in many cases mere defiles with the mountains thousands of feet high on
either side and standing out in rocky precipices from the stream at the
bottom.
The Shandur Pass is about ninety miles from Chitral and 130 from
Gilgit. On the west side of this pass, as has been already mentioned,
the whole country was up in arms against the British, and news now
reached Gilgit, that besides the garrison of Chitral being shut up,
the post of Mastuj was besieged, and, finally, that the detachment
of troops under Captain Ross had been annihilated, and that officer
killed, and that a second detachment under Lieutenant Edwardes and
Fowler had been attacked on the way to Chitral. On the east side of the
Shandur Pass is the province of Yasin, formerly independent, but during
recent years an integral part of the Chitral state. This province had
so far remained quiet, but it could not of course be known whether
Colonel Kelly in marching through it would encounter opposition. Even
if he did not meet with actual hostility, and if the people were only
passively obstructive, his task of reaching Chitral would be an almost
hopeless one, for both in the matter of supplies and of transport he
must of necessity largely depend upon the people of the country through
which he passed.
On March 23rd and 24th Colonel Kelly's force set out from Gilgit,
the news having just previously reached them of the annihilation of
Captain Ross's party. The first detachment which Colonel Kelly himself
accompanied was composed of 200 men of the 32nd Pioneers under Captain
Borrodaile, with Lieutenants Bethune (afterwards killed in Tibet) and
Cobbe, and Surgeon-Captain Browning-Smith; and the second detachment
of 200 Pioneers under Lieutenants Petersen and Cooke. Two guns of the
Kashmir Mountain Battery also accompanied the latter detachment.
It was with this little force that Colonel Kelly started on his
venturesome journey to succour the Chitral garrison, to restore British
prestige, to steady the frontier, to keep those who were wavering from
flooding over to the opposite side, and to give heart to those who
still trusted and looked to the British. And it may be well here to
explain, for the benefit of those not acquainted with our Indian Army,
who the men were whom Colonel Kelly was now taking with him on this
march. The Pioneer regiment, of which he was taking a wing, is composed
of Sikhs from the Punjab. The regiment is organised and equipped for
the special purpose of making roads and doing light pioneer work
in advance of the army. It is drilled, and on service fights as an
ordinary infantry battalion, but it can be used as well for the
important work of road-making and construction of out-posts as for
ordinary fighting purposes. The men were then armed with Martini-Henry
rifles, and carried in addition, each man, a pickaxe, a shovel, or
some other tool required for pioneer purposes. Colonel Kelly's force,
to save transport, which was very difficult to obtain, travelled
without tents. Each sepoy was allowed fifteen pounds of baggage, and he
carried a greatcoat and eighty rounds of ammunition, and wore a short
"poshtin" (sheepskin coat). The guns of the Kashmir Mountain Battery
were 7-pounders of a rather antiquated pattern. The officers and men of
the battery belonged to the army of the Maharajah of Kashmir, and for
the last few years had been drilled under the supervision of British
officers.
[Illustration: SEPOY, 32ND PIONEERS.]
At Gupis (sixty-five miles from Gilgit), where there is a small
masonry fort, built in the previous year by Kashmir troops under the
supervision of Captain Townshend as an advanced post in the direction
of Chitral, Lieutenant Stewart, Royal Artillery, joined Colonel Kelly,
to be with the two guns brought from Gilgit.
Five marches further on at Ghizr a small detachment of sixty Kashmir
Infantry under Lieutenant Gough, forty Kashmir Sappers and Miners
under the supervision of Lieutenant Oldham, R.E., and 100 levies from
Hunza-Nagar, were stationed.
Ghizr is 10,000 feet above the sea-level, and is a small village
occupied by a hardy and somewhat independent set of people. Here it was
that Colonel Kelly's chief difficulties were likely to commence. He
had been able to get so far without encountering any serious obstacle.
The people of Yasin had shown no hostility, and Ghizr had been reached
without mishap; but here at Ghizr snow lay deep on the ground, and
at the time of Colonel Kelly's arrival had been falling steadily for
five days previously. The Shandur Pass (two marches ahead) had to be
crossed, and the British officers had to bear in mind that if the pass
could not be crossed, or if any sort of disaster befell them on the
opposite side, there was the almost certainty that the loyalty of
the people of Yasin in their rear would not stand the test of further
trial, and that the Yasinis, believing that the Chitralis in rebellion
on the western side of the pass must be in the ascendant, would begin
to trim their sails to join them so as to save their own necks.
On the 31st of March both detachments of Colonel Kelly's force
had reached Ghizr, and in spite of the heavy snowfall and of the
unpromising look of matters, it was decided to push on the next day
towards Chitral, for the British officers in the fort there had now
been shut up for four weeks, and it was urgently necessary to press
forward as rapidly as possible to their aid.
On April 1st, Colonel Kelly left Ghizr with the whole force, but
difficulties commenced at once. The start, which was to have been
made at 7 A.M., did not take place for three hours later on account
of the coolies required for the carriage of the supplies in crossing
the pass having absconded. For some hours the force plodded resolutely
through the snow, but at about 2 P.M. it became apparent that, eager
as they were to push on to the relief of their comrades in Chitral, it
would be impossible to proceed with the means at their disposal. What
was most necessary was to take on the guns; for the mere rumour that
Colonel Kelly was bringing guns with him had been sufficient to produce
the strongest moral effect upon the Chitralis, unaccustomed as they
were to these weapons. The Chitralis might formerly have dreaded the
regular troops of the Indian Army, but they had already annihilated two
detachments of these troops, and were now engaged in besieging others,
and Colonel Kelly's Pioneers alone might not have been able to produce
that strong moral effect which was so necessary; but if guns could be
brought over, the Chitralis would certainly be terrified, and Colonel
Kelly was above everything anxious that the two guns he had brought
from Gilgit should accompany him over the pass.
Here, however, just at the critical time, there seemed no possibility
of his being able to carry out his object. The gun-carriages and the
ammunition boxes, etc., are carried on mules, and, on this march from
Ghizr towards the pass, it was found that the mules could scarcely
move through the snow; they were floundering about in it, up to their
bellies, and in the afternoon it became apparent that it was no longer
possible to take them any further, much less to bring them over the
pass. This was the state of affairs on April 1st, as Colonel Kelly was
marching out from the last village towards the pass. Colonel Kelly had
now, therefore, to decide whether the enterprise should be abandoned
for the present and a more favourable season awaited, or whether a
part of his force should be sent to cross the pass while the remainder
returned to quarters at Ghizr. He elected the latter arrangement, and
while the guns and 200 of the Pioneers, with 50 Nagar levies, returned
with him to Ghizr, 200 of the Pioneers, with Captain Borrodaile,
Lieutenant Cobbe, and Surgeon-Captain Browning-Smith, and 40 Kashmir
Sappers and Miners under Lieutenant Oldham, R.E., with 50 Hunza levies,
remained at Teeru, a small hamlet about seven miles beyond Ghizr in the
direction of the pass.
On the 2nd of April snow fell the whole day, and Captain Borrodaile,
with the detachment which was to make the first attempt to cross the
pass, had to remain patiently at Teeru. In the afternoon Lieutenant
Stewart, R.A., arrived from Ghizr again with the two guns. It was
impossible to carry these guns over on mules, but the Pioneers,
unwilling to leave them behind, had themselves volunteered to carry
them over on their backs. They had gone to their officers and said,
that in addition to their own rifles and ammunition, pioneer equipment,
and kit, they would guarantee that they would themselves transport
the guns with the gun-carriages, ammunition, etc., over the pass. A
detachment of the 4th Kashmir Rifles, under Lieutenant Gough, had also
volunteered to assist in this work, and they, too, now arrived in Teeru.
This splendid offer, which showed so clearly the noble spirit which
animated the troops, was eagerly accepted by the British officer, and
on the 3rd of April Captain Borrodaile set out from Teeru to cross the
pass with his spirited little body of native troops. The snow was very
deep and the work of marching through it excessively heavy. A more
arduous task than the men had voluntarily set themselves to do, it
would be hard to imagine; but hard though it was, to their everlasting
credit, the feat was successfully accomplished. Sledges were at first
tried, but they had to be given up as useless. Narrow as these sledges
were, a single man track was still narrower and extremely uneven with
great holes every few steps, so that they could not be hauled easily
and were abandoned. All day long the men struggled through the snow
with the guns, till between nine and ten o'clock in the evening it was
so dark that the track could scarcely be seen, and it was then decided
that if the men were to get in at all, those behind would have to drop
their loads. This was accordingly done, ammunition boxes, etc., were
stacked in the snow, and the troops marched on to Langar, the camping
spot at the foot of the pass.
There was only one small hut in which the more exhausted men were
placed, and the remainder being without tents had to remain in the open
for the whole night. The men with Captain Borrodaile were Sikhs from
the plains of the Punjab, brought up for generations in one of the
hottest climates in the world, and they were now called upon, after the
severe struggles of this and previous days, to spend a night on the
snow at nearly 12,000 feet above sea-level, and with the thermometer
somewhere about zero (Fahrenheit). Sleep for most of them was out of
the question; the men as far as possible gathered round small fires
which had been made up from the brushwood to be obtained near the
camping spot, and wearily awaited the dawn and final struggle of the
coming day.
On the following morning Captain Borrodaile set off for the pass;
but as it had now become clear to him that if his men were to
attempt to carry over the guns as well as their own kit, they would
inevitably break down altogether, he decided to leave Lieutenants
Stewart and Gough behind, and directed these two officers to employ
that day in bringing the remaining loads into camp and storing them
there till either Captain Borrodaile could send back assistance from
the opposite side of the pass, or until aid could come from Ghizr.
Captain Borrodaile's men found the task of crossing the pass just
heart-breaking; every few steps they would sink in through the snow,
although some sort of a track had been beaten out by the levies going
on in front. At times they would fall in almost up to their armpits, so
that they had to be pulled out by their comrades. This was fearfully
trying to men loaded as they were, to men too who had passed an almost
sleepless night and started for this, the crisis of the enterprise,
thoroughly exhausted.
By the time the party had reached the middle of the pass men were
falling out in twos and threes, sitting down in the snow as if they
were on the point of giving up the struggle. The heavy loads which they
had to carry, rifles, ammunition, haversacks, greatcoats, etc., were
weighing them down and utterly exhausting them. The snow was from three
to five feet deep and quite eighteen inches of it was soft and fresh.
At the same time the sun was pouring down upon the men, and adding to
their discomfort by the glare which it produced from the white surface
of the snow. Although all the men were provided with blue spectacles,
many cases of snow-blindness occurred. The absence of water too
caused the men additional suffering. Little relief was afforded them
from sucking snow, and many were afraid to do that, thinking it might
produce some bad influence. So exhausted were the men that it seemed at
one time to the British officers that it would be necessary to spend
another night on the snow, but at about 5.30 the advance guard came to
the end of the flat part of the top of the pass, and the descent was at
last commenced. News was at once passed along the line and fresh spirit
came into the men. They pulled themselves together for a final effort,
and when a little further on some water was obtained, they began to
step out briskly. A critical time had now been reached; the party were
descending the western side of the pass into the part of the country
which had for a month now been up in open arms against the British. It
was known that there was a village at the foot of the pass, and it was
quite possible that Captain Borrodaile's exhausted troops might find
resistance offered them here at the very culminating point of their
troubles. Captain Borrodaile had therefore to send on his few levies
to scout and discover if the enemy were in any force in the village of
Laspur, at the foot of the pass, and to report on the state of affairs
there. Fortunately no opposition was met with, for the Chitralis had
scarcely expected that the troops would be able to cross the pass in
its then condition, and at about 7.30, nearly twelve hours after the
first start had been made from Langar, Laspur was reached.
In this straggling village a few inhabitants were found, who
immediately came in to pay their respects, as, 200 men in their midst,
even though they were so exhausted, were to be propitiated. Captain
Borrodaile's party then made themselves snug for the night in the
various buildings and outhouses, improvised a few rough defences
against a night attack, and then prayed that for this night at least,
after all their terrible exertions, they might be left in peace.
On the next morning (April 5th) Captain Borrodaile, having seized a
number of inhabitants of the village, sent them back over the pass to
Langar to help Lieutenant Stewart and Lieutenant Gough to carry over
the guns and the remaining loads, which had been left on the near side
of the pass. These two officers, with the small detachment of Kashmir
Infantry, succeeded in their task, and to them is due the credit of
performing this splendid feat of carrying guns over a high pass in,
perhaps, its worst condition, and bringing them down into Chitral
territory to give so important a help to Colonel Kelly's force. On the
4th, Surgeon-Captain Browning-Smith made an examination of the men who
had crossed the pass, and found twenty-five cases of frost-bite and
thirty of snow-blindness. These were fortunately not severe, but it was
evident that even one more day's work such as these troops had had to
undergo would have quite incapacitated the force.
We must now try and realise what was the position of this small
detachment which Captain Borrodaile had with such resolution brought
over the Shandur Pass. They were now in the presence of an enemy elated
with success, and behind them this terrible pass, practically cutting
off their retreat. The village of Laspur had to a certain extent been
surprised, though two spies stationed on the pass had been observed
by Captain Borrodaile's party, but a considerable number of Chitralis
were known to be in the valley lower down, and an attack on Captain
Borrodaile might be made at any moment. Colonel Kelly's instructions
to Captain Borrodaile were to entrench himself on arrival, return his
coolies, and endeavour to open up communication with the garrison of
Mastuj, two marches below Laspur, who were besieged by the Chitralis.
On the evening of April 5th a short reconnaissance was made below the
camp, as the levies had brought back information that a small body of
the enemy had been seen.
On April 6th a reconnaissance in force was made by Captain Borrodaile
to Gasht, twelve miles distant; the two guns and one hundred and
twenty of the pioneers taking part in the movement. Gasht was reached
without opposition, and the villages on the route were found almost
deserted, but Captain Borrodaile's troops were able to seize some
thirty inhabitants and twelve ponies to serve for transport purposes.
Captain Borrodaile returned to Laspur the same night, and he then
found Colonel Kelly with Lieutenant Beynon, his staff-officer, and
about fifty levies had crossed the pass and arrived in Laspur.
On the 7th the troops rested and prepared for an advance on the
following day.
On the 8th the force reached Gasht unopposed, and a small
reconnaissance in the evening showed that the enemy were occupying a
strong position across the valley at a place called Chokalwat, a few
miles below. This position Colonel Kelly decided to attack the next
morning. The Chokalwat position is one of great natural strength, and
of that order which is generally described as impregnable. Any one
looking at it would say that here a hundred men could keep a whole
army at bay. On each side of the valley mountains tower up thousands
of feet in rugged precipices; a river flows along it, and the only
road leads either along the bottom of a stone-shoot, down which the
enemy from above could hurl rocks on any force passing beneath; or else
over the river and by a zigzag path up some cliffs, the edges of which
the enemy had lined with sangars or stone breastworks. At accessible
points on the mountain sides the enemy had also constructed these
breastworks, and if the Chitralis were determined to offer Colonel
Kelly at all a resolute opposition, he might have been brought to a
standstill here at his first contact with the enemy, and his main
object of affording speedy relief to the garrison in Chitral would be
frustrated. In the Hunza campaign of 1891, our troops had been kept at
bay for nearly a fortnight in just such another position. The Hunza men
were few of them armed with rifles, while the Chitralis had numbers of
breech-loaders, and it was not difficult to imagine that a check might
here be offered to the relief force, and a check, anything else indeed
but complete success, would have involved the British in most serious
trouble, and might have caused the people all along the lengthy line of
communications to show hostility.
On the morning of April 9th, at 10.30 A.M., Colonel Kelly advanced to
the attack of this position. In the early morning Lieutenant Beynon
with the Hunza levies were sent up the high hills on the left bank of
the river, so as to turn the right of the enemy's position and attack
in rear. The Punyalis were ordered up the hills on the right bank to
turn out the men above the stone-shoots on that side. The enemy's
position consisted of a line of sangars blocking the roads from the
river up to the alluvial fan on which they were placed. The right of
the enemy's position was protected by a snow glacier which descended
into the river bed, and also by sangars which were built as far up as
the snow-line on the hill-side. The road down the valley led on to the
alluvial fan, the ascent to which was short and steep--it was covered
with boulders, and intersected with _nullahs_. The road led across
this fan and then along the foot of the steep, shaly slopes and shoots
within 500 yards of the line of sangars crowning the opposite side of
the river bank, and totally devoid of any sort or description of cover
for some two miles. It could also be swept by avalanches of stones set
in motion by a few men placed on the heights for that purpose.
The force with which Colonel Kelly advanced to the attack of this
position consisted of 190 men of the 32nd Pioneers, two guns of
the Kashmir Mountain Battery, 40 Kashmir Sappers and Miners, and 50
levies--in all, 280 men. Colonel Kelly considered that any delay to
wait for the second detachment of his troops, who were on their way
over the Shandur Pass, would only give the enemy an opportunity for
collecting in greater strength, and for improving the fortification
of their position, and he decided therefore to attack at once, and
advanced in the following order:--A half company of 32nd Pioneers
formed the advance guard, and these were followed by the forty Kashmir
Sappers and Miners, a half company of the 32nd Pioneers, the two guns
which were carried by coolies, and the other company of the 32nd
Pioneers completed the main body. The baggage, under escort of the rear
guard, remained at Gasht till ordered forward to the action.
The advance was made up to the river where the bridge had been broken
by the enemy, but was now sufficiently repaired by the Sappers and
Miners for the passage of the infantry. The guns forded the river, and
the force ascended to the fan facing the right sangar of the enemy's
position. Colonel Kelly's plan was for the advance guard to leave the
road and form up on the highest part of the fan facing A sangar, which
was to be silenced by volley firing and the guns. He also proposed to
adopt the same course with regard to B sangar, when an opportunity
should offer for the infantry to descend into the river bed and ascend
the left bank to enfilade the enemy in the remaining sangars, which
it was expected would be vacated as soon as Lieutenant Beynon's flank
attack with the levies had developed.
The advance guard of the Pioneers formed up at about 800 yards from
the position, while the main body followed in rear. The Pioneers then
advanced to the attack--one section of C company extended, another
section of the same company in support; two sections of C company and
the whole of A company in reserve. The guns then took up a position on
the right and opened on A sangar at a range of 825 yards. As the action
progressed the supporting section of C company advanced and reinforced
the remaining half of C company, which also advanced, and leaving
sufficient space for the guns, took up their position in the firing
line on the extreme right. Volley firing was first opened at 800 yards,
but the firing line advanced 150 to 200 yards as the action progressed.
At a later stage one section of A company was pushed up to fill a gap
on the right of the guns in action in the centre of the line. A few
well-directed volleys and accurately-aimed shells soon caused the enemy
to vacate A sangar in twos and threes, till it was finally emptied.
Meanwhile Lieutenant Beynon with his levies had found his way up the
hill-sides on the left bank of the river, and as the Pioneers advanced
across the fan Lieutenant Beynon drove the enemy from their sangars on
the hill-sides. As soon as the enemy had been cleared from A sangar,
Colonel Kelly directed his attention to B sangar, and attacked it in a
similar manner, and just as the enemy had fled from the first, they now
vacated B sangar also. At the same time those of the enemy who had been
driven from the positions on the hill-side came streaming down into
the plain, and a general flight ensued. An advance of Colonel Kelly's
whole force was then made down the precipitous banks to the bed of the
river. This advance was covered by the fire of the reserves; the river
was forded, and sangars A and B occupied. The guns were then carried
across, and the whole line of sangars having been vacated, the column
was re-formed in the fan, and the advance was continued to a village
one and a half miles further along the bed of the river, and there a
halt was made.
So terminated the first successful action with the enemy. It was
carried out, says Colonel Kelly, with the extreme steadiness of an
ordinary morning parade; the volleys being well directed and properly
controlled. The action lasted but one hour, and the casualties on the
side of the British were only one man of the 32nd Pioneers severely
wounded, and three Kashmir Sappers slightly wounded. The strength of
the enemy was computed at from 400 to 500 men, and they were armed
with Martini-Henry and Snider rifles. Several dead were found in the
sangars, and the loss of the enemy was estimated to have been from
fifty to sixty men.
After a short halt the troops continued the advance by the left bank
of the river till within three miles of Mastuj, where the river was
forded. Here, drawn up on the crest of an alluvial fan above the river,
were seen the British garrison of Mastuj, who had been shut up in the
fort for eighteen days, but who had, on hearing the firing of Colonel
Kelly's troops, and seeing the enemy gradually vacating their position
round the fort, now come out to join hands with the relieving force.
At 5 P.M. Colonel Kelly's force reached Mastuj itself, and so in
a single day a successful action had been fought, the beleaguered
garrison of Mastuj relieved, and another march made in the direction of
Chitral.
Lieutenant Moberly, who was in command at Mastuj, was now able to
relate the story of his adventures since his investment by the
Chitralis. In a previous chapter the story of the disasters to the
parties under Captain Ross and Lieutenant Edwardes has been told.
These detachments had in the beginning of March set out from Mastuj
for Chitral, but no news of what had happened to them, or of what was
occurring in Chitral reached Lieutenant Moberly. He had sent messengers
down to Buni three times, but each time they were cut off. On March
10th Captain Bretherton (who was afterwards drowned in the Brahmaputra
on the way to Lhasa), the Deputy-Assistant Commissary-General for the
Gilgit force, arrived in Mastuj with a detachment of 100 Kashmir Sepoys
from Ghizr, and so brought up the Mastuj garrison to a total strength
of 170 men. Sixty more men arrived from Ghizr on the 13th, and on the
16th Lieutenant Moberly, who had been trying for some days to obtain
coolies to enable him to march down to Buni to ascertain the fate of
Captain Ross's party, set out from Mastuj with 150 Kashmir Infantry.
No coolies had been obtained, and each man had to carry his poshtin
(sheepskin coat), two blankets, 120 rounds of ammunition, and three
days' cooked rations. Sanoghar, a village eight miles below Mastuj,
was reached that day, but no longer march could be made, as a bridge
over the river had to be repaired. Fifty Punyali levies had joined
Lieutenant Moberly, and on the next morning he left for Buni. This he
reached at 5 P.M., and found there Lieutenant Jones and the seventeen
survivors of Captain Ross's party, and thirty-three men who had been
left in Buni by Captain Ross before his march to Koragh. Lieutenant
Jones had been unable to proceed towards Mastuj for fear of attack
on the difficult road there, and had remained on in Buni trying to
communicate with Lieutenant Moberly, and hoping that relief might be
sent him.
This relief Lieutenant Moberly at no small risk, for there are many
points on the eighteen miles of road between Mastuj and Buni where his
retreat might have been cut off, had now gallantly brought. But Buni
was no place in which to stay longer than was absolutely necessary.
It is an open village; there is no defensible post in it, and above
everything there were not supplies sufficient to last any length of
time. The enemy were already in strength at Drasan, a few miles distant
on the opposite bank of the river, and Lieutenant Moberly heard that
they intended to cut off his retreat that very night at the Nisa
Gol, a strong position on the way between Buni and Mastuj. Lieutenant
Moberly heard also that the enemy were collecting on the road between
Mastuj and Gilgit, and that no more of our own troops had yet started
from Gilgit.
He had no choice left but to return to Mastuj immediately. So after
remaining there only two hours he set out at 7 P.M. on the 17th on his
return journey. A party had been previously despatched to seize the
bridge over the river and the difficult piece of cliff along which
the road passes, and the Punyali levies had been sent forward to if
possible prevent the enemy from occupying the Nisa Gol position. These
precautionary measures were successfully carried out; the enemy did
nothing more than follow the party along the path, and Lieutenant
Moberly after marching steadily all night halted for a few hours at
dawn, and proceeded on to Mastuj, which he reached in safety about 10
A.M. on the 18th, having thus by a bold and carefully-planned march
rescued Lieutenant Jones's party from probably the same fate that
befell Lieutenant Edwardes's party. He did this, too, just in the nick
of time, for only a few hours after he had left Buni, the enemy arrived
there in force, and afterwards occupied the Nisa Gol position.
On the three days following his return to Mastuj, Lieutenant Moberly
and Captain Bretherton were busily occupied in cutting down trees, from
them making up fence-work round the fort, and completing defensive
arrangements generally. The Hunza-Nagar levies, to the number of one
hundred, were sent back to Ghizr on the other side of the Shandur to
reinforce that post and be in communication with Gilgit. On the 25th
news reached Mastuj that Lieutenants Fowler and Edwardes had been
captured by the Chitralis. The enemy were now closing round the fort.
A reconnaissance which Lieutenant Moberly had taken out on the 22nd
showed that about six hundred of them were building and holding sangars
at Chokalwat position, a few miles above Mastuj on the way to Gilgit,
and a regular blockade of the fort now commenced.
Mastuj fort is about ninety yards square, and is built of masonry and
woodwork, in the same manner as are all the forts in these parts.
The walls are about twenty-five feet high, but at the time of the
siege were in a dilapidated condition, for the place had only been
temporarily occupied by the British as a residence for the political
agent and his escort pending the decision of the Government as regards
our permanent policy towards Chitral. And unfortunately a very severe
earthquake in the previous year had shaken the walls very nearly to
pieces. At that time I was the political agent there, and a little
incident which occurred while the earthquake was taking place is worth
recording as an instance of the steadiness of the native troops.
Lieutenant Gurdon, the officer in command of the escort of Sikhs,
and myself were seated in a room of the fort when we suddenly felt
the whole place shaking. But earthquakes are common in Chitral and
we did not at first move, till we heard stones crashing down outside
and the whole room tossing about like a cabin on board ship. Then we
dashed out of the door to the courtyard, and as we did so passed a
sentry, who quietly proceeded to present arms in salute as if nothing
was happening. The mountains round were in a cloud of dust from the
avalanches of rock set rolling down their sides by the earthquake, and
the rickety walls of the fort tumbling on all sides; but all this did
not disturb the Sikh sentry; his sense of discipline was so ingrained
that he saluted as usual, in the ordinary, everyday manner.
The Mastuj fort is situated on the edge of a sloping plain running down
from the hill-side which at one point approaches to within about 400
yards of the fort. The enemy occupied a row of houses some 300 yards
from the fort, which they loopholed, and from these commenced firing
upon the fort. They also built sangars at a distance of 800 yards,
but the garrison succeeded in silencing their fire by aiming volleys
into them; and on one occasion Punyali levies were sent out at night
to whitewash the loopholes of sangars out of which the enemy had been
driven during the day, so that it would be possible for the garrison to
aim correctly if the enemy attempted to reoccupy them. The enemy did
subsequently come back to the sangars, but only to be driven out again
by the carefully-aimed fire from the garrison.
On another occasion the Chitralis had built a sangar on the hill-side
and from it wounded two ponies in the inside of the fort. The enemy
were armed with Martini-Henry and Snider rifles and could fire from
long ranges into the fort. It was necessary therefore to dislodge them
from the sangar, and the Punyali levies were sent early one morning to
destroy it before it had been occupied for the day by the enemy. Some
days afterwards a sangar was built about 300 yards below the fort, but
Lieutenant Moberly moved out with a party of eighty sepoys and rushed
it. The enemy only fired a few shots, and then retired into some houses
from which they harassed the return of the party. The sangar, which was
found to be strongly built of fascines and stones, was destroyed.
All this time the Chitralis had been trying to induce Lieutenant
Moberly to come out under the promise of a safe conduct to Gilgit, and
he was assured that Sher Afzul, the pretender to the throne of Chitral,
had no wish to fight the British. Had Lieutenant Moberly listened to
these insinuating advances he would undoubtedly have been captured as
soon as he came outside, and he acted wisely to wait for the relief
which, though he was not aware of it, was now near at hand. On the 9th
of April large numbers of the enemy were observed to be moving off, and
Lieutenant Moberly took out his men to follow them up and harass them.
Then it was that he met Colonel Kelly's force marching in to the relief
of the garrison. The siege was now at an end; the tables were turned,
and relieving and relieved forces now marched down to succour Chitral.
From the 10th to the 12th of April Colonel Kelly halted in Mastuj to
allow of arrangements for supplies and transport for the further march
to Chitral to be made, and to await the arrival of a second detachment
of the troops catching up from the Shandur Pass. On the 11th of April
this detachment arrived accompanied by Surgeon-Captain Luard with
the Field Hospital, which was now established at Mastuj; and on the
same day a reconnaissance was made by the levies in the direction of
Chitral, as the enemy were reported to be holding a strong position a
few miles below Mastuj. On the 12th of April a further reconnaissance
was made by Lieutenant Beynon, the staff-officer, and an accurate
sketch of the enemy's position brought back by him, which enabled
Colonel Kelly to settle the course of his action. The position was
generally considered to be impregnable, and the late Mehtar of Chitral
had, standing on the very spot, himself explained to me its natural
strength, and affirmed that it was one of the strongest positions in
his country. In Chitral all the positions in the mountain valleys are
well known and are regularly occupied in each successive invasion which
occurs, and this position, Nisa Gol, is the one which has been selected
from time immemorial by the Chitralis in the defence of their valley.
The valley of the Chitral River at the Nisa Gol position is about a
mile wide, and is bounded on either hand by steep rocky mountains,
rising for several thousand feet above the river. On the left bank
especially the mountain sides are very precipitous, and up against
these the Chitral River runs. On first looking down the valley it
appears as if, in between the mountains, there was nothing but a
smooth plain running down from the right-hand side, and it is not till
one is actually on it that it is discovered that the seemingly open
plain is cleft by a _nullah_ between 200 and 300 feet deep, and with
absolutely perpendicular sides. The _nullah_ is the Nisa Gol, and
only one path leads across it, that of the road to Chitral, and this
path the enemy had now cut away. There had been a small goat-track
across this _nullah_ at another point, but the enemy had now entirely
obliterated it. Sangars had also been erected at the head of these
paths and along the right bank of the _nullah_. These sangars were sunk
into the ground and head-cover was provided by a covering of timber and
stones. On the left of their position they had sangars on the spur of
the hill in a general line with the sangars on the plain, and on the
hill parties of men were stationed to throw down stones. On the right
of their position across the Chitral River, and slightly in advance of
the general line, they had another line of sangars on a spur stretching
away high up into the snow-line.
Such was the position which Colonel Kelly had now to attack, and in
it the Chitralis had collected to the number of about 1,500 men under
their chief leader, Mohamed Isa, to make their principal stand, so as
to prevent Colonel Kelly joining hands with the British garrison in
Chitral.
Colonel Kelly, reinforced by the garrison of Mastuj, now had with
him 382 Pioneers under Captain Borrodaile, two guns under Lieutenant
Stewart, 100 Kashmir Infantry under Lieutenant Moberly, 34 Kashmir
Sappers and Miners under Lieutenant Oldham, R.E., and 100 Hunza and
Punyali levies. With this force he advanced from Mastuj at 7 A.M. on
the 13th of April. His plan was to send on an advance guard, which,
on gaining the plain which the enemy's position bisected, would make
its way well up to the right where the ground favoured an advance
under cover to within 500 yards of the ravine, whose further bank was
occupied by the enemy. This advance guard was ordered to direct its
attack on the sangar on the right with well-directed volleys till the
guns and the remainder of the force could come into position. As soon
as the advance guard could silence the fire in this sangar, which
commanded the advance across the plain, the main sangars along the
banks of the ravine were to be fired upon. At the same time levies
were to make their way high up in the ravine nearer its source in the
mountains on Colonel Kelly's right, to find some path by which the
enemy's left could be turned.
The advance guard, composed of A company, at about 10.30 A.M. deployed
into line and advanced in extended order when within 900 yards of the
position, the C company following soon after prolonging the line to the
right. Each of these two formed their own supports, E and G companies
were in reserve, marching in column of half companies forming single
rank, and opening out into one pace as they advanced. Reinforcements
being called for, E company advanced and prolonged the line to the
right, G company being called up similarly later on, formed the extreme
right of the firing line. The levies were well on the right, high
up towards the head of the ravine. While these movements were being
executed, the guns came into action at a range of 500 yards, firing
common shell, and knocking down the wall of the sangar to a height of
about three feet, and so, for a short time, silencing the fire from it.
The guns were afterwards advanced to a distance of 275 yards from the
enemy's main sangar.
The infantry having deployed, A and C companies kept the enemy engaged
directly in front along the main line of sangars, the latter company
occasionally directing its fire half right against the sangars on the
hills in that flank. The fire of E and G companies was almost entirely
directed against the hill sangars--occasional volleys being directed on
small parties of the enemy occupying hill tops from 800 to 900 yards
distance. The general average distance at which firing was opened to
the front was from 250 to 300 yards. As soon as the guns had silenced
the fire from the sangars on the hill-sides to the right, they shelled
at ranges from 875 yards to 1,200 yards the sangars along the edge of
the ravine.
The existence of the goat-path across the ravine already referred to
was now reported to Colonel Kelly by his staff-officer Lieutenant
Beynon, and Colonel Kelly accordingly directed that an attempt should
be made to make it practicable so that the force might cross by it.
Some ladders had been brought with the force for the special purpose of
crossing the ravine, and the Kashmir Sappers under Lieutenant Moberly
were sent forward with Lieutenant Beynon to carry out the work. The
scaling-ladders were lowered down the sides of the ravine by means of
ropes, and after half an hour's work a track was made by which the
bottom of the _nullah_ could be reached and an ascent by the goat-track
on the further side assured. The troops then descended into the
_nullah_, and eventually a party of about fifteen succeeded in climbing
the opposite bank, which they reached almost simultaneously with the
levies, who had now worked their way round by the right, turned the
enemy's left and reached the sangars on the hill-side. The appearance
of these bodies on the enemy's left caused a general flight, and they
streamed out of their sangars in a long line, with the guns firing at
ranges from 950 to 1,400 yards, and under volleys of rifle fire from
the infantry, Colonel Kelly then ordered a general advance across the
_nullah_ by the road leading to Chitral. A company, as soon as it could
be mustered, was sent in pursuit, but the enemy's flight was extremely
rapid, and they succeeded in effecting a retreat towards Drasan and
over the hill-sides on the right bank of the river.
Colonel Kelly in reporting this action said that he could not speak too
highly of the extreme steadiness and bravery of the troops during the
course of the action, which lasted two hours, and during which they
were subjected to a very heavy and trying fire from the front and left
bank. The fire discipline he also said was excellent, and contributed
materially to keeping down the fire from the enemy's sangars.
The enemy's casualties were estimated at some sixty killed and one
hundred wounded. Amongst the enemy were some forty of Umra Khan's men,
and the fire which Colonel Kelly's force had to face was entirely from
Martini-Henry and Snider rifles.
This second success was even greater than the first. All the principal
men of the country not employed before the fort of Chitral were
present in the action, and the utmost reliance had been placed in
the strength of the position. It was therefore a serious blow to the
Chitralis when they found that the principal position on the road to
Chitral had been summarily captured.
Colonel Kelly halted that night opposite the village of Sanoghar, and
on the following day, the 14th of April, marched to Drasan to ascertain
the strength of the enemy and his whereabouts, as it was reported that
Mohamed Isa had fled in that direction. The road had been broken, and
a long detour had to be made up the spur some 2,000 ft. high above the
road, necessitating a march of some twenty miles.
The fort at Drasan was found to be unoccupied, and in it were large
quantities of grain, which would have been very acceptable to Colonel
Kelly had he been able to carry it away, but no transport was available
for the purpose as no men could be captured from the neighbouring
villages.
The usual road to Chitral runs down the opposite side of the valley to
that on which Drasan is situated. It was by this road on the left bank
of the river that Captain Ross and Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler had
advanced, and along it the parties under them had been annihilated.
The enemy had intended to have arrested Colonel Kelly's progress at or
near the spot where Captain Ross's party had suffered so severely, but
Colonel Kelly outwitted them by avoiding the terrible defiles on that
road and by marching from Drasan high up along the hill-sides on the
right bank of the river till he had passed these difficult positions.
In the midst of heavy rain he marched on the 15th of April to Khusht,
and on the 16th to Loon; and then on the 17th, being well behind
the worst defiles, he descended to the river bed again and crossed
the Chitral River to Barnas, though the river at this point is not
generally considered fordable, for it is breast-high and runs with
rapid current. It was of course with only great risk that men could be
taken across, but by linking them together in bands of ten or twelve,
and by stationing levies in the stream to help men who might be washed
off their legs, and to save kits which might be carried away, Colonel
Kelly's force was able to effect the passage of this deep and rapid
mountain river. A strategical move of the highest importance had thus
been effected and an almost impregnable position turned without the
firing of a single shot.
All this time Colonel Kelly had not been able to hear a single word
from the garrison in Chitral, nor had he been able to pass a message
in to them to give warning of his approach. He was now only two
marches distant from Chitral, and the crisis of his arduous march
was approaching. This date was indeed the turning-point of the whole
campaign--Colonel Kelly had turned the enemy's last position; it was on
this day that Lieutenant Harley made his brilliant sortie; and it was
on this day Umra Khan was making his last futile effort against General
Low's force. The high-water mark of the rebellion had been reached, and
from now the tide began to turn rapidly.
On the 18th Colonel Kelly made a short march to Moroi and on the 19th
arrived at Koghazi, only one march from Chitral. Here he received his
first letter from the beleaguered garrison, and obtained the welcome
news that the siege had just been raised and that the enemy had
finally fled.
In the afternoon of April 20th the force marched into Chitral and
joined hands with their comrades, who had for forty-seven days been
invested within the fort.
This famous march of native troops from the plains of India, led by
a mere handful of British officers, over a snow-clad range, through
precipitous defiles into the heart of a country flushed with successful
rebellion, will ever be remembered as a unique exploit of the Indian
Army. The news of the success of the little force was soon spread
throughout the empire. Everywhere the highest admiration was excited,
and critics in the great armies of the Continent joined with ourselves
in the praises of the high military qualities which its accomplishment
showed that our officers and men possessed. Her Majesty the Queen
immediately telegraphed to India her gracious approbation of this
remarkable exploit, and the Commander-in-Chief in India, Sir George
White, expressed his warm appreciation of the manner in which, in
the face of extraordinary difficulties, the advance and operations
of the force were conducted, and of the indomitable energy displayed
by Colonel Kelly and the officers and troops under his command in
overcoming them. The Commander-in-Chief considered the arrangements
made for the crossing of the Shandur Pass, the perseverance and skill
displayed by the officers, and the excellent behaviour of the troops
worthy of the highest praise, and while commending all, recorded
especially the important part taken by Captain Borrodaile and his
detachment, who were the first over the pass.
* * * * *
A week after Colonel Kelly had reached Chitral Major "Roddy" Owen and
myself, riding on ahead of the advanced parties of General Low's force
arrived in Chitral. It was a bright sunny day, the country was clothed
in all the fulness of spring, the young corn was waving in the fields,
the blossoms were forming on the trees and all nature was smiling as
we rode through the forty miles of country which separated Chitral
from the advance guard which General Gatacre had just led over the
Lowarai Pass. But the looks of the people were in striking contrast.
Worn, trembling and utterly cowed the Chitralis shrank from even two
British officers riding without an escort through their country. It was
pitiable to see them. Men, whom a few months before I had seen gay as
few but Chitralis in their contented moments can be, were now moving
about with careworn faces, thin and exhausted. The people of Chitral
had flamed up into rebellion, and were now lying burnt out like the
charred remains of a firework. When I asked them why they had been so
foolish as to fight us, they wrung their hands and said, "Why were we?
We hate these Pathans; they have plundered our houses and carried off
our women, but they were strong and close while you were far away, and
we never knew you were so powerful as you are. We did not want to fight
you, but we were led away."
It was only very few people, however, that we met as we rode through
the villages, for most had fled to the hills, believing that General
Gatacre's brigade, now just over the Lowarai Pass, was to advance and
exact a terrible retribution by massacring them for the space of three
days.
Late in the evening of the 27th of April, we rode into Chitral, and had
the honour to be the first to congratulate the famous garrison and the
officers of Colonel Kelly's force upon their splendid achievements.
We found the officers just sitting down to dinner in the very house
in which I had lived for many months, and in which Mr. Curzon and I
on the previous October had entertained the late Mehtar at dinner. It
was situated half-a-mile from the fort, and here we found Sir George
Robertson and the other officers, recovered somewhat indeed from what
Colonel Kelly's officers had found them, but still looking pale and
worn, thin, and with the set, anxious look which had not yet left their
faces. They were cheery; they brought out a long-treasured bottle of
brandy from the reserve for hospital purposes, and they produced a
Christmas plum-pudding which had only that day arrived, and insisted
upon our sharing these luxuries with them; but even now they hardly
realised that the struggle was yet over, and one or other of them
would from time to time go round the sentries posted everywhere round
the house.
One of the first subjects on which they spoke to us was about poor
Baird. Few officers have ever attached their comrades more sincerely
to them than did this brave officer, and he was one of the best and
keenest soldiers in the service. He was noted for his tact and for the
amiability of his character, and he studied his profession with the
spirit of an enthusiast. His coolness was as remarkable as his zeal,
and suffering though he was and knowing that he must die, he remained
cheerful and collected to the last. He said that he would not have
wished to die any other death than the soldier's death which he was
now to meet; he had done his duty and led his men as a soldier should
do, and he never regretted his fate. He gave a few last messages to
those at home and then with a smile on his face and, thinking of his
profession to the very end, wished his comrades success in their plans
and bade them good-bye.
[Illustration:
_Photo Bassano, Old Bond Street._
CAPTAIN J. MCD. BAIRD.]
He died on the morning of the 4th of March, and was buried in the dead
of night outside the main gate of the fort while the enemy were firing
all round. A little over two months later, when the advance brigade
of the Relieving Force arrived in Chitral, General Gatacre read a
funeral service over his grave, and Major Aylmer, R.E., who had served
together with Baird in the Hunza Campaign three years before and won
his Victoria Cross there, erected a tombstone to his memory and with
his own hands carved an inscription. His comrades and fellow-countrymen
will know then that, far away though he now lies, his grave has not
been neglected, but will ever be cared for by the soldiers who follow
after him.
After poor Baird I think the subject on which the officers of the
garrison spoke most feelingly was the devotion and noble spirit of
discipline and determination shown by the Sikhs. There were but a
hundred of them in a garrison of nearly four hundred, but the officers
said that without them they could never have held out, and that but for
these Sikhs not one of them would have been there now. They only grew
more enthusiastic as the siege became closer and times seemed harder.
With calm self-reliance they stood proudly at bay like a rock with
the waves beating against it. And so great was the sense of discipline
which their stern old native officer Gurmukh Singh instilled into them,
that when during an attack the sick struggled out of hospital to join
in the fight he would not excuse even their impulsive bravery, but
told them that a soldier's first duty was to obey, that they had been
ordered to hospital and there they must stay. It was the discipline
ingrained into these men that saved the garrison. As long as a Sikh was
on sentry, and while Sikhs were holding a threatened point, Captain
Townshend had nothing to fear. The enemy would never catch a Sikh off
his guard and could never force their way through a post of Sikhs
while one remained alive. They saved the garrison, and the officers
gratefully acknowledged their service.
[Illustration: COMPANY OF THE 14TH SIKHS WHICH FORMED PART OF THE
GARRISON OF CHITRAL DURING THE SIEGE.]
The skill of the enemy was, too, a subject on which the officers
specially dwelt. The Chitralis had not previously been considered of
much account as a fighting race; but even they, once their blood was
up, fought hard and well, and their Pathan allies were as skilful
and brave as troops of a regularly-trained army. Umra Khan's men
were born warriors; unlike the Chitralis, who by nature prefer polo
and sport and dancing to fighting, the Pathans from their childhood
upwards think of little else than warfare. They are for ever raiding
upon one another, attacking each other's villages, and besieging and
defending the forts scattered over their country nearly as thickly as
public-houses in England. They therefore showed every ingenuity in the
siege of Chitral. To make the most of their ammunition they never fired
a shot without clearly making out an object to aim at, and usually with
the rifle resting on a stone so as to enable them to aim correctly.
The skill which they displayed in the construction of trenches and
breastworks to approach the walls; the sagacity they evidenced in
repeatedly attacking the water-way and in setting fire to the towers
and walls of the fort; and the courage and determination they showed
in their attempts to carry out these objects, excited the highest
admiration of the besieged.
No less remarkable was their well-directed effort to undermine the
walls; and at the close of the siege the defenders found a huge pent
roof, which was to have been borne along and placed against the walls
of the fort so as to cover the assailants, and huge scaling-ladders,
capable of carrying three men abreast. With the aid of these
contrivances the enemy had hoped, when the mine had been successfully
fired, to have made one last desperate assault upon the devoted
garrison before the Relieving Force could arrive. They calculated
that the defenders must be getting very short of supplies, for Mr.
Robertson in his negotiations with them had always been careful to lead
them into this belief. They thought, too, that the native troops must
be low at heart, and ready to throw up the sponge at any day. They
considered, therefore, that if one great effort could be made they
would be able to first crush the Chitral garrison, and then annihilate
Colonel Kelly, who they knew had with him only a handful of men with no
supplies and no transport to speak of, and who was now in the middle
of the worst defiles of the country. But the carefully-planned and
brilliantly-executed sortie under Harley had effectually frustrated
this last supreme effort of the besiegers, and Colonel Kelly's force
had, by their skilful tactics and bravery in action, thwarted the
enemy's most cherished plans. Just on the brink of a disaster the
British forces came out triumphant; and once again in our fair island's
story it was shown that British officers, even though unsupported by a
single British soldier, and with only their own stout hearts and strong
right arms to trust to, and to the influence they could exercise over
men of subject races, had been able to uphold the honour of their race;
and the story of the defence and relief of Chitral will be handed down
to posterity as one of the most brilliant chapters in the annals of
Indian military history.
[Illustration: HOUSE OCCUPIED BY SHER AFZUL DURING THE SIEGE OF CHITRAL
FORT
NOW THE BRITISH AGENCY]
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Chapter by ARTHUR NEWSHOLME, M.D.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED, LONDON.
Transcriber's Notes
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Hyphen removed: breast[-]works (p. 159), sharp[-]shooter (p. 44),
wood[-]work (p. 161).
Hyphen added: water[-]way (p. 141).
p. 17: had make an attempt -> had made an attempt.
p. 77: holding it own -> holding its own.
p. 80: has to been carried up -> has to be carried up.
p. 209: loopholes of sangers -> loopholes of sangars.