Institution of the Order of the Doorannee Empire.--Murder of a Private
of the 13th Light Infantry.--Departure from Cabul.--Return to
Ghuznee.--Accident to the Revd. Mr. Pigot.--Discovery of the Skeletons
of British Soldiers.--Horse-steaks.--Treachery of some Ghiljie Chiefs
and destruction of their Fort.--Adventure of a Dragoon.--Loss of a Cook.
In order to testify his gratitude towards the British, the Shah resolved
to institute an order of merit, to be called the order of the Doorannee
Empire, and to confer its respective grades upon three classes of
officers, namely, Generals, Brigadier Generals, and Field Officers. A
durbar having been summoned, at which the Ministers of State, the
Politicals, and a number of British Officers were present, a chapter of
the order was held, and his Majesty, as Sovereign, invested the
Commander-in-Chief, several general and field officers, and the
Politicals with the decoration, which consisted of a sort of Maltese
cross with a jewel in the centre. His Majesty was also pleased to
express his desire that every officer, non-commissioned officer, and
private soldier in the army should receive a silver medal, commemorative
of the campaign, and for this purpose placed a large sum of money at the
disposal of Sir John Keane. The Queen's sanction has been obtained to
the measure, but the medal has not as yet been issued.
Leave had been given by the officers in command of the different
regiments to men entering the town to carry their side arms, as a
protection in case of chance collision with the inhabitants. The
facility of obtaining intoxicating liquors rendered this a contingency
of not unlikely occurrence, and our men soon got themselves into
unpleasant and in some instances dangerous scrapes. On one occasion, a
private of the 13th Light Infantry having been drinking rather freely,
forced himself into the apartments of the wife of a respectable
inhabitant. Proceeding to offer her some violence, her screams alarmed
the neighbourhood, and the soldier was soon surrounded by a host of
angry husbands and fathers, armed with every description of weapon. He
defended himself with his bayonet for some time, contenting himself with
merely parrying their blows, and had fought his way into the street,
when he was met by several others of the townspeople, who set upon the
unfortunate fellow and instantly despatched him. They secreted the body
until night-fall, and then threw it outside the walls of the town, where
it was discovered next morning.
It having been determined that early in September part of the forces
should set out on their return homeward, the choice fell upon her
Majesty's 17th Foot, the 2nd or Queen's Royals, one Company of Foot
Artillery, a detachment of the 4th Light Dragoons, the 1st regiment of
Bombay Light Cavalry, and two troops of Bombay Horse Artillery, the
whole under the command of Major General Sir Thomas Wiltshire. It would
naturally be supposed that after so long an absence from quarters, we
hailed this intimation with something like pleasure, but such was far
from being the fact. We had rioted in profusion and luxury, and did not
relish the idea of again encountering the privations of the long and
dreary route which lay between us and India. Added to this we had seen
but little of actual fighting, and the promotions had been consequently
few.
Promotion and prize money are the all engrossing subjects of a soldier's
ambition, and this speedy return put an end at once to our long
cherished hopes. We well knew that the restless and turbulent spirit of
the Affghan Chiefs would not permit them to remain long in subjection to
Shah Soojah, and that there would consequently be more work for the
British troops. Regret and envy of our more fortunate comrades were
therefore the predominant feelings which pervaded nearly the whole of
the departing troops.
We left Cabul on the 14th of September, and arrived at Ghuznee, the
scene of our former exploits, after eight days' march, during which
nothing worthy of mention occurred. It is astonishing how soon the
traces of war disappear, and the living gaps caused by its ravages are
filled up. The fortress appeared as perfect in its outline as if the
hand of the destroyer had not recently passed over it, new gates having
been substituted for those which had been damaged, and the breach
immediately above them re-filled with masonry. The inhabitants of the
bazaar had resumed their accustomed occupations, and scolded, and
chaffered, and jested, and laughed, as if they had neither lost
relatives nor friends, nor dabbled through mire freshly reeking with
their blood. Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt and blunts the
feelings, and the Asiatic, before whose eyes such scenes pass almost
daily, thinks of them only as the immutable decrees of fate, which
cannot be shunned, and ought not to be repined at.
The sick and wounded, of whom we had left numbers at Ghuznee, had almost
all died, and were interred in an open space selected for the purpose
outside the walls of the fortress. The last resting-place of our brave
fellows is situated at the foot of one of the adjacent mountains, but
neither stone nor inscription indicates the spot.
The Bengal regiment of Native Infantry, whom we found in garrison at
Ghuznee on our return, and whom we left after us, appeared to be quite
as well reconciled to their quarters as we were at Cabul, although the
two places appeared to me vastly different in point of health and
comfort. The majority of the inhabitants regarded the troops with a sort
of sullen indifference, but the trading classes seemed civil enough. The
quantities of fish and game with which the neighbourhood abounded,
afforded the officers a ready means of dissipating their time, and we
would have been well content to have remained here. Orders were however
given that we should pursue our route, and we left Ghuznee on the 25th
of September, after a stay of only two or three days.
Instead of diverging to the right towards Candahar, we took the direct
route to Quettah, over the Ghiljie hills. The weather had become
intensely cold, and the rivers and streams were covered with ice,
several inches in thickness. The Rev. Mr. Pigot, our chaplain, happened
to be crossing one of them on a pony, when the ice gave way with his
weight, and the worthy clergyman was immersed in the water. The stream
was not, however, so deep as to occasion any alarm for his safety, and
he was speedily rescued from his embarrasment, with no other
inconvenience than being kept shivering several hours in his wet
clothes, his baggage being at a considerable distance in advance. The
rascally native who preceded us as guide grinned maliciously, and told
him that if he had not forgotten to say his prayers setting out the
accident would not have happened.
On encamping, at the close of the first day's march, from Ghuznee, some
soldiers belonging to the 17th Infantry and Queen's Royals, went out in
search of water, and met with a draw well, which proved to be dry. One
of them descended in order to examine it more closely, and an
exclamation of horror escaped him as he reached the bottom. On his
companions enquiring the occasion of it, they learned that he had fallen
upon several skeletons, the identity of which with some soldiers we had
lost on the route upwards was placed beyond doubt by fragments of
military clothing and regimental buttons which lay scattered about.
Singular to relate, a lark had built its nest in one of the skulls, and
was found innocently reposing with its young in this curious receptacle.
The annoyances to which we had been subjected during our route upwards,
from the thieving system of warfare pursued by the Affghans, seemed now
at an end. Our road lay through bleak and desolate hills, where only a
solitary, and timid mountaineer was occasionally to be seen. Numerous
rivers and streams traversed this wild country in every direction, and
relieved us from all apprehensions on the score of water. Provisions
were also plentiful, as the Commissariat had taken care to lay in
sufficient supplies, and the only inconvenience which we might be said
to have experienced was the severe cold of the nights. The barren nature
of the country rendered fuel difficult of obtainment, and the
consequence was that numbers of the troops were carried off by
dysentery.
The march from Ghuznee to Quettah occupied about five weeks, and we
thought we should never reach the end of these long chains of hills.
Always ascending and descending heights of no inconsiderable elevation,
the horses became regularly knocked up with fatigue, and we were obliged
to shoot numbers of them on the way.
In a recess in one of these hills, I one day came upon a singular scene.
About nine or ten of the natives were assembled around a dead horse and
while part of them were cutting steaks from his haunches, the others
were engaged cooking them. Revolting as such a sight is to European
stomachs, I have seen the time when, on our march upwards, I could have
partaken of these same horse steaks with infinite relish.
A few days before our arrival at Quettah, we requited an atrocious act
of treachery, which had been committed towards us by some Ghiljie
chiefs, with the punishment it richly merited. About one hundred camel
drivers, who had left us at Candahar, on our way to Cabul, for the
purpose of returning homewards, took their route over the hills we were
now crossing in order to shorten the journey. They were met by the
Ghiljies with professions of friendship, and seduced into a mountain
fort under the pretence of hospitality. They had no sooner entered its
walls than their throats were all cut, and their bodies flung into deep
wells for the purpose of concealing the massacre from the eyes of the
British.
Information of the fact having been received, Sir Thomas Wiltshire
despatched a Squadron of her Majesty's 4th Light Dragoons, two companies
of Native Infantry, and two pieces of artillery to raze the fortress to
the ground. The cavalry started at two o'clock in the morning, and after
a hard gallop of eighteen miles we arrived in front of the Ghiljie
strong-hold. It was a small but strongly constructed fortress, situated
on the brow of a steep declivity and defended by strong wooden gates.
The entrance was commanded by an old iron carronade, and a number of
loopholes for the discharge of musketry. Not a living soul was to be
seen on the walls, and fearing some artifice, Major Daly, our commanding
officer, resolved to suspend operations until the artillery came up. As
soon as the latter made its appearance, and the guns were placed in a
position to command the fort, Major Daly ordered part of the cavalry to
dismount and proceed with loaded carbines to the gate, under cover of
their fire. No opposition was, however, offered to us, the enemy having
fled to the mountains, and the gates were forced open in a few minutes.
The only inhabitants we found in the place were a few women and
children, but we discovered quantities of the richest silks and carpets,
beside arms and money (consisting principally of silver coins) the
fortress being a sort of depot for the booty obtained by these highland
marauders.
One of the cavalry having entered a dwelling in search of plunder, was
suddenly seized by two or three Ghiljies, who unexpectedly made their
appearance through a sort of trap, with which almost every house in the
fort was furnished. They placed a bandage over his eyes, and were in
the act of passing a rope round his arms, when the timely approach of
some of his comrades saved him from being carried off as a prisoner, the
enemy disappearing through the trap the moment they heard the noise of
their footsteps at the entrance. The troopers would have willingly
pursued them, but the depth and darkness of the subterraneous passage
convinced them it was something more than a mere cellar, and they knew
that if they once got involved in its windings they would be completely
at the mercy of the enemy. It is probable that these passages had
outlets without the walls, and that it was through them the enemy made
their escape at the first news of our approach, the suddenness and
quickness of our movements preventing them from taking their valuables
with them. There was also abundance of cattle and grain, of which we
brought off large supplies to the camp. Orders having been given to the
Artillery to blow up the fortress, the women and children were sent out
of it, and at five o'clock the same day the walls were breached, so as
to render them completely useless, and the houses fired in all
directions. After remaining to see that the work of destruction was
complete, we quitted the place at three o'clock in the morning, and
arrived the same day at the encampment. The enemy were not entirely
without their revenge, for, following on our footsteps, and watching us
closely, they contrived to carry off the cook, and three camels laden
with the cooking utensils of the squadron, a loss which was severely
felt, and by some thought ill compensated by the booty we had obtained.