under Major-General Pollock had experienced reverses in the
Khyber, and had retraced its steps towards Peshawur; and on the
6th a _feu-de-joie_ and salute of artillery were fired by Mahomed
Akbar, which were stated to be in honour of the event. It was
also reported that the Affghans were sending reinforcements to
assist in defending their frontier passes. These reports were
accompanied by others of a fresh revolution at Cabool, which was
considered by some as the cause of the rejoicing; and it was also
rumoured that the Ghazees had been defeated in Khyber, and that
the Sirdar had retreated into Lughman. Major-General Sir Robert
Sale resolved to anticipate the last-mentioned event, by a general
attack on the Affghan camp, with the hope of relieving Jellalabad
from blockade, and facilitating General Pollock’s advance to its
succour. Directions were accordingly given to form three columns
of infantry, the central consisting of the THIRTEENTH (mustering
five hundred bayonets) under Colonel Dennie, C.B.; the left
consisting of a similar number of the thirty-fifth native infantry
under Lieut.-Colonel Monteath, C.B.; and the right composed of one
company of the THIRTEENTH, one of the thirty-fifth native infantry,
and the detachment of Sappers under the command of Lieutenant Orr
(the severity of Captain Broadfoot’s wound still rendering him
non-effective), amounting to three hundred and sixty men, was
commanded by Captain Havelock of the THIRTEENTH; these were to be
supported by the fire of the guns of number 6 field battery under
Captain Abbott, the whole of the small cavalry force being under
Captain Oldfield and Lieutenant Mayne.
At daylight, on the morning of the 7th April, the troops issued
from the Cabool and Peshawur gates. The Sirdar, Mahomed Akbar
Khan, with his force of about six thousand men, was formed in
order of battle for the defence of his camp; its right resting on
a fort, and its left on the Cabool river; even the ruined works
within eight hundred yards of the place, recently repaired, were
filled with Ghilzie marksmen, who were evidently prepared for
a stout resistance. The attack was led by the skirmishers and
column under Captain Havelock, which drove the enemy in the most
satisfactory manner from the extreme left of his advanced line of
works, which it pierced at once, and proceeded to advance into the
plain; the central column at the same time directed its efforts
against a square fort, upon the same base, the defence of which was
obstinately maintained. Colonel Dennie of the THIRTEENTH, while
nobly leading his regiment to the assault, received a shot through
his body, which, to the deep regret of officers and men, shortly
after proved fatal.
The rear of the work having been finally gained by passing to its
left, orders were given for a combined attack upon the enemy’s
camp; this was brilliant and successful. The artillery advanced
at the gallop, and directed a heavy fire upon the Affghan centre,
while two columns of infantry penetrated his line near the same
point, and the third forced back his left from its support on the
river, into which some of his horse and foot were driven. The
Affghans repeatedly attempted to check the advance by a smart
fire of musketry,--by throwing forward heavy bodies of horse,
which twice threatened in force the detachments of infantry under
Captain Havelock, and by opening three guns, screened by a garden
wall, which were said to have been served under the personal
superintendence of the Sirdar; but in a short time the Affghans
were dislodged from every point of their positions, their cannon
taken, and their camp involved in a general conflagration.
The battle was over, and the enemy in full retreat in the direction
of Lughman by about seven, A.M. Two cavalry standards were taken
from the enemy, besides four guns lost by the Cabool army and
Gundamuck forces, the recapture of which was a matter of much
honest exultation. A great quantity of _matériel_ and stores
were, together with the enemy’s tents, destroyed, and the defeat
of Mahomed Akbar, in open field, by the troops he had boasted of
blockading, was complete.
The regiment had Colonel Dennie killed, and Lieutenant Jennings
and Assistant-Surgeon Barnes wounded; eight privates killed, and
thirty-one rank and file wounded.
Captain Wilkinson, of the THIRTEENTH, on whom the charge of one
of the infantry columns devolved on the lamented fall of Colonel
Dennie, and Captain Hamlet Wade (Brigade-Major), were highly
commended in Major-General Sir Robert Sale’s despatch, in which it
was also stated ‘that Lieutenant and Adjutant Wood, Her Majesty’s
THIRTEENTH Light Infantry, made a dash at one of the enemy, and
in cutting him down, his charger was so severely injured as to
have been since destroyed. Captain Havelock reports in the most
favourable manner the gallant conduct, throughout the day, of
Lieutenant Cox, Her Majesty’s THIRTEENTH Light Infantry, and he
was the first of the party which captured them to seize two of the
enemy’s cannon.’
Armourer Serjeant Henry Ulyett, of the THIRTEENTH, captured Mahomed
Akbar’s standard, which he took from a cavalry soldier, whom he
killed.
The force employed in this successful enterprise amounted to about
eighteen hundred men of all arms. The safety of the fortress was
entrusted, during the action, to the ordinary guards of its gates,
and one provisional battalion of followers of every description
armed with pikes and other weapons, who manned the curtains, and
made a respectable show of defence. Captain Pattisson, of the
THIRTEENTH, was left in command of this diminished garrison.
Towards the conclusion of the engagement a sally was made from the
Cabool gate by Lieutenant George Wade, of the THIRTEENTH, into the
fort before which Colonel Dennie had fallen, when it was observed
that the enemy were abandoning it; all it contained was set on
fire, and some of its defenders were bayoneted.
The enemy’s loss was very severe; the field of battle was
strewed with the bodies of men and horses, and the richness of
the trappings of some of the latter denoted that chiefs of rank
(several being present and taking part in the action) had fallen.
The following NOTIFICATION of this victory was issued by the
Government of India from Benares on the 21st April, 1842:--
‘The Governor General feels assured that every subject of the
British Government will peruse with the deepest interest and
satisfaction the report he now communicates, of the entire defeat
of the Affghan troops under Mahomed Akbar Khan, by the garrison of
Jellalabad.
‘That _Illustrious Garrison_, which, by its constancy in enduring
privation, and by its valour in action, has already obtained for
itself the sympathy and respect of every true soldier, has now,
sallying forth from its walls, under the command of its gallant
leader, Major-General Sir Robert Sale, thoroughly beaten in open
field an enemy of more than three times its numbers, taken the
standards of their boasted cavalry, destroyed their camp, and
recaptured four guns, which, under circumstances which can never
again occur, had during the last winter fallen into their hands.
‘The Governor General cordially congratulates the army upon the
return of victory to its ranks.
‘He is convinced that there, as in all former times, it will be
found, while, as at Jellalabad, the European and native troops
mutually supporting each other, and evincing equal discipline and
valour, are led into action by officers in whom they justly confide.
‘The Governor General directs that the substance of this
notification, and of Major-General Sir Robert Sale’s report, be
carefully made known to all the troops, and that a salute of
twenty-one guns be fired at every principal station of the army.’
On the 20th February following, the thanks of Parliament were
accorded to the Governor General of India, and to the officers
and troops employed in Affghanistan, the resolutions being moved
in the House of Lords by the Duke of Wellington, and in the
House of Commons by Sir Robert Peel, who, after eulogising the
gallant conduct of Sir Robert Sale and the garrison of Jellalabad,
proceeded to deplore the death of Colonel Dennie, in the victory
of the 7th April, in the following terms:--
‘That victory would have been the cause of almost unqualified
rejoicing if it had not been purchased at the cost of the life
of one of the most noble and gallant spirits, whose actions have
ever added brilliance to their country’s military renown. Need
I mention the name of the lamented Colonel Dennie? With his
accustomed valour,--a valour which was unquenchable,--he led the
British troops against the enemy. The attack which he headed was
successful, but he fell in the conflict; and a spirit as gallant
as his own has offered to his family and his friends that which
he thinks,--and justly thinks,--the highest consolation that can
be afforded them. “True it is,” he says, “he has lost his life;
but he lost his life on the field of battle, and in the hour of
victory!” Such is the consolation which Sir Robert Sale offers to
his bereaved family and friends. I wish it had been possible--but
it was not--I wish it had been possible that the dying moments of
Colonel Dennie could have been consoled, as I believe they would
have been, by the knowledge that, on account of the former valour
and intrepidity he had displayed,--he having no other interest or
influence than that just interest and influence which such courage
and devotion ought always to command,--the Queen of England had
signified her personal wish that Colonel Dennie should be appointed
one of her aides-de-camp. I sincerely wish that Colonel Dennie
could have been made acquainted with this fact.’[21]
The defence of Jellalabad, situated amid scenery of wild and
savage grandeur, against an undisciplined but desperate enemy,
who used his rude implements of war with deadly precision, will
ever excite the highest admiration, and the British nation owes a
lasting debt of gratitude to Major-General Sir Robert Sale, and the
gallant band of heroes composing the garrison. These successes,
contrasting so forcibly with the unforeseen disasters at Cabool,
which partook more of the character of a hideous dream than of
stern reality, may well make the THIRTEENTH refer with honest pride
to the part they bore in these achievements.
On the 16th June, 1842, the Queen was graciously pleased to
appoint Colonel Sir Robert Henry Sale (serving with the rank of
Major-General in Affghanistan) to be a Knight Grand Cross of the
Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath.
Major Edward T. Tronson was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel,
in succession to Lieut.-Colonel Dennie, and Captain Robert
Pattisson was advanced to the Majority. Lieut.-Colonel Tronson
retired on full pay on the 2nd August, 1842, and was succeeded by
Major Squire, and Captain John Taylor was promoted to the vacant
rank of Major.
In a few days after this victory, the privations and sufferings of
the garrison, from incessant toil and the deficiency of provisions,
were terminated by the arrival of the force under Major-General
Pollock, who, in his despatch of the 19th April, 1842, stated
that, ‘I have had an opportunity of inspecting the works thrown up
for their protection by the indefatigable exertions of Sir Robert
Sale’s force, and my surprise at their strength and extent has
been only equalled by my admiration of the excellent arrangements
which must have pervaded all departments, since, after a siege
(by greatly superior numbers) of upwards of five months’ duration,
I find the garrison in excellent health and spirits, and in an
admirable state of discipline, with a good supply of ammunition,
ready and anxious to take the field, and most willing to advance on
Cabool.’
Major-General Sir Robert Sale’s report of the transactions in which
the garrison of Jellalabad had been engaged, gives the following
interesting particulars:--
‘From the time that the brigade threw itself into Jellalabad, the
native troops have been on half, and the followers on quarter
rations, and for many weeks they have been able to obtain little
or nothing in the bazaars to eke out this scanty provision. I will
not mention, as a privation, the European troops from the same
period having been without their allowance of spirits, because I
verily believe this circumstance and their constant employment
have contributed to keep them in the highest health and the most
remarkable state of discipline. Crime has been almost unknown
amongst them, but they have felt severely, although they have never
murmured, the diminution of their quantity of animal food, and the
total want of ghee, flour, tea, coffee, and sugar: these may seem
small matters to those who read of them at a distance, but they
are serious reductions in the scale of comfort of the hard-working
and fighting soldier in Asia. The troops have also been greatly
in arrears of pay, besides their severe duties in heat and cold,
wind and rain, on the guards of the gates and bastions. The troops,
officers and men, British and Hindoostanee, of every arm, remained
fully accoutred on their alarm posts every night from the 1st
of March to the 7th April. The losses of officers and men, in
carriage and cattle, camp equipage and baggage, between Cabool and
Jellalabad were heavy; and their expenditure, during the siege and
blockade, in obtaining articles of mere subsistence and necessity,
has been exorbitant.
‘It is gratifying to me to forward the opinion of my second in
command, Lieut.-Colonel Monteath, _C.B._, placed on record without
solicitation, of the merits of the THIRTEENTH LIGHT INFANTRY, of
which corps I am proud of being a member. * * * I must express my
gratitude to Providence for having placed so gallant and devoted
a force under my command; in every way it has exceeded my most
sanguine expectations, and I beg leave, in the strongest manner, to
solicit the interposition of Major-General Pollock, _C.B._, who has
nobly labored and fought to relieve it from its critical position
in the midst of a hostile empire, in now committing it to the
protection and favour of the Right Honorable the Governor General
in Council, and through him to the Court of Directors, and of our
Sovereign.’
Lieut.-Colonel Monteath stated in his report,--‘As doing but due
justice on this occasion to Her Majesty’s THIRTEENTH Light Infantry
might be looked upon as a highly-coloured record of the merits
of your own regiment, and seeing that no such partial bias can
possibly be supposed to guide my feelings in the estimate I have
formed of their deserts, I have pleasure in sincerely declaring,
that _their conduct, throughout the painful and perilous position
in which we have so long been placed, has been such as fully to
deserve the applause and admiration of their country, and the
confidence and best consideration of our well-beloved Sovereign_.
‘On our throwing ourselves, on the 12th November last, into the
old and ruined town of Jellalabad, without money, without food,
and almost without protection, with a nation of highly excited
and barbarous enemies in arms against us, our situation seemed as
hopeless a one as British troops were ever called upon to confront;
notwithstanding which, the enemy was twice attacked within twenty
days, and on both occasions defeated with signal success.
‘You, yourself, will doubtless detail the works performed by the
regiment; let it then be only my province, who have witnessed their
exertions, almost hourly during a period of five months, to record,
that _their devoted perseverance and cheerfulness amidst all the
gloom that surrounded them, after the destruction of their comrades
of the Cabool force, could not have been surpassed by any troops
in the world_; and that after months of extreme toil, when an
earthquake, such as man is not often in the habit of experiencing,
in a moment left scarcely a vestige of their labour standing;
_their flying as they did with redoubled zeal to the work, and
completing it in ten days_, (so that on the arrival of the enemy
before Jellalabad, they declared that the calamity which had
befallen the valley arose from nothing but English witchcraft, it
being the only place that had escaped uninjured) _was what none but
British soldiers could have performed, and what no price could have
purchased_, for it was the labour of the heart, work of all others
most deserving of distinction and reward.’
The distinguished conduct of the regiment was appreciated, and
Her Majesty thus alluded to it in her most gracious speech on
proroguing Parliament on the 12th August, 1842:--‘Although I have
had deeply to lament the reverses which have befallen a division of
the army to the westward of the Indus, yet I have the satisfaction
of reflecting that the gallant defence of the city of Jellalabad,
crowned by a decisive victory in the field, has eminently proved
the courage and discipline of the European and Native troops, and
the skill and fortitude of their distinguished commander.’
On the 26th of August, the pleasure of Her Majesty the Queen
Victoria, was officially announced in the London Gazette:--
‘_War Office, 26th August, 1842._
‘In consideration of the distinguished gallantry displayed by the
THIRTEENTH Light Infantry during the campaigns in the Burmese
empire and in Affghanistan, Her Majesty has been graciously
pleased to approve of that regiment assuming the title of the
THIRTEENTH OR PRINCE ALBERT’S REGIMENT OF LIGHT INFANTRY; and of
its facings being changed from _yellow_ to _blue_.
‘Her Majesty has also been pleased to authorize the THIRTEENTH
Regiment of Light Infantry to bear on its colours and
appointments a ‘_Mural Crown_,’ superscribed ‘_Jellalabad_,’ as a
memorial of the fortitude, perseverance, and enterprise, evinced
by that regiment, and the several corps which served during the
blockade of Jellalabad.
‘Her Majesty has been likewise pleased to permit the THIRTEENTH
regiment to receive and wear a _silver medal_, which has been
directed by the Governor General of India to be distributed to
every officer, non-commissioned officer, and private, European
and Native,--who belonged to the garrison of Jellalabad on the
7th April, 1842;--such medals to bear on one side a ‘_Mural
Crown_,’ superscribed ‘_Jellalabad_;’ and on the other side
‘_April 7th, 1842_.’’
The medal for Jellalabad was granted to the following officers of
the THIRTEENTH:--
_Lieutenant-Colonels._
Colonel Sir Robert Sale, _G.C.B._
---- William H. Dennie, _C.B._[22]
_Major._
Robert Pattisson.
_Captains._
Henry Havelock.
Arthur P. S. Wilkinson.
Hamlet C. Wade.
James H. Fenwick.
Peter R. Jennings.
_Lieutenants._
Alex. E. F. Holcombe.
George King.
John S. Wood, (_Adjutant._)
Wm. A. Sinclair.
Hon. E. J. W. Forester.
David Rattray.
Richard E. Frere.
George Wade.
John Wm. Cox.
William Williams.
Fred. Van Straubenzee.
Thos. B. Speedy.
J. Francis Scott.
G. Chetwynd Stapylton.
Robt. S. Parker.
_Ensigns._
Arthur Oakes.
Geo. Talbot.
_Surgeon_, Jno. Robertson, _M.D._
_Assist.-Surg._ G. W. Barnes, _M.D._
The regiment remained in garrison at Jellalabad until the 6th
August, when it moved forwards to Futtehabad for change of air,
having suffered severely from the extreme heat of the weather. So
great was the heat, that six men fell dead in the ranks of apoplexy
the first march. On the 1st of September, the THIRTEENTH received
orders to join the force under Major-General Pollock at Gundamuck,
to which place the regiment marched on the following morning, and
joined on the 3rd. It remained there until the 7th, when it moved
towards Cabool, forming part of the first division of the advance,
which was placed under the command of Major-General Sir Robert
Sale. On the 8th, upon nearing _Jugdulluck_, the Affghans were
observed in position, and the THIRTEENTH under Captain Wilkinson
were directed to carry the left centre of the enemy, which was done
in gallant style. The enemy were dispersed in every direction,
a large body of them retiring to the summit of a high mountain.
On this rugged and almost inaccessible height they planted
their standards, but as the achievements of the day would have
been incomplete were they suffered to remain, it was decided to
dislodge them. The lofty heights were assaulted in two columns, the
THIRTEENTH being led by Captain Wilkinson, and the Ghilzies fled
from their last and least assailable stronghold. Major-General Sir
Robert Sale was again wounded. The other casualties of the regiment
were one private killed and two serjeants and twelve privates
wounded.
The THIRTEENTH bivouacked in the valley of Jugdulluck, which was
strewn with the blackened remains of their unfortunate comrades
of the Cabool force. Near this place Brevet Major Kershaw and
Lieutenant Hobhouse of the THIRTEENTH were killed in January 1842,
while retiring with the force from Cabool. The enemy showed no
opposition to the advance of the army until nearing the valley of
_Tezeen_, when some skirmishing took place, and the troops halted
in the valley a day to allow the rear division of the advance to
close up. The road from Tezeen to Khoord Cabool was through a
succession of lofty hills, called the Huft Kotul, or Eight Hills.
Dispositions for the attack of the _Huft Kotul Pass_ having been
made on the 12th of September, the force moved off on the following
morning, and three companies of the THIRTEENTH formed part of the
advance guard under Sir Robert Sale. To them was allotted the duty
of clearing the right of the Pass, which was effectively done. A
company under Lieutenant W. A. Sinclair, which formed part of the
force placed under Major Skinner of the thirty-first regiment, and
which was detached on the right of the pass, also distinguished
itself.
The regiment lost one rank and file killed, and had five wounded.
The enemy’s loss was heavy; he was completely defeated, and
left his artillery in the possession of the victors. The army
re-occupied Cabool on the 15th September, and on the 18th, part
of the regiment received sudden orders to march with the force
under Major-General Sir Robert Sale in order to meet the prisoners
lately in possession of the enemy, then on their way to Cabool, it
being supposed that Akbar Khan would attempt to re-capture them.
On the morning of the 20th, the troops met the prisoners (Lady
Sale and Lieutenant Mein[23] being among them), and on the 21st
returned with them to Cabool, without being annoyed by the enemy.
The regiment remained at Cabool until the 12th of October,[24]
when the army broke ground on its return to India. The regiment
shared in the many skirmishes on quitting the Affghan territory,
but sustained little loss, and on the 24th, it reached Jellalabad;
previously to proceeding further, it was considered advisable
to destroy the fortress, and in a few days not a wall was left
standing. On the south face of the fort was a large bastion,
close to which was an open space which had been converted into a
burial-ground; here the remains of Colonel Dennie, with many other
gallant soldiers, were laid, and the Engineer Officer in mining
the bastion, caused the whole mass to be thrown by the explosion
over the graves, thus leaving a lasting monument over them, and
what was of more importance, effectually preventing the bodies
being disturbed by the Affghans. The regiment thence proceeded to
Peshawur, and across the Punjaub _en route_ to Ferozepore.
According to the wish of the Governor-General (Lord Ellenborough),
the garrison of Jellalabad had received orders to proceed in
advance of the rest of the troops, in order that they should make
a triumphant entry into the British Provinces by themselves, and
the medals granted for the defence of, and general action near,
Jellalabad, had been forwarded a few days previously, so that
they might be worn on the entry of the garrison into Ferozepore.
On the 14th December, the THIRTEENTH arrived at the right bank of
the Sutlej, where they halted until the 17th, when they crossed
the river by a bridge of boats. At the opposite side was erected,
for the garrison to pass under, a triumphal arch, where they were
met by Lord Ellenborough; the distance from the river to the camp
was about six miles, and for the first three miles a sort of
street was formed for the garrison to pass through, by placing
elephants decked in their gayest trappings at intervals of about
twenty paces; the remainder of the road was lined by the army of
reserve encamped at Ferozepore, who presented arms as the garrison
passed, the bands playing the “National Anthem:” in the evening the
officers of the garrison were entertained at a magnificent banquet
given by the Governor General.
These honours were rendered, agreeably to the concluding paragraph
of the General Order by the Right Honorable the Governor General of
India, dated Allahabad, 30th of April, 1842, which stated that--
‘The Governor General will request His Excellency the
Commander-in-Chief of the army to give instructions, in due time,
that the several corps composing the garrison of Jellalabad may,
on their return to India, be received at all the stations on their
route to their cantonments, by all the troops at such stations, in
review order, with presented arms.’