under Orders to go out to Siah Sung on Tuesday, to be in readiness to
march on Wednesday the 3d of next month. When the barracks for the men
and the officers' quarters were erected in the Cabul cantonment, a
committee assembled to value them and fix the house rent, both for them
and for the two houses to be occupied by the Commander of the forces and
the second in command. It was fixed at ten per cent. on the actual
outlay as specified by the engineers' department. We paid ours monthly,
as did the 13th, through the regimental paymaster. The 35th also paid
their rent monthly. There was some dispute regarding it with some
others, in consequence of the rooms not being all quite finished; but as
Capt. Sturt was not ordered to collect the money, but only to pay over
whatever he received, the business remained in abeyance. An inquiry is
now making about the house rent that has not been paid by the officers
who have gone away, so I feel quite delighted that Sale and I are out of
the scrape. Brig. Shelton has written officially to the General, to say
that it is very hard that he is kept at Siah Sung, when there is a good
house in cantonments to which he has a right, and applies officially to
the General to give him up either his own house or ours. Now, as long as
Brig. Shelton's duty keeps him at Siah Sung, he has no business in
cantonments. This is Sunday: both the General and I expect to march on
Wednesday, so, _par complaisance_, we neither of us expected to be
turned out; however, if we do not go, we both intend vacating our
habitations, when our house will be made over to Capt. Sturt, to undergo
repairs, so as to be ready for the reception of the next Commander of
the forces. Gen. Nott has been written to, to come up immediately, and
Gen. Elphinstone is to give up the command to him from the 1st of Nov.
The reason that our house is in future to be appropriated by the chief
arises from its being the best and most commodious. Sir Willoughby
Cotton gave his plan, and Sale his, when the houses were built; and Sir
Willoughby living _en garçon_ had omitted many little comforts that we
had considered indispensable. Added to which, Sale had a _shoke_ for
gardening, and had an excellent kitchen-garden; whilst I cultivated
flowers that were the admiration of the Affghan gentlemen who came to
see us. My sweet peas and geraniums were much admired, but they were all
eager to obtain the seed of the edible pea, which flourished well; and
by being sown as soon as the frost was over we had plenty of succession
crops, and we still have peas growing which we hope, if not cut off by
frost, will give a crop next month.
The potatoes thrive well, and will be a very valuable addition to the
_cuisine_. The cauliflowers, artichokes, and turnip radishes are very
fine, and peculiarly mild in their flavour; they are all from seed we
brought with us from our garden at Kurnaul. The Cabul lettuces are hairy
and inferior to those cultivated by us; but the Cabul cabbages are
superior, being milder, and the red cabbage from English seed grows well.
Regarding the fruits of Affghanistan, I should not be believed were I to
state the truth. Selected grapes off a bunch of those in the Kohistan
have been known to weigh 200 grains; the largest I ever weighed myself
was 127 grains. It was the kind denominated the Bull's Eye by the
English; I believe the natives call it the Hoosseinee-Angoor; its form
is nearly round, and the taste very luscious; it is of a kind not
generally purchaseable. At Kardunah they grow in great perfection. Those
I ate were sent as a present from a native gentleman to Captain Sturt,
as were also some very delicious pears from Turkistan. The largest
peaches I have myself weighed turned the scale at fifteen rupees, and
were fully equal in juiciness and flavour to those of the English
hothouse. The finest sort are in the Kohistan, but are so delicate they
will not bear carriage to Cabul. I have been assured by my friends who
have been there in the peach season that the best fruit of the kind at
my table was quite inferior to those above mentioned. The Orleans blue
plum is excellent. There is a green one resembling in appearance a
greengage, but very tasteless. There are also many other kinds, with a
great variety of melons, Water, Musk, and Surda, which is accounted the
best.
It is reported that Sale's brigade are very badly off for carriage and
provisions, and we have here no camels to send to them. The 37th N. I.
and the Shah's sappers and miners are ordered back to the Huft Kotul, to
await the arrival of the invalids at that place. It is now said that,
from the difficulty experienced in procuring carriage, the sick and
wounded must be left here.
In the evening we heard that the Envoy had received a hurried note from
Capt. Macgregor, by which it appears that between Jugdaluk and Soorkhab
the troops were attacked by about 400 men; that ours were unable to
force the hills. The enemy left the pass open, by which the brigade
proceeded; but they came down in force on the rear-guard, who are stated
to have been panic-struck. Our loss is stated at ninety killed and
wounded. Capt. Wyndham of the 35th killed, and Lieut. Coombes severely
wounded; Lieuts. Rattray and Halcombe of the 13th Light Infantry
wounded. There has been great loss of baggage and camels; seventy of the
latter carried off, which were returned to us on paying ten rupees each
for the Hindostanees, and twenty each for the Affghan animals. This is
instituting a premium for plunder, but it was caused by dire necessity.
There were no despatches for the General, nor letters for me, but we
hope to receive further accounts to-morrow.
_1st November._--No letters from camp, which has caused both surprise
and anxiety.
_2d._--Last night a party of Kohistanees entered the city; a large body
of horsemen were also seen proceeding towards the city from the road
that leads by the Shah's camp behind Siah Sung.
This morning, early, all was in commotion in Cabul; the shops were
plundered, and the people were all fighting.
Our Affghan servant, Mahomed Ali, who used to sleep in the city, when he
passed out to come to my house in the morning was threatened, and
reviled as the chuprassy of the Feringhee General, who, they asserted,
had been beaten at Tézeen, and that all his troops had run away, and he
with them!
The Shah resides in the Bala Hissar, and his guns from that fortress
were constantly firing; the Affghans in the city were doing the same
from six in the morning. Capt. Sturt hearing that Capt. Johnson's
(paymaster to the Shah's force) house and treasury in the city were
attacked, as also Sir Alexander Burnes's, went to Gen. Elphinstone, who
sent him with an important message, first to Brig. Shelton at Siah Sung,
and afterwards to the King to concert with him measures for the defence
of that fortress. Just as he entered the precincts of the palace, he was
stabbed in three places by a young man well dressed, who escaped into a
building close by, where he was protected by the gates being shut.
Fortunately for my son-in-law, Capt. Lawrence had been sent to the King
by the Envoy, and he kindly procured a palkee, and sent Sturt home with
a strong guard of fifty lancers, but they were obliged to make a long
detour by Siah Sung. In the mean time, Lawrence came to tell me all that
had passed, and to break the bad news to my daughter, Mrs. Sturt.
Lawrence (military secretary to the Envoy) had had a very narrow escape
himself. An Affghan, grinding his teeth, and grinning with rage and
hatred of the Feringhees, aimed a blow at him with a sword, which
Lawrence parried, and putting spurs to his horse he escaped: one of his
suwars received a cut in the leg, which was revenged by another horseman
shooting the fellow.
It was Lawrence who came to tell me of Sale's wound; he is always kind
and friendly, though he has now been twice the herald of ill news. It
struck me as probable that the suwars would take Sturt to his own house;
and as he and my daughter were staying with me, there would not even be
a bed to place him on there. I therefore determined not to lose time by
waiting till the bearers could get my palkee ready, but took my chuttah
and walked off as fast as I could towards Sturt's house. I fortunately
met Major Thain (aide-de-camp to Gen. Elphinstone), for I soon saw a
crowd of about fifty suwars in his compound. Thain ran on, and told the
bearers to bring him on to my house. I cannot describe how shocked I
felt when I saw poor Sturt; for Lawrence, fearing to alarm us, had said
he was only slightly wounded. He had been stabbed deeply in the shoulder
and side, and on the face (the latter wound striking on the bone just
missed the temple): he was covered with blood issuing from his mouth,
and was unable to articulate. From the wounds in the face and shoulder,
the nerves were affected; the mouth would not open, the tongue was
swollen and paralysed, and he was ghastly and faint from loss of blood.
He could not lie down, from the blood choking him; and had to sit up in
the palkee as best he might, without a pillow to lean against. With some
difficulty and great pain he was supported up stairs, and laid on his
bed, when Dr. Harcourt dressed his wounds, which having been inflicted
about ten o'clock, now at one were cold and stiff with clotted blood.
The tongue was paralysed, and the nerves of the throat affected, so that
he could neither swallow nor articulate; and the choking sensation of
the blood in his throat was most painful to witness. He was better
towards evening; and by his wife's unremitting attention in assisting
him to get rid of the clotted blood from his mouth by incessant
applications of warm wet cloths, he was by eleven at night able to utter
a tolerably articulate sound. With what joy did we hear him faintly
utter _bet-ter_; and he really seemed to enjoy a tea-spoonful of water,
which we got into his mouth by a drop or two at a time, painful as it
was to him to swallow it.
It was most gratifying to see the attention and kind feeling manifested
on the occasion by the sergeants of the engineer department, and their
anxiety (particularly Sergeant Deane's) to make themselves useful to
Sturt.
Capt. Warburton, Capt. Johnson, and Capt. Troup were all fortunately in
cantonments; for their houses in the city were plundered and burnt. At
Johnson's (the King's treasury) the guard of forty men was massacred, as
also all his servants but one, who luckily was not at home. The
insurgents looted a lakh and 70,000 rupees of public property, and
Johnson lost above 10,000 rupees of his own property.
There were of course various reports. We first heard that, on the affair
breaking out, Sir A. Burnes went over to the Wuzeer's to ascertain what
could be done; and that he was safe there, excepting having been shot in
the leg. The King, from the Bala Hissar, sent intelligence to the Envoy
"that Burnes was all right;" but a few hours afterwards the King
acknowledged that he did not know any thing of him, neither did the
Envoy at seven in the evening, when Capt. Lawrence and Capt. John
Conolly came to inquire after Sturt's health. Our only hopes of Burnes'
safety rest on the possibility of his having obtained refuge in some
harem. His brother's fate is as yet unknown. Capt. Broadfoot was shot in
the breast, and killed. He was breakfasting with the two Burnes's:
before he fell he had killed six men with his own hand. Capt. Drummond
is protected by Osmar Khan, Kariez-i-Umeer, chief of a domain, the first
stage from Cabul towards the Kohistan. Capt. Mackenzie, political
assistant to Capt. Mackeson at Peshawur, came up to Cabul some time
since; and when Lieut. Milne (in the Commissariat) was sent to
Khelat-i-Gilzie, Mackenzie took his place in the Shah's commissariat. He
was located in a fort divided into two by the range of Commissariat
Godowns,--one side inhabited by Brig. Anquetil, commanding the Shah's
forces, the other by Mackenzie, who (the Brigadier being in cantonments)
held out in both, with some sappers and miners, a few of the Shah's 6th
Regt., and 130 Juzailchees: the latter are good men, and mostly
Usufzyes. In this fort were stored 8000 maunds of ottah and wheat. Capt.
Trevor hopes to defend his tower as long as it is not fired. Another
report states that Trevor, his wife, and one child, have escaped, whilst
his six other children have been murdered. Another, that he has escaped,
but that his wife and seven children are all murdered.
The Kuzzilbash quarter of the city is said to be all quiet. Naïb
Shureef's son has been killed in some of the scuffles in the city.
Abdoollah Khan, Amenoollah Khan, and a few other Dooranee chiefs, are
said to be the instigators of the insurrection.
The King (who resides in the Bala Hissar) says if the rebellion is not
all over to-morrow morning, he will burn the city,--by no means an easy
task: the houses are all flat-roofed and mud-roofed. It is true Cabul
has been burnt three times before, and therefore what has been may occur
again. By throwing shells into the houses you may fire them; and the
individual house fired, being ceiled with wood, blazes fiercely until
the roof falls in, and the mud and dust smother the fire without danger
to the adjacent buildings. The King has also declared that if the Meer
Akor (who protected the man that stabbed Sturt) does not give the
assassin up, he will hang the Meer Akor himself. It appears a very
strange circumstance that troops were not immediately sent into the city
to quell the affair in the commencement; but we seem to sit quietly with
our hands folded, and look on. On the breaking out of the insurrection
the King sent Campbell's Hindostanee regiment into the city, with some
guns, who maintained an arduous conflict for some time against the
rebels; but being wholly unsupported, were obliged eventually to give
way, when the greater part of them were cut to pieces, and several of
their guns were captured.
The state of supineness and fancied security of those in power in
cantonments is the result of deference to the opinions of Lord Auckland,
whose sovereign will and pleasure it is that tranquillity do reign in
Affghanistan; in fact, it is reported at Government House, Calcutta,
that the lawless Affghans are as peaceable as London citizens; and this
being decided by the powers that be, why should we be on the alert?
Most dutifully do we appear to shut our eyes on our probable fate. The
Shah is, however, to be protected, whatever may be the fate of the
English in the city; and Brig. Shelton is sent with the Shah's 6th, some
of the 44th Queen's, and three horse artillery guns under Capt. Nicholl,
to the Bala Hissar. The King, as he well may be, is in great
consternation. At about 9 A.M. Capt. Sturt arrived at Siah Sung from the
cantonments, bearing orders from Major-Gen. Elphinstone for the 54th N.
I., Capt. Nicholl's three horse artillery guns, and a company of the
44th, accompanied by the Shah's 6th regiment, to hold themselves in
readiness to march at a moment's notice to the Bala Hissar. As they had
all been on the _qui vive_ since daybreak, they were ready in an
instant, and eagerly expecting orders to march, when a note came from
Capt. Lawrence (the Envoy's military and private secretary), dated Bala
Hissar, 10 A.M., telling them, "Stay where you are,--all is quiet; you
need not come." This caused great surprise, as the firing was brisk in
the city. After waiting another hour under arms, the Brigadier ordered
Sturt to go in and see what was going on: this he gladly did, and,
accompanied by eight suwars of the Shah's 2d cavalry, went to the Bala
Hissar. In half an hour a suwar returned, saying he had been badly
wounded entering the palace gates, and bearing an order for an immediate
advance of the troops. "Forward" was the word; and, anticipating an
attack on the city, the troops gladly set out, and arrived unopposed in
presence of the King, when, to their sorrow, instead of receiving
_hookm_ to enter the city, the Shah almost rudely inquired why they had
come! After standing under arms another hour, firing being heard towards
the Shôr Bazaar, the Brigadier sent Lieut. Melville of the 54th to
inquire what was going on. On going down to the gate towards the city,
he found the fugitives from Campbell's regiment flying in, and reporting
that their regiment was entirely cut up: this he reported to the
Brigadier, who ordered him to take the light company down to the city
gate, and whilst taking charge of that position to protect as best he
could the retreating regiment. On arriving there, Lieut. Melville placed
a section as a guard, and took the remaining three to the entrance of
the Shôr Bazaar, and formed them up facing the street: he had not been
there more than five minutes, when he observed a disorderly rabble
retreating at a quick pace towards him, pursued by a large body of
Affghans, whilst others from the tops and windows of the houses kept up
a brisk fire upon them.
Immediately after the colours had gained the rear of his detachment,
Lieut. Melville retreated slowly, facing the enemy, towards the gate,
pouring in volley on volley; but, owing to the protection afforded the
rebels by the walls, it is to be feared with but little effect. On
reaching the fosse he formed his men up again, to allow the two guns to
pass to his rear; but the Affghans made a rush, and the golundaz of the
Shah took to a disorderly flight. As the idea of rescuing them with
three sections was entirely out of the question, and the fire was
becoming very hot, Melville sent Lieut. Macartney (of the Shah's
service), who in the meantime had come to his assistance with one
company of the Shah's 6th to man the walls over where the guns were
left, and prevent the enemy carrying them off; this being done, Melville
got a few of the golundaz to go back and spike one of the guns, after
which he retired inside, having lost one subadar and three men wounded,
and one man killed. On arriving inside he placed the men on the
ramparts; and being accidentally bayoneted in the thigh, he was released
from duty, making over charge of the men to Macartney.
It being found impracticable to bring in the guns, from the carriages
being broken, the European horse artillery, who had been sent out for
that purpose, came back; and some guns having in the meantime been
mounted on the wall and brought to bear on them, they were so broken by
the shot as to be perfectly useless: and it may here be remarked, that
to the day the troops left the Bala Hissar, notwithstanding frequent
attempts were made by the enemy, they never succeeded in gaining
possession of them.
The King, who had been in a great state of excitement during the day, on
hearing of the loss of his guns, and that 200 of Campbell's regiment had
been killed or wounded, was excessively agitated; the more so that,
immediately on the rebellion breaking out, almost all the Pesh Khedmuts
and Shah Guzees had deserted him. He ordered a dinner for the officers
in the evening; as, to their extreme disgust, they were obliged to stay
the night in the fort, neither men or officers having an article of any
sort or kind besides what they wore. The 5th cavalry, who had
accompanied the detachment to the Bala Hissar, had, after taking all the
baggage from Siah Sung to cantonments, remained in the latter place.
The King, sitting with the British officers around him, was anxious to
obtain their advice in the present crisis, and particularly asked that
of ----; whose conduct was represented on the emergency as pitiful and
childish in the extreme, not having a word to say, nor an opinion to
offer.
In cantonments all was confusion and indecision. The Envoy mounted his
horse and rode to the gateway, and then rode back again,--the best thing
he could do; for had the Affghans either killed him or taken him
prisoner, it would have given them a decided advantage on their part.
Sir William and Lady Macnaghten had vacated the residency before 11
o'clock A.M., and came into cantonments; a circumstance which no doubt
was soon known to the insurgents, and must have given them an idea that
we greatly dreaded an attack from them, which was threatened at night.
The guns were placed in battery, and the walls manned with double
sentries. The Kohistanees are reported to have 500 men assembled at Deh
Hadji in the Kohistan. The villages about the Lake are all in a state of
insurrection. The whole force from the Siah Sung cantonments are come
in: the Shah's 6th, the 5th cavalry, Anderson's horse, and Skinner's are
in the Mission Compounds; the escort in cantonment. Lawrence has kindly
promised in case of an attack to come over to us; but we are so anxious
about Sturt that we do not think much of danger.
Two Sipahees were cut down near the gate of the Commissariat Fort
to-day; another was killed who only attempted to cross the road. We have
good news to-day from Sale at Gundamuk, dated the 1st. They were all
quite well, and supplied with all that they required. Bukhtar Khan, the
new governor there, had sent 500 of his tribe to Jugdaluk; 250 of
Ferris's corps and 300 of Burns's Khyberries were to follow quickly, to
secure the passes, and open the road to Seh Baba. The Tagow chief who
attacked Sale's force on the road is said to have withdrawn his men; and
now that all seems clear for our march down, this insurrection has risen
up here. It was only two days ago Lady Macnaghten told Mrs. Sturt that
the country was all quiet, except the little outbreak near Tézeen!
_3d._--At three in the morning the drums in cantonments beat to arms, in
consequence of a large body of men coming over the Siah Sung hill; they
proved to be the 37th from Khoord Cabul, who, about half-past 2 P.M.
yesterday, received an order to march on its receipt to Cabul. Poshteens
arrived about an hour afterwards in safety, with no other guard than a
couple of suwars; however, before the regiment was ready to move off its
ground, the Ghilzyes had taken possession of the mouth of the pass, and
were with some difficulty dislodged by two companies of the 37th, and
two guns of the Shah's mountain train; the latter under Lieut. Green.
The order received by Major Griffiths to march the detachment under his
command on receipt of the order was accompanied by a note from Capt.
Paton, Assistant Quartermaster-General, telling Major G. that all Cabul
was in insurrection, &c. The Laird of Pughman (who had held the pass
from the time Sale left Bhoodkhak), with all his followers, joined our
force as soon as they reached his post, and marched into Cabul with
them. The rear-guard of three companies and one Mountain T. gun were
hard pushed, as they had to fight all the time the regiment was getting
ready, and also kept up a skirmishing fight all the way in, in which all
the corps joined; they had four men killed and thirty wounded. The
Mountain T. gun they had in the rear eventually broke down, but was
brought into cantonments. One officer, Lieut. Gordon, was wounded.
Notwithstanding this, they came in with all their baggage in as perfect
order as if it had been a mere parade movement; and great praise is due
to Major Griffiths on this occasion. I observe I have mentioned the
Laird of Pughman,--a sobriquet applied to a good man, and a true one to
the Shah and us. His proper name was the Syud Mahommed Khan; and for the
good service he did in the Kohistan with Sale's force he obtained the
honorary title of Jan Fishan Khan, or the nobleman who is the
exterminator of his sovereign's enemies. It is a difficult sentence to
render into English.
_Jan_ means life; _Fishan_, heedless of the life of your enemies;
_Khan_, a lord or nobleman. I am no linguist myself, but friends who
understand Persian well give the above as the best translation. The
common one is, "The khan or noble who throws away his life upon his
enemies."
This day there was a great talk of the Kohistanees being expected to
arrive to attack us. The double sentries are loaded to-day, as also the
sentries placed round the ammunition and stores.
In the evening the rebels appeared in considerable numbers near Mahommed
Khan's Fort, and between that and the Commissariat Fort, situated 300
yards from cantonments. We have only three days' provisions in
cantonments: should the Commissariat Fort be captured, we shall not only
lose all our provisions, but our communication with the city will be cut
off.
This fort (an old crazy one, undermined by rats) contains the whole of
the Bengal commissariat stores, valued at four lakhs of rupees,
including about 12,000 maunds of ottah, wheat, and barley, and all the
medical stores, &c.