near some ruined walls. As scarcely any Europeans of the advance now
remained, and the enemy were increasing, the General called all the
officers (about twenty) to form line and show a front: they had scarcely
done so when Capt. Grant, Assistant-Adjutant-General, received a ball
through the cheek which broke his jaw.
On the arrival of the rear-guard, followed up by the enemy, the latter
took possession of two heights close to our position: on which our force
went for security within the ruined walls. The men were almost maddened
with hunger and thirst: a stream of pure water ran within 150 yards of
the position, but no man could go for it without being massacred.
For about half an hour they had a respite from the fire of the enemy,
who now only watched their proceedings.
The General desired Johnson to see if there were any bullocks or camels
procurable amongst the followers: he obtained three bullocks, which were
killed, served out, and devoured instantly, although raw, by the
Europeans.
A few horsemen coming in sight, they signed for one to approach: he did
so, and on being questioned what chief was present, said Mahommed Akbar
Khan. A message was sent to the Sirdar by the General to know why they
were again molested: the chief replied, he wished to converse with
Skinner, who immediately accompanied the messenger. This was about half
past three P.M. of the 11th.
After marching for thirty hours they lay down on the ground worn out by
cold, hunger, thirst, and fatigue: but scarcely had Skinner taken his
departure, when volley after volley was poured into the enclosure where
they were resting. All was instant confusion, and a general rush took
place outside the walls; men and cattle all huddled together, each
striving to hide himself from the murderous fire of the enemy.
At this time twenty gallant men of the 44th made a simultaneous rush
down the hill, to drive the enemy off the heights they occupied: in this
they were successful; for, supposing they were followed by the rest, the
foe took to flight ere our men could reach their position.
In about a quarter of an hour, as so small a party would not admit of
any division, this party was recalled. They again entered within the
broken walls; and instantly our inveterate foes were in their former
position dealing death amongst them.
About 5 o'clock Skinner returned with a message that the Sirdar wished
to see the General, Brig. Shelton, and Johnson; and if they would go
over to confer with him, he would engage to put a stop to any further
massacre, and also to give food to our troops: and on condition of their
remaining with him as hostages for Gen. Sale's evacuation of Jellalabad,
he would escort all the small remaining party in safety.
Mahommed Shah Khan, father-in-law to the Sirdar, and whose daughter is
with the Dost at Loodianah, is one of the principal Ghilzye chiefs: he
came at dusk with an escort to receive them; and they started in the
confident hope that some arrangement would be entered into to save the
lives of the remainder of the army. The General and the above-mentioned
officers proceeded to the top of the valley for about two miles, and
found the Sirdar and his party in bivouac: nothing could exceed the kind
manner in which they were received. The chief, on hearing they had not
tasted food for forty-eight hours, had a cloth spread on the ground; and
a good pillau and other dishes, as also tea, were quickly brought; and
they formed a circle round it, and all ate out of the same dish.
Their hunger, though great, was not to be compared to their thirst,
which had not been quenched for two days.
The party consisted of the Sirdar, Mahommed Akbar Khan, Mahommed Shah
Khan, Abdool Ghyas Khan (son of Jubhar Khan), and a young lad called
Abdool Hakeem Khan, nephew to the Sirdar. The attention of the Sirdar
and his party was excessive; and after dinner they sat round a blazing
fire, and conversed on various subjects. The General requested that
Mahommed Akbar Khan would early in the morning forward provisions to the
troops, and make arrangements for supplying them with water: all which
he faithfully promised to do.
The General was anxious for permission to return to his troops; and
offered to send Brig. Anquetil, should the Sirdar require an officer in
his stead. Johnson, by the General's desire, pointed out to the Sirdar
the stigma that would attach to him as commander of the force, were he
to remain in a place of comparative security, whilst such danger
impended over the troops. To this the Sirdar would not consent. At about
11 P.M., the Sirdar promised he would early in the morning call the
chiefs of the pass together, to make arrangements for a safe escort: he
then showed them into a small tent, where, stretched on their cloaks,
they found relief in sleep.
Our unfortunate force at Jugdaluk this day consisted of 150 men of the
44th; 16 dismounted horse artillery men; 25 of the 5th cavalry. Not a
single Sipahee with arms, no spare ammunition, and the few rounds in
pouch had been taken from the killed.
_12th._--The English officers arose at sunrise, and found the Sirdar and
his party were up. They showed them the same civility as over night; two
confidential servants of the chief were appointed to wait on them; and
they were warned not to attempt to leave the tent without one of these
men, lest they should be maltreated or insulted by the Ghilzyes, who
were flocking in to pay their respects to Mahommed Akbar.
About 9 A.M., the chiefs of the pass and the country around Soorkhab
arrived. Soorkhab is about thirteen miles from Jugdaluk, towards
Jellalabad, and is the usual halting ground.
The chiefs sat down to discuss affairs. They were bitter in their hatred
towards us; and declared that nothing would satisfy them and their men,
but our extermination. Money they would not receive. The Sirdar, as far
as words could prove his sincerity, did all in his power to conciliate
them; and, when all other arguments failed, reminded them that his
father and family were in the power of the British government at
Loodianah; and that vengeance would be taken on the latter if mercy were
not showed to the British in their power.
Mahommed Shah Khan offered them 60,000 rupees on condition of our force
not being molested. After some time they took their departure to consult
with their followers; and Mahommed Shah Khan mentioned to Johnson that
he feared the chiefs would not, without some great inducement, resist
the temptation of plunder and murder that now offered itself: and wound
up the discourse by asking if we would give them two lakhs of rupees for
a free passage. On this being explained to the General, he gave his
consent; and it was made known to Mahommed Shah Khan, who went away and
promised to return quickly.
The General again begged of the Sirdar to permit him to return to his
troops; but without avail.
Johnson, by the General's desire, wrote early in the day to Skinner, to
come to the Sirdar. This letter and two others, it is to be feared, he
never received. A report was brought in that Skinner was wounded, but
not dangerously; the Sirdar expressed much sorrow; poor Skinner died of
his wound the same day.
Until 12 o'clock crowds of Ghilzyes with their respective chiefs,
continued to pour in from the surrounding country to make their salaams
to Mahommed Akbar Khan, to participate in the plunder of our unfortunate
people, and to revel in the massacre of the Europeans. From their
expressions of hatred towards our whole race, they appeared to
anticipate more delight in cutting our throats than in the expected
booty. However, on a hint from the Sirdar, they changed the language, in
which they conversed, from Persian to Pushtoo, which was not understood
by our officers.
The Sirdar, to all appearance, whilst sitting with Johnson, endeavoured
to conciliate them; but it very probably was only done as a blind to
hide his real feelings.
In two instances, the reply of the chiefs was,--"When Burnes came into
this country, was not your father entreated by us to kill him; or he
would go back to Hindostan, and at some future day bring an army and
take our country from us? He would not listen to our advice, and what is
the consequence? Let us now, that we have the opportunity, take
advantage of it; and kill those infidel dogs."
At about 12, the Sirdar left them, and went on the top of a hill in rear
of the British bivouac. He did not return till sunset; and in reply to
the anxious inquiry when Mahommed Shah Khan would return, they were
always told immediately. Frequent assurances had been given that the
troops had been supplied with food and water; but subsequently they
learnt that neither had been given them in their dire necessity.
The Sirdar returned at dusk; and was soon followed by Mahommed Shah
Khan, who brought intelligence that all was finally and amicably
arranged for the safe conduct of the troops to Jellalabad. The Sirdar
said he would accompany them in the morning early. By the General's
request, Johnson wrote to Brig. Anquetil to have the troops in readiness
to march by 8 o'clock: he had also commenced a letter to Gen. Sale to
evacuate Jellalabad (this being part of the terms). Suddenly, and before
the first note was sent off, much musketry was heard down the valley in
the direction of the troops; and a report was brought in that the
Europeans were moving off through the pass followed by the Ghilzyes. All
was consternation. At first the Sirdar suggested that he and the
officers should follow them: in this the General concurred. In a few
minutes the Sirdar changed his mind; said he feared their doing so would
injure the troops, by bringing after them the whole horde of Ghilzyes
then assembled in the valley. He promised to send a confidential servant
to Meer Afzul Khan at Gundamuk (two miles beyond Soorkhab) to afford
them protection; and agreed to start with them at midnight, as being
mounted they would overtake the others before daybreak. When about to
separate for the night, the Sirdar again altered the time of departure
to the first hour of daylight. Remonstrances were of no avail; and our
party were too completely in the power of the enemy, to persist in what
they had not the power to enforce.
Mahommed Akbar Khan told Johnson, after Mahommed Shah Khan went out to
consult with the chiefs of the pass, that the latter were dogs and no
faith could be placed in them; and begged Johnson would send for three
or four of his most intimate friends, that their lives might be saved in
the event of treachery to the troops. Gladly as he would have saved his
individual friends, he was under the necessity of explaining to the
Sirdar that a sense of honour would prevent the officers deserting their
men at a time of such imminent peril. The Sirdar also proposed, that in
the event of the Ghilzyes not acceding to the terms, he would himself,
at dusk, proceed with a party of horsemen to the foot of the hill where
our troops were; and, previous orders being sent to the commanding
officer for all to be ready, he would bring every European away in
safety, by each of his horsemen taking up one behind him: the Ghilzyes
would not then fire upon them, lest they should hit him or his men. But
he would not allow a single Hindostanee to follow; as he could not
protect 2000 men (the computed number).--Johnson interpreted all this to
the General: but it was deemed impracticable; as from past experience
they knew how impossible it was even to separate the Sipahees from the
camp followers. Four or five times during the day they heard the report
of musketry in the direction of our troops; but they were always told
that all fighting had ceased. This was subsequently proved to be a gross
falsehood. Our troops were incessantly fired upon from the time that the
General and the other officers quitted them to the time of their
departure, and several hundreds of officers and men had been killed or
wounded. The remainder, maddened with cold, hunger, and thirst, the
communication between them and the General cut off, and seeing no
prospect but certain death before them by remaining in their present
position, determined on making one desperate effort to leave Jugdaluk.
Snow fell during the night.
My narrative now continues from information furnished by a friend
remaining with the remnant of this ill-fated army.--They halted this day
at Jugdaluk, hoping to negotiate an arrangement with Mahommed Akbar Khan
and the Ghilzye chiefs, as before stated: but the continual firing, and
frequent attempts made by the enemy to force them from their position
during the day, but too well indicated that there was little or no
chance of negotiations being effectual to quell hostilities, and admit
of their resuming their march in safety: on the contrary, there appeared
an evident determination still to harass their retreat to the very last.
Near the close of the day the enemy commenced a furious attack from all
sides. The situation of our troops at this time was critical in the
extreme: the loss they sustained in men and officers had been great
during the day, and the survivors had only been able to obtain a scanty
meal of camel's flesh: even water was not procurable without the parties
proceeding for it being exposed to a heavy fire. The men, under all this
suffering, perishing with cold at their post, bravely repelled the
enemy; and would then have followed them from under the dilapidated
walls had they been permitted to do so. During this conflict Capt.
Souter of the 44th, anxious to save the colours of his regiment, tore
one of them from its staff, and folding it round his person, concealed
it under the poshteen he wore: the other was in like manner appropriated
by Lieut. Cumberland; but finding that he could not close his pea-coat
over it, he reluctantly entrusted it to the care of the Acting
Quartermaster-Sergeant of the 44th regiment.
Great anxiety prevailed amongst the troops, caused by the continued
absence of Gen. Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton, the two seniors in
command. It was resolved, as they did not return, to resume their march
as soon as the night should shroud them from observation; and Brig.
Anquetil, now in command, ordered the troops to fall in at eight
o'clock: but before the men could take the places assigned to them, the
camp followers, who were still numerous, crowded upon them as usual. At
length between 8 and 9 o'clock they took their departure; which was
rendered a very trying scene, from the entreaties of the wounded,
amounting to seventy or eighty, for whom there was no conveyance; and
therefore, however heartrending to all, they were necessarily abandoned,
with the painful conviction that they would be massacred in cold blood,
defenceless as they were, by the first party of Ghilzyes that arrived.
The enemy, who seem to have been aware of the intended removal, soon
commenced an attack upon the straggling camp followers: and a number of
Affghans, favoured by the darkness of the night, stole in amongst the
followers that were in column, whom they quietly despatched, and
proceeded to plunder. These daring men, however, were nearly all cut up
or bayonetted by the enraged soldiery; who shortly after came upon an
encampment of the enemy; in passing which they were saluted with a heavy
fire, followed up by a sally upon the camp followers, as usual.
They proceeded on until they came to a gorge, with low steep hills on
either side, between which the road passed, about two miles from
Jugdaluk. Here two barriers had been thrown across the road, constructed
of bushes and branches of trees. The road, which had been flooded, was a
mass of ice, and the snow on the hills very deep. The enemy, who had
waited for them in great force at this spot, rushed upon the column,
knife in hand. The camp followers and wounded men fell back upon the
handful of troops for protection; thus rendering them powerless, and
causing the greatest confusion; whilst the men, in small detached
parties, were maintaining conflicts with fearful odds against them.
In this conflict the Acting Quartermaster-Sergeant fell: and in the
confusion, caused by an overwhelming enemy pressing on the rear in a
night attack, it is not surprising that it was found impossible to
extricate the colour from the body of the fallen man; and its loss was
unavoidable. The disorder of the troops was increased by a part of them,
the few remaining horsemen, galloping through and over the infantry in
hopes of securing their own retreat to Jellalabad. The men, maddened at
being ridden over, fired on them; and it is said that some officers were
fired at; but that rests on doubtful testimony. When the firing
slackened, and the clashing of knives and bayonets had in some measure
ceased, the men moved on slowly; and on arriving at the top of the gorge
were able to ascertain the fearful extent of the loss they had sustained
in men and officers. Of the latter Brigadier Anquetil and above twenty
others were missing. The troops now halted unmolested for an hour;
during which time a few stragglers contrived to join them.
The country being now of a more open description, our small force
suffered less annoyance from the fire of the enemy: but the
determination of the men to bring on their wounded comrades greatly
retarded their marching; and from the troopers having proceeded onwards
the wounded could not be mounted behind them: thus their pace did not
exceed two miles in the hour. From time to time sudden attacks were made
on the rear; particularly in spots where the road wound close under the
foot of the hills, and there a sharp fire was sure to be met with. In
this manner they went on till they reached the Soorkhab river, which
they forded below the bridge at 1 A.M. on the 13th, being aware that the
enemy would take possession of it, and dispute the passage. Whilst
fording the river a galling fire was kept up from the bridge: here
Lieut. Cadett of the 44th and several men were killed and wounded.
_13th._--From Soorkhab the remnant of the column moved towards Gundamuk:
but as the day dawned the enemy's numbers increased; and unfortunately
daylight soon exposed to them how very few fighting men the column
contained. The force now consisted of twenty officers, of whom Major
Griffiths was the senior, fifty men of the 44th, six of the horse
artillery, and four or five Sipahees. Amongst the whole there were but
twenty muskets; 300 camp followers still continued with them.
Being now assailed by an increased force, they were compelled to quit
the road, and take up a position on a hill adjoining. Some Affghan
horsemen being observed at a short distance were beckoned to. On their
approach there was a cessation of firing: terms were proposed by Capt.
Hay, to allow the force to proceed without further hostilities to
Jellalabad. These persons not being sufficiently influential to
negotiate, Major Griffiths proceeded with them to a neighbouring chief
for that purpose; taking with him Mr. Blewitt, formerly a writer in
Capt. Johnson's office, who understood Persian, that he might act as
interpreter.
Many Affghans ascended the hill where our troops awaited the issue of
the expected conference; and exchanges of friendly words passed between
both parties. This lasted upwards of an hour; but hostilities were
renewed by the Affghans, who snatched at the fire-arms of the men and
officers. This they of course resisted; and drove them off the hill: but
the majority of the enemy, who occupied the adjoining hills commanding
our position, commenced a galling fire upon us. Several times they
attempted to dislodge our men from the hill, and were repulsed: until,
our ammunition being expended, and our fighting men reduced to about
thirty, the enemy made a rush, which in our weak state we were unable to
cope with. They bore our men down knife in hand; and slaughtered all the
party except Capt. Souter and seven or eight men of the 44th and
artillery. This officer thinks that this unusual act of forbearance
towards him originated in the strange dress he wore: his poshteen having
opened during the last struggle exposed to view the colour he had
wrapped round his body; and they probably thought they had secured a
valuable prize in some great bahadur, for whom a large ransom might be
obtained.
Eighteen officers and about fifty men were killed at the final struggle
at Gundamuk. Capt. Souter and the few remaining men (seven or eight)
that were taken alive from the field were, after a detention of a month
in the adjoining villages, made over to Mahommed Akbar Khan and sent to
the fort of Buddeeabad in the Lughman valley, where they arrived on the
15th of February.
THE CAPTIVITY.
We must now return to the General and his party. At daybreak on the 13th
the Sirdar had again changed his mind; and instead of following up the
troops, he decided to move to the position they had vacated, and remain
there during the day; and should the ladies and officers left at Khoord
Cabul arrive in the evening, that all should start the next morning over
the mountains to the valley of Lughman, north of Jellalabad. At 8 A.M.,
they mounted their horses; and with the Sirdar and his party rode down
the pass, which bore fearful evidence to the last night's struggle. They
passed some 200 dead bodies, many of them Europeans; the whole naked,
and covered with large gaping wounds. As the day advanced, several poor
wretches of Hindostanees (camp followers, who had escaped the massacre
of the night before) made their appearance from behind rocks and within
caves, where they had taken shelter from the murderous knives of the
Affghans and the inclemency of the climate. They had been stripped of
all they possessed; and few could crawl more than a few yards, being
frostbitten in the feet. Here Johnson found two of his servants: the one
had his hands and feet frostbitten, and had a fearful sword cut across
one hand, and a musket ball in his stomach; the other had his right arm
completely cut through the bone. Both were utterly destitute of
covering, and had not tasted food for five days.
This suffices for a sample of the sufferings of the survivors.
About four o'clock Sultan Jan (a cousin of the Sirdar) arrived with the
ladies and gentlemen; also Lieut. Melville of the 54th, and Mr. Magrath,
surgeon of the 37th, both of whom had been wounded between Khoord Cabul
and Tézeen. A large party of cavalry accompanied Sultan Jan, both
Affghan and our irregular horse, who had deserted, as before mentioned.
_14th._--We marched twenty-four miles to Kutz-i-Mahommed Ali Khan:
started at about 9 A.M.; the Sirdar with Gen. Elphinstone; Brig.
Shelton, and Capt. Johnson bringing up the rear.
We travelled over a dreadfully rough road: some of the ascents and
descents were fearful to look at, and at first sight appeared to be
impracticable. The whole road was a continuation of rocks and stones,
over which the camels had great difficulty in making their way; and
particularly in the ascent of the Adrak-Budrak pass, where I found it
requisite to hold tight on by the mane, lest the saddle and I should
slip off together.
Had we travelled under happier auspices, I should probably have been
foolish enough to have expressed fear, not having even a saces to assist
me. Still I could not but admire the romantic tortuous defile we passed
through, being the bed of a mountain torrent, which we exchanged for the
terrific pass I have mentioned, and which was rendered doubly fearful by
constant stoppages from those in front, which appeared to take place at
the most difficult spots.
At the commencement of the defile, and for some considerable distance,
we passed 200 or 300 of our miserable Hindostanees, who had escaped up
the unfrequented road from the massacre of the 12th. They were all
naked, and more or less frostbitten: wounded, and starving, they had set
fire to the bushes and grass, and huddled all together to impart warmth
to each other. Subsequently we heard that scarcely any of these poor
wretches escaped from the defile: and that driven to the extreme of
hunger they had sustained life by feeding on their dead comrades.