On the 5th of March, Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler left Mastuj with
orders to join the British agent at Chitral, and they had with them 20
Bengal Sappers and 40 men of the Kashmir Rifles, conveying sixty boxes
of ammunition and seven days' rations. The day on which they arrived at
Reshun they heard rumours of opposition ahead of them, and therefore
intrenched themselves as well as possible near the river. The next day
they were attacked by the tribes, and finding the position too exposed,
they carried the houses of the village close by with the bayonet, and
hastily made them defensible, and succeeded by nightfall in getting in
all their ammunition and supplies and all the wounded. Here the little
force, now reduced to about 50 men, was regularly besieged. The first
great difficulty was the want of water, as the enemy had diverted the
rivulet, thus making it necessary for the garrison to go some distance
under fire to bring in sufficient for their daily wants. Food was
fortunately plentiful, as, in addition to the rations, eggs and fowls
and flour were found in the village. The enemy, after several attempts
to take the place by assault, contented themselves with besieging the
village, doing as much damage as possible by a continuous fire from the
cover of houses and trees, and at length succeeded in occupying a house
not more than a few feet from the wall.
On the 13th the enemy hoisted a white flag, and informed the officers
that there had been some fighting at Chitral but that now peace was
made, and offering to let the garrison go either to Chitral or to
Mastuj. Lieutenant Edwardes upon this agreed to a three days'
armistice, and sent letters to Chitral and Mastuj; meantime the garrison
were well treated and supplies sent in to them. On the 14th the enemy
proposed a game of polo, and invited the officers to come and see it.
This invitation was unfortunately, as it turned out, accepted, for,
although under the fire of their own men, the two officers were suddenly
seized from behind and bound, and a sudden attack was made upon the
house occupied by the troops. This was taken by assault, most of the
sepoys being killed. On March 16th, the officers were taken to Chitral,
where they found about a dozen of the sepoys who had been taken
prisoners; after being kept here some time, they were sent to Drosh to
Umra Khan. He treated them very well, and even offered to let them join
the force in Chitral, but as he would not let their men accompany them
they declined. They were afterwards taken with Umra Khan on his return
to Jandol, and though strictly guarded were treated with every respect
and courtesy, and finally sent in safety to Sir R. Low's camp. The
sepoys also were allowed to go unharmed--an act of forbearance on the
part of Umra Khan almost without precedent among Pathans.
The affair of Reshun, which cost the lives of so many brave men, was the
indirect cause of the loss of many more at the same time. For as soon
as the British officers discovered the state of things at Reshun, they
sent back word to Mastuj, and Captain Ross and Lieutenant Jones with 93
Sikhs at once set out to their assistance. Thirty-three men were left
at Buni, and the remaining 60, with the two officers, pushed forward
towards Reshun. On the way they had to pass through a narrow ravine
with precipitous cliffs on either side. Here they were suddenly
attacked by the enemy in great force from the cliffs above. Soon the
enemy closed the end of the pass, and retreat or advance was equally
impossible. For a time shelter was found in a cave, and an attempt was
made to rush out of the defile in the night; but the enemy were found on
the alert, and though the rifle fire could be faced, it was impossible
to pass several stone shoots which were in the possession of the enemy,
who could annihilate with avalanches of rocks any troops passing below.
The cave was again occupied for a day, but without food, and therefore
it was necessary to make one desperate effort if the men were to escape
starvation. Accordingly, in the middle of the night a sudden rush was
made, and after a desperate fight the sangars held by the enemy were
taken, but with heavy loss, Captain Ross being among the first killed.
Eventually, after desperate fighting, and a great number having been
killed in crossing the stone shoots, a small remnant reached the end of
the ravine; here a stand was made, and at length Lieutenant Jones with
17 men, of whom 9 and himself were wounded, returned to Buni, where the
enemy did not attack them; and on the 17th reliefs arrived from Mastuj,
to which the whole party returned. Here they were besieged, and would
in all probability have in time been reduced by famine had not Colonel
Kelly's force arrived.