We have now to return to the actions of the army, which, as we have
seen, had been ordered to assemble under General Sir R. Low in March.
The first Army Corps, consisting of 14,000 men, was mobilised at
Nowshera and Hoti Mardan, with General Sir Bindon Blood, Chief of the
Staff, and Lieutenant--Colonel H.S. Craigie, Assistant Adjutant-General;
the three brigades being commanded by Generals Kinloch, Waterfield, and
Gatacre. When the news arrived of the danger at Chitral the
preparations were pressed forward, and on the 1st of April the troops
were moved forward, marching without tents, and water supplies for only
three weeks; and on the 2nd of April the second and third brigades were
at Dargai, a village at the foot of the Malakand Pass. There are three
passes into the Swat valley, namely, Malakand, Shakhot, and Morah; all
of these were held by the enemy, but as it had been given out that the
British intended to cross by the Shakhot Pass, to which the first
brigade had been sent, the enemy were not in such force at Malakand as
they should have been.
The fact was that when Sir R. Low learned that the greater part of the
enemy were at the Shakhot and Morah Passes he determined to mislead them
into staying there by acting as though he intended to attack the Shakhot
Pass, and for this purpose marched the first brigade in that direction
with orders to rejoin him if possible at Dargai by a forced night-march;
intending that the three brigades should meet on the 2nd of April at 8
a.m. and carry the pass before the enemy had discovered their intention.
The weather frustrated the carrying out of this plan, the night-march
had to be abandoned and the attack postponed until the 3rd, but the plan
of deceiving the enemy was quite successful, for the enemy had not time
to get across the hills to help their comrades in the Malakand Pass.
And this was fortunate, for the pass was so obstinately defended as it
was that all three brigades, with the exception of one regiment held in
reserve, were engaged in the attack.
The pass is through a valley gradually narrowing for about two miles
from Dargai, and at this point it bends for about a mile and a half to a
point where the hills drop precipitately into the pass. From this bend
the pass was strongly defended, the whole range on the west side being
held by the enemy. The 4th Sikhs were sent along the heights to guard
the left flank of the advance, and climbing up the sides cleared many
sangars of the enemy with great gallantry. The Guides Infantry had an
equally arduous task on the hills. Meanwhile the force advanced up the
valley. To quote from the General's despatch--
"When the infantry advance was ordered it soon became apparent that if
the assault was delayed till the position was turned by the Guides the
action would be unduly delayed and the Guides themselves seriously
out-numbered. At this time I ascertained that though the pass appeared
to lie in the valley itself, and to round the corner of the western hill
where it dropped into the valley, yet beyond this point there was no
path or roadway whatever, the valley being blocked with huge blocks and
boulders; and that the crossing of the pass lay to the left, over the
heights to our left which were so strongly held by the enemy. Action
was at once therefore taken to carry the hill to the left, which from
this point was about 1000 feet high. The Gordon Highlanders were
directed up the end of the western hill from the point where it touched
the valley, and the King's Own Scottish Borderers were directed up the
centre spur; the 60th Rifles were directed up the slopes from farther
back on the line, while the Bedfordshire Regiment and the 37th Dogras
pushed on and rounded the point from which the Gordon Highlanders
commenced the ascent, and, turning to the left, ascended the hill from
the northern side--the 15th Sikhs being held in reserve. As the
infantry ascended it was seen how well the defence of the hill had been
organised. The Gordon Highlanders and King's Own Scottish Borderers,
ascending as they did on a direct attack, met with the greatest
resistance and suffered most. Sangar after sangar was obstinately held;
each sangar as it was rushed coming at once under fire of the one above
it. And here I may note the admirable service done by the artillery and
Maxim guns. Several attempts were made by the enemy to concentrate from
above and hold the lower sangars and positions, but all such attempts
were frustrated by the admirable practice of the Mountain Batteries and
Maxim guns over the head of our advancing infantry. Although at several
points sangars were only carried by hand--to--hand fighting, the enemy
were gradually driven from position to position, and eventually fled
down the other slopes of the western hill as the heads of the attacking
columns reached the top when the pass was captured and the fighting
over, though they were pursued down the other side as soon as the men
got together."
The action commenced at 8 o'clock and lasted six hours. The force of
the enemy was estimated at 12,000 men, of whom perhaps 4000 or 5000 had
firearms. The loss on the British side was only 11 men killed, and 8
officers and 39 men wounded.