HARD FIGHTING IN THE MOUNTAINS

General Chamberlain now took steps to clear himself of encumbrances, and to prepare for hard fighting. The sick, the baggage, and spare transport animals were sent back to the plains, and the road was improved. A breastwork was thrown across the front of the camp and flanked with guns; the steep slopes on either side were occupied by strong pickets, stockaded and entrenched. Still the position was weak. Far above on the extreme left our troops held a post called the 'Eagle's Nest;' and opposite, on the right, another named the 'Crag Picket,' a commanding pinnacle of rocks scantily clothed with pines and towering up into the sky. Both were vital points to hold, for they entirely overlooked the lower defences. But high as they both were, there were other ridges and dominant points still far above, and our troops were thus exposed to sudden overwhelming attacks, from enemies who could collect unseen at their leisure and choose their time for an assault.

The men of the tribes were brave and worthy foes. These bold mountaineers, ignorant of what is termed discipline, or of any regular art of war, armed only with old matchlocks and short swords, nevertheless, by a kind of rude instinct, discovered at once our weak points; and by feints at the centre, combined with furious assaults on the isolated flanks, not only inflicted heavy loss upon us, but succeeded occasionally in endangering the whole position. The Crag Picket alone fell three times into their hands by direct assault in open daylight, at different periods of the campaign, although in each case we drove them out again. The despatches received day after day, though hastily written, gave a vivid reality to the scenes depicted, and extracts from them will perhaps convey the best idea of the fierce nature of the contest and of its vicissitudes. On October 24 large bodies of men, with numerous standards, appeared in the Chumla Valley, and were ascertained to be arrivals from some of the minor hill tribes, and a portion of the fanatics under Mobarik Shah. At daylight the next morning they appeared above our right defences on the Mahabun, but were driven off by Major Keyes,[57] who chased them along the ridges and forced them back precipitately into the valley.

The events of the following day (October 26) were serious. Chamberlain, having some reason to apprehend an attack on the Eagle's Nest, reinforced the troops on the mountain, sending up 200 of the 71st Highlanders, the 5th and 6th Punjab regiments, and a mountain battery. The Eagle's Nest itself was held by 230 men under Major Brownlow.[58] The enemy, who had established a breastwork of their own on the heights above and were in great strength, no sooner observed our preparations for battle than they joyfully accepted the challenge. The scene is well described by Colonel Vaughan, who was in command: 'The troops were hardly in position when a very large body of the enemy rushed down the steep slopes, and, with loud cries, attacked at once the picket and the troops. The mountain train guns fired upon them with shrapnel, common case, and round shot, and this fire checked those advancing against the troops in position, but not those advancing against the picket. The latter were attacked with the greatest determination, and two of the enemy's standards were planted close under the parapet. All the efforts of the picket failed to dislodge them for some time, notwithstanding that the direct fire from the picket was aided by a flanking fire from the mountain train guns and from the Enfield rifles of the 71st.... When the enemy had been checked by the guns, they were charged by the 6th Punjab Infantry, but the regiment was unfortunately carried too far in the ardour of pursuit, and lost heavily before it could regain the position.' Major Brownlow, who was standing at bay in the Eagle's Nest, gives a simple and vivid account of the attack upon him. 'About 12 o'clock (noon) the Bonairwals commenced to move down from their position, matchlock men posting themselves advantageously in the wood, and opening a very galling fire upon us, whilst their swordsmen and others advanced boldly to the attack, charging across the plateau in our front, and planting their standard behind a rock, within a few feet of our wall. The steady fire, however, with which they were received rendered their very gallant efforts unavailing, and they were driven back and up the hill, leaving the ground covered with their dead.'

Our casualties on this occasion were as follows:

The great losses incurred by the native corps in this as in every action during the campaign, are proofs of the loyalty of the men to our cause. General Chamberlain, in his despatches, bears warm testimony to their devotion; and points out that although there were men in the native regiments of almost every tribe on the frontier, including those which were fighting against us, still there were no desertions, nor was there any instance of backwardness in engaging the enemy.

After the 25th there was a lull for a few days, but the storm soon gathered again, and important events followed each other in rapid succession. General Chamberlain, in his despatch of October 31, reports 'that the Akoond has joined and has brought with him upwards of 100 standards from Swat, each standard representing probably from twenty to thirty footmen.' Other distant tribes had also been summoned, and in fact there was a general combination all along the border against us. He goes on to say: 'It is necessary that I should place the state of affairs thus distinctly before His Excellency, in order that he may understand how entirely the situation has altered since the force entered the Umbeylah Pass.' And he goes on to explain that with his present numbers he could only stand on the defensive. During the early part of November vigorous efforts were made to strengthen our outposts and to improve the communication to the plains of Eusofzye; but the confederate tribes jealously watched our movements and incessantly attacked us day and night; and on the morning of the 13th succeeded a second time in capturing the Crag Picket. General Chamberlain in his despatch said: 'I was in the camp when the picket fell into the hands of the enemy, and my attention having been accidentally drawn to the unusual dust and confusion caused by the rush of camp followers down the hill, I felt convinced that some reverse had occurred, and immediately sent forward Her Majesty's Royal Bengal Fusiliers.' Lieutenant-Colonel Salisbury[59] was in command of the regiment, and his orders were to push on and retake the position at any cost. The ascent was long and steep, but the Fusiliers never halted, and in five-and-twenty minutes the key of the position was recovered.

An important change was now made in the disposition of the force. As already explained, the prolonged halt in the pass was due to unforeseen causes, and the general had to make the best of it, its great weakness consisting in the isolation of its flanks. As some delay must occur before sufficient reserves could arrive, so as to enable Chamberlain to resume the offensive, he determined to abandon the gorge and also the pickets on the mountain to his left, and to concentrate his whole force on the slopes of the Mahabun. In a military point of view this was a judicious arrangement. Instead of holding a series of straggling posts, perched upon rocks, on two separate mountains, and with his main body far down in a hollow gorge, our troops would thus be concentrated and able to reinforce any point required. The movement was quietly carried out during the night of November 17. The vigilance of the tribes for once failed them, and when daylight broke on the 18th, to their astonishment the Eagle's Nest and all the pickets on that side were silent and empty. Exasperated by the success of our manoeuvre, and imagining probably that it was the precursor of a general retreat, the enemy swarmed up the Mahabun ridges, and before our troops were well settled in their new positions, attacked them fiercely, and for the moment with some success, but were finally driven off. General Chamberlain, writing at the time, said: 'The troops have now been hard-worked both day and night for a month, and having to meet fresh enemies with loss is telling. We much need reinforcements. I find it difficult to meet the enemy's attacks, and provide convoys for supplies and wounded sent to the rear.... This is urgent.'

The confederate tribes, consisting of the fanatics, the men of the Mahabun, of Bonair, Swat, Bajour, and of other distant secluded valleys, joined also by a sprinkling of men from our own border villages, were now in such numbers that the hill sides literally swarmed with them; and although they had failed in their efforts to capture the position they had not lost heart, but again made a vigorous effort; and on November 20 advanced on the Crag Picket, coming boldly up, with their standards flying, to within a few feet of our breastworks; and at length, after a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, for the third time took possession, amidst shouts of triumph from the Afghans on the hills all round. Victory, however, did not long remain with them. The 71st Highlanders, who had taken a full share in every action of the campaign, were selected, with a regiment of Goorkas, to retrieve the fortunes of the day, and they were not wanting in this hour of need. Whilst the troops were being assembled for the assault of the captured work, the field and mountain guns were turned on the enemy, who were thus forced to lie close under cover of the rocks. Under a perfect storm of matchlock balls and of stones hurled from the summit, Colonel Hope, the gallant leader of the Highlanders, deliberately formed his men at the foot of the Crag; and sending the Goorkas to turn the flank, he placed himself at the head of his corps, and, with a cool determination which excited the admiration of every soldier of the force, proceeded to march up the rocky height. The mountaineers throughout the war had shown themselves ready to do and to dare a great deal, but they were not quite prepared for the direct assault of a Highland regiment which in open day, with its colonel at its head, was steadily approaching, and would infallibly in a few seconds close upon them, with a volley and a bayonet charge. The storm of shells which had been raining on them for the preceding half hour, shattering the rocks and trees, had somewhat shaken their confidence; and almost as soon as the Highlanders reached the summit the mountaineers evacuated the position, and were chased along the ridges. Sir Neville Chamberlain, ever foremost in danger, having felt it his duty to accompany the troops in so critical an attack, was unfortunately severely wounded, and Colonel Hope was also dangerously wounded in the thigh. Our lost ground was thus recovered, but at the cost of two distinguished men, the first and second in command, who were rendered unable to take any further part in the war. Our losses up to this time had been considerable; no less than 14 English[60] and 4 native officers, with 213 men, had been killed, whilst 15 English, 17 native officers, and 468 men were wounded, making a total of 731 casualties, and so far as the original object of the war was concerned, we had as yet really accomplished nothing.