Institution of the Order of the Doorannee Empire.—Murder of a Private of the 13th Light Infantry.—Departure from Cabul.—Return to Ghuznee.—Accident to the Revd. Mr. Pigot.—Discovery of the Skeletons of British Soldiers.—Horse- steaks.—Treachery of some Ghiljie Chiefs and destruction of their Fort.—Adventure of a Dragoon.—Loss of a Cook.
In order to testify his gratitude towards the British, the Shah resolved to institute an order of merit, to be called the order of the Doorannee Empire, and to confer its respective grades upon three classes of officers, namely, Generals, Brigadier Generals, and Field Officers. A durbar having been summoned, at which the Ministers of State, the Politicals, and a number of British Officers were present, a chapter of the order was held, and his Majesty, as Sovereign, invested the Commander-in-Chief, several general and field officers, and the Politicals with the decoration, which consisted of a sort of Maltese cross with a jewel in the centre. His Majesty was also pleased to express his desire that every officer, non-commissioned officer, and private soldier in the army should receive a silver medal, commemorative of the campaign, and for this purpose placed a large sum of money at the disposal of Sir John Keane. The Queen's sanction has been obtained to the measure, but the medal has not as yet been issued.
Leave had been given by the officers in command of the different regiments to men entering the town to carry their side arms, as a protection in case of chance collision with the inhabitants. The facility of obtaining intoxicating liquors rendered this a contingency of not unlikely occurrence, and our men soon got themselves into unpleasant and in some instances dangerous scrapes. On one occasion, a private of the 13th Light Infantry having been drinking rather freely, forced himself into the apartments of the wife of a respectable inhabitant. Proceeding to offer her some violence, her screams alarmed the neighbourhood, and the soldier was soon surrounded by a host of angry husbands and fathers, armed with every description of weapon. He defended himself with his bayonet for some time, contenting himself with merely parrying their blows, and had fought his way into the street, when he was met by several others of the townspeople, who set upon the unfortunate fellow and instantly despatched him. They secreted the body until night-fall, and then threw it outside the walls of the town, where it was discovered next morning.
It having been determined that early in September part of the forces should set out on their return homeward, the choice fell upon her Majesty's 17th Foot, the 2nd or Queen's Royals, one Company of Foot Artillery, a detachment of the 4th Light Dragoons, the 1st regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry, and two troops of Bombay Horse Artillery, the whole under the command of Major General Sir Thomas Wiltshire. It would naturally be supposed that after so long an absence from quarters, we hailed this intimation with something like pleasure, but such was far from being the fact. We had rioted in profusion and luxury, and did not relish the idea of again encountering the privations of the long and dreary route which lay between us and India. Added to this we had seen but little of actual fighting, and the promotions had been consequently few.
Promotion and prize money are the all engrossing subjects of a soldier's ambition, and this speedy return put an end at once to our long cherished hopes. We well knew that the restless and turbulent spirit of the Affghan Chiefs would not permit them to remain long in subjection to Shah Soojah, and that there would consequently be more work for the British troops. Regret and envy of our more fortunate comrades were therefore the predominant feelings which pervaded nearly the whole of the departing troops.
We left Cabul on the 14th of September, and arrived at Ghuznee, the scene of our former exploits, after eight days' march, during which nothing worthy of mention occurred. It is astonishing how soon the traces of war disappear, and the living gaps caused by its ravages are filled up. The fortress appeared as perfect in its outline as if the hand of the destroyer had not recently passed over it, new gates having been substituted for those which had been damaged, and the breach immediately above them re-filled with masonry. The inhabitants of the bazaar had resumed their accustomed occupations, and scolded, and chaffered, and jested, and laughed, as if they had neither lost relatives nor friends, nor dabbled through mire freshly reeking with their blood. Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt and blunts the feelings, and the Asiatic, before whose eyes such scenes pass almost daily, thinks of them only as the immutable decrees of fate, which cannot be shunned, and ought not to be repined at.
The sick and wounded, of whom we had left numbers at Ghuznee, had almost all died, and were interred in an open space selected for the purpose outside the walls of the fortress. The last resting-place of our brave fellows is situated at the foot of one of the adjacent mountains, but neither stone nor inscription indicates the spot.
The Bengal regiment of Native Infantry, whom we found in garrison at Ghuznee on our return, and whom we left after us, appeared to be quite as well reconciled to their quarters as we were at Cabul, although the two places appeared to me vastly different in point of health and comfort. The majority of the inhabitants regarded the troops with a sort of sullen indifference, but the trading classes seemed civil enough. The quantities of fish and game with which the neighbourhood abounded, afforded the officers a ready means of dissipating their time, and we would have been well content to have remained here. Orders were however given that we should pursue our route, and we left Ghuznee on the 25th of September, after a stay of only two or three days.
Instead of diverging to the right towards Candahar, we took the direct route to Quettah, over the Ghiljie hills. The weather had become intensely cold, and the rivers and streams were covered with ice, several inches in thickness. The Rev. Mr. Pigot, our chaplain, happened to be crossing one of them on a pony, when the ice gave way with his weight, and the worthy clergyman was immersed in the water. The stream was not, however, so deep as to occasion any alarm for his safety, and he was speedily rescued from his embarrasment, with no other inconvenience than being kept shivering several hours in his wet clothes, his baggage being at a considerable distance in advance. The rascally native who preceded us as guide grinned maliciously, and told him that if he had not forgotten to say his prayers setting out the accident would not have happened.
On encamping, at the close of the first day's march, from Ghuznee, some soldiers belonging to the 17th Infantry and Queen's Royals, went out in search of water, and met with a draw well, which proved to be dry. One of them descended in order to examine it more closely, and an exclamation of horror escaped him as he reached the bottom. On his companions enquiring the occasion of it, they learned that he had fallen upon several skeletons, the identity of which with some soldiers we had lost on the route upwards was placed beyond doubt by fragments of military clothing and regimental buttons which lay scattered about. Singular to relate, a lark had built its nest in one of the skulls, and was found innocently reposing with its young in this curious receptacle.
The annoyances to which we had been subjected during our route upwards, from the thieving system of warfare pursued by the Affghans, seemed now at an end. Our road lay through bleak and desolate hills, where only a solitary, and timid mountaineer was occasionally to be seen. Numerous rivers and streams traversed this wild country in every direction, and relieved us from all apprehensions on the score of water. Provisions were also plentiful, as the Commissariat had taken care to lay in sufficient supplies, and the only inconvenience which we might be said to have experienced was the severe cold of the nights. The barren nature of the country rendered fuel difficult of obtainment, and the consequence was that numbers of the troops were carried off by dysentery.
The march from Ghuznee to Quettah occupied about five weeks, and we thought we should never reach the end of these long chains of hills. Always ascending and descending heights of no inconsiderable elevation, the horses became regularly knocked up with fatigue, and we were obliged to shoot numbers of them on the way.
In a recess in one of these hills, I one day came upon a singular scene. About nine or ten of the natives were assembled around a dead horse and while part of them were cutting steaks from his haunches, the others were engaged cooking them. Revolting as such a sight is to European stomachs, I have seen the time when, on our march upwards, I could have partaken of these same horse steaks with infinite relish.
A few days before our arrival at Quettah, we requited an atrocious act of treachery, which had been committed towards us by some Ghiljie chiefs, with the punishment it richly merited. About one hundred camel drivers, who had left us at Candahar, on our way to Cabul, for the purpose of returning homewards, took their route over the hills we were now crossing in order to shorten the journey. They were met by the Ghiljies with professions of friendship, and seduced into a mountain fort under the pretence of hospitality. They had no sooner entered its walls than their throats were all cut, and their bodies flung into deep wells for the purpose of concealing the massacre from the eyes of the British.
Information of the fact having been received, Sir Thomas Wiltshire despatched a Squadron of her Majesty's 4th Light Dragoons, two companies of Native Infantry, and two pieces of artillery to raze the fortress to the ground. The cavalry started at two o'clock in the morning, and after a hard gallop of eighteen miles we arrived in front of the Ghiljie strong-hold. It was a small but strongly constructed fortress, situated on the brow of a steep declivity and defended by strong wooden gates. The entrance was commanded by an old iron carronade, and a number of loopholes for the discharge of musketry. Not a living soul was to be seen on the walls, and fearing some artifice, Major Daly, our commanding officer, resolved to suspend operations until the artillery came up. As soon as the latter made its appearance, and the guns were placed in a position to command the fort, Major Daly ordered part of the cavalry to dismount and proceed with loaded carbines to the gate, under cover of their fire. No opposition was, however, offered to us, the enemy having fled to the mountains, and the gates were forced open in a few minutes.
The only inhabitants we found in the place were a few women and children, but we discovered quantities of the richest silks and carpets, beside arms and money (consisting principally of silver coins) the fortress being a sort of depot for the booty obtained by these highland marauders.
One of the cavalry having entered a dwelling in search of plunder, was suddenly seized by two or three Ghiljies, who unexpectedly made their appearance through a sort of trap, with which almost every house in the fort was furnished. They placed a bandage over his eyes, and were in the act of passing a rope round his arms, when the timely approach of some of his comrades saved him from being carried off as a prisoner, the enemy disappearing through the trap the moment they heard the noise of their footsteps at the entrance. The troopers would have willingly pursued them, but the depth and darkness of the subterraneous passage convinced them it was something more than a mere cellar, and they knew that if they once got involved in its windings they would be completely at the mercy of the enemy. It is probable that these passages had outlets without the walls, and that it was through them the enemy made their escape at the first news of our approach, the suddenness and quickness of our movements preventing them from taking their valuables with them. There was also abundance of cattle and grain, of which we brought off large supplies to the camp. Orders having been given to the Artillery to blow up the fortress, the women and children were sent out of it, and at five o'clock the same day the walls were breached, so as to render them completely useless, and the houses fired in all directions. After remaining to see that the work of destruction was complete, we quitted the place at three o'clock in the morning, and arrived the same day at the encampment. The enemy were not entirely without their revenge, for, following on our footsteps, and watching us closely, they contrived to carry off the cook, and three camels laden with the cooking utensils of the squadron, a loss which was severely felt, and by some thought ill compensated by the booty we had obtained.
