[CHAPTER XVI]
BATTLE HONOURS FOR THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR, 1839-1842
Afghanistan, 1839-1842—Ghuznee, 1839—Khelat, 1839—Kahun, 1840—Jelalabad—Khelat-i-Ghilzai—Candahar, 1842—Ghuznee, 1842—Cabool, 1842—Cutchee.
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Afghanistan.
This distinction is borne by the
4th Hussars.
Somerset Light Infantry.
The Queen's.
Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Leicesters.
31st D.C.O. Lancers.
3rd Skinner's Horse.
3rd Sappers and Miners.
34th Poona Horse.
2nd Q.O. Light Infantry.
5th Light Infantry.
6th Light Infantry.
16th Lancers.
119th Multan Regiment.
It commemorates their share in the ill-judged campaign which had for its object the forcible imposition of an unpopular Sovereign on an unwilling people. Many of the oldest and most experienced of our Indian statesmen foretold disaster from the outset. The Duke of Wellington expressed himself in no measured terms on the folly of endeavouring to overthrow the de facto ruler of Afghanistan, and to put on his throne a monarch who did not own an acre of land nor a rupee which he did not owe to our bounty. Unsuccessful negotiations were entered into with Runjeet Singh, the ruler of the Punjab, with a view to permitting our army to march through the Punjab. This favour was refused, and the Bengal troops, which mobilized at Ferozepore, were compelled to march down the left bank of the Sutlej, through Bhawulpore, and then, crossing the Indus by a bridge of boats thrown across that river at Bukkur, to traverse the desert of Scinde, and, ascending the Bolan Pass, to enter Afghanistan by way of Kandahar. The chief command it was intended should have been held by Sir Harry Fane, the Commander-in-Chief in India, but at the last moment—indeed, after the army had assembled at Ferozepore—its composition was considerably reduced, and Sir John Keane, the Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, assumed the command. The troops destined for the expedition consisted of some 27,000 men, including the reserve divisions at Ferozepore and in Scinde, and were brigaded as under:
Cavalry Division—Major-General E. Thackwell: Wing of the 4th Hussars, 16th Lancers, the 2nd and 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, a wing of the 1st Bombay Cavalry (now the 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers), the 34th Poona Horse, the 1st and 4th Local Horse (now the 1st Duke of York's Own Lancers), and the 3rd Skinner's Horse.