The insurrection burst out on all sides; myriads of Ghilzies, &c., re-occupied the passes in the rear, and cut off all communication with Cabul, forcing Sir Robert Sale to seek the safety of his brigade by occupying Jellalabad. The Kohistanees rose in Charekar, and murdered Lieutenant Maule, of the artillery. Candahar was surrounded. Ghuznee fell. The Khyberees sealed the mouth of their pass. Colonel Wild’s[[91]] attempt to force it failed, and the last act of the tragedy was completed in the annihilation of the Cabul garrison on its fatal and ill-judged retreat. The details of these sad events have been so graphically described, that we need here do no more than record the losses of the regiment, and extract from the accounts of eye-witnesses their testimony to the admirable conduct of that noble troop, the 1st troop 1st brigade horse-artillery, both during the siege and the retreat.
After detailing the disastrous action of the 23rd November, Captain Melville says, “Here, amidst so much that was condemnable, let me again bear just and heartfelt testimony to the behaviour of that brave, though small, body of men, whose conduct on this, and every other occasion during the war, was that of a band of heroes, and who, preferring death to dishonour, met their fate, nobly fighting to the last for the gun they had so ably served. I allude to the horse-artillery; when Sergeant Mulhall and six gunners, whose names I feel deep sorrow I cannot here record, sword in hand awaited the advance of the foe, and it was not until they saw themselves alone in the midst of thousands of the enemy, that they dashed at full gallop, cutting their way through them, down the hill; and though surrounded by cavalry and infantry, yet they managed to bring their gun safely to the plain, where, however, only three of them being alive, and they desperately wounded, they were obliged to leave it, and contrived to reach cantonments.” Again, during the retreat, he says, “On reaching the extremity of the (Khoord Cabool) pass, the horse-artillery, that noble branch of the service, whose courage, even in extremity, never failed, and who supported all their misfortunes cheerfully, halted, and, turning a gun on the pass, awaited the debouchment of our troops and the arrival of the enemy’s. This soon happened, and we received them with some well-directed rounds of grape.” * * * After their guns and horses were lost, “the artillerymen, those few that remained, formed in the ranks of the 44th, and gallantly supported on foot that deathless reputation they had gained when urging their steeds into the heart of the battle.”
Lieutenant Eyre, speaking of the siege, says, “The gunners, from first to last, never once partook of a full meal or obtained their natural rest; of the hardships and privations undergone, it would be difficult to convey an adequate idea.” * * * “On the retreat from Cabul, owing to the starved condition of the horses, which disabled them from pulling the guns through the deep snow and rugged mountain-passes, the guns were, one by one, spiked and abandoned. In the Khoord Cabool pass, a whole gun’s crew perished rather than desert their charge; on nearing Jugdulluck, some horse-artillerymen, headed by Captain Nicholl, acting as dragoons, charged and routed a party of the enemy’s cavalry.”
“Throughout the last struggle, up to Gundamuck, all eye-witnesses concur in testifying to their stubborn valour.”
Of his troop, Captain Nicholl, Lieutenant Green (who joined it on the loss of the mountain-train early in the retreat), and Lieutenant Stewart, were killed; Lieutenants Eyre and Waller, both of whom were wounded during the siege, were given over, with their families, by the orders of Major-General Elphinstone, to Akbar Khan; 8 non-commissioned officers and gunners were killed in Cabul, 30 in the Khoord Cabool pass, 26 between that and Jugdulluck, 32 in reaching Gundamuck, 3 were taken prisoners at the close, 3 left wounded at Cabul, and 3 doing duty with No. 6 battery and the mountain-train at Jellalabad. Sergeant Mulhall was killed at Gundamuck on the 13th January, 1842.
The regiment raised a monumental column to the memory of this gallant troop, on the base of which, on one marble slab, the circumstances under which they fell are narrated, and on another, the names of every non-commissioned officer and gunner are inscribed.
Previous to the insurrection breaking out, the 3rd company[[92]] 2nd battalion moved from Ferozepore to relieve the 4th company at Candahar; it dropped down the Indus to Sukkur, and marched to Quettah, where it arrived on the 27th November, 1841, and remained, on account of the communications with Candahar being closed. Here it was employed in throwing up defences and field-works, for the protection of the cantonment, whenever the frost and snow intermitted. The only building available for their barracks becoming unsafe, during the winter they were forced to occupy their tents, and the severity of the weather in which they were exposed to this insufficient shelter, may be judged of by the fact of 180 camels of the company having perished from it. In the second advance of Major-General England, and the successful attack on the heights of Hykulzye, this company shared; a party under Lieutenant Cornish assisting in working the guns of Captain Leslie’s troop of Bombay Horse Artillery, and with that force it joined the head-quarters of the Candahar army on 10th May.
Before this junction occurred, the Candahar force had been on more than one occasion moved out to clear the neighbourhood of the insurgents. In January, they came up with them on the Urghandab, and after driving them from their position, the horse-artillery and cavalry pursued them some distance. In the report of this action, Captain W. Anderson’s name was brought to the favourable notice of Government.
In March, the army again took the field, and on the 9th the horse-artillery under Captain Anderson got within range, and opened on the enemy with good effect; they broke and fled too rapidly for the infantry to come up with them. While the main body was absent, an attack was made on the city, but without success: part of the 4th company 2nd battalion was present with the garrison.
On the 25th March, the insurgents were attacked near Baba Wala by Colonel Wymer. The well-directed fire of two guns under Lieutenant Turner soon drove in on the pass a large body of the enemy, and they were finally put to flight by the arrival of the main body under Major-General Nott. In his report, Colonel Wymer writes, “I trust that I may be permitted to bring to the Major-General’s notice the admirable practice of the artillery under Lieutenant Turner’s guidance, every shot from which told with beautiful effect on the dense masses of the enemy.”