To Herat and Cabul: A Story of the First Afghan War

by G. A. Henty

The news infused fresh strength into the ladies, several of whom were suffering from sickness, and all from long-continued anxiety and the hardships of the journey; they were able to proceed on foot to the fort. Hassan was the first to come in with ten followers to give in his adherence to the new order of things. Many others followed the example; and as Angus was able to supply money, strong parties were soon at work throwing up entrenchments round the tower. Pottinger, convinced that audacity was the best policy, at once issued a proclamation calling upon the people of the town and the chiefs of all the surrounding villages to come in at once and pay their respects, and it was not long before they began to arrive.

The next day still larger numbers were set to work, and by evening the earthworks were so advanced that they were in a position to offer a very strong resistance. Late that evening a friendly chief brought in the news that General Pollock was within a day's march of Cabul, that all resistance had ceased, and that Akbar had fled no one knew whither.

It was immediately decided that a start should be made for Cabul on the following morning. It was evident that Akbar had not retired by that route—had he done so he would have arrived before the news of his flight—and that therefore the risk of meeting any strong force on the road was very slight. They set out at eight o'clock in the morning. Horses had been procured for the whole party; the officers took the children before them, the ladies rode. That night all slept on the rocks within shelter, but at midnight they were awakened by the arrival of a horseman. He brought a letter from Sir Richmond Shakespere, General Pollock's military secretary, saying that he was on the point of starting with six hundred native horse for Bamian.

At daybreak the party were astir again, pressing their horses eagerly, their sufferings all forgotten in the hope of speedily meeting their friends. At noon a cloud of dust was seen to rise from the road far ahead; then some straggling horsemen were made out, and behind them a body of cavalry. It was still possible that this might be a body of the enemy, and preparations were at once made for defence. The drums were beat, a line formed, and muskets loaded. Soon, however, it could be made out that an officer riding at the head of the party was in British uniform, and in a few minutes Shakespere rode up, followed by his men. The joy of the meeting was almost beyond words. A few days before a hopeless captivity among wild tribesmen seemed to be their certain lot; now they were among friends again. They learned from Sir Richmond that General Sale himself was to set out at the head of a brigade to support the advanced party.

The next morning they started again, and on the 20th met Sale's column. That evening they passed near the camp of the Candahar force, and the next day rode through Cabul on their way to Pollock's camp, where their arrival excited unbounded delight, for it had generally been felt that the victories that they had won would be incomplete indeed unless their fellow countrymen and women had been rescued. General Pollock thanked Angus publicly that evening for the service that he had rendered, and the manner in which he had carried out the perilous scheme he had volunteered to perform, and he received innumerable congratulations from all the officers with whom he had shared in the defence of Jellalabad.

The army remained but a few days at Cabul, for the winter was at hand. It was at first proposed to destroy the Bala Hissar, but the idea was given up, as it was represented that no ruler of Afghanistan would be able to maintain his position unless he had that fortress to rely upon. Instead of this the great bazaar, through which Macnaghten's body had been carried in triumph, was destroyed, and in spite of the efforts of their officers many of the troops entered the city and punished the treachery of its inhabitants by sacking a considerable portion of it. The united army then marched down the passes and retired to India. Pollock's division met with no resistance whatever; that of Nott, which followed it, was more than once attacked by large bands of plunderers.

The report that General Pollock had sent in to the Governor-general on the day the captives reached the camp gave full credit to Angus for the courage and devotion that he had shown, and stated that had he not succeeded in bringing Saleh Mahomed over to our side, the latter would probably have reached Khooloom with the captives before they could have been overtaken, and in that case they might have been sent far away on the approach of Sale's brigade and been lost for ever to their friends. The consequence was that he was at once appointed political officer to one of the Rajput states.

Henceforth his promotion was rapid. Six years later he went to England on three years' leave. On the ship on which he sailed were four officers of his acquaintance, some of whom were accompanied by their wives. From several of these he received the most pressing invitations to stay with them at their country houses. These he gladly accepted, for except among military men who had returned home, he was without friends. Feeling at a loss for employment after a life of such activity as he had led, he threw up his leave at the end of the year, and took back with him to India a wife, the daughter of a colonel who had sailed with him from India.

At the end of another ten years he returned home for good. His pay had been large. He had laid by a considerable sum before he first went home, and this he had placed in the hands of the firm to whom he had sent his money before leaving Teheran for Herat. It had been well employed by them, and at the age of forty he returned home with a considerable fortune, besides a pension, after twenty-three years of service. He had been reluctant to quit his work, but his wife's health had suffered from the climate. His three children had been sent home to her family, and he now bought a place near her people. At first he felt altogether out of his element, but he gradually fell into the ways of country life, and no longer regretted that his work in India had come to an end.