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

by G. A. Henty

Unfortunately, just at the time that the ex-Ameer returned to Cabul a European regiment, a battery of horse artillery, and a regiment of native infantry were recalled to India, and with them went Sir Willoughby Cotton, and the command for the time being remained in the hands of Sir Robert Sale.

Angus Campbell had not accompanied Sir A. Burnes when he left Cabul with the force which marched out to encounter Dost Mahomed, but had been left in charge of the office at Cabul. He was now his chief's first civil assistant, his temporary appointment to the civil service having been approved and confirmed by the Court of Directors at home in consequence of the very warm report in his favour sent by Eldred Pottinger and Mr. M'Neill. Sir A. Burnes, too, had in his letters spoken several times of his energy and usefulness, and on his return from his expedition through the passes, both Burnes and Macnaghten had reported most highly both of his volunteering to undertake so dangerous a mission, and of the manner in which he had carried it out. In return the directors had sent out an order for his promotion to a higher grade, and had ordered that a present of £1000 should be given him in token of their recognition of his conduct.

"Your foot is well on the ladder now," Sir A. Burnes had said on acquainting him with the decision of the board. "You will now have your name on their books as one of the most promising of the younger officers of the Company, and you may be sure that they will keep their eye upon you. Macnaghten will shortly return to England, and I have long been promised the succession to his post. I shall certainly request, and no doubt my wishes will be acceded to in such a matter, that you should hold the position of my chief assistant. As such you will have many opportunities of doing good service, as you will naturally proceed on missions to the chiefs of neighbouring peoples, and will so qualify yourself for some important post in the future."

Macnaghten, indeed, was extremely anxious to leave. Bodily and mentally he had suffered from the strain and anxiety. He had been promised a high post in India, probably the succession to the governorship of Bombay, but it was considered advisable that he should remain at his present post till the country was more settled. The winter passed quietly. With the submission of Dost Mahomed and his sons there was now no rival to Shah Soojah, no head round whom those discontented with the Ameer's rule could rally. He was the less unwilling to remain, as he thought that an era of peace had now begun, and that his anxieties were at an end. He was soon, however, undeceived. On Shah Soojah's first arrival in India he had naturally looked to the Dooranees for aid against the Barukzyes, who had so long oppressed them, and had made many promises of remission of taxation as an incentive to their zeal. These promises had so far been kept, that no taxes whatever had been exacted from the Dooranees; but in view of the absolute necessity of raising an income for the expenses of the government, and for the personal expenditure of the Ameer and his favourites, it became necessary that all should contribute to some extent to the revenue.

Although this tax was but a tithe of that which they had paid under Barukzye rule, the Dooranees of the district of the north-west of Candahar rose in rebellion, and General Nott marched out from that city and defeated them in a pitched battle. For a time the movement was crushed, but the discontent remained. This was rendered more formidable by the fact that the Heratees had taken up so offensive an attitude that our mission there had been withdrawn, and proofs were obtained that its ruler was fomenting the discontent in the western province, and was encouraging the disaffected by promising them assistance.

In May more serious trouble arose, this time with the Ghilzyes. It had been determined to restore the dismantled fort of Kelat-i-Ghilzye. The tribesmen viewed the work with hostility, and assembled in larger numbers, and Nott sent a force against them under Colonel Winder, with four hundred British troops, a Sepoy battalion, a battery of horse artillery, and a small body of cavalry. The Ghilzyes advanced to the attack in great force. The battle was long and desperate, but the volleys of grape from the guns, and the steady fire from the infantry, at last turned the scale, and after five hours' fighting the Ghilzyes retired. The Dooranees were again in arms, and three thousand men were assembled under their chief at Girishk. A small force, under Colonel Woodburn, marched out against them and defeated them, but having no cavalry on which he could rely, he could not prevent the rebels from retiring in fair order. Major Rawlinson, the political officer at Candahar, again warned Macnaghten that the situation in western Afghanistan was extremely threatening, but was answered that this was an unwarrantable view of our position, and that there were "enough difficulties, and enough of croakers, without adding to the number needlessly."

But Rawlinson was perfectly right, and Macnaghten was living in a fool's paradise. The defeated chief of the Dooranees was joined by another, and in August a force of eight hundred cavalry, of whom some were regulars, three hundred and fifty infantry, and four guns, under Captain Griffin, met the insurgents. They were strongly posted in a succession of walled gardens and small forts, but the fire of the guns and infantry drove them from the enclosure, and the cavalry then charged them with great effect and scattered them in all directions. Another defeat was inflicted upon the Ghilzyes in the same month. For the moment all was quiet again; the only drawback to Macnaghten's satisfaction was that Akbar Khan, Dost Mahomed's favourite son, was still in the north, and was reported to be gathering troops somewhere near Khooloom. In September Macnaghten received news of his appointment to the governorship of Bombay, and began his preparations for leaving Cabul, and Burnes looked forward to receiving at last the appointment for which he had so long waited. His position had been in every respect irksome. His views differed from those of Macnaghten; he saw the dangers of the position which Macnaghten refused to recognize. The reports he addressed to the envoy were generally returned with a few lines in pencil of contemptuous dissent; but he believed that with power to act in his hands he should be able to remedy the blunders that had been made, and to restore peace and contentment in Afghanistan.

The troops were now commanded by General Elphinstone, who had succeeded Cotton. He was a brave old officer, but almost incapacitated by infirmities. He obtained the post simply as senior officer, and was wholly unfitted for command in such a critical time and in such a position. Probably had it not been for the assurances of Macnaghten that all was going on well, and that the trifling risings had been crushed without difficulty, Lord Auckland would have yielded to the opinion of his military advisers and appointed General Nott. Had he done so the greatest disaster that ever fell upon the British army might have been avoided.

Nothing could be worse than the position in which the British camp and mission were established. They were on low ground, commanded on every side by hills, and surrounded by forts and villages. They were nearly a mile in extent, defended only by so contemptible a ditch and rampart, that an English officer for a bet rode a pony across them. The commissariat compound was near the cantonment, and occupied an extensive space with the buildings and huts for the officers. It, too, had a rampart, but this was even less formidable than that which surrounded the camp.