The Relief of Chitral

by G. J. Younghusband; Sir Francis Edward Younghusband

Another literary curiosity found in Munda fort was a letter from a Scotch firm in Bombay offering to provide Umra Khan with every luxury in the way of arms and ammunition, from Maxim guns at Rs.3,700 each, down to revolvers at Rs.34 a piece. Luckily the benevolent intentions of this patriotic firm had been frustrated by the astute intervention of Major Deane, at that time Deputy Commissioner of Peshawur. The firm in question has found it expedient to transfer itself, and the benefits to humanity which it provides, to Cairo. Many other letters too lay about showing how wide was the influence of the departed chief; offers of help, spontaneous and otherwise, showed that the total resources at his command were not much under 30,000 men, all armed in some fashion or another, with a good sprinkling of breech-loading rifles, lately the property of Her Majesty the Queen of England.

It was on the 17th day of April that Umra Khan made his last stand and disappeared permanently from the theatre of operations. On the very same day the garrison of Chitral made the splendid sortie led by Lieutenant Harley of the 14th Sikhs, a full account of which will appear in a future chapter, and on the night of the 18th of April the siege was raised, and Sher Afzul and his whole force fled to the hills. Here the general with 1,500 of his men, were cleverly captured and brought in prisoners to Dir.

The history of our recent wars does not furnish an example of a more signal and sweeping success. In the space of exactly one month from the day on which the mobilisation of the Relief Force was ordered, the main object of the campaign was obtained, the whole of the enemy's numerous and ubiquitous forces were defeated and dispersed, and every one of the important chiefs was a prisoner in our hands, or in those of our ally the Amir. Setting aside the superiority in armament and organisation which were undoubtedly on our side—though in passing it may be noted that the Soudan and the Cape furnish instances where both availed not against determined savages—it may be well to examine the chief causes which led to this signal success. The result may be described briefly as due to three main causes: To the rapid and successful mobilisation of the Relief Force; to the crushing defeat of the enemy in Swat, on the Panjkora, and in the Jandul Valley; and to the hardy and determined advance of Colonel Kelly's small column from the north. Nor must we forget the stout resistance of the garrison placed perforce in an almost untenable position against overwhelming odds, which thoroughly damped the ardour of the besiegers and paved the way for the effective result obtained by the approach of the relief columns. It was in fact the game of war played on sound principles, and with a fine all-round combination which commanded success.

Head-quarter Camp.

How nice this calculation had to be will be appreciated by the military student, when he considers how far divergent were the bases from which the two columns had to start, and what immense physical difficulties had to be overcome by each. It does not require much imagination to show that Umra Khan, acting, as he was, on interior lines as against exterior lines, might, if less skilfully assailed, have first thrown his whole force on Colonel Kelly's weak column, entangled in almost impossible defiles; next, with troops elated with victory, have swamped the small garrison of Chitral, already hard pressed and short of food, and then, with a dozen tribes at his back, stirred up to the highest pitch of Mohammedan fanaticism, have turned and assailed the main column under Sir Robert Low. The final result of the campaign must undoubtedly have gone against Umra Khan, but he would have had some signal successes to show in return. It happened to be one of the writer's duties to escort Sher Afzul to India as a prisoner of war, and from conversation held with him it appeared that such in fact had been, in the main, the plan of campaign which Umra Khan had contemplated, and he was frustrated only by the superior combination and strategic skill which directed the march of the relieving columns.

All need for any hurry was now over. Colonel Kelly reached Chitral unopposed on April 20th, and was the first to shake hands with the brave defenders. Sir Robert Low's leading brigade, under General Gatacre, set to work to construct a mule road over the Lowaria Pass, still deep in snow, and a few troops were marched up the Chitral Valley just to show themselves without straining unnecessarily the difficult task of feeding large bodies of troops so far from their base. The campaign ended with one of those gracious messages with which Her Majesty Queen Victoria never failed to acknowledge the gallantry of her Army; whilst in the hearty and soldierly message of the Commander-in-Chief, Sir George White, every man of the Force felt that his services had been appreciated by one who knew well the difficulties that had been overcome, and the stern hardships that had been cheerfully borne.

The British soldier, and his friend and comrade of the Indian army, are accustomed to serve in every degree of climate, and in every nature of country, for an empire of the vast dimensions of the British Empire must needs embrace every variety of climate and country. In the brief and brilliant campaign just concluded perhaps these various conditions were as numerously represented as is possible. There was fierce heat and piercing cold, deluges of rain and blinding storms of snow and hail; the highest mountain system in the world to be climbed, rivers, deep and wide and astonishing in their treacherous strength, to be crossed. With his greatcoat and a blanket for his baggage, the sturdy British soldier and his strapping Indian war comrade, face these many hardships with the cheerful alacrity of men ready and accustomed to overcome unusual difficulties, and to face tremendous odds by land and sea.

It is seldom, too, that a British campaign does not produce its men of mark and those who have done heroic deeds, nor is this one an exception to the rule, for the names of Sir Robert Low, General Bindon Blood, and General Waterfield stand high in the historic roll of successful generals, whilst Colonel Kelly's brilliant feat of arms has made him famous for ever. But perhaps the deed of all others which appeals most to the soldier's heart was the desperate and successful sortie from Chitral, made by the brave and gallant Harley and his Sikhs on the 17th day of April, 1895.