| CONTENTS [CHAPTER I.] FIRST STEPS IN WAR. | PAGE |
| Sir Henry Lawrence's idea—Stocks and tunics—A new departure—Selection of title—Duties—Harry Lumsden—His methods of training—Baptism of fire—A gallant exploit—Working for the Sikhs—Capture of Babuzai—Death of Duffadar Fatteh Khan—The spring of 1848—Guides unravel a plot—General Khan Singh hanged—The Maharani deported | [1] |
[CHAPTER II.] THE FIGHTING AROUND MOOLTAN AND AFTER. | |
| The Insurrection at Mooltan—Murder of Agnew and Anderson—Herbert Edwardes's great achievement—A guide or two with nerves of steel—Siege of Mooltan—Guides capture twelve guns—Ressaldar Fatteh Khan, Khuttuk—His historic charge—With seventy men routs a brigade—Arrival of Bombay troops—Mooltan stormed and taken—Lumsden attacks and annihilates Ganda Singh's force—Battle of Gujrat—Pursuit of the Sikhs—End of Second Sikh War | [18] |
[CHAPTER III.] THE CAPTURE OF THE FORT OF GORINDGHAR. | |
| The fort described—Seventy-two guns and a battalion of infantry—British determine to capture it—Rasul Khan and Guides' infantry sent in advance—The strategy of the Subadar—Effects an entry—A day of anxiety—Plans for the night—The sudden onslaught—Capture of the fort—The Union Jack—Rasul Khan's reward | [31] |
[CHAPTER IV.] ON THE FRONTIER IN THE 'FIFTIES. | |
| Guides increased—Fatteh Khan, Khuttuk, again—The night attack—Staunchly repulsed—Thirty against two hundred—With Sir Colin Campbell—Nawadand—The enemy attack in force—A cavalry picquet—Lieutenant Hardinge to the front—His splendid charge with twenty men—Hodson of Hodson's Horse—Attack on Bori—Lieutenant Turner's predicament—Gallantry of Dr. Lyell—Hodson's charge—Celebrated spectators | [39] |
[CHAPTER V.] THE STORY OF DILĀWUR KHAN. | |
| Men accustomed to look after themselves—Shooting for a vacancy in the Guides—No fiddlers and washermen—Rudyard Kipling's Bhisti—The brave Juma decorated—Enter Dilāwur Khan—A noted outlaw—Lumsden pursues him—They "talk things over"—The outlaw enlists—The goose-step—Dilāwur the doctrinarian—The sinking boat—Nearly killed as a Kafir—Becomes a Christian—His last duty—A brave but pathetic end | [51] |
[CHAPTER VI.] THE GREAT MARCH TO DELHI. | |
| The Mutiny of the 55th Native Infantry—Their tragic fate—The Guides start for Delhi—Daly's diary—A fight by the way—An average of twenty-seven miles a day—Arrival at Delhi—Every officer killed or wounded first day—The summer of '57—Return to the Frontier—A warm welcome—Three hundred and fifty out of six hundred left behind—Complement of officers four times over killed or wounded | [65] |
[CHAPTER VII.] TWENTY YEARS OF MINOR WARS. | |
| With Sir Sidney Cotton against the Hindustani fanatics—Fierce hand to hand fighting—Dressed to meet their Lord—Against the Waziris in 1860 under Sir Neville Chamberlain—Fierce attack on the Guides' camp—Lumsden stands the shock—The charge of the five hundred—The Guides clear the camp with the bayonet—Heavy casualties—Lumsden's last fight—A story or two—Lord William Beresford—The Crag picquet—Colonel Dighton Probyn—A boat expedition—Cavignari's methods—Surprise of Sappri | [76] |
[CHAPTER VIII.] THE MASSACRE OF THE GUIDES AT KABUL. | |
| The Cavignari mission—Escort of the Guides—Cordial reception—The clouds gather—Insubordination of Herati regiments—The storm bursts—Seventy men against thousands—Defence of the Residency—The fight begins—Cavignari's bravery and death—Messages to the Amir—The attempt of Shahzada Taimus—The enemy's guns arrive—The distant witness—The three officers lead a charge—Kelly's death—Another charge by Hamilton and Jenkyns—Jenkyns killed—Hamilton's last charge and heroic death—The last bright flash—Retribution | [97] |
[CHAPTER IX.] THE AFGHAN WAR, 1878-80. | |
| The Guides under Sir Frederick Roberts—Their devotion to him—Under Sir Sam Browne at Ali-Musjid—Jenkins enlists an enemy—"No riding school for me"—Battle of Fattehabad—Wigram Battye's death—Hamilton's fine leading—He wins the V.C.—The Guides' march to Sherpur—They pass through the investing army—Assaults on the Takht-i-Shah and Asmai heights—Captain Hammond receives the V.C.—The final assault of the enemy on Sherpur—Defeat and pursuit—The second battle of Charasiab—A fine fight—Roberts marches to Kandahar | [117] |
[CHAPTER X.] WAR STORIES. | |
| Fighting against his own people—The temptation—The sentry succumbs—Seventeen sent in pursuit—Their return after two years—Duffadar Faiz Talab's adventure—An unwilling General—His unhappy position—A narrow escape—Saved by a British officer | [135] |
[CHAPTER XI.] THE ADVENTURES OF SHAH SOWAR AND ABDUL MAJID. | |
| Shah Sowar meets "Smith"—They depart together—Sheikh Abdul Qadir, late Smith—A travelling Prince—The first pitfall—Escape—Tea and diplomacy—The Evil Spirit—The Chief with a thousand spears—The Englishman's disguise fails—Death in the morning—A hairbreadth escape—Abdul Majid—The fatal shoes—The compass down the well—A night with his jailer—A stroke for freedom—A later meeting—Peace and jollification | [144] |
[CHAPTER XII.] THE RELIEF OF CHITRAL. | |
| The beleaguered garrison—Two hundred miles from anywhere—Rapid mobilisation—Kelly's fine feat—Storming the Malakand—The Guides' charge in the Swat Valley—Roddy Owen—The Panjkora—Position of the Guides—The bridge breaks—The fight in retreat—Seven thousand held at bay—A battle on the stage—Colonel Fred. Battye mortally wounded—A night of suspense—Defeated by star-shells—Death of Capt. Peebles—Action of Mundah—Relief of Chitral | [160] |
[CHAPTER XIII.] THE MALAKAND, 1897. | |
| A sudden call on the Guides—Prompt departure and fine march—Days and nights of constant hand-to-hand fighting—Story of the trouble—Great bravery of the enemy—Repulsed again and again with slaughter—Reinforcements arrive—Sir Bindon Blood—Relief of Chakdara—Its splendid defence—A word for the British subaltern—The fight at Landāki—MacLean's heroic death—Three V.C.s in one day | [172] |
[CHAPTER XIV.] THE HOME OF THE GUIDES. | |
| A camp to start with—The Five Star Fort—On the borders of Yāghistan—After the mutiny—The bastions—Godby cut down—The mess—The garden—The old graveyard—The Kabul memorial—Ommanney's assassination—The names of roads—Old leaders—The farm—Polo-grounds—Church—Daily life—Sport—Hawking—Climate—A happy home | [185] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Sir Harry Lumsden, who raised the Guides, from a portrait made when he was commanding the corps | [Front.] | |
| Afridis on the war-path | To face page | [8] |
| Ressaldar Fatteh Khan, Khuttuk, who at the head of seventy men of the Guides' Cavalry defeated and drove into Mooltan a Brigade of Sikh Cavalry, from a picture by W. Carpenter. By kind permission of General Sir Peter Lumsden, G.C.B. | " | [24] |
| A Picquet of the Guides' Infantry bivouacking | " | [40] |
| A Scout of the Guides' Cavalry warning his Infantry Comrades. The small man on the right is a Gurkha | " | [70] |
| A non-commissioned officer of the Guides' Infantry | " | [80] |
| An Afridi of the Guides' Infantry | " | [92] |
| The Memorial Arch and Tank to the memory of Sir Louis Cavignari and the officers and non-commissioned officers and men of the Guides killed in the defence of the Kabul Residency, September 3, 1879. In the foreground is a brass cannon captured during the Relief of Chitral | " | [104] |
| Statue of Lieutenant Walter Hamilton, erected in Dublin Museum | " | [107] |
| A Trooper of the Guides' Cavalry | " | [124] |
| Types of men in the Guides' Infantry | " | [136] |
| Types of men in the Guides' Cavalry, both in uniform and mufti | " | [144] |
| Non-commissioned Officer and Trooper of the Guides' Cavalry | " | [162] |
| Thirty-four wearers of the Star "For Valour," all serving at one time in the Corps of Guides. This is the highest distinction open to an Indian soldier for gallantry in action. The group illustrates the variety of tribes enlisted in the Guides—Afridis, Yusafzai Pathans, Khuttuks, Sikhs, Punjabi Mahomedans, Punjabi Hindus, Farsiwans (Persians), Dogras, Gurkhas, Kabulis, Turcomans, &c., &c., most of whom are here represented | " | [172] |
| The old Graveyard at Mardan | " | [190] |
| The Church at Mardan | " | [194] |
THE STORY OF THE GUIDES
CHAPTER I
FIRST STEPS IN WAR
It is given to some regiments to spread their achievements over the quiet centuries, while to the lot of others it falls to live, for a generation or two, in an atmosphere of warlike strife and ever present danger. The Guides have been, from a soldier's point of view, somewhat fortunate in seeing much service during the past sixty years; and thus their history lends itself readily to a narrative which is full of adventure and stirring deeds. The story of those deeds may, perchance, be found of interest to those at home, who like to read the gallant record of the men who fight their battles in remote and unfamiliar corners of the Empire across the seas.
To Sir Henry Lawrence, the preux chevalier, who died a soldier's death in the hallowed precincts of Lucknow, the Guides owe their name and origin. At a time when soldiers fought, and marched, and lived in tight scarlet tunics, high stocks, trousers tightly strapped over Wellington boots, and shakos which would now be looked on as certain death, Sir Henry evolved the startling heresy that to get the best work out of troops, and to enable them to undertake great exertions, it was necessary that the soldier should be loosely, comfortably, and suitably clad, that something more substantial than a pill-box with a pocket-handkerchief wrapped round it was required as a protection from a tropical sun, and that footgear must be made for marching, and not for parading round a band-stand.