From Colonel B.
Kandahar, 5th December, 1880.
My dear Mrs. Brooke,
... We had lived together up here, and I had learnt to love him as a brother, for he was all that was noble and kind and generous, and I felt his sad loss most truly and most deeply. I shall never forget that fearful morning as long as I live. I was distracted when the remnants of the Force returned and he was not with it. I fear I forgot everyone else in my grief at losing my dearest friend, and the one head in whom we all placed full reliance and faith, and regarding whom we universally felt, as long as he was with us, all would be well. I can assure you, dear Mrs. Brooke, he was beloved by every one here, and his loss was universally mourned for as the greatest one that could have happened to us, for every one appreciated his splendid soldier-like qualities and clear-headed abilities, and as to his courage and determination it was the admiration of everyone, so you must not think he was not loved and valued here, for I have no hesitation in saying that he possessed the love and confidence of everybody, for everybody went to him for advice, and he never refused it to anyone. Would that General Primrose had taken his advice, and stuck to it alone, and then that wretched sortie would never have taken place. I handed over his Letts' rough diary to Major H., and in that he records his opinion on the sortie when ordered the week before, and which he prevented. Unfortunately, as he told me himself, his mouth was closed on the second occasion, as he was ordered to command the attacking Force, and it would appear as if he was afraid, and besides he had given General Primrose his opinion very clearly about it, on the previous occasion, and the objections and arguments, he then made against it, had become stronger, for it was known that the enemy had been busily engaged all the week fortifying the place. I will not relate again the particulars of that sad day, as I feel sure you must have, before now, received the long account I sent through Major H., and it is very painful to me to refer to it; suffice it to say, that your dear Husband fell as a true and brave soldier, nobly endeavouring to save the life of poor Captain Cruikshank, after having remained to the very last in the village to collect all the remaining men and bring them out. He might, no doubt, have secured his own safety by retiring himself sooner, but he was not the man to do so, as long as he thought there was anyone else left behind, and in fact he was coming out with Colonel Daubeny's party of the Fusiliers, by the north of the village, when he returned to satisfy himself that no one was left behind, and he went right through the place again, and came out by the south, and it was then, I understand, he found Captain Cruikshank and endeavoured to bring him out. I am sure it will be a consolation to you to know that he fell perfectly dead, and never suffered any pain. I had this direct from his Trumpeter orderly, a European, who was with him all the time, and by his side when he fell. I examined him most minutely on this point, and he assured me he never spoke a word when he fell, and I found a wound through his body caused by a bullet, which must have caused instant death.
From Col. E.
Simla,
12th October, 1880.
My dear Mr. Brooke,
... To all of us who knew your gallant Brother so well, and to myself personally as an intimate friend, his death in action, nobly striving to aid a wounded comrade, has been a painful blow. He was so true and thorough a soldier that we had hoped for high distinction for him when we heard he had been sent to Kandahar, and his letters to me from that place were full of confidence. I am sure that we shall yet learn that however depressed and dispirited others may have been during the siege, that Henry Brooke was never down-hearted, or anything else, but as brave a soldier in life as he was in death.