Table of Marches from Jumrood to Cabul.
The corrected road distances are:—
| Miles. | |
| Jumrood to Ali Musjid | 8·30 |
| Ali Musjid to Lundi Kotal | 10·50 |
| Lundi Kotal to Dakka | 12·00 |
| Dakka to Basaule | 11·10 |
| Basaule to Barikab | 9·98 |
| Barikab to Jellalabad | 17·76 |
| Jellalabad to Rosabad | 12·88 |
| Rosabad to Sufed Sang | 16·12 |
| Sufed Sang to Pezwan Kotal | 12·75 |
| Pezwan Kotal to Jugdulluck Fort | 10·50 |
| Jugdulluck Fort to Sei Baba | 10·00 |
| Sei Baba to Luttabund | 9·50 |
| Luttabund to Butkhak | 9·50 |
| Butkhak to Bala Hissar | 9·20 |
| ——— | |
| Total | 160·09 |
Transport for the Indian Army.
The transport arrangements have always been the great stumbling-block when war has been declared in India, and in the hope that something will be done to form a permanent establishment, I republish the following letter, written in Sherpur on June 15th, 1880:—
15th June.
Lieutenant-Colonel Low, of the 13th Bengal Lancers, Chief Director of Transport with the Cabul Force, has suggested a plan for establishing a permanent transport service, the details of which I will try to explain. He advocates a system—the expense of which should be moderate in time of peace, and not extravagant in time of war—which should admit of rapid expansion when war breaks out, and, most important of all, which should allow of the animals being employed for ordinary purposes of commerce in peace time, yet always be ready to fall into their places when the State requires them. Colonel Low takes an army of 36,000 of all arms with fifteen days’ food as the unit to be treated, this being about the strength of a force which is likely to be mobilized in case of war breaking out, and he believes that under his system transport for such an army could be raised, at any time, in a fortnight.
Taking the mule as the only transport animal in the “first line,” he calculates that 70,000 mules (of which number 1,028 would be spare animals) would be required for the 36,000 men, the estimate being as follows:—
| Mules. | ||
| 7,000 | British Infantry | 15,435 |
| 1,500 | ” Cavalry | 6,036 |
| 2,800 | Artillery and Engineers | 11,267 |
| 4,000 | Native Cavalry | 9,900 |
| 21,000 | ” Infantry | 26,334 |
| —————— | ||
| Total | 68,972 | |
| Spare animals | 1,028 | |
| —————— | ||
| Grand total | 70,000 |
This calculation is made on the Cabul scale of baggage, and each animal would have to carry two maunds only; allowance is made for forage and grain also being carried. The 70,000 mules required would be located in the three Presidencies, in the following proportion: Bengal, 35,000; Bombay and Madras, 17,500 each. Regarding Northern India, it is calculated that the N.-W. Provinces would furnish 9,750, Oudh 750 and Rohilkund 2,000. The Punjab would be responsible for 27,500. The system of maintenance would be the division of all the country into a certain number of districts; as, for instance, the N.-W. Provinces into thirteen, and the Punjab into twenty, each of which would have a fixed number of mules ready for the State when occasion might arise. Colonel Low’s explanation of the organization he would create is so clear, that I will give his own words. He says:—“The districts would all have been numbered off in the transport books, and I will suppose I am visiting the Rawalpindi or No. 20 district. The first village I enter, might have, perhaps, fifteen mules, nine of which were over three and under fourteen years old. To the owners of these animals I would say: ‘Government will give you, through me, one rupee per month for each of these animals. Government does not want them now and may never want them at all. Keep them, therefore, and use them as you have been accustomed to. All that Government asks is that you will agree to give the use of the mules in time of war. You must bring them with their saddles, &c., arranging among yourselves that at least one man shall accompany every three mules. On Government calling for the mules, you will receive war rates of pay from that day till the animals are discharged, when they will revert to peace rates of one rupee per month. This present agreement is to last twelve months, after which notice of three months on either side may end the bargain: the one proviso being that when Government has called for the service of the mules, the notice cannot be given until the mules are discharged. Meanwhile the mules must be branded with the district mark ‘R 20;’ and here is Rs. 36, the first[first] quarter’s payment in advance.’” Colonel Low states that from his personal knowledge, and from opinions expressed by native gentlemen, he is convinced the people would eagerly accept such a system, as it is one which they could easily understand, and is quite in keeping with their customs and traditions.