16th December.
The second night has passed without any demonstration by Mahomed Jan against Sherpur; and while the fire-eaters in our force are longing for an attack, in order that the Afghans may learn how mud walls and entrenchments can be defended by men with breech-loaders in their hands, most of us are glad that our soldiers have had time to rest, and have not been obliged to stand out all night in the bitter cold. Four blankets per man have been served out; and, wrapped in these, the soldiers have been able to keep themselves fairly comfortable, while sleeping in the trenches and bastions. The sentries are on the alert, and have, of course, had to endure cold and discomfort; but the great body of men have rested quietly. To-day also, no attack has been attempted; and while we are settling down to the new conditions imposed upon us—for we are now practically in a state of siege—our spirits are as high as ever. We chafe under the delay which must necessarily ensue before we can once more disperse the enemy; but we hope that the troops from Jugdulluck and Gundamak will soon put us in a position both to hold Sherpur and to have a few thousand men outside, dealing with the Ghazis. There can be no doubt we have been lulled during the past two months into false security. Our only anxiety hitherto has been to find an enemy to fight; and the opinions I have expressed in former letters as to the Afghan weakness for running away have been simply those held by every one here. When we sent our brigades out to fight, they found no one to face them; and we were unaware that such a powerful combination as that now against us was possible. After the dispersion of the remnants of Yakub Khan’s mutinous army, there was such an appearance of peace, at least for many months, that the ordinary military precautions were not taken. Our hands were full with laying in supplies for the winter and getting the troops into barracks. Sherpur, with its three sides already fortified, and ample accommodation in its long lines of rooms, was ready to our hand, and we occupied it at once, although the strength of our army was scarcely adequate to defending it[[35]] and keeping our communications open. The original plan of placing two or three regiments in the Bala Hissar was certainly a good one; but the explosions in the fortress, and the dread that it might still contain mines unknown to us, deterred General Roberts from carrying out his first intention.
Further, when Sherpur was occupied, the sense of security then prevailing led us to spare the forts and villages in its vicinity. Even the old walls and isolated towers in the fields about were left untouched. We make war so humanely that, even in a country like Afghanistan, we are loth to let military exigencies override all other considerations. That we shall suffer for it now in loss of life is beyond question; for, at several points about the walls, cover is given to an attacking party, who can get within 400 or 500 yards of our bastions. On the eastern and southern sides this is particularly the case. Outside Bemaru, as I have said, are forts, villages, and orchards; while, between the three gates facing towards Cabul, the ground is similarly occupied. Fort Mahomed Sharif, so well known in the dreary days of 1841-42, still stands intact within 700 yards of the “72nd Gateway,” and about it are high walls and walled enclosures, which are sure to be occupied by sharp-shooters. Outside Deh-i-Afghan also are orchards and gardens, each with its strong open walls, and in the fields are ruinous walls, with an occasional tower, which we could easily have destroyed if we had foreseen that an investment was hanging over us. It is easy to be wise after the event; but there can now be but one view as to the defects of Sherpur. To defend it, simply, is now comparatively easy, even with the 6,000 men we have within its walls; but beyond defence, we can do nothing. It covers such an enormous area of ground, that when all our picquets and sentries have been placed, we have no one to spare; and though we have dismounted nearly the whole of our cavalry, there are not even 1,000 men available for outside work. If it were half the size, we should be as comfortable as in an Indian cantonment; or if we had 10,000 men here, and three or four more batteries of artillery, we could break up Mahomed Jan’s army without difficulty. But neither of these conditions exists, and we are quietly accepting the humiliation of investment, and witnessing the looting of Cabul and the Bala Hissar without being able to strike a blow against the enemy. The suddenness of the whole business is the most remarkable feature, and we now see to what imminent danger Sherpur was exposed when Generals Macpherson and Baker were sent out to force the fighting in Maidan. In the first week of December native rumours of 40,000 or 50,000 men gathering together to attack Cabul were freely circulated in the city, but little attention was paid to them. Later, there was the plain evidence of our cavalry scouts that 4,000 or 5,000 men were between Maidan and Argandeh, and to cut them off was the object of General Macpherson’s march into the Chardeh Valley, and of the détour made by General Baker from Charasia to Maidan. General Macpherson, in carrying out his flank march to get between Mahomed Jan and Bamian, came unexpectedly upon Mir Butcha and his Kohistanis; and he had first to deal with them before turning his attention to the Ardal Pultan and their friends from Wardak and Ghazni. His defeat of Mir Butcha, on December 10th, was of great value, as preventing the Kohistanis from joining the other force; but on the 11th there followed the defeat of our cavalry and the temporary loss of two guns. That afternoon was really most pregnant with danger to the cantonment. Two brigades were miles away from the walls, and between the nearest men of General Macpherson’s brigade and Sherpur were 10,000 of the enemy. If they had streamed over the Nanuchi Kotal, near where the action of the 14th was fought, and had shown the same determination in assaulting our lines as they had done in resisting the cavalry and guns, we must have lost Sherpur long before help could have come from the two Brigadiers. That the enemy streamed off to the Cabul gorge, with the intention of seizing the Bala Hissar and the city, was the saving of our cantonments. Two hundred rifles of the 72nd checked them at Dehmazung, and they contented themselves with occupying the hills to the south of the Bala Hissar Heights, and waiting for reinforcements. We kept them in play, on the 12th, with 600 men, who partly captured their position; and by that time General Baker had reached Sherpur. On the 13th our success was unqualified; we stormed and occupied the enemy’s position, and our cavalry in the Cabul plain cut to pieces such fugitives as left the hills. That evening we believed we had seen the enemy’s full strength and had broken it; but after the action on the Asmai Heights, and the retreat of our troops to cantonments, we were undeceived. It became apparent that there were between 30,000 and 40,000 men, quite sufficient to keep us within our walls, as with such numbers many points could be threatened at the same time. It came to this: that we must he content to let them occupy Cabul, the Bala Hissar, and whatever other points they chose, while we watched them carefully from Sherpur, ready to repel attack, or to clear them out of forts and villages dangerously near our walls. They have liberty to roam whithersoever they will; while we are so numerically weak, except for cavalry reconnaissances, that we must accept the usual conditions of a beleaguered garrison. We have accepted it, cheerfully enough, I venture to say; and when we again go out to clear Cabul and the Bala Hissar, we shall do it with all the more zest after being penned up in Sherpur by sheer weight of numbers.
To-day there has not been much done beyond hard work at the entrenchments, at which the men labour heartily, as they know the importance of having continuous lines of defence. Our curiosity is fed by rumours from the city, from which we gain a certain amount of trustworthy news; though our spies, as a rule, are the most treacherous-looking ruffians we have seen for a long time. Our intelligence department has such bad tools to work with, that scarcely any information proves correct; for an Afghan is a greater adept at fabrication than any other Asiatic. We cannot trust them: they go and come, and bring strange tales, and fill our minds with the idea that 40,000 Ghazis mean to fight to the death, so as to capture Sherpur; and then nothing comes of it. We hear to-day of scaling-ladders being made, and of an assault to be delivered simultaneously at seven points; but when or how it will be made not even the most pronounced liar among the spies ventures to say. Two or three bankers from the city have been in Sherpur to-day, and from them we have learnt that Mahomed Jan and his followers are bursting with pride at finding themselves in possession of Cabul, and holding the British army in check. There is so much confidence among them, that, no doubt at the instigation of Yakub Khan’s mother, they have proclaimed young Musa Jan, Yakub’s son, Amir. This is to give a semblance of order and patriotism to their movements, we suppose; and, perhaps, their leaders hereafter may be bold enough to proffer negotiation. They will be the mouthpiece of their new Amir, and Sir F. Roberts will be nothing more than the representative of the British, who will be told, as in olden times, that they are not wanted in the country. Further, they have found that no Governor of Cabul now exists, General Hills, our nominee, having, of course, left the kotwali for the safer quarters of Sherpur. The fanatics have therefore nominated Mushk-i-Alam, the old moollah, to be Governor, and, with all his ninety years heavy upon him, he sits dispensing justice and encouraging the moollahs to work upon the religious feelings of soldiers. Whether he expects long to enjoy his dignity does not appear; but, apart from his great age, there is the contingency of Cabul once more falling into our hands. His jehad has certainly been a wonderful success, and it is long since so large a number of armed men have been assembled in and about Cabul. They are likely to experience the same difficulty we have always felt—supplies. Each villager carries with him chupaties and dried mulberries sufficient for three or four days’ consumption; but their food-bags now want replenishing. With her usual energy, Yakub’s mother is said to have given her jewels and money to the “troops”—if they deserve the name—and they have now ample funds to carry them on for a short time. The citizens also have been called upon to show their patriotism. By beat of tom-tom it has been proclaimed that all surplus grain and other food must be given up, each family only retaining enough for its own consumption. The bunniahs and others will be heavy losers by this enactment; but as death is threatened in case of disobedience, there is no option but to obey. They will find Mahomed Jan’s short rule far different from ours, under which they amassed rupees by thousands, and fleeced the strangers handsomely. The wholesale looting that has gone on during the last two days has given the enemy vast stores of treasure; and one report states that Yahiya Khan’s house, which we only partially cleared out, has proved a mine of wealth to them. The usual result has followed: they have begun to quarrel among themselves. Every Afghan is not a Ghazi; and to the mind of the village tribesman, far away from his home, it seems folly to risk farther fighting, while such plunder has been already obtained. The Ghazis would at all costs try to storm Sherpur, and repeat the victory of 1841-2, but their fanaticism has not extended far, and it will have to rise to fever-heat before it will face an assault. We have not much to fear in that direction; but still with our small stock of ammunition, it would be better, perhaps, if it did not take place. If made at night, our men would probably blaze away 70 or 100 rounds; and if our reinforcements were checked, we might seriously feel the want of ammunition.
To-day the sky has been overcast and the hills obscured with mist, so we have been unable to communicate by heliograph with Luttabund. We believe the garrison there to be quite safe, as news of any attack in that quarter would reach us very soon. Colonel Hudson knows that we are invested, and he will have taken every precaution to ensure his own safety. There seems no disturbance among the Tezin Ghilzais as yet, and the Safis of Tagao have not yet returned to their friends in Cabul. Their losses must have been heavy on the 13th and 14th. The Kohistanis who got away from the cavalry on the 13th did not all escape to their homes. While the fight was going on near Cabul, the 12th Bengal Cavalry at Butkhak were ordered to patrol the plain between that post and the Logar river. Towards evening they came across eight men who were at once made prisoners. They were all armed and well mounted, and, upon being questioned, said they were friends of Wali Mahomed, on their way to Tezin, to bring the Ghilzais down to aid the British. This statement was telegraphed to Sherpur, but Wali Mahomed knew nothing of the men; and as they had the accoutrements of a Guide sowar on one horse, and three new Snider rifles, with 400 rounds of ammunition, they were ordered to be shot. When told they were to die, they half-admitted that they were not friends of Wali Mahomed. Their leader was a young Kohistani, who met his death bravely enough: the second was a petty sirdar, who, in fear and trembling, begged for his life; and the third was a village priest, who tried to induce the Mahomedan sowar told off to execute him to let him go. “You are a Mahomedan,” he said, “and I am one of your holy men. You cannot shoot me! Let me get past the sentry, and I can escape.” The sowar’s answer was characteristic of our men: “You have been fighting against the Sircar, and it is your kismut now to be shot. You must fulfil your kismut.” The moollah saw that his prayers were of no avail, and as he was walking out, he added half-apologetically:—“I tried to persuade these others not to fight, but they would come down to Cabul, and they brought me with them.” This was admission enough, even if it were not the whole truth. It is the moollah usually who persuades the tribes to turn out, not the tribesmen who have to persuade the priest to come with them. The four other prisoners were servants of the three men named: as they were all bearing arms they also were shot.
17th December.
To-day the enemy seem to have awakened to a sense of their responsibility as an investing force. Having made their permanent (?) political arrangements for the good government of Cabul and Afghanistan, they have begun to turn their attention to the stranger within their gates. They fondly imagine that a parade of their strength may overawe us, and strike terror to our souls: quite forgetting that it can only be for a short time that we shall be the attacked, and not the attackers. About ten o’clock this morning they poured out of the eastern and western gates of Cabul, with banners flying and tom-toms beating, and drew up in dense masses upon the Siah Sung Heights on the one side and the slopes of the Asmai hill above Deh-i-Afghan on the other. Horsemen were seen galloping about in their midst, and trying to keep them together in military order; but their efforts were, as a rule, of no avail, only the men of the Ardal Pultun marching at all like soldiers. The men in that regiment (Guards) still carry their Sniders, and dress in a soldierlike manner, their cross-belts and pouches giving them the appearance of regular sepoys. At eleven o’clock the Afghans assembled must have numbered fully 20,000, and it was believed that they meditated an attack on the eastern and western walls of Sherpur. The alarm was accordingly sounded in cantonments, all work at the trenches was stopped, the Reserve formed up at its appointed place below the Bemaru gorge, and every man went to his post. It was a bleak December day; the sun was obscured, a cold wind sweeping down from the Pughman hills, and heavy clouds louring as if threatening snow. Our men in the trenches and on the walls were all clad in their over-coats, and dreary work they found it waiting for an enemy who never came. The hundreds of scaling-ladders we had heard so much about were not visible, and the thousands of men who crowded upon Siah Sung were only valorous enough to wave their knives and scream out curses which never reached our ears. After several hours of this unsatisfactory waiting, the order was given to shell the enemy, most of whom were out of rifle-range. G-3 and two guns of F-A opened upon Siah Sung, and their practice was excellent. G-3 got the range exactly, and two or three shells burst right in the thick of the masses upon the ridge. The effect was instantly seen: “they jist ran like skelpit bairns,” as a Highlander remarked. The dead and wounded were dragged away by the heels, and in an hour the heights were clear, except of such small parties as disdained to run away. A few marksmen of the 67th, with their Martinis, knocked over one or two of these at 1,700 yards, and this long range shooting caused the Afghans to disperse, some going to the Bala Hissar, and others running down to the villages below Siah Sung. On our eastern wall the 8-inch howitzer, placed in position on one of the bastions, was fired for the first time, and its huge shells, dropping into and over Deh-i-Afghan, scattered the crowds there assembled. The terrific report of the howitzer, and the bursting of its heavy shells, did much to alarm the enemy, who have hitherto only had 7-pounders and 9-pounders fired against them. There was some difficulty at first in getting the range and fixing fuses in the shells, which are of Afghan make; but our gunners soon overcame this, and the howitzer is now in perfect working order. It will be very useful in shelling such villages near Deh-i-Afghan as may be occupied by sharpshooters.
The only attempt to open fire upon the cantonment walls was made by a small body of the enemy, who took possession of the small walled garden, where the 5th Punjab Cavalry was quartered before the investment. This garden lies to the right of the road leading to the city, and is about 700 yards from the “72nd Gateway.” It is all that remains of the old “King’s Garden” of 1839-42. The walls are about ten feet high, and within them are numerous large trees, up which some of the more daring Afghans climbed. Their best shots aimed at our men lining the walls; but although their bullets struck the parapet from time to time, or dropped far over into the open space where our tents used to stand, no harm was done. Two mountain guns of Swinley’s battery were placed in the bastion, fifty yards to the west of the “72nd Gateway,” and these shelled the garden, while a few marksmen fired at such Afghans as exposed themselves. In the afternoon two companies of the 5th Punjab Infantry were ordered out to clear the garden. Colonel Brownlow, of the 72nd, who has charge of the wall from the gateway to the south-western bastion, rode out with them. They doubled across the open, covered by the fire from the gate and bastions, and got well round to the westward of the garden. The enemy fired a few shots, and then rushed out at the opposite side, making for Mahomed Sharif’s fort on the other side of the road. One was shot and bayoneted; and on our side a sepoy of the 5th was slightly wounded by a bullet in the leg. The garden was thoroughly searched, but none of the enemy could be found, so our men returned to Sherpur, two companies of the 72nd being ready inside to cover their retirement if they had been followed up. Beyond one or two dropping shots, they were allowed to march back unmolested. While this was going on, the Bala Hissar was seen to be crowded with armed men, and word was brought in that the moollahs were haranguing them, and urging them to attack in earnest. Their exhortations had some effect, as several thousand men took the road which would have brought them across the Cabul river and well within range of our rifles; but their courage or fanaticism was not equal to the demand made upon it, and they eventually turned off and went into the city. A few are reported to have gone to some villages outside Bemaru and the eastern wall of Sherpur; but whether they will remain there all night is doubtful. There is no organized plan of attack among them; and unless more determination is shown than that displayed to-day, our investment is likely to be of a very mild kind. The numerical strength opposed against us seems also to have decreased, and our spies report that many villagers have returned home with their dead and wounded, taking also with them such loot as they can carry. The boasted reinforcements to swell their ranks to 100,000 men are not forthcoming; and beyond the annoyance of being confined within cantonments, we do not suffer much from Mahomed Jan’s successes. The wells we have sunk since our water-supply was cut off give us good water; and except the cavalry, whose lines are in the open, we are all snug under cover in our barracks, so that stray bullets cannot do us harm. For the better purposes of defence the cantonment has been divided into sections, and each of these is in charge of an officer. From the head-quarters’ gate northwards to the end of the wall, and thence along the heights to the Bemaru gorge, Major-General Hills has charge; Brigadier-General Hugh Gough takes from the gorge and along the line of entrenchments to Bemaru village; Colonel Jenkins, of the Guides, has the eastern wall, from Bemaru to the corner bastion looking towards Butkhak; Brigadier-General Macpherson the southern wall, from that bastion to the 72nd Gate; Colonel Brownlow from the gate to the corner bastion on the south-west, facing Deh-i-Afghan; and Colonel Hogg from that bastion to the head-quarters. Major Hanna is Brigadier-General Gough’s orderly officer. The Reserve is under Brigadier-General Baker, and at night all the men belonging to it sleep on the hillside below Bemaru gorge. During the day the position of the infantry is as follows:—From the head-quarters’ gate to the western foot of the heights, the 5th Punjab Infantry; below the heights to the west of the gorge, the 3rd Sikhs and 5th Ghoorkas; east of the gorge, the wing of the 23rd Pioneers; in Bemaru village, the Guides’ Cavalry and Infantry; near the eastern wall, 100 men of the 28th Punjab Infantry and part of the 67th Foot; in the barracks, on the south, the remainder of the 67th, the 92nd, and the 72nd; and in the western wall the Sappers and Miners. Dismounted cavalry are also employed at a few of the bastions and near the gorge. The guns are moved from point to point as their fire is wanted. To-day parties of cavalry were out, reconnoitring towards Kohistan, in the direction of the Surkh Kotal; but beyond seeing a few score men moving about, they reported nothing unusual. They did not come under fire of the enemy. Our cavalry videttes take up a position on two low hills, a mile beyond the north-western bastion, whence they can watch the Aliabad and Nanuchi Kotals leading from Chardeh Valley, and also warn us of the movements of the enemy along the road at the foot of the Asmai hill from Deh-i-Afghan. No large bodies of Afghans could move from this direction without the garrison having timely warning of their approach.
Again to-day we had no heliographic communication with Luttabund, and the position of General Charles Gough’s brigade is quite unknown to us. We are calculating that he will be here by the 20th; but this is a sanguine estimate, as the troops on the Khyber side are still weak in their transport arrangements. He may be unable for a few days to concentrate his troops at Jugdulluck preparatory to starting for Cabul; but the exigency is so great, that we may reasonably hope great energy will be shown in pushing on when once a start is made. He is to bring with him the 9th Foot, the 2nd and 4th Ghoorkas, and a mountain battery; and if the baggage is limited to the merest necessaries, the march should be a rapid one. It is a heavy blow to our prestige to be forced into Sherpur after having ruled Cabul for two months; and the sooner the present humiliating state of affairs is changed, the better will it be for our future control of the country. Our men are equal to bearing the exposure of night work well enough under the influence of excitement; but when the reaction comes, there will be a long list of hospital cases, for, even with four blankets and an overcoat, a soldier cannot but feel the effects of sleeping out in the open air. To-day has been the coldest we have yet experienced, and the wind is very trying to the sentries, who have to stand motionless at their posts, watching for the enemy. If snow falls, the discomfort will be increased, and the men in the trenches and bastions will have to bear great hardships.