“Move 23rd Pioneers, 5th Ghoorkas, and Mountain Train to Shutargardan, crest of pass; to entrench themselves there and await orders. Ten days’ supplies.”
In accordance with these instructions, Swinley’s Mountain Battery of six 7-pounder guns, escorted by the Pioneers and Ghoorkas, moved upon the Shutargardan, which was occupied without opposition on the 11th of September. Colonel Currie, of the 23rd Pioneers, commanded this small force. The 72nd Highlanders and the 5th Punjab Infantry followed in a few days to secure the road between Ali Kheyl and the Pass, while the 7th Company of Bengal Sappers and Miners was ordered up from Shulozan (near Kurram) to improve the road beyond the Shutargardan. In the meantime, the following appointments had been made:—Colonel Macgregor to be Chief of the Staff to Major-General Sir Frederick Roberts, Commanding the Force; Brigadier-General Macpherson, C.B., V.C., to command the 1st Infantry Brigade; Brigadier-General T. D. Baker, C.B., to command the 2nd Infantry Brigade; Brigadier-General Dunham Massy, to command the Cavalry Brigade; and Brigadier-General Hugh Gough, C.B., V.C., to be Road Commandant. On September 12th General Roberts arrived at Ali Kheyl. On the 13th General Baker took command of the troops in the Shutargardan; which Pass, by the 18th of the month, was held by the troops which had moved up originally, together with the whole of the 72nd Highlanders and the 7th Company of Sappers and Miners. The position was strongly entrenched and every precaution taken against a surprise by the neighbouring tribes.
Having secured the Shutargardan, Sir Frederick Roberts cast about for means to complete his transport, it being intended to move 6,000 men upon Cabul with as little delay as possible. With the usual carelessness which marks the operations of Indian armies, and perhaps with a desire to curtail expenditure, the transport of the Kurram Valley Field Force had, upon Cavagnari’s departure for Cabul, been allowed to dwindle down to insignificant proportions. There were in the Valley, when the news of the Massacre was received, only 1,500 mules, 500 sickly camels, and 800 pack-bullocks. These were just sufficient to enable the Commissariat Department to furnish supplies to the winter garrison of the Valley. Without loss of time all the available animals in Peshawur and near the frontier were ordered to be sent to Ali Kheyl, and eventually the army was provided with almost 2,000 mules, between 700 and 800 camels, and upwards of 600 bullocks.[[3]] The Gajis, Turis, and local Ghilzais were induced to send in animals with drivers, and this “local carriage” was of great service. Padshah Khan, the most influential of the Ghilzai chiefs, declared himself willing to aid us in the collection of supplies, and his friendship at this critical moment was all-important. On the 14th of September the Nawab Sir Gholam Hassan Khan, who had started from Candahar to join Cavagnari at Cabul, reached the Shutargardan. He had heard news of the Massacre and had turned off the Ghazni Road and made for our most advanced post. The fact of his non-molestation on the road proved that the Logar Valley was quiet, and this was confirmed by a reconnaissance on the 16th, when General Baker went as far as the Shinkai Kotal, half-way between Kushi and the Shutargardan. On the 22nd the Mangals to the number of 200 or 300, raided upon a small convoy carrying telegraph stores near Karatiga, east of the Pass, killed six sepoys of the escort (originally only eleven men), and twenty-one coolies and linesmen. They also succeeded in carrying off eighty-four mules. This showed that our convoys would probably he attacked daily, and General Baker ordered that no escort should be less than twenty-five armed men to 100 transport animals.
CHAPTER II.
Letter from the Amir—Baker’s Advance to Kushi—Arrival of Yakub Khan in the British Camp—The State of Cabul—Excitement along the Line of Communication—Departure of the Last Convoy from Ali Kheyl—Narrow Escape of Sir F. Roberts—The Amir’s Attempt to delay the Advance—Durbar at Kushi—The Advance ordered—Instructions to the Troops.
The news of the preparations at Ali Kheyl and the Shutargardan reached Cabul very rapidly, and a letter from General Roberts to the Amir was also safely received. In reply Yakub Khan wrote as follows:—
“To General Roberts. I have received your letter of the 7th, and was much pleased. I fully understood what was written. Complete confidence was restored, and a sense of relief felt in the friendship shown by the Viceroy, as my prosperity found favour in his sight. I am dreadfully distressed and grieved at the recent event, but there is no fighting against God’s will. I hope to inflict such punishment on the evil-doers as will be known worldwide; and to prove my sincerity, I have twice written on this subject, and the third time by my confidential servant, Sher Muhammad Khan. I now write to say that for these eight days I have preserved myself and family by the good offices of those who were friendly to me, partly by bribing, partly by coaxing the rebels. Some of the Cavalry I have dismissed, and night and day am considering how to put matters straight. Please God, the mutineers will soon meet with the punishment they deserve, and my affairs will be arranged to the satisfaction of the British Government. Certain persons of high position in these provinces have become rebellious; but I am watching carefully and closely every quarter. I have done all I could to ensure the Nawab Ghulam Hussain’s safety. I trust to God for the opportunity of showing my sincere friendship for the British Government, and for recovering my good name before the world.”
The Amir’s anxiety, or perhaps terror it should be called, had reached a climax at this time. On the one hand were the Sirdars who had thrown in their lot with the mutinous troops, and were trying to persuade him to raise a jehad, or religious war; and, on the other, General Roberts and his army, already on the move from Ali Kheyl. With the idea that he might save his capital from destruction, or, as was afterwards suggested, that he might delay our advance until the tribesmen had assembled at Cabul, Yakub Khan resolved upon throwing himself into the British camp, and claiming such protection as we could afford. Before doing this he sent two members of the Cabul Durbar to Ali Kheyl, viz., the Mustaufi Habibulla Khan and the Wazir Shah Muhammad, or, as we should describe them, his Chancellor of the Exchequer and his Prime Minister. They bore a letter in which their sovereign announced his intention of flying from Cabul and placing himself in General Roberts’s hands. Before this took place, however, the advance from the Shutargardan had begun, General Baker having pushed forward the troops at his disposal in the following order.
On 24th September.—Four guns No. 2 Mountain Battery. 12th Bengal Cavalry. One company 72nd Highlanders. 5th Ghoorkas.
On 25th September.—F-A Royal Horse Artillery. Seven companies 72nd.