6th August, 1880.
On the 4th of August orders were received from the Government of India for a force 10,000 strong under Lieutenant-General Sir F. Roberts to march from Cabul to the relief of Candahar; but it was not until last evening that the full meaning of the sinister news from Candahar was generally recognized in camp. So much secrecy had been kept regarding the earlier despatches, no doubt in the hope that later news would show the disaster to have been exaggerated, that until Colonel St. John’s long telegram giving details of the losses was issued in the Club, we could not accept the defeat at Khusk-i-Nakhud as a reality. In a large camp like this wild rumours obtain ready circulation; they are believed for a day, or a week, until some new theory is broached and a new turn given to the current of men’s thoughts. First we believed that General Burrows’ Brigade had indeed been annihilated; then the affair sank into a reconnaissance in which two companies of the 66th had been cut up to a man, and two guns lost; and at last, when it became known that General Roberts was to form a division to march southward, the belief became general that our army in Candahar had been roughly handled, and that Ayub Khan’s success was growing with alarming strides. When Colonel St. John’s telegram was read outside the Club-house to an audience of twenty or thirty officers, we could scarcely realize that 1,200 of our men had been killed in open fight, and that the remainder of the ill-fated brigade had made the best of their way back to Candahar over an almost waterless country. But there was no mistaking the hard facts set forth; the list of officers killed and wounded; and the ominous closing paragraph that the British garrison was preparing for a siege. Our past experience in December had taught us one salutary lesson; the Afghans respond to the call of a successful leader with a readiness which defies all ordinary calculations; and we saw that there might indeed be good cause for marching even such war-worn regiments as those about Cabul right down to distant Candahar. Our hearts were light a fortnight ago at the prospect of an early return to India, for the campaign has been a trying one, and officers and men have grown very weary of the endless see-saw in the political world wherein Mr. Griffin and Abdur Rahman are the chief figures. All hopes were dashed when the order went forth for a new and arduous march, with the prospect of guerilla fighting half the way; and it must be confessed that at first there were hearty curses bestowed upon the heads of those responsible for the change in the programme. But when the details of the disaster were made known, the duty of relieving Candahar was accepted quietly and with a certain pride, all sense of personal discomfort and danger being sunk in the feeling that the credit of our army must be vindicated without useless delay. To form one of a picked force such as General Roberts has now under his orders is no common fortune, for certainly not in the whole of India could be a better lot of fighting men be got together than that now waiting the final order to march. We are self-conscious of our own strength, and are just a little impatient that it cannot be put forth at once, while our enemies are still in the flush of success. To meet 10,000 British, Sikh, and Ghoorka soldiers—for Sir Frederick Roberts’s force is made up almost entirely of these races—would try the mettle of a better armed and disciplined army than the Afghans can ever hope to put in the field; and if this force cannot do the work marked out for it, then our military supremacy in the East must indeed be coming to an end. I do not care to play the part of a trumpeter to the Cabul army, but the merits of the regiments now brigaded are too great to be lightly passed by. The trust which is placed in the infantry and their breech-loaders appears at once from the fact that no field artillery is to be taken. General Roberts will have only three mule batteries (7-pounders), although one of these is of course the screw-gun battery, which has a reputation for accuracy and range that cannot be equalled by our 9-pounders. With these three batteries (in all eighteen guns), we have to meet Ayub Khan’s thirty or forty guns, and we are going out upon our errand without any fear of results: our screw-guns can silence one or two of the batteries which were turned upon our little force at Khusk-i-Nakhud, and our infantry can deal with the rest. We shall meet Ayub Khan, presumably, either within sight of Candahar, or on the Ghazni Road, and then his army of regulars and ghazis will have a fair opportunity of measuring itself against a British force worthy of the name. We shall not make the fatal mistake of scattering our brigades over the country side, each liable at any moment to be taken in detail and broken up by overwhelming numbers. Our march has not yet begun, and there are soothsayers in our midst who foretell a journey to Ghazni only, and then a backward movement towards the Shutargardan—Candahar having been relieved in the meantime by General Phayre; but if it should be our lot to cut ourselves off for three weeks from the outer world, there need be no anxiety as to our fate; we are well able to take care of ourselves.
The behaviour of the Amir, since he has learnt that a strong force will march to Candahar, has been all that could be wished. He is sage enough to see that Ayub Khan is the only dangerous rival he now has in Afghanistan, and if we break up the Herat army, Cabul will be made quite safe. The Amir has also sent several men of importance to travel a day’s march ahead of our army, and arrange with the maliks for the provision of supplies. If these officials of Abdur Rahman really do their work properly, our Commissariat officers will find their task of feeding 15,000 fighting men and followers greatly lightened. South of Ghazni we shall have to trust mostly to our own foraging parties, and we shall doubtless be on half-rations before Khelat-i-Ghilzai is reached. Sir Donald Stewart on the march to Cabul had at times difficulty in collecting supplies, as the villages on the road were deserted, and if the peasants have not since returned to look after their crops the country will not furnish much food. However, our own resources will carry us over half the distance at least, and a few double marches will make Khelat-i-Ghilzai seem not so far off after all. Mushk-i-Alam has accepted the new order of things in such a thorough-going spirit that he now talks of coming in with Mahomed Jan and accompanying Sir Donald Stewart’s army to India. Both our late foes are anxious to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Last night the Political Officers gave a farewell dinner in honour of General Roberts, at which Sir Donald Stewart and the chief officers of the force were present. In responding to the toast of his health Sir Frederick Roberts made the following characteristic speech:—
“Mr. Griffin, Sir Donald Stewart, and Gentlemen,
“I scarcely know how to thank you all for the kind way in which you have drunk my health, and that of the Column under orders for Candahar. To the very flattering terms in which Mr. Griffin has spoken of me I should have considerable difficulty in replying, were it not that I can honestly say that any successes which I may have attained hitherto have been due entirely to the experienced commanders I have had with me, the most capable Staff that ever accompanied a General Officer in the field, and the gallantry and discipline of the troops under me. I do not think there ever have been, and I doubt if there ever will be, more efficient troops sent from India than those which General Stewart and I have had the honour to command for the last two years. With such troops success is a certainty. Without wishing to underrate the dangers and difficulties of the task before us, I feel quite confident that the efficient force which Sir Donald Stewart has placed at my disposal will succeed in reaching Candahar as quickly as possible, and in effectually disposing of any Afghan army that may be brought against us. As Mr. Griffin has said, we must all deplore the cause which requires Cabul troops to be now sent to Candahar. A few days ago we were all congratulating ourselves upon the prospect of a speedy return to India. Some of us had laid in a store of Nipal pepper for use at home; others, I have heard, had actually named an early date for leaving Bombay for England. Well, Sir Donald Stewart is willing to guarantee—and were it not an indecorous thing for an officer so high in rank—would even bet—that we shall reach India again, viâ Candahar, in November next. Gentlemen, this is a country of great uncertainties. We have been living in a state of uncertainty for many months; but, thanks to the political skill of our kind host, affairs have during the last few weeks, progressed so rapidly and favourably that we have reason to hope the country may now have comparative rest and quiet, and that some settled form of government will be established. However, we must not be too sanguine: and I trust that our fellow-countrymen, who have not had the same opportunity that we have had of knowing Afghanistan and the Afghans, will not be disappointed if matters do not go altogether smoothly after the British troops leave Cabul. No Amir has ever yet occupied the throne for any time until he has proved himself capable of governing the country, and it is not likely that Amir Abdur Rahman will be an exception. We all know what difficulties Mr. Griffin has had to contend with, and we all rejoice at the great success which has attended his efforts—efforts so ably assisted by the Political Officers now with him. It now remains[remains] for Abdur Rahman to show that he is capable of filling the great position in which he has been placed. From the commencement of this campaign, the Political Officers have borne as important, if not as active, work as the soldier. First and foremost the gallant Cavagnari, known to and mourned by us all, and more than liked by many of us: with him many brave men fell, and it was to avenge their base and treacherous murder that this force came to Cabul. It is a great satisfaction to me to think that at present, at any rate, no officers will be required to remain at Cabul, and that all the Political Officers I see around me will return to India with the troops. But I feel quite sure if the decision had been otherwise, officers would have been found to accept the dangerous post, either officers of the civil service, or amongst those military politicals who have gained for themselves a reputation on the frontier and other parts of India.”
The foregoing was the last of my letters from Sherpur, as on the 8th of August I joined the force destined for Candahar. Accordingly, I will here briefly summarize the events which occurred at Cabul after the march upon Candahar had been begun. The force left in Sherpur and in the fortifications about Cabul were the 2nd Division under the Command of Major-General Hills. They were brigaded as follows:—
1st Brigade.—General C. Gough—9th Foot, 28th Punjab Native Infantry, 45th Sikhs.
2nd Brigade.—General Hughes—59th Foot, 3rd Ghoorkas, 19th Punjab Native Infantry.
3rd Brigade.—General Daunt—67th Foot, 5th Punjab Infantry, 27th Punjab Native Infantry.