(1895)
In the relief of Chitral a number of native regiments took part. In the spring of 1895 Britain was suddenly called to attention by the news, flashed along the cables, that hell had broken loose in Chitral. This probably meant that a few British officers, with a small band of Sikhs and other native troops, were in a most dangerous position in the capital of that state. The probability soon became a certainty, and great alarm was felt as to their safety. The next piece of bad news was that the British were hemmed up in a small fort, and, in that desperate position, were defending it against fearful odds, beating off wild hordes of tribesmen, and fighting, in grim despair, against the clock, hoping that time might bring succour and relief. And the jeopardy of this situation was not lessened by the fresh news that two little sections of the British army from Gilgit had to scale mountains more rugged than the Alps before penetrating into the lowlands of Chitral to the relief of the little garrison.
After news of an engagement on March 7th no tidings were received from Chitral Fort. Meanwhile came the official report of the defeat of Captain Goss at Mastuj, he and fifty-six men having been killed—fifty-six out of a total of seventy-one. This, with the death-like silence of Chitral, was appalling; and immediately Major-General Sir Robert Low was ordered to mobilise on the frontier of the enemy's territory, and Colonel Kelly, commanding the 32nd Pioneers in the Gilgit district, was given carte blanche to plan the relief of Chitral in whatever way might seem best to him.
The journey from Gilgit to Chitral is a stupendous undertaking for an army. The distance is 220 miles, and the way lies over a gigantic range of mountains containing passes deep with perpetual snow. When it became known that Colonel Kelly had actually undertaken this journey in the hope of reaching Chitral in time to render assistance to the beleaguered British, the heart of Britain was contracted. There was a chill fear abroad, and the despairing word "impossible" was in constant use. In the clubs men who knew those mountains gazed into each other's eyes and borrowed what hope they could. The apparently impossible had often been attempted before, and proved possible; so the nation waited, nursing that fire of courage which is always kept burning in its breast.
Low's force was as follows:—
1st Brigade (General Kinloch).—Royal Rifles, Bedfordshires, 1st Sikhs, 37th Dogras.
2nd Brigade (General Waterfield).—Gordons, Scottish Highlanders, 4th Sikhs, Guides' Infantry, Field Hospital.
3rd Brigade (General Gatacre).—Seaforth Highlanders, Buffs, 25th Punjabis, 4th Gurkhas, Field Hospital.