‘He is convinced that there, as in all former times, it will be found, while, as at Jellalabad, the European and native troops mutually supporting each other, and evincing equal discipline and valour, are led into action by officers in whom they justly confide.
‘The Governor General directs that the substance of this notification, and of Major-General Sir Robert Sale’s report, be carefully made known to all the troops, and that a salute of twenty-one guns be fired at every principal station of the army.’
On the 20th February following, the thanks of Parliament were accorded to the Governor General of India, and to the officers and troops employed in Affghanistan, the resolutions being moved in the House of Lords by the Duke of Wellington, and in the House of Commons by Sir Robert Peel, who, after eulogising the gallant conduct of Sir Robert Sale and the garrison of Jellalabad, proceeded to deplore the death of Colonel Dennie, in the victory of the 7th April, in the following terms:—
‘That victory would have been the cause of almost unqualified rejoicing if it had not been purchased at the cost of the life of one of the most noble and gallant spirits, whose actions have ever added brilliance to their country’s military renown. Need I mention the name of the lamented Colonel Dennie? With his accustomed valour,—a valour which was unquenchable,—he led the British troops against the enemy. The attack which he headed was successful, but he fell in the conflict; and a spirit as gallant as his own has offered to his family and his friends that which he thinks,—and justly thinks,—the highest consolation that can be afforded them. “True it is,” he says, “he has lost his life; but he lost his life on the field of battle, and in the hour of victory!” Such is the consolation which Sir Robert Sale offers to his bereaved family and friends. I wish it had been possible—but it was not—I wish it had been possible that the dying moments of Colonel Dennie could have been consoled, as I believe they would have been, by the knowledge that, on account of the former valour and intrepidity he had displayed,—he having no other interest or influence than that just interest and influence which such courage and devotion ought always to command,—the Queen of England had signified her personal wish that Colonel Dennie should be appointed one of her aides-de-camp. I sincerely wish that Colonel Dennie could have been made acquainted with this fact.’[21]
The defence of Jellalabad, situated amid scenery of wild and savage grandeur, against an undisciplined but desperate enemy, who used his rude implements of war with deadly precision, will ever excite the highest admiration, and the British nation owes a lasting debt of gratitude to Major-General Sir Robert Sale, and the gallant band of heroes composing the garrison. These successes, contrasting so forcibly with the unforeseen disasters at Cabool, which partook more of the character of a hideous dream than of stern reality, may well make the Thirteenth refer with honest pride to the part they bore in these achievements.
On the 16th June, 1842, the Queen was graciously pleased to appoint Colonel Sir Robert Henry Sale (serving with the rank of Major-General in Affghanistan) to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath.
Major Edward T. Tronson was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel Dennie, and Captain Robert Pattisson was advanced to the Majority. Lieut.-Colonel Tronson retired on full pay on the 2nd August, 1842, and was succeeded by Major Squire, and Captain John Taylor was promoted to the vacant rank of Major.
In a few days after this victory, the privations and sufferings of the garrison, from incessant toil and the deficiency of provisions, were terminated by the arrival of the force under Major-General Pollock, who, in his despatch of the 19th April, 1842, stated that, ‘I have had an opportunity of inspecting the works thrown up for their protection by the indefatigable exertions of Sir Robert Sale’s force, and my surprise at their strength and extent has been only equalled by my admiration of the excellent arrangements which must have pervaded all departments, since, after a siege (by greatly superior numbers) of upwards of five months’ duration, I find the garrison in excellent health and spirits, and in an admirable state of discipline, with a good supply of ammunition, ready and anxious to take the field, and most willing to advance on Cabool.’
Major-General Sir Robert Sale’s report of the transactions in which the garrison of Jellalabad had been engaged, gives the following interesting particulars:—
‘From the time that the brigade threw itself into Jellalabad, the native troops have been on half, and the followers on quarter rations, and for many weeks they have been able to obtain little or nothing in the bazaars to eke out this scanty provision. I will not mention, as a privation, the European troops from the same period having been without their allowance of spirits, because I verily believe this circumstance and their constant employment have contributed to keep them in the highest health and the most remarkable state of discipline. Crime has been almost unknown amongst them, but they have felt severely, although they have never murmured, the diminution of their quantity of animal food, and the total want of ghee, flour, tea, coffee, and sugar: these may seem small matters to those who read of them at a distance, but they are serious reductions in the scale of comfort of the hard-working and fighting soldier in Asia. The troops have also been greatly in arrears of pay, besides their severe duties in heat and cold, wind and rain, on the guards of the gates and bastions. The troops, officers and men, British and Hindoostanee, of every arm, remained fully accoutred on their alarm posts every night from the 1st of March to the 7th April. The losses of officers and men, in carriage and cattle, camp equipage and baggage, between Cabool and Jellalabad were heavy; and their expenditure, during the siege and blockade, in obtaining articles of mere subsistence and necessity, has been exorbitant.