Before the corps could join the army, Major-General Pollock forced the Khyber Pass, and marched on to Jellalabad, at which place he arrived on the 16th of April; the Affghans had, on the 7th of April, been attacked, and defeated, by Major-General Sir Robert Sale; Mahomed Akbar Khan was consequently obliged to abandon the siege of Jellalabad, which he had blockaded since February, 1842.
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, which had followed Major-General Pollock by forced marches, joined at Jellalabad on the 5th of May,—after making a halt for about five days at Peshawur,—having undergone much privation on the way by the desertion of the camel-drivers: several deaths occurred from famine and fatigue.
The army was halted in wretched tents at Jellalabad, the climate of which is known to be so unhealthy during the summer as to cause it to be used by the natives as a winter residence only. Soon the effects of this displayed itself; the days became so oppressive that both officers and men were obliged to dig deep holes underground in which to shield themselves, in some slight measure, from the burning heat of the sun. The thermometer rose as high as 126° in the tents, and man and beast fell stricken by the extreme heat.
Neither was it in men alone that the army was daily losing its efficiency. From the valley of Jellalabad having been so long the seat of war, the fertile land had become a desert,—the wretched half-starved camels could find no forage on the bare face of the sand, and they died by hundreds; their dead bodies lying about in all directions, swollen with the sun, and emitting the most horrid exhalations, together with the filth and dirt of a standing camp of 50,000 men, added to the disease which raged among the troops. The army suffered a loss which the most sanguinary encounter with the enemy could not have exceeded.
At last, it was found necessary to divide the force, and the fourth brigade, in which was the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, was ordered to march under Brigadier Monteath to Peshbolak, in the Shinwaree country, to punish some refractory tribes, which had behaved with great treachery to a party of Jezailchees, who had been at the former place, and to bring to submission the unruly Shinwarees, who had attacked several convoys, and been guilty of many acts of murder and plunder.
For the first month the regiment met with little opposition, and the camel-thorn, a wild bush, on the leaves of which camels feed, being found in great quantities, and large supplies of grain being taken, the condition of the camels, horses, and other baggage animals was much improved; the half-starved emaciated animals, which had marched from Jellalabad, quickly recovered their wonted vigour and efficiency. The warlike and turbulent Shinwaree tribes retired before Brigadier Monteath’s brigade, until they sheltered themselves in their strongholds, which were formed in a narrow valley, strengthened by many forts and stockaded enclosures, while the heights on either side were defended by numerous sunghas, or breastworks of large stones, which were so constructed as to enable them to dispute every inch of ground with an advancing force.
The brigade having arrived, and encamped about two miles from this formidable position, a reconnoitring party was sent out, under the command of Captain Willes, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to examine the strength of the enemy’s preparations, and determine his exact position. It was composed of two companies of the thirty-third Native Infantry, with a few Jezailchees, or Native Light Infantry, so named from the Jezail, or short rifle, with which they are armed. This party, having proceeded some four or five miles from the camp, was furiously attacked by a large force of Shinwarees, and suffered severely from their fire, which was very effective from the position they had taken up, and from which it required a very considerable force to drive them: nevertheless the object sought was fully obtained; the enemy’s position was correctly ascertained, together with every requisite information for the attack in force, after which the reconnoitring party returned to the camp, sustaining a smart action the whole way back.
On the 26th of July Brigadier Monteath prepared to attack the enemy near Mazeena with his whole force; and accordingly, leaving the camp standing under an efficient guard, he moved towards the position occupied by the Affghans, who were prepared, and nothing loth to meet him. Little time elapsed before the engagement was commenced by the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, seconded by the thirty-third and fifty-third Native Infantry, ascending the heights, and driving the Shinwarees from their breastworks, and along the ridges of the hills, while the tenth Light Cavalry, in the valley below, charged them whenever they showed front on level ground. The camp followers and pioneers had been furnished with combustibles to burn the forts, as the Shinwarees were driven out of them, which service was very efficiently performed. Meanwhile, on the heights, the enemy disputed every foot of ground until taken at the point of the bayonet, and Lieut. M‘Ilween, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, was killed while gallantly leading an attack of this kind against a vastly superior force.
The Affghans being driven from their defences, the artillery, under the command of Captain Abbott, played upon them with great effect; and after contesting the day until every fort and place of defence had been taken and destroyed, they fled, dispersing themselves among the neighbouring hills, where it was impossible to pursue them. Their loss was very great, including most of their leaders.