[136] “There are some officers in camp who think that Brigadier England’s detachment will be sacrificed between this and the Kojuck; but with such fine examples as those set by Woodburn on the Helmund, Anderson at Tazee, and Wymer at Assyai, surely there ought to be no doubt of success between this and the Kojuck, when no natural obstacles to signify intervene.”—[Lieutenant Hammersley to Major Outram: March 18, 1842. MS. Correspondence.]
[137] Major-General England to Government: April 2, 1842. Published Papers.
[138] Nott had resolutely refused to send any troops to meet England’s detachment, though earnestly pressed by Rawlinson to do so. The General urged that he could not afford to send troops to the Kojuck, whilst he was liable at any time to be called upon to proceed to the relief of Khelat-i-Ghilzye. Rawlinson pointed out the immense evils attending a total deprivation of treasure, and said that even the compulsory abandonment of Candahar might follow the failure of General England to effect the passage of the Kojuck. Nott, however, was obdurate. The detachment was not sent. Wymer’s brigade, however, was then out to the southward of Candahar, and it was believed that the object of the movement was to support the party advancing through the Kojuck. Nott withdrew the brigade to Candahar, and an impression gained ground among the enemy that we had endeavoured to open our communications with the troops below, but had drawn back in despair.
[139] Of the 20th Bombay Native Infantry. He was greatly esteemed as a gallant and good soldier. “They have a fine fellow at the head of the light battalion,” wrote Hammersley to Outram, a few days before the brigade left Quettah, “and it is to be hoped that he will inspire the crest-fallen with a little ardour.”—[MS. Correspondence.]
[140] “General England and his staff were dismounted, and standing in conversation not far from where the light companies had rallied. I joined them. It was useless to stand and lament over what could not be recalled. A retreat was determined upon. I observed to the General that the day might be retrieved, and offered to lead into the entrenched position with a hundred men properly supported; and I am confident that I should have succeeded. The men were in courage, and anxious to recover the bodies of their comrades. The General replied, he had not men. I proposed that the left hill should be attacked first, as it commanded the smaller one. The enemy were certainly in strength, and very bold, but our men burned with rage at seeing their comrades cut up before their eyes. I think I pressed my offer three times, the last time volunteering to lead with eighty men; but the General felt he had too few, and that the stake was too great.”—[Colonel Stacy’s Narrative of Services in Beloochistan and Afghanistan in the Years 1840, 1841, 1842.]
[141] It appears to have been England’s intention, after the disaster on the 28th, to have commenced his retreat on the same evening; but Colonel Stacy persuaded him not to move until the following morning. On the 29th he struck his camp and marched to Hykerzye, halted at Koochlag on the 30th, and on the 31st reached Quettah.
[142] Hammersley complained that the General’s letter was so very unsatisfactory, that if it had not been for some private letters, he would have been left in ignorance of the real nature of the events that had occurred. The original letter, now before me, is worth quoting. England seems to have been so unwilling to state distinctly that he had been defeated, that even when writing officially to General Nott on the 1st instant, he shrunk from a plain statement of the circumstances of the case; so that Nott, writing to him on the 18th, could only say: “I have been favoured with your letter of the 1st instant, &c.... I have also heard of the affair you had with the enemy on the 28th ult.” The letter to Nott is, however, less obscure than the letter to Hammersley, which runs thus:
“Camp, three miles south of Hykulzye, 2 P.M.
“My dear Hammersley,—I wish you would acquaint Colonel Marshall, that as the insurgent force has been much reinforced from Candahar, and have so strongly protected themselves with breastworks, &c., on the ground commanding our line of route this side of Hykulzye, I shall fall back to Hykerzye to-morrow, my presence here being now of no use, and inviting their insults; and it is probable that as the position at Hykerzye is not a good one, having much broken ground in its rear, that I shall further fall back on Cutchlak. I have had so many men killed and wounded by the enemy, that my baggage is increased whilst my means of defending it is lessened. If Colonel Marshall, through your information, thinks the Cutchlak Pass occupied, he may make such efforts as his numbers will enable him to keep it open and communicate with us; and as the enemy is a hundred to one stronger than any one imagined, I must wait for the reinforcements till I try them again. Meanwhile, the fortification of Quettah must be proceeded with vigorously. Show this to Colonel Marshall and Major Waddington.
“Sincerely yours (in haste),