Campaign of the Indus / In a Series of Letters from an Officer of the Bombay Division

by T. W. E. Holdsworth

Captain Peat, chief engineer, immediately reconnoitered; and having reported that nothing could be done until those heights were in our possession, I decided upon at once storming them simultaneously, and, if practicable, entering the fort with the fugitives, as the gate in the northern face was occasionally opened to keep up the communication between the fort and the heights.

To effect this object I detached a company from each of the European regiments from the advanced guard with Major Pennycuick, her Majesty's 17th regiment, for the purpose of occupying the gardens and enclosures to the north-east of the town, and two more companies in the plain, midway between them and the column; at the same time I ordered three columns of attack to be formed, composed of four companies from each corps, under their respective commanding officers, Major Carruthers, of the Queen's, Lieutenant-Colonel Croker, her Majesty's 17th regiment, and Major Western, 31st Bengal Native Infantry, the whole under the command of Brigadier Baumgardt, the remainder of the regiments forming three columns of reserve, under my own direction, to move in support.

A hill being allotted to each column, Brigadier Stevenson, commanding the artillery, moved quickly forward in front towards the base of the heights, and when within the required range opened fire upon the infantry and guns, under cover of which the columns moved steadily on, and commenced the ascent for the purpose of carrying the heights, exposed to the fire of the enemy's guns, which had commenced while the columns of attack were forming.

Before the columns reached their respective summits of the hills, the enemy, overpowered by the superior and well-directed fire of our artillery, had abandoned them, attempting to carry off their guns, but which they were unable to do. At this moment, it appearing to me the opportunity offered for the troops to get in with the fugitives, and if possible gain possession of the gate of the fortress, I despatched orders to the Queen's Royal and 17th Regiments to make a rush from the heights for that purpose, following myself to the summit of the nearest, to observe the result. At this moment, the four companies on my left, which had been detached to the gardens and plain, seeing the chance that offered of entering the fort, moved rapidly forward from their respective points towards the gateway, under a heavy and well-directed fire from the walls of the fort and citadel, which were thronged by the enemy.

The gate having been closed before the troops moving towards it could effect the desired object, and the garrison strengthened by the enemy driven from the heights, they were compelled to cover themselves, as far as practicable, behind some walls and ruined buildings to the right and left of it, while Brigadier Stevenson, having ascended the heights with the artillery, opened two guns, under the command of Lieutenant Foster, Bombay Horse Artillery, upon the defences above the gate and its vicinity, while the fire of two others, commanded by, Lieutenant Cowper, Shah's Artillery, was directed against the gate itself; the remaining two, with Lieutenant Creed, being sent round to the road on the left hand, leading directly up to the gate, and when within two hundred yards, commenced fire, for the purpose of completing in blowing it open, and after a few rounds, they succeeded in knocking in one half of it. On observing this, I rode down the hill towards the gate, pointing to it, thereby announcing to the troops it was open. They instantly rose from their cover and rushed in. Those under the command of Major Pennycuick, being the nearest, were the first to gain the gate, headed by that officer, the whole of the storming columns from the three regiments rapidly following and gaining an entrance, as quick as it was possible to do so, under a heavy fire from the works and from the interior, the enemy making a most gallant and determined resistance, disputing every inch of ground up to the walls of the inner citadel.

At this time I directed the reserve column to be brought near the gate, and detached one company of the 17th Regiment, under Captain Darley, to the western side of the fort, followed by a portion of the 31st Bengal Native Infantry, commanded by Major Western, conducted by Captain Outram, acting as my extra Aide-de-Camp, for the purpose of securing the heights, under which the southern angle is situated, and intercepting any of the garrison escaping from that side; having driven off the enemy from the heights above, the united detachments then descended to the gate of the fort below, and forced it open before the garrison (who closed it as they saw the troops approach) had time to secure it.

When the party was detached by the western face, I also sent two companies from the reserve of the 17th, under Major Deshon, and two guns of the Shah's artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Creed, Bombay Artillery, by the eastern to the southern face, for the purpose of blowing open the gate above alluded to, had it been necessary, as well as the gate of the inner citadel; the infantry joining the other detachments, making their way through the town in the direction of the citadel.

After some delay, the troops that held possession of the town at length succeeded in forcing an entrance into the citadel, where a desperate resistance was made by Mehrab Khan, at the head of his people; he himself, with many of his principal chiefs, being killed sword in hand. Several others, however, kept up a fire upon our troops from detached buildings difficult of access, and it was not until late in the afternoon, that those that survived were induced to give themselves up on a promise of their lives being spared.

From every account, I have reason to believe the garrison consisted of upwards of 2000 fighting men, and that the son of Mehrab Khan had been expected to join him from Nerosky, with a further reinforcement; the enclosed return will shew the strength of the force under my command present at the capture.

The defences of the fort, as in the case of Ghuzni, far exceeded in strength what I had been led to suppose from previous report, and the towering height of the inner citadel was most formidable, both in appearance and reality.