The Commander-in-Chief also recommended Captain A.F. Kidston of the 42nd, Private George Cameron, and Private George Ritchie, for the same honour.
The officers killed in action were Lieutenant E. Wilmot, R.A., Lieutenant Eyre, 90th Regiment, Captain Nicol, Hants Militia, Captain Buckle, RE; while three died from the effects of the climate,—Lieutenant the Honourable A. Charteris, A.D.C., Captain Huyshe, D.A.Q.M.G., Lieutenant E. Townshend, 16th Regiment; while seven others were wounded.
Chapter Thirteen.
The Afghan War—1878-1879.
For many years previous to the war, the relations between England and Afghanistan had been unsatisfactory. Shere Ali, the ruler of the latter country, received an annual subsidy from us, and had, besides, been presented with large quantities of arms and other warlike weapons. The events which led to the war have been debated with great acrimony, and are viewed in opposite manners by persons of different political opinions, and it is enough here to say that the approach of Russia to the northern frontier of Afghanistan caused considerable uneasiness to the Ameer, and that, unable to obtain from us any positive assurances of support in case of attack from the north, he appears to have determined that his best course would be to throw himself into the arms of Russia, even at the risk of breaking with us.
For some time all communications with the Ameer had ceased, and it was from a native news-writer that the intelligence that a Russian general with a mission had arrived in Cabul, and had been honourably received, came to the ears of our authorities.
Upon the news being made public, the Viceroy of India wrote to Shere Ali, requesting him to receive also an English mission. The answer of the Ameer was evasive, and Major Cavaignari, an officer of great experience in Afghanistan, was sent up with an escort as a precursor of a larger and more important mission to follow. Upon the 21st September he arrived at Ali-Musjid, an Afghan fort in the Khyber Pass, and was there stopped by an officer of the Ameer with a large force. A long parley took place; but the officer refused to allow him to pass, and Major Cavaignari, not having a sufficient number of men with him to force his way up, retired, with an intimation that the Ameer would be held responsible for the conduct of his officer.
As it was clearly impossible that the Indian Government could put up with this insult, and that, moreover, England could not submit to see Russian envoys received by a country upon her border which refused to admit her own officers, preparations were at once made for war. It was decided to invade Afghanistan in three columns, one starting from Jumrood, at the north of the Khyber Pass, the second to advance through Tull by the Kuram Valley, and the third to move via the Bolan Pass upon Candahar. The first of these was to be commanded by General Sir S. Browne, the second by General Roberts, the third by General Biddulph. The preparations for the concentration of these columns occupied considerable time, as India had been for some time in a state of profound peace, and the commissariat and transport service had to be entirely organised. The greatest efforts were, however, made, and the troops were rapidly got into place.