by G. A. Henty
Chapter 17: At Candahar.
The garrison of Jugdulluk consisted only of 220 Sikhs. The officerin command left seventy of these in charge of one of hissubalterns, with the injunction to exercise the most extremevigilance, in his absence. Then with 150 men, a subaltern, and WillGale, he started up the path to effect the rescue of thebeleaguered convoy.
The road wound and turned frequently among the spurs of the loftyhills, which had cut off the sound of firing from the garrison; andonly a faint and distant murmur was audible, when they started.After marching two miles, however, the rattle of the musketrybecame clear and distinct. Upon the way the officer in commandlearned, from Will, the exact position of things in front, and thesituation of the Afghans.
When within half a mile of the scene of action, fifty men werethrown out on either side of the road; while the other fiftyadvanced, very slowly, along the center The orders to the flankerswere to search among the rocks, as they advanced, and to bayonet orshoot every Afghan they found among them.
It was not long before they came upon the enemy. Then the riflescracked out; and the wild shouts of the Afghans betokened theirastonishment at being thus, unexpectedly, assailed in rear.Numerous as they were, they offered but a light resistance. Theirone thought was to effect their escape; and they hurried rapidlyaway as the relief advanced, climbing the steep sides of the valleyby paths only known to themselves; and then, from the hillside farabove, opening a scattered fire, at random, down into the valley.
In five minutes, all resistance had ceased. The flanking partieswere ordered to shelter themselves behind the rocks, and to returnthe fire of the natives on the hillsides; to retain the positionuntil the convoy passed through, and then to close behind it, as arear guard. With the fifty men in the road, the officer then pushedforward; and was soon greeted by a shout of welcome from thedefenders of the defile.
There was not a minute to be lost; for the Afghans, when theyrecovered from their first scare, would renew the attack; and theparty pressing down the defile on their rear--ignorant of what hadtaken place below--were still keeping up an incessant fire.Twenty-eight of the Guides were already killed, or wounded.
Several of the sick men, in the dhoolies, volunteered to walk downto the fort, and to give up their places to those of the woundedmen who were unable to walk and, in a few minutes, the convoy movedforward. The fifty men of tho relieving party placed themselves intheir rear and, as the tribesmen who had been attacking them frombehind rushed down through the defile, with exulting shouts--believingthat they were now secure of their victims--the Sikhs opened so heavya fire on them that they fell back up the defile, in disorder.
As the convoy wound down the valley, the enemy again assembled onthe hills and pursued them hotly. But the Sikhs and Guides kept upso steady a fire that they did not venture to approach to closequarters and, with a loss of eighteen more men, the convoy reachedthe shelter of the fort. Conscious of their inability to attackthis position, the Afghans drew off.
On returning to his friends, Will had resumed his uniform; and now,on reaching the fort, Captain Edwards expressed to him his warmestthanks for the hazardous adventure that he had undertaken.
"I shall, of course," he concluded, "furnish a full report of theaffair to the general; and I should think he would recommend youfor the Victoria Cross. If any fellow ever deserved it, you do so;for it seemed, to me, almost certain death to venture through thepass. I never expected to see you again; and I was never more glad,in my life, than I was when the firing began down below in thevalley, and knew that help was at hand for, had you failed, itwould have been all up with us. I doubt if we should have seen themorning and, at any rate, few of us would have been left, by thattime."
The convoy reached Jellalabad without further adventure, andCaptain Edwards reported to the general the events of the march. Hewas requested to give a full written report of the affair; and thegeneral stated that, in forwarding it, he should certainly append arecommendation that Lieutenant Gale should receive the VictoriaCross, for his gallantry in venturing through the Afghans to fetchassistance for the convoy.
Will himself, as soon as he reached Jellalabad, hurried away to thecantonment of the Norfolk Rangers; who were in a village, a miledistant from the town. He was not recognized, as he passed throughthe soldiers scattered about the village street; and was soon atthe principal house, where the colonel had his quarters. On sendingin his name, he was at once shown into the room where the colonelwas at work.
"I am indeed glad to see you," the latter said, rising and shakinghim heartily by the hand; "and I congratulate you, most warmly, onyour promotion. I promised to do what I could for you, when youjoined; but I did not expect that it would be so soon."
"I am indeed obliged to you, colonel, for your kindness," Willsaid; "and am conscious how much I owe to you."
"Not at all, my boy, not at all. It was General Roberts, himself,who recommended you for your commission; and I was only too glad toback up his recommendation, to the best of my power. We all thoughtyou were gone, when you were reported as missing at Ali-Kheyl, andwe heard from the sentry that--having gone forward, to investigatethe origin of a noise he had reported to you--you were suddenlyfired upon; and that he saw no more of you, as he ran back to thepicket. I was glad, indeed, when the report was received from poorCavagnari that, upon his arrival at Cabul, he had found you there,just recovering from your wounds.
"Then, of course, we gave you up again, when we heard of themassacre of the mission; and it seemed like a resurrection from thedead when I got a letter from Roberts, saying you were found again,and that he was recommending you for a commission.
"I see by the Gazette you are appointed to the 66th, and we wereexpecting to see you on your way down. Had you any difficulty ingetting through the passes?"
"The convoy was attacked, sir, by the tribesmen, when nearJugdulluk; but the garrison came out to our rescue, and we gotthrough safely. But we had thirty men killed or wounded."
"A smart affair!" the colonel said. "And now, of course, you willtake up your quarters with us, for a day or two, before you go on.The officers will all be glad to see you; and you will be able totell us all about the attack on the mission, and the recentfighting. Roberts has been having some hot work, there.
"We have been grumbling horribly at our bad luck. We thought, atthe time, we were fortunate at being sent back to India, when peacewas signed, instead of being kept in the Khurum valley. But theconsequence has been that we have been out of it all. However, wemust look upon you as our representative."
Will hesitated about staying, but the colonel overruled hisobjection; saying that, as there would be no fighting until thespring, there could be no particular hurry for him to join hisregiment. A spare room was placed at his disposal, in the colonel'squarters, and Will was soon made at home. The officers flocked in,upon hearing of his arrival; and all congratulated him, mostwarmly, upon his promotion. An hour later, a mounted orderly rodeup to the colonel's quarters.
"Is Lieutenant Gale here?" he asked.
Will went forward.
"A note from the general," the orderly said and, handing it to him,"also one for Colonel Shepherd."
Illustration: Letters from the General.
Will's note was simply an invitation to dine, that evening, withthe general. The colonel's letter was as follows:
"Colonel Shepherd,
"As Lieutenant Gale was promoted from your regiment, I think it islikely that he has found his way to you. I have written to ask himto dinner; please spare him to me. I hope you will do me thepleasure of accompanying him. He has performed a most gallantaction; and I have just had the pleasure of writing a dispatch,recommending him for the V.C."
Will and the colonel at once wrote notes, accepting the invitation.When these had been sent out to the orderly the colonel read aloud,to the officers present, the note he had received from the general.
"Now," he said, turning to Will, "what is that you have been doing?You told us the convoy had
been attacked, and sharply pressed; butyou said nothing of your share in the affair. What was it?"
"It was simple enough, sir," Will answered, coloring hotly. "Wewere surrounded, just at the mouth of the defile. The enemy heldthe valley in front in great force, and another party were pressingon our rear. Things looked awkward; and so I volunteered, with myfaithful Afghan boy, to get through the fellows in front, and makemy way down to Jugdulluk--which was four miles away--to bring thegarrison up on their rear.
"It was simple enough and, in fact, there was less danger than inremaining with the convoy, to be popped at by the Afghans. Thenight was very dark and, down in the bottom, one could hardly seeone's hand. The Afghans had been cleared pretty well off the road,by our fire; so there was no difficulty, whatever, in making ourway down. We were, in fact, only questioned once; and my boy'sstatement, that we were wounded and were going to the rear, wasaccepted at once."
"The fact that you succeeded," the colonel said, "does not detractfrom the pluck required to attempt such an adventure. To my mind,there is more courage required in venturing, alone, through themidst of the Afghans, at night, than there would be in charging anynumber of them, in hot blood, in the light. You have earned theV.C. well, Gale; and I am sure we all feel proud of you, though youdo not belong to us, now."
There was a chorus of approval from the officers around.
"I don't belong to you now, sir, but," Will said, earnestly, "Ishall always feel, whatever regiment I may be with, that theNorfolk Rangers are my corps. It is the kindness which was shownme, here, which has put me in the way of rising; and I shall neverforget it."
It was now time to dress for dinner; and Will, for the first time,arrayed himself in full-dress uniform. The buttons and facings hewould, of course, get altered when he joined the regiment.
The general received Gale with great kindness. He had a large partyto dinner. Among them was Captain Edwards; and after the table wascleared the latter--at the general's request--gave a full accountof the attack upon the convoy; and Will was then called upon torelate the part which he had taken in it, which he did verymodestly and quietly.
For two days longer he stopped at Jellalabad; and then, with ahearty farewell to the officers of the Rangers, he started down thepass. He again journeyed with a convoy for, although the tribesbelow Jellalabad were cowed into submission, many attacks weremade, by the mountaineers, upon small parties going up or down thepasses; and stringent orders had been issued that no officer shouldgo down, except when accompanied by an escort.
After a week's traveling Will arrived, with Yossouf, at Peshawur.Then he rode, by easy stages, until he reached the Indus where,taking his place on a steamer, he traveled down the river toSukkur; where he disembarked, and started for the weary march,across the desert, to the foot of the Bolan.
Along the road large numbers of coolies were at work, constructinga line of railway, which was now almost complete to the foot of thepass. It did not ascend this but, turning to the right, wound upthe hills to the plateau. It was intended to be taken on toCandahar, and its completion would have been an immense boon, bothto that city and to India; as it would have opened a great trade tothe north, and have enabled the inhabitants of the fertile plain,around Candahar, to send their corn, fruit, and other products downto India. Unhappily, with the subsequent abandonment of Candaharthe formation of the railway was stopped; and the whole allowed togo to ruin. The work has, however, been recently taken in handagain.
Will and his follower ascended the Bolan; stopped a day or two atQuettah, to rest their horses; and then proceeded on through thefertile plains of Pisheen, and over the Kojak Pass, and thence onto Candahar. Here Will joined his new regiment, and was wellreceived by its officers.
In every regiment in the service, an officer risen from the ranksis invariably received with special courtesy, and kindness. Everyendeavor is made to place him at his ease, in his new position.This is specially so when--as in Will's case--the promotion hasbeen earned by distinguished services in the field.
In most instances, officers promoted from the rank of sergeant area good deal older than the young lieutenants among whom they findthemselves. Being often married men, and having nothing but theirpay to depend upon, they find themselves, therefore, unable to takemuch part in the pleasures and gaieties of the regiment. In India,however, as the rate of pay is much higher, an unmarried officercan live very comfortably on his pay; and as, in the field, theexpenses are far less than when a regiment is in cantonments at alarge station--where there is much gaiety--Will found that he wasable to live very comfortably, on his pay, in the same style asthat of his comrades.
They, on their part, were pleased to find in Will a young fellow ofthe same age as the other junior lieutenants and, withal, apleasant, gentlemanly young man. The fact, too, that he had seen somuch service, had gone through stirring adventures, and had foughtby the side of Cavagnari in the Bala-Hissar, made him quite a heroamong them; and Will was soon thoroughly one of themselves.
When it was known that the regiment was likely to remain atCandahar for some time, many luxuries had been brought up fromIndia; together with means of passing away the time, such as thenecessary appliances for cricket, racket, and other games. Amongthese, too, were several boxes of books; and Will--who had, atfirst, a little amused his comrades by his absolute ignorance ofcricket, but who soon became a promising recruit at thatgame--steadily devoted three hours a day to reading, in order toimprove his mind, and to obtain a knowledge of the various matterswhich were topics of conversation among his comrades. Above all hediligently studied the newspapers--great parcels of which arrivedevery week--in order to obtain some knowledge of the politicalstate of affairs in England, the position of parties, and thevarious matters occupying public attention.
He had, at first, found his ignorance of these matters a greatdrawback to him, in general conversation; but he discovered thatnewspapers, rather than books, are useful in enabling a man to mixwith his fellows in social talk; and that the current events of theday form ninety-nine hundredths of the subjects of conversation.The fact that all his mess mates had been thoroughly posted in thehistory of Rome and Greece, that they could read these languagesalmost a well as English, that they had been coached in highmathematics, and had a knowledge of French and German, gavethem--Will found--very little advantage in general conversation;and he was surprised to discover how entirely useless, from apractical point of view, is much of the instruction which must bemastered by young men, before obtaining a commission.
Many times, when talking with the young officers with whom he wasmost intimate, he inquired of them what good they found thelearning they had obtained, during their many years of schooling;and was surprised at the universal reply: "No good, whatever!" Hefound, however, that some of the more thoughtful of them admittedthat they had gained increased powers of thought, and reasoning,from their training.
"That is the good of education, Gale," Captain Fletcher--whocommanded Will's company--said to him one day. "A certain time mustbe spent upon education, and the course of study is intended tostrengthen and improve the mental powers. As far as soldiers areconcerned, it would certainly be of more practical use if the timewe spent at school on Greek, and mathematics, had been expended inacquiring three or four European and Indian languages. But you see,boys educated at the same school must all work together, and studythe same books, whatever the profession for which they are intendedis. Our practical--that is, our professional education--only beginswhen we go to Woolwich, or Sandhurst.
"Perhaps, some day, a different system will be employed. There willbe special schools for lads intended for various professions, andcareers. Till that is done, we must all work upon a common basis;which has at least the advantage of forming the mind, for the afterwork of acquiring the special branches of knowledge required, byus, in the careers we may adopt.
"If you ask my advice I should not, at your time of life, dream ofsetting to to learn the dead languages, or to study mathematics.Read the his
tories of Rome and Greece, and study that of your owncountry. Read books of travel and the biographies of great men, andkeep yourself well posted--as you are doing--in current publicevents. You will then find yourself able to take part, on equalterms, in any conversation which may be going on. You will, indeed,be considered by strangers an exceptionally well-informed youngfellow; and you may pass through life without any person having asuspicion that Latin, Greek, and mathematics--the cardinal pointsof an ordinary education--are wholly unknown to you."
Will was cheered by the advice and, henceforth, directed hisstudies only in the direction which Captain Fletcher had indicated.
At the beginning of April, a large diminution had taken place inthe force stationed at Candahar; as General Sir Donald Stewartmarched, with the greater portion of the force, for Cabul. Theroute led through a country which was the stronghold of thefanatical party--the important town of Ghuzni containing the mostfanatical population in all Afghanistan. This had been the centerwhence the attacks on General Roberts had been organized, and itwas deemed necessary to march a strong force through the country,to overawe the tribesmen, and break up their organization.
The march was uneventful as far as Shahjui, the limit of theCandahar province. At this point the Taraki country begins. TheMollahs here had been actively preaching a holy war, and severalthousand men were reported as having collected. The villages werefound to be deserted, and everything betokened an active oppositionto the advance.
When the head of the column arrived at Ahmed-Khel, a body of theenemy--estimated at from 12,000 to 15,000--were seen clustered on asemicircle of hills, beyond the village. The baggage of the columnstretched far along the road, and it was all important to preventthe enemy from falling upon this long line. General Stewarttherefore determined to attack them.
The two batteries of artillery opened fire upon the enemy; who atonce, in reply, rushed down to the assault. The charge was led bysome 3000 or 4000 Ghazis--as they were called--fanatics, who hadsworn to give their lives in carrying out their object, ofexterminating the hated infidel. Some of these men were armed withrifles and matchlocks; some with heavy swords, knives, and pistols;others, again, with pikes made of bayonets, or pieces of sharpenediron fastened upon long sticks. Some were on foot, and some onhorseback.
With wild yells, the mass rushed down upon our troops; and sosudden and unexpected was the attack, so swiftly did they cross the400 or 500 yards of intervening ground, that they came upon theBritish before preparation could be made for their reception. Atthe moment when they charged, some of the cavalry were movingacross in front of the infantry; and these, before they could begot into a line for a charge, were surrounded by the enemy.
In an instant they were lost to sight, in the cloud of dust andsmoke. It was a hand-to-hand struggle and, in the confusion, atroop charged to the right, in rear of the main line of theinfantry, and burst into the midst of the 19th Punjaub Infantry;who were in reserve, in rear of the position occupied by thegeneral and his staff.
In a moment, all was confusion. The ammunition mules werestampeded, riderless horses dashed hither and thither and, closebehind the cavalry, the Ghazis--with a furious rush--dashed inamong the broken infantry. Upon the left flank, too, the Ghazisswept round in the rear of our infantry line and, for a time, itseemed as if the whole British formation was broken up--in whichcase the numbers of their foes must have prevailed. Colonel Lister,V.C. however--who commanded the 3rd Ghoorkas--threw his men rapidlyinto company squares, and poured a tremendous fire into thefanatics.
All along the line the attack raged; and so hurriedly had thebattle commenced that many of the men had not even fixed bayonets.Desperate was the hand-to-hand fighting, and valor more conspicuousthan that of the Ghazis was never shown. Furiously they threwthemselves upon the line of their opponents; clutching theirmuskets and trying to wrench them from their hands, while theystrove to cut down their holders. Many of them threw themselvesupon the fixed bayonets, and died in the endeavor to cut down thesoldiers with their swords; but the three regiments which formedthe line--one British (the 59th), one Ghoorkas, and oneSikhs--alike held their own, and poured rolling volleys into theranks of the enemy.
Desperately the Ghazis strove to capture the guns; which werefiring case and shrapnel into them, at a distance of thirty yards,mowing them down in hundreds. Not even would this terribleslaughter have checked them, had not the 2nd Punjaub Cavalry mostgallantly charged them, again and again.
The general, surrounded by his escort, was in the midst of thefight--the enemy having burst in between the guns and the 59thFoot--and officers and troopers had, alike, to fight for theirlives; several of the escort being killed and wounded. At last,however, the Ghazis fell back from the terrible fire.
The 1st Punjaub Cavalry, coming up from the rear, joined the 2nd ina hot pursuit; and our native allies the Hazaras, seeing theAfghans in retreat, also rushed out after them, and the rout of theenemy was complete. The fighting had lasted about an hour, and theenemy left over a thousand dead on the field, besides the bodieswhich had been carried off Their wounded, of course, were far morenumerous. Ghuzni surrendered without opposition, when the columnreached it; the fighting men having been engaged in the battle ofAhmed-Khel, and having had enough of hostilities.
On the 23rd of April, a force under Brigadier General Palliseradvanced against a large body of natives, who had assembled nearthe village of Ghalez--again led by the Ghazis. These rushed to theattack, with a courage and desperation equal to that shown by thefanatics in the previous battle. Our men however were, this time,prepared; and were able to inflict very heavy losses upon theenemy, without allowing them to get to close quarters.
This was the end of the Afghan resistance. General Stewart moved onto Cabul without further fighting, and effected a junction therewith the force under General Roberts.