■\CK ,ttX ;6J ^WEUKIVERJ/^ o o AWEUNIVERX/a > ^lOSANCElfj-^ "^JiJiaoNVsm^ %a3MNn]WV^ -j^^HIBRARYOc. «53 i ir^ ^ ^OJIIVDJO'^ ^•OFCAilFOff^ ^OFCAIIFOI?^ ^^AavaaiH^ -^HIBRARYQr^ ^^•IIBRARYQ^ ^(!/0JnV3JO^ ^— ' r ft:,' ^'rtEUNIVERS/A -, ,, . _ o ^lOSAVCElfj-^ o %a3AiNniwv ^ ^. AWEUNIVERJ/a ^t-llBRARYQ^^ ^HIBRARYO^ %a3AiNn-3WV^ ^(!/ojiTV3JO^ \^myi^ >- oe. <: fie '<««^iw 1 =3 ^ ^\MEUN1VERX'/^ ^(?AHVH9llVv^ "^(JAHvaaiiv^ - , ^ ^ o o ■^Aa3AINfl3WV 4?^ ^. CHAR-EE-KAR SERVICE THERE WITH THE 4TH GOORKHA REGIMENT (SHAH SHOOJA'S FORCE), IN 1841; AN ERISODE OF THE COLONEL HAUGHTON, C.S.I. LONDON : PROVOST AND CO., 40, TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1879. 501SS63 PREFACE. It will be remembered by some who read this account that, on my return to England after the close of the Afghan Campaign in IS-iS^ I was earnestly requested by them to publish a narrative of the events I wit- nessed, or in Avhich I took part during that Campaign. It is desirable, therefore, to record the reasons which induced me to abstain from doing so then ; as also those by which I have been influenced, after the lapse of a generation, in compiling the statements here prefaced. Several narratives, some especially referring to the disastrous period of the campaign, have been published. One in particular. Eyre's Journal, contained an account of the defence of Char-ee-kar from the pen of my friend and companion, Miijor Eldred Pottinger, written while he was still held a prisoner by the Afghans ; it contained some expressions which, had I been at the writer's elboAv, he would doubtless have altered ; but it was sent home for publica- tion before we wet. On the whole, it was a fair account ; though from the fact that the writer of it was wounded, while acting as a volunteer with the Native Artillery, within a few hours of his taking refuge with our garrison, and confined to his bed till we were about to retreat, it was impossible he could be perfectly informed of all that took place at that time. I was not ambitious of parading my name before the public, and I knew very w'ell that if I wrote a full and true account, wdth such comments as I should then have felt bound to make, if writing for public information, I should hurt the feelings of the friends of many deceased brother officers, raise a nest of hornets about my own ears, and enter an arena of literary strife, for which I was unsuited by habit and inclination. For these reasons I re- mained silent. Since then, from time to time, writers who had occasion to refer to Char-ee kar, have frequently made the mistake of attributing tlic (Icrcnce of that post to Eldred Pottinger ; but this has generally occurred in a way which I could only meet publicly by a lengthy narrative, and on one notable occasion by appearing to side with my gallant comrade's enemies. I have mon^ than once privately remonstrated, and received promise of justice, as usual in such cases, to be meted out to me at a future time. Last year Mr. Kaye, iu his memoir of Pottinger, published I think in Good Words, again alluded to Eldred Pottinger as the defender of Char-ee-kar. I went to him to point out his error, and at his suggestion drew up the accompanying memoir, to be made use of in correcting his next edition of the War in Afghanistan. While writing, I had occasion for geographical information, on a trivial point, on Avhich my memory was at variance with Pottinger's published account ; I applied to Mr. Kaye to obtain access to a map, believed to be alone accessible through his or some other official's favour. That gentleman never replied to my note. I have concluded, therefore, that it must have been consigned to his ''Balaam Box,'^ with that of the Emperor of Abyssinia — distinguished company, no doubt. The result is that (unlike the Emperor, having no opportunity of making repri- sals), the labour of my pen goes to my private friends, instead of having the honour of furnishing material for the historian. I have recently had access to a MS. Map in the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta, which proves that my memory of the geography of the country is correct. In compiling this, I have referred to Eyre's Journal ; to an account published in the Englishman Newspaper in 1842 liy Major McSlierry, from dictation of Moteeram Havildar'^' of the Goorkha Regiment ; and to a memorandum written by myself at the time, the last ever penned with my right hand. My friend. Colonel Eeid, R.A., has obligingly altered Moteeram's sketch in accordance with my memory ; but it makes the place look more imposing than it really was. The extract of Major Robert Codrington's letter, in the appendix, more correctly describes the weakness of the position. In conclusion, I must add that I have not the least desire to detract in any way from the high reputation of Major Pottinger, \\oh\y earned. It will be seen from the narrative that to his chivalrous refusal to abandon me, I owe my life Avhen wounded; but I wish to make plain that' to Captain Christopher Codrington, and to myself after his death, the credit is due of having, as Commander of the Goorkha Regiment, defended the post of Char-ee-kar. Pottinger's own letter in the appendix ought, I think, to settle this, were it disputed, which in reality has not as yet been the case. I have one more remark to make. Eldred Pottinger, in writing his narrative, naturally spoke of what had been done, as any one present would dot " Wo advanced," " we retreated," arc natural expressions ; but the use of the pronoun generally is not intended to convey the idea that the *Sce appendix. writer advanced or ordered an advance or retreat, but denotes the act of the writer's party. So when Pottinger says it was owing to my conduct that ''we were able to hold out," it cannot be inferred that he meant to convey the idea tliat he was the commandant of the place ; there are similar expressions in his published narrative, and I am not in the least surprised that, in the absence of anything from my own pea, casual readers were under the impression that Pottinger commanded at Char-ee-kar. I remem- ber well that a portion of the English public imbibed the belief, from the frequent mention of her son-in-law by Lady Sale, that he was the chief defender of Kal)ool. I have placed in the appendix the statements of two survivors of the garrison, unexpectedly met with since the narrative was penned, and also the printed narrative of Motee Earn Ilaviklar. Numerous discrepancies may be observed : but memory is frail, and not to lie much depended upon in such exciting times. Had I been questioned immediately on arrival in Kabool, I could not have said how long our siege had lasted — it was one very long day to me. The circumstances I have stated have induced me to write of Char-ee-kar ; perhaps, if ever leisure permits, I may pen adven- tures during the campaign, earlier and later. PREFACE OF THE SECOND EDITION. This pamphlet is reprinted almost verbatim from the edition privately circulated in 1867- I am now moved to publish it by the fact that the narrative by the late Major Eldred Pottinger, C.B., of the same event has been recently reprinted — verbatim, I believe — and conseqiiently liable to the same misinterpretation as the original was. The appendices are given more with a view of showing tliat my statements are not exaggerated, than as being correct narratives of facts. Indeed, of two of the writers — Moteeram and Mohun Beer — it can only he said that their narratives, how- ever interesting, contain much that is erroneous and confusing. My own account was made use of by Lieutenant Low (of late) LN., in an article publislied by him in Erery Boy's Magazine, in 1877- CHAR-EE-KAR. In the year 1839 the powers ruling- India sent Shah Shooja-ool- Moolk to his native country, accompanied by an army composed of Eng'lish and Indian troops, to secure his restoration to the throne of Afgdianistan, from which he liad been expelled thirty years previously, and which he had often since in vain tried to reg-ain. I believe the orig-inal project was to seat him on his throne, and then leave him to his own resources, with the aid onl}^ of a small conting-ent of Indian troops, to be raised, officered, and drilled by officers detached from the armies of India. The plan did not prove successful, for, contrary to the expectation entertained, it became apparent that, however un- popular the former Ruler, Dost Mohamed, mig-ht have been, Shah Shooja was not a whit less so. Some did not at all yield submission to him, and as early as the spring- of 1840 there was a serious rebellion, also put down by Eng'lish troops, in what is called the Kohistan ; and altog-ether it was found that Shah Shooja could not g-et on without their assistance. We had g-ar- risons at Kabool, at Ghuznee, at Kelat-ee-Giljee, at Kandahar, and also at Q.uetta, at the head of the Bolan Pass. The troops rait-'ed spccinlly for the Shah's service were scattered about, and acted in couj unction with the others. The Kohistan, which General Sale had with much difficulty broug-ht into order in the latter end of 1810, was thoug'ht to require the presence of troops to keep the inhabitants in awe ; and a yery small Regiment was raised for the purpose and stationed at Char-ee-kar, the principal town of the district, under command of Lieutenant Maule, of the Beng-al Artillery. The Kohistan had a native Governor ; but a Political Officer, with an Assistant, and a Doctor to attend to their health, were stationed in it also, with what view I know not. Early in 1841 the Native Corps raised specially for the pur- pose was deemed insufficient for ''overawing-" the inhabitants, and a Eeg'iment of the Shah's Indian troops, composed of Goorkhas, chiefl}' natives of Nepaul, ^'as sent to take its place. These were further supported by two six and one eig'hteen- pounder g*uns, manned by some of the Shah's own g'unners (Mahomedans, natives of the Punjab), under the nominal com- mand of an eunuch of the seragdio, who, however, did not leave his more delicate charg-e. Thus much has been said to show that the country, the scene of this narrative, was chronically in an insubordinate state. Dost Mahomed himself had only been able to master it by an act of notable treachery, so his country- men reported. It is' said that, under security of a solemn oath, he invited all the chiefs to a conference, and then murdered them. All the male inhabitants were used to arms, and usually carried them. In fact, it was an ordinary sigdit to see men at the plong-h with swords by their sides and matchlock and shield slung' at their backs. The whole of Afg'hanistan is mountainous ; it is, therefore, not eas}' to say why the countr}' to the north of Kabool and south of the g'reat rang-e separating* Kabool from Turkistan, should be called the " Kohistan," or Hill Country; but such is the fact. There is a hig-h range of mountains shutting* in the valley of Kohistan to the west, another to the north and east ; and two low rang-es of hills lie between it and Kabool. The valley varies in width, but is nowhere less than twelve miles wide. Although a large river, in many places unfordable, runs through the valley, collecting the waters of numerous streams, the g-enerai character of the valle}" is dry and sterile, cultivation being generally con- fined to the gorges and immediate foot of the mountains, as the soil, from its nature, does not retain water, and can only be cul- tivated where the supply is abundant. To be sure, some canals for the purpose of irrigation exist, but the turbulent character of the people is unfavourable to works of this sort, invo).ving, as they do, much labour, and so easy of destruction as they are. The inhabitants are for the most part located in castles, the walls of which are formed of mud, ver}^ solid, and able to resist the fire of small ordnance. Ever}- landholder, or at least -every family of any respectability, had one of these, and even in the towns of Char-ee-kar and Istalif there were several. There were no wells in the country, the nature of tke subsoil, containing* (as it did) huge boulders, prohibiting* it. The inhabi- tants were, therefore, dependent for water upon streams issuing 3 from the mountains, or canals from tliem. These canals were o-enerally lined with g'ardens and mulberry trees, and, on one side at least, had a hand of cultivation beyond. Char-ee-kar was reckoned to be about forty miles, as tlie crow flies, from Kabool. It contained a population of, perhaps, three thousand inhabitants, and derived its supply of water from a canal which conveyed the waters of the river of Ghorebund. The head of the canal was said to be distant nine or ten miles. The town was situated at the termination of the slope of the we.^tern hills, from which it was distant about two miles. The canal from Ghorebund and the road to Kabool ran parallel to the mountains for some miles, dividing" the cultivated country from the mountain slope almost devoid of veg'Ptation. It was on this slope, close to the town of Char-ee-kar, that the Goorkha Reg-iment was stationed. By ascending- the slope a short distance, we could see into Nijrow, Gain, 13.ala Gain, and Doornama valleys on the opposite side of the g-reat one, and distant from fifteen to twenty miles, which had either never submitted or speedily thrown off the yoke of Shah Shooja, Amid the cultivation, not far removed from the canal, and about three miles distant from Char-ee-kar in the direction of Kabool, were a cluster of castles called Lug'hmanee. I believe they were the forfeited property of some native chief. There was located Major Potting-er, C.B., the Political Ag-ent, who had earned a name throug'hout Europe and Central Asia b}' his defence of Herat. AYith him were Lieutenant Eattray, his assistant, and the Doctor ; he had numerous Afg'han retainers, and a g'uard of Goorkhas from Char-ee-kar. The Goorkha Regriment of Shah Shooja's Force was sent to Char-ee-kar in the month of April or May, 1841, to take the place of the Koliistnnee Keg-iment, commanded by Lieutenant Maule. It is time to 1)eg-in a more particular account of this corps and its position The heg'iment was raised in 1838 at Lodhiana, in India, for the service of Shah Shooja. At first it was composed half of natives of the Himalaya, called Goorkhas, and half of natives of the plains. However, just before its arrival at Char- ee-kar it had been remodelled by substituting- Goorkha recruits for the Indians. The g-reat bulk of the Regiment were mere youths, and fully half had never seen a shot fired. The native officers and non-commissioned ofiicers were for the most part very inferior. Tliere were, however, some brilliant exceptions! Most were men who had for many years failed to obtain promo- tion in the Hill Regiments in India, and had joined Shah Shooja's service to g-et a step of rank. Somewhat less than one-half of the Eeg'iment had, however, witnessed the capture of Ghuznee, and a portion of them had done g'ood service at Bameean in the previous year. The officers were Captain Codring'ton, of the 49th Beng-al Native Infantry, who commanded it; Lieutenant William Broadfoot, second in command; m.yself, the Adjutant ; Ensig-n Salusbury, the Quarter-Master; and Ensign Rose, the Subaltern. There were also two European non-commissioned officers, Serg-eant-Major Byrne, and Q.uarter-Master Serg-eant Hanrahan. There were about sixteen native commissioned officers, and 742 rank and file. The whole were pretty well drilled, for the Commanding- Officer had been himself nine years Adjutant of a Regiment, and added untiring devotion to his duty to a thorougii knowledg-e of it. When we arrived at Char-ee-kar, we had for months to live in tents; in fact, I occupied a tent up to the time of the outbreak. We found that Lieutenant Maule had commenced Barracks^ for his men, which we were to finish and occupy. A square of one hundred yards each way had been enclosed with a mud wall, and it was intended to build rooms agrainst the w«ll all around for the occupation of the men. The officers' quarlers were to be on one side of the enclosure, on the same plan, but of two stories. The houses were to be, like all in the country, flat-roofed. My Commanding' Officer and myself were at once struck with the indefensiblenessf of the position, and I believe he remonstrated with some one on the subject, thoug-h not with the military authorities of the Shah's Eorce. If he did, nothing- came of it. We had to carry on the work after the orig-inal plan, and as far as I can remember, the only alteration made was the surreptitious addition of round bastions similiar to those of the native castles. I remember this ver}^ clearly, as it was entirely opposed to the instructions Captain Codring'ton had received, viz., that he was to build merely a Barrack, The sum allowed certainly did not exceed GOO/., of which not more than 400/. was expended, a very ■^ See Appendix B. + In a letter to my father, I described the place as ciiarniini^, but ()l)served, "I do not understand why we have been sent nere, unless the Government are in a hurry to get rid of us.'' moderate amount for housing* between 900 and* 1,000 souls in such a climate. It was apparent to us that, in the event of an attack, water would he a g-reat difficulty, but we were led to believe that such an event was impossible. However, as, in addition to my other duties, I had to supervise the building- and keep account of the expenditure, I did reflect very seriously on the subject of the water supply. Vie drew that for our ordinary consumption from the Ghorebund Canal, which passed about one hundred jards in front of our Barracks, but a very small supply was also obtainable from Khojeh-seh-Yaran, a little valley in the hills to the west of us, the proprietor of which allowed the stream to trickle down once or twice per week to enable us to make mud for our walls. It occurred to me that we mig'ht either bring- this stream down under-g-round, or possibly discover another spriug-, and so conduct it ; for it was palpable that an open canal above g-round mig'ht be cut otf at any minute. I sent for the most celebrated dig-g-ers of "kahrez,"'^ as the underg-rouud conduits are called, who all negatived the possibility of such an undertaking- for the reasons which forbade wells ; and, as they justly observed, had such a measure been practicable, the inha- bitants of Char-eekar would have resorted to it long- since. As the only other measure we could adopt, we intended that if we could manag-e to save enoug-h out of the sum alloAved for build- ing- the Barracks, we would construct a tank in the centre of the Barrack-square, which would contain a supply for a few days. With this view we excavated the earth required for the works from that spot. It will be seen, however, that this place was destined to be applied to a very different purpose. Xt the time when our trouble commenced, the Barracks were partiall}- finished. "We had four walls, varying- from seven to twenty feet in height, pierced by two g-ateways, east and west, with a row of flat-roofed rooms for the men all round the inside, except at one spot where were the officers' quarters. Unfortu- nately as yet we had no gate for the eastern entry, or doors for any of the rooms. The Barrack square was built on a slope, so that its interior was commanded by the trees bordering the canal in front, distant about 100 yards. It was also commanded b}' the high towers of a castle forming the southern entra-nce of the town of Char-ee-kar. Its north, south, and west faces were com- manded by a Mahomedan oratory and a butt erected beyond -;:- lucludiiig camp followers, and women and children of the Sepoys. reach of our muskets. In front, or to the east, the bnnksof the canal alrea.ly mentioned, also g'arden walls, formed abundant shelter for an enemy ; hut in this direction, what was worst, was a small building" bejond the canal, which we ourselves had erected as a mess house, and a stable on the banks of the canal in course of erection for our horses. There were also a low range of mud huts for shelter of our married sepoys; but these were built so as to be pretty well commanded from the Barracks. Any one acquainted with military matters will see that our arrang'ements were as bad as they well could be- It is to be observed, however, that the sligditly defensive character which our Barracks took, was in opposition to the intentions of the ruling- authorities. The most rig-id economy was the order of the day, and had it been possible to select and make defensible a position (which it certainly was), I feel assured the proposition would have been neg'atived, and that the proposer would simply have broug-ht himself into disg'race. We had not been w^ithout some indications of the coming- storm. Reports of a movement in the adjoining- independent districts were rife. Thieves reputed to be from that quarter prowled about; not many days previously a shepherd was killed on the mountains near us, and -his flock driven away. Tliieves visited our own camp at nig-ht. My tent was pitched on the banks of the canal, and I had a g-uard consisting- of a cori)oral and four privates and a bug'ler, it being- my duty as Adjutimt to cause the bugle to be sounded for parade before dawn of day. One man was constantly on sentry, and the rest slepi, on the g-round by him. One nig-ht a musket was stolen from beside one of the sleeping- sepoy-s, and on another the bug-ler's bug-le was carried off. These articles were paraded in the independent country. I received a messag-e from an old fakeer to whom I had shown some favour, living- at the place called Khojeh-seh- Yaran— the tomb of a saint — recommending- me strongly to spend the wdnter in Kabool; and aliog'ether Codring-ton and myself believed something- wrong- was g'oing- on. I know that he wrote to this effect either to Major Po+ting-er or his Assistant, Lieu-. tenant llattray, and was answered by the latter that he mig-ht rest assured of full notice — twenty-four or fort.y-eig'ht ho'irs' notice, I forg-et which period wns named— of any movement on the part of the. rebels in the independent district. Captain Cod- ring-ton handed me the note, and 1 put it into my pocket. When I lay wounded at Kabool, one day an officer came into my room, and seeing" a number ol' papers, the contents of my pocket, lying- in a recess of the wall by the side of my bed, said, " What liave you got there ?" He beg-an to examine the papers, and coming- to Rattrays' note, said, ''You don't want this; this is of no use to you," and there and then tore it up, and threw it into the fire. i mention this fact as a proof that Captain Codring-ton was on the alert, and would have been ready to put himself on the defensive if the authorities, under whom he was placed, had cncourag-ed him to do so. The triuli to me is plain, that no one in power anticii)ated any such outbreak as actually took place. All my servants, with one sing-le exception, were Afg-lians or Persians. One of the latter had recently left mo. He was a native of Kan- . dahar, and I have now before me the address he left with me : ''I'utteh Mahomed, to the care of Khan Mahomed Khan, in the service of Sirdar Poordil Khan;" the latter was one of the brothers of Ameer Dost Mahomed. It is possible that my ser- vant, who refused to g-ive any reason for leaving- my service, may have had some inkling- of tlie conspiracy brewing', but I think not. None of tlie others certainly had any, and they remained faithful to me Thus much by way of a preliminary. On the morning- of the 3rd November, ISil, some of my servants started on business to Kabool, They returned in a few hours, with intimation that the road was occupied by rebels from Nijrow, at a distance of some ten or twelve miles. This was absolutely the first intimation of the existence of any body of rebels in the Shah's territories. After con- sultation with me. Captain Codring-ton proceeded at 1 p.m. to communicate this intellig-ence to Major Potting-er atLug-limanee, and to consult as to what steps should be taken in consequence. Major Potting-er being- at that time the officer under whose orders he was acting-. What follows, I take from a memorandum now before me, wa-itten on the evening- of the -14h November, lS4d ; it is the last I ever wrote with m3' rig-ht hand. It con- cludes abruptly, for at the time drowsiness rendered me incap- able of writing- more. At 2 p.m. firing- commenced in the direction of Lug-hmanee. My first impression was, that it was nothing- of importance, and arose out of an attempt of some of the hostag'c chiefs there detained to make oft"; but' observing- that the firing- continued and that there were apparently two parties eng-aged, I deemed it 8 my duty to send to the relief at least of my own commanding- officer, who had intended to return immediately, and had evi- dently been unable to do so. Tliere arose a serious debate in my own mind. Lieutenant William Broadfoot, the second in com- mand, had returned to Kabool to act as Secretary to Sir Alexander Burnes, who was to succeed Sir William Macnaghten. There remained, therefore, only three very junior officers (Ensig"ns) with the Reg-iment ; I was the senior in years and standing-. If I went with the party I proposed to send, I .should leave the Reg-iment — now the most important charg-e — to the two junior officers. Ag-ain, if I sent either of the junior, and any failure took place, men mig'ht blame me for not g'oing- myself. I con- cluded that the best plan was to g-o myself; for, if successful, all was well : if I failed, the attempt would be evidence that I had not left a difficult duty to others. At a quarter tu three, there- fore, I started with 120 men or thereabouts, in two companies. One g-reat object I had in view was, to g'et dow^n unobserved, so as to be able to ascertain the actual state of affairs before becom- ing" eng-ag-ed. Instead, therefore, of following* the liig-h road, I at once cros.sed the canal and marched throug-h the cultivation, thus manag-ing" to reach Lug'hmanee undiscovered. Arrived, I found that the attack was mainly from the Kabool side. I rounded the fort, and then found that the enemy were chiefly occupying- a larg-e walled g-arden, into which I manag-ed to g-et almost unopposed, one or two men only being- wounded. These I was compelled to leave in a ditch, wuth injunctions to be quite quiet, till the affair was over. The en(>my was completely laken by surprise, and at once ran. The entrances to g-ardens are usually made so small that but one person can enter at a time, and he must bend double to do so. This is done to keep out cattle ; thus before the enemy could g-et out, a g-ood many were killed. The coats (padded with cotton) of several were set on fire by their own g'un notches. I mention this, as a similar occurrence has g-iven rise to statsments that our troops had burjit the bodies of their eiicmies. On our appearance the g-ari-iso;i of Lug-hmanee also sallied out, aud the eneuiy were driven off at all points. Captain Cotlring-ton thou streng-ihcned the g-arrison of Lug-hmanee to 120 men, ;ind agreed with iMajor Potting-ei' to send at dawn next day a su})ply of provisions and ammunititui, which ^Tajor Potting-er was to send out a party to receive and convey into his castle. Our enlii'c loss was ten killed and wounded. "We g-ot back about sunset ; but before I finally joined Captain Codring-ton, one sad event occurred which troubled him much afterwards. There was a small village adjoining" the castles, the principal inhabitants of which came out to assure him of their loyalty, they were unarmed. Unfor- tunately as he passed, a shot was fired by one of the rebels from the direction of the villag-e. This was attributed to treachery. Our men had, on hearing- the report of the rebel shot, prepared to answer it. A raising' of the hand and a wave of it, made by my beloved Commander, settled the fate of six elders of the vil- lag-e, who lay dead as I passed. I know only of tliis fact from his own lips. I have never heard it adverted to since. It is highly probable that these people deserved their fate; for next year, many months after this occurrence, when I was a prisoner in the hands of the Afg-lians, a young- man, to whom I had done a g-ood turn once, was sentry over our party ; he formed my ac- quaintance, and in conversation told me that the little villag-e of Lug-hmanee lost thirty-three men on that day. "\Ye saw nothing- of the enemy on our way back to Char-ee-kar by the ordinary road, beyond noting- that some still hung* about on the road towards Kabool. ^Ye reached our barrack after sunset, and made arrang-ements for our own security, and the suppl,y of provisions and ammunition to be furnished next day. I don't think I slept that night, or took off" my clothes then. I know that sleep entirely left me for several weeks after. I onh- remember once attempting- to sleep; it was in the daytime, and was unsuccess- ful. My usual post at nig-ht, when not moving- about, was in a chair near the g"ate, where I soothed my wearied nerves with a cheroot. Before dawn on the 4th November, tiie relief promised to Lughmanee was in motion. I started with several ponies, loaded with ammunition and provisions. I had with me my g-allant young- comrade and dear friend, Ensign Salusbury, Quarter- Master Sergeant Hanrahan, one six-pounder gun, and three weak companies of Goorkhas. or not more than 200 men. There had been heavy firing during the night, so that we knew that 1 ho enemy still hiiu^- about Lughmanee. It was good broad d?;ylight as we approached, and I observed a considerable body, a])parently seven or eight hundred, of the enemy on the slope of the hill to our right, among broken ground; this much embar- rassed me. I had the most positive orders not to compromise 10 my party or g'un, I was to convoy the stores to what I may call the latitude of Lugiimanee, whence, on seeing* me, Major Pot- ting'er was to detach a party to receive them. The hig'h road passed Lug'hmanee at a distance of about 500 yards ; by a sharp turn to the left, a narrow lane enclosed by mud walls led to the castle. It was foreseen that if I went down this lane, I migdit lose my gMin and possibly not be able to return. I was cautioned ag'ainst doing' so. I halted and sent Ensigm Salusbury and two companies, with orders to turn up the party who threatened our rig'ht, and to draw down to my rear if they appeared too much for him, as, when they came out of the broken gTound, I sh©uld be able to work on them with the g"un. The enemy grave way, and our young- soldiers pursued them only too precipitately. Bugies were sounded in vain, and orderlies .sent out without result. At last, seeing- no other means of g-etting- the men back, andobserving- how the enemy v/ere swarming- from all quarters, I sent Serg-eant Ranrahan with the g-reater number of my remaining- men to bring- them back. All this time I had re- mained within five hundred yards of Lugdimanee, waiting- for the people who were to receive the provisions. They came at last — about ten horsemen, who, however, positively refused to return. Circumstances now rendered it impracticable for me to do anything" but fall back on Char-ee-kar. When Salusbury rejoined me, the Quarter-Master Serg-eant and several of his party were wounded, and the firing* had broug-ht tog-ether the enemy from all quarters; the whole countr}^ seemed alive with them. When we commenced falling- back, the men were dis- posed to bolt altog-ether, and it was with the g-reatest difficulty I could save my part}' by sticking* to the g*un, and with one or two faithful men loading* it and firing* it. The enemy's cavalry charg-ed us repeatedly, but as they were compelled to keep to the road, a round from the g*un invariably turned them. Before we 8*ot over the distance, only three miles, poor Salusbury was mortally wounded, and our numbers much diminished. To wind up, when just within reach of the Barracks, the trail of the g-un g-ave way; but the enemy did not venture to close with us. We at once set about measures for our own defence. What provi- sion.^ were to b» had in the town were broug'ht in; but as the shops and houses were all closed, it was not very easy to g-et any- thing*, the more so, as we were ig-norant of the places in wliicli provJ.sions were stored. One of our first acts was to take po.sses- 11 sion of a castle which entirely commanded our Barrack square. We were anxious to do so with as little otfence to the owner as possible; it was necessary that he should not have the option of refusing' us. Captain (Jodring'ton aad myself, therefore, went to the castle, and asked to speak to the owner — Khoja .Meer Khan, I believe, was his name. AVhen he came out, we eng-ag'ed him in conversation, while we walked towards our own Barracks. It was under these rather unfavourable circumstances that I mea- sured the distance, 450 paces. The object we had in view was civill.y explained to him when at the Barrack, and a party of fifty Goorkhas, under a native officer, was sent over, and took pos- session without opposition. Th.e owner, indeed, — I believed then, and do still — was well disposed towards us. The enemy now hemmed us in on all sides, and we had a day's desultory fig"hting- ; we held, however, full possession of the g-ardens in front of our position. They occupied the town, and turned off the water from the canal; and we at once became dependent for our Supply on what we could obtain from the pools left in it, and a very small quantity in a pit near the Barracks, from whence earth had been dug* to make bricks. I g-ave the armourer directions for the repair of the trail of the g'un, but eventually at nigdit had to work at it with my own hands, lie was no carpenter, thougdi clever in his profession, and had no idea of the streng'th required in such a thing* as the trail of a piece of artillery. We examined our ammunition stores as well as our provisions. Of the latter we had about seven days' supply. Of the former we had 200 rounds per musket — less the quantity expended during- the previous day. For the six-pounders we had orig'inally sixty rounds for each, chiefly of round shot. 'For the eigditeen-pounder we had only cig'ht round shot and one 21' pound howitzer cannister shot, which tlie artillery officer, who sent' it out, specially explained, migdit ''be altered to fit." This is ridiculous enougii, but it is fair to say that the authority who ordered the g-un out, only sent it for show, " for the moral effect." AYe had a considerable amount of old lead dug' out of the targ-et butt. This was cast into bullets, n:i(! jdaced in bag's made by the tailors and women of the reg'i- ment, from the carpets of m}' tent, to serve in lieu of ordinary g-rape'and cannister for the six and eig'hteen-pounders. Later, when tliis supply beg-an to run short, we collected all our copper money, and the nails and frag'ments of iron in the armourer's shop, and turned them to the same purpose. They did g-ood service, especiallj the bullets. Later still, when it was apparent that our bullocks would never be able to drag- our g^un, the drag' chain was cut up into leng-ths, and bound up for shot. It m?de very efficient practice among" the trees in front, so that the enemy's marksmen dared not occupy them. The chain cut the smaller branches like a knife. The blank musket cartridg-es, provided for the instruction of recruits^ were broken up and formed into cartridg-es for the g*reat g-uns. But to return to our narrative of events. After a hard day we had quiet; and Captain Codring-ton (who honoured me, as he had always done, with perfect confidence, but on this occasion was pleased specially to approve of my services), desired me to write a report of what had passed, for the information of the military authorities of Shah Shooja-'s force at Kabool. He added that there was nothing" I could write of myself that he would not sig"n. He had always been in the habit of writing" his own letters on public affairs ; consequently, for want of practice, writing" was irksome to me; of course, I could not have said what he did in my favour in the despatch he subsequently wrote, and wdiich I blushed to read. It was put m the post bag" destined never to be delivered. I should value this document now more than any honour earthly power could bestow upon me. After dark, when it was possible to turn our attention from our own immediate affairs to our comrades at Lug"hmanee, we sent our people in that direction for information. It was not to be expected that under our circumstances people would g'o unpro- tected to such a distance as that place ; we could g-ain no tiding'S — our own people were utterly weary, and had to feed. Except- ing" the artillerymen, the g'arrison was composed almost entirely of Hindoos. I do not think that there were more than three Mahomedans in the ranks of the reg-iment. The Hindoos would not, as a matter of course, eat food cooked by any but themselves or their wives, and, therefore, had fasted all the day. Had they been ]\Iahomedans, one servant mig'ht have cooked for a larg-e number, and while toiling- and fig'hting', their food mig'ht have been in course of preparation. I strayed out after dark — I think it was about nine o'clock — in the direction of Lug-hmanee, with only an orderly with me, in the hoi)C that some one mig'ht be coming' iu from that direction. I had not g'one far when my ([uick-sig-litod companion saw people approaching-. AVe were, of 13 course, prepared for a speedy retreat; but were soon relieved by the discovery that the party consisted of Major Pottin<^-er, the Doctor, tlieir retainers, and our own Sepoys from Lug-hmanee. Nearly all property had been abandoned. The Doctor had across his shoulders the account book of the Political Ag-ent tied up in a cloth; there were horses, spare guns, etc., but I think no bag-g-ag-e. I quickly escorted them into our quarters, where they were most heartily welcomed by Captain Codring-ton and Mr. Rose. We all sat down and listened with intense interest to their account of the events which had occurred, and which had induced them to abandon their own place. Our own extreme joy at having- them with us was, however, quickly dissipated when we learned the fact that only a portion of our Goorkhas had re- turned. Tor several nigiits I watched that road, in the hope that some more of our men would turn up. They did so as late as two nig-hts after, and my joy was such that, on meeting- them, I embraced them, as 1houg-h they had been my own children. Europeans who have been in India are, perhaps, alone capable of judg-ing* of the exuberant feeling-s by which T must have been actuated, to indulg-e in such an unwonted demonstration of reg-ard. Yes, I hug-g-ed them as thoug'h they had been my chil- dren. Having- thus broken off from my story, I may finish all I have to say about them . The}' were men stationed on the towers of Major Potting-er's castle, who either did not hear, or did not understand the summons to come down, and who, thoug-h the castle was taken, kept their position without food or water till it was deserted by the Afg-hans, who would not venture to capture them by force, as their position was only accessible by a ladder and throug-h a trap door. It is probable that the interests of the owner of the castle prevented their using- fire to expel their enemy.* Major Potting-erf has himself recorded the details of the defence of Lug-hmanee. The 5th November was a sad da.y for us; we had a most severe stnig-g-le for existence, and thoug-h entirely successful, had to mourn g-rievous loss. Early in the morning- the enemy mustered to attack us on all sides. It seemed indeed as thoug-h the whole male population of the countr}- had assembled ag-ainst us. I am sure that I am within bounds when I say that on this and several ''■^- K ii remarkable that they brought all their property tied on their back^. -}- See Eyre's " Journal." 14 subsequent days, we were besieg-ed by not less than twenty thousand armed men. Had they been at all organized, or under the direction of any man of ability, our destruction was certain. An overruling" Providence, however, made their numbers of no avail, and their utmost eflPorts fruitless. The very excess of their numbers g-ave us nerve ; we also felt quite assured that relief would be sent to us from Kabool when our situation became known ; and we felt that the mere interruption of the daily post would cause inquiry, even if Pottinger's messengers sent from Lughmanee§ failed. We had not at this time the most remote suspicion of what had taken place at Kabool. The troops there were in no position to aid us. On' the night of Major Pottinger's arrival a discussion took place between Captain Codrington and myself as to the position of the former, as it appeared not impossible that he might avail himself of his superior military rank to assume commnnd of the g'arrison, which he had joined. We concluded that by rules of the service he could not do so : that we were still bound to act under his instructions as Political Agent in our intercourse with the natives, but tliat all military authority would continue wilh the officers of the regiment. I mention this, as the gallant Major has more than once had the credit of the defence of Char-ee-kar. He did not require this addition to his laurels, and I have proof'^' under liis own hand that he would not have deprived me of it. The arrangements for the day^s defence at its commencement were as follows : — I was sent to command the outpost in front. These were chiefly three walled enclosures, the largest of which contained two or three acres of gTOund. Pottinger volunteered his services, and was placed in command of the g'uns ; Captain Codrington commanded and supervised the whole. In the course of the forenoon I received a message from Codrington to the effect that Pottinger was wounded, and request- ing me to come to him. Matters were too critical where I was to allow of m}' leaving. I therefore wrote him an answer, §It would seem from Sir W. Macnaghten's unfinished despatch llial on (he (ilh he received a liurricd note wriltcn l)y Pottinger from Char-ee-kar. 1 do not know anything of this, Iml (in \\\f Glli nr 7th I tltink he sent in two Goorkhas unainicd, with a (h'spatch written in invisible ink between tlie lines of a native manuscript. Tliese men got in safe, survived the campaign, and on my recommendation obtained the Order of Meril. * Appendix A. 15 explaining* the case, on a piece of cartridg'et wrapper with char- coal. Our circumstances were these. The bed of the canal contained the only supply of water available, a little remaining in pools here and there. The possession by the enemy of the en- closures I have referred to, would entirely cut nsoflf from 1 his, and ensure our rapid destruction. It was thei'eforc of vital im- portance to retain these outposts. AVhilc I remained in any one place, all was safe there ; but I was not long- absent from any one position, before the men would g-radually drop away, and the enemy would creep up and g-ain some advantag-e. Thus during- the whole day we were eng-ag-ed in a perpetual strug-g-le to hold our position. I think it was about noon that I received intelli- g-ence of my beloved Commander haying- fallen, and another sum- mons from him ; but it was not till near dusk that I could ven- ture to leave my position. How shall I paint the short interview which then took place ? AVc were united by the bonds of the most sincere friendship and mutual esteem. The poor fellow was shot throug-h the chest and scarce able to speak. He g-ave me his watch — which I now wear, but I could not find it, as it had slipped under him in bed; and when the stern calls of duty com- pelled me to tear myself from him, he sent a servant after me with his haversack, containing- his telescope and pistols, etc. with directions to invest me with it. These touching- proofs of re- g-ard at such a time move me to the heart even after this lapse of time. Salusbury, who had been shot throug-h the back on the pre- vious day, had continued in a semi-conscious state, and expired this afternoon. We kept our posts in spite of the fatig-ue, caused by the extreme exertions the men had g-one through and the fre- quent attacks of the enemy during- the nig-ht. On the 6th they attacked us with renewed vig-our. The pos- session of the larg-e g-arden in front was hotly contested, and the enemy early in the day g-ot possession of it. I was not at that post at the time, but shortly after, hearing' what had occurred, determined if possible to recapture it. I went up the bed of the canal, with a i'ew followers, to ascertain the number of the enemy in possession. I had on the previous day caused a portion of the wall next to our Barracks to be broken down, but for its strong-th I would have destroyed the whole. There was a V Hy a onions coincidence 1 mel at Biixa, Bootan, since the above was written, an old sepoy who was with me at Char-ce-kar. and who mentioned this fact to me. 16 g-ap about ten feet wide broken down to the beig'ht of a man's chest. Up to this I g-ot, and from the silence within thougdit the place empty. I was soon undeceived, for I found it fully oc- cupied and a sentry standing* with his matchlock ready, a pace or two in the rear of the g'ap: He at once fired at me, but with- out wounding' me. In return I attempted to shoot him with a double barrelled pistol by Staudenmeyer, which, with its fellow, had cost me 30^. Both barrels missed fire. I then and there threw both pistols away, and trusted to my sword, the scabbard of which I had lost on the first day of the outbreak. As the enemy at once rushed up to the breach and I had only the Bugle Major with me, of whom more hereafter, I was compelled to take ig"nobly to my heels ; however, the disgrace did not rest long" ; having' collected a suflicient body of men, I easily retook the place. I note here that the enemy never stood when deprived of the protection of walls, even thoug-li they were ten to one, or the disproportion was still greater. We could not, however, at- tack them in the open plain, as our entire number was as nothing to the circle hemming us in. Later in the day I left Serjeant Major Byrne, a gallant soldier, in charge of the post; but shortly after he was brought in mortally wounded I took his place, the Doctor and Mr. Rose defending the Barrack ; and the enemy hav- ing- towards evening retired a little from our outpost, I went out, wishing to see if I could do anything' towards the town. I had a very gallant little Goorkha orderly with me, we both kneeled behind the bank of a ditch looking in the direction in which we supposed the enemy to be. AVe had been in our po-ition but a few minutes, when we were enlightened as to the enemy's " whereabouts.'" My orderly^ was, like most of his race, a little short man, his head and mine were both turned to the left. He was on my left side, a rifle ball passed through his head, striking me on the throat a little to the right side. We both fell : he stone dead, and I feeling' paralyzed. I was not at all stunned. Our men, who were watching us, thought both killed; my poor orderly was dragged into the garden as men drag a wheel-barrow, the poor man's legs being used in place of the handles aud his back * This man's case was curious : four .of his brothers had been killed the previous year at Bamean, and he had at the same time received a bullet in the head, which, as there was but one hole was thought to have penetrated his brain; to the surprise of every one he recovered, but as the brain was injured, and only covered by a thin skin, he was thought unfit for further service, and only waited an opportunity to return to India. 17 as the wheel. The same process was commenced witli me ; btit as I was alive and conscious, my objections I presume got me a lift at the head. I well remember that when set down inside, I came to the conclusion I was not "killed," that I sat up, and that when the enemy advanced ag-ain and there was in consequence a fresh alarm, I g-ot up, took my part in their repulse, and forg'ot all about the matter. When nig-ht set in, the combat was for a time clo.-jed. I went into the Barracks, and there meeting- the Doctor, remembered that I was badly wounded. I learnt the sad news of the death of my beloved Commander, and yet felt relief, as 1 felt it would have been impossible to move him in any exi- gency. The fact was kept secret, that the troops might not be disheartened. When I had the Doctor apart, I told him that I feared I was badly wounded. He took me into an inner room for examination, that the disaster might not be known. The Doctor removed my neck cloth with the utmost care, opened my shirt collar which adhered slightly to my throat, and on look- ing burst out laughing', telling me I was not wounded at all ! The truth is that' partly owing to the fact that I had on an extre- mely thick silk neckerchief, consisting of a square yard of Mool- tan silk, and partly owing* to the obliquity with which the ball struck me, I had only received a severe blow on the front of the spine and an abrasion of the skin sufficient to let out a very little blood. There was a red mark on the skin, as though a finger smeared with blood had passed over it, and no more. We were compelled to withdraw from the outposts in the even- ing. Our numbers were much diminished, and the men quite worn out with fasting and fatigue. To this was added the fact that we had now no water in the canal to protect, and therefore little object in maintaining the outposts in front of it. At night secretly and silentl}' a grave was dug on the east (or Nijrau side) of a small building we were erecting in the Barrack Square as a magazine, and to it were committed the remains of my dear comrades Salusbury and Codrington. I do not remem- ber when or where Sergeant Byrne was buried. My friend's grave was smoothed down, and straw burnt over it afterwards to conceal it, as I wished to keep the sad news as much as possible- from the men. We passed the night much as usual, but this night and the following day there was an inexpressible feeling of relief from the fact of our having given up all our outposts, except 18 Khojeh Meer Khan's Fort. We had in fact not more and prohably much less than half the space to defend. The 7th was ushered in as previous days had been, and as the remaining" days especially were. I will for once describe it. As soon at it was broad day the enemy, in obedience to their drums which had been beating' for an hour or two before, came forth from the town and formed a perfect cordon round us. Therp was a broad band on all sides, just out of musket shot, "^ from which the enemy stole out marksmen under cover of little piles of stones, as opportunity offered. The cover we had abandoned in front too, was completely occupied; also the targ-et butt and the oratory. It was now theliamazan,and in the evening- the enemy withdrew to break their fast, leaving- heavy pickets of Cavalry and Infantry on three sides of us and in the g-ardens in front. In the course of the day we became aware of another loss. Shots beg-an to drop into the interior of our square. At first these came palpably from the posts in front through the open g-ate way, and here I have to tell a sad tale which Mahomedans would consider especially illus- trative of the doctrine of fate. Captain Codring-ton had a clerk, a native of Chandernag-or in Beng-al. This man was a Hindoo, and spoke Eng-lish and French fluently. He was a very g-ood man, but eminently timid. Reg-ard for his old master had induced him to come to Afg-hanistan. When fig-hting- beg-an, he disappeared, nor did I hear anything- of him till this time. I heard he was wounded, and went to see him. I found him crouched up in a corner of an inner room, that is a room inside another, facing- the gateway. He had taken refuge here, as the most safe position he could think of. A bullet found him out, having pas.sed through the Barrack gateway, and the two doorways of the apartments opposite, into a remote corner. Another man, a tall, stout native of the Punjab, a Hindoo I believe, named Hassa Sing, chowdree of the bazar, or — to put the term in the most intelligible English I can think of— "Clerk of the Market" of the Regiment, was also mortally wounded in the stomach, in a room a little to the north. Pottinger who was in an upper room opposite to the gateway, was good enough to lend several rifles, his private property which he had brought fromLughmanee, to our marksmen, and I think it was at his suggestion that scaffolding- was erected in his room and the upper part of the wall loopholed : also cover formed by boxes to shelter one or two men placed on the roof. TI16 more * Wo had only '• Brown Bess," with Hint locks. 19 immediate remedy adopted was to liang- a curtain behind the g-ateway. We then fixed the eig-htccn pounder there, and filled up the space at the sides with the material provided for making- the g-ate. But this was found to be a partial remedy, bullets pene- trated the rooms on the south side of our Barracks thi'oug'h the doorways. Tiie women inside were much alarmed, and the men on the roofs of the houses were killed and wounded. It was quickly found out that the fire proceeded from Khojeh Meer Khan's castle which commanded the interior of our square, and that our g-arrison there had succumbed. The only thing- we could do was to put up the walls of the officers tents on the roofs of the Barracks on the north and south sides, so as to prevent the eneni}^ from taking- aim at the men behind them. -This dodg-e is known • to the Japanese, and has been practised recently by them . It proved a wonderfully efficient expedient, and althoug-h we could not prevent some of the g-un bullocks and ponies being- killed, the arrang'ement at once reduced our mortality. AVho would think of • canvas stopping- a bullet ? It could not do so, but it stopped fir- ing' ! Men would not fire aimlessly. It appears that the Sdobadar commanding- the Goorkhas in Khojeh Meer Khan's Port had been talked over by the Mahome- dan Moonshee,"^ a native of Peshawar, into surrendering-. I don't blame either; the Moonshee was probably much better informed than we were of the actual state of affairs, and considered our case hopeless. The Soobadar felt doubtless that he could not hold out. The place was too larg-e in any case for efficient defence by fifty men without water ; and forming-, as it did, the side of a narrow street, it was easily mined by an enemy, who had cover up to the door. The Soobadar, I believe, mig-ht have retreated to us with some loss, and in failing- to do so only, I blame him ; the place was untenable. He came over to us with some proposals for sur- render, the reply to which was an invitation to the Chiefs to con- fer. We had not heard of the cause of the outbreak, or the ob- jects or wishes of the enemy, and hoped in any case to g-ain some information, all other sources being- cut off. On the 8th, two chiefs came forward to treat. They were, I believe, natives of Nijrow. I took them to Potting-er to confer with him, while I g-uarded ag-ainst what we so much feared — treacher3^ I learned that Major P. had a long- conversation with them, the upshot of which may be briefly summed up. They *Sent to act as an inlerprctci'. believed they were acting- under orders of tiie King- to expel us."'^ p. said, '' Produce the King-'s order, and we will at once evacuate the country/^ I know no more of this than I heard from Major Potting-er. The impression made on my mind was, that these men had been deceived, and had acted in g-ood faith ; certain it is that after this conference, the number of our besieg"ers was visibly diminished. I will now enumerate all the other attempts made to treat with us : all the persons wlio came were referred to Major Potting-er. One came on behalf of a chief of Nijrow or Tug-hao, and demanded g-uns, money, and I don't know what, to be surrendered. After Potting-er had had his opportunity of extracting- information, I told the man that I positively prohi- bited any one coming- with such communications (which I per- ceived reached the menf and were most demoralizing-), and I said, "If you do come, it will be at your peril. I will hang you.'' Another day a chief, a g-enuine Afg-han of bold and defiant manner, procured a cessation of firing-, and forced himself in to have an interview with Potting-er, I don't know what passed. But it was plain to me he came merely for the sake of spying-, I showed him round the place, told him 1 fully saw his object, and pointing- to the bastion the Afg-hans had blown i^p, showed him how easy it was, and challeng-ed him to come up that way if he could. He was the perfection of health and streng-th, but I don't think he quite approved of the spirit he found inside our place. The last offer to treat was conveyed by the man I had pro- mised to hang- if he came ag-ain. I had then made up my mind it was impossible to hold out, and felt it would be an useless act of cruelty to put him to death. I, therefore, merely piit him in ward, blindfolding- him with my own pocket handkerchief, be- grimed with the smoke of ten day's fighting. I regret that a Bactrian coin of Lysias, purchased a day before the outbreak, remained tied up in the corner. We felt, I believe, one and all, that it was utterly futile to treat with the enemy, and, further, when we came to know what had happened at Kabool, that it was our duty to hold out to the last, as our conquest would ^-This is fully accounletJ loi' by the fact thai documents foiged by the rebels, l)ut bearing the King's seal, were in circulation. ^|-The men crowded to hear what passed, and those wlio could not get witliin hearing, questioned those who had heard — discussion ensued which was unsuited to our position. 31 release the people who were besieg'ing* us, and leave them at liberty to aid those already pressing- heavily on Kabool. I think it was this afternoon we buried the dead. I most fortunately insisted on the Doctor examining" every body before it was buried. One fine young* man, who had laid a day or two with the dead, having- been shot throug-h the throat, was found to be quite alive and conscious. We buried forty-four in the g-reat pit dug- for a tank, but those killed at Lug-hmanee, on the retreat to Char-ee-kar, and at the outposts, lay unburied where they fell. Foolishly we would not bury the horses and cattle killed by the enemy's fire in the same place. They were quar- tered" and thrown over the wall, in the hope that we would have an opportunity of removing- them to a distance. This never occurred, and the stench became abominable. We were subjected every nig-ht to the annoyance of false attaCiiS, the real nature of which I did not know at the time. They were solely intended to wear us out. These facts I learned afterwards when a prisoner. One favourite plan was to keep drums beating- for hours, and a larg-e body of men in the bed of the canal in front, shouting*, ''Dum-ee-Char-yar,''* and other Afg-han war cries. I afterw^ards learnt that these were chiefly unarmed peaceful men, residents of the town, who were com- pelled to turn out thus, sore ag-ainst their will, wdiile the bulk of the warriors took their rest. Eventually an occurrence took place which put an effectual stop to this. 9th. I believe it was on this day that all hope of relief was destroyed. About midday it was announced to me that a body of men were visible coming- from the direction of Kabool. I at once went to look out, and saw them sure enoug'h; but were they the relief long- expected, or enemies ? Eelief certainly. I could make them out distinctly with a telescope. The foremost weve horsemen, our own 5th Cavalry, a fact rendered certain by their white head dresses; we congratulated one another, and tears of joy streamed from my eyes ; but, alas ! it soon appeared we were deceived. The fantastic play of mirag-e had so acted on a herd of cattle g-razing-, as entirely to deceive us. In the even- ing- a Syud, I believe of the family at Istalif, came in, and g-ave us the first news from Kabool, viz., that Burnes was killed, g-uns *"The Life of the Four Fiiendri ; " that is, of the four companions of Mahomed. 23 (Warburton's no doubt) had been captured, and that fig-hting' occurred daily. The enemy kept us closely besieg-ed. It was impossible on the east side for anybody to show his head without getting* a volley. In fact, it was a favourite amusement to put a Sepoy's hat (one of the old Belltoppers) on a stick and show it above the wall, and after the enemy had spent a g-ood deal of powder and shot, to show them what they had been firing" at, giving- at the same time a derisive shout. Exposing myself incautiously for a few seconds, I received as I thought a ball in the elbow about the ''funny bone;" my arm dropped so promptly that I did not doubt but that the bone was smashed. Taking off my coat, how- ever, it appeared that the limb had only been struck by a spent ball, which left a painful bruise and nothing worse. Here I may remark that we found the Afghans so short of lead that many of their bullets w^ere only quartz pebbles covered with lead. This day I shored up the flat roofs of the barracks, and cut open the gorge of the bastion next the towai, and mounted a six-pounder there .■^ The other one was brought into play down below. There was a heavy picket of the enemy\s infantry and cavalry kejJt by night at the back of our barracks, between us and the hills, wdiich entirely defeated a project for getting at night a supply of water from the Khoja-seh-Yaran spring. The subadar of artillery undertook to dislodge them. lie brought one of our field pieces to the side of the barrack square, furthest from that on which the picket was, and mounting the barrack roof, with the aid of a plumb line, he laid the gun in the same way tliat a mortar is laid, and elevating it sufficiently, fired over the oppo- site wall. Several shots were dropped in the middle of the picket, the men of which were just making- themselves comfort- able for the night. They were sent scampering, but only to take up a worse position for our interests, viz., nearer to the coveted source of water. In the evening- some Afg-hans crept into the huts fronting the south-east corner of our barracks, and commenced singing voci- ferously. This was thought to be a piece of bravado. Some thoug-lit they were mining;, i knew well they could not reach us l)crorc day, and that they would not venture to continue there (luring daylight, and that I could completely destroy their work *lt had hoen kept boluw lor pussiljlu service outside ; tiie second one was not lo bo depended upon. •23 at dawn if they were mining- ; so contented myself with visiting the sentries perpetually, telling- them to keep a g-ood look out. In each of the bastions a subadar was stationed, excepting- the north-west one held by Mr. Rose. 1 kept m.y usual post seated in a chair at the g-ateway, where I had a small reserve ready to act in an}' direction as requisite ; the remainder of the reg'iment who survived unwounded were perpetually on duty on what I may call the walls — as many as could lay in each bastion; the others on the flat roofs, above which the walls rose fromeig-hteen inches to three feet. The lowest parts were slig-htly protected by stone.s and billets of wood placed upon the top. After midnig-ht there was a sudden explosion, alarm, and a general firing- by the enemy. It appears they had excavated into the south-east bas- tion and blown up the front of it. There was no mining- from the huts, but a man had boldly sat at the foot of the bastion and dug- a hole into it, which he loaded with powder, tamped and fired. The sing'ing- was intended to distract attention from his opera- tions. The dig-g-ing- was distinctly heard by the women in the barrack below, but the subadar neg-lected tlie information con- veyed to him. The men instantly deserted that quarter, and it was believed the enemy were among- us, but I g-ot together the reserve, and in a minute or two was in the breach. I found that it was unoccupied, and quickly barricaded it, so as to render it as strong as before The enemy had made no attempt to take advantage of what had been done. Had they advanced with a storming party, the place would have been theirs in all proba- bility, instead of which they merely indulged in a desultory fire. After this a piece of lighted port-fire was dropped over the walls at each bastion every half hour, so as to enable us to see what was going on below. 10th. Since the supply of water failed from the canal and we had been confined to the Ijarracks, the practice was to open the Postern Gate, a small, narrow one, for.a short time after dark, and allow the garrison to go out to get their supply from the pit, where it had been received for building purposes before the siege, and from the hollows round the walls where earth was obtained for their construction. This measure I had to superin- tend myself, as from the narrowness of the entry and the eager- ness of the people, there was great danger of a crush, and much of the water was spilt. This evening the last drops of water u remaining" were collected in pitchers, and broug-ht in and placed under sentries in a room. lltli. Water was served out to fig-liting- men only. iVt first, referring" to the fact that the corps was composed entirely of Hindoos, I ordered a native officer to serve it out; but quickly a cry of partiality was raised, and the men insisted that I should serve it out. I did serve out water on this and the succeeding day as far as it would g'o, about half a tea cup* full to each man. Those who know Hindoo prejudices on the subject, and remem- ber that every man, from the Brahmin and Rajpoot downward, lost his caste by thus receiving' water in a tea cup from my hand will be able to realize in a measure the amount of suffering* which the men had underg-one to induce them to make such a sacrifice. Yet all appeared staunch, I heard no murmuring" One of our Mahomedan g-unners had deserted it is true. The rest, to be sure, had asked for their pay on the pretext that they had not the means of buying- food at the reg-imental shops ; but I had a plain answer : I had not received it ; and, to obviate dif- ficulty, ordered credit should be given them. I allowed them and the Sepoys g-enerally as much mutton as they could eat from the officers' mess flock ; little was used, as they said it only made them more thirsty. I learnt afterwaids that many sucked the raw flesh to assuage their thirst. Fig-hting- is at all times dry work, but figiiting" without water is nearly impossible. The misery was g-reat; the Hindoos, accustomed to daily abluiions, had not bathed since the commencement of the affair. Even at the time that we were still unconfined to our barracks, food was only obtainable at irregular intervals ; our voices were hoarse, our lips cracked, our faces beg-rimed with dust and smoke, and our eyes blood-shot. I do not remember to have sat down to' a meal after the evening on which Pottingcr joined us, my food being" chiefly dried mulberries obtained from the Fakeer's Tukeea in front, or fried flour brought to me by the Sepoys. Truly we were one. Tliere was, however, an article of diet without which I don't think I could have held out. Each morning before daylight Captain Codrington's servant brought me a cup of tea. The last was, I think, on the morning of the 12th, and was ivam a small vessel of water which Mr. Rose had secured. This was the sole source of supply for himself, Major Pottingcr, the Doclor, •^Much of this was mere imid. Z5 and myself, and certainly for two days, if nok three, beyond the small cup of tea i tasted no fluid. Iq the evening- 1 sent out a party* by stealth to endeavour to g-et a supply of water by passing- between the enemy's pickets, and g-etting- in rear of the town, to the spot where the water from the canal which had been cut ran down. They g'ot a little water, but alarmed the enemy, and lost the g-reater part of what they were bring-ing- in ; what came was at once seized and drank by whoever could g-et hold of it. One or two of the party were reported to have been captured by the enemy. 12th. We were in every way, as mig-ht be supposed, much worse off. Since rain fell on the nig'ht of the 5th, the weather, especially at nig'ht, had become much colder, the mountain tops being- covered with snow. Our men were almost entirely worn out, the enemy used all sorts of contrivances to dispirit us. Scal- ing- ladders were for several days paraded round us, thoug-h in several places the enemy could g-efc in without using- them, as they could reach the top of the wall from the outside with their hands. There was usually one g-eneral attack per diem, and it did not fail to-day ; many men were absent from their posts, and I had to drive them up from their barracks. During- the fig-ht some slunk away ag-ain, and among- these a native officer. I discovered him in the corner of a room, behind a screen, with fire in a chftfing- dish burning- before him, mumbling- ''Muntras" or mag-ic formulae. It was needful to make an exampfe, so I pulled him out by the collar, tore his coat off, and set him to work as a coolie with the camp followers. AYe were attemj)ting- to fill up the unfinished mag-aziue with earth, intending- to con- vert it into a Cavalier, on which to mount our second g-un, so as to command the breach made by the enemy in our south-east bastion. I was soon oblig-ed to g-ive it up, and admit the validity of the excuse made by the poor people, who said they could not work without water. I org-anized an expedition to attempt again to g-et water this evening-, and intended myself to command it; but the native ofiicers of the corps conjured me not to g'o out, as they said, if * This expedition was prompted by tlie fact tliat some liad let tliemselves down over tlie walls, whence they had stolen to the back of the town and obtained water. The measure was so bold that, but for the success of these adventures, I should not have thought of it. anything* happened to me, they had no* one to look to for g-uid- auce. I felt compelled to g'ive in, and yet, feeling- the absolute necessity of keeping- the men in strict control, I placed the expe- dition under the orders of Mr. Eose and our best native officer. I indicated the points they were to hold till the water carriers returned, and did all in my power to ensure success. The urg-ent necessity for absolute siLence was pointed out to all, and I had g'ood hope that we migdit succeed in getting- enoug'h water to last for a day or tw^o. After a long- and anxious interval we were amazed by firing- close to us — a volley at the building- intended for a mess house and another at the canal, followed by scattered firing- in the same direction, and then from the enemy's pickets. By-and-bye the detachment returned, rampant with triumph, but without water, or scarcely any. Whatever quantity came was at once consumed or disposed of privately. Rose brought two stan- dards captured from the enemy. The first thing I learnt was, that my plan hail entirely failed. The posts indicated by me were not taken up, which, considering that all were suffering the agonies of thirst, was not to be wondered at. All rushed to the w^ater, which was reached without detection, they then drank their fill, and instead of following up the plan laid down, which might still have been adopted in part, conceived the idea of fall- ing- on the pickets of the enemy in front of our position. This view was carried out, and I believe the picket at the mess house and at the canal were attacked at the same time. It was found that the whole of them had gone to sleep, without planting a sentry; they were in fact enjoying their first sleep after a day's hard work and a heavy meal, for it was now the Eamzan, during which they fasted all day till the sun went down. Poor people ! to the majority it was also their last sleep. I was told that the mess house being- -surrounded and aim being taken, the first volley was fired, and those not killed by it were bayonetted. Almost simultaneously a similar event took place at the canal, the party near which were chiefly mere ''claqueurs," driven there to annoy us by yells : some of these escaped. However, the enemy received a terrible blow, but the success appeared to me quite useless. The object for which the party was sent forth had entirely failed, and we were dying of thirst. I had a horror of the destruction of even such men as the Afghans were by such vC-Thc naly icinainingotliccr of llic roginuMU, Mr. Rose, wa.s very young; he had joined the service but a few months previously. 37 means. It seemed unmanly. To be sure they would only have been too giad to treat us in the same way, if they^' could. Our blackt bearded visitor who was a Chief of some distinction, was among- the dead ; g-reat lamentation was made over him next day. 13^/*. The failure of our attempts to obtain water, except for the few who went forth, made it manifest we could no long-er liold out. All the hope we ever had of. relief from Kabool had long" since vanished ; and it was clQ^r we must either die where we were or effect some chang-e in our circumstances. As our po- sition was palpably untenable, the probability of having* to effect a retreat had been often in our minds from the first ; but it was combined with the hope of assistance from Kabool ; for no one needed to be told that a retreat over from forty to fifty miles of country in open rebellion was impossible to people so out-num- bered that they could not show their noses outside their Barracks. AYe had no means of carrying- our wounded, and so early as the date of the death of the g-allant Codring-ton I felt inexpressible relief from that event, as I was well aware that in the event of it being" necessary to remove him, he could not bear the motion of the sing-le doolee or litter we had for carrying" the w^ouuded. There were a g-reat number of considerations which negratived even an attempt at retreat till this day. In the forenoon, however, the native Officers in a body came towards me. I had noticed whisperings and consultations in twos and threes among- them and did not require any one to tell me what it meant. As they drew near, I understood their errand only too well. They respect- fully announced that " something" must be done," as it was impos- sible the}^ could hold out an.y long-er without water. T had quite made up my mind too on the subject, and in reply pledg-ed my life on the attempt to lead them to water that nig"ht. Now for the first time a council was held in the room where Potting-er lay wounded, at which the Doctor and Mr. Rose, I believe, assisted. The question of retreat or no retreat was not discussed. The only alternative to my mind was to attempt to seize by surprise some native castle in which we mig'ht expect to find some food and have acces.-i to water, but I could not call to mind a sing-le one from which the supply could not be cut off. All were ag"reed tiuit our only chance, hopeless as it seemed, lay in attempting- "- 1 romenil)er in the spring an English soldier Avas shot at night, as he lay asleep in his tent amidst his comrades at the CampatSeeah Sung near Kabool. This was done in the mere wantonness of hate. ■y Shah Mahmood. to reach Kabool. If we g'ot a g-ood way, it was thoug-ht possible^ relief mig-lit meet us and lielp us in. The route was the only question of debate. The direct route was the most difficult and one upon which opposition was most certain ; for we had to pass several fortified villag-es, if we went by it. My own acquaintance with the country was imperfect, but I was disposed to take a line to the left or S. E. which, it seemed to me, would bring* us inlo broken g-round, where the enejpy's horse could not act ag-ainst us, and from whence we mig-ht possibly effect a junction with Colonel Sale's Brig-ade, supposed to be in that direction. Potting-er and the Doctor, who both had seen much more of the country than I had, were in favour of adopting- a line of road skirting- the moun- tains, as it would g-ive, in the event of our being- cut up, the best chance of escape to the women and children and camp followers, who mig-ht perhaps be able to clamber the sides of the hills and find shelter among- the rocks. There was another recommend- ation to this route; it would probably be unwatched, and it abounded in water ; we knew too that there were some well dis- posed to us in the direction of Istalif. I fully concurred in these arg-uments, and it was understood that we would adopt the hill foot route. Our plans it was thoug-ht prudent to conceal as far as possible. Spikes were ordered to be made for the g-uns, but the armorer who made them, protested that they would not break, as he had no liquid in which to cool them. I sug-g-ested the use of g-hee, not knowing- at that time the effect of oil on steel. The Doctor urg-ed me to save my Bactrian coins. I had a valuable collection, which I could have conveniently carried in my pockets, but as I had adopted it as a principle that all bag-g-ag-e was to be abandoned, I could not in my own person set the example to the contrary. After what has been already recorded, I do not think there are many persons who would want explanation of the state which rendered retreat necessary ; but I will nevertheless briefly reca- pitulate our condition. On the £nd November we had about seven hundred and forty men, more than half of whom were re- cruits, and who had never been under fire. We had since then lost our Commandant, Quarter Master, Serjeant Major and, I be- lieve, fully 100 privates killed ; we had our Quarter Master Ser- jeant and eig-ht barrack rooms full of wounded, probably not less than two hundred, we had lost fifty by capture. This is the lowest estimate, so that there could not remain more than three 29 hundred and ninety worn out men under arms. AYe had over one hundred women and forty children, with perhaps one hundred camp followers of sorts. The whole of this party was totally des- titute of water. At the commencement we had only by estimate seven days' provisions,but our store was by no means exhausted."^' It probably would have carried us a week farther. Our ammu- nition had been at starting- 200 rounds per man, but had been husbanded with the g-reatest care ;«no such random firing- was al- lowed as I have repeatedly seen since, and our store was there- fore still respectable ; we had but little ammunition for the g-uns, one of which had broken down thrice ; and our muskets were so foul, that it was with difficulty balls could be forced into them; even urine could not be obtained to wash them out. We were closely besieg-ed by overwhelming- numbers, and could not show ourselves outside in daylight ; all hope of relief had vanished ; and to us remained alone the choice of death, surrender to a noto- riously faithless enemy, or the attempt to join by stealth our com- rades at Kabool, I had received from two men, the armorer and the native doctor, one a native of the Punjab and the other of Cashmere, hints that treachery was brewing- among- the g-unners; but I could g-et no tang-ible explanation from them of the g-rounds for their supposition. The g-unners had behaved as well as men could do. They foug-ht bravely, and had lost twelve men out of fifty-six, their entire number. As I then said, they were as my rig-ht arm to me ; I could not therefore either punish them on vag'ue suspicion, nor could I even turn them out of the barracks, possibly to increase the enemy's ranks, especially as their accusers had shewn no courag-e themselves. Indeed the native doctor was reputed an arrant coward. I did what I deemed rig-ht, and g-ave private instructions that a vig'ilant eye should be kept on them. The i^recise nature of our expedition to take place in the evening- was for g-ood reasons kept secret ; but I had openly pledg-ed my word to do something-, and the necessity for making- spikes for the g-uns, in anticipation of having- to abandon them , would have betrayed our objects, if all were so dull as not to be able to form a pretty g-ood g-uess. 'We never had draug-ht car- riag-e for all three g-uns, and as the bullocks had been entirely without water from the 6th, if not before, and altog-ether without food for five daj'S, as indeed all our beasts were, it was hopeless to expoct them to do service. The armorer had just shown me * Chiefly from want of water to cook with. 30 the spikes, and explained his difficulty about rendering' them brittle, and a cessation of firing* occurring* at this time, I went up to the ]^, E. Bastion to see " what was up." Ensigm Rose was with me, and also the Subadar of artillerj'. I saw a native of India, with clean clothes and combed hair, coming* towards the g-ateway. I asked, observing* he was an artilleryman, whether he was the man who had deserted, or whether he was the 'inan cut off in the attempt to obtain a supply of water. The Sabadar at once g*ave answer that he was the deserter. In any case it was plain that the enemy had sent him, probably to offer terms ; and as I was quite determined not to make any, being* completely assured that none made with us would be kept, I felt it of import- ance to prevent his holding* any communication with the men At this time I was unarmed. I met the man as he came in, and seized him by the collar with my left hand as he attempted to pass me. Instantly he threw himself on the g*round, I still hold- ing* him ; this reduced me to a stooping* posture, in which I received a tremendous blow on the neck, which I conjecture was followed by one or two more. I started, letting* g*o my man, and turning* round, at the same time feeling* a sharp pain in my rig*ht wrist ; I saw the blood spouting* in a long* jet from it, and the Subadar g*laring* at me like a demon, holding* a sword with both hands, and in the act of striking* at me ag*ain. All this was the work of an instant. I had the whole of the muscles* on one side of the back of my neck severed, a severe cut into the rig'ht shoulder joint, another in the rig-ht wrist, nearly severing* my hand, and a fourth in the left fore arm, splintering* the bone. I retreated up a ladder to the roof of the barracks, and shouted *' Treacher}','-' calling* on the men to fire on the g*unners, who were escaping* en masse. I, however, after having* the limb with its spouting' artery bound, found myself so faint from loss of blood that I could not stand. I was conducted between two men into the lower storey of the building*, in which was Pottiiig*er, and was laid on a bed. The enemy made a most vig*orous attack on all sides. Potting*er had himself carried to the g'ate, where the Doctor, with one or two men, vig*orously worked the eig'Iiteen- pounder, and by dark the enemy had been completely repulsed. I heard afterwards that the artiller^^men, seeing* our affairs were desperate, thoug*ht it best to make terms for themsclres. The *A bad tailor, who luul luade one of Ihe most prodigious collars ever seen, was probably the uninli;ntioaal means of saving my life. 81 arrang-ement was, the.y were to kill me as a proof of their zeal, and to g-o over to the enemy, who were to make a g-eneral attack in the confusion which would ensue, and take the place by escal- ade. It was expected no one would remain to work the gnins ; on this point, and in the anticipated success, calculations failed. It appears that from some sig"n the Subadar understood all wag settled. He, therefore, when I left his side, snatched a sword from the hands of Ensig-n Rose, and followed me. I presume, when the man I had seized, whose face was toward the Subadar. saw him coming- at- me, he threw himself down to be out of the way of the blow. Major Potting-er, the Doctor, and Mr. Rose, after driving- off the enemy, attempted to org-anize a retreat, but this was out of the question ; none of them but Eose belong-ed to the corps, and he was too j'oung- and unused to command. The men, women, and camp followers beg-an to load themselves with whatever they could find. A Goorkha Jemadar served the cash^ in the reg-i- mental chest out to whoever would take it. The Doctor spiked the g-uns, and it was proposed to blow up the mag-azine, but I neg-atived this, for two reasons. It would be sure to arouse the attention of the enemy, and thereb}- defeat our attempt to e.scape secretly ; and probably it would destroy our wounded, who were unable to move. I have»said, discipline was at an end, but still there was some attempt made at order. It was arrang-ed that after dark the force should be divided : one half to leave by the main entrance, and the other half by the postern g-ate ; both parties were to unite on the parade g-round, and proceed in silence by the route previously determined. When all was nearly ready the Doctor came to me. An assistant made a lig-ht with a piece of oiled rag-, and the Doctor amputated m^^ right hand at the WTist joint, rapidh' sewing- the skin tog-ether with three stitches of a needle and thread. As may be supposed, I was dreadfully faint, but not a drop of liquid of any kind was to be found, some ether excepted. Tinctures of all sorts had disappeared from the Hospital, the smell of the ether luckily had been too powerful, and a drink of it revived me. I was put on horseback and led out by the postern, a man holding- me on either side, to the par- ade g-round. There we waited unavailing-ly for the other party ; *The man's name was Hunooman Singa Jemadar. He had been from Nepal to Pekin with tribute. He measured out the money with a brass lotah or drinking vessel. He was a brave soldier. sa a man was sent back to bring- them on ; he did not, I believe, re- turn. While waiting', an infant beg"an to cry ; the Doctor said he would silence it, and he did so for ever, I was told, by dashing- it on the ground.'^ He went back himself in search after the mis- sing* men but did not return to us. At last we started, Potting-er leading-. I continued to be held by a man either side of my horse, with a cushion under my chin to keep my head up. After trarel- ling* about four miles, we came to water. It was difficult to g-et the party to move at all from this, and I was told that many never did so. Potting-er was fully impressed with the fact that in speed and secrecy alone had we a chance of escape ; he therefore urg-ed tiie party on. Kose and the Quarter Master Serg-eant Hanrahan (who had recoved from the wound received on 4tli November) were to bring- up the rear, but this was found impossible. We waited and halted repeatedly, with the result of constantly diminishing- numbers. At I think about 1 a. m. we heard firing- to the left at Ivalabag'h on the main road, which I afterwards ascertained arose from the detection of the party which had failed to join us on leaving- the barrack. I think it was some time before we g-ot to Istalif, that we missed Ensig-n Eose, Serjeant Hanrahan and the men with them. Potting-er's object was to draw them on as fast as he could, and to show the way, waititig- occasionally in difficult places for them to come up. We had travelled about tweuty miles, when we missed them, and all endeavours failed to disco- ver them ag-ain.t It was clear that they had taken some other path, so having- no choice, we pushed on, our party diminihed to seven or eigdit. We stumbled on a water mill, with the miller awake and busy, he too readily came out with a welcome which we dared not return, but on the contrary avoided. Westrug-g-led on, continually losing- our way in the dark till day beg-an to dawn, when we found ourselves under the walls of a fortified villag-e, beyond which was a naked hill. The majority of our party were in favour of taking- to this hill, for the sake of concealment, I felt very strong-l}^ however, that when our evacuation of Char- ee-kar was known, the enemy would be sure to look for us in such ■5^ This was confirmed by an eye-witness in '187'!. -|-Pnttinger feelings and mine probably differed. He had been nine days in bed and was consequcnlly cool. I had been the whole of the time in constant excitement. He did not belong to the Regiment. I did. Nothing woid(lha\e induced me to part company with my men as long as they would follow me. He now looked u])on them as what they really were, a disorderly mob, useless as soldiers. This is written with reference to remarks in his narrative. 33 a situation. I recommended we should take shelter in some ravi- nes channeling- the otherwise almost level plain near the villag'e, where 1 felt assured the enemy would never dream of looking- for us. It was indeed fortunate that we did so. for what I anticipated occurred; the enemy were seen hunting-, and firing- at some of onr men on the hill side, while we lay at hand closely concealed. Once indeed a party came up to within two hundred yards of us, but turned back without seeing- us. Our party now consisted of Major Potting-er, myself, the Major's Goorkha"^ Monshee named Mohun Beer, all mounted, my orderly Maun Sing-, and a Reg-i- mental sutler on foot. I must not, however, forg-et Major Pot- ting-er's bull terrier, of whose barking- 1 was apprehensive when the enemy approached us, but who was, I was assured, too tired to bark. During- the nig-ht I had drunk water liberally, and I believe about half a pint of ether. During- this terrible day the larg-est share of the little water with our partj-, was g-iven to me. I had also some dried mulberries to eat. As soon as it was well dark, we pushed on ag-ain, Potting-er g-uiding-; we passed close to Killa Iltifat, a castle wliere the dog-s alone took notice of us, and crossed an open plain to the last rang-e of hills dividing' us from Kabool. Now I knew of only two roads crossing- it, both of which were sure to be watched ; but Pottiag-er, who had fre- quently passed and repassed, knew of a g-oat path between them, but he had never trodden it, and in any case it would be a toug-h job for a horse to cross the hill by it. We pushed on for this path, but failing- to find it, attempted the hill side. AVeak as I was from los.s of blood, I could not keep my seat, and several times slipped off ; on the last occasion I was very badly bruised by the stones on which I fell. It appeared to me hopeless to think of g-etting- further. I therefore entreated Potting-er to leave me to my fate, and attend to his own safety. He most nobly and g-enerously refused to do so. He told me to lie quiet and rest myself, while he made search for a path. This he found, and then rested for a while himself. After about an hour's delay, I was remounted, and we succeeded in crossing- the mountain, but at the foot of it to our horror found ourselves in an encampment of nomad Afg'han shepherds, whose black g'oat's hair tents we could not see till we were among- them. Their dog-s barked furiously, but luckily the nig-ht was bitterly cold, and no one had the courag-e to face it. There were two ways from this ■5!- His slalcnient to Ihu late Sir II. Laurence is appeaded. 34 camp, we chose one to the rig"ht; we hoped by skirting* the hike which here hiv between us and Kabool, to g'et into the canton- ments at the side furtliest from the town, but Potting'er could not "find the way, so we were compelled to push on for Deh-Afg-hana, a larg-e castle in the suburbs of the town of Kabool, under the walls of which we needs must pass. There were sentries on the towers who challeng-ed us. Potting^er answered in Persian, strongly flavoured with a Milesian accent, that we were the ser- vants of a native chief whom he named. The answer was not quite satisfactory, for the sentry said, "Stop, Til come down." Our side replied, '' All rig-ht," and calculating' when our friend had commenced his descent, we pushed on as fast as we could get oar horses to g'o. AVe got into the town, and in the outskirts dropped our sutler, at the semi-fortified house of one of the Hindoo Shikarporee merchants. He, poor man, to be sure, had had no fighting, but he had been several days without water. He had with him a large bundle of property, which he conveyed into his stronghold. Maun Sing, my orderly, who was also on foot, declined the option of remaining here, and determined to share the remaining danger with us. We thought of making for the Bala Hissar, where we hoped to be received by the king, but for some reason changed our plan. We passed nearly through the city, meeting- only one single person awake, a fakeer, smok- ing his pipe, who gave us his blcssing-ns we passed. AYe got into the path leading to the cantonment, and were near the end of it, when, to our horror, we found the open shops on either side of the way, which was not -twenty feet wide, filled with men. We were called upon to stop, but did not. Then arose a cry of ''Stop them," "Infidels," etc., etc., followed up by a fusillade which did no injury to any one but perhaps themselves Truly in this, as in so many other instances, Providence protected us, for if any had had the courage to put out his hand and seize our bridles, we had been lost. The fire put a little spirit into our weary animals, who took us clear of them. ]\[aun Sing kept up with us. And here I must correct a mistake into which Pottinger has fallen in his account. lie says Maun Sing's accoutrements were hid by a Posteen or sheep's-skin cloak ; this is a mistake, of which I was further assured by Mnnn Sing himself five or six years afterwards. A man could not possibly have made such a march, still less run for his life, clothed in .such a garment. I believe it was Maun Sing's cross belts and breast plate that first 35 disclosed who we were. Our troubles were not yet at an end. The firing- had roused the Eng'lish g-arrison, and we were chal- leng-ed by sentries in a larg-e fort to our rig'ht, then in suceession by those to onr left in the cantonment field work, and we had no small .lilficulty in passing- the jealous and inexorable sentries round two and a half sides of it to the only g-ate by which we could g-et access. Here I was taken off my horse, and for the first time had my wounds dressed in the g-nard-room. Then I felt that if it had been to save me from immediate death, I could not have g'one ten yards further. We were, to use the words of Eyre, received ''as men who had risen from the dead.'' Thoug-h this is intended to be a personal narrative, I cannot refrain from g-iving- some account of the fate of my comrades. I enjoyed peculiar opportunities of learning- particulars from the Afg-hans themselves during- the many months spent in captivity among- them ; and also from having- collected the survivors of the corps in 1842, and conducted them back to India. It appears then that the Doctor, when he went back to the Barrack from the parade g-round, found that the party which should have joined us, had taken the direct road to Kabool ; he joined them and, I presume, failed to indue© the men to return. The party was fired upon while passing- throug-li the fortified villag-e of Kala Bag"h at about 1 a, m., and this we heard. They strug-g-led on till dayiig-ht, when they had afig-ht with the enemy crossing- a hill I believe at Ak-Serae, where the man who g-ave me these particulars was badly wounded with a spear and taken prisoner. All the rest of this party, excepting- the Doctor, were here either killed, or wounded and taken prisoners. The Doctor, who was mounted, manag-ed to g-et clear, and by nine or ten o'clock had g-ot nearly to the foot of the last rang-e between Char-ee-kar and Kabool ; the rang-e which we crossed next nig-ht. Had he succeeded in ascending- it, he would have found the pass occupied, but he was not fated to do so. He met some labourers from the town. They surrounded him. He g-ave one his horse, another his sword,"^ a third his pistols, and in fact diverted himself of all he had, walking- ©n afoot. His *This sword had belonged to Lieutenant Rattray, killed at Char-ee-kar, legarding which there is a story told by Poltinger, which 1 saw in one of the English papers in 1843. Rattray bought this sword Irom the widow of its last owner, who met a violent d(;ath. Tiie tradition was that every owner, from the time of Nadir Shah in ll'iO, had met with a violent death. It was offered to me, being a fine Damas- cus blade, but I declined to have an article with such an ominous legend attached to it. The Doctor in conse({uencii kept it for himself. 36 horse no doubt had g-iven in. One of the wood-cntters followed him, and, to use his own words as communicated to me, felled him with his axe '' for the love of God. " Ensig-n Eose and Serjeant Hanrahan, with those men who adhered to them, as has already been narrated, followed the same track as ourselves, or ne?irly so, as far as Istalif ; they kept to the foot of the western hills, and by morning- had g-ained the Mama Khatoon pass in advance of us, to our rigdit, when they were surrounded and cut up. All accounts I have received, agree in stating- that they made a g-allant defence^ and foug-ht hard for their lives. I think up to the time of the retreat of the army from Kabool, only one, or at the outside two, of the corps had found their way into cantonment; but one man, Motee Earn Havildar, actually found his way past Jellalabad to India.f After General Pollock's advance, I collected 165 men, survivors of the Reg-iment, who were distributed to the Goorkha Eeg-i- ments in India. Maun Sing- was honoured and promoted : a love affair, however, g-ot him into difficulty, and he, knowing- his countrymen well, fled for his life; but he was befriended by Captain (now General) Troup, whom he had attended as an orderly during' the retreat from Kabool. Pie was enlisted in the 48th N. I., and was eng-ag-ed in the battles of the first Seik war where he lost his thumb, while orderly to Major Georg-e Broadfoot, then Governor-General Ag-ent, who lost his life on that occasion. Maun Sing- was pensioned, and had beside the Order of Merit to which a pension was attached. He came all the way from Almorah to Chyabassa, in Aug-ust 1848, to see me, since when I have not heard of him Most of the wounded who were unable to move out from Char-eedvar with us, were slaug-litered next day. It is curious that the enemy either did not discover our retreat, or were afraid to venture near, till long- after daylig-ht. A¥e had all throug-hout the sieg-e sounded our bugles with the reg-ularity of peaceable times, by way of a hint to the enemy that we were all rig'ht. On this last fatal morning-, the Bug'le Major, of whose g-allantry I have already spoken , and who was too severely wounded to leave with us, crawled up to a Bastion and sounded the customary bug-le at dawn. * Forty or fifty wer'e taken prisoners, amongst whom wore Oomer Sing, the senior Subadar, and his wife. The Subadar of Artillery who wounded me, passing the castle where this man was a prisoner, caused him to be put to death, and the poor Sul)adar's widow, long a prisoner, used to go daily to weep over his bleaching bones. -J- One of the survivors, I met at Buxa, Bootan (!), January, -1807. F CHA .^^- BY MOTEERA IITON'S RECOLL ^^ Ton Lbs of Euro pew L offld P LAN OF CHAREEKAR FROM ACCOUNT tlVEN BY MOTEERAM HAVILDAR.AND FILLED Y^ "^^ — EX PLAN ATION (•«//,// & :/a/dt /im„ fart. 20 Jul mult aUo/t, w,(li jlitlmiuj haul. .mijuHdlijIiJ III/ a noif almul 6 inilrj iiff hirl .1 oljicrrs ,iiuuler.t H bitjlitm lilewn tip ('.tmsluiii with ai/tm lC> f'l- lirletii/mti le Shah Soafalt tin U'lM t'ltsUetis. no gttiis nM„fa:i,„ /will, fMtil ii, mlh lailli V. Itiiir i,,„ml rfCcorkliii lirfl' I' III tins i/itleiiiai/ ft lirtiity iiaiipr ifiili . an IS pi" iitur it tilt Qtiai'lcf Gitaitl of lite Ite^l I \/,imlioii oei-iipiri/ /.,/ 3istion nearest the town alone had a gun. — J. C. II. Y'rhcif is some confusion of ideas here; the road from Char-ee-kar and Lugh- mauee rna parallel to the canal for about three miles, then crossed the canal at right angles to the castle, distant about 500 yards. — J. C. H. 48 man by Shah Mahommed of ISnjrow, to look, he said, at some recruits which he broug'ht with him for service. They were mounted men. As Lt. Eattray was examining- them drawn up in a line, Shah Mahommed g-ave his troopers a wink, when they wheeled up from the rig-ht and left, and enclosed Mr. Eattray, who was shot with a pistol, and his body, which was afterwards recovered, hacked to pieces. I heard this from the Goorkha Moonshee Mohun Eeer who accompanied Mr. Eattray, but esca- ped under the horses' bellies. The men who murdered Mr. Eat- tray now made a dash a tthe Fort of Lugdiman. Mr. Eattray's Eeg'iment* of Affg-hans immediately joined the assailants. The attack had continued for the space of two hours, the Affg-hans being" kept at bay by our g-uard. Capt. Codring-ton then direc- tedt Lieut. Haugditon to take the 2d and 8th Companies to re-in- force Lug"hman. Our men took each 60 rounds of ammunition in their pouches. When they had expended 50 in skirmishing-, and killing- numbers of the Affg-hans, they were ordered to close and charg-e ; they did so ; a g-reat number of the Affg-hans soug'ht refug-e in a vineyard, but were almost entirely destroyed by the bayonet and cookry.ft AH the Affg-hans who had been attacking- the fort of Lug-hman drew off, and our two companies returned to that of Char-ee-kar, which they reached at 3 o'clock p.m,§ A few hours afterwards firing- was heard at Lug-hman — the Affg-hans were fired upon by our people when endeavouring-, to remove their head. The following* morning- it was observed that the enemy were very numerous about Lug-hman, and pressing- its g-arrison hard ; so§§ at 6 a.m. the 1st, 3rd, and 6th companies of my Eeg-iment, with a six-pounder drawn by bullocks, under the command of Lieutenant Haug-hton, issued from the Ghurree Char-ee-kar, with the view of assisting- our troops at Lug-hman. AVe advanced, until we arrived within half a mile of Lug-hman, without opposi- tion ; at this point a body of 1,000 of the enemy's infantry, with a few horsemen interspersed among-st them, attempted to cut-off our way; this party we easily repulsed. We now had arrived at a bridg-e near Lug-hman, on (at) which our six-pounder was * There were only a few horsemen with the Political Agent. — J. C. II. -J- II will be seen from my narrative that Molce Ram is mistaken, Captain Cod- ringtori being himself .shut up in Lughmance. — J. C. H. -pJ-The cookry is a Goorkha weapon. >:) This is also a mistake ; they did not get back till dark. — J. C. II. !:;■:; It will be seen from my narrative that Motee Ram was ignorant of the cause for which this pai'ly was sent out, and his nuimory is at fault as to some details. — J. C. H. 49 l)laced ; suddenly from all quarters a rush was made for the gun by immense multitudes of Affgdians, who had concealed them- selves in the vineyards and different huilding's round about. It is difficult to form any accurate notion of the number of our assailants so scattered, but it struck me there must have been 25,000 — all the villag'es of Kohistan, Punj sheer, and Gorband poured forth their inhabitants against us ; the whole male popu- lation in this quarter of Affg'hanistan had taken the Ghazi's oath. Our front, rear, and both flanks were attacked simultaneously, but tlic most serious attack was in front, or from the Lug'hman side, the plain between which and where we were was completely crowded with Affg'hans. We repulsed them all with g-reat slaughter, but suffered severe loss ourselves. Lieutenant Salus- bury* was killed — shot in the chest, and placed in one of the two doolies we had with us. The Quarter Master Sergeant was wounded. The Soubadar of my company, the 6th, Singh Beer by name, and a most gallant oflicer, was put in the second doolie. The Quarter Master Sergeant was able to walk, supported by two sepoys. We had now been absent three hours from the guree of Char-ee-kar, a great part of which time we were seriously en- gaged. It was now observed that heavy bodies of the enemy were against Char-ee-kar itself. We were ordered to retrace our steps ; the 1st company was thrown out as skirmishers to cover our retreat ; those badly wounded it was impossible to carry off with us, we were so hotly assailed. The Affghans quickly killed them, and seemed to take much delight in mutilating their dead bodies, and pitching their severed members to a distance from each other t A^'e fought our way back to the gurree of Char-ee- kar, which we reached about 10 o'clock a.m. The Affghans now surrounding the fort of Char-ee-kar, and seeking* shelter from our fire behind the walls of the vineyard, the target practice butt, officers' tombs, Musjeed and Fakhir's hut, annoyed us very mucli ; it rained bullets. Leaving 200 men in the fort, and tak- ing out the two six-pounders. Captain Codrington drove the enemy from all the positions they had taken up around us. At the second discharge one of the six-pounders§ broke down. The *The sergeant was wounded in the chest, and sent in on the only dooly we had ; Salusbuiy, mortally wounded, walked half a mile to the barracks, supported by two men. We had but one dooly. — J. C. H. -j- This is a pure piece of imagination. — J. C. H. §This too is incorrect; the gun broke down while I was firing it, on our retreat. —S. C. H. 50 Affg-hans entirely vanished for the present, bnt the water ceased to run in the canal B B B. We found afterwards that the Aflpgdians had diverted it to the eastward at the point marked L. Our casualties in the whole of this day were very numerous. About 10 o'clock p.m. when the canal had become dry, the enemy appeared again, retaking- possession of all their former positions and of the now dry canal besides, the banks of which effectually screened them from our fire. Towards morning- the attack on the fort became more feeble, until at last it ceased altog*ether; however about 7 o'clock the whole mass of the enemy precipitated itself against the fort ; horse and foot leagaered us round on every side. The two six- pounders (we had mended the broken one in the course of the night) were taken out with the greater part of the regiment, while the long gun fired from the gateway on the enemy. One of the six-pounders again broke down ,• the bulk of the enemy were again beaten off, but a continued skirmishing among'st the the vineyards and different buildings was kept up until night- fall : half the men of the regiment remained in the fort, while half skirmished, and thus relieved each other alternately. At 10 o'clock p. M. Major Pottinger, another gentleman, and the party fromLughman which had been as busy as ourselves, joined us. The want of water began to be felt severely by us; there was scarcely any provision within the fort. We did not mind that so much as the torments of thirst. The enemy continued attacking us daily. On the 3rd day, as well as I can remember, all the Affghans col- lected in a body to capture the long gun at the gateway ; there were whole beeghas of gleaming swords moving' towards us, and shouts of a ''Chari yar, Alii Mudut" rent the air. We answered them back at every discharge of the long gun, '' Gorucknath ke- jy.'' This assault was by far the most severe we had yet experien- ced. Major Pottinger and the other European officers said they never witnessed such a conflict. Capt. Codrington was shot through the chest. He was carried to his quarters alive, but'died shortly after. Major Pottinger was wounded in the thigh. We charged the Affghans and drove them in the direction of the point were the water was turned off. On this occasion we partially destroyed the Fakhir's Tukea where we always observed the Aff- ghans clustered thickest. Next day, a seer of water was served out to each man by Lieut. Ilaughton ; this water was obtained from the hollow marked 5 in the sketch. Tlie second day after. 51 hair a seer was sapplicd; in a few days it diminished to a chit- tack, and at hist ceased altog-ether. Some doombahs [sheep] were g-iven to us by the ofScers; we found relief from sucking* the raw flcsli, and some of the men phiced the contents of the sto- mach of the sheep in cloths, and wring-ing- them very hard ob- tained some moisture to assuag*e their raging- thirst. The sick and wounded now increasedto a frightful amount, and were con- tinually screaming" for water in piercing- accents. Our muskets were so foul from incessant use that the balls were forced down with difficulty, althoug'h separated from the paper of the cartridg"e which usiuilly wraps them round. The lips of the men became swollen and bloody, and their tong'ues clove to their palates. I oug-ht to have mentioned that the day Capt. Codring-ton was killed, your old Shikarree"^" at Lohoog-hat, Nur Siugdi, was also slain. He wasthe best shot among- us; every time he fired he kill- ed an Affg'han. The European officers were so pleased with him, that he was to have been made a Jemader. Days and nig-hts rolled on. We were continually eng-ag-ed with the enemy; the men used to steal out in' the nig-ht to the spring- which formerly supplied the hollow marked 5, but which the Affg'hans turned off in another direction. Those who had. the canteens you sent up with the last Goorkha's Levies, used them ; those who had lotas only, took them with them covered in clothes, lest the g-litter of the metal should lead to detection ; those who had neither lotas nor canteens resorted to the use of cloths which they dipped in the fountain and broug'ht back saturated with moisture. When any of these adventurous spirits returned to the fort, all strug-g-led round them to procure one precious drop. The Affg-hans, how- ever, found out the practice, and shot down all those who ap- proached the spring-. For two days there was not a sing-le drop of water within the wall of the fort; the men were mad with thirst, and demanded to be led ag-ainst any perils to procure water. According-ly, at midnig-ht, Lieut. Rosef conducted a party of 100 men, taking' with them all the lotas and canteens they could carry, and all the bhistees and non-combatants to the spot marked M, where the water from the new cut had overflowed its banks, by the route marked by arrows pointing- from the Gurree of Char-ee- kar. Having- luxuriated for a short time in the delicious element, and filled our vesssels with it, Lieut. Rose took us to a field of *"Your old Shikaree" Moteo Ham was addressing this narrative to Major McSherry personally. — Ed. " Englishman." t Ensign A. Rose, 54th N. I.— Ed. 52 radishes marked N. Here we crammed as many as we could into our mouths and stuck our belts full of more for our comrades in the fort, to which we set out on our retrun by the route indicated by arrows pointing- towards it. Shah Mahomed with a body of 3,000 men had taken post at the spot marked O. at an early hour of the nig'ht, and erected his standard at P. — A g-reat number of his men were in the now dry bed of the canal B B B.; they seemed to keep a negdig-ent look out. Lieut. Rose said to us, '' Give them one volley, then the steel you know to use so well." The non-combatants carrying" the water were placed out of harm's way behind a wall. We fired together by word of command from Lieutenant Eose on the slumbering- crowd of faces witin 50 yards of them. We then charg-ed shouting- '• Goruknath ke-jy, " and set the bayonet and cookry to work with a will. A company drawn up in readiness at the g'ateway to assist us, should we re- quire their aid, heard our battle-cry, rushed down to the canal B B B. extended itself along- its banks on the Char-ee-kar fort side, and slew the Afg'hans as they tried to scramble out on that side. On the opposite we were performing- the same operations. Those who had cookries did most execution; there is no weapon like the cookry for a hand-to-hand fight. Mahomed Shah him- self was killed, and we captured his g-reen flag% and carried it off in triumph to the fort Char-ee-kar. Shah Mahomed's flag* was a very mag-nificent one; its staff was surmounted by a trident [crescent?] and ball of g'old, and the flag- itself was six feet long- and equally broad, made of the finest g-reen broadcloth, with a fig-ure of the sun splendidly embroidered in the centre. It was an old acquaintance of ours, and chang-ed bearers frequently, as we successively shot them during- our long- term of figditing-. We had somewhat spoiled its beauty too, by piercing- it with bullets; the artificial sun shining- in the lig-ht of the real one, as it waved out in the breeze, offered a famous mark. We were as happy in Char-ee-kar that nig-ht as we could be under the heavy loss of our fallen comrades, and in sig-ht of the suffering-s of those w6un- ded, who were stretched on the g-round thickly around us. The thirst of all^" was completely relieved, and their hunger partially so. Our officers were proud of us, and we were proud of ourselves and of each other. The officers said. Shah Mahomed's flag- should be ever retained in the reg-iment as a memorial of that nig-ht's achievement. For some days after the capture of Shah Maho- *That. is, all ofMoteo Ram's party.— J. C. H. 53 med's flag', and the death of its owner, the enemy relaxed his efforts and we our fire. This interval of comparative repose was most g-rateful and refreshing* to us. The number of Afg'hanshad very perceptibly diminished in out- vicinity. Five days* passed when the horrors of thirst beg-an to assail us again. At last a messag-e was received from the treacherous inhabitants of the town of Char-ec-kar that they dared not turn the water down to us themselves, as they would assuredly be murdered, if they did SO; but that we mig'ht come and throw a dam across the new cut at L., remove the other dam, and cause the water to flow in its wonted channel ag-ain. Two hundred men,t accompanied by Lieutenants Haug'hton and Rose, and taking' our fourahs or dig-- g-ing- tools with ns, proceeded along' the banks of the canal B B B to L. On the road we had some skirmishing-, but not much. As soon as the men came in sig-ht of the water at L, many of them rushed madly forward, and beg'an to drink; while in the act of doing- so, a heavy fire was suddenly opened upon them by the ambushed Afg'hans in the g-ardens, houses, and behind the walls of the town of (Jhar-ee-kar — this fire caused g-reat havoc among'st us, and we were forced to retreat without effecting- our object. Dying' of thirst, lamentably reduced in numbers — weakened by toil and Imng'er, the Afghans clung- more closely round as our exertions in our own defence became less energ-etic. A mine,§ the shaft of which commencing- at the Fukhir's Tukeah C, and passing- b}^ Bastion 3, terminated in a chamber at Bastion 4, was sprung'. A third of the Bastion 4 was destroyed, two men were buried in its ruins — the dotted line from C to Bastion No 4 shows the course of the shaft of the mine. The Afg'hans are very expert miners — they learn the art from continually dig-g-ing-''Careezes/' The explosion of the n>ine in question seemed to be the sig-nal for another determined onset on the part of the Afg'hans. The stock of g-rape shot originally brought from Cabul had been expended, bag's were filled with musket balls, and loaded with these ; the heavy g'un at each discharge cut long' lanes in the throng' of Mong-elas, while we kept up a continual fire from the roofs of the Barracks. The Mussulmans pressed on nevertheless; the party protecting the g-un below was ainiihilated, and the cannon •^ There is hero such complete confusion of ideas as lo time, dial I feel it impos- sible to put the narrative right. — J. C. H. -J- This is a mistake, as there were unly two digging hoes and Iwn ])icks willi (he regiment. — .1. C. 11. i:j Such a mine was an impo,ssihilil y ; see my account. — .1. (.1. II 54 almost in the clutches of the enemy, when Lieutenant Haug-hton called out, " Down from the walls, every man of you, and rally round the gun, which is nearly in the hands of the enemy, and with it go the lives and honour of us all." We every one of us rushed out of the g^ateway, and charg-ed the enemy, who recoiled from the shock as far as the canal B B B, to which they confined themselves; keeping- up a dropping- fire on the walls of the Gurree. We buried this day within the fort the bodies of Capt. Codring-ton, L.Salusbury, the Serjeant Major, and upwards of 200 of the Sepoys of tbe 4th Regiment. The following day the Lobar Mistree^ of the 4th Regiment, who was anative of Hindoostan, and who served iu the regiment from the time it was first raised, but was a Mussulman and married to an Afghan, wife of Cliar- ee-kar, together with the gunners, who were all Mussulmans from the Punjaub, plotted to leave us, and g'o over to the enemy. In attempting' to put this into execution,' they proceeded to the gateway, but as they were going' out, Lieut. Haughton seized the jemadar of the Golandauze to detain him; the latter immediately drew his sword, cut at Lieut. Haughton, and wounded him in the hand severely, and breaking loose, Lieut. Haughton called out, " Shoot these nimiick harams. — they are ofi'to the enemy." We fired at the party as they ran in the direction of the canal, and dropped five of them. The third dayf after this event, our num- ber brought down to a little more than 200 men fit for action, without water, without foot, and onl}^ thirty rounds of ammuni- tion per man remaining, it was determined to evacuate the Gurree of Char-ee-kar, and endeavour to fight our way to Cabul. At midnig'ht we moved out; we had only two doolies§ in which were placed Major Potting-er and Lieut. Ifaughton, the bearers of all the others were either killed or had died. Nearly 300 of our eomrades, dead, d^ang, or so badly wounded as to be unable to walk, were left behind within the ghurree of Char-ee-kar. I don't know whether the guns, which were also left behind, were spiked or not. I think from the death of Lieut. Ratti-ay until the period of our finally evacuating the Gurree of Char-ee-kar, twenty-one or twenty -three days must have elapsed. I had too much, to do to take account of time, I cannot give dates, but I * This man was failhful. and i^aw mc liis opinion llial Ili6 gunners wvvv plol- ling.— J. C. H. -j- Here again Molcc Ram is mistaken ; il will he seen thai, the retreat took place the very night 1 was wounded. — J.,C. 11. § There were no doolies ; we rode. — J. C. II. 00 narrate events in their order of succession, to the best of my memory. I ought to mention that the walls of the Gurree of Char-ee-kar had only reached the heig-ht of one cubit above the roof of the Sepoys' Barracks when the fig-htinjj;" beg-an; conse- quently so low a parapet g-ave us little protection from the ene- my's jazails, which told on us from a distance, one half of which only muskets could carry to with effect. The day after Capt. Codrlng-ton's death, to remedy this defect, the officers tore up their tents, and made bag's of the canvas, filled them with earth, and placed them on the walls, to cover us from the Afg'hans' fire. At the time hostilities broke out, there were two Goorkha Fak- hirs in the fort, who were visiting- on a pilg-rimag-e the different Hindoo shrines in Afg-hanistan. They demanded that arms and ammunition should be g'ivcn to them. Our officers complied with their request, and these sturdy and holy personag-es astonished us all by their feats in action : there were none of us who foug-ht the Afg-hans better than they did. AVe marched on during- the nig-lit without molestation, until we arrived at a vil- lag-e near Kara Bag-h, the second reg-ular inarching- stag-e from Caubul on the Char-ee-kar road. Here opposition commenced, and we advanced skirmishing- until we reached Kara Bag-h, about 3 o'clock a. m.. by which time our movements became g-enerally known, and our enemies were getting- round us in hopeless numbers every minute. The road ran thoug-h the middle of the town of Kara Bag-h with walls and vineyards on either side : these the Afg-hans lined, and from them- poured a deadly and frequent fire on us. Numbers, were killed — we were totally vanquished; there was a g-ateway into a rineyard on one side of the road. I rushed throug-h it ; an Afg-han laid hold of my clothes to detain me, but I shook him off and continued my flig-lit, taking- care to carry off my musket with me, for which I had only 5 rounds remaining- in ui}' pouch. I ascended the summit of the hills, and ensconced myself in a hollow far up in the mountain, where there was water, during- the day — on the coming- of nig-ht, I endeavoured to make my way to Caubul; T had arrived within two miles of the British Cantonments there — when the dawn discovered to me that I had g'ot into the middle of the Afg-han troops besieg-ing- the place at the time. I saw at once all hope of further escape was g-one. I had 100 rupees in my kummerbund, which sum T amassed in the Shah's service. I took it out and 56 buried it^ placing- a stone which I thoiig-ht I could ag*ain recog-nize, over it, and sat down quietly to await what mig'ht happen. Shortly a party of horse, about 25 in number, belong-ing" to Hajiz Khan and Bahahdeen approached the spot were I waSj and they immediately dismounted — some seized me by the feet, some by the shoulders ; one man, taking- up my own musket, snapped it three times at me. I am aMussalman, said I; God does npt will that you should kill me — the musket won't go off. The fatalist I addressed threw down the musket, drew his sabre, and with its sharp edg-e pressing- on my throat called on me to say the kalma, else he would immediately sacrifice me. I did repeat the kalma — the sabre was removed from my throat and they carried me to Bahahdeen, first depriving- me of my coat, pantaloons, a silk handkerchief, a pistol, my shoes and some other articles, leaving- me only a pair of pyjamhs. Bahahdeen g-urree is situated I should think about three coss from the city of Cabul. While I remained with Bahahdeen for five days, the people of the village continually threatened to put me to death. Bahahdeen at length released me, giving me an old tattered loonghee for a turban and my own chogali, and saw me a coss on my road. After he left me I had proceeded a coss, when a man ploughing on the road side seized me, and threatened to kill me, unless I worked his plough. I did so until evening, when he took me to his house and there gave me a scanty meal. This man employed me 10 daj^s in guiding his plough. While with him, I suffered severely during the night time — the weather was bitter cold, and I had nothing to cover me but my chogah. I examined the roof of the the house during- the day, and it appeared to me that by remo- ving a few of the bricks from a sort of chimney I might get out unobserved. At night I did so, and effected my escape for the time. I had got five coss further on the road to Jellalabad, when the son of a sirdar who was fig-hting at Cabul (I don't know his name), sent some horsemen to take and bring- me to him. I was taken to the gurree, all the inmates of which, young and' old, male and female, gathered round, exclaiming, ''A Kaffir or Feringhee : kill him ; kill him ; " but the young chief protected me from violence, and told me to groom his horse. This young man was continually looking in the direction of Cabul, through a telescope which lie said Sir A. Burnes had given his father as a present. I was hard-worked and ill-fed in this family. I re- mained with them about eight days, when the young chief trans- 57 ferred me to a native of Ghorbiind who came to his villag-e, and rented his g-razing* ground for a hirg-e flock of camels. T was employed tending- these camels for some twenty days. I was not well fed. I had made acquaintance with a servant of my com- pulsory master. This servant was a Iluzara, who received one rupee two annas a month as wag-es. He became kindly disposed to me, and one day told me that our master desig-ned to sell me to some Bokhara merchants, with whom he was at that moment driving" a barg-ain about me. I immediately ran away, to escape the intended sale. On crossing' the river at Bhoothak, five Affg-hans seized me, and asked me if I were a Feriugdiee. I re- plied in the neg-ative, and stated that I was a discharg'ed camel man of Shah Shooja's; they asked me why Shah Shooja had dis- charg'ed me. I answered that the King*, being- mewed up in the Balla Hassar, said he had no employment for camel men at pre- sent. Eakeera, my new captor, took me to his house, where I remained some time, hard-worked and ill-fed, as usual. While tending' Fakeera's dhoombahs in the jung-les, I heard a youth say, " Ukhbar has allowed the Fering'hees to depart to-day, and our people are following' them from Cabul." Yv^'hen nig-ht came on I went to the spot where I had deposited my rupees, and re- g-ained possession of them. I set off after the British force, and overtook it at Khoord Cabul, as it was setting' out from thence. At Jug'dulluck the British force was g'irded round by Ukhbar Khan's horsemen, who were killing' all they could. I extricated myself from this scene of carnag'e, and soug'ht safety once more iu the hill tops. I remained a day hig-h up in the hills. I had tasted no food for twenty-six hours from the time I made my last insufficient meal. I was benumbed by the cold. I could no long-er contend with the never-ending' dang'crs and hardships which beset me. I wished for death to release me from suffer- ing's novv^ become intolerable. I descended to the roadside, deter- mined to declare myself to the first Affg'hans who approached, and court the blow of some pitying' sword. I saw a party ap- proach, and concluded the hour of my death had arrived. The party turned out to be five Hindoo Cutries ; these Cutries said, " As you are a Hindoo, we will save your life 3'ou must pay us for (loiug- so, and to make sure of it we will exact pay- ment beforehand." They then searched me and took the 100 rupees out of my cummerbund, and returned me ten of them — tliey conducted me to a Dhurmsalah in which there was a Hindoo 58 Fakhir. His protection T also soug-ht, and g*ave him my remain- ing" ten rupees. He dressed me up in the red dress of a Eakhir, and rubbed wood ashes over my face. I was to pass for his chela, or disciple; and he said I was to accompany him in the character of such on a pilg-rimag'e he proposed making- to Hurdwar. A party of fruit merchants shortly after arrived. The Fakhir, the cutries, and myself joined them. We descended the hig-h road considerably to the left of Peshawar. I beg"g"ed my way, until I g"ot to Sir Jasper NicolFs Camp, one march this side of Loodianah. The sketch I have drawn shows pretty correctly, I am con- vinced, Char-ee-kar and all it embraces — you hadtaug"ht me. how to make such sketches. You have known me many years, and yoLi know if I ever told you a lie or broug'htyou false information. You will therefore attach such credit to my tale as your apprecia- tion of my character, so familiar to you, may adjudg-e. (True translation.) T. MacSherry, Major, 30th N. I., T/ate Goorkha Recruiting- Officer, S. S. ¥. Simla, March '6\st, 1 843. APPENDIX E. . Narrative of Mohun Beer, a Moonshee in the emioloy of Major Eldrecl Potiingcr, ■ CB. The original statement, corrected hj Sir R. Shahes'pear . The city of Char-ee-kar in Kohistan is about 46 miles direct north of Cabool, In November, 1841, there was a Cantonment about half a mile north of the city, in which was stationed the 4th Reg-iment of Shah Shoojah^s Infantry (742 strong-) and 3 of H M.'s. g-uns, which with their men had been in the service of Dost Mahomed Khan. The officers present with the reg-iment were Captain Codring-- ton, commanding*; Lieut. Haug-hton, Adjutant, Lieut. Salusbury, Quarter Master; and Ensig-n Rose ; there was also a Serjeant Major by name Burns, and a Quarter Master Serjeant named Hanrahan. The fort of Lug-hmani is about one and a half miles from the Cantonments, and in it resided at the time now alluded 59 to Major E Potting-er, C. B., Political Ag-ent; Lieut. Rattray, Asst. Political Agent, and Mr. Asst. Surgeon. The Eort was a square of about 50 paces,-^ the walls of mud of considerable thickness and about 60t feet high. The Cantonment was dependent for its supply of water on a water course; and the destruction of this small force by the Kohis- tanees appears to have been mainly caused by their having turned off the stream into another channel. On the morning* of 3rd November, 1841, about 9 o'clock, I saw about 3,000 Kohistanees collected round the Fort Lughmani ; their chief said, " They are all our people, and we have brought them here to go with Mr. Eattray and fight with Meer Musjadee, near Ak Sural, about 16 miles from Lughmani. " Each of them had a gun; some were loaded before they arrived, and some were loading when I saw them; about 17 chiefs were sitting in a tent with Major E. Pottinger and Mr. Eattray in a small garden beyond the Fort. About 1 o'clock p. m. three of the chiefs said to Mr. Eattray, " You must take care and not come out to see people, or they will kill you; they only came here for that purpose, and to take this fort; after which they will attack the Cantonments." Mr. Eattray said, " They have all eaten our salt, and could never be guilty of such an act. " Half an hour afterwards, Mr. Eattray came from the Fort, and told me to come along with him to see these Kohistanees. I accompanied, with his Mirza and a Chuprassie. When ]\Ir. Eattray came near them, all tlie chiefs paid their respects to him saying, " Inshallah, we shall go to-morrow and tight with Meer Musjadee. '' Mr. E. said, " Very good, if you go, 1 will give you some sowars.'' Mr. E. then turned to go back to the Fort, but Jubber Khan asked him to look at his men, to which he agreed and turned back again. When he had taken about six or seven steps, one of the Kohistanees called him by name, and ran at him, tiring his gnu at Mr. Eattray, who turned and ran towards the Fort. I, the Mirza, and the chuprassie all ran towards the Fort. When I had nearh' reached it, I looked back and saw Mr. Eattray lying down on the plain. I ran again towards him; and when near him he called me, and told me to take hold of him and hell) I'in^ iiito the Fort, l^irectly I took hold of his hand, about ->:-IU'ally '100 yards.— .I.e. 11. -|- Oiu'i'y, six leet. They wero in some places nul more tJuui six or seven feet ; and at the ollicers' quarters — the highest point — probablv not more than twenty feet hii^h,— J. C. H, 50 Kohistanees fired, and Mr Eattray received a ball in his fore- head; I then ran back and g-otinto the Fort^ where I found Major E. Potting-er looking- towards the Kohistanees and firing' at them. About half-past 4 p. m. Adjutant Haug-hton came to the Fort with two companies, and attacking- the Kohistanees, killed 40 or 50., driving* the rest towards the iiills. Captain Codring"ton left about 60 sepoys in the Fort, and returned with the remainder to Cantonments. The next morning" (4th November) the Kohistanees collected about twelve or thirteen thousand men on the hills. Lieutenants Salusbury and Haug-hton came out with two companies and one g-un, attacked, defeated, and dispersed the Kohistanees, but Mr. Salusbury was very badly wounded by a g-un shot wound in the g-roin."^" When Major E. Potting-er saw the enemy running- away, he told me to take 25 sowars and join Lieut. Haug-hton, which I did. Lieut. Tlaug'hton told me to send 12 of the sowars to Mr. Salusbury, and to take 13 to Captain Codring-ton in Cantonments. When I arrived, Captain Codring-ton told me to remain, but to send the sowars after the enemy. When Lieut. Haug-hton and Salusbury had expended all their ammunition, they returned to Cantonment, and during- the nig-lit Lieutenant Salusbury died. During- the whole of this day we were fig-h ting- near Canton- ments, and that nig-ht the Kohistanees went back to the Fort Lug-hmani, which they surrounded and beg-an to undermine. There were about 24 hostag-es, sons of different chiefs, in the Fort, and we had there also 10,000 rupees of treasure. Major Potting-er and the Doctor, with their servants and 60 sepoys, stole out of the fort at nig-ht and crept up to Cantonments, where they arrived about 8 o'clock. A¥hen the hostag-es saw our party g-oing- away they remained quiet, because they thoug-ht that if they made a noise, the Kohistanees would come in and divide the trea- sure. When the hostag-es had divided the treasure, they opened the larg-e g-ate, and called out to the Kohistanees to come in. On entering-, all the chiefs exclaimed, " We have beaten them, and to-morrow we will take the Cantonments, " On the morning- of the 6th, Major Potting'er sallied out of the Cantonments with a g-un and two companies, and took up a posi- tion near a nullah from where he beg'un to fire at the enemy, but in half an hour lie was wounded by a ball in his left foot ; he then took the g-un back to Cantonments and left two companies. *Shot ihroiiL'h tlic back and sloniach.— .1, C. 11. 61 When Captain Codring-ton saw that Major Potting-er was wounded, he went out to the two corapanierf, but was very severely wounded by a shot in the back. All his sepoys beg'an to cry for him ; we were figditing' with them until evening-. About 50 or GO sepoys were wounded this day, during- the whole of which we had sufficient water. Captain Codring-ton was able to walk into Cantonments, but fell down before he reached his house and asked for water; we carried him and laid him on the same bed as Major Potting-er^ when he asked for pen, ink and paper, and wrote a letter to his wife whose picture he also g-ave to Major Potting'er. He ling-ered on until the nig-ht of the 7th, when he died. We huried him and Lieut. Salusbury in one grave. During- the nig-ht neither our men or the enemy fired. On the morning- of the 6th, the fig-htiug- recommenced and con- tinued until evening-. That nig-ht we had water; on the morning- of the 7th, Lieut. liaug-hton defeated the enemy, and drove them about a mile from Cantonments, and we thoug-ht that they would not return any more that day. Serjeant Major Burns was shot in the g-roin, and died ; and a g-reat many sepoys and non-commis- sionned officers and a Jemadar were killed : we had very little water that nig-ht, the enemy remained about one and a half miles from us, and continued firing-* at us, and we returned the fire all the nig-ht throug^h. On the morning- of the 8th, Lieut. Haug-hton sallied out with 2 companies, and defeated the enemy and returned to Cantonments with his men. Lieut. Haug'hton served out the water with his own hands this morning-, quarter of a seer to each man. We were fig-hting- until the evening-, but at nig*ht we had not much firing- from the enemy, nor did we fire. On the 9th, the firing- commenced ag-ain very sharply ; this day a g-reat many sepoys were killed and wounded ; the sepoys had very little water, a quarter of seer to each ; the enemy went to the city of Char-ee-kar that nig-ht. On the morning" of the 10th, we had no firing-, but in the even- ing- both parties commenced. Ensig-n Eose went out with two companies and killed about 60 Kohistanees, andbroug'htin water, and one of their standards and three or foui' matchlocks. On the morning- of the lllh, we had very little firing-, and we thong'b.t they would now g'o away and not attack us ag-ain. At * Lonir shots ! Some niistakc here. — J. C. II. 62 iiig-lit they fired at iis to prevent our g-etting* water. That clay the sepoys had not a drop of water, nor until the 14th. On the morning- of the 14-th, Major Potting-er/ Lieut. Haug*hton, Mr. Rose and the Doctor decided on leaving" the Cantonments at nig-ht, and retreating- to Cahool. About 2 r. m. the jemadar of the g-oiandaze heard of the arrang-ement, and determined to try and save himself by g-oing- to the enemy. He rushed on Lieut. Haughton and cut him on the hand with his sword, and then went over with his men to the enemy. About 8 p. m. we quitted Can- tonments and commenced our retreat to Cabool. At about 4 miles we came to some water, which the sepoys rushed to drink, and here it was decidedf that Major Potting-er and Lieut. Ilaug-hton, being- both wounded, should ride on in front with me, leaving- the reg-iment to follow behind. Major Potting-er placed Mr. Rose, Quarter Master, and Quarter Master Serjeant Hendrig-on§ in charg-e of the reg-iment and g-ave orders to them to come on quickly. When we arrived near Ak Serai, we found a larg-e nullah in which we concealed ourselves all day, we then mounted our horses and rode over the hills, and at 4 a. m. on the IGth we arrived at the Cantonments at Cabool. (Sig-ned) H. M. LAWRENCE, A.A.a.G. ■5^'Mohun Beer was Moonshee to Major Pottinger, and naturally mentions liim first.— J. C. H. -J- 1 never heard of any such proposition, and certainly would not have consented to leave my men if Ihad ; besides they were our only protection. — J. C. H. § Hanrahan. This is certainly a mistake. 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