LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE FIELD-MAKSHAL SIR GEORGE POLLOCK, BART., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., (CONSTABLE OF THE TOWER.) A/T 4 TTT T Sir C*r\ Pmn ATITT T V _AAT THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF FIELD-MARSHAL SIR GEORGE POLLOCK, BART., G.C.B., G.C.SX, (CONSTABLE OF THE TOWER.) CHAELES EATHBONE LOW. LONDON : W* H. ALLEN & CO, 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. 1873. L 6 HE*4RY MORSE STEFHEWp TO SIR JOHN W. KAYE, K.C.S.L, THE ELOQUENT HISTORIAN OF THE AFGHAN WAR, THIS BOOK, THE RECORD OF THE SERVICES OF THE GENERAL WHO BROUGHT THAT EPISODE OF INDIAN HISTORY TO A GLORIOUS CONCLUSION, |s gtiitatdr, WITH FEELINGS OF REGARD AND ESTEEM, BY HIS OBEDIENT SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. LONDON, January 1873. PREFACE LITTLE preface, and no apology, is needed in writing the life of a man who has rendered such surpassing services to his country as has Sir Greorge Pollock ; but a few words are necessary to account for this work appearing so closely upon his lamented decease. This memoir was commenced in 1869, and com- pleted before June in the following year, when the venerable subject of it received the baton of Field- Marshal, an honour which was quickly succeeded by his appointment to the post of Constable of the Tower, and a baronetcy ; culminating on his death with a public funeral in Westminster Abbey. As the chapters of this work treating of Sir George Pollock's career were completed, they were forwarded to him for perusal, and revision. The subject-matter was drawn from works treating of the different epi- 62 viii Preface. sodes in military Indian history in which Sir George Pollock took part ; also from his journals and corre- spondence, which he kindly placed at our disposal. As regards the military events of the victorious campaign of 1842, we are indebted, among other sources, to the " Letters " of Captain Smith, Brigade Major to General McCaskill, and to the Parlia- mentary Blue Book on the " Military Operations in Afghanistan," on which we also drew largely for his correspondence with the Governor- General and Com- mander-in-Chief during that eventful year. But more than to any other source as marshalling in due order, and treating according to their relative importance, and with a discriminating judgment, the military and political incidents occurring between the date of the arrival of Sir George Pollock at Pesha- wur, and his return to India our grateful acknow- ledgments are due to the admirable "History of the War," by Sir John Kaye, a work that will ever remain a monument of the literary power and con- scientious accuracy of that historian. That our facts are beyond dispute, so far as the events of Sir George Pollock's career are concerned, is certified by the following letters which he addressed to us : Preface. ix " Clapliam Common, " 6th December, 1870. " MY DEAR Low, " I can with great truth bear testimony that you have faithfully related the truth, and nothing but the truth. I will endeavour some day to express this more fully, at present I have hardly time to write anything. This, however, for the present, will, I hope, show that I subscribe to all you have written as being the truth, and nothing but the truth. " I remain, " Yours very sincerely, " GEO. POLLOCK." On the following day lie wrote again more fully: " MY DEAR Low, " You have concluded a laborious undertaking, the subject being a memoir of my services from the year 1803. I have, as you may suppose, carefully perused the whole, and as far as I am able to judge (and I have a very vivid recollection of all that passed) you have given a faithful detail of what took place. I have read each chapter, and I feel that I may bear testimony to the truth of all that you have asserted. " Your memoir has shown clearly that General Nott did not consider the release of the prisoners 'an object of any impor- tance even when Shakespear had secured them. General Nott expressed his belief that they and Shakespear had been carried off by the enemy. " There cannot be a doubt that General Nott was from the beginning most anxious to convince the Afghans of the inferi- ority of their troops when opposed to British soldiers, and he did not shrink from the opportunity when he met the enemy greatly superior in strength to himself, and beat them. " I remain, " Yours very sincerely, " GEO. POLLOCK." Preface. Certainly one of the greatest soldiers of the Vic- torian era, was the veteran Field-Marshal who passed peacefully away on the morning of the 6th October, 1872, at the ripe age of 86. And yet, np to within two years of his decease, the hero of the Khyber and Tezeen remained plain Sir George Pollock, G.C.B., like a score of Generals who have acquitted themselves more or less satisfactorily. If illustrious deeds and signal public services were the only passports to the valltalla of hereditary honours, then the British Government, if not the British public for they say, you cannot frame an indictment against a nation were, for thirty years, guilty of something like ingratitude, that " basest of sins." Though not possessed of that highest and rarest of qualities, known as military genius, such as we recognize it in those lofty spirits who create or over- throw kingdoms, it was his happier lot, at a critical juncture, to save a State having a population of 120 millions, 'with a superficial area equal to half Europe. If this be not a superlative 'claim to a peerage, then one is constrained to admit the cogency of the argu- ments advanced by some of the most thoughtful among us, who decry all such distinctions as invidious, Preface. xi and propose that we should follow the practice of the great American Eepublic, which confers neither titles, nor crosses and stars, nor batons, nor any such baubles upon their distinguished warriors and states- men. The character of Sir George Pollock was as irre- proachable as his services were eminent. Chaucer's description of a Christian knight might be not inaptly applied to him : " Brave as a lion, gentle as a maid, He never evil word to any said ; Never for self, but always strong for right, He was a very perfect gentle knight." CONTENTS. Sm JOHN'KAYE'S LETTER . . xv CHAPTER I. Introduction. Parentage and early years of George Pollock. His departure for Calcutta. The military situation in India in 1803. The Battle and Siege of Deig, 1804 ... 1 CHAPTER II. The Siege of Bhurtpore, 1805 ........ 42 CHAPTER III. Nepaul, 1814-16. Burinah, 1824-26 92 CHAPTER IV. Peshawur : 5th February to 4th April, 1842 . . . .202 CHAPTER V. The Khjber Pass: 5tb to 16th April, 1842 257 CHAPTER VI. Jellalabad. Lord Ellenborough and his Afghan policy. Nego- tiations for the release of the prisoners.- The halt at Jellala- bad, 16th of April to 20th of August, 1842 . . 280 XIV Contents. CHAPTER VII. PAGE Mamoo Khail. Jugdulluck. Tezeen. Occupation of Cabul. 20th of August to 15th of September, 1842 .... 336 CHAPTER VIII. The release of the prisoners. General Nott. The halt at Cabul 388 CHAPTER IX. Cabul to Ferozepore : 12th October to 19th December, 1842. The fetes at Ferozepore. " Palmam qui meruit ferat." The distri- bution of honours. The vote of thanks by the Houses of Parliament: Refutation of alleged excesses in Afghanistan . 418 CHAPTER X. In Political and Civil employ in India. The Pollock Medal. Return to England. Sir George Pollock as Director of the East India Company ... .... 487 CHAPTER XI. Tardy honours. Appointment as Field-Marshal. Installation as Constable of the Tower. Death and Funeral. Character of Sir George Pollock. Conclusion 524 [Sir John Kaye has most kindly responded to my request for any reminiscences of Sir George Pollock, during the many years of their close friendship; and I have much pleasure in laying before my readers his letter, which will be perused not only with interest, but with increased feelings of esteem for the deceased Field-Marshal. C. R. L.] DEAR MR. Low, You ask me to send you my recollections of the late Field- Marshal, Sir George Pollock, in aid of your forthcoming Memoir. In complying with your re- quest, I am afraid that I shall disappoint your expecta- tions, for I did s not personally know him until after the close of his military career. Having had the honour to serve, for some years, in the distinguished regiment to which he belonged, I was necessarily familiar with his name and reputation ; but it was not until he came down to Calcutta, to take his seat in the Supreme Council, that I made the acquaintance of the General an acquaintance which soon ripened into a friendship, which is now one of the most cherished memories of my life. The impression which he first made upon me was this : I thought that I had never known a man of such extreme modesty and simplicity of character ; and my more matured experiences of nearly thirty years have not only confirmed, but strengthened, this impression. Pollock and Nott were then the heroes of the day. Every prisoner who had suffered, nay, indeed, almost xvi Sir John Kayes Letter, every officer who had served, in Afghanistan, was for a time a "lion;" and although Sir George did not arrive at Calcutta (for he had spent some time at the Court of Lucknow) when the popular en- thusiasm was at its height, there was a general dis- position on the part of the inhabitants of the Indian capital to mark their sense of his services by some public demonstrations of applause. But from all popular displays he shrunk with an amount of sensitiveness such as I have never seen equalled though I have known other great soldiers to whom an after-dinner speech was more formidable than an enemy in the field. As, when the General reached Calcutta, whither his wife and unmarried daughter had preceded him, I was editing one of the principal daily papers of the Presidency, he begged me not to encourage any intended manifestations in his honour ; and he not unjustly urged the state of his health as a reason for declining all public hospi- talities. Indeed he was never in full bodily vigour during the whole time of his latter residence in Bengal. When Sir George Pollock took his seat in Council, Sir Henry Hardinge was Governor-General. He found the old artilleryman a very zealous, a very con- scientious, and a very useful coadjutor. When he returned to England as Lord Hardinge, and became, first, Master- General of the Ordnance, and then Com- mander-in-Chief, he spoke to me more than once, in terms of the most cordial respect and affection, of the Sir John Kayes Letter. xvii character of Sir George Pollock, and of the assistance rendered by the councillor to him with respect to all military details, and especially to everything connected with the Artillery service. Lord Hardinge had no class prejudices. He often said that the Bengal Artillery was the finest in the world; and, as Master- General of the Ordnance, he was always gratified by an opportunity of giving the son of a deserving Bengal Artillery officer a cadetship at the Woolwich Academy. But these pleasant relations between the Governor- General and Sir George Pollock were not destined to be of long duration. The state of affairs on the North- western frontier demanded the presence of the Go- vernor-General in the Upper Country, and Pollock was slowly succumbing to the ravages of a distressing dis- ease. It was at one time, indeed, considered that death was imminent; but a naturally strong constitu- tion, and the temperate habits of his life enabled him to bear up against these assaults sufficiently to give him strength to embark for England. He arrived in a very feeble state of health; but he soon rallied under judicious treatment, and after a brief residence in Lon- don, he took up his abode for a while at West Dray- ton, in an old-fashioned house, where it was said that Oliver Cromwell had dwelt. He subsided very gracefully into a life of perfect repose. He was enjoy- ing the pleasures of convalescence, and he did not ap- pear to desire to return to any participation in public affairs. When I suggested to him that he might do good service as a member of the Court of Directors of xviii Sir John Kayes Letter. the East India Company, he replied that he never could undergo the fatigue and worry of the canvass. A heavy affliction soon fell upon him. His much- loved wife, the mother of his children, died. I had known her before I had known Sir George, and I re- member with gratitude her kindness to me. She left five children to mourn her loss : Mrs. Harcourt, widow of Mr. J. Harcourt, of the Indian Medical Service, * who was killed on the retreat from Caubul ; Frederick Pollock, the present Baronet, who had been a cadet with me at Addiscombe, who had achieved the great academical feat of obtaining " the Engineers in three terms," and who, but for a failure of health, must have gained distinction in the service ; George David, then a rising young surgeon, who had been selected by Sir Benjamin Brodie and Sir Ranald Martin to represent them in Canada, with a view to arrest the ravages of the disease (or at least to mitigate its afflictions) which was eating into the life of Lord Metcalfe; Archibald Swiney, who was entering upon a career of good service as an Indian civilian ; and Louisa, whom I first knew, full of hope and heart, before the blood- stained battle-fields of the Sutlej blighted the one and broke the other. On these fields she lost her betrothed husband and one of her brothers, and she never recovered from the shock. Lieutenant Robert Pollock, of the Bengal Horse Artillery, who was killed at Moodkhee, had been his father's A.D.C. in Afghanistan. He was the first member of the family whom I ever knew. He was a charming, open-hearted, Sir John Kayes Letter. xix frank young fellow, and there was not a member of the old regiment who, knowing him, did not lament his death. As a widower, Sir George Pollock resided, for some time, in a large house surrounded by pleasant garden grounds, at Battersea, where he was always glad to receive his intimate friends. He had entirely re- covered his health, but he had not bethought himself of again entering public life. His daughter, Louisa, kept house for him ; and it was the model of a Chris- tian household. I spent many pleasant days under that hospitable roof ; and I never left the house with- out increased respect and affection for the master of it. I well remember the day, in 1852, when he com- municated to me his intention of entering a second time into the " holy state of matrimony." I was then going to the house of another very dear friend a distin- guished old Indian public (civil) servant (Mr. Thomas Campbell Eobertson), who had held rank next to the Governor-General, and who had befriended rne when little more than a boy. Sir George said that he would go with me in his carriage and deliver me at the door. My new host was an old friend of the General, one who had assisted him greatly on the Afghan campaign ; but Sir George said that he had engagements, and could not stop to see him. As we rode on it was no great distance from Battersea to Belgravia he told me that he was about to be married to Miss Wollaston, a lady residing on Clapham Common. I had too many associations with that place not to be intimately ac- xx Sir John Kayes Letter. quainted with her name and character, and I heartily congratulated him. It was a curious coincidence that, less than half an hour afterwards, the friend at whose house he had left me, communicated a similar inten- tion to me in almost the same words. Both unions were most happy in their results. I was present at Sir George Pollock's second marriage, and for the twenty years that followed it, I was a constant visitor at his home, which had then been removed to Clapham. He was perfectly happy and contented. I do not think that when he married he had any .ambition again to enter into public life. But in 1853, when it was determined by the (Whig) Go- vernment of the day, that there should be a revision of the Company's Charter and a reconstitution of the Court of Directors, Sir Charles Wood, then President of the Board of Control, whilst propounding in the House of Commons the revised scheme of Indian Government, including the appointment of certain Government Directors of the East India Company, spoke in words not to be misunderstood of Sir George Pollock, as a man eminently qualified for such a post. It necessarily happened, therefore, that when the project became law, Pollock was the first on the list of the nominated Directors. I think that he was greatly pleased. It was an honour to have been so selected by the Crown. The work to be done in- terested him greatly ; and, moreover (for the military patronage of India still -remained with the Court of Directors), the situation afforded him opportunities of Sir John Kayes Letter. xxi conferring benefits on his old comrades and friends ; and this was very gratifying to his kindly heart. He was very regular in his attendance at the India House, and he read, with characteristic conscientious- ness, all the papers placed before him, as a member of the Military and Political Committee. His great military experience was of the highest value to the Home Government, and as he had considerable knowledge of the native character, and some fami- liarity with native Courts, he was competent to take sound views of the political questions that were brought before him. He was not given either to much writing or to much speaking. Except on a few important occasions, when he knew that he had in- formation to impart not possessed by any of his col- leagues, he expressed his opinions in a few terse sen- tences, always much to the point. Although he was younger at that time than some, who are now doing good service as members of the Council of India, he was afflicted with deafness, in a much more aggravated form in one ear than in the other, and this to some extent prevented him from following, as distinctly as he could have wished, all that was said in the de- bates of the Court of Directors. But his colleagues, who, one and all, had the highest respect for the fine old soldier, endeavoured to remedy this inconvenience by placing him at the top of the Council table, with his sounder ear next to the Chairman, who propounded the business in hand, and was generally the principal speaker. But as members commonly entered the xxii Sir John Kayes Letter. Court room, either with opinions previously formed, or with a foregone intention to " support the Chairs," it is probable that an inability to follow the course of debate did not much detract from the efficiency of a Director. But it happened that, after Sir George Pollock had sat for two years as a Government Director of the East India Company, during which he had done more good work than the majority of his colleagues, the in- firmities of age were cited against him, by the Presi- dent of the Board of Control, as a reason for remov- ing him from his post. It was stated afterwards that he was not removed ; but this was a " distinction without a difference." The Act of Parliament de- clared that a vacancy was to be created in the list of Crown Directors, on the expiration of every recurring period of two years, but that the Crown Director at the head of the list thus subjected to retirement was to be qualified for reappointment. Sir George Pol- lock being the first on the list of the Crown Directors a position which was intended to confer the highest honour upon him was necessarily, therefore, the first to vacate his seat. Virtually the Act contemplated the retirement of each Crown Director after a service of six years which was the longest period for which any one was appointed and the principle, which was contended for, of non-appointment for life, would have been sufficiently confirmed by a reappointment at the end of that term. It was a surprise, therefore, to every one Sir John Kayes Letter. xxiii to learn, that the President of the Board of Control had intimated to Sir George Pollock his intention not to reappoint him to the Board of Directors. Sir Henry Eawlinson was to be nominated in his place. I remember Sir George saying to me "Well, they could not have appointed a better man. He will make a better Director than I could ever be ; but I was getting to understand my work, and might have been useful." I had, a very short time before, joined the establishment of the East India Company, and, he honoured me by saying that nothing would grieve him more in leaving the India House than the ces- sation of daily intercourse with me. Those were kindly regrets. But that which excited Sir George Pollock's indignation was the manner in which the decision of the Crown Minister was con- veyed to him. Honourable and truthful to the core, he abhorred subterfuges and disguises; and he was incensed in the extreme when he was told that an opportunity was afforded to him for acting out a sham by pretending to resign. " The Government ap- pointed me," he said, " declaredly for the public good ; and if they now think it for the public good that an- other man should be appointed in my place, they have every right to do so. But why should they insult me by suggesting that I may tell a lie ? " If it were, as some said, "intended kindly," it was committed under a grievous misconception of the old soldier's character, among the most prominent features of which were his extreme openness and frankness the trans- c 2 xxiv Sir John Kayes Letter. parency, I may say, of his nature. But there were not wanting those who said that, in suggesting such a course, the Minister thought rather of screening himself from the condemnation with which the ahrupt removal from his post of an officer so univer- sally respected as Sir George Pollock was sure to be received. He did not say this though his friends did but he greatly resented the indignity that had been put upon him, and replied, as you know, to the Indian Minister's letter in becoming terms. The remainder of his life was very tranquil. But he was never inactive. He had always work of some kind or other to do; if not for himself, for others. As his years increased, the strong human interest which he took in the worldly welfare of others seemed to increase with them. His works of charity and love were innumerable. He spared no amount of trouble to right a wrong, or to succour adversity, when his sympathies were moved and his convictions satisfied. Nobody knew better than myself how much good he did, and how much he tried to do ; for, with an exag- gerated estimate of my powers to aid him, he fre- quently came to me with some case of injustice done, or suffering endured, the evils of which he thought my official position might help him to remedy. Of the claims of the widows and children of his old com- rades, he was ever an unfailing advocate. Although, on some points, in extreme old age, his memory was defective, it seemed to me to be perfectly clear and retentive, with respect to personal affairs of this kind Sir John Kayes Letter. xxv in which he was interested, and his natural sagacity never deserted him. I do not know a case in which he was imposed upon by an unworthy claimant. He was very hospitable almost to the last day of his life, and he was often to be seen at the table of some old familiar friend. The infirmity of deafness pre- vented him from taking much part in general conver- sation, but when the subject discussed was explained to him, his face would brighten up, and he would have something to say about it perhaps some anecdote to narrate. It always pleased him to see happy faces around him. Many a time has he turned to me at the dinner-table and said, with a pleasant, half-humorous smile : " I don't understand a word you are all saying, but you seem very happy." He was very temperate almost abstemious in his way of living, and was with difficulty to be persuaded to take even the very moderate quantity of wine that was neces- sary for the support of his strength. I remember tell- ing him that Lord Combermere had said that the Duke of Wellington would have lived longer if he had taken more wine. He laughed and answered, " I dare say." But I don't think the story was lost upon him. After he had attained his eightieth year, two events occurred which deeply pained him. His brother Frederick, to whom he had all his life been cordially attached, died after a few weeks' illness. Although necessarily prepared for such a calamity, it was a heavy blow to Gleorge when it came. The two brothers were xxvi Sir John Kayes Letter. very fond and mutually proud of each other. There was nothing pleasanfcer than to hear the language in which the lawyer brother spoke of the soldier brother, or the soldier spoke of the lawyer. It was long before Sir George recovered from the effects of this bereavement. For many months I could observe a marked change in his appearance and demeanour. The death of his old friend and comrade, General Swiney, of the Bengal Artillery, also affected him greatly. They had been friends for more than threescore years ; and their names stood next to each other in the Army List. Swiney, who was a man of considerable lite- rary and scientific attainments, and a most genial com- panion, not only cherished the warmest affection for his old friend, but had a keen critical appreciation of Pollock's military services, and often wrote and spoke of them, as one well skilled in the theory of war. Those were white-letter days for both, when Swiney came up from Cheltenham, with some mem- bers of his family, to spend a little time with his old friend on Clapham Common ; and very sorry was Pollock when Swiney passed away from the scene. " I shall soon follow him," he said ; " my turn will come next." If, however, there were pains, there were pleasures also for him, in advanced age. It is not to be doubted that the cumulative honours which were bestowed upon Sir George Pollock, within the last few years of his life, afforded him much cor- dial gratification. He had not solicited them. He Sir John Kayes Letter. xxvii had never at any time been a disappointed man. Nothing had ever soured the sweetness of his nature. How it happened that these distinctions were so long deferred that when, in the full freshness of his repu- tation, that was not done which nearly thirty years afterwards was cheerfully accorded to him (I speak of the grant of an hereditary title), is among the marvels and mysteries of public life. That within a very brief period (after he had passed his eightieth year), he was made a Field-Marshal of the Army, a Baronet and Constable of the Tower, are facts very honourable to Mr. Gladstone, the Duke of Cambridge, and the Duke of Argyll ; and they afford most encouraging proofs that really good service, though it may be overlooked for a time, in this country, is seldom forgotten. The last public mark of respect that was shown to him was the solicitation of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, that he would become one of their body. It was but a shadowy distinction ; still, as it was wholly unsought, it was a compliment to his high character. There were those who wished him to decline the offer, as he was far too conscien- tious not to take his share of the work, whatever it might be ; but when assured that the work was very light, and that it would be a disappointment to the Court if he declined to do them the honour of joining them, he consented to be elected and took his seat at the Board. The summer of 1872 was an unusually trying one, not only to people of advanced age (for the xxviii Sir John Kay en Letter. changes of temperature were frequent and sudden), and the Field-Marshal suffered, as did many others, from derangement of the liver, but there was nothing to cause the least anxiety to his friends. In the early part of the autumn he appeared to me to be in excellent health and spirits. One of the last occasions on which I dined with him, very shortly be- fore his death, was for the special purpose of meeting his favourite nephew my friend General F. R. Pol- lock, whom I had first met as a " griffin," in 1844, at Sir George's house at Cossipore, and who had now recently returned from a special mission to Seistan. We exchanged congratulations on the heartiness and cheerfulness of the Field-Marshal, and thought that he might attain to the age of the oldest of the Con- stables of the Tower. I was, therefore, as much surprised as I was shocked, to receive on Sunday, the 6th of October, a telegraphic message from Walmer, whither he had gone with Lady Pollock on a visit to Mrs. Wollaston, announcing that the Field- Marshal had died suddenly, in the morning, at that place. He had been full of life on the preceding day, and had gone to Walmer Castle to leave his card on Lord Granville, Warden of the Cinque Ports. On seeing it, the Warden, observing that Sir George Pollock was not to be treated as an ordinary visitor, requested the Field-Marshal to come in and see him. Whether any thought passed over the old soldier's mind that another Constable of the Tower had been Warden of the Cinque Ports, and that he had died Sir John Kayes Letter. xxix beneath the roof under which they were then con- versing, can only be vaguely surmised. But it is at least a coincidence worthy to be noted in your book, that two Field-Marshals, Constables of the Tower, died in that little sea-coast place within a period of twenty years. His mind seemed to be very active at that time. He had taken down with him a volume of the Calcutta Review, which contained an article I had written, many years before, reviewing Stocqueler's / " Life of Sir William Nott. Sir George had asked me if I had seen the book. Quite forgetting that he had himself read it at the time of publication, he spoke of it as something new to him. I called his attention to the criticism, which had, indeed, been based upon his own notes or oral observations ; and when, on the day before his death, he read it over very carefully, all the incidents referred to in it came back to his mind, and he commented with obvious satisfaction on its accuracy. Those about him, indeed, were much struck with the clearness with which he seemed to recall even comparatively un- important details connected with that eventful period of his life. He had also carried with him to Walmer the " Memoirs of Sir Henry Lawrence," by Edwardes and Merivale, and he asked one of the ladies of the family whether she had read them, saying that he especially wished her to read a letter written by Lawrence to his children after their mother's death. He sent for the book, pointed out xxx Sir John Kayes Letter. the letter, and spoke in the warmest terms of the high Christian tone that pervaded it. Of Henry Lawrence's character, Sir George Pollock had the most genuine admiration, and he expressed himself on this occasion very strongly about it. I "believe that Lawrence thought that his old commandant had scarcely done him justice, with respect to his services in Afghanistan. But I am sure that, if it were so, the omission must have "been purely accidental; not only on account of what I have above said, but because I never knew a man, who was more habi- tually disposed to give credit to others for the assis- tance which they had rendered to him, and sometimes, indeed, for what he had done wholly himself. He often spoke to me, with gratitude and admiration, of the help which he had derived from the energy and ability of Henry Lawrence and Eichmond Shake- spear throughout the war of Retribution ; and said that he did not know how he should have got on without them. A lady resident in the house, to whom I am indebted for some of the above details, and who then met Sir George Pollock I believe for the first time, says that she was greatly impressed by the gentleness and tenderness of his manner his unwillingness to give trouble, and his thankfulness to all who in any way administered to his comforts. This was so habitual to him, that those who were in constant intercourse with the good old man, and know well the modesty of his nature, had ceased to take account Sir John Kayes Letter. xxxi of it. But strangers were greatly impressed with the sight of this exceeding unpretentiousness in one occupying so high a position and so long accustomed to command. As illustrative of this trait of character, I may mention, that up to the very last, he would insist, when he came to see me at office, on ascending the laborious stairs leading to my room (an ascent of which men of not more than half his years often com- plained), although I repeatedly begged him not to do so, saying that if he would send up his name to me, I should always be most pleased to go down to see him, either in a ground-floor room, or at his carriage door. His answer always was, that my time was of more value than his ; and nothing could ever persuade him to let me do as I suggested. When Sir George Pollock, on the evening before his death, retired to rest, he was in his usual health and spirits. He had all his life been an early riser, as had his brother the Chief Baron,* and on that Sunday morning he left his bed at the usual time and lighted the fire in his dressing-room, according to his wonted custom. When his faithful attendant went into the room to take his master his usual cup of coffee, he found the Field - Marshal lying on a couch, * I remember Sir George Pollock George, Having got up rather telling me one day, that he had earlier than usual (3.30), the best received a letter from his brother tiling that I can do is to write you Frederick, beginning " My dear a letter." xxxii Sir John Kayes Letter. apparently insensible. He summoned Lady Pollock, and some brandy was administered to the dying man. He was asked if he was in any pain ; he answered, " None," and that was the last word he ever spoke. He passed away in perfect peace with himself and with all mankind. I went down to Walmer to see him for the last time in his coffin. I cannot write of that solemn interview with the dead I had lost the dearest and the best friend that ever man had; and I loved him with filial reverence and affection. His face, as often happens, seemed to be much younger in death than in life. And there was an appearance of greater massiveness about it, and an expression indicative of far greater power than had been observable in it for many years. Altogether, the countenance, in the beautiful repose of death, re- called the wonderful likeness of Sir Francis Grant's portrait, taken a quarter of a century ago. This was, perhaps, mainly caused by the fact that in life, owing to his infirmity of deafness, his face often wore that distressed and anxious aspect, which, I believe, is common to all those who have a similar physical defect. I have incidentally spoken of some of the most prominent features of Sir George Pollock's character, and I have not now much to add. I never in my life knew so simple-minded a man. He was perfectly transparent. There was nothing for you to find out. John Kayes Letter. xxxiii You saw at once a thoroughly honest, open-hearted English gentleman ; of a kindly nature and with a cordial manner which endeared him to all who were honoured with his friendship, and to many who had hut a superficial acquaintance with him. There were few of his friends who were not also my friends, and I seldom heard him spoken of otherwise than as " dear Sir George." He never made any parade of his religion, but he was a righteous man to the core. The secret of this was his constant study of the Bible, with prayer ; a habit first instilled into him by a pious mother, daily continued through his whole life, and not interrupted by the fatigues and occupa- tions of a military life. This habit was continued to the very last. The time gained by early rising during his last years was wholly devoted to the study of the Bible. Living a blameless life himself, he had an overflowing charity towards the weaknesses of others ; and altogether a large-hearted toleration, which caused him, both in public and private life, if not to espouse the cause of, at least to endeavour to mitigate the penalties incurred by, men who had manifestly offended. He saw clearly the whole ex- tent of the offence ; but he took generous account of the temptation. It may be added, as another proof of the gentleness of his nature, that he was very fond of children, and always a great favourite with them. I never saw so many true mourners gathered xxxiv Sir John Kayes Letter. together, as at the funeral of the Field-Marshal in Westminster Ahbey. Men who had loved and honoured him during life, came from distant parts of the country to pay their last respects to the "warrior dead." It was said by a distinguished military writer, in an appreciative review of the career of Sir George Pollock, that Lord Clyde had said, when he received his highest honours, that he had outlived nearly all the friends whom his elevation would gratify. It was not so with the old soldier who now rests so near to him. The distinctions conferred on Pollock towards the close of his career afforded heart-felt pleasure to troops of friends ; for his affec- tions were as warm as in the prime of his life, and none whom he had once honoured with his friendship, ever slackened in their devotion to him. The last scene in Westminster Abbey was a touching proof of this ; it proved that his personal kindnesses were as fresh in the hearts as his public acts in the memories of the mourners. Eeading over what I have written, I feel some- what ashamed of the egotism pervading these notes. But you asked me for my " personal recollections," and personal recollections must be more or less ego- tistical. I have not written anything about Sir George Pollock's character and career as a military commander ; for I could add nothing to what I wrote about them more than twenty years ago. You will, I am sure, do ample justice to them. But if these Sir John Kayes Letter. xxxv slight notes, principally relating to the mere private life of the deceased Field-Marshal, should be of any service to you, you are welcome to make such use of them as you may think fit. Yours faithfully, J. W. KAYE. BATH, January, 1873. LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF FIELD-MARSHAL SIR GEORGE POLLOCK, BART., G.C.B., G.C.S.I. (CONSTABLE OF THE TOWER.) CHAPTEE I. Introduction. Parentage and early years of George Pollock. His departure for Calcutta. The military situation in India in 1803. The Battle and Siege of Deig, 1804. THE death of SIR GEORGE POLLOCK has removed a re- presentative man from onr midst. The veteran Field- Marshal was one of the last remaining links connect- ing the mighty past of Indian conquest with the far different present of consolidation and amelioration of the subject races, and a future regarding the course of which, owing to the agencies at work in our great Eastern dependency, he would be a bold man indeed who ventured to speculate. Sir George Pollock was a Company's officer, and 1 Life of Sir George Pollock. possessed in an eminent degree many of the qualities that distinguished the race. He went to India without the adventitious aids of aristocratic connec- tions or influential friends, and, though the composi- tion of the Hon. East India Company's army was quasi- democratic the nominations lying with the Directors, many of whom had risen from obscurity, or attained their seats through successful mercantile ventures yet friends at Government House, or at head-quarters, were scarcely less capable of advancing the interests of a protege than in the royal service. The young artillery officer had only his sword where- with to advance his interests, and with this, a strong constitution and an equable temperament, indomit- able energy and industry, great good sense and sound judgment, he achieved an undying reputation in our Indian annals. But one advantage, denied by fate to many, and permitted to pass unimproved by others of his brother officers, was offered to Sir George Pollock, and that was, an opportunity for achieving distinction. When in the prime of life, and ripe with the experience of nearly forty years' service, at a time when so many military reputations were ship- wrecked, he had presented to him this opportunity, he seized it, turned it to the best advantage, and came in on the flood tide of fortune and success. Though we would not claim for Sir George Pollock the gift of military genius, such as we recog- nize it in a Olive, or a Wellington for genius, indeed, is more rare in war than in arts or literature yet it Life of Sir George Pollock. cannot be denied that he takes rank among the few Indian generals whose achievements will survive in the page of history. Scarcely less great than the founder of an empire is the saviour of a state, and as such may be regarded the man who, when the prestige of our invincibility was gone, when British officers of the highest rank deprecated a bold for- ward movement on Cabul, and an experienced foreign soldier of fortune like General Avitabile predicted the certain failure of any attempt to force the Khyber Pass, yet advanced through that stupendous defile into the most difficult country in the world, and with an army, the native portion of which was smitten with the paralysis of fear. During that long, weary halt at Peshawur, the calm assured demeanour, the patient attention to every minute detail of organization displayed by their general, inspired first confidence and respect, and then enthusiasm among the native soldiery. Nor is this surprising, for the spectacle presented by their chief as he went among the Sepoys, not disdaining to argue with them individually for the purpose of dis- pelling their fears, possessed the elements of moral grandeur in a not less degree than that exhibited by the mightiest warrior of ancient times. Alexander the Great, more than 2,300 years before, on the self- same arena, sought to raise the fainting spirits of his Macedonian phalanx, by addressing them in like language : "Ubi est ille clamor alacritatis vestrse index? 1 * Life of Sir George Pollock. Ubi ille meorum Macedonum vultus ? ]STon agnosco vos milites." Adding, when his address failed to awaken them to a sense of duty : " Ite reduces domos ; ite deserto rege ovantes. Ego hie a vobis desperatse victoriao, aut honestse mortis locum inveniam." So much may be said for the moral elevation of character of the late Field-Marshal. The capacity and skill he displayed in the operations connected with the forcing of the Khyber Pass, are, perhaps, not excelled by any similar achievement in history, and have commanded the admiration of all military critics. The importance of the service he rendered to the State during that crisis, can scarcely be over estimated ; but an infallible test may be applied by a consideration of the disastrous consequences that would have attended a failure. Besides the Afghans arrayed to oppose his advance, and the awful portals of the Khyber Pass frowning before him, he had to take into account two elements of weakness in the resources at his com- mand, either .of which might, at any moment, have brought defeat and ruin upon him and his plans. The first of these were his half-hearted auxiliaries, the Sikhs, ready, in the event of a reverse, or a revolution at Lahore, to turn their swords upon their " allies " and overwhelm the small British army, who would have had to fight their way back to the Provinces through the Punjaub bristling with the vast array of 85,000 bayonets and 350 guns, drilled Life of Sir George Pollock. and equipped with such assiduous care by Eunjeet Singh, who had only been laid in his grave some three years before. Not less to be dreaded as a possible contingency that would prove fatal to success, was the bad mutinous spirit which had manifested itself among Pollock's native troops ; on the first check, they would, doubtless, have given vent to the dis- affection, which had only been smothered by the judicious treatment and calm assured bearing of their General. We can now gauge rightly the magnitude of these perils. History informs us how many thousands of our best and bravest fell at the sanguinary battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Sobraon, Chillianwallah and other fields, before the final rout of Goojerat broke for ever the power of the Khalsa rule ; and history also records on a more recently penned and not less blood-stained page, what hecatombs of dead had to be sacrificed at the altar of the military Moloch, before the demon of mutiny was finally exorcised from the same native army which, fifteen years before, had swept through Afghanistan in one unbroken series of victory under the leadership of Sir George Pollock. George Pollock was the youngest of four brothers, sons of Mr. David Pollock, saddler to His Majesty Life of Sir George Pollock. George III., towards the lal/fcer part of the last century. The family was of Scottish extraction, and Mr. Pollock was as successful in business as have been so many of his nationality who have settled in the British metropolis.* Three of Mr. Pollock's sons rose to distinction. Of the two eldest, who both embraced the profes- sion of the law, David became a Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, but died at a comparatively early age. Frederick, the second son, achieved a brilliant reputation as a scholar, lawyer, and statesman. As a judge he was one of the most able that ever sat on the English bench ; some of his judgments as in the famous " Alexandra " case, delivered when he was over eighty years of age were remarkable for their mastery of detail and painstaking array of fact, though we believe the results at which he arrived did not always command the assent of the profession. He was born in 1783, a year before Lord Palmerston saw the light, and retired upon his laurels, after a career that would be almost unexampled in any other country, but which, in the land that has * Mr. William Jerdan, in his who became subsequently Lord Autobiography, mentions how in Mayor of London and a baronet ; that saddler's shop at Charing Peter Laurie, at that time foreman Cross were gathered together a of the journeyman stitchers in knot of men and youths who were Mr. Pollock's employ, hereafter to destined to play more than com- be known also as an alderman monly distinguished parts on the and Lord Mayor ; and Thomas stage of after life John Pirie, Wilde, the playmate and school- then a canny Scotch clerk, who fellow of one at least of Mr. Pol- would stroll in when not too busy lock's sons at St. Paul's School, with his master's invoices, and the future Lord Chancellor Truro. Life of Sir George Pollock. bred a Brougham, a St. Leonards, and a Lyndhurst, is not without a parallel. George, the youngest son, was born at his father's residence within the precincts of Westminster, on the 4th of June, 1786, two years before the birth of Byron, and at a time when Louis XVI. sat firmly on the throne of France, and his accomplished and heroic queen never dreamt of guillotines and of murderous Parisian mobs. It was to the circumstance of his natal day being identical with that of George III., that the subject of this Biography owes that name, for his father was a staunch subject of his sovereign, and brought up his sons to entertain like sentiments of loyalty to the reigning monarch. The brothers, Frederick and George, went to a school at Yauxhall, and from thence the former was removed to St. Paul's,* a seminary in which have * From St. Paul's Frederick Huntingdon in the Conservative proceeded to Trinity College, interest in 1831. When the great Cambridge, where he became Sir Robert Peel formed his first Senior Wrangler and Smith's administration, he was appointed Prizeman so far back as 1806, the Attorney- General, and entered year the reins of office slipped office with that statesman in from the hands of the dying Pitt, 1841. For his services the Prime and was elected a fellow of his Minister selected him for the high college in 1807. Mr. Pollock judicial office of Lord Chief Baron was called to the bar at the of the Exchequer in 1844, a post Middle Temple in the same year, he held for twenty-two years, took his M.A. degree in 1809, and when, on his making way for Sir received his silk gown as King's Fitzroy Kelly, another Conserva- Counsel in 1827. He held the tive Premier conferred upon him office of Commissary of his uni- the dignity of a baronetcy. He versity from 1824 to 1835, and died in 1870. entered Parliament as member for 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. been trained some of England's most illustrious sons, chief among whom stand the mighty names of Marl- borough and Milton. Greorge Pollock left the school at Yauxhallin 1801, and proceeded to the famous military academy of Woolwich, which has, for so many years, been an alma mater to the scientific services of the Crown. He quitted Woolwich in the midsummer of 1803, and, though he passed the higher standard for the Engineers, selected the Artillery* on the Bengal Establishment, as affording a better chance for mili- tary advancement. In September of that year, he embarked from Portsmouth on board the East India- man Tigris, commanded by Captain Graham. His first commission, in which he was designated " Lieu- tenant Fireworker," was dated November, 1803, when the good ship Tigris was knocking about off the Cape of Grood Hope ; but though, on his arrival in India, he was called upon to pay for the parchment that conferred upon him a designation that was, doubtless, * The Court of Directors, ac- of Directors in 1797, though the ceding to a request made by Lord number of students never exceeded Mornington in a letter to Mr. twelve or fourteen at one time. Dundas, dated June, 1799, had, It was not until 1809 that Ad- shortly before, consented to aug- discombe was founded for the ex- ment the Bengal Artillery ; and at elusive education of the East India the beginning of 1802, the regi- Company's Artillery and Engineer ment consisted of three battalions, cadets ; the number admitted of seven companies each, with during that year was fifty-seven, thirty companies of Lascars. A increasing in 1820 to 110. (See scientific education at Woolwich al- "Memoir of Services of Bengal so became a necessary qualification Artillery," by Captain Buckle, and for officers entering the Artillery. " British Indian Military Reposi- by a resolution adopted by the Court tory.") Life of Sir George Pollock. due to the employment by the Artillery of rockets for warlike purposes, and' though George Pollock did pay for it when so called upon, he never received the docu- ment in question. This sharp practice on the part of the " some one" in authority who had the preparation of the East India Company's commissions was not uncommon, I may say, at a much later date. The Tigris made a quick passage of four months, and, on her arrival in India, young Pollock proceeded to Dumdum, then the head-quarters of his regiment, and, soon after his arrival, received his commission as Lieutenant of Artillery, dated 19th April, 1804. At this time the Marquis of Wellesley, without question one of the greatest of the Company's Viceroys, was Governor- General, and was involved in hostilities with the Eajah of Nagpore, and Sindia,* the great Mahratta chief. When, therefore, George Pollock arrived in India, he found the Government and all the officers, civil and military, in its employ, straining every nerve to subdue one of the most powerful combinations yet brought against British domination in the East. A few words as to the course of this war, prior to the time when our hero found himself an active participant in its glories, are here necessary. The names of Major-General Arthur Wellesley, the Governor- General's brother, and afterwards so * The first Maharajah of Gwa- put, in 1764, after which the Mah- lior rose to power and importance rattas, disciplined by French oni- on the overthrow of the Moslem cers, became the virtual masters supremacy at the Battle of Panee- of Hindostan. io Life of Sir George Pollock. well known as the illustrious hero of Waterloo, and of General (afterwards Lord) Lake, were in every one's mouth. The former defeated the Mahrattas at the decisive battle of Assay e, on the 23rd September, 1803, and followed up his victory by another over the Nagpore army, at Argaom, on the 28th No- vember, while the latter captured the almost im- pregnable fortress of Allyghur, and fought the battles of Delhi and Laswarree, (the latter on the 1st November in the same year,) by which the humi- liation of Sindia was completed, and he was forced to agree to a treaty of peace, which was signed on the 4th December. No sooner were these formidable enemies subdued than another was thundering at the gate of the Company's raj. This was the famous Mahratta chieftain and prince of freebooters, Jeswunt Rao Holkar, better known under the last of his three- fold names. While Sindia and the Eajah of Nagpore were involved in hostilities with the British, Holkar was employed in the congenial occupation of under- taking predatory expeditions into the neighbouring states, and on the conclusion of peace plundered the city of Muhesur, on the Nerbudda, of wealth of the estimated value of one million sterling. He now took into his pay the disbanded troops of the late confederates, so that his army was soon augmented to a force of 60,000 horse and 15,000 foot soldiers. The Marquis of Wellesley had sedulously avoided any hostilities during the five months of the war Life of Sir George Pollock. 1 1 recently concluded, but it now became evident that peace was clearly incompatible with the safety of the territories under his government. Letters were in- tercepted from Holkar to the British allies, inciting them to revolt ; while it was notorious that he sought an alliance with the brother of Zemaun Shah, who had seized Cabul, styling himself, on a new seal which he had engraved, " the slave of the Mahomed Shah, king of kings." In the month of March, 1804, the Mahratta chief demanded of General Wellesley, then in the Deccan, the cession of certain districts, which he said had once belonged to his family, adding that " if they were not restored, countries many hundred miles in extent should be plundered and burnt, and the English General should not have time to breathe, and calamities should fall on lacs of human beings by a continued war, in which his armies would over- whelm them like waves of the sea." * He likewise despatched two envoys to General Lake, with claims of a similar character. During their communications with the General, some allusions happened to be made to the friendly disposition manifested by Sindia, when they affirmed that Sindia had within a few days requested the co-operation of their master in a war with the English, as a large French force had arrived on the Coromandel coast, and was about to come to his assistance. The envoys also de- * Marshman's " History of India." 1 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. manded the restoration of twelve of the finest dis- tricts in the Dooab, which they affirmed were part of Holkar's family possessions. These insolent demands were followed up by an inroad into the territories of our ally, the Eajah of Jeypore. * General Lake wrote to Lord Wellesley : " If Holkar should break into Hindostan, he will be joined by the Eohillas. I never was so plagued as I am with this devil. We are obliged to remain in the field at an enormous cost. If we retire, he will come down upon Jeypore, and exact a crore (1,000,000 sterling) from the Eajah, and thus pay his own army, and render it more formidable than ever. If I advance and leave an opening, he will give me the slip, and get into our territories with his horse, and burn and destroy." At length the patience of the Governor- General was exhausted, and on the 16th April, 1804, he directed Generals Wellesley and Lake to take the field against the Mahratta chieftain. Accordingly, the former ordered Colonel Murray to advance with a force of 5,800 men from Guzerat into Malwar, and take possession of Holkar's capital, while Lake moved with his army into the Jeypore territory, from which * These' princes trace their their intellectual attainments, descent from Rama, the fabled Rajah Jyesing, who flourished at and deified hero of the Ramayana. the close of the 17th century, Their ancestors were leaders of erected the famous observatories armies under the emperors of of Delhi and Benares, and was Delhi, and were not less distin- himself a mathematician and as- guished for their valour than for tronomer of no mean attainments. Life of Sir George Pollock. 13 he forced him to withdraw. Eampoora was captured by Colonel Don with a large detachment on the 1 6th May, when Holkar retreated in haste and confusion across the Chumbul. Instead of continuing the pursuit with vigour, a course he was strongly recommended to adopt by his coadjutor, Arthur Wellesley, General Lake broke up his encampment, and withdrew his army into cantonments, sending Colonel Monson to pursue Holkar with a single brigade. This imprudent step entailed a terrible disaster, that cost the British name a heavier loss of prestige than perhaps any catas- trophe in our Indian history, until the subsequent destruction of General Elphinstone's army in the defiles of Afghanistan taught the natives of India that we were not invincible. After Monson had put 200 miles between himself and his nearest support, he received, on the 7tTi July, the alarming intelligence that Holkar was advancing against him with his entire force ; at the same time he learned that Colonel Murray, who was proceeding to his aid from Guzerat, had retired ; and, to crown his misfortunes, the commandant of Sindia's contin- gent, which accompanied his force, after advising him to retreat, treacherously went over to the enemy with all his troops. After fighting a successful action with Holkar' s army on the 10th July, Monson continued his retreat, which, notwithstanding that he was rein- forced at Eampoora by three Sepoy battalions, ulti- mately degenerated into a disorderly rout, a disastrous consummation chiefly owing to the defection of a large 14 Life of Sir George Pollock. friendly force of Mahrattas. On the 26th of August, Colonel Monson spiked his last gun, and on the last day of the month, fifty days after the retreat had commenced, the last Sepoy had straggled into Agra. This reverse cheered up the fainting courage of our enemies, and induced the Eajah of Bhurtpore to throw himself into the arms of Holkar. Thus matters stood when young Pollock, having passed the ordinary course of gunnery at Dumdum, left Calcutta in August of the year 1804, in company with Lieutenant T. D. Smith, of the Artillery, for Cawn- pore, to join the army in the field. He travelled by palanquin dawk, and on his arrival at Cawnpore, then the principal military station in the upper provinces, went to the station paymaster who in those days was always a civilian to get cashed a hoondee, or bill, on" a native banker. As Holkar was at this time between Cawnpore and Agra, the paymaster placed a bungalow at the disposal of young Pollock, who re- mained at Cawnpore for three or four days until the coast was clear. He then started for Mynporee, and had a narrow escape of falling into the hands of the remorseless Mahratta chief ; for hardly had he dined at this place and set off on his journey to Agra, when that very night Holkar' s army swept through Myn- poree, and utterly desolated the station. Thus it must be owned that George Pollock's initiation into the chances of war was not of a cheerful or inspiriting character ; and on his arrival at Agra his eyes were further daily regaled by the sad spectacle presented Life of Sir George Pollock. 15 by the mutilated Sepoys of Colonel Monson's army, who straggled into the city one by one with their hands and noses cut off; while burning villages and cantonments, and mutilated bodies and starving vil- lagers, must have quickly undeceived the young subal- tern as to the stern realities of :t glorious war ;" however, he lived to see at Ferozepore, thirty-eight years afterwards, something of its bright side its " pomp and circumstance/' as well as its unspeakable horrors and desolation. While at Agra, young Pollock and his friend asked leave of the commandant to inspect the world-famous Taj, which is some distance outside the walls of the fort. Permission was granted, and it will sound somewhat curious to those of my readers who have been quartered at Agra, and have picnicked in the cool shades of this incomparable building, that he was under the necessity of taking a guard with him to ward against a surprise, as the country was ravaged by Holkar's incendiaries ; though, indeed, only fifteen years ago an English officer, desirous of paying a visit to this marble mausoleum, was not safe even with a guard, indeed, was safer without a native guard than with one. From Agra Lieutenant Pollock went to Muttra, and joined a company of artillery. Soon after his arrival, hearing that a party of the enemy were laying waste the territories across the Ganges, he offered to go over the river with his guns, but the commandant declined the proposal, and the young 1 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. artillery officer was denied the opportunity of earning distinction " at the cannon's mouth/' But his pro- fessional aspirations were not destined to be thwarted for any length of time. Upon the escape of Colonel Monson with the remnant of his force to Agra, Holkar advanced with the whole of his army, estimated at 90,000 men, to Muttra, situated on the right bank of the Jumna, about thirty miles from Agra ; the British detach- ment stationed there retired upon Agra when the Mahratta chieftain took possession of the place. The Commander-in-Chief, with his accustomed energy, marched from Cawnpore on the 3rd September, arrived at Agra on the 22nd, and proceeded imme- diately to Secundra, where he lost no time in sum- moning the various corps from their cantonments to assemble under his personal command, with the object of repelling this new and daring irruption. On the 1st October, General Lake marched with his army towards Muttra, from which, as he advanced, Holkar retired. But the wily Mahratta was plan- ning a scheme which, had it been successful, would have exercised a baleful influence on the fortunes of the Company. This was to seize the city of Delhi, and obtain possession of the person of the Emperor. It was truly a critical time in our Indian history, a time when defeat or a false move would have entailed most serious consequences upon the English garrison of Hindostan. Fortunately, the false step Life of Sir George Pollock. 17 was taken by Holkar, and the accompanying defeat was also sustained by him. Leaving the greater portion of his cavalry to blind General Lake as to his real intentions, Holkar started in great secrecy with his infantry and guns, and suddenly appeared before the capital of the Moghuls on the 7th October. But here he encountered the genius and resource of Colonel David Ochterlony, the Eesident, a Company's officer, who, ably seconded by Colonel Burn, the Commandant, defended the city, though ten miles in circumference, and filled with a mixed population, for nine days against the utmost efforts of the enemy, 20,000 strong, with 100 pieces of artillery. The defence of Delhi is worthy to rank with that of Arcot by Clive. The defending force consisted of only 800 reliable men, with eleven guns. They consisted of the 2nd battalion of the 14th and four companies of the 17th Native Infantry two weak battalions which had come over from Sindia in the preceding war, and three battalions of irregular infantry. These last had mutinied on the approach of the enemy, but the mutiny was immediately suppressed by vigorous measures; the ringleaders were secured, a native court-martial was held upon them, nine were severely flogged, and two blown away from the muzzles of the guns. Small confi- dence could therefore be placed in these troops, but they behaved well. So little did General Lake anticipate the possibility of Delhi being defended, that he had instructed the Kesident to withdraw 2 1 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. all the regular troops into the fort of Selim Ghur for the protection of the person of Shah Alum, the titular Emperor of Hindostan, leaving for the defence of the city such irregular troops as could be collected. The chief assault was delivered on the 13th of October, but the enemy were received with such steadiness and gallantry by the handful of Sepoys, that they were driven back with considerable loss, leaving their ladders behind. At length Holkar, despairing of success, drew off his army, and sending back his infantry and guns into the province of his new ally, the Eajah of Bhurtpore, set out with his cavalry to wreak his revenge on the British territories in the Dooab. General Lake also divided his force, and while he placed himself at the head of six regiments of cavalry, European and native, and his mounted artillery, left the main body, under General Eraser, to watch the Mahratta infantry. With this latter force remained the battery of artillery to which Lieutenant Pollock was attached. Lake left Delhi on -the 31st October, and General Eraser marched from thence on the 5th November with the following troops : His Majesty's 76th (then a Highland regiment), the Company's European Eegiment, and six battalions of Sepoys, with the park of artillery, under Colonel Horsford, in all about 6,000 men. On the 12th of November he arrived at Goburdun, a place some few miles from the fort of Deig, and pitched his camp within a short Life of Sir George Pollock 1 9 distance of the enemy, who were at first discovered from the surrounding heights, encamped between a large deep tank and an extensive jheel or morass, their right covered by a fortified village, and their left extending to the neighbouring fort of Deig. The Mahratta force was understood to amount to twenty-four battalions of infantry, a large body of horse, and 160 pieces of cannon. As the hour was late, and the General had little information of the enemy's position, he delayed the attack till morning. The night was passed in preparation. The force was divided into three brigades, each having a pro- portion of guns : one consisted of the 76th and two native corps ; the second, of the Company's European regiment, also with two Sepoy battalions; and the third, which was held in reserve, and for the protec- tion of the baggage, under Colonel Ball, comprised the two remaining battalions of Native Infantry, with the irregular cavalry. The first two brigades, being destined for the attack, were formed up in two lines, and marched to the front at three o'clock on the morning of the 13th November. The column had to make a considerable detour to avoid the morass, and, moving round a village where the enemy had a picket, arrived about daybreak at a second fortified village on the hill, which covered their right. The British troops now wheeled into two lines, the 76th and two native battalions forming the first line, and the remaining troops the second; at once the gallant Highlanders, unassisted, took possession of the forti- 2 * 2O Life of Sir George Pollock. fied village with charged bayonets, and, running down the hill, went at the first range of guns, " under a tremendous shower of round, grape, and chain shot." Their nohle impetuosity was irresistible, and the enemy abandoned the guns as they came up to them and retired to fresh batteries. When the second line arrived at the village, the Company's European regiment, seeing the 76th so far ahead in the thickest of the enemy, advanced rapidly to their support, followed by the Sepoys ; while two battalions of native infantry, with some 6-pounders, watched from under cover of a bank or hillock the enemy's brigades and guns to the eastward of the lower end of the morass, and kept them in check. Having captured the first range of guns, our troops found themselves opposed to a most destructive fire from the enemy's second range. Here a cannon-shot carried off General Eraser's leg, when the command devolved upon the Honourable Colonel Monson, who, although he had been unfortunate when in inde- pendent command, was greatly respected in the service as a most brave and zealous leader. Nothing could withstand the dauntless bearing of the troops, who, with charged bayonets, carried the second line of guns, and, still advancing, took one battery after another in magnificent style for a distance of nearly two miles, until, coming close up to the ramparts of the fort of Deig, which belonged to the Eajah of Bhurtpore, they were fired upon from the guns on its walls, and had several men killed. In the mean time Life of Sir 'George Pollock. 2 1 a body of the enemy's horse came round, retook the first range of guns, and turned them against our troops. But the 76th were equal to the occasion. Captain Norford his name ought to be remembered putting himself at the head of only twenty-eight men, gallantly charged and retook them a second time; but in the performance of this exploit the heroic officer met with a soldier's death. Our troops having pursued the flying foe as far as they could, now returned to attack the force which had been kept in check by the two battalions and the battery of guns under Major Hammond, which latter, in the face of a most destructive fire from a superior force of artillery, consisting of 12 and 18 pounders, had steadily main- tained its position. George Pollock was serving at this time as one of the subalterns of Captain Marmaduke Brown's bat- tery of 6-pounders, and his guns were pushed out into the open in front of the Sepoy battalions, whence they maintained a hot fire against the enemy's cavalry and guns, which were assembled in great force in this part of the field. Thus while the infantry were earning unfading laurels by the brilliant manner in which, at the point of the bayonet, they mastered the vista of guns op- posed to them, battery behind battery, Captain Mar- maduke Brown's light 6-pounders were carrying on an unequal combat with the heavy 18 and 12 poun- ders of the enemy. These in overwhelming force kept up a hot and very destructive fire against the Bengal artillerymen, who, however, never thought of 22 Life of Sir George Pollock. retiring a gun, but stubbornly maintained their posi- tion. At length a large body of horse, which had been menacing them for some time, swooped down upon the devoted band, but were well and promptly met by our native cavalry, the artillery also turning their guns upon the advancing horsemen, who, in dense masses, offered a fair mark. This completed their discomfiture, and they retired under protection of their batteries. Colonel Monson, having ordered up some more 6 -pounders, moved round, under cover of their fire, upon the enemy's left flank, which now, panic-stricken at the rapid overthrow of the main body, made a precipitate retreat into the morass in their rear, where numbers perished, amongst them being two principal leaders of Holkar's infantry. At the same time, Colonel Ball, with the 3rd brigade, which had been left in charge of the baggage, arrived to secure the captured guns, and assist in the removal of the wounded, protected by the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Native Irregular Cavalry, under Colonel Browne, who during the action had been em- ployed in watching and keeping off the enemy's horse. The British then encamped on the field of battle, with a cavalry picket on some rising ground half-way between them and the fort of Deig, as one of their outposts to watch the enemy's garrison. All the troops behaved with great gallantry, but the 76th Highlanders carried off the palm of victory, and covered themselves with glory. The Company's European regiment (lately the 1st Bengal Fusiliers, and now known in the British army as the 101st) Life of Sir George Pollock. 23 likewise earned distinction. The artillery, also, though inferior in numbers, and in the power of their guns, those of the enemy being of greater calibre than their 6 -pounders, yet made up for this deficiency by the spirit and accuracy of the fire they maintained through- out this glorious day. The example of the European soldiers had the happiest effect, and was zealously emulated by all the native corps. Our loss was severe for the small force engaged, and numbered 643 killed and wounded, including twenty-two officers. That of the enemy was also very great, and 2,000 men were supposed to have been killed or drowned while seeking to effect their escape ; while our troops cap- tured eighty-seven pieces of artillery, all mounted on field carriages with limbers, having also elevating screws and every requisite apparatus. Among the iron guns were six 18-pounders, formerly presented to the Mahrattas by the Marquis Cornwallis at Se- ringapatam ; but the most gratifying circumstance, especially to Colonel Monson, was the recapture on this day of eleven 6-pounders, two 12-pounders, and one howitzer, together with nine tumbrels and four ammunition carts, formerly lost by his column during their disastrous retreat. In addition to this, there were twenty-four more tumbrels taken, all laden with ammunition, besides which several were blown up in the action, and others, sloughed in the marshes, were afterwards burnt.* * " Memoir of the War in India from 1803 to 1806." By Major Thorn. 24 Life of Sir George Pollock. But the completeness of even so great a victory as tins was marred, and the joy of the army dimmed, by the death of the noble General who had with con- summate ability and skill made his dispositions, and with heroic valour led on the troops, and to whom, now that death had cut short his promising career, the army sorrowfully attributed the chief glory of its achieve- ment. General Eraser expired on the third day after receiving his wound, which had become gangrenous, and Colonel Monson assumed temporary command. The Commander-in-Chief expressed his opinion on several occasions that the battle of Deig was one of the most severe of the war. General Lake said, "It appears to have been the hardest fought battle on this side India ; " and in a despatch he stated, in lan- guage forcible, though perhaps rather more of a sporting than military character, that he had " every reason to believe that the action of the 13th instant was a very near business." Lieutenant Pollock, who took a prominent part with his guns in keeping down the enemy's fire, was fortunate enough to pass through it unhurt. The remains of Holkar's army having taken shelter in the fort of Deig, and that chief himself having fled to the Jumna after his defeat at Furruckabad, General Lake lost no time in following him across that river, which he recrossed on the 25th November by the bridge of boats at Muttra, and joined the army before Deig. The guns captured from the enemy on the 13th had been sent off to Agra under Life of Sir George Pollock. 25 an escort, with orders to bring back a battering train from that place, for the purpose of laying siege to Deig. Its ruler, the Eajah of Bhurtpore, had behaved with singular ill faith, even for a native prince. Only in the preceding September, General Lake had treated him as a friend at Agra, though at this time he was known to have been in correspon- dence with Holkar, and had even endeavoured to stir up other chiefs to rebellion within the Company's territories. At length his conduct rendered it impos- sible to continue any longer on terms of amity, and at the battle of Deig he openly manifested his hos- tility by taking part in the action with his cavalry. When Holkar's troops fled to the adjacent fortress, the garrison, which at that time was composed entirely of his troops, opened, as we have seen, a heavy fire from the guns on the walls, thus not only inflicting severe loss on the pursuers, but enabling the fugitives to carry off some of their cannon. General Lake, having received instructions to attack the forts in the possession of the Bhurtpore Eajah, moved with his army on the 1st of December towards Deig, which was strongly garrisoned by Holkar's troops, in con- junction with those of the Eajah, and further strength- ened by the artillery that had escaped after the late battle. Deig was at this time, according to Major Thorn, a town of considerable extent, distant about forty- four miles from Agra, in a westerly direction ; owing to its being nearly surrounded by marshes, it was, during 26 Life of Sir George Pollock. a great part of the year, almost inaccessible to an enemy. It was formerly a place of considerable opulence, and on account of its great natural strength was selected as his residence by Soorajee Mull, the chief of the Jauts. It was taken in 1776 by Nujuff Khan, the vizier of the Emperor of Delhi, after a siege of twelve months, but subsequently came again under the dominion of the Eajah of Bhurtpore. The town was defended by a strong mud wall, with bastions and a deep ditch surrounding it, except at one angle, which terminated in a high rocky mound, called the Shah Bagh, or King's Garden. This emi- nence was a strong natural fortress, having an internal area of about fifty yards square, for the use of the garrison, and presenting four commanding bastions, facing the four cardinal points of the com- pass. About a mile from the Shah Bagh, and nearly in the centre of the town, stood the citadel, * which was strongly built, in good preservation, and well stored with guns. The ramparts were high and thick, furnished with bastions, and surrounded by a deep ditch faced with masonry. Massive gateways and * With the exception of the lined with wrought-iron coiled armament, the fort of Deig tubes on the system introduced stands now as it did at that time, into our service by Major Palliser. It is a square surrounded by a Some of the guns have stood wall of masonry 100 feet high heavy firing, as you could put a and about 30 feet wide, round finger into their vents. Holkar's which there is a wet ditch. At entrenched position can still be each angle of the fort is a circu- traced by the remains of the bat- lar tower with a cavalier on the teries which were constructed in top, on which are now lying 6 -inch them, guns of about nine tons weight, Life of Sir George Pollock. 27 towers of considerable height defended the approaches to the citadel, near to which stood the palace of the Eajah, described as " a very noble structure, containing a fine hall of audience, and other state apartments in a similar style of elegance." Such was the fortress to which Lord Lake prepared to lay siege. On the 2nd December, the British army, under the Commander-in-Chief, encamped within sight of the fortress, where they remained for nine days, during which time General Lake made frequent reconnoissances. On one of these occasions the enemy's horse, commanded by Holkar in person, hovered round the reconnoitring party in large numbers, and, on its return, a division of them advanced upon the rear of the British column, and charged through the intervals of two native cavalry regiments, who, however, handsomely repulsed them. On the 10th December, the reserve, under Colonel Don, with the battering train, arrived from Agra, and on the following day the army broke ground, with the object of taking up the most favourable position for siege operations. The force, being protected in front by an advanced guard, marched in two columns parallel to each other, while the intermediate space, a distance of about 600 yards, was occupied by the artillery, bag- gage, and commissariat train ; the rear-guard in- cluded all the pickets, strengthened by a cavalry regiment. The army consisted of eight regiments of cavalry, numbering 27 squadrons, with 750 Euro- peans and 1,650 natives ; the infantry was composed 28 Life of Sir George Pollock. of portions of three European corps, altogether 650 bayonets, and nine native battalions, numbering 5,000 men. There was also a small proportion of artillery and pioneers. Thorn says, " There were not less than 60,000 camp-followers; and our cattle might at a very moderate computation be estimated at 200 elephants, 2,000 camels, and 100,000 bullocks, for carrying grain, equipage, and baggage, both public and private." On the evening of the 10th the army encamped near the fortified village where the action of the 13th November commenced, having their left on the lake, which was along the foot of the hill adjoining Gropaul Grhur, a mud fort outside the walls of Deig. After proceeding the next day in the same order of march round the hill, and passing through a thick jungle about a mile in extent, the army on the 13th took up a final position before the fortress of Deig. The plain selected for the British encampment being in the occupation of the enemy, they were quickly dislodged from it ; after which, preparations for the siege commenced. At eleven o'clock the same night, the reserve, under Colonel Don, took possession of a large tope or grove, necessary for carrying on the approaches, immediately after which the pioneers, under Captain Swinton and Lieutenant Forrest, of the Bengal Engineers, broke ground with such despatch that before sunrise they completed a trench 300 yards long, one battery for mortars, to which Lieutenant Pollock was attached, at a little village Life of Sir George Pollock. 29 within the tope, and another for 6-pounders, con- structed under the direction of Captain Eobertson, also of the Engineers. With such celerity was the work pushed on, that, towards evening of the same day, the breaching battery was commenced by volun- teer parties from the British dragoon regiments, within 750 yards of the Shah Bagh, the high outwork that terminated the angle of the works in- tended to be breached. On the right of this battery was Gopaul Ghur, which was in possession of the enemy, and crowded with matchlock men, who, by their constant fire, annoyed the working parties very much, and inflicted considerable damage. Notwithstanding these hindrances to progress, the breaching battery was completed on the night of the 16th, and opened fire on the following morning from six 18-pounders, four 12-pounders, and four mortars. The cannonade was kept up with great spirit for several days, but, owing to the smallness of the calibre of the guns employed, did not prove very effective. Accordingly, during the night of the 20th, another battery, mounting three 18-pounders, was constructed to the left of our army, and nearer to the enemy's works, on which it brought to bear an enfilading fire. The besieged displayed considerable pertinacity in the defence, and brought a number of guns on the plain outside the fort, and placed them so judiciously under cover of natural embankments that they could not be touched by our batteries, while the latter were for the most part enfiladed by jo Life of Sir George Pollock. them. To divert their fire, General Lake took a leaf out of their book, and placed outside on the plain several 12 and 6 pounders, which played on their guns from different points. While serving with the mortar battery, Lieutenant Pollock took his part in the ar- duous but honourable duties of an artilleryman, and had his share of the attendant dangers. An officer in his battery, of the name of Groves, met an instantaneous death from a round shot, which carried off one side of his head. When on his way to take his turn of duty he remarked that he knew he should be killed. Lieu- tenant T. D. Smith of the Artillery was also wounded. At length the Engineer officers reported that a practicable breach was made, and, the enemy's guns being mostly silenced, a storming party was moved down to the trenches about half-past eleven o'clock on the night of the 23rd December. The force destined for this service was divided into three columns, and consisted of the following troops. The centre column, whose duty it was to storm the breach, was led by Colonel Macrae, who also had com- mand of the whole, and was composed of the flank companies of His Majesty's 22nd and 76th Eegiments, and those of the Company's 1st European Eegiment, and the 8th Native Infantry. The right column, under Captain Kelly, consisting of four companies of the 1st Europeans, and five companies of the 1st battalion of the 12th Native Infantry, was ordered to carry the enemy's batteries and trenches in the high ground, near the Shah Bagh ; whilst the Life of Sir George Pollock. 31 left column, under Major Kadcliffe, consisting of the four remaining companies of the European Begiment, and five companies of the 12th Native Infantry, was destined to carry the trenches and batteries on the enemy's right. The whole force, in the best spirits and animated with a sure presage of victory, moved off so as to reach the different points of attack a little before midnight. The following account of what then took place is from an eye-witness: " The centre column, though exposed on their flanks to a most galling fire of round shot and musketry from the batteries and trenches, and though obliged to pass through broken and extremely unfavourable ground, rushed on to the breach, and gained posses- sion of the work with resistless spirit; while the remaining columns, diverging outwards, attacked the enemy under the walls, carrying all their batteries at the point of the bayonet, in the face of a most destructive fire from all directions. The enemy's golundauze (artillery) stood firm to their guns, and defended themselves to the last, making use of their tulwars with such desperate resolution, when they could no longer fire, that most of them were bayo- neted. Several parties of the enemy rallied, and, favoured by the darkness of the night, tried to re- cover their guns ; but the moon rising at half-past twelve shed a very seasonable light on the scene, and enabled our gallant fellows to secure what they had so hardly gained." 3 '2 Life of Sir George Pollock. By two o'clock on the morning of the 24th Decem- ber, the British were in possession of the Shah Bagh and outworks, with all the guns outside, twenty-eight in number. The whole service was performed with equal gallantry and success. " By means of the darkness of the night," wrote the Commander-in-Chief, " the enemy were taken by surprise, and prevented from availing themselves of the advantage they possessed, or of making a very formidable resistance/' The extensive works of the enemy being held by a very large force, their loss was proportionately great. But the struggle was not yet over, for the citadel still held out. The British troops being now in possession of the town itself, the advanced posts pushed on close to the very gates of this, the inner fort, and prepara- tions were made for carrying it by assault. It was first necessary, however, that the gates should be blown open, and for this special duty Lieutenant Pollock was detailed with his guns. The enemy, in evident apprehension of its fall, were seen going off in straggling parties during the course of the day to take refuge in Bhurtpore. After making every pre- paration for blowing in the gate of the citadel, Greorge Pollock, and an officer of the name of Durant, the brigade-major of the force, during the course of the succeeding night walked towards the citadel for the purpose of reconnoitring ; meeting with no signs of the enemy, they proceeded on until they extended their promenade into the citadel itself, which they Life of Sir George Pollock. 33 found had been evacuated by the enemy, who were panic-stricken at witnessing the determined valour of the British troops. A curious anecdote is told by the subject of this Memoir, and one eminently suggestive of the grim and unpitying manner in which the British soldier, when left to himself without an officer, was wont to carry on the game of war; though, perhaps, in our own time matters are not much improved in this respect, as many a soldier wearing her Majesty's uniform, who passed through the early days of the great Indian mutiny, could testify from personal experience, did he care to open his mouth ; but then, in extenuation of the no-quarter policy, even to the wounded, so much in vogue with the rank and .file of the British army in 1857-58, it must be remembered that our brave soldiers received the direst provocation in the name- less horrors perpetrated on their women and children by the dastardly Bengal Sepoy. However, to my anecdote. As Lieutenant Pollock and his friend were proceed- ing towards the citadel, they passed a European guard, and, going up to the sergeant of infantry in charge of the party, for the purpose of learning the way to the gate of the citadel, the night being very dark, they asked what he was doing there. " Oh, sir, we are in charge of some prisoners/' replied the man. " Prisoners ! Where are they ?" asked the artillery officer. " Well, sir," rejoined the sergeant, with an air of 3 34 Life of Sir George Pollock. frankness, but not in the least abashed at the confes- sion, " we just skivered them all." The reader need not be told that skivering was a synonymous term in the vocabulary of the sergeant of infantry for bayo- neting.. Enlightened as to the value set upon the sanctity of human life by this British soldier, but unable to suppress a shudder at the wanton massacre of men whom civilized nations regard as prisoners of war, George Pollock and his friend proceeded on their way, and, as I have related, did not stop until they found themselves within the walls of the Jaut stronghold. The chief gate was a marvel of strength, and had been piled up inside, quite up to the top, with huge stones. On inspection, the officers found that the most complete preparations had been made to defend the citadel. Thus, on the Christmas morning of 1804, General Lake was in complete possession of the town and fortress of Deig, and of all the guns, both within and outside, comprising the principal part of the field artillery remaining to Holkar, besides a large quan- tity of grain, some valuable horses, and two lacs of rupees. The Commander-in-Chief, in bestowing the meed of praise upon the several corps engaged in this conquest, observed that the national advantages resulting from their zeal and heroism would ever be matter of exulta- tion to all who wished well of their country. From general expressions of approval, his Excellency pro- ceeded to notice the merits of individuals. After Life of Sir George Pollock. 35 speaking with warm admiration of the three leaders of the assaulting columns, he proceeded to eulogize his second in command, Colonel Ball of the 8th Native Infantry ; Captain Lindsay, of His Majesty's 22nd ; the Engineer officers, Captain Eobertson and Lieutenant Smith ; Captain Swinton and Lieutenant Forrest, com- manding the pioneers, both of whom were severely wounded ; and Colonel Horsford and Captain Eaban, the senior officers of the Artillery, which had particu- larly distinguished itself during the siege. The British loss in this achievement, considering the hard fighting, and the magnitude of the results attained, was singularly small. It consisted of 43 killed, including two officers, and 184 wounded, among whom were 1 3 officers. The number of guns taken amounted to 100, of which 16 were of brass ; others being of iron of different calibres, from 70-pounders downwards. There were also taken in the lines, outside the town, 13 tumbrels of ammuni- tion, 5 ammunition carts, and, in the magazines, quantities of shot, powder, and military stores. The force remained only a few days at Deig, during which the officers examined the various points of interest in this ancient city. Adjoining the palace was a large artificial basin, on which the Eajah's family were accustomed to divert themselves with rowing in canoes ; and on the top of the wings of the palace was another capacious reservoir or tank, partly supplied by rain, but principally by a well reaching from the roof down to a great depth 3* 3 6 Life of Si? George Pollock. below the surface of the ground. There were nu- merous canals in the extensive royal gardens outside the walls, each of which was supplied with fountains that played either singly or altogether by pulling the stoppers in the side of the reservoir already men- tioned, and with which they communicated by tubes. Besides the palace, the city of Deig possessed many large edifices belonging to persons of rank but the condition of them was described by an acute observer " as plainly indicating the declension of the place from a state of splendour and opulence far exceeding what it presented at the time of its conquest by the British army." The loss of Deig was a serious blow to Holkar and his ally, the Eajah of Bhurtpore. The sur- rounding country immediately submitted to the authority of the British Government, and General Lake, having taken the necessary steps for securing the fort and administering the country, marched from Deig on the 28th December. The fortunes ot Holkar were at a very low ebb. He had lost all his forts in the Deccan. The army from Guzerat, com- manded by General Jones, who, under the advice of Sir Arthur Wellesley, had been appointed in the room of Colonel Murray, having advanced in the direction of Kotah to intercept the flight of Holkar, should he tak: that route into Malwa, had taken all his fortress * in Malwa, and marched up through the heart of the Mahratta dominions un- molested, and joined General Lake's camp by the Life of Sir George Pollock. 37 end of December. Still Holkar, though pursued from place to place, could not be driven from the Bhurtpore territory so long as his infantry found protection within the walls of its chief city. The reduction of Bhurtpore presented itself, therefore, to the Commander-in-Chief as a matter of primary importance. Three days after leaving Deig he was joined at Muttra by Major-General Dowdeswell, with H.M. 75th Eegiment, from Cawnpore, together with a large supply of necessary stores. The whole army moved on the first day of the new year, and arrived before the celebrated and maiden fortress of Bhurt- pore on the 3rd January, 1805.* Bhurtpore is distant about thirty miles W.JST.W. from Agra, and stands upon a plain amidst jungles and marshes. It is of great extent, being nearly eight miles in circumference, and is everywhere sur- rounded by the almost invulnerable defence of a mud wall of great thickness and height, outside which, again, is a very deep and wide ditch filled with water. The fort was situated at the eastern extremity of the town, and the walls were flanked * The entire force only num- January, 1824, states that, " 5,400 bered: 800 European and 1,600 infantry had to carry on the duties Native Cavalry ; 1,000 effective of the trenches against a garrison, European Infantry and 4,400 which, in point of numbers, was at Sepoys ; 65 pieces of field artil- least ten, if not twenty times supe- lery, and a siege train of six 18- rior to themselves." Though this pounders, and eight mortars ; the estimate includes untrained soldiers engineer department included only pressed into the defence, the British three officers and three companies army was obviously insufficient to of pioneers. A writer in the "British beleaguer so vast a city and with a Indian Military Repository," for battering train of only 14 guns. 3 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. with bastions at short distances, armed with a nu- merous artillery. * The whole force of the Eajah of Bhurtpore, consisting of 8,000 soldiers, and as many of the surrounding inhabitants as were considered fit to engage in its defence, were thrown into the place; while the broken battalions of Holkar's in- fantry had entrenched themselves under its walls. The Jauts are a Hindoo tribe who migrated from the banks of the Indus, and formed an independent and powerful state in the neighbourhood of Delhi and Agra, possessing themselves of a tract of country 160 miles in length and about 50 miles in breadth, extending on both sides of the Jumna from Gwalior to the Imperial city. Thorn is of opinion that they were the people named Getes, of whom mention is * The town, which has now to have been casemated, corn- only 60,000 inhabitants, is still manding the country round the surrounded by a mud wall or para- town. Properly armed and man- pet, and a wet, deep ditch, in ned, Bhurtpore is capable of offer- places 100 to 150 yards wide, ing a prolonged resistance to any- The parapet varies in height, but thing short of a regular siege, as is nowhere less than GO feet. The was in a rough way proved to exterior slope, which is rather Lord Lake. damaged by the rains, is at an Since the days of Lord Comber- angle of about 15 degrees. The mere, the military spirit seems to interior of the parapet has been have left the people of Bhurtpore. lately repaired. Good broad ramps The Rajah now employs men lead to the terre plaine, which is dressed in fancy costumes, and 12 to 15 yards wide. Within this armed with rusty muskets, with flint work, near the Muttra gate, rises locks. He has some cavalry also, the citadel, surrounded also by a and a few field guns drawn bybul- deep, wide, wet ditch. Its walls locks. But such a body, numbering are of enormous thickness, form- 7, 000 men, can scarcely be dignified ing large bastions and short cur- with the name of an army, and tains. The bastions have high there appears to be no attempt at cavaliers of earth, which appear discipline among them. Life of Sir George Pollock. 39 made in the accounts of the wars of Timour, as having been encountered by him in his march from Batnir to Semanah. But though this may fix the period when they removed and settled in their present territory, they do not appear to have at- tracted any other notice than as bands of robbers, till their daring outrages upon the caravans rendered it necessary to overawe them by the presence of the imperial troops. These measures, however, were far from repressing their violence or abridging their power. In conjunction with the Mewatties, they continued the same predatory course ; having thereby amassed considerable wealth and consolidated their strength, they erected fortresses, and, not long after the death of Aurungzebe, ventured, under the com- mand of Chural Mun, one of their first chiefs, to attack the imperial forces, whom they frequently defeated and compelled to retreat. Thus, increasing in strength and audacity, they acquired the form of a nationality, and fixed their capital at Agra, under Soorajee Mull, who, in 1756, assumed the sovereign title of Eajah. On the death of that chief, the Jauts declined considerably, and were stripped of a great part of the territories they had usurped by the celebrated vizier, Nujuff Khan, during whose lifetime the family of Soorajee Mull was reduced to a state of comparative insignificance. The character of the people, however, still remained the same ; and in the civil feuds of the empire they never failed to take advantage of the enfeebled condition of the govern- 4-Q Life of Sir George Pollock. ment, sometimes espousing one side, and as fre- quently shifting about to the opposite party, ac- cording as it suited their interest or gratified their inordinate thirst for plunder. At the time when hostilities commenced between the British and the present ruler of the Jauts, Eajah Eunjeet Singh, the grandson of Soorajee Mull, the territory remaining to the tribe was still con- siderable, yielding between twelve and fifteen lacs of rupees per annum, and defended by strong forts in the vicinity of Agra and Muttra, on the right bank of the Jumna. This territory in the inde- pendent possession of which the Eajah was guaran- teed by the treaty of alliance concluded between him and General Lake after the battle of Delhi was afterwards increased by a gratuitous concession to him, on the part of the Company, of lands nearly equal in value to one-third of his ancient possessions, a generous gift, which it was supposed would confirm him in his attachment to the British Government. Eunjeet Singh was, besides, by this connection, permanently relieved from the payment of his ac- customed tribute to the Mahrattas, and, indeed, from the apprehension of exactions and encroachments on the part of any foreign state. Notwithstanding all these many benefits, we have seen how he engaged in a treasonable correspondence with Holkar, and sought to influence the neigh- bouring chiefs to take up arms against us, when, owing to Colonel Monson's disastrous retreat, he Life of Sir George Pollock. 4 1 thought the hour had struck for the subversion of British power. After the loss of his fortress of Deig, Eunjeet Singh concentrated all his strength at Bhurtpore, and made every preparation to defend his capital. 42 Life of Sir George Pollock. CHAPTEE II. The Siege of Bhurtpore, 1805. ON the 4th of January, 1805, the day after the arrival of the British army under the command of General Lake before the walls of Bhurtpore, com- menced the siege of that fortress, a siege which forms one of the most memorable episodes in our Indian history, and fortunately has hardly a parallel in that eventful story. The first operation to be carried out was to expel Holkar's army from their entrenched position outside the walls, and this was effected in a manner that was a sure presage of ultimate success in the sanguine minds of the British army, from the Commander-in- Chief down to the drummer-boy. The troops drove Holkar's battalions from their entrenchments with great slaughter, and the loss of all the artillery they had been enabled to remove from Deig, and then took up a position south-west of the town for carry- ing on the siege. No time was lost in opening the trenches. A grove considerably in advance of the British camp, and advantageously situated for favour- ing the approaches, was occupied on the evening of Life of Sir George Pollock. 43 the same day by a party under Colonel Maitland of the 75th Eegiment. The following night a breach- ing battery for six 18-pounders was erected, and opened its fire on the morning of the 7th January. The same day, about noon, another battery of four 8-inch, and four 5^-inch mortars, commenced throwing shells into the town. Lieutenant Pollock was employed in this mortar battery, and indeed assisted to direct the fire of the mortars through- out the siege with great execution, as appears from the narrative of Major Thorn of the 25th Light Dragoons, who was present during the ensuing ope- rations, and to whose valuable History of the War we are greatly indebted. The enemy replied to our bombardment with great spirit, and the cannonade continued with little interruption till the afternoon of the 9th, when the breach in the town wall being reported practicable by the Engineer officers, the Commander-in-Chief resolved to make an attempt to storm the same night, so as to prevent the enemy from stockading the breach during the darkness, as they had hitherto done. During the heavy fire kept up throughout the day by the breaching battery to the left of the mortars, an artillery officer of the name of Percival was killed, and the subject of this Memoir used to tell an anecdote of the manner of his death. All the morning Percival had been weighed down by a strong presentiment of his approaching fate, and when he went down during the course of the afternoon to take his turn of duty in 44 Life of Sir George Pollock. his battery, lie told Pollock that he would never return to camp, and left him a valuable gun as a memento of their friendship. Soon after his arrival he sent a soldier into the mortar battery, requesting Pollock to go and see him, as he was wounded. The latter did as he was desired, and found Percival sitting on a gun-carriage, with his hand pressing his head, which he thought had been struck. On examination, his friend found that a round shot had knocked off his bearskin, but Percival himself was untouched ; though so satisfied was he that he was about to meet his death, that he could not at first be assured of his escape. A little later in the evening an artilleryman came round a second time from Percival's battery, and re- quested Lieutenant Pollock to come and see his friend. He did so, and found him lying prone on the earth, shot through the head. He was mortally wounded and speechless, and died during the night. At seven o'clock that evening the storming party moved out of camp ; it was divided into three columns, and was composed of the following troops : The centre column, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Mait- land, consisted of the flank companies of the 22nd, 75th, and 76th King's Eegiments, and of the Com- pany's European E-egiment, amounting in all to 500 men, with a battalion of Sepoys. Lieutenant- Colonel Eyan, with 150 of the Company's Europeans and a battalion of Sepoys, had orders to attempt a gateway on the left of the breaching battery ; while Major Hawkes, with two companies of the 75th, and Life of Sir George Pollock. 45 another battalion of Sepoys, was to carry the ad- vanced guns of the enemy on its right. Both the latter columns had instructions to make their way, if possible, into the town, with the fugitives ; but should that prove ineffectual, they were ordered to turn and support the centre column in endeavouring to get in at the breach. Precisely at eight o'clock the three columns marched out of the trenches, sup- ported by a heavy fire from the breaching battery and the mortars ; but no sooner was the head of the storming party clear of the protection afforded by the siege works, than they were assailed by a tre- mendous fire of great guns and small arms, which did not cease until near midnight. Colonel Maitland had orders to take the enemy by surprise, but in this he unluckily failed, owing to an inadvertent disar- rangement of the columns in diverging outwards on their arrival at the ditch. This misfortune arose from the irregularity of the ground, which, being much broken with swamps, not only occasioned delay in the advance of the troops, but obliged the men to open out, and in consequence many lost their way, some following the left column and some the right. Major Thorn thus describes the incidents of the assault : " The 22nd flankers crossed the ditch, which was .breast- deep in water, and mounted the brea3h, though with great difficulty ; and being only about twenty-three in number, they could not attempt storming the enemy's guns on the bastions to the right and left of them without support. 46 Life of Sir George Pollock. Lieutenant Manser, therefore, caused his men to sit down in the breach under cover, while he went in search of the rest of the column. In the mean time, Major Hawkes having succeeded in driving the enemy from their guns on the right, and spiking them, was returning to the support of the centre, as also was Colonel Ryan, after performing a like service in expelling the enemy from their guns outside of the gate ; but the access to that entrance being cut off by a deep drain, it became impossible to follow up the advantage gained in this quarter. During these operations the confusion originating by the impediments which the troops had to en- counter in their advance, was increased by the dark- ness of the night, the broken state of the ground, and the dreadful fire to which all were exposed. The few flankers of the 22nd having their remain- ing officers, Lieutenants Sweetman and Cresswell, wounded, and seeing no appearance of being sup- ported, were drawn off from the breach, which was enfiladed by three guns on the right bastion, from whence an incessant fire of grape was kept up on the assailants. Notwithstanding this, such was the de- termined spirit of the gallant Colonel Maitland, that amidst all the dreadful circumstances by which he was surrounded, he continued his efforts with in- flexible ardour, and fell in the last when near the summit of the breach. Many other officers, as well as a number of the men, were either killed or wounded before the attempt was relinquished ; but Life of Sir George Pollock. 47 the troops suffered most on this occasion in the re- treat to the trenches, from the destructive fire of the enemy's guns and musketry, to which they were completely exposed. The distress of this mortifying scene was heightened by the melancholy fate of many of our wounded men, who, being unavoidably left behind, were most cruelly murdered in cold blood by the ferocious enemy." Our entire loss in this afflicting business amounted to 456, consisting of 43 Europeans and 42 natives killed; 206 of the former and 165 of the latter wounded. The officers killed were Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, of the 75th Eegiment ; Captain John Watson, Major of the brigade ; Lieutenant Grlubb, of the 76th ; Lieutenant Percival, of the Artillery, who fell in the battery during the day ; and Ensign Wa- terhouse, of the 12th Eegiment of Native Infantry. Also 24 officers wounded. George Pollock has always been of opinion that had Major Lumley,* who commanded his regiment, the 8th N. I., and who, while the assault was progressing, had been directed to make a feint on the enemy's works to the right, been properly supported, he could have entered the city, and thus have turned the feint into a successful diver- sion. However, when we come to take into con- sideration the preparations made to breach the walls of this strong fort, the failure that ensued is by * Afterwards Sir James Lumley and Adjutant-General of the Bengal army. 48 Life of Sir George Pollock. no means extraordinary. The breaching battery was wholly insufficient, while the distance of 700 yards rendered its fire not very efficacious. The wall of the fort extended right and left as far as the eye could reach, and was thickly studded with projecting bas- tions well furnished with artillery. The spot chosen for forming a breach lay close to the right flank of one of these bastions, which enabled the defenders to enfilade the approach, a circumstance that occasioned much of the loss suffered in the attempt to storm. Delay and confusion was caused by the accidental divergence of the column of attack, and to this may be chiefly attributed the failure. There were, however, other causes that aided in bringing about the disastrous result in a scarcely less degree. The success of Colonel Byan's supporting column on the left was rendered nugatory by a deep ditch, the exist- ence of which was not even suspected, so careless had been the reconnoissance. The distance at which the battery had been raised, and the absence of regular approaches, prevented the assailants from discovering what was in progress along the foot of the wall, and enabled the garrison to employ working parties to widen and deepen what was a dry and neglected ditch, and to fill it for the requisite distance, opposite to the breach, with water from a watercourse which com- municated with an extensive swamp at some short dis- tance from the fort. Such was the impediment which arrested the column, and the stormers were wholly unprepared for it. A few men continued to cross the Life of Sir George Pollock. 49 ditch above the breach, and make their way to the latter byanarrow path at the foot of the wall, just broad enough to admit one man at a time. In this way a handful of the flank companies of His Majesty's 22nd mounted the breach ; but it is manifest a strong fort, swarming with resolute defenders, could not be taken in this method. No support was forthcoming to enable the gallant fellows to maintain their hazardous position, and they were compelled to retire. The fort kept up a hot fire during the whole of the assault, and Holkar's cavalry hovered on the flanks of the column, cutting off all stragglers, and killing several men during the retreat. This repulse came upon the Commander-in-Chief and the army, which had been so sanguine of success, as a great shock ; but disastrous as the attempt had proved, it only served as an incentive to renewed exer- tions, and in no measure weakened the confidence of the force in ultimate success. ]STot an hour was lost in the renewal of active opera- tions ; but as the enemy quickly repaired the first breach, it was resolved to make an effort against an- other part of the wall, a little more to t-he right. Accordingly, a battery of two 24 and four 18 pounders was constructed in that direction, adjoining to the former one. Besides, several 12-pounder batteries were erected to play on the defences, and two, of 6-pounders, to flank the parallel. The whole of these ordnance, amounting to two 24-pounders, ten 18- pounders, seven 12-pounders, and eight mortars, 4 50 Life of Sir George Pollock. opened on the 16th a very heavy fire, and with some effect. The ensuing morning it was discovered that the enemy had formed a stockade in the breach ; but the fire being continued, the piles gave way, and an aperture was made quite through the work. Our shells during the siege did much execution; and among those who suffered by them was Eundeer Singh, the eldest son of the Rajah, who was wounded in the arm. The uncle of this prince came by his death in rather remarkable a manner. The anec- dote will bear repetition. Captain Nelly of the Artillery, who commanded the old battery, seeing a large party looking intently over the parapet into the ditch, suffered them to do so for some time without molestation. At length a person of superior appear- ance to the rest, and covered with a large parasol, was observed descending a little way down the breach ; on which Captain Nelly, concluding that he must be of some distinction, laid one of the guns for him, saying to his men, ' We will show this fine curious gentleman how well we can hit a mark ;' and ordering them immediately to fire, his words proved true, for the shot struck the brother of the Eajah and killed him on the spot. It appeared afterwards, by the account of the hircarrah or spy, that this personage lost his life through the mere desire of gratifying the strange curiosity of inspecting the bodies of our unfortunate men who fell in the late storm, and were still lying at the foot of the old breach. On the 18th of January, reinforcements arrived Life of Sir George Pollock. in camp from Agra, under the command of Major- General Smith, who marched fifty miles by a circuit- ous route in twenty-four hours, with three battalions of Sepoys and 100 convalescent Europeans, in all about 1,600 men. Besides this, a further accession of strength was received in the arrival of some 500 horse under a chief named Ismael Beg, originally one of Holkar's partisans, but who abandoned his cause and enlisted under the British banner after the capture of Deig. The operations of the besieging force were renewed with unflagging spirit, and an incessant fire was kept up till the 21st, when a large and practicable breach was effected. The enemy finding that they could not silence our guns, and fearful that their own would be dismounted, took the precaution of withdrawing them behind the parapet, with the object of keeping them in reserve to bear upon our men whenever they should advance again to storm their defences. General Lake, on his part, was desirous of possess- ing an exact knowledge of the breadth and depth of the ditch, so as to obviate a repetition of the unfortu- nate failure of the 9th. Being of opinion that the ditch was not fordable, he had caused to be prepared, some time before, three broad ladders covered with laths, and constructed so as to be easily raised or depressed by levers at the brink of the ditch. It was requisite, therefore, to have that part of the ditch opposite the breach inspected, and this dangerous service was un- dertaken and carried into effect by three troopers (a 52 Life of Sir George Pollock. havildar, and two sowars or privates) belonging to the 3rd Eegiment of Native Cavalry. The manner in which these men carried out their instructions, showed the possession of great coolness and courage. Having disguised themselves in the dress of the country, they sallied out on their horses, and were in- stantly pursued as deserters by a party of Sepoys, who fired blank cartridge after them. On their arrival at the brink of the ditch, the two troopers' horses fell, and while the men were extricating themselves, the havildar called to the people on the walls, and en- treated to be shown the way into the city, that they might escape from the Feringhees. This had its effect : and the enemy, without sus- pecting the stratagem, readily pointed out the way to one of the gates, which, happening to be in the very direction required, the havildar, as soon as his men were mounted, rode along the side of the ditch, till, having passed the breach, and made the necessary ob- servations, the whole galloped back again full speed towards the British trenches. The enemy, being now sensible of the design and the object they had in view, began to howl with rage, and to fire in every direction upon the supposed deserters, who, however, arrived safe at head-quarters, when they received the promised reward of 500 rupees each and immediate promotion. The report brought by these men was of a re- assuring character : the breach, they said, was easy to be ascended, and the ditch was neither very broad, nor did it appear to be deep. It being deemed advi- Life of Sir George Pollock. 53 sable to deliver the assault by daylight, General Lake determined to assemble in the trenches that night all the troops intended for the storm ; and, after the guns had demolished whatever repairs the enemy had made during the hours of darkness, to advance about noon. Accordingly, the troops selected moved into the trenches before daybreak of the 21st of January, while the cavalry were held in readiness to attack the enemy's horse. The following were the soldiers warned for the perilous honours of the assault : 150 men of the 76th, 120 of the 75th, 100 of the 1st Europeans, and the 50 remaining men of the 22nd flankers, headed by Captain Lindsay, who, on this occasion, though suffering from former wounds, threw away his crutch, and marched with his left arm in a sling. These were to lead the advance, supported, as soon as an entrance should be gained, by the remainder of the above regiments, and the second battalion of the 9th, loth, and 22nd N. I. The whole force was under the command of Colonel Macrae. The port- able bridges which had been constructed were to be carried by picked men, who had been previously exercised in the mode of throwing them across the ditch; and the 75th and 76th were to keep up a fire of musketry upon the parapet, in order to drive off the enemy while that operation was being carried out. It was not till a little before three in the afternoon that the storming party, under the protection of a tremendous fire from our batteries, moved out of the 54 Life of Sir George Pollock. trenches. They arrived, without much opposition from the enemy's guns, at the brink of the ditch, but, to the dismay of the gallant fellows, it was found that the enemy had dammed up the ditch below the breach, and caused a large body of water, that had been stored above it for such an emergency as had now arisen, to be poured in, by which means the ditch was widened and deepened almost instantaneously. The possibility of such a contretemps had not been taken into consideration in constructing the portable ladders, which now therefore proved too short. A tall grenadier, who jumped in, practically proved that the depth was over eight feet, so that all chance of cross- ing the ditch to the breach was at once negatived. Notwithstanding these impediments, several of the stormers, nothing daunted, plunged into the water and swam across, and even mounted the breach ; among them was a young officer, Lieutenant Morris, of the Company's European Regiment, who received a wound in the attempt. All this time, while the attacking column was drawn up on the brink of the ditch, powerless to effect anything, the cannon on the walls was pouring upon their devoted ranks a heavy and destructive fire of grape and round shot, while the musketry kept up a murderous discharge, at a range at which almost every shot told. It was simple massacre, and our troops were as helpless as so many sheep. At length Colonel Macrae wisely resolved to withdraw his column, and, recalling the handful of noble fellows who had swum the ditch, hastened back Life of Sir George Pollock. 55 to the trenches with all precipitation, though with unbroken order. This second failure was a bitter disappointment to the whole army, which felt that the further heavy loss that had been incurred was not only without any counterbalancing gain, but tended to encourage lukewarm allies into adopting a policy of hostility. The casualty roll showed a loss of 573 soldiers, and eighteen officers, killed and wounded. While the storming column had been engaged, Holkar, with some confederate horse, employed the British cavalry, who, however, could not succeed in bringing the arch robber to close quarters. Never- theless, they were successful in protecting the camp and trenches from attack, and succeeded in cutting up about fifty of the enemy before night put an end to the pursuit. The ill success of the affair of the 21st January was more to be condemned than even the failure of the first assault, on account of the culpable ignorance displayed by those officers whose duty it was to provide against the possibility of a miscarriage. Had they ascertained whence the ditch was fed, it would have been easy for them to have cut off the supply of water. The day after this second failure, his Excellency General Lake issued the following general order to the troops : " The Commander-in-Chief returns his best thanks to the officers, soldiers, and natives, for the gallantry and steadiness they displayed in the attack of yester- 56 Life of Sir George Pollock. day, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, reflects the highest credit on the courage and intrepidity of the troops employed, and demands, in his Excellency's opinion, this public testimony of his approbation. " The Commander-in-Chief cannot sufficiently la- ment the number of brave men who have suffered in this service ; when the utmost exertions of their intrepid valour were unequal to surmount the unex- pected obstacles which were opposed to them. The Commander-in-Chief trusts that, in a very few days, those obstacles, which have hitherto rendered all attempts fruitless, will be completely surmounted; and that the good conduct and bravery of the soldiers of this army will be rewarded by the posses- sion of the place, and by the opportunity of proving to the enemy and the country that although hitherto, from unforeseen difficulties, success has not crowned their attempts, their spirit is undaunted, and that their gallantry and discipline must ultimately triumph. His Excellency feels infinitely indebted to Lieutenant Colonel Macrae, for the judgment and ability with which he arranged and conducted the attack. Extra batta is to be served out to the Europeans to-day, and 200 rupees are to be given to each native corps of cavalry, infantry, gun lascars, and pioneers." Whatever chance of victory the first two assaults offered, from the courage of the troops and the timidity of the enemy, was now immeasurably diminished, as our soldiers had lost, and their oppo- nents gained, that confidence so necessary to success. Life of Sir George Pollock. 57 The necessity of more regular approaches having been now brought home to the mind of General Lake, it was essential that fresh supplies of stores and artillery should be procured from Agra and other depots. The day after the second unsuccessful assault, the 1st Eegiment of Native Cavalry and the 15th Native Infantry were detached, under the com- mand of Captain Walsh of the former corps, for the protection of a convoy of provisions from Muttra. The detachment, having joined the convoy, consisting of 12,000 bullocks, was attacked by a body of- 8,000 of the enemy under the command of Ameer Khan, a predatory chief of Bundelcund, who, bribed by a sum of six lacs of rupees, and the prospect of unlimited plunder, had joined his forces with those of the Eajah of Bhurtpore, after the first unsuccess- ful storm of that fort, and had co-operated with Holkar in harassing the British camp and columns. The small force of 1,400 Sepoys gallantly resisted the attacks of this overwhelming body of horse, foot, and artillery, until they were reinforced by Colonel Need with the 27th Dragoons and the 2nd Native Cavalry, when Ameer Khan was repulsed and driven from the field with the loss of 600 men. On the 24th January, a strong detachment, con- sisting of the 29th Dragoons, two corps of Native Cavalry, and three, battalions of Sepoys, marched out of camp, for the protection of supplies from Agra, and, on the 28th, set out from that city with the con- voy, amounting to 50,000 bullocks, carrying grain, 58 Life of Sir George Pollock. and about 800 bullock "hackeries," laden with stores and ammunition, 8,000 rounds of 18-pound shot for the battering guns, and six lacs of rupees. The next day the convoy encountered the entire cavalry force of the confederate chiefs, but General Lake opportunely arriving with the whole of his remaining cavalry, and two corps of infantry, the enemy shunned a conflict, and on the 30th the whole column reached the camp before Bhurtpore in safety. On the 6th February, the British army changed ground, moving a little to the south-eastward or to- wards the right, and after driving the enemy's horse from the vicinity, succeeded in establishing a strong chain of posts. Every preparation was now made for the continuance of the siege ; indeed, ever since the last failure, the utmost exertions had been used for bring- ing to a successful conclusion the object all had equally at heart. Fascines were made for use in the batteries, and wicker-work boats, covered with bullocks' hide, were constructed to serve as pontoons, besides a portable raft, about forty feet long and sixteen broad, buoyed up by oilskin casks, for the passage of the ditch. On the 12th, the British army before Bhurtpore was cheered by the arrival of a Bombay division, which, under the command of Major-Greneral Jones, had traversed the heart of the Mahratta empire from Gruzerat. This division consisted of two 12-pounders, 2 howitzers, and twelve 6-pounders ; four battalions of Sepoys, His Majesty's 86th Eegiment, and eight companies of the 65th ; with a troop of Bombay Life of Sir George Pollock. 59 Cavalry, and about 500 Irregular Horse. In all 700 European, and 2,400 native troops. It was at this time that George Pollock first met a man with whom he was much associated in after life in the political management, as member of the Court of Directors, of the vast fabric of British valour and genius, in the building-up of which the two young soldiers were then actively engaged. Colonel Wil- liam Sykes, subsequently so well known and much respected as the Chairman of the East India Company, Member of Parliament for Aberdeen, and Fellow of numerous learned societies, was, in 1805, a subaltern of one of the Bombay Native Infantry Eegiments, and made the acquaintance of the young Bengal Artillery officer in the trenches before Bhurtpore. The greatest harmony prevailed between the troops of the two Presidencies, and among the component parts of the force. The Bengal and Bombay divi- sions strove which should have the precedency in the honourable task of reducing this stubborn fortress. With a laudable zeal the soldiers of the western Presidency solicited immediate employment in the perils of the impending assault ; while their brothers of Bengal, though exhausted by previous exertions and losses, no less earnestly petitioned for permission to give the finishing stroke to the hitherto unsuccess- ful operations of the siege. Among the troops more peculiarly animated with this noble emulation, the military historian of the war particularly notices the branch of the service to which the subject of this Memoir belonged. He says : 60 Life of Sir George Pollock. "In this application the Bengal Artillery dis- tinguished themselves by their solicitude ; for though few in number, and fatigued beyond conception by working the guns ever since the commencement of the siege without ever having been relieved, the very thoughts of being deprived of their post distressed them exceedingly, and they entreated permission to discharge the duties of their station alone." It was now determined to carry on regular ap- proaches, and to form batteries within 400 yards of the walls, the distance of 700 yards, at which the batteries had been previously erected, being much too great. Accordingly, on the llth of February, a battery of six 18-pounders, and another carrying one 10-inch, three 8-inch, and four 5-^-inch mortars, being completed, opened their fire ; while a battery of two 1 2-pounders was in progress of erection still nearer, to play on the defences on the right bastion. These batteries kept up an incessant fire until, on the 20th, the breach being as practicable as it was supposed to be capable of being made with the ex- ceedingly limited means at General Lake's disposal, a storming party was ordered to the trenches at an early hour, so as to be in readiness for the attack as soon as the repairs and stockades made in the breach during the night should have been demolished again. Approaches were carried on to the brink of the ditch at which extremity a mine was intended to be made for the purpose of blowing up the counterscarp, and of thus effecting a sloping ascent. The storming party, under the chief command of Lieutenant-Colonel Life of Sir George Pollock. 61 Don, was formed into three columns. The first, consisting of 200 men of the 86th Eegiment from the Bombay division, and the first battalion of the 8th Eegiment Bengal N. I., the whole under the command of Captain Grant of the former corps, was ordered to carry the enemy's trenches and their guns outside the town; a second column, composed of 300 of the 65th Eegiment, and two battalions of Bombay Sepoys, was to attack the Beem Narain gate, which, according to report, was easily accessible for guns ; while the third column, headed by Colonel Don himself, was formed of the principal portion of the European troops in the Bengal division, and three battalions of Sepoys, and was to ascend the breach. But an un- fortunate occurrence happened, which postponed the assault for some hours, and gave the besieged confi- dence. Major Thorn thus describes the details of a sally made by the enemy during the previous night, and the subsequent attempt to storm : "In the course of the night the enemy made a sally, and several crept into the approach at daybreak without being perceived, as our men always left the place before that hour. Here they remained some time, demolishing the preparations that had been made for the chamber, and carrying off the imple- ments and utensils. Our storming party had but just reached the trenches, when the sounds of tom-toms or small drums announced a sally ; soon after which, the enemy were seen rushing from their concealment, and running along the top of the approach, armed 62 Life of Sir George Pollock. with long pikes and tulwars, with which they killed and wounded several of our men below ; but being met by the 22nd flankers, under Lieutenant Wilson, a number of the assailants were bayoneted, and the rest fled in the utmost disorder. This affair being over, our batteries renewed their fire, in order to complete the breach, and about half-past three in the afternoon the attack began. " Captain Grant's assault was the signal for the whole to move out, which took place a little before four. It was arranged that the storming party should be preceded by fifty men, carrying fascines, which they were to throw into the ditch, then wheel outwards, and keep up a fire of musketry to the right and left, while the foremost were to cross over and ascend the breach. Unfortunately, however, our men were prevented from advancing according to the original plan, owing to the imperfect construction of the approach, and their being exposed to an enfilading fire on the right and left from the enemy's guns, which were previously drawn behind the parapet on the narrow neck joining the curtain to the bastions. To increase these impediments, the knowledge which our men had that the enemy were in possession of the extremity of the approach for a considerable time in the morning, diffused a general damp, lest the chamber should be loaded, and the whole be blown up the instant of their advance. Thus a gloom was spread over the party, which became still more dismal and discouraging from the groans of the wounded, Life of Sir George Pollock. 63 and the convulsions of their dying comrades, who, after their sally, had been unavoidably left exposed to the fire of the enemy. Our whole party had to pass through the approach, which, being narrow, the troops in the rear could not possibly get on till the foremost moved out and made way for them. "These, however, refused to advance in spite of all the exertions and entreaties made use of by Colonel Don, who then called to the troops behind to follow him, on which the brave remains of the 22nd flankers, assisted by the 12th Eegiment, stepped out at once, supported by two 6 -pounders, under Lieutenant Swiney. These guns, being run out upon the plain, were to keep up a fire of grape on the walls and bastions whilst our troops attempted the assault. A tall Sepoy, in running into the ditch near the breach, showed that it was impassable ; but some others dis- covered a bastion on the right, of so rough an appear- ance as to present the chance of climbing up by it, which several tried and succeeded. In this daring adventure one of the 22iid flankers was blown from the muzzle of a gun just as he was entering the embrasure. The colours of the 12th Eegiment of Native Infantry, however, were planted on the top of the bastion, but the ascent was so difficult, only one man being able to mount at a time, that sufficient numbers could not get up to support each other, and maintain possession of the advantage that had been gained. At this period the enemy, under an idea that our party was near, sprung their mines in the 64 Life of Sir George Pollock. breach, of which mistake had our men, who were still in the approach, availed themselves, dashing instantly out after their officers, the place would in all proba- bility have been taken, especially as the enemy had no more mines to spring, and the breach was now become much larger and easier of access by the ex- plosion. Fourteen officers succeeded in climbing up very near the summit of the bastion, and would have tried to carry it at the most imminent risk, had not Colonel Don, who saw the uselessness of the attempt without support, recalled the whole party. The column under Captain Grant was more fortunate, by gaining immediate possession of eleven of the enemy's guns, all of which were brought off to the camp. But the column from the Bombay division, under Lieutenant -Colonel Taylor, notwithstanding the exertions which they made, failed in effecting their object, owing to their being delayed by a large body of the enemy's horse, and to the mistake of their guide ; so that they were very early exposed to a most destructive fire from the town, which, by destroying the ladders, rendered the attempt on the gate impracti- cable, and obliged the Colonel to draw his men under cover, until he received orders to return to camp." The whole business was more disastrous and more humiliating than either of the previous assaults, indeed, almost more so than any event in our Indian military history. For the first time in that history the British soldier showed the white feather, and would not even follow where the despised Sepoy led Life of Sir George Pollock'. 65 the way. Where so much poltroonery was exhibited, it is pleasant to reflect on the cool courage displayed by that handful "of 22nd flankers," and on the gal- lant little band of fourteen British officers, who, thank God ! did not belie the reputation that English gentlemen have, all the world over, acquired for holding life cheap when weighed in the balance with honour. Lieutenant Pollock, in common with every officer and soldier, from the Command er-in- Chief down- wards, watched with feelings of mortification and shame the progress of the momentous drama enacting before his eyes. Some interesting particulars regarding the siege, and strictures on its conduct, in a series of anony- mous articles, under the title of "Military Auto- biography," understood to have been the composition of a distinguished Bengal officer, appeared, in the years 1833 and 1834, in the columns of the East India United Service Journal, published in Calcutta. From these and other sources some further details may be gleaned. It appears that on the morning of the day appointed for the storm, the courage of the garrison had been elevated to the highest pitch by the slow progress of the siege and the impunity with which they had murdered the wounded and mutilated the slain left behind after each assault; thus animated, they made a desperate sally upon the head of the trenches, gained possession of them for a time, and were only repulsed after they had killed many men 5 66 Life of Sir George Pollock. and the officer of His Majesty's 75th commanding the advance. They gained and retained possession also of a trench in advance of the lines, from which it was proposed to dislodge them and follow them closely into the breach. Then it was that the men of His Majesty's 7 5th and 76th Eegiments, who were at the head of the column, refused to advance, and the few gallant fellows of the 22nd who obeyed the order, being wholly insufficient for the service, were recalled. The entreaties and expostulations of their officers proving of no effect, two regiments of Native Infantry, the 12th and 15th, were summoned to the front, and gallantly advanced to the storm. General Lake, in his despatch, which is of a very meagre nature, merely says the troops were delayed by cir- cumstances, the nature of which, however, he does not mention. The " circumstances " above detailed explain the unhappy character of the delay. Much may be said in palliation of conduct so unaccountable in British soldiers, and which, it is pleasant to dwell upon, was subsequently nobly redeemed. The men were tired and disheartened by the conflict in which they had been engaged during the forenoon, and were imbued with the notion that in the advanced trench, which had been occupied by the enemy, a mine was laid by which they would be blown up. In this state of exhaustion and panic it would have been judicious to have deferred the assault, as persisting in it paralyzed so large a portion of the storming force. General Lake, however, thought otherwise. When Life of Sir George Pollock. 67 the column reached the ditch it was, as before, im- passable ; but some of the men, inclining to the right, contrived to turn it and clamber up the rugged slope of the flanking bastion, and the colours of the 12th Eegiment of Native Infantry waved from the summit of the slope. There was, however, still a perpen- dicular parapet of some height to be surmounted, and as this was resolutely defended by the garrison, all efforts to scale it were productive only of the destruc- tion of the assailants ; two or three men did get in at the front embrasure of the wall, but they were instantly cut to pieces by the enemy. Our loss in this disastrous affair was very severe, amounting to 49 Europeans and 113 natives killed ; 176 Europeans and 556 natives wounded; total, 894 casualties, and 28 officers, of whom Captain Nelly and Lieutenant Swiney of the Artillery, were wounded. The latter gallant officer lived for more than half a century after that 21st February, to talk over the dangers of this disastrous siege with his comrade and intimate friend, the subject of this Memoir. Notwithstanding the reverses already sustained, so apparent an approximation to success induced Lord Lake to direct a repetition of the attack. As it was supposed that the bastion up which some of the storming party had climbed, might be rendered per- fectly easy of ascent by more battering, he resolved to renew the attempt on the following day. " Im- pressed with deep concern," says the historian of the war, " at what had happened, the Connnander-in- 5 * 68 Life of Sir George Pollock. Chief appeared on the parade the next morning and addressed them in terms of affectionate regret rather than stern severity. He expressed his sorrow that by not obeying their officers yesterday they had lost the laurels which they had gained on so many occa- sions, but that, being yet willing to give them an opportunity of retrieving their reputation, he now called for such as chose to volunteer in another effort, to step out. Overpowered with shame and remorse, they all volunteered to a man, and Lieutenant Tem- pleton, with a noble fervour of patriotic zeal, offered to lead the forlorn hope." The same morning the battering guns, having been traversed a little to the right, opened a hot fire, with the little ammunition that was left, on the portion of the works to be assailed, and made so large a gap at the bottom of the bastion that it was supposed the weight of the superincumbent part would bring the whole down to the ground. This expectation failed, and yet General Lake adhered to his fatal resolve to storm a bastion that had not yet been breached. The assaulting column was strong enough numeri- cally, and was inspired with sufficient ardour to carry any work that human courage and determination could master ; but here was placed before them an impossible task, and their numbers, as multiplying the amount of food for powder, simply tended to increase the slaughter. The storming party consisted of the whole of the European portion, and two bat- talions of Native Infantry, of the Bengal division, the Life of Sir George Pollock. 69 greater part of His Majesty's 65th and 86th Begi- ments, the Bombay Grenadier battalion, and the flank companies of the first battalion of the 3rd Eegiment of Bombay Native Infantry, the whole under the command of a gallant soldier, the Hon. Brigadier Monson. The column moved to the assault about three o'clock in the afternoon, and the men, on pass- ing the Commander-in- Chief, cheered him lustily as an expression of their confidence in him, and their determination to carry the place and avenge their slaughtered comrades or die in the conflict. " Nor," it has been well observed, " did their con- duct in the onset discredit the resolution which they manifested at setting out." The bastion to be attacked was extremely steep, and though the gap that had been made in it below sheltered those that could avail themselves of its protection, the stormers could do no more than cower at its foot. The military writer whom I have before quoted, prefaces his account of the assault with a statement that appears almost incredible were its veracity not proved by the sequel he goes on to describe, and by the statements of other eye-witnesses. Speaking of the gap in the bastion made by the fire of the breaching batteries, he adds, " There was no possibility of getting from thence to the summit." What en- sued is best told in his own words. Surely never were the lives of British soldiers more uselessly sacrificed. "Several soldiers drove their bayonets into the jo Life of Sir George Pollock. wall, one over another, and endeavoured by these steps to reach the top, hut were knocked down hy logs of wood, large shot, and various missiles from above. Others attempted to get up by the shot- holes, which our guns had here and there made ; but as only two at the most could advance in this dangerous way, they who thus ventured were easily killed ; and when one man fell he brought down with him those who were immediately beneath. All this time the enemy on the next bastion kept up a sweep- ing and most destructive fire on our men, and made them suffer extremely. That gallant young officer, Lieutenant Templeton, who so nobly volunteered to lead the party, was killed just as he had planted the colours near the summit. Major Menzies, the aide- de-camp of the Commander-in-Chief, obtaining leave from the General, had flown to the scene of action, where, by his animating language and heroic ex- ample, he greatly encouraged the troops ; but he, too, fell, after having actually gained that perilous eminence. " During this tremendous struggle and scene of death, several efforts were made on the curtain and other places, wherever the soldiers thought they could discern an opening that promised them the chance of success. While our troops were in this distressing situation, the enemy kept up an incessant fire of grape shot against them, and the people on the walls con- tinually threw down upon their heads ponderous pieces of timber and flaming packs of cottoD, pre- Life of Sir George Pollock. 71 viously dipped in oil, followed by pots filled with gunpowder and other combustibles, the explosion of which had a terrible effect. The struggle was, indeed, carried on with the most determined resolution on both sides, and our men evinced throughout the fearful conflict an astonishing and almost desperate degree of valour. Colonel Monson strained himself to the utmost in maintaining the unequal struggle ; but at length, seeing that the case was hopeless, after two hours' arduous and almost unparalleled exertion, he was reluctantly compelled to relinquish the attempt and return to the trenches." The Commander-in-Chief, in his despatch, attri- buted this disastrous failure to the steepness of the ascent, and the inability of the assailants to mount except by small parties at a time ; but the fault lay entirely with himself, and he cannot be justified for having thus needlessly sacrificed his brave troops. There was no breach, and the attempt to carry the fort by scrambling in disorder up the walls of a bastion, in which no firm footing could be found, and where the party was exposed to a murderous fire, and to an equally destructive shower of deadly missiles from a numerous garrison, strong in position and exulting in spirit, has been pronounced "an inconsiderate and unjustifiable casting away of men's lives." The British loss was proportionately heavy, and, indeed, it is somewhat singular that the casualties at each of the four assaults delivered between the 9th January and the 22nd February were in a " crescendo " 72 Life of Sir George Pollock. scale. On this, the last attempt to storm the fort, it consisted of 69 Europeans and 56 natives killed, 410 Europeans and 452 natives wounded; in all, 987. The folio wing were the names of the officers who fell Major Menzies, aide-de-camp ; Captain Corfield and Lieute- nant Templeton, of His Majesty's 76th Eegiment ; Lieutenant Hartley, of the 2nd battalion of the 15th Bengal Native Infantry ; Ensign Lang, of the 1st Grenadiers, Bombay Native Infantry ; and Lieutenant Go wing, of the Artillery. 28 officers were also wounded, including Captain Pennington of the Artillery. Young Pollock had a narrow escape from death when his friend, Lieutenant George Gowing, of the Artillery, was killed. During the crisis of the assault the former quitted his battery, and, proceeding to that of Lieutenant Gowing's which adjoined his, stood on a limber box by his friend, and watched the exciting scene. Suddenly he heard a dull, heavy, smashing sound, and, looking round, saw the Artillery officer by his side falling to the ground. He caught him in his arms, when the first eager glance at his face showed him where a musket ball had penetrated over the right eye. The unfortunate young fellow was carried up to camp, and George Pollock, when the whole sad business was over, and 1,000 men had fallen during those two hours, made his way to his friend's side, but just in time to see him breathe his last, after lying in a state of insensibility since he had received the wound. Thus ended the attempt to carry the fort of Bhurt- Life of Sir George Pollock. 73 pore. The writer of the " Military Autobiography," adverting to the blame imputed to the Engineers for the repeated failures of the attack upon Bhurt- pore, remarks, " Who the commanding Engineer was, I have met with nobody who could exactly tell ; I believe the office passed through the hands of several individuals during the siege, but no one of them was of sufficient character, either in respect of influence or experience, to take upon himself the responsibility attached to so important a situation. He had undertaken to besiege a large, populous, and strong place with means that were totally inadequate for such an enterprise, and in a military point of view he was highly culpable." The writer proceeds to blame the Government for not providing the means whilst it enjoined the enterprise ; but admitting the neglect, this does not exonerate a General left, as Lake was, with large discretionary powers, from the culpability of attempting objects which his utter want of means rendered impossible of attainment. Lake, in a letter to the Governor-General, dated 1st July 1805, re- viewing the proceedings of the siege, directly imputes to his engineers, " a want of ability, knowledge, and experience in sieges;" though, as Mills says, no " Commander-in-Chief is fit for his office, who is not himself an engineer." General Lake was cer- tainly not one; neither his education, nor his experience, nor his temperament qualified him for directing the operations of a siege. It is said that he proposed to attack Bhurtpore as he had 74 Life of Sir George Pollock. assailed Allyghur, by bio wing open the gates, in which, according to the opinion of competent authorities, there was great likelihood that he would have suc- ceeded ; however, he was advised to the contrary, and it was determined to attempt to breach with a very ineffective battering train, with a great deficiency of officers instructed or experienced in the art of military engineering, and with a vast amount of ignorance as to the strength of the fortifications. The despatches of the Commander-in-Chief, regarding the details of the unsuccessful assaults, are extremely meagre, but he attributed the failures chiefly to the extent of the place, the numbers of its defenders, the strength of its works, and, lastly, the incapacity of his engineers. The attempts to carry the fortress had cost the army, which, exclusive of cavalry, numbered 10,000 bayonets, of whom only 1,800 were British, no less than 3,100 men and 103 officers killed and wounded ; and it is lamentable to think that nearly all this loss might have been saved had not the first assault miscarried through the delay occasioned by the dis- order in advancing, and the troops losing their way. At that time, the place, but for these accidents, must have fallen ; for it is related that the inhabitants were in the utmost confusion, and were using every effort to effect their escape from a town, the fate of which, remembering the capture of such hitherto impregnable forts as Ahmednuggur and Asseerghur, they considered as already sealed. The failure, therefore, of the first assault, while it multiplied Lord Lake's difficulties, Life of Sir George Pollock. 75 inspired the enemy with confidence, which increased during the siege to such a degree that, in proportion as the besiegers employed their energies for the re- duction of the place, they quickened their ingenuity in providing the means for its defence. But our loss, severe as it was, did not end with the death and maiming of 3,200 men ; a far more valua- ble sacrifice was entailed by the abortive siege of Bhurtpore than was represented by this terrible casualty roll. We incurred a loss of prestige in the eyes of all the native governments and peoples of India that was not restored until, twenty-one years subsequently, Lord Combermere (better known as Sir Stapylton Cotton, of Peninsular renown) gained a step in the peerage as Viscount Combermere of Bhurt- pore, by storming the fortress which had defied the utmost efforts of his predecessor, Lord Lake, the victor of Laswarree. The native chiefs also began to flatter themselves that our skill and our prowess were on the wane. Marshman relates how the remem- brance of our disgrace was perpetuated even in remote districts by rude delineations on the walls of British soldiers hurled from the battlements of Bhurtpore. After the failure of the 22nd February, the siege was converted into a blockade. The guns were ren- dered perfectly unserviceable, by reason of the vents having become blown ; so large were they, through the incessant and protracted firing, that during the latter portion of the siege George Pollock relates that the gunners had to " serve " them with 7 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. sandbags ! Only think of that, artillerymen and seamen- gunners ! On the 24th February the army took up a fresh position to the north-east of Bhurtpore, but not without being much harassed by the enemy's horse, who took advantage of the absence of the cavalry. This, consisting of three regiments of Dragoons, three regiments of Native Horse, and a division of Horse Artillery, had been detached on the 8th February by General Lake, in pursuit of Ameer Khan, who had proceeded with his predatory horse into Eohilcund, of which he was a native. Major- General Smith, who commanded the force, effected the deliverance of the English residents at Morada- bad, who had taken refuge in the judge's house, which had been prepared for resistance, and in which they defended themselves for two days. The Mah- ratta force then moved towards the hills, destroying and plundering some insignificant villages. Fearing that his retreat might be cut off, Ameer Khan re- traced his steps, but was intercepted and brought to action near Afzulgurh, on the 2nd March. Some vigorous charges were made by the enemy, but the latter were resolutely encountered and driven from the field with great slaughter, among the killed being three of their principal sirdars. Our loss was 35 rank and file, and 4 officers, killed and wounded. After the plunder of some other towns in Eohilcund, and some fruitless operations against detachments and convoys of the British, Ameer Khan recrossed Life of Sir George Pollock. 77 the Granges on the 13th March, attended, according to his own account, by no more than 100 men. He contrived, however, to collect some of his scattered forces, with whom he rejoined Holkar on the 20th March. General Smith returned to camp on the 23rd, having effectually frustrated Ameer Khan's predatory designs.* In the mean time, the greatest activity still pre- vailed for the renewal of the siege of Bhurtpore, and every preparation was made to carry to a successful issue the great object, the necessity of effecting which had now become imperative. Convoys, with sup- plies of all kinds, from different parts, and battering guns with ammunition from Futtyghur and Allyghur arrived daily in camp. Here fascines were being manufactured in large quantities, and the old guns, which were unserviceable, were repaired and rendered efficient. But a change had come over the views of the Eajah, and he became alarmed at the perseverance evinced by the British commander in the proposed prosecution of the siege, as well as disgusted with the exactions of Holkar and Ameer Khan, from whom he had no longer anything to hope. He felt also the loss of his territories and revenues, and, impressed with these considerations, availed himself of the intelligence of General Lake's advancement to the peerage, notification of which had just been received from England, to open up negociations with * Life of Ameer Khan. 7 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. a view to the establishment of peace. Runjeet Singh accordingly sent a letter congratulating the new peer, and offering to proceed in person to the British camp. In consequence of this overture, the "vakeels" of the Eajah were received on the 10th March, and negociations for a treaty immediately commenced. On the return of General Smith with the cavalry, Lord Lake, who had not abated one jot of his accus- tomed energy, marched out of camp on the 29th March, with the view of beating up the quarters of Holkar, who, with his remaining force, lay about eight miles to the westward of Bhurtpore. Holkar, however, managed to give his Excellency the slip, and removed to a considerable distance south-west of the city, where he doubtless thought himself very secure. On the 2nd of April, the experiment of a surprise was renewed by the British General, and with com- plete success. The cavalry and horse artillery came up with the enemy at daybreak, before they had time to mount their horses, and utterly routed Holkar' s whole army, 1,000 of whom were left dead on the field of battle ; while the Mahratta chieftain, who so shortly before boasted of his power, and of his intention to drive the Feringhees into the sea, was himself forced to fly across the Chumbul with the remnant of his army, once numbering 90,000 warriors. On the 8th April, the British force once more Life of Sir George Pollock. 79 changed ground, marching round and taking up its encampment nearly in the same place it formerly occupied south-east of the town. The Eajah of Bhurtpore, dreading the renewal of hostilities, hastened to conclude the treaty, and on the 10th, the preliminaries were signed. On the following day, his third son arrived in camp as a hostage for arranging the definitive terms, and was received by Colonel Lake, the son of the Commander-in-Chief, who went out to conduct him to head-quarters, where two tents were pitched for his accommodation. The prince, who is described as about twenty-five years of age, was clothed in a plain white dress, and attended by a small suite. There being few difficulties to surmount, the treaty was soon provisionally executed; and a few days after the arrival in camp of the son of Eunjeet Singh, a duly qualified officer proceeded with the treaty to Bhurtpore, where it received its- formal ratification in the signature of the Eajah. The terms of the treaty were to the following effect : The fortress of Deig to remain in British hands until the Government should be assured of the Eajah's fidelity, who, on his part, pledged himself never to hold any correspondence or have any communication with the Company's enemies, nor to entertain without its sanction any European in his service. He further agreed to pay the Company twenty lacs of rupees, in four instalments, and, as a security for the due execution of these terms, to deliver up one of his sons as a hostage. 8o Life of Sir George Pollock. All hostilities being at an end, the battering guns, with the sick and wounded, under escort of four battalions of Native Infantry, were sent back to Agra, and on the 21st April, the whole British army broke up its encampment before Bhurtpore, after lying three months and twenty days before that place. While the siege was in progress, George Pollock received a letter from his brother Frederick, then a student at Cambridge, and with whom during his long and adventurous life he ever kept up an unflag- ging correspondence, in which occurs the following passage, referring to his belief that he was going into a decline : " While you are earning the bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth, I am gaining the bubble reputation in the jaws of a consumption." He had met with a severe accident at college, which caused him much suffering, and his health appeared to him very precarious. It is strange to reflect how both the brothers attained an extreme old age, and in the year 1870, on the occasion of the last anni- versary of his birth that Sir Frederick was permitted to celebrate, (his 87th,) the subject of this Memoir, in proposing the health of his brother to a large party assembled at Sir Frederick's house, referred in humorous terms to the forebodings of more than sixty years before, and illustrated his remarks by pointing to the distinguished lawyer the contem- porary and friend of Peel sitting at the head of his table. Life of Sir George Pollock. 8 1 The British army marched from Bhurtpore to Jettore, on the Chumbul, with the object of threaten- ing Sindia, who had set up pretensions to the fortress of Gwalior. At this time it mustered, with native contingents, no less than 30,000 fighting men, swelled by camp followers to an aggregate of 300,000 souls. The Bombay division, under command of General Jones, took the route towards Eampoorah on the 10th May, and on the morning of the 20th the Bundel- cimd column, under Colonel Martindale, began thoir march towards Gwalior. During the course of the following day, the quartermasters of the native corps were ordered off to Muttra and Agra to construct temporary buildings for their respective regiments ; and on the 26th and 27th May, the remainder of the army marched in divisions for Dholpore, where they came together again on the 28th. Here they halted till the morning of the 31st, when a portion pro- ceeded to Agra, under General Dowdeswell, while the remainder, with the Commander- in-Chief, were quartered at Muttra and its vicinity. George Pollock proceeded with his battery of 6- pounder field guns, under the command of Captain Eaban, to Murabad, a fort within sight of Gwalior, and here he remained for some months during the monsoon. Our relations with Sindia were, during the months of April and May, in a very critical con- dition. This restless and ambitious chief had formed plans for the recovery of his power, and was in treaty early in April with Ameer Khan, Holkar, and (5 82 Life of Sir George Pollock. the Eajah of Bhurtpore, for an offensive alliance against the common enemy, which indeed was only rendered abortive by a deficiency of the sinews of war ; and with this tightness in the money market all three of these chiefs were afflicted, fortunately for ourselves. At this juncture there arrived in India, on the 30th July, Lord Cornwallis, who had been appointed to succeed Lord Wellesley by the Court of Directors, that body not being satisfied with the policy of the latter nobleman. That the closing portion of his Yiceroyalty, owing to Lord Lake's failure at Bhurt- pore, was not as successful as the first years, around which was shed the halo of great victories, is in no measure the fault of the brother of the Duke of Wellington, who will go down to posterity as one of the greatest of Governor-Generals, as will also his administration as one of the most memorable in the annals of British India. The Marquis Cornwallis, being a military man, brought out a commission as Commander-in-Chief, and thus Lord Lake found him- self superseded ; but it was not for long, as, on the 5th October, death removed the venerable nobleman from the scene of his former labours and successes. The helm of affairs was now placed in the hands of Sir George Barlow, of the Bengal Civil Service, who became provisional Governor-General, while Lord Lake returned to his post as Commander-in-Chief. It was, perhaps, fortunate for the destinies of our Indian empire that, the General who had succumbed Life of Sir George Pollock. 83 to Washington at York Town did not long wield supreme power ; but into the vexed question of the peace-at-any-price policy the Marquis Cornwallis had been sent out to inaugurate, we will not enter here, as foreign to our purpose. Much credit is due to Lord Lake, who, by his firm- ness in insisting that Sindia should release the Bri- tish Resident, Mr. Jenkins, and restore his plundered property, threatening him with a renewal of hostili- ties in the event df a refusal, caused that chief to effect an adjustment of all existing difficulties with our Government. Early in August, Lieutenant Pollock proceeded to Agra, and from thence went to Muttra, when he called upon Lord Lake, with whom he was intimate. In those days there was much less of that stiff etiquette that now obtains, even in India, in the intercourse of senior officers with their juniors : having once had an introduction to the Commander-in-Chief, he always found a knife and fork, together with a warm wel- come, awaiting him at the table of the leader of so many big battalions. On calling on his Lordship in the early morning, he was met by Lord Lake, who cordially shook him by the hand, and saluted him with, " I can't do anything for you now, my dear boy ; Lord Cornwallis has arrived in the country, and I am no longer Commander-in-Chief." However, the new Governor-General's death soon after enabled him to place in a responsible position the young officer of artillery, whose soldierly qualities he well appreciated, 6 * 84 Life of Sir George Pollocfi. and in whose indomitable perseverance and energy of character he doubtless recognised the qualities that make a great and successful military leader. Lord Lake sent for him to Muttra, and appointed him to a command almost without precedent in the case of an officer not yet out of his teens, that of the artillery of a field-force under the orders of Colonel Ball, which formed one of the columns ordered for the pursuit of Holkar, who, after his flight, retreated to Eajpootana, and, having collected some artillery and a large body of followers, had formed the determination to march northward in search of plunder and conquest. According to his own description of himself, he was now destitute of any other estate or property than what he carried on his saddle-bow, and, therefore, as an adventurer he was resolved to seek both, either among friends or enemies. Holkar managed to elude the columns under Gene- ral Jones (who marched from Eampoorah) and Colo- nel Ball in the Eewary Hills, which had been sent to intercept him in his line of route to the Punjaub. The detachment to which George Pollock was attached consisted of three regiments of Native Infantry, one of which, the 8th, considered among the finest corps in the Bengal army, was under the command of Major Lumley. The Artillery, which formed the only European portion of the force, consisted of a field battery of six 6-pounders. Soon after marching, the Sepoys broke out into open mutiny, and refused Life of Sir George Pollock. 85 to proceed any further until they had received the six months' pay which was still in arrear, and, moreover, complained that they had not sufficient to eat. So serious an aspect did matters assume, that Colonel Ball called out Lieutenant Pollock's guns, and, when on parade, ordered him to open on the mutinous corps if they continued to decline to obey orders. Fortu- nately, matters were settled without having recourse to measures that would probably have resulted in the massacre of every European in the force. Colonel Ball had a quantity of specie, in the shape of gold mohurs, and he offered to hand over to the Sepoys, for exchange into smaller coin, a sufficient sum to enable them to receive all arrears. The mutineers eagerly closed with the proposal, and the troops were paid up, when they returned to duty and proceeded in pursuit of Holkar. That chief, notwithstanding his reverses, still exhibited a vigorous and daring spirit, and collecting together the fragments of the armies that had been broken up by our successes, soon mustered to his standard 12,000 horse, 3,000 foot, and 60 guns. With these he pushed on past Delhi, raising forced contributions on his route, and closely pursued by Lord Lake, who, with all his cavalry and a compact brigade of infantry with guns, encamped, on the 9th December, on the classic banks of the Beeas, the ancient Hyphasis, in the neighbour- hood of the spot where, twenty-one centuries before, the great Macedonian conqueror had erected altars to commemorate the limit of his conquests. In this 86 Life of Sir George Pollock. region, now for the first time penetrated by British arms, but which was .destined exactly forty years afterwards to be the scene of a sanguinary struggle between the Christian and the Sikh, was received, on the 25th December, the ratification of the treaty with Sindia, when the British artillery roared forth a double salute in honour of the sacred day and of the conclusion of peace. Holkar, now a helpless fugitive, sent an envoy to Lord Lake to sue for peace, and a treaty, drawn up under the instructions of Sir George Barlow, was signed early in January, 1806, by which the Governor-General, much to Lord Lake's disgust, actually restored to Holkar all the family domains south of the Chumbul. Our allies of Boondee and Jeypore were, under circumstances of unparalleled ill faith, left to their fate, and suffered every exaction at the hands of the incensed Mahratta chieftain, who had previously let loose his lawless soldiery on the territories of the then young and rising Sikh Eajah, Eunjeet Singh, who, four years later, indignantly de- scribed him to an English envoy as a "pucka Hurum- zada" a proper rascal. So ended the war with the famous Mahratta chief- tains, Jesvvunt Eao Holkar and Sindia ; but in consequence of the ill-advised policy of Sir George Barlow, the snake was scotched, not killed ; and within twelve years, another Governor-General, the Marquis of Hastings, had to set in motion an army of 100,000 men, in order to crush one of the most formidable Life of Sir George Pollock. 87 hostile combinations with which our power in India has ever been threatened. After the unsuccessful pursuit of Holkar, and on the conclusion of peace, Lieutenant Pollock was stationed with his battery at Meerut,* then a frontier station. There was not a bungalow when he arrived at this place, which subsequently became the head-quarters of his regiment; it was not until 1809, when canton- ments were first erected at Meerut, that it became the head-quarters of a General of division of the Bengal army, and of a brigadier of the first class ; but since those days, the name of this magnificent station bears an evil sound in English ears, as the spot at which was inaugurated, by a massacre and an act of whole- sale incendiarism, the terrible scenes of the great Indian mutiny. George Pollock remained some few months with, his battery at Meerut, until, early in 1806, Lord Lake, as a reward for his good services, appointed him quartermaster of one of the battalions of artillery stationed at Dumdum, to which place he accordingly proceeded. Soon after he was selected for this post, he became adjutant and quartermaster to the artillery in the field at Cawnpore, which somewhat lucrative * Meerut was one of the early in history, Tamerlane, which sig- conquests of Mahmoud of Ghuz- nines the "lame" Timour and nee, the founder of the Ghuzni- was rehuilt afterwards, though vade dynasty, who took it in 1018; Nadir Shah, Gholaum Caudir, it was destroyed in 13!>9, by Ti- and Sindia, successively desolated mour or, to speak of him by the it. name by which he is best known 88 Life of Sir George Pollock. staff appointment he held until his promotion to full captain. In those days the officers of the East India Com- pany received two commissions ; one from their more immediate masters, the East India Company, signed by the Governor-General, and a second from the King, which gave them relative rank with the royal troops, but only in India. Young Pollock received a com- mission as Captain-Lieutenant, signed by the Gover- nor-Greneral so far back as the 17th September, 1805, and as an officer of the same rank, his King's commis- sion was dated the 1st December, 1809. On his promotion to full captain in the Company's service, on the 1st March, 1812, he was ordered once more to head-quarters at Dumdum ; and the brigade-major of his regiment falling sick, and being ordered to sea to recruit his health, Captain Pollock was appointed to the very responsible post, for so young an officer, of brigade-major to the whole of the Artillery.* While at Dumdum he met with a severe accident, breaking * By additions made to the officers. The regiments of infantry strength of the artillery in 1809, had been increased since George 1812 and 1814, the regiment, in Pollock's arrival in India, from 1815, consisted of one horse bri- twenty-five to thirty-one, with a gade of three troops, three Euro- due promotion among the officers, pean battalions of seven compa- yet though the artillery, between nies each, and one Native battalim 1802 and 1815, had been raised of sixteen companies, together from twenty-one to forty troops and with forty-two companies of lascars companies, only a lieutenant-colo- and twenty-six companies of ord- nel and major had been added to nance-drivers. But these addi- each of the three foot-battalions tions were made without any in 1806. (Buckle's History of the corresponding increase to the Bengal Artillery.) numbers of the commissioned Life of Sir George Pollock. 89 his leg while riding on horseback ; but this, which would have incapacitated some men, did not induce him to discontinue his duties. Sir John Horsford, the distinguished Commandant of Artillery, expressed his satisfaction at the efficient manner in which he carried on the duties of the office, which he continued to transact until the return of fche officer for whom he was officiating obliged him to fall back to the command of his company. For some few years after the submis- sion and death of Holkar, who came to a miserable end as a raving lunatic on the 20th October, 1811, there was peace in India, only broken by expeditions against the French islands of Mauritius and Java in 1810-11, and the Portuguese settlement at Macao in 1 809. With these we have no concern here, nor with the serious Sepoy mutiny at Yellore in 1806, or that of the European officers of the Madras army three years later. On the supersession of Sir George Barlow, Lord Minto was appointed Governor-General, and this high office he held until 1812, when, in spite of the great success of his administration, he was, through an un- worthy court intrigue, himself superseded, though it was thought proper to qualify the indignity by the conferring of a step in the peerage a sort of sop which has been not inaptly described as being " kicked up-stairs." His successor, Lord Moira, known in Indian history as the Marquis of Hastings, did not reach Calcutta before October, 1813; the period of his government was one of the most eventful and glorious 90 Life of Sir George Pollock. in Indian history, as it is likewise one of the longest, extending from October, 1813, to the 1st January, 1823, the date of his embarkation for Europe. It was remarkable for the successful prosecution of the Nepaulese war of 1814-16, and of the great struggle with the Pindarrees and Mahrattas, extending from the 16th October, 1817, to early in the following year a struggle which placed the power of the Com- pany at a higher pitch than had been attained by Akhbar or Aurungzebe, or any former occupant of the throne of the Moguls. When Lord Hastings arrived, he found himself under the necessity of undertaking hostilities against the Nepaulese, a course which had indeed been be- queathed to him by his predecessor, who tried every peaceable means of settling existing differences. During the twenty-five years preceding the com- mencement of the war of 1814, the Nepaulese, or Goorkhas, as they are more generally called, not con- tent with the possessions they had acquired in the hills by a policy of encroachment on their neighbours, began to look with a covetous eye at the fertile low- lands lying at their feet, and at length had the pre- sumption to lay claim to, and seize, the two districts of Bootwul and Seoraj, in Goruckpore, though they had been ceded to Lord Wellesley by the Nabob Vizier in 1801. An inquiry was held into the merits of the question, and the Goorkha envoys, being unable to establish their, claim, Lord Minto forwarded a demand to the Nepaul regency in June, 1813, for the Life of Sir George Pollock. 91 immediate restitution of the districts, and intimated that, in case of a refusal, they would be occupied by force. The new Governor-General was constrained, on his arrival, to carry out the policy of his predecessor, in the justice of which he moreover fully concurred. A refusal by the Goorkha Cabinet to resign the districts was followed by an imperative demand for their ces- sion within twenty-five days. This period expired without any communication from the Nepaulese regent, and the magistrate of Goruckpore was directed to expel the Goorkha officers, and establish police sta- tions in the two districts. Meanwhile, at Katmandoo, their capital, a council of war, composed of twenty- two chiefs, had been held, at which Umur Singh, their most renowned general, advocated a conciliatory course, saying, " We have hitherto been hunting deer, but if we engage in this war we must be prepared to fight tigers/' Several other chiefs offered similar wise counsel ; but the regent and his party, swelling with conceit of their national prowess, and instancing our repulse at Bhurtpore as a specimen of our pusil- lanimity, carried the day, and the council resolved on war. A large force was accordingly hastily sent down to Boot wul. The European police officer of the district was murdered in cold blood on the 29th May, and eighteen of his men were put to death ; the gauntlet was thus thrown down, and the Government of India found themselves involved in hostilities. 9 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. CHAPTEE III. Nepaul, 1814-16. Burmah, 1824-26. IN forming the plan of the approaching campaign with the hardy mountaineers of Nepaul, Lord Hastings considered it of paramount importance that a bold assault should be made on the strongest of the enemy's positions, as it would be highly impolitic to confine our operations to the almost impossible task of defending an immense line of frontier. With a view, therefore, to distract the attention of the Nepaulese regency, and divide their force, he planned four simultaneous attacks on as many points the western, on the Sutlej ; the eastern, on the capital ; and two others on intermediate positions. Marshman, in his " History of India/' sums up the resources of the Nepaulese at this juncture, and their ability to wage a war with the conquerors of Hindostan, as follows : " The whole Groorkha army did not exceed 12,000 men, and it was scattered over an extensive frontier ; their largest gun was only a 4 -pounder, and it appeared an act of infatuation in the Nepaul regency to defy the British power, but the uninterrupted successes of a quarter of a century Life of Sir George Pollock. 93 had turned the hardy little mountaineers into an army of skilful and courageous veterans, confident in their own strength, and animated with a strong feeling of national pride. Their troops were equipped and disciplined like the Company's Sepoys, and their officers adopted the English military titles. They moved ahout without the encumbrance of tents. They had no sooner taken up a position than they set to work to fortify it ; every soldier worked at the entrenchment, and a strong stockade of double pali- sades, filled up with earth and stone, was completed in almost as little time as the English soldier re- quired to rear his tent. But the chief strength of the Nepaulese consisted in the impracticable nature of their country and our entire ignorance of its localities." Of the Goorkha army, one-third, under Umur Singh, guarded the fortresses on the Sutlej ; 2,000 were distributed between the Jumna and the Kalee rivers, and the remainder protected the capital and its neighbourhood. The combined force of the four British divisions numbered 30,000 men, with sixty guns. Major-General Sir Eobert Gillespie, who had quelled the mutiny at Yellore, and had earned a brilliant reputation in Java, was first in the field, and on his way to lay siege to the fortress of Nahun, assaulted, with characteristic impetuosity, the forti- fied post of Kalunga without waiting for his artillery. His troops were repulsed with the loss of twenty officers and 240 men ; and the brave General 94 Life of Sir George Pollock. himself, while leading them on to a second assault, was shot through the heart. At length, when the garrison had heen reduced from 600 to 70, the survi- vors sallied out and escaped. Major-General Martin- dell, who succeeded to the command, blundered terribly, and, though having a force of 1,000 Europeans and 5,000 natives^ allowed himself to be held at bay for four months before the fort of Jytuk by 2,300 Goorkhas. Major- General Marley, who com- manded the principal division, 8,000 strong, behaved in a still more discreditable manner. After losing a month in doing nothing, two detachments he had sent to assault two points far apart from each other, were simultaneously attacked on the 1st of January by the Goorkha troops, and, being without any sup- ports, were beaten with the loss of guns, stores, and magazines. The General then fell back to guard the frontier, and representing that he was overmatched by the enemy (who, however, never exceeded 1,200 in number), Lord Hastings reinforced him so as to raise his total strength to 13,000 men. "But," says the historian, " General Marley could not be persuaded to enter the forest, and, on the 10th of February, mounted his horse before daylight and rode back to the cantonment of Dinapore, without delegating the command to any other officer, or giving any intimation of his intentions." His successor, Major- General George Wood, though not so pusillanimous, was little more successful. An encounter was accidentally brought on with the Life of Sir Gcoryc Pollock. 95 Goorkhas, in which 400 of their number perished, and though, dismayed hy this reverse, they left the road to the capital open, the General had not the spirit to take advantage of his opportunity, and his division was likewise lost to the object of the cam- paign. But the disgraceful incompetence which seemed to paralyze the leaders in this war, happily without parallel in our annals, was not confined to these divisional commanders. Major-General John Sullivan Wood, who led a third column, was smitten with a like imbecility. His division, which was appointed to retake Bootwul, and penetrate Nepaul through Palpa, did not take the field until late in December, when, without making any reconnoissance, and trusting to a Brahmin guide who played him false, he allowed himself, on the 14th of January, 1814, to be brought unexpectedly on the stockade of Jeetpore. In spite of a heavy and galling fire that was opened upon them by the garrison of 1,200 men, the British troops, numbering some 4,500 soldiers, attacked the works in front, and, while a detachment of the 17th regiment carried a hill to the right, seven companies, under Major Comyn, effected a passage between the stockade and Bootwul, and approached the eminence on which the latter was situated. But General Wood, though success was almost within his grasp, apprehensive that it would be impossible to drive the Goorkhas from the thickets at the back of the stockade, the possession of which rendered the post 96 Life of Sir George Pollock. untenable, determined to prevent what he consi- dered a fruitless waste of lives, and sounded a retreat. Nor did his distrust of his chances of success end here. Conceiving his force to be inadequate for offensive operations, he confined his measures to arrangements for the defence of the frontier, concen- trating his troops at Lantan, covering the road to Goruckpore ; the border line was, however, too exten- sive and too vulnerable to be thus protected, and the Goorkhas penetrated repeatedly at various points, inflicting serious injury, and spreading alarm through- out the whole district. As the division moved to repress incursions in one direction, depredations were committed in another. The town of Nichoul was burnt to ashes, and at one time Goruckpore was not considered safe. Reinforcements were pushed up to the British General without delay ; and with these arrived Captain Pollock, who, being the senior officer of artillery, took command of that arm of the service. It was while he was in command of the artillery at Futteyghur that he heard more guns were required, and, with characteristic ardour, imme- diately wrote to the Adjutant-General, volunteering his services at the seat of war. These were at once accepted, and Captain Pollock marched forthwith to the front with the 7th Company 3rd Battalion, and 3rd Company 2nd Battalion. Arriving after the miserable business at Jeetpore, he was spared the mortification of seeing a British force return when Life of Sir George Pollock. 97 victory was almost within its grasp ; but he was destined to witness, without the power of con- trolling, the imbecility which characterized the con- duct of General Wood. This officer, whom Pollock described as a gentlemanly, pleasant man to have dealings with, and one well suited to command in cantonments during the piping times of peace, but without a single qualification to lead an army in war, now chiefly employed the large reinforcements he had received in the retributive destruction of the enemy's crops in the lowlands ; and the only plan of operations he appeared competent to devise con- sisted in thus counteracting the irruptions of the enemy, and in removing the population of the British territory to a greater distance from the hills.* But the gallant leader of the fourth division re- trieved the honour of the British name, and prevented it from becoming the laughing-stock of all the bazaars throughout India. This General was none other than David Ochterlony, the same soldier who so bril- liantly held Delhi against the forces of Holkar, when he sought to capture the capital of the Moguls by surprise. His division, which was destined to operate against the Goorkhas from the territories they had acquired on the higher Sutlej, was pitted against picked troops under their redoubtable leader, Umur Singh, who, by his skill, courage, and resource, * " History of British India." By Horace Hayman Wilson. 7 98 Life of Sir George Pollock. was a worthy opponent of the ablest of British, gene- rals in the field. It would not be easy to imagine a more difficult field for military operations, but General Ochterlony was equal to the occasion. The campaign which he conducted during five months, was carried on with the utmost skill at an elevation of more than 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, at the most in- clement season of the year, and amidst falls of snow ; in such weather, men and elephants were employed day after day in dragging the 18 -pounders up preci- pitous crags. The genius of the General conquered every natural obstacle, and his gallant troops cheer- fully engaged in overcoming difficulties which have only more recently had their counterpart in the Abyssinian campaign. At length, by a series of bold and skilful manoeuvres, every fortress was mastered save one, called Malown, situated on a mountain ridge, with a steep declivity of 2,000 feet on two sides. This was held by Umur Singh with conspicuous gal- lantry, and after an ineffectual assault on the British works, in which he was defeated with the loss of 500 men, the fortress was surrendered, together with its garrison of 200. The province of Almora, in the centre of the Nepaul conquests, was also wrested from the Goorkhas by Colonel Gardner, an officer of great merit, and on the 27th of April the strong fortress of the same name fell to the arms of Colonel Nicolls.* * Afterwards General Sir Jasper Nicolls, Commander-in-Chief in India. Life of Sir George Pollocfc. 99 These losses induced the council of regency at Katmandoo to sue for peace ; but after the negocia- tions had been brought to a close, and the treaty had been actually signed by the Goorkha commissioners on the 2nd December, the veteran chief, Umur Singh, induced the council to reject its provisions and con- tinue the war. Lord Hastings took decisive steps to strike a blow at the capital, and General Ochterlony, who had been created a baronet, rapidly advanced with an effective force of 20,000 men. By a brilliant stroke of generalship, Sir David turned the flank of the enemy at the first pass on the 14th of February, and on the following morning the astonished Goor- khas found the British army posted on the Chorea heights, which commanded their position. There the force bivouacked two days without food and shelter, and, on the arrival of the other detachment, the General advanced to Mukwanpore, within fifty miles of Katmandoo, where the Goorkhas made a last stand, but were completely defeated. The treaty was now once more sent down in hot haste, and a peace, by which they ceded certain lowlands termed the Terai, and the territory of Sikkim, and consented to receive a resident at their capital, was finally concluded on the 2nd of March, 1816. From that day to this the Goorkhas have been our fast friends, and have formed the elite of our Indian army ; while as our allies during the great mutiny, these hardy little mountaineers did good service before Lucknow. On the conclusion of hostilities, George Pollock TOO Life of Sir George Pollock. returned to Dumdum, and on the promotion of the brigade-major to his regimental majority, Lord Hast- ings appointed him, in 1818, to the vacant post of brigade-major to the whole of the Bengal Artillery. He saw no further service until hostilities broke oat with the kingdom of Burmah in 1824. During the intervening years Captain Pollock received, on August 1 2th, 1 819, the brevet of major, and on the 4th of May following was gazetted to the same substantive rank ; this promotion, however, was anything but desirable, for, according to the rules of the service, he had to relinquish the post of brigade-major. He had married, in 1810, Miss Frances Webbe, daughter of J. Barclay, Esq. ; and having to support a family of young children, who, according to the custom among Indian officers, had been sent to England for their health and education, the pecuniary loss entailed by thus vacating a somewhat lucrative appointment was a serious consideration. However, Major Pollock had a friend at head-quarters, Colonel Young, the military secretary to Government, who went to Lord Hastings and pithily pointed out to his Lordship that the artillery officer had not yet paid for the gilt of his full-dress coat. " What can I do ?" said the Governor-General, who, being a military officer of high rank, and hav- ing distinguished himself in America, was also Com- mander-in-Chief, " there are the rules of the service." " Why, your Lordship," replied the military secre- tary, "appoint him Assistant Adjutant- General to Life of Sir George Pollock. 101 the Artillery ; " and it was not many days before Major Pollock found himself in orders. This appointment he held with credit to himself and advantage to his distinguished regiment until he received his commis- sion as lieutenant-colonel, which was dated the 1st of May, 1824. A short time before this, a change had taken place in the supreme direction of affairs in India. In con- sequence of a despatch from the Court of Directors to Lord Hastings, in which they insinuated that he was mixed up with some not very creditable transactions of the banking firm of Palmer & Co., at Hyderabad, an insinuation which was indignantly repelled by his Lordship, and subsequently, after his death, repudiated by the Honourable Court themselves, the Grovernor- General resigned the post he had filled for nine years with so much honour to himself and glory to his country, as well as profit to his more immediate masters, and embarked for Europe on 1st of January, 1823.* Mr. Canning! was first appointed to succeed to the vacant post, but the death of the Marquis of Londonderry, better known as Lord Castlereagh, induced him to join the Ministry instead. Lord * His Lordship, who came to f It is a singular circumstance India as Lord Moira, though he will that, thirty-three years afterward^, live in history as the Marquis of the son, Lord Canning, succeeded Hastings, was the last Governor- to the* viceregal chair the father General who combined in his own was so near occupying. What a person also the office of Comman- mark the latter great statesman der-in-Chief. He subsequently held would have left in Indian history, the post of military governor of with his genius and strong indi- Malta, where he expired. viduality of character ! IO2 Life of Sir George Pollock. Amherst was then selected for the office, and he landed in Calcutta on the 1st of August, 1823. He had not been long in the country, when, with the evil fate of most Governor-Generals on their arrival, he found himself embroiled in hostilities with Burmah. The Burmese had been engaged for several years before the war of 1824 in extending their conquests to the north-west of Ava ; disputes also having arisen in the royal family of the kingdom of Assam, the Burmese king interfered, and in 1815 established a paramount influence in the kingdom. Seven years afterwards, Maha Bundoola, the great national hero, completed the reduction of Assam, and annexed it to the Burmese crown. A little later the valley of Munipore, lying to the east of Bengal, was absorbed in the kingdom of Ava, and then, flushed with these continued successes, this aggressive people entered the principality of Cachar, but were checked by the supreme Government. Thus it happened that, in seventy years, the reigning dynasty had succeeded in establishing its authority over a territory 800 miles in length, and extending from the frontiers of Bengal to China. At length the time for their chastisement drew nigh. The people, inflated with their easy successes, entertained an overweening idea of their own invincibility. 1 ' The English," said the royal councillors, "have conquered the black foreigners, the people of castes, who have puny frames and no courage. They have never fought with so strong and brave a people as Life of Sir George Pollock. 103 the Burmese, skilled in the use of the spear and sword." They very soon found a pretext for aggression. At the southern boundary of the Chittagong district, at the estuary of the Naaf, lies the little island of Shahporee, which had always been considered a part of the Company's territory, and to this the Governor of Arracan laid claim, as appertaining to Burmah. A small guard had been posted in it by the Bengal Government in 1823, and on the Governor-General declining to cede the island, but proposing the appointment of a joint commission to investigate the question of right, the Court of Ava sent 1,000 men, who hoisted the Burmese flag, put a part of the feeble detachment to death, and drove away the remainder. Lord Amherst replied to this high- handed proceeding by dislodging the Burmese with a strong force, and sent a despatch stating that his Government, though desirous of peace, could not submit to such outrageous conduct. Upon this becoming known at Ava, Maha Bundoola was sent with a large army to Arracan, with orders to drive the English out of Bengal, and to send the Governor- General to Ava, bound in certain golden fetters he carried with him. No reply was vouchsafed to Lord Amherst's despatch, but the Governor of Pegu was directed to signify the pleasure of the " King of the White Elephant, Lord of the Sea and of the Land, that no further communication should be sent to the Golden Foot, but that the Governor- General 104 Life of Sir George Pollock. should state his case in a petition to Maha Bundoola, who was proceeding to Arracan with an army to settle every question." To this Lord Amherst had no option but to reply by a declaration of war, which was accordingly issued on February 24th, 1824. Thus began the first Burmese war, and certainly we never waged one in India more justifiable. An expeditionary force was directed to rendezvous in the commodious harbour of Port Cornwallis in the Andaman Islands, lying in the Bay of Bengal, about 300 miles south of Eangoon. It consisted of 11,000 European and native troops, the latter drawn chiefly from the Madras Presidency, and was placed under the orders of Sir Archibald Campbell, a General who had served with distinction in Spain. During the time this expedition was preparing, Bundoola entered Arracan, for the invasion of Bengal, with a large army, and annihilated a small detachment of native troops under Captain Norton, which had been imprudently pushed forward without any supports ; Captain Norton himself and five officers being killed. The British expedition arrived off Eangoon in a large fleet of transports and ships of war, under the orders of Commodore Grant, to the great astonish- ment and dismay of the inhabitants, who thought that the operation of driving the English out of Bengal was proceeding with all possible speed, and never dreamed of an attack being made on their capital. Eangoon was taken after a broadside from the Liffcy had driven its defenders out of the quad- Life of Sir George Pollock. 105 rangular stockade which formed the only protection to the town, and the city was occupied without further opposition. Here, however, the army re- mained inactive for six months. The rains set in a week after they landed, and the surrounding country became a swamp, the miasma arising from which, combined with the sultry heat, produced fever and dysentery that decimated the troops. The supply of food also was limited and unwholesome ; and had it not been for the prompt and indefatigable exertions of Sir Thomas Munro, the Governor of Madras, in supplying stores, it is very probable that the whole army would have been annihilated. The result of all this mismanagement was, that scarce 3,000 men remained fit for duty. Directly after the capture of Eangoon, Colonel Pollock arrived at the seat of war under circumstances somewhat peculiar, as he him- self was in ill health, and the British army was notoriously ravaged with disease. He had been suffering severely from a carbuncle, and was ordered to return to England ; this, with his heavy family expenses, he could not afford to do ; but the thought struck him that he would try and get to Burmah, as the short passage by sea thither, and the change of scene, with all the excitement of active service, might effect a cure. Accordingly, he betook himself to the office of General the Honourable Sir Edward Paget, the Commander-in- Chief, and, to the astonishment of his Excellency, made a request to the above effect. The latter was glad enough to avail himself of the io6 Life of Sir George Pollock. services of an officer having a reputation for energy and capacity, and he was at once put in orders. It had come to George Pollock's ears that the artil- lery force in Burmah, or rather the Bengal portion of it, was very badly found with all the appliances necessary for taking the field, so he immediately waited on Sir Edward Paget, and laid the state of affairs before him. There were no bullocks or horses to drag the guns, as well as a total absence of ammunition waggons, while the Madras artillery was plentifully supplied with all necessaries. The Commander-in- Chief at once gave him an order on Colonel Swiney, the principal commissary of ordnance at Calcutta, to supply him with whatever stores he might deem requisite for placing the artillery in a state of effi- ciency. Armed with this " open sesame " to the arsenal gates, Colonel Pollock, having satisfied his wants, proceeded to Rangoon and took command of the Bengal Artillery of the expeditionary force. He thus displayed that attention to equipment and detail which is essential to efficiency, more particularly in the case of artillery ; and earned for himself that re- putation for judicious care and thoroughness which received so striking an exemplification at Peshawur nearly forty years later. The senior artillery officer was Colonel Hopkinson, of the Madras Presidency, described as a gentleman- like, easy-going sort of personage, but unfitted for command by reason of a total absence of enterprise or energy. We are warned, on good authority, against Life of Sir George Pollock. 107 the manifestation of too much zeal ; but we presume the astute diplomatist, who first uttered an observation that has now become the tritest of commonplaces, would not have inveighed against the necessity of a modicum of a quality that is certainly necessary to success in life, or to the attainment of professional eminence. Colonel Pollock, on his arrival at Kangoon, at once busied himself with organizing his immediate com- mand. Here he first made the acquaintance of Sir Archibald Campbell, who gave him carte blanche to purchase draught cattle for the guns in the approach- ing campaign. The difficulties that met him at the onset were such as would raise an incredulous smile on the countenance of an artillery officer of the pre- sent day, accustomed to have his battery provided with every necessary, and sent into the field in perfect preparation for immediate service. Besides the wants which he had had supplied from the arsenal, there were no drivers, so the subject of this Memoir had to extemporize a corps from the syces (or grooms) of the body-guard and horse artillery, who, as well as some few recruited from the natives of the country, drove the gun bullocks, which had to be pur- chased in Burrnah, as none had arrived from India. Singularly enough, while almost the entire army was prostrated with sickness, George Pollock found his health much benefited by the sea air and the change of scene, and it was still further established by the hard work he underwent, for he found he had no time and io8 Life of Sir George Pollock. little inclination to dwell on his ailments. As soon as the waggons arrived, he lost no time in fitting them up himself with compartments, and afterwards stowed in them the full proportion of ammunition, hoping, as he says in his diary, " that the day might come when they would be found useful ;" and he adds, " I did find the benefit of packing my waggons and stores, for it rendered the presence of a conductor a matter of no importance." In the month of August, an expedition was sent to the Tenasserim provinces, which extend 400 miles along the coast ; the chief towns were occupied, and in the capital, Martaban, was found an immense arsenal filled with munitions of war. In the begin- ning of October, a force was sent against a strong stockade near Eangoon, but the storming party was repulsed with considerable loss, though subsequently the Burmese evacuated it. In the mean time, the renowned Bundoola had returned to Ava, and the King sent him down to Eangoon with an army of 60,000 men to expel the invaders from the sacred soil of the Golden Foot. With great dexterity and rapidity he threw up stockades around the city, which, on December 6th, were attacked by two columns of the British, supported by gunboats, who succeeded in breaking through the right of the Burmese entrench- ments, and dispersing the defenders. Instead of quitting the field, Bundoola pushed his troops the next day up to the famous Dagon Pagoda ; but the twenty guns which had been mounted on it opened a Life of Sir George Pollock. 109 brisk cannonade, and four columns simultaneously fall- ing upon his troops, they retreated in confusion. Bun- doola certainly exhibited, for a Burmese General, great pertinacity and no inconsiderable resource ; he sent incendiaries into the town, who burnt half of it down, and erected another formidable series of stockades ; but on the 1 5th he sustained a crushing defeat, and with- drew the whole of his army to Donabew, forty miles up the river. While Sir Archibald was conducting these operations at Eangoon, Colonel Eichards had wrested the whole of the province of Assam from his Majesty the " King of the White Elephant ;" but two other expeditions, under Colonel Shuldam and General Mor- rison, were not equally successful in their results. Sir Archibald Campbell, after being nine months at Eangoon, at length moved towards the capital on February 13th, 1825. As Colonel Pollock's services in the field with the British forces may only now be said to commence, it is necessary that I should lay before the reader some details of the strength and composition of the army. Sir Archibald Campbell, of the 38th Foot, we have already said, was the Com- mander-in-Chief. The Bengal and Madras Divisions, composing the forces at his disposal, consisted, in May, 1824, of the following corps: from Bengal, H. M. 13th and 38th Eegiments, with Engineers, two com- panies of Foot Artillery under Captains Timbrell and Biddulph, and Staff Corps, originally number- ing 2,089 Europeans of all ranks, besides a detach ment of the 40th Native Infantry of 86 men, forming no Life of Sir George Pollock. a portion of this, the only Bengal Native Corps that would go over the " Kalee Pawnee " (black water), as they called the sea, and which subsequently did good service in the second Burmese war. Of the total of 2,089 men, the Bengal Artillery, which originally numbered 360 men, was reinforced by a troop of Horse Artillery and half the Eocket Troop, " corps which excited great hopes, and never disappointed them." The guns were four 18 -pounders, four 5-|-inch howitzers, four 8-inch mortars, and four 6-pounders. The Cavalry consisted of the Governor- General's Body-guard, numbering 353 sabres. The Brigadier-General, under Sir A. Campbell, was M. McCreagh, C.B. ; also Brigadier W. Shawe, C.B., of the 87th Foot. Colonel Pollock com- manded the Artillery, and Major Evans, of the 38th Toot, and Colonel Elrington, of the 47th, the two brigades. The Madras Division was originally commanded by Brigadier-General McBean, who left in August, 1824 ; subsequently by Brigadier-General Eraser, who also left on account of ill health in October of the same year, when he was succeeded, in January, 1825, by a stout old soldier, Brigadier-General Wil- loughby Cotton, with Colonels Mallet and Godwin as his chief brigadiers. In addition to the original force, including H.M. 41st, the Madras European Eegiment, 556 Eoot Artillerymen, a battalion of Pioneers, and seven Native regiments, further rein- forcements, including the 47th and 89th Kegiments, Life of Sir George Pollock. 1 1 1 and three regiments of Native Infantry, arrived in the latter part of 1824. The total was thus swelled up to above 12,000 fighting men. The army destined for the field was divided into three columns : the first, under Colonel Sale, the future hero of Jellalabad, occupied the town of Bassein ; the second, under the Commander-in- Chief, moved up by land ; while the third, under Brigadier Cotton, proceeded by water up the Irrawaddy. The force that started under the orders of Sir A. Campbell consisted of 1,230 European Infantry, 600 Native In- fantry, 257 Pioneers, the Cavalry of the Body-guard, 92 men of the 1st Troop Horse Artillery, under Cap- tain Lumsden, and the Eocket Troop of 36 men under Captain Graham : total, 2,468. General Cot- ton's division numbered 749 European Infantry, 250 Native Infantry, with 108 Foot Artillerymen and 12 of the Eocket Troop under Lieut. Paton : total, 1,169. Major Sale's brigade consisted of 780 men ; while there were left behind at Eangoon 3,781 soldiers, of whom only 237 were European Infantry fit for duty, and 190 European and 124 Native Artillerymen. General Cotton attacked Donabew on February 28th. All the resources of Burmese military en- gineering had been employed by Bundoola to strengthen this post ; the garrison consisted of 1 2,000 men, and the works were mounted with 150 guns. The Brigadier-General carried the smaller works, but pronounced his force unequal to the capture of the chief stockade. 1 1 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. Colonel Hopkinson took the field with the artillery in its advance on Donabew, but he always exhibited a jealousy of Colonel Pollock, and being the senior officer, arranged that the latter should remain behind at Kan- goon. While there, Pollock received a most curious despatch from his senior officer, dated Sarrawah, 13th March, 1825. To prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy, who had Europeans among them who understood English, Colonel Hopkinson had written the despatch on a piece of fine paper, in size about three inches by one inch, and the native who brought it through the enemy's country had rolled it up in a cigar, which he carried, Burmese fashion, behind his ear. The handwriting of this strange note, though very small, is perfectly legible after having been written nearly half a century ago. In this letter Colonel Hopkinson made a requisition on George Pollock for a detailed list of guns, shot, shell, and stores of different descriptions required to conduct the siege of Donabew. Upon learning General Cotton's want of success, the Commander-in-Chief returned to his assistance. Colonel Pollock had been very busy, after receiving Colonel Hopkinson's despatch, in superintending the embarkation of stores, guns, and mortars, for the army in the field ; and, notwithstanding that Brigadier Smelt, commanding at Eangoon, denied him leave to proceed with the force, as the presence of an experi- enced artillery officer was urgently needed at Eangoon, yet by his pertinacity he at length succeeded in ex- Life of Sir Gcoryc Pollock. 113 tracting a qualified permission to embark. It was to be " on bis own responsibility," and George Pollock thus early evinced that indifference to taking upon himself any amount of responsibility, of which his subsequent conduct in- Afghanistan gave so striking an example. He encountered the giant " responsi- bility," slew him, and forthwith, on the 25th March, 1825, embarked on board the brig Pallas for the scene of operations, arriving in time to witness the evacua- tion of the Burmese stronghold. It is probable that Donabew would not have fallen without further loss of life, had it not been that the redoubtable Bundoola, during the night of the 1st April, when the attack commenced, was killed by the bursting of a shell. The capture of Donabew placed the conquerors in possession of 140 pieces of cannon, 269 jingalls, a magazine full of gunpowder, two immense granaries of rice, and a quantity of shot, besides 40 war-boats. About 300 men, who were too badly wounded to make their escape, had been left behind, and being collected, had their wounds dressed and every assist- ance afforded them as far as the limited means at the disposal of the British would allow. The total loss of the enemy was about 800 ; that of their invaders amounted to 7 officers and 230 men, killed and wounded.* The campaign was far from terminated by the capture of Donabew, as the enemy had a con- siderable force at Prome on the Irrawaddy, which had * " Two Years in Ava." By an Officer on the Staff of the Quarter- master-General's Department. 8 J 14 Life of Sir George Pollock. also been fortified ; 8,000 of the choicest of Bundoola's troops were retiring upon it, and the Prince of Sara- waddy had also taken up a position near Eagain with a considerable body of men, though the British did not anticipate any opposition from him, as it was supposed he would fall back upon Prome after ravaging the country through which the army would have to pass. Brigadier McCreagh, having received twenty-seven elephants and some carriage cattle from Bengal, was enabled to start from Eangoon in advance with a column consisting of the Eoyals and 28th Madras Native Infantry, and received directions to await the arrival of the Commander-in-Chief at Sarrawah. The 18th Madras Native Infantry was also ordered up from Panlang ; and then, leaving the Madras European Eegiment and 22nd Native Infantry as a garrison at Donabew, which from its position it was considered necessary to retain in order to secure the safe navi- gation of the river, the army recommenced its march on the night of the 4th April with renewed alacrity and in the best of spirits. George Pollock, seeing the great objection Colonel Hopkinson had to his taking the field, and filled with a determination not to be left behind again if he could help it, called on Sir Archibald Campbell, and obtained his sanction to accompany the troops in the advance on Prome with his detachment of artillerymen. The Commander-in-Chief arrived at Sarrawah on the 7th, and on the following day, according to orders, was joined by Brigadier McCreagh, with his column Life of Sir George Pollock. 1 1 5 of 1,000 men. On the 10th April, the main body crossed the river Trrawaddy in the boats of the flotilla without accident, and was concentrated at Sarrawah ; the troops then marched to Uadeet, which was reached on the 14th. The country was wild, uncultivated, and deserted ; occasionally a half-burnt village was passed, whose only inhabitants were the wretched, half-starved pariah dogs. At a place called Menjie were the head- quarters of the Prince of Sarawaddy, and a large stockade had been marked out and partially completed. When, however, His Highness heard of the rapid advance of the British, he abandoned this position, first burning the handsome building he in- habited, that it might not be polluted by the touch of the infidel Feringhee. There was an agreeable change in the country about Menjie, and the troops marched under a fine grove of mango trees, whose dense foliage afforded a grateful shelter from the sun ; the trees were covered with clusters of blossoms and fruit, which were unfortunately not sufficiently ripe to afford any refreshment on the hot and dusty march. The army continued to advance along the banks of the Irrawaddy, sometimes striking a little inland, but always encamping near the river, in consequence of the scarcity of water at this season of the year, and to keep up the communication with the flotilla, which, sometimes sailing, sometimes tracking along, made but slow progress up the stream. In the mean time Colonel Pollock had the utmost difficulty in getting water carriage for his detachment. 8 * 1 1 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. During the 4th and 5th April, he called frequently on the different authorities to secure boats, but without effect ; and it appeared as if, after all, he would have to abandon all hope of going to the front, simply owing to the wretched and inadequate supply of trans- port. At length, on the 6th April, his perseverance was rewarded with success. Four boats were deli- vered over to him in the morning, and in them he embarked his detachment and guns, and as much ammunition as practicable. His little flotilla sailed early on the following morning, he himself accom- panying them on board the brig Elizabeth, which was placed at his disposal. His progress up the river was slow, owing in part to the dense fogs encountered, and also to the incapacity and ignorance of the cap- tain of the Elizabeth. This did not suit the restless energy and activity of Colonel Pollock, who made the following characteristic entries in his diary touching this delay: "\%fhdprtt 9 Wednesday. Weighed anchor about sunrise, and tacked till about ten o'clock a.m., when we attempted to cross, but stuck on a sandbank ; from that time till nine at night we were moving, and when we came to for the night we found we were some hundred yards nearer Sarrawah than we were at ten a.m. This is the consequence of ignorance, mis- management, want of method, also of will : all is confusion ; when the anchor is required, it is foul ; when the men are required, they are at dinner ; but the adage of the silk purse is here truly verified, and Life of Sir George Pollock. \ 1 7 we cannot expect that a ship's steward is calculated to command a vessel. Our captain works hard, but is deficient in the organ of space. " \ktli April, Thursday. I turned out the captain early, and persuaded him to kedge us over, in which we succeeded, and upon the whole made a tolerable day's work. Saw the Emma towards sunset; also saw several lights on the opposite bank after dark. "15^, Friday. I turned out the captain before daylight, and we were in motion by gun-fire. A. breeze sprang up, but the current has been so very strong, we have had considerable difficulty in get- ting on. Anchored in a strong current after drifting. " 16^, Saturday. Made but little progress, and have at last become perfectly disgusted with the mode of travelling. Our stock is getting short, and the Europeans have no salt beef. "17^, Sunday. Four boats of H. M. ship Liffey passed us early. I heartily wished myself on board one." Colonel Pollock's journal has so much of interest in it that we will not apologize for transcribing further portions of it relating to. his progress towards Prome, merely premising that the steamboat so frequently alluded to was the Diana, the only one* employed * So it is said by the historians to Calcutta in 1825 for trading of the war, but we believe that a purposes, under command of second steamer, called the Enter- Lieutenant Johnston, R.N., but prise, was employed in Burmese soon after her arrival was pur- waters. This vessel, which was chased by the Indian Govern- built in England, was despatched ment. n8 Life of Sir George Pollock. throughout the succeeding protracted operations, and was a small vessel of some 60-horse power. It was in this first Burmese war that the incalculable service of this novel agency in carrying stores, towing sail- ing vessels, and performing the many duties incidental to a state of hostilities, was for the first time put to a practical test. In the second Burmese war of 1852, the utility of steam in warlike operations received a most remarkable illustration, and the celerity with which we covered the waters of the Irrawaddy and the coasts of Burmah with the magnificent fleet of war-ships of Her Majesty and the East India Company, conduced more than aught else to a speedy termina- tion of the campaign, which was successfully con- cluded in June of the same year by the annexation of Pegu. On the 17th of April, an encampment was passed, which was that of Colonel Armstrong's force ; this put George Pollock and his artillerymen in good spirits, as they were under considerable apprehension that they were much behind the main body. There is a note this day in the diary that the Adjutant of Artillery, " Law- rensonwith two soldiers went ashore and shot a bullock, which was very acceptable." The grass jungle close to the banks was burning with great fury, and had a very fine effect at night. These conflagrations, which were caused by the enemy to detain their invaders and to destroy all vegetation, and render the surrounding country a wilderness, were frequently encountered by the forces in their march along the margin of the Life of Sir George Pollock. \ i 9 river, and were not without considerable attendant danger. An officer on the staff, treating of this, remarks on the fear and imbecility with which the horse is seized when exposed to this danger. On one occasion an officer's charger became so completely demoralized with terror on the approach of the flames, that it was impossible to move him ; he stood as if petrified, and perished in the devouring element. On the 1 9th April, the Elizabeth came to a very ex- tensive village called Kanoun, which Colonel Pollock- went on shore to explore, and where he found a small phial of " Turlington's balsam," with the date " 26th January, 1754," cut on the glass. After much delay, owing to the continued breaking of the track rope and the captain's dilatoriness, which must have made it rather warm work for the quondam ship's steward, the patience of the gallant officer, the subject of \ this Me- moir, was worn out, and on the 21st of April the gig of the Mermaid, with Captain Yates on board, passing the brig, Colonel Pollock asked and readily obtained a passage in her. The diary continues : " Left the Elizabeth about half-past eight a m., and reached the steamboat about a quarter past one o'clock at night, rather tired sitting in one position about fifteen hours. However, I have now the satisfaction of knowing I am not in the rear should operations commence against Prome, which now appears doubtful, as ambas- sadors have come from thence to propose terms." Colonel Pollock refers to a letter received by Sir Archibald Campbell on the 19th April, when he was i 20 Life of Sir George Pollock. encamped at Cuddadoon, after having left Menjie, and written by the Burmese commandant at Prome, professedly with the authority and sanction of the Government. The bearer of it was a soldier of His Majesty's 38th Eegiment, who had been taken prisoner, and he was accompanied by some natives. The latter expressed a strong desire to negociate a treaty of peace, but one clause in it savoured so much of a ruse de guerre, that implicit faith could not be placed in the protestations of eternal amity which preceded it. This was a request that Sir A. Campbell should halt his army, and not approach nearer Prome. The General, in his answer, stated he could not com- ply with this demand, but that in every other respect he was perfectly willing to enter into negociations.* The army continued its march on the following day. The scenery in the vicinity of the river was much more diversified and pleasing than that in the neighbourhood of Donabew. The Arracan mountains presented a fine appearance in the western horizon, whence a succession of lower ranges, covered with the broad-leafed teak tree, gradually sloped down to the ' water's edge. Under the river's bank was a portion of the flotilla, and the remainder, decorated with their colours, formed a line across the stream from shore to shore ; while in the foreground, soldiers, sailors, and all the varied nationalities represented in an Indian army on the march, gave a bustle and life to a scene that was * " Two Years in Ava." By Captain Trant. Life of Sir George Pollock. 121 naturally picturesque. Colonel Pollock had now joined head-quarters, and on the 22nd April dined with General Willoughby Cotton, to whose division he was destined to be more immediately attached. " On Saturday morning, the 23rd," he writes in his diary : " A signal gun for sailing was fired from the steam- boat about ten a.m. The boats of the fleet, with the exception of the steamboat and the Powerful, were soon all in motion : about twelve o'clock the two latter moved, the last towed by the former. The steamboat ran aground frequently. We were long anxiously looking out for Prome, and at length, about half-past five p.m., anchored abreast some of their trenches, about 500 yards distant. "We saw a number of the enemy on foot and on horseback, passing up the shore to the works opposite us. Prome appears to be about three miles up the river ; the works are very extensive. They appear to be a continuation of trenches from Prome to the trenches where we are. All has been quiet, although we might have been much annoyed with musketry if the enemy had been so disposed. I consider our position to be very injudiciously chosen ; we are either too far or not far enough up the river, and were it not that the enemy are alarmed, and wish to retreat, I think we. should suffer for our folly." Nothing took place during the course of the night, but on the 24th another letter from the Burmese General was received in Sir A. Campbell's camp, in answer to that sent to him by the first messenger, 122 Life of Sir George Pollock. couched in very ambiguous and even insolent terms. He demanded that the British army should halt out- side the city, observing that there were armies on both sides, and that the space between them was sufficiently large to afford a place of meeting. The general tone of the communication induced a strong suspicion that the chiefs were acting with duplicity, and it was determined the town should be immediately taken possession of. An answer was accordingly returned to the effect that the military occupation of Prome must be carried out, but that the British General would be happy to meet the Burmese deputies at any place and hour on the following day they might choose. Every preparation was now made for an attack on the city; the flotilla was directed to advance and co-operate with the land column, which was to move forward by the bank of the river. Some hours before daybreak on the 25th, the entire British army commenced its march through a succession of strongly entrenched ground, and at daylight found itself under the ridge of hills which covers the city to the south-east and east. The flotilla advanced up the river, which was commanded for at least a mile by a range of hills, each one of which was fortified to the very summit, forming altogether a most formidable position, and one that could have been defended with success by a small force under able generalship. The stockades, however, were unoccupied, the enemy having evacuated every post. Columns of smoke could be seen rising up to the sky from the direction Life of Sir George Pollock. 123 of Prome, clearly portending the fate that had been reserved for the city itself; whilst on each side of the road the smoking remains of the houses indicated that the Burmese had but lately retired, after de- stroying the villages. Pushing on to the city, it was found in flames, when every exertion was made to rescue what yet remained from destruction. The fire was at length got under, after destroying a consider- able number of houses and a quantity of grain. The treacherous intentions of the Burmese chiefs were now made manifest. The town and position in its front had been fortified with the greatest care ; for after the dispersion of Bundoola's army at Donabew, every attention was directed to Prome, as the only point at which the invading army could be stopped. The utmost energy of the military chiefs was employed in organizing such a force as would enable them successfully to oppose the British army, in the event of its attacking the city. New generals were appointed, fresh levies were called out, and a numerous artillery, destined to arm the works on the summit of the hills commanding the approach, was on its way from the capital of Ava. Indeed, the Burmese chiefs resolved that the whole disposable force of the kingdom should be concentrated at the provincial capital of Pegu, rendered memorable by the many sanguinary battles that had formerly been fought between their nation and that of the province they had annexed to the crown of the " Grolden Foot/' 124 Life of Sir George Pollock. The rapid advance of the British force appears to have been wholly unexpected, and to have defeated all their plans. When Sir Archibald Campbell was within three days' march of Prome, and not a man of the expected reinforcements had yet reached that place, though they were known, however, to be within a few days' inarch of it, the Burmese chiefs did not scruple to open negociations solely to gain time, in the hope that their object would be secured before their treachery became apparent. Fortunately, the national character for duplicity and lying was well known, and equivocal overtures, emanating from such a quarter, acted only as incentives for greater promptitude in the prosecution of the march. There is no doubt that, had the two days' delay solicited been granted, the capture of the place would have involved a very large sacrifice of life. It was on finding themselves foiled that the chiefs employed the brief space left to them in burning and destroying everything they supposed could be of use to their invaders ; and then taking flight, headed by the Prince of Sarawaddy, they laid waste the villages in their track,* and drove the helpless people in thou- sands from their houses into the woods, thus rivalling, by their ruthless conduct, the desolation inflicted on Eussian homesteads by their own soldiers during the memorable advance of Napoleon on Moscow in the winter of 1812. The British army had not been * Snodgrass's " Narrative of the Burmese War." Life of Sir George Pollock. 125 many hours in the town before a great number of people flocked in, and requested passes and protection for their families and property. These were imme- diately granted by the Commander-in-Chief 's orders ; guards were placed over the principal religious edifices; and, in order to show the inhabitants that he was animated with the most friendly intentions, steps were at once taken to move the whole force, with the exception of a single native regiment, outside the walls of the town. The appearance of the city, which had been described in glowing terms by those who had visited it, was disappointing, but before many days had passed, it presented a much more pleasing and habitable aspect. Prome is built on the left bank of the Irrawaddy, and was surrounded at the time of its occupation by the remains of a brick wall, outside of which the enemy had erected a strong teak-wood stockade, defended by a wide ditch, or rather swamp, crossed by substantial wooden bridges. Near the town, to the southward, runs a range of small but steep hills, surmounted by pagodas, carefully fortified, and mounted with artillery. On one of these hills is the principal temple of Prome, which, rearing its golden minaret from amidst numerous minor pagodas, is embosomed in the brilliant foliage of the tamarind, and other trees indigenous to the country. The city is surrounded by gardens, rice-fields, and verdure, attest- ing the fertility of the soil. On the 26th April, the troops marched out of Prome, and were encamped in 126 Life of Sir George Pollock. the suburbs until houses could be erected for them, and this move was the signal for the return of the inhabitants, who now, with their cattle and worldly goods, came in daily, and soon repeopling the de- serted city, resumed their ordinary avocations. The Burmese army, in the hurry of its retreat, left 100 pieces of cannon mounted on the walls and outworks, and a considerable quantity of powder and military stores in the arsenal. A fire had been kindled in the latter, which, on being quickly extinguished, was found to have been close to 200 barrels of powder, which must have ignited in a few minutes, when the destruction of a great part of the troops would have ensued. In the granaries sufficient rice was found to last the army for a year. The British Commander-in-Chief was not idle after gaining one of the chief objects of the campaign ; a squadron of men-of-war's boats was despatched up the river on the 27th April, as far as Meeayday, whither the Prince of Sarawaddy had retired ; and though the latter was joined by a reinforcement of 6,000 men, he suffered the British sailors to bear back to Prome eight war-boats laden with ammuni- tion, thirteen guns, and thousands of people, whom his soldiers were driving before them. A force was also sent, under Colonel Godwin, to Tonghoo, a large fortified city, situated inland due east from Prome, and forming the frontier town of Pegu ; but the state of the roads rendering intercommunication impossible, the column returned. By the middle of Life of Sir George Pollock. 117 June the whole army was comfortably hutted in commodious airy buildings, constructed in the native style, while the officers had severally built themselves suitable houses, constructed on piles some eight feet in height. Colonel Pollock's dwelling-place, which was of this construction, communicated by means of a causeway with the house of Sir Archibald Campbell, to whom he made his official reports. The position of the army at Prome was infinitely pre- ferable to what it had been at Rangoon the preceding year. Then the force was half starved, decimated with sickness, and virtually blockaded in its lines. The officers now used to prolong their evening rides to a distance of six miles from Prome, passing through numerous villages, whose inhabitants, grate- ful for the kind treatment they received, hailed them with every demonstration of affection and respect. The only hostile visitor the British encountered was the Irrawaddy, which made occasional raids upon the cantonments, overflowing the embankments, inundat- ing the town, and surrounding plains, and driving several corps, whose quarters were not sufficiently elevated, to the heights above the town. It was the time of the south-west monsoon, which continues from June till October, rendering all field operations on an extended scale out of the question. Though the rains were not so heavy as at Eangoon, the Irrawaddy rose from a level of forty feet below the summit of the bank, and inundated the country to the extent already described. The inhabitants appear 128 Life of Sir George Pollock. to be a half- amphibious race, and, accustomed to the annual visit of the rushing torrents, view its desola- tion with indifference, and go about their ordinary avocations in little canoes constructed for the purpose. May, June, and July passed away without any occurrence of an important nature taking place ; but gradually the enemy concentrated his forces round the city, until the cantonments almost wore the appearance of a position in a state of siege. H. M. 13th Light Infantry, commanded by an officer of whom we shall hear again in this Memoir, Lieutenant- Colonel Sale, together with the 13th and 38th Madras Native Infantry, arrived at Prome, raising the army to a strength of about 6,000 men, with a suitable amount of artillery. The Burmese had, by great efforts, collected a force of, it was said, 66,000 men, of whom 1 5,000, called Shaans, were considered picked troops. The Shaans occupy the country between Siam, China, and Ava, and were at this time partly under the domination of the former kingdom ; but those chieftains who owed allegiance and paid tribute to the Burmese monarch were obliged, in this instance, to obey the summons to assemble their followers, and do battle for the "Golden Foot/' Not yet having crossed swords with the British, these Shaans were confident of success a confidence still further increased by the presence in their ranks of three Shaan ladies of high birth, whose magic power was believed to be such, Life of Sir George Pollock. 129 that they offered to render the British shot innocuous by throwing water on the balls. We will pass over the details of the desultory fighting before Prome during the continuance of the monsoon, in which our troops were not uniformly successful, and also of the negotiations that led to an armistice, concluded at Neoun-ben-Zeik, half-way between Meeayday and Prome, and which was signed by Sir A. Campbell and the chief ambassador the Kee Won ghee, but which the Burmese commissioner only concluded in order to gain time. Notwithstanding the armistice, the Burmese forces, in obedience to orders from Ava, advanced upon Prome in three divisions : the right, under the com- mand of Sudda Woon, consisting of 15,000 men, having crossed the Irrawaddy, moved forward upon its west bank, detaching a corps to its front, for the purpose of intercepting the British communication with the rear; the centre, about 25,000 strong, commanded by the Kee Wonghee, whom the king, confident in his ability, had, early in the war, entrusted with the command of a corps d'armee, and upon whom he had conferred, with his own royal hand, a fan, which was to ward off all hostile bullets, moved along the east or left bank of the river, accompanied by a considerable fleet of war-boats, escorting the commissariat and other stores of the army; the left division, 15,000 strong, was led by IVtaha Nemiou, an old and experienced general, lately arrived from court, with authority for conducting the 9 Life of Sir George Pollock. general operations of the army, and moved on a route about ten miles distant from the river; with this corps was incorporated the Shaans, of whom I have already spoken. Finally, there was a reserve of 10,000 men commanded by the king's half-brother, Prince Memiaboo, who occupied a strongly- fortified post at Mellown, considerably higher up the river. The effective British force, destined to overcome these formidable preparations, consisted of eight weak British regiments, six battalions of Madras Sepoys, one troop of cavalry, and a considerable train of horse and foot artillery,* leaving for service in the field, after garrisoning Prome, a force of about 4,500 men, of whom less than 3,000 were Europeans. The first operations were not successful, and were of a nature to .confirm the veteran Maha Nemiou in his estimate of his own generalship. Two brigades of Native Infantry, under Colonel McDowell, were routed, the brigadier was himself killed, and the total loss of the force mounted up to 200 men and 10 officers. The three Burmese divisions, elated at this success, now closed upon Prome, entrenching themselves as they advanced, until Sir Archibald Campbell resolved to strike a blow at the enemy within his reach. On the 30th November, preparations were made for attacking the Burmese army on the following day, beginning * Twenty-eight pieces of ord- zers, three 6-pounders; Madras nance, viz., Bengal Horse Artil- Artillery, seven 5^ -inch mortars, lery, two 12-pounders, two 5-inch two 8-inch mortars, and two mortars, two 6-pounders ; Bengal 6 pounders, besides rockets. Foot Artillery, four 8-inch ho wit- Life of Sir George Pollock. 131 with the left, and taking the three corps d'armee in rapid detail. A writer on the events of the war thus details the arrangements : " Commodore Sir James Brisbane, with the flotilla, was to commence a cannonade upon the enemy's post, upon both banks of the Irrawaddy, at daylight, and a body of Native Infantry was, at the same time, to advance along the margin of the river, upon the Kee Wonghee's position at Napadee, and to drive in his advanced posts upon the main body, drawing the enemy's whole attention to his right and centre, while the columns were marching out for the real attack on Simbike. Leaving four regiments of Native Infantry in garrison, at daylight on the morning of the 1st December, the rest of the force was assembled, and formed in two columns of attack at a short distance in front of Prome." The united force of these two divisions numbered 2,500 king's troops and artillery, and 1,500 Native Infantry. With Sir A. Campbell went Colonel Hopkinson, as senior officer ; while Greorge Pollock, with his Bengal Artillerymen, was attached to General Cotton's divi- sion, which was composed of H.MVs 41st and 89th Eegiments, and the 18th and 28th Native Infantry. At half- past three on the morning of the 1st, the subject of this memoir marched with four 8 -inch mortars, four 5 J-inch howitzers, and three 6-pounders, but the difficulties he had to encounter, and which he successfully overcame in effecting a start, were of no ordinary character. To enable him to move his guns, the drivers of the commissariat were put in requisi- 9 * Life of Sir George Pollock. tion, Pollock's establishment for the 300 bullocks that dragged the ordnance only consisting of 26 syces and grass-cutters, lent from the body-guard by Captain Dyke, and 20 Donabew drivers, who could not be relied on, as 160 of the orginal number had previously desertecl. As for the guns and men, he had a still more arduous task before him. The former were dispersed in all directions for defensive purposes, and they now had to be collected on the shortest notice to take the field. It occupied him and his men all night to effect this, but by the time the column fell in for the march, his guns, manned by the 3rd com- pany, 5th battalion, were ready for service. The Commander-in-Chief, in drawing up the plan of operations, provided that his column should be in advance, and carry the works at Simbike, while that of General Cotton was to perform the subordinate task of cutting up the retreating foe. However, this programme was not carried out, and that the Madras General was foremost in the hour of battle was due to the advice and energetic action of his commandant of artillery. As the troops marched out in the grey dawn, the soldiers were gratified with the almost unique and curious spectacle of the inhabitants lining the roads, and hailing with admiration and every wish for their success|the white strangers who had conquered their country, but had given them also the unwonted blessings of freedom, and the enjoyment of the fruits of their labours. Sir A. Campbell's division crossed the Nawine river at Zeoup, moving along its right Life of Sir .George Pollock. 133 bank for the purpose of attacking the enemy in the rear, and cutting off his retreat upon Kee Wonghee's corps, while General Cotton marched by the straight road leading to Simbike. The columns had scarcely moved off, when a furious cannonade upon the left, announced the commencement of operations upon the river, and so completely deceived the enemy, that he withdrew his pickets on the left, and thus exposed his stockades at Simbike to a sudden and unexpected attack. After a long and rapid march, General Cotton proposed a halt to George Pollock, in order to rest the cattle and troops before the impending conflict ; but the latter, who had already a reputation in the force for promptness, dissuaded him from adopting this course, and the result was a complete surprise of the enemy.* Major Snodgrass thus describes the figfrt that ensued : "Brigadier- General Cotton's force reached the enemy's line, consisting of a succession of stockades erected across an open space in the centre of the jungle, where the village of Simbike and Kyalay had stood, having the Nawine river in the rear, a *An anecdote illustrative of in the square of the town as that readiness or " smartness," quickly as possible. Pollock did which is characteristic of " gun- so at once, and returned to report ners " not less than sailors, is told so speedily that Sir Archibald, who of George Pollock. On one oc- thought he had not yet gone to casion while fighting was going on carry out his instructions, burst at Rangoon, the Command er-in- out with, "Did I not desire you Chief observed that Artillery to go and bring up your guns and would be useful, and turning to place them in the square." " They Colonel Pollock, ordered him to are there, Sir," was Colonel bring up his guns and place them Pollock's answer. 9 f J34 Life of Sir George PoZlocfc. thick wood on either flank, and assailable only by the open space in front, defended by cross fires from the zigzagging formation of the works. " The Brigadier- General having quickly made his dispositions, the troops, consisting of His Majesty's 41st in front, and the flank companies of His Majesty's Royals and 89th Regiments, with the 18th Madras Native Infantry in flank, moved forward with their usual intrepidity; the Shaans, encouraged by the presence of their veteran commander, who, unable to walk, was carried from point to point in a handsomely-gilded litter, and cheered by the example and earnest exhortations to fight bravely of the fearless Amazons, offered a brave resistance to the assail- ants ; but no sooner was a lodgment made in the interior of their crowded works, than confusion ensued, and they were un- able to contend with or check the progress of the rapidly in- creasing line which formed upon their ramparts, and from whose destructive volleys there was no escaping; the strongly-built enclosures of their own construction everywhere preventing flight, dead and dying blocked up the few and narrow outlets from the work. Horses and men ran in wild confusion from side to side, trying to avoid the fatal fire ; groups were employed in breaking down and trying to force a passage through, the defences, while the brave, who disdained to fly, still offered a feeble and ineffectual opposition to the advancing troops. The grey-headed Chobwas of the Shaans, in particular, showed a noble example to their men, sword in hand singly maintaining the unequal conquest ; nor could signs or gestures of good treatment induce them to forbearance attacking all who offered to approach them with humane or friendly feelings, they only sought the death which too many of them found. Maha Nemiou himself fell while bravely urging his men to stand their ground, and his faithful attendants being likewise killed by the promiscuous fire while in the act of carrying him off, his body with his sword, Wonghee's chain, and other insignia of office, were found among the dead." It should be stated that the advance party Life of Sir George Pollock. 135 that carried the works was led by Colonel (after- wards Sir Henry) Godwin, a most gallant and meritorious officer, who subsequently commanded in the second Burmese war. One of the Shaan ladies, a girl of seventeen, and described as of great beauty, was found lying outside the stockade, killed either by a grape-shot or musket ball. Be- ing habited in a black jacket and large straw hat, similar to that worn by the men, her sex was at first not known; but when the soldiers discovered that they had unwittingly caused the young creature's death, they immediately deposited her body in a grave, with many sincere though rough expressions of regret at her sad fate. In the mean- time Sir A. Campbell's column, under his own direction, was about a mile and a half distant to his colleague's left and rear. He, in consequence, de- tached Brigadier Elrington to guard the ford at Zeoup, the main road leading to Neoun-ben-Zeik, and the position of the Kee Wonghee, while with the rest of the column he pushed on towards Sagee, in the hope of falling upon the enemy when retiring upon Wattegaum. The division met the panic-struck fugitives in the act of emerging from the jungle and crossing the Nawine river, when his horse artillery immediately unlimbered, and opened a heavy fire upon the crowded ford. Another of the Shaan ladies was now observed flying on horseback with the defeated remnant of her people, but before 136 Life of Sir George Pollock. she could gain the opposite bank of the river, where the forest would have afforded protection, a shrapnel- shell exploded above her head, and she fell from her horse into the water ; but whether she was killed or only frightened could not be ascertained, as she was immediately borne off by her attendants. This un- expected salute from a quarter where no enemy was expected, completed the consternation and defeat of the Burmese, left wing. Seeing the British infantry approaching their line of retreat, they thought only of their own safety, and, quickly dispersing, betook themselves to the surrounding jungles. The entire plan was admirably conceived and ably carried out. The British had to contend with every disadvantage of a difficult and enclosed country, nor did their information as to the position occupied by the Burmese, enable the generals to make any previous concerted arrangement for intercepting the retreat of an enemy to whom every footpath in the jungle was familiar, and whose advance or flight, in the event of defeat, would be made by every path that promised success or safety at the moment. In his diary, Greorge Pollock thus briefly refers to this action, so well planned and judiciously carried out, and the success of which was in no small measure due to the smart manner in which he brought his guns into action and breached the stockades : " We came upon the stockades at Simbike very unexpectedly Life of Sir George Pollock. 137 on both sides. Some of the enemy were ontside the first stockade ; our advanced party fired upon them, and followed them into the work. Two 5-inch howitzers were in front of the column, and with them taking a circuit to the right, Captain Biddulph opened a fire on the next stockade, after firing a few rounds within 150 yards. The enemy, protected by a breastwork, opened a sharp fire, and, as our men were falling fast, General Cotton ordered the advance, and led them to the attack. In a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes not a man of the enemy was to be seen except killed and wounded and a few prisoners. We suffered rather severely. Sir Archibald Campbell's column reached the vicinity of the stockades on the opposite side of a nullah just as we had turned the enemy out of the last of them." The Shaans fled towards Wattegaum, but our troops were much too fatigued to pursue them. Piling their arms, they were allowed a couple of hours' rest, and arrangements were at once made for returning the same night as far as the ford on the Nawine river, which had been crossed by Sir A. Campbell in the morning. From thence it was proposed to move on the following morning along a pathway that led towards the enemy's centre, commanded by the Kee Wonghee in person. The day had long closed in ere the rear of the column arrived upon its camping - ground, at Zeoup, where the troops bivouacked for the night. There were no tents, but such a discomfort was little recked of by the soldiers, who, after a hasty meal, flung themselves on the ground, and slept the sleep of the weary. Early on the morning of the 2nd December the army was again in motion, follow- ing the only track that led towards the river, through a 138 Life of Sir George Pollock. dense forest. The first division led in files along the path, and General Cotton with the Madras Division (with which was Colonel Pollock) followed in the rear. On arriving within two miles of Napadee the British troops separated into two columns, Sir Archibald Campbell making preparations to attack in front, while General Cotton proceeded in a circuitous direc- tion, having received orders to explore every opening that presented itself during the march, and to use his utmost endeavours to force a passage through the forest to the right, so as to fall on the Burmese left flank, which was to be the signal for a general assault in front. General Cotton was, however, unable to penetrate the forest, and the Commander-in-Chief at length ordered the assault. This was carried out in the most gallant manner by a brigade under Colonel Elrington, supported by the flotilla, which captured all the enemy's boats and stores. Between forty and fifty pieces of artillery were taken, while the Burmese lost heavily in killed and wounded, besides nearly one-third of their entire force through desertions. The British casualties in these operations amounted to 172 killed and wounded, among whom were six officers in the former category, and the same number in the latter. Colonel Pollock makes the following entry in his diary regarding the march of the division to which he was attached : "2nd December. Moved at daylight in the rear of Sir A. Campbell's army with two 5J-inch mortars and two 6-pounders. The remainder went to Prome. After proceeding some miles Life of Sir George Pollock. 139 the two columns separated. Sir Archibald to take the stockade, while we remained on the plain. After halting some time we endeavoured to penetrate a jungle, with grass five feet high, and certainly so far succeeded that we kept the wheels of the guns in ruts of an old road, and could see about twenty paces on either side ; but as to acting with effect had an enemy appeared, the attempt would have been hopeless. We heard occasional firing, but not sufficient, as we thought, for an assault. Sir A. Campbell carried the stockades ; it was on this occasion that Captain Lumsden was wounded by one of our own shells ; he had a narrow escape. General Cotton became anxious, and determined on joining Sir A. Campbell to assist ; he accordingly ordered the guns back to the plain to be protected by the 41st, and there we bivouacked for the night. " 3rd. This morning we were first ordered to join General Cotton, but after proceeding a few hundred yards the artillery was directed to remain on the plain, and the 41st to join General Cotton. The officers (some of them) contrived to get a covering during the night, but for two days we were con- stantly on the move. On this day we pitched a tent about 10 A.M., the men still without them. In the afternoon, a little before sunset, Sir A. Campbell's division bivouacked in our rear. On our return from Simbike our mess servants, thinking we were returning to Prome, went there with all we had to eat and drink, and did not join us again until late in the forenoon of this day. "4^. Halted. I went into Prome about bullocks, and to make arrangements. The pioneers, I have been told, have been employed destroying the stockades on the banks of the river." The Commander-in-Chief, in his despatches, made favourable mention of the services of Greorge Pollock during these eventful days, and General Cotton candidly owned that his success of the 1st was due to his commandant of artillery. Although the left and centre of the Burmese army was thus dispersed, the Suddah Woon with his division 140 Life of Sir George Pollock. still remained in the stockades on the right bank. Accordingly, on the 5th December, General Cotton, with a portion of his division, crossed over and expelled them with but little opposition. The loss the Burmese army suffered in these operations was supposed to amount to between 2,000 and 3,000 men, besides which, the troops of which it was composed were completely disorganized. The Shaans also, with the exception of 2,000 men, had deserted in a body, and were making the best of their way back to their own province of Laos. The Burmese leaders, with the remnant of their army, now retired to Meeayday, and on their retreat the strong stockades that had been erected at Pulloh and at other points were evacuated, though by their position and strength they were admirably calculated to delay, if not to baffle, any troops not well provided with artillery. For a few days the British army encamped, waiting for its baggage, the first division with head-quarters and the commissariat of the army on the plain of Natalain, eight miles in front of Prome ; the second division, under General Cotton, being assembled at some dis- tance to the left, upon a road leading to Meeayday, running parallel with the river, with instructions to move in communication with Commodore Sir James Brisbane and the flotilla. The route of the first division was by Wattegaum and Seindoup to Meeay- day, and it was to precede the Madras column by three days. The want of success of General Morrison in Arracan Life of Sir George Pollock. 141 threw the onus of bringing the war to a successful conclusion wholly on the army of the Irrawaddy ; but these troops, confident in themselves and their gallant leader, who had moreover won their respect and affection by his uniform consideration for their comfort, did not flinch from the task ; and though only numbering 4,500 men, with 28 pieces of ordnance, looked forward with enthusiasm to the day when they were to be led to the assault of Mellown, represented as a chef d'ceuvre of "the Burmese art of fortification, upon which had retired the broken army of the enemy, reinforced by the reserve of 15,000 men under Prince Memiaboo. Mellown was situated on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, and was separated from the advancing column by that deep and rapid river, the navigation of which it completely commanded. The distance from Prome to Ava, the capital, and the ultimate destination of the army, was some 300 miles by land, and the journey promised to be very toilsome, parti- cularly for the artillery. The commissariat carried a stock of provisions for two months, and arrangements were made for further supplies to be forwarded by water. Under these conditions the British army, on the 9th December, in the best of spirits, commenced its march up country in search of the enemy. The incidents of the march to Mellown are detailed in the diary kept by George Pollock, and I think I shall best consult the wishes of my readers if I allow the subject of this memoir to lay them before us in his 142 Life of Sir George Pollock. own concise language, merely making explanatory interpolations where considered necessary: " December 6tk. Sir Archibald Campbell marched his division to Zeoup this morning. I went to Prome about drivers, and Captain Snodgrass (the military secretary) sent me one sirdar and fifty Burmahs. Every man had his oar, supposing he was to row a boat ! Having got rid of these oars, and explained to them that they were to drive bullocks, I took them with me to camp. On my arrival I found orders had been sent for me to move to the bend of the river, as being more safe, and these Burmahs (only then hired, and night coming on) were all I had to depend upon, except twenty that remained of those from Donabew. " 7th and 8tk. Halted. On the latter day received an order to march next morning. " Qth. Marched to Zeoup (of which the proper name appears to be Natalain, Zeoup being a short distance off) this morning, with Burmah drivers. They behaved very well. Sir A . Camp- bell's commissariat appears to be without end ; he left this ground this morning, and the provisions are likely to be passing through our camp all day. Lawrenson joined us with one 6-pounder and two 5^-inch howitzers. " 10th and 11th. Halted on the 9th. Two companies of Sepoys were sent to Simbike to see if the enemy had returned since we were there. The scene witnessed was disgusting, and the putrid smell perceptible long before they reached the place ; none of the bodies had been buried, and apparently no one had been there since. Sir A. Campbell went to Wattegaum on the 10th, the scene of the repulse of Colonel Macdowell and his party. Not a soul did Sir A. Campbell find, and it is now supposed that the enemy have retired even to Mellown. We march to-morrow. " \1ih December. To-day we were to have marched, but the weather prevented us. It rained the whole night, and has rained the whole of this day without cessation. Cholera has appeared among us, and is alarmingly prevalent among the European part of the force. An uncomfortable, wet day, and as a commencement to our march rather disheartening. Life of Sir George Pollock. 143 " loth December. The weather somewhat clearer ; no rain, but heavy clouds threatening a deluge. Early in the morning the march was ordered at ten o'clock. Fortunately, the day continued cloudy. After advancing a mile we entered a forest of teak-trees. They were thickly studded, some very large, but the generality very small. The road was tolerably good, the soil, generally speaking, sandy, like the bed of a river. The short and abrupt turns necessary to avoid trees made it difficult to move quickly with four-wheeled carriages, new bullocks, and Burmah drivers. "We marched eight miles and seven furlongs, and encamped (still in the forest) on the edge of a swamp ; a most irregular camp, fronting the road we had come by, and with hardly room to move in. The guns arrived about half-past three P.M. A signal-gun (for the flotilla) was fired at eight o'clock P.M. Cholera has increased j the doctor of the 89th Regiment told me there had been twenty-one cases since the preceding morning, of which four had proved fatal; nine patients in a dangerous state had been sent to Prome. Our tent was near their hospital, and their groans were truly pitiable. " 14^. This morning the sky was clear. We marched at eight A.M., and reached our ground at half-past twelve, through a forest the whole of the way till within a few hundred yards of our encampment. The distance marched is eight miles, seven and a half furlongs. We are rather above ISTeoun-ben-Zeik, and close to the banks of the river the flotilla in sight. The view of the Arracan hills from the banks of the river is very splendid and very extensive. Before we marched this morning I saw the doctor of the 89th, who told me he had had twelve fresh cases of cholera ; four have died, the rest very ill. The forest was somewhat variegated in appearance to-day. Teak of very large size prevailed, but in parts the bushes of small male bamboo were so thick we could at times see only a few yards in every direction. We are still surrounded with trees, tamarind chiefly, and the ground is covered with long grass and under- wood. There has been a village here called Mayoun." The long grass referred to is that usually called by natives of India " elephant grass. " It grows to a 144 Life of Sir George Pollock. height of fifteen or twenty feet, and at this season of the year, owing to the recent heavy rains, it had col- lected so much wet that the soldiers were completely deluged from the water showered down upon them as they marched through the jungle. Kothing could have been more wretched than the circumstances under which the march from Prome to Mayoun had been conducted. Sir A. Campbell's division in advance had, equally with the Madras column, been ravaged with cholera, and rendered unspeakably miserable by reason of the inclemency of the weather, and the utter want of those neces- saries that even soldiers on the march through a hostile country are accustomed to look for from the ministrations of a commissariat corps. However, matters now began to mend somewhat. Colonel Pollock writes in his diary, December. This morning the weather was very fine, though decidedly not cold enough to suit my taste ; the sky was clear, with hardly a cloud. I forgot to mention that I had a complaint yesterday from my Burmah drivers that some Euro- peans had beaten or ill-treated them on the march. I imme- diately reported it to the General, who has issued an order on the s abject. I arrived in Calcutta this day twenty- two years ago. " ~L6tk. We marched this morning at eight o'clock, and reached our ground at three P.M., little more than nine miles, and encamped at a place called Peemboup, on a clear oval spot about 800 yards in length, and covered with doob grass growing more luxuriantly than I ever recollect. The number of sick is still very great, and I had to carry upon the guns and waggons thirty-seven European soldiers. Our march during the whole way was through a thick jungle, here and there some superb Life of Sir George Pollock. 145 tamarind-trees, and occasionally the small female bamboo growing in clusters, but so contiguous that it appeared im- pervious ; on either side of the road the tops met over our heads, forming an arch, and sometimes completely shaded us from the sun for some hundred yards. We passed through a deserted stockade about two miles in extent, tremendously strong from the nature of the ground, formed by the extremity of a range of hills. Had the Burmahs defended them our loss must have been very severe ; the road through these stockades was execrable, and fatigued both men and bullocks much, more indeed than all the rest of the march. About a mile on this the north side of these stockades, was another, very regularly built, about 300 yards square. An old priest who remained said the enemy had deserted it about seven days before. Sir Archibald Campbell's son passed our camp on his way to join his father, having just arrived at Calcutta. I am told the cases of cholera are not so violent as they were. "UJtJi December. The halt to-day will, I hope, be of service to my poor bullocks, who had hard work yesterday, and had it not been for a nullah two miles in front, which requires a bridge, we should have gone on four or five miles, and I should perhaps have reached the ground about sunset. To-day, it is said, we wait for the commissariat." The halt was necessary in consequence of the force encountering an impassable nullah. During this day the pioneers and strong working parties were engaged, under the direction of the engineer officer, in constructing a bridge, while the commissariat officer was employed in bringing up the provisions. " 18th and ~L9th. On the 18th we marched at eight A.M., and reached our ground, Ing-goun, at three P.M., having travelled over almost fourteen miles. As usual, the artillery was left to find its own way. Sir Archibald Campbell was en- camped near Ing-goun, about a mile off. Bather an extensive plain was covered with doob grass, on which we encamped. " On the 19th we halted, and expected to remain a day or two 10 146 Life of Sir George Pollock. longer, but at night we received orders to join Sir A. Campbell, in consequence of his division not being able to proceed. The 47th, with the artillery, occupied the spot. Sir A. Campbell left during the day of the 19th. " 20th. Marched at seven A.M. Passed through Meeayday, and encamped at eleven A.M. with Sir Archibald Campbell above it. Meeayday must have been of some consequence long ago ; there are the remains of old brick walls. The enemy's works extended two or three miles above Meeayday. We passed many of their soldiers dead and dying of hunger and disease, a horrible sight. My guns are now driven by Burmahs, Madras pioneers, Syces, grass-cutters, and gun Lascars, a motley crew, but I had to look to them for the advance of the Bengal Foot Artillery. General Cotton aided as much as in his power, and the men fortunately were willing, but my anxiety was none the less. "21st. Sir A. Campbell issued orders for the Body-guard, Horse Artillery, and H.M.'s 41st and 89th to march this day at seven A.M., the Foot Artillery, with three native corps, at ten. "We travelled over a tolerable road for four and a half miles, when we came to some old stockades, some of them only begun and some fallen to decay, as usual, extensive. We went on about three or four miles, the road gradually getting worse, when we were informed that it was so completely blocked up with Sir A. Campbell's baggage and commissariat that we were obliged to return to the stockades. As water was not procurable nearer, we retraced our steps, and encamped as directed, the ground strewed in various directions with dead Burmahs ; many also seen on the road. (Camp Keannagah, four and a half miles from Meeayday.)" The sights that met his eye must have reminded George Pollock of the horrors perpetrated by Holkar on the fugitives of Monson's broken army in the year when he commenced his military career in India. The scene of death and misery around Meeayday has been vividly pourtrayed by an eye-witness. Within and around the stockades the ground was strewn Life of Sir George Pollock. 147 with dead and dying, lying promiscuously together, the victims of wounds, disease, and want; in one spot 200 dead bodies were counted. Here and there a small white pagoda marked where a man of rank lay buried; while numerous newly -made graves denoted that the corpses strewn around were merely the remnants of mortality left above ground owing to the hurried departure of the enemy. The beach and neighbouring jungles swarmed with dogs and vultures waiting to gorge themselves with their horrid repast. The camp that night, what with the growling and screaming of these creatures, and the pestilential and foul smell of this Golgotha, must have been a very undesirable place of repose. But these were not all that met the eye and assailed the nose. The sensibilities of the soldiers, even of the most hardened of them, must have been shocked by the sight of numerous gibbets, on each of which were extended the mouldering remains of the victims cruci- fied by the mandates of the bloodthirsty chieftains, who thus visited such offences as wandering in search of food, or flying from the enemy. For fifty miles up the river beyond Meeayday, similar horrors met the gaze of the troops, and Snodgrass relates that so thickly were these wretched victims of war strewn around, that " on some of the grounds for encamp- ment it was difficult to find room for pitching the tents without previously removing some dead bodies from the spot." The Bengal commissariat i'ailing in its supply of 10 * 148 Life of Sir George Pollock. beef for the Europeans, the division from that Presidency was halted until cattle could be obtained from the people of the district, while the Commander- in-Chief with head-quarters marched with the Madras Division towards Mellown, upon which city the Bur- mese army had been ordered to concentrate. The country between it and Meeayday was a perfect wilderness, and wholly depopulated ; the once thriv- ing villages along the route had been burned, and all the cattle, and every living thing that could afford sustenance to an army, had been driven off. The scene was depressing, and must have awakened grave apprehension in the mind of the Commander-in-Chief, and, indeed, of every thoughtful man of the force. The situation of this handful of British troops could not but cause anxiety, and as day by day the hard- ships of the march and the continuous visitations of the fell disease cholera, thinned the ranks or increased the number of non-effectives, many brave hearts must have whispered to themselves the anxious question, What will be the end of all this ? One writer on the events of the war doubtless expresses this feeling, which, however, was at no time one of despondency, for the force had implicit confidence in their com- mander, as one who had profited by the lessons he had learned in that unequalled school of war under the mighty Wellington in Spain. " We appeared to traverse a wilderness from which mankind had fled ; and our little camp of 2,000 men seemed but a speck in the desolate and dreary waste that surrounded it, Life of Sir George Pollock. 149 calling forth at times an irksome feeling which, could with difficulty be repressed, at the situation of a handful of men in the heart of an extensive empire, pushing boldly forward to the capital, still 300 miles distant, in defiance of an enemy whose whole force still outnumbered ours in a tenfold ratio, and without a hope of further reinforcement from our distant ships and depot." Colonel Pollock continues in his diary : "22nd December. Marched at seven A.M., and reached our ground at a quarter to one ; road most abominable. I walked the whole way. Joined Sir A. Campbell, who had halted for his baggage. Still many dead Burmahs on the roadside. (Camp Kanlah, seven miles.) " 23rd. Marched at seven, and reached our ground at quarter to ten A.M. Road good. Called on the two generals. Firing heard up the river from the flotilla. The natives are said to be coming in for protection. (Camp Bho, or Bo.) " 2^tJi. Sir A. Campbell gone on with his usual party. We halt and move on to-morrow at seven. " 25th December, 1825. Christmas day. Marched this morn- ing at twenty minutes to five o'clock, by moonlight, and reached our ground at a quarter to eleven A.M. Afc our usual rate of going I should suppose we had come fourteen miles ; the road good, except in two or three places. Near the end of the march the pole of the leading gun was broken. We encamped on the ground which Sir A. Campbell had left in the morning, com- pletely surrounded by jungle ; a nullah in our rear. (Camp Napewdo.) " %Gth December. Marched at twenty-five minutes past four, reached our ground at half-past eight. We came, I think, about seven or eight miles. The road very good ; encamped on the banks of the river. There is a large house and several pagodas here. Sir A. Campbell left this ground this morning. The distance to Patanagoh is said to be seven or eight miles ; he must consequently have reached it to-day. Opposite to it, on the other side of the river, is said to be Mellown, and as we 150 Life of Sir George Pollock. have not heard firing, we conclude that the enemy have fled as usual." This place Colonel Pollock calls in his diary Shem- bonwa, though it is called by other writers Longhee; it is prettily situated on the banks of the Irrawaddy, and is described by Colonel Syme, in his account of Lord Macartney's mission to the King of Siam, as a flourishing town, though at the time of the visit of the British army there was scarcely a single house. 11 27th December. Marched at half-past four, a distance of nine miles ; reached our ground at ten. The road bad, hilly, with short turns ; the whole way a thick forest or jungle hardly ever able to see thirty yards in any direction. Passed rather a large village this morning, quite deserted. It is said we have fifteen miles to go to-morrow, when we shall be six miles from Patanagoh. (Camp Kashahzoon.) " 28th. Marched a little after three A.M.; reached our ground at a quarter to eleven. A veiy bad road, generally thick jungle. Passed seven stockades well situated, and twelve times crossed nullahs. Came about thirteen miles. Colonel Tidy, Captain Smith, and Dr. Knox have proceeded to Mellown to learn how matters stood. Patanagoh is said to be five miles off, and Mellown nearly opposite. There are five stockades close to us. The jungle we have passed through has proved fatal to many, who have died of fever in consequence. Lieutenant McLeod, 89th, died this morning ; another officer of that corps is very ill, also Lieutenant Carter of the Royals. We are on the banks of the river, and the flotilla close to us. I am not sanguine as to peace. (Camp Meghioungyeh, thirteen miles.)" The army had now marched 140 miles from Prome, through a description of country that would have been deemed impassable to any artillery but British ; Life of Sir George Pollock. 1 5 1 not a solitary inhabitant had been met along a route once thickly populated, or a single head of cattle on the banks of a stream forming the chief highway of a kingdom. The officers named by George Pollock were de- spatched as an embassy to Mellown, jointly by Sir A. Campbell and Mr. Bobertson, the chief Civil Commis- sioner with the army, and had been sent in conse- quence of a communication from Sir James Brisbane, stating that Kollein Mengie had arrived from Ava with full powers to treat with the British, and that he was anxious to commence negotiations having for their object the conclusion of a definitive treaty of peace. The Burmese Commissioners demanded a truce of twenty-five days, but this Colonel Tidy positively re- fused, and only consented to allow twenty-four hours; while in the meantime the army continued its advance, and passed through a series of fortified posts, selected with great care and skill, but destitute of any de- fenders. . We were yesterday ordered to march at half-past six o'clock, but in the evening were ordered to follow with the three Native corps at ten. After marching nearly two miles I was met by the Deputy Adjutant- General, Madras force, who had orders to hurry us forward to take up a position. We advanced at a trot, and kept it up nearly the whole way ; the leading bullocks being driven by Burmahs, who really appeared to enjoy the prospect of attacking their brethren. I afterwards found the head sirdar Burmah driver had relations in Mellown, though this did not prevent him urging on the men. On my arrival I found that negotiations were going on. The enemy 152 Life of Sir George Pollock. had escorted the steamboat up the river past Mellown, by that means cutting off their own boat in case we should not eventually agree about terms ; part of the flotilla is thus above, and part below the city. Many are said to have taken themselves off. " Towards the afternoon we heard that the final and decisive conference would be held the following day at twelve o'clock. From this side we can see into the stockade in almost every part." The town of Patanagoh, which was occupied on the 29th, was immediately opposite Mellown, the fortifications of which were built on the slope of a hill. The principal stockade was of considerable ex- tent and strength, though it was commanded from the river face by artillery, which, if well directed, could search out every nook and corner of it. Trant thus describes the position, as well as the events of the 29th:- " The river here is only 1,000 yards wide ; and on the west side is bounded by successive ranges of hills, falling in some places gradually, in others abruptly, down to the water's edge. On the slope of these were the ruins of the ancient fort of Mellown, which, formerly consisting of a rampart and ditch, now fallen to decay, were considerably elevated above,, and overlooked the country on the land side ; though from the river the whole interior of the work could be seen. Its shape was square, and it had further been defended by a stockade and strong abattis. In the centre was a conical hill, surmounted by a pagoda, and fortified on the summit by a brick revetment, which rendered it a very strong post quite the acropolis of Mellown. " Numerous gay pagodas reared their spiral tops within the walls ; and at a short distance from the ramparts a neat gilt pagoda had lately been erected by the directions of the king over the ashes of the much- valued Maha Bundoolah, whose remains had been brought thus far. Life of Sir George Pollock. 153 " About a mile to the south of Mellown the river becomes more contracted, and there, on the brink of a precipice, the enemy had erected a strong work, and mounted several guns, which completely commanded the passage of the river, and rendered the attempt to pass up rather hazardous. At the moment of our appearance at Patanagoh, Mellown presented a very lively appearance. Troops well armed were marching and countermarching ; chieftains, distinguished by their golden chattahs, kept moving to and fro, apparently giving directions ; gongs and bands of music were sounding with a most vehement uproar ; and under the walls lay several hundred boats, some adapted for war, but by far the greater part belonging to merchants and traders, who, as soon as they saw us, made a simultaneous attempt to pull up the stream, but were arrested in their flight by a few rounds from our artillery fired over their heads. In the meantime Sir James Brisbane, in the Diana, advanced up the river, but the Burmahs, instead of firing at him, sent a couple of gilt war-boats to meet the steamboat and escort her past the batteries ; and the commodore, unmolested, sailed by the town, and anchored in a line beyond the Burman boats, so as to prevent any of them escaping." Prince Memiaboo, who commanded at Mellown, had fled from the fort, hut he subsequently returned. To proceed with extracts from Colonel Pollock's diary. December. The Commissioners * met in a native boat well suited to the occasion, anchored in the middle of the river. The hour appointed was two P.M. The commissioners were punctual, but the Burmahs were late. The dress of the Khee and party was fantastical, as at Neoun-ben-zeik. We who remained ashore felt considerable anxiety for the result. I certainly expected to be employed that night in making batteries to be opened in the morning. The conference lasted three hours, and was reported to be of a most pacific nature ; that the Bur- * Kollein Mengie, Khee Wong- British side were Sir A. Campbell, hee, Maha Silwa, and another of Sir James Brisbane, and Mr. inferior rank, while those on the Robertson. 154 Life of Sir George Pollock. mahs had ceded all the territory asked, but demurred about the money, pleading inability. A second conference was agreed upon for the following day at the same hour. Fevers and cholera still continue to carry off several of our men ; two officers died yesterday, and several more are dangerously ill. The state of things may be attributed to the forests and jungle we have passed through from Prome to this. " 31s. A second conference was held to-day, and peace appears to be certain, as far as the negotiations here are con- cerned, and they say the king will ratify anything they sign. All difficult and knotty points have been got over. A meeting is to take place to-morrow to determine some minor points, but which cannot affect the harmony now subsisting between the two nations. " 1st January, 1826. The conference which was to have been held to-day has been deferred, in consequence of the illness of one of the Burmah negotiators. Although things have gone on well so far, these fellows are not to be trusted ; accordingly, Dr. Knox paid the gentleman a visit, and found it a true bill. He, however, administered nothing, as the patient had already taken a Burmah dose ; for his trouble the doctor received a common piece of cloth and a few plantains. " 2nd January. The Commissioners met again to-day at two o'clock, and did not separate till dark, when we learnt that everything had been finally settled, with the exception of signing, for which purpose they are to meet to-morrow at ten o'clock. All parties appear to agree that there can be little or indeed no doubt of our returning as friends in a few days. We wait here, or at our last ground, until the treaty returns from Ava, ratified by the Grolden Foot. One or two occurrences are said to have taken place this side the river which have a bad appearance, and certainly require to be sifted, now that we are supposed to befriends. A Madras dawk was sent some days ago from hence to the other camp (not more than three miles) : the letters have not arrived, and the man has not been heard of. We have also heard that the afternoon before yesterday Lieutenant Flood, of H.M.'s 13th, left this camp for his own about five o'clock on horseback, and has not since been heard of." Life of Sir George Pollock. 155 This officer was subsequently restored to his comrades, and stated that on the night of his dis- appearance he was returning to Meghioungyeh, about five miles distant, where his regiment was stationed, when being overtaken by the darkness, he lost his way, and after wandering about all night, encoun- tered a native, from whom he inquired his way to camp. This man led him some distance until he came to a place where four other Burmese were standing, who immediately rushed out, seized and pinioned him, and then, placing him in a cart, drove off to a village, distant about fifty miles inland. There he was roughly treated, part of his clothes were taken from him, and he was obliged to exhibit himself to the villagers as a curiosity. Subsequently he was removed to Mugway, forty miles up the river, where he received much better treatment, and was permitted to rove about the village. "3rd January. To-day the treaty was signed and sealed. The Burmahs begged hard to be let off fifteen lacs or so, but the sum was fixed at one crore. We wait here till the prisoners, the treaty ratified, and the rupees come from Ava. We then proceed to Prome, and wait for a further payment : after which we go to Rangoon, and wait for a third instalment, and then for Calcutta. "4 from his Indian experience and reputation, well calculated to restore confidence in a/demoralized native army ; and who, having been associated with the Company's European Artillery, was not less familiar with the management of British soldiers. In this selection the desponding and bewildered Gover- nor-General and the military authorities * displayed, as Marshman says, their "solitary instance of wisdom;" but we ought not, perhaps, to be too censorious, as this unique display of sagacity on their part retrieved the almost desperate state of affairs, and saved British honour, if not British India as well. George Pollock was at this time the right man in the right place. In his person he combined the qualities necessary for a leader of men in a crisis when so many civilians, and soldiers too of the highest standing, some " bearing their blushing honours thick upon them," despaired of planting the British ensign on the ramparts of the Bala Hissar, while not a few * The advice of the military always acted upon. General Pol- member of the Supreme Council, lock was always of opinion that Major- General Sir William Case- he had been selected by Lord ment, was generally sound and Auckland, and not by Sir Jasper sagacious, though it was not Nicolls, as stated by Kaye. Life of Sir George Pollock. 1 1 5 regarded as lost the beleaguered garrison of Jellala- bad. The Bengal Artillery officer, however, did not " despair of the State," but showed himself in this crisis " equal to affairs." That Greorge Pollock was eminently fitted for the post, was allowed by all those who had studied his character and career, and had observed the indomitable energy displayed by him in trying cir- cumstances, and the patience with which he overcame the most provoking obstacles thrown in his way by chance and by faint-hearted seniors placed in authority over him. The testimony of two such observant and discriminating officers as Captain Henry Lawrence and Captain Greorge Broadfoot, is convincing on this point. The former, writing to his wife from Pesh- awur on the 1st January, 1842, says: "Greneral Pollock is about as good a Commander as could be sent ;" and Broadfoot made the following entry in his diary on the 4th February : " Vigorous and skilful measures will yet set all right. May Pollock well support his present character. He has a noble field before him, and much is expected of him. He is of an able family too. I hope to see him a Peer ; the first of our service since Clive." The firmness and decision that form so necessary a qualification for a successful general, were largely developed in Pollock's character. He was not a man who, urged on by personal vanity, accepted this important task with \ the sole object of winning a flashy reputation, and glorifying himself at any cost; far other were the 216 Life of Sir George Pollock. considerations and motives that swayed him. A sense of duty towards his country, and a determination, at all hazard, to fulfil it, alone animated him ; no one better than he knew the weighty load of responsibility he was incurring, or felt the gravity of the crisis in which he had thus undertaken to assume the most arduous post.* * Kaye admirably sums up General Pollock's qualifications for this important and delicate command : " The nomination of this old and distinguished Company's officer was believed to be free from the corruption of aristocratic influence and the taint of personal favourit- ism. It was felt that, in this case at least, the selection had been made solely on the ground of in- dividual merit. And the merit which was thus rewarded was of the most modest and unostenta- tious character. There was not, perhaps, in the whole Indian army a man of more unassuming man- ners and a more retiring disposi- tion there was not one less likely to have sought notoriety for its own sake, or to put himself for- ward in an effort to obtain it. Pollock's merits did not lie upon the surface. He was not what is called a ' dashing officer ; ' he shrank from anything like per- sonal display, and never appealed to the vulgar weaknesses of an unreflecting community. But be- neath a most unassuming exterior there lay a fund of good sense, of innate sagacity, of quiet firmness and collectedness. He was equa- ble and temperate he was tho- roughly conscientious. If he was looked upon by the Indian Go- vernment as a safe man, it was not merely because he always exer- cised a calm and dispassionate judgment, but because he was actuated in all that he did by the purest motives, and sustained by the highest principles. He was essentially an honest man there was a directness of purpose about him which won the confidence of all with whom he was associated. They saw that his own paramount desire was to do his duty to his country by consulting in every way the welfare and the honour of the troops under his command; and they knew that they would never be sacrificed, either on the one hand by the rash ambition, or on the other by the feebleness and indecision of their leader. The force now to be despatched to the frontier of Afghanistan required the superintendence and control of an officer equally cool and firm, temperate and decided ; and, per- haps, in the whole range of the Life of Sir George Pollock. 217 The newly- appointed general was at Agra when he received the order to proceed forthwith to Peshawur to take command of the troops assembling there, an order which was to exercise so paramount an in- fluence on his future; and he tells an anecdote of the circumstances under which he received it. At early dawn of the morning of the 1st day of the New Year, he was smoking his cheroot,* and enjoy- ing the fresh air of the hour, when his bearer handed him an official letter, bound with red tape. The General had just partaken of the light early repast, s) universal in India (where it is called "chota hazree," or little breakfast), and was passing into his dressing-room ; not having finished his cigar, he threw the portentous-looking missive on the table, under the belief that it was an order to despatch H.M/s 31st to Peshawur, that regiment having been warned for service. Presently he took up the letter, which was from the Coinmander-in-Chief, and, perusing it, learnt that he had been selected for the honourable task of leading the advance into Afghanistan. General Pollock was ordered to leave Agra as soon as the dawk was laid, which is effected by placing relays of bearers at all halting- stations. At the end of three days, Indian army, the Government Indian associate of the late Sir could not have found one in whom George Pollock, that to their re- these qualities were more emi- collection he never smoked. All nently combined than in the cha- we can say is, that the anecdote racter of General Pollock." related above was told to us by * We have been assured by the General himself, who also more than one intimate friend and perused it when in type. 21 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. by which time this was completed, and he had made arrangements for making over the command to his successor at Agra, he set out for Peshawur, directing his son Robert, an officer in the Horse Artillery, then stationed at Meerut, to join him at Ferozepore as his aide-de-camp. On George Pollock's arrival at the frontier, he overtook the 2nd brigade under Brigadier McCaskill, of the 9th Foot, then making its way through the Punjaub. He pushed on, leaving the brigade three marches from Attock, but, on his arrival at the Indus, found the Sikh troops encamped on the left bank under Eajah Gholaub Singh, accompanied by Shere Singh, while the road on the right bank was occupied by the four Nujeeb battalions, who had so shamefully refused to advance with Brigadier Wild's force. The General, who reached Attock on 1st February, was thus compelled to remain there until the Sikh troops moved away, which was effected after many urgent messages from Captain Henry Lawrence, who, true to his indomitable energy, had joined the Sikh camp with the object of hastening their advance to Peshawur. As the British troops arrived on the day our so-called allies marched, General Pollock remained with the former to hasten them across the Indus ; and, notwithstanding very heavy rains, he transported the whole brigade over the river, and marched to Akora on the 4th February. The next morning he again left the camp, and proceeded to Peshawur with Henry Lawrence, who returned again Life of Sir George Pollock. 219 to the Sikh camp on the 6th. Brevet-Major (now Lieut-Geoeral) Matthew Smith, of the 9th Eegiment, Brigade-Major to General McCaskill, describes the advent of the brigade into Peshawur, in one of a series of letters that appeared in the United Service Magazine in the year 1844. He says : " The Sikh soldiery stationed at Peshawur, and Mussulman inhabitants of the city, evinced unequivocal satisfaction at the discomfiture of our arms. Vast crowds assembled to see us march through the town to our encamping ground on the 8th. A sneer was in the expression of many countenances around us, and not a few of the bystanders were heard to speak of us as * food for the Khyber.' "We made intentionally as good a display of our force as possible. No doubt many were in the crowd of spectators who would convey intelligence of our coming to the enemy in and beyond the pass. Near to our place of encampment is a terraced building, on which we found General Avitabile seated in a stately manner to see the troops pass by. General Pollock dismounted and ascended the terrace, and I accompanied him. "We sat a short time with his Italian Excellency. He conversed in French, which he speaks indifferently and with a Neapolitan accent. His countenance is sensual, with large nose and lips, something of the Jewish cast, of course well whiskered and bearded. His age probably fifty; figure stout, and of good height. He wore a laced blue jacket, not unlike that of our horse artillery, capacious crimson trousers of the Turkish fashion, and a rich sword. He is said to rule his province with a stern control; some examples of which we remarked in sundry triangular gibbets (each constructed for the accommodation of about a dozen victims of justice) ; some of which were fully occupied, while others offered a few vacant situations, for which we understood there was no lack of candidates. " The city of Peshawur is of great extent ; and contains, among numerous dirty, narrow lanes, some wide streets and 22O Life of Sir George Pollock. good houses. We passed through two octagonal bazaars of considerable size, and neatly constructed : these were built by Avitabile. His own house, built also under his own personal instructions, forms a conspicuous object from a great distance. On the day of our arrival he entertained the officers very sump- tuously at dinner. The repast was succeeded by the usual Oriental amusement of contemplating the amusements and lis- tening to the screams (a more correctly descriptive term than singing) of a troop of Nautch girls. A liberal allowance to defray the expense of such hospitality is made to Avitabile by the Sikh Government." It was during General Pollock's progress through the Punjaub that the Governor-General received, as we have seen, on the 30th of January, the first intimation of the dreadful fate that had befallen General Ephinstone's force in the passes between Cabul and Jellalabad. After issuing a vigorous proclamation on the. 31st of January, to which we have already referred, he, on the same day, wrote to the Commander-in-Chief the following instructions for the guidance of General Pollock. First, reciting that the General would have under his command, on his arrival at Peshawur, a force of about 7,500 men, in addition to Sale's brigade at Jellalabad, and a second brigade ordered three days previously to pro- ceed to Peshawur, which would add about 3,000 com- batants to his army, Lord Auckland proceeds : " In the instructions of the 15th ultimo, it was stated that the object of the division was mainly that of demonstration and strength on the Peshawur frontier ; and that it would rest in his military discretion to determine whether he could with safety hold Jellalabad in advance, in dependence of secure com- mand of the Khyber, and the passes between Jellalabad and Life of Sir George Pollock. 221 Peshawur. If Major- General Pollock, arriving with, only General McCaskill's brigade, can safely maintain the position of Jellal- abad with due regard to the security of the communications through the Khyber Pass, he will, until otherwise ordered, con- tinue to do so ; and it will be highly desirable that he should find an opportunity of asserting our military superiority in the open country in the Jellalabad neighbourhood. But Jellalabad is not a place which the Governor- General in Council desires to be kept at all h; zards ; and after succour shall have been given to Sir R. Sale's brigade there, and relief shall have been given to parties arriving from Cabul, the Governor- General in Council would wish Major-General Pollock, rather than run extreme risks in that position, to arrange for withdrawal from it, and the assemblage of all his force at or near Peshawur. When eventually the last brigade may reach Peshawur, Major- General Pollock will then have received further directions for his conduct ; but, in the meanwhile, whether the bulk of his troops be at Jellalabad, or elsewhere, he will attend strictly to the direction given to him of holding them, to the utmost prac- ticable degree, assembled together, and in the most favourable positions ; not, of course, refraining from such detached or advanced operations near or beyond Jellalabad as the state of the country may render obviously expedient and advan- tageous." But as time advanced, the withdrawal policy of Lord Auckland began to make itself apparent ; and he now intimated to the Commander-in- Chief, in a letter dated the 10th of February, his determination that General Pollock should confine himself to the safe withdrawal of the Jellalabad garrison. He says : " The intelligence received since the transmission to you of our despatch of the 31st ultimo, has convinced us that, excepting under some very unforeseen change, no sufficient advantage would be derived from an attempt to retain possession of Jellalabad for any prolonged period during the present season. 222 Life of Sir George Pollock. The fate of the gallant garrison at that place will probably have been determined before the intimation of our opinion to the above effect can reach Major-General Pollock. But we would request your Excellency without delay to inform the Major- General that the main inducement for the maintenance of a post at Jellalabad, namely, that of being a point of support to any of our troops escaping from Cabul, having now, it must be feared, unhappily passed away, it is the object of the Government that he should, unless any unforeseen contingency should give a decidedly favourable turn to affairs, confine himself to measures for withdrawing the Jellalabad garrison in safety to Peshawur ; and then, for the present, holding together all the troops under his orders in a secure position, removed from collision with the Sikh forces or subjects." At this time General Pollock's artillery was limited to three guns, and the Governor-General, in this letter, stated that the remaining half of the battery, in addition to Captain Alexander's 3rd troop, 2nd brigade, horse artillery, should be attached to the brigade on the march from Ferozepore to join him. In the Governor-General's letter of the 28th January, to Sir Jasper Nicolls, General Pollock's powers are defined as commanding the force " at and beyond Peshawur," in the room of General Elphin- stone, who had hitherto commanded in chief the troops west of the Indus ; also, while the local com- mand at Jellalabad was still vested in General Sale, " it was subject to the direction of General Pollock." George Pollock, having reached Peshawur on the 5th of February, now once more appears on the scene of military strife ; and for his deeds during the next eight months, deeds at which " all the world Life of Sir George Pollock. 223 wondered," he has earned an imperishable renown and a niche in the temple of fame. During these months his name was in every one's month, not only throughout the East, but in every portion of the civilized world, as they watched the denouement of the eventful drama throughout its several acts. But as it was in India that George Pollock gained his laurels, none but those who were in that country during those stirring times can imagine the state of expec- tation and suspense to which the Eastern world was wound up, while all eyes were bent upon the figure of the General commanding at Peshawur, and millions of tongues discussed the results of the momentous events on the eve of accomplishment. The heart of every European, from the Sut- lej to Cape Comorin, beat faster as they weighed the terrible odds against his success, with the materials placed at his disposal; while the blood that pulsated under the black skin of every lounger in countless bazaars from the snowy range of the Himalayas, and the inaccessible peaks of the "Eoof of the World" to the Indian Ocean throbbed in unison with wild aspirations, having for their object the throwing off for ever the yoke of the detested Feringhee. Millions thus speculated, and prayed, and waited for the hour that was at length, they hoped, about to strike, while they nerved their hearts to avenge the humiliation they, as con- quered races, had so long suffered. Nor were wanting astute observers European and Native who pre- 224 Life of Sir George Pollock. dieted the certainty of failure ; and amongst these was General Avitabile, one of the most experienced of the Generals of Shere Singh, the ruler of the Punjaub. Though doomed to inaction for a period of two months, while waiting for what he considered rein- forcements essential to success, General Pollock evinced, as much as at any period of his life, that quiet decision of character which would not yield to clamour, when his better judgment convinced him of the folly of advancing into the Khyber until he considered he was justified by the possession of men and material sufficient, in concert with careful gene- ralship, to prevent the possibility of a failure. Never- theless, no one more than he regretted the necessity he was under of biding his time. While General Pollock was making his way through the Punjaub, the most alarming rumours concerning the demoralized condition, not only of the Sepoys, but of some of the officers, of Wild's brigade, continued to reach him, and the Commander-in-Chief, to whose ears these rumours had come, addressed to him a private letter on the 29th January, in which he says : " In some letters, Captain Lawrence has expressed himself in a very decided manner touching the disheartened and unguarded language held by officers belonging to the corps which were beaten back in the Khyber Pass on the 19th instant. God forbid that they should feel any panic or alarm, but if you ob- serve it, I rely on your addressing yourself to them in a very forcible manner, and shaming them out of such very unbe- coming, unmilitary, and dangerous conduct. Their duty is Life of Sir George Pollock. 225 obedience prompt and energetic obedience such as executes without expression of doubt. If more has been said than the case seemed to require, take no notice of this further than to warn Captain Lawrence, if you think proper to do so." But more had not been said than the facts war- ranted, and this General Pollock soon found out. The day after his arrival, he learned from Brigadier Wild that in his brigade of four regiments there were 1,000 men sick. He energetically set to work to devise means, if possible, to check this epidemic, which he shrewdly guessed would be found, on a careful diagnosis, to be more moral than physical. He pro- ceeded the next morning to camp, visited all the hospitals, with the double object of endeavouring to ascertain from the surgeons the probable cause, and of inspiriting the men by conversing with them, and endeavouring to instil confidence by animating words and assuring promises. The General, in his official re- port of the 12th of February, attributed the sickness to the inclemency of the weather, and the exposure to which the Sepoys had been subjected during Wild's disastrous advance, and ordered them to be supplied with worsted gloves and stockings. He added, " J shall visit their hospitals frequently, and by adding in any way to their comforts, show that I feel an interest in them." But until this kindly consideration came to be appreciated by these faint-hearted Asiatics, the sick- roll continued to increase, until before the 12th of February, the date of the General's despatch, it 15 226 Life of Sir George Pollock. amounted to more than 1,800 men in hospital. He proceeds to say, " The Sikh troops tinder Rajah Gholaub Singh have not yet arrived, and I fear, from the very unnecessary delay which has been made since I first met them at Attock, that I can expect little, indeed, no aid from them ; it is unfortunate that it should be so, but it is better that I should expect no aid than depend upon receiving it, and afterwards be disappointed. The number of troops which I have now fit for duty, exclusive of cavalry, is scarcely equal to the strength of Brigadier Wild's brigade before I arrived. I could not, therefore, hope to advance and keep open my communications with Peshawur. This is quite evident from the circumstance of the communication being entirely cut off between Ali Musjid and Peshawur, while two regiments held possession of the former place, and the other two regiments were at the mouth of the pass. If, as I am led to expect from his Excellency the Commander-in- Chief, another brigade, including the 31st Queen's and the 3rd Dragoons, is now on its march to join me, I shall have no difficulty in ad- vancing, for I fully expect that the sickness which now exists will cease as the weather becomes milder." The General had other difficulties to contend with, and was positively unable to advance for want of ammunition, so ill-supplied was his small force with the first requirements for undertaking offensive operations. He writes, on the 16th of February, " The unfortunate affair at Ali Musjid, where four regiments were employed, shows the impracticability of keeping open the pass with a small force, even for the short distance of eight or ten miles. I require 271,542 rounds to complete the force here to 200 rounds per man. As I advance, the communication with my rear would be entirely closed. I should also be ad- vancing with a very limited quantity of ammunition for small arms, which Sir Robert Sale would be in want of. When the Life of Sir George Pollock. 227 whole force is assembled, and I reach Jellalabad, I cannot doubt that, should an opportunity offer, our military superiority would enable me to meet any number of the enemy." Five days later he was able to report that his " sick are daily decreasing ; to-day the number is 1,289, and this is a very important point." The worst feature in the condition of his force at this time, was undoubtedly the bad feeling that prevailed among the Sepoys, and even some of the officers of the Native Infantry regiments. So serious was this disaffection, that General Pollock felt himself constrained to address the Ad- jutant-General officially in the following terms : " It is to me most painful that, notwithstanding all my hopes about the state of the men, I am sorry to say there have been several desertions of late, and there is a feeling among many of the Hindoos of four regiments of Brigadier Wild's force which is most lamentable. " A number of the unfortunate creatures from Cabool have come down here, and have exaggerated their sufferings, stating, among other things, that although they were Brahmins, food was thrust down their throats by Mussulmans, and they were spit upon. Some men have also shown mutilated hands and feet, having been frost-bitten ; these things are said to have operated to cause a backwardness. "I sent for Lieutenant-Colonel Tulloch, who admitted that there was a bad feeling which he had just heard of. He seemed to say that the men would 15 * 228 Life of Sir George Pollock. not hesitate to go to Jellalabad to the relief of Sir E. Sale, but that they had a dread of proceeding to Cabool. I went to each of the other commanding officers, viz., of the 30th, 53rd, and 64th, and instructed them to endeavour to find out what the real state of the case was. Each of these latter officers seemed to consider his own regiment free from any taint, but I had reason to think otherwise, and I further believe that the causes I have mentioned were brought forward by the men to screen them from a suspicion of fear, which, in my opinion, was the real cause. " The affairs which have already taken place in this quarter, and in which these corps are concerned, were so disastrous, that they have, in my opinion, pro- duced the feeling which now unhappily exists. In consequence of what I have stated, his Excellency and government will suppose that I am doubly anxious to open the Khyber Pass, which those regiments evidently dread. " The vicinity of the Sikh troops is perplexing, for they would not only delight in the feeling I have mentioned, but have, I am told, endeavoured to encourage it ; I have, therefore, been obliged to pre- vent them coming into our camp. " I feel, at such a crisis, the want of more European troops, for their presence would give confidence to the native soldiers. " Captain Napleton and other officers of the 60th, have been doing their utmost to bring their men to a Life of Sir George Pollock. 229 proper feeling, and expect a successful result; the 53rd are equally implicated, but I have just heard, from both Lieutenant-Colonel Tulloch and Major Hoggan, that considerable reaction has taken place, and they hope to report all right before to-morrow evening. "I cannot help remarking here, that this is the second instance of misconduct on the part of the 60th since they have arrived here, from which I feel inclined to believe their internal economy is not such as it should be. I inspected them a few days ago, in marching order, and have never seen a finer-looking regiment. At Cawnpore, I recollect them in excel- lent order. "Were I differently situated, I might attempt coercive measures, but surrounded as I am by the Sikhs, and within hearing of the Pass, I think such a measure should, on all accounts, be avoided ; it might risk the safety of the force, which I consider of the utmost importance. The feeling to which I have alluded, was reported to me the day before yesterday by Lieutenant Verner, who very properly considered it right that I should immediately be informed, and I should have reported the circumstance yesterday but that I had strong hopes, from the measures I took, that I should be able to suppress it, and was unwilling to give unnecessary alarm, although my anxiety as to the result has been greater than I can express. " I shall address you daily on this subject by express, 230 Life of Sir George Pollock. until I feel confident that all are willing to go on ; they all profess their willingness to die in action in the plains, but they dread Cabool when approached through these passes." In referring to some letters that appeared in the Delhi Gazette of the 2nd and 5th of August, 1843, in which the writer, under the initial letters Gr. N., sought to detract from General Pollock's great merit in subduing the mutinous feeling among officers and men, Captain Ferris, a gallant officer, whose corps of Jezailchees did right good service during the sub- sequent advance, wrote to General Pollock : " As far as I am concerned, I should have no hesitation in saying before the whole world that at the time of your arrival at Peshawur, or shortly after, the feeling which existed in the 53rd Regiment Native Infantry, and the 60th, amounted almost to a state of mutiny. I perfectly remember at a mess-table hearing opinions expressed publicly, th it it were far better to sacrifice General Sale's brigade than to risk the lives of 12,000 men ; for that it was impossible to force the pass without a loss of more than half your force. " I immediately offered to bet a lottery ticket with every man at table that we should force the Khyber with a loss of 200 killed and wounded, and was answered, 'The thing is im- possible ; in the state the Sepoys now are in, we must lose half our force.' On another occasion, at a public dinner given by the 64th Regiment Native Infantry to the 53rd, the day after the two corps returned from Ali Musjid, before your arrival, I heard Captain , of the 53rd Native Infantry, declare that, * in the event of an ad- vance being again ordered, he would use his utmost endeavours to prevent a Sepoy of his company from again entering the pass.' I was sitting opposite to Captain , and immediately replied, ' As a British officer, you ought to be ashamed to ex- press such an opinion.' Colonel and Major were Life of Sir George Pollock. 231 both at table, but I cannot say if they heard this speech. The feeling that existed in the 53rd and 60th can be no secret to the whole of your force, for it was publicly talked of all over the camp, and it is perfectly astonishing to me how any man could have had the barefaced impudence to sit down and pen such libels. You have my permission to make any use you please of what I have stated, and I am prepared to prove all of what I have written, whenever called on to do so.." Another officer, Major Grahan, of the 26th Native Infantry, in a letter dated "Landour, 26th August, 1843," expresses, him self as equally indignant at the statements that appeared in the Delhi Gazette, but in terms which, though creditable to his good feeling as an honourable and truth-loving gentleman, are. some- what too unparliamentary to bear transcribing in full. He refers to the open disaffection of the Sepoys, and the fact that four out of five regiments refused to ad- vance, while nightly meetings of delegates from the dif- ferent regiments of Wild's brigade were held in camp, the 26th Native Infantry, which formed part of McCaskill's brigade, being invited to join the con- federacy. Major Grahan, quoting from the libellous letter the passage in which the writer states "for a time the Sikhs did inveigle many of our recruits and young Sepoys, with two or three old ones, to desert from our ranks and take service in their army, but the fault must be mainly laid to the door of the General," says : " Now the only inference to be deduced from this infamous assertion was that the men of Wild's brigade were all right till you joined, and then their contamination and desertion com- 232 Life of Sir George Pollock. menced. We, that is, the 9th and 26th brigade, were some days at Kowulsur before you joined our camp, and so far from finding the native brigade in the state represented by G. N., I can positively state that in less than forty-eight hours after our arrival active emissaries, particularly from the 53rd and 60th, were in our camp, using every effort to induce our men to desert and to refuse to enter the Khyber, and had actually gone the lengths of sending Brahmins with the Gunga Jul to swear them in not to advance, and did not depart until orders were given to seize the first man caught in the lines under suspicious circumstances. This information has several times been com- municated to me by old Sepoys and non-conjmissioned officers, and the fact of the attempts made to sedude^he men from their allegiance is too well known to the officers of the 26th to admit of a moment's doubt. I contented myself by reminding my own company (the grenadiers) of what occurred at Barrackpore in 1824 there being many men in the company who were present with the corps then and exhorting them not to disgrace their colours, or be led away by a set of scoundrels who used the plea of religion as a cloak for their cowardice ; and in this business the men of the 53rd were invariably named as the ringleaders. What now becomes of the assertion that 'it was mainly the General's fault'? almost all that I have mentioned having oc- curred before you came into camp. With regard to the comfort of the men, as far as the 26th were concerned, I never heard a complaint of any lack of either such comforts or necessaries as were procurable under existing circumstances from the time we entered Afghanistan till we left it. With regard to the state- ment of the Sikhs being allowed free access to camp, all I can speak myself to the point is that, as captain of the day, agree- ably to orders, I recollect perfectly well refusing- many admit- tances, and turning others out who had made their way in through the various apertures it was impossible to hermetically seal." In another part of the letter he states : " The unpleasant feeling G. N". speaks of was neither more nor less than a dissatisfaction openly expressed by the 60th and 64th regarding posterns, &c. This was the alleged one, I know ; Life of Sir George Pollock. 233 but I was credibly informed by intelligent men of my own corps that it was grasped at merely as another plea to obviate the possibility of their being ordered to advance. The disgraceful state of the 53rd was at one time the byword of the camp from the number of desertions that took place, and it was, I believe, the only corps that lost a native officer in that way. With regard to the 60th, having had ocular demonstration of the spirit that pervaded them on our arrival in camp, and of their conduct afterwards in crossing the river at Dakka, I need but say, not being aware of any reasons they had for so doing, I never saw worse. With regard to the letter dated the 3rd March to General Lumley, which Gr. N". complains so much of, no one but those reflected on in camp ever doubted its substantial correct- ness ; nor that the feeling among the Hindoos of that brigade was most truly lamentable I hardly thought any man present in camp then could deny; and that 'that lamentable feel- ing ' was nothing but downright fear I conceived to be fully established as an indubitable fact by their conduct from first to last. With regard to the statement of H and P , that their men were without taint, it is contradicted by every act of the men themselves; but that they should be tainted is hardly to be wondered at, when I myself have heard language from both those officers which, if it ever reached the ears of their men, must have encouraged every bad feeling. P at our own mess-table I have heard use language against their being ordered into the pass which surprised and disgusted every one ; and H on various occasions, and at his own mess, very little better." After animadverting upon other points in these libellous letters, Major Grahan winds up with, "You can make any use you like of this letter, as I have advanced nothing that I do not firmly believe to be fully capable of proof." Even the non-professional reader, fully alive to the absolute necessity of implicit obedience to the General commanding an army, a virtue forming the elemen- 234 Life of Sir George Pollock. tary principle of discipline, can form some idea of the almost insuperable obstacles which, in the guise of cowardly Sepoys and insubordinate officers, it was absolutely essential General Pollock should overcome before an advance into the Khyber could be thought of. But he was eminently fitted to cope with such hindrances by reason of his patient, equable tempera- ment, and he exhibited great sagacity in his treatment of the moral disease from which a portion of his native troops was suffering. It had come to his ears that an officer of one of the native regiments already specified, had said, not only before others, but even in the presence of his men, referring to the expected advance, " Well, never mind, we shall none of us ever return again." On another occasion an officer came to his tent one night and informed him that he considered it his duty to make known to him that the high-caste Brahmins were carrying about the gunga paunee, the sacred water of the Ganges, and swearing in the men to refuse to enter the Khyber. To this and other like representations the General invariably enjoined silence, and redoubled his own exertions in seeking to inspire confidence into the wavering by personally addressing and reasoning with them. Sir Jasper Nicolls, in a letter dated Simla, Sept. 2, 1842, to the address of Lord Fitzroy Somerset, K.C.B., Adjutant-General at the Horse Guards, for the in- formation of Lord Hill, Commander-in-Chief, after detailing the circumstances already mentioned regard- ing the appointment of General Pollock, does justice Life of Sir George Pollock. 235 to the rare military virtues he manifested during this trying period : " I need not inform Lord Hill that the management of the Native army, or of small portions of it, is a matter, at times, of delicacy and difficulty. It will not do to distrust or disparage it, as Colonel Monson did. The Governor-General gave such an unwilling and discouraging reply to my second communica- tion, that I clearly saw the whole onus of the appointment and of its consequences would be mine. This I would not under- take, and Major-General Pollock being near at hand, and honoured by Lord Auckland's confidence (as I know), I or- dered him by dawk to join the 9th foot and other corps. This done, Government was pleased to confer upon him the political powers intended for Major-General Lumley; without which Sir Edmund Williams would have had to act, not from himself, but according to requisitions made by the local political au- thorities viz., Brevet- Cap tains Mackeson and Macgregor. " I had soon occasion to rejoice that Sir Edmund was not appointed to the command on my sole responsibility, for the four Sepoy corps first sent, under Brigadier Wild, having been most sadly mismanaged (at the instance of the political au- thorities, against my instructions and earnest caution), when Major-General Pollock arrived at Peshawur, he found 1,800 men of the four regiments in hospital ; the Sepoys declaring that they would not advance again through the Khyber Pass ; the Sikh troops spreading alarm, and in all ways encouraging and screening their desertion, which was considerable. It was well that a cautious, cool officer of the Company's army should have to deal with them in such a temper, 363 miles from the frontier. General Pollock managed them exceedingly well, but he did not venture to enter the Pass till April (two months and a half after Brigadier Wild's failure), when reinforced by the 3rd Dragoons, a regiment of cavalry, a troop of horse artillery, and other details. Lord Hill will at once perceive that the morale must have been low when horse artillery and cavalry were required to induce the General to advance, with confidence, through this formidable pass. Any precipitancy on the part of a general officer panting for lame, might have had the worst effect." 236 Life of Sir George Pollock. That distinguished public servant, Mr. Thomas Campbell Eobertson, late member of the Supreme Council of India and Lieut.-Grovernor of the North- West Provinces, in a work published in 1858, entitled " Political Prospects of British India," referring to the causes assigned for the Indian mutiny, says : "Ever since that lamentable expedition to Cabul, which destroyed our reputation for good faith, and the prestige of our invincibility, the Native army has been led to think too much of its own strength and importance, and an insubordinate spirit has too often been passed over, from the necessity of gently handling a cord which might snap if pulled too tightly. The spirit alluded to showed itself in a very formidable shape before Sir George Pollock's advance to retrieve our disasters in Afghanistan ; and few know how much his country is indebted to that distinguished officer for the patience and skill with which he allayed the discontents and raised the morale of the native portion of his army, before he advanced into the Khyber Pass." All through the months of February and March, the force was obliged to remain inactive at the camp of Kowulsur, in the neighbourhood of Peshawur. Throughout this anxious period, General Pollock felt the chilling influence of the knowledge that his advocacy of a spirited policy met with but a luke- warm response from the Commander-in-Chief, who exhibited little of the ardour usually characteristic of British officers. Indeed, Sir Jasper Nicolls, though he had done good service as a soldier in his day, now appeared only fitted to play the part of an over- cautious statesman. Writing to head-quarters on the 27th of February, General Pollock says : Life of Sir George Pollock. 237 " I have carefully perused and deeply considered the two paragraphs forwarded by the Governor- General in Council to his Excellency, and which you were directed to transcribe. One part adverts to a * decided turn,' admitting of a deviation from the avowed purpose for which this force was mainly formed, viz., 'the withdrawal of the Jellalabad garrison in safety to Peshawur ; ' and his Excellency's orders are, that I should carefully and implicitly obey these instructions. " While holding the responsible and confidential situation which it has pleased the Government to confer on me, I consider that I should ill fulfil my trust if I did not respectfully offer my opinion on any points when I may have objections to propose to the course pointed out for me to pursue." He then proceeds to submit certain observations, and diplomatically points out, as a great objection to the troops remaining at Peshawur, that they "Would suffer severely in the unhealthy months, whereas at Gundamuck, the climate is favourable to European consti- tutions, and would admit of Jellalabad being frequently re- lieved. Such a position would, I conceive, be justifiable only if the Khyber Pass be open, in which case the resources of the Punjaub and of Peshawur would also be open to me. I should be too strong to apprehend risk from any attack of the enemy ; on the contrary, it would be desirable if I could meet them on a plain, and give them another instance of our superiority. My advanced position would further enable me, I hope, to effect the liberation of the prisoners now with the enemy. If I were to advance with the intention of merely withdrawing the garri- son of Jellalabad, my success in advancing must depend chiefly on concealing my intentions ; for although (if I succeed in any negotiation to open the Pass) every precaution will be taken by me to secure a safe retreat, I must expect that every man will rise to molest our return, as they would be left to the mercy of the Afghan rulers, and I must confess, I sincerely believe that our return here, unless I first have an opportunity of inflicting some signal punishment on the enemy, would have a very bad effect both far and near. 2j 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. " Our connection with the Sikh Government is professedly friendly, and the chiefs are, as far as I have observed, courteous, and perhaps well-disposed towards us ; but the bearing of the soldiery, one and all, is insolent, and they scruple not to express their wish that we may meet with reverses. They are a dis- organized rabble, but dangerous as neighbours. Our officers require escorts between camp and Peshawur, and our Sepoys or camp followers dare not move beyond the pickets after dark." The camping ground at Kowulsur was a vast stony plain, with the gloomy mouth of the Khyber Pass right in front, and wide ranges of mountains, with their higher and more distant peaks covered with snow, extending to the right and left, one spur being only three miles distant from the camp. The weather also was changeable, and did not tend to make matters more cheerful. At times there was incessant rain ai d hail, and then the sky would clear ; the temperature was also cold, though not unpleasantly so, being 48 in a tent. General Pollock, on his arrival at Peshawur, resided at the house of Captain Mackeson in the Wuzeer-i- bagh (Vizier's gardens). On the day after he assumed command, a party of officers assembled to meet him at Captain Mackeson's, most of whom had recently narrowly escaped death in the affair at Pesh Bolak. Several . wore Afghan dresses, having lost their own, and being unable to procure any. Among the number was Captain Ponsonby, who was remark- able, even in those days, for the hairbreadth escapes he had experienced. He it was who so greatly dis- tinguished himself on the field of Purwandurra, on Life of Sir George Pollock. 239 the 2nd of November, 1 840, when his troopers of the 2nd Native Cavalry fled from before the face of Dost Mahomed and his horsemen, while their European officers fought on with the courage of heroes until three were killed and two wounded. Strange to say, this gallant soldier signally failed when Brigadier at Benares, during the eventful days of 1857. Mortifying as it was to General Pollock to be com- pelled to remain inactive at Peshawur for so long a time, no other course was open to him without run- ning a great chance of disaster ; for not only did the ammunition not arrive until the second week in March, but the reinforcements did not make their appearance until considerably later. The presence of more European troops was also absolutely essential to strengthen that confidence in the breasts of the Sepoys which was gradually returning to them. Horse artillery and British dragoons were being pushed up to Peshawur, and Pollock wrote frequent letters to Brigadier White * in command of the brigade, urging their speedy arrival. Had the advance been ordered before the arrival of these re- inforcements, a disaster must have ensued, having regard to the probable contingency that some of the native regiments would have mutinied. Still it required all General Pollock's firmness to resist the continued and pressing appeals he received from the commandant and political agent with the beleaguered * The late Lieutenant- General Sir Michael White, K.C.B. 240 Life of Sir George Pollock. garrison at Jellalabad on the other side of the Khyber. Soon after his arrival at Peshawur a letter arrived, dated 14th February, from General Sale, written partly in French and partly in English, as was much of the correspondence at the time, to avoid the possibility of treachery, in which he set forth the straits to which he was reduced, and con- cluded by an appeal to General Pollock to advance to his aid. Again, on the 19th of the same month, both Macgregor and Sale wrote, describing the dire effects of a terrible earthquake that had that day prostrated three of the bastions, and nearly the whole of the parapet of the ramparts of Jellalabad, to raise which had cost the troops more than two months' hard labour ; the destruction of these works rendered the place so insecure, that had Akbar Khan, the fiery leader of the Afghans, made the attempt, he might almost have succeeded in overpowering the sorely- tried garrison. But owing chiefly to the wonderful energy and science of Captain George Broadfoot, who, though an infantry officer in the Company's service, was a consummate engineer, and indeed a military genius of a rare order, the parapet rose again as if by magic, and when Akbar Khan once more appeared before the walls of Jellalabad, his soldiers thought the earthquake had by some supernatural agency spared the British fort. The shock was also severely felt at Peshawur. The undulating movement continued for about two minutes, and was such as to render standing or walk- Life of Sir George Pollock. 241 ing as difficult as on the deck of a ship in a seaway. At the moment of the shock, a dense cloud of dust was seen to arise from Peshawur and from every village in the neighbourhood. General Pollock, who was still residing at Mackeson's house in the Wuzeer- i-bagh, which suffered greatly, narrowly escaped a violent death. A beam in falling crushed a table from which he and a party of friends had just risen. Several houses fell in the city, some people were killed and many bruised, but the damage was by no means as great as might have been expected. On the following day, the 20th February, Greneral Pollock proceeded to the camp, to receive the Sikh Sirdars, accompanied by Captain Ponsonby, whom he had appointed his Assistant Adjutant-Greneral, and Sir Eichmond Shakspear, of the Bengal Artil- lery, his Military Secretary, a man who had worthily earned his spurs by effecting the release of the Eus- sian prisoners confined by the ruler of Khiva. A native brought letters the same day from Jellalabad, concealed in a cake of bread, which he carried with some others as food on his journey. Major Smith says : " The plan of writing with rice water, to be rendered visible by the application of iodine, has been practised with great success in the correspondence with Jellalabad. The first letter of this kind received from thence was concealed in a quill. On opening it a small roll of paper was unfolded, in which appeared only a single word, ' iodine.' The magic liquid was applied, and an interesting despatch from Sir Robert Sale stood forth." General Pollock also experienced difficulty in 16 242 Life of Sir George Pollock. getting money conveyed to Jellalabad, but the emis- saries who undertook it were handsomely rewarded, and an Afghan will do anything for money. Again, on the 8th March, General Pollock received most pressing letters from both Sale and Macgregor, urging him to advance, as they greatly feared they would be overwhelmed by the enemy, and casting upon him the responsibility of so dire an event. To these communications the General, on the 12th March, returned an answer to Macgregor as follows : " I will write yon a very short note in reference to yours and Sale's of the 8th. It must no doubt appear to you and Sale most extraordinary that, with the force I have here, I do not at once move on. God knows it has been my anxious wish to do so, but I have been helpless. I came on ahead to Peshawur to arrange for an advance, but was saluted with a report of 1,800 sick, and a bad feeling among the Sepoys. I visited the hospital and endeavoured to encourage by talking to them, but they had no heart. I hoped that when the time came they would go. This, however, I could not write to you or Sale in ink^ either in English or French. On the 1st instant, the feeling on the part of the Sepoys broke out, and I had the mortification of knowing that the Hindoos of four out of five native corps refused to advance. I immediately took measures to sift the evil, and gradually a reaction has taken place, in the belief that I will wait for reinforcements. This has caused me the utmost anxiety on your account. Your situa- tion is never out of my thoughts ; but having told you what I have, you and Sale will at once see that necessity alone has kept me here. " I have sent five expresses to hurry on the first division of the next brigade. It consists of the 3rd Dragoons, a troop of Horse Artillery, 1st Light Cavalry, the 33rd Native Infantry, and two companies of the 6th Native Infantry, all fresh and without taint. I really believe that if I were to attempt to move on now without the reinforcements, the four regiments Life of Sir George Pollock. 243 implicated would, as far as the Hindoos are concerned, stand fast. Pray therefore tell me, without the least reserve, the latest day you can hold out. If I could I would tell you the day when I expect reinforcements, but I cannot. I may, how- ever, I believe with safety, say that they will arrive by the end of this month. " The case therefore now stands thus : Whether I am to attempt with my present materials to advance, and to risk the appearance of disaffection or cowardice, which in such a case could not again be got over, or wait the arrival of a reinforce- ment which will make all sure. This is the real state of the case. If I attempted now, it might risk you altogether ; but if you can hold out, the reinforcements would make your relief as certain as any earthly thing can be. " Our only object in going to Jellalabad is to relieve you, and bring you back with us to this ; but it is necessary that this should be kept a profound secret." To this Sale replied on the 23rd March : " Yesterday arrived yours of the 12th instant addressed jointly to Captain Macgregor and myself. I have only, in reply thereto, to say that in my last I informed you defini- tively that I would, by God's blessing, hold this place to the 31st instant, by which time you acquainted me that you could arrive at Jellalabad with the dragoons. You now state to me your expectation that they will only reach your present encampment by that date. Our European soldiers are now on two-thirds of their rations of salt meat, and this the commis- sariat supply ; on the 4th proximo, that part of the force will then be without meat, notwithstanding every arrangement to lessen the consumption. I have this day directed all the camels to be destroyed, with the view of preserving the boosa for the horses of the cavalry and artillery, and these valuable animals cannot receive any rations of grain whatever after the 1st proximo, but must be subsisted entirely on boosa and grass, if the latter can be procured." General Pollock had expected that the 3rd Dragoons would reach Peshawur by the 20th of March, but 16 * 244 Life of Sir George Pollock. on the 27th they had not arrived, and the General wrote to Jellalabad explaining the causes of the delay, but still hoping that he would be able to com- mence his march on the last day of the month. " There appears," he wrote to General Sale on the 27th March, "to be nothing but accidents to impede the advance of the dragoons. They were five days crossing the Ravee. I have sent out 300 camels to help them in, and I hope nothing will prevent my moving on the 31st. God knows I am most anxious to move on, for I know that delay will subject us to be exposed to very hot weather. But my situation has been most embar- rassing. Any attempt at a forward movement in the early part of this month I do not think would have succeeded, for at one time the Hindoos did not hesitate to say that they would not go forward. I hope the horror they had has somewhat subsided ; but without more white faces I question even now if they would go. Since the 1st we have been doing all to recover a proper tone ; but you may suppose what my feelings have been, wish- ing to relieve you, and knowing that my men would not go. However desirable it is that I should be joined by the 31st Regiment, your late letters compel me to move, and I hope therefore to be with you by about the 7th. I cannot say the day exactly, because I want to take Ali Musjid. When that is taken, your situation may perhaps become better." Even the new native corps which were moving up from the provinces, and which the General believed to be " without a taint/' were openly expressing their disinclination to advance. Shere Singh mentioned this to Mr. Clerk. " Yesterday, early," wrote the latter, in a letter to Government, dated 19th March, "the Maharajah, Eajah Dyan Singh, and myself, being together for a short time, quite unattended, they told me that Commandant Cheyt Singh, who had come into Lahore for a day from Colonel Bolton's Life of Sir t George Pollock. 245 camp, to escort which from Ferozepore to Peshawur the Durbar had appointed him, had mentioned that our Sepoys in that brigade did not like going to the westward, and were sometimes grouped, eight or ten together, expressing their dissatisfaction ; but that, on the other hand, the Europeans (Her Majesty's 31st and Artillery) were much delighted at the prospect of fighting with the Afghans. The Maharajah added, ' If you could send two or three European corps, they would penetrate the Khyber, or anywhere else, so successfully against the Afghans, that the Hindoos, who are now alarmed, would, after one action, all take heart again/ ' At length, on the morning of the 29th March, the troop of Horse Artillery, the 3rd Dragoons, and the 1st Light Cavalry, the whole under the command of Colonel White, reached Peshawur, and preparations were at once made for the long- desired forward move- ment. During the past two months, General Pollock's difficulties had not been confined to infusing a proper spirit into his Sepoys, and hastening on the march of European reinforcements. He had other sources of anxiety and delay to contend against. Captain Mackeson, his chief political officer, had been en- gaged for some time in negotiations with the maliks or chiefs of the Afreedies, who held the Khyber Pass, having for their object the permitting the British force to march unimpeded through that formidable defile. But their rapacity defeated its own object. 246 Life of Sir George Pollock. The chiefs had given hostages, and were to have re- ceived 50,000 rupees for the safe conduct of the force from Jumrood to Dhaka, one moiety to be paid in advance, and the other on the army reaching the latter place. For this sum they engaged to clear the pass to Dhaka, and make arrangements for guarding it afterwards ; also they were to remove all hostile Afreedies from the pass as far as Ali Musjid. But Akbar Khan detached a strong party of men, with two guns, to Ali Musjid, which they occupied on the 2nd April, and before nightfall the Afreedie chiefs announced to Mackeson that they could no longer guarantee a free passage. So the General decided to cease further negotiation, and resolved to adopt the alternative of forcing the pass. His other great difficulty lay in the bearing of our Sikh allies, upon whom no dependence could be placed. We have related the conduct of the Nujeeb battalions of Wild's force during the unsuccessful ad- vance of the latter. All Captain Henry Lawrence's efforts to obtain the co-operation of the Sikh troops at Peshawur had failed ; but the prospect brightened when Gholaub Singh, the Eajah of Jummoo, was despatched with reinforcements to Peshawur by Shere Singh, the successor of Eunjeet Singh, who, moreover, had issued positive and unequivocal orders that every possible assistance was to be given to the British Commander. Surrounded by his staff, General Pollock, on the 20th February, received Eajah Gholaub Singh and the Life of Sir George Pollock. 247 leading Sikh Sirdars; and Captain Mackeson, the political agent, who acted as spokesman, drew from the Jummoo chief that he had been ordered by the Lahore Durbar " to act in support of the British troops agreeably to the terms of the treaty." Not- withstanding this admission, General Pollock was obliged to report that he had "no expectation of any assistance from the Sikh troops." But the careful management of Captain Lawrence, and the good tact of General Pollock, met with their reward, and the Sikh troops, reassured by the arrival of European reinforcements, made up their minds to face the dreaded Khyber. According to a return dated 2nd March, the following were the Sikh troops " at or near Peshawur " on that day : 4 Battalions of General Mehtab Singh, 2,700. 4 Battalions of Mahomedans and Nujeebs, 3,000. Sonars, or cavalry (various), 3,100. Two Brigades of Ramgoles (militia) and escort, under General Avitabile, 1,800. Rajah Gholaub Singh's troops, 3,000. General Court's * troops, 5,000. Other miscellaneous troops, 5,900. Being a total of 24,500 men, besides 20 guns and 125 camel- pieces, a formidable array, when it is considered that from questionable allies they might quickly be transformed into active enemies. The following order of march was now laid down by General Pollock, for the instruction of command- ing officers : * A French officer of distinction in the Sikh army. 248 Life of Sir George Pollock. CENTRE COLUMN. Major-General Pollock. Brigadier Wild, commanding advance guard. Brigadier White (3rd Dragoons), second in command. Grenadier Company, H.M.'s 9th Regiment. 1 Company 26th Native Infantry. 3 Companies 30th Native Infantry. 2 Companies 33rd Native Infantry, under command of Major Barnwell, H.M.'s 9th. Sappers and Miners. Pioneers 4 guns Horse Artillery. 2 guns Mountain Train. 3 guns Foot Artillery. 2 Squadrons 3rd Light Dragoons. Camels laden with treasure and ammunition. 1 Company 53rd Native Infantry. Camels laden with Commissariat stores. 1 Company 53rd Native Infantry. 1 Squadron 1st Light Cavalry. Baggage and Camp followers. 1 Risallah (100 men) of Irregular Cavalry. Baggage and Camp followers. 1 Squadron 1st Cavalry. Litters for sick or wounded. Camels laden with ammunition. Major-General McCaskill, commanding rear- guard. Lieutenant- Colonel Tulloch, second in command. 3 guns Foot Artillery. The 10th Regiment Light Cavalry. 2 Risallahs Irregular Cavalry. 2 Squadrons 3rd Light Dragoons. 2 Horse Artillery guns. Camels laden with treasure and ammunition. Litters for sick or wounded. 1 Squadron 1st Cavalry. Camels laden with Commissariat stores. 3 Companies 60th Native Infantry. Life of Sir George Pollock. 249 1 Company 6th Native Infantry. 1 Company H.M.'s 9th Regiment, under command of Major Davies, H.M.'s 9th Regiment. Eight column, to crown the heights, and advance in successive detachments of 2 companies, at intervals of 500 yards. 2 Companies H.M.'s 9th Foot. 4 Companies 26th Native Infantry. 400 Jezailchees, armed like the Khyberees, with jezails, or long guns, under command of Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor, of HJVI.'s 9th. 7 Companies 30th Native Infantry, under Major Payne. 3 Companies 60th Native Infantry, under Captain Riddell.* 4 Companies 64th Native Infantry, under Major Anderson. Captain Broadfoot's Sappers. l Companies H.M.'s 9th Foot, under command of Major Anderson, 64th Native Infantry. The parties under Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor and Major Anderson to storm the right hill together, the former then to move on, the latter to remain till the rear- guard of the centre column enters the pass. Left column, to advance as above. 2 Companies H.M.'s 9th Regiment. * Now Major-General Riddell, C.B. His substantive appointment was Paymaster, but he also served as A.D.C. on the General's staff, and proved himself an active and efficient officer. As an instance of the freshness with which Sir George Pollock re- tained to the last his memory of the events of 1842, and of the officers of his force, it may be mentioned that, on perusing this portion of his Biography, on coming to this officer's name, he wrote to me on the 12th May, 1870 : " I have read through this chapter, which is admira- ble. I have made a pencil-mark where the name of Captain Riddell is mentioned in the draft; his name is spelt Riddle, which is not correct. He was, if I recollect right, Paymaster to the force." 250 Life of Sir George Pollock. 4 Companies 26th Native Infantry. 400 Jezailchees, under command of Major Huish, 26th Native Infantry. 7 Companies 53rd Native Infantry, under Major Hoggan. 3 Companies 60th Native Infantry, under Captain Napleton. 4f Companies 64th Native Infantry. Toorabaz Khan's men (Afghans). 1 Companies H.M.'s 9th Regiment, under command of Lieu- tenant-Colonel Moseley, 64th Native Infantry. The parties under Lieutenant-Colonel Moseley and Major Huish to storm the left hill together, the latter to move on, the former to remain till the rear- guard of the centre column enters the pass. General Pollock also issued the following rules : 2. A bugler or trumpeter to be attached to each command- ing officer of a party or detachment of the several columns. 3. Whenever an obstacle presents itself, or accidents occur of a nature to impede the march of any part of either of the columns, and occasion a break in its continuity, the officer in command nearest to the spot, will order the halt to be sounded, which will be immediately repeated by the other buglers, and the whole will halt till the removal of the difficulty enables the columns to proceed in their established order; when the signal to advance will be given. 4. The baggage-master will superintend the placing of the baggage, &c., in the order prescribed, and the Major-General commanding requests that commanding officers will use their best exertions to facilitate this important object. The Quarter-Master of each corps will see that the baggage of his regiment is placed in its proper position in the column, and an officer from each is to be appointed to the duty. 5. No private guards are to be allowed. The parties of Cavalry and Infantry, allotted at intervals in the line of march, are to be the only troops attending it. * 6. The officers entrusted with the command of the parties which are to flank the rear-guard on the heights, must give their most vigilant attention to the important duty of preventing Life of Sir George Pollock. 251 their men from hurrying in advance of it : its rear must never be left exposed to fire from the heights. 7. The troops to be told off on their regimental parades, as above detailed, and marched at the appointed hour to their respective posts. 8. The force will march to Jumrood to-morrow morning, in the order above prescribed. The general to beat at four, and the assembly at five o'clock. 9. The baggage and camp followers of each corps are to be kept with their respective regiments till notice is given by the baggage-master that they are required to take their places in the columns. M.S. Records quoted by Kaye. In marching from Kowulsur to Jumrood, at the entrance to the Khyber Pass, the force moved in three parallel columns, the centre one chiefly composed of baggage with troops, and advance and rear-guards, the others consisting of the troops which were to flank it on the right and left. The train of camels was enormous, and this, notwithstanding that every exertion had been used to reduce the quantity of baggage, all ranks showing the greatest self-denial, and sacrificing personal comfort most cheerfully for the furtherance of the grand object every individual had in view. Pollock's appeal to his army on this point drew forth the noblest qualities of the British soldier, and was responded to with enthusiasm : " Success in relieving the Jellalabad garrison will raise for this force the admiration and gratitude of all India ; and the Major-General commanding feels assured that officers and men will cheerfully make any sacrifice to attain so noble an object. He therefore now calls upon the brigadiers to assemble the commanding officers under their orders, and determine on the least quantity of baggage and the smallest number of camp 252 Life of Sir George Pollock. followers with which their regiments can advance. The success of this enterprise will greatly depend upon the quantity of baggage taken, as from the nature of the country between Peshawur and Jellalabad, the line most consistent with safety must be as little encumbered as possible. The Major- General commanding trusts that the confidence he feels in the troops will be repaid by their confidence in him. The soldiers may rest assured that his thoughts are constantly engaged in insuring their provisions and securing their comforts ; and they may be convinced they will never be called upon by him to make useless sacrifices or to undergo unnecessary hardships. Arrangements will be made for placing such baggage as may be left behind in perfect security at Peshawur." The army felt that this appeal came from an officer j who, though the General commanding, had set the example of sacrificing his comforts by reducing his own personal baggage-cattle to one camel and two mules. Major Smith says in one of his letters : " The tents and baggage we leave behind are deposited in the fort of Peshawur by authority of the Sikh Government ; and certainly the luxurious magnificence which has sometimes been urged as a reproach to Indian soldiering, has no existence in General Pollock's camp. 'Doubling up,' and in many instances ' quadrupling up,' in the smallest description of tent, is the plan adopted by the officers. A subaltern's ' Regulation ' we regard as a sort of imperial pavilion; and, indeed, the General himself does not aspire to so splendid an abode, but is content to share a little hill-tent with his aide-de-camp and the Assistant Adjutant-General. I suspect the latter are not entirely well pleased with his habit of forestalling the ' early village cock.' The men of the 9th have given up their usual tents for Sepoy ' pauls,' and the native troops have willingly dispensed with half their proper allowance of shelter." On the 31st March the British army reached Jum- Life of Sir George Pollock. 253 rood. The camp was pitched in the bed of the Chorab river, near the Shadi Bhagiaree entrance of the pass, where it was perceived the enemy were busily employed in making preparations for resistance. Across the mouth of the pass they had thrown up a barrier which assumed a very formidable character by the time the troops advanced to force an entrance. It was made of mud, huge stones, and heavy branches of trees. The Khyberees had not been hardly pressed for time to mature this " sungah," or work, which in- deed was of a character to defy the field-pieces of the force, had they been brought to play upon it. On the morning of the arrival of the British force at Jum- rood, further difficulties arose to delay an advance on the following morning, as the General had intended. Writing to Government on the 2nd of April, he says that he had hoped to move into the pass on the previous day, " But, lie adds, the desertion of the camel- drivers and very heavy rain have alone been sufficient to prevent my moving. I have also been much disappointed by the delay of the Rajah Golab Sing in not sooner having moved up his troops. The force which is to act in concert with me has not yet all arrived at the ground, from whence it will enter the Jubhagi entrance of the pass to meet us at AH Musjid. Although I have never ex- pected any very active operations from them, I feel that the cir- cumstances of our moving at the same time and for the same ob- ject will have a good moral effect upon all parties. " I consider it my duty to place on record that the present system of supplying hired camels is most ruinous as regards efficiency, and that no force beyond the Indus ought to be dependent for carriage on the owners of camels. As an example, I would draw your attention to the following particulars con- 254 Life of Sir George Pollock. nected with the carriage of the force now here. The cattle are hired for the journey from Ferozepore to Jellalabad, and the owners receive an advance of twenty rupees for each camel. Desertions even before we reached Peshawur were numerous ; and on several occasions I have been obliged to send spare camels to bring on stores, &c. The three companies of Native Infantry which last arrived here have no camels ; the drivers brought their loads to Peshawur and deserted. Two of these companies, under Captain Tebbs, brought 600,000 rounds of musket ammunition, but the whole of the surwans, with these camels, have deserted. I have the greatest difficulty in moving the men, and can only take a portion of the ammunition. The evil is a very serious one. I am unable to point out any remedy but that of employing only purchased camels, and surwans whose houses are in our provinces. The greater number of sur- wans who have been sent with this force are natives of the Punjab, and have, therefore, greater facilities in deserting ; indeed, it is hardly possible to prevent their doing so. " I trust that I may consider the feeling of the native troops averse to an advance, has, to a considerable degree, subsided ; and I earnestly hope, that by carrying the first position with promptness and spirit, I shall be able to give them confidence in themselves." On the following day (3rd April), General Pollock writes to Captain Macgregor that " The pluck of the Sepoys is doubtful ; but I hope, when we carry the mouth of the pass, they will feel confidence. The 9th are most anxious to be let loose ; and, please God, by to-morrow we shall be well in the pass ... I still much regret that I have not the 31st ; but after Sir Robert Sale's letter, received some time back, I consider that he has put it out of my power to wait longer, although I am quite sure that the addition of 900 Europeans would have operated very favourably for the pri- soners." During the halt at Jumrood, General Pollock issued the accompanying further and more specific Life of Sir George Pollock. 255 orders to regulate the movements of the 5th of April, the eventful day on which he had decided to attempt the forcing of that tremendous pass that had so long frowned defiance on him : " The force to be under arms to-morrow morning at half-past three o'clock, ready to move forward, at which time all the trea- sure, ammunition, baggage, &c., will be moved to the low ground to the right front of the hills now occupied by pickets. No fires are to be lighted on any account ; no drums to beat, or bugles to be sounded. The six companies of the 60th Regiment, and six companies of the 33rd Regiment, will remain with the baggage in the vicinity of the treasure and ammunition. The parties for crowning the heights, under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor and Major Anderson, wiil move for- ward to the hill on the right of the pass. The parties for the same duty under the command of Major Huish and Lieutenant- Colonel Moseley, will in like manner move forward to the hill on the left. Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor's party will be accompanied by the irregulars who lately garrisoned Ali Musjid. Captain Ferris's Jezailchees will accompany the left advancing party. "When the heights have been crowned on both hills, four companies of the 9th Foot, the eight companies of the 26th, under Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor and Major Huish, also the Jezailchees under Captain Ferris, will descend the hills to be in readiness to enter the pass. Six horse artillery guns, four from the Foot Artillery, with the mountain guns, will be drawn up in battery opposite the pass. The advance guard, seven companies of the 30th, and seven companies of the 53rd, will accompany the guns. The whole of the cavalry will be so placed by Brigadier White, that any attempt at an attack from the low hills on the right may be frustrated. When the baggage, &c., is directed to advance, the same order of march will be preserved as was formerly prescribed, with the following alterations : six com- panies of the 60th Native Infantry will be together on the right, and six companies of the 33rd, now arrived, will follow the 53rd Native Infantry. When the rear of the column is entering the 256 Life of Sir George Pollock. pass, the two rear companies of Lieutenant-Colonel Moseley's and Major Anderson's parties should descend the hills." MS. Records. In the evening of the 4th April, the General went round to all his commanding officers to ascertain that they thoroughly understood the orders that had been issued for their guidance, and to learn from them the temper of their men. Nothing could be better, was the unanimous report, than the morale of the Sepoys, who were eager for the impending conflict, So passed the night ; and at length the morning dawned, big with the fate of British India a day that was to make or mar the reputation of George Pollock. Life of Sir George Pollock. 257 CHAPTER Y. The Khyber Pass : 5th to 16th April, 1842. AT half-past three on the morning of the 5th April, the troops were under arms, the camp struck, and, according to arrangements previously made, the trea- sure, ammunition, and baggage placed on the road leading from Jumrood towards the entrance of the Khyber Pass. Quickly, and without beat of drum or sound of bugle, the British force moved off in the dim twilight, towards the Shadi Bhagiaree mouth of the pass, and the crowning columns prepared to ascend the heights on either side. The hearts of the bravest and there were gallant soldiers there who had fought in many climes, under the Iron Duke in the Peninsula, and at Washington and New Orleans even the hearts of these, who had many a time looked death in the face, must have beat quicker with proud hope and high expectation, as they glanced upwards at the terrific crags towering above them, or cast a look at the no less tremendous gorge yawning at their feet, like the mouth of an open sepulchre. It was now their immediate duty to surmount these precipices, and boldly assail the defile that " oped its 17 258 Life of Sir George Pollock. ponderous jaws " before them; and yet so marvellously had the morale of the Sepoys improved, that under the guidance of their glorious chief, in whom they now reposed the most implicit and childlike confidence, they prepared with enthusiasm for the task. Nothing could have proved better than the arrange- ments of General Pollock, who, moreover, is entitled to the entire credit of conceiving and elaborating the plan of attack; it is also not less certain that no general could have been more fortunate in the success that crowned his labour, thanks to the indomitable energy and fighting excellence of all his troops, though in carrying out these interesting and almost unique operations of war, the chief meed of praise is only justly due to that noble corps, the 9th Foot, and their gallant and chivalrous leader, Colonel Taylor. The crowning columns quickly advanced on the right ; though the precipitous nature of the ground was such that it seemed to defy the eager activity of Taylor and his men. But he stole unseen round the base of the mountain, and found a more practicable ascent than that which he had first tried. Then on both sides, the British infantry were hotly engaged with the hardy mountaineers, who contested every foot of ground with desperation. Having driven a consider- able body of the enemy up the hills, which were scaled and crowned in spite of a determined opposi- tion, the right column moved to their left, to clear the redoubts commanding the entrance to the pass, which were abandoned on their approach, the enemy Life of Sir George Pollock. 259 suffering severely in their retreat. Major Anderson remained on the heights with his column reinforced by one company of the 9th and two companies of the 26th N. I. under Captain Gahan, whilst Colonel Taylor descended with the remainder to carry into effect the General's plan of operations, in driving off the enemy from their positions on the right of the road to Ali Musjid, which was finally accomplished in spite of obstinate resistance at several points, especially over a bridge where the enemy had concen- trated in force. The column under Major George Huish, employed to capture the hills on the left of the pass, were equally successful. Led by Captain Ferris's regiment of Jezailchees, 400 strong, the heights were speedily carried, and the summit having been gained, a smaller hill at the entrance of the pass was cleared by the fire of the column. This being effected, the post was made over to Lieut.-Col. Moseley, commanding the rear crowning column, and the troops, with the excep- tion of two companies of the 26th N. I., descended for the purpose of continuing to scale and clear the heights on the left of the road to Ali Musjid. While these flanking columns were at their task on the heights, the General ordered Captain Alexander, in command of the artillery, to place the guns in position, and throw shrapnel among the enemy, when opportunity offered, which was accordingly done, and assisted much in their discomfiture. The General, perceiving that Colonel Taylor was 17 * 160 Life of Sir George Pollock. some time in reaching the summit of the hill to the right, owing to the sturdy opposition he met with and the extremely difficult nature of the ground, detached a party consisting of four com- panies of the 9th, four companies of the 26th N. I., four companies of the 64th N. L, and some Jezail- chees, under the command of Brigadier Wild, to assault the position in front. The hill was, however, so extremely steep near the summit, that, notwith- standing the undaunted gallantry of the officers and men, they were for some time unable to gain a footing on the crest, and the enemy were enabled to throw stones with fatal effect upon some of the leading grenadiers of the 9th Foot ; eventually the Brigadier, though wounded, gained the summit. On the occupation of the heights by the crowning columns, the General advanced the main column to the mouth of the pass, and commenced destroying the barrier which the enemy had evacuated on finding their position turned. This task was ably performed under the direction of Lieut. John Becher (now Col. Becher, C.B.), Acting Field Engineer, and the General was not slow in expressing to Government his high sense of the " very essential services rendered by that officer in clearing the pass of the impedi- ments constructed by the enemy, which he did with a degree of celerity, notwithstanding their strength and difficulty of removal, that elicited my warmest satisfaction." In the meantime, Col. Taylor, on the right, Life of Sir George Pollock. 261 having been reinforced by one company of the 33rd N. I. under Lieut. Watson, directed Captain Lushington of the 9th, to move with that company and the light company of his own regiment to the right, to take the enemy's position in reverse, whilst he himself, leaving Major Anderson in command of the heights already gained, attacked in front. The enemy, drawn up in dense masses, offered a stout resistance, but the British soldiers, with the flush of victory on their brow, would not be denied, and carried everything before them. The Afreedies re- treated, after having made a vigorous defence, in which many of them were slain. No further opposi- tion was offered on this side by the enemy, who retreated on Ali Musjid ; Col. Taylor, pushing on, occupied the tower and hill to the left within about a mile of that place.* Major Huish, on his side, was equally successful. On descending from the heights to clear the hills on the left of the road leading to Ali Musjid, the enemy offered a determined resistance, especially at the heights commanding the bridge, from whence, though in great force, they were driven in the most spirited style, and with considerable loss while retreating. Though the fighting had been of the most trying and fatiguing character, scaling heights during the whole day under the hot sun and in the face of a fierce enemy, the duty was cheerfully performed by Col. Taylor to Captain Ponsonby, Ali Musjid, April 6th, 1842. 262 Life of Sir George Pollock. all the troops, the Sepoys vying with their European comrades, while Ferris's Jezailchees, under that officer and SirEichmond Shakespear, nobly earned the meed of praise bestowed on them by the General, who declared that their " conduct excited the delight and admira- tion of all who beheld them. I consider much of the success of the day to be attributed to their gallantry, skill, and perseverance in this most difficult descrip- tion of warfare." General Pollock, in his despatch, warmly eulogized the officers and men of the force under his command, "for the zeal, devotion, and un- flinching valour in performance of the very arduous duty which they have so nobly executed." " The Sepoys behaved nobly," he wrote to a friend, on the day after the action. " They merely re- quired a trial in which they should find that they were not sacrificed. There were, however, many desertions before we advanced. Now they are in the highest spirits, and have a thorough contempt for the enemy. This is a great point gained. You are aware that Mahomed Akbar sent a party, about 800, with one or two guns, to oppose us ; but they thought better of it, and abandoned the fort of Ali Musjid this morning. I have accordingly taken possession. The Sikhs are encamped near us, and are much more respectful and civil since our operations of yester- day." To Col. Taylor, especially, the General expressed his warmest acknowledgments for the spirit, cool- ness, and judgment with which he discharged the Life of Sir George Pollock. 263 duties entrusted to him. Other officers, as Majors Huish and Anderson, and Captain Alexander, were most favourably mentioned; and his staff officers, Cap- tain Ponsonby, Captain Codrington, and Lieut. Pol- lock, A.D.C., were likewise commended for the assist- ance they afforded. The casualty roll, considering the results achieved in defeating an enemy 10,000 strong, in an almost impregnable position, was singularly small, and belied the predictions of Avitabile that the whole force was going to destruction. It consisted of Lieut. Gumming of the 9th Foot, and thirteen non-commissioned officers, privates, and Sepoys killed ; seventeen privates and Sepoys missing ; and three officers, fifteen non-commissioned officers, and eighty-six privates and Sepoys wounded ; grand total, 135. Of these casualties forty-one were from the 9th Foot, and thirty-seven from the Jezailchees, evincing the prominent part these corps took in the conflict. The difficulties of the further march of the main column to Ali Musjid, were mainly occasioned by the enormous length of the string of baggage animals, which were not only employed in conveying ammu- nition and provisions for Pollock's own force, but also for the garrison at Jellalabad. Encumbered as he was, the General was compelled to move slowly, but so skilful were the arrangements he had made for the protection of the baggage that he was enabled to re- port that " not a single baggage animal has fallen into the hands of the enemy." The march to Ali Musjid 264 Life of Sir George Pollock. from the entrance to the pass, though only five miles in length, occupied the greater portion of the day. The heat was intense, and the troops suffered greatly from thirst, but they never murmured. The enemy had evacuated Ali Musjid* in the morning, and Ferris's Jezailchees were sent in to garrison the place. A part of the British force, with the head-quarters, bivouacked at Lalla Chund, near the fortress, but the night was so bitterly cold that the troops, though they had been on their legs since three o'clock that morning, could have had but little sleep. The enemy, who still hovered about, kept up a desultory fire 'during the night, and the utmost vigilance was exercised to guard against a "chupao," or night attack, at which these mountaineers are great adepts. But they had lost, it was said, about 300 killed, and 600 or 800 wounded, and doubtless considered this sufficient for one day's fighting. A military writer, in a work entitled " Mountain Warfare/' speaks in the following terms of the tactics employed by General Pollock in the operations just detailed : " The attack and defence of defiles is similar in many important V respects to that of posts, but in others there is a difference, and we therefore consider a few words on the subject necessary. Of course no defile that can be turned should ever be attacked in * " It consists," says Kaye, " of oblong rock, commanded on the two small forts, connected by a southern and western, sides by two wall of little strength, and stands lofty hills." upon the summit of an isolated Life of Sir George Pollock. 265 front, and as all defiles consist of two heights and a gorge, the best method of attack appears to be to crown the heights on either flank, and to have another column to attack below when the operations of the flanking parties appear to be developed. This is the invariable method which appears to have been adopted by all generals ; by it Napoleon, in 1799, carried the terrible defile of Newmarckt ; by it Soult forced the pass of Boncesvalles ; and by it Pollock succeeded in the passage of the Khyber. The arrangements of the last- mentioned General in the operation alluded to are so perfect in conception and so complete in detail, that it would be superfluous, with such an instance, to attempt to elaborate or improve on it. The following is an abstract of the orders on the subject. (Here followed the orders which have already been laid before the reader.) These columns were all drawn up in their respective places, which had been carefully selected, while one of the batteries of artillery was drawn up opposite the mouth of the pass to distract the enemy's attention as much as possible from the flanking columns, and a regiment of cavalry was ready, on some open and undulating ground to the left of the pass, to charge any party of the enemy that attempted to make a flank attack from the low hills in that direction on the baggage, &c. The main, or rather centre column, was not meant to do any fighting, but was to remain halted in front of the pass till the flanking columns had won their way to the rear of the barricades, which the enemy had thrown up in the mouth of the defile when it was to advance through obstacles which the Sappers would have destroyed. A bugler was told off to each commanding officer of detachment, to sound whenever anything occurred to stay the advance of his particular party, and this call was to be taken up by every other bugler, and the whole of both flanking columns were to halt till the obstruction had been cleared, when the same bugler as before was to sound the advance. Thus the columns advanced simul- taneously, and the advance of each being carefully regulated, there was no fear of their being overwhelmed in detail. The clearest orders were laid down as to the position of the baggage of each regiment, and an English officer was told off from each corps to see that the places assigned were kept. * " So particular was General Pollock that every man should 266 Life of Sir George Pollock. clearly understand what he had to do, that he went round to each individual commandant to satisfy himself that all was comprehended. Such arrangements as these deserved the success they received. It may be thought by some that the minute detail of the place of every camp follower by the General com- manding was rather unnecessary ; not so, there is no operation in war in which confusion is more likely to take place, none in which confusion is more fatal, than in the forcing of a narrow mountain pass ; and if the success of this instance, or the disaster caused in Elphinstone's force by the neglect of these rules, be not sufficient, none better can be offered than that of the retreat of Korsakoff from Zurich. " It is, of course, as necessary to crown the heights and take all the other precautions detailed above in retreating as in advancing through a pass : a curious proof of this is afforded by the fact that General Pollock, who led the way in the return from Cabul, and invariably adhered to his former plan, was never once attacked, while Generals Nott and McCaskill, who brought up the rear and neglected these precautions, were frequently harassed by the matchlock fire of the enemy." While General Pollock was forcing his way through the Khyher, the Sikh troops,* at his suggestion for he was dubious of their acting in good faith moved up by another pass known as the Jubogee. To do the Sikh auxiliaries justice, though they behaved infamously during the months of February and March, when they did advance they showed themselves good soldiers, and besides forcing one of the two pas.ses of the Khyber, effected an important diversion by drawing off a large body of the Afreedies to oppose their advance. * The accompanying force con- neral Court's force, and Avitabile sisted of Gholaub Singh's five and Mehtab Singh's brigades. Mussulman battalions, and ten Total, 12,000 men. Sikh regiments, being two of Ge- Life of Sir George Pollock. 267 General Pollock, having a vast convoy and only 8,000 men, took the shorter pass to Ali Musjid, and the Sikhs, who broke ground at daylight of the 5th of April, proceeded by the Jubogee pass, which is double the length of the former. Though they did not encounter anything like the opposition the British column endured, yet their loss was about 100 killed and wounded. The next day they moved up to Lalla Chund, 1-J miles east of Ali Musjid, and pitched their camp in the bed of the river under that of the British. Captain Henry Lawrence proceeded with General Pollock until he had forced an entrance, returning to Jumrood before noon to look after the Sikhs. Captain Mackeson, as chief political officer, accompanied the General throughout the operations, and proceeded with the force, much to the disgust of Lawrence, who was required at Peshawur. So eager was the latter to take part in the dangers of the day, that though at 2 A.M. of the 5th, the General left him in the tent he had occu- pied retching violently with an attack of colic, which might have been premonitory of cholera for all he knew, yet, two hours later, when the troops began to move, he found this truly great man at his elbow, looking deathly pale, but with his indomitable will triumphing over the physical infirmities that would have prostrated men of ordinary mould. The General had entered into a covenant with Gholaub Singh, which was to hold good until the 5th of June, for the occupation of the pass by the Sikh troops, who were engaged to keep open- his com- 268 Life of Sir George Pollock. munications with the rear ; but when he inarched to Jellalabad they entered into arrangements with certain Afreedies to keep open the pass for the stipulated time, and early in May quitted Ali Musjid and re- turned to Jumrood. General Pollock was detained on the 6th April, south of Ali Musjid, by finding that the Sikhs had not completed the arrangements for guarding the road to Peshawur ; during the morning he despatched the Eegiment of Jezailchees to take possession of Ali Musjid. On the 7th, the force marched to a place called Ghuree Lala Beg, meeting with but trifling opposition on the road, though, owing to its narrow- ness, the baggage was delayed until 1 P.M. of the following day. The men and cattle were much fatigued, but the General pushed on to Lundikhana, leaving a strong force of Native Infantry to garrison Ali Musjid, close up to which the Sikh troops soon moved, rendering the post secure. From thence he marched next day to Dhaka, twenty-six miles distant from the entrance to the pass, from out which the force now at length emerged. Opposite Dhaka is Lalpoora, and some slight opposition was encountered here from Saadut Khan, the opponent of Toorabaz Khan of Lalpoora, who had steadfastly adhered to British interests, and rendered important service by conveying money to Sir Eobert Sale at the time of his greatest exigency. General Pollock arrived on the 10th at the camp near Lalpoora with a part of his force, the remainder, Life of Sir Geort/e Pollock. 269 under General McCaskill, being one march behind, owing to the impracticability of moving so much baggage through so narrow a pass at one time. On the General's arrival on the ground, he found the Lai- poora people under Saadut Khan firing upon his men, and in return opened a desultory fire with shell at bodies of the enemy near the banks of the river. Intelli- gence was received during the afternoon that Saadut Khan intended quitting the fort and town during the night, but as, later on, it was understood that he would not move unless forced, the General ordered a strong detachment, under the command of Colonel Taylor, to move at early dawn. Three guns were also directed to the front of the camp to divert the enemy's atten- tion when the column should advance, and a rear detachment was directed to remain at the ford of the river about six miles from camp. About half-past seven a party of the enemy, accompanied, as it was supposed, by Saadut Khan, was observed proceeding towards the ford, but on seeing the strength of the force opposed to them, the chief returned with his horsemen, and soon after rode off, and Toorabaz Khan was re-established in his principality of Lalpoora. The ford was extremely difficult, and two men of the Dragoons were drowned ; owing to the deficiencj 7 of transport, also, there being only one boat available, the process of re-crossing was extremely tedious. While encamped near Lalpoora, the General received two letters from Captain Macgregor informing him of the death of Shah Soojah, near Cabul. 270 Life of Sir George Pollock. The troops resumed their march on the 13th, and arrived on the 15th at Ali Boghan, about seven miles distant from Jellalabad, without encountering any further opposition. On the following day, Jellalabad was reached, the band of the 13th Queen's, a gallant regiment which had so long assisted to hold that town, marching out to play in the travel-worn soldiers of Pollock's army. Mr. Gleig, in his interest- ing history of Sale's brigade, says that the relieving force, thus escorted, marched the last two or three miles to the tune, " Oh, but ye've been lang o' com- ing/' It must have been a happy meeting, this, between these brave bands of Englishmen, after all the anxieties, the hope deferred, and the fighting in which so many gallant fellows had perished in the attempt to aid their beleaguered countrymen. Major Smith, who was serving on General Mc- Caskill's staff, gives a spirited account of the opera- tions between the 5th and 16th of April : " The enemy appeared to be very soon aware of our approach, and the faces of the lofty hills on either side were studded with signal-fires, as if hung with lamps all over. The effect was very beautiful. General McCaskill, being in command of the rearguard, my post, as acting deputy assistant adjutant- general, was with him, and I had thus an opportunity of wit- nessing the whole scene, as if beheld in a panorama. It was a splendid sight, and of course intensely interesting. The day began to dawn as the troops reached the foot of the hills. The right column had the most difficult ascent to make. Colonel Taylor had well reconnoitred the ground, and led his men a con- siderable distance to the right, where there seemed to be most facility for climbing the hill. The enemy were posted behind Life of Sir George Pollock. 271 rocks, but firing their jezails, or matchlocks, retreated up the mountain before our men, who pressed on, breathless with toil, every now and then pausing at favourable spots to rest for a few seconds, till they attained the summit of the ridge, and moved along it to the left. Some very sharp skirmishing, in which the Khyberees evinced considerable skill, now took place. Several of our men, European and native, were knocked over, and the flashing of musketry continued so long and uninterruptedly that we began to feel anxious about renewing the supply of ammu- nition. A party of the 9th, somewhat detached, were hotly pressed by numbers greatly exceeding their own, and while rushing eagerly (but in regular skirmishing order) to attain a strong position, their officer, Lieutenant Gumming,, a highly promising and much-esteemed young man, received a shot in the head and fell dead instantly. The party having reached the defensive ground, soon effectually checked the enemy, then charged, and drove them down the hill towards the pass. " Meantime the left column had been carrying on operations of a similar nature, but with less opposition ; while General Pollock placed the artillery of the advance guard in battery opposite the gorge of the pass, and, with showers of shrapnel, dispersed the enemy from behind their sungah, built across the road, and from the heights immediately above it. A strong body of Afreedies were posted on the summit of the right hill, to which point Colonel Taylor's column was advancing ; but as the difficulties and distance of his route necessarily caused some delay, General Pollock ordered Brigadier Wild to ascend the precipitous face of the hill, with the grenadiers of the 9th and five companies of the 30th Native Infantry, and dislodge the enemy. Most gallantly they went to work; Captain Ogle, of the 9th, conspicuously leading his company ; but, unfortunately, they took a path which was impracticable. After ascending about two-thirds of the hill they found the rocks overhanging them, and were brought to a check, the enemy firing incessantly from the top, and rolling down large stones, by which Ogle was severely bruised, his colour-sergeant and several men killed, and many put liors de combat. The attempt, however, was not to be thus frustrated. They scrambled about till they found a prac- ticable path, and at length were established on the summit, Life of Sir George Pollock. whence the enemy soon fled, finding themselves assailed on the other flank by Colonel Taylor's party, who had now acquired complete mastery of the whole ridge. The Khyberees having rushed on from all points to take up a new position farther north in the pass, the Sappers soon cleared away the sungah, and the advance was continued exactly according to the preconcerted plan. The behaviour of the Bengal Sepoys in the fight, asso- ciated with the men of the 9th, was everything that could be wished, and General Pollock must have felt great satisfaction in perceiving that he had no longer any cause of apprehension as to their steadiness and gallantry. They thirsted to revenge the death and wounds inflicted on so many of their comrades in the previous attacks, and were, indeed, in a savage state of excite- ment. A short distance within the pass a Khyberee was found concealed in a cave. He rushed down upon the road, and ran to General Pollock for protection. The General and Major Barnwell placed him between them, and endeavoured to prevent his being injured ; but his pursuers followed, fiercely exclaiming that they must have his life, and the instant General Pollock relinquished his hold of him he was cut down and hacked to pieces. No authority could at that moment have induced them to give quarter. " The advance guard and flanking columns pressed on without a check till they reached a bridge, commanded by hills, on which the enemy had posted themselves in great force, keeping up a constant fire upon the causeway, which they had cut through transversely, making a gap of considerable width. Some time elapsed before they could be dislodged, but at length they were driven off'. The Sappers rapidly repaired the bridge, under the direction of the Engineer officer, and 'Forward' was again the word, till at about two o'clock in the afternoon the advance attained the neighbourhood of Ali Musjid. This fort had been occupied in the morning by an Afghan chief, with a small force sent thither by Akbar Khan ; but finding General Pollock was rapidly bearing down all opposition, they mounted their horses, and, with their two guns, betook themselves to flight. The camp was established, and thus concluded the ' doing of that day.' " The baggage animals, which had been assembled near the Life of Sir George Pollock. 273 mouth of the pass, entered it as soon as the way was clear. The vast train wound along, and the rearguard followed. So slow was our progress that when darkness came on we had not pene- trated above a mile into the pass, and there appearing no chance of a further forward movement in the mass of camels before us, a halt was sounded. The cavalry picketed their horses, guards were posted, haversacks emptied of their contents, and we lay down to bivouac for the night, during the whole of which a per- petual popping of musketry resounded from the hills about us, where the troops of our flanking columns were posted, an absurd waste of ammunition, which General Pollock has issued strong orders to repress. Among our various accommodations the most luxurious lit de repos I observed was tbat of the Artillery officer, who ensconced himself snugly beneath one of his guns, probably on the principle of the prisoner for debt in ' Pickwick,' who slept under the table, because, as he said, he had been always accustomed to a 'four-poster.' "At daybreak next morning we resumed our march, and about two o'clock arrived in camp, the whole operation having perfectly succeeded. The loss of the day was 31 killed and 104 wounded. What loss the enemy suffered we could not with accuracy ascertain. They are scrupulously careful to carry off their dead, and we did not find many in the pass. On awaking in the morning, I discovered that I had been reposing within a few feet of one of these a ghastly object, his head shattered to pieces by a shrapnel. One of the matters to which great atten- tion had been paid in preparing for the attack, was the preven- tion of suffering from thirst to which the nature of the service rendered the men liable, who had to remain so long and to endure so much labour on those arid heights under a burning sun. Hindoo prejudices augmented the difficulty of this point very considerably. These gentlemen will drink from no vessel on hand, but those of 'persons of quality' like themselves. Much was accomplished by arrangement, but there were still a great many parched tongues and dry lips, notwithstanding the provision of numerous camel-loads of lotas (brass pots) filled with the pure element by the sacred hands of the Brahmins of each corps. " On the following morning we renewed our march much in 18 274 Life of Sir George Pollock. the same order as before. I was again with General McCaskill, on rearguard duty, which, however important, is certainly the most abominable and tedious of any that falls to one's lot. The road runs along the stony bed of a river and below the small fort of Ali Musjid, a little beyond which the rugged mountains contract to so narrow a passage that not more than two camels could pass abreast. Here, then, we found ourselves in a con- dition that may be well described by the Yankee phrase, ' an uncomfortable fix.' All day long did we wait, and wait, and wait, while the never-ending train of baggage by slow degrees passed on ; and when evening came, there we were still waiting. There was evidently no chance of getting in that night. It was fast growing dark, and the General, his aide-de-camp, and myself were making a dinner of such provender as we had, when a frightful uproar arose in and beyond the narrow passage I have mentioned. Crack ! crack ! went the shots of some twenty jezails. Back rushed in pell-mell confusion all the camels, bullocks, and drivers, who were nearest to the outlet, exclaiming that five hundred Khyberees were among the baggage, and murdering every man they came across. This interrupted the progress of our repast. We rose from table in the middle of the first course, and the General proceeded to arrange for the reception of the distinguished guests with whose visit we were threatened. Thinking it probable they might arrive in the middle of the night, the guns were placed in readi- ness to fire a salute on the occasion, and, as guard of honour, waited to receive them behind a battlement constructed with bags of flour. We then lay down to pass a most disagreeable night till morning. The wind blew cold and bleak along the pass, bringing with it a smothering cloud of dust and sand. We neither heard nor saw more of our friends. They had accomplished every purpose by carrying off several camel-loads of baggage. The spot at which they performed this feat is particularly well adapted for it, affording concealment behind rocks and bushes till some unguarded string of animals passed by. "We resumed our march at daybreak, and found General Pollock with the advance, encamped some few miles on at Lall Beg Ghurree. Here my chum, Captain Edmonds, of the 9th, and I were saluted with the gratifying intelligence that our Life of Sir George Pollock. 275 baggage was among the plundered tent, clothes, money, every- thing gone ! I had, fortunately, a mule with me, carrying my bedding and some few changes of linen. "We solicited charity among our neighbours. One contributed a small tent, another a shirt or two, a third some other essential article of equipment, and finally we subsided into a sort of satisfaction in the total emancipation from all anxiety about baggage. Now and then the want of some little article of comfort or convenience excites us to a benediction of the Khyber robbers, but, on the whole, we bear our misfortunes with very tolerable equanimity. " Our next march was made (still without any opposition worth mentioning) to Lundikhana, and then out of the pass to this place, where we are encamped on the right bank of the Cabul river, the town and fort of Lalpoora exactly opposite to us on the other side. The whole distance from the mouth of the pass to Dhaka is about thirty miles. It was extremely pleasant to emerge from the confinement of the contracted defile into the open plain. The fort of Lalpoora was held, when we came here, by an Afghan chief named Saadut Khan, brother of Toorabaz Khan, whose assistance the other day enabled our Pesh Bolak fugitives * to escape to Peshawur. Toorabaz then possessed the place, but found it advisable to abandon it and take refuge at Peshawur, when the insurrection against his friends the English broke out, and Saadut, their bitter foe, then seized it. Toorabaz accompanied us through the pass, and General Pollock purposes before we move on to reinstate him in his power. " A battery was erected, and we fired several rounds of shot and shell at the fort. The river runs like a sluice in front of the place, and is not fordable, nor could boats be procured, so a force under Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor, of the 9th, composed of two squadrons of the 3rd Light Dragoons, two companies of the 9th, ten of Native Infantry, and two guns, proceeded yesterday along this bank with the intention of crossing where practicable and moving down on Lalpoora through a rocky defile on the other side. The operation was found far more difficult and dangerous than they anticipated. The depth and rapidity of the stream, * Captains Ferris and Ponsonby and their party. See Appendix to Sir W. Nott's Life. 18 * 276 Life of Sir George Pollock. or rather streams (for they had to get over several), were most formidable. Three or four men and horses of the dragoons were drowned. The infantry crossed on elephants, and after many hours of excessive toil the troops reached their destination in the middle of the night, and found the fort and town aban- doned by the enemy. This we knew long before their arrival, having watched from our battery, with much amusement, the decamping of Saadut and his friends, who mounted in hot haste and set off over the hills as soon as they got news of the approach of Colonel Taylor's party on their flank. Soon after their de- parture, an Afghan, one of the inhabitants of the town of Lalpoora, crossed the rapid stream to our side with great dex- terity, supported by an inflated bag of goatskin, which, on reaching the bank, he hoisted on his back, and then hastened up to us to announce that the place was forsaken by the enemy. " Our troops had a wearisome march back to rejoin head- quarters, and came in thoroughly fagged, but without further accident. " On the 15th we were at AH Boghan, about seven miles dis- tant from Jellalabad, and several of the officers, so long pent up within its walls, enjoyed the unusual recreation of riding over to our camp, all traces of the enemy having vanished since their sally of the 7th, and the approach of our army having caused the disappearance of every Afghan in the neighbourhood. " Somehow or other we had adopted a notion that the defen- ders of the beleaguered fortress would be found in a deplorable condition, with long beards, haggard faces, and tattered gar- ments. This, when examined, was not a reasonable expecta- tion, but certainly many of us had conceived it, and a comical surprise arose when we found the European officers and men, all fat and rosy, in the highest health, scrupulously clean shaven, and dressed as neatly as if quartered in the best regulated cantonment in India. We, on the contrary, the relieving army, presented the strongest possible contrast to all this. Our bag- gage, reduced to the smallest quantity, afforded only essential changes of clothing ; our coats and trousers were torn and dirty, our lips and faces burnt and blistered by the sun ; and although the troops, when marshalled in array, made a goodly show and stalwart, soldier-like appearance, yet for the most part each Life of Sir George Pollock. 277 individual was in himself a particularly shabby-looking person. The walls of Jellalabad were manned by the garrison as we passed to our encamping ground, and when the salute was fired and returned, a loud and thrilling cheer burst forth to welcome us ; it was a most exciting scene. Rarely, indeed, have so many hearts beat happily together as throbbed at that moment in the ranks of the relieving and relieved. I trust that many, too, felt it to be an occasion of deep solemnity, and lifted up their grateful thoughts to the Almighty." General Pollock, writing to a friend, says of the appearance of the Jellalabad garrison, " We found the fort strong, the garrison healthy, and, except for wine and beer, better off than we were. They were, of course, delighted to see us. We gave three cheers as we passed the colours, and the band of each regiment played as it came up. It was a sight worth seeing. All appeared happy." But great events had taken place at Jellalabad only a few days before the arrival of Pollock's force, and had altered the position of the garrison materially, though not to the extent generally inferred by people who say that Sale relieved himself. His troops had been shut up for five long months in the fortifications reared by their own energy, and the genius of Broad- foot, of the Madras Native Infantry, and were in a state of semi- starvation, when on the 1st of April they managed to secure, by a successful raid, a flock of 500 sheep and goats browsing near the walls; this stroke of luck secured them a further ten days' sup- ply of meat. On the 7th April, Sale, who, though as brave a soldier as ever lived, had a singular dread of 278 Life of Sir George Pollock. incurring responsibility, at the instigation of Broad- foot, and Havelock (his Persian interpreter), and other brave hearts, and authorized by a council of war he had convened to consider the measure, sallied out at early morning at the head of almost the entire garrison ] ,800 men, in three columns under Dennie, Monteith, and Havelock with the object of attack- ing Akbar Khan, who had drawn out his troops, 6,000 strong, in battle array, to meet the Jellalabad brigade. The conflict that ensued was short and decisive, but the victory, though complete, was dimmed by the death of the gallant Brigadier Dennie of the 13th L. I. By seven A.M., Akbar Khan was in full retreat, with heavy loss, his cannon captured, his camp in flames. Thus Sale was said to have relieved himself; and though he had done so in the sense of utterly routing the enemy, yet had not Pollock advanced through the Khyber and cleared the route to Jellalabad of every murdering Afghan and Afreedie, how could he have forced that tremendous succession of defiles, twenty-six miles in length, with the means at his disposal? He and every officer of his force knew well they could not accomplish this, unless they had incurred the risk of bringing on their own heads the fate that befell General Elphin- stone's division in the Khoord Cabul Pass. The fol- lowing extract from a letter now before me, written by Captain Augustus Abbott,* of the Bengal Artil- * Afterwards Major- General Abbott, C,B, Life of Sir George Pollock. 279 lery, wlio commanded a battery at Jellalabad, and was renowned in the service, like his brothers, Frederick and James, for dash, as well as skill and an intimate knowledge of his profession, is conclu- sive on this point : " Pollock did relieve Jellalabad. We could have done nothing without his aid; we could not even have retired without suffering great loss." Were any further proof required of the fact that, though Sir Eobert Sale completely defeated Akbar Khan in the engagement of the 7th April, before the walls of Jellalabad, he did not thereby relieve himself (as it was, and still is, the fashion to say), it would be afforded by the official report of the gallant General himself, detailing the incidents of the memorable defence of the Afghan town. Sir Eobert Sale's letter to the Secretary to the Govern- ment of India, dated 16th April, 1842, an ably- written despatch, supposed to be penned by the late lamented hero, Sir Henry Havelock, commences as follows : " The relief of this place having been effected by the victorious advance through the passes of the Khyber of the army under Major- General Pollock, C.B." This unqualified acknowledgment ought surely to be conclusive. 280 Life of Sir George Pollock. CHAPTEE VI. Jellalabad. Lord Ellenborough and his Afghan policy. Negotiations for the release of the prisoners. The halt at Jellalabad, 16th of April to 20th of August, 1842. JELLALABAD, in which General Pollock was doomed to pass some months of enforced inactivity, is situated on the right bank of the Cabul river (which flows past in a broad and rapid stream), and is encircled by a mud wall, the height of which had been much augmented by the unremitting labours of the garrison, which numbered about 2,600 men. The extent of the ramparts was 2,600 yards, comprising 32 bastions. The sandy plain around is of great extent, and the view from it, to the south, of the Safed Koh, or White Mountain, so called from its crown of perpetual snow, very magnificent. To the north is another snowy range, one conspicuous part of which is called the Durrah-i-noor (" valley of light "), but not so extensive as the Safed Koh. Westward are the mountains traversed by the road to Cabul, and to the east are the Khyber hills through which Pollock's force had marched.* Major Smith writes : * Owing probably to its situa- greatly subject to atmospherical tion, Jellalabad appeared to be perturbations. General Pollock Life of Sir George Pollock. 281 "At a short distance from Jellalabad, are some remarkable rocks, of such elevation as to command a part of the walls, a circumstance which on some occasions during the blockade caused annoyance to the garrison. Akbar Khan once brought a gun to this position, with the expectation of doing, a deal of business, but just as his people were about to fire it, a shrapnel was pitched most accurately among them by Cap- tain Abbott, doing admirable execution. The gun was forth- with dragged away, and no similar attempt was ever made again. When the Afghans assembled on this rock, they were always attended by a musician playing on the peculiar instrument of the country, much resembling the Scottish bagpipe. From this cir- cumstance, the soldiers of the 13th gave it the name of Piper's Hill. The designation is now fully established, and the spot is so described in the orders for posting our pickets, by one of which it is occupied." On General Pollock's arrival at Jellalabad, he assumed, has detailed some interesting elec- trical phenomena he witnessed. About the end of April, or the beginning of May, 1842, the air being quite clear, and not a cloud to be seen, while the European sentry on duty carried his arms, with fixed bayonet, sparks might be drawn from any part of the barrel of the musket by a second person bringing his knuckle near to it. General Pollock witnessed this, besides having often himself drawn sparks from the firelock. He stated that a succession of sparks could be obtained from the same musket, and that it did not require any great interval of time to elapse before a second could be elicited after one had been felt. The stocks of the muskets were made of the sipoo-tree, a peculiar wood which grows in the East Indies, and of which the musket- stocks of the Indian troops are usually made. There is generally a band of brass which goes round the lower end of the butt of the gun : this must have been touched by the sentry's hand while he carried his musket, but it is not con- nected with any other part of the metal. From these facts it would ap- pear as if the electricity entered by the point of the bayonet, and was lodged in the barrel, until drawn off by the approach of some body having a connection with the earth. The wood of which the stock was made must have been very dry almost in a baked state and must thus have served as an insulator or non-conductor to the fluid. 282 Life of Sir George Pollock. according to instructions from the Governor-General, the military and political command, in the place of Sale and Macgregor. In himself and JSTott, on either side of Afghanistan, had been vested the supreme direction of affairs. Sale, therefore, now commanded a brigade, and Macgregor was appointed a simple aide- de-camp on Pollock's staff. The General, however, availed himself of Macgregor's great political ex- perience, and uniformly successful method of dealing with the Afghans, and throughout the campaign the latter was his trusted adviser, and, indeed, performed the ordinary duties of political officer, under the direc- tion of the General, who retained all authority in his own hands. Lord Ellenborough had the strongest distrust of the soldier-diplomatist, of which India has furnished such brilliant examples; and hence in his indis- criminating dislike, acted with but scant courtesy or fairness to men like Eawlinson or Macgregor, who deserved nothing but gratitude on the part of their countrymen, but now found themselves cast on one side, at a time when their energy and sagacity ought to have met with more consideration. But, un- happily, a strong and unreasoning current of feeling had set in against all military political agents, and General Nott made a great hit in popular estimation when he wrote : "If a man is too stupid or too lazy to drill his company, he often turns sycophant, and cringes to the heads of depart- ments, and is made a ' political j f and of course puts the Govern- Life. of Sir George Pollock. 283 ment to an enormous expense, and disgraces the character of his country." This was as diametrically opposed to the truth as anything could possibly be ; and although there were one or two of the class at Cabul, or in its neighbour- hood, whose moral conduct was not above suspicion, and who, doubtless, created an ill feeling among the Afghans, which found so terrible a vent in the tragic deeds of the 2nd November, 1841, yet it was unfair to judge thus disparagingly of a class which included such names as Pottinger, Lawrence, Abbott, Todd, Conolly and others. It was also foolish to make sweeping assertions like the preceding, when among men of Nott's own cloth, such dire incom- petence or imbecility had been displayed, as by General Elphin stone and Brigadier Shelton at Cabul. While these events had been taking place at Pesha- wur and in the Khyber, an important change in the personnel of the Government had occurred at Calcutta. The Earl of Auckland he had been created an earl for the unhappy imbroglio in Afghanistan was no longer the presiding spirit at the Council Board at Government House. Lord Ellenborough, the newly- appointed Governor- General, was a man of eminent talent and great oratorical power, and had acquired considerable experience in Indian affairs, as President of the Board of Control. His appointment gave uni- versal satisfaction in India, and great things were expected from his energy and spirit, though his dis- cretion could not be equally relied upon. 284 Life of Sir George Pollock. Before we enter upon the consideration of the course he resolved to adopt in the Afghan crisis, the parting instructions of his predecessor should be recorded. On the 24th February, in one of the last public papers of any importance emanating from Lord Auckland, General Pollock received the final in- structions of the departing Governor- General. In this lengthy document, dated " Fort William, 24th February, 1842," after treating fully of the policy Pollock should adopt towards Akbar Khan, Shah Soojah, and the Sikh auxiliaries, he proceeds : " Paragraph. 10. Yon will consider it one of the first objects of your solicitude, to procure the release of British officers, and soldiers and their families, and private servants and followers, who are held in captivity, and their delivery to you or to other British officers, at Peshawur or other certain place of safety. The means of effecting this object must be left a great deal to your own discretion. Paragraph 14. On the whole, you will understand that the great present object of your proceedings at Peshawur is, beyond the safe withdrawal of the force at Jellalabad, that of watching events, of keeping up such communications as may be admissible with the several parties who may acquire power in the northern portion of Afghanistan, of committing yourself per- manently with none of these parties, but also of declaring positively against none of them, while you are collecting the most accurate information of their relative strength and purposes for report to the Government, and pursuing the measures which you may find in your power for procuring the safe return of our troops and people detained beyond the Khyber Pass." Thus stood matters when Lord Ellenborough arrived at Calcutta, on the 28th February, 1842. On the 15th of March following, the new Governor- General addressed to the Commander-in-Chief a spirited letter, Life of Sir George Pollock. 285 signed by the members of his Council, Mr. Bird, General Casement, and Mr. H. J. Prinsep, as well as by himself, announcing the policy he proposed to adopt in reference to affairs in Afghanistan. "Whatever course," he wrote, "we may hereafter take, must rest solely on military considerations, and have, in the first instance, regard to the safety of the detached bodies of our troops at Jellalabad, at Ghuznee, at Khelat-i-Ghilzye, and Candahar ; to the security of our troops in the field from all unnecessary risk, and finally, to the establishment of our military reputation by the infliction of some signal and decisive blow upon the Afghans, which may make it appear to them, and to our own subjects, and to our allies, that we have the power of inflicting punishment upon those who commit atrocities and violate their faith, and that we withdraw ultimately from Afghanistan, not from any deficiency of means to maintain our position, but because we are satisfied that the king we have set up has not, as we were erroneously led to imagine, the support of the nation over which he has been placed. " In war, reputation is strength, but reputation is lost by the rash exposure of the most gallant troops under circumstances which render defeat more probable than victory ; and a succes- sion of reverses will dishearten any soldiers, and, most of all, those whose courage and devotion have been mainly the result of their confidence that they were always led to certain success. We would, therefore, strongly impress upon the commanders of the forces employed in Afghanistan and Scinde the importance of incurring no unnecessary risk, and of bringing their troops into action under circumstances which may afford full scope to the superiority they derive from their discipline. At the same time, we are aware that no great object can be accomplished without incurring some risk, and we should consider that the object of striking a decisive blow at the Afghans, more especially if such blow could be struck in combination with measures for the relief of Ghuznee a blow which might re-establish our military character beyond the Indus, and leave a deep impression of our power, and of the vigour with which it would be applied 286 Life of Sir George Pollock. to punish an atrocious enemy, wo aid be one for which risk might be justifiably incurred, all due and possible precaution being taken to diminish such necessary risk, and to secure decisive success. " The commanders of the forces in Upper and Lower Afghan- istan will, in all the operations they may design, bear in mind these general views and opinions of the Government of India. They will, in the first instance, endeavour to relieve all the garrisons in Afghanistan, which are now surrounded by the enemy. The relief of these garrisons is a point deeply affecting the military character of the army, and deeply interesting the feelings of their country ; but to make a rash attempt to effect such relief, in any case, without a reasonable prospect of success, would be to afford no real aid to the brave men who are sur- rounded, and fruitlessly to sacrifice other good soldiers, whose preservation is equally dear to the Government they serve. To effect the release of the prisoners taken at Cabul, is an object likewise deeply interesting in point of feeling - and of honour. That object can, probably, only be accomplished by taking hostages from such part of the country as may be in, or may come into, our possession ; and with reference to this object, and to that of the relief of Ghuznee, it may possibly become a question, in the event of Major- General Pollock's effecting a junction with Sir Robert Sale, whether the united force shall return to the country below the Khyber Pass, or take a forward position near Jellalabad, or even advance to Cabul. " We are fully sensible of the advantages which would be derived from the re-occupation of Cabul, the scene of our great disaster and of so much crime, even for a week, of the means which it might afford of recovering the prisoners, of the gratifi- cation which it would give to the army, and of the effect which it would have upon our enemies. Our withdrawal might then be made to rest upon an official declaration of the grounds upon which we retired as solemn as that which accompanied our advance ; and we should retire as a conquering, not as a defeated power ; but we cannot sanction the occupation of an advanced position beyond the Khyber Pass, by Major-General Pollock, unless that General should be satisfied that he can, without depending upon the forbearance of the tribes near the pass, Life of Sir George Pollock. 287 which, obtained only by purchase, must, under all circumstances, be precarious, and without depending upon the fidelity of the Sikh chiefs, or upon the power of those chiefs to restrain their troops, upon neither of which can any reliance be safely placed, feel assured that he can, by his own strength, overawe and over- come all who dispute the pass, and keep up at all times his communication with Peshawur and the Indus." These dignified sentiments struck a responsive chord in Indian society, which, throughout all its grades, was desirous that the honour of the country should be maintained at its ancient pitch. But a change soon came over the spirit of his Lordship's dream. After a brief residence in Calcutta, he exchanged the bracing moral and political atmosphere of his Council Board, where his advisers were all in favour of a vigorous policy, for the enervating influence that pervaded the judgment of the Com- mander-in-Chief, who, having been opposed to the occupation of Afghanistan from the first, now logically adhered to his original opinion, that we ought to wash our hands of the whole business as speedily as might be. As Lord Ellenborough proceeded on his journey up country, he received intelligence of the forcing of the Khyber, and arrival at Jellalabad of General Pollock, also of Sale's victory of the 7th April, which latter achievement he announced to the public in a proclamation which has become historical, he having therein conferred the well-earned title of tf illustrious" on that noble garrison. But notwithstanding these successes, on receiving intelligence of the capitula- 288 Life of Sir George Pollock. tion of Ghuznee by Colonel Palmer, who, with a regi- ment of Native Infantry, had held the fortress for four months against the Afghans, and hearing also of the repulse on the 28th March at Hykulzye, a little beyond Quettah, of Brigadier England, who, with reinforcements and a convoy of provisions, was hastening to join General Nott at Candahar, the Governor-General turned his back upon his former policy of " inflicting some signal and decisive blow upon the Afghans," and wrote letters on the 19th April from Benares to the Commander-in- Chief and General Nbtt, in direct opposition to the spirited policy he had first sketched out. To Nott, his chief Secretary wrote : " I am directed by tlie Governor-General to instruct you to take immediate measures for drawing off the garrison of Khelat-i-Ghilzye. You will effectually destroy all such guns as you cannot conveniently bring away. You will destroy the fort likewise, unless at the time at which the operation shall be effected, which is hereinbefore enjoined, Prince Timour, having remained faithful to British interests, shall possess a sufficient force to be reasonably expected to be able to maintain that fort upon their giving it into his charge. You will evacuate the city of Candahar, giving tliat too into the charge of Prince Timour under the circumstances above mentioned; you will otherwise ruin its defences before you evacuate it. You will then proceed to take up a position at Quettah until the season may enable you to retire upon Sukkur. The object of our above- directed measures is to withdraw all our forces to Sukkur at the earliest period at which the season and other circum- stances may permit you to take up a new position there. The manner of effecting this now necessary object is, however, left to your discretion." Life of Sir George Pollock. 289 His letters to the Commander-in-Chief, for he wrote no less than three on this 19th April, related to the military policy which ought to be adopted in view of the retreat of Brigadier England in conse- quence of his repulse, which, though only of a temporary character, had made a serious impression on Lord Ellenborough's mind. The first letter referring to this reverse, and enclosing the instruc- tions to Nott, states the Governor- General's opinion that it is " expedient to take immediate measures for the ultimate safety of General Nott's force, by with- drawing it at the earliest practicable period from its advanced position, into nearer communication with India." In the second letter, which relates to the course to be pursued with regard to General Pollock's force, he says : " The retention of the combined force in the vicinity of Jellalabad during the hot months may be more conducive to the health of the troops than a retrograde march through the Khyber Pass, and might have some material influence upon any negotiation which might be instituted for an exchange of prisoners. On the other hand, it is obvious that the position of Major- General Pollock's force at one end of a long and difficult pass, with an enemy in its front, and an ally, not to be entirely depended upon, in its rear, is not one in which, having regard to military considerations alone, a General would readily place himself. It has been already intimated to your Excellency, in a letter from the Governor- General in Council of the 15th March, that, in the opinion of the Government, military considerations alone should hereafter direct the movements of the British armies in Afghanistan. The only question, therefore, will be in which position will Major- General Pollock's force remain during the hot months with most security to itself and with the least 19 290 Life of Sir George Pollock. pressure upon the health of the troops, its ultimate retirement within the Indus being a point determined upon, because the reasons for our first crossing the Indus have ceased to exist." In conclusion, the Commander-in-Chief was directed to issue his own instructions to General Pollock. In the third letter, addressed to Sir Jasper Nicolls on this 19th April, after speaking of the withdrawal orders to Pollock and Nott, the Governor- General goes on to say : " If new aggressive movements upon Afghanistan should be deemed to be necessary, it will be for our consideration whether it may not be possible to select a new line of operations leading directly upon Ghuznee, which may enable us to concentrate our forces, and to hold them in more immediate and secure commu- nication with India. It will, however, .likewise be for consider- ation whether our troops, having been redeemed from the state of peril in which they have been placed in Afghanistan, and, it may still be hoped, not without the infliction of some severe blow upon the Afghan army, it would be justifiable again to push them forward for any other object than that of revenging our losses, and of re-establishing, in all its original brilliancy, our military character." In his communication to the Secret Committee of the India House, dated 22nd April, his Lordship, in transmitting copies of these three letters, speaks of the recent successes in Afghanistan, but adds : " These several events, although they improve our prospects to some extent, have in no respect altered my deliberate opinion that it is expedient to withdraw the troops under Major- General Pollock and those under Major-General Nott, at the earliest practicable period, into positions wherein they may have certain and easy communication with India. That opinion is founded upon a general view of our military, political, and financial situation, and is not liable to be lightly changed." Life of Sir George Pollock. 291 In reply to the Governor-General's directions to Sir Jasper Nicolls that he should give any further instructions to General Pollock he might deem necessary, the Commander-in-Chief stated in a letter, dated 27th April, to his Lordship's address, that he had not ventured to give any such instructions. " The General," he added, " is a clear-headed, good officer, and you have loaded his advance with heavy cautions ; but he will stand alone, and treat those around him (as far as I know) rather as advisers than agents. By his despatches of the 16th, your Lordship will perceive that he feels it necessary to send back a part of his force to aid Lieutenant- Colonel Bolton through the pass. He promises an explanation of this necessity. My great doubt is that he can equip the force for a movement in advance, at such a distance from our resources, and under the rooted dislike and fear of the Afghans, entertained by every class of camp followers. If they are ill equipped, or placed in an unhealthy position, the losses may be very heavy." Although Lord Ellenborough prided himself on the indifference with which he regarded the animadversions of the public and press, yet he was in reality more thin-skinned and sensitive to the oscillations of public opinion than he would allow. The effect caused by the disaster at Hykulzye began to wear off, and per- haps his Lordship felt a little ashamed that a single repulse should disturb the equanimity and alter the plans of so mighty a potentate as the Governor- General of India, while his subordinate, the General commanding " our " armies beyond the Indus, gave the matter scarcely a second thought ; or if it did engage his attention at all, only nerved his brave heart and 19.* 292 Life of Sir George Pollock. steeled his resolution not to yield one inch, to all the armed might of Afghanistan. Perhaps these reso- lutions influenced Lord Ellenborough when, on the 28th April, he wrote to General Pollock : " The aspect of affairs in Upper Afghanistan appears to be such, according to the last advices received by the Govern or- General, that his Lordship cannot but contemplate the possibility of your having been led, by the absence of serious opposition on the part of any array in the field, by the divisions amongst the Afghan chiefs, and by the natural desire you must, in common with every true soldier, have of again displaying the British flag in triumph upon the scene of our late disasters, to advance upon and occupy the city of Cabul. If that event should have occurred, you will understand it will in no respect vary the view which the Governor- General previously took of the policy to be now pursued. The Governor- General will adhere to the opinion that the only safe course is that of withdrawing the army under your command at the earliest practicable period into positions within the Khyber Pass, where it may possess easy and certain communications with India." Thus the Governor- General could not muster suffi- cient magnanimity to allow that his opinion was changed, if that could be called opinion which appeared to fluctuate from day to day, and might, perhaps, with more propriety, be termed caprice even though General Pollock, in carrying out in its entirety the only programme that could thoroughly rehabilitate the honour of his country, occupied the city of Cabul itself, the scene of British dishonour and defeat. We can offer no explanation of the reason that induced his Lordship to entertain the idea that Pollock might have advanced upon the capital of Afghanistan in the face of positive instructions to the contrary; though it Life of Sir George Pollock. 293 has been surmised that it probably arose from "a temporary apprehension arising out of a not erroneous estimate of the military aspirations of General Pollock." On the 4th May (only six days later), Mr. Maddock, the Governor- General's secretary, writes to General Pollock from Allahabad, to the following effect : " The Governor- General was in expectation that, in pursuance of the request contained in his Lordship's letter to the Commander- in- Chief of the 19th ultimo (of which a copy was communicated to you), His Excellency would probably have addressed instruc- tions to you, founded upon the more recent and accurate know- ledge of your situation, which His Excellency's position at Simla enables him to obtain ; but his Lordship is now informed that His Excellency has not deemed it necessary to issue any such further instructions, relying upon your discretion in acting upon the instructions you already have, contained in the letter of the Governor- General in Council to His Excellency, dated the 15th of March. " 2. You have since received, in the letter of the 19th ultimo, above referred to, a further indication of the views of the Government, views which have been in no respect varied by the demise of Shah Soojah, or by the victory of Sir Robert Sale. "3. On the contrary, that victory, in conjunction with your success, going far towards the re- establishment, in the minds of the Afghans, and of our troops and subjects and aTlies, of that sentiment of confidence in our military superiority, which it is so essential to preserve ; and the decease of Shah Soojah having manifestly relieved the British from all such engagements as might have been deemed to have been of a personal character with him, it is in reality, and it will be in the opinion of all men, more easy for you to withdraw your troops from the advanced position they occupy, than it would have been had political con- siderations of great importance appeared to require other and ulterior operations. " The most recent accounts which have been received of the difficulty experienced by you in obtaining supplies from Jellalabad, 294 Life of Sir George Pollock. and in bringing forward supplies from Peshawur, and the very- deficient means of movement, as well as of provision, which you possess, induce the Governor-General to expect that you will have already decided upon withdrawing your troops within the Khyber Pass, into a position where you may have easy and certain communication with India, if considerations, having regard to the health of the army, should not have induced you to defer that movement. " The Governor- General is satisfied that you will have felt that no great object can be accomplished by any army having deficient means of movement and supply, and that nothing but a great object could justify the incurring of great risks. " His Lordship is too strongly impressed with confidence in your judgment to apprehend that you will ever place the army under your command in a situation in which, without adequate means of movement and supply, it could derive no benefit from its superior valour and discipline, and might be again subjected to a disaster, which, if repeated, might be fatal to our power in India. " The first object of the Governor-General's anxiety has ever been to withdraw, with honour, into positions of security the several corps of the army which he found scattered and sur- rounded in Afghanistan. That object may now be accomplished with respect to the army under your command ; and the Governor- General could experience no higher satisfaction than that of hearing that the health of that army, in whose welfare he takes so deep an interest, having been preserved, it was in a secure position, having certain communication with India." The Governor-General, depressed at Brigadier Eng- land's unfortunate repulse at Hykulzye, appeared to regard security of position as the sole object to be at- tained, and though shortly before he had laid down the sound principle that " in war, reputation is strength," he now turned his back upon this cardinal military axiom. Unless the release of the prisoners could be effected with comparative safety, he little recked of the Life of Sir George Pollock. 295 tender women and children, the widow of a British envoy, the wife of a British general, the head-quar- ters of a British regiment, ignominiously left in the hands of the brutal Afghans. None of these things disturbed the equanimity of the Governor-General at Simla. On the 29th April, Sir Jasper Nicolls, writing from Simla, directed General Pollock to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan, and advised the Governor- General of the fact on the same day. The following is the letter containing this explicit instruction, and with which, as a soldier bound to obey his military chief, George Pollock had no option but to comply, or take upon himself an amount of responsibility that few men would have had the moral courage to incur. When reading the letter, it is well to weigh for one moment what would have been the fate of a soldier who had disobeyed and been un- successful. " The Governor- General having transmitted to you a copy of his Lordship's despatch to my address of the 3 9th instant, yon will be prepared to receive a communication from me on the important subject thereof. You will be pleased therefore to conform to the following instructions : " 1. Shah Soojah being dead, Ghuzneelost, and Major-General Kott directed by his Lordship's command (also of the 19th instant) to withdraw the garrison of Khelat-i-Ghilzye, to evacuate Candahar, and to retire first upon Quettah, and, when the season admits, upon Sukkur ; you are required to make a similar movement in Upper Afghanistan, and to withdraw every British soldier from Jellalabad to Peshawur. 296 Life of Sir George Pollock. "2. You are to destroy the fort, and any useless guns ; but as there need be no haste in the retreat when commenced, you are requested not to leave any trophies. "3. The only circumstances which can authorize delay in obeying this order are, " 1st. That you may have brought a negotiation for the release of the prisoners lately confined at Budeeabad to such a point that you might risk its happy accomplishment by withdrawing. " 2nd. That you may have detached a lightly-equipped force to endeavour to rescue them. " 3rd. That the enemy at Cabul may be moving a force to attack you. In this improbable case, should any respectable number of troops have descended into the plain below Jugdulluck with that intent, it would be most advisable to inflict such a blow upon them as to make them long remember your parting effort. If you should have such a glorious opportunity, I advise you to send your weak and inefficient men previously to Lalpoora. "4. I do not recommend delay in the first case, unless the prisoners are actually on their way to your camp, as no faith can be placed in Afghan promises or oaths. The second would of course require that you should await the return of your detach- ment. " 5. I allude entirely to the officers and ladies now or lately at Budeeabad, or its vicinity. Those at Cabul cannot, I think, be saved by any treaty or agreement made under existing circum- stances at Jellalabad. " 6. You will be pleased, on reaching Peshawur, to despatch to Ferozepore without delay the troops of all arms which so gallantly upheld our country's name at Jellalabad ; and further instructions will be sent to you regarding the disposal of the other brigades. Sir Robert Sale may be permitted to remain at your head- quarters, should he desire to do so, and you will transfer him accordingly to another command, placing Brigadier Monteith in charge of the returning column." And what did George Pollock do on receiving these explicit instructions, which appeared in his eyes to be a cowardly abandonment of helpless Life of Sir George Pollock. 297 women and children, and calculated to entail the humiliation of his country's high name and military renown ? Why, he immediately sat down to his desk, and wrote to General Nott, requesting him on no account to retire, as directed by his superiors, until he should hear again from him, Pollock* This despatch, which was written with the medium sometimes em- ployed, iodine, was carried, inserted in a hollow at the end of a stick, by an old man, who hobbled the distance * So important did this letter appear to the writer of this Me- moir, that he wrote to Sir George Pollock asking for a copy. To this request he received the follow- ing reply : " I think you are quite right when you assert my letter to Nott was perhaps one of the most im- portant documents of all my Af- ghan correspondence. I am sorry to say I have not even a memo, of the letter. " I felt at the time that to retire would be our ruin the whole country would have risen to en- deavour to destroy us. I there- fore determined on remaining at Jellalabad until an opportunity offered for our advance, if practi- cable. I knew that Nott had been ordered to retire, and I knew that if he did go, his opponent would pay me a visit, accompanied by the army which eventually did oppose me. We had some tough work with that army, but if the army opposed to Nott had joined them, the odds against us would have been very great. I had quite enough to do with those who did oppose me at Jugdulluck and Te- zeen. Stopping Nott for a few days, after his receipt of orders to retire, was perhaps a very bold step, but I looked upon it as the only safe course to pursue, and it succeeded. If it had not suc- ceeded, I knew that I might lose my commission, but I felt pretty certain that if we worked together in earnest, the game would be ours. And I accordingly wrote to Nott to halt wherever he might be until he should hear from me again. He had made, I think, two retro- grade movements, and replied that he would wait until he heard from me again. " I am sorry that I have no copy of my letter or his reply; but of this I feel certain, that if I had not stopped him, our campaign would have ended much in the same way that occurred to the first party that returned from Cabul one individual reached Jellala- bad." 298 Life of Sir George Pollock. between Jellalabad and Candahar, and received the handsome reward of 500 rupees for his trouble. It is not often that elderly natives, who consider themselves fortunate if in the prime of life they earn four rupees a month in their poverty-stricken country of Afghan- istan, can hobble to such a tune as that. The Governor-General's withdrawal order astonished and mortified both General Nott and Major Rawlinson, the political agent at Candahar, but the former felt he had no option, as a soldier, but to obey, and he accordingly made preparations to evacuate the country with his army, and informed the Government of his intention to do as directed. He had been reinforced, on the 10th of May, by Brigadier England's brigade, which had been escorted through the formidable Kojuck Pass, by Colonel (the late General Sir George) Wymer, at the head of three fine Bengal regiments, the 2nd, 16th, and 38th Native Infantry; but Nott had, on the 19th May, agreeably to the Government order of the 1 9th April, despatched the same brigade, headed by its gallant commander, to the relief of the garrison of Khelat-i-Ghilzye, an isolated fortress standing upon a barren eminence some 80 miles from Candahar. This little party, consisting of the Shah's 3rd Infantry Kegiment, 250 Sepoys of the 43rd, 40 European Artillerymen, and some Sappers, under com- mand of Captain John Halkett Craigie, had defended the fortress for months, though suffering every privation of cold and hunger, and, after successfully repelling a desperate attack made upon them by the Afghans on Life of Sir George Pollock. 299 the morning of the 21st May, were withdrawn by Colonel Wymer, who demolished the works they had defended so nobly. Upon receiving General Pollock's letter; Nott gladly agreed to remain where he was until he should again hear from him. The Governor- General had issued a notification to the army, dated " Benares, 19th April," announcing the forcing of the Khyber Pass by General Pollock, and expressing his gratification at the " zeal, gallantry, and perseverance of the troops" engaged, while he also complimented the Sikh troops on the gallantry they had displayed. Again, on the 30th April, his Lordship issued a general order on the recent victories in Afghanistan, and said, with regard to George Pollock's share in those successful operations : " The Major-General has thus carried into effect the orders of the Government in a manner which entitles him to the highest approbation. Receiving the command of the army at Peshawur under circumstances of peculiar difficulty, he has, in the midst of new and unforeseen embarrassments and disappointments, pre- served a firm mind, and justly relying upon his own judgment, he has at last, with equal discretion and decision, accomplished the object he was directed to effect. The Governor- General requests Major- General Pollock to accept his acknowledgments of the good service he has thus rendered to the Government of India, and begs he will communicate to the gallant officers and troops under his command, the entire satisfaction with which their conduct has been regarded on this occasion." On receipt of a copy of the Command er-in-Chiefs instructions of the 29th April to General Pollock, the 300 Life of Sir George Pollock. secretary to Government wrote to the latter officer on the 6th May : " Of these instructions the Governor-General entirely approves. They are in accordance with the general principles laid down by his Lordship for your guidance, and you will execute them to the best of your ability, having regard always to the health of your troops, and the efficiency of your army objects of primary importance." After further informing him that, should Mr. Clerk desire it, he was to deliver up Jellalabad to the Sikhs, but that Ali Musjid was to be retained until the last British soldier had passed it,- a suggestion scarcely necessary to an officer of the experience and judgment of General Pollock, the Governor-General says, in conclusion, that he "trusts that you will have had the discretion not to mention the nature of the orders given to Major- General Nott," referred to in the Commander-in-Chief's letter of the 29th. On the same day, Lord Ellenborough wrote to Sir Jasper Nicolls, acknowledging the receipt of the in- structions forwarded for General Pollock's guidance, and continuing : " I have to thank your Excellency for having had the goodness to give these instructions, of which I entirely approve. They are in accordance with the general principles which, in my letter of the 19th ult., were laid down for the Major- General's guidance." By some means the news of the despatch of the Commander-in-Chief s letter soon leaked out, and created a storm of indignation throughout India, Life of Sir George Pollock. 301 both in the official and non-official public, as well as in the press, who were unanimous in their reprobation of the policy it enunciated. The Governor-General's letter of the 28th April, called forth from General Pollock a noble response, without which any memoir of this great soldi jr would be indeed incomplete, and which will ever be regarded as a monument to his sagacity and courage at a time when both his superiors, the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, had despaired of the cause of England's honour. " Jellalabad, May 13th, 1842. gi r? I h a d the honour to forward with my letter, No. 32, dated 12th instant, a copy of a letter from His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. I have now the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated 28th ultimo, which adverts to the present aspect of affairs in Afghanistan, and the probability of my having advanced towards Cabul ; stating also, that in such an event, the views of the Governor- General as to the withdrawal of the troops will not be altered ; and further, that whatever measures I may adopt I must have especial regard to the health of the troops. I trust that I am not wrong in con- sidering this letter as leaving to me discretionary powers, and co ling as it does from the supreme power in India, I venture to delay, for some days, acting up to the instructions communi- cated in His Excellency the Commander-in- Chief's letter, dated 29th ult. " I regret much that a want of carriage cattle has detained me here ; if it had not been so, I should now be several marches in advance, and I am quite certain that such a move would have been highly beneficial. Affairs at Cabul are, at the present moment, in a very unsettled state; but a few days must decide in favour of one of the parties. Mahomed Akbar is at Cabul, exerting all his influence to overpower the Prince. He is without means ; and if he cannot within a very short period jo2 Life of Sir George Pollock. obtain the ascendancy, he must give up the contest, in which case I have no doubt I shall hear from him again. With regard to our withdrawal at the present moment, I fear that it would have the very worst effect ; it would be construed into a defeat, and our character as a powerful nation would be entirely lost in this part of the world. It is true that the garrison at Jellalabad has been saved, which it would not have been had a force not been sent to its relief. But the relief of that garrison is only one object ; there still remain others which we cannot disregard, I allude to the release of the prisoners. I expect about nine- teen Europeans from Budeeabad in a few days. The letters which have passed about other prisoners have already been for- warded for the information of his Lordship. If, while these communications were in progress, I were to retire, it would be supposed that a panic had seized us. I therefore think that our remaining in this vicinity (or perhaps a few marches in advance) is essential to uphold the character of the British nation ; and in like manner General Nott might hold his post ; at all events till a more favourable season. " I have no reason, yet, to complain that the troops are more unhealthy than they were at Agra. If I am to march to Peshawur, the climate is certainly not preferable; and here I can in one or two marches find a better climate, and I should be able to dictate better terms than I could at Peshawur. " I cannot imagine any force being sent from Cabul which I could not successfully oppose. But the advance on Cabul would require that General ISTott should act in concert and advance also. I therefore cannot help regretting that he should be directed to retire, which, without some demonstration of our power, he will find some difficulty in doing. I have less hesita- tion in thus expressing my opinion, because I could not, under any circumstances, move in less than eighteen or twenty days ; and your reply might reach me by express in about twenty-two days. The difference in point of time is not very material, but the importance of the subject is sufficient to justify the delay of a few days. In the meantime, I shall endeavour to procure carriage cattle as fast as I can, to move either forward or back- ward as I may be directed ; or, if left to my discretion, as I may think judicious. Under any circumstances, I should not Life of Sir George Pollock. 303 advocate the delay of the troops either at Candahar or on this side beyond the month of November ; and in this arrange- ment advertence must be had to the safety of the Khyber, which I consider the Sikhs would gladly hold if they were allowed to take possession of Jellalabad. I have the honour to be, &c., GEORGE POLLOCK, Major-General." There is a singular history attaching to this letter, so spirited in its matter, and forming so important an element in any estimate of George Pollock's character and pre-eminent services during this event- ful year. It never found its way into the volume of correspondence relating to the military operations in. Afghanistan published by order of Parliament, and its existence was only to be inferred from the fact of a reference to it in another letter of General Pollock's, dated 20th May, the receipt of which was acknow- ledged, though no reference to the missing letter was made therein. It was at last brought to light by the inquiries of Lord Palmer st on, and the late Marquis of Lansdowne, whose speech in the House of Lords, in which he refers to this missing docu- ment, we will dwell upon a little further on. The letter, or a copy of it, was to be found nowhere in England, but a copy was at length brought from India. The Governor- General, feeling himself some- what discredited by the supposed suppression of a document of the highest public importance, and one tending to establish the fame of an officer to the 304 Life of Sir George Pollock. prejudice of himself, placed on record the following explanation : " The original despatch of the 13th May never reached the office, and must have been lost in transit. The duplicate was received and acknowledged on the llth of July. It is the practice of the Secretary's office to keep the unreported papers on all important subjects for each month together, and to for- ward copies of them to the Secret Committee by the monthly overland mail. The despatch in question was inadvertently put up in its proper place in the May bundle of reported papers, instead of being left for a time, as it should have been, among the unreported papers of July. Hence, when the July papers were copied for transmission to the Secret Committee, this despatch was omitted." As the historian of the war well observes : " Nothing less explanatory than this was ever offered in the way of explanation. It does not appear whether the original letter miscarried altogether on its way to Lord Ellenborough, or whether it miscarried only on its way to the office. There is an equal obscurity about the history of the duplicate which was ' received and acknowledged on the llth of July.' It might be inferred from this that it was received on the llth of July, and acknowledged on the same day. But it happens that the duplicate was despatched on the 30th of May, and ought surely to have come, not among the July, but among the June papers. In this letter of the llth of July, the Secretary says, ' I am directed to state that the original letter has never reached me, and that the duplicate has only lately been received and laid before the Governor- General, whose previous instructions to you appeared to render any special reply to this communication unnecessary.' " Greneral Pollock was eager to advance on Cabul, and, grasping at the faintest indication of willingness on the part of the Governor-Greneral to place any Life of Sir George Pollock. 305 discretionary power in his hands, expressed his in- ability to retire on Peshawur, owing to want of car- riage. Cattle in sufficient numbers could not be had in this poverty-stricken country, and he was therefore obliged to remain at Jellalabad. In the meantime, provisions flowed in in abundance. The peasantry, being encouraged to bring their grain for sale by liberal prices and good treatment, and finding no Afghan soldiers in the way to interfere with so unusual an opportunity for fleecing the unbeliever, flocked into the town with supplies of all sorts. But to retain a continuance of this plentiful supply, it was essentially requisite that a belief should be enter- tained throughout the country that the General in- tended to make a forward movement. Writing to Mr. Clerk, on the 6th May, he says : " We are all quiet here, grain coining in in abundance, at least in as great quantities as we could expect after the dreadful alarm into which this force seems to have put the whole country. Every village was deserted. I did my utmost to protect them from plunder, and in most cases succeeded ; and the consequence is that we, in a measure, command the re- sources of the country." And on the llth of the same month, writing again to Mr. Clerk, he said : " While I remain here I can command supplies, and I have no doubt that I shall be able to do so as long as the natives suppose that we intend remaining in the country ; but if they thought otherwise, our supplies would be stopped." Soon after General Pollock's arrival at Jellalabad, news was received of the death of Shah Soojah, at Cabul, on the 5th April. This ill-iated monarch, the 20 306 Life of Sir George Pollock. source of all our disaster, was murdered by the orders of his godson, Soojah-ool-dowlah, son of the Newaub Zemaun Khan, while he was proceeding in regal state ta his tent at Seeah-Sungh. Futteh Jung, the second son of the deceased king, was proclaimed in his stead ; but, being a weak-minded prince, was wholly unable to cope with the lawless nobles around him, in whose hands he became a mere puppet. Opinions have ever been conflicting as to the part played by the deceased monarch in the memorable events pre- ceding his death. Mackeson and Macgregor were both of opinion that he was deeply implicated in them ; not so George Lawrence and Eawlinson, who took a more favourable view of his character, and acquitted him of all treachery and double dealing. The point is of little interest now, though it has been much debated. On the 22nd of April, the intelligence was received of the surrender of Ghuznee by Colonel Palmer, who, together with those of his officers and men who escaped massacre at the hands of the perfidious Afghans, were made prisoners, the officers subse- quently joining their fellow-countrymen in captivity near Cabul. These latter, on the news of Sale's victory, and the approach of Pollock's army, had been moved from Budeeabad, a fort not far from Jellalabad, to Tezeen, then to Zandah, and ultimately, on the 23rd May, by Akbar Khan's orders, to the capital. While they were at Zandah, an almost inaccessible place, many thousand feet above the level of the sea, Akbar Khan sent Captain Colin Mac- Life of Sir George Pollock. 307 kenzie to Jellalabad to confer with General Pollock about terms regarding their release. He arrived at the British camp on the 25th April. Major Smith thus speaks of the unexpected visit of this gallant officer, who still survives without having received any adequate reward for his sufferings and services : " About dusk, I was standing near my tent door, conversing with Ponsonby, when three Afghans rode up. We looked at them with some curiosity, and the foremost, accosting us, said, to my astonishment, in a very gentlemanly tone, ' Will you be good enough to direct me to General Pollock's tent ? ' He proved to be Captain Colin Mackenzie, one of the prisoners sent on parole by Mahomed Akbar with some propositions regarding their release. You will judge how eagerly we questioned him. Poor General Elphinstone, he told us, worn out with sickness, fatigue, and anxiety of mind, had closed his melancholy career. He died at Tezeen on the 23rd, and when Mackenzie left, Akbar Khan desired him to say he would send the General's body to our camp. Mackenzie set out on his return to Tezeen, under escort of his two Afghan attendants, on the 28th, carrying with him as many newspapers and articles of comfort for his companions in captivity as he could manage to convey. He conceals his face, and passes very well for an Afghan traveller. On the 30th, the remains of General Elphinstone arrived, brought down the river on a raft. On the first attempt to send the body (by land) it was intercepted by some Kojees, who threw it out of the chest in which it was enclosed, upon the ground, and pelted it with stones. A chief interfered, and Mahomed Akbar's people returned with it to Tezeen. On the 1st of May the funeral took place, and the poor old General was buried, with due honours, by the side of Dennie, under the ' long-necked bastion,' in the fort of Jellalabad." The following was the purport of the proposals brought by Colin Mackenzie from Major Pottinger, the chief British political officer in the hands of 20 * jo 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. Akbar Khan, in whose behalf the message was sent. In the first place, Akbar Khan wished to know whether the British authorities would consent to withdraw the greater portion of their troops, and leave an agent with a small body of men to act with whoever the Afghan confederates might elect as chief, in which choice they proposed to be guided by the wishes of the two factions in Cabul; and he wished the British to release his father, Dost Mahomed Khan. Secondly, he proposed that if the British Government had determined on subjecting the country and continuing the war, the prisoners in Afghanistan be exchanged for Dost Mahomed Khan, his family and attendants, and that the issue be dependent on the sword. Lastly, that in the event of neither of these proposals being approved of, he wished to know what terms would be granted to himself, and the Q-hilzye chiefs individually ; whether the British, in the event of their submission, would confine them, reduce their pay, or, in short, what they might expect from our clemency. To this letter, signed by Major Pottinger, and dated " 20th April, Tezeen," General Pollock, in his reply of the 26th April, deemed it proper to confine himself to the question of the release of the pri- soners, and the terms on which that object might be effected. Those terms were, that kindness and good treatment of the prisoners would meet with due con- sideration at the hands of the British Government, and the release of them much more so ; that their Life of Sir George Pollock. 309 release would also greatly facilitate further communi- cations between the two authorities ; that if money was a consideration, lie was prepared to pay into the hands of any one deputed by the sirdar the sum of two lacs of rupees (20,000) whenever the prisoners should be delivered up to him ; that the security for the payment of the money would be given in the way the sirdar might point out, the accommodation being mutual ; that Akbar's father-in-law, Mahomed Shah Khan, and his two brothers, would enjoy the ad- vantages arising from their hereditary possessions, and the other points contained in the sirdar's communica- tion must remain for future consideration. There was a fourth proposition, brought by Colin Mackenzie, which was from Akbar Khan alone, delivered verbally to Mackenzie in the presence of Major Pottinger, but without the knowledge of any of his country- men. It related to himself and the terms he would be granted in the event of submission. A paper was also placed in the General's hand, written by Akbar Khan himself, but without any seal or signature, for the sirdar was fearful of compromising himself with his countrymen, who would not have scrupled to punish such treachery in true Afghan fashion. After stating in this document that he had been unable to restrain the Afghans from attacking General Elphin- stone's army, and his inability to release the prisoners, as it would raise the whole of his countrymen against him, he proceeds to say : " Please God, my services shall exceed the injuries I have jio Life of Sir George Pollock. done yon, on condition that we are friends ; let the terms of friendship between me and my friends, such as Mahomed Shah Khan and others, be written out, and be sent before the receipt of my guests in your camp, that I may feel confidence. The other matters have been explained by Captain Mackenzie verbally, and he will make them known to you. I hope that you will write down every article in a treaty signed and sealed." Captain Mackenzie left Jellalabad with. General Pollock's reply on the 28th April, but the sirdar was little pleased with its contents, and, within seven hours of his return, a second time despatched the same British officer with proposals, which the General characterized in a letter to Government as " very extravagant." Captain Mackenzie returned to Tezeen with General Pollock's reply, dated 10th May, which, as well as the letter that called it forth, it is unnecessary to give, as the negotiations ended in failure, and the prisoners still pined in captivity. Akbar Khan was called away to Cabul, where stirring events were in progress. But Colin Mackenzie's visits were not without their results. The General had closely questioned him regarding the recent sad events, and his answers, together with Leutenant Vincent Eyre's "Journal of the Military Operations at Cabul," which he brought concealed on his person, were remitted to Captain (the late Sir Henry) Durand, private secretary to Lord Ellen- borough, and the information thus gathered threw a flood of light on the -circumstances connected with Sir W. Macnaghten's murder, and the causes and progress Life of Sir George Pollock. 3 1 1 of the insurrection of Cabul. The intelligence now for the first time made public was eagerly devoured in every cantonment in India, and, indeed, wherever the Anglo-Saxon tongue was spoken, for the fate of the unhappy captives in the grasp of the treacherous Af- ghan sirdar excited a painful and universal interest.* The Governor- General, in his reply to George Pollock referring to the foregoing negotiations, while he sanctioned payment of any pecuniary con- sideration for the release of the prisoners, expressed his dislike to this course, though willing to exchange Dost Mahomed and his family for them. General Pollock was, however, authorized, by Lord Auckland's letter of the 24th February, in making the former proposal, and these instructions did not, in General Pollock's opinion, approve of an exchange unless all the prisoners were surrendered, which it was out of Akbar Khan's power to effect, as they were not all in his custody. On the 5th May, Brigadier Monteith, who had been detached with a force to meet and support through the Khyber some reinforcements from India, marched into camp; these additional troops, consisting of H,M.'s * It is related by the distinguished author, now Major-General Sir Vincent Eyre, K.C.S.I., C.B., that this volume was not only the means of putting 1,000 into his pocket, but the history of the terrible tragedy so graphically related therein, had the unprecedented effect of depriv- ing the great Duke of Wellington of a night's rest. The book, which contains the most able professional exposition of the blunders committed by the military leaders at Cabul, ran through several editions, and was translated into three or four of the chief continental languages. 312 Life of Sir George Pollock. 31st Hegiment, under command of Colonel Bolton, Major Delafosse's 3rd Troop, 1st Brigade, Horse Artil- lery, and the 6th regiment Native Infantry, escorted a considerable amount of treasure and ammunition. They formed a valuable addition to the General's gallant little army, which was now composed of the 3rd Dragoons, two regiments of Native Cavalry, about four hundred Irregular Horse, two troops of Horse Artillery, three companies Foot Artillery, No. 6 Light Field Battery, Backhouse's Mountain Train, the 9th, 13th, and 31st Queen's, eight regiments of Native Infantry, and the two very useful and efficient corps known as Broadfoot's and Ferris's Irregulars. But the army was prevented from moving one way or the other, owing to a deficiency of transport. The camels, in consequence of the blundering of some one' of which the General more than once complains -had been engaged only to go as far as Jellala- bad, and the camel-drivers were deserting with these useful animals in hundreds. He writes to Govern- ment on the 20th May : " I have endeavoured to procure camels here and have written to Peshawur, but I fear I cannot expect more than 400, includ- ing those coming from Ferozepore, and unless more be sent from the provinces, I don't know where to look for them ; I have been able to purchase only a few here, and am therefore unable to move the whole force." * But he was not idle, having determined upon striking a blow at the enemy in his neighbour- * By a return dated 27th June, it appears that the deficiency of cattle amounted to 3,066 camels, and 5,750 bullocks. Life of Sir George Pollock. 313 hood, a course which had been recommended by the Governor-General in his communications to him. In the middle of June, Brigadier Monteith was despatched into the Shinwarree valley to punish the tribes who had possessed themselves of property, including a gun, belonging to General Elphinstone's army. The force consisted of Captain Abbott's Light Field Battery, and a squadron of the 1st Light Cavalry, H.M.'s 31st, the 33rd and 53rd regiments of Native Infantry, and Captain Ferris 's Jezailchees, amounting in all to 2,300 men. At Ali Boghan, the troops, infuriated at the sight of some plundered property, began to set fire to the houses, but were restrained by Monteith, and by Macgregor, who was attached to the force in a political capacity. On the morning of the 20th June, the Brigadier moved upon a place called Goolai, where some British treasure was known to be in the hands of two chiefs. Evasive answers being returned to the demand for the stolen money, as a mark of just retribution their forts and houses were demolished, their walls blown up, their trees left to perish by deep rings being cut through the bark to the core, and the entire settle- ment desolated. While this work was going on the people of Deh Surruk, a neighbouring village, anxious to avert such a calamity from their door, surrendered the gun, and restored upwards of 10,000 rupees, besides other property. Monteith then proceeded through the Shinwarree valley, and thoroughly hum- bled the lawless inhabitants. On the 26th July, he 314 Life of Sir George Pollock. set fire to the enemy's forts, they having evacuated them on his approach. Lieutenant John Becher, of the Engineers, carried out this work of just retribu- tion, the force moving parallel along the ridge for the protection of his party. The Brigadier writes from his camp at Mazeena on the following day : " Thus, at one time, the interiors of forty- five forts were in a blaze along the valley, the enemy contemplating the scene from the heights in the vicinity of Secunder Khan's fort, where they had taken up positions, and from whence they were driven in gallant style by the advance, consisting of the light and two battalion companies of H.M.'s 31st Regiment, the light com- panies 33rd and 53rd Regiments, and the Jezailchees, under Major Skinner, H.M.'s 31st Regiment." In these operations the enemy made some resis- tance, but were speedily driven from every position, H.M.'s 31st and the Jezailchees particularly distin- guishing themselves, while nothing could have been more effective than the fire of Captain Abbott's bat- tery, which opened on them with shrapnel. The troops marched back to camp after an arduous day's work, and with a loss of only three killed (one being an officer of the 31st Eegiment) and twenty- three wounded. On the 3rd August, Brigadier Monteith returned to Jellalabad. Here matters remained pretty much in statu quo. Major Smith speaks of the attendant miseries of life in the East, without the luxuries which every Anglo- Indian can generally manage to gather round him in cantonments, but which were not available in this miserable Afghan town. He says : Life of Sir George Pollock. 3 1 5 " Many stragglers from our late Cabul army (Sepoys arid camp followers) have come in lately from the villages, where they have lain concealed since the massacre. Several of them have suffered miserably from the cold, having lost their toes, and in some instances, their feet. They are subsisted by the Commis- sariat, and despatched on rafts down the river to Peshawur. It is difficult to fancy any petty misery of a more annoying kind than what we have frequently to endure for days and nights together, when the violent wind, which blows along the valley from the west, almost buries us in dust. We are begrimed in filth ; we eat it, drink it, and sleep in it, and have no comfort for a moment of our lives while this tormenting gale continues, which is generally about three days sans intermission. The heat, too, is increasing, and for some hours daily attains to 108 in one's tent. Towards sunset the temperature becomes bearable, and the nights are not unpleasant. " Should we remain here, all must resort to the plan of living underground, in what are called tyJchannalis, or, in other words, we must dig holes in the earth, and take up our quarters in them ; we shall, else, be likely to do so in a less voluntary man- ner. Jellalabad seems to be the very head-quarters of earth- quakes. Scarcely a day passes without one, but after the grand affair in February, we are inclined to regard a shock that will not shake down ' temple and tower ' as a matter of no interest. When, however, the tremblement happened to be rather decided, it was diverting to see the inhabitants of tylchannahs all popping up their heads to look about, like rats peeping from their holes. Our life was lamentably dull and monotonous. Except with a strong escort it was unsafe to ride beyond the pickets. The inhabitants were encouraged to visit our camp, with a view to obtaining provisions, and the luxury of ice, which they brought us in abundance from the snowy mountains. These fellows lurked about, and if a soldier passed the line of sentries after nightfall, his murder was certain. I have mentioned the luxury of ice, but you must not infer from this that we had any wine to cool with it ; our stock of all the liquids to which * teeto- talers ' object, was speedily exhausted, and every mess in the camp was for many weeks a temperance society on the strictest principles. Latterly, some speculating merchants from Hindo- 3 1 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. stan contrived to reach us, and disturbed, in some degree, this happy state of things, but their prices were so exorbitant that the evil influence was by no means universally experienced." Negotiations for the release of the prisoners were still carried on, but they were not of a promising character. On the 13th July, Captain Colin Troup, formerly Brigade-Major to the Shah's force, rode into camp from Cabul, whence he had been despatched by Akbar Khan, Colin Mackenzie being dangerously ill with fever. He was escorted by a few Afghan horse- men, and accompanied by a native gentleman, named Hadje Buktear, a Candahar man, who had been at Bombay. Captain Troup informed General Pollock that if it had depended on Akbar Khan alone, some of the ladies would have been sent with him, but that Mahomed Shah, an influential chief, was bitterly opposed to any conciliation. General Pollock's views, however, had changed regarding the desirability of any treaty other than could be extorted at the sword's point from these perfidious Afghan sirdars ; and, thanks in a great measure to the exertions of Mr. Eobertson, having received a supply of baggage animals, almost sufficient to enable him to advance on Cabul, he was unwilling to propose any terms that would compromise him with Akbar Khan. Though not less anxious than before for the safety of his country- men, and determined, if possible, not to return with- out them, his great object now was to gain time ; hence, after some days' delay, he sent Captain Troup back with only a verbal message to the effect that all the Life of Sir George Pollock. 317 guns and trophies in the possession of the enemy must be delivered up. When his emissary returned to Cabul, Akbar Khan . summoned Captain Troup and Major Pottinger to his presence and asked their advice. The latter replied that, in his opinion, the sirdar ought immediately to send down the whole of the prisoners to Jellalabad as a proof of his sincerity, for, in the event of delay, there could be no doubt Greneral Pollock would break off negotiations and advance with his army upon the capital. To this Akbar replied, that without a written promise from the British commander to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan the prisoners would not be delivered up ; further, they might at once banish the thought of their forcible release, for, on receiving intelligence of the advance of the British army, he would send them all off to Turkestan, where they would be retained in perpetual slavery, while he himself would dispute the march of Greneral Pollock's troops on Cabul. Nevertheless, he evinced much anxiety about the negotiations. After keeping Captain Troup till late at night in conversation, he awoke him next morning at daybreak to resume it, and ordered him to return to Jellalabad the same day, at the same hour, giving him permission to take as his companion any one of the officers he pleased. He selected Captain George Lawrence, who was very desirous of seeing his brother, Henry Lawrence,* the political agent with the Sikh troops. * This distinguished man had already earned a reputation in the 318 Life of Sir George Pollock. Captains Troup and Lawrence, bringing with them a soldier of the 44th, whom they found at Tezeen, arrived from Cabul on the 2nd of August, but they found the General still less inclined than before to promise to withdraw the army. He had, indeed, already moved a brigade, under General Sale, to Futtehabad, a place two marches from Jellalabad.* General Pollock had received so many assurances from influential men at Cabul that they would not suffer the prisoners to be carried off to Turkestan, that he was disinclined to hamper himself with any promises. force for his activity and energy. There is an observation in one of Major Smith's letters bearing upon this. " Captain Lawrence," he says, " is a very active and ener- getic officer. The rapidity with which he flies about has often amused us. He seems to mount the first flash of lightning that happens to be going his way, and when you fancy him at least forty miles off, behold him at your side." Speaking of the Sikh contingent, whose conduct cost Lawrence much trouble and annoyance, though by his tact he was en- abled to make them of good service, he says : " The Sikhs have been holding the Khyber Pass for us, from its entrance as far as Ali Musjid, and our convoys of stores and provisions have thus passed easily through, and a con- siderable body of our native troops being posted, under Brigadier Wild, at Dhaka, escorts brought them safely on from thence to our camp. The Lahore Government despatched a force of 4,500 men to co-operate with us at Jellalabad, but I do not think General Pollock would have felt much dissatisfac- tion had this valuable aid been with- held. They are not ill-looking troops, and well enough equipped, but a most undisciplined set, ready to break out in mutiny whenever obedience does not suit their in- clinations. On one occasion, soon after their arrival, they beset their general (an old gentleman named Golab Singh, with a white beard and very black face), clamouring for pay. They burnt his tent, and he was fain to take refuge in that of General Pollock, where (after the mutineers had taken their fill of riot and disorder) a deputation waited on him to promise renewed submission to authority, and so- licit his return. He complied, and nothing more was said about the matter." Life of Sir George Pollock. 319 All, therefore, that he would now promise, was to delay the advance of his army beyond Futtehabad for a certain number of days. The two British officers returned to their parole like men of honour, but the prospect of their deliverance by aught but the sword was small indeed. We must now go back and briefly trace the course of the correspondence between the Governor-General and George Pollock, for it is essential in forming a just estimate of the pre-eminent nature of the services the latter rendered his country during this juncture, and in proving that the subsequent advance was as much his own work as the victories which brought to so glorious a termination the eventful story of the Afghan war. Lord Ellenborough writes to the Com- mander-in-Chief on 4th May : " The advance of the season, however, which really renders the retirement of Major- General Pollock at the present moment a measure of some hazard to the health of his troops, the improved facilities which the Major- General finds of obtaining supplies of provisions, but, more than all, the influence which those now about him, anxious to vindicate the army by some signal blow against the Afghans, and to effect the restoration of the prisoners to liberty by negotiation supported by force, must necessarily have been upon his mind, all these things induce me to apprehend that it will hardly be until October that the Major-General will commence his homeward march. " Your Excellency is of opinion that Major- General Nott cannot safely commence his march to the plains before the same time. " It will therefore probably not be until the end of November that the army of Major- General Pollock, nor until the end of December that the army under Major- General Nott, will be established within the British territory. " I have hitherto succeeded in preserving absolute secrecy with Life of Sir George Pollock. respect to the intentions I entertain as to withdrawing from Afghanistan. I have done so by unusual means, but I deemed it to be essential to the public interests that entire secrecy upon that point should be observed. I feel that the difficulties with which the two armies would have to contend in making their retreat, would be greatly increased were the Afghans now acquainted with their intention to retire ; and, in order to mis- lead them on this point, even were there no other object, I should be disposed to form an army of reserve in a position from which it might advance to the support of either Major-General Pollock, or Major-General Nott, and, at the same time, overawe the States of India ; and to make public at once the intention of collecting such an army." But his Lordship was premature in his self-gratula- tion, as regarded his having kept secret his withdrawal order. The secret leaked out by some means from the Commander-in-Chiefs office. When General Pollock was on parade at Jellalabad the day follow- ing the receipt of Sir Jasper Nicolls' letter, an officer on his staff rode up to him, and, congratulating him, asked whether he had heard of the withdrawal being decided upon from head-quarters. The General was taken completely aback, for he knew well the ruinous effect such an announcement would have if it became current among the Afghans. On the 24th May he wrote to the Commander-in- Chief: " I heard yesterday that an officer on your staff had written to an officer here that we were ordered back. Sir Robert Sale has endeavoured to counteract the bad effect such a report might create. A few days ago I was on the point of ordering a brigade to occupy th pass, and then requested of Sir Robert Sale, and others to whom I was obliged to communicate the true state of the case, to give out that we required treasure from Peshawur, Life of Sir George Pollock. 321 and were sending in superfluous baggage. But the letter which has been received, and coming from the quarter it does, has evidently made an impression, and I only hope it may not extend to the native population, which would indeed be ruinous. In a late letter to Government you will have seen how anxious I was that any proposed movement towards Peshawur should be communicated to no one from whom it could be withheld. The moment such a thing is known, it is probable supplies will cease to come in ; we should be in difficulties about forage ; all who are now friendly would be ready to oppose us ; and if I had not time to secure the pass, the consequences might be serious indeed. I fear this will be much too late to prevent future com- munications of this kind ; but I consider it my duty to point out how dangerous they are, and how much our difficulties might be increased by their being known to the natives of the country, especially those connected with the Khyber Pass. I have just heard that bets were made at messes as to the probable date of our moving, and this before native servants, who will, I fear, make the report current in the Bazaar. I have taken steps to prevent any great mischief resulting, by ordering the- deputy quartermaster-general a few miles in advance, to mark out a new encamping-ground ; and I shall have such inquiries made among the natives about bringing stores there that will make them believe I shall move forward. I am sorry to have had occasion to write on such a subject to you, but I have no alter- native." The letters George Pollock received from the Governor- General and the Command er-in-Chief were not very encouraging for his project of advancing on Cabul, but he did not despair of yet gaining the required permission. It speaks volumes for that patient determination which was so remarkable a feature in his character, that he could have waited on, hoping against hope, after receiving such a letter as the following, dated 28th May, from Colonel Luard, Military Secretary to Sir Jasper Nicolls : 21 Life of Sir George Pollock. " In answer to your remark that you hope the view you have taken of your situation will meet the approbation of the Com- mander-in- Chief, I am desired by His Excellency to state that his order to you, dated 29th April, to withdraw the force under your command from Afghanistan, was sent under authority of the Governor- General of India (as therein stated, dated 19th April, 1842), and his lordship has since approved of the spirit and wording of that order. His Excellency cannot observe, from Mr. Secretary Haddock's letter of 28th April, that any discre- tionary power was conveyed to you ; on the contrary, you are therein told that even had you advanced upon Cabul, his lord- ship's view, previously taken, of the policy to be pursued, that is, 'withdrawing at the earliest practicable period within the Khyber Pass,' remained unaltered. Mr. Maddock's letters of the 4th and 6th instant repeat this opinion. On the 14th instant, by the Commander-in-Chief's order, I apprised you of the arrangements intended to make your troops more comfortable when they had crossed the Indus ; from this you will perceive that no change had taken place up to that date ; these arrange- ments have now been approved by his lordship in a letter of the 20th." The views of the Grovernor-Greneral, on the other hand, seemed to vacillate almost from day to day. It went against his high spirit to order General Pollock in unmistakable terms to withdraw, and yet his judgment counselled the course. The result was the issue of conflicting orders that must have mightily puzzled his military subordinate. The latter, in a communication dated 20th May (the same in which reference is made to the missing letter of the 13th), points out with great diplomatic tact the obstacles that exist to prevent a retrograde movement : " I have already in my letter dated the 13th instant (the missing letter already alluded to) entered on the subject of my with- Life of Sir George Pollock. 323 drawing from Jellalabad to Peshawur, and must receive a reply before I shall be able to move. In order to meet the wishes of Government by retiring, the first object would be to secure the Khyber Pass with our own troops, leaving one regiment at Ali Musjid, and two at Lundi Khana, one of the latter being Europeans. I should also be obliged to send several hundred camels laden to Peshawur with superfluous stores, which must return to take baggage, &c., of the force ; but even then I should not be able to move the remainder. I shall therefore be glad if any letters from Government may authorize my remain- ing till October or November, in which case General Nott should also be directed to remain. Although I do not think the troops suffer more in marching in hot weather than in a standing camp, yet I should be glad to spare them a march to Peshawur at this season, certainly not more healthy than this place, for there are difficulties now which we should not experience in October or November. At present there is great scarcity of water in the Pass ; from Lundi Khana to Ali Musjid there is hardly a drop. At the top of Lundi Khana there are two wells ; but they could not supply water for a third of this force, and that only for a short time. The water below, on this side, is scantiJy sup- plied, and I fear there would hardly be sufficient for the troops on arriving there, and they would require to take in a large quantity." This letter found Lord Ellenborough, as Kaye expresses it, "in one of his more forward and chivalrous moods." His Secretary accordingly wrote, on the 1st June, in the following terms : " I am directed to express his lordship's extreme regret, that your army should be so deficient in carriage as you represent, and thus unable to move. The retirement of your army imme- diately after the victory gained by Sir Robert Sale, the forcing of the Khyber Pass, and the relief of Jellalabad, would have had the appearance of a military operation successfully accomplished, 21 * 324 Life of Sir George Pollock. and even triumphantly achieved. Its retirement, after six months of inaction, before a following army of Afghans, will haye an appearance of a different and less advantageous character. " It would be desirable, undoubtedly, that before finally quitting Afghanistan, you should have an opportunity of striking a blow at the enemy ; and since circumstances seem to compel you to remain there till October, the Governor- General earnestly hopes that you may be enabled to draw the enemy into a position in which you may strike such a blow effectually. You have already full powers to do everything you may deem necessary for the comfort of your troops, and for their efficiency. . . It will be for your consideration whether your large army, one- half of which would beat, in open field, everything that could be brought against it in Afghanistan, should remain entirely inac- tive during the period which must now apparently elapse before it can finally retire. Although you may not have, or soon be able to procure, the means of moving your whole army, you may possibly be able to move a part of it rapidly against some portion of the enemy's force incautiously exposed, and of giving it a severe blow. . . . You are to be governed by military con- siderations alone to make the force you have at your disposal felt by the enemy whenever you can, and withdraw it at the earliest period, consistently with its health and efficiency, into positions wherein you may have easy and certain communica- tions with India." This permission to remain at Jellalabad till October was a great point gained, and the change in his lord- ship's views was all the more remarkable, as in a letter to the General, dated the 29th May, only two days before, the Governor- General combated the inference drawn by Mr. Clerk in a communication to General Pol- lock, on the 18th, to the effect that " he (the Governor- General) does not believe that, with the negotiations for the release of the prisoners pending in your front, you will withdraw;" for, says Mr. Maddock, "the para- Life of Sir George Pollock. 325 graphs in Sir Jasper Nicolls' letter of the 29th April, of which Mr. Clerk was in possession, qualifying the order for immediate withdrawal, obviously relate to negotiations for the release of the prisoners almost brought to accomplishment at the time of your receiving the Commander-in-Chief s letters, not to negotiations which might then be pending, and of dubious event, still less to any which might be subse- quently instituted." The political and other officers were now directed by the Governor-General to use every exertion to collect camels and other carriage animals, to enable General Pollock to withdraw in October, though that gallant officer, having got a respite, was more determined than ever that, if it lay in his power, the cattle should be turned to account for the forward movement on which he had set his heart. Before the end of June, there was a sufficiency of cattle at his disposal to enable him to do something, and he reported to Government that his means of locomotion were such that he was able to make a demonstration in the neighbourhood of Jellalabad. That he had this sufficiency was in a great measure due to the untiring exertions of Mr. Eobertson, who ordered letters to be addressed to the principal col- lectors in Upper India, calling upon them to purchase as many ponies and mules (having regard to the dearth of camels), as could be got together; the assistance thus rendered, General Pollock was not slow in acknowledging in grateful terms. In the letters of the Governor-General little mention 326 Life of Sir George Pollock. was made of retrieving British honour, or releasing the unhappy prisoners, our countrymen and country- women, who were pining in Afghan prisons, by the adoption of any measures beyond negotiations. But the voice not only of the public press, whose opinion his lordship affected to despise, but of the Anglo- Indian ' community at large, both civil and military, was against his withdrawal policy on these terms, and he now received information that his old minis- terial colleagues at home, and the British public equally disapproved of so inglorious a course. " In this conjuncture," writes the historian of the war, " He betook himself to an expedient unparalleled perhaps in the political history of the world. He instigated Pollock and Nott to advance, but insisted that they should regard the forward movement solely in the light of a retirement from Afghanistan. No change had come over the views of Lord Ellenborough, but a change had come over the meaning of certain words of the English language. The Governor- General had resolutely main- tained that the true policy of the English Government was to bring back our armies to the provinces of India, and that nothing would justify him in pushing them forward merely for the re-establishment of our military reputation. But he found it necessary to yield to the pressure from without, and to push the armies of Pollock and Nott further into the heart of the Afghan dominions. To preserve his own consistency, and at the same time to protect himself against the measureless indignation of the comm unities both of India and of England, was an effort of genius beyond the reach of ordinary statesmen. But it was not beyond the grasp of Lord Ellenborough. How long he may have been engaged in the solution of the difficulty before him, history cannot determine ; but on the 4th of July it was finally accomplished. On that day Lord Ellenborough, who had en- Life of Sir George Pollock. 327 tirely discarded the official mediation of the Commander-in- Chief, despatched two letters to General Pollock and two to General Nott. In these letters he set forth that his opinions had undergone no change since he had declared the withdrawal of the British armies to the provinces to be the primal object of Government ; but he suggested that perhaps General Nott might feel disposed to retire from Candahar to the provinces of India by the route of Ghuznee, Cabul, and Jellalabad ; and that per- haps General Pollock might feel disposed to assist the retreat of the Candahar force by moving forward upon Cabul." In the first of the letters to General Pollock he repeated his desire expressed in the letter of 1st June, that "as far as your means of movement allowed, you should make your strength felt by the enemy during the period of your necessary detention in the valley of the Cabul river. No change has, from the first, taken place in the Governor-General's views of the expediency of withdrawing your army at the earliest possible period, consistent with the health and effi- ciency of the troops, that is, as now understood, in the beginning of October." In the famous letter written to Nott on this day (4th July) and signed by himself, Lord Ellenborough issued an order which, as it neither peremptorily required his withdrawal nor his advance, but casts the entire onus of respon- sibility of whatever steps he might take, in con- junction with George Pollock, on the shoulders of the two generals, is not a whit too harshly characte- rized by Kaye as being either a document " From first to last a masterpiece of Jesuitical cunning, or as indicating a feebleness of will, an infirmity of purpose, discredit- 328 Life of Sir George Pollock. able to the character of a statesman entrusted with the welfare and the honour of one of the greatest empires in the world." The following passages in the letter to Nott are those referred to above. After stating that the in- structions regarding the early withdrawal of his (Nott's) troops remained unaltered, he proceeds to say : " But the improved condition of your army, with sufficient means of carriage for as large a force as it is necessary to move in Afghanistan, induces me now to leave to your option the line by which you shall withdraw your troops from that country. . . . . If you determine upon moving upon Ghuznee, Cabul, and Jellalabad, you will require for the transport of provisions a much larger amount -of carriage, and you will be practically without communications from the time of your leaving Can- dahar. Dependent entirely upon the courage of your army, and upon your own ability in directing it, I should not have any doubt as to the success of the operations ; but whether you will be able to obtain provisions for your troops during the whole march, and forage for your animals, may be a matter of reason- able doubt. Yet upon this your success will turn. ... I do not undervalue the aid which our Government in India would receive from the successful execution by your army of a march through Ghuznee and Cabul over the scenes of our late disasters. I know all the effect which it would have upon the minds of our soldiers, of our allies, of our enemies in Asia, and of our countrymen, and of all foreign nations in Europe. It is an object of just ambition, which no one more than myself would rejoice to see effected, but I see that failure in the attempt is certain and irretrievable ruin ; and I would endeavour to inspire you with the necessary caution, and make you feel that, great as are the objects to be obtained by success, the risk is great also. . . . You will recollect that what you will have to make is a successful march ; that that march must not be delayed by any hazardous operations against Ghuznee or Cabul ; that you should carefully calculate the time required to Life of Sir George Pollock. 329 enable you to reach Jellalabad in the first week in October, so as to form the rearguard of Major-General Pollock's army. If you should be enabled by a coup de main to get possession of Ghuznee and Cabul, you will act as you see fit, and leave decisive proof of the power of the British army, without im- peaching its humanity. You will bring away from the tomb of Mahmood of Ghuznee, his club, which hangs over it ; and you will bring away the gates of his tomb, which are the gates of the temple of Somnauth. These will be the just trophies of your successful march. You will not fail to disguise your intention of moving, and to acquaint Major-General Pollock with your plans, as soon as you have formed them. A copy of this letter will be forwarded to Major-General Pollock to-day, and he will be instructed, by a forward movement, to facilitate your advance; but he will probably not deem it necessary to move any troops actually to Cabul, where your force will be amply sufficient to beat anything the Afghans can oppose to it. The operations, however, of the armies must be combined upon their approach, so as to effect with the least possible loss the occupation of Cabul, and keep open the communications between Cabul and Peshawur. This letter remains absolutely secret." In his second communication of the 4th July to General Pollock, the Governor-General, in communi- cating a copy of his letter to Nott adds, " You will endeavour to combine your movements, as far as you can, with those of the Major-General, should he decide upon adopting the line of retirement by Ghuznee and Cabul ; and as soon as he shall have advanced beyond Ghuznee, you will, as senior officer, issue such orders to Major-General Nott as you may deem fit ; but until the Major-General shall have passed Ghuznee, his movements must rest with himself, as he alone can know all the circumstances by which they must be determined." It may be gathered from that passage in the instruc- tions to General Nott, in which the Governor-General intimates an opinion that General Pollock "will probably not deem it necessary to move any troops 330 Life of Sir George Pollock. actually to Cabul ; " also from the first-quoted letter to General Pollock, and from a subsequent communi- cation to him, dated 23rd July, wherein may be found the following words: "you will possess sufficient carriage to move the remainder of your army in advance, to support the march of Major-General Nott upon Cabul ; " also from a paragraph in a communi- cation to the Secret Committee, written four days subsequent to his letters to the two generals, in which he makes mention that the forward movement of a " portion " of Pollock's army was to be confined " to an advance towards the upper end of the Jellalabad valley," and that " the Major-General has already moved a brigade of his army on Pesh Bolak, a measure which he deems prudent as a demonstration to overawe the turbulent tribes situated on the flanks of his future line of march, when he retires through the Khyber Pass," it may fairly be inferred from all these pas- sages, that the Governor- General intended that General Pollock was to confine himself to a demonstration, and was not to advance on Cabul. Looking at this order in the light of subsequent events, and considering the heavy fighting that took place at Tezeen, near the defiles of the Khoord Cabul, a pass more terrible than the Khyber, there can be small doubt (and it was an opinion often expressed by General Pollock) that the result of Nott's retiring unaided through the passes would have been most disastrous. At length the hour for action had come, and it not only found General Pollock ready, but eager to Life of Sir George Pollock. 331 embark in the enterprise of advancing on Cabul, the responsibility for undertaking which was, by a most unjustifiable expedient, cast upon his shoulders. " If I have not," he wrote to a friend, " lived long enough to judge of the propriety of an act for which I alone am responsible, the sooner I resign the command as unfit the better. I assure you that I feel the full benefit of being unshackled and allowed to judge for myself." And he had a worthy coadjutor in his brother General on the other side of Afghanistan. Nott was in a mood to respond eagerly to the sugges- tion thrown out by the Governor- General. Since the day he heard from George Pollock requesting him to stand fast, notwithstanding the orders of his military and political superiors at Simla, he had been anxious to carry out the military operation of " retiring by Ghuznee and Cabul/ 7 The Governor- General's letter arrived just in time to prevent Nott from carrying out the orders he had previously received to retire, and which he considered left him, as a soldier, no option but to obey. Major Clark son had at the end of June brought up a convoy of camels from Quettah, supplied by Major Outram's exertions, as the latter had hoped, for the advance. The first three weeks of July had passed away, the supply of carriage and provisions was now sufficient, everything in short was in train for withdrawing the army from Candahar.* * Captain Peter Nicolson son, who fell at the assault at who must not be confounded with Delhi, though he was almost as the late lamented General Nichol- remarkable a man, and himself 332 Life of Sir George Pollock. On receiving the Governor- General's letter, Nott did not shrink from taking upon himself the responsibility of the bolder course, and rep lied on the 20th July, ex- pressing his determination " to retire a portion of the army under my command via Ghuznee and Cabul." It was, of course, above all things essential that the Generals should act in concert that they should so time their movements that the last blow should be struck together. General Pollock accordingly wrote off at once to ISTott, at Candahar, requesting to be informed what course he proposed to adopt. " As I have offered to meet him," he says in a letter to a friend, " he will find some difficulty in resisting the glorious tempta- tion ; but if he does resist, he is not the man I take him for." Five messengers were despatched in suc- cession to ISTott, and a letter was sent by Captain Colin Troup, who actually had the amusing audacity to make Akbar Khan, whose destruction was planned therein, the medium of communication between the two camps. A few common-place lines were written in ink, while the message was indicted in rice-water, to be brought out by the application of iodine. Ingenious people, fond of epigrams, had a story that General Pollock conveyed his message to Candahar died the soldier's death at the off when he received the counter sanguinary fight of Ferozeshuhur order. This I have had for some in a private letter to General days, but it is of course kept very Pollock, dated 22nd August, writes quiet." Captain Nicolson was en- on this point : " Nott had made gaged to one of General Pollock's all preparations to retire nay, the daughters, but his untimely death day was named and the force told prevented the nuptials. Life of Sir George Pollock. 333 by the enigmatical expression, " Advance, Nott; " but, like that famous order of Wellington's at Waterloo, " Up, guards, and at them," and Cambronne's reply to the demand for surrender, " The guard dies, but never surrenders," and many other equally pointed but apocryphal sayings of great men on great occasions the incident is purely fictional. General Pollock was much afraid that Nott would have commenced his retreat before the receipt of the Governor-General's despatch of the 4th July. Writing confidentially to Mr. Eobertson on the 10th August, he says : " My movement will, of course, depend on General Nott's ability to meet me. Our late accounts from that quarter are not favourable. They say that General Nott is bent on retiring, and I very much fear that he will have made several marches to the rear before the Government despatch can reach him. .... I ought by this time to have heard from General Nott in reply to my letter by the first of the five messengers. If he is not coming on, my negotiations for the prisoners will be a very simple affair." These negotiations, indeed, had, after Captain Troup's return to Akbar Khan on the 12th August, become the merest sham, for it was obvious that the General could not proceed with them without hamper- ing himself with conditions which, as a military com- mander about to advance into the heart of the enemy's country, would have been inadmissible. The Governor- General had instructed him that " all military opera- tions must proceed as if no negotiations were on foot ;" but, as we have already seen, Akbar Khan had pre- cluded any favourable result by demanding, as a 334 Itfe of Sir George Pollock. condition of the delivery of the prisoners, that all the British troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Lord Ellenborough, however, seems to have considered it not wholly improbable that the contemplated mili- tary movement upon Cabul would be suspended by the favourable conclusion of the negotiations with the enemy ; and in a letter to General Pollock, dated 29th July, actually authorized him to exercise his discretion in ordering Nott to retire by Quettah, even though the march upon Ghuznee and Cabul had been commenced. Subsequently, the Governor-General seemed to remem- ber^that he had directed Pollock to leave him unfet- tered until he had passed Grhuznee, for he wrote to the latter on the 26th August, that he " could hardly imagine the existence of circumstances which would justify the diversion of Major-General Nott's army from the route of Ghuznee and Cabul, when his in- tention of marching by that route shall have been once'clearly indicated/' All doubt was put an end to by the middle of August, when the long-expected messenger arrived from General Nott, bearing the following most welcome letter : " CandaJiar, July 27th, 1842. " MY DEAR GENERAL, You will have received a copy of a letter from the Governor-General, under date the 4th instant, to my address, giving me the option of retiring a part of my force to India, vid Cabul and Jellalabad. I have determined to take that route, and will write to you fully on the subject as soon as I have arranged for carriage and supplies. Yours truly, W. NOTT." Pollock was right in his estimate of Nott's character ; Life of Sir George Pollock. 335 the latter was too gallant a soldier to resist the "glorious temptation" held out to him, and every British heart in the two armies at Jellalabad and Candahar must have beat high with the fierce expec- tancy of coming battle, when, after months of weary waiting and hope deferred, the order was given to advance. 33 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. CHAPTEE VII. Mamoo Khail. Jugdulluck. Tezeen. Occupation of Cabul. 20th of August to 15th of September, 1842. IT would be impossible to describe the enthusiasm with which the news of the intended advance was received by every officer and man of General Pollock's gallant army. The question as to whether the force was to advance or withdraw had been eagerly discussed at every mess-table for the last four months, and the General himself, the most cautious of men, had kept his counsel so well, that the result of the correspon- dence with the Supreme Government was unknown even to Sir Eobert Sale. That noble old soldier, only too eager to take part in whatever fighting was on the tapis, on learning the General's intentions, wrote to him from Futtehabad, under date 16th August, " Hurrah ! this is good news. All here are prepared to meet your wishes to march as light as possible. / take no carriage from the commissariat ; and our officers are doubling up four in a small hill-tent,* and * These tents, called pauls, Europeans; yet during this me- were in use among the Sepoys, morable advance, nothing else were and were considered to afford in- used by officers, from the General sufficient shelter from the sun to downwards. Life of Sir George Pollock. 337 are sending all to the rear that they can dispense with. . ... I am so excited that I can scarce write!' Not so overjoyed was Sir Jasper Nicolls whom Sir Charles Napier was cruel enough to call in his Journal "an old woman" -on the receipt of this intel- ligence. It found him in a state of perplexity, as appears by the following extract from his MS. journal, quoted by Kaye : " August 24. The 3rd Dragoons, an another troop of horse artillery, are about to join Sir B. Sale at Futtehabad. Can the General be now organizing an advance on Cabul ? Is he com- manded to do so ? Can he effect it ? Is he to encamp at Gunda- muck till Nott's attack on Ghuznee (if that take place) ? It is curious that I should have to ask myself these questions, but so it is. I am wholly ignorant of the intended movements of either. Lord Ellenborough means to surprise friend and foe equally. August 27. To-day I find, by a despatch from General Pollock, that General Nott has decided on retiring to the provinces, vid Ghuznee and Cabul. Lord E , by letter dated 4th of July, gave him a choice as to the line by which to withdraw, and he has chosen this certainly the noblest and the worthiest ; but whether it will release our prisoners and add to our fame I can- not venture to predict. Lord E.'s want of decent attention to my position is inexcusable." Sir Eobert Sale had been encamped for some little time with his own brigade, and some horse artillery at Futtehabad, two marches from Jellalabad. General Pollock first despatched the 3rd Dragoons under Colonel White, who commanded the cavalry brigade, and some more artillery to join him, and on the morning of the 20th August, himself moved 22 Life of Sir George Pollock. towards Grundamuck, with head- quarters and the fol- lowing details : Captain Abbott's battery, six guns; 5th company Sappers and Miners ; one squadron 5th Light Cavalry ; head-quarters and one squadron 10th Light Cavalry; H.M.'s 9th Foot ; 26th and 60th Eegiments of Native Infantry. His camp was pitched that day at Sultanpore, and he proposed to assemble at Grundamuck the following troops, which he decided to take with him on his advance to Cabul, in addition to those above mentioned : 3rd troop, 1st brigade, Horse Artillery, four guns ; 3rd troop, 2nd brigade, Horse Artillery, four guns ; and Captain Backhouse's Mountain Train, three guns total, 17 guns. H.M.'s 3rd Dragoons ; 1st Regiment Light Cavalry; and 600 of the 3rd Irregular Cavalry. The whole of Sir Eobert Sale's and Brigadier Tulloch's Brigades of In- antry ; General McCaskill's division, of which Mon- teith was Brigadier, including H.M.'s 31st Eegiment, which had joined him at Jellalabad, the 33rd Eegi- ment of Native Infantry, and the Eegiment of Bildars or Pioneers, led by Mr. Mackeson, who did such good service at Ali Musjid. The total force numbered 8,000 men. A detachment sufficient to hold Jellala- bad was left behind, together with all the sick and weakly men, and the superfluous baggage. This latter consisted of almost the entire amount of impedimenta belonging to the advancing troops ; indeed, so eager were the officers and men to push on to Cabul, that the officers of the 13th, emulating the example of the General, and of their old colonel, Sir Eobert Sale, Life of Sir George Pollock. 339 were content to congregate three or four together in a small hill-tent; while that chivalrous soldier, Broadfoot, ever foremost in devotion and duty, offered to take on his Sappers without any tents at all.* General Pollock passed Sir Eobert Sale at Futte- habad, and moved with General McCaskill's division, some guns, and a detachment of Native cavalry to- wards Gundamuck. He encamped on the 22nd in the Valley of Neemlah, a picturesque spot remarkable for a beautiful garden of plane and cypress-trees, planted by Ahmed Shah, whose favourite resort it was. On the advance of the force becoming known to them, the Sikhs, who were on the left bank of the Cabul river, requested permission to be allowed to recross the stream. The General yielded to their wishes on their consenting to take up positions at Neemlah and Gundamuck, where they would be of service in facili- tating his communications with the rear. They ex- pressed themselves as very anxious to participate in the advance movement, and as their conduct, owing entirely to the exertions of Henry Lawrence, had been satisfactory, the General yielded to the solicitations of the latter, who was to assume the command, and attached a portion of the force, 300 horse and 200 foot, to McCaskill's division. Some idea of the difficulties with which General Pollock had to contend, and the heavy weight of re- * General Sale to General Pollock, August 18th, 1842. 22 * 34 Life of Sir George Pollock. sponsibility he incurred in the march now about to commence, may be gathered from the accompanying passage in a work by Lieutenant Greenwood, of the 31st Eegiment, entitled, "Narrative of the Late Vic- torious Campaign in Afghanistan under General Pollock." He says : " It was necessary to carry every ounce of food for eight days' consumption, for our baggage animals and the camp followers and Sepoys were in the same predicament. It may be readily conceived what a train of baggage we had to protect, although everything was reduced as much as possible. Eight days' food for 60,000 men, and for about 14,000 baggage animals, besides that for the horses of the cavalry and artillery, must be carried, or the army would be starved on the road. When it is considered that, in many places, one camel only could go at a time, the difficulty and delay in getting through these marches may be imagined. For hours and hours together sometimes would the baggage animals be jammed together in some of the narrow gorges, without progressing an inch on the way. A march here of ten miles generally took us twelve or fourteen hours, and the rearguard was frequently near twenty-four hours in performing the distance." General Pollock reached Ghmdamuck on the 2 3rd, and selected a strong position for the camp. Indications of warm work were soon not wanting. In front of the camp, to the left, about two miles distant, lay a fort and village called Mamoo Khail, in which was observed a considerable body of the enemy, of the tribe called Ooloos. Having sent away their women and children, they assembled under their chiefs, Hadji Ali and Khyroollah Khan, and assumed a threatening attitude. Three or four of them, indeed, rode most impudently close up to the British camp, Life of Sir George Pollock. 341 and fired their matchlocks, as if in defiance. Lieu- tenant Mayne, officiating Assistant Quartermaster- General, a gallant cavalry officer, who had served with great distinction under Sale at the defence of Jellala- bad, and who did equally well throughout the suc- ceeding operations, pursued these fellows with a party of horse, but the ground, being broken up into ravines, was found unfavourable for cavalry, and the General recalled the troopers. Throughout the whole of that night the camp was disturbed by parties of the enemy keeping up an ineffectual fire on the British pickets, and shouting their war-cry of Allah ! Allah ! During the night the General ordered up from Sale's camp a squadron of the 3rd Dragoons and Captain Broad- foot's corps of Sappers, and they joined before day- light on the following morning. General Pollock moved towards the enemy at 4 A.M. on the 24th, with the greater portion of the troops then with him, Major Davis of H.M/s 9th Foot being left behind to take charge of the camp, with three companies of the 26th Native Infantry, three com- panies of the 60th Native Infantry, and fifty sowars of the 3rd Irregular Cavalry. This duty was one of considerable importance, as it was by no means im- probable that the enemy would take advantage of the British advance to send a party to loot the camp. The squadron of the Dragoons having arrived just as the troops were starting, the General considered their horses would not be equal to a hard day's work over such bad ground as lay before them, so they also were Life of Sir George Pollock. left in camp ; but he took on with him the indefatig- able Broadfoot and his Sappers, who, notwithstanding their fatigue, were eager for the fray. On clearing the broken ground in front, the General divided his force into two columns, with a wing of H.M.'s 9th at the head of each, and skirmishers in front. Captain Broadfoot was directed to go to the right with his corps, which was supported by a portion of the 3rd Irregulars. General Pollock accompanied the right column, which was under the more immediate command of General McCaskill. Captain Abbott's battery proceeded with the columns, and, as they advanced, opened on the enemy, who con- tinued in position so long that it seemed as though they intended to defend the village; but, after a little skirmishing, they retreated, and Mamoo Khail, the fields in front of which had been purposely flooded to prevent the British advancing, was occupied by our troops. The left column, under Brigadier Tulloch, now went towards the fort of Mamoo Khail, and the right, under Generals Pollock and McCaskill, proceeded to Koochlie Khail, nearly two miles to the right, and had some tough fighting. This detachment consisted of four companies of H.M.'s 9th, and six of the 26th Native Infantry, under the immediate command of Colonel Taylor. The enemy, after abandoning their positions at Mamoo Khail, and also the village of Koochlie Khail, were strongly reinforced by the fugi- tives driven back by Brigadier Tulloch's column, and, assuming a menacing attitude, occupied in force a Life of Sir George Pollock. 343 range of heights and detached summits in the Suffeid Koh. The most salient of these was a spur of the mountain within long musket range of the buildings of Koochlie Khail. From this the Ooloos were dis- lodged with the utmost spirit and gallantry by the de- tails under Colonel Taylor, aided in the most effective manner by Captain Broadfoot and his corps. The former officer followed the enemy from crag to crag, and dislodged them from eminences of the most pre- cipitous character, the Sepoys of the 26th Native In- fantry emulating their European comrades in daring and courage. Captain Broadfoot moved with his Sappers, and the 3rd (or Tait's) Irregular Cavalry, numbering 250 sabres, across a ravine on the ri^ht of the force. He found the enemy strongly posted in an orchard with some enclosures, while in their front were the usual field works of loose stones, also occupied. As this position flanked the approach of the main body, Broadfoot formed an attacking party in front, while he sent the rest of the Sappers under Lieutenant Orr to turn the enemy's left flank, and Captain Tait still more to the right and in advance, to cut off their retreat. Broadfoot intended waiting the advance of the main force, but the enemy being reinforced in the orchard, he advanced to the attack. The positions were quickly carried in succession. One party was driven towards the 3rd Irregulars, who pursued, and the remainder fled to the village of Mamoo Khail, into which the main body of the enemy were at this 344 Life of Sir George Pollock. moment driven by the fire of Captain Abbott's battery. They, in return, opened an ill-directed matchlock fire, and Broadfoot determined to carry the village, but on his Sappers reaching it, the Ooloos fled to the fort, which they entered, and then barricaded the gate ; their fire was kept down by one party of Broadfoot's corps, while the men of the remainder climbed on each other's shoulders over a half-repaired bastion, about eight feet high and covered with thorns. The enemy made a precipitate retreat over the walls on the other side, leaving the rear gate barricaded. Though most of his men were exhausted by the long march from Futtehabad and the previous opera- tions, Broadfoot pushed on with the few capable of further exertion, and forced the Ooloos into lower ground, where the cavalry cut them up handsomely. Directing parties to destroy the forts abandoned on the approach of the cavalry, Broadfoot pressed on to the last village near the hills, and succeeded in sur- prising the enemy whose head- quarters were there. Driving them out of the village and adjoining camp, he was fortunate enough to capture the whole of their tents, cattle, and a good supply of ammunition. The Afghans now fled to the hills, and the Sappers being completely worn out with their exertions, Captain Broadfoot, who seemed gifted with almost preterna- tural powers of endurance, taking a party of H.M.'s 9th and 26th Native Infantry, attacked the heights in support of Colonel Taylor's party, when position after position was carried at the point of the bayonet. The Life of Sir George Pollock. 345 enemy were assembled here in great strength, and, being reinforced, made many bold attacks, and kept up a sharp fire of jezails from the almost inaccessible peaks of the mountain; but General McCaskill's command, though so hard pressed as to be compelled to recede from ground which they had gained in one direction, maintained an advanced position among the hills, until withdrawn by General Pollock's orders, on to the plateau in front of the village of Koochlie Khail. In subsequently retiring over the plain between the two principal villages, the movement was covered by a squadron of the 5th and one of the 10th Light Cavalry ; but though the Ooloos made some feeble attempts to molest the British, they were re- pulsed without a casualty on our side. The enemy thus had a severe lesson read to them, the first of a short but effective series that must have left an indelible impression on the Afghan mind. Every object having been secured, when the heights were cleared, General Pollock withdrew from Koochlie Khail, which was first destroyed by fire, as the force occupying it might have been exposed to considerable risk, unless very strongly supported. The whole column accordingly retired upon Mamoo Khail, which was also destroyed by fire, and the trees cut down, or " ringed," as the General considered it of impor- tance to hold the place which, although not on the road to Cabul, was the enemy's original position. He then wrote to Gundamuck for the whole camp, which arrived in the afternoon of the following day, the 25th 346 Life of Sir George Pollock. August. The chiefs Hadji Ali and Khyroolah Khan fled to Cabul, attended by about sixty followers. The British loss during these operations was comparatively very small, and consisted of seven privates and Sepoys killed, and forty-five wounded. The following officers were also wounded : Captain Tait, Captain Edmunds, H.M.'s 9th Foot, severely, Major Huish, commanding the 26th Native Infantry, severely, and Ensign Eobertson, of the 37th Native Infantry. Major Smith, who participated in the action, thus describes the operations of the day : " General Pollock having decided on attacking the enemy, we moved out next morning at four o'clock, with all onr force, except six hundred men left to guard the camp. Captain Broad- foot's irregular corps of Sappers had joined from Futtehabad during the night, and, though exhausted by a long and fatiguing march, took their place in the column with great alacrity. Mamoo Khail is distant about three miles from camp, and the road in several places extremely difficult for guns. When near the village, General Pollock formed the troops into two columns, each headed by a wing of the 9th. A line of cavalry were posted in rear, and a troop of the 5th Cavalry and Tait's Irregular Horse, formed in column on the right. In this order, covered by skirmishers, we advanced, the enemy awaiting us in front of the village. The right column had orders to assail the left of the position, and the left column, under Brigadier Tulloch, with which I was, to clear the village and move on to the fort in its rear. Our guns opened and fired a few rounds of shrapnel and round shot ; we pressed forward, and after a little skirmishing, in which no great damage was done, the enemy retired before us. We pushed on over the narrow ridges, by which alone the culti- vated fields could be traversed. The Afghans abandoned the village, and their whole force betook themselves with all speed to another and far stronger position, at a fort close to the hills called Khochlee Khail, about a mile to the right. The right Life of Sir George Pollock. 347 column and cavalry followed them, and a tough "scrimmage" of some duration took place, in which my chum, Captain Edmunds, of the 9th, received a very severe wound in the foot, and Major Huish, commanding officer of the 26th Native Infantry, was shot through the thigh. General Pollock took post midway between the two columns, and General McCaskill at Khoochlee Khail. Orders were sent to Brigadier Tulloch to reinforce the right column with two companies of the 9th, to occupy Mamoo Khail with the remainder of his force, and to set to work ' tooth and nail ' burning and destroying. We found ourselves in the midst of most luxuriant vineyards ; the grapes were in perfection and profusion, so abundant that after every officer, soldier, and Sepoy had feasted on them to satiety, the diminution of quantity was imperceptible. " Meantime, the enemy having retired, contending with our troops, higher and higher up their mountains, it was judged advisable, as the evening approached, to withdraw from Khoo- chlee Khail. The camp was brought over from Gundamuck, and for some days we remained established among the richly cultivated fields and orchards, our strength augmented by the arrival of two squadrons of the 3rd Light Dragoons. Our loss in this action was a total of fifty-six killed and wounded ; that of the enemy supposed to be about equal. The pickets were occasionally fired on, and an attempt to astonish us in the mess- tent, with a few long juzzail shots, was made one night, but we saw no more of the enemy. Many chiefs came in and tendered their submission, making fair promises, even to the extent of assuring us of provisions as far as Tezeen." It is not a matter of surprise that success rewarded the efforts of the British soldiers, when their leader animated them, not only by word, but by example. Sir Archibald Alison, in his " History of Europe/' recounts how, at the attack on the village of Mamoo Khail, " Pollock, at the head of a wing of the 9th, himself forced the village amidst the cheers of the whole army." 348 Life of Sir George Pollock. The General having dispersed the enemy, and punished the villagers of Mamoo Khail who had harboured them, retired from the village on the 30th August, and took up his position at Gundamuck, where he busied himself in collecting supplies, and making all the necessary arrangements for the advance on Cabul. Lord Ellenborough, in his letters to General Pollock of the 17th and 23rd July, did not anticipate that he would be able to supply him with sufficient carriage to support the march of Major-General Nott on Cabul, according to the plan he had sketched out for him, before, at the earliest, the 21st of September, but he scarcely did justice to the fine spirit that animated both the General and his troops, who were not only willing to forego all the comforts ordinarily supplied to any army in the field, but were content to have marched without baggage at all, had it been found impossible to procure cattle. While at Gundamuck waiting for the arrival of the remainder of his troops and supplies, Pollock or- ganized a body of 200 " jezailchees," or matchlockmen, for the general purpose of holding posts between it and Jellalabad, but more particularly with the object of securing the passage of dawks, which since his march from Jellalabad had been detained by some robbers, who had established themselves at Neemlah, between his camp and that of Sale's at Futtehabad. On the 1st September, an unexpected visitor arrived at the British camp, in the person of Futteh Jung, son of the late Shah Shooja, and titular king of Cabul ; Life of Sir George Pollock. 349 he had been placed on the "musnud" by Akbar Khan, whose tool the wretched young man had been ever since his accession. Captain Burn and Lieutenant Mayne, when riding out in the morning, found him at the advanced picket, where he had just arrived, attended by only two followers, and presenting a most forlorn aspect in his tattered garments, and mounted on a broken-down pony. The officers, recognizing the prince, took him to the General's tent, who received him kindly. A salute was also fired in his honour, and accommodation befitting his rank was provided for him. The unhappy prince, described as a slender and rather good-looking young man, but neither gifted with brains nor entitled to much respect on the score of morality, told a pitiable story of the treatment he had received at the hands of Akbar Khan, who seemed to play at Cabul the part of the king-maker Warwick in our own history. The sirdar not only stripped him of all power, but deprived him of his money, and, by means of threats, compelled him to attach his seal or his signature to papers resigning all power into the hands of his persecutor, who, having the substance of power, contented himself with the title of vizier. In one letter to General Pollock, dated the 21st July, 1842, the prince had been com- pelled to write, " I have given to Sirdar Mahomed Akbar the full and entire management of all my property and affairs of every description, and have resigned to him in perpetuity full power to judge and settle all questions on all points. Whatever arrangements he 350 Life of Sir Georye Pollock. may make with the English Government I agree to confirm, and no alteration shall be made." And again, " The arrangements which have been made with Captain Troup and Hadji Buktear have been all approved of by me. I have dele- gated all powers over my country and wealth to the Wuzeer Mahomed Akbar Khan, Barukzye." But the prince took the first opportunity to write privately to the General : " My friend, it will have been evident to you that in this matter I have been compelled to act thus. I did not even know that Captain Troup and Hadji Buktear had been sent, and I had not the slightest knowledge of the proposals made by them. Captain Troup is well aware of this, since we had never met, nor had any of my confidential people been employed between us." This letter was evidently written in a state of pain- ful alarm. It concludes with the words, " You must be very careful not to let it be known that I have written to you ; since, should these villains hear of it they would put me and my family to death." In reply, Pollock expressed his surprise that, " Notwithstanding his Majesty's friendship, the good- will of the chiefs, and the unanimity of the people at Cabul, still they cannot prevent the treachery of one man from causing dissension between the two Governments, and that they are unable to show their good-will to us by releasing our prisoners." To this, on the 1st August, Futteh Jung replied : " You express surprise at my many well-wishers not being able Life of Sir George Pollock. 351 to find a remedy for one evil-disposed person. Yon write, ' If this could be effected a great object would be obtained.' Eminent in rank ! You write truly. But in a religious war a father cannot trust his son, a son, his father." (Quoted by Kaye.) At length Futteh Jung determined to take refuge in Pollock's camp, but Akbar Khan, suspecting his intention, confined him in a room in the Bala Hissar. From hence he was delivered by one Aga Mahomed, a man of position of the Kuzzilbashes , a tribe of Persian extraction settled in Cabul. A hole was cut through the mud roof of his prison by means of a knife, and he was brought out, but, so overcome with terror was the wretched prince, that he implored his deliverer to carry him back to his place of captivity. The resolution, however, of Aga Mahomed prevailed, and he was lodged in safety in the house of the Kuz- zilbash's aunt in the Chundarwal, the part of the city occupied by the tribe. After lying in concealment here for ten or twelve days, his preserver raised a few thousand rupees by pledging his own and his mother's property, and then started him off on his perilous journey to the British camp. Futteh Jung got away to the Logur country, whence he proceeded through the passes by by-paths, often fired upon on his way, until he arrived at the British camp on the 1st o;" September, and found there a kind welcome, and a consideration for his rank and evil fortune that must have astonished him. One morning, while at Gundamuck, General Pollock took a strong escort, and rode out with the staff two 352 Life of Sir George Pollock. or three miles in advance on the Cabul road. An Afghan chief accompanied the party as guide, and pointed out the fatal hill on which the last remnant of H.M.'s 44th made their final stand, and were anni- hilated during the terrible retreat of the previous January. The General's party encountered about 100 Afghan horsemen, who retired as they approached. In a ravine on the way several skeletons were found, which it was not difficult, from the fair hair still adhering to the skulls, to identify as the remains of our slaughtered countrymen. While at Gundamuck supplies had been pouring into camp. There was also a profusion of fruit of various sorts, and both officers and men luxuriated in the unwonted delicacy. The neighbouring chiefs were coming in and tendering their submission to the General, and there were numerous indications that the people of Afghanistan were beginning to understand, from recent experience, that they had to deal with a person whom they could neither cajole nor frighten. General Pollock was detained at Gundamuck not only while the commissariat officers were occupied in bring- ing up supplies, but he was waiting for further intelli- gence from Nott. During the halt at Jellalabad, communications between the gallant officers by means of " cossids," or letter-carriers, had been frequent. In forwarding to Nott the letter from Government of the 1st June, which (as the reader will remember) suggested his drawing the enemy into a position which might enable Life of Sir George Pollock. 353 him to strike a blow, he accompanied it with the following letter, dated " Camp, Jellalabad, 14^ June. " I had yesterday the pleasure to receive the original, of which the above is a copy. It is most satisfactory, and will, I trust, enable us to retrieve all our disasters. I cannot of course tell what are your orders from Government, but I trust they will be such as to enable you to co-operate with me. My plans are not quite decided yet, but all difficulties may be said to be conquered now that Government authorize my acting with energy. A few hours before the receipt of the Government letter, MajorRawlin- son's of the 31st, to Shakespear, came to hand, and this morning I had the gratification to receive yours of the 30th ult. Most cordially do I congratulate you on the success of your brilliant little affair, and I trust, ere many months have elapsed, we shall have given these Afghans several similar lessons, for their late successes have made them very bold." The biographer of General Nott writes of the subject of this memoir: " The impressions which Nott received of his brother General from the private letters of the officers at Peshawur, were very favourable. He was described as deserving of success, for, says one writer, ' he is one of the most thoughtful commanding officers we could possibly meet with. He issues now and then small short orders, to be read at the head of regiments and companies, telling the men to trust in him, and that he will not unnecessarily expose them, and he backs up his protestations by giving little things. The last boon from Government was haversacks for the whole force.' It was natural that Nott should be anxious to co-operate with so good a soldier as Pollock, and he was proportionately vexed at his utter inability to stir. In the intensity of his distress he writes to General Pollock, ' I believe I shall go mad!' 'I ought to have been on my way to Ghuznee to extend my hand to you, instead of which I am obliged to make a movement on the Kojuck.' ' As far as cattle are concerned we are nearly helpless. God knows why such delay has occurred in -sending me money and stores. This is dreadful.' " 23 f 354 Life of Sir George Pollock. We have seen how prompt General Pollock was in communicating with Nott, as soon as he was apprised of the discretionary power vested in the latter. In a cordial letter he expressed his conviction that they (Pollock and Nott) would " be enabled to punish those fellows [the Cabul and Ghuznee chiefs] to their hearts' content." He considered that Akbar Khan would be " a capital prize, as would that rascal at Ghuznee, and one or two more/ 5 He also requested the fullest particulars as to the force Nott intended to take with him to Cabul, as well, as the quantity of food and fodder for the horses. General Pollock was now anxiously waiting at Gundamuck for intelligence of Nbtt's departure from Candahar, as he had heard nothing since the brief letter of the 27th July, though he had despatched ten messengers to the west- ward. At length, at midnight of the 6th September, the long-expected letters were received, and, on the following day, the General started on his adventurous march for the capital. On the morning of the 7th September, he marched from Gundamuck, with his force organized in two divisions. The first, which he himself accompanied, was under the immediate command of Sir Eobert Sale, and consisted of two guns, 3rd troop, 1st Bri- gade, Horse Artillery; six guns, Captain Abbott's Light Field Battery ; three guns of Captain Back- house's Mountain Train ; H.M/s 3rd Light Dragoons ; one squadron 1st Light Cavalry; three Eissalahs, 3rd, or Tait's, Irregulars; H.M.'s 9th Foot; H.M.'s Life of Sir George Pollock. 355 13th Light Infantry; 26th and 35th Native In- fantry ; 5th Company Sappers and Miners ; Broad- foot's Sappers ; and Mr. Mackeson's Pioneers. With this division the General arrived the same day at Soorkab, a march which, though only nine miles in length, it took more than five hours to accomplish, the road being extremely rough, and the guns requir- ing assistance from the men in many places. The farthest point attained by any portion of our Cabul army, except the single individual, Dr. Brydon, who alone reached Jellalabad, was a conical hill in the neighbourhood of Gundamuck. Here the last stand was made, of which melancholy traces were found in the numerous skeletons strewed upon the top and sides of the hill. From that point every mile of the way was marked by similar memorials of massacre. At Soorkab (Red Biver) there is a bridge, on which the Afghans were posted when the miserable fugitives attempted to pass ; and as the latter strove to ford the stream below, the enemy shot them down in great numbers. Their ghastly skeletons were found (most of them covered by the skin hardened into a sort of leather, the cold at the time having prevented decomposition) lying in all the various attitudes in which they had fallen. No hand had disturbed them since they fell in the last sleep. The camp at Soorkab was pitched on both sides of a stream, in a sort of basin enclosed by hills, on which the pickets were placed. The second division, under General McCaskill and 23 * f 3 56 Life of Sir George Pollock. Brigadier Tulloch, marched from Gundamuck on the following day. It was composed of two guns 3rd troop, 1st Brigade, and two guns 3rd troop, 2nd Brigade, Horse Artillery ; two squadrons and head- quarters 1st Light Cavalry ; three Eissalahs, 3rd Irregulars ; H.M.'s 31st Foot ; right wing of the 33rd and 60th N. I., and that portion of the Sikh Con- tingent, 300 horse, 200 foot, 5 camel-guns, and 10 long jezails, under Captain Henry Lawrence, which had arrived at camp on the 6th September. General Pollock was obliged to leave a strong de- tachment behind at Gundamuck, owing to his old trouble, the want of carriage cattle 50 bullocks and 600 camels, which had been despatched from Attock and Peshawur the previous month, not having ar- rived. In a private letter, dated the 23rd September, he wrote : " I have had great difficulties to contend against, even to the last, from the great want of carriage cattle. At Gundamuck, after my first engagement with the enemy, I found myself so reduced in cattle that, to enable me to take on only fourteen days' supplies, I was obliged to leave at that place two horse artillery guns, two squadrons of cavalry, and two wings of Native Infantry ; and yet, with all this, all the camp followers, public and private, were compelled to carry eight days' supplies. The fighting men carried three; the 1st Cavalry carried eight days' supplies on their horses ;* the rest of the cavalry carried * We remember Sir George mounted troops had in their kit a telling us an anecdote illustrative spare pair of pantaloons apiece ; of the straits to which he was put on learning this, he ordered the for want of carriage. After load- legs to be tied up, and the panta- ing all the commissariat camels to loons to be filled with grain and their utmost carrying capacity, he carried by the men in front of ascertained, after enquiry, that the them on their saddles. Life of Sir George Pollock. 357 three or four days'. In this way we were enabled to move. The night before I left Gundamuck, I received an official letter and a survey report, setting forth that the whole of the camels of one regiment were unserviceable, and that they could not get up even without their loads. This was rather provoking, for I have only three native regiments with me. My answer was short : * Tell the commanding officer that if his regi- ment can't march, he will relieve the two wings ordered to re- main behind, an who are willing to go forward on any terms.' The regiment marched, and I heard no more about their camels. After our last engagement with the enemy (it was a severe struggle) we had 160 killed and wounded ; and again carriage was in requisition. The spare horses about the cavalry were had recourse to, and I lent my own riding-horse to one poor fellow." Tlie troops left behind included two guns, 3rd troop, 2nd Brigade, Horse Artillery ; one squadron 5th, and one squadron and head-quarters 10th Light Cavalry, and the left wings of the 33rd and 60th N. I. They were further strengthened by the re- mainder of the Sikh Contingent, and, subsequently, by the arrival of a squadron of cavalry and a wing of Native Infantry from Jellalabad. An entrenched camp was formed in a good position, easily capable of defence, and the place became a valuable depot for supplies. General Pollock left Soorkab on the morning of the 8th September, and marched towards the Jugdulluck Pass. He had not heard of the proximity of the enemy; but presently Captain Codrington, his Deputy Quartermaster-General, who had gone on to reconnoitre, rode back to report that they were in great strength. The General pushed on in advance 358 Life of Sir George Pollock. with the guns and European infantry. On ap- proaching the hills, wnich command the road through the pass, he perceived their summits were occupied by a large force, who, assembled under different chieftains, each having a distinguishing standard, presented a very picturesque and impressive aspect ; while scattered about on the flank of the road at a considerable distance, but within jezail-shot of the column, were parties of skirmishers, whose shots began very soon to drop among our men. The position they occupied was one of singular strength and difficulty of approach. The hills on either side were studded with " sungahs," or breastworks, and formed an amphitheatre inclining towards the left of the road. Here the troops were halted, while the guns opened on the enemy, who, at this point, owing to the nature of the ground, and to an inter- vening deep ravine, which prevented any contact with them, were enabled to fire into the columns. The practice of the British gunners was excellent, but the Grhilzyes appeared so determined on making a stand, that the bursting of the shells among them on the right hill, which was of a conical shape and of diffi- cult ascent, had not the effect of making them re- linquish it, or of slackening their fire, which now became heavy from all parts of their position, causing several casualties. It was at this time that Captain Nugent, officiating sub-assistant Commissary-General, an officer who had already distinguished himself, and had been mentioned in despatches, met his death ; a Life of Sir George Pollock. 359 ball struck him on the head, he fell from his horse, and died almost immediately. In reporting his decease, the commanding General wrote : " I had lately received the most important and valuable assist- ance from him ; the service has lost a promising officer, and the department to which he belonged a most efficient member." As the artillery fire appeared to have little effect in forcing the enemy to quit the heights, General Pollock determined to try the efficacy of cold steel. He was standing by the guns, and turning to Sale, who was at his side, requested him to disperse the enemy with his brigade. For this purpose three columns of attack were formed. Captain Broadfoot and his Sappers were detached to the extreme left of the enemy's position, and commenced ascending a steep hill, on the top of which the Ghilzyes were en- trenched in a sungah. Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, with his gallant 9th, accompanied by two companies of the 35th N. I., under Lieutenants Boileau and Trench, were directed to cross a deep ravine and assault the hills on the opposite side, where the enemy held a ruined fort, and were assembled in great force. The third column, whose duty it was to attack the hill in the centre, which formed the key of the enemy's position, consisted of the 13th Light Infantry, commanded by Major Wilkinson, and 110 men of the 26th N. I., led by Captain Gahan, in the absence of Major Huish, who, although present in the field, was prevented by the wound he had re- ceived at Mamoo Khail from assuming the command. 360 Life of Sir George Pollock. All being now ready, these three columns of stormers, at the word of command, rushed simul- taneously up the heights, sending up cheer after cheer with a noble enthusiasm which, though highly encouraging to the soldiers of the two noble British regiments heading two of the columns, must have struck a terror into the hearts of these murdering Grhilzyes, who doubtless contrasted the conduct of their present foes with that of the 44th, when, dispi- rited, half-starved, and wholly benumbed with cold, they were massacred like sheep on these same hills. And yet these men were not a whit more gallant than their countrymen of that ill-fated regiment. The secret of the marvellous contrast lay in the manner in which they were led. In the disastrous retreat from Cabul, the commanders were either im- becile or obstinate, or incapable to a degree bordering on fatuity ; in the present instance, the nominal and actual commander, one and the same person, was a man of capacity, energy, and experience, who would brook no interference either from staff officers or subordinate generals. The result was, that the soldiers, knowing their lives were not recklessly sacri- ficed, but that every movement was the result of a settled plan which would surely lead to victory, re- sponded with alacrity to orders such as those now conveyed. The three columns vied with each other in the arduous task of scaling almost inaccessible crags, from which a brave and resolute enemy, confident in Life of Sir George Pollock. 361 their ability to renew their sanguinary triumphs, poured a fire from their longjezails, or hurled rocks on the heads of their assailants. But the Grhilzyes soon saw enough of the temper of their foes to cause them to waver. Nothing could stay the gallant soldiers of the 9th and 13th, the latter led by Sir Eobert Sale in person, who displayed all the ardour of the days in Burmah, when, constantly heading storming parties, he was remarkable for his headlong valour and for the wounds which almost invariably left an honourable scar on his body. On this occasion, Sir Eobert's old luck stood by him, and he received a wound while leading up the heights. The animated and enthusiastic cheer of the British soldiers caused a panic among the Grhilzyes. Fero- cious and merciless to a vanquished foe as was the Afghan, he dared not wait a hand-to-hand struggle with the Anglo-Saxon, even on his own native hills. They wavered a moment, and then, discharging their jezails, fled from their posts in incontinent haste. At this moment, Major Lock wood galloped up with his regiment, the 3rd Dragoons, but was unhappily unable to act with effect, owing to the nature of the ground ; and though he nearly succeeded in inter- cepting the fugitives, they escaped their well-earned punishment. Nor were Broadfoot and his indomitable Sappers less fortunate than the other two columns in the results that crowned their arduous efforts. The enemy were now dispersed in every direction, but a 362 Life of Sir George Pollock. large body of them, rallied by their chiefs, retired to the summit of a high mountain. On this apparently inaccessible height they planted their standards, and showed every appearance of a determination to stand their ground. It was true the way through the pass was open, and the advance could have been continued at once ; but Greneral Pollock did not deem it desirable to allow them to concentrate in any position within reach of his troops. " As the achievements of the day," he writes in his despatch detailing the victory, " would have been incomplete were they suffered to remain, I decided upon dislodging them." Accord- ingly, he ordered forward two columns, under Major Wilkinson and Captain Broadfoot, consisting of the 13th, one Company of the 26th, and one of the 35th N. I., the 5th Company of Sappers, under Lieutenant Becher, and Broadfoot's Sappers. They advanced under cover of the fire of Captain Abbott's and Captain Backhouse's guns, and, climbing the pre- cipitous heights, showed the astonished Grhilzyes that there was no portion of their mountain ranges that was inaccessible to the valour of British troops. The Greneral, writing of this final achievement in his despatches, says : " Seldom have soldiers had a more arduous task to perform, and never was an undertaking of the kind surpassed in execution. These lofty heights were assaulted in two columns, led by Captains Wilkinson and Broadfoot ; the discomfited Ghilzyes, not relishing an encounter, betook themselves to flight, carrying Life of Sir George Pollock. 363 away their standards, and leaving our troops in quiet possession of their last and least assailable stronghold." Thus, with one division of his army McCaskill's not being present during the day's operations he signally defeated the most powerful and inveterate of the tribes who were the original instigators and principal actors in the disturbances which resulted in the blocking up of the passes between Cabul and Jellalabad, thereby entailing the destruction of General Elphinstone's army. The chiefs who took part with their followers in this action, were those of the Jubber Kheil and Babukhur Kheil Ghilzyes, two Lughmanee chiefs, and the petty chiefs of Hissaruck ; indeed, the whole strength of the Ghilzye force, numbering from 4,000 to 5,000 men, was mustered for battle. Our loss was but small, and consisted of 6 killed and 58 wounded. No sooner was the action over, than General Pollock pushed on his troops, sensible of the great danger of delay, as giving time to the enemy to rally their broken forces. The men were fatigued by their exertions ; the artillery horses were low in condition, from long want of sufficient forage during the halt at Jellalabad ; the baggage animals also were in a state of weakness, which seemed to render necessary a day's rest at Jugdulluck ; representations were accordingly made to the General, by Sir Eobert Sale, regarding the advisability of such a measure, but he steadily resisted the proposal, upon the principle that to follow up that day's success and give the enemy 364 Life of Sir George Pollock. no time to rally, was of greater consequence than even the loss of some of the cattle. This determination strikingly exemplifies the character of the man ; exhibiting a patience almost without parallel during months of inaction, when the suspension of active hostilities was necessary to restore the morale of his native troops, and make every preparation to guard against even the possi- bility of failure, now that he was bent on taking advantage of the tide of victory that had set in, he was as ardent for the advance as could have been the rawest subaltern burning to earn distinction in his first campaign. The Division proceeded on, therefore, through the pass, and Captain Colin Troup, who was at this time at Cabul with Akbar Khan, subsequently told General Pollock that had he not pushed on the same day, directly after the action was over, the Sirdar would have issued out of the capital with 20,000 men. After great labour in dragging the guns over many and rugged ascents, the camp was pitched at Kutta Sung, where the General penned his despatches, detailing the operations of the previous day. Not far from Jugdulluck was situated the ruined fort in which a large party of the 44th, with many officers, took refuge during the retreat from Cabul, and from whence General Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton proceeded to parley with Akbar Khan, who retained them as prisoners. When Pollock's army passed the spot, the remains of men and horses were lying about Life of Sir George Pollock. 365 in all parts of the enclosure; many of the former having been murdered on being left there wounded and helpless, when our troops made their attempt to move on through the Jugdulluck Pass. The 2nd, or General McCaskill's Division, marched on to the encamping ground evacuated by the 1st Division the previous day, removing on their way from Soorkab the barriers which the enemy had raised, composed of stones and bushes, interspersed with skulls and skeletons taken from, the heaps of the remains of our miserable countrymen that strewed the pass. Near here the Ghilzyes had in January erected a similar obstacle, in attempting to force which during the retreat no less than twenty-eight officers had been slain. The bones of these well- born and cultivated English gentlemen, being ready to hand, had been used by the ignorant and brutal Afghans for the purpose of blocking up a mountain- path, recalling to mind those lines of our greatest poet : " Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away." Parties were left by General McCaskill on the height to await the baggage and rearguard, which latter, so toilsome was the march, did not reach the mouth of the pass till darkness was coming on. Bodies of the enemy hovered about all day, firing on the detach- ment posted on the hills, and some of our men were killed and wounded. On entering the pass with the rearguard, the pickets descended to join them, when 366 Life of Sir George Pollock. their places were instantly occupied by the Afghans, who followed at a respectful distance, firing inces- santly, though without doing much damage. (For a detailed account of the operations of the 2nd Division, the reader is referred to Lieutenant Greenwood's "Narrative.") On the intelligence of this victory, together with those gained by Greneral Nott over 12,000 Afghan troops, under Shumshoodeen Khan, at Grhoaine, near Grhuznee, on the 30th August, the Governor- Greneral issued a notification from Simla, dated the 21st September, in which he thus speaks of the achieve- ments of the subject of this memoir : " Major-General Pollock has, through, the prudence of his arrangements and the correctness of the movements directed by him, had the gratification of affording to his troops the oppor- tunity of proving their superiority to the Afghan, on the very scene of the last disaster on the retreat from Cabul." Greneral Pollock reached Sei Baba on the 10th September, and the encampment was pitched among large boulders, in the most completely barren-looking spot that could be imagined. The troops had been fortunate in finding every day some little forage for the cattle, a total absence of which had been antici- pated, and even at Sei Baba, within a short distance of the camp, some fields were discovered, affording a small supply of fodder for the baggage animals. During the march from Jugdulluck, a frightful spec- tacle was encountered ; at the door of a ruined build- ing were seen huddled together, as they fell, a mass Life of Sir George Pollock. 367 of human skeletons, not less than 100 in number; they had doubtless sought refuge from the ruthless Afghans, and had perished of hunger and cold or the sword. Fragments of uniform were scattered about the accursed spot. This scene was scarcely necessary, after the horrors encountered at every step during the last few days, to infuriate our soldiers, who had sworn solemnly to avenge their slaughtered comrades, when the hour of retribution, even now on the eve of striking, should have sounded. The General arrived at Tezeen on the llth September, and was joined the same day by the 2nd Division, which had pushed on, crowning the heights as they went along with parties, who again joined the rearguard as it passed, according to the mode of mountain warfare adopted by General Pollock. The latter was extremely anxious to push on, but in consequence of the cattle of General Me Gas- kill's Division having suffered from the effects of fatigue, caused by the severe forced march of the pre- vious day, he was constrained to halt during the 12th. Before night closed in, on that 12th of September, it became evident that Akbar Khan had selected the valley of Tezeen as the scene of the great struggle upon which he had staked the crown of Cabul. True to his word, he had despatched his prisoners with the exception of Captains Troup and Bygrave, Captain and Mrs. Anderson, and Mrs. Trevor, with their children to the Hindoo Koosh, and, on the 6th of September, moved his camp to Begramee, about six miles from the Bala Hissar, where Captain Troup was 368 Life of Sir George Pollock. confined. This officer lie now summoned to his pre- sence, and, after a conference of chiefs had been held, required him to proceed to the camp of the British Greneral at Ghmdamuck, with instructions to express their willingness to agree to any terms Greneral Pol- lock might dictate, if he would only stay the march of his army on the capital. But though Troup ex- pressed his readiness to go, he pointed out to the sirdar the utter futility of attempting to negotiate now, when nothing could stay the onward movement of the victorious British commander but the destruc- tion of his force, and ultimately prevailed upon him to give up the idea. Akbar accordingly moved down upon Boodhak with his troops, and again sum- moned Troup and Bygrave to his camp, intending to make use of them to negotiate terms with his enemy, in the event, which he himself anticipated, of the arbitrament of battle going against him. On the morning of the llth of September, the British officers entered the sirdar's camp at Bookhak, and during the course of an interview, in which they assured him that his defeat was certain, he expressed his determination to stake all on a pitched battle. " I know," said the sirdar, " that I have everything to lose ; but it is too late to recede." He declared that he was indifferent to the result ; the issue of the con- test was in the hands of Grod, and it little mattered to him who was the victor.* On the following morn- * Kaye's History of the War in Afghanistan. Life of Sir George Pollock. 369 ing he sent for Troup, and announced that he and Bygrave must accompany him to Khoord Cabul, where the Afghan chiefs intended to make their last stand. Arrived at that place, the intelligence reached Akbar of the halt of the British army at Tezeen* This delay, Captain Troup says in a letter to General Pollock, he and the other sirdars attributed to indeci- sion, and it was rumoured that difficulties had arisen to obstruct the progress of the force. On this, Ak- bar Khan at once determined to move on to Tezeen, and sent to Troup to announce his intention, where- upon the latter sought and obtained permission to return to Ali Mahomed's fort, where he had been confined. The Afghans, filled with exultation at the presumed indecision of their dreaded enemy, attacked the pic- kets on the British left flank during the afternoon of the 12th, and when one of the Sepoy outposts, in charge of the cattle feeding on the left of the camp in the Tezeen valley, was returning, after having been relieved, they followed them up in so daring a fashion, that the General considered it necessary 'to send Colonel Taylor with 240 men of his regiment, which happened to be just then returning to camp, to drive them back and punish their audacity* It was half* past fhse in the evening when the Colonel and his gallant regiment went to work in the style for which they were renowned in the force. On clearing the left picquet he was joined by Major Huish with a small party of the 26th N. L, and at once threw for- 24 370 Life of Sir George Pollock. ward a strong body of skirmishers, who quickly drove back those of the enemy on the plain, pursuing them to a range of hills, where they made a stand, till dislodged by the British advance. Further on, the enemy, in force about 500 or 600, had taken post along the crest and on the summit of a range of steep hills running from the northward into the Tezeen valley. Those towards the north were assailed by Captain Lushington of the 9th, with the left support and skirmishers, while Colonel Taylor directed the attack against the front and left flank. This was soon turned, when he crept up the heights between two ridges which concealed his approach till he was close to the summit, and within twenty yards of their main body, consisting of over 300 men. Now was the time for a dash. Collecting some thirty or forty men, with Lieutenants Elmhirst, Lister, and Vigors, he fixed bayonets and charged the enemy. This his brave fellows did with such resolution and effect, that the whole mass, taken by surprise, was driven headlong down the hills, nor did the enemy rally until out of musket-range. As they ran, the party of the 9th fired upon them and killed a good number, who rolled to the bottom. Some hand-to- hand fights took place during the struggle, and Lieu- tenant Elmhirst distinguished himself in a personal encounter. As it was now getting dark, Colonel Taylor, deeming it prudent not to pursue the enemy further, ordered the halt to be sounded, and, after remaining in possession of the position for half an Life of Sir George Pollock. 37 1 hour, retired without molestation. The loss of the enemy was severe, and a large party was observed to be engaged in carrying off the killed and wounded. Among the former was found a chief, supposed to be the brother of Khoda Buksh Khan, Ghilzye. The enemy remained quiet on the left flank, in consequence of the success that had attended Colonel Taylor's judiciously planned and gallantly executed affair, and turned their attention to the right, where they commenced a furious attack upon a picket con- sisting of eighty men of the 60th N. I., commanded by Lieutenant Montgomery. This officer sustained the overwhelming onslaught with the greatest resolu- tion, and kept at bay the enemy, who fought at such close quarters that the bayonet had to be freely used. At length he beat them off, with the loss of four men killed, and himself and seventeen others wounded. The Afghans, nothing daunted by these repulses, commenced desultory attacks on the picket about 8 P.M., and continued them all night, but with the same want of success. These attacks were annoying, as it kept the troops on the gui vive, and, as it seemed to indicate that the morrow would bring with it some hot work, it was desirable that they should have rest. But not much repose was enjoyed that night in the British camp, and the General himself " hardly slept a wink," as he says in a letter. At length daylight broke, and preparations were made for forcing the Tezeien Pass, a most formidable defile about four miles in length, the paths in many 24 * 372 Life of Sir George Pollock. places being mere foot- tracks with yawning precipices on either side. The valley of the same name, in which they were encamped, is completely encircled with lofty hills, and it became apparent on the morning of the 13th, that the Afghans had occupied every height and crag not already crowned by the British. They were in great force, numbering between 16,000 and 20,000 men, among whom were Akbar Khan's picked body of Jezailchees. That sirdar was also present in person, and with him were Mahomed Shah Khan, Ameenoollah, and their followers, together with many other chiefs of lesser note. The positions they had taken up were of great strength, and had not General Pollock's dispositions, like those he had made at the forcing of the Khyber, been most masterly and complete in the smallest details, he must have sustained a heavy loss. " The pass of Tezeen," he says in his despatch, " affords great advantages to an enemy occupying the heights; and on the present occasion Mahomed Akbar neglected nothing to ren- der its natural difficulties as formidable as numbers could make it." Having taken every precaution, the General com- menced his march towards the mouth of the Tezeen Pass, where he left Lieut. -Col. Eichmond of the 33rd N. I. with the following troops to act as a rearguard : Two 9-pounders of Capt. Abbott's Light Field Bat- tery. Two squadrons of H.M.'s 3rd Dragoons, 160 men; 1st regiment Light Cavalry, 295 troopers; de- tachment 3rd Irregular Cavalry, 60 ; Sikh Cavalry, Life of Sir George Pollock. 373 200 ; being a total of 750 sabres. The infantry under his charge consisted of 143 men of the pickets 9th and 13th Eegiments; four companies of the 26th N. L, 310; right wing 33rd N. L, 129 ; 35th N. I. 294; pickets 60th N. L, 124; and the infantry of the Sikh Contingent under Captain Lawrence ; being a total of 1,300 bayonets. General McCa skill commanded the main column ; Sir Eobert Sale, with whom was General Pollock, the advance guard, composed of three companies of the three European regiments, a troop of Horse Artillery, Backhouse's mountain guns, and some of the 3rd Dragoons. The British troops at once commenced to mount the heights, the 13th on the right, the 9th and 31st on the left. The Afghans, inspired by the presence of Akbar Khan, contrary to their custom, advanced to meet them. A desperate struggle now ensued. " Indeed," writes the General, in his de- spatch, "their defence was so obstinate that the British bayonet, in many instances, alone decided the con- test." In a private letter he says, " I was with the advance. Every place appeared covered with the enemy, and they fought really well, actually coming up to the European bayonets. I then suspected Ak- bar must be present, and so it turned out." But the British troops were burning to have their revenge, and the cold steel did its work silently and well. Many stalwart Afghans earned the death which they believed was to be but the portal to the halls of bliss, in which the faithful who die thus, are destined to 374 Life of Sir George Pollock. pass an eternity of sensual delights ; and all those who yearned for this passport to the arms of the houris, received it without stint or in an ungrudging spirit from their infuriated foemen. Horse and foot, they sought in fierce emulation who should be the first in the honourable but sanguinary task, and gave, as they sought, no quarter. It was the measure meted out to their comrades on these same hills a few short months before, and with the mute appeal of ghastly skeletons and grinning skulls, it is not to be wondered at if the measure of revenge was returned filled up and brimming over. The light company of the 9th, led by Captain Lushington, particularly distinguished itself, and that officer was severely wounded in the head. Ascending the hills on the left of the pass, under a heavy cross fire, the 9th charged and overthrew their opponents, leaving dead on the heights several horses and their riders, supposed to be chiefs. The enemy were driven from post to post, from crag to crag, contesting every step, but overcome by the resistless bayonet. At length, the General gained complete possession of the pass ; but the fight was not yet over. The Afghans retired to the Huft Kotul, literally, " seven hills," the series forming an almost impregnable position, 7,800 feet above the sea, and the last they could hope to defend. The enemy appeared, by the obstinate de- fence they maintained, as though resolved that its pinnacles should not be crowned by either European or Sepoy; but it was in vain, for on that day the dark- Life of Sir George Pollock. 375 skinned native vied with his pale-faced comrade who should win in the race for glory. The little Ghoork- has from distant Nepaul, under the noble Broadfoot, the Queen's soldiers from the far isles in the West, and the Sepoy from the plains of burning India, all who ate the Company's salt, were equally maddened with a burning desire to wipe out the stain from the glorious banner they had sworn to defend, and whose sanctity they regarded with that devotion which every soldier or sailor feels for his country's flag, even though it be but " a bit of bunting." " One spirit," wrote the General, in his despatch to the Adjutant- General, " seemed to pervade all, and a determination to conquer overcame the obstinate resistance of the enemy, who were at length forced from their numerous and strong positions." The Huft Kotul itself was at length surmounted, the troops giving three cheers as they reached the summit. Here Lieutenant Cun- ningham, with a party bf Sappers, pressed the enemy so hard, that they left behind in their precipitate flight a 24-pounder howitzer, and limber ; but they succeeded in taking away the draft bullocks. The General then heard that they had carried off another gun, and concluding that it could not be very far ahead, he detached a squadron of the 3rd Dragoons under Captain Tritton, and two horse artillery guns under Major Delafosse in pursuit. After a gallop of two miles, they came up with this gun^and the bullocks for the captured howitzer. The Dragoons got among the enemy, and cut up a good many of 37 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. them. Captain Broadfoot with his Sappers advanced, and with the Dragoons, who continued the pursuit, happened to fall in with another party, whom they again cut up handsomely. While the main column was thus engaged, Major Skinner of the 31st was doing good service on the right flank. The Major, who had been sent on the afternoon of the previous day with detachments con- sisting of one company each of the 9th, ISth, and 31st Queen's, and of the 26th, 33rd, and 35th K I., together with fifty of Broadfoot's Sappers, and fifty Jezailchees, had ascended the heights above the Tezeen valley in front of the camp, and occupied them till daylight of the 13th. He was instructed to co-ope- rate with the main force by capturing the high peaks to the right of his position, and having driven the enemy from them, to continue to operate among the lower hills to the head of the Huft Kotul on the right flank of the advance of the army. These peaks were occupied in some force by the enemy, who were however easily driven from them to the higher hills on his right. Dividing his troops into two columns, Major Skinner crowned the first peak, the ascent of which was very steep. He then detached two com- panies to the higher peak on the right hand, and sup- ported them by the Sappers, who ascended by a steep ridge connecting it with that previously gained. The summit of the hill was reached, and, the enemy being driven away, was held until the main column of the advance came in sight, when the detachment marched Life of Sir George Pollock. 377 on the Major's right, over the hills at the base of the higher mountains. The height he had gained de- scended to the main road by a succession of small peaks, each connected by a narrow ridge, and occupied by small parties of the enemy. They were driven from these peaks in succession, and Captain Borton, at the head of a party of the 9th, made a gallant charge on a strongly posted body of Afghans, whom he routed. The latter made repeated efforts to re- cover their lost ground, but, notwithstanding the necessarily slow advance of the supporting parties from the steep and difficult nature of the hills, every attempt was defeated. Major Skinner, having gained all the peaks, and driven the enemy back, continued his advance parallel to the main column over the hills to some distance beyond the crest of the Huft Kotul. The rearguard, under their very able leader Colonel Eichmond, were also hotly engaged during the day. That officer, having made the necessary disposition of his force to protect the baggage in the valley of Te- zeen, and to secure the gorge of the pass, gradually withdrew the different pickets to strengthen the latter. Soon after, he observed a large body of the enemy collecting near the fort of Tezeen, south-east of his position, and directed Lieutenant Douglas to open on them, but the distance proving too great for shells, the fire was discontinued. The cavalry of the enemy, encouraged by this, formed up in the valley to the number of 600 men, with the evident intention of making an offensive movement; Colonel Eichmond 378 Life of Sir George Pollock. at once decided upon anticipating them, and as the three horse artillery guns of Captain Alexander's troop were still on the ground, he sent them forward within range of the enemy, supported by a squadron of the 3rd Dragoons under Captain Unett, one squad- ron of the 1st Light Cavalry under Major Scott, and one squadron of the 3rd Irregulars under Captain Tait, with orders to charge the enemy if the ground proved favourable and an opportunity offered. This was not long wanting to men who made it for them- selves. The guns having made an impression, it was followed up and made more indelible by a rattling charge of the cavalry, in which the native troops sought to win the pride of place from their European comrades. Major Lockwood, commanding the 3rd Dragoons, went to the support of the brigade with another squadron of his regiment ; but it was not needed, for the gallant fellows in front got among the Afghan horsemen, and many of the proudest of their cavaliers bit the dust that day. They were put to flight, and Captain Goad, of the 1st Cavalry, captured a standard, cutting down the bearer. The recall was now sounded, and the troopers returned to their original position, covered by the effective fire of the guns directed by Captain Alex- ander, and by a company of the 35th N. I. As the enemy showed no disposition to offer further molesta- tion, and the whole of the baggage having now entered the pass, the Horse Artillery and Dragoons were permitted to commence their march ; but before the Life of Sir George Pollock. 379 latter had filed off, the Afghans opened fire with two guns, which necessitated the cavalry being placed under cover of the high ground of the vicinity. These guns were soon after withdrawn or silenced by a fire of round shot, directed by Lieutenant Douglas, and Captain Henry Lawrence, commanding the Sikh contingent, who volunteered his services on the occasion. After allowing the main column and baggage to get well forward into the pass, Colonel Richmond directed the remainder of the cavalry to enter, and followed with the infantry, the different parties of which gradually retired on the posts he had previously occupied, the enemy's Jezailchees closing in and main- taining a heavy fire, which continued till the head of the pass was reached, a distance of three miles. This ground Colonel Richmond was compelled to hold for a long time to admit of the guns and baggage passing over, but the enemy, though he pressed very closely on the British posts, was unable to gain the slightest advantage, or make any impression on the troops, who behaved with the greatest steadiness under somewhat trying circumstances. At length they desisted from their attempts, which enabled Colonel Richmond to reform his column and continue the march to the camp, which was reached about 8 P.M., with all the stores of baggage. With the exception of a few loads of grain, and some camels and bullocks, which, being unable to proceed, were destroyed, the entire train of impedimenta reached the cam ping ground intact; and 380 Life of Sir George Pollock. this really creditable feat was due in part to the fore- thought of the General, who neglected no point of the minutise of his duties, no matter how small, and chiefly to the judicious and admirable arrangements of his sub- ordinate, Colonel Eichmond, whose masterly conduct he did not fail to recognize in his official despatch. The enemy being now completely dispersed at every point, the General pursued his march and encamped at Khoord Cabul without further opposition. Thus were concluded the operations of the 12th and 13th of September, which, considering their arduous nature, conducted as they were among crags and precipitous ascents, and under the rays of an intensely hot sun, it is scarcely too much to say, were never exceeded by any recorded achievement of the British army. In his despatch to the Commander-in-Chief, the Greneral, speaking of the conduct of his troops, says : " On this, as on all former occasions where they have been engaged with the enemy, they have shown the most determined valour, and I feel that I cannot too highly praise their conduct ; each regiment seemed to vie with the others in their endeavours to dislodge the enemy, which they most effectually accomplished." Writing to a friend on the 23rd of September, he says: "I think no officer could possibly have had finer regiments under his command than I have had, and to them do I owe all my success, which, as far as I am able to judge, has been so far complete. I hope the Governor-General may think so, and I shall be satisfied. Life of Sir George Pollock. 381 Major Smith describes in a graphic style the fight- ing at Tezeen on the 12th and 13th, and his narrative possesses interest as the contribution of a participant in the action : " General Pollock was still anxious to push on, but a halt on the 12th to refresh the cattle became absolutely necessary. We were then joined by the rear division of the army, under General McCaskill, and thus assembled in force to encounter Akbar Khan, who awaited us with all the troops he had been able to collect, estimated at fifteen thousand, in the Tezeen Pass, and on the Huft Kotul, by which our road to Cabul lay. The General had not anticipated meeting Akbar until he should reach the Khoord Cabul Pass, but found, after arriving at Tezeen, that the grand effort to arrest our progress would then be made. The long narrow valley of Tezeen, in which we were encamped during the llth and 12th, is flanked by lofty hills, on which our numerous pickets were posted, and on those hills, within a short distance, the enemy surrounded us, which led to the occurrence of a very smart engagement about dusk on the evening of the 12th. A company or two of the 26th N. I. had occupied during the day a fort at some distance from our left flank. At sunset they were withdrawn, and in retiring the enemy followed them up closely, increasing in numbers every instant. The Sepoys retired with perfect steadiness in skirmishing order, by alternate ranks, and drew the Afghans after them to within a short distance of the camp. At this moment Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor was return- ing with about two hundred and fifty men of the 9th, whom he had taken out to a neighbouring hill (equipped in their lightest man- ner, without coats, their accoutrements slung on over their shirts) to recover the body of a sergeant killed that day on picket. " General Pollock saw them passing, and sent orders to Colonel Taylor to give a dressing to the Afghans who were following the Sepoy detachment. Nothing loth, he went to work immediately, and a very brilliant affair ensued. The flashing of the musketry, as the darkness gradually increased, displayed the progress of the fight. Our men pursued the Afghans over the hills, and at last got among them with the bayonet, driving them on pell-mell till 382 Life of Sir George Pollock. a return to camp became advisable ; and so completely thrashed were the enemy, that they did not dare to adopt their favourite plan of following them up in their retirement. Four men killed and twelve wounded were the loss in this affair, which no doubt produced a salutary impression, and prevented our being much more annoyed during the night than we were ; though, as it was, a desperate attack was made on one of our pickets, composed of men of the 60th N. I., who held their ground most gallantly under tbeir officer, Lieutenant Montgomery. He was wounded, and had four men killed, and sixteen or seventeen put Jiors de combat. The Afghans practise a savage sort of war dance, not unlike that of North American Indians, which they accompany with the cry of ' Huk ! huk ! huk ! ' This noise resounded all night long in our ears. " It was evident that on moving next morning there would be some work for the rearguard, and Lieutenant- Colonel Richmond, of the 33rd N.I., a very good officer, was selected to command it. He employed himself during great part of the night in arranging matters so as to afford the best chance of keeping off the enemy, which eventually he accomplished most successfully, having had an opportunity of employing his detachment of the 3rd Dragoons with great effect in a charge upon a large body of their cavalry. " The Afghans came down in great force as soon as our pickets were withdrawn from the heights, but found all their efforts ineffectual. A few of our people were wounded, but no baggage was lost. We marched soon after daylight. Sir Robert Sale commanded the advance guard with which General Pollock proceeded ; and General McCaskill the main column. We very soon came in contact with the enemy, who occupied posts on every commanding point of the hills, and some furious contests took place ; our troops, European and Native, climbing the steep faces of the mountains, and charging the Afghans with great gallantry. Captain Lushington, of the 9th, in leading the light company up a hill, which was stoutly defended, received a shot in the forehead, through his forage cap, which laid bare, but fortunately did not fracture, the skull. It was a most singular escape ; he is now doing well, and no serious consequences are likely to ensue. The nature of the country the road winding up before us among the mountains enabled us to perceive many parties of the enemy Life of Sir George Pollock. 383 posted in advance, on eminences commanding our route. For a considerable time we were occupied in dislodging them by means of well-directed snots from Abbott's guns. At one of their posts a huge Afghan standard bearer stood, conspicuous among his party, displaying his banner. Several shrapnels were burst over the sungah. When he perceived that the gun was about to be fired, he squatted down ; rising immediately after the shot, waving his flag high above his head in defiance. This operation was many times repeated, till at length, I fancy, he must have got his quietus. He rose no more, and the position was vacated instantly. " Thus we struggled on, our flankers crowning the heights, the enemy gradually disappearing from all their positions, till we reached the level ground at the top of the Huft Kotul, where a body of horse being discovered, a loud call was made for the 3rd Dragoons, who dashed on at speed up the pass in splendid style, but the Afghans were too far ahead to be overtaken, and escaped among the mountains to the left, leaving two six-pounder guns in our possession, which we recognized as a part of those captured from our Cabul army. While all this was going on in the pass, Major Skinner, of the 31st, was moving, with a force composed of six companies from various regiments, along the lofty range of hills on the right of the road, where he had some severe fighting. Captain Borton, of the 9th, lost six men of his company, killed in this operation. Skinner made his way successfully, and formed a junction with us, as intended, at a point beyond the summit of the Huft Kotul. Akbar Khan, who had commanded in person on this occasion, deemed the game now lost. His troops dispersed, and on the morning after the battle he was fifty miles distant from the scene. We reached our encampment at Khoord Cabul without further opposition, and soon after dark the whole army and its baggage were established there for the night. This important success caused us a loss, in killed and wounded, of 146." Our loss, as in the previous action, was small, when the nature of the difficulties overcome, and the obstinate resistance of the enemy, are taken into 384 Life of Sir George Pollock. consideration; it consisted of 32 killed and 130 wounded, among the former being Hjder Ali, Native Commandant of the Jezailchee regiment, a most gallant and enterprising soldier, who was cut down while attempting to seize one of the Afghan standards, while four officers were included in the latter category. The enemy, who, as an army, were completely broken up, lost several hundred killed, and were altogether so demoralized that they did not attempt to offer any further resistance in the passes that yet intervened between the camp at Khoord Cabul and the capital. On the 14th the army marched to Boodhak, the General taking the precaution of sending parties to crown the heights of the Khoord Cabul Pass. The scene witnessed on the route was one full of painful interest. At Boodhak, in that fatal January, not less than 3,000 soldiers and camp followers of General Elphinstone's army were massacred by the Afghans, who lined the rugged hills on either side, and shot them down in heaps as they struggled along the narrow gorge at their feet, much as " noble sports- men " do in the covers of Norfolk, when they indulge in a battue of game or " drive " for pheasants. Nine English ladies, accompanied by eighteen or twenty young children, in some instances infants in arms, witnessed the frightful spectacle, and shared its dangers, through which they nevertheless passed un- scathed. The savage grandeur of the scenery of the pass rendered it a fitting site for the deed of blood Life of Sir George Pollock. 385 that had been enacted under its horrid shade, never yet pierced in some places by sunlight, while it ac- corded well with the aspect of the road along which the army travelled, strewed as it was for two miles with mouldering skeletons, like a charnel-house. The General, describing the scene to his brother, Sir Frederick, wrote : " In going through the Khoord Cabul Pass, the day after the battle of Tezeen, the skeletons were so thick on the ground, that our men were obliged to drag them to one side to allow the gun- carriages to pass." It may readily be conceived what were the feelings excited in the hearts of the British soldiers as they stepped over the remains of their countrymen and companions in arms, stretched in their last sleep in this foul Golgotha. The muttered threat of deadly vengeance was heard throughout the ranks, and gave warning, not unheeded by their leader, of the neces- sity of tightening the bands of discipline. Boodhak was reached without opposition, unless we include in that term the efforts of a solitary mountaineer, who, jezail in hand, sought to stay the progress of an army, by keeping up an " independent fire " from a hole in a rock, in which he had ensconced himself. On arriving at the halting-place, the General issued an order, pointing out in forcible terms that the very existence of the army would be immediately endan- gered, should acts of violence at Cabul, by putting the inhabitants to flight, prevent the procuring of supplies. .25 3 86 Life of Sir George Pollock. Cabul is only eight miles distant from Boodhak and the Bala Hissar, and the walls which run up the sides of the hills encompassing the city, could be clearly distinguished in the distance. Here the army reaped the first-fruits of their victories in the arrival in camp of two of the prisoners, Captain Troup and Dr. Campbell, who, however, returned on the same day to protect some ladies and children, who had been confined in a neighbouring fort under the protection of a friendly chief. On the following day (the 15th of September), the army marched without any opposition along the road leading from Boodhak to the capital, and that after- noon the camp was pitched on a fine level plain between low hills, a spot which had formed the race- course of ' the officers of the Cabul force. Akbar Khan had fled to the Ghorebund valley, ready if need be to fly across the Hindoo Koosh, and had taken as his companion Captain Bygrave, whom he subsequently surrendered in a fit of generosity. The hostile chiefs were supposed to be in the Kohistan. As to Cabul, it was nearly deserted. A panic had seized the conscience-stricken inhabitants, who, with the exception of the Kuzzilbash chiefs and their followers, and some few others who now tendered their allegiance, had fled from before the face of the victorious army. Thus was brought to a glorious conclusion the onward march of General Pollock's troops. In announcing, in a general order dated Simla, Life of Sir George Pollock. 387 30th September, George Pollock's victory at Tezeen, and his occupation of Cabul, and Nott's success at Ghuznee, Lord Ellenborough said : " The British flag now waves in triumph from the highest point of the Bala Hissar. Thus have all past disasters been retrieved and avenged in every scene in which they were sustained, and repeated victories in the field, and the capture of the cities and citadels of Ghuznee and Cabul, have advanced the glory and established the accustomed superiority of the British arms. The Governor- General, in the name of the Government and of all the people of India, offers to Major-General Pollock and Major- General Nott, and all the officers and troops under their respective commands, his grateful and heartfelt acknowledg- ments for the important services they have performed. The Govern or- General directs that the recent successes obtained by the armies in Afghanistan be fully made known to all the troops at all stations of the army, and that at all those stations a salute of twenty-one guns be fired for the capture of Ghuznee and a similar salute for the capture of Cabul." 388 Life of Sir George Pollock. CHAPTEE VIII. The release of the prisoners. General Nott. The halt at Cabul. ON the day of the arrival of the British army before Cabul, there came into camp the following prisoners, who owing to illness had been unable to accompany those sent on to Barmeean by Akbar Khan's orders. Mrs. Trevor (whose husband had been murdered when Sir W. Macnaghten met his death), together with her eight children, Captain and Mrs. Anderson, with their three children, Dr. Campbell, and Captain Colin Troup, who nobly stood by these helpless ladies and children in their fort, when he might have ensured his own safety by joining the British army. Happily, such instances of devotion were not rare in that small but gallant band of British officers, prisoners in the hands of the ruthless Afghans. During the course of the following day (the 16th September), the General received intelligence of the approach of Notts army. That distinguished officer, after defeating a large Afghan force under Shum- shoodeen Khan at Grhoaine, captured Grhuznee, which the garrison evacuated just as Nott was about to open his batteries. Another successful engagement Life of Sir George Pollock. 389 was fought at My dan on the 14th September, and then Nott's division neared Cabul, passing Urghundeh on the 16th, the place where, in the autumn of 1839, Dost Mahomed had planted his guns and deter- mined to make a last stand against Sir John Keane's advancing army. But Nott had been anticipated, and learned the fact with disappointment. The gallant General had brought with him, agreeably to the Governor-General's instructions, the sandal- wood gates which were said to have been removed from Somnauth, in Guzerat, by the great conquerer Mahmoud, who 800 years before had issued out of Ghuznee, and carried fire and sword into Hindostan. Notwithstanding that the Moollahs, or holy men who ministered at the tomb of Mahmoud, asserted that the famous gates which gave access to the shrine were really those brought from Somnauth, so high an authority as Major Rawlinson, who took the oppor- tunity of questioning the priests, and of copying the Cufic inscription on the shrine, states he " feels posi- tively certain that the gates are certainly not those of Somnauth," and that the tomb itself is spurious, and boasts no higher antiquity than that of the Sultan Abdool Eizak, who built the present walls of Ghuznee. However that may be, the gates were, under the superintendence of Nott's distin- guished chief Engineer, Major Sanders (who sub- sequently fell at Maharajpore), removed by a party of British soldiers, the Moollahs weeping bitterly at the desecration, though it is possible their lamenta- 390 Life of Sir George Pollock. tions were partly called forth by the anticipation of the falling off in the contributions of the faithful that would certainly ensue.* On the morning of the 16th, General Pollock pro- ceeded to carry out a ceremony that must have been eminently gratifying to himself and every man of his army. It was to restore to its proud position the flag that had been tarnished in the eyes of the world by recent unhappy events. To Oriental minds no act would carry more complete conviction of the thoroughness of the triumph of British arms, than that the symbol of its might should float once more over the battlements of the fortress from which it had been torn. Accordingly, on the morning succeed- ing his arrival at Cabul, General Pollock proceeded to the Bala Hissar with the object of planting the colours of our country upon its topmost pinnacles. This was done with much military pomp and circumstance. Besides the whole of the general and provisional staff, the General took with him a troop of Horse Artillery under Major Dela- fosse, commanding the artillery ; a company of each regiment of infantry ; the 3rd Dragoons, under Major Lockwood; a troop of the 1st Light Cavalry, and a rissallah of the 3rd Irregular * The gates were eventually seen, among other arms and tro- deposited in the Judgment Hall, phies of the different Indian cam- now converted into an armoury, of paigns. They are twelve feet the magnificent palace at Agra, high, of carved and inlaid sandal commenced by the great Emperor wood. The three metal bosses Akbar, in the time of James I., affixed to the panels are said to about 1610. Here they may be be from the shield of Mahmoud. Life of Sir George Pollock. 391 Cavalry. Prince Futteh Jung, who two weeks before had joined the British camp at Gundamuck, asked and obtained permission to accompany the detach- ment, because, as he said, treachery was to be appre- hended if he proceeded to the palace without the support of his late father's allies. " And so it happened," says Kaye, " that when the British troops moved from their ground towards the Bala Hissar, the Prince, attended by some of his principal adherents, fell in at the head of the procession. A portion of the town was traversed by the detachment on its way to the citadel. But although the hideous sights of the last few days were still fresh in the memory of the troops, they resisted all temptation to violence or outrage. Not a man was hurt, or house injured. In orderly procession they streamed into the citadel. The road to the point at which the colours were to be hoisted, ran by the palace gates. As a road for the passage of artillery, indeed, it terminated there. It was necessary that the General should halt the guns and troops in the vicinity of the palace. There was no point beyond to which they could proceed." The Prince and his attendants having entered the royal abode, the former took his seat on a throne in an apartment or elevated open verandah, looking out on a large square, in which the Kuzzilbash chiefs and a crowd of people had assembled to do him honour. The British General and some of his principal officers were invited to appear at the installation, and General Pollock sat in a chair of state to the right of the throne, and General McCaskill on the left. The ceremony of appointing officers of state having been gone through, General Pollock and his staff moved off to carry out the object of their entry into the Bala Hissar. The British colours were hoisted in Life of Sir George Pollock. the most conspicuous point, the hand of H. M.'s 9th Toot immediately struck up the National Anthem, while the Horse Artillery guns thundered out a royal salute, and the whole of the troops gave three hearty cheers. The Infantry remained in the Bala Hissar under the command of Colonel Taylor, who had directions to hoist the colours daily during the occu- pation, and then the General returned. The question of the nature and extent of the recognition General Pollock afforded to Futteh Jung by being present at his installation, has been the subject of much controversy and misunderstanding ; but it is certain that so careful was he to discourage any hope of material assistance from himself or his Government, that he deputed Captain Macgregor, who conducted the political duties of his camp, to wait on Futteh Jung after the ceremony and explain defi- nitely his intentions. On this point the following entry occurs in Major Eawlinson's manuscript journal : " As it appeared desirable that a direct communication should be established between the camps as soon as possible, I proposed to the General, on arriving at Urghundeh, that I should ride in and see General Pollock. My offer was accepted, and I imme- diately put on an Afghan dress, and, escorted by the Parsewans who had come out to the camp, rode in through the town to the race-course, where I found the Jellalabad force encamped. I experienced no sort of difficulty or inconvenience on the road, being generally taken for an Afghan. I now learnt from General Pollock that there were no fresh orders from Lord Ellenborough regarding the establishment of an Afghan Govern- ment ; in fact, that he was prohibited from pledging the Government to recognize any one, but that still, as Futteh Jung had thrown himself on our protection, and that as it was Life of Sir George Pollock. 393 absolutely necessary something like a government should be established, in order to enable us to obtain supplies (the Jellalabad commissariat being entirely exhausted), as well as to facilitate our subsequent departure, General Pollock had resolved to give Futteh Jung such indirect assistance as he was able. In this view he had recommended the Kuzzilbash and Douranee chiefs to tender their allegiance to him, and he had so far given him his countenance as to accompany him to the Bala Hissar in the morning, and even, as the Shah elect took his seat on the throne, to fire a royal salute, ostensibly for the remounting of the British colours on the citadel of Cabul, but of course in the apprehension of the Afghans as an honorary recognition by us of the new monarch's accession. I met Macgregor on my way to the camp, coming into the Bala Hissar with all the chiefs to make their salaam to Shah Futteh Jung, as he is now called ; and I now hear that Macgregor, who conducts all the political duties of General Pollock's camp, endeavoured in a private audience which he had of His Majesty after the durbar, to come to an explanation with him regarding our inability to support him with men, money, or arms, and the necessity, in conse- quence, of his relying entirely on his own resources. At first sight it appears to me out of the question that Futteh Jung should be able to hold his own after our departure, and I see no great object even in making the attempt, but I cannot yet form a propar judgment." (Quoted by Kaye.) On the evening of the 18th, Futteh Jung held a council for the purpose of electing a minister, and the choice of the prince and chiefs was fixed on Gholam Mahomed Khan, of the Populzye tribe. The armies of Generals Pollock and Nott were, on the 17th September, encamped on opposite sides of Cabul, and, on that day, Major Eawlinson returned to the camp of the latter, which had been pitched at Kellat-i- Sultan, a distance of four or five miles from the city. Lieutenant W. Mayne, of Anderson's 394 Life of Sir George Pollock. Horse, who had done such good service at Jellalabad, and subsequently on General Pollock's staff, accom- panied the major, attended by a party of Irregular Horse. These officers were the bearers of the follow- ing note from the General : "We have sent 700 Kuzzilbashes to Bamian, and Sir B. Shakespear accompanies them. It is known that Mahomed Akbar has gone towards Kohistan ; he cannot have any very great forces, 1,000 or 2,000 horse, and may possibly attempt to get the prisoners. Will you, therefore, send in the direction of Bamian a brigade. Instruct the officer that the object is merely to make a demonstration in favour of the party already gone. I therefore wish that the party you send should get into no difficulty, and risk nothing. I feel pretty certain that after what has happened Mahomed Akbar will be very unwilling to ad- vance if he hears that a force is on its way to rescue the prisoners." The recovery of the prisoners had ever been, next to the vindication of the honour of his country, the General's most anxious wish, and the too probable fate that had overtaken so many brave officers, tenderly nurtured ladies, and innocent children, weighed heavily on him. Being now, therefore, desirous above all else that they should be rescued, he had, immediately on his arrival at Cabul, despatched his military secretary, Sir Eichmond Shakespear,* who, with characteristic gallantry, had volunteered * General Pollock would tell an General was sitting in his tent, anecdote of the circumstances when a tall, stately-looking Afghan under which this most chivalrous in full costume stalked into the soldier volunteered on a service of apartment, and saluting with a so similar a character to that in precision that savoured rather of which he had already earned his the parade ground than of Cabul, spurs as worthily as any knight expressed his readiness, in unde- errant of mediaeval times. The niably good Persian, or rather Life of Sir George Pollock. 395 his services, with a body of 600 Kuzzilbash horsemen, who had also offered, on the receipt of a sum of 10,000 rupees, to overtake the prisoners and their escort, and bring them back to camp. As Sultan Jan, whom Nott had defeated at Mydan, was said to be hovering about with the object of intercepting this party of horsemen, the General judged it expedient and the wisdom of this deter- mination was verified by the result to send a strong brigade of British troops to Shakespear's support. The fulfilment of this honourable task he now offered to Nott. And how did this officer, it will be asked, receive the proposal ? At no time the most amiable of men, General Nott happened to be in no very genial mood when the missive from George Pollock was brought to him. He had long since made up his mind as to the expediency of moving on one side to rescue the prisoners ; he considered that the orders of the Governor- General were definite that he should turn neither to the right hand nor to the left after accomplishing the march to Cabul, and these instruc- tions he intended to carry out, unless ordered to the contrary by his brother general, who, as his senior officer, assumed command of all the troops in Afghan- istan from the date of his division passing Ghuznee, Pushtoo, to lead a band of Kuzzil- but soon recognized in the corn- bash horsemen to the rescue of the manding figure, and still more by Feringhees. The General was at the voice, the person of his mili- first somewhat taken aback at the tary secretary. In this attire he intrusion of this singular visitant, led the Kuzzilbash horse. 396 Life of Sir George Pollock. according to the tenor of the Governor-General's instructions. That the proposal to despatch a bri- gade to effect the release of the prisoners had been made to him twice before by officers of his staff, appears from the following entries in Major Bawlin- son's MS. journal : " September 14. As we find that the prisoners have certainly been carried off to Bameean, and the Kuzzilbashes are disposed to assist us in their recovery, while General Pollock is not likely to encounter further opposition on his march upon Cabul, it was suggested to the General to-day that he should despatch a brigade from Urghundeh, where the Bameean road strikes off, to form a support for our party, assisted by the Huzarehs, to fall back upon. He would not, however, listen to this proposal, declaring that he had only one object in view, that of marching his force to India via Cabul, without turning to the right or left, and that he considered from the tenor of all Lord Ellenborough's despatches the recovery of the prisoners to be a matter of indifference to the Government. " September 15. It was again to-day urged upon the General to send a brigade to Bameean, or in that direction, to .assist in the rescue of the prisoners ; but he seems to have made up his mind that he will not separate his force unless positively ordered to do so by higher authority." When, therefore, the proposal came to Nott in an official shape from his superior officer, he received it, says Kaye, " as one on which he had no consideration to bestow, and determined at once within the bounds of due subordination to decline it." We have before us a memorandum in the hand- writing of Lieutenant Mayne, dated " Governor- General's Camp, February 27th, 1847," and signed Life of Sir George Pollock. 397 " W. Mayne, Major commanding body guard." It is as follows : " I was ordered by Sir G. Pollock to carry a despatch to General Nott, commanding the Candahar division of the army, whose camp was on the opposite side of Cabul. I believe the despatch contained a request that General Nott would send a brigade towards Bameean to bring off the prisoners. It being considered a duty of some danger, a troop of Irregular Cavalry was ordered to escort me. I met General Nott at the head of his troops on the line of march, and on being introduced by one of his staff, I delivered the despatch to him. He read it, and then turned to me, and asked me how many days' supplies General Pollock had with him ? I said I believed he had about a week's supplies for his troops. He immediately said, " What business has General Pollock up at Cabul with on ly a week's sup- plies ? " I made no reply. He then appeared dreadfully irri- tated, and turning round asked me whether I had ordered my escort to go where it then was? viz., on the reverse flank of his column. I said I had. He immediately stopped, and in a most loud, angry voice said, " G d you, sir, what do you mean by sending your escort there ? Send them to H , sir, send them to H ." On my not taking any notice of this ebulli- tion, he said, "D you, sir, do you not understand Hindo- stanee ? Tell your escort immediately to go to H ." I told him I would not speak to my men in that strain, but that I would take them away from his line of march. He then went up himself to the men, and abused them in a most improper manner. I told his Adjutant- General that I could not stand such treatment, even from a general officer ; that I would not go with him into camp, but would await his answer at the out- lying picket. General Nott was surrounded by his staff the whole time, and many of them apologized to me for the General's rudeness. He appeared in perfect health at the time. I may add, I was often astonished that General Pollock did not put General Nott under arrest for his disobedience to orders, and rude and insubordinate replies to his letters. I expressed myself frequently to this effect to General Pollock, on whose staff I then Life of Sir George Pollock. Such gross conduct to any gentleman, and more particularly to so distinguished and gallant a man as the Deputy Quartermaster- General of his superior officer, is scarcely conceivable, were it not well at- tested. It has been stated, as offering some apology for this ebullition of temper, that Mayne's escort crowded on General Nott's staff, but this the former denied. General Nott retired to his tent and wrote a reply to his superior officer, the original of which is now lying before us, in which, while protesting against the em- ployment of his troops for the purpose specified, viz., to effect the release of the prisoners, he did not fail to express his intention to obey any orders that might be conveyed to him. The following is the letter re- ferred to : "Camp, September 17th, 1842. " MY DEAR GENERAL, I have been favoured with your note of this date, in which you express a wish that I should detach a brigade towards Bameean ; before you decide on sending it, I would beg to state as follows : " 1. The troops under my command have just made a long and very difficult march of upwards of 300 miles, and they have been continually marching about for the last six months, and most certainly require rest for a day or two, the same with my camels and other cattle. I lost twenty-nine camels yesterday, and expect to-day's report will be double that number. 2. I am getting short of supplies for Europeans and natives, and I can see but little probability of getting a quantity equal to my daily consumption at this place. I have little or no money. 3. I have so many sick and wounded that I fear I shall have the greatest inconvenience and difficulty in carrying them ; and should any unnecessary operations add to their number they must be left to perish. If I remain here many days I shall Life of Sir George Pollock. 399 expect to lose half my cattle, which will render retirement very difficult. 4. I sincerely think that sending a small detachment will and must be followed by deep disaster. No doubt Mahomed Akbar, Shumshooden, and the other chiefs are uniting their forces, and I hourly expect to hear that Sir R. Shakespear is added to the number of British prisoners. In my last affair with Shumshooden and Sultan Jan they had 12,000 men ; and my information is, that two days ago they set out for Bameean. 5. After much experience in this country, my opinion is, that if the system of sending out detachments should be adopted, disaster and ruin will follow. 6. After bringing to your notice, showing that my men require rest for a day or two, that my camels are dying fast, and that my supplies are nearly expended, should you order my force to be divided, I have nothing to do but implicitly to obey your orders ; but, my dear General, I feel assured you will excuse me when I most respectfully venture to protest against it under the circumstances above noted. I could have wished to have stated this in person to you, but I have been so very unwell for the last two months that I am sure you will kindly excuse me." The characters of no two men could have been more dissimilar than of these Generals, the chief actors of this memorable episode of Indian history. Equally honourable and high-minded, they were not less reso- lute and determined when the time for action came ; but, and herein lay the difference, Pollock combined with the fortiter in re the suaviter in modo, while his brother General, on the other hand, was as remarkable for his irritability and moroseness of temper. There is much that is instructive in the career of Nott, and even though his unfortunate temperament got him into hot water more than once, we cannot but admire his independence of character, that native manliness which would never yield to bullying superiors, and 400 Life of Sir George Pollock. that simple devotion to duty ; while the impartial historian will accord to him a high place among Indian generals. On receipt of Nott's letter, General Pollock sat down, and without any acerbity of feeling wrote the few lines subjoined : " MY DEAR GENERAL, I will pay you a visit to-morrow morning, leaving this at an early hour, and will return again in the even- ing. I left it entirely at your discretion to detach a brigade, and as you seem to think it undesirable, it need not be done. Shakespear will reach the prisoners to-morrow morning. Till we meet, adieu. Yours very sincerely, GEO. POLLOCK. 17th September." The biographer of Nott, in seeking to exonerate him from the charge of inhumanity for the ungra- cious part he took in thus leaving the prisoners to their fate, states that, " General Pollock was his (Nott's) senior, and could have commanded him to perform the duty," but did not do so. But there is another point of view from which the fact of his having left it to Nott's discretion to detach a brigade may be viewed, and one which we should say was more likely to be the correct one. General Nott's camp was nearer Bameean than his own. Pollock re- garded the taking part in the release of the prisoners, not in the light of a duty, but rather as a privilege the most gratifying that could be awarded the troops employed. Finally, the army under his supreme command was in the heart of an enemy's country, and General Pollock, well aware of Nott's infirmities Life of Sir George Pollock. 401 of temper, was, before all, desirous of maintaining chat cordiality and good understanding with his second in command, failing which, the cause he had so much at heart might yet be involved in disaster. " On the following day," writes Kaye, " Nott, having excused himself on the plea of ill health from visiting Pollock in his camp, Pollock, waiving the distinction of his superior rank, called upon his brother General. The conversation which ensued related mainly to the question of the despatch of the brigade in aid of the recovery of the British prisoners. Nott had made up his mind on the subject. He was not to be moved from his first position. There were few besides himself who considered the arguments he advanced to be of the overwhelming and conclu- sive character which Nott himself believed them to be ; and it was, at all events, sufficiently clear that, as it was of primal im- portance on such a service to lose the least possible amount of time, it was desirable to detach a brigade from Nott's camp in preference to one from Pollock's, if only because the former was some ten miles nearer to Bameean than the latter. ISTott was inflexible. ' Government,' he said, * had thrown the prisoners overboard ;' why, then, should he rescue them ? He would obey the orders of his superior officer, but only under protest. So Pollock returned to camp, and delegated to another officer the honourable service which Nott had emphatically declined." Greneral Pollock sent for Sale, and ordered him to proceed without any loss of time to the rescue of the prisoners, among whom were his wife and widowed daughter. Sir Robert at first expressed his readiness, but soon came back and explained that he could not get the necessar}^ stores, and that his regiment, the 1 3th, were knocked up, and not fit to undertake forced marches. " Well, never mind," said Genera Pollock, "I will send the 9th; Taylor will go." "No, 26 4O2 Life of Sir George Pollock. no," broke in the veteran soldier, who could not brook the idea of any one being sent on a duty that he had himself declined, " I will go." So Sir Eobert Sale took with him a brigade from his Jellalabad troops, and pushed on in pursuit of Shakespear and the Kuzzilbashes. But the prisoners had accomplished their own liberation, the details of which would be out of place in this work; suffice it to say, they had been hurried off towards Bameean on the 25th of August, under an escort of 300 men commanded by one Saleh Mohamed, and that, thanks to the diplomatic tact and courage of Major Pottinger, Captain George Lawrence, and Captain Johnson, who bribed their custodian to release them,* they were enabled to set off on their return to Cabul on the 16th of September; on the 17th they were met * Much of the credit of effect- a life pension of 1,000 rupees a ing the release of the prisoners is month, and a donation of 20,000 due to the initiation of Mohun Lai rupees, in addition to 0,520 rupees Cashmeree, formerly companion to his adherents, and a further and Moonshee to Sir Alexander sum of 5,000 rupees. Saleh Mo- Burnes in his memorable travels hamed refused to negotiate with a to Cabul, Balk, and Bokhara, and native agent, but eagerly seized who remained in the former city the bait when the British officers as our secret agent after the insur- appended their signatures to a rection of the 2nd of November, bond to that effect. Mohun Lai 1841, keeping up a correspondence is at present a pensioner at Loo- with General Pollock at great per- diana, but has hardly received the sonal risk. This Mohun Lai des- rewards due to him. His original patched one Syud Moorteza Shah name was A'gha, or Mirza Hasan- to Saleh Mohamed with a proposi- jan (see his travels to Bokhara), tion that, on the prisoners being His present name was given him brought into the British camp, in the Delhi school. General Pollock would grant him Life of Sir George Pollock. 403 by Sir Bichmond Shakespear and his Kuzzilbash horsemen, and three days afterwards Sir Eobert Sale experienced the rapturous joy of clasping once more to his breast his heroic wife and daughter, who, through all their sufferings, had never forgotten that they were the wife and child of a soldier. On the 22nd of September a royal salute announced their safe arrival in Pollock's camp. Those who witnessed the scene will not soon forget it. Lady Sale describes the meeting with her husband, and the subsequent triumphal entry into the camp, with a touching simplicity that has gone straight to many a heart. Captain Smith writes : " How eagerly we crowded to see them pass along ; what grasping of their hands ; what hearty congratulations. The ladies were conveyed in litters, the curtains of which concealed them, so that we could not observe what effect on their looks had been produced by the suffering and hardships they had un- dergone. The male part were all " bearded like the pard," sun- burnt to the native hue, and all wore the Afghan costume, with the single exception of General Shelton, whose abhorrence of that dress had induced him to adhere most perseveringly to the garments of English fashion in which he had been captured nine months before, and whose condition, it may be well supposed, was now none of the most brilliant. He was cordially greeted by his old friends of the 9th, in which regiment he passed his early career, and in whose ranks at the storm of St. Sebastian, he lost his arm. We had now, safe within our camp, nine ladies and their children, thirty- three officers, and thirty-eight soldiers, all of whom had been long in the hands of the Afghans, and who must have often thought despairingly of their chance of ever witnessing this happy consummation." Among the prisoners were some of high social 20 * 404 Life of Sir George Pollock. position, and others who attained distinction in the cabinet or the field, and whose names are as familiar as household words in the mouths of the Anglo-In- dian public. Besides Ladies Sale and Macnaghten the latter now Dowager Marchioness of Headfort there were Major-General Shelton, and the surviving officers and men of H.M.'s 44th Eegiment, the noble Eldred Pottinger, the hero no less of the cantonments at Cabul than of Herat, Captain (now Lieut. -General Sir George) Lawrence, Lieutenant (now Major- General Sir Vincent) Eyre, the " hero of Arrah," and the companion in arms of Outram and Havelock at Lucknow, Cap- tains Colin Mackenzie, and Colin Troup, whose services have not even yet received the re ward soldiers most covet, the ribbon of the Bath, or the Star of India ; then there was Nicholson, who immortalized himself at the breach of Delhi, and other brave soldiers, as Haughton, Mein, and many more too numerous to mention. The entire number of European prisoners and hostages released in consequence of the advance, numbered 128 men, women, and children. Truly this was a noble work, and the consciousness of its consummation being due to his determination to persevere in his efforts, was ever the chief consolation to the gallant veteran in his declining years, when tempted to dwell on the absence of any recognition from the State at all commensurate with his eminent services. On the 27th September, Captain (now General) By grave, the last of the prisoners in Mahomed Akbar's hands, arrived in camp, having been generously re- Life of Sir George Pollock. 405 leased by the Sirdar without ransom, or any condition. It should never be forgotten by those who may be still survivors of that captivity, that their release may be said to be due, under Providence, to General Pollock from first to last. Lord Ellenborough, whose great desire was to secure the safe return of the army from Afghan- istan, was so engrossed in effecting this imperial duty, that he considered the release of his unfor- tunate countrymen a matter of but very minor im- portance, and, latterly, scarce even referred to them in his correspondence with Pollock. General Nott cared less about the matter, and was content to leave the honourable task of effecting their release to other hands. General Pollock alone thought it worth while to use his' utmost efforts to bring about the happy consummation, and the ladies and gentlemen who were saved from unutterable misery and woe, owe their release to the subject of this memoir. Their condition was ever present to his mind at Jellalabad, and occupied his thoughts to a degree only inferior to his solicitude for his country's honour, and it is placed on record that but for the opportune arrival of Sir E. Shakespear, and afterwards of Sir E. Sale, they must have fallen into Sultan Jan's hands. General Pollock had from the first set his face against any plundering or other excesses of his troops, but Nott was not equally particular on this point. He considered every Afghan, even the Kuzzilbashes, as our bitter enemy, and had declined to receive Khan Shereen Khan, the chief of that friendly tribe, and 406 Life of Sir George Pollock. Futteh Jung's new minister, and even refused to ac- knowledge the Suddozye prince as the ruler of Cabul. He says in a letter to his senior officer, dated the 22nd September : " I left Candahar with sufficient supplies to take my force to Jellalabad on full rations, but in consequence of the great delay which has occurred at this place, I am now reduced to provisions for seven days, exclusive of the little grain procured yesterday. The people are not inclined to sell even at the high price offered. I cannot see my troops, who have overcome so many difficulties during the last four years, starve as long as supplies are in the country, and I must therefore send parties out to seize what will be sufficient to take my army to Jellalabad, paying for the same ; but I cannot properly arrange unless I am made acquainted with the probable date of our march from this place. I know that Futteh Jung and his party will do all in their power to keep us here as long as possible ; but what is called his party is really the party of Mahomed Akbar, and while we are delaying here I have no doubt they are organizing a regular system of opposition in the passes, and unless we act with decision and energy, throwing aside pretended friends, we shall meet with considerable difficulty, and perhaps suffer some new disasters from the want of provisions or the severity of the weather, which will soon become too cold for our men, and our cattle will perish." There are certainly passages in this letter, in which Nott gave advice to his superior officer that was never solicited, and in a dictatorial tone almost unparalleled as proceeding from a subordinate, that must have tried even the patience and mildness of character for which (jreorge Pollock was distinguished. Nott was also incensed, as appears from the question he put to Lieutenant Mayne during his interview with that Life of Sir George Pollock. 407 officer, because General Pollock had not brought sufficient provisions to carry him back through the passes. Altogether the gallant old soldier was in an exceedingly bad temper at this time, and did not care much to make inquiries regarding the excesses said to be daily committed by his troops. That rumour was not far wrong in this instance, appears from passages in Major Bawlinson's journal. The following are the extracts referred to : " September 19M. Our Sepoys and camp followers, taking their cue, I fancy, from their officers, are very unruly, and commit extensive depredations on the lands and villages near our camp, and as the property thus plundered chiefly belongs to the Kuzzil- bash chiefs, General Pollock, who relies mainly on these people for the consolidation of the new government, is subject to great embarrassment. I have a sort of misgiving that Cabul will after all be destroyed. In the present state of feeling any accidental quarrel would lead to a general rush upon the town, and the Sepoys once there, massacre and conflagration would assuredly follow. General Pollock, by proclamations of en- couragement, has been endeavouring to persuade the Cabullers to return to their houses and reopen their shops ; but after all that has happened it is difficult to persuade the townspeople that we do not aim at retribution, and the proceedings about our camp at Char Deh are anything but calculated to allay their suspicions. The city continues, therefore, more than half closed, and supplies are procured with difficulty. " September 20th. Our men have been plundering to-day as usual about the camp, and in some scuffle which took place at Deh Afshur, four of the Kuzzilbashes, with Khassim Khan, a chief, were slain by the Sepoys. " September 21st. The fort of Mahomed Murza, one of our worst enemies, was given up to plunder, and we did not even respect the property at Aliabad, which belongs to Gholam Mahomed Khan, the lately appointed minister. . . . The 408 Life of Sir George Pollock. townspeople had returned in small numbers to the town and had reopened their shops ; but owing to the affair at Deh Afshur, I believe a panic seized the people and every one fled, believing that orders had been issued for a general massacre. " September 22nd. The depredations of the Sepoys and fol- lowers from this camp continue, notwithstanding all the efforts that are made to repress them. The Kuzzilbashes cannot help believing that we encourage these excesses, and, in consequence, they are not half satisfied of General Pollock's sincerity." Futteh Jung's minister and the chief of the Kuzzilbashes complained in a joint letter of these excesses, and General Pollock forwarded a translation of the document to General Nott, who sent it back with his comments. These were in effect denials of the charges written, though in somewhat intemperate language, and he concluded his remarks with an opinion " that the writer should be instantly seized, and punished for sending such a grossly false and insolent statement." He also addressed the following letter, dated " 22nd September, Camp near Cabul," to General Pollock's Assistant Adjutant-General on the same subject, in addition to one to the General himself : " I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date, and to acquaint you that I conceive that General Pollock, C.B., must have received some erroneous information. No army ever moved with fewer instances of plunder than that under my command, and not an instance of irregularity has occurred without punishment being inflicted. The persons who have made this complaint ought to be made to prove the truth of what they say. I believe the enemy (I mean Futteh Jung's party and the rest of the people) are organizing a system to bring our men to the same state of starvation to which General Life of Sir George Pollock. 409 Elphinstone's army was reduced, in hopes of the same results. While I think it my duty to state this, I must declare that I will not, to please a few Afghans, who have scarcely washed their hands from the blood of our country, be dishonoured. There is grain in the country, and I think it ought to be brought in immediately, the same being paid for. General Pollock's order shall be proclaimed through my camp immediately, but I have not heard of a single act of plunder during the last twenty- four hours." Supplies came in but slowly, though the camps revelled in fruit ; apples, pears, melons, and grapes being abundant. The weather was also extremely fine and pleasant, the sun still rather more powerful than could have been wished, but the morning and evening and night were cool and enjoyable. Those who could manage it, had equipped themselves in the Afghan cloak, called a postheen, made, like the in- teguments of Mr. Bryan O'Lynn, of sheepskin, with the wool on, and having the leathern side richly worked. This garment is described by a gallant officer as " very comfortable, and would afford security against the severest cold." In the meanwhile Ameenoollah Khan, one of the most ferocious opponents of British authority in Afghanistan, was collecting the scattered remains of Akbar's forces in the Kohistan or highlands of Cabul, to renew the struggle; as it was said he designed to fall upon the British during their retreat, the General determined to break up his force, and at the same time punish the insurgents who had been active participants in the atrocities of the previous Life of Sir George Pollock. winter. A strong force, taken from both Pollock's and Nott's divisions,* was accordingly detached, under command of General McCaskill, and the opera- tions were crowned with the most complete success, a result chiefly owing to the admirable strategy of Captain Havelock, who drew up the plan of attack. The fortified town of Istaliff, deemed so strong that the Afghans had lodged their treasure and families in it, was carried by assault with trifling loss, Ameenoollah being among the first to fly. Charee- kur, where an entire Groorkha regiment had been slaughtered, and some other fortified places, were also destroyed, and then the force returned to Cabul, where they arrived on the 7th September. But there was yet one thing more to be done. It had been the declared wish of the Grovernor- * When General Pollock was officers of the Cabul and Ghuznee making arrangements for the troops who had not been surren- march of the force to Kohistan, a dered as hostages. An anecdote young officer, one of the late illustrative of the character of this Ghuznee garrison, who has left his young hero, who was with his re- mark in Indian history, by his giment at the latter fort when it energy and activity in the Pun- was surrendered by Colonel Pal- jaub in 1848-9, and again in the mer, is told by Rattray : " Nichol- crisis of the Indian Mutiny En- son, then quite a stripling, when sign Nicholson, of the 27th Ben- the enemy entered Ghuznee, drove gal Native Infantry presented them thrice back beyond the walls himself at his tent, and preferred, at the point of the bayonet before with much earnestness, a request he would listen to the order given that he might be allowed to ac- him to make his company lay company the troops. Of course down their arms. He at length this was out of the General's obeyed, gave up his sword with power, as, obedient to instructions bitter tears, and accompanied his from the Governor-General, he comrades to an almost hopeless had placed under arrest all the imprisonment." Life of Sir George Pollock. 411 General that the army should leave behind it some decisive proof of its power without impeaching its humanity. The General was undecided whether the Bala Hissar, the citadel of Cabul, should be selected as the memorial of England's vengeance for her out- raged honour ; the nature and object of the act of retributive justice was, therefore, dependent on the constitution of the new Afghan government, and it was long uncertain what it would be. Had General McCaskill killed or captured Akbar Khan in the Kohistan, Futteh Jung might have summoned reso- lution to maintain his throne ; but with the Sirdar at large, the pusillanimous Prince declined to wear the crown, and implored the British General to afford him the protection of his camp, and convey him to India on his return. Had Nott been in power, the mark he would have left on Cabul would have been the entire destruction of the city, Bala Hissar and all ; but George Pollock, being of a more merciful and temperate nature, was unwilling to allow retribution to run into the excess of unreasoning vengeance, and desirous of sparing both, sent his military secretary to the Kuzzilbash camp, which was then in the Ko- histan, to take counsel with Khan Shereen Khan and the other chiefs of the party. " It seems," says Kaye, " they had been sceptical of the in- tentions of the British General to evacuate the country ; but Shakespear now announced that the departure of the army was at hand, and that it was necessary finally to determine upon the , nature of the new government. In this conjuncture, the Kuzzil- 412 Life of Sir George Pollock. bashes, trembling for the safety of the city, and feeling that there was little hope of their being reconciled to the Barukzye party, laid their hands upon another puppet. There was a younger, scion of the Suddozye house then at Cabul the Prince Shahpoor. His mother was a high-born Populzye lady, and it was believed that this recognition would tend to conciliate the Douranees. Postponing, however, the final enunciation of their views until their return to Cabul, they now proposed that the young Prince should be set up in the place of his brother. At Cabul a general meeting of the chiefs was held. The voice of the assembly declared in favour of the elevation of Shahpoor. The Prince himself, a high-spirited boy, willingly accepted the crown that was offered to him, and a declaration to that effect from the Wuzeer and Kuzzilbash chief was then sent into Pol- lock's camp." The General, in a letter to Lord Ellenborough, detailing the negotiations regarding the succession of Shahpoor to the throne, says : " I received a letter, a translation of which I have now the honour to forward, from Crholam Mahomed Khan (the minister) and Khan Shereen Khan, the chief of the Kuzzilbashes, on the part of several other chiefs, .avowing their determination to support the brother of Futteh Jung (Shahpoor) on the throne of Cabul. It was long before I could convince the chiefs com- prising this party that they could not hope for any assistance from the British Government, either in money or troops ; but as they still persisted in urging me to allow the Prince Shahpoor to remain, and as he repeatedly assured me he was anxious to do so, I did not conceive myself authorized by my instructions to remove him forcibly from Cabul, and only stipulated that the British Grovernment should not be supposed to have raised him to the throne. On the morning of the 12th October, after the British troops had marched from Cabul, Prince Shahpoor was put on the throne, and the chiefs took the oaths of fidelity to him." After General Pollock refused the Kuzzilbash chiefs Life of Sir George Pollock. 413 both troops and money, the question of the mark that was to be left on Cabul came up for consideration. They pleaded earnestly for the city and the Bala Ilissar ; they set forth the necessity that the newly- elected Suddozye Prince should maintain the pomp of royalty, as his father had done ^before him, in the palatial residence that overlooked the city ; they pleaded the fact that the Hindostanees and Arabs, who had ever been faithful to Putteh Jung, were all located in the Bala Ilissar ; and, finally, they showed that its destruction would injure chiefly those who were least deserving of punishment. The General, therefore, for all these reasons, consented to spare the Bala Hissar, and ultimately fixed upon the celebrated Char Chutter (or four bazaars), built in the reign of Aurungzebe by the celebrated Ali Murdan Khan, and regarded as the grand emporium of this part of Central Asia, as the most suitable object for destruction. Here had been exhibited the head and mutilated remains of our Envoy and Minister to the court of Shah Soojah, Sir William Macnaghten, who perished by the hand of the fierce Akbar Khan at the interview with that Sirdar on the memorable 23rd December, 1841. Accordingly, on the 9th October, the General in- structed his chief Engineer, Captain Abbott,* who had joined him at Jellalabad, to demolish this mag- nificent bazaar ; but so anxious was he not to extend the work of destruction, that he strictly enjoined * Now Major-General Sir Frederick Abbott. 414 Life of /Sir George Pollock. Captain Abbott to abstain from applying fire to the building, and even from the employment of gun- powder, in order that other parts of the city might not suffer from the explosions. A force of four companies of the 31st Eegiment, and of detachments from the native regiments, was sent under that able officer, Colonel Eichmond, to assist the Engineers. Captain Abbott used his utmost endeavours to carry out the General's instructions, but the Char Chutter was constructed with such massive strength that the only agency by which its demolition could be effected was gunpowder. Whatever had to be done must be done quickly, as the season for active operations was passing away, and winter that in- sidious enemy to which one British army had already succumbed was fast approaching. On his own re- sponsibility, the Engineer officer employed gunpowder, and the buildings marked for destruction were speedily reduced to ruins. The operations against the great bazaar lasted throughout the 9th and 10th October. On its demolition, a scene of pillage and rapine ensued which no one deplored more than the kind-hearted, though strict disciplinarian, at the head of the army. But there are times in which the bonds of discipline are loosed in the best-cond acted army, and such an one now occurred. "The cry arose," writes Major Rawlinson, in his journal, " that Cabul was given up to plunder. Both camps rushed into the city, and the consequence has been the almost total de- struction of all parts of the town, except the Gholam-Khana Life of Sir George Pollock. 415 quarter and the Bala Hissar Numbers of people (about 4,000 or 5,000) had returned to Cabul, relying on our promises of protection, rendered confident by the comparative immunity they had enjoyed during the early part of our sojourn here, and by the appearance, ostentatiously pat forth, of an Afghan government. They had, many of them, reopened their shops. These people have been now reduced to utter ruin. Their goods have been plundered, and their houses burnt over their heads. The Hindoos in particular, whose numbers amount to some 500 families, have lost everything they possess, and they will have to beg their way to India in rear of our columns. The Chunderwal has had a narrow escape. Safeguards have been placed at the different gates ; but I doubt if our parties of plunderers would not have forced an entrance had not the Gholam Khana stood to their arms, and showed and expressed determination to defend their property to the last." Nor is it a matter for any surprise that the deeds which wera perpetrated during those few days of licence disfigured the closing page of this glorious campaign ; rather, when we consider the deep and dire provocation sustained hy the troops, European and native alike, who, during their progress from Gundamuck, found the entire road lined with the ghastly skeletons and decaying remains of their coun- trymen, should we wonder that the army lay before the accursed city for so many weeks without exacting any retribution for the fearful wrongs they had sus- tained. Now, in this mad hour, guilty and innocent suffered equally ; the unoffending Hindoo and friendly Kuzzilbash alike with the blood-stained Cabulee, who had returned home a few short months before laden with the spolia opima of his hated foe. In vain Colonel Eichmond exerted himself to re- 4i 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. strain the infuriated soldiers and camp followers, who were incensed to madness by the visible signs that were so plentiful in every street of the atrocities of the previous winter ; such as quantities of English belts and pouches, and a profusion of wearing ap- parel that had belonged to the officers and men of General Elphinstone's force. A mosque at one end of the bazaar, and another near the cantonment, ornamented with European materials, which the Afghans had built in commemo- ration of their success, and called the Feringhee Mosque, was also blown up and destroyed. It was almost impossible to extinguish the conflagration in which a portion of the city was involved, as the houses were nearly all built of dry wood. "The fire burned," writes Lieutenant Greenwood, "during the whole time we remained encamped in the vicinity, and we still saw it when entering the Khoord Cabul Pass on our return." All was now done that General Pollock had desired to effect. The defeat and humiliation of the Afghans was complete, and he had left his mark in the city that had sinned' against the laws of a common humanity. On the llth October, General Pollock issued orders for the commencement of the return march on the following day ; and in the evening, the old blind king, Zemaun Shah, the brother of Shah Soojah, whose negotiations with Tippoo and the other native princes had, in 1798, caused Lord Wellesley serious disquiet, together with Futteh Jung, and the Life of Sir George Pollock. 417 late king's family, sought refuge in the British camp. The General received them with considerate courtesy and a respect for their misfortunes ; they were placed under the care of Captain George Lawrence, and accompanied the army back to India. The British colours were now hauled down from the Bala Hissar, the regiment posted there was withdrawn, and every preparation made for commencing the retrograde movement on the following day. Life of Sir George Pollock. CHAPTER IX. Cabul to Ferozepore : 12th October to 19th December, 1842. The fetes at Ferozepore. "Palmam qui meruit ferat." The distribution of honours. The vote of thanks by the Houses of Parliament. Refu- tation of alleged excesses in Afghanistan. ON the morning of the 12th October, General Pollock broke up his camp before Cabul. Sir Eobert Sale, with the 1st and 2nd brigades, Backhouse's Mountain Train, 1st Light Cavalry, 3rd Irregulars, and Christie's Horse, was detached by the Gospund Durrah, or Sheep Pass, which was parallel to and on the right of that of Khoord Cabul, with the object of turning that pass, and taking possession of the heights, the difficulty of crowning them from the Cabul side being very great. In consequence of this movement, the main column was enabled to march through the principal defile without a shot being fired by the Ghilzyes, who did not even put in an appearance. General Pollock marched with the rest of the army, including Nott's troops, for he was fearful that the old Candahar division might commit excesses if left in occupation of its old ground, whilst the head-quarters of the army were proceeding in advance. There was some in- Life of Sir George Pollock. 419 convenience in this, as Nott came up before Pollock had crossed the Loghur river. Besides the enormous amount of baggage and supplies, the army was greatly encumbered by a large number of miserable Hindoos, who having been rendered destitute by the destruction of Ghuznee and the spoliation of Cabul, now crowded into the British camp, hoping to obtain safe conduct to India. " General Pollock's camp," wrote Kawlinson, in his journal, " is crowded with hangers-on, imperfectly provided with carriage or supplies, and he necessarily experiences much inconvenience in consequence. General Nott has positively refused to permit his force to be encumbered in the same way, and yesterday evening a general clearance of our camp took place preparatory to the march. About 500 men were expelled from the bazaar of the 16th regiment alone, where they had taken refuge : most of these people were the destitute Hindoos of Cabul and Ghuznee. They had hoped to have been allowed to return to India, but were now obliged to bide their fate among the Afghans." General Pollock took forty-four pieces of ordnance as trophies, and a large quantity of warlike stores, but for want of carriage, was compelled to begin the destruction of the guns on the first day's march- To his infinite honour it should be noted, that he also removed with him about 2,000 natives, Sepoys and camp followers of General Elphinstone's army, who had been found in Cabul, where they had earned a subsistence by begging. These unfortunate wretches, who were all cripples, having lost their hands or feet from frost-bite, were mercifully provided with car- riage, by General Pollock's orders ; two officers were 27 * 420 Life of Sir George Pollock. also appointed to take charge of them, and see to their wants, and convey them back to their own homes, from which they had been reft by the exigencies of our policy. What a contrast this conduct afforded to the inhumanity displayed by the Candahar General ! It was late in the evening of the 13th, before the rearguard reached the encamping ground in the valley of Khoord Cabul, greatly fatigued by the arduous duty of escorting the enormous train of baggage of the two divisions. On the 14th, the army inarched through the Tezeen Pass, retracing their steps over the ground for which Akbar Khan had fought so stoutly. Though the force arrived rather late at their camping- ground, the General despatched the 9th Eegiment, 26th Native Infantry, and some other troops, to at- tack the fort of Khoda Bux Khan, who, though he had been conspicuous during the disastrous retreat of Elphinstone's army for the ineffectual attempts he had made to stay the slaughter of the British troops, and the protection he had afforded to some officers, had made himself obnoxious by interfering with General Pollock's communications during his advance on Cabul. After a march of three miles, the column, finding the Ghilzye chief's fort evacuated, committed it to the flames, the illumination lighting their way back to the camp at Tezeen. The advance guard, under Sir Eobert Sale, and the main column, commanded by General Pollock, had scarce any occasion to fire a shot, but McCaskill en- countered some opposition, and the rear column, under Life of Sir George Pollock. 421 the command of Nott, was, during the night of the 15th, engaged in a smart skirmish on the Huft Kotul, in which sixty-one men were killed and wounded ; it was described by Brigadier Stacy as a " severe affair," and was deemed worthy of a separate despatch by Nott, who was not given to write lengthy despatches, or to exaggerate the importance of actions in which his troops were engaged. Here also the old warrior was compelled to blow up two of his eighteen- pounder breaching guns, which he had brought with him from Candahar, intending to carry them to India, but he did not know what the passes between Cabul and Jellalabad were like, or else he would have fol- lowed the example of his brother General, who, before starting, burst the two Nott had handed over to him. In a letter to his daughters, written from Candahar on the 5th June, 1842, Nott, overlooking the diffi- cult nature of the terrific defiles between Jellalabad and Cabul, the necessity Pollock was under to obtain supplies and carriage for his army, and, above all, the permission to advance, for which the latter had so repeatedly asked, but which was not accorded to him until some time later, writes in the following strain : " Pollock ought to have marched sharply upon Cabul ; had he done so, not a shot would have been fired. Mark me, my children, had I been in his place with that beautiful army, I would have struck such a blow that the whole world would have resounded with it." And yet General Nott, whose brave soldierly 422 Life of Sir George Pollock. character is too well known to admit for a moment the charge of vain boasting, goes on to say : " I am ordered to do nothing. Well, our nation is disgraced. How strange that Englishmen should be so paralyzed ! I am ordered away, though with my beautiful regiments I could plant the British banner on the banks of the Caspian." It appears strange that it did not occur to Nott, when penning these lines, that perhaps his brother General might be, equally with himself, condemned to an irksome and uncongenial inactivity. It would almost seem a pity that in his published. "Memoirs and Correspondence," a letter, clearly written in one of those moments of irritation so common to the General, and, furthermore, of so confidential a cha- racter, should have been submitted to public perusal and criticism. One is reminded of the fatal indis- cretion which proverbially characterizes the action of one's most enthusiastic and best friends. An officer has well described the passes through which General Nott was to lead his gallant division, and of the almost impassable nature of which he now gained an experience which, according to the tactics he adopted, was not reassuring, and would have been dearly bought indeed had he been advanc- ing against a victorious enemy : " Hugged ascents and descents, watercourses, ravines, and narrow valleys, form the constant features of the country from Jugdulluck to the end of the Khoord Cabul Pass, a distance of forty miles. The denies through which the road leads are so narrow and difficult, no words can convey an idea of them. The Duree Pass, which is three miles long, is extremely narrow, and Life of Sir George Pollock. 423 turns as repeatedly as the torrent which roars in its bottom meets impenetrable masses of rock at right angles. Its average width is about forty yards, but there are three places in which it is less than ten feet, and one only six ; so that if an animal fall, the road would be stopped till it could be removed. The almost perpen- dicular cliffs on either side appear as if threatening destruction, and they rise to the height of several thousand feet." General Pollock reached Ghmdanmck on the 18th October, and General McCaskill, on the following day, having encountered much opposition at Jugdulluck, as did also Nott. A post having been established at Gundamuck previous to the march on Cabul, for the purpose of keeping open his communications with Jellalabad and India, the main column halted here for a day, it being considered necessary to rest and feed the tired and hungry cattle, while officers and men were scarcely less in need of a short respite from the fatigues of such a march. On the 22nd, the main column arrived at Jellala- bad ; the General, having withdrawn the detachment he had left at Gundamuck, marched to an encamp- ment on the other side of the town, about two miles from the site of the old standing camp. McCaskill's division came in the next morning, and Nott arrived on the succeeding day. Before starting from Cabul, much and serious opposition had been anticipated in the passes between it and Jellalabad by many experienced officers, but so complete were General Pollock's arrangements that his column arrived at Jel- lalabad without a single casualty, though Nott and McCaskill, who did not take the precaution of crown- 424 Life of Sir George Pollock. ing the heights the whole way during their progress, were not equally fortunate. Indeed, so contradictory were the reports of the Generals, which had been for- warded for the information of the supreme Grovern- ment, regarding the amount of opposition encountered in the march from Cabul to Jellalabad, that the General-in-Chief was under the necessity of explaining the seeming discrepancy, though he refrained from casting any slur on the want of caution of his brother Grenerals. In a despatch to the Governor-General, dated, " Camp, Jellalabad, October 23rd," he says : " There may appear to be some contradiction to my assertion that the enemy were prevented following us, when your Lordship peruses the reports of Generals Nott and McCaskill ; but I am still of opinion (and my opinion is formed from information I have received from good sources) that the only enemy we have had to contend with have been the brigands of the country, who, even in times of peace, are always to be found where there is a prospect of plunder. I have crowned the heights the whole distance, and have had a strong rearguard. I have not only met with no op- position, but we have scarcely seen an inhabitant ; most certainly there has not been any organized resistance." In this same letter the General was under the necessity of defending his conduct in delaying his departure so long from Cabul, and in having under- taken the expedition to Istaliff, which was carried out so successfully under the command of General McCaskill. One would have thought that a man with the military instincts of the Governor-General, would have divined the great advantages that must accrue to the British army in breaking up a confederacy of Life of Sir George Pollock. 425 chiefs who would have harassed the return inarch ; also, one would have credited his political sagacity with appreciating the great moral effect produced by the infliction of such a heavy blow upon the Afghans in one of their most inaccessible fortresses, thereby making known that the arm of British power cloud strike with effect at any point of the country, and that not a fighting man should appear in arms unvan- quished. General Pollock's letter on these points is convincing of the propriety of his conduct. He says : "With reference to the first paragraph," (alluding to Lord Ellen- borough's letter to him,) " I can safely assure your Lordship that I never, from my first arrival at Cabul, expected to leave the place so early as the 8th instant; and I believe I may, with very great truth, assert, that I never gave any one reason to believe that I could march at so early a period. My first expectation was that I should not be able to move till the 15th. I afterwards hoped to move on the 10th instant, and as soon as I saw a fair prospect of my being able to do so I expressed such an expectation in my letter to your Lordship, but would not even then speak confidently. Even on the 10th instant, in writing to His Excellency the Com- mander-in- Chief, I would not say more than that I hoped I might be able to report my departure on the 12th instant. Camels and bullocks came in on the afternoon of the llth, but not so many as were required : I was, however, determined to make no further delay. I beg to say that until I wrote to your Lordship it was impossible for me to fix a probable day for my departure, though I knew many officers in camp had fixed their own day on which I was to move, without any reference to my real intentions or expectations. A report of the movement of the two brigades was forwarded. The report was delayed a day, but their moving forward after their junction depended on information I might receive of Ameenoollah, who had collected a body of men at Ista- liff. There were several objects contemplated in sending the 426 Life of Sir George Pollock. brigades, but the principal one was to disperse the force collected under Ameenoollah ; secondly, by appearing in force in Kohistan, it was hoped the native prisoners would be released ; and thirdly, it was not at all improbable that the advance of such a force might have induced the Ghorebund chiefs to secure the person of Mahomed Akbar. A number of native prisoners were released, and the dispersion of Ameenoollah's retainers prevented their following us on our return towards the provinces." It must have been galling in the extreme to General Pollock, on the very morrow of his victories, to have to write exculpatory letters, as if he had been sub- jected to reverses. One is at a loss to discover what could have induced Lord Ellenborough to pursue so ungenerous a line of conduct, a course differing so greatly from that ordinarily followed by his Lordship. There is a page in George Pollock's correspondence during his stay at Cabul and Jellalabad, which ought to be recorded here. It relates to one of the saddest episodes in the Afghan enibroglio, fertile as it was in lamentable events; we refer to the Stoddart and Conolly* tragedy. It is not our province to enter here into details of the sufferings these brave and accom- plished gentlemen endured with all the fortitude of English officers and Christian gentlemen, and which culminated in that tragic scene enacted in the square of Bokhara, on the morning of the 17th June, 184.2, when, protesting their resolution to die in the faith * The life of this latter one of John Conolly both perished in three brothers, men of the highest Afghanistan, the former in action, moral and intellectual type has and the latter as noble a gentle- found a congenial biographer in man as ever drew breath in his Sir John Kaye. Edward and prison-house at Cabul, of fever. Life of Sir George Pollock. 427 of their fathers, they laid their heads on the block, and suffered martyrdom in the presence of a multi- tude who placed their hopes of heaven in the name of the false prophet Mahomet. General Pollock officially reported Captain Arthur Conolly's death from Cabul, in a letter dated September 30 ; but he added : " The only authority for the death of this very intelligent officer is conveyed in a Persian letter from a native of Cabul, who writes from Bokhara to Moollah Ahmed Khan, of this city, saying : 4 Tell Moostafah (Captain A. Conolly's servant) that his uncle, whom he left here sick, saying he was a great traveller, and had visited Kokand, was taken very ill, and though we gave him medi- cine, and did all in our power, it was of no avail. It was the will of God that he should die.' Moostafah and Moollah Ahmed Khan are both of opinion that Captain A. Conolly is the person alluded to ; and as the letter proceeds to say that the effects of the deceased are at Bokhara, and can be sent when required, and as Moostafah had no uncle, to whom could the description apply ? I fear there can be no reason to doubt the death of the above-named officer." The General was at the time under the impression that poor Colonel Stoddart was alive, but Saleh Mahomed, a youth despatched by Major D'Arcy Todd, from Herat, to join Captain Conolly's suit, reported the execution of both these noble English- men by order of the Ameer .of Bokhara, on the 17th June ; and poor Stoddart's name was struck out of the Army List by the home authorities as from that date. The result of Dr. Wolff's mission placed the fact beyond the reasonable possibility of a doubt. Nothing is more remarkable in the beautiful letters and journals of Arthur Conolly. published by Kaye in his deeply interesting mempir of that talented 428 Life of Sir George Pollock. young officer, than his utter forge tfulness of self, as shown in his efforts to obtain first his companion's release by putting him forward as the real representa- tive of the British Government, and as exhibited in his solicitude for the welfare and interests of his ser- vants ; even on the bed of sickness, and in the near prospect of death, his correspondence from that ter- rible Bokhara prison-house, offers most striking exam- ples of this unselfishness. While at Jellalabad, on his return to India, General Pollock, with his characteristic kindness and sense of justice, in a letter dated 23rd October, to the address of the Governor- General, exerted himself to obtain an adjustment of the claims of Captain Con oily 's servants ; and he succeeded. The following letter, which was written in reply to Pollock's application, shows in what light Lord Ellenborough regarded Conolly 's mission : " With reference," wrote the Chief Secretary, "to your letter of the 23rd ultimo, on the subject of the remuneration applied for on behalf of the servants attached to the mission of Lieutenant A. Conolly to Kokund, I am directed to inform you that the Governor- General has no knowledge of Lieutenant A. Conolly 's mission to Kokund having been authorized. On the contrary, his Lordship was informed by the late President of the Board of Control, that Lieutenant A. Conolly was expressly instructed by him not to go to Kokund ; and in all probability he owes all his misfor- tunes to his direct transgression of that instruction. The ser- vants entertained by him, however, are not responsible for the indiscretion of their master. They were in the service of an officer apparently employed on a public mission by his Govern- ment, and the Governor-General is prepared to. consider their Life of Sir George Pollock. 429 position favourably. His Lordship, therefore, authorizes the dis- bursement of the sums stated in the papers attached to your letter under reply to be due to those several persons after they left Khiva (after deducting therefrom the amount of wages which would have become due during a direct march to Cabul), will be made a charge against Lieutenant A. Conolly, who will be re- quired to refund the amount, as well as all sums which may have been drawn on account of such an unauthorized extension of his mission." However, poor Arthur Conolly was at this time beyond the power of being subjected to the petty annoyance of having deductions made from his pay, or the greater injustice of having his mission to Kokund and Bokhara repudiated, though Kaye has proved, by bringing to light a letter from the Secretary to the Supreme Government to Sir W. Macnaghten, dated 28th December, 1840, that he was neither an unauthorized agent nor an " innocent traveller," as Lord Ellenborough indiscreetly, though doubtless with the best of motives, described him, in his communication to the Ameer of Bokhara, request- ing his release. The entire force, being assembled at Jellalabad, halted there a few days, and General Pollock, in accordance with instructions, set his Engineers to work to destroy the fortifications. Negotiations had been in progress with the Sikhs since the spring, having for their object the transfer of the town to Shere Singh, or the Jummoo Eajah, but in the then uncertain position of affairs the Sikh Government declined the offer. When victory crowned our standards, and the 43 Life of Sir George Pollock. British army commenced its return march from Cabul, the Lahore Durbar changed their minds, and ex- pressed their willingness to accept the gift ; but they were too late, the defences raised with so much care had been levelled, and so Jellalabad remained a depen- dency of whatever prince was to become ruler of the turbulent Afghan race. The bastions of the town were also blown up, and the ruins of one of them formed a tomb over the unfortunate Elphin stone, the gallant Dennife^who fell in Sale's memorable action of the 7th April, and many comrades whose remains had been consigned to the grave during that now historic defence. This mode of concealing a spot sacred to the memory of so many of our devoted countrymen was necessary, for had the site been marked by any other monument it would assuredly have been desecrated, and the ashes of the dead scat- tered to the four winds of heaven, after the departure of the British force. The army commenced to move from Jellalabad on the 27th October, McCaskill's division accompanying that of General Pollock's, while Nott was directed to bring up the rear on the following day with his divi- sion. Greenwood describes the destruction of Jella- labad as follows : " After four days' halt at Jellalabad, the fort and town were, according to orders, set fire to and totally destroyed. Large quantities of gunpowder had been placed under the bastions and other places of strength, and the sight of the immense confla- gration was awfully grand. Ever and anon, as the fire reached one of the mines, a vast pillar of flame would be thrown up in Life of Sir George Pollock. 431 the air, shaking the earth under our feet with the concussion, and lighting up the landscape for miles round, showing the gloomy hills which surrounded us, seemingly looking at the work of destruction with threatening aspect. Suddenly all would again be dark, and showers of falling beams, large stones, and other rubbish, which had been driven up high into the air by the ex- plosion, would be heard rattling in every direction on the ground. Jellalabad was totally destroyed. Doubtless the Afghans will spare no pains to repair the damages done by us to this important stronghold, but years must elapse before a city can again spring up from the heap of ruins which we left." The General turned the halt at Jellalabad to account in making arrangements for carrying back to Pesha- wur all the stores and baggage which had been brought from thence, or had been accumulated for the use of the returning armies. The transport required for removing all this was enormous, and would have taxed the energies of a general commanding an army in the plains of India. It may be imagined, then, how great was the labour that devolved on General Pollock in making arrangements for the safe transport of this vast mass of warlike stores and baggage through the gorges of the passes between Dakha and Jumrood. Lord Ellenborough had infused much of his restless energy into the officials of the upper pro- vinces, who had used the greatest exertions in for- warding the means for evacuating the country, and a considerable supply of carriage cattle was awaiting General Pollock's arrival at Jellalabad ; but still, with all the efforts in this direction of the Governor- Gene- ral, who for his praiseworthy exertions was somewhat contemptuously spoken of in the House of Lords as 43 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. a " very good commissary-general," there was not nearly enough transport, and in quitting the place vast stores of grain were unavoidably left behind. Pollock himself might lay claim to be considered a " very good commissary-general," for it was on his proposal that cattle for transport had been engaged on such terms, and from places where they were procurable in sufficient quantities, to allow of a for- ward movement on his part. Soon after his first arrival at Jellalabad (on the 29th April), we find him writing to the Governor-General : " With reference to the want of cattle with this force, I think it might in a great measure be remedied, and with advantage, if Mr. Clerk were authorized to purchase mules and Yahoos in the Punjaub. These animals abound in the Punjaub, and are of a superior description ; they are very hardy, and eat almost any- thing, whereas the camel of the Punjaub or of Hindostan (of which we must have some), does not thrive in this country. Camels of this country are sometimes procurable here, but there are none at present, for the alarm at the approach of this force seems to have driven every living creature to the hills ; they are, however, now returning. In consequence of the absurd arrange- ment of hiring camels to Jellalabad and no further, I, in common with many others, am now distressed for carriage, and it is diffi- cult to say how we can procure any. Lieut.-Colonel Bolton lost nearly 300 camels by desertion before he reached Peshawur." The cattle procured according to these suggestions enabled him not only to advance, but to retire, carry- ing with him the greater portion of his stores, and all the materiel of war. As a trophy of the gallant defence made by Sale's garrison, General Pollock requested Nott to bring Life of Sir George Pollock. 453 away with him the great " cazee " of Jellalabad, as a large gun employed in the defence had been called ; but though Nott, to please the Governor- General, was able to transport the huge gates of Somnauth on the carriages -of his heavy battering guns, he stated his inability to remove this most interesting relic of an historic event ; accordingly, the General did the best he could with the limited means at his disposal. When going up the acclivity of the Lundikhanah Pass, under charge of Captain Lane, Commissary of Ordnance to General McCaskill's division, this unwieldy piece of ordnance, which was mounted on the only carriage procurable, a most rickety one, gave way, and, notwithstanding the efforts of about forty bullocks which were yoked to the gun, and had drawn it along up to this point at the rate of about half a mile an hour, M cCaskill was forced to cause it to be burst. General Pollock reached Dakha on the 30th, and made a new arrangement of the troops for moving through the Khyber. The first and fourth brigades, under his personal command, formed the leading co- lumn, the second and third, under General McCaskill, the rear one; cavalry, artillery, and heavy ordnance stores being distributed between each. The formidable Khyber had now once more to be traversed, and it was anticipated that the Afreedies would make a stout resistance. Their maliks, or chiefs, remembering the severe lesson they had received on the advance of the army owing to their cupidity, were more moderate in 28 434 Life f 8i r George Pollock. their demands, and offered to sell a passage " cheap ;" but there was not a man in the British army, and least of all their gallant leader, who was in the mood for such barter, so Captain Mackeson was directed to reply that the General declined to treat, and would oppose force by force. General Pollock, as cautious in the hour of victory, when retiring at the head of an imposing force, as when he forced these famous defiles nearly seven months before with less than half the number of men, took the same masterly precautions as in the advance, and crowned the heights on either hand, so that he actually traversed the entire extent of the Khyber, from Dakha to Jumrood, with the loss of only two or three men, and no baggage ; for the General, determining to give the robber tribes as little opportunity of plun- dering his baggage as was possible, ordered that every camel that could not come on should be shot, and that the load, if it could not be brought on, should be burnt. Not so fortunate, because not equally careful, were his brother Generals, McCaskill and Nott. An officer with George Pollock's division describes the forward movement and the fine feeling that animated the force, though with a naivete that is amusing, he ex- presses his astonishment at the impunity with which they were allowed to advance, while the other divi- sions suffered somewhat heavily. " We entered the pass, expecting every moment a volley from the frowning hills on either side, but, to our astonishment, not a Life of Sir George Pollock. 435 shot was heard, nor a Khyberee to be seen. For some time we proceeded, supposing the enemy had thought it prudent to get us well into the pass before they commenced the attack. Still we went on, until we nearly arrived at the encamping-ground at Lundikhanah without a sign of opposition. At last the convic- tion forced itself on our minds that the Khyberees did not intend to fight. Our men seemed much disappointed, having made up their minds for a fray, but the enemy would not give them a chance. Why they allowed our division to pass unmolested I never could imagine, as those behind were most furiously attacked, and experienced losses. We got into camp this day rather early, it being a short distance, and the passage undisputed. The next day's march was to Ali Musjid, a very long and tedious journey, highly dangerous from the difficulty and length of the way. We did not anticipate a free passage through the Lundikhanah Pass when we started that morning, but, to our surprise, no enemy appeared. We marched up the ascent with the band playing in front ' Away, away to the mountain's brow,' and a variety of other tunes, which had a most beautiful effect in this wild scene, and showed the Khyberees that we were willing to give them due notice of our whereabouts, if they had any wish to try their luck against us. After a most fatiguing march, we got in at night to our encamping-ground at Ali Musjid. The rearguard was very late in arriving, having been detained in the pass, the cattle being completely knocked up by the length and difficulty of the way, and unable to proceed but at the slowest pace. They had some little skirmishing with the Khyberees, who came down when it got dark, but nothing serious took place." On the following morning the General continued his march, and, at length emerging from the gloomy portals of the Khyber, encamped at Jumrood. General McCaskilTs division met with much oppo- sition, and suffered severely. He broke up his camp at Dakha on the morning of the 2nd November, ar- riving with two brigades at Ali Musjid, but his third brigade, forming the rearguard under the unlucky 28* 436 Life of Sir George Pollock. Brigadier Wild, being delayed by the futile attempts to extricate the Jellalabad gun, as already described, and not taking sufficient precaution to guard against a surprise, was overtaken at night in the defiles lead- ing to Ali Musjid, and met with a serious disaster. Under cover of the darkness and the brushwood in the pass, a rush was made by a large body of Afreedies upon the two mountain guns. Great confusion en- sued, and the guns were abandoned. Lieutenant Christie, of the Artillery, and Ensign -Nicholson, of the 30th N. I., with several men, were killed, and Lieutenant Boss, of the same corps, and many pri- vates, were wounded. The guns, which had even been carried off by the enemy, were recovered the next day, and the bodies of the officers who fell were also brought in. General Pollock writes on the 1st November, from his camp at Ali Musjid : " It was a night attack of some plunderers to obtain baggage. There appears to have been sad confusion. The two officers were about this time killed, but the guns were not, I believe, even attempted to be carried off, otherwise we certainly never should have seen anything of them again, whereas the next day the mountain howitzer and carriage were found in statu quo, and the carriage of the three-pounder was not far off. It, in all proba- bility, was upset, and parted from the carriage ; but if an enemy (as usually termed) had made the attack, it is very improbable that either guns or carriage would have been left, for a very few men could have carried gun, carriage, and all." General Nott arrived at Jumrood with the rear division on the 6th November, his chief Engineer, L/ife of Sir George -ouoctc. 437 Major Sanders, having on the way completely destroyed the fort of All Musjid, and the works recently erected by the British to assist in its defence. The rearguard of Nott's force was also furiously attacked on marching to and from Ali Musjid by the Afreedies, though the enemy were speedily driven off. In this affair Nott lost twenty -three officers and men killed and wounded, among the latter being that brilliant soldier, Lieutenant (now General Sir Neville) Chamberlain. Though a mere youth, he had already earned a reputation in the service as a bold and dashing cavalry leader, and, ever foremost in a head- long charge, had been twice wounded since the troops moved from Cabul. General Pollock, with his division, encamped about four miles from Peshawur, arriving on the ground by a circuitous route in order to avoid passing near the city, and here he was joined by Nott and McCaskill. Avitabile, who, early in the year, had warned George Pollock of the impossibility of the task he had thus brought to a glorious conclusion, feasted the vic- torious generals right royally. One of the most remarkable features of the cam- paign thus terminated by the arrival of the army at Peshawur, and putting out of question its success, was the marvellously small loss General Pollock in- curred. This was due simply and solely to the thoroughness of his arrangements, which were as masterly and complete in their minutest details in every action, great and small, and throughout the 43 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. tedious marches, as might have been expected from a commander of his experience and ability. Not a point was forgotten or overlooked as too trivial for a general commanding-in-chief, and the result was that, where the sacrifice of a thousand lives would have been thought no extravagant outlay, as, for in- stance, in forcing the Khyber, the casualties were only 135 ! Indeed, this achievement, and the pitched battle at Tezeen, are worthy to be ranked among the greatest triumphs of Indian warfare. Though the actual fighting was not so desperate or sanguinary as in European battle-fields, the work was arduous, and the difficulties to be overcome of a novel and well-nigh insurmountable nature. The victories achieved by Nott and by Sale cannot be compared to these successes ; they were gained on open ground, where both cavalry and guns could act with effect, whereas in the Khyber and at Tezeen the British gunner could scarcely be employed at all, while the infantry had to assail heights, every crag, and precipice, and by-path of which was known to the defenders, who were, moreover, armed with je- zails, which carried death into the ranks of their assailants at a range at which the " Brown Bess " was practically valueless. In short, General Pollock's campaign, from its success and brilliancy, disarms criticism, and we are not aware that it has ever been referred to by military writers except in terms of the warmest commendation, as affording a practical illus- tration of the value of certain rules of mountain war- Life of Sir George Pollock. 439 fare, which, indeed, Pollock may be said to have been the first to define. At the time he undertook the conduct of these operations, and while halting at Peshawnr, Sir Charles Napier drew up a memorandum, at the request of Lord Ellenborough, who had the highest opinion of that General's genius for war, and in this document he, Sir Charles, stated his opinion that it would re- quire 30,000 men to force the Khyber Pass and relieve Sale alone ; and yet Pollock performed this feat with one-fourth that number. Of these, ex- clusive of European cavalry and artillerymen, only one foot regiment was British, and infantry had, from the nature of the warfare, to bear the brunt of the fighting. The recent Abyssinian campaign, which worthily gained a peerage for the commanding General, was pithily described by Punch as a " neat " thing. It well deserved the compliment. But how much more so does the campaign we have attempted, however inadequately, to describe. Lord Napier of Magdala had unlimited resources placed at his disposal ; the arsenals of England and India were thrown open to him, and carte blancJie to draw absolutely anything he required was conferred upon him. He had, as his base of supplies at Zoulla, a vast fleet, which poured down at his feet, with a boundless prodigality, stores of every description, commissariat and warlike. He had ample reserves at Aden and Zoulla. Finally, not only was the wealth of two empires placed at his 44 Itfe of Sir George Pollock. disposal, but the resources of modern science were pressed into the service, and all sorts of appliances, as railways, steel mountain guns, ingenious pack- saddles, patent American well-borers, photography, and the telegraph, were made to minister to his necessities, and keep him supplied with intelligence and accurate topographical information. Contrast this with Sir George Pollock's position, and the resources with which he was furnished. While Napier encountered no military opposition, except the affair at Arogee, Pollock contested every step with the fiercest and most warlike races of Central Asia. His foes were flushed with suc- cess, while the morale of his native troops was worse than questionable. Instead of a Governor- General, and Presidency Governors, and a Home Ministry, and Commanders-in-Chief at the Horse Guards and Calcutta, who were almost obsequious in their offers of service and assistance, moral as well as material, he had to contend against a Commander- in-Chief and Governor-General whose orders were at variance with his own views of what was expedient. That he had a miserable deficiency of baggage cattle the reader who has perused the foregoing need not be reminded. There is a saying that " an army moves upon its belly/' and General Nott, no timid soldier, indignantly exclaimed against Pollock advancing on Cabul with only a week's supplies. Again, it was one of the Duke of Wellington's dicta that " an army that could not move was no army at all," and Life of Sir George Pollock. 441 yet with what the great captain of the age considered the negation of a fighting force, General Pollock achieved grand and striking results. In spite of the comparison not being in favour of the younger General, it is certain that few men have better earned a peerage than Lord Napier of Magdala, for, as in Sir George Pollock's case, we have to take into consideration how disastrous would have been the results of a failure. That the rewards were so un- equal the ribbon of the Bath and 1,000 a year as against a peerage and 2,000 for two lives was pro- bably due to the circumstance that the Abyssinian expedition was undertaken under the orders of the Home Government, and paid for out of the Imperial Exchequer, while the Afghan campaign was carried out under other auspices, and the bill was liquidated out of the revenues of India. The English taxpayer was not mulcted in pounds, shillings, and pence ; it was therefore no concern of the English Parliament and people, who felt no impulse of gratitude at the pecuniary saving effected by the successful tactics of the General, or that other saving, the restoration of British honour and prestige, which, one would have thought, though incapable of being measured by sordid gold, might have been rewarded by the be- stowal of some hereditary distinction. On emerging from the Khyber the British army received intelligence of the general order issued by the Governor-General on their successes, dated "Simla, 4th October, 1842." The orders detail the services of the divisions of Generals Pollock and 44 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. Nott, with the decorations to be respectively awarded to them, but we will confine ourselves to the para- graphs relating to the troops of the former : " The Governor- General, earnestly desirous of evincing the gratitude of the Government of India towards the general officers, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates en- gaged in the operations of the present campaign in Afghanistan, is pleased, after communicating with His Excellency the Com- mander-in- Chief, to declare the following resolutions : All the general officers, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates serving under the command of Major-General Pollock, of Major- General Nott, and of Major-General England, between Attock and Ali Musjid, and in and above the Khyber Pass, and in and above the Bolan Pass, on the 8th September, shall receive a donation of six months' batta, payable on the 1st January, 1843. The several corps of the Indian army which, on the 16th Sep- tember and the following days, occupied Cabul will hereafter bear upon their standards and colours the word * Cabool,' with the figures ' 1842 ' underwritten. Major-General Pollock will communicate to the Governor-General the designations of the corps under his command which were engaged in the operations preceding the occupation of Cabul, but did not advance to that city, and will name such of those corps as he may deem entitled to bear the word ' Cabool' with the figures ' 1842' underwritten upon their standards or colours and appointments, as having contributed to the capture of that city by their previous service in this campaign ; and to such corps, being of the Indian army, as the Major-General may so name, the honour of so bearing the word Cabool ' will be immediately awarded by the Governor- General. Major-General Pollock will transmit to the Governor- General nominal lists of the several general officers, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates present in action with the enemy in the several operations of his army leading to the occupation of Cabul, and to every person named in such list a silver medal will be presented, inscribed CABOOL, 1842. Life of Sir George Pollock. 443 On the reverse of these several medals will be inscribed the words VICTORIA VINDEX. The Governor-General will, after communication with and in conjunction with His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, repre- sent to the authorities in England the high services rendered by the officers of Her Majesty's and the Indian army in the opera- tions of the present campaign in Afghanistan, in order that they may be duly submitted to the gracious consideration of Her Majesty. Medals similar to those presented to the general officers, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Indian army will be prepared for the general officers, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of Her Majesty's army, having, respectively, similar claims to the honour of wearing such medals ; but the authority to wear such medals depends upon Her Majesty's most gracious pleasure." All would have been happiness and gratulation at Peshawur had it not been for the scourge of sickness that now broke out and decimated the force. It was melancholy indeed that, after passing through so many and imminent dangers, Death should stalk through the ranks and gather into his garner some of the bravest of the warriors returning to receive at the hands of their countrymen the hardly won meed of praise, or that yet more earnestly desired pressure of the hand and wo.rd of proud welcome from the one dearer than friend or brother. Yet so it was ; and many, very many gallant soldiers, officers and men, breathed their last in that dreary camp at Peshawur, uncheered by aught save the consciousness that they had nobly done their duty, and died for their country 444 Life of Sir George Pollock, like countless thousands of our race, whose bones whiten well-nigh every land and the bed of every sea. Small-pox, dysentery, and fever, the result of the hard- ships they had undergone, dogged the footsteps of the army during their march through the Punjaub, and the mortality was very great. The want of ambulances, carriages, and cattle for the conveyance of the sick was severely felt, and the mode of conveyance mostly adopted that of " Kajawahs," a rude kind of chair, hung like panniers over the backs of camels gave the death-blow to men suffering from the mortal effects of disease, in some cases aggravated by wounds. All General Pollock's necessary arrangements having been completed, he marched, on the 12th November, from the camp near Peshawur, and, cross- ing the Punjaub, arrived, after an uneventful march, on the banks of the Sutlej, opposite Ferozepore. The intelligence of the victorious return of the combined forces of Generals Pollock and !Nott was received with rapturous joy throughout India. It was as if a great load had been lifted from the hearts of all loyal subjects, while the demon of treason and disloyalty slunk away, or put on an appearance of rejoicing. There had been a long season of sorrow at recent disasters, and anxiety as to the result of the move- ments in progress for the vindication of British honour. The nation mourned its uncoffined dead, and yet more the national honour buried in the snows of Afghanistan. Many there were also who had anticipated the direst consequences in the event Life of Sir George Pollock. 445 of a failure of the advance on Jellalabad, and Pollock himself was of opinion, which was shared by others well qualified to judge, that even had he returned, after forcing the Khyber, without marching on Cabul, and showing the Eastern world our power to punish traitors as well as to relieve friends, all Afghanistan would have followed us, the Sikhs would have turned upon us, and B/ohilcund, always ripe for revolt, would have set the example of rebellion to all Upper India. But now the long-continued anxiety was changed for mutual congratulations, and many hearts beat with joy at the anticipation of once more grasping the hands of friends and of relatives. Wives and parents hastened to greet the returning warriors and the prisoners whom they had long numbered with the dead, so hopeless at one time appeared any chance of release. The moral effect resulting from the recent victories among the native population, and throughout the teeming bazaars of British India and the subsidiary and independent States, was not less a matter for gra- tulation to the statesmen who directed the affairs of the empire, and to the small British garrison whose hold on India was not less owing to the subtle influence of prestige than to their valour and martial superiority. In the words of Colonel Sutherland the British resident at Ajrnere, one of the ablest soldier-states- men in India, the friend of Elphinstone, Malcolm, 446 Life of Sir George Pollock. and Metcalfe "it was a comfort again to be able to look a native in the face." "To Lord Ellenborough," says Kaye, " the brilliant achieve- ments of the two Generals were a source of unbounded gratification. Everything that he could have desired had been accomplished. Pollock and Nott, under his orders, had * retired ' so adroitly from Afghanistan, that everybody believed they had advanced upon the capital of the country. The Governor-General had threatened to save India in spite of every man in it who ought to give him support, but it now seemed as though, in reality, Pollock and Nott had achieved the work of salvation in spite of the Governor- General himself." Lord Ellenborough was at Simla when the tidings of the reoccupation of Cabul reached him, and he issued a manifesto, couched in grandiloquent terms, contrasting, not very magnanimously, the "unparal- leled errors " of his predecessor, Lord Auckland, with the successes achieved under his viceroyalty. In this document we look in vain for any mention of the prisoners, whose fate appeared to be as much a subject of indifference to his Lordship as to General Nott. It was a matter of doubt whether they had been released, or were pining in slavery in the dungeons of Kholoom ; and his Lordship, equal to either fortune, surveyed their fate with serene indifference as he penned his flowing periods. It was considered by him that all had been attained that heart could desire; "errors, disasters, and treachery, had been avenged," and the " invincibility of British arms established." His Lordship was satisfied, but so were not the generous public and Life of Sir George Pollock. 447 the press of India, and many and bitter were the com- ments on the heartlessness displayed by the occupant of the viceregal throne. The following is the text of Lord Ellenborough's proclamation : " Secret Department, Simla, 11 1st October, 1842. " The Government of India directed its army to pass the Indus in order to expel from Afghanistan a chief believed to be hostile to British interests, and to replace upon its throne a sovereign represented to be friendly to those interests, and popular with his former subjects. " The chief believed to be hostile became a prisoner, and the sovereign represented to be popular was replaced upon his throne ; but, after events which brought into question his fidelity to the Government by which he was restored, he lost, by the hands of an assassin, the throne he had only held amidst insur- rections, and his death was preceded and followed by still exist- ing anarchy. " Disasters unparalleled in their extent, unless by the errors in which they originated, and by the treachery by which they were completed, have in one short campaign been avenged upon every scene of past misfortune ; and repeated victories in the field, and the capture of the cities and citadels of Ghuznee and Cabul, have again attached the opinion of invincibility to the British arms. " The British armies in possession of Afghanistan will now be withdrawn to the Sutlej. " The Governor- General will leave it to the Afghans themselves to create a government amidst the anarchy which is the conse- quence of their crimes. " To force a sovereign upon a reluctant people would be as inconsistent with the policy as it is with the principles of the British Government, tending to place the arms and resources of that people at the disposal of the first invader, and to impose the burden of supporting a sovereign, without the prospect of benefit from his alliance. 448 Life of Sir George Pollock. " The Governor- General will willingly recognize any govern- ment approved by the Afghans themselves which shall appear desirous and capable of maintaining friendly relations with neighbouring states. " Content with the limits nature appears to have assigned to its empire, the Government of India will devote all its efforts to the establishment and maintenance of general peace, to the protection of the sovereigns and chiefs its allies, and to the prosperity and happiness of its own faithful subjects. " The rivers of the Punjaub and Indus, and the mountainous passes, and the barbarous tribes of Afghanistan, will be placed between the British army and an enemy approaching from the west, if, indeed, such an enemy there can be, and no longer between the army and its supplies. " The enormous expenditure required for the support of a large force in a false military position at a distance from its own frontier and its resources, will no longer arrest every measure for the improvement of the country and of the people. " The combined army of England and of India, superior in equipment, in discipline, in valour, and in the officers by whom it is commanded, to any force which can be opposed to it in Asia, will stand in unassailable strength upon its own soil, and for ever, under the blessing of Providence, preserve the glorious empire it has won in security and in honour. " The Governor-General cannot fear the misconstruction of his motives in thus frankly announcing to surrounding states the pacific and conservative policy of his government. " Afghanistan and China have seen at once the forces at his dis- posal, and the effect with which they can be applied. " Sincerely attached to peace for the sake of the benefits it confers upon the people, the Governor- General is resolved that peace shall be observed, and will put forth the whole power of the British Government to coerce the state by which it shall be infringed." In order to give a dramatic effect to this famous state paper, his Lordship dated it " 1st October," on which day four years previously, also at Simla (and it is Life of Sir George Pollock. 449 said by Sir Jasper Nicolls in his "journal," in the same room), his amiable but unlucky predecessor had penned another manifesto, setting forth the grounds of his declaration of war against Dost Mahomed, a document which is characterized by Marshman, in his " History of India," as remarkable, " whether considered with reference to its glaring misstatements, the sophistry of its arguments, or the audacity of its assertions." Lord Ellenborough's manifesto, though written on the 1st October, was not issued until some days later, as appears from the following letter addressed by his Lordship to General Pollock : Simla, October 12, 1842. " GENERAL, I enclose for your information a copy of a pro- clamation signed by me here on the first of this month, but with- held from immediate publication with the view to the having previously made and circulated to the native courts, and amongst the natives generally, a correct translation which might be the official document in the native language, and prevent any misre- presentation or misapprehension of the intentions of Govern- ment. I further wished not to make known here the intention of withdrawing the army until I knew that you had actually the prisoners in your hands, and had made arrangements for leaving Cabul. Your letter received here on the 5th, removed every ground for withholding the publication of the proclamation, had the translation been prepared, but in consequence of the absence of Mr. Clerk on duty in the plains, no such translation had been made as I could fully rely upon. In the meantime, by a com- bination of accidents, and some irregularity in the transaction of business in the secretary's office, the printed copies of the pro- clamation were, without my knowledge or that of the secretary himself, transmitted to the presidencies and the political offices 29 45 Life of Sir George Pollock. generally. There is no object in your publishing the proclama- tion in your camp. Mr. Clerk returned last night, and the translation will hardly be ready for transmission before to- morrow. " I have, &c., " ELLENBOROUGH." With the other no less famous manifesto regarding the gates of the temple of Somnauth, popularly known in India as the " Proclamation of the Gates," we have no concern here. From a literary point of view it is doubtless a well-executed parody on the Napoleonic style, and, considered solely in this light, does credit to the Grovernor-Greneral of a mightier empire than that of Aurungzebe. The Grovernor- Greneral's predilection for stilted language is apparent in this effusion, as his weakness for " dramatic effect " is in the notification of "October 1st." To return to Ferozepore. The most elaborate preparations had been made by the Grovernor-Greneral, who had moved down from Simla to the plains in order to receive the returning warriors with due eclat. At Ferozepore, an army of reserve had been previously assembled, under the personal command of Sir Jasper Nicolls. It was said at the time by a portion of the Indian press, that this imposing force had been kept together solely for the purpose of presenting arms to the " illustrious garrison " of Jellalabad, for whom Lord Ellenborough expressed an unbounded admiration, which, although fully deserved, partook of rather an invidious character, when it is considered how great Life of Sir George Pollock. 451 were the services of the troops of Nott and Pollock. This cynical view of the cause that induced the Governor- General to assemble an army of reserve was, however, not altogether a fair one, for it should be borne in mind that his predecessor, Lord Auck- land, had originally projected such a military gathering at a time when it was believed that it would produce a great moral effect upon the neigh- bouring States. Though the chief object for its assembly, now that the troops employed beyond the Indus were returning with victory inscribed on their banners, was doubtless a desire on the part of his lordship to preside at a grand military pageant, nevertheless sound policy dictated a demonstration on the borders of the Punjaub at a time when British soldiers, worn out with sickness and encum- bered with baggage, were crossing the Sikh territory, for the hostile bearing of Shere Singh's auxiliaries at Peshawur early in the year testified to the real senti- ment that underlaid their professions of friendship. The hollowness of the truce that existed between the two countries received a startling commentary on that December morning, only three years subse- quently, when 60,000 Khalsa soldiers, with 40,000 armed followers, and 150 guns of large calibre, having crossed the Sutlej in four days, stood in compact array within a short distance of that very- spot where now all was light-hearted gaiety. On the 9th December, Lord Ellenborough arrived at Ferozepore, and with more zeal than discretion 29 * 45 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. threw himself into the task of preparation for the re- ception of the returning soldiers. The Maharajah of the Punjaub, with his ministers of state and principal military chiefs, the princes of Sirhind, and others whom he had designated, in his famous Proclamation of the Gates, as " brothers and friends," were asked to take part in the rejoicings. The former potentate declined the invitation, on the advice of his Durbar, but sent his heir apparent and other high personages to represent him. Lord Ellenborough also intended that Dost Maho- med, who had been detained as a prisoner of state at Calcutta ever since his surrender in 1840, should, by his presence, add distinction to the pageants in preparation, and be dragged at his conquering chariot wheels to swell his triumph. This an- nouncement he made in a proclamation expressing his intention to release him and the other Afghan princes as soon as the " British army returning from Afghanistan shall have passed the Indus ; " but the popular feeling against this un-English proceeding was so universal, that even his Lordship, who professed to disregard such clamour, was fain to acknowledge its justice by yielding the point. Dost Mahomed returned to the land of his fathers, after a private interview with the Gfovernor-Greneral, and there he reigned many years the most powerful monarch in Central Asia, and one who, in spite of his dalliance with the Sikhs in 1848-49, was our faithful ally during the crisis of 1857. Life of Sir George Pollock. 453 In the meantime matters had returned to their former condition of anarchy and bloodshed in the kingdom so recently quitted. News reached General Pollock, while he was making his way through the Punjaub, " That the Suddozye prince, Shahpoor, had been expelled from the Bala Hissa, and had fled for safety to Peshawur. The poor boy had narrowly escaped with his life. Akbar Khan had made a descent upon Cabul, and carried everything before him. The Newab Zemaun Khan, it was said, had been made Governor of Jellalabad, Shumshooden of Ghuznee, Sultan Jan of Candahar : and hi the meanwhile, Dost Mahomed was making his way through the Punjaub to his old principality. ' Everything,' it was added, with bitter significance, ' is reverting to the old state of things, as it was before we entered the country.'" It was at Eerozepore, the scene of the approaching " tumasha," that Lord Auckland had met Eunjeet Singh, the aged Sovereign of the Punjaub, then sinking into his grave, and, after displaying to his appreciative gaze the discipline and grandeur of a British army ready to take the field, bade his soldiers God-speed on their unprincipled errand the invasion of Afghan- istan. Once more, and within four short years, there was to be a meeting of warriors and grandees, but under what different circumstances ! The returning army expected to find their " Stern alarums changed to merry meetings." Nor were they disappointed. Lord Ellenborough personally supervised the con- struction of a triumphal arch at the end of the bridge, by which the victorious troops were to 454 Life of Sir George Pollock. cross the river, and here, " at the foot of the bridge of the Sutlej," as the Governor-General expressed it, he intended to receive them on their entering once more within British territory. How- ever, the functionaries whose business it was to carry out the decorations of this arch bungled most woefully, and in place of a handsome or impos- ing structure, they erected a most unsightly and grotesque object, which, instead of exciting admira- tion, was the fertile source of ridicule. The boats composing the bridge itself were covered with strips of yellow, blue, and red cloth, intended to represent, it was said, the gorgeous hues of the East when Pho3bus Apollo rises in all his splendour. As to the triumphal arch itself, it was a " triumph " of bad taste, and beggars the powers of our language to express any adequate idea of its appearance. An officer who was an eye-witness attempts a description of it : ' It was a scaffolding of bamboos, resembling a gigantic gallows, and covered with streamers of the same colours as the boats, and of the same materials. Under this arch, as they called it, the whole army marched, and peals of merriment as they did so burst from the soldiers, it was such an absolute caricature of anything triumphal." What an anti- climax ! How this laughter must have jarred upon the nerves of the lord of these big battalions ! But this was not all : 250 elephants had been collected for the occasion, " and," says Marshman, " Lord Ellenborough superintended in person the Life of Sir George Pollock. 455 painting of their trunks, and the completion of their gaudy caparisons." They were to be drawn up two deep, and the Jellalabad garrison was to march through the lines of solid flesh ; but, although the docile animals had been instructed to make a simulta- neous salaam, and to shout out a note of welcome from their huge trunks, they resolutely refused to bend the knee on the signal being given, and were obstinately silent. There were, however, other points in this memora- ble gathering, the grandeur of which nothing could mar. The effect of 25,000 British troops drawn up to receive their victorious brothers in arms was one that appealed to every imagination; dead to all feelings of national pride must have been the heart that could remain unmoved while the vindicators of their country's military renown, the war-worn and bearded warriors who had fought under Sale at Jel- lalabad, under -Nott at Candahar, and under Pollock at Tezeen, marched to the spirit-stirring strains of martial music, and amid the plaudits of their country- men, and the tearful yet proud congratulations of wives, sisters, and daughters assembled to greet them. Lord Ellenborough had determined to bestow exclu- sive honours upon the Jellalabad brigade, though Sir Jasper Nicolls sought to dissuade him from adopting so invidious a course, and was of opinion that the Candahar troops and the soldiers who forced the Khyber should be received with the same military distinctions. 45 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. " I wished," he says in his journal, " to have one of the reserve divisions to receive each of the divisions as it came, but he (Lord Ellenborough) did not desire that the honours paid to the garri- son should be extended to any other part of the army. -This I regret, for they have all seen hard work, great exposure, and some arduous days of service." On the 17th December, Sir Eobert Sale crossed the bridge of boats on the Sutlej at the head of the Jel- lalabad garrison, and the gallant general was received at the foot of the bridge by the Governor- General and the Commander-in- Chief. The army of reserve, formed in one line, extending two and a half miles, received the "illustrious garrison" and their com- mander, in review order with presented arms ; each regiment in succession saluted as the veteran passed their colours, the horse artillery thundered forth a salute of nineteen guns, and the band of the Lancers struck up " See the conquering hero comes," as Sir Eobert with his staff swept past the centre of the noble army drawn up to do him honour. It must indeed have been a thrilling scene, and one in which soldiers and civilians alike would participate with feelings too deep for words. Previous to the arrival of the Jellalabad brigade, the Grovernor- General had, on the 14th, despatched to Sale's camp an aide-de-camp, Captain Colville, and his military secretary, Captain Somerset,* under an escort of * Captain Somerset died glori- speaking of his death, says, in a ously ou the field of Maharajpore, despatch, he fell fighting " with while advancing on the Mahratta the hereditary courage of his batteries. Lord Ellenborough, race." Life of Sir George Pollock. 457 the body-guard, with the medals granted to the Jellalabad garrison, so that the ceremony was enhanced by all the officers and men appearing in their well-earned decorations. On the 19th December, General Pollock passed the Sutlej at the head of the second brigade of infantry and the artillery and cavalry. (He had, while crossing the Punjaub, been obliged to remove the cavalry brigade from under Sir Eobert Sale's command, in consequence of intemperate language used by him towards the brigadier, Colonel White.) General Pollock was received by the Governor- General at the foot of the bridge of boats, but there was no present- ing of arms by the army of reserve or saluting with nineteen guns to greet him and the gallant soldiers he had led to so many victories. On the 23rd, General Nott arrived, bringing with him the Gates of Somnauth he had dragged so many hundreds of miles with such labour and assiduity, and he also received the same modicum of approbation as was vouchsafed to the General-in-Chief of the returning troops. The Governor-General issued a notification to the army on the day of the reception of the Jellalabad brigade, recounting the military honours that had been paid to it, and again on the advent into camp of the other portions of the army of Afghanistan. After this succeeded a period of feasting, and dancing, and general junketing. The officers were regaled at magnificent banquets in gigantic tents hung round with silken flags, on 45 8 . Life of Sir George Pollock. which were emblazoned the names of the actions in which they had been engaged. Post-prandial oratory was indulged in to an extent unpre- cedented in India, where Lord Mayors' dinners, and similar sources of much talking, are wholly unknown ; complimentary speeches were the order of the day, though, in the opinion of many, the rejoicings were marred by the prejudiced exclusive- ness of the Governor- General. Eajah Shere Singh, desirous of testifying his appre- ciation of General Pollock's great military skill, pro- posed to present him with a magnificent sword, but this the General was unable to accept, as the rules were very stringent in not permitting the military and naval servants of the Crown and Company to receive any distinction or present from a foreign prince or potentate. The difficulty was overcome, however, by Lord Ellenborough first receiving the sword from Shere Singh and afterwards presenting it to ijbe sub- ject of this memoir.* The soldiers likewise were not forgotten, and the Governor- General took care to make known to a wondering public in a Government notification, that the Sepoys were feasted "with their favourite me- toys," which may be explained to the uninitiated in native condiments, as a description of sweetmeat much in favour among natives. These rejoicings were * The Rajah also presented similar swords of honour to Generals Sale and Nott. Life of Sir George Pollock. 459 appropriately closed by a grand military display ; in the presence of the assembled notabilities, British and foreign, for there were officers from European States as well as Sikh princes ; and a considerable body of Khalsa troops, an army of 40,000 men with 100 guns, was manoeuvred on the great plain of Ferozepore. On this grand tableau the curtain fell, and the year 1842, and its tragic events, were "as a tale that is told." Thus dramatically closed the incidents of the war in Afghanistan. It wanted none of the elements of the classic epic to constitute its events one of the most interesting chapters in the history of mankind. The unities of the drama were faithfully adhered to; Pollock's triumphal march over the scenes of our disasters formed a fitting and glorious finale to the drama in which thousands of lives were sacrificed, millions of treasure buried, honour tarnished and regilt, and a kingdom lost and won. After the camp was broken up, to the great relief of Shere Singh, a Court-martial was convened, accord- ing to professional usage, to investigate the conduct of Brigadier Shelton, Colonel Palmer, Captains Anderson, Boyd, Troup, Waller, and Eyre, who, as the charge put it, had " abandoned their posts and gone over to the enemy ;" the former was "acquitted," and the remainder "honourably acquitted" of all blame. Major Pottinger's proceedings were also submitted to a Court of Inquiry, of which Mr. Clerk was president (as the Major had been in political 460 Life of Sir George Pollock. employ), and the result was to add increased lustre to the character of the hero of Herat. And now we enter upon the vexed question of rewards and honours to the officers and others who had achieved this mighty success. Lord Ellenborough, then, was raised a step in the peerage, and became a " belted " earl, so that the statesman who did not bring the war to a successful conclusion, who, if he had had his way, would have contented himself with bringing off the Jellalabad garrison, thus leaving unredeemed the sullied honour of his country, this nobleman was rewarded with an earl's coronet, while the soldier who bore the heat and burden of the da}^, who took upon himself a tremendous responsibility, and but for whom no advance on Cabul, with its attendant triumphs, no release of British captives, would have taken place, was nominated a G.C.B. As Dominie Sampson would say, Prodigious ! Sir George Pollock was ordered to take command of the Dinapore division, to which he was entitled in the ordinary course of seniority, even had he never gone to Afghanistan. General Nott, who was also gazetted a Gr.C.B., was appointed to the lucrative office of Political Resident at the Court of the King of Oude at Lucknow, with a salary of 5,000 rupees per men- sem ; and on August 21 in the following year, on his return to England, the Court of Directors passed a resolution granting him a pension of 1,000, a course which, five years subsequently, they adopted towards Sir George Pollock. General Sale, who some time Life of Sir George Pollock. 461 previously had been decorated with the ribbon of the highest class of the Bath, received from the home Government the colonelcy of a regiment worth 500 or 600 a year, and a further pension of 500 was settled upon him, with reversion to Lady Sale. This distribution of rewards positively appeared as if intended to denote that General Pollock had fallen under the displeasure of the supreme authorities, and, coupled with the non-publication of his famous letter of the 13th May, advocating an advance on Cabul, led people, not naturally given to suspicion, to surmise an ungenerous feeling in the mind of the Governor- General towards him. " There can be little doubt," he wrote, " but that it was owing to the difference regarding my unauthorized advance on Cabul, that the Government did so very little by way of acknow- ledgment of my services, as the Government did not wish to act contrary to the opinion of the Governor- General." A list of the soldiers who have, during the present century, received hereditary honours, with the mili- tary services for which they were awarded to them, will place in their true light the inadequate nature of the rewards that were meted out to the subject of this memoir ; for the bestowal of honours thirty years after- wards can scarcely be considered an adequate atone- ment for past neglect. General Lake was created a peer for the victory of Laswarree and other eminent services, though the abortive siege of Bhurtpore robbed him of all claim 462 Life of Sir George Pollock. to be considered a really great general. Sir John Keane was raised to the peerage for the single achieve- ment of the capture of Ghuznee, which was due to the inspiration of his chief engineer, Captain Thomson, and the successful blowing in of a gate by Lieutenants McLeod and Durand. General Wiltshire, in the same campaign, also gained a baronetcy for the storm of the Tort of Khelat by the division under his command. Sir Hugh Gough was created a peer for the san- guinary battles of the Sutlej, on the tactical skill displayed in which we will not descant, though, in justice, we should remark that military men are divided in the views they entertain regarding the engagement at Ferozeshuhur. However this may be, there can be little variety of opinion on the merits of the Chillianwallah business. In this engagement, the noble and gallant lord notably carried into practice his favourite axiom of military tactics, that every- thing, including the heaviest batteries manned by the most desperate and devoted artillery men in the world, should be carried with the bayonet. Lord Gough received further advancement to a viscountcy for the brilliant victory of Goojerat, which was gained by his agreeing to abandon for once his favourite axiom aforesaid. Sir Walter Gilbert, as gallant a soldier as ever drew sword, received a baronetcy for his pursuit of the debris of the Sikh army, after their final overthrow at Goojerat. Sir Henry Hardinge, the Governor-General, Life of Sir George Pollock. 463 well earned his peerage beyond any possibility of cavil, for his services during the Sutlej campaign. Lord Combermere received a step in the peerage for the capture of Bhurtpore. Sir David Ochterlony gained a baronetcy (and never were knightly spurs more worthily earned) for his brilliant generalship in ]STe- paul. Sir Harry Smith was created a baronet for the victory of Aliwal. Sir Archibald Campbell was also rewarded with the cognizance of the " red hand/' for the admirable manner in which he conducted the first Burmese war, and that he well earned the dis- tinction, those who have followed us thus far in the career of Sir George Pollock need not be told. Then we come to the times of that great convul- sion, the Indian Mutiny of 1 8 5 7 . Those distinguished paladins of war, Colin Campbell, Hugh Eose, Outram, and Henry Havelock, were worthy recipients of hereditary honours, the first two as peers, the others as baronets. Archdale Wilson, who commanded at the latter part of the siege and the storm of Delhi, received a like reward, which was certainly a fitting recognition of the unsurpassed gallantry of his little army, if not for his own pertinacity in declining to abandon the siege. The services of General Mans- field, as chief of Lord Clyde's staff, were not inade- quately rewarded by the ribbons of the Bath and Star of India, and the lucrative and exalted post of Commander-in-Chief in India, though we will not hazard an opinion whether Lord Sandhurst owes his title to his past military services, or to an expectation 464 Life of Sir George Pollock. (not fulfilled we believe) that lie might prove useful on the Liberal benches of the Upper House. This military prophet, like the seer of old, was sent to bless, but lo ! when the governmental scheme for Army Ee- form came up for consideration, he rewarded those who ennobled him by anathemas and " cross-voting." In viewing the relative value of the services of some of these officers, and the distinctions they received, one is compelled to place the former in juxtaposition with the forcing of the Khyber, the arduous conflicts of Mamoo Khail, Jugdulluck, and Tezeen, and the release of prisoners, some of high rank and social position, including the head-quarters of a British regiment ; as regards a comparison of rewards, Her Majesty's Government of that day con- sidered Sir George Pollock adequately honoured by the bestowal of the ribbon of the Bath. But Sir George Pollock enjoyed the satisfaction of receiving the approval of all public men whose good opinion was valuable. Among other letters of con- gratulation was one from that noble-hearted soldier, the late Sir James Outram, then Political Agent in Upper Scinde, and who, by the untiring energy he had displayed in forwarding every man available for duty, and still more in collecting supplies, was chiefly instrumental in enabling Brigadier England to take the field and advance to reinforce Nott at Candahar. Outram had also ever been one of the most ardent supporters of the manly policy enunciated by George Pollock, and bitterly inveighed against those who Life of Sir George Pollock. 465 would have pusillanimously consented to sacrifice British honour. He had written as follows on the 15th March, 1842, to his friend, Sir Eichmond Shakespear, then with Greneral Pollock as military secretary, on the subject of withdrawal : "As this is not a time to mince matters, no sooner did I see the orders of Government to General Pollock to withdraw the Jel- lalabad garrison, and to retire to India under any circumstances (except the Sikhs rising against us, which, by-the-by, that measure would have brought about most probably), than I wrote, in the most earnest manner I was capable of, pointing out that our bitterest foe could not have devised a more injurious measure, whether viewed politically or in a military light ; but expressing my trust that Mr. Clerk would act on the responsibility vested in him to prevent so ruinous a step. My mind is now set at rest by General Pollock's determination, now gleaned from your letters. I honour the General therefore, and should he be allowed to carry out his views, we shall have mainly to thank him not only for retriev- ing our honour in Afghanistan, but for saving India to us, the loss of which would ultimately result from disgracefully succumbing to the Afghans now Nothing is easier than to retrieve our honour in Afghanistan previously to finally withdrawing, should the Government so determine ; and I pray God, Lord Ellenborough may at once see the damnable consequences of shirking the undertaking, and order accordingly, otherwise the disaster of Cabul will be but the commencement of our mis- fortunes." On the conclusion of Greneral Pollock's campaign, this chivalrous soldier wrote to the same correspondent a letter now before us, in which occurs the following passage : " Pray convey my humble congratulations to General Pollock, 30 466 Life of Sir George Pollock. and my sincere thanks, which are equally due to him from every Englishman, for the glorious manner in which he has retrieved the honour of our arms, but especially for rescuing the British name from the lowest depths of infamy to which it had been eon- signed, and would have fallen, but for the noble stand he made against the degrading retreat which, it will hardly be believed in future ages, could have been contemplated by Britons under such circumstances." Lord Hardinge, after his return from India in 1848, in a letter to Sir George Pollock, speaks " Of the high sense I entertain of your public services, which, although performed before I became Governor- General of India, were so eminently distinguished by their importance to the State and their ability in a professional point of view, that I have con- sidered myself justified in pronouncing a strong opinion of their transcendent merit" In the Session of 1843, the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to the participators in these memorable events, and they were moved in the House of Lords by the Duke of Wellington, and in the Commons by Sir Eobert Peel, then Prime Minister. The thanks of the Legislature were couched in the following terms : " That the thanks of this House be given to the Right Hon. Lord Ellenborough, Governor- General of the British possessions in the East Indies, for the ability and judgment with which the resources of the British empire in India have been applied in the support of the military operations in Afghanistan. " That the thanks of this House be given to Major-General Sir George Pollock, G.C.B.,to Major-General Sir William Nott,G.C.B., to Major-General Sir John McCaskill, K.C.B., to Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale, G.C.B., to Major-General Richard En gland, and the other officers of the army, both European and native, Life of Sir George Pollock. 467 for the intrepidity, skill, and perseverance displayed by them in the military operations in Afghanistan, and for their indefatigable zeal and exertions throughout the late campaign. " That this House doth highly approve and acknowledge the valour and patient perseverance displayed by the non-commis- sioned officers and private soldiers, both European and native, employed in Afghanistan, and that the same be signified to them by the commanders of the several corps, who are desired to thank them for their gallant behaviour." * The Duke of Wellington, in introducing the vote of thanks in the House of Lords, after descanting upon the great services of Lord Ellenborough in the commissariat department, and there can be no doubt that his Lordship exerted himself to the utmost in supplying cattle for the transport of the armies in the field, merely referred to the forcing of the Khyber Pass in the following terms : " It was found that the troops could not move until the end of the month of March, and, in point of fact, our force entered the Khyber Pass on the 6th of April, and arrived in due course of time at Jellalabad, where they formed a junction with General Sale." After some encomiums on that gallant officer, the Duke went on to say : "Thus General Sale relieved himself, and General Pollock, marching through the Khyber Pass according to orders, arrived at Jellalabad." No word of mention * It is a strange commentary Jellalabad, and the Khyber; that on the peculiar system that ob- the officer who drew down on tains in these " thanks of Parlia- himself the just and indignant ment," and robs them of much of rebuke of Nott (see his despatch their value, that the vanquished of 18th April, 1842) should be of Hykulzye should be coupled coupled in the same eulogium with the victors of Candahar, with his censor. 30* 468 Life of Sir George Pollock. is here made of the difficulties General Pollock had to contend against at Peshawur with a dispirited army, with 1,800 Sepoys out of 4,000 feigning illness, after having been driven back from the pass, and with many of the officers unwilling to advance. The Duke's statement of the victories on the advance on Cabul was equally meagre, and no credit is assigned to General Pollock for the release of the captives, which, as we have seen, was his especial handiwork. Lord Auckland, who followed the Duke of Welling- ton, was more just, and said that " it would be super- fluous for him to dwell upon the brilliant qualities for command which had been displayed by General Pollock." But it required the eloquence of the late Marquis of Lansdowne, then the leader of the Opposi- tion in the Upper House, to place in their true light the eminent services he had rendered to the State. The noble Lord said : " General Pollock was left for several months at Peshawur to prepare for the advance, which was finally made. I do not mean now to enter into the circumstances which induced the Governor- General to hesitate for a considerable period as to the permission to General Pollock to advance, as detailed in the despatches on your table, and in one despatch not on the table, one unaccount- ably not received, though I can prove from a subsequent despatch that it must have reached the hands of the Governor- General."* * This was General Pollock's February, three days previously, famous letter of the 13th of May, requested information regarding which has been already trans- this missing letter, and had been cribed in full, together with the informed by Sir Robert Peel that Governor-General's explanation, the Government had no traces Lord Palmerston had, in the whatever of its existence. Lower House, on the 17th of Life of Sir George Pollock. 469 Lord Fitzgerald, President of the Board of Control, here broke in with the statement : " There is no such despatch in this country." Lord Lansdowne continued, " I am perfectly well aware of that, and I allude to these des- patches, not for the purpose of condemning the course which the Govern or- General took, or of condemning the hesitation which seems to have lasted for two or three months, but for the pur- pose of doing full justice to the officer who took on himself the resolution to march, and ultimately assisted in ending the war." The Marquis of Lansdowne asked how it was that General Nott did not retire from Candahar, according to the Governor- General's instructions. At that time no one in the House of Lords or out of it could answer the question ; but the reader, who has attentively perused this memoir, will not require to be reminded that it was in consequence of the receipt of a letter from General Pollock, requesting him (Nott) to stand fast until he heard from him again. This document has never been made public, and General Pollock did not possess a copy of it,* though doubtless, the original letter exists among the archives of the India office. The Duke of Wellington had characterized Lord Ellenborough's letter to General Nott, authorizing him to advance to Cabul via Ghuznee, but throwing all the onus of the responsibility upon him, as con- taining the " handsomest instructions he had ever seen given by any authority to any officer whatever ;" * See foot-note on page 297, with letter from Sir George Pollock. 47 Life of Sir George Pollock. but the Marquis of Clanricarde, who followed Lord Fitzgerald in the debate in the Lords, reflected the bulk of European and Indian public opinion, when he said that, " If they were called upon to thank Lord Ellenborough for anything else than sending supplies to the army, he should say that they were thanking him for successes which had been achieved contrary to his opinions and orders. He might read this despatch wrong, but he could only say that in reading it in a common simple way, he defied any man, if General Nott had failed in his advance, to attribute any blame to Lord Ellen- borough ; and if no blame could attach to him in case of failure, surely no merit should accrue to him from success." Lord John Kussell, as leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, also testified to Sir George Pollock's brilliant generalship in the following passage in his speech : " I mentioned the other night that with respect to General Pollock, I could conceive nothing more deserving of praise and emulation than his conduct, and the perusal of the papers now before the House only confirms the impression I then entertained. That he should have paid immediate attention to all the wants of the soldiers under him that he should have exercised all care to make the force efficient, and afterwards that he should have con- ciliated as much as possible those troops whose resistance might be most protracted and difficult to conquer and that he should take advantage of the peculiar arms which the natives have, to form and strengthen his own troops for the purpose of forcing the passes, that he might relieve General Sale at Jellalabad that he should have viewed with caution the advantage of pressing forwards that, in weighing the difficulties to be encountered, he should have shown that he was not a man to run our troops into unnecessary dangers and that he should, after having overcome those difficulties, and encountered those dangers which he had well considered, have reached Cabul victoriously Life of Sir George Pollock. 47 1 that General Pollock should have accomplished all this will place his name, equally with the names of General Sale and General Nott, high in the military annals of the country." Lord John disagreed even more than the Marquis of Clanricarde with the terms of the vote of thanks, so far as they concerned the Governor-General. His Lordship, after reviewing the contradictory orders issued by the latter, and stating his belief that " all the men of the force under General Pollock were prepared under the orders of Lord Auckland," pro- ceeded to say : " Upon the whole it seems to me, with respect to Lord Ellen- borough, that no case has been made out for the thanks of the House of Commons exactly similar to any precedent on its journals. In all previous instances Governor- Generals have had a greater share in the transactions ; they have either originally projected the military operations, or they have furnished the means out of the resources of India for the conduct of the military operations. At the same time, although the motion of thanks to Lord Ellenborough is not precisely in conformity with any precedent, I do not wish to take upon myself the invidious task of giving a negative to the proposition. I have already stated my opinion, founded upon facts as detailed in the papers in this volume, that Lord Ellenborough 's merit is merely this : First, that Lord Auckland having collected all the troops, and given orders for the supplies, Lord Ellenborough gave additional orders for additional supplies; and, secondly, that he did not prevent the forward operations against Ghuznee and Cabul, but gave General Nott liberty, if he thought right, to relinquish the attempt. That, as it seems to me, is the whole sum of the merit of Lord Ellenborough." . Mr. C. Wood (now Lord Halifax) also quoted Nott's letter of 21st May, in which he stated that he had abandoned his intention to advance on Ghuznee and 472 Life of Sir George Pollock. Khelat-i-Ghilzye in consequence of Lord Ellen- borough's letter of 19th April. It was reserved, however, for Sir Eobert Peel, then the head of Her Majesty's Government, to place Sir Gleorge Pollock's services in their true light, and, by the exhibition of his eloquence and classical attain- ments, to cast a glow upon a debate rather barren of those qualities. That eminent Minister said : " With respect to the claims of the gallant officers under whose directions these exploits have been performed, I am perfectly convinced that upon that head there can be no difference of opinion. It is impossible to read these details of service it is impossible to read the accounts of General Pollock, of General Nott, and of General Sale without being inspired by all those feelings which are connected with the honour and military glory of our country. I am sure the House will excuse me, if with respect to each of these officers, and their claims upon public gratitude, I make some remarks. I begin with General Pollock : General Pollock took command of the force intended to rescue General Sale early in the month of February, 1842. He arrived at Peshawur on the 5th February, 1842. He had then, of course, heard of the failure of Brigadier Wild. On the day that he arrived at Peshawur he found that in Brigadier Wild's brigade there were not less than 1,000 sick. The day after he arrived he went to the camp at once. He found that the number of sick in the camp on the 12th February was 1,800 men. What was the course he pursued? On the day after his arrival, postponing every other concern, he visited all the hospitals, and saw all the surgeons, with the view of ascertaining from them, if possible, the cause of this sickness. He says and these things do him honour this is the way to inspire confidence; this is the way to show that you are not merely contemplating the means of obtaining the thanks of Parliament by brilliant exploits, but that you are attending to the comforts of your men ; this, I say, is the way to inspire confidence ; and I mention these things for the honour of the great man by whom they were performed Life of Sir George Pollock. 473 I would even rather dwell upon them than upon his military success, because they are, in truth, the elements of future success. This, I repeat, is the way to inspire confidence. General Pollock, writing on the 12th of February, says, 'I shall visit their hospitals frequently, and, by adding in any way to their comforts, show that I feel an interest in them.' General Pollock adds, There has been some unpleasant feeling amongst them, which I hope has entirely subsided.' He had heard of the dejection which prevailed amongst some of the Sepoy regiments. What was the course he took ? He saw every officer ; he visited the regiments ; he determined not to act with harshness towards the men. Not calling them to courts-martial, he depended upon the influence of reason with them, and in the course of a very short time he succeeded in completely re-establishing the confidence which had been so deeply shaken. The Sepoy regiments were for a time depressed by the expected difficulties of the Khyber Pass, when they found some of their countrymen coming from Cabul, with dreadful stories of the cruelties to which they had been exposed when they declared their readiness to meet any enemy in the open field when they said, ' We will advance to Jellalabad for the rescue of General Sale, but we tell you fairly that the idea of advancing to Cabul presses upon our spirits.' I hope the House will not think too harshly of these men, when it considers the noble manner in which they retrieved their character. If we wanted anything else to add to the interest of these scenes, it would be found in their association with the ancient history of the world. I was struck by the recollection that it was in the self-same region, and in the midst of similar scenes, that one of the greatest of ancient conquerors, 2,300 years ago, was displaying his power and encountering the same difficulties that for a time depressed the spirit and damped the courage of our Sepoys. And I was struck by the account given by the Roman historian of the dejection which prevailed even in the ranks of the Macedonian phalanx, when they had to encounter and overcome the difficulties of the same terrible region, to cross the very same rivers, to force the very same passes. "Amidst these very rivers of the Punjaub amidst these very Afghan passes, Alexander pursued a course similiar to that which 474 Life of Sir George Pollock. at another period was adopted by another military commander he attempted, not by severity, not by enforcing the rigid rules of war, but by reasoning with his men, to raise their drooping spirits ; and he succeeded. If the Macedonian phalanx needed such an address frorn the mighty conqueror who led them, let us not judge too harshly of our Sepoys, if, in the midst of similar difficulties, they yielded for a moment to a sense of depression. Now, what were the military services of General Pollock? He forced the Khyber Pass by a series of operations carried on from the 7th to the 16th of April. He reached Jellalabad on the 16th of April, although in the pass 10,000 men had been opposed to him. He remained with General Sale for a time, then advanced towards Cabul, reached Gundamuck in August, and on the 8th of September defeated the Ghilzies. On the ] 2th of September he was met at Tezeen by Akbar Khan with a force of 16,000 men, on the very field of action where lay the bodies of those who had been massacred with ferocious cruelty and gross breach of faith. On that very spot, General Pollock, aided by General Sale, was completely successful in vindicating the honour and invincibility of the British arms; and on the 16th September General Pollock entered Cabul, the British flag was hoisted on the Bala Hissar, and the national anthem of ' God save the Queen ' resounded through the streets of the re- captured city. In whatever point of view his services are regarded whether as relates to his conduct in the field, his judgment, his discretion, or the happy skill with which he revived the drooping spirits of his soldiers I think the House will unanimously award to General Pollock the highest distinction which a military man can receive, and record their public acknowledgment to him for his gallantry and perseverance in the face of such serious difficulties." This handsome recognition of services from so eminent a man as Sir Eobert Peel, was ever a source of gratification to Sir George Pollock. In the course of the debate, Mr. Hume made a most damaging attack upon the Governor- General, stating in conclusion that, Life of Sir George Pollock. 475 " He therefore thought that Lord Ellenborough did not deserve any credit for the success which attended the subsequent transac- tions. On the contrary, it appeared that the success was achieved contrary to the orders as well as the wishes of the noble lord."* And he concluded by moving an amendment to the original motion, which was to the effect that the consideration of the vote of thanks to Lord Ellen- borough be deferred until certain documents (which he specified) be before the House, to enable them to judge why, after repeated positive orders addressed to Grenerals Pollock and Nott to withdraw, " Those generals actually advanced their forces, and by their gallant conduct and brilliant successes, vindicated the character of the British arms in the scene of their former disasters." Of course this amendment was negatived ; but though it was brought forward by the eccentric but able member for Montrose, it received the support of Lord Ebrington, who pronounced the famous permis- sive letter, so warmly eulogized by the Duke of Wellington, as a " shabby despatch ;" and this amendment further represented, even at that early date, a pretty general feeling that those officers who had borne the burden and heat of the day, as well as all the responsibility in the event of failure, ought to have received also all the merit of the surprising successes they achieved. Perhaps not less gratifying to Sir Greorge Pollock than Peel's handsome recognition of his great merit, * Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Vol. LXVI. p. 994. 47 6 Life of Sir George Pollock. was a private note, now before us, addressed by the late Lord Hardinge, after his return from India, to the late Sir Frederick Pollock. The noble lord was, at the time of the passing of the vote of thanks for the Afghan successes, a Member of the House of Commons, and, as Sir Henry Hardinge, had filled the post of Secretary of War. "Whenever we meet," says Lord Hardinge, " I should like to express what I did not know when I was in England, that the ivhole* merit of the advance from Jellalabad to Cabul is due to him. His letter, which did not come home with the correspondence of the period, is for his fame an important document." This deliberate expression of opinion, all those who know the character borne by the " hero of Albuera " and Governor- General of India, a man eminent alike as a soldier and statesman, and beloved by all who came in contact with him for the nobility of his character, will allow is, to borrow an expression of the writer's, "an important document for the fame " of Sir George Pollock. Soon after his arrival at Dinapore to take command of his division, Sir George was summoned by Lord Ellenborough to be invested, in company with General Nott, with the insignia of the Bath. The investiture is described as one " of great splendour and interest." It took place at sunrise, in the palace of the Fort of Agra. A considerable number of persons, specially invited, were present while the * The italics are the writer's. Life of Sir George Pollock. 477 Governor-General, as representing the sovereign, performed the ceremony with becoming dignity and empressement. There was a grand public breakfast in the morning, a public dinner, and finally a ball and supper, with, of course, a certain amount of what the Yankees call " tall talking," which must have been embarrassing to men of the modesty of the two gallant soldiers. But something less agreeable than even hearing their praises sung, was in store for these veterans. Soon after his return to Dinapore, Sir George Pollock was called upon, as were also Generals Nott and McCaskill, to vindicate their conduct and that of their troops from the charge of having committed excesses during the victorious march through Afghanistan. The reader, who has followed the narrative to this point, will doubtless feel as astonished as were the individuals at whom these formidable and baseless charges were levelled, though when he has learnt that they were founded on emanations from the pens of anonymous correspondents, who, having been advo- cates of a policy of retirement, vented their discontent in the columns of the Agra Akhlar, perhaps his won- der may be merged into a feeling of indignation that such libellous aspersions should have been deemed worthy of notice. Men of such known kindness of heart and humanity as Generals Pollock and McCaskill, should have been exempted from suspicion, unless the charges were openly stated and proofs furnished suffi- cient for an inquiry. However, so it was. The state- 47 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. ment as to excesses related, chiefly, to the period after the arrival of General Nott's division at Cabul, and to those committed by the troops of the latter, to which we have already referred in a previous chapter. The conduct of the troops under McCaskill at Istalif was likewise impugned on the score of humanity ; but the imputations were indignantly repelled by Havelock, who was present as Divisional Deputy- Assistant Ad- jutant-General (and who in fact planned the operations which ended so successfully), and by other officers. When it is recollected that between Gundamuck and Cabul, 15,000 British soldiers and subjects had been basely murdered by a treacherous foe, and that in certain places not only were barriers erected composed of the bones of these slaughtered victims, but that in the Khoord Cabul Pass, as related by Sir George Pollock, the skeletons were lying so thickly on the ground that they had to be moved to suffer the guns to pass when these points are taken into considera- tion, it is rather a subject of wonder that the comrades of these murdered men did not give vent to their in- furiated feelings and massacre the inhabitants of Cabul. The destruction of the grand bazaar at Cabul was stigmatized by the gentlemen who infinitely prefer the worship of s. d. to the exaltation of the national honour, as " an act of unparalleled vandalism," though in this far-famed commercial mart the remains of a British envoy had been impaled and subjected to every species of indignity. Sir Henry Hardinge repelled with indignation in Life of Sir George Pollock. 47 9 his place in the House of Commons the imputation of these " libellers of the Indian press," as he called them, and expressed a wish that " honourable members, when making such statements, had distinguished the information derived from the papers before the House from that which had been obtained from the Bombay Times* or Agra AMbar, or other sources peculiar to themselves." The author of the " Life of Sir William Nott " imputes the blame of these unfounded asper- sions to the press of England, but the indignant observations of Sir Henry Hardinge and other speakers, point solely to Indian papers as being the propagators of these calumnious statements regarding the actions of their countrymen. The author referred to says: " The political party in England opposed to the Whigs had, through their organs of the press, indulged in every species of hostility to Lord Auckland's operations in reference to Afghan- istan ; but latterly the same press had altered its tone, and rendered all due credit to the measures of Lord Ellenborough, the Tory who had replaced or succeeded the Whig. Now the Whig press in its turn became unscrupulous, and, influenced or sustained by the exaggerated representations of highly imaginative corre- spondents, put forth innumerable libels regarding the conduct of the troops under Nott and Pollock when retiring from Afghanis- tan. As soon as these vile slanders reached India, the Governor- General called upon Sir William Nott and Sir George Pollock to reply to them." The following three letters from Sir George Pollock * It should be stated, in justice service in that Presidency, for the to the Bombay Times, now known ability and moderation with which as the Times of India, that it was it was conducted, distinguished, at least during our 480 Life of Sir George Pollock. give explanations on these points, and were subse- quently officially declared by the Court of Directors (as were also those of Generals Nott and McCaskill) to be " satisfactory," while that body made the amende by recording in the same letter that " when these rumours were first brought to our knowledge, we deemed them to be great exaggerations, if not alto- gether unfounded; and we did not doubt that we should receive in due course full and exculpatory ex- planations as to what had actually taken place." " SlR GrEORGE POLLOCK TO LORD ELLENBOROUGH. " Allahabad, April 2nd, 1843. " My Lord, I have had the honour to receive your Lordship's letter dated 23rd ultimo, intimating that disapprobation had been expressed at the destruction of the bazaar and mosque at Cabul, and of trees ; also that excesses have been imputed to the troops. " It is difficult to grapple with vague and anonymous accusations against the conduct of the troops. Many detailed statements in the newspapers were entirely unfounded, and were got up with the sole object of creating a sensation ; but I confess that if indi- vidual and isolated instances of excess had occurred, I should not have been much surprised, composed as all Indian armies are of such a heterogeneous mass, comprising all classes and castes ; more than two-thirds of whom are either public or private servants and adventurers, who though nominally following some occupation useful to an army, proceed with it for the sole purpose of plunder- ing when a favourable opportunity offers. Some excesses may, unknown to me, have been committed, but I will venture to assert that no troops ever conducted themselves with more forbearance under such unprecedented aggravations, perhaps no army was ever placed in a more trying situation. " During the whole course of their progress towards the capital they had ocular proofs of the treachery and brutality of a merci- Life of Sir George Pollock. 481 less enemy ; but still I am unable to call to mind any wanton deliberate act of inhumanity on the part of the troops, and can- not but regret that the culpable instances alluded to have not been specified, as I may possibly be suspected of suppressing facts. This, however, I beg to assure your Lordship I have no wish to do. " The feeling of the Hindoos against the Afghans was very naturally strong, in consequence of the latter having deprived the Hindoos of their caste whenever they came into their power; but no troops could feel otherwise than excited at the sight of the skeletons of their late brethren in arms, which still lie covering the road from Gundamuck to Cabul ; and, as if the more to rouse a spirit of revenge, the barricade at Jugdulluck was literally covered with skeletons. What I have stated, above will not be considered as justifying excesses on the part of a British army, but it may be admitted in extenuation of individual cases. " A few days previous to the march of the brigade under Briga- dier Monteith, a European was murdered by the Afghans at Jellalabad. The destruction of Ali Boghan by some men under Brigadier Monteith's command was caused by one of those sudden bursts of feeling, which, being wholly unexpected, no precautions were deemed necessary ; but it was a solitary in- stance, and occurred nearly as follows : Some camp followers entered the village, and having found parts of the dress of some of our soldiers who had been massacred on the march from Cabul, a number of men proceeded to the village, which was eventually burnt, whether accidentally or intentionally is doubt- ful. So very soon was the mischief perpetrated that the Briga- dier was hardly aware of it till the place was in flames. He immediately took measures to prevent a recurrence of such scenes, and I wrote in strong terms on the subject. Subsequent to that event, during the whole time the Brigadier was detached, I heard of no more excesses. In the instance of Ali Boghan, after a most minute inquiry, I have reason to believe that not a man, woman, or child was injured, and I know the greater part of the property was returned to the head man of the village. In subsequent engagements with the enemy at Mamookail, Jugdul- luck, and Tezeen, I neither saw nor heard of any excesses. A 31 ' Life of Sir George Pollock. report was circulated that a European was burnt alive at Jugdul- luck, and that two Afghans were burnt in like manner by our troops in revenge, the whole of which was an infamous fabri- cation. ' I know of no instances of cruelty or excess at Istaliff, and the feeling of the army could not have been very prone thereto when about 400 or 500 women and children were protected from insult and injury, and made over to their families after the engagement. If any excess has been committed which I have not noticed, I can only affirm that I recollect none ; and I beg to add, that the praise bestowed on the troops on a late occasion by your Lordship for their ' forbearance in victory,' is, as far as I am able to judge, well merited ; and I trust your Lordship will never have cause to alter your good opinion of their conduct. On the subject of trees being destroyed, I am unable to call to recollection what occurred in Brigadier Monteith's detachment, and the only in- stance of their destruction which came under my personal ob- servation was at Mamookail, where the ground was such that I was obliged to encamp the different regiments in the gardens surrounding the fort. Without this precaution, I should have been subjecting the troops to constant annoyance, as the enemy would certainly have occupied them. The destruction of the vines and other small plants was almost a necessary consequence of our occupying Mamookail. " With regard to the destruction of the Cabul bazaar and mosque, it may possibly be supposed that with them was destroyed other property, but this was not the case. " The insult offered to the remains of the late envoy was notorious to the whole of the chiefs and inhabitants of the city. They admitted that the mutilated body was dragged through the bazaar and treated by the populace with every indignity, and eventually hung there, that every Afghan in the city might witness the treatment of the remains of the representative of the British Government. The intended measure was communicated to the chiefs, who not only admitted the propriety of destroying a place where such scenes had transpired, but offered to, and did, accompany the party sent for its destruction. Those who resided at and near the bazaar had two days' previous notice to remove their property (which they did), and I am not aware of any Life of Sir George Pollock. 483 instance of violence having occurred. It was not possible en- tirely to prevent plundering, but during the time the Engineer officer was employed in the destruction of the bazaar and mosque attached, both cavalry and infantry were on duty in the city to prevent any outrage. " I have the honour, &c., GEO. POLLOCK." % SIR GEORGE POLLOCK TO LORD ELLENBOROUGH. " Ghazeepore, April Wth, 1843. " My Lord, Since I had the honour to address your Lordship on the 2nd instant, in reply to your Lordship's letter dated the 23rd ultimo, it has occurred to me that I could not produce better proof of the forbearance of the troops under my command than by a reference to their conduct on the morning of the 16th of September last. I have already officially detailed the number of the troops which accompanied me on the occasion of planting the colours on the Bala'Hissar. It was deemed advisable on that occasion to go through a part of the city, and although the troops had arrived only the day before from a march which was abun- dantly calculated to irritate and exasperate them, they so fully and literally obeyed the orders I had previously given, that not a house or an individual was injured either in going or returning from the Bala Hissar. The destruction of the residence of Koda Bux, the chief of Tezeen, may perhaps have been considered an excess. I will therefore explain that during the time the army remained in advance of Tezeen, the chief of that place was the cause of our communications being cut off. He was repeatedly warned what the consequences would be, when an opportunity offered, if he persisted in such a course ; but I beg to add that the injury sustained by the chief in the destruction of his resi- dence entailed no loss on others that I am aware of, as the injury done was confined almost entirely to the fortified dwelling. For- age was found there and brought to camp, but not an individual was injured. " I have the honour to be, &e., 44 GEO. POLLOCK." 31 * 484 Life of Sir George Pollock. SIR GEORGE POLLOCK TO THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL. " Dinapore, April ISth', 1843. " Sir, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 29th inst, which awaited my arrival here. I regret that I was not sooner in possession of your letter, as I fear this will be too late for the purpose required. Nearly all the in- formation it is in my power to give is contained in the accom- panying copies of letters which I have addressed to the Eight Honourable the Governor-General, in reply to a reference His Lordship was pleased to make to me. With respect to the extent of the injury done by the brigade under Brigadier Monteith, lam unable to give any detailed account. The provisions, grain, etc., and materials for building, were taken from those of the inhabi- tants who were openly opposed to our troops ; but in both cases the cost of things taken was carried to the account of Govern- ment. I have already, in my letters to His Lordship, stated that I am not aware of any Afghans having been killed when unresisting, or from any feeling of revenge on the part of the troops. Tora- baz Khan, the chief of Lallpoora, and the Governor of Jellalabad, accompanied the brigade to point out what property should be respected. With regard to the violation of women, I heard of no instance of the kind ; and I am quite sure that Brigadier Mon- teith would have done his utmost to prevent such excesses. 1 have stated to His Lordship what occurred at Mamookail, and 1 know most positively that no Afghan was killed on that occasion except in fair fighting. The families had, I believe, gone the day before the place was taken. I cannot say when or by whom the fort or adjoining houses were set on fire. I passed through with the right column in pursuit of the enemy, and did not return till the afternoon, when I had determined to encamp there. On my return I found Brigadier Tulloch with his column (the left) occupying the gardens. The fort and adjacent houses were still burning. On the return of the whole of the troops it was necessary for their security to take advantage of the gardens sur- rounded by walls, and the men were accordingly encamped there. The destruction of the vines was a necessary consequence, as Life of Sir George Pollock. 485 every one must know who has seen how grapes are cultivated in Afghanistan. There were very few trees cut down, but the bark from a number of them was taken from about two or three inches. " With reference to the third paragraph of your letter, I beg to state, that from the date of my arrival at Cabul on the 15th September, the inhabitants commenced returning to their houses. They had assurances from me of protection, and, with the excep- tion of the covered bazaar, I did my utmost to protect both the inhabitants and their dwellings from injury. I have already stated to His Lordship why I considered that particular spot (the bazaar) should suffer, and on the 9th of October, the Engineers commenced their operations. I believe I am quite justified in stating that no lives were lost; the private property had been removed, and I had both cavalry and infantry on duty in the city to prevent plundering. Some injury was no doubt sustained by the city, but the damage done, even when we left it, was partial and comparatively trivial. I consider it mere justice to the troops who proceeded under my command to Cabul, and who passed over scenes which were particularly calculated to cause great excitement among them, to state that their conduct on proceeding to the Bala Hissar (passing through a part of the city) was quite unexceptionable, and the good effect resulting therefrom was immediately felt, confidence was restored ; in proof of which I may state that supplies, both of grain arid forage, were brought in abundantly, everything being paid for. I have no memorandum from which to quote the exact quantities of grain which came into camp, but my recollection of the quan- tities in round numbers is as follows: The first day, 500 maunds; second day, 1,000 maunds ; third day, 1,600 maunds; fourth day, 2,000 maunds ; fifth day, 1,000 maunds. The falling off of the supplies on the fifth day was the consequence, I was told, of some of the men of General Nott's force having plun- dered those who were bringing in supplies. I wrote to General Nott on the subject; but from that period the supplies never came in so freely as before, and I am sorry to add that many complaints were made. I have hitherto been silent on this subject, and should have continued so, for reasons which it is perhaps unnecessary to explain ; but as the third paragraph of 486 Life of Sir George Pollock. your letter calls for a more particular report than I have hitherto made, I reluctantly forward the accompanying documents, upon which it is unnecessary for me to n;ake any comments. " I beg. however, to state distinctly that until plundering commenced, supplies of every description were abundant, and the people were fast returning to the city. In reply to that part of the third paragraph in which I am directed to state what injury I understood had been committed by the Candahar force after my march, I have merely to observe that from all I had heard I thought it advisable that the whole force should move from Cabul the same day ; and this precaution, I have reason to believe, prevented some excesses. " Tn reply to the fourth paragraph, I believe I may with great truth state that no Afghans were destroyed in cold blood, either before or after reaching Cabul. No women were either dis- honoured or murdered that I am aware of. With regard to the destruction of that particular part of the Cabul bazaar where the Envoy's remains were treated with indignity, and brutally dragged through, to be there dishonoured and spit upon by every Mussulman, I admit that I considered it the most suitable place in which to leave decided proofs of the powers of the British army without impeaching its humanity. I have, as directed by you, forwarded a copy of this letter and the original docu- ments to Colonel Stewart, for the information of the Governor- General. " I have the honour to be, Sir, &c., . POLLOCK." Generals Nott and McCaskill were also called upon for explanations, which were satisfactorily given, though the former veteran adopted so indignant a tone (which, considering the provocation given, is not surprising), that he was rebuked by the Court of Directors. Life of Sir George Pollock. 487 CHAPTEE X. In Political and Civil employ in India. The Pollock Medal. Return to England Sir George Pollock as Director of the East India Company. ABOUT twelve months after his return from Afghanis- tan, Sir William Nott was compelled to leave his post in Oude and proceed to sea, on account of serious illness. His health not being re-established, General Nott returned to England, but it was only to die in his native land. This fine old soldier, notwithstanding grave faults of temper, which often led him into acts of rudeness and retarded his early success in life, may be regarded as one of the truest representatives of the old Company's army, which may well honour his memory. Of plebeian origin, and without any "interest," he was most distasteful to the military and political chiefs in Afghanistan, who resented his abrupt manner and honest, plain-spoken criticism. Thus he was first shelved at Quettah in 1839, instead of advancing with the army to Candahar, and when, in the ordinary course of seniority, he succeeded to the command of the forces in Western Afghanistan, he was, unhappily for his country's honour, passed over in the succession to the supreme command, to make way for General Elphinstone, a courtier-like 488 Life of Sir George Pollock. soldier, as, eminently unsuited for the post as Nott was fitted for it. During a military career of forty years, lie never had an opportunity of achieving distinction, but, directly he was placed in a position of responsibility, mani- fested military talents of a high order, and earned the gratitude of his country by services of no ordinary magnitude. General Nott, when isolated and left to his own un- aided efforts and resources, maintained the honour of his country, and carried her flag triumphantly from one end of Afghanistan to the other. Nevertheless, both Lord Ellenborough, who hailed him as the " Saviour of India," and the British Government, considered him, so far as they were concerned, amply compensated by the ribbon of the Bath. This was a reward which, despite his humble extraction, could not in decency have been withheld from him ; but there can be little doubt that the home military influences of those days grudged him the barren honour, as his known honesty and keen resentment of injuries had created him many enemies at the Horse Guards. But the man who had maintained the credit of the country, and the efficiency of the army under his command who had won the respect and admiration of the Afghans themselves, who had fought on every occasion when advantage could come of it, and with success, and who had earnestly, though sometimes fruitlessly, exhorted others to do the same could not, as a writer said in the Times, be " fobbed off Life of Sir George Pollock. 489 a second-class distinction ; and Nott, to the disgust of many military aristocrats and tuft-hunters, became a G.C.B." Though his townsmen in Wales have erected a statue to his memory, no " monumental marble " has been placed in St. Paul's or elsewhere by his country, or the army he so gallantly led. The same unworthy influences were brought to bear against the proper recognition of Sir George Pollock's claims, and thirty years he was "fobbed off" with a G.C.B. On General Nott proceeding to England, Lord Ellenborough offered Sir George Pollock the appoint- ment of Acting Political Eesident at Lucknow. This he consented to accept, provided the allowances of the acting appointment were made up to 5,000 rupees per month, which was the salary attached to the office. Sir George used to tell an anecdote of the circum- stances attending the proposal, which is eminently characteristic of Lord Ellenborough, who was never backward in manifesting his sense of the autocratic powers vested in him as Governor-General of India ; and who probably on this occasion was actuated by an uncomfortable feeling that not enough had been done for the man who had gained him his earldom. On informing his secretaries of his desire that steps should be taken to increase the emoluments of the Acting Eesidentship at the Court of Oude, to the scale held by the " pucka " incumbent of the appointment, those gentlemen pointed out chapter and verse in the regu- lations against such a course. 49 Life of Sir George Pollock, " Then make him also General of the Cawnpore Division," said the Governor- General. " Impossible ; General is senior to Sir George Pollock," replied the official, whose rule of conduct was guided solely by " red tape " principles. " Then send General to Meerut," broke in His Lordship, impatient of being thwarted. " But there is the staff, my lord." " Then send the staff too," replied the irascible Earl ; and he straightway wrote on a scrap of paper a laconic order, signed with his initial "E.," that the thing must be done ; and of course the thing was done, for in the days of old John Company the power of a Governor-General was well-nigh as unlimited as that of the " Autocrat of all the Eussias." The duties of Envoy to the Court of Oude were of a very delicate and responsible character. The rulers of the country originally owed a nominal obedience to the Grand Mogul, as the Emperor of Delhi was called ; but in 181 9 the reigning sovereign, Nusseer-ood-deen- Hyder, threw off his allegiance, and in place of the title of Vizier and Soubahdar, assumed that of King of Oude, and caused himself to be crowned. The East India Company recognized this act of usurpation in consideration of the many loans and advances that had been made them from the coffers of Oude, particularly in 1825, during the Burmese war. They agreed to guarantee the defence of his rich territory against all external enemies, and undertook to pay various pen- sions of the Crown in consideration of the loans, and Life of Sir George Pollock. 491 generally to support the King with their advice and influence whenever considered necessary. A writer on Indian affairs describes as follows the difficulties of the task before Sir George Pollock; these hindrances to progress were moreover vastly increased by the corruption, intrigue, and chicanery which permeated every grade of officials, from the Prime Minister downwards : "Without absolutely interfering in the details of the native Government, it is the object of the Indian authorities to persuade the independent princes so to manage their territories that the people may enjoy all the advantages which are possessed by those who live under the enlightened rule of the East India Company. This is an extremely difficult task. The watchful jealousy of the native ministers renders them keenly susceptible of intervention of any kind. They see, in the slightest innovations upon their understood prerogative, the germ of an enroachment which gene- rally terminates in the extinction of the independence of the native prince, and the absorption of his dominions into the overgrown empire of the British. Yet the apprehension of this catastrophe seldom operates as a stimulus to good government." General Caulfield, the Eesident at Lucknow, and subsequently his able successor, Colonel Low,* strove to the best of their ability to purge the Government of the frightful abuses which reigned in every department; but, notwithstanding their efforts, discontent had risen to such an height in the kingdom, that, in 1841, Colonel Low proposed * Now General Sir John Low, fought at Mahidpore, may be re- K.C.B., the most distinguished liv- garded as the type of this school, ing representative of the old school as Sir Henry Lawrence was of of soldier- diplomatists. Sir John the Edwardes, the Abbotts, and Malcolm, whose favourite political the Nicholsons of the succeeding pupil lie was, and under whom he generation. 49 2 Life of Sir George Pollock. that the Supreme Government should take a portion of the most disorderly districts of the country under its direct and exclusive management, accounting only to the King for the surplus revenues, or that British officers should be deputed to superintend the revenue settlements, and to see that the engagements to the people were not broken. The Government of Lord Auckland, however, was averse to any immediate change, and had determined to allow a further proba- tionary period to develop the practical effect of inter- ference by advice on all important measures. Colonel Low, speaking of the condition of affairs during the time immediately preceding the incum- bency of the office by Sir George Pollock, writes, in a letter to General Nott, dated 29th October, 1842 : "During the ten months which followed July, 1841, consider- able improvements took place in the general management of affairs ; but since the accession to the throne of the present King (May last) the condition of several districts has become manifestly worse, owing to his present Majesty's marked inferiority to his father, both in natural talents and in knowledge of his duties ; and, again, in consequence of the present King having selected as his Prime Minister a man who had no previous expe- rience in state affairs." As may be supposed, this state of things rendered the duties of the Envoy onerous and troublesome. However, these acted only as incentives to Sir George Pollock to further the ends his predecessors had in view, viz., to cleanse the Augsean stables of corruption and maladministration, though the short period during Life of Sir George Pollock. 493 which he filled the office of Envoy prevented the possibility of his effecting much in the way of reform. It is not our province to dwell here upon the diffi- culties which awaited his successors in this task ; but suffice it to say, notwithstanding the efforts of Lord Dalhousie and successive Envoys, the debauched monarch of Lucknow, and his no less effete and cor- rupt ministers, would listen to no advice, and turned a deaf ear to all warnings, until, under the firm hand of Major- General James Outram, the government was transferred to the East India Company, and order and law have since reigned throughout the province, with the exception of those stormy days between June, 1857, and the final capture of Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell, in March of the following year. Sir George Pollock remained at Lucknow from December, 1843, until appointed by the Court of Directors, in the latter part of 1844, military member of the Supreme Council of India. On his arrival at Calcutta to take up his new appointment, the inhabitants of the "City of Palaces" presented him with an address, and also paid him a graceful tribute by raising a subscription with the object of perpetuating the memory of his great ser- vices, by instituting a medal, to be presented twice a year to the most distinguished cadet at the East India Company's military seminary at Addiscombe, on passing the biennial examination for a commission. The address of the inhabitants of Calcutta places in 494 Life of Sir George Pollock. their true light Sir George Pollock's achievements in Afghanistan. " Honourable Sir, Your recent nomination to a seat in the Supreme Council of India was hailed with expressions of no common satisfaction by all classes throughout the empire. It was regarded as reflecting honour on those who conferred honour, and came in grateful unison with those feelings which your great and well-timed services had universally excited. If by others this was so appreciated, with us it had a peculiar value and more immediate interest, as involving your presence and permanent residence amongst us ; and we now bid you welcome as a mem- ber of our community, with that sincerity and cordiality which your merits and our obligations are calculated to inspire. It were a superfluous trespass here to recapitulate the services to which we have alluded as constituting the basis of our professions towards you ; but as this is a public exposition of our sentiments, it behoves us publicly to declare the source they spring from. The shortest abstract will suffice to satisfy inquiry, why it was that the inhabitants of this capital so greeted your arrival, and rejoiced to enrol you as a fellow-citizen. " From the records of the day, we learn that the reverses and calamities of the close of 1841 had thrown a deep gloom over the land ; and that when, at the commencement of J 842, you pro- ceeded to assume the command of the army destined for the relief of Jellalabad, sickness to an alarming extent, seventy of season, and deficiency of carriage, with daily increasing numbers flocking to the ranks of the enemy, combined to oppose your pro- gress. The Khyber Pass, through which only the object of your advance was accessible, was fortified and manned by the enemy, as they believed impregnably ; they greatly exceeded you in num- bers, strength, and with thorough knowledge of the intricacies and capabilities of the defile, were animated by recent success, and bold in reliance of safety in their stronghold. Yet, with all this array of obstacles to thwart and discourage, we learn with admiration that, on the 5th of April, 1842, the pass was carried by a masterly display of skill and bravery ; and that, on the 16th of the same month, the garrison of Jellalabad was relieved, and gave its strength to support your future operations." Life of Sir George Pollock. 495 After recapitulating the services which ended with the capture of Cabul, the address goes on to say : " We honour you for the reluctance you evinced to return to the provinces from Jellalabad ; a return with that unattempted, which by your perseverance was at last accomplished, would have left a stain upon your country, that nor time nor circumstances could ever have effaced. Your address to the Government of the 13th of May, 1842, had been mislaid, it seems ; and it is only recently that we have been made aware, through the medium of the press, of this addition to our obligations to you. " The remainder of this, your short but glorious career of ser- vice in Afghanistan, now assumed a character of intense and painful interest, requiring the most cautious discretion, combined with an energy and decision that seemed scarcely compatible with its exercise. Too much or too little of either, in however slight a degree, and we had still to mourn how many of our country- men, women, and children, held in hopeless captivity by an ex- asperated enemy, who had every motive to insult the humble, and none to spare them ! It were tedious to you, the chief actor in it, to listen to the repetition of the many changes of doubt, and hope, and failure, and eventual success which marked the pro- gress of this memorable transaction. It is probably that portion of your past life which you look back upon with most com- placency. The courage and ability demanded and displayed were in the cause of humanity a cause which was hallowed and ap- proved of by Heaven ; and those who, abandoned, had pined and sunk to an untimely grave, live to bless the name of him who restored them to freedom and to life. ""We think there is enough exhibited in this brief sketch, imperfect as it is, to show that, on this occasion, we have per- formed a duty to ourselves. We are aware of your former services in Ava, and of your having there won distinction at the hand of your sovereign ; but those services have been eclipsed by these we now so gratefully acknowledge, and that distinction we rejoice to lose in the lustre of those greater honours which you have earned so worthily. It only remains for us to assure you, that nothing on our part shall be wanting to render your residence 496 Life of Sir George Pollock. amongst us as much a matter of choice as of official necessity ; and, as the guarantee of this, we point to the pledge you hold of the respect and admiration with which we regard you." Sir George Pollock returned a modest reply to this address, claiming for himself " but little credit " for the success which attended the campaign of 1842 in Afghanistan, but attributing it all "to the indomitable bravery, devotion to the service, and indefatigable perseverance of the officers and men (European and Native) under his command/' He then proceeded to say, " My debt of gratitude to them, and my recol- lection of their unshaken heroism under many trying circumstances, will never be obliterated from my memory ; nor shall I ever forget it is to their determi- nation to conquer, and vindicate their country's cause, I am indebted for the enviable station to which I have attained." Eegarding the Pollock Medal, he said : " I feel it impossible adequately to express my sense of the obligation you have conferred on me, by the desire you have shown to perpetuate in my native country your too flattering estimation of my military services, by the presentation of medals to students at Addiscombe. Though not educated at Addis- combe, I concur most unreservedly in the very high respect and estimation justly bestowed on this institution by public opinion. Two of my sons * have there received their military education, and I cannot but look forward to their career with confidence when I reflect on the many highly gifted soldiers that institution has prepared for the Indian armies. You have thus conferred on me * Frederick, the present baronet, born in 1812, who entered the Bengal Engineers, and Robert, who served on his staff in 1842. Life of Sir George Pollock. 497 a lasting distinction, at once delicate and far beyond my deserts. I must conclude, gentlemen, by assuring you that, though sensibly aware of my inability fully to express how very deeply I feel the generous eulogium you have passed on me, neither time nor distance will ever diminish my sense of the obligation, nor the fervency of my wishes for your uninterrupted prosperity." The subsequent history of the Pollock Medal is one not very creditable to some in authority. The cir- cumstances connected with its institution, which have come to our knowledge in the form of a memoran- dum communicated to a friend by the late Major- General Duncan Macleod, of the Bengal Engineers, are briefly these : The Court of Directors, with whom General Macleod put himself in communication at the request of the subscribers, the inhabitants of Calcutta, agreed* to allow five per cent, in perpetuity on the amount contributed about 10,000 or 11, 000 rupees, in round numbers 1,000 or 1,100 sterling, which was formally made over to them. With the approbation of Mr. St. George Tucker, the very eminent chair- man of the Court of Directors, General Macleod designed the medal, which is, or rather was for the medal as originally designed may now be classed among the numismatic treasures of the past a very handsome and creditable combination of design and workmanship. Besides a medallion portrait of Sir George Pollock, there was engraved on the rim a record of all his military services, commencing with Deig and ending with Afghanistan. The manufacture of the die was placed in the hands of Mr. Wyon, and 32 49 8 Life of Sir George Pollock. the price of the gold medal charged to the public was 16; and as it was not probable that the cost to the East India Company could have been higher, the annual charge for two medals would range at about 32, a sum which would be at the rate of little more than three, and not five, per cent. Of course there must be taken into consideration the original cost of the die, but, as the East India Company had the difference of the interest of the money between five and three per cent, for thirteen years, it must have been paid for over and over again. No sooner did Her Majesty's Government take over the government of India, in 1858, than some one ordered a new die to be made, of much smaller size, and omitting alto- gether the services, engraved round the rim, of the veteran officer in whose honour the original was struck. Not only was this step little less than a pointed insult to Sir George Pollock, but, in point of fact, it involved a breach of faith with the subscribers ; for whereas over 1,000 had been subscribed, and five per cent, guaranteed on the amount in perpetuity, the intrinsic value of the new medal is now only 1 2, or 24 for the two annually distributed, which is a rate of interest not amounting to more than two and a half per cent. As this was at the time the only hereditary token of the gallant General's services to the State, though rendered by private individuals, it is certainly a little hard that the State should step in, and, from a pitiful motive of cheese-paring economy, or worse, rob this memorial to merit of much of its Life of Sir George Pollock. 499 value. Though the saving, if annually applied, will, doubtless, materially assist in lessening the National Debt, we know that the late Field-Marshal often spoke with bitterness of the proceeding. Sir George Pollock held, for rather more than two years,* the office of military member of the Governor- General's Council, and, in 1846, was compelled to leave India in consequence of a very serious attack of illness. While holding his seat in the Supreme Council, during the latter part of 1845, the first Sikh war broke out, and Sir Henry Hardinge, who had succeeded Lord Ellenborough on the 23rd of July of the previous year, proceeded to the seat of war, and gave Sir Hugh Gough the benefit of his great military experience. Before setting out, the Governor- General expressed to Sir George Pollock his extreme regret that the rules of the service precluded his nominating him to a high command in the army formed to resist the Sikh invasion. In the first engagement, the General lost his son, Lieutenant Eobert Pollock of the Bengal Artillery, a promising young pfficer, who had acted as his aide-de- camp in the Afghan war. At the battle of Moodkee, fought on 18th December, 1845, his leg was carried off by a round shot, and he sank from the effects of * During this period he was the and varied attainments as one of trusted and valued adviser of Lord the first soldiers of the day, might Hardinge in all military matters, have been utilized for the service and, but for red-tapeism and the of his country. " rules of the service," his great 32 * 500 Life of Sir George Pollock. amputation. His father, to the last, never spoke but with sadness of this domestic affliction. On the arrival of Sir George Pollock in England he was visited by Mr. Tucker, chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, who summoned a meeting of the proprietors of India Stock for the purpose of conferring upon him a pension of 1,000 a year. This was unanimously voted by the pro- prietors, and thus, five years after the Afghan war, his services were rewarded by those whom he had more immediately benefited by them. Other public bodies came forward to express their appreciation of his eminent career. The Corporation of London, ever foremost in such graceful acknowledgments, voted him their thanks, and presented him with the freedom of the City in a gold box of the value of one hundred guineas. The Merchant Taylors also conferred upon him the freedom of their Company. Deputations from the United Service and Oriental Clubs waited upon him with a request to be allowed to nominate him an honorary member, and expressed a desire to give him a public dinner, but the state of his health pre- cluded the possibility of his accepting the latter honour. Sir George Pollock sat for his likeness at the request of the committee of the United Service Club, a high honour as emanating from this, the chief military club of the country. The East India Company, proud of a General belonging to their own service, also requested him to give sittings for a portrait to Mr. Grant.* This * Now Sir Francis Grant, President of the Royal Academy. of Sir George Pollock, 501 picture, which represents him as ordering the advance on the Khyber Pass, is a noble work of art, and, after hanging for years in the old India Office at Leaden- hall Street, can now be seen in the splendid building at Westminster in which is conducted the business of our vast Eastern empire. Her Majesty, also, was not backward in her recog- nition of the merit of one of the most distinguished of the band of soldiers whose achievements have rendered her reign so glorious. On his health being somewhat restored, Sir George received an invitation, or rather, to speak more correctly, " a command," to dine at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty was graciously pleased to invite the Duke of Wellington, and his brother Sir Frederick Pollock, to meet him. On Sir George presenting himself at the castle, he was most affably greeted by the hero of Waterloo, whom he had first met forty-four years before at Government House at Calcutta, when his brother, the Marquis of Wellesley, was Governor- General of India. What vast changes had been wrought in the world's history since that now distant period ! The Duke's still mightier rival, the master of the destinies of Europe, was then in the very heyday of his glory and suc- cess ; while the " Sepoy General," whom he at first affected to despise, but subsequently learnt to recog- nize as his conqueror, was engaged in a life-and- death struggle with the Mahratta chieftains, Holkar and Scindiah. In those days the frontiers of British India extended no farther than Meerut, but at the 502 Life of Sir George Pollock. date when these soldiers met once more in the castle of Windsor, the sway of its royal mistress extended up to the gorge of the Khyber Pass, for it was after the first Sikh war ; and though we had not absolutely annexed the Punjaub, that province was governed by British officers, and a British force garrisoned Lahore. The Duke of Wellington presented Sir George to Her Majesty, who, according to her wont, was most gracious, though doubtless the veteran was relieved when the banquet, with its irksome restraint, was concluded. We have already laid before the reader the letter from Lord Hardinge, shortly after his return from India, to Sir Frederick Pollock, in which he ex- presses his ignorance, before his appointment to the post of Governor- General, of the fact that "the whole merit of the advance from Jellalabad to Cabul is due to him " (Sir George). His Lordship returned to England in 1848, in company with Sir Henry Lawrence, and, soon after his arrival, addressed a letter, now lying before us, to the subject of this memoir, in which occurs the following passage : - " You have the -fullest liberty to assert in any quarter the high sense I entertain of your public services, which, although per. formed before I became Governor-General of India, were so eminently distinguished by their importance to the State, and their ability in a professional point of view, that I have always considered myself justified in pronouncing a strong opinion of their transcendent merit." About this time Sir George Pollock sustained a Life of Sir George Pollock. 503 heavy bereavement by the death of his wife, with whom he had lived in unbroken happiness for a period of nearly forty years. By this lady he had a family of four sons and two daughters. In 1852, after three years of widowhood, Sir George married Henrietta, daughter of G. H. Wol- laston, Esq., of Shirley, near Southampton, who survives him. The union was dictated by mutual feelings of affection, and was productive of twenty years of unalloyed happiness. Sir George Pollock, in due course of seniority, was appointed Colonel Commandant of the C Brigade of the Eoyal Horse Artillery, and on the initiation of the volunteer movement in 1861, consented to accept the honorary colonelcy of the 1st Surrey Bifles. To this corps he gave not only the eclat of his great name, but was a liberal supporter of the prize fund, and attended almost every annual meeting for the distribution of prizes, which Lady Pollock usually presented to the fortunate winners. Sir George would then say a few words ; his speeches were never lengthy, nor were they eloquent, for he never boasted any great command of words, but his expressions were kindly and cheery; and the very encouraging remarks regarding their efficiency, he addressed to the corps on the last occasion he met them, only very shortly before his death, will doubtless be remem- bered with pride by the 1st Surrey Bifles.* * Major Irvine (who recently death of the late Colonel Mac- succeeded to the command on the donald, an old Indian officer and 54 Life of Sir George Pollock. In April, 1854, Sir George Pollock was, without any solicitation on his part, appointed by Sir Charles Wood,* the President of the Board of Control, the senior of the three Government directors of the East India Company, under the Act of Parliament "to provide for the Government of India," passed in the previous year. Sir Charles Wood's letter offering the appointment, is couched in the most nattering terms. It is as follows : "My DEAE SIR GEORGE, The time for the nomination of three directors of the East India Company by the Crown having arrived, it becomes my duty to recommend to Her Majesty the persons friend of Sir George Pollock's) only gave expression to the feel- ings unanimously entertained by the corps, when he issued the fol- lowing regimental order on the occasion of the death of their honorary colonel : "Major Irvine regrets again to have to record in Orders the re- moval by death of one dear to the 1st Surrey, Field-Marshal Sir George Pollock, the honorary colonel of the regiment, who de- parted this life on the 6th instant at Walmer. Of his services to his Sovereign and country it is unnecessary here to speak, form- ing, as they must ever do, a glori- ous volume in the history of the British empire, a lasting monu- ment of British prowess and valour; but Major Irvine desires to. record the deep debt of grati- tude under which the regiment lies to the late honorary colonel first, for having honoured them by accepting that post ; and, se- condly, for the great interest he so continually took in the welfare of the corps. It must ever be matter of gratification to members of the 1st Surrey to remember that for eleven years they had as their chief one of England's brav- est and best, who now, full of years, and in the enjoyment of the highest honours his Sovereign and a grateful nation could bestow, having secured to himself the per- sonal regard and esteem of all . who had the privilege of being associated with him, has been re- moved from us. All officers, non- commissioned officers and mem- bers will wear usual military mourning for a period of six weeks from this date." * Now Viscount Halifax, Lord Privy Seal, who has filled the offices of Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, First Lord of the Admi- ralty, and Secretary of State for India. Life of Sir George Pollock. 505 whom I believe to be most capable of discharging the important duties of directors, and to possess such qualifications as will complete the court in full efficiency for the performance of the various functions entrusted to them in reference to the govern- ment of India. Amongst those duties one of the most important is the superintendence of the large military force of the Company, and I am anxious to see a tried soldier amongst the directors, well acquainted with the requirements of the military service of India. No one has more triumphantly led that army, and under most trying circumstances, than yourself; and I shall have great pleasure in marking my sense of your services in that army by recommending you to the Queen as one of the directors to be named by Her Majesty. " You will be the senior of the three whom I shall recommend, and according to the course adopted by the Court as to the directors whom they have chosen, I shall propose to place your name the first on the list, and for the period of two years, as I must name the period in conformity with the Act. They have named the senior for the shorter period, and I shall thus have placed the nominated and elected directors as far as possible on the same footing. " I am, &c., (Signed) " CHARLES WOOD." Sir George Pollock was accordingly appointed for two years ; the other two Government directors, appointed at the same time, received their nominations severally for four and six years, thus causing one to go out of office every two years. About the same time Sir Charles Wood privately told Sir George Pollock that at the end of the term he should he reappointed. The gallant officer felt that in this unsolicited nomination a small and tardy acknowledg- ment of his services in India was made by Govern- ment. 506 Life of Sir George Pollock. During the two years Sir Q-eorge continued a director of the East India Company, he was a constant indeed almost daily attendant at the India-House, though such attendance was not in general given, except by the chairman and deputy-chairman ; many of the directors were in the habit of attending at the weekly court only, and some not even then regularly. From the multifarious nature of the business which had at that time, and probably has still, to be trans- acted at the India House, it was almost impossible for any one director to be well informed on every branch ; indeed, it was scarcely possible for a gentle- man attending the weekly boards only, to be au fait on one subject ; a zealous and efficient discharge of the high duties entrusted to them required constant attendance, and this Sir Greorge Pollock gave without stint, as was a matter of notoriety in the old house in Leadenhall Street. The consequence of inefficient control on the part of some of the directors was that much of the business was conducted by the secretaries and clerks, the directors themselves exercising little supervision. This system of non- control was, in fact, favoured by the method of conducting the business. As the term for which Sir George Pollock had been appointed drew towards a termination, he was rather surprised at not receiving an official intimation from Mr. Yernon Smith,* the new President of the Board * Now Lord Lyveden. Life of Sir Gcorye Pollock. 507 of Control, as to whether he would be reappointed on the expiration of his two years of office ; but he was soon relieved from all doubt on the subject by the receipt of the following letter from that gentleman: "India Board, March 20M, 1856. " MY DEAR SIR GEORGE, I think it due to the high considera- tion I entertain for your character and services to inform you, before the period arrives, of the course I think it my duty to pur- sue upon the vacancy that will be created in the Court of Directors by the expiration of the term of your appointment. Upon a careful revision of the discussions on the Act of 1853, in which I took part myself, I am convinced that it was the intention of the Legislature that a fresh appointment, and not a reappointment, should be the general rule to be followed by the Minister of the Crown in his recommendations to Her Majesty. As this is the first occasion in which the exercise of this discretion has occurred, I think it most desirable to maintain the principle whereby, in my opinion, the direction will be made most valuable ; and therefore, in spite of the high value I set upon your services, it is not my intention to propose your reappointment. "I am unaware at this moment whether, if I had found it compatible with my public duty to offer you the office again, you would have wished to accept it, and therefore it is quite open to you to let it be considered that you would not, if more agreeable to you. At any rate, I trust you will understand that my course is entirely prescribed by public principle, and that nothing in it can in the least detract from that high renown which places your name among the first in Indian annals of warfare. " I am, with the sincerest respect, " Yours very truly, - (Signed) *' K. VERNON SMITH." The observation in Mr. Yernon Smith's letter, that " it was the intention of the Legislature that a fresh 508 Life of Sir George Pollock. appointment, and not a reappointment, should be the general rule to be followed," was not according to fact, for there is nothing in the Act of Parliament to pre- vent such reappointment, nor was there indeed, during the debate which took place on the passing of the Act, any intimation given that a person once appointed was not eligible for re-election. It may also be men- tioned that a director of considerable influence, who was in the House of Commons at the time, differed from the view taken by Mr. Smith ; so that one is driven to the conclusion that the reason given was a mere excuse or afterthought to cover an act of injustice. The folly of such an " intention of the Legislature," had any such existed, is obvious, for by never con- tinuing any of the Government directors more than six years, it would follow that by the time a man had become well acquainted with the business of the India House, his tenure of office and his usefulness would come to an end. It would also have followed that no Government director could have remained long enough in the direction to take his turn as chairman or deputy-chairman. Mr. Yernon Smith's observation, that by not making a reappointment the "direction will be made most valuable," was also unfounded ; while the suggestion that Sir George Pollock can, if he wished it, " let it be considered" that he would not have accepted the reappointment, was not only a most discreditable proposal as emanating from a Cabinet Minister, but was evidently intended as a trap for the veteran to fall into, whereby the act Life of Sir George Pollock. 509 itself of Mr. Smith would have been concealed. But Sir George Pollock was not only too " old a soldier " to be taken in by so transparent a subterfuge, but was also too honourable and straightforward a man to let anything " &e considered " that was not actually the case. He, accordingly, wrote a reply, indignantly re- jecting such a course, and the letter is so characteristic that we will lay it verbatim before the reader : "East India House, 24th March, 1856. " MY DEAR SIR, I have to acknowledge the honour of your communication of the 20th inst., stating that 'you are convinced it was the intention of the Legislature that a fresh appointment, and not a reappointment, should be the general rule, and that, therefore, you feel it to be your duty not to recommend me to Her Majesty for reappointment, but to establish the rule and maintain the principle on this first occasion of a vacancy/ " I beg you will accept my best thanks for the very flattering allusion to my services in India which accompanied the communi- cation. " I was appointed by Sir Charles Wood in a private letter (ex- tracts from which I enclose), without any solicitations on my part, and (although I need hardly say that had I anticipated removal on the expiration of my two years' tenure of office, I should have hesitated to accept the office) it was not my intention at the pre- sent time either to request a reappointment, or to decline it if offered ; I was content to leave the decision in the hands of Her Majesty's Ministers, under the confident expectation that it would be in accordance with what is due to me and advantageous to the State. " The expression of your intentions certainly caused me some surprise. <4 I am obliged by the consideration forme with which you sug- gest that (if more agreeable to me) it is quite open to me to let it be considered that I would not accept office if again offered ; but in answer to this I beg to say that, with reference to the policy 5 10 Life of Sir George 'Pollock. you assign as a reason for the course you pursue, I do not see why any disguise should be adopted ; and, as I certainly should have accepted the reappointment had it been offered to me, I think it is better for the public service, and more honourable to you and myself, that the truth (whatever it is) should appear. " I remain, my dear Sir, " Yours very truly, (Signed) " GEORGE POLLOCK." In spite of this letter, Sir George Pollock was more than once informed that it was understood he was not reappointed because he did not wish to be ; so that the source whence originated the " understand- ing" can be easily conjectured. It may be asked, what then was the true reason why Mr. Vernon Smith did not reappoint Sir George Pollock ? One supposi- tion is that he was sacrificed in order to give the office to Sir Henry Kawlinson, who was appointed in his place. This able officer, though one of the most eminent Oriental scholars of the day, had only served ten years in India, and did not possess a tithe of the vast Indian experience of the General, whom, when a local major, he had first met at Cabul, as already narrated. It was said at the time that Government had intended to send him to Persia; and there was no more fitting man living for the Persian mission, had circumstances prevented the return of Mr. Murray as Envoy to the Court of the Shah. On this plan being frustrated, it was confidently asserted that the Ministry wished to appoint Sir Henry, Secre- tary to the Board of Control on the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir Thomas Eedington, but that Life of Sir George Pollock. 511 they offered that post, in the first instance, to Sir George Clerk.* It was expected that he would decline the offer, but upon his accepting it, Government decided upon not reappointing Sir George Pollock to the Indian Direction, in order to provide for the object of all this manoeuvring. It was rumoured that Sir Henry honourably stated at the time to Mr. Vernon Smith, that he was already too much occupied at the British Museum to be able to attend regularly at the India Office. With regard to Sir George Pollock's expectation that he would be reappointed, it might very rationally rest on two grounds, first, in consideration of the services he had rendered to his country, and, secondly, from the clear wording of the Act, coupled with that portion of the concluding paragraph of Sir Charles Wood's letter to him, in which he says, " I shall thus have placed the nominated and elected directors as far as possible on the same footing." And yet, what in fact took place in the case under consideration ? * This veteran statesman, the lanimous Commander - in - Chief, "political father" of Sit Henry without which he could not have Lawrence, Colonel Makeson, and moved into Afghanistan. Sir others, was, without doubt, the George Clerk, who had filled the man to whom (equally with Mr. posts of Lieut-Governor of the Robertson, at Agra) Sir George North- West Provinces, and Gover- was chiefly indebted during the nor of Bombay, has been pro- trying days of the halt at Peshawur, nounced by no mean authority not only for a strenuous moral (the late Sir Herbert Edwardes), support, but for the stores and re- as, " beyond a doubt, the most inforcements extracted from an un- accomplished Indian diplomatist of willing Government an.d a pusil- his day." 512 Life of Sir George Pollock. There were six directors whose terms of office had expired. The five who were to be balloted for were all returned, but the Government director, Sir George Pollock, though placed by Sir Charles Wood, as far as possible, " on the same footing," was by Mr. Smith deemed ineligible, and informed that he would not be reappointed. The cause assigned for thus dispensing with his services had no foundation in truth ; indeed, it would appear that a job had to be perpetrated, and Sir George Pollock was to be sacrificed. He had been placed on the Direction in 1854 by the then President of the Board of Control, with a very handsome acknow- ledgment of the services he had performed "under the most trying circumstances," and at the end of two years his services were dispensed with, and he was informed that he might " let it be understood " that he would not accept office, which would have been a suggestio falsi in order to save a feeling of false pride, a course which he, at least, was one of the last men in the world to adopt, as Mr. Smith might have expected had he better studied his character and career. In the army or navy, when an officer has committed an offence which would render it imperative on a court- martial to dismiss or cashier him, if he has interest or influence, he would very likely have the option of retiring, in order to save the disgrace of being dis- missed. Did Mr. Smith consider it necessary to make such a proposal to *ari officer who had served his country faithfully for more than half a century, who had received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament Life of Sir Georqe Pollock. 513 more than once for distinguished services, and had obtained the highest military honours? In India no public man would have dreamt of making such an underhanded proposal to a colleague, for it would have been rejected with scorn ; and we must either conclude that, in this country, the exi- gencies of political leaders, and the contentions of party, blunt the moral sense of those hurried into its vortex, or and this we regard as the true explan- ation that Mr. Smith was singular in his view of the principles that should guide Ministers in their official dealings. But the perpetration of an act of patronage, which 'bore a striking similitude to a job, was not permitted to be passed over in silence by a watchful House of Commons. On the 12th February, 1857, Captain Leicester Yernon who by the way stated that he " knew General Pollock only by reputation, and had never even seen him " -brought forward, in a forcible speech, a motion for the production of the correspondence relative to the removal of Sir George Pollock from his seat as Government director of the East India Company. Mr. Yernon Smith, in vindication of the course pursued by him, made a specious apology for the necessity for introducing young blood in the Indian administration, and insinuated a plea regarding the "infirmities of age" of Sir George Pollock. Mr. Disraeli, in replying to Mr. Smith, took him to task for his " attack upon one of his colleagues," 33 Life of Sir George Pollock. and completely confuted the plea of age and in- firmity. " General Pollock," said the right honourable member for Bucks, "a man of more than European reputation, of world- wide reputation to use the epithet of the President of the Board of Control was appointed only two years ago, with the approbation of the public, by the present First Lord of the Admiralty. If General Pollock, from age and infirmity, is now incapable of holding office as a director of the East India Company, why was he appointed by the colleague of the right honourable gentle- man ? It is not possible that in two short years those abilities which gained great victories, and that high character which commanded general approbation, should dissolve. If Sir G. Pollock is incompetent now, it was a bad appointment two years ago. But what evidence have we that he is incompetent? Is it to be found in the letter read to us by my hon. friend? It appeared to me to be a dignified letter, expressed in manly and proper language, by one fully equal to any position he might be called on to occupy. I do not question the right of the Pre- sident of the Board of Control to act on his own responsibility, but having no evidence before me that Sir George Pollock is not as capable as he was two years ago, I must say I deplore that he is no longer a member of the Direction of the East India Company." Lord Palmerston, in replying, adroitly avoided all reference to Mr. Yernon Smith's letter, but simply defended his act in selecting whom he considered most fit for the post at the Council Board, which he declared became vacant by the expiry of the term of two years for which he was appointed. His Lordship said : "I hope it will be clearly understood that the high profes- sional character of Sir George Pollock, and the reputation he enjoys for the important services he has rendered, are in no degree whatever disparaged by the exercise of discretion which my right honourable friend has made. Sir George Pollock's Life of Sir George Pollock. 5 1 5 period of service expired, my right honourable friend chose another person ; but Sir George Pollock was not removed, and really it would be very unfair to him to record a removal which, in point of fact, never took place." Not only in Parliament, with Mr. Disraeli, did members of the House of Commons " deplore that he was no longer on the Direction of the East India Company," but at the Board itself many of his colleagues regretted his removal, and the uncalled-for and unmerited slight to which he had been subjected. On all military matters before the court, his opinion was considered by the majority of his associates as valuable and essentially of use ; by some he might be considered as too active and per- severing in upholding the rights of his late comrades in arms, and his opposition to certain members, and more especially his energetic and honest advocacy of the claims of the Bengal Military Fund, might have rendered him rather troublesome to deal with. Per- haps, also, it may have interfered less with the easy and off-handed manner in which important divisions affecting the highest interests of the Indian army were in those days quietly carried through the court, to get rid of a careful, conscientious director, and experienced soldier, whose demand for inquiry might have been rather unpalatable. His "age and infirmity" did not incapacitate Sir George from drawing up an able paper his own unaided production from the numerous reports and appeals -of the army on the claims of the Bengal 33 * Life of Sir George Pollock. Military Fund, which was eulogized in the press as one which, "from its clearness, its condensation of voluminous facts and figures, its able and forcible array of the leading points of the dispute, would have done honour to his brother the Lord Chief Baron." The elder brother continued to fulfil his onerous duties with vigour and distinction for a period of ten years after the date when his younger brother was pronounced to be disqualified by reason of the " infirmities of age."* About two years after this, the East India Company ceased to rule the vast country they had, by the genius of their soldiers and statesmen, brought into subjection to Britain, and the govern- ment of India passed into the hands of Her Majesty's Ministers, while the Queen was proclaimed through- out the entire peninsula as Empress of India, her orders being declared paramount over its 150,000,000 of human beings. The old form of Government at home also ceased to exist, the office of Secretary of State for India was brought into existence, and a body, styled the " Council of India," was appointed. We need not here enter into details as to the func- tions of this body. Lord Stanley (the present Earl * This plea of Mr. Vernon for many years after this debate Smith's came with an ill grace with vigour and success. Sixteen from a Ministry, the political chief years later Sir George was of which (Lord Palmerston) was elected a director of the East two years older than Sir George India Company, as the successor Pollock, but, nevertheless, admin- of the late Colonel Sykes, M.P. istered the affairs of the empire Life of Sir George Pollock. 517 of Derby) was the first to hold the seals of the office of Secretary of State for India, in the administration of his father, and with him rested the nomination of the new councillors. His Lordship would have been glad to avail himself of Sir George Pollock's great experience, but the duties of the office were more onerous, and would entail greater responsibility than those of a director, and these considerations decided him, though reluctantly, to withhold the offer of a seat at the council table. Lord Stanley's letter to_ Sir George Pollock, stating his reason for thus ap- pearing to overlook him, redounds as much to the credit of the writer as of the recipient ; and, indeed, we cannot recall a higher, or more gracefully written, eulogium than is conveyed in it on the " sense of duty" and " eminent services " of the veteran General. It was what might have been expected from a man of his Lordship's character and capabilities. The following is the text of the letter : " India Board, September th, 1858. " DEAR SIR, I have hesitated from a feeling of delicacy in offering to you an explanation which has perhaps been too long delayed. The names of the gentlemen who have been requested to serve on the new Indian Council are now before the public, and it may possibly have occurred to you that the omission of yours requires at least some notice on my part. " Considering the long and eminent services which you have rendered to the British Empire in India, it is obvious that any Minister would, were it only for the sake of giving distinction to the body over which he was called to preside, have been per- sonally desirous of securing your co-operation as a colleague. Life of Sir George Pollock. You cannot doubt this, nor can you be ignorant of the position which you hold in public esteem, as one of those who have most successfully, and under great difficulties, maintained the honour and power of England in the East. " One reason, and one only, could have induced me to abstain from soliciting your assistance in Council. The duty of a coun- cillor will be both more onerous and more responsible than that of a director ; it will involve residence in London during nearly the entire year, and will probably absorb the greater part of the time of those who undertake it. I could not but fear that at your age, after a course of service not less laborious than distinguished, such a life might prove too much for your physical energies, while I knew that your sense of duty would make it difficult for you to decline any opportunity that might come in your way of promoting the public interests. It was on this ground that, not without hesitation and reluctance, but with a conviction that neither by yourself nor by the public could my motive be misun- derstood, I determined to relieve you from what might have proved the disagreeable alternative of declining a post in which you could not but feel that your experience would have given great value to your counsels, or of accepting it at the sacrifice of health and necessary rest. " The Council, I feel, will lose by the omission of your name, but your inclusion in it would have added nothing to, as your absence from it can take nothing from, the reputation of a career which is already historical. " I am, dear Sir, " Faithfully yours, " STANLEY." This, coming from a statesman of the character of Lord Stanley, whose practical good sense would never betray him into expressions of fulsome compliment, must have acted as a balm to the spirit wounded by the dismissal conveyed in the treacherous proposal of Mr. Vernon Smith. Life of Sir George Pollock. 519 And so Sir George Pollock finally took leave of the cares and labours of office after fifty-five years' ser- vice in the field and cabinet, and retired into private life, with the proud gratification that he might " Hang up his bruised arms for monuments." His had been a career of credit to himself and usefulness to his country such as any man might re- joice to look back upon through the vista of many years. The strictest honour and probity had ever marked the story of his life, and, though he held offices in which, without incurring the charge of ve- nality, or exciting suspicion, he might have amassed money, as has done many an " old Indian " returned home with more rupees than were saved out of actual pay and allowances, Sir George Pollock had the proud satisfaction of knowing that his integrity was held in as high estimation in the country in which he laboured an ordinary lifetime, as was his reputation as a General of sterling ability. In retiring from all participation in the exciting scenes and responsible duties of an active career in court and cabinet, he could justly apply to himself the memorable reply of Sir George Eooke, the con- queror of Gibraltar, to a friend who expressed his surprise that an officer, who had held such high com- mands, possessed so small a fortune " What I have, has been honestly earned. It has never cost a sailor a tear, nor the nation a farthing." In his green old age Sir George Pollock possessed, 520 Life of Sir George Pollock. in an eminent degree, the Shakspearian ideal of hap- piness for those whose " way of life Is fallen into the sere the yellow leaf; " though more blest than Macbeth, into whose lips the Bard of Avon has put the simile, he had " That which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends." He passed the remaining -years of his life at his residence at Clapham, and those who were privileged with his friendship will remember the simple and unostentatious manner in which he dispensed his hospitalities, reminding