For Name and Fame; Or, Through Afghan Passes

No signs of the enemy were seen, either by the 23rd Pioneers or in the vicinity of the camp. The troops were to march at three in the morning, and the tents were struck an hour after midnight. The track up the pass was excessively steep, and very difficult for the camels. The cold was bitter and, in places where water had crossed the road, there were slippery surfaces of ice–which hindered the camels considerably–and it was past eight o'clock before the rear guard arrived at the top of the pass. From a commanding position, overlooking the defile and surrounding waste of rugged and barren mountains, not an enemy could be seen; and it was hoped that the report of the intended attack was a false one.

The troops now began to descend the defile, which was known as the Manjiar Pass. Troublesome as the ascent had been, the descent was infinitely more so; and it was with difficulty that the camels could be made to go down the deep and slippery roads. The gorge was five miles in length. The track, for the first part, ran through a deep ravine of perpendicular walls; which narrowed in places to a few yards, overhanging the path until they seemed to meet, and form a tunnel, through which it ran. Had an attack been made on the column, as it struggled with its difficulties through this portion of the pass, the result would have been disastrous; for it would have been impossible to place troops on the heights, to cover the advance. Here and there side ravines broke into the road, in any of which ambushes might have been laid.

It was not, however, until the difficult part of the road had been passed, and a comparatively open valley reached, that any of the natives were seen. Then a few men were observed on the heights but, as they were supposed to be shepherds, no notice was taken of them. Believing that all danger of attack was now over, the general ordered all the troops–with the exception of the baggage guard, which was composed of the 3rd Ghoorkas, and a few of the 72nd Highlanders and Norfolk Rangers–to march forward to the camp; which was to be pitched at a village called Keraiah, in the open valley.

This, as the result proved, was a very rash move. Before the head of the column had extricated itself from the ravine, numbers of the country people were seen collecting, in small detached parties. By degrees they closed in, and were soon within fifty yards of the convoy. Captain Goad–in charge of the baggage–was close to a small guard of 72nd Highlanders when, suddenly, a volley was fired by the Mongals.

Captain Goad fell, his thigh bone broken by a bullet. Sergeant Green, with three privates of the 72nd, picked him up and, having placed him under cover of a rock, turned to defend themselves. They were but four men against a large number; but they stood steady and, firing with careful aim, and picking off their man each time, they kept the enemy at bay until help arrived.

Simultaneously, all along the line of the baggage column, the Mongals attacked. From the heights on both sides a fire was kept up, while the more daring swept down in parties upon the rear guard of Ghoorkas, commanded by Captain Powell. The baggage guard all behaved with great steadiness; defending the path on both sides, while the baggage animals continued their way along it.

William Gale was on duty with the party; and was, like the rest, busy with his rifle. A sergeant next to him was hit in the leg; and Will–laying down his rifle–stopped one of the camels, and assisted the wounded man to mount it. The attack of the Mongals became more furious, as they saw their anticipated prey escaping them, in spite of all their efforts; but their attempts to close were in vain, and the convoy made its way down to the village; with the loss of one killed, and two officers, and eight men wounded. Captain Powell and Captain Goad both died, from the effects of their injuries. The enemy's loss must have been considerable, as the fire of the troop was steady and accurate, and the distance small.

After a halt, for a day or two, the column marched to Khuram, where it encamped. Captain Herbert had reported to the colonel the manner in which Private Gale had defended him, when wounded and attacked by three Afghans; the incident, too, had been observed by many of his comrades and, as a reward, the young soldier was promoted to the rank of corporal; and the colonel told him that, had not similar acts of bravery been performed in the hand-to-hand action, on the Spingawi-Khotal, he would have been mentioned for the Victoria Cross.

The mountain tops were now deep in snow; but in the valley the temperature was very agreeable, and the troops enjoyed their rest much. This was not, however, to be of long duration. From the lower end of the Khuram valley runs off another valley, known as the "Khost." This was an entirely unknown country to the Europeans, but it was said to be extremely hostile. Parties had come down and carried off cattle and, at any time, a formidable raid might have taken place, and our line of communication been entirely cut.

The country was ruled by an Afghan governor, who sent in to say that he was willing to hand it over to us. There was, therefore, no expectation that there would be any resistance; and the expedition was designed rather to overawe the country, and to obtain information as to its extent and capabilities, than with any idea of permanent occupation. The column consisted of a squadron of the 10th Hussars, the 5th Bengal Cavalry, the 21st and 28th Punjaub Infantry, two mountain batteries, a wing of the 72nd Highlanders, and two companies of the Norfolk Rangers. This force marched from Hazir-pir, and halted for the night at Jaji-Midan, at the head of the valley leading to the Darwiza Pass, through which the track runs into the Khost valley.

At eight o'clock next morning, the troops moved forward. The ground was difficult, for the road ran between terraced fields on the side of the ravine, and obliged men and animals to pass in single file. It was not, therefore, until twelve o'clock that the rear guard moved out of the camp. Beyond this point, the road up the pass was not difficult. From the summit, a wide view was obtained. At the end of the valley–six miles distant–the plain of the Khost country was seen. It was seen that–owing to the slow progress the troops were making–the baggage train, consisting of 1000 camels, would not be able to reach the proposed camping ground, at the lower end of the valley, before dark. The general, therefore, ordered it to halt at the top of the pass, where the ground was open. The 21st Punjaubees, and a mountain battery, were to stay there for its protection; and bring it on, next day. The mules, with the regimental baggage, went on with the troops.

The column met with no opposition. It halted near the village of Bakh, half a mile from the foot of the hills; where the valley widened into a plain, six miles long and four broad. The force encamped here on the 4th, to allow the convoy to come up. The following morning the column marched to the other end of the valley; and the next day the Afghan governor of Matun–the chief place of the Khost–rode in to welcome the general.

On the 6th of January the force marched to Matun. They found that this fort was a square-walled enclosure, 100 yards each side, with circular corner bastions. There was a central square enclosure, with round towers at its angles. As the fort was approached, its garrison–which consisted of 100 local militia–were formed up, in two lines, at a mosque outside the fort. The general with his staff rode in, and a long interview took place between him and the governor. The troops encamped outside.

In the evening information came in, from the villages in the plain, that large numbers of the Mongals–who inhabited the hills–were meditating an attack. Strong pickets were posted, and the night passed quietly. In the morning large numbers of tribesmen flocked down into the villages, and gradually surrounded the camp.

At one o'clock the troops fell in. The cavalry were sent out against the enemy in the northwest direction, followed by the 28th Punjaubees and Number 2 mounted battery. The Mongals at once fell back to the hills.

The squadron of the 10th Hussars were dismounted, and ordered to skirmish up a small knoll to the west. From this they drove the enemy, who gathered again on a spur opposite. Here they were charged by the 5th Punjaub Cavalry, and fell back higher up the ridge. The mountain guns and infantry now arrived, and speedily drove them over the crest.

General Roberts, with his staff, rode out to watch the skirmish; and soon after he had left the enemy, who occupied the village to the northeast, showed in force. Two of the mountain guns opened upon them.

On the south they now approached, under the cover of the old Afghan cavalry lines, to within half a mile before being perceived; and also occupied a walled village there. The other two guns in camp shelled the village, and soon drove the enemy out.

When the general returned to camp, at half-past two, he found the attack driven off in all directions; and ordered the 21st Punjaubees, the 72nd Highlanders, and the Norfolk Rangers to follow up the enemy to the east and southeast, with the mountain guns; and to burn the villages which had sheltered the enemy. The first village was found deserted. At another, a quarter of a mile behind, the enemy made a stand; but were shelled out, and the plain beyond the Matun river was soon covered with fugitives. Major Stewart–with forty men of the 5th Punjaub Cavalry, who accompanied the column–charged 400 of them, and cut down many; until checked by the heavy fire of matchlock men from the high bank.

No more fighting took place. The combination of tribes which had attacked the camp were estimated at 6000 men. Eighty prisoners were taken. These, two nights afterwards, took advantage of a night alarm to attempt to escape, and attacked the guard. The attempt, however, was frustrated; but only after several of the prisoners had been shot down.

Some days passed, quietly. Reconnaissances were made up the valley. While waiting here, the news of the capture of Candahar, by General Stewart, arrived. Parties of engineers surveyed the country, and all passed off quietly.

On the 25th, a portion of the force marched back to Hazir-pir On the 26th of January the general determined to withdraw this force altogether; as no advantage was gained by its retention, and the garrison would be constantly exposed to the attacks of the natives, who were already threatening it. The fort was handed over to Sultan Jan, a man of good family, who was appointed to govern the Khost, temporarily. He had under him the guard of the former governor, and some fresh natives; being, in all, 300 men. The headmen of the villages were called together, and these promised to obey his rule.

Some of the chiefs of the Mongals, and other neighboring tribes, came in. Sheep were given to them, and they were told that, so long as they desisted from interference in the valley, no steps would be taken against them. The troops, however, had only made one day's march when a messenger arrived from Sultan Jan; saying that, immediately the troops had marched, the Mongals had come down to attack the fort. A strong party were therefore marched back at once. After destroying the stores, and setting fire to the fort, they drew off the governor and marched back to camp; the Mongals, although in great force, not venturing to offer any resistance.

On the return of the force to the Khuram valley, a wing of the Norfolk Rangers was sent up to reinforce the troops stationed on the top of the Peiwar-Khotal; as the Jajis and Mongals had been gathering in large numbers, and threatening an attack on that post.

William Gale was, with his company, stationed at Ali-Kheyl. The enemy abstained from any open attack, but they often harassed the sentries. One night, Will was corporal in charge of a picket of eight men, posted at a hut half a mile from the village. The object of the picket was to prevent any sudden attack being made upon the company; who were in a small village, a quarter of a mile in the rear, where a large quantity of grain was stored. Two men were posted as sentries, some hundred yards in advance of the hut.

Will had visited the sentry to the right and, finding all was well, here, moved across to the left.

"Is everything quiet?" he asked the sentry.

"I don't know, corporal. Two or three times I have thought that I heard noises, and twice I have challenged."

"What sort of noise?"

"Once it seemed to be a crack, like a dried stick when some one treads on it. The other time it was as if a stone had been dislodged."

"I will wait with you," Will said. "Two pairs of ears are better than one."

Again there was a slight sound heard.

"I don't like to fire," Will said. "The alarm would spread, and the whole camp get under arms. There is something moving, I am convinced; but it may be only a stray bullock. I will go forward, and see if I can make it out; and do you stand ready to fire, if I am attacked.

"After doing so, fall back on the picket, at once. If the enemy are in force, hold the hut to the last. In ten minutes you will have help from the village, behind."

Holding his rifle advanced, in readiness to fire, William Gale made his way forward, cautiously, towards the spot whence the noise seemed to proceed. When he was some forty yards in advance of the sentry, a number of figures rose suddenly from some bushes, and fired. Will fired, and saw the man at whom he aimed go down but, at the same instant, three or four guns were discharged; and he fell to the ground, shot through the leg. There was a rush of men towards him. A tulwar was waved, and fell, with a crushing blow, on his shoulder; and he became insensible.

When he recovered consciousness he was being carried along, a man holding his arms and another his legs. The pain was excruciating, and he fainted again; after hearing, during his brief period of consciousness, a sharp fusilade of musketry, which told him that his comrades were defending the hut against the enemy.

When again he came to his senses, it was daylight. He was lying in a small room, and an old woman was applying bandages to the sword cut on his shoulder. Although he did not know it, he was ten miles from the spot where the attack had been made.

Among those who had taken part in it was the head of a small Jaji village, lying behind the hills. This chief was a crafty old savage, who had been desirous of remaining neutral in the strife. The determination of his people to join in the attack, by the tribes, had forced him to consent to their so doing. Before starting he had, however, made them swear that any wounded men who fell into their hands should not–in accordance with the Afghan custom–be instantly despatched; but should be brought back to the village.

His intention was to have some hostages. If the English repulsed the attack and, in the spring, again advanced; he would be able to prove his goodwill to the cause, by handing the soldiers whom he had protected over to them. Upon the other hand, should the British fall back and the Afghans advance in the spring, he could hand the prisoners over to them, or send them down to Cabul, as a proof that his people had fought against the British. He had himself accompanied his men and, seeing after Will had fallen that he was still living, had at once ordered two of his men to carry him off to the village.

The attack upon the guard house proved unsuccessful. The six soldiers defended themselves until the company from the village, behind, came up to the rescue. Several other attacks, at various points, took place. But the British were on the alert; and the hillsmen, finding that their enemies were not to be taken by surprise, scattered again to the village.

The ball had fortunately passed through William Gale's leg, without either breaking a bone or cutting an artery; but the wound in the shoulder was more serious, and the effect of the strain upon it, in carrying him, brought on violent inflammation. Fever set in with delirium and, for weeks, the lad lay between life and death.

The old woman who nursed him was, like most of her country people, skilled in the treatment of wounds. The bandages were kept bathed with water, snow was constantly applied to his head, and a decoction of herbs given him to drink. His good constitution was in his favor and, at last, he recovered his senses; to find himself convalescent, but as weak as an infant.

In April the snow melted; and the chief, having by this time found that the English were not likely to advance beyond Ali-Kheyl, thought that it would best benefit his interest to send his prisoner down to Cabul. The Ameer was reported to be about to conclude peace with the British; and the chief thought that he was more likely to receive a reward, from him, for the care he had bestowed upon the prisoner, than from the English. Moreover, it would have been difficult to send him into the English camp, through the hostile villages; while no unfavorable comment would be incited, by his sending his prisoner down to Cabul.

Will Gale was far too weak to perform the journey on foot. He was, therefore, placed on a camel. The chief himself, and four of his headmen, accompanied him as an escort and, a week after the pass was open, they started up the valley to the Shatur-Gardan; and thence descended into the Logan Valley, below, on the way to Cabul.

Chapter 12: The Advance Up The Khyber

Nothing has yet been said of the doings of the other columns: that under General Browne advancing, by the Khyber Pass, upon Jellalabad; that under General Stewart, by the Bolan Pass, upon Candahar.

General Browne's force had been gathered at the frontier line, at the mouth of the pass, awaiting the reply of the Ameer to the British ultimatum. None having been received, up to the night of the 20th of November, the advance took place in the morning; at the same hour at which General Roberts advanced from Thull in the Khurum valley.

The principal defense of the Khyber Pass was the fort Ali-Musjid. This fort stands on a most commanding position, on a rock jutting out from the hillside far into the valley, which its guns commanded. It was flanked by batteries erected on the hillsides, and was a most formidable position to capture. It was situated about six miles up the valley.

The force under General Browne was divided into four brigades. The first–under General Macpherson–consisted of the 4th battalion of the Rifle Brigade, the 20th Bengal Infantry, the 4th Ghoorkas, and a mountain battery. These were ordered to take a mountain road and–led by a native guide–to make a long circuit, and so to come down into the pass at a village lying a mile or two beyond Ali-Musjid.

The second brigade–under Colonel Tytler–consisting of the 1st battalion of the 17th Foot, the infantry of the Guides, the 1st Sikhs, and a mountain battery, were also to take to the hills and, working along on their crests, to come down upon the batteries which the Afghans had erected on the hillside opposite to Ali-Musjid.

The third brigade, consisting of the 81st Regiment, the 14th Sikhs, and the 24th Native Infantry; and the fourth brigade, composed of the 51st Regiment, 6th Native Infantry, and the 45th Sikhs, were to advance straight up the valley. With them was a mountain battery, a battery of Horse Artillery, one of Royal Artillery, and a battery of 40-pounders, drawn by elephants.

These brigades marched forward until they reached some rising ground in the valley, whence they could see Ali-Musjid, at a distance of a mile and a half, in front of them. The enemy at once opened fire. The gunners in the fort had been practising for some weeks, and had got the range with great accuracy; and their shot and shell fell thick along the slope. The column was therefore marched back behind its crest, and there halted; and the men were allowed to fall out and eat their dinners, as it was desired that the flanking columns of Macpherson and Tytler–which had very much further to go–should reach the positions assigned to them before the attack began.

The artillery, however, took up their position on the crest, and opened fire on the fort. The effect of the light guns was but slight, but the 40-pounders produced considerable effect on the face of the fort.

After a halt for some time, the troops were ordered to advance. The 45th Sikhs were first thrown out upon the hillside and, working their way along on the right of the valley, opened a heavy musketry fire against the Afghans in the batteries there. Presently the 51st and 6th Native Infantry joined them; while the 81st, the 24th, and 14th Sikhs worked along on the left.

The scene was one of the most picturesque ever witnessed in warfare. From the fortress, standing on the perpendicular rock in the center of the valley, the flashes of the great guns came fast and steadily; while the edges of the rock, and fort, were fringed with tiny puffs of musketry. From the rising ground in the valley, the smoke of the British guns rose up in the still air as, steadily and fast, they replied to the fire of the fort. Both sides of the steep hill slopes were lined with British infantry–the quick flash of the rifles spurting out from every rock and bush; while continuous lines of light smoke rose from the Afghan entrenchments which faced them.

Gradually the British skirmishers advanced, until they were close to the Afghan entrenchments on the hillsides abreast of the fort. So far, there was no sign that Macpherson's brigade had reached the post assigned to it, high up on the hill; or that Tytler had worked round to the village in the enemy's rear. Some attacks which were made upon the Afghans were repulsed, with loss. Major Birch and Lieutenant Fitzgerald were killed, and Captain Maclean wounded; and between thirty and forty of the rank and file were killed, or wounded. As the fort and its defenses could not have been carried by direct attack, without immense loss of life; it was determined to cease operations until morning, in order to give the flanking columns time to reach the positions assigned to them. A wing of a regiment, from each brigade, was ordered to remain on the hillside facing the Afghan entrenchments. The rest of the troops fell back a short distance, and lay down as they were, for the night.

In the meantime, the brigades of Macpherson and Tytler had encountered enormous difficulties on the line of march. The roads they had taken were mere tracks, and there were many places where it was almost impossible to get the mountain guns along. From daybreak until late at night the troops labored, unceasingly. They knew, by the dull roar echoed and re-echoed among the mountains, that their comrades below were engaged; and the thought that a failure might ensue, owing to their absence from the contest, nerved them to continued exertions.

Late at night, however, Macpherson with his brigade arrived on the top of the hill facing Ali-Musjid; and Tytler, with his column, came down into the Khyber valley in rear of the fort. But, though unopposed, their march had not been unnoticed and, late in the evening, the news reached the Afghans that the British were marching down into the valley behind them. A wild panic instantly seized them. Clothes, ammunition, guns, everything that could impede their flight were thrown away; and the garrison of Ali-Musjid, and the Afghans in the hillside entrenchments fled, a herd of frightened fugitives, up the valley. Hasty as was their retreat, they were not in time. Tytler, with his column, debouched into the valley before they had passed the spot where the mountain path descended into it; and large numbers were taken prisoners.

As at the Peiwar-Khotal, the Afghans proved themselves capable of defending a strong position, valiantly; but were converted into a mob of panic-stricken fugitives, by their line of retreat being threatened. A European army, under like circumstances, would have fallen back in good order. Their force was amply sufficient to have swept aside the little column which barred their retreat, and they would have occupied a fresh position farther to the rear, and renewed the conflict. Not so the Afghans. The capture of Ali-Musjid brought with it the entire demoralization of the Afghan army which, a few hours before, had been fully confident in its power to repulse any attack which might be made upon it.

The British continued their advance, passed through the Khyber Pass, and entered the broad valley near whose head stands the town of Jellalabad. Beyond a few shots, fired at them by tribesmen high up on the mountain side, they experienced no opposition, whatever and, a week after the fight in the Khyber, entered Jellalabad and encamped around it.