ADVANCE ON CABOOL. 1842.

Major-General Pollock urged upon Lord Ellenborough, the new Governor-General of India, the advance upon Cabool; the 31st. regiment, which had followed by forced marches, joined 249at Jellalabad on the 5th. of May, having undergone much privation on the way, and the loss of several men from famine and fatigue; while at Jellalabad the army was halted in wretched tents, the climate being so unhealthy during the summer, that the natives use it only as a winter residence. Soon the effect of this displayed itself; the days became so oppressive, that both officers and men were obliged to dig deep holes underground in which to shield themselves, in some slight measure, from the burning heat of the sun, the thermometer rising in the tents as high as 126°.

In consequence of the extreme heat the troops suffered a loss which the most sanguinary encounter with the enemy could not have exceeded. Neither was it in men alone that the army was daily losing its efficiency. From the valley of Jellalabad having been so long the seat of war, the fertile land had become a desert,—the wretched half-starved camels could find no forage on the bare face on the sand, and they died by hundreds; their dead bodies lying about in all directions, swollen with the sun, and emitting the most pestilential exhalations, together with the filth and dirt of a standing camp of fifty thousand men, added to the disease which raged among the troops.

Eventually it was found necessary to divide the force, and the fourth brigade, in which was the 31st. regiment, was ordered to march under Brigadier Monteath into the Shinwaree country, to punish some refractory tribes, who had attacked several convoys, and been guilty of many acts of murder and plunder. The warlike and turbulent Shinwaree tribes sheltered themselves in their strongholds, which were formed in a narrow valley, strengthened by many forts and stockaded enclosures, while the heights on either side were defended by numerous sunghas, or breastworks of large stones, which were so constructed as to enable them to dispute every inch of ground with an advancing force.

On the 26th. of July, Brigadier Monteath prepared to attack the enemy near Mazeena with his whole force; and accordingly, leaving his camp standing under an efficient guard, he moved towards the position occupied by the Afghans, who were prepared, and nothing loath to meet him. The engagement was 250commenced by the 31st. regiment, seconded by the 33rd. and 53rd. Native Infantry, ascending the heights, and driving the Shinwarees from their breastworks, and along the ridges of the hills, while the 10th. Light Cavalry, in the valley below, charged them whenever they showed front on level ground. The camp followers and pioneers had been furnished with combustibles to burn the forts, as the Shinwarees were driven out of them, which service was very efficiently performed. Meanwhile, on the heights, the enemy disputed every foot of ground until taken at the point of the bayonet, and Lieutenant M‘Ilween, of the 31st., was killed in leading one of the attacks.

The Afghans being driven from their defences, the artillery, under the command of Captain Abbott, played upon them with great effect; and after contesting the day until every fort and place of defence had been taken and destroyed, they fled, dispersing themselves among the neighbouring hills, where it was impossible to pursue them. Their loss was very great, including most of their leaders.

After this action the brigade returned to Jellalabad, and on the 20th. of August the army marched in two divisions en route to Cabool. Three days afterwards the troops arrived at Gundamuck, when information was received that the enemy, under the Chiefs Hadji Ali and Khyroolah Khan, occupied the village and fort of Mammoo Khail, about two miles distant, and it was determined to attack them there on the following morning. Accordingly on the 24th. of August, at four o’clock, a.m., the troops advanced, and the attack on Mammoo Khail was attended with complete success.

Major-General Pollock left Gundamuck on the 7th. of September, and on the day after the troops were engaged with the forces of Mahomed Khan and the Ghilzie chiefs at the Pass of Jugdulluck; in the valley were seen the blackened remains of the unfortunate Cabool force. No further opposition was shewn to the advance of the army until nearing the valley of Tezeen;—the road from this place to Khoord Cabool was through a succession of lofty hills, called the Huft Kotul, or Eight Hills.

On the 10th. of September, it having been ascertained that Akbar Khan, with twenty thousand men, had established himself 251in the Khoord Cabool Pass, in order to cover the capital and fight a pitched battle with the British, the second division was ordered to join the first by a forced march to Tezeen, where Major-General Pollock was encamped. This junction was effected on the 11th. of September, with little loss, although a running fight was kept up the greater part of the way.

Shortly after daybreak on the 13th. of September, the army moved off its ground towards the Tezeen Pass, the advanced guard being commanded by Sir Robert Sale. After moving carefully along the Pass for about two miles, the Afghans were discovered, in great force, occupying strong positions on the heights on either side, while their artillery and cavalry were formed some distance farther on in the Pass itself. The action commenced by a heavy fire on the advanced guard of the British; and the distance being too great for musketry, from the effect of which also the Afghans were covered by extensive sunghas, for the whole length of their position, it was judged necessary for the troops to ascend the heights and drive them from their posts at the point of the bayonet. This service was most effectively performed on the left heights by the 9th. and 31st. regiments, and on the right by the 13th. Light Infantry.

The companies ascended the face of the mountain under a most galling fire, from the effects of which many casualties occurred, and not returning a shot until the ledge was gained: a combined volley within ten yards of the enemy, followed by an immediate charge of bayonets, drove him from his defences with great slaughter, and the heights were gained.

Being reinforced by fresh troops, the British pushed on, and storming one entrenchment after another, threw the Afghans into great confusion. The artillery was now brought up, and played upon them with terrific effect, while the British cavalry, having charged and overthrown their horse, posted in the Pass, and taken their guns, together with the state tent of their commander, Mahomed Akbar Khan, victory, even at this early period was in favour of the British arms; but the warlike mountaineers continued the struggle with desperate valour. Attack after attack was made upon the troops occupying the posts from which the enemy had first been driven. Reckless 252of life, the stern fanatics came on to be shot down from the defences which they had themselves thrown up. In a series of desultory attacks the day declined, and the British having obtained possession of every height commanding the Pass, the remains of the Afghan army made a détour among the hills, and attacked the British rear-guard, commanded by Colonel Richmond, but they were warmly received, and entirely discomfited.

So complete was the defeat of the Afghan army on the 13th. of September, that Akbar Khan escaped from the field accompanied only by a solitary horseman. The enemy acknowledged to have lost fifty-three chiefs and persons of consequence and seven hundred men. The casualties on the part of the British amounted to one hundred and eighty-five.

No impediments now existed to the advance of the British on Cabool, at which city the army arrived on the 15th. of September, and encamped on the race-course. On the following morning the British colours were hoisted on the highest pinnacles of the battlements of the Bala Hissar, (upper fort,) on the spot most conspicuous from the city; the National Anthem was played, and a royal salute fired from the guns of the horse artillery, the whole of the troops present giving three cheers. The colours were left in the Bala Hissar to be hoisted daily as long as the troops should continue at Cabool.

All the objects of the campaign were thus gained, and the rescue of the prisoners effected, amongst whom were several officers^[88] and ladies, (Lady Sale being of the number,) together with thirty-six non-commissioned officers and men of the 44th. regiment—one hundred and five in all.

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