THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR. 1839.

Shah Soojah-ool-Moolk had been driven from the throne of Afghanistan, and his kingdom divided among several chiefs. A Persian army besieged Herat, on the Afghan frontier, and the court of Persia claimed an extensive portion of territory, which, lying between India and Persia, appeared to menace the safety of the British dominions in the East Indies. These circumstances, and the unprovoked attack made on a British ally, Runjeet Singh, by Dost Mahomed Khan, occasioned a tripartite treaty to be concluded between the British, Runjeet Singh, and Shah Soojah, for the purpose of effecting the restoration of the dethroned monarch, and a British force designated the “Army of the Indus,” was assembled to effect this object. In addition to the native corps, it comprised the 4th. and 16th. Dragoons, (the cavalry being commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Joseph Thackwell, G.C.B., then Major-General,) and the 2nd., 13th., and 17th. regiments of the regular army. The Bengal column was placed under Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton, K.C.B., and the Bombay one under Major-General Willshire. General Sir Henry Fane was to have commanded the whole, but on 236information being received in October, 1838, that the siege of Herat had been raised by the Persian monarch, who had marched therefrom towards his capital, the force was reduced, and the second Bengal division was left at Ferozepore. Lieutenant-General Sir John (afterwards Lord) Keane, was consequently appointed to the command.

The plan of operations was thus arranged:—Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton was to march near Scinde, through the Bolan Pass to Candahar, and proceed thence to Ghuznee and Cabool. The Bombay division of the army commenced its march from the mouth of the Indus, through the country occupied by the Ameers of Scinde, who, refusing permission for the troops to pass through their territory, a passage had to be effected by force. Hyderabad, the capital, was captured; Kurrachee was occupied; and the Ameers were brought to submission early in February, 1839. The army then continued its march, passed the Indus on a bridge of boats near the fortress of Bukkur, which had been delivered up as a place of arms during the war in Afghanistan, and entered upon regions never before traversed by British troops, but which are interesting from their association with the operations and reverses of Alexander the Great.

Advancing from Shikarpore the troops arrived in the middle of March, at Dadur, situated a few miles from the Bolan Pass, through which they marched between mountains covered with snow. In these wild regions bands of Beloochees lurked to avail themselves of every opportunity to follow their predatory habits, and they murdered several camp followers, and plundered some baggage. Issuing from this gloomy defile of more than fifty miles in length, the army entered the Dushi-be-doulut, or the unhappy desert, and halted a short time at Quettah, situated in the centre of the valley of Shawl, of which it is the capital. Supplies of provisions could not be procured in these sterile regions; the issue of grain for the horses ceased, the soldiers were placed upon half rations, the native followers upon quarter, and several men, who were searching for forage at a distance from the camp, were sacrificed by the natives, who availed themselves of every opportunity of destroying small parties.

All these hardships were borne with fortitude, and in the early part of April the army commenced its march through the vale of Shawl; it descended the picturesque height of Kotul into the valley of Koochlak; forded rivers; and passed the height of Kozak, where the men had to drag the artillery over the precipice with ropes. Surmounting every obstacle with patient perseverance, the troops continued to press forward; the rulers of Afghanistan, struck with dismay, fled from the capital, leaving the country to the Sovereign whom the British were advancing to restore. As the army proceeded on its way, various classes of individuals tendered their submission, and on the 27th. of April it arrived at Candahar, the capital of western Afghanistan, where provisions and repose were obtained. The tents were pitched in the grassy meadows, among enclosures covered with crops of grain. The watery exhalations from the low grounds however proved injurious to the health of the men, and the great heat experienced in the tents, with a saline impregnation in the water, augmented the number of the sick.

237