A.D 1841.] MURDER OF SIR WILLIAM MACNAGHTEN. to Colonel Dennis. The pass was gallantly cleared, but with severe fighting and heavy loss. After this was accomplished the force had still to fight its way through a difficult country, cccupied by an active enemy, for eighteen days. All the commanding points of the hills were in possession of the Ghilzyes, where they were protected by breastworks; and though they had been from time to time outflanked and routed, when the march was resumed, and the cumbrous train of baggage filed over the mountains, the enemy again appeared from beyond the most distant ridges, renewing the contest with increased numbers and the most savage fury. Since leaving Cabul our troops had been kept constantly on the alert by attacks night and day. Their positions had been secured only by unremitting labour, throwing up entrenchments, and very severe outpost duty. The enemy were eminently skilful at the species of warfare to which their attempts had been confined, armed with weapons which enabled them to annoy the invaders from a distance at which they could be reached only by our artillery. The brigade reached Jelalabad on the 12th of November. 551 Dost Mahomed Khan, his family, and every Afghan then detained within our territories should be allowed to return to their own country; that Shah Sujah and his family should receive from the Afghan Government one lac of rupees per annum; that all prisoners should be released; that a general amnesty should be proclaimed; and that no British force should ever be sent into Afghanistan without being invited by the Afghan Government. These terms having been agreed to, the chiefs took with them Captain Trevor as a hostage; but nothing was done to carry the agreement into effect, and it soon became evident that the object was to starve out the garrison, and compel them to surrender uncondi-. tionally. At length, on the 22nd of December, they sent two persons into the cantonment, who made a proposal in the name of Akbar Khan, that the Shah should continue king, that Akbar should become his prime minister, and that one of the principal chiefs should be delivered up to the British as a prisoner. This was a mere trap, into which Sir William Macnaghten unfortunately fell with fatal credulity. On the 23rd of December the envoy, attended by Captains Lawrence, The force left behind to keep possession of Cabul and Trevor, and M'Kenzie, left the "Mission Compound," to guard the protege of the Indian Government, was so hold a conference with Akbar Khan in the plain towards situated as to tempt the aggression of a treacherous Serah Sung. Crowds of armed Afghans hovering near enemy. Sir William Macnaghten, the British Minister, soon excited suspicions of treachery. Captain Lawrence and his suite, resided in the "Mission Compound," which begged that the armed men might be ordered off; but was badly defended, and commanded by a number of Akbar Khan exclaimed, "No, they are all in the secret." small forts, while the commissariat stores were placed At that instant Sir William and the three officers were in an old fort, detached from the cantonment, and in seized from behind and disarmed. Sir W. Macnaghten such a state as to be wholly indefensible. A conspiracy was last seen on the ground struggling violently with had been formed by the friends of Akbar Khan, son of Akbar Khan, consternation and terror depicted on his the deposed sovereign, Dost Mahomed, who forged a countenance. "His look of wondering horror," says Mr. document, and had it circulated amongst the principal Kaye, "will never be forgotten by those who saw it, to men of Cabul, to the effect that it was the design of the their dying day. The only words he was heard to utter British envoy to send them all to London, and that the were, Ag barae Khoda! (For God's sake!) They were, king had issued an order to put the infidels all to death. perhaps, the last words spoken by one of the bravest The insurrection commenced by an attack on the dwel- gentlemen that ever fell a sacrifice to his erring faith in lings of Sir Alexander Burnes and Captain Johnson, who others. He had struggled from the first manfully resided in the city. Sir Alexander addressed the party against his doom, and now these last manful struggles from the gallery of his house, thinking that it was a cost the poor chief his life. Exasperated beyond all mere riot. The insurgents, however, broke in, killed him control by the resistance of his victim, whom he dewith his brother, Lieutenant Burnes, and Lieutenant signed only to seize, Akbar Khan drew a pistol from his Broadfoot, and set the house on fire. The Afghans then girdle-one of those pistols for the gift of which, only a surrounded the cantonments, and poured in a constant little while before, he had profusely thanked the envoy fire upon them from every position they could occupy.and shot Macnaghten through the body. Whatever They quickly seized the ill-defended commissariat stores, upon which the existence of the British depended. The garrison bravely defended itself with such precarious supplies as could be had from the country; but at length these supplies were exhausted. Winter set in, snow fell, and there was nothing before them but the prospect of starvation. They therefore listened to overtures for negotiation, and the British envoy was compelled to consent to the following humiliating terms:-That the British should evacuate the whole of Afghanistan, including Candahar, Ghiznee, and Jelalabad; that they should be permitted to return unmolested to India, and have supplies granted to them on their road thither; that means of transport should be furnished to the troops; that may be the judgment of posterity on other phases of his character, and other incidents of his career, the bistorian will ever dwell with pride upon the unfailing courage and constancy of the man who, with everything to discourage and depress him, surrounded by all enervating influences, was ever eager to counsel the nobler and the manlier course, ever ready to bear the burdens of responsibility, and face the assaults of danger. There was but one civilian at Cabul, and he was the truest soldier in the camp. He was an accomplished Oriental scholar, a good judicial officer, an apt secretary, and a kind-hearted man; but it is denied that, in any enlarged acceptation of the word, he is entitled to be called a statesman."* "History of the War in Afghanistan," vol. ii., pp. 306-8. The other three officers were placed on horses, each attacked in the rear, they broke into disorder, threatened behind a Ghilzye chief, who galloped off with them to shoot their officers, separated in small parties, and to a fort in the neighbourhood. Captain Trevor fell off thus, scattered and confused, they were cut down almost his horse and was instantly murdered. The others were to a man. Of the officers, however, a considerable number assailed with knives by the infuriated Afghans, and escaped on horseback; but they, too, were attacked barely escaped to the fort with their lives. Meantime wherever they appeared, until, as we have already menthe head of the British Minister was cut off and paraded | tioned, only one gentleman, Dr. Brydon, survived to tell through the streets, while the bleeding and mangled the dreadful story, reaching Jelalabad on the 13th of trunk was exposed to the insults of the populace in the January. It afterwards transpired, however, that several principal bazaar. other officers were detained in captivity. Notwithstanding all this treachery and barbarity, General Elphinstone, feeling his situation desperate, was weak enough to trust the Afghan chiefs, and to enter into a convention with them, in the hope of saving the garrison from destruction. The negotiations were carried on by Major Pottinger, and it was agreed that the former treaty should remain in force, with the following additional terms :-That the British should leave behind all their guns excepting six; that they should immediately give up all their treasures; and that hostages should be exchanged for married men with their wives and families. To this, however, the married men refused to consent, and it was not insisted on. In pursuance of this convention the garrison retired, and commenced their fatal march on the 6th of January, 1842. The army consisted of 4,500 fighting men, with 12,000 camp followers, besides women and children. The snow lay deep upon the ground; they had scarcely commenced their march when they were attacked by the Afghans, the guns were captured, and they were obliged to fight their way, sword in hand, defending the women and children as well as they could. During the whole way through the snow, the road was strewed with bodies and stained with blood. The dead and dying were immediately stripped naked by the enemy, and their corpses hacked to pieces with long knives. During all this time the perfidious Akbar Khan sent messages, professing his regret at not being able to restrain the Ghilzye tribe; and after they had got through the pass, he made a proposal, which was accepted, to take the ladies under his protection. Accordingly, Lady Sale and Lady Macnaghten, with six others, accompanied by their husbands, were left under his charge. The British troops then halted for a day, bivouacking on the snow. The cold was so intense that the Sepoys became benumbed and paralysed, in which state the whole of them were next day attacked and out to pieces. The Europeans managed to hold together, but when they arrived at Jugdulluck, thirty-five miles distant from Cabul, only 300 out of 16,500 persons who left that city remained alive. At this place a halt was ordered, and through the interference of Akbar Khan, the miserable remnant were permitted to occupy a ruined enclosure, where, worn out by fatigue and utterly helpless, they lay down to rest in the snow. General Elphinstone was detained a prisoner by Akbar Khan in a small fort, whence he dispatched a note to Brigadier Ankitel, advising him to march that night, as there was treachery a-foot. The wearied band, aroused from their slumbers, accordingly moved on in the dark; but their departure was noticed, they were So perished the last remnant of the army of the Indus. Mr. Kaye has the following reflections upon this retreat, one of the most disastrous recorded in history:—“ It was not a human enemy alone with which those miserable men had to contend. It was theirs to war against a climate more perilous in its hostility than the inexorable foe. But neither the cruel cold, nor the malignant Afghans would have consigned the British army to destruction, if the curse which had so long brooded over the councils of our military chiefs, and turned everything into folly and imbecility, had not followed them on their exit from the Cabul. cantonments, and crowned the catalogue of disaster and disgrace. It is probable that, if greater energy had been exhibited at the commencement of the retreat if nothing had been thought of but the best means of accomplishing the march through the snow with the utmost possible rapidity-a large portion of the force would have been saved. But the delays which were suffered to arise at the commencement of the retreat sealed the fate of the army. They threw the game into the hands of the enemy. We waited, indeed, whilst the gates were being closed upon us, and then there was no outlet of escape. Whilst our wretched people were halting and perishing in the snow, the enemy were gathering in advance of them, and lining the passes, intent on their destruction. The events of that miserable week in January afforded a fitting climax to the series of disasters which had darkened the two preceding months. There is nothing, indeed, more remarkable in the history of the world than the awful completeness, the sublime unity, of this Cabul tragedy." Lord Auckland was then Governor-General of India, but the period of his tenure of office was drawing to a close. He hoped it would end brightly, that the war for the restoration of an imbecile and puppet king would have ended triumphantly, and that he would return to his native land bearing something of the reflected glory of the conquerers of Afghanistan. He had been cheered by the dispatches of the too sanguine envoy in the month of October, who spoke only of the continued tranquillity of Cabul. November passed, however, without any intelligence, and all was anxiety and painful suspense. Intelligence at last came confirming the worst anticipations. Calcutta was astounded at the news that Afghanistan, believed to be prosperous grateful for British intervention, was in arms against its deliverers. Suddenly the tranquillity of that doomed country was found to be a delusion. "Across the whole length and breadth of the land the history of that story of the War in Afghanistan," vol. ii, p. 389. and A.D. 1842.] CRITICAL CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN INDIA. 553 gigantic lie was written in characters of blood." Con- and that their worst forebodings had been realised, founded and paralysed by the tidings of so great a his spirit seems to have been completely broken; failure, which he had not energy to retrieve, he thought instead of any attempt at retrieving the misfortunes of only of abandoning the vicious policy of aggression his Government, he thought only of saving, if possible, which had ended so miserably, and given such a ter- what remained of the forces that he had sent across rible blow to the prestige of British power in India, on the Indus. Writing to the Commander-in-chief, Sir which our dominion in the East so much depended. Jaspar Nicolls, who was then on a tour through the He had owed his appointment to the Whigs; and the Upper Provinces of India, with reference to the sending Conservatives, who were now in office, had opposed the forward of reinforcements, he said he did not see how policy of the Government regarding the Afghan war. the sending forward of a brigade could by possibility But no one seemed more sick of the policy of aggres- have any influence on the events which it was supposed sion than the Governor-General himself. He became were then passing at Cabul, which they could not reach thoroughly convinced of the folly of placing a detached force in a distant city, which could be reached only through dangerous defiles, occupied by an ever-watchful enemy, depending for supplies upon uncertain allies, and without any basis of operations. The expedition had proved enormously expensive, and had drained the Indian treasury of funds which should have been employed in developing the resources of our Indian possessions. When all this had ended in disastrous failure and national disgrace-when he recollected that the directors of the Company, as well as the Government, had expressed intense dissatisfaction at his policy, feeling conscious that their complaints were just, VOL. VII.-No. 359. before April. In his opinion they were not to think of marching fresh armies to the re-conquest of that which they were likely to lose. He feared that safety to the force at Cabul could only come from itself. Writing to Sir W. Macnaghten, he said, "I would have you share in the feeling which is growing strongly upon me, that the maintenance of the position which we have attempted to establish in Afghanistan is no longer to be looked for. It will be for you and for this Government to consider in what manner all that belongs to India can be most immediately and most honourably withdrawn from the country." The Commander-in-chief himself had been always of opinion that the renewed efforts of the Govern ment to support Shah Sujah on his throne, and to establish a permanent influence in Afghanistan, was a great mistake. However, owing to the energy of Mr. George Clarke, the Governor-General's agent on the north-west frontier, and his assistant, Captain, afterwards Sir Henry Lawrence, forces were dispatched from that quarter, under the command of General Pollock, who had commanded the garrison of Agra, having been in the Indian service since 1803, and having distinguished himself under General Lake. This appointment gave the greatest satisfaction, as it was believed that he was selected solely for his merit, and not through aristocratic influence. It was certainly one of the best appointments that could have been made, as no officer in India possessed in a higher degree the qualifications necessary for the command of the expedition at a moment so critical, when our power in India was in jeopardy, and a further continuance of disaster might have too severely tried the fidelity of our native troops on this side of the Indus. great difficulty at Peshawur. He had four native infantry regiments, containing a large number of young soldiers, whom the mutinous Sikhs had impressed with a great horror of the Khyber Pass. The only cavalry he had was a troop of irregular horse, and the only guns, four pieces of Sikh artillery. Besides, the owners of the camels, which had been hired at Ferozepore to proceed as far as Jelalabad, refused to advance further than Peshawur. It was under these circumstances that Sale and M'Gregor earnestly urged the advance of the brigade for the relief of that place. The fortress of Ali Musjid, regarded as the key to the Khyber Pass, is situated about twenty-five miles from Peshawur: and as it lay between the two positions of Sale and Wild, it was of the utmost importance that it should be occupied. It was accordingly resolved that one-half of Wild's brigade should be dispatched for this service. On the 15th of January, Colonel Moseley, with the 53rd and 64th Sepoy Regiments, started under cover of the night, and reached their destination early in the morning. The fortress was about five miles up the Pass. Soon after they had taken up their position, they discovered to their dismay, that owing to some mistake, instead of 350 supply Lord Ellenborough appointed Governor-General in the room of Lord bullocks, which had been ordered, only fifty or sixty had Auckland-The Garrison of Peshawur-Occupation and abandonment arrived. Here, then, were two regiments shut up in an of the Khyber Pass-Arrival of General Pollock at Peshawur-isolated fortress without provisions. Day after day passed Difficulties - Holds a Council of War-Proposals to Surrender and no succour came. Wild made an effort to send forResisted by Colonel Broadfoot-The Defences-Destructive Earthquake-Restoration of the Fortifications-Advance of General Pollock to the Relief of the Garrison-The Khyber Pass forced-Destruction of the Afghan Camp by the Garrison at Jelalabad, and utter Rout of Besiegers-Votes of Thanks to the Army by both Houses of Parliament-Proclamation of Lord Ellenborough - His Efforts to save India -The English Prisoners-Measures taken for their recovery by Sir Robert Sale-Sufferings of the Captives-They agree to purchase their own Ransom-The Bond-Glad Tidings-Arrival of Sir Robert Sale and his Column of Liberators-Joyful Congratulations-Submission of the Hostile Chiefs-Measures of Retribution-Capture of Istaliff, containing the Afghan Women and Treasures-Punishment inflicted on CHAPTER LVI. Demoralised State of the Troops-The Garrison at Jelalabad-Its Cabul - Proclamation of Lord Ellenborough reversing our Indian Proclamation of the Governor-General. ward supplies, but the attempt was a disastrous failure. The Sikh auxiliaries mutinied to a man, and refused to enter the Pass. The misconduct of the Sikhs, wrote Captain Lawrence, was rendered more atrocious, and our own mortification more bitter by the circumstance that a lac and a half of rupees had been advanced to the Sikh authorities for the payment of those men. "We have been disgracefully beaten back," he said. "Both our large guns broke down: one was on an elephant; it was taken down to be put together when the other failed; but its carriage breaking too, the sepoys lost all heart, and I grieve to say that I could not get men to bring one off, though I tried for an hour, and at last, finding we were only expending ammunition, we left it in their hands, but it was broken completely down and spiked." The column fell back on Jum road, and the garrison of Ali Musjid was so far left to its fate. Its condition was most deplorable. The sepoys were put on half rations, but in a few days the supplies were nearly exhausted. With unwholesome water, without tents or bedding under a severe climate, and surrounded by depressing influences of all sorts, the health of the men gave way. There being no prospect of relief, Colonel Moseley determined to evacuate the fortress. Captain Burt and Captain Thomas offered to remain and keep possession of so important a position, if only 150 men would volunteer for the service. But none were found willing to undertake the perilous duty, and so Ali Musjid was abandoned, and suffered to fall into the hands of the Afreedis. The brigade had some fighting on its way back. Some of its officers were killed, some wounded and sick abandoned, and some baggage lost. Meanwhile Brigadier Wild occupied a position of But when they had arrived Captain Lawrence wrote to THE indignation which had been excited in India by the horrifying accounts of the destruction of the army in its retreat from Cabul, and the atrocities that had been perpetrated by the enemy, caused the public to lose all patience with the feebleness and supineness of Lord Auckland, who proved altogether unequal to the emergency. It was therefore a great relief when the mail arrived announcing the appointment of the Earl of Ellenborough to take his place. The appointment was hailed with the greatest satisfaction alike by Whig and Tory. He was elected in October, 1841, and attended the usual complimentary dinner given by the directors on such occasions. When returning thanks for the drinking of his health, he expressed his determination, on assuming the reins of government, to direct all the energies of his mind to the cultivation of the arts of peace, to emulate the magnificent beneficence of the Mahomedan conquerors, and "to elevate and improve the condition of the generous and mighty people of India." A.D. 1842.] JELALABAD VISITED BY AN EARTHQUAKE. 555 Mr. G. Clarke, "The regiments are safe through. Thank was no more talk of negotiation; every one felt that it God." was his duty to hold out to the last. The place had been fortified so well as to be able to defy any attack that could be made upon it without artillery. Captain Broadfoot had insisted on bringing an ample supply of working tools, which were found to be of the greatest advantage. In the official report of General Sale, written by Havelock, there is a description of the works that had been executed, and the immense labour that had been undertaken to clear away everything that could serve as a cover for the enemy. They demolished forts and old walls, filled up ravines, destroyed gardens, and cut down groves; they raised the parapets six or seven feet high, repaired and widened the ramparts, extended the bastions, re-trenched three of the gates, covered the fort with an outwork, and excavated a ditch, ten feet deep and twelve wide, round the whole of the walls. The enemy soon approached, under the command of Akbar Khan; the white tents, which the English were obliged to abandon, appearing in the distance. But the garrison were full of confidence, proudly rejoicing in the work of their hands, and feeling that they were perfectly safe behind the defences which they had raised with so much labour. In a short time, however, they had an astounding illustration of the vanity of all confidence in human strength, showing that, in a moment, it can be turned into weak On the 5th of February General Pollock reached Peshawur, and found the troops under Brigadier Wild for the most part sick and disorganised. His first care was to restore the morale of the troops. Even the officers had yielded to an unworthy panic. Some of them openly declared against another attempt to force the Khyber Pass, and one said he would do his best to dissuade every sepoy of his corps from entering it again. Owing to this state of things, Pollock was compelled to remain inactive through the months of February and March, though the eyes of all India were turned upon him, and the most urgent letters reached him from Sale and M'Gregor to hasten to their relief. But the general was resolved not to risk another failure, and his duty was to wait patiently till the health, spirits, and discipline of the troops were restored, and until fresh regiments arrived. No wonder that pressing entreaties for succour came from Jelalabad. The garrison had exerted themselves with the utmost diligence to fortify | the place, which they expected soon to be invested by hosts of Afghans, flushed with victory and thirsting for blood and plunder. The camp followers were organised to assist in manning the walls, and foraging parties were sent out with good effect, while there was yet time to get in provisions. In the meanwhile Sale received a letter from the Shah, demanding what were his inten-ness. tions, as his people had concluded a treaty with the On the 19th of February the men heard an awful Afghans, consenting to leave the country. There was and mysterious sound, as if of thunder, beneath their an army preparing for their expulsion, and there were feet. They instantly rushed to their arms, and thus many of their countrymen and countrywomen hostages many lives were saved. A tremendous earthquake shook in the hands of a fanatical and vindictive enemy, while down all the parapets built up with so much labour, there was little prospect of any immediate relief from the injured several of the bastions, cast to the ground all the Indian Government. There was even a feeling that they guard-houses, made a considerable breach in the rampart had been abandoned by the Government at Calcutta, of a curtain in the Peshawur face, and reduced the Cabul which did not wish to maintain the supremacy of the gate to a shapeless mass of ruins. In addition to this British arms in Afghanistan. A council of war was sudden destruction of the fortifications-the labour of called on the 26th of January; a stormy debate ensued; three months-one-third of the town was demolished. the majority were for coming to terms with the enemy The report states that, within the space of one month, and withdrawing from the country, for which purpose the city was thrown into alarm by the repetition of full the draft of a letter in reply to the king was prepared. 100 shocks of this phenomenon of Nature. Still, the For two days its terms were debated, the proposition to garrison did not lose heart or hope. With indomitable surrender being vehemently resisted by an officer named energy, they set to work immediately to repair the Broadfoot, who declared it impossible that the Govern- damage. The shocks had scarcely ceased when the ment should leave them to their fate, and do nothing to whole garrison was told off into working parties, and restore their national reputation, especially as a new before night the breaches were scalped, the rubbish Governor-General was coming out, doubtless with new below cleared away, and the ditches before them dug counsels, and the Duke of Wellington, now in power, out. From the following day all the troops off duty would never sanction so inglorious a policy. He was were continually at work, and such was their energy overruled, however, by the majority, and the letter was and perseverance, that by the end of the month the sent to the king. An answer came demanding that they parapets were entirely restored, or the curtain filled in, should put their seals to the document. Another council where restoration was impracticable, and every battery was held; Colonel Broadfoot renewed his remonstrances; re-established. The breaches were built up with the he was joined by Colonel Dennie, Captain Abbott, and rampart doubled in thickness, and the whole of the gates Colonel Monteith. An answer was sent which left the re-trenched. So marvellously rapid was the work of garrison free to act as circumstances might direct. Next restoration, that Akbar Khan declared that the earthday tidings came from Peshawur, that large reinforce-quake must have been the effect of English witchcraft, ments were moving up through the Punjab, and that as Jelalabad was the only place that escaped. all possible efforts were to be made for their relief, There At length General Pollock had found himself in a |