Our Soldiers | Page 6

to a sense of their
duty. Broadfoot, Backhouse, and Fenwick rallied and reanimated them.
But the British loss was heavy; upwards of 100 were killed and
wounded, and among them fell the gallant Captain Wyndham, of the
35th Native Infantry. Although lame from a hurt, at the moment of peril
he had dismounted to save the life of a wounded soldier, by bearing
him from the combat on his charger. When the rearguard broke before
the onset of the Ghilzyes, unable to keep pace with the pursued, he
turned, fought, and, overpowered by numbers, fell beneath the swords
and knives of an unsparing foe. The force halted at Gundamuck. The
political managers of affairs in Afghanistan fancied that this would
prove the termination of disturbances in that country. Unhappily the
storm which was to break with such fearful violence was only now
gathering.
RETREAT FROM CABUL--6TH JANUARY 1842.
The British army had, as we have seen, advanced on Cabul, the capital
of Afghanistan, in August 1839. Since that period it had been placed in
cantonments outside the city. Major-General Sir V. Cotton had at first
commanded in Afghanistan. He was succeeded by Major-General
Elphinstone, who assumed the command in April 1841. On the
morning of the 2nd of November 1841, the inhabitants of Cabul broke
out in rebellion, and murdered Sir A. Burnes, the political agent, as

well as his brother and Lieutenant Broadfoot, who sold their lives
dearly. The rebellion extended rapidly through the country; supplies
were cut off, and it was resolved to retreat from Cabul.
The amount of the British force was 4500 fighting men: the camp
followers were about 12,000 men, besides women and children. The
retreat commenced at 9 a.m. on the 6th of January 1842. It was as
disastrous as any in the pages of history. A revengeful, active enemy,
bitter cold and driving snow overwhelmed them; and of that great
multitude, only one officer, Dr Brydon, reached Jellalabad in safety.
All the rest had died from cold or the sword of the enemy--except those
who had been delivered as hostages at the commencement of the retreat,
or who had been taken prisoners; an account of whose release will be
hereafter given.
DEFENCE OF JELLALABAD--OCTOBER 1841 TO APRIL 1842.
Before it was suspected to what extent the insurrection in Afghanistan
would reach, Sir Robert Sale was placed in command of a brigade
which was ordered to return to Hindostan. His road led through the
Ghilzye defiles. Here, for several days, he was attacked by the
mountaineers, but fighting his onward way, he reached Gundamuck.
Here he heard of the outbreak at Cabul. Deeming it important to push
on, he left a considerable portion of his camp equipage at Gundamuck,
under charge of some Afghan levies; but they proved traitors,
plundered the baggage, and set fire to the cantonment. Captain Burn
and the other European officers were pursued by the insurgents, but
succeeded in reaching the British camp.
Sir Robert Sale renewed his march the next morning, but already the
whole armed population of the district was on the alert. The Afghans
crowned each height as soon as our pickets were withdrawn, swarmed
like hornets round the camp, and were repelled only by the most
strenuous efforts. They permitted the advanced guard and the main
body to pass through the town of Futtehabad without interruption.
Bodies of them even came in guise of unarmed suppliants to beg for
protection. But no sooner had the rearguard passed the houses and fort
of this town, than a destructive fire was opened upon it. Captain

Broadfoot and his sappers turned fiercely round more than once, and
inflicted vengeance for this treachery; and Colonel Dennie, in the end,
dexterously decoyed the enemy away from their walls into the open
plain, and then the cavalry, under Captain Oldfield and Lieutenant
Mayne, charging among them with headlong valour, strewed the
ground with 150 slain. That night the force encamped under the walls
of Jellalabad, and took possession of it next morning, the 12th of
November. It was a most important object to occupy this place, in order
to establish a post on which the corps at Cabul might retreat it
necessary, and then form a link in the chain of communication with
India. A glance at the map will show the immense distance which the
British forces were from all support, with intricate passes, lofty
mountains, deserts, and broad rivers intervening between them and
India; while on every side swarmed hostile tribes, accustomed to
warfare, and sworn to destroy them.
Jellalabad was the winter residence of the rulers of Cabul, and inferior
only to that city and Candahar. The walls were, however, in a state
which might have justified despair as to the possibility of defending
them. They were also far too extensive