Afghanistan and the Anglo-Russian DisputeRodenbough, Theophilus F. (Theophilus Francis)
History
Afghanistan and the Anglo-Russian Dispute
Rodenbough, Theophilus F. (Theophilus Francis)
Afghanistan; Eastern question (Central Asia); India -- Defenses; Russians -- Asia, Central
Besides the regular establishment there are about 10,000 European
volunteers (including 4,000 railway officials and employes)
available for local defence.
The feudatory chiefs of India enjoy an aggregate revenue of some
L15,000,000, equal to more than one third of the income of the
British Government of India. They maintain forces aggregating
350,000 men with 4,000 guns to perform the duties of court
ceremonial, garrison, military police, guards, and escorts,
throughout territories aggregating nearly 600,000 square miles with
50,000,000 of inhabitants. These forces are unreservedly held at the
disposal of the Crown by the native Princes.
_Transport and Supply_.--This essential feature of all wars will be
briefly considered in the light of the Anglo-Afghan War of 1879-80.
Large quantities of supplies were transported from the main base of
operations on the Indus, and distributed to the troops in the field
over four or five distinct lines of communication, and over roads,
and mountain paths of varied degrees of ruggedness. The country on
both sides of the Indo-Afghan frontier was severely taxed to furnish
the necessary animals. Part of the transport was hired--and as in
the case of the Brahuis camels--with the services of the owners, who
were easily offended and likely to decamp with their property in a
night. During the first year the system was under the direct control
of the commissariat department; but as this proved unsatisfactory,
in the subsequent campaign it was entirely reorganized and
superintended by an officer of engineers, with a large number of
officers from the Line to assist. This gave better satisfaction.
Immense numbers of camels died from heat, [Footnote: Of a train of
eighteen hundred unloaded camels on the road from Dadur to
Jacobabad, for six days in June, six hundred died of exhaustion. In
March, 1855 Col. Green, C.B., lost one hundred and seventeen horses
out of four hundred, from the heat, during a march of thirty miles.]
overwork, irregular food, and neglect. Owing to the dryness of the
climate and intense heat of the summer the bullock-carts were
perpetually falling to pieces. The mules, donkeys, and ponies gave
the best results, but do not abound in sufficient quantities to
enable an army in Afghanistan to dispense with camels. A successful
experiment in rafting, from Jelalabad to Dakka, was tried. The rafts
consisted of inflated skins lashed together with a light framework;
between June 4-13, seven thousand skins were used, and, in all, 885
soldiers and one thousand tons of stores were transported forty
miles down the Kabul River, the journey taking five hours. A great
deal of road-making and repairing was done under the supervision of
the transport corps. A system of "stages" or relays of pack-animals
or carts was organized, by which a regular quantity of supplies was
forwarded over the main lines, daily, with almost the regularity, if
not the speed, of rail carriage. The great number of animals
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