Campaign of the Indus: In a Series of Letters from an Officer of the Bombay DivisionHoldsworth, T. W. E.
History
Campaign of the Indus: In a Series of Letters from an Officer of the Bombay Division
Holdsworth, T. W. E.
Afghan Wars
T.H. MADDOCK,
Officiating Secretary to the Government of
India, with the Governor-General.
FROM MAJOR-GENERAL SIR THOMAS WILLSHIRE, K.C.B., TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL
OF INDIA.
Camp, near Kelat, Nov. 14th. 1839.
MY LORD,--In obedience to the joint instructions furnished to me by his
Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Indus, and the
Envoy and Minister to his Majesty Shah Shooja, under date Cabool, the
17th of September, 1839, deputing to me the duty of deposing Mehrab Khan
of Kelat, in consequence of the avowed hostility of that chief to the
British nation during the present campaign, I have the honour to report,
that on my arrival at Quettah, on the 31st ultimo, I communicated with
Captain Bean, the political agent in Shawl, and arranged with him the
best means of giving effect to the orders I had received.
In consequence of the want of public carriage, and the limited quantity
of commissariat supplies at Quettah, as well as the reported want of
forage on the route to Kelat, I was obliged to despatch to Cutch Gundava
the whole of the cavalry and the greater portion of the artillery,
taking with me only the troops noted in the margin,[B] and leaving
Quettah on the 3rd instant.
[Footnote B: Two guns Bombay Horse Artillery; four guns Shah's ditto;
two Ressalaghs Local Horse; Queen's Royals; Her Majesty's 17th regiment;
31st regiment Bengal Native Infantry; Bombay Engineers.]
During the march, the communications received from Mehrab Khan were, so
far from acceding to the terms offered, that he threatened resistance if
the troops approached his capital. I therefore proceeded, and arrived at
the village of Giranee, within eight miles of Kelat, on the 12th
instant.
Marching thence the following morning, a body of horse were perceived on
the right of the road, which commenced firing on the advanced guard,
commanded by Major Pennycuick, her Majesty's 17th regiment, as the
column advanced, and the skirmishing between them continued until we
came in sight of Kelat, rather less than a mile distant.
I now discovered that three heights on the north-west face of the fort,
and parallel to the north, were covered with infantry, with five guns in
position, protected by small parapet walls.
Captain Peat, chief engineer, immediately reconnoitered; and having
reported that nothing could be done until those heights were in our
possession, I decided upon at once storming them simultaneously, and, if
practicable, entering the fort with the fugitives, as the gate in the
northern face was occasionally opened to keep up the communication
between the fort and the heights.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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