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
guns, the sharp cracking of the matchlocks, the whizzing of their cannon
balls and ours, (the latter of which, by-the-bye, went much nearer our
heads than the enemy's, as our artillery fired beautifully, and sent
their shot close over our heads, on the ramparts,) the singing of the
bullets, and the whizzing of their arrows, all combined, made up as
pretty a little row as one would wish to hear. Add to this, that it was
as dark as pitch, and you may judge of the effect. We made a rush over
the bridge, which the enemy had not destroyed, and continuing it up a
slight ascent, we found ourselves of a sudden close to the gate. Here
there was a check. Although the gate was blown down, still the remains
of it, and the barricade on the inside, rendered it a difficult place to
get over, particularly as it wanted at least half an hour of daylight,
and was perfectly dark. The two first sections were therefore a long
time getting through, during which the two last, to which I belonged,
were standing still outside, exposed to a cross fire from two round
towers, which flanked the entrance. Our men, however, kept up such a
smart fire upon every hole and opening that no man dared shew his nose,
and their fire was therefore rendered harmless. At length we moved in,
and found that, besides what I have mentioned above, there was a large
hole in the roof of the portico over the gate, through which the enemy
were pitching earth, beams of wood, stones, &c.; one of these beams
knocked over my European servant, who was next to me, and dislocated his
arm, and, taking me in the flank, made me bite the dust also; however, I
had no further hurt than a slight bruise, and was up again immediately,
as I heard one of the soldiers say, "Oh! there is poor Mr. Holdsworth:
he's down!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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