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
his hat, "Forward, Queen's," he sung out, "or the 17th will be in before
you." On we rushed again for the gate as hard as we could; the enemy
treated us to one more volley, by which they did some execution, and
Dickenson was wounded in his leg, and then abandoning the lower defences
of the town, retreated to the citadel.
However, on entering the gate, we found matters not so easy as we
expected. The streets were very narrow and so intricate that they formed
a perfect labyrinth, and it was very difficult to make any progress
through them. The men, therefore, soon got scattered about and broken
into small parties; and some, I am afraid, thought of loot, or plunder,
more than of endeavouring to find their way to the citadel. I forgot to
mention that during the time we were under cover, the 17th and 31st
Native Infantry had moved round the hill and taken up a position on our
right. These two regiments were ordered forward and into the town and at
the same time and the same gate as we were. The whole force, therefore,
entered the town nearly together. I followed with a party of our men,
and we pushed along as well as we could through streets, by-ways, &c.
This was rather nervous work, as we never could tell what we had to
expect before us; there was no open enemy to be seen, but whenever we
came to an opening exposed to the citadel, a few bullets invariably came
whizzing in about us, and knocked over a man or two; moreover, having
the recollection of Ghuzni fresh in our minds, we expected every moment
a rush of some desperate fellows from the narrow holes we passed
through. After groping my way through narrow passages and all sorts of
agreeable places, I found myself in the exact spot I had started
from--viz., the gate by which we had entered. Here a man of our Light
Company came and told me that he had discovered a way to the citadel,
and begged me to put myself at the head of a few men there collected. Of
course I did so, and in a short time we found ourselves in a large
courtyard, with stables, &c., full of horses and Beloochees; right under
the windows of the citadel. These men cried out for "aman," or "mercy;"
but the soldiers recollecting the treachery that had been practised at
Ghuzni in a similar case were going to shoot the whole kit of them. Not
liking to see this done, I stopped their fire, and endeavoured to make
the Beloochees come out of their holes and give themselves up. I was
standing at this time in the centre of the court, and had heard a few
shots whizzing rather close over my head, when I suddenly received a
shock, which made me think at the moment I was smashed to bits, by a
ball from a ginjall, or native wall piece. I was knocked senseless to
the ground, in which state I suppose I lay for a few minutes, and when I
came to myself I found myself kicking away, and coughing up globules of
clotted blood at a great pace. I thought at first I was as good as done
for; however, on regaining a little strength, I looked around, and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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