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
Thus ended this short, but decisive affair, which I consider to be a
much more gallant one than that of Ghuzni, both in regard to the numbers
engaged on each side and the manner in which it was taken. We merely
halted for an hour, and then went slap at it, as if it was merely a
continuation of our morning's march. General Willshire was exceedingly
pleased with the result, as well he might be, and issued a very
complimentary address to the force engaged, the next day. I hope and
conclude his fortune will be made by it.
The loss on our side at Kelat was, in proportion, a great deal greater
than at Ghuzni. We had altogether about 1100 bayonets engaged, and the
loss was 140, being about one in seven; of this loss, the Queen's bear a
proportion equal to that of the other two regiments together, having
returned about seventy in the butcher's bill out of 280, which was the
number we brought into the field, being about one in four. Out of
thirteen officers, we had one killed, four severely, and one slightly,
wounded; twenty-three men were killed, and forty-one wounded, of whom
some have died since, and most will feel the effect of their wounds till
their dying day, as the greatest portion are body wounds.
With regard to prize-money, I have no doubt that had things been even
tolerably well managed, there would have been plenty of it, but we did
not stay there long enough to search the place thoroughly. I hear also
that the other part of the force that went down by the Bolan Pass claim
to share with us, which we do not allow; so that, perhaps, it may get
into the lawyers' hands, and then good-bye to it altogether, I do not
expect, under any circumstances, more than 100l. Some of the rooms of
the citadel were very handsomely fitted up, particularly one in the old
fellow's harem, which was one entire mirror, both sides and ceiling.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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