Private Journal of Henry Francis Brooke: Late Brigadier-General Commanding 2nd Infantry Brigade, Kandahar Field Force, Southern Afghanistan, from April 22nd to August 16th, 1880Brooke, Henry Francis
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Private Journal of Henry Francis Brooke: Late Brigadier-General Commanding 2nd Infantry Brigade, Kandahar Field Force, Southern Afghanistan, from April 22nd to August 16th, 1880
Brooke, Henry Francis
Afghan Wars; Brooke, Henry Francis, 1836-1880
European, who was with him all the time, and by his side when he fell.
I examined him most minutely on this point, and he assured me he never
spoke a word when he fell, and I found a wound through his body caused
by a bullet, which must have caused instant death.
* * * * *
From Col. E.
Simla,
12th October, 1880.
My dear Mr. Brooke,
... To all of us who knew your gallant Brother so well, and to myself
personally as an intimate friend, his death in action, nobly striving
to aid a wounded comrade, has been a painful blow. He was so true and
thorough a soldier that we had hoped for high distinction for him when
we heard he had been sent to Kandahar, and his letters to me from
that place were full of confidence. I am sure that we shall yet learn
that however depressed and dispirited others may have been during the
siege, that HENRY BROOKE was never down-hearted, or anything else, but
as brave a soldier in life as he was in death.
* * * * *
From Col. W.
Poona, Bombay,
October, 1880.
My dear Mr. Brooke,
By this time, of course, you have full particulars of your Brother's
death, so it is needless for me to enter into the sad details, but
amidst all this sorrow which this has caused you and his other
relations, is the proud recollection that no man ever died more nobly,
or as a soldier could wish for, whilst the high estimation in which
he was held by all who knew him, must be a source of satisfaction to
you all. For myself, I can only say that I sympathise most truly with
you all in the affliction which has fallen on you, for though our
acquaintance was not of long standing, we were for the time thrown
much together, and in him I mourn a true friend, whose friendship and
esteem it was an honor to possess, and whose untimely fate I shall
always deplore.
* * * * *
From Captain E.
Edinburgh,
20th November, 1880.
My dear Mrs. H.,
I was very glad to receive your kind note ... We were all very
much grieved to hear of poor General BROOKE'S death under such sad
circumstances, and for a time we had great anxiety regarding the
safety of Kandahar, for we all knew and felt the great loss the
garrison would sustain in his death, as he was one of the very few
they had to trust to. I have heard several officers say, "BROOKE was
the life and soul of the place during the siege."
* * * * *
From Lt.-Colonel White, V.C., C.B., 92nd Highlanders.
25th November, 1880.
My dear Brooke,
Your Brother's death gave me a greater shock than any incident in the
whole war. He died like the man I knew him to be, and as you and I
would like to die when our time comes. It would be some consolation to
you to hear the way he is spoken of by all who knew him--"about the
only man who held his head up all through the Kandahar investment, and
he had a cheery word and a helping hand for everyone." ...
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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