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
At the moment I marched I withdrew my picquets and guards, and covering
my rear with Cavalry, moved on the Fort. When every man had left the
large Barrack square I returned to it myself and made my Staff and
escort, who were with me, pass out before me, so that I might have
the melancholy satisfaction of being the last man in the place. At 7
p.m. I followed the last man of the Force into the Citadel and shut
the gates, and so began a fresh act of this extremely painful drama.
With the exception of a portion of the clothing of the 66th Regiment,
I had succeeded in getting the property of the regiments which were
under me into safety, but I fear much, owing to some mismanagement, I
am inclined almost to fear a panic, after we had started for Kokeran,
several of the regiments hurriedly and unnecessarily evacuated their
barracks early in the morning, when they were at once entered by the
enemy and plundered. On starting, I made over the command to the next
senior officer, giving him distinct instructions how to act, but as he
himself lost some of the baggage of his regiment (in my absence), he
cannot have paid much attention to them. Late as it was when I entered
the Citadel, my work was not yet done, as I was the only General
Officer available to issue orders or do work, as General Primrose,
who was seedy, was thoroughly wearied out, and Generals Burrows and
Nuttall were sound asleep, and poor fellows badly they needed it
after the terrible night they had gone through. I had, therefore, to
set to work to put the Guards and necessary defences for the night in
some state of order, and as this involved a walk and ride round the
City and Fort walls, 4½ miles, it was a pleasant ending to a long
day. At 8 o'clock I snatched a hurried dinner with General Primrose,
the first food, except a cup of chocolate and a biscuit, I had had
in the day, and at half-past nine went the round of the ramparts and
guards, getting to bed at 1 a.m., having had 23½ hours of intense
work of mind and body, 18 of which I had spent in the saddle. I did
not want much rocking, and was horrified to find, long before I was
half satisfied with sleep, that it was 5 a.m. on the 29th July, and
that I had to get up to start off a reconnoitering party of Cavalry to
ascertain the state of affairs round our old Cantonments. They found
the whole country covered with armed men, and the Cantonment looted,
and such parts of it as would burn, burned down. They were fired on at
several places, but returned unopposed to Camp. We were hard at work
all day, improving our defences and removing the cover which surrounded
the outside of the gates, but it was clear this was, with our small
force, the work of many days, and that if we were soon attacked we
would have to make the best of things as they were. In the afternoon
the enemy's Cavalry appeared in large numbers on our left front. We
immediately turned out our Cavalry Brigade, who, however, could not
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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