The force decided on for the Sitana expedition consisted of about 6,000 men, chiefly of the Punjab force just mentioned, to which, however, was added the 71st Highlanders, the 101st Bengal Fusiliers, and a battery of Royal Artillery, with its field guns carried on elephants. The Government were fortunate in one respect, that the expedition was placed under the command of Sir Neville Chamberlain, an officer of long experience and of the highest ability and courage. Indeed, it was a happy circumstance that in the serious complications and hard fighting which ensued a man of such great qualities should have been at the head of affairs; and although he was struck down and severely wounded before the operations came to an end, still it may be admitted, without disparagement of his successor, that the neck of the confederacy had been broken by his vigorous measures, and that the tribes were sick at heart and weary of the combat. In entering on a campaign against the Sitana fanatics, who doubtless were tolerated and harboured by the inhabitants, it must still be borne in mind that in crossing the border we were entering upon foreign territory; and a question therefore arose as to the light in which our suspicious Afghan neighbours would regard our advance. There was also another important point which must not be overlooked. In determining the exact direction of our march, it was considered, as a matter of strategy, that instead of moving straight up the mountain, towards the enemy's stronghold, we should enter the country by the Umbeylah Pass, a narrow gorge to the west of the Mahabun, and proceed through the Chumla Valley on its north side (see map); and thus by a flank march, as it were, attack the fanatics in rear and cut off their line of retreat. Our intentions in this respect were kept secret. In a military point of view the proposal had advantages, but politically it had quite another aspect--it being evident that we were thus entering the territory of neighbours, many miles distant from the real object of the expedition, who might, and indeed did, at once take violent exception to our proceedings. Official documents published afterwards explain this clearly. Speaking of the intended march through the pass, Colonel Taylor, the commissioner with the expedition, wrote: 'It was, under the circumstances, impossible to examine the proposed route by questioning those of our own territories best acquainted with it, without raising suspicions as to the line we proposed to take in entering the hills.' Again, General Chamberlain's first despatch after the advance of the force, on October 20, said: 'I should here mention that on the afternoon of the 19th,[55] when it would be too late for the Chumla or other tribes to make any preparations on a large scale for impeding the march of the troops through the Umbeylah Pass, a proclamation was forwarded by the commissioner, to the Chumla and Bonair tribes, stating