The enemy has shown such unexpected strength—40,000 men in all are believed to have been present in Chardeh Valley and in the hills above Deh-i-Afghan—that it was running considerable risk to keep our garrison in cantonments short of a man; accordingly at the same time that Colonel Jenkins was ordered to retire, a message was sent by heliograph to General Macpherson to hasten back to Sherpur with all his force. He was to take the road above the Deh-i-Afghan suburb. General Baker was ordered to hold on to the village he had occupied since the morning until all the troops from the heights were within the walls. Meanwhile Colonel Jenkins had met the attack up the spur from Chardeh. Major Stockwell, 72nd, was sent down a few score yards with a small escort, who kept up a hot fire upon the advancing masses. A few Ghazis, with their standards, got from point to point; but they were still at a respectable distance when the order to evacuate the hill was received. Major Stockwell withdrew his men from the little _sungar_ they had built, and retired leisurely, so as to give the Afghans no idea that the crest also was to be evacuated. Captain Gordon, of the 92nd, was shot through the right shoulder while this movement was being made. Five minutes after our men had left their _sungar_ a banner was planted upon it, showing how rapidly the Ghazis rushed up the hill. Major Stockwell’s party having been safely withdrawn, the retirement down the hill facing Sherpur was begun. The enemy, who were nearly at the northern _sungar_, led by a Ghazi with a green flag, were kept in check by volleys fired by covering parties thrown out on Colonel Jenkins’s left flank. There was not the least appearance of undue haste, the Highlanders forming up quietly to cover the Guides scrambling down, and the Guides then doing the same in their turn for the Highlanders. The hillside was so exposed that our casualties were rather severe, among the killed being Lieutenant Gaisford of the 72nd. Not a man was left behind, however, all the wounded and dead being brought in. All anxiety about Colonel Jenkins’s force being now at an end, there only remained General Macpherson’s brigade to come in. Two companies of the 92nd Highlanders were marched out to cover them across the plain, and to help General Baker’s rear-guard in its final retirement; but they were not wanted. Presently shots were heard in Deh-i-Afghan, and then the baggage of the brigade was seen entering the fields under a strong guard. The 67th Foot, 5th Ghoorkas, and 3rd Sikhs followed with the mountain battery, and, before long, entered the head-quarters’ gate. In coming through the Cabul gorge, General Macpherson had been able to help the Highlanders and Guides by his fire. He sent two companies of the 67th, under Colonel Knowles, to hold a knoll half-way up the slope from Deh-i-Afghan to the southern _sungar_. Bodies of the enemy tried to rush down the hill to