The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80Forbes, Archibald
History
The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80
Forbes, Archibald
Afghan Wars
throw back its right to cover the interval and protect the guns, was
thrown into confusion and gave ground; and the guns, their case shot
exhausted and the Afghans within a few yards of their muzzles, had to be
retired. The onslaught on the right front of the horse-battery was
delivered with great determination, but was held at bay and finally
crushed by the repeated charges of the 2d Punjaub cavalry.
Every man of the reserves was hurried into the fighting line; the
soldiers were steadied by the energetic efforts of their officers and
settled down to a steady and continuous fire from their breechloaders;
the guns poured their shells into the hostile masses; and the fire of
the forty-pounders on the left effectually arrested the attempt of the
Afghan horse to move round that flank. The hard-fought combat lasted for
an hour; at ten o'clock the 'cease fire' sounded, and the British
victory was signal. The enemy was dispersing in full flight, and the
cavalry was chasing the fugitives across the plain on the right. How
reckless had been the whirlwind charges of the ghazees was evidenced by
the extraordinary number of their dead whose corpses strewed the
battlefield. In no previous conflict between our troops and the Afghans
had the latter suffered nearly so heavily. More than 1000 dead were
counted on the field, and many bodies were carried away; on a moderate
computation their total loss must have been between 2000 and 3000, and
that in an estimated strength of from 12,000 to 15,000. The casualties
of the British force were seventeen killed and 124 wounded, of whom four
died of their wounds. The injuries consisted almost wholly of sword
slashes and knife stabs received in hand-to-hand encounters. The pursuit
was soon recalled, but the Hazaras took up the chase with ardour and in
the rancour of vengeance slew and spared not.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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