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| A Lesson to be Learnt Here | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 6 2009, 07:03 PM (31 Views) | |
| shiva | Nov 6 2009, 07:03 PM Post #1 |
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Snow like powder from the sky softly falls, When before Djelalabad a rider halts. "Who's there" - "A caval'rist from Britains army A message from Afghanistan I carry." Afghanistan. So weakly he'd said. Half the town around him had met; The British commander, Sir Robert Sale, Helped to dismount the man who's face was so pale. Into a guard-house they guided him And made him sit at the fire's brim; How warm was the fire, how bright was its shine, He takes a deep breath, and begins to explain. "Thirteen thousand men we had been, When our outset from Kabul was seen - Now soldiers, leaders, women and bairn They are betrayed, and frozen and slain. "Dispersed is the entire host, Who is alive, in the darkness is lost. A God to me salvation has sent - To save the rest you may make an attempt." Sir Robert ascends the castle wall, And soldiers and officers follow him all, Sir Robert speaks "How dense the snow falls, How hard they may seek, they'll never see the walls. "Like blindfold they'll err and yet are so near, The way to their safety, now let it them hear, Play songs of old, of the homeland so bright; Bugler, let thy tune carry far in the night." And they played and sang, and time passed by, Song over song through the night they let fly, The songs of their home so far and so dear, And old Highland laments so mournful to hear. They played all night and the following day, They played like only love made them play; The songs were still heard, but darkness did fall. In vain is your watch, in vain is your call. Those who should hear, they'll hear nevermore, Destroyed, dispersed is the proud host of yore; With thirteen thousand their trail they began. Only one man returned from Afghanistan. ![]() In 1838 the British East India Company feared an increased Russian influence in Afghanistan after Dost Mohammad had seized power from former ruler Shoja Shah in 1834. Dost Mohammad Khan had rejected earlier overtures from Russia, but after Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India, tried to force Afghan foreign policy under British guidance, he renewed his Russian relations. Lord Auckland followed the advice of State Secretary William Hay Macnaghten to support Shoja Shah, dismissing the advice of Alexander Burnes to support Dost Mohammad, and resolved to seek a military solution. He began to assemble his forces in late 1838. The British troops, under the command of General Sir Willoughby Cotton with Macnaghten as his chief adviser, consisted of 20,000 soldiers and were accompanied by 38,000 civilian camp followers (men like weapon repairers, medical staff, chefs, maintenance crew, barbers, tailors, armourer, cameleers, etc.). On March 1839 the British forces crossed the Bolan Pass and began their march to Kabul. They advanced through rough terrain, crossed deserts and 4,000-metre-high mountain passes but made good progress and took Kandahar on April 25, 1839. They also captured the until-then impregnable fortress of Ghazni on July 22 in a surprise attack, suffering 200 men killed and wounded while the Afghans lost nearly 500 men and 1,600 were taken prisoner with an unknown number wounded. An Afghan had betrayed his sovereign and the British troops managed to blow one city gate and marched into the city in a euphoric mood. The fact that Ghazni was well supplied eased the further advance considerably, if not made it possible at all. Dost Mohammed fled and sought refuge in the wilds of the Hindu Kush. Shoja Shah was proclaimed emir and Kabul fell on August 6, 1839, without a fight. Dost Mohammed surrendered to MacNaghten on November 4, 1840 Kabul at that time was a clean, pleasant city with spacious wooden houses surrounded by gardens. William Hay Macnaghten, established as Governor, soon sent most of his troops back to their garrisons in India and quickly established a Victorian era lifestyle. The occupying forces enjoyed themselves arranging cricket matches, horse races and hunting parties. In the evenings amateur dramatics were staged, where officers and their wives played Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was considered a special honour to be invited to Lady Florentina Sales' evening companies, at which salmon and stew with madeira wine, port wine and champagne was served. The Afghan people never really came to terms with the British occupation. Akbar Khan, the son of Dhost Mohammed, easily assembled new followers amongst the tribesmen in the rural areas, where British influence was slight. He soon started a guerrilla war, which kept the British forces permanently on the move. Macnaghten dismissed all warnings from his officers and instead wrote to his superiors that, "this is the usual state of Afghan society". The British freedom of movement was more and more restricted during spring and summer 1841. Despite this, Sir Willoughby Cotton was replaced by the aging and infirm William Elphinstone, as commander of the remaining British troops. Robert Henry Sale, the husband of Lady Sale, was called home to Jalalabad with his brigade in the autumn of 1841, but left his wife behind. On November 2, 1841, Akbar Khan proclaimed a general revolt and the citizens of Kabul followed suit. Elphinstone and Macnaghten were caught by surprise. The British troops in and around Kabul were down to 4,500 men, of which 690 were Europeans. The Afghans stormed the house of Sir Alexander Burnes, one of the senior British political officers, and murdered him and his staff. Elphinstone took no action in response to the incident, which encouraged further revolt. The British situation soon deteriorated when Afghans stormed the poorly defended supply fort inside Kabul on November 9. The British forces had refrained from occupying the citadel and instead occupied cantonments 1.5 miles (2.4 km) outside Kabul, a badly chosen place. On November 23, Afghans occupied a hill overlooking the British camp and began bombarding the camp with two guns. A British force sallied out to drive them away, but the Afghans inflicted heavy casualties firing jezails at long range, and the British force fled, leaving 300 wounded to be murdered. It was evident that morale was low in the British force.[3] Macnaghten realized their desperate situation and tried to negotiate a free retreat for the troops and the 12,000 British and Indian civilians still at Kabul. The Afghan diplomats invited Macnaghten for tea on December 23, but at the moment the British delegation dismounted from their horses, they were seized and slain by Akbar Khan. Macnaghten's body was dragged through the streets of Kabul. The life guard, which was supposed to protect him, had not shown up. Elphinstone had already partly lost command of his troops and his authority was badly damaged. To the utter horror of all his officers Elphinstone again ignored the murder and instead signed a capitulation on January 1, 1842, which had some unfavourable conditions. For example the British troops had to hand over their gunpowder reserves, their newest muskets and most of their cannon. However, the Britons were promised a safe retreat, and the troops and civilians, amongst them children, women and the elderly, began to move out on January 6. They planned to escape to Jalalabad, 90 miles way through snowy mountains. The injured and ill people were left behind, as Akbar Khan had guaranteed their safety. But when the last British soldier had left Kabul, their tents were set on fire and all were massacred. The first dangerous passage was the Khord-Kabul pass just 15 miles behind Kabul. But instead of hurrying and securing the pass, Elphinstone ordered a rest after just 6 miles. Any effort to maintain military organization on the retreat failed. It was so slow that it was two o'clock in the morning before the last reached the resting place. This gave the Afghans the opportunity to seize the pass themselves. When the British laboured up the narrow pass the next day, they were shot at from all sides by Ghilzais armed with the captured British muskets and the traditional Jezails. By the evening of 9th January around 3,000 of Elphinstone's column had died; frozen to death or been shot, and in some cases they had committed suicide. The column had moved only 10 miles (16 km). A few hundred soldiers deserted back to Kabul but none were spared by the Afghans. Elphinstone had ceased giving any orders and sat silently on his horse. On the evening of 11 January Lady Sale and other officer wives gave up and accepted being taken hostage by Akbar Khan, whom they mistrusted deeply. All the Indian servants and wives of sepoys were massacred, as they promised no ransom. On the same day Akbar Khan persuaded Elphinstone and his second in command, Brigadier Shelton, to also become hostages. It was a uniquely degrading act in British military history, that senior officers surrendered to save their lives, while their soldiers had to struggle on and face almost certain death. Elphinstone died on 23 April as a captive. On 12 January the remaining troops, now led by Brigadier Anquetil, reached the Jugdulluk crest, only to find it blocked by tribesmen. A desperate attack was mounted but only a few soldiers, mostly of the 44th Regiment of Foot, overcame the obstruction. ![]() All others were left for dead. The remnants dragged on and made a last stand near the village of Gandamack on 13 January. The force was down to fewer than forty men and almost out of food and ammunition. They were surrounded on a hillock and when a surrender was offered by the Afghans, one British sergeant gave the famous answer "Not bloody likely!" All but two were slain. Only one soldier managed to reach Jalalabad. On January 13 William Brydon, an assistant surgeon, rode through the gate on his exhausted horse. Part of his skull was sheared off by a sword. An Afghan shepherd had granted him refuge and, when the shooting was over, put him on his horse. It is said that he was asked upon arrival what happened to the army, and answered I am the army. Treachery at Kabul |
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1:24 AM Jul 11