The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-10-23 00:00:00

THE RETREAT.

"I now come to the retreat, almost a more melan-
choly episode than the battle itself, and to explain it
I must describe the road. The road by which we had
marched from Candahar describes a gentle curve to
Khushk-i-Nakhud, keeping along the edge of the
irrigated country on the bank of the Argandab, where
alone water has been procurable during the present
extraordinarily dry season. The ordinary caravan
road, on which water is found at certain springs in
the desert in ordinary times, forms the chord of the
of the arc, and is marked by a well-beaten track 40 or
50 yards wide. Along this the baggage camels who
led the retreat had started, and from it no persuasion
would turn the mass of the fugitives, deaf to the fact
that there was no water on it within 40 miles. Though
the feeble pursuit kept up by the Afghans was easily
kept at a distance by Captain Slade and his guns,
supported by the cavalry, some of their horsemen
were seen in the villages on our right flank, whence
few shots were occasionally fired. This sufficed to
keep the majority to the road, but Generals Burrows
and Nuttall, with Colonel St. John and the greater
part of the cavalry, kept tothe right of the road and
halted for some time at Karez-i-Ata, 16 miles from
the field, where they found water, and protected the
exposed flank of the line of retreat from the Afghan
horse and villagers, The guns were ordered to the
same place, but missed the road, and only hit the line
of cultivation at Hauz-i-madat, nine miles nearer Can- !
dahar, where the canals were dry, but where by the
exertions of Major Leach, R,.E., and Captain Slade, a '
well was found with water enough to enable the men
to slake their thirst. Shortly after the guns came
in, the Generals and the cavalry appeared, long far,
I think, after midnight, and after an hour's halt the
march was resumed. But Captain Slade's guns
were heavily laden with wounded men and officers;
the horses, already at work for nearly 24 hours, ,
were well night exhausted, and progress was
henceforward very slow. As day broke we could see
before and behind us a long train of fugitives, sadly
thinner, alas I than that which had left the field, but
still almost more than one hoped considering the long
distance, the want of food and water, and the fiery
heat of the preceding day. There were a few laden
camels in the line, but most were carrying- footsore or
wounded soldiers or camp followers. A few shots
were fired from the villages on our right, but not .
many, though we heard a hot fire goin,, on some dis-
tance off in the Candahar direction, and our own men
were nervously anxious to keep anything like is Ghazi
at a distance, by firing at everything they saw.
The day dragged slowly on, and the sun got higher
and higher while all looked out anxiously for signs
of the relief that we felt sure would be sent from
Candahar, at the first news of the retreat, which we
knew must have reached it long before. About seven
a canal of water was found not far from the road, and
here many tasted the first water that had passed their
lips for nearly twenty-four hours. Eight miles
from Candahar the River Argandab is crossed, and
a weary business it was. Here, too, the last of the
Wish's six-pounder guns was reluctantly abandoned
and a body of some sixty infantry collected to guard
against an attack from the villagers, who, it was
feared, might, if no one had been sent from Canda-
har, be holding the strong position of Koka,ra,n. It
was not for nearly an hour that our doubts were
dispelled by the appearance of a picket of the
Poona Horse, from whom we learnt that General
Brooke had come out to to Kokaran with a force to
cover our retreat so far, and that General Primrose
had abandoned his cantonment and the line of com-
munications and was concentrating all his forces in
the city. This we reached, after 30 hours in the
saddle without food, at about two in the afternoon.
Very few, if any, came in afterwards; and, though
the actual truth will never be known, I think that
few will disagree with me in considering that of the
300 Europeans and 700 Natives found missing when
the rolls were called barely half the Europeans or a
third of the Natives perished in the field. Thirst and
exhaustion killed the rest or left them an easy prey to
the savage Afghan fanatics who followed the pursuit
or issued from the villages on the road to murder and
rob."