The Sun.
London, England, 1839-10-30 00:00:00

PIrPNING EDITION.

EW S PR OM IND .4. A .

FALL OF GHUZNEE, AND ENTRANCE
1 OF THE BRITISH ARMY INTO CA-
I BOOT,.
I (From the Bombay Government Gazelle Extraordi.nar!)
[
- of August 29 )
SECRET DEPARTMENT.
Bombay Castle, Aug. 29, 1839,
! The Honourable the Governor in Conned has
i the highest satisfaction in re-publishityg- the follow-
-1 ing notification issued by the Rit2',ltt Hon. the Go-
vernor-General, announcing The capture by storm
of the town and toriress of Ghuznee, as also the
general order issued on the occasion by his Excel-
tette) Lieut.-General Sir John Keane, K.C.8.,
and G.C. H., Commander-in-Chief of the Army of
' the Indus.
By order of the Hon. the Governor in Council,
L. R. REID, Acting Chief Secretary.

---
NOTIFICATION.—SECRET DEPARTMENT.
1
Simla, August 18, 1389.
The Right Hon. the Governor-General of India
has great gratification in publishing, for general
information, a copy of a report this day received
from his Excellency Lieut.-General Sir John
Keane, K.C.8., Commander-in-Chief of the army
of the Indus, announcing the capture, by storm, on
the 23d ult., of the important fortress of Ghuznee.
A salute of 21 guns will be fired on the receipt
of this intelligence at the principal stations of the
army in the three Presidencies.—By order of the
Right Hon. the Governor-General of India,
(Signed) T. H. MADDOCK.
Officiating Secretary to the Government of India
with the Governor-General.
Ti

'0 THE RIGHT HON. LORD AUCKLAND,
G.C.8., &c. &c.
My Lord—l have the satisfaction to acquaint
your Lordship that the army under my command
have succeeded in performing one of the most bril-
liant acts it has ever been my lot to witness during
my service of forty-five years in the four quarters
of the globe, in the capture, by storm, of the
strong and important fortress and citadel of Ghuznee
yesterday.
It is not only that the Afghan nation, and, I
understand, Asia generally, have looked upon it as
impregnable, but it is in reality .a place of great
strength, both by nature and art, far more so than
1 had reason to suppose from any description that
I had received of it, although some are from officers
in our own service who had seen it in their travels.
I was surprised to find a high rampart in good
repair, built on a scarped mound about thirty-five
feet high, flanked by numerous towers, and sur-
rounded by a fausse brayz and a wet ditch, whilst
the height of the citadel covered the interior from
the commanding fire of the hills from the north,
rendering it nugatory. In addition to this screen
walls had been built before the gates, the ditch
was filled with water and unfordable, and an out-
work built on the right bank of the river so as to
command the bed of it.
It is therefore the more honourable to the
troops, and must appear to the enemy out of all
calculation extraordinary, that a fortress and citadel,
to the strength of which, for the last thirty years,
they had been adding something each year, and
which had a garrison of 3,500 Afghan soldiers,
commanded by Prince .Mahorned Hyder, the `in of
Dost Mahomed Khan, the ruler of thy; country,
with a commanding number of guns, and abund-
ance of ammunition, and other stores, provisions,
&c., for a regular siege, should have been taken by
British science and Briti:sli valour in less than two
hours from the time tbne attack was made, and the
whole, including tl,re Governor and garrison, should
fall into our hinds.
My des,,;atch of the 20th instant, from Nanee,
will had',; made known to your Lordship that the
cairn's of his Majesty Shah Shooj,i-001-Moolk, and
of Major-General Willshire with the Bombay
`troops, had there joined me in accordance with my
desire, and the following morning we made our
march of twelve miles to Ghuznee, the line of
march being over a fine plain. The troops were
dispersed in a mariner that would have enabled me
at any mument, had we been attacked, as was pro-
bable from the large bodies of troops moving on
each side us, to have placed them in position to
receive the enemy. They did not, however, ap-
Per.r, but on our coming within range of the guns
of, the citadel and fortress of Ghnznee, a sharp can-
bonade was opened on our leading column, together
walwalh a heavy fire of musketry from behind garden
ls and temporary field works thrown up, as well
as the strong outwork I have already alluded to,
which commanded the bed of the river from all but
the Outwork. The enemy were driven in under the
walls of the fort in a spirited manner by parties
thrown forward by Major-General Sir Willoughby
Cotton, of the 16th and 48th Bengal Native, In-
fantry, and her Majesty's 13th Light infantry, un-
der Brigadier Sale. I ordered forward three troops
of Horse Artillery, the Camel Battery, and one
foot battery, to open upon the citadel and for-
trees, by throveing shrapnell shells, which was done
in a masterly style under the direction of Brigadier
Stevenson, My object in this was to make the
enemy s'aow their strength in guns, and in other
resPeo.s, which completely succeeded, and our shells
must have done great execution and occasioned
greet consternation. Being perfectly satisfied on
eat point of their strength in the course of half an
Lour I ordered the fire to cease, and placed the
troops in bivouac. A close reconnoissance of the
place all round was then undertaken by Capt. Thom-
aon, the chief engineer, and Captain Peat, of the
Bombay Engineers, accompanied by Major Gar-
den, the Deputy Quartermaster-General of the
MBe)agal army, supported by a strong party of her
ajesty's 16th Lancers, and one from her Ma-
:Ksty's 13th Light Infantry. On this party, a
steady fire was kept up, and some casualties oc-
curred. Captain Thomson's report w'is very clear;
he found the fortifications equally strong all round,
and as my own opinion coincided with his, I did
not hesitate a moment as to the manner in which
°Ur approach and attack upon the place should be
nvAde, Notwithstanding the march the troops
had performed in the morning, and their haviug
been a considerable time engaged with the
enemy, I ordered the whole to move across
the river (which runs close under the fort wall), in
Columns to the right and left of the town, and they
were placed in position on the north side on more
commanding ground, and securing the Cabool road.
I had information that a nilOit attack upon the
camp was intended from without. Mahomed
Übzul Khan, the eldest son of Dost Mahomed
Khan, had been sent by his father with a strong
body of troops from Cabool to the brother's as-
aistance at Ghuznee, and was encamped outside the
walla, but abandoned his position tin our approach,
keeping, however, at the distcnce of a few miles
from us. The two rebel chiefs of the Ghilzie tribe,
men of great influences viz., Abdool R human, and
Gool Mahomed Khan, had joined him with 1,500
fhorse, rind also 'a body of about 3,000 Ghaveer
m Zeinat, under a mixture of Chiefs and
onlahs, carrying
sembled on the banners and who had been as-
we of a religious war. In short,
we were in all directions surrounded by enemies.
These last arAually came down the hills en the 22d,
and attacked the part of the camp occupied by his
Majesty Shah Shooja and his own troos bu
were driven back with considerable loss,
anpd, ban-
t
oe'.s taken.
At daylight on the 22d I reconnoitred Ghuznee,
in company with the chief engineer and the briga-
dier commanding the artillery, with the Adjutant and
Quartermaster-General of the Bengal army, for the
purpose of making all arrangements for carrying the
PIP-ce by storm, and these were completed in the
'gorse of the day. Instead of the tedious process
of breaching (for which we were ill prepared),
Capt. Thomson undertook, with the assistance of
Capt. Peat, of the Bombay Engineers, Lieutenants
Durand and Macleod, of the Bengal Engineers,
and other officers under him (Capt. Thomson), to
.blow in the Cabool gate, the weakest point, with
gunpowder, and so much faith did I place on the
success of this operation that my plans for the as-
sault were immediately laid down and the orders
given.

The different troops of Horse Artillery, the
camel and foot batteries, moved off this ground at
twelve o'clock that night, without the slightest noise,
as had been directed, and in the most correct man-
ner took up the position assigned them, about 250
yards from ,the walls. In like manner, and with
the same silence, the infantry soon after moved from
their ground, and all were at their post at the
!Inver time. A few minutes before three o'clock
In the morning the explosion took place, and
proved completely
the Bombay successful. Captain Peat, of
Engineers, was thrown down and