The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-08 00:00:00

CANDAHAR.

At the date of our last intelligence from Candahar
(12th June), Colonel Wymer, with a force of 3,000
men of all arms, were under orders for a march to the
north-west, their destination being unknown, but re-
quiring them to take with them eighteen days' sup-
plies. It was believed to be Ghirisk, on the Helmund,
a place of considerable strength, eighty miles off. It
turned out that a general foray amongst the disaffected
chiefs, for the purpose of levelling their forts, and de-
stroyiiig their orchards and corn-fields, was alone in-
tended : in this we were every where successful, the
enemy having fled before us, or offered submission on
our approach, and nowhere attempted resistance.
The troops first proceeded down the valley of the Ur-
ghundab river, as far as Nar-o-Kareez, the seat of a
notorious freebooting moolah (priest !) named Sahi
Ozadah. His stronghold, named after himself, was
entirely destroyed. The force proceeded in the
direction of Ghirisk, but afterwards, turning
on their previous course, moved about thirty miles
to the westward. They then made a sweep, and
" skirred the country round" within sight of Canda-
har (on the 22d and 23d), and having very success-
fully spread ravage and devastation all around them—
sparing only the few who had kept faithful to us—
returned to camp on the 28th without loss. For the
next three weeks the army remained inactive. Go-
vernment having expressed its dissatisfaction at the
arrangements of General England embodying the
light companies of the native regiments in Scinde into
a battalion, this was ordered to be dissolved on the
15th, the men returning to their corps. At this time
it was understood that a retiring movement was to be
made by this detachment, and some of the late Shah's
regiments, on the 22d—these leaving behind them at
Killa Abdoolah a force strong enough to maintain
the post till the main body fell back on it ; carrying
with them mean while to Quettah the 12th Native
Infanty, by whom the fort had been kept since
the 14th of June. Either the army must have
been kept in profound ignorance of their destina-
tiem, or a sudden and unlooked-for change had come
over the resolves of Government ; for the expectation
that the whole
.force was to retire on Quettah with-
out delay continued uniform and unabated till the
rumour spread, about the 27th of July, that they
were to be divided—about 4,000 retiring as originally
proposed, and 7,000 moving on as lightly equipped as
possible in the direction of Ghuznee, and then turning
to the right across the Sooliman range, by the K afila
route, to descend upon Dera-Ishmael-Khan, a large
frontier town on the banks of the Indus, and the
boundary of the Punjaub. The order for this was
issued on the 30th, from which it appeared that the
troops destined for Quettah, under General England,
consisted of Cooper's Troop Horse Artillery, a bullock
battery (six prs.), detachment of Poonah horse, two
rissalahs Christie's horse, 25th Bombay Native In-
fantry-, Companies late light battalion, and the Ist,
2d, and sth Bengal Irregular Infantry (late Shah's),
in all nearly 4,000 men. These were to leave about
the 6th or Bth of August. They were to be accom-
panied by Timour Shah, the only son of the late Shah
Sooj ah, who has throughout conducted himself with
tolerable propriety. Suitor Jung, who surrendered
himself to us two months since, after requiting our
previous kindness to him by six months fighting
against us, is to be left at Candahar, where all is ex-
pected to become uproar and wild confusion the
moment we retire. General Nott was to march east-
ward about the same time that General England
moved in the opposite direction.