The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
FIGHTING IN THE KHYBER.
THR1LLIEG DETAILS OF WAR AMONG
THE MOUNTAINS.

scenes THE eun Correspondent Wttneeeet
vVnile Under HIre-The Uscessuersd Ese@,
Who pGust ne RecEsned with NcHt sprinE.
LANpI KoTAI, Khyber Pass, Jan. 2, 1s9s.-
The campaignsin Tirah has now reached a stage
q which II will probably remain until the spring
srvps are destroyed. On Dec. % Gen. Han
/, mond's brigade marched up the Khyber as far
az Fort Ali Masjid without opposition. Indeed,
n would have been difficult for the enemy to
do much harm on account Of Gen. Ham.
b cnond's admirable precautions In the distribu-
zion OF his pickets. A couple Of days afterward
/, Gen. Lockhart's division. which had followed
elose on Gen. Hammond's heels rs far as Ali
Mastid, branched of southwark into the Bazaar
Valley. Il was uncertain whether the enemy
would show more resistance in the Bazaar or In
the Khyber. 90 I remained with Gen. Ham,
mond's brigade, which was to march eleven
y. miles further up the Khyber to Landi Kotal the
day after Christmas. Results have shown that
this Was the best course ] could have taken,
since there was little fighting in the Bazaar Val
Icy: and rhave seen quito enough Of the won
y derful agility and excellent Workmanship Of
the Afridis in the Khyber and of the tactics
adopted by the English to give me q good knowl.
edge OF the conduct of campaigns in these border
lands Of Afghanistan and India.
It was an interesting march up the narrow.
yUCk1 my CIs WI u ian toWSiVu iuk
and its splendid natural defences. A well-con-
structed road. that reminds one of the Via
b. Mhla in places, winds higher and higher through
o series of U-shaped valleys which have been
formed by glacial action. Precipitous noun.
tain walls, rising 1000 to 5000 feet above the
valleys. surround the latter on all sides and.
gradually closing together, form passes narrow
and dangerous to an invading army. Lower
hills and masses of loose stones and rockp again
cut up tho valleys into n hundred smaller de-
files, and il is on one Of these conically- shaped
projections. towering mp to the height of 700
feet. that the fort Of Ali Masjid is situated, nine
miles from Jamrud.
Nothing could be more dreary than the gen.
oral aspect Of the country. but II one goes to the
side of o cliff he may be astonished occasionally
at seeing below him a lovely green ravine.
eprinkled over with villages and shaded by
many o fruit tree. One of these settlements.
called Lala China, situated near Ali Masjid, was
destroyed BY the brigade before we left the fort.
The natives did not attack us while engaged in
this work, but when Gen. Lockhart's division
started up the pass into the Bazaar Valley there
was considerable shipping. and o picket of the
Forty.dfth Sikhs was attacked. with the result
that two were wounded and one killed.
On Dec. 90 we marched to Landi Kotal with
out q shot being fired. The largo fort at this
place had been completely wrecked excepting
the outer walls, which wero left standing by the
enemy. There were sixty. villages, each with
Its tall, we'll built tower. belonging to the Zaker
Kehls, a short distance below Landi Kotal. and
these we started at once to blow up. since the
enemy refused to surrender q single rifle.
went smoothly for the first two days.
] enjoyed watching the towers fall and the diff
ferent companies sallytng forth to the villages
In their search for grain. 1t seemed as IL the
enemy were afraid to attack us until the morn
ing OF Doc. %, when q shower OF bullets sud-
denly whiEzed among the foragers. Every man
took TO cover. but it was astonishing
that no one was hit. The enemy were firing from
o distance Of 700 yards. but even ut that dis
lance II q soldier exposed himself he was certain
TO have Q bullet pass within q yard Of him.
Gen. Hammond and. his stan also narrowly
escaped being hit by q volley from the Afridis
On the same day.
The enemy only aim to surprise the English,
and IL the latter expect an attack and take pre-
cautions against 1t the cunning savages will
lie low till another day. They do not suffer
severely from the destruction of their villages,
since they have many caves in the mountains
where they can keep snug and warm.
Hardy and accustomed to daily fights among
they are a foe that can only be sub
dued by constant harassing through more than
boADOu- ENcn when inc lnlaDltantS or the
Khyber were receiving 81 1000 rupees a year
from the Indian Government as a subsidy for
keeping the pass open, they were always at war
with one another. Each tower is commanded
by the next one, and the various owners Of vii
lages were accustomed to amuse themselves
daily by taking pot shots at their neiRhbors.
They know the ranges from every peak to every
point ON the road. and s~incestheir lives depend
upon their marksmanship they have attained n
degree of proficiency in the use of, the, rife
which is second to no sharpshooters in the
world. can only compare their shooting to the
splendid work done by our Western rangers in
their wars against the redskins.
As there were luckily no casualties on Dec.
70. We all came back to dinner in the best frame
OF mind. / have had the honor to be a member
Of the Oxfordshire mess during my stay with
the Peshawur column, and I must say / never
Dat down among 4 more cheerful lot of officers
than i did on this particular night. Col. Plow.
den Of the Oxfordshires, one OF the kindest and
of men. told me that he was going to
the heights furthest from camp on the
morrow, to allow the Oak" or mail. to come
and all the officers were pleased be-
oause their post would be a dangerous one.
Alas! gloom has been thrown over the Oxford.
1hire's mess since then, and as ] pass between
the rows OF tents I miss several familiar faces.
1noro WAS another nguro which had been very
in camp. but which will never more
be seen. II was that OF Major. Gen. Sir Have
lock Allen. NJ. p. an authority on military mat
eers and a noted warrior. He was to go TO Jam
gud, but his own carelessness cost him his life.
He was shot by an Afridis soon after leaving
Mastd. During the night a Gurkha was
killed by ono Of the enemy within FIVE yards of
the lines.
On the morning OF Dec. 80 nearly the whole
brigade marched down the road to n point half
way between Ali Masjid and Landi Kotal.
where we were met by the troops from the
iormer place. Sir Hsvelock Allen was passed
on to his escort, the Oxfordshires posted about
The heights. and the ~foraging and blowing up of
bowers was renewed. Finally. about 8 O'Clock
Ia the afternoon, all the troops marched back
10 LAndi Kotal except the oxfordshires. a com. !
pany OF the Inniskillings and of the Gurkhas
and q mountain battery stationed near the
camp. The furthest pickets retired n half hour
later and Joined Col. Plowden who started TO
march to camp. Suddenly a perfect hailstorm
Of bullets poured down upon the little body of