Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1880-10-23 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

THE RETREAT.  "I now come to the retreat, almost a more melancholy 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 a 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 to the 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 Candahar, where the canals were dry, but where by the exertions of Major Leach, RE., 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! 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 going on some di. tance off in the Candahar direction, and our own men were nervously anxious to keep anything like a 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 Wali's six-pounder guns was reluctantly abandoned and a body of some sixty infantry collected to guard against an attack froth the villagers, who, it w4s feared, might, if no one had been sent from Candahar, be holding the strong position of Kokaran. 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 ef communications and was concentrating all his forces in the city. This we reached, after 30 hours in the saddle without food, at about two ii 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."