For Name and Fame; Or, Through Afghan Passes, G. A. Henty [best beach reads .TXT] 📗

attacks were made, by the mountaineers, upon small parties going up or down the passes; and stringent orders had been issued that no officer should go down, except when accompanied by an escort.

After a week's traveling Will arrived, with Yossouf, at Peshawur. Then he rode, by easy stages, until he reached the Indus where, taking his place on a steamer, he traveled down the river to Sukkur; where he disembarked, and started for the weary march, across the desert, to the foot of the Bolan.

Along the road large numbers of coolies were at work, constructing a line of railway, which was now almost complete to the foot of the pass. It did not ascend this but, turning to the right, wound up the hills to the plateau. It was intended to be taken on to Candahar, and its completion would have been an immense boon, both to that city and to India; as it would have opened a great trade to the north, and have enabled the inhabitants of the fertile plain, around Candahar, to send their corn, fruit, and other products down to India. Unhappily, with the subsequent abandonment of Candahar the formation of the railway was stopped; and the whole allowed to go to ruin. The work has, however, been recently taken in hand again.

Will and his follower ascended the Bolan; stopped a day or two at Quettah, to rest their horses; and then proceeded on through the fertile plains of Pisheen, and over the Kojak Pass, and thence on to Candahar. Here Will joined his new regiment, and was well received by its officers.

In every regiment in the service, an officer risen from the ranks is invariably received with special courtesy, and kindness. Every endeavor is made to place him at his ease, in his new position. This is specially so when--as in Will's case--the promotion has been earned by distinguished services in the field.

In most instances, officers promoted from the rank of sergeant are a good deal older than the young lieutenants among whom they find themselves. Being often married men, and having nothing but their pay to depend upon, they find themselves, therefore, unable to take much part in the pleasures and gaieties of the regiment. In India, however, as the rate of pay is much higher, an unmarried officer can live very comfortably on his pay; and as, in the field, the expenses are far less than when a regiment is in cantonments at a large station--where there is much gaiety--Will found that he was able to live very comfortably, on his pay, in the same style as that of his comrades.

They, on their part, were pleased to find in Will a young fellow of the same age as the other junior lieutenants and, withal, a pleasant, gentlemanly young man. The fact, too, that he had seen so much service, had gone through stirring adventures, and had fought by the side of Cavagnari in the Bala-Hissar, made him quite a hero among them; and Will was soon thoroughly one of themselves.

When it was known that the regiment was likely to remain at Candahar for some time, many luxuries had been brought up from India; together with means of passing away the time, such as the necessary appliances for cricket, racket, and other games. Among these, too, were several boxes of books; and Will--who had, at first, a little amused his comrades by his absolute ignorance of cricket, but who soon became a promising recruit at that game--steadily devoted three hours a day to reading, in order to improve his mind, and to obtain a knowledge of the various matters which were topics of conversation among his comrades. Above all he diligently studied the newspapers--great parcels of which arrived every week--in order to obtain some knowledge of the political state of affairs in England, the position of parties, and the various matters occupying public attention.

He had, at first, found his ignorance of these matters a great drawback to him, in general conversation; but he discovered that newspapers, rather than books, are useful in enabling a man to mix with his fellows in social talk; and that the current events of the day form ninety-nine hundredths of the subjects of conversation. The fact that all his mess mates had been thoroughly posted in the history of Rome and Greece, that they could read these languages almost a well as English, that they had been coached in high mathematics, and had a knowledge of French and German, gave them--Will found--very little advantage in general conversation; and he was surprised to discover how entirely useless, from a practical point of view, is much of the instruction which must be mastered by young men, before obtaining a commission.

Many times, when talking with the young officers with whom he was most intimate, he inquired of them what good they found the learning they had obtained, during their many years of schooling; and was surprised at the universal reply: "No good, whatever!" He found, however, that some of the more thoughtful of them admitted that they had gained increased powers of thought, and reasoning, from their training.

"That is the good of education, Gale," Captain Fletcher--who commanded Will's company--said to him one day. "A certain time must be spent upon education, and the course of study is intended to strengthen and improve the mental powers. As far as soldiers are concerned, it would certainly be of more practical use if the time we spent at school on Greek, and mathematics, had been expended in acquiring three or four European and Indian languages. But you see, boys educated at the same school must all work together, and study the same books, whatever the profession for which they are intended is. Our practical--that is, our professional education--only begins when we go to Woolwich, or Sandhurst.

"Perhaps, some day, a different system will be employed. There will be special schools for lads intended for various professions, and careers. Till that is done, we must all work upon a common basis; which has at least the advantage of forming the mind, for the after work of acquiring the special branches of knowledge required, by us, in the careers we may adopt.

"If you ask my advice I should not, at your time of life, dream of setting to to learn the dead languages, or to study mathematics. Read the histories of Rome and Greece, and study that of your own country. Read books of travel and the biographies of great men, and keep yourself well posted--as you are doing--in current public events. You will then find yourself able to take part, on equal terms, in any conversation which may be going on. You will, indeed, be considered by strangers an exceptionally well-informed young fellow; and you may pass through life without any person having a suspicion that Latin, Greek, and mathematics--the cardinal points of an ordinary education--are wholly unknown to you."

Will was cheered by the advice and, henceforth, directed his studies only in the direction which Captain Fletcher had indicated.

At the beginning of April, a large diminution had taken place in the force stationed at Candahar; as General Sir Donald Stewart marched, with the greater portion of the force, for Cabul. The route led through a country which was the stronghold of the fanatical party--the important town of Ghuzni containing the most fanatical population in all Afghanistan. This had been the center whence the attacks on General Roberts had been organized, and it was deemed necessary to march a strong force through the country, to overawe the tribesmen, and break up their organization.

The march was uneventful as far as Shahjui, the limit of the Candahar province. At this point the Taraki country begins. The Mollahs here had been actively preaching a holy war, and several thousand men were reported as having collected. The villages were found to be deserted, and everything betokened an active opposition to the advance.

When the head of the column arrived at Ahmed-Khel, a body of the enemy--estimated at from 12,000 to 15,000--were seen clustered on a semicircle of hills, beyond the village. The baggage of the column stretched far along the road, and it was all important to prevent the enemy from falling upon this long line. General Stewart therefore determined to attack them.

The two batteries of artillery opened fire upon the enemy; who at once, in reply, rushed down to the assault. The charge was led by some 3000 or 4000 Ghazis--as they were called--fanatics, who had sworn to give their lives in carrying out their object, of exterminating the hated infidel. Some of these men were armed with rifles and matchlocks; some with heavy swords, knives, and pistols; others, again, with pikes made of bayonets, or pieces of sharpened iron fastened upon long sticks. Some were on foot, and some on horseback.

With wild yells, the mass rushed down upon our troops; and so sudden and unexpected was the attack, so swiftly did they cross the 400 or 500 yards of intervening ground, that they came upon the British before preparation could be made for their reception. At the moment when they charged, some of the cavalry were moving across in front of the infantry; and these, before they could be got into a line for a charge, were surrounded by the enemy.

In an instant they were lost to sight, in the cloud of dust and smoke. It was a hand-to-hand struggle and, in the confusion, a troop charged to the right, in rear of the main line of the infantry, and burst into the midst of the 19th Punjaub Infantry; who were in reserve, in rear of the position occupied by the general and his staff.

In a moment, all was confusion. The ammunition mules were stampeded, riderless horses dashed hither and thither and, close behind the cavalry, the Ghazis--with a furious rush--dashed in among the broken infantry. Upon the left flank, too, the Ghazis swept round in the rear of our infantry line and, for a time, it seemed as if the whole British formation was broken up--in which case the numbers of their foes must have prevailed. Colonel Lister, V.C. however--who commanded the 3rd Ghoorkas--threw his men rapidly into company squares, and poured a tremendous fire into the fanatics.

All along the line the attack raged; and so hurriedly had the battle commenced that many of the men had not even fixed bayonets. Desperate was the hand-to-hand fighting, and valor more conspicuous than that of the Ghazis was never shown. Furiously they threw themselves upon the line of their opponents; clutching their muskets and trying to wrench them from their hands, while they strove to cut down their holders. Many of them threw themselves upon the fixed bayonets, and died in the endeavor to cut down the soldiers with their swords; but the three regiments which formed the line--one British (the 59th), one Ghoorkas, and one Sikhs--alike held their own, and poured rolling volleys into the ranks of the enemy.

Desperately the Ghazis strove to capture the guns; which were firing case and shrapnel into them, at a distance of thirty yards, mowing them down in hundreds. Not even would this terrible slaughter have checked them, had not the 2nd Punjaub Cavalry most gallantly charged them, again and again.

The general, surrounded by his escort, was in the midst of the fight--the enemy having burst in between the guns and the 59th Foot--and officers and troopers had, alike, to fight for their lives; several of the escort being killed and wounded. At last, however, the Ghazis fell back from the terrible fire.

The 1st Punjaub Cavalry, coming up from the rear, joined the 2nd in a hot pursuit; and our native allies the Hazaras, seeing the Afghans in retreat, also rushed out after them, and the rout of the enemy was complete. The fighting had lasted about an hour, and the enemy left over a thousand dead on the field, besides the bodies which had been carried off Their wounded, of course, were far more numerous. Ghuzni surrendered without opposition, when the column reached it; the fighting men having been engaged in the battle of Ahmed-Khel, and having had enough of hostilities.

On the 23rd of April, a force under Brigadier General Palliser advanced against a large body of natives, who had assembled near the village of Ghalez--again led by the Ghazis. These rushed to the attack, with a courage and desperation equal to that shown by the fanatics in the previous battle. Our men however were, this time, prepared; and were able to inflict very heavy losses upon the enemy, without allowing them to get to close quarters.

This was the end of the Afghan resistance. General Stewart moved on to Cabul without further fighting, and effected a junction there with the force under General Roberts.

Chapter 18: On The Helmund.

With the junction of the forces of Generals Stewart and Roberts, what may be called the second period of the Afghan war came to an end. All opposition had ceased, and it appeared probable that there would be no more fighting.

Abdul-Rahman, a prince of the royal house who--after for