AFGHANISTAN. 



tions with Abdurrahman had been continued 

 after some persons had advised that they be 

 broken off, through the firmness and prudence 

 of Lord Ripon. 



The main body of the troops of Ayoob Khan 

 having crossed the Helrnuud, reached Hydera- 

 bad on the 23d of July. On the 27th of the 

 same month, this force, estimated to be 12,000 

 strong, attacked a body of three regiments of 

 native infantry and 730 British troops at 

 Kushk-i-Nakhub, and routed it after an en- 

 gagement lasting four hours. The British and 

 Indian troops fled in disorder, pursued and 

 harassed at every point by the enemy, having 

 lost 1,100 men (about half their original num- 

 ber), two guns, the colors of the Sixty-sixth 

 Regiment and the Bombay Grenadiers, and 

 nearly all their ammunition. They suffered 



even more during their flight, for they took a 

 road on which they could get no water, and had 

 no food. The loss of the enemy was also very 

 heavy, and was described by the natives as 

 "almost fabulous." Ayoob Khan was after- 

 ward, driven back to a point between Canda- 

 har and Chamar; Candahar was put into a 

 condition of defense ; General Phayre advanced 

 with a body of troops upon Chamar ; and Gen- 

 eral Roberts marched from Cabool August 8th 

 with a force of 10,000 men for the relief of 

 Candahar. Ayoob Khan proceeded to intrench 

 himself three miles from Candahar. The with- 

 drawal of the British troops from Cabool was 

 completed the llth of August, after a meeting 

 of General Stewart and Mr. Lepel Griffin with 

 Abdurrahman. Mooshk-i-Alam, the spiritual 

 chief of the Afghans, bound the turban the 



SKETCH PLAX 



OFCOUNTRY FROM 



THE HELMUND TO CANDAHAR 



Showing lines of advance of Sirdar Ayoob Khan 

 and Scene of Battle at Kush-ki-Nnkhud and lines 



12 16 2U 24 28 32 3t> 40 



Afghan equivalent for a coronation upon the 

 new Ameer's head. 



General Roberts arrived at Candahar on the 

 last day of August, having marched 318 miles 

 in twenty-three days, including two halts. His 

 fores had suffered from the desertion of the 

 Afghan and Hazara drivers, in consequence of 

 which heavier labor was entailed upon his 

 troops. He attacked the, position of Ayoob 

 Khan at nine o'clock on the morning of the 

 1st of September, and gained a complete vic- 

 tory, after a battle of four hours ending in a 

 total rout of the Afghan forces. The nature of 

 the ground prevented his officers from realiz- 

 ing the extent of their victory, but, while Gen- 

 eral Ross, commanding the extreme left, was 

 still expecting to have to attack a first position, 

 the advance, after a short halt to replenish 



ammunition, showed that Ayoob's camp was 

 deserted. Thirty-two pieces of artillery were 

 taken, including the two guns which had been 

 captured July 27th at Kushk-i-Nakhub. The 

 British loss was 40 men killed and 228 wounded, 

 while the loss of the enemy was estimated at 

 1,200 men out of a total force of 12,800. Gen- 

 eral Haines, in a dispatch from the Govern- 

 ment, of October 7th, acknowledging General 

 Roberts's report of this action, complimented 

 him on his clear and able record " of one of 

 the most complete and successful military op- 

 erations of modern times," commended the 

 discipline and behavior of General Roberts's 

 troops, and expressed the desire to bring to the 

 notice of the Government the quick military 

 appreciation of the situation shown by General 

 Roberts, the excellent dispositions made by 



