12 



AFGHANISTAN. 



A reconnaissance was made from All Khel into 

 the Lagar Valley, in which no signs of hostility 

 were observed. The tribes appeared to be 

 friendly, and even to afford assistance to the 

 British. The Governor of Candahar was in- 

 structed by the Ameer to be guided by the 

 instructions of the British authorities. The 

 Shutargardan Pass was occupied September 

 llth, and a strong column was dispatched by 

 General Stewart in the direction of Ghuznee 

 for the purpose of watching, and to maintain 

 order in that part of the country. An attack 

 was made on the camp of the 72d regiment on 

 the night of the 19th, but the assailants had 

 disappeared before the company sent out to 

 clear the ground reached the spot. A treach- 

 erous attack was made by Mangals and inde- 

 pendent Ghilzais on a convoy of mules on the 

 22d, and an attack on a tower upon the Tirkai 

 Kotal at the same time. On the 24th General 

 Baker occupied Kushi, a Ghilzai village west of 

 the Shutargardan, on the high-road to Cabool, 

 without resistance. The Afreedees and other 

 tribes in the Kliyber Pass guaranteed the safety 

 of their portions of the road to Oabool, and the 

 Shinwarries volunteered to convey supplies to 

 the front. General Hughes's brigade advanced 

 from Candahar to Khelat-i-Ghilzai on the 23d. 



On the 27th General Baker received a letter 

 from the Afghan commander-in-chief, asking 

 whether he would receive him and the Ameer's 

 heir apparent in his camp at Kushi. The Gen- 

 eral replied in the affirmative. An hour later 

 a message came from the Ameer Yakoob Khan, 

 asking General Baker to receive him. The 

 General responded, saying he would meet the 

 Ameer one mile from the camp. The Ameer, 

 his son and father-in-law, and General Daoud 

 Shah, with a suite of forty-one persons, came 

 to Kushi on the same day, and were received 

 by the British. The visit of the Ameer was 

 regarded with some suspicion, and the fact was 

 pointed out as evidence of his insincerity that 

 he had written to the British after the massacre 

 at Cabool that General Daoud Shah, who ac- 

 companied him, had been killed in his efforts 

 to quiet the mob. Nevertheless, it was evi- 

 dent that he had put himself into the hands of 

 the British, and had given in his own person 

 the strongest evidence of his good faith which 

 it was possible for him to offer. He afterward 

 accompanied the British march ; but both he 

 and his advisers urged General Roberts to de- 

 lay his advance, fearing that the Afghan troops, 

 whom he did not trust, would sack the Bala- 

 Hissar on his approach. The General replied 

 that delay was impossible. 



In order that the purpose of the British 

 march might be made clear, General Eoberts 

 was instructed to issue a manifesto to the 

 Afghan people, to the effect that the British 

 army advanced on Cabool to avenge the treach- 

 ery to the British envoy in that city, that the 

 peaceable inhabitants would not be molested ; 

 but, if opposition was offered, those persons 

 witli arms in their hands would be treated as 



enemies. Further, non-combatants, women, 

 and children, were advised to withdraw to a 

 place of safety. Tlie Ghilzais and Mangals 

 were threatening the Shutargardan, and an at- 

 tack was made on them on the 2d of October, 

 in which forty of them were killed, while two 

 of the British were wounded. On the 6th of 

 October General Roberts was at Charasiab, ten 

 or twelve miles south of Cabool, and separated 

 from it by a single range of hills, the road 

 through which is described as a gorge. Re- 

 connoitering parties were sent out at daybreak 

 on all roads leading to Cabool. They found 

 the enemy advancing in great force from the 

 direction of the city, and soon had to retire. 

 The high range of hills between Charasiab and 

 Cabool was crowded with troops and people 

 from the city, while parties of Ghilzais ap- 

 peared on the hills running along both flanks 

 of the camp ; and reports were received that 

 the road to Zahidabad, along which a convoy 

 of stores and ammunition was expected, was 

 threatened. Warning and assistance were sent 

 to the convoy. General Baker was intrusted 

 with the duty of carrying the heights in front 

 of the camp, and, having with a detachment 

 driven the enemy off the main hills and 

 captured twelve guns, with a lo?s to his own 

 force of four killed and nine wounded, he with 

 his main force made a turning movement to 

 the left, and in a hot contest carried height 

 after height in gallant style, with a loss of 

 seventy men killed and wounded, while the 

 enemy fled in confusion, having suffered a large 

 loss, including two standards. The enemy's 

 force was said to consist of eleven regiments, 

 with artillery and "immense numbers of hill- 

 men." It was remarked that the Ameer's 

 party, who were still in the camp, watched the 

 result eagerly, and professed great satisfaction 

 with it. The head men of the suburbs of 

 Cabool asked if they might pay their respects 

 to the British commander. 



On the 8th General Roberts was before Ca- 

 bool. Generals Baker and Macpherson were 

 detailed in strength to attack the enemy who 

 had assembled from the hills above Bala-Hissar. 

 The enemy confronting General Baker fled, 

 abandoning twelve guns, were pursued, and 

 scattered. General Massy was sent to cut off 

 the retreat of the Afghans on the road between 

 Bannian and Rochestan, and captured seventy- 

 eight guns in an abandoned cantonment at 

 Shalpoor. At night the citadel and palace of 

 Bala-Hissar had been abandoned by the enemy. 

 On the evening of the next day the British 

 cavalry, returning from the pursuit of flying 

 Afghan bands, rode through Cabool, and found 

 some of the shops open and everything quiet. 

 General Roberts made a public entry into 

 Cabool at noon of October 12th, accompanied 

 by the Ameer and his suite. British troops of 

 all arms lined the road, and the artillery fired 

 a salute when the British standard was hoisted 

 at the entrance to the city. The Bala-Hissar 

 was subsequently occupied by two regiments. 



