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A SMALL FIGHT ON THE INDIAN FRONTIER. 
- BY - 
CAPTAIN G. R. LAMB, R.A. 
A S the centre section of my Battery were actors in a rough night- 
and-day*s work, and had some unusual experiences, I shall 
attempt to give some account of it:— 
Edwardesabad, (or Bannu) and the neighbourhood, in the Punjab 
Frontier Force District, is notorious as the haunt of many Pathan 
outlaws, who have committed murders and outrages, too often with 
impunity, as they can run across the border in an hour or two. The 
Politicals having learnt of the presence of several such men, who were 
wanted by Government, a small column was ordered out to surprise, 
surround and capture them in Gumatti village, situated about nine 
miles from Bannu in the territory of the Darwesh Khel Waziris. The 
column was under the command of Lieut.-Colonel A. C. Batten, 2nd 
Punjab Cavalry, and was composed of :— 
Two Guns No. 4 Hazara Mountain Battery under Lieut. A. Thorp, R.A. 
One Squadron 2nd Punjab Cavalry. 
300 Rifles 2nd Sikhs. 
200 Rifles 1st Punjab Infantry. 
It was paraded without warning at 10 p.m. on Sunday, the 5th 
February, 1899, at Bannu and marched off. A detour was pur¬ 
posely made from the direct route leading from Bannu to Gumatti 
border levy post which was reached at 2 a.m., but the real difficulties 
only began here, for the further route lay through an unknown defile. 
Two parties, each 100 strong, of the 1st Punjab Infantry, were sent 
ahead to move fast, and by passing the village right and left in the 
dark to gain the further side. A narrow rocky defile with precipitous 
sides, through which runs a stream in shallows and deep pools, is not 
the easiest road for a mixed force on a dark night, but by sunrise 
the village of Gumatti in an open and stony valley was reached and 
surrounded; the surprise was complete, and the birds were all at home. 
Diplomacy was tried, the Political officers and their assistants carrying 
on a palaver without effect until 9.30 a.m. 
The village was small, and entirely hidden amongst trees; only two 
towers on the east side could be partly seen—these are built on solid bases 
of stones and mud fifteen feet square and ten feet high, and rise to some 
forty feet, containing two rooms—the only entrance is a small door 
reached by a rope ladder fifteen feet long. The walls are strongly built 
of rough tree trunks, mud, and stones, an effective shelter against 
bullets ; and well-placed loopholes allow a heavy fire on any enemies. 
One tower was surrounded by a nine foot wall—here the outlaws, about 
seventeen men, had taken shelter, and shots fell irregularly—one 
Pathan with a Lee-Metford was shooting well. 
The guns from a mound opened fire at 9-30 a.m., and hammered the 
6. VOL. XXVL 
