4.04, RELIEF OF CHITRAL FORT AND SIEGE OF CHITRAL. 
this very gallant deed and the sepoys for the Order of Merit. From 
3rd March to 19th April the fort was closely invested on all sides by 
the enemy. They built fascine entrenchments at 40 yards distance, and 
kept up a fire night and day. They were armed with many breech- 
loading rifles and lots of ammunition, and the losses in the fort 
amounted to 17 killed and 380 wounded. The conduct of the 14th 
Sikhs under Lieutenant Harley was beyond praise, they never got a 
night off the walls, and the greater the danger became the more cheerful 
they appeared. ‘The garrison were rationed from 3rd March on 1 lb. 
of gritty flour only daily, and the only meat obtainable was the officer’s 
ponies. Several attempts were made to fire the fort, one of which fired 
a tower largely made of wood, and in attempting to put this out the 
British agent, Mr. Robertson, was severely wounded in left shoulder. 
The enemy also mined to within 2 yards of one tower and when this 
was discovered, on 18th April, Lieutenant Harley with 40 Sikhs and 
60 Kashmir sepoys made a brilliant sortie, caught the enemy in the mine, 
killed 46 of them, and blew in the mine. His party lost 8 killed and 
14 wounded. 
Great preparations had been made for a grand assault on 19th April, 
but the enemy fled on the approach of the Gilgit column on the night 
of the 18th to 19th. The whole garrison were never off the walls at 
night, and endured their privations cheerfully. The bhisties should 
not be forgotten ; two of them were killed and one wounded. : 
