Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎136v] (281/312)

/ is only 186 rcilec. Though Sir John K&ane's in-oop-i had
Kuch to conietd with owing to various changes of tern-
perature, the necessity of living for a long time on half
ratiouF, ard from the harassing hostility of the plunder-
irg tribes on the way, no troops probably ever showed a
better spiiit cr a better appearance at the end of thwlr
lo»g to arch, or comtnitted so few acta calcalat ad t3 pre
judice the populace against them,
" While the army under Sir John Keane was moving
«ith Shah Shoojah through the Bolan by Q^etta and Canda
tar on the Affghan capital, a force composed entirely of
rativep, but cfScered by us, was directed to advance-un*
der| Sir Claude Wade through the Khyber with i;he
Sbabzada Timoor, Shah Shoojah's heir-apparent. Two
companies cf British Sepojs formed parb of Wade'a
i force, which condsted of about 4,80(> men and four guns.
A Sikh contirgent, 6,000 strong with 12 guns, was bo co
operate with him, under General Ventuia, one of Bun-
i(et Singh's European officers; Imt eventusily a Sikh
Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. went in command of it, the political and military
control of the united contingents being vested in Wade
who left Lahore for Peshawur in December,, 1838. A
Sikh army cf observation, under Koonwur Nao Nihal
Singh, a grandson of Eunjeet, was also assembled on the
! frontier at Peshawur. The Shahzada'a contingent was
| organised by the middle cf May, ISS^, when Slo John
Keace bad reached Candahar; but as any advance
on - Cabul would have been premataco- before
fcutbentic news had reached Wade of the neas? proxl-
nity oftbe Army of the Indus to the capital, he did
not break up from the Peshawur end of the Eiyber till
July 22. Besides the Affghan garrison ia All Musjeed
there were 2,500 men, with 14 gun?, undeu the Dast's
second eon, Muhammed Akbar Khan, at Jalkrlabad. The
action cf all the Khyberees was uncertain,, but these
resrest the Peshawur end had been gained over to our
side, and were employed in watching the ts/o roa^h lead-
irg into the defile for us. The Kbyber k about 28 milea
n length, and A)i Mutjsed ia sev&a mii®s from the
Tgehawur end of the pas?. Excepting the valley of
Lglabeg, s'x miles long,, and two- milfes beyond All
Musjeed, the remaining 22 miles can be commanded
by jingals (wall pieces)i. or evea by th®- Jeziila of the
enemy, and in many places by a commoa musket of the
old pattern. Por the first four milesthe r©ad is very con-
■ traoted, and the hills on each sid-e aro a-aarly perpendi
cular ; to the left, two miles up the paaa*, there is a road
which h ads to the top of the hills. At about five miles
and a half is a tower, or Jaghir on the n%hfc, which could
[ fire on any enemy moving by either raad. Prom this .
| tower to Ali Muejeed is one mile andis ahalf; on the left.
| is the range oirhiils by which the fost is approached ; on,
the right is the bill which nuns^ pajjalie} to, and which ia>
commanded hy the fort. The 4owa» above mentionqdi
v as occupied, by the enemy,, aad Ali Musjeed was^
iticngly garrisoned. There were^ boeastworks throv?®,Rp,
on the hiljs» so that ii was neccasar-y Jo move slowlgs, and
at each hajt to stockade the ^troops^ »nd the left w&aihe
i point ^idch required tbe aioat «xaot vigilanseo Byy
cautions and skllSally-plannad oaoeyemeata Wade„drova»
the estfmy froio.point to pointy between the-, 22di audi
26th of Augu&ij, to Ali Musj«fd, which vt&s, fpamM.
; eracaated on the moraing o£ ^ae 2?th. Rg^atedt
tempts wera made by the ciaits to indues luuhairia^J
A^Jar to them ia oppaaing Wade's advaac%. but
without sTttsaess. Tie total loss of killed and waa ided
pa our si^e was 180. On September 3 arris-^d at
€abul wiih no further oppe^ition to speak. Qf»,
" The whole of i&s avs^able troops fiaa opQ^Aislons in
! Affghaaistan numbered about 54,000. Eaen^ including
15,G0ft ccmposSsg the Sikh army sf; obsarvatloa at
Petloawur. The Bengal coiumn of tba ar,tajr of the Indus
was 9,500 strong, ths Bombay column ^600, together
a^cut 15,000 me-n. Besides these there was a reserva
' division i.t Ferogepote under general Duncan, 4^60,
ssroEg', and another reserve djvialon under Brig^dies
Vtlit nt at Kurraobef, 3,000 stifong. Skab Shoojah's force
amcunted to 6,000'men, and ike Shabi-ada's to4,S|K)i The,
S-l'. h contingent co-operating with the last a&.mbered
6,000. The actwal number, however, of BriMsh-Indiaia
troops that inraded Affghanistaa by th& Kfayber anil
Eolan Passea •'Jd §3,000 %acl S6
gypst" _