what happened in 1842 ? the first anglo-afghan war , General Elphinstone's experience.
kohath19114
excerpts
The conquest of Afghanistan seemed accomplished, and a considerable
portion of the troops was sent back. But the Afghans were noways
content to be ruled by the Feringhee Kaffirs (European infidels), and
during the whole of 1840 and ’41, insurrection followed on
insurrection in every part of the country. The Anglo-Indian troops had
to be constantly on the move. Yet, McNaghten declared this to be the
normal state of Afghan society, and wrote home that every thing went
on well, and Shah Soojah’s power was taking root. In vain were the
warnings of the military officers and the other political agents. Dost
Mohammed had surrendered to the British in October, 1840, and was sent
to India; every insurrection during the summer of ’41 was successfully
repressed, and toward October, McNaghten, nominated governor of
Bombay, intended leaving with another body of troops for India. But
then the storm broke out. The occupation of Afghanistan cost the
Indian treasury £1,250,000 per annum: 16,000 troops, Anglo-Indian, and
Shah Soojah’s, had to be paid in Afghanistan; 3,000 more lay in Sinde,
and the Bolan Pass; Shah Soojah’s regal splendours, the salaries of
his functionaries, and all expenses of his court and government, were
paid by the Indian treasury, and finally, the Afghan chiefs were
subsidized, or rather bribed, from the same source, in order to keep
them out of mischief. McNaghten was informed of the impossibility of
going on at this rate of spending money. He attempted retrenchment,
but the only possible way to enforce it was to cut down the allowances
of the chiefs. The very day he attempted this, the chiefs formed a
conspiracy for the extermination of the British, and thus McNaghten
himself was the means of bringing about the concentration of those
insurrectionary forces, which hitherto had struggled against the
invaders singly, and without unity or concert; though it is certain,
too, that by this time the hatred of British dominion among the
Afghans had reached the highest point.
The English in Kabul were commanded by Gen. Elphinstone, a gouty,
irresolute, completely helpless old man, whose orders constantly
contradicted each other. The troops occupied a sort of fortified camp,
which was so extensive that the garrison was scarcely sufficient to
man the ramparts, much less to detach bodies to act in the field. The
works were so imperfect that ditch and parapet could be ridden over on
horseback. As if this was not enough, the camp was commanded almost
within musket range by the neighbouring heights, and to crown the
absurdity of the arrangements, all provisions, and medical stores,
were in two detached forts at some distance from camp, separated from
it, moreover, by walled gardens and another small fort not occupied by
the English. The citadel or Bala Hissar of Kabul would have offered
strong and splendid winter quarters for the whole army, but to please
Shah Soojah, it was not occupied. Nov. 2, 1841, the insurrection broke
out. The house of Alexander Burnes, in the city, was attacked and he
himself murdered. The British general did nothing, and the
insurrection grew strong by impunity. Elphinstone, utterly helpless,
at the mercy of all sorts of contradictory advice, very soon got every
thing into that confusion which Napoleon [Bonaparte] described by the
three words, ordre, contre-ordre, disordre . The Bala Hissar was, even
now, not occupied. A few companies were sent against the thousands of
insurgents, and of course were beaten. This still more emboldened the
Afghans. Nov. 3, the forts close to the camp were occupied. On the
9th, the commissariat fort (garrisoned by only 80 men) was taken by
the Afghans, and the British were thus reduced to starvation. On the
5th, Elphinstone already talked of buying a free passage out of the
country. In fact, by the middle of November, his irresolution and
incapacity had so demoralised the troops that neither Europeans nor
Sepoys[48] were any longer fit to meet the Afghans in the open field.
Then the negotiations began. During these, McNaghten was murdered in a
conference with Afghan chiefs. Snow began to cover the ground,
provisions were scarce. At last, Jan. 1, a capitulation was concluded.
All the money, £190,000, was to be handed over to the Afghans, and
bills signed for £140,000 more. All the artillery and ammunition,
except 6 six-pounders and 3 mountain guns, were to remain. All
Afghanistan was to be evacuated. The chiefs, on the other hand,
promised a safe conduct, provisions, and baggage cattle.
Jan. 5, the British marched out, 4,500 combatants and 12,000 camp-
followers. One march sufficed to dissolve the last remnant of order,
and to mix up soldiers and camp-followers in one hopeless confusion,
rendering all resistance impossible. The cold and snow and the want of
provisions acted as in Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow [in 1812]. But
instead of Cossacks keeping a respectful distance, the British were
harassed by infuriated Afghan marksmen, armed with long-range
matchlocks, occupying every height. The chiefs who signed the
capitulation neither could nor would restrain the mountain tribes. The
Koord-Kabul Pass became the grave of nearly all the army, and the
small remnant, less than 200 Europeans, fell at the entrance of the
Jugduluk Pass. Only one man, Dr. Brydon, reached Jelalabad to tell the
tale. Many officers, however, had been seized by the Afghans, and kept
in captivity, Jelalabad was held by Sale’s brigade. Capitulation was
demanded of him, but he refused to evacuate the town, so did Nott at
Kandahar. Ghuznee had fallen; there was not a single man in the place
that understood any thing about artillery, and the Sepoys of the
garrison had succumbed to the climate.
In the mean time, the British authorities on the frontier at the first
news of the disaster of Kabul, had concentrated at Peshawer the troops
destined for the relief of the regiments in Afghanistan. But
transportation was wanting and the Sepoys fell sick in great numbers.
Gen. Pollock, in February, took the command, and by the end of March,
1842, received further reinforcements. He then forced the Khyber Pass,
and advanced to the relief of Sale at Jelalabad; here Sale had a few
days before completely defeated the investing Afghan army. Lord
Ellenborough, now governor-general of India, ordered the troops to
fall back; but both Nott and Pollock found a welcome excuse in the
want of transportation. At last, by the beginning of July, public
opinion in India forced Lord Ellenborough to do something for the
recovery of the national honour and the prestige of the British army;
accordingly, he authorised an advance on Kabul, both from Kandahar and
Jelalabad. By the middle of August, Pollock and Nott had come to an
understanding respecting their movements, and Aug. 20, Pollock moved
towards Kabul, reached Gundamuck, and beat a body of Afghans on the
23rd, carried the Jugduluk Pass Sept. 8, defeated the assembled
strength of the enemy on the 13th at Tezeen, and encamped on the 15th
under the walls of Kabul. Nott, in the mean time, had, Aug. 7,
evacuated Kandahar, and marched with all his forces toward Ghuznee.
After some minor engagements, he defeated a large body of Afghans,
Aug. 30, took possession of Ghuznee, which had been abandoned by the
enemy, Sept. 6, destroyed the works and town, again defeated the
Afghans in the strong position of Alydan, and, Sept. 17, arrived near
Kabul, where Pollock at once established his communication with him.
Shah Soojah had, long before, been murdered by some of the chiefs, and
since then no regular government had existed in Afghanistan;
nominally, Futteh Jung, his son, was king. Pollock despatched a body
of cavalry after the Kabul prisoners, but these had succeeded in
bribing their guard, and met him on the road. As a mark of vengeance,
the bazaar of Kabul was destroyed, on which occasion the soldiers
plundered part of the town and massacred many inhabitants. Oct. 12,
the British left Kabul and marched by Jelalabad and Peshawer to India.
Futteh Jung, despairing of his position, followed them. Dost Mohammed
was now dismissed from captivity, and returned to his kingdom. Thus
ended the attempt of the British to set up a prince of their own
making in Afghanistan.