Part 16 (2/2)
”The walls of the fort were of solid stone, cemented by mud, and strengthened by strong timbers. They were fourteen feet in height, and eight feet in thickness; and were surmounted by flanking towers and battlements, which afforded the defenders a perfect cover. In front of the main gate was a loopholed wall, completely hiding the gateway; and in front of this again was a very deep ditch, filled with abattis; while a broad band of abattis filled the s.p.a.ce between the ditch, and a precipitous spur from the adjacent mountain. This spur was, unfortunately, inaccessible for guns and, though our infantry mounted it, their fire had no effect upon the enemy, sheltered as they were behind their battlements.
”It was therefore necessary to make a direct attack, and storm the fort on a front of only sixty yards. After a vain attempt to make some impression on the forts with mountain guns, the order was given to advance; and the Ghoorkhas, two hundred strong, and a company of sappers dashed forward into the ravine facing the west wall. A few of them managed to force their way into a weak point of the abattis, under a heavy fire from the fort; and worked round to a gateway. This was soon hacked down, and then they burst into the courtyard.
”Captain Aylmer, R.E., set to work to place a charge of gun cotton against the main entrenchment of the fort. After repeated failures, the fuse was lighted and the gate blown in. Captain Aylmer was severely wounded, in three places; and several of the men killed.
”So far the attack had been so astonis.h.i.+ngly bold and quick that the main body were unaware of the success; and Colonel Duran, thinking the explosion was caused by the bursting of one of the enemy's guns, continued steadily firing at the fort. The position of the twenty men and three officers was precarious, indeed, as they were thus exposed to a heavy fire from behind, as well as in front. With splendid heroism, however, they held on to the advantage they had gained till some reinforcements came up; and then, pressing on through the shattered gate, they captured the fort.
”For a fortnight after this the force remained inactive, for no way of ascending the great ravine was known. At last, however, an enterprising sepoy discovered a way, and on the 19th of December a hundred men, under two lieutenants, were ordered to leave Nilt fort under cover of darkness, drop silently down into the bed of the ravine, and there await daylight.
”The portion of the enemy's position that had been selected for attack was on the extreme left, on the crest of a cliff which rose, without a break, fifteen hundred feet from the bed of the ravine.
Another force, a hundred and thirty-five men and six British officers, with two guns, was to cover the advance of the storming party. At eight o'clock in the morning, fire was opened upon the enemy, as it was antic.i.p.ated that the storming party were well up the cliff by this time; but unfortunately, after ascending the precipice halfway, they reached a point where the cliff was absolutely impracticable, and were obliged to descend again into the ravine.
”At two o'clock, having discovered a more practicable way, they ascended again, foot by foot; their commander working his way up with admirable judgment, moving from point to point, as opportunity offered, between the showers of stones. The enemy were now fully aware that the precipice was being scaled, and it was only the well-directed fire of the covering party that prevented them from issuing from their defences, and annihilating the party with rocks and boulders.
”The summit was reached at half-past eleven, and the first of the enemy's works captured. They rushed sangar after sangar, taking them in rear and driving out the enemy pell mell, killing many and capturing a large number of prisoners. At last the pa.s.sage of the great ravine was gained, and the British force enabled to move forward again.
”The greatest credit was due to Lieutenant Manners-Smith; whose conduct, in storming the height in broad daylight, was simply magnificent; and the result showed the manner in which even young officers can distinguish themselves, and how the native troops will follow them, unhesitatingly, through dangers which would well appal even the bravest.
”It is possible, however, to demand too much from our troops; as was shown in the defence of Chillas. The post was held, in '93, by three hundred men of the Kashmir Maharajah's bodyguard, under the command of two British officers, Major Daniels and Lieutenant Moberley. For some time, Daniels had been warned that he might be attacked on the night of a Mohammedan feast. It was understood that this was on the 3rd of March and, when the night pa.s.sed quietly, it was considered that the alarm had been a false one. During the next night, however, a determined attack was made, by about a thousand men; but was repulsed by steady volleys.
”Major Daniels then determined to take the offensive and attack the enemy, who were swarming in great numbers into a neighbouring village. At half-past three Moberley, with thirty-five men, went out to attack the village. After severe fighting, and some loss, he effected a lodgment in an outer line of houses; but being himself badly wounded, and finding the village too strongly held for a small party to make any further progress, he retired with his detachment to the fort.
”The enemy continued a heavy fire until half-past eight, when Major Daniels determined to attack them again; although their numbers were now swollen to between four thousand and five thousand men. He had with him only a hundred and forty available men, a number being required to garrison the fort. Dividing his little force, however, he attacked the village on two sides. The fight went on for two hours, during which one of the two attacking parties gained a partial footing in the village; but wounded men began to struggle back to the fort, and reported that Major Daniels and many men had been killed; and the remnants of the attacking party were brought back, by a native officer, at half-past eleven. The casualties in killed and wounded were very heavy, including the two British officers, four native officers, and forty-six rank and file.
Fortunately the natives; believing, no doubt, that reinforcements would arrive, scattered to their homes without further action.
”Here was a case in which the native troops were ordered to perform what verged on the impossible. The houses in these native villages are almost always fortified; and to take a hundred and fifty men, to attack a place held by five thousand, was asking more than the best British soldiers could be expected to achieve.
”At any rate, the stories I have told you will give you some idea of the work we have before us. We may quite a.s.sume that such a force as is now being collected can be trusted to defeat the Afridis, if they venture to meet us in open fight; but if they resort solely to hara.s.sing tactics, we shall have our work cut out for us. It must be remembered, too, that the Afridis are far better fighters, more warlike, and of far better physique than the men engaged in the fights that I have been speaking of. They are splendid shots, and are almost all armed with breech-loading rifles, Sniders and Martinis. Their country is tremendously hilly and, although it is wholly unknown to us, we do know that there are ravines to be pa.s.sed where a handful of men could keep an army at bay.”
”I was with the Sikhim expedition, in '88,” one of the captains said. ”At that time I was in the Derbys.h.i.+res. In this case it was the wildness of the country, rather than the stoutness of the defence of the Thibetans, that caused our difficulty. The force consisted of a mountain battery of four guns, two hundred men of our regiment, four hundred of the Bengal Infantry, and seven hundred men of the 32nd Pioneers. The men were all picked and of good physique, as it was known that the campaign would be a most arduous one. In addition to the usual entrenching tools, a hundred and twenty short swords were issued to each regiment, and fifty per cent of the followers were also supplied. These swords were to be used for clearing away jungle. The country was very rugged, and the work had to be done at the alt.i.tude of twelve thousand feet, where the mountains are mostly covered with forest trees and undergrowth.
”The base from which we started was thirty miles northeast of Darjeeling, and the first objective of the expedition was the fort of Lingtu, forty miles distant. The advance was made in two columns; the first consisting of two mountain guns, a hundred men of the Derbys.h.i.+res, and three hundred of the 32nd Pioneers, which were to make for Lingtu; while the rest were to operate towards Intchi, where the Rajah of Sikhim resided, and thus prevent reinforcements from being sent to Lingtu.
”The latter column met with no opposition and, after accomplis.h.i.+ng their work, retired. The first column came across the enemy at Jeluk, five miles short of Lingtu. Here the Thibetans had erected a strong stockade, at the top of a very steep ascent; and had barricaded the road with stone breastworks.
”The position was attacked, at seven in the morning, by a hundred men of the 32nd Pioneers; supported by seventy-eight men of my regiment. The guns had had to be left behind. The advance was slow and, owing to the dense bamboo jungle through which we had to pa.s.s, and the steepness of the road, great caution was necessary.
”When we had reached a spot within a few hundred yards of the stockade, fire was suddenly opened on the Pioneers. These, however, moved on steadily, without replying till, having worked their way close up to the stockade, they fired a volley; and then, with a loud cheer, charged with bayonets fixed. The Derbys.h.i.+re detachment moved up into support, and the position was captured after a sharp struggle.
”A small turning party, under Captain Lumsden, had been detached to the left but, after proceeding a short distance, they found that the road had been cleared to where it pa.s.sed round a precipice; and that it was defended by a party of the enemy, behind a stone breastwork, at ten yards' range. Captain Lumsden and several of his men were knocked over, and the party were brought to a complete stand. So thick was the jungle that they did not know what was going on, on either side; and the first intimation they received, of the capture of the fort, was the descent of a party of Derbys.h.i.+res in the rear of the breastworks.
”The stockade, when it was examined, turned out to be a most formidable one; about two hundred yards long, both flanks resting on impa.s.sable precipices. It was constructed of logs laid horizontally, with a thick abattis of twelve trees.
”Next morning the advance on Lingtu was continued, in a dense mist.
Information was obtained, from a prisoner, that they would have to cross a spot where there was a stone shoot, down which an avalanche of rocks could be hurled by the defenders. They therefore advanced with great caution, while a party of the Pioneers crept along the crest of the ridge, and attacked from the rear the party gathered at the head of the stone shoot. The road was steep and broken, and the partially-melted snow lay two feet deep on it. The Pioneers captured the stone shoot without loss, and then pushed on over the hills and, without firing a shot, charged straight at the fort; and burst their way through the main gate, before the astonished Thibetans had realized what was happening.
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