Читать книгу From the Black Mountain to Waziristan - H. C. Wylly - Страница 12

The Force Moves Forward

General Garvock accordingly determined to attack the village of Lalu, where there was a force of about 4000 of the enemy, and for this purpose he moved out on the 15th with some 4800 men, unencumbered by tents or baggage, formed into two columns. The first column assembled at the base of “the Crag” picquet and drove the enemy before it to the “Conical” hill. The second column now emerged from the camp, and deploying in prolongation of the line formed by the other column, both prepared to assault the “Conical” hill—a most formidable position, extraordinarily precipitous, rocky, and scarped by nature. Covered by the mountain guns, both columns descended the hill, crossed the valley, drove the enemy from the heights, and captured the position. Colonel Wilde secured the line of hills overlooking the Chamla Valley, while the rest of the force, pushing on after the enemy, captured the villages of Banda and Lalu. The enemy made a vigorous assault upon Colonel Wilde’s position, but were driven off with great slaughter, and a desultory attack was also made upon the front and left of the camp, now held by some 3000 men under Colonel Vaughan. That night the first column occupied the ground it had gained about Lalu; Colonel Wilde that between the camp and “Conical” hill. Not a shot was fired that night. Early next morning the cavalry—some 400 sabres under Lieutenant-Colonel Probyn—were brought from camp, and the advance of the two columns was resumed, Colonel Wilde leading. Advancing across the valley towards the Buner Pass, as the column debouched into the open country the enemy appeared in great force on the hills covering the approach to Ambela—a well-chosen position, of great strength, and peculiarly capable of defence; but fearing that their left would be turned by the cavalry and the other column, the tribesmen abandoned the position and retreated slowly towards the pass leading to Buner. The force pressed on, captured and burnt the village of Ambela, and the first column endeavoured to cut off the enemy’s retreat from the pass towards which they were retiring. Here the tribesmen stood, and made a furious onset on the left of the line, entangled in broken and wooded ground. But the attackers were destroyed almost to a man, and the force pushed forward into the pass, driving the enemy before it. It was now getting late, there was no wish to invade Buner, and the enemy further was in great strength. General Garvock therefore withdrew his troops, and bivouacked that night in the vicinity of Ambela. During these two days the tribesmen present in the field were estimated at 15,000, chiefly Hindustanis, Bajauris, and men from Dir and Swat—none of the Bunerwals had taken any prominent part in the fighting.

That night the men of Bajaur and Dir fled to their homes, and the Swatis alone remained in the field; on the morning of the 17th the Buner jirgah came once more into camp, actually asking for orders. It was wisely decided to require the Bunerwals themselves to destroy Malka without any aid from our troops, and to this the Buner jirgah unanimously consented. Accordingly, on the 19th, a party of six British officers, escorted by the Guides and accompanied by part of the Buner jirgah, left Ambela, and marched through Chamla and Amazai territory—by Kuria and Nagrai—to Malka, which was reached on the 21st. On the following day the settlement was burnt to the ground by the Bunerwals and Amazais, and the party rejoined the force on the 23rd in the Ambela Pass. During these four days matters once or twice looked uncertain, and indeed threatening, but throughout the Bunerwals maintained their reputation for keeping their engagements, while the sight of so powerful a clan carrying out our orders upon their own allies, afforded a salutary lesson to the surrounding tribesmen.

End of Ambela Expedition

General Garvock’s force now began to withdraw to the plains, and the whole had reached Nawa Kala by Christmas Day. Our casualties during the whole of these operations had been 238 killed and 670 wounded, while the estimated total loss of the enemy was 3000.

During the next few years the behaviour of the Bunerwals may, in comparison with that of many other frontier tribes, be described as “good.” Raids were committed upon our border villages in 1868 and 1877, and in 1878 and 1879 there was a certain amount of unrest in Buner, due to the inflammatory preachings of certain mullahs. In 1884 renewed outrages had to be punished by a blockade of the Salarzai Bunerwals; and in 1887 a small column composed of cavalry and infantry was sent to destroy the village of Surai Malandri in punishment for the incursions of raiding parties across the Malandri Pass, but at the end of the year, the Bunerwals submitting, the long-continued blockade was removed. During the Black Mountain expedition of 1888 the Bunerwals evinced a disposition to take part against us, but refrained from doing so; while in 1895 they sent a contingent to help hold the passes against General Low’s force, but arriving too late for the Malakand fighting, this party returned home again. In 1897, however, the Bunerwals were well to the fore in much of the fighting at the Malakand and in Upper Swat, but when called to account at the end of 1897 they merely sent defiant answers to the ultimatum of the political officers, and it therefore became necessary to despatch an expedition into their country.

Expedition against the Bunerwals and Chamlawals, January 1898.—The Buner Field Force was placed under the command of Major-General Sir Bindon Blood, and the greater part of it concentrated at Sanghao: it was composed as under:

FIRST BRIGADE.

Brigadier-General Meiklejohn, C.B., C.M.G.

1st Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment.16th Bengal Infantry.^[51]20th Punjab Infantry.31st Punjab Infantry.

SECOND BRIGADE.

Brigadier-General Jeffreys, C.B.

1st Battalion The Buffs.21st Punjab Infantry.^[52]Guides Infantry.

DIVISIONAL TROOPS.

10th Field Battery R.A.No. 7 Mountain Battery R.A.No. 8 Bengal Mountain Battery R.A.^[53]1 Squadron 10th Bengal Lancers.^[54]Guides Cavalry.2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry.6 Companies 3rd Bombay Light Infantry.^[55]No. 4 Company Bengal Sappers and Miners.No. 5 Company Madras Sappers and Miners.

Buner Expedition of 1898

Sir Bindon Blood, with the bulk of his troops at Sanghao, intended to force the Tanga Pass, about a mile to the northward, while a small column composed of the 31st Punjab Infantry, the Guides Infantry and a section of No. 4 Company Bengal Sappers and Miners, was to capture the Pirsai Pass, when the cavalry, moving from Rustam, was to cross over the Pirsai Pass and cut the enemy’s line of retreat from the Tanga. This last-named pass was known to be held by about a thousand of the enemy, as were the Ambela and Malandri, but only forty or fifty men had collected for the defence of the Pirsai. The 2nd Brigade advanced on the morning of the 7th January and found the position defended by at least 2000 men, and from a parallel ridge facing the pass the Buffs and mountain guns opened fire at 1500 yards, under cover of which the rest of the troops pushed forward through the ravine, while the 20th Punjab Infantry had ascended a steep spur to the east, leading to a high peak overlooking the position. When the 20th were seen to be approaching their objective, the frontal attack commenced. The enemy, however, demoralised by the heavy gun and rifle fire, made no real stand, and, pressed by the 20th on their right, early began to abandon their position, and finally fled down the valley towards Kingargali and the hills beyond. Three battalions of the 1st Brigade pushed on to Kingargali, which was found deserted. Meanwhile the cavalry and infantry from Rustam and Pirsai had captured the Pirsai Pass without meeting with but slight resistance, and the cavalry pushed on up the narrow valley as far as Kuhai, returning to Chorbanda, two miles north of the pass, where the night was spent. On the 10th this column joined the 1st Brigade at Bampokha.

Two divisions of Bunerwals now at once came in and tendered their submission, but it was decided to visit the territory of every division, and General Meiklejohn’s column accordingly marched to Jawar Bai, Hildai, Rega, where the house of the Mad Fakir (of whom more will be heard later) was destroyed, and Barkeli. The 2nd Brigade, which had returned to Sanghao after the capture of the Tanga Pass, entered Buner by the Ambela Pass and occupied Koga and Nawagai, the cavalry reconnoitring the Chamla Valley. These measures led to the prompt and complete submission of all divisions of the Bunerwals and of the men of Chamla, and the force was withdrawn by the Ambela Pass, and reached Mardan on the 20th January.

Operations against the Gaduns

During the Ambela expedition of 1863 the behaviour of the Gadun tribe had not been uniformly satisfactory, and consequently on the break up of the force Colonel Wilde took a strong brigade into their country, visited Meni, and also Khabal in the territory of the Utmanzais, whose conduct had been of an equally hostile character. No opposition was experienced, but it was decided to require the two tribes to perform a similar service to that demanded of the Bunerwals, viz. to destroy a Hindustani fort and settlement called Mandi adjacent to Sitana. This was carried out and the force was then broken up; the effect of these measures was immediately apparent, for within the next few weeks the Mada Khels, the Amazais and the remaining sections of the Hassanzais all sent deputations to our political officers and made their submission. For some years, however, the Gaduns continued to give trouble, committing outrages of all kinds and raiding on the border. They were blockaded, coerced and fined, but continued to be troublesome; in 1897, too, they were implicated in the attacks on the Malakand and Chakdara posts, but in the end of that year they finally made submission and paid up the fines demanded of them.

This chapter commenced with some account of our dealings with the Hindustani fanatics, and may fittingly end with a few final words about them. Expelled in 1864 from Malka, they retreated into the Chagarzai country north of the Barandu River, but were not very comfortable there, their hosts frequently threatening them with expulsion. In 1868 they appear to have moved from their settlements in the Chagarzai territory to Bajkatta in Buner, and here in April they were joined by Feroz Shah, the son of the last king of Delhi. The presence of the Hindustanis in Buner was abhorrent to the Akhund, who induced his co-religionists to decide to expel them. In consequence of this resolve, the fanatics, now some 700 strong, hurriedly retreated to Malka, where they commenced re-building their houses. Some of them eventually got permission to return to Buner, but, intriguing against the Akhund, the order of expulsion was again put in force, and they were hunted out of the country, suffering heavy losses, and took refuge, first with the Chagarzais, then at Palosi—moving again to Thakot, and eventually back again to the country of the Hassanzais who rented them some land at Maidan near Palosi, where they remained until 1888. After their dramatic appearance at Kotkai in the Black Mountain operations of 1888, they resought an asylum among the Chagarzais, but are now, to the number of 700, living among the Amazais, neither occupying themselves greatly with local feuds nor being seriously implicated in other disturbances. But of late years there have not been wanting signs—faint, perhaps, but discernible—of a slight revival of their former activity.