The Relief of Chitral
(1895)
In the relief of Chitral a number of native regiments took part. In the spring of 1895 Britain was suddenly called to attention by the news, flashed along the cables, that hell had broken loose in Chitral. This probably meant that a few British officers, with a small band of Sikhs and other native troops, were in a most dangerous position in the capital of that state. The probability soon became a certainty, and great alarm was felt as to their safety. The next piece of bad news was that the British were hemmed up in a small fort, and, in that desperate position, were defending it against fearful odds, beating off wild hordes of tribesmen, and fighting, in grim despair, against the clock, hoping that time might bring succour and relief. And the jeopardy of this situation was not lessened by the fresh news that two little sections of the British army from Gilgit had to scale mountains more rugged than the Alps before penetrating into the lowlands of Chitral to the relief of the little garrison.
After news of an engagement on March 7th no tidings were received from Chitral Fort. Meanwhile came the official report of the defeat of Captain Goss at Mastuj, he and fifty-six men having been killed—fifty-six out of a total of seventy-one. This, with the death-like silence of Chitral, was appalling; and immediately Major-General Sir Robert Low was ordered to mobilise on the frontier of the enemy’s territory, and Colonel Kelly, commanding the 32nd Pioneers in the Gilgit district, was given carte blanche to plan the relief of Chitral in whatever way might seem best to him.
The journey from Gilgit to Chitral is a stupendous undertaking for an army. The distance is 220 miles, and the way lies over a gigantic range of mountains containing passes deep with perpetual snow. When it became known that Colonel Kelly had actually undertaken this journey in the hope of reaching Chitral in time to render assistance to the beleaguered British, the heart of Britain was contracted. There was a chill fear abroad, and the despairing word “impossible” was in constant use. In the clubs men who knew those mountains gazed into each other’s eyes and borrowed what hope they could. The apparently impossible had often been attempted before, and proved possible; so the nation waited, nursing that fire of courage which is always kept burning in its breast.
Low’s force was as follows:—
1st Brigade (General Kinloch).—Royal Rifles, Bedfordshires, 1st Sikhs, 37th Dogras.
2nd Brigade (General Waterfield).—Gordons, Scottish Highlanders, 4th Sikhs, Guides’ Infantry, Field Hospital.
3rd Brigade (General Gatacre).—Seaforth Highlanders, Buffs, 25th Punjabis, 4th Gurkhas, Field Hospital.
Divisional Troops.—Guides’ Infantry, 11th Bengal Lancers, 13th Bengal Infantry, 23rd Pioneers, Bengal Sappers, East Lancashire Regiment, 29th and 30th Punjabis, Field Hospital.
Colonel Kelly’s force consisted of two parties:—
(1) 200 Pioneers, 2 mountain guns, 40 Kashmir sappers, with 100 Hunzanagur levies.
(2) 100 Kashmir troops, under Lieut. Gough.
Low forced Malakand Pass. The enemy’s strength was on the left side of the pass. Low brought his artillery to bear on this position, while the 4th Sikhs and Guides were thrown forward to scale the hills and carry the breastworks of loose stones; after which they were to work along the ridges and turn the enemy’s flank.
No sooner had they come within range than the hillmen poured a fierce fire into their ranks; but our men could not reply, as their stern business was to climb, and climb as quickly as possible. And a most desperate ascent it was, for they had to contend against not only a hail of bullets, but an avalanche of boulders as well. The officers suffered heavily, from the simple fact that they could easily be distinguished by their helmets among the turbaned troops.
It was a long and tragic climb, but at last it came to the point of the bayonet on the crest of the hill, and after more than three hours’ fighting the defenders abandoned the position. The Sikhs and Guides, who carried this important point, had been nineteen hours under arms.
During this time the Scottish Borderers and the Gordons had forced their way up the centre of the pass until they now came to the last climb, which was the steepest of all. But it was their own native task that was before them, and, point by point, they scrambled upwards, helping each other up, and never flinching under the constant storm of lead. Seeing the desperate nature of their situation, Low despatched Kinloch’s infantry to their support: the King’s Royal Rifles on the left and the Bedfordshires and Dogras on the right; the 15th Sikhs being held in reserve. The Borderers and the Gordons not only held, but gained ground, and the Bedfordshires, when they came up, pushed right through the fighting line, and, supported by the Dogras, finished the fight the Borderers and the Gordons had so long contested. Clear over the ridge they drove the hillmen, and the Dogras never ceased pursuit of the routed foe until the survivors were dispersed in the Swat valley.
Kelly encountered much severe fighting on his difficult journey, and his daring and successful mission of relief can never be forgotten. The principal engagement, however, was at Malakand Pass, where, though victorious, Sir Robert Low’s small force lost seventy killed and wounded.
Besides the many native regiments which took part in the relief of Chitral, special honour is due to the 14th (King George’s Own) Ferozepore Sikhs, who were prominent in its defence. Their bravery of despair and their heroic patience in that defence have bequeathed to them a heritage of glory in the annals of Britain; and
“The gold of glory, put to use,
More glory doth beget.”