Personal Records of the Kandahar CampaignWaller Ashe The Kandahar Campaign was the last phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80). It began in late June 1880, when Ayub Khan, the governor of Herat, led an Afghan force toward Kandahar, then occupied by an Anglo-Indian army. A column of troops under Brigadier General George Burrows was sent from Kandahar to try to intercept Ayub Khan's force but was defeated in a fierce battle at Maiwand on July 27. The remnants of the British force struggled back to Kandahar, followed by Ayub Khan, who laid siege to the city. A column of approximately 10,000 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant General Frederick Roberts then was sent from Kabul to relieve the city. After marching some 480 kilometers to reach Kandahar, Roberts decisively defeated Ayub Khan at Baba Wali on September 1, thereby bringing the war to an end. The new Liberal government of Prime Minister William Gladstone, formed in April 1880, already had decided to terminate the war and had ordered the withdrawal to India of all British troops in Afghanistan, which the Kandahar Campaign delayed by some months. Personal Records of the Kandahar Campaign, by Officers Engaged Therein is a compilation of letters by officers serving with the armies of General Burrows and General Roberts, assembled by Waller Ashe, an author and retired British army major. The documents provide extensive and detailed accounts from the British perspective of this final phase of the war. Waller does not give the names of the men who wrote the letters, some of which may have been fictionalized or embellished by the compiler. The book contains an introduction by Ashe that summarizes the history of Afghanistan and of the two Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th century. Ashe was an enthusiast for the British Empire and British military glory. He was also co-editor of The Story of the Zulu Campaign, published in 1880 and likewise compiled from the letters of officers who served in the campaign. |
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Page xx
... Helmund , to be cut up in detail by Ayub Khan ? Fortunately for us , the Afghan Prince was precipitate and rash in his advance from Herat , for if he had waited another month , the splendid force collected by Sir Frederick Roberts at ...
... Helmund , to be cut up in detail by Ayub Khan ? Fortunately for us , the Afghan Prince was precipitate and rash in his advance from Herat , for if he had waited another month , the splendid force collected by Sir Frederick Roberts at ...
Page xxii
... Helmund their principal attack . The experiences of the late as of the former wars we have had with Afghanistan show plainly how difficult is the march from Quetta to Kandahar , and how useless would the former be as an outpost were the ...
... Helmund their principal attack . The experiences of the late as of the former wars we have had with Afghanistan show plainly how difficult is the march from Quetta to Kandahar , and how useless would the former be as an outpost were the ...
Page xxiii
... Helmund , and in the city of Kandahar itself , and who dread our departure as the greatest calamity that can befall them ! Are those advocates of evacuation aware of whom and what the Kandaharis are , and come from ? They are certainly ...
... Helmund , and in the city of Kandahar itself , and who dread our departure as the greatest calamity that can befall them ! Are those advocates of evacuation aware of whom and what the Kandaharis are , and come from ? They are certainly ...
Page 3
... Helmund on the 1st of April , 1868 , since when it has remained the capital of Southern Afghanistan . You will remember , in my former letters , how I told you of General Stewart's entry into Kandahar , on the 9th January last year the ...
... Helmund on the 1st of April , 1868 , since when it has remained the capital of Southern Afghanistan . You will remember , in my former letters , how I told you of General Stewart's entry into Kandahar , on the 9th January last year the ...
Page 4
... Helmund river , to effect a junction with the Wali Shere Ali , our new ruler , in order to check the advance of Ayub Khan , who , as I have already stated , is advancing in force from Herat . The strength of Ayub's force has , I venture ...
... Helmund river , to effect a junction with the Wali Shere Ali , our new ruler , in order to check the advance of Ayub Khan , who , as I have already stated , is advancing in force from Herat . The strength of Ayub's force has , I venture ...
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Common terms and phrases
3rd Bengal Cavalry Abdurrahman Afghan Afghanistan Ameer Argandab army artillery attack Ayub Ayub Khan Ayub's Baba Wali battery bayonets brigade British Burrows Cabul camels camp Captain carried Central India Horse chief citadel cloth Colonel Coloured column commanding Crown 8vo DAVID BOGUE Demy 8vo Dost Mahomed Edition enemy Fcap feet fighting fire flank force Frederick Roberts front gallant galloped Gandigan garrison Ghazis Ghilzai Ghuzni Girishk Goorkhas Gough Government ground guns Helmund Herat hills horsemen Illustrated India infantry Kandahar karez Khan Kokeran Kotal Kushk-i-Nakhud Lancers letters Logar Valley Lord Lord Lytton Maiwand Major Martin's Place Mazra Meanwhile miles mountain native officers Pass Peshawur Pir Paimal plain position Primrose Quetta rear regiments ridge Rifles river road Roberts sabres Scinde Horse sent Shah Shere Shere Ali Sikhs Sir Donald Sir Frederick Sirdar skirmishers slopes soldiers squadrons tent tribes troops Viceroy village walls wounded
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