The Lady of Kabul: Florentia Sale and the Disastrous Retreat of 1842 by Michael Scott

Author:Michael Scott [Scott, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2019-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

In the Hands of the Sirdar

Late in the evening of 13 January, Florentia and her party met up with the Sirdar’s other hostages, General Elphinstone, Brigadier Shelton and Captain Johnson at Jagdalak. Little did they realise that, on that day, the remainder of the Army had been completely annihilated at Gandamak.

The next day they all started out at 9 o’clock, accompanied by Akbar Khan and about 600 of his cavalrymen, amongst whom were some deserters from the British army. The road was particularly rough with many ups and downs, which, on first sight, looked totally impracticable. In the 1000 foot ascent of the Adrak-Budrack pass, Florentia had to grip her horse’s mane in case both she and the saddle should part company, but there was a superb view from the summit. In normal times, she thought, she’d have been very frightened, not being accompanied by a groom, but there was no time for that. Still, she enjoyed the wonderful scenery of the defiles they went through, but irritated by constant stopping and starting by those in front. Along the route, they passed 200 to 300 Indian soldiers who had escaped the massacre of the 12th up this unfrequented road. Most were naked and frostbitten, wounded and starving. They’d set fire to the surrounding shrubbery to try to keep warm. Florentia later learned that very few of them survived even after resorting to cannibalism. After an exhausting ten hour journey, the party had travelled some 24 miles and arrived at Fort Kutz, on the right bank of the River Punjsheer. It belonged to a Ghilzai warlord, Mohammad Ali Khan. They were forbidden entry so had to make do with a bivouac outside and, although they had descended into a milder climate, the wind was bitter. Enviously, Florentia saw the General, Shelton, Johnson and Melville invited into a cowshed filled with dense smoke from a blazing fire in the centre, but nice and warm. To make matters worse, these lucky officers were then asked to dine with Akbar Khan in the fort, where they had a sumptuous dinner. Florentia and the rest had some half-baked cakes of unleavened bread, lumps of tough mutton and some hot tea at midnight.

The next day, they started early and crossed two branches of the Kabul River, which was deep and rapid. To give them their due, the Afghans gave everyone a lot of help, Akbar Khan even carrying Mrs Waller behind him on his horse. Another rode alongside Florentia in the river, keeping her horse’s head facing well upstream. In spite of their efforts, five horsemen lost their lives in the torrents. To their pleasure, a number of the camp followers’ ferocious and mangy dogs, which had attached themselves to them, were left behind on the bank. At about 3 o’clock, having ridden a barren and waterless twenty miles to the north-east, they arrived at the fortified town of Tigree, in the rich valley of Lughmanee. The valley was studded with small forts and settlements,

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