On the return march during the night of the 7th., the rearguard was attacked by the Persians, who were kept in check until daybreak, when the enemy, amounting to between six and seven thousand men, were perceived drawn up near Koosh-ab. Two mounds in their centre, on which they placed their guns, served as redoubts, and some deep nullahs on their flank were lined with skirmishers. In the action that followed, the enemy's guns were silenced by the British artillery; the cavalry drove his horse from the field; and on the advance of the infantry, the Persians broke and fled, throwing away their arms and accoutrements in their flight. By ten o'clock the defeat of the Persian troops was complete.*

After this victory the British bivouacked for the day close to the battle-field, and at night, by another route, accomplished a march of twenty miles, over a country rendered almost impassable by the incessant heavy rains. After a rest of six hours, the greater portion of the infantry continued their march to Bushire, which was reached before midnight, thus performing another most arduous march of forty-four miles under incessant rain, besides fighting and defeating the enemy during its progress, within the short period of fifty hours. On the morning of the 10th. the cavalry and artillery arrived in camp.

The loss in the action of Koosh-ab on the 8th. of February was limited to sixteen killed and sixty-two wounded. Lieutenant Frankland, of the 2nd. European regiment, was the only officer killed. This officer, together with Captain Forbes, com

*Lieutenants Arthur Thomas Moore (Adjutant), and John Grant Malcolmson, of the 3rd. Bombay Light Cavalry, here gained the Victoria Cross. On the occasion of an attack on the enemy on the 8th. of February, 1857, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes, C.B., Lieutenant Moore, the Adjutant of the Regiment, was, perhaps, the first of all by a horse's length. His horse leaped into the square, and instantly fell dead, crushing down his rider, and breaking his sword as he fell among the broken ranks of the enemy. Lieutenant Moore speedily extricated himself, and attempted with his broken sword to force his way through the press; but he would have assuredly lost his life had not Lieutenant Malcolmson, observing his peril, fought his way to his dismounted comrade through a crowd of enemies, and, giving him his stirrup, safely carried him through everything out of the throng.

+"To Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, and to his brave companions in arms, the Governor-General in Council desires to offer an early assurance of the warm approbation and thanks which they have

manding the 3rd. regiment of Light Cavalry, and Lieutenant Doveton Downes Greentree, of the 64th. regiment, both severely wounded (the latter losing his leg), received special mention in the Governor-General's Notification.

For some months the Persians had been engaged in fortifying their position at Mohammerah, a place at the confluence of the Karun and Euphrates rivers. Batteries had been erected of solid earth, twenty feet thick, and eighteen feet high, with casemated embrasures, armed with heavy guns, commanding both sides of the river, but Lieutenant-General Outram resolved to attack them. Their army estimated at thirteen thousand men, with thirty guns, was commanded by the Shazada, Prince Khauler Mirza, in person; whilst the Anglo-Indian troops consisted of about five thousand. This place was bombarded on the 26th. of March by five steamers and two sloops of war of the Indian navy, under the command of Commodore Young. The action commenced soon after daybreak, and the Persians stood to their guns well till 10 a.m., when the magazine in the north battery blew up. Three more explosions followed; the enemy's fire slackened, and by one o'clock was completely silenced. A fire of musketry was then opened from the batteries, until storming parties were landed from the ships, who drove out the Persians, and took possession of their works and guns. Brigadier-General Havelock landed the troops, but no portion of the military force was actively engaged, except some European riflemen sent on board the war-vessels, as the Persians fled from their entrenched camp without waiting an attack. Meanwhile a treaty of peace had been in progress, the ratifications of which were exchanged at Bagdad on the 2nd. of May, whereby Herat was agreed to be evacuated, and all interference with the internal affairs of Affghanistan was to be avoided.

so well merited. These are especially due to Major-General Stalker, C.B., and to Colonel Lugard, C.B., chief of the staff, who are described by Sir James Outram as having guided the troops to victory in the time-most happily not of long continuance-during which he was disabled by a severe fall from his horse.-Fort William, March 12th, 1857. Major-General Stalker and Commodore Ethersey both destroyed themselves at Bushire, while labouring under mental aberration; the former on the 14th. of March, 1857, and the latter three days afterwards.

The regiments employed in this expedition, were the 14th. Light Dragoons, the 64th. and 78th. regiments, 3rd. Bombay Cavalry, Poonah Horse, 1st. Scinde Horse, 2nd. Bombay Europeans, Bombay and Madras Sappers and Miners, and 2nd, 3rd., 4th., 5th., 8th., 11th., 15th., 20th., 22nd., 23rd., 25th., 26th., 28th., and 29th. regiments of Bombay Infantry.

NORTH WEST FRONTIER.

1849-1863.

THE first of the principal of the expeditions during this period was into the Eusufzye country, north of Peshawur, December, 1849. This expedition, under the command of Brigadier Bradshaw, 60th. Rifles, was despatched to chastise the Hill tribes on the Swat Border, and several of their villages were captured and destroyed. The British troops engaged in this affair were the 60th. Rifles and the 61st. Foot.

AGAINST THE AFRIDIS.

FEBRUARY, 1850.

THE Afridis are a fierce and warlike tribe inhabiting a series of steep and rugged hills lying between the Kohat and Peshawur districts. They are good shots, and if combined, could muster 15,000 to 20,000 fighting men. The Punjab Government paid them an annual subsidy of 5,700 rupees in return for their protecting the pass from Peshawur to Kohat. But in spite of this arrangement, on February 2nd, 1850, a body of Afridis attacked a body of Sappers making a road in the Kohat pass, killed twelve of them, and put the rest to flight. To punish them for their treachery, a column, under the command of Sir Colin Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde), who was accompanied by the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Charles Napier, forced the pass, in spite of the efforts of the Afridis, routed them, and burnt their villages. As usual in hill campaigns the heaviest of the fighting

fell on the rear of the retiring force in its march to Peshawur.* The regiments that took part in this expedition were the 60th. Rifles, 61st., and 98th. Foot, besides Native troops. In the latter part of the year 1851, the Mohmunds, a tribe inhabiting the Khyber Pass, committed a series of depredations on villages under British rule, and made an attack on a fort at Shubkuddur. To chastise them, on October 25th, Sir Colin Campbell left Peshawur with a force of about 2000 men, including two companies each of the 61st. and 98th. Foot, and destroyed several of their villages with their stores of grain. After some skirmishes Sir Colin, leaving garrisons at Shubkuddur and Dubb, returned to Peshawur in February, 1852. In the same month the Mohmunds made another inroad, and in March Sir Colin again took the field against them, with a column of 2500 men, consisting of a troop of Horse Artillery, the 32nd. Foot, and several Native regiments. On March 20th. the Mohmunds attacked him in force at Pung Rao, but after a hot action of three hours were repulsed with considerable loss. Another skirmish took place in April, near Shubkuddur, and on the retreat of the Mohmunds, Sir Colin, with the Europeans, returned to Peshawur. But the disturbances on the North West frontier were far from being over. The Ootman Khail, or tribe, of Afridis, began to make incursions into British territory, and on the 7th. of May, Sir Colin, with the 32nd. Foot, a wing of the 53rd. regiment, the Guide Corps, and some regiments of Punjaubees and Goorkhas, marched against them, and after a few skirmishes captured and destroyed, with small loss, the strongly fortified hill village of Praunghur.

On May 17th Sir Colin attacked about 8000 of the enemy

* Sir Charles Napier, in a General Order of February 16th., 1850, thus speaks of these operations. "The fighting and labour fell on those who had to scale precipices to secure the camp, and when marching to protect the front, flank, and rear of the column while passing through a dangerous defile, thirteen miles in length, under a constant fire of matchlock men. It is said that in making this march Runject Singh lost 1,000 men. The Commander-in-Chief does not know whether this story is correct or not, but Brigadier Sir Colin Campbell has not lost twenty, nor was there one bit of baggage taken by our enemies, though they are renowned for being the most daring and dexterous plunderers in the world."

The Afridis are divided into eight principal Khails, or tribes, which are nearly always at war with each other. Each tribe has

at a village called Istakote, at the entrance of the Ranize Valley, and a smart action followed, in which Sir Colin himself headed the cavalry of the Guides in a charge, with the result that the hill men were driven back in confusion. They suffered severely, but were not subdued, though checked for a time.

AGAINST THE HUSSUNZIES AND BOREE AFRIDIS.

1852-53.

A party of Hussunzies having murdered two British officials, and the tribe refusing to surrender the murderers, an expedition was dispatched to chastise them. The Hussunzies occupied the western slopes of the Black Mountains, a height of about 10,000 feet above the sea level, and trusted to the inaccessibility of their stronghold, which had hitherto defied every assailant. In December, 1852, two Brigades took up a position at the foot of the Black Mountain, and three columns commanded by Colonel Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala), Colonel Mackeson, and Major Abbot, were formed for the assault. After an obstinate resistance all three columns won their way up the steep ascent, and bivouacked for three nights on the summit of the so-called impregnable Black Mountain. The villages of the enemy were burnt in the sight of their owners, and the columns, with little loss, descended the mountain and were broken up. No British regiment seems to have been engaged in this affair.

In the latter part of the year 1853, the Boree Afridis inhabiting the country near the Kohat Pass, began to commit depredations, and refusing any reparation or promise to abstain from similar acts in the future, a force under the command of Colonel Boileau, with Colonel Napier, was sent against them in November. The troops comprised the 22nd. Foot, the Guides, 66th. Goorkhas, and Native Infantry. The expedition was ably planned and successfully executed; the principal

a debtor and credit account with its neighbour, life for life, and consider revenge the strongest of all obligations, but among them hospitality is the first of virtues.