The Afghan and Sikh Wars
A History of the British Army. By the Hon. J. W. Fortescue. Vol. XII. 1839-1852. With a Volume of Maps and Plans. (Macmillan. 40s.) THAT able and resolute historian of the British Army, Sir John Fortescue, has now issued his twelfth volume, dealing with the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. He promises to complete the work—presumably up to the eve of the Great War—in two more volumes. The new one is as interesting and as lucid as ever, and it contains as usual some severe criticism—directed more often against politicians than against generals. The first half of the book is concerned with the Afghan War of 1838-42, which most authorities now regard as an unwarrantable and foolhardy enterprise. The inde- pendent states of Sind and the Punjab lay between British India and Afghanistan, and the British Army's line of com- mit' nications was therefore long and uncertain. Yet at the order of Lord Auckland our small array_invaded the Afghan country to restore an unpopular ex-ruler, Shah Shuja, to the throne: By. daring and good luck the troops reached Kabul and occupied much of the country. But when the Afghans rose in the autumn of 1841, Elphinstone's position became perilous and he agreed that Macnaghten, the political agent, should negotiate for evacuation. A treaty was made but broken by the Afghans, Macnaghten was murdered, and the army retiring in disorder through the mountain defiles was destroyed. Dr. Brydon, badly wounded, alone escaped to Jalalabad. The author puts the blame on Elphinstone's incompetence for one of the worst disasters in the history of our Army. The Afghans were heavily defeatedin the campaign of 1842, but no attempt was made to hold Kabul or Ghazni. The following years saw the brief and decisive war in Sind under Napier, and the two hard-fought campaigns of 1845-6 and 1848-9 in which the Sikhs_ were crushed by Sir Hugh Gough and their country annexed. We never had braver or abler foes' in India than the Sikhs, and the battles of Ferozeshah, Aliwal, Sobraon, Chilianwala and Gujrat arc well deserving of study in Sir John Fortescue's admirable text and plans. Gough also conducted the first Chinese War of 1842, and with an absurdly small force occupied the great city of Canton and also Shanghai and Chinkiang on the Yangtse. The first Maori War, the second Burmese War of 1852 and the Kaffir Wars in South Africa between 1846 and 1852 - are also. described in detail. Sir John Fortescue, in discussing. Sir Harry Smith's operations against the Kaffirs, comments very harshly on " the rabid fanaticism of the missionary societies in England." Most colonial administrators of to-day have a high opinion of these early missionaries, who sought to understand the . native instead of merely coercing him. We must not fail to commend the volume of excellent maps and plans which accompanies the text.
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