The general, the
battery, the sappers and four companies of infantry were still in the
valley. Presently we heard the firing of guns. They were being attacked,
--overwhelmed perhaps. To send them assistance was to risk more troops
being cut off. The Buffs who were dead beat, the Sikhs who had suffered
most severe losses, and the Guides who had been marching and fighting
all day, were not to be thought of. The 38th Dogras were, however,
tolerably fresh, and Colonel Goldney, who commanded in the absence of
the General, at once ordered four companies to parade and march to the
relief. Captain Cole volunteered to accompany them with a dozen sowars.
The horses were saddled. But the order was countermanded, and no troops
left the camp that night.
Whether this decision was justified or not the reader shall decide. In
the darkness and the broken ground it was probable the relief would
never have found the general. It was possible that getting involved
among the nullahs they would have been destroyed.
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