The advance began to move out from cantonments at nine A.M. The march was
delayed at the river by the non-completion of the temporary bridge, and
the whole of the advance was not across until after noon. The main body
under Shelton, which was accompanied by the ladies, invalids, and sick,
slowly followed. It as well as the advance was disorganised from the
first by the throngs of camp followers with the baggage, who could not be
prevented from mixing themselves up with the troops. The Afghans occupied
the cantonments as portion after portion was evacuated by our people,
rending the air with their exulting cries, and committing every kind of
atrocity. It was late in the afternoon before the long train of camels
following the main body had cleared the cantonments; and meanwhile the
rear-guard was massed outside, in the space between the rampart and the
canal, among the chaos of already abandoned baggage. It was exposed there
to a vicious jezail fire poured into it by the Afghans, who abandoned the
pleasures of plunder and arson for the yet greater joy of slaughtering
the Feringhees. When the rear-guard moved away in the twilight, an
officer and fifty men were left dead in the snow, the victims of the
Afghan fire from the rampart of the cantonment; and owing to casualties
in the gun teams it had been found necessary to spike and abandon two of
the horse-artillery guns.
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