There was naturally great excitement in Jellalabad, but no panic. The
working parties were called in, the assembly was sounded, the gates were
closed, the walls were lined, and the batteries were manned; for it was
believed for the moment that the enemy were in full pursuit of fugitives
following in Brydon's track. The situation impressed Broadfoot with the
conviction that a crisis had come in the fortunes of the Jellalabad
garrison. He thought it his duty to lay before the General the conditions
of the critical moment which he believed to have arrived, pointing out to
him that the imperative alternatives were that he should either firmly
resolve on the defence of Jellalabad to the last extremity, or that he
should make up his mind to a retreat that very night, while as yet
retreat was practicable. Sale decided on holding on to the place, and
immediately announced to the Commander-in-Chief his resolve to persevere
in a determined defence, relying on the promise of the earliest possible
relief.
Because of the defection of his Sikh auxiliaries and the
faint-heartedness of his sepoys, Wild's efforts to cross the threshold of
the Khyber had failed, and with the tidings of his failure there came to
Sale the information that the effort for his relief must be indefinitely
postponed. It may be assumed that this intimation weakened in some degree
the General's expressed resolution to hold Jellalabad with determination,
and it is not to be denied that this resolution was in a measure
conditional on the not unwarranted expectation of early relief.
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