The officers and men who served
under him believed in him enthusiastically, and, what with soldiers is
the convincing assurance of whole-souled confidence, they had bestowed on
him an affectionate nickname--they knew him among themselves as 'little
Bobs.' His administrative capacity he had proved in the post of
Quartermaster-General in India. Ripe in experience of war, Roberts at the
age of forty-seven was in the full vigour of manhood, alert in mind, and
of tough and enduring physique. He was a very junior Major-General, but
even among his seniors the conviction was general that Lord Lytton the
Viceroy, and Sir F. Haines the Commander-in-Chief, acted wisely in
entrusting to him the most active command in the impending campaign.
Our retention of the Kuram valley was to prove very useful in the
emergency which had suddenly occurred. Its occupation enabled Massy to
seize and hold the Shutargurdan, and the force in the valley was to
constitute the nucleus of the little army of invasion and retribution to
the command of which Sir Frederick Roberts was appointed. The apex at the
Shutargurdan of the salient angle into Afghanistan which our possession
of the Kuram valley furnished was within little more than fifty miles of
Cabul, whereas the distance of that city from Lundi Kotul, our advanced
position at the head of the Khyber Pass, was about 140 miles, and the
route exceptionally difficult.
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