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520 it sufficient to beat them off; but, on coming to a level tract, he contrived to allure them on, then suddenly attacked, and put them to flight with great slaughter, by a brilliant charge of cavalry headed by Captain Oldfield and Lieutenant Mayne. After this the army, with little molestation, reached Jellalabad on the 12th of November.

This place was found invested on every side by hordes of enemies: its defences were weak, but Sir Robert Sale proceeded with characteristic vigour to improve them. In the meantime, the enemy were active. They burned down a cantonment raised by the English at great expense in the preceding year; and, under cover of trees and old buildings, kept up a fire of musketry against the walls at a short range, by which some loss was suffered. To get rid of this continued source of annoyance, a sortie was made on the 14th of November by a party under lieutenant-Colonel Monteith. The attempt was entirely successful, and a body of at least five thousand men were utterly dispersed by a force consisting of three hundred men of her Majesty's 13th, three hundred of the 35th Bengal Native Infantry, a hundred Sappers and Miners, two hundred of the Kyber corps, a squadron of the 5th Light Cavalry, a few irregular horse, and three guns. The divisions on the other sides of the city being then attacked, were also dispersed, and in a short time there was scarcely an armed Affghan to be seen in the vicinity of Jellalabad. Advantage was taken of the interval to repair and strengthen the defences, so as to render them secure against any Asiatic force, unaided by siege artillery; also to collect grain from the adjacent villages; while, to guard both against famine and internal insurrection, it was judged necessary to remove all the inhabitants except the shopkeepers.

Before reaching Jellalabad, Sir Robert Sale had learned that all was not well at Cabul; and while preparing for the defence of the former place, he received a summons to march the troops under his command immediately to the