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528 charged into the midst of them, hoping that the weight of my horse would clear my way for me, and reserving my sword-cuts for my last struggle. It was well that I did so; for by the time I had knocked over some twenty fellows, I found that they were my own Juzailchees. If you ever experienced sudden relief from a hideous nightmare, you may imagine my feelings for the moment. With these worthies, after wandering about for some time, and passing unchallenged by a sleepy post of the enemy, I reached the cantonments."

But the same apathy which had led to the loss of the tower and fort on the 3rd of November continued to reign on the 4th, and with similar disastrous results. The most urgent object of attention was the Commissariat fort, separated from the cantonment by the Shah Bagh, or royal garden, which afforded extensive cover to the enemy. This fort was occupied with a small force by Ensign Warren, of the 5th Bengal Native Infantry, who reported that he was pressed by the enemy, and that, unless reinforced, he could not long hold out. On the possession or loss of this fort it depended whether the British army at Cabul should be fed or starved; yet, strange to say, the answer to Ensign Warren's communication was the despatch of a small force to assist him in evacuating a place which it was so essential to retain. On the 4th Captain Swayne attempted to penetrate thither for that purpose, with two companies of the 44th, but was exposed to so severe a fire from a fort in possession of the enemy, that he himself and another officer were killed, and the troops driven back with great loss. Captain Boyd, of the Commissariat, however, represented so forcibly the extreme importance of this post that a stronger detachment was prepared, but delayed till next morning; when Ensign Warren was compelled to come in with his garrison, the enemy, by forming a mine, and setting fire to the gate, having rendered it untenable. This failure in an object so essential, and seemingly so easy, produced a fatal effect on the spirit of both parties: