Page:Our Indian Army.djvu/567

Rh or men now remained. In a very small pall of Johnson's we slept, nine, all touching each other. We were also indebted to Johnson and Troup for food. They had a few Cabul cakes and some tea, which they kindly shared with us." There was no ground marked out for the troops: the Sepoys were mixed up with the camp-followers, and knew not where to find the head-quarters of their corps. The snow lay deep upon the ground: there was no food for man or beast; and even water from the river, though close at hand, was difficult to obtain, for our people were fired on in fetching it. Numbers of unfortunate creatures dropped here, benumbed with cold, to be massacred by the enemy.

At sunrise on the morning of the 8th no order had been issued for the march, and the confusion was fearful. The force was perfectly disorganised; nearly every man paralysed with cold, so as to be scarcely able to hold his musket or to move his limbs. Many frozen corpses lay upon the ground, and the Sepoys burnt their caps, accoutrements, and clothes to keep themselves warm. Some of the enemy appearing in rear of the position, the whole of the camp-followers rushed to the front, every man, woman, and child seizing all the cattle that fell in their way, whether public or private. The ground was strewn with boxes of ammunition, plate, and property of various kinds. A cask of spirits on the ground was broached by the artillerymen and other Europeans. Had the whole been distributed fairly to the men, it would have done them good: as it was, they became too much excited. "For myself," says Lady Sale, "whilst I sat for hours on my horse in the cold, I felt very grateful for a tumbler of sherry, which at any other time would have made me very unlady-like, but now merely warmed me, and appeared to have no more strength in it than water. Cups full of sherry were given to young children three and four years old, without in the least affecting their heads." While in this helpless condition, the Affghans renewed their attacks; but a party of them was rapidly