Chapter V: Review of the Military Situation

The purpose of this volume has been to give as much reliable information upon the cause of the Anglo-Russian dispute, the nature of the probable theatre of operations in case of war, and of the armies of the Powers concerned, as could be obtained and printed within a single fortnight. The richness of the available material made this especially difficult, comprising as it did the record of recent campaigns in Afghanistan, as well as the opinions of those who, like Vambery, Veniukoff, Rawlinson, Napier, and Cust, are authorities upon Asiatic topics.

As these lines are written [Footnore: April 18, 1885.] the civilized nations of the world await with bated breath the next scene upon the Afghan stage.

Seldom when two gladiators, armed and stripped, enter the arena does a doubt exist as to their purpose. Yet such an exceptional uncertainty attends the presence of England and Russia on the border of Afghanistan.

At least 50,000 British soldiers are drawn up in front of the Indus awaiting a signal from their Queen. Nearly twice that number of Russian troops are massed on or near the northwestern angle of the Ameer's country. [Footnote: Since the events noted in our first chapter (page 12) transpired, another page has been added to Afghanistan's blood-stained record. After confronting each other on the Khusk River for some weeks a large Russian force under General Komaross attacked (March 30, 1885) the Afghan troops at Penjdeh, and after a gallant resistance on the part of the native garrison it was utterly routed and the town occupied by the victors. The Russian casualties were inconsiderable, but the Afghans lost nearly 1,000 men.]

It is impossible to eliminate, altogether, from a study of the present military situation, certain political elements.

It is apparent that the Russians near Herat stand practically at "the forks of the road"; it is a three-pronged fork--one branch running due south to the sea and two branches due east to India. The first-named requires but passing comment and only as it relates to Herat, planted on a route which cannot be controlled without its possession, for military and commercial reasons well understood.

As already explained, the routes to India, available to Russia, enable her to move from her base on the Merv-Herat line, both _via_ Balkh and Kabul, for the purpose of flanking a British column moving from Quetta westward, or of raiding the rich valley of the Helmund; from Turkestan above this route, a British force moving from Kabul to Balkh could also be threatened. By the main Herat-Kandahar route an advance from the east could also be directly opposed; the crossing of the Helmund by either army would probably be contested.

In case of war, whether Anglo-Russian or Russo-Afghan, the first great battle would doubtless be fought on the Kandahar-Ghazni-Kabul line.

General Hamley, the leading British military authority, [Footnote: Lieut.-General Sir. E. Hamley, K.C.B.] shows that this line is, of all proposed, at once the most practicable and desirable line for the defence of India. [Footnote: Three lines had been considered: first, the line of the Eastern Sulimani, but this would leave the seaport of Kurrachee unprotected; second, from Pishin northeast to Kabul.] He says: "We should have a strong British governor in Kandahar, and a strong British force on the Helmund and on the road to Kabul; the railway completed to Kandahar, and, in case of a movement from Turkestan against Kabul, a force on our side on its way to occupy that city, and new recruiting grounds open to us amid warlike populations. Surely there can be no question as to which of these two sets of circumstances would give us most influence in Afghanistan, most power to oppose Russia and to maintain confidence in India." [Footnote: Gen. Hamley's remarks were made before the Royal United Service Institution (May 18, 1884), and, in the discussion which followed, Colonel Malleson said: "Recently in India some influential natives said to me: 'Russia will continue her advance; she will not stop until she has gained the fertile country of Herat, and then she will intrigue with the native princes behind the Indus, and when you send an army to meet her, you will find those native princes rising in your rear.' I may fortify my own experience by what was told me by an Austrian gentleman who visited India about seven years ago. He paid a visit to the Maharaja, of Cashmere, who said to him: 'From you I hope to get the truth; you are not an Englishman nor a Russian. Tell me which is the stronger--the English power or the Russian; because it will be necessarily my duty, if Russia should advance, and if I should find Russia stronger than England, to go for the defence of my throne on the side of Russia.'"]

The same authority approves Sir Michael Biddulph's recommendation to utilize the strong natural positions near Girishk on the Helmund. As to Afghanistan he testifies: "With a power like Russia closing on it, holding Persia and Persian resources subject to its will, it is in vain to think that Afghanistan will be long independent even in name. It is between hammer and anvil, or, to use a still more expressive metaphor, between the devil and the deep sea. Bound to us by no traditions, by no strong political influences such as might have been used to constrain them, the Afghan tribes, mercenary and perfidious to a proverb, an aggregate of tribes--not a nation,--will lose no time, when the moment occurs, in siding with the great power which promises most lavishly, or which can lay strongest hold on them."

The burning words with which General Hamley closed his lecture one year ago are singularly true to-day, and form a fitting termination to this sketch:

"I do not undervalue the many influences which will always oppose any policy entailing expense. But if the present question is found to be--How shall we guard against a terrible menace to our Indian Empire? any cost to be incurred can hardly be admitted as a reason which ought to influence our course. Magnanimous trustfulness in the virtue and guilelessness of rival states; distrust and denunciation of all who would chill this inverted patriotism by words of warning; refusal of all measures demanding expense which do not promise a pecuniary return:--such is the kind of liberality of sentiment which may ruin great nations. The qualities of the lamb may be very excellent qualities, but they are specially inapplicable to dealings with the wolf. Do those who shrink from expense think that the presence of Russia in Afghanistan will be inexpensive to us? Will the weakness which will be the temptation and the opportunity of Russia be less costly than effectual defence? When we enter the councils of Europe to assert our most vital interests, shall we speak as we have been accustomed to speak, when our free action is fettered by the imminent perpetual menace to India? These are questions which, now put forth to this limited audience, will, perhaps, within the experience of most of us, be thundered in the ears of the nation. England is just now not without serious perplexities, but none are so fraught with possibilities of mischief as the storm which is now gathering on the Afghan frontier."

LIST OF AUTHORITIES.

[Footnote: Unless otherwise designated, the authors named are officers of the British Army, and nearly all the works are in the Library of the Military Service Institution of the United States, (Governor's Island, N. Y. H.).]

[Source 1: Journal Royal United Service Institution (London).]

[Source 2: Journal of the United Service Institution of India (Simla).]

ANDERSON, Capt. "A Scheme for Increasing the Strength of the Native Armies," etc. [2]

ARMY LIST, British Official, 1885.

BIDDULPH, Gen. "The March from the Indus to the Helmund." [2]

BELLEW, H. W., C.S.I. "A New Afghan Question." [2]

BENGOUGH, Lieut-Col. "Mounted Infantry." [2] (From the Russian.)

BISCHOFF, Major. "The Caucasus and its Significance to Russia." (Ger.) [2]

BLUNDELL, Col. "British Military Power with Reference to War Abroad." [1]

BAKER, Col. "The Military Geography of Central Asia." [1]

COLQUHOUN, Capt. "On the Development of the Resources of India in a Military Point of View." [2]

CANTLEY, Major. "Reserves for the Indian Army." [2]

CALLEN, Major. "The Volunteer Force of India," etc. [2]

CAVENAGH, Gen. "Our Indian Army." [1]

CHAPMAN, Lieut-Col. "The March from Kabul to Kandahar in 1880." [1]

CLARKE, Capt, "Recent Reforms in the Russian Army." [1]

CUST, R., Sec. R.A.S. "The Russians on the Caspian and Black Seas." [1]

DAVIDSON, Major. "The Reasons why Difficulty is Experienced in Recruiting for the Native Army." [2]

DALTON, Capt. "Skobeleff's Instructions for the Reconnaisance and Battle of Geok-Tepe." [1] (From the French.)

ELIAS, Capt. "A Streak of the Afghan War." [1]

ESME-FORBES, Lieut. "Cavalry Reform." [2]

FURSE, Major. "Various Descriptions of Transport." [1]

GAISFORD, Capt. "New Model Transport Cart for Ponies and Mules." [2]

GLOAG, Col. "Military Reforms in India." [2]

GOWAN, Major. "Progressive Advance of Russia in Central Asia." [2] "The Army of Bokhara." [2] "Russian Military Manoeuvres in the Province of Jaxartes." [2] (From the Russian.)

GRAHAM, Col. "The Russian Army in 1882." [1]

GORDON, Capt. "Bengal Cavalry in Egypt." [2]

GRIERSON, Lieut. "The Russian Cavalry," and "The Russian Mounted Troops in 1883." [2]

GREENE, Capt. "Sketches of Army Life in Russia." (New York, 1881.)

GRIFFITHS, Major. "The English Army." (London.)

GREY, Major. "Military Operations in Afghanistan." [2]

GERARD, Capt. "Rough Notes on the Russian Army in 1876." [2]

GOLDSMID, Gen. "From Bamian to Sonmiani." [1] "On Certain Roads between Turkistan and India." [1]

HEYLAND, Major. "Military Transport Required for Rapid Movements." [1]

HOLDICH, Capt. "Between Russia and India." [1]

HENNEKEN, Gen. "Studies on the Probable Course and Result of a War between Russia and England." [2] (From the Russian.)

HILDYARD, Lieut.-Col. "The Intendance, Transport, and Supply Service in Continental Armies." [2]

HASKYNS, Capt. "Notice of the Afghan Campaigns in 1879-81. From an Engineer's View." [1]

HAMLEY, Lieut.-Gen., Sir E. "Russia's Approaches to India." (1884.) [1]

JOURNAL of the Military Service Institution of the United States.

KELTIE, J. S. "The Statesman's Year-Book." (London, 1885.)

KIRCHHAMMER, A. "The Anglo-Afghan War." [2] (From the German.)

KOTENSKO. "The Horses and Camels of Central Asia." [2] "Turkestan." [1] (From the Russian.)

LITTLE, Col. "Afghanistan and England in India." [2] (From the German.)

LEVERSON, Lieut. "March of the Turkistan Detachment across the Desert," etc. [1] (From the Russian.)

MARTIN, Capt. "Tactics in the Afghan Campaign," [2] "Notes on the Operations in the Kurrum Valley." [2] "Horse-Breeding in Australia and India." [2] "Notes on the Management of Camels in the 10th Company Sappers and Miners on Field Service." [2] "British Infantry in the Hills and Plains of India." [2]

MORGAN, D. "A Visit to Kuldja, and the Russo-Chinese Frontier." [1]

MORTON, Capt. "Gourko's Raid." [2] (From the French.)

MACKENZIE, Lieut.-Gen. "Storms and Sunshine of a Soldier's Life."

MOSA, P. "The Russian Campaign of 1879," etc. [2] (From the Russian.)

MEDLEY, Col. "The Defence of the Northwest Frontier." [2]

NEWALL, Lieut.-Col. "On the Strategic Value of Cashmere in Connection with the Defence of Our Northwest Frontier." [2]

O'DONOVAN, E. "The Merv Oasis." (New York, 1883.)

PRICE, Capt. "Notes on the Sikhs as Soldiers for Our Army." [2]

PITT, Lieut. "A Transport Service for Asiatic Warfare," etc. [1]

ROSS, D., (Delhi Railway). "Transport by Rail of Troops, Horses, Guns, and War Materials." [2]

ST. JOHN, Major. "Persia: Its Physical Geography and People." [2]

STRONG, Capt. "The Education of Native Officers in the Indian Army." [2]

STEEL, Veterinary-Surgeon. "Camels in Connection with the South African Expedition, 1878-1879." [2]

SHAW, Major. "Army Transport." [1]

SANDERSON, G. P. "The Elephant in Freedom and in Captivity." [2]

TEMPLE, Lieut. "An Historical Parallel--The Afghans and Mainotes." [2]

TYRRELL, Lieut.-Col. "The Races of the Madras Army." [2]

TROTTER, Capt. "The Tribes of Turkistan." [2]

TRENCH, Col. "Cavalry in Modern War." (London, 1884.)

UPTON, Gen. "The Armies of Asia and Europe." (New York, 1878.)

VENIUKOFF, Col. "The Progress of Russia in Central Asia." [2] (From the Russian.)

YALDWYN, Capt. "Notes on the Camel." [2]

INDEX.

A

Abazai, mil. post Abbaza, village Abdurrahman, the Ameer Absuna, pass Abul-Khair Afghanistan: Territory; mountains; rivers; roads, animals; people; army; cities; military history Ahmed-Kheil, city Ahmed-Shah Akbar Khan Akbar, the Great Akhunt Ziarut, city Akton Khel, city Alexander I. Alexander, Czar Alexander of Macedon Ali Musjid, fort Altai, river Aliabad Amu Daria (Oxus), river Aral, sea Argandab, valley; river Army, British: Strength; organization; transport; supply; routes; operations Indian Army, Russian: Strength; organization; transport; supply; routes Aryan, race Askabad Assin Killo, city Asterabad Atta Karez, mountain Attreck, river Auckland, Lord Aulicata, city Auran, mountain Aurangzeb Ayoub Khan

B

Baber Khan Baku Balkash, mountain Balkh, city Bamian, pass Baroghil, pass Barshor, valley Baru, military post Batum Bekovitch, Gen. Beloochistan, state Bendessen, pass Bengal, city Beratse, village Berlin, city Biddulph, Sir M. Billigarungan, hills Bolan, pass Bokhara, province Bombay, city Bori, valley Bost, city Broadfoot, Capt. Browne, Gen. Brydon, Dr. Bunnoo, mil. post Burnes, agent Burrows, Gen.