line had been drawn, the 3rd
Bengal Cavalry fell back, admirably handled by their Commandant,
Lieutenant-Colonel A. Mackenzie. In the meantime, two guns of No.
11 Battery 9th Brigade were brought into action, partly to test the
range, and partly to check the enemy, who were passing rapidly into
the gardens near Gundigan. The Infantry and Artillery then retired
within the line of piquets, and the moment they began to fall back the
Afghans came after them in great strength; they were so persistent
that I ordered the whole of the 3rd Brigade and part of the 1st
Brigade under arms. The enemy, however, were unable to come to close
quarters owing to the bold front shown by the 15th Sikhs, under the
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hennessy, and before dark the troops
were all back in camp, with a loss of five men killed and fifteen
wounded.

From the information obtained by this reconnaissance, I found that it
was quite practicable to turn the Afghan right, and thus place myself
in rear of the Baba Wali range; I decided, therefore, to attack the
position the following morning. It was too close to our camp to risk
delay. Moreover, I knew that the retrograde movement of Gough's small
body would be construed into a defeat by the enemy, who, if we did not
move at once, would assuredly think that we were afraid to take the
initiative, and would become correspondingly bold.

I accordingly issued orders for the troops to breakfast at 7 a.m., and
for one day's cooked rations to be carried by the Infantry and two
days by the Cavalry and Horse Artillery. Brigades were to be in
position by eight o'clock, tents being previously struck and the
baggage stored in a walled enclosure.

The night passed quietly except for occasional bursts of musketry
along the line of piquets to the west, showing that the Afghans were
holding the villages they had occupied the previous evening.

[Footnote 1: The garrison consisted of 2 guns of C/2, Royal Artillery,
145 rifles of the 66th Foot, 100 of the 3nd Sind Horse, and the 2nd
Baluch Regiment, 639 strong.]

[Footnote 2: Now Lieutenant-General Sir Oriel Tanner, K.C.B.]

[Footnote 3: Estimate of daily requirements for the Kabul-Kandahar
Field Force and the Kelat-i-Ghilzai garrison:

Europeans 3,200
Native troops 8,000
Followers 8,500
Horses 2,300
Transport --yabus 1,592,
mules and ponies 5,926,