by a bridge of boats having to be made across the
Kabul river, which lay about half a mile from the city. The camp
followers refused to cross by any means but a bridge, but Lady Sale and
her daughter, Mrs. Sturt, rode through with the horsemen. Immediately
they reached the opposite bank their clothes froze stiff, and they
could not change them for others, for as the rear-guard quitted the
city the Afghans fired upon them and captured, without meeting any
resistance, nearly the whole of the baggage, commissariat and
ammunition. That night the British force, cold, hungry and dispirited,
slept in the snow. There were no tents, but an officer erected a small
pall over the hole in the snow where Lady Sale and her daughter lay.

At half-past seven on the following morning the march was resumed, but
the force had not proceeded far when a party of Afghans sallied out
from a small fort and carried off three guns. The British fought
bravely, but the sepoys made scarcely any resistance, and hundreds of
them fled for their lives.

As the British force advanced they saw the Afghans gathering in
strength on either side, and before they had gone five miles they were
compelled to spike and abandon two six-pounders, the horses not having
sufficient strength to drag them. They were now in possession of only
two guns and very little ammunition.

Men, hungry and numbed with cold, dropped out of the ranks, to be left
to die from starvation, or to be massacred by the enemy. Another night
was spent in the open, and when daylight came there were many frozen
corpses lying on the ground. The troops were now utterly disorganised,
and the Afghans continued to harass them, both while bivouacing and on
the march. It was a terrible time, but Lady Sale was calm, and
endeavoured to instil with courage other women of the party. Soon the
British arrived at a spot where, some time previously, Sir Robert Sale
had been wounded, and there a fierce attack was made upon them. A ball
entered Lady Sales' arm, her clothes were riddled with bullets, and her
escape seemed impossible, so fierce was the fire of the enemy, who were
in a strong position about fifty yards distant. Nevertheless she did
escape, but only to find that her daughter's husband, Lieutenant Sturt,
had been mortally wounded. Five hundred soldiers and two thousand five
hundred camp followers were killed, and many women and children were
carried off by the Afghans. Others lay dying