In July Roberts personally escorted the new British ambassador to Afghanistan, Major Sir Louis Cavagnari, and his escort through the Kurram Valley toward Kabul. Roberts later recorded that he felt a deep sense of foreboding as he waved the mission off. His mood soon lightened when he received permission to return to England for a well-earned holiday. Events, however, were to scupper his plans.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Military History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

‘King of Cabul’
On September 2, Cavagnari telegraphed India claiming that all was well in Kabul. Three days later, however, British authorities learned that the mission had been slaughtered to a man by Yakub Khan’s Herati regiments and the citizens of Kabul. It is still hotly debated as to whether Yakub Khan initiated the massacre or simply lost control over those who considered him an imperial stooge. Whatever the causes, the annihilation of the British embassy was a serious blunder by the Afghans. Her Majesty’s army was never better at fighting than when smarting with the desire for revenge.

Recalled to the Kurram Valley, Roberts swiftly advanced into Afghanistan, retaking Kabul by October 12. Yakub Khan had somewhat embarrassedly joined Roberts on his advance, blurting out protests of innocence, saying that his people had betrayed him. Roberts, however, was under the distinct impression that he was double-dealing with both sides. Upon entry into Kabul, Yakub Khan abdicated, but Roberts was far from pleased with his position. In a letter to his wife he wrote: ‘Now I am King of Cabul…it’s not a kingdom I covet and I shall be right glad to get out of it.’ The new but unwelcome ‘King of Cabul’ did not, as Lord Lytton had wanted him to, set about exacting retribution and striking terror into the citizenry. The scene of the crime was properly investigated, and ringleaders were identified, officially tried and hanged. There the matter ended.

While his political masters wrangled over who should succeed Yakub Khan, Roberts got on with running Kabul. The city’s incomplete citadel, the Bala Hissar, posed a potential problem if it fell into insurgent hands. Roberts refrained from destroying it, however, because of its size and because he wished to minimize hostilities with the citizens. Nevertheless, there were some moments of tension, including the accidental explosion of the city arsenal.

As the harsh Afghan winter approached, Roberts, aware of his weak position within Kabul, decided to move his army into nearby Sherpur, which had good, thick walls. However, the cantonment’s size (4 1/2 miles of defenses) meant that the British could only field one rifle for every yard. Moreover, the eastern fortifications were incomplete and the position was overlooked by the Bimaru heights. Roberts had his engineers fortify the walls and set up some small forts along the heights. In spite of the hard work involved in preparing the defenses, morale was high. To keep it up, Roberts authorized paper chases, polo matches, gymkhanas, music shows and, on one memorable occasion, a mass snowball fight.

As November turned to December, Roberts began to receive disturbing news–mullahs were traveling across the hinterland preaching holy war, and vast numbers of irregulars were flocking to the banner of Mohammed Jan, who claimed the throne for Yakub Khan’s eldest son, Musa Khan. Roberts learned that three columns of Afghan troops were heading toward Kabul. Using the repaired telegraph line to India, he requested reinforcements and then produced a series of plans to attack the Afghans before they could mass.

Over the next six days, the British fought a series of running battles that soon placed Roberts in position to deliver what could have been another knockout blow–one that again depended on the element of surprise. Unfortunately for the British, their intentions were betrayed when Brig. Gen. William Godfrey Dunham-Massy (a subordinate so incompetent that Roberts would try his best to keep him away from the action) led his force of 300 cavalry and precious horse artillery on an unauthorized shortcut–one that went almost straight into the Afghan army! Roberts arrived on the scene with the Bengal Lancers as Massy began a rapid retreat. Desperate to save the cannons, he ordered the Lancers to charge in an effort to throw the Afghans off balance. It was suicide, but the brave men gave the artillerymen just enough time to escape with their guns. Roberts himself was unhorsed and would have been cut to pieces had it not been for a Bengal Lancer who raced to his rescue with complete disregard for his own safety. The Lancer who saved him was a Muslim.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to