of Lieutenant Pottinger, informed the world that the intended expedition would still be carried out with a view to the establishment of a friendly power in Eastern Afghanistan, and of 'a permanent barrier against schemes of aggression upon our north-west frontier[1].'
All through September and October regiments and batteries had been marching up from their several stations towards the sandy, treeless plains around Firozpur, while a column of Bombay troops was mustering for a voyage to the coast of Sind, After twelve years of general peace the prospect of a campaign in unknown regions beyond the Indus was hailed with eagerness by troops and officers alike, as a welcome change from the uneventful round of life in cantonments. To most of them it mattered little with whom they might be going to war, so long as campaigning released them from daily drills or office drudgery, to say nothing of the consequent chances of honours, promotion, prize-money, and extra pay. Before the close of November, 1838, the Army of the Indus, 14,000 strong, with about 6,000 of Shujá's levies officered by Englishmen, had assembled at Firozpur, under the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Henry Fane. But that fine old soldier, who had planned all the arrangements for the larger enterprise designed by the Simla Manifesto, cared no longer to command the smaller army destined only for the support of Sháh Shujá. Ill health and other causes decided him
- ↑ Afghan Papers.
