File 364/1913 'Persia: situation in Fars (attack on 39th Central India Horse)' [‎14v] (33/522)

Ls
l
low
I and the men with me hi ed at them, hut I could not see whether any
of them were hit.
Up to this time I had no knowledge of what had happened to the men of
A squadron and the rest of the baggage mules, hut had seen several of the fol
lowers run off into the jungle directly the first shots were fired. From where
I now was I could see some of the mules emerging from the jungle into the
open bed of the river. They were quickly surrounded by Persians and taken
away out of my sight.
1 1 could also see one or twm men of A squadron, wTio had got on to the
hills N. of the river.
Shots were still being fired at us from the top of the hills on our side.
My object now was to try and collect the whole of my men and to remove
Captain Eckford.
I went back to him and found that he was quite unconscious but he seemed
to be still breathing. I had him carried down the hill and put on to a horse
in front of one of the men and then leaving three men to cover my retirement,
with orders to rejoin me at a gallop as soon as I was 400 yards clear. I pro
ceeded with the followers and mules, as fast as I could to the right bank of the
river.
On the way I Teas joined by Jemadar Soraiyan Singh and the tw r o men who
had gone with him.
He reported to me that he had overtaken the Sarbazes about half w r ay up
the road to the tower on the top of the Sineh Safid Pass (some three miles
ahead), he had then heard the firing. He asked the Persian officer of the Sar
bazes to return, which he refused to do, and he himself then came back at a
gallop, along the bed of the river.
As I approached the right bank of the river one of the men of A squadron
galloped up to me and reported that his party with some followers and mules
was on a hill just ahead.
I joined them and found that one syce and several mules were missing ;
Sowar In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman. Pooran Singh (the scout I had sent on to the ridge when I left the river
after halting) was also reported to be missing, but was shortly after reported to
be present.
Having collected my party I placed the followers, led horses and mules
in charge of Jemadar Soraiyan Singh with orders to keep well under the left
bank of the river and level with me, here they were absolutely under cover
from the N. and had a certain amount of concealment from view on the S.
afforded by a line of tamarisk bushes in the bed of the river.
The country to the N. consists of low rolling hills for several miles with a
few bushes here and there on them, but the watercourses which run into the
river are fairly thickly covered with scrub.
I moved along these hills with my men in two sections, sending these
sections forward alternately and thus reached the road just beyond the bridge
at 11-30 a m. On the way I saw about 15 to 20 mounted men on a ridge about
1.500 yards to the N. and several men on foot in the ravines nearer to me with
whom I exchanged shots and saw at least one of them hit.
I also saw 50 or 60 men with rifles on the bridge, but could not ascertain
who they were. They eventually disappeared.
Desultory shots were being fired most of the time from the hills S. of
the river and I saw 3 horsemen moving along these hills from the direction of
the Sineh Safid Pass. These after a time I recognized to be Persian gendarmes.
On nearing the bridge I saw 80 or 40 men, some with rifles on a small
hill 400 yards in front of me and was preparing to fire on them when they
disappeared. Shortly afterwards about 20 men appeared without arms and I
went up to them. They were men from Khan-i-Zinian, and the telegraph
ghulam was with them.
Directly after my horses and mules had crossed the bridge I was joined by
the Persian officer of gendarmerie. He told me that he had 3 or 4 men
wounded and asked me for help to bring them in, but some of the villagers
and riflemen from the village (offered ?) to do this. He then went off and I
did not see him again till about 4-30 p.m. I now mounted my men and moved,
with scouts out on the hill to the N. back to the sarai at Khan-i-Zinian.