quadron of the Guides lost twenty of all ranks and thirty-seven horses.
To Walter Hamilton was awarded the Victoria Cross, and to six of his men
the Order of Merit, for conspicuous gallantry where all were gallant.

* * * * *

Leaving many months of intervening history, we come to a notable feat of
endurance, which threw a much needed reinforcement into Sherpur during
the siege in December, 1879. The Guides were then strung along the lines
of communication towards Jellalabad, but, on receipt of the serious news
from Kabul, were at once concentrated forward towards the Jugdullak
Pass, the scene of the massacre of our army in the old Afghan War.
Hastening forward to the summit of the Lataband Pass, Jenkins got into
communication by heliograph with Sir Frederick Roberts (as he then was),
and learnt that reinforcements were urgently required. This was quite
enough for the Commander of the Guides; he at once decided to make an
effort to cross the thirty-six miles of mountainous country that
intervened, and to fight his way single-handed through the great hordes
of Afghans who were encircling Sherpur. Leaving the whole of their
baggage, no mean sacrifice during an Afghan winter, and loading the
mules with all the ammunition that could be carried, the Guides set
cheerfully forth on their venture.

It is wonderful how often sheer boldness succeeds in warfare; here was
a small body of troops marching forty miles _en l'air_ through the
enemy's fastnesses, and at the weary end unknown thousands blocking the
way. With scarce a halt, horse and foot plodded on and on, till evening
came and darkness fell, and still they marched along the dimly marked
track. Near midnight the lights of Kabul and Sherpur became closely
visible, and the crucial moment had arrived. But "by the kindness of
God," as the ressaldar-major piously remarked, the night was very cold,
Kabul lies six thousand feet above the sea, and a warm hut is better
than an open field; and in fact, to make a long story short, the Afghans
were keeping no watch on the road by which the Guides came, and thus the
whole corps marched swiftly through the enemy's lines without firing a
shot or losing a man. In Sherpur they were warmly welcomed by Sir
Frederick Roberts and many old comrades, for, as at the siege of Delhi,
the boldness, swiftness, and assuredness of their arrival added
heartening and encouraging effect quite out of proportion to the
nume