s day in his life. With
2,400 troops, of whom barely 500 were Europeans, he attacked an army
variously estimated between 20,000 and 40,000. Drawn up in a position,
which they had themselves chosen, on the raised bank of a dry river bed,
the Baluch[=i] seemed to have every advantage on their side. But the
British troops, advancing in echelon from the right, led by the 22nd
Regiment, and developing an effective musketry fire, fought their way up
to the outer slope of the steep bank and held it for three hours. Here
the 22nd, with the two regiments of Bombay sepoys on their left,
trusting chiefly to the bayonet, but firing occasional volleys, resisted
the onslaught of Baluch[=i] swordsmen in overwhelming numbers. During
nearly all this time the two lines were less than twenty yards apart,
and Napier was conspicuous on horseback riding coolly along the front of
the British line. The matchlocks, with which many of the Baluch[=i] were
armed, seem to have been ineffective; their national weapon was the
sword. The tribesmen were grand fighters but badly led. They attacked in
detachments with no concerted action. For all that, the British line
frequently staggered under the weight of their courageous rushes, and
irregular firing went on across the narrow gap. Napier says, 'I expected
death as much from our own men as from the enemy, and I was much singed
by our fire--my whiskers twice or thrice so, and my face peppered by
fellows who, in their fear, fired over all heads but mine, and nearly
scattered my brains'. Not even Scarlett at Balaclava had a more
miraculous escape. This exposure of his own person to risk was not due
to mere recklessness. In his days at the Royal Military College he had
carefully considered the occasions when a commander must expose himself
to get the best out of his men; and from Coruna to Dabo he acted
consistently on his principles. Early in the battle he had cleverly
disposed his troops so as to neutralize in some measure the vast
numerical superiority of the enemy; his few guns were well placed and
well served. At a critical moment he ordered a charge of cavalry which
broke the right of their position and threatened their camp; but the
issue had to be decided by hard fighting, and all depended on the morale
which was to carry the troops through such a punishing day.

The second battle was fought a month later at Dabo, near
Hyder[=a]b[=a]d. The most redoubtable of the Am[=i]rs, Sher Muhammad,
known as