| Peter Glen |
Afghan Medal with 3 clasps:
Peiwar Kotal, Charasia, Kabul
1290 Pte. P. Glen 72nd Highlanders.
Peter Glen died of wounds at Sherpur 9 days after
receiving a gunshot to the chin during the Storming of
Takht-I-Shah Peak on December 12th 1879.
Was once part of the Col. Murray of Polmaise collection.
Peiwar Kotal, Charasia, Kabul
1290 Pte. P. Glen 72nd Highlanders.
Peter Glen died of wounds at Sherpur 9 days after
receiving a gunshot to the chin during the Storming of
Takht-I-Shah Peak on December 12th 1879.
Was once part of the Col. Murray of Polmaise collection.
The Storming of Takht-I-Shah Peak
Howard Hensman, The Afghan War of 1879-80. (London: 1881)
To-day a party of 560 men, made up in nearly equal proportions from the 67th Foot, 72nd
Highlanders, 3rd Sikhs, and 5th Ghoorkas, aided by two guns of Morgan's mountain battery,
have made that attack, and have established themselves on a lower hill between the
Sherderwaza Heights and the high conical peak of Takht-i-Shah, whereon the enemy muster
in great force and have sixteen standards flying. This peak is the highest of the clump of
mountains south of Cabul and lying between the city and Charasia, and was the point whence
Captain Straton tried to heliograph to the Shutargardan in the early days of our occupation.
It is cone-shaped, looked at from Sherpur, and on its southern side joins a ridge running
southwards above the village of Indikee. The sides facing Cabul are very steep, and covered
with huge boulders polished by wind and rain, and of a kind to check any storming party.
Perfect cover is afforded to men holding it, and on the summit is a well-built sungar of great
thickness, covering a natural cavity in the rocks which has been made bomb-proof by some
Afghan engineer, who understood the strength of the point. Fifty men could lie in perfect
security behind the sungar or in the hole below it, and could choose their own time for firing
at an advancing enemy. Outside the sungar, and a little lower down, is a cave, wherein
another strong body of men could hide themselves and act in a similar way, while their flank
to the left would be guarded by a broken line of rocks extending down to the kotal, where
the Bala Hissar Ridge meets them. Just between the two ranges is a low, dome-shaped hill,
blocking up the otherwise open kotal; and round this a footpath winds, leading to the sungar,
but so narrow as only to admit of men going up in Indian file. The enemy occupied this
morning the Takht-i-Shah Peak and the line of rocks I have mentioned, and had also a few
score of men on the lower hill in the kotal. Away on the south, hidden from our view, were
some 5,000 or 6,000 men, waiting for an attack to develop, in order to reinforce the peak.
Later he describes an attack on a party escorting the wounded.
Included amongst them I suspect was Peter Glen...
From the Bala Hissar and near the city shots were fired, and the flanking parties of the
92nd, in their homeward march, came upon 200 or 300 men in the willow plantations, who
fled towards the city walls. a convoy of wounded sent from the Sherderwaza Heights to
Sherpur had also a narrow escape, the bravery of the non-commissioned officer in charge of
the escort alone preventing a catastrophe on a small scale....
Sergeant Cox, with twenty men of the 72nd, was in charge of the dhoolies, and among the
wounded were Major Cook, VC, 5th Ghoorkas; Lieutenant Fergusson, 72nd Highlanders; and
Lieutenant Fasken, 3rd Sikhs. Upon arriving at the foot of the hill, the road leading under
the southern wall of the Bala Hissar was followed, and it was soon seen that parties of
armed men were lining the parapets. Sergeant Cox, fearing to draw the fire by striking
across the fields towards Beni Hissar, where General Baker was shelling some villages, put
on a bold face, and marched on steadily. This had the best effect, as not a shot was fired
from the walls. Ten Highlanders were at the head of the dhoolies, and ten in rear. Just as
the little party got near the Bala Hissar gate a large body of Afghans sprang out from
among the willows lining either side of the road, and, drawing their knives, came straight
upon the advance-guard. The road from Beni Hissar joins the road to Sherpur just at this
point, and seeing that it would be impossible to cut through the enemy, or to retreat the way
he had come (as in the latter case the men on the walls would probably open fire), Sergeant
Cox pushed on, ordering his men to reserve their fire. His object was to get the dhoolies
fairly on the Beni Hissar Road on his right, and then to fall back until help should come from
that quarter. The manoeuvre succeeded admirably. Waiting until he was within twenty yards
of the Afghans, he ordered the ten men with him to fire a volley. This was too much for the
enemy, who broke and took cover in the trees. The dhoolie-bearers thought all was over, and
those carrying Major Cook dropped their dhoolie in the middle of the road. They soon
recovered courage, and while rapid volleys from the advance-guard kept the Afghans in
check, all the dhoolies were got safely upon the Beni Hissar Road, and finally reached
General Baker's force in safety. Sergeant Cox managed the whole business splendidly, and
under such leadership the men were cool and collected, skirmishing and retiring without
being touched by the scattered fire directed at them. After waiting an hour, the escort was
strengthened by some cavalry, and the whole convoy of wounded reached cantonments in
safety. The position in which Sergeant Cox was placed was a most dangerous one, as the least
hesitation or want of decision would have been fatal: the Afghans were, indeed, so sure of
success, that they did not fire at first, but trusted to cutting up the guard at close quarters
with their knives. The three officers, whose lives were saved by Sergeant Cox's steadiness,
reported the incident to Colonel Money, who had sent the dhoolies down the hill. Sergeant
Cox was one of the men decorated with the distinguished service medal on December 8th for
gallantry at the Peiwar Kotal. General Baker's force is now safely in quarters again. General
Macpherson has sent back to Sherpur the 72nd Highlanders and the 3rd Sikhs, and, with the
67th Foot and the 5th Ghoorkas, holds the Bala Hissar Heights and the Takht-i-Shah Peak.
Owing to the risk of conveyance to Sherpur through the city, Cook and the other wounded
had to spend the night on the hill in the open Major Cook's VC was auctioned in Sept. 2004
and included in the description was a quote from his brother Walter "the effect of this
delay and exposure was to prove fatal"
I can only imagine how Peter Glen spent his last 9 days on this earth
Howard Hensman, The Afghan War of 1879-80. (London: 1881)
To-day a party of 560 men, made up in nearly equal proportions from the 67th Foot, 72nd
Highlanders, 3rd Sikhs, and 5th Ghoorkas, aided by two guns of Morgan's mountain battery,
have made that attack, and have established themselves on a lower hill between the
Sherderwaza Heights and the high conical peak of Takht-i-Shah, whereon the enemy muster
in great force and have sixteen standards flying. This peak is the highest of the clump of
mountains south of Cabul and lying between the city and Charasia, and was the point whence
Captain Straton tried to heliograph to the Shutargardan in the early days of our occupation.
It is cone-shaped, looked at from Sherpur, and on its southern side joins a ridge running
southwards above the village of Indikee. The sides facing Cabul are very steep, and covered
with huge boulders polished by wind and rain, and of a kind to check any storming party.
Perfect cover is afforded to men holding it, and on the summit is a well-built sungar of great
thickness, covering a natural cavity in the rocks which has been made bomb-proof by some
Afghan engineer, who understood the strength of the point. Fifty men could lie in perfect
security behind the sungar or in the hole below it, and could choose their own time for firing
at an advancing enemy. Outside the sungar, and a little lower down, is a cave, wherein
another strong body of men could hide themselves and act in a similar way, while their flank
to the left would be guarded by a broken line of rocks extending down to the kotal, where
the Bala Hissar Ridge meets them. Just between the two ranges is a low, dome-shaped hill,
blocking up the otherwise open kotal; and round this a footpath winds, leading to the sungar,
but so narrow as only to admit of men going up in Indian file. The enemy occupied this
morning the Takht-i-Shah Peak and the line of rocks I have mentioned, and had also a few
score of men on the lower hill in the kotal. Away on the south, hidden from our view, were
some 5,000 or 6,000 men, waiting for an attack to develop, in order to reinforce the peak.
Later he describes an attack on a party escorting the wounded.
Included amongst them I suspect was Peter Glen...
From the Bala Hissar and near the city shots were fired, and the flanking parties of the
92nd, in their homeward march, came upon 200 or 300 men in the willow plantations, who
fled towards the city walls. a convoy of wounded sent from the Sherderwaza Heights to
Sherpur had also a narrow escape, the bravery of the non-commissioned officer in charge of
the escort alone preventing a catastrophe on a small scale....
Sergeant Cox, with twenty men of the 72nd, was in charge of the dhoolies, and among the
wounded were Major Cook, VC, 5th Ghoorkas; Lieutenant Fergusson, 72nd Highlanders; and
Lieutenant Fasken, 3rd Sikhs. Upon arriving at the foot of the hill, the road leading under
the southern wall of the Bala Hissar was followed, and it was soon seen that parties of
armed men were lining the parapets. Sergeant Cox, fearing to draw the fire by striking
across the fields towards Beni Hissar, where General Baker was shelling some villages, put
on a bold face, and marched on steadily. This had the best effect, as not a shot was fired
from the walls. Ten Highlanders were at the head of the dhoolies, and ten in rear. Just as
the little party got near the Bala Hissar gate a large body of Afghans sprang out from
among the willows lining either side of the road, and, drawing their knives, came straight
upon the advance-guard. The road from Beni Hissar joins the road to Sherpur just at this
point, and seeing that it would be impossible to cut through the enemy, or to retreat the way
he had come (as in the latter case the men on the walls would probably open fire), Sergeant
Cox pushed on, ordering his men to reserve their fire. His object was to get the dhoolies
fairly on the Beni Hissar Road on his right, and then to fall back until help should come from
that quarter. The manoeuvre succeeded admirably. Waiting until he was within twenty yards
of the Afghans, he ordered the ten men with him to fire a volley. This was too much for the
enemy, who broke and took cover in the trees. The dhoolie-bearers thought all was over, and
those carrying Major Cook dropped their dhoolie in the middle of the road. They soon
recovered courage, and while rapid volleys from the advance-guard kept the Afghans in
check, all the dhoolies were got safely upon the Beni Hissar Road, and finally reached
General Baker's force in safety. Sergeant Cox managed the whole business splendidly, and
under such leadership the men were cool and collected, skirmishing and retiring without
being touched by the scattered fire directed at them. After waiting an hour, the escort was
strengthened by some cavalry, and the whole convoy of wounded reached cantonments in
safety. The position in which Sergeant Cox was placed was a most dangerous one, as the least
hesitation or want of decision would have been fatal: the Afghans were, indeed, so sure of
success, that they did not fire at first, but trusted to cutting up the guard at close quarters
with their knives. The three officers, whose lives were saved by Sergeant Cox's steadiness,
reported the incident to Colonel Money, who had sent the dhoolies down the hill. Sergeant
Cox was one of the men decorated with the distinguished service medal on December 8th for
gallantry at the Peiwar Kotal. General Baker's force is now safely in quarters again. General
Macpherson has sent back to Sherpur the 72nd Highlanders and the 3rd Sikhs, and, with the
67th Foot and the 5th Ghoorkas, holds the Bala Hissar Heights and the Takht-i-Shah Peak.
Owing to the risk of conveyance to Sherpur through the city, Cook and the other wounded
had to spend the night on the hill in the open Major Cook's VC was auctioned in Sept. 2004
and included in the description was a quote from his brother Walter "the effect of this
delay and exposure was to prove fatal"
I can only imagine how Peter Glen spent his last 9 days on this earth
| _______________________________________________________________ A Granite monument was erected on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle to honour those men of the 72nd Highlanders who died during the campaign in Afghanistan. Private Glen's name is etched there amongst his fallen comrades |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |