in a certain village, and a night march recommended and adopted. The very hut in which they lay concealed was positively surrounded by a party of men, and escape appeared hopeless. The horses of the robbers were grazing outside, and they were evidently quite unprepared for an attack. The foremost suwar dismounted, and entered the hut, where Jani himself was seated, coolly smoking his pipe, surrounded by a few choice companions. The ruffian was not at all dismayed, but sprang to his feet, cut furiously at the suwar, and rushing past him, and throwing himself in his saddle, he positively managed to make good his escape to the neighbouring hills, wounding the foremost of his pursuers, and completely eluding shots, thrusts, and attacks of the whole party. The attention of all being attracted towards him, left the rest plenty of time to be off; and the affair proved a perfect failure; but, strange to say, these wretched men carried their crimes so far, as at length to rouse even the indignation of their own tribes, and to this, alone, they owed their destruction, for it appeared as if all the means we could have employed for their capture would not have succeeded. Jani was suspected of intriguing with the wife of a Dúmki chief, who had sworn, that if he could establish the fact of his wife's infidelity with the robber, he would sacrifice her and her paramour to his revenge and wounded honour. The opportunity was not long wanting. The old trick of pretending to go on a distant journey was adopted, but suddenly returning, Ruhmut and Jani were found to be in the chief's own house regaled and feasted by his wife; the thing was too palpable to admit of doubt, and surrounding the house with a strong party the injured husband called on his enemies to surrender, but he was answered by taunts and threats. Ruhmut guarded the door, and no one was found sufficiently daring to dispute it; a murderous fire was then opened upon the windows and openings of the building, and lastly it was fired; the inmates seeing that their doom was sealed quietly yielded to it, and the woman with her two miserable companions were burnt together and destroyed. A finale more in keeping with the lives of Ruhmut and Jani could hardly be imagined, and thus perished these wretches, to whom, for well-attested deeds of blood and cruelty, our most redoubtable Newgate Calendar heroes must be confessed to have been quite secondrate characters. Jani's sword, for some time in the writer's keeping, was a frightful curiosity, and though in the East human life is not the valuable commodity that it is with more civilized nations, this formidable weapon was the terror of all who beheld it. To pursue the history of the robber clans farther would be unnecessary. Bijar Khan's sagacity prevented his again committing himself. The Murrees and Boogties sent deputations to acknowledge their obedience, and they were wisely left in the same independent position they formerly possessed, though it is a curious fact, that Major B., the defender of Kahan, was the only Englishman the Murrees would treat with, and he rode alone into the hills to bring the party to the Chief Political Authority, who waited to receive them. The chiefs solemnly entrusted their deputation of representatives to Major B.'s hands, and told him that his honour was the best and only guarantee they would accept for the safety of their embassy; nothing more strikingly illustrative of the effect of high and courageous bearing on barbarous minds could possibly be evinced. Valuable presents were made to the Murree and Boogtie deputies, and they returned to their wilds, it is to be hoped, fully impressed with a sense of British generosity, and satisfied of our good faith. The active campaign against the Brahois and Bilúchi, in Cutchi, closed with an attack on the whole Brahoi force by the Kotria detachment, as well conducted as it was decisive and brilliant in its execution and result. After the retreat from Dadur, the young Khan descended into the Gundava Pass; Khelat had been re-occupied by General N., and the insurgents were, therefore, driven to the hills, pitching their camp in a strong position in the above pass. The Commandant of Kotria, Colonel M., resolved to attack them, having previously made every possible overture to induce the young chief to surrender and leave his claims to the decision of the Government, which were met only by subterfuges and even annoyance. Having received our order from Sukkur, which was conveyed by an officer, riding express, a distance of about 140 miles, through bodies of the enemy, in about 18 hours, a march was made early in the morning, and the enemy's position, distant about six miles from the British camp, was assailed at daylight; a severe action ensued, and the young Khan himself barely escaped. Our loss was one officer and some few men killed, from a strength of one regiment, two detached companies, and two guns; that of the enemy very great, with a large number of prisoners. The behaviour of the native troops, who alone composed the force on this occasion, was represented as beyond all praise. The large force under General B. shortly after took the field in its march to Quettah and Candahar. In its way a detachment failed in the reduction of the Khujuck Fort of Sibi, owing to a mistaken disposition of the attack by concentration on one point, a narrow gateway, which was overlooked by houses where the Khujucks, with tiers of matchlockmen, poured in a destructive fire, whilst the leading sections were assailed by large bodies of swordsmen. In this way three officers and fifty men were killed and wounded without the possibility of returning a shot, (the Commandant, Colonel W., of the cavalry, one fine young officer of artillery, and one of infantry, were killed in this disastrous affair); the force retired by order, and whilst making a fresh arrangement for attack the enemy sued for quarter, and during the night the place was abandoned. Khujuck had three gates, and if-instead of concentrating the whole strength on one, where the troops had to advance along a narrow causeway, and then move by a berm under the wall to the gate and round a tower, where no rush could possibly be made, and where there was hardly room for more than a sectionthe three gates had been simultaneously assaulted, the result would have been very different. And thus ended the Bilúchi and Brahoi campaigns in Upper Sindh and Cutchi during the years 1840 and 1841: posts were formed, and more important events above the passes subsequently continued to occupy the attention of all from that period until the late brilliant actions of Sir C. Napier, on the eastern bank of the lower Indus, where the tribes of Bilúchis, combined, in overwhelming numbers, to meet the shock of our small but determined forces, and suffered a defeat as signal as it was deemed by them impossible. U. S. MAG., No. 186, MAY, 1844. G A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MILITARY PUNISHMENTS, IN AS FAR AS REGARDS NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND PRIVATE SOLDIERS. BY HENRY MARSHALL, DEPUTY-INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF ARMY HOSPITALS. THE officer who is entrusted with the execution of a sentence of corporal punishment, usually complies with the suggestion of a medical officer, when he recommends that a soldier should be taken down from the halberts. Martinets of the old school have, however, not only disregarded the suggestion of a medical officer, but even reprimanded him for his interference in favour of a man who was undergoing punishment. I once attended a corporal punishment, and suggested at what I considered due time to the commanding officer, that the punishment should be suspended; but no attention was paid to my recommendation. The following case is a remarkable example of disregard to the suggestions of a medical officer. Dr. G, Surgeon to the Regt, officially attended the punishment of a soldier in an island in the West Indies, who had been sentenced to receive five hundred lashes. When about two hundred and fifty lashes had been inflicted, Dr. G——— recommended that he should be taken down; but the commanding officer lost his temper, and censured the Surgeon for interfering; he at the same time declined to suspend the punishment. Nay more, while the punishment was going on, he continued to reprimand the medical officer for interfering, and finally ordered the Adjutant to put him under arrest, which was done, and he remained under arrest, until, in consequence of an appeal to the General Officer, through the principal medical officer, he was liberated, having been confined for about ten days. A medical officer, who is officially present at a military punishment, is placed in a most unenviable situation, being in some measure held responsible for the consequences of the injury thereby inflicted, which responsibility is obviously unjust, inasmuch as the punishment is too uncertain in its operation for any medical officer to ascertain the boundaries of danger. Moral feeling, age, strength, nervous irritability, climate, previous disease, organic defects, and other circumstances, many of which it would be impossible for the most skilful and the most careful to detect, may render a punishment fatal, which had been intended to be but moderate or lenient. No medical officer can answer either for the immediate or ultimate consequences of this species of corporal punishment. Inflammation of the back, or general fever, may occur after a very moderate infliction, which may terminate fatally, notwithstanding the greatest diligence and attention on the part of a well-informed conscientious medical officer. Every officer, upon becoming a member of a court-martial, swears that he will duly administer justice according to the rules and articles of war, without partiality, favour, or affection, and he further adds, "If any doubt shall arise, which is not explained by the said Articles or Act, then according to my conscience, the best of my understanding, and the customs of war in like cases." A medical officer who is present at the infliction of corporal punishment, enters, I presume, virtually into a similar engagement, namely, to do his duty impartially, and in the absence of specific instructions to be guided " according to his con' science, the best of his judgment, and the custom of war in like cases.' Under such circumstances, it may be asked why should medical officers bear a heavier responsibility, when untoward circumstances follow corporal punishment, than the members of a court-martial, by which the sentence was awarded? With reference to the responsibility of medical officers, I may here advert to two remarkable examples, for the purpose of showing that they should be particularly careful in regard to the duty of attending the execution of a sentence of corporal punishment. Two men belonging to the Regt., in 1823, then stationed in Demarara, made an attempt to escape in a boat to the Spanish main, and having been pursued, they fired upon the party sent in quest of them. They were, however, ultimately captured, and being tried by a general courtmartial, they were each sentenced to receive one thousand lashes. Before the proceedings of the court-martial were confirmed by the General Officer at Barbadoes, the regiment was transferred to St. Vincent's. The commanding officer of the regiment in question, Lieut.-Colonel L, who appears to have been the senior officer in St. Vincent's, determined upon carrying the sentence into effect regimentally, instead of upon a garrison parade, when a Staff-Surgeon would have been directed to attend. The regiment was then under the medical charge of Assistant-Surgeon F--, who attended the punishment. On the morning of the day when the men were to be punished, the Lieutenant-Colonel was reported sick, and the command of the parade devolved upon Capt. A. The punishment was carried into effect on the 5th February, 1824, and each delinquent received the whole amount of his sentence, namely, one thousand lashes. Three other men were punished at the same time. Both of the two men in question died, the first on the 7th February, and apparently in consequence of collapse; the second died on the 14th, after a fit of ague. Sloughing commenced on the 12th, and by the following day the whole of the back and loins had become involved. The backs of the men were not much cut. Both of the men had been previously delinquents, and they were sentenced to remain for life in the West Indies, in which station they had served nearly twenty years. The other three punished men did well. The fatal issue of the above cases having been reported by the StaffSurgeon at St. Vincent's to the Inspector-General of Hospitals at Barbadoes, he forthwith officially recommended that Mr. F should be removed from the Army. He stated in his communication, that although one thousand lashes may be awarded by a general courtmartial, it is never expected that the whole should be inflicted in a warm climate; as also that to stand by and see one thousand lashes inflicted on men who had served long in a tropical climate, evinced great want of feeling and judgment; it betrayed, he added, neglect or ignorance, or both, to a considerable degree. The Inspector-General admitted that Mr. F's former services and character were creditable, and that perhaps it would be unfair to dismiss him for what he may call an error in judgment; but still the Inspector thought it right to do so, for the purpose of depriving him of the power of committing a similar error. It seems never to have struck the Inspector that by admonishing and instructing Mr. F―, he might have, in all likelihood, as effectually obviated a similar untoward result as by dismissing him from the Service. Mr. F was ordered to proceed to England, there to await the decision of the Commander-in-Chief, and during the month of June, 1824, he was removed from the Service. Mr. F having been dismissed without being heard in his own justification before a court-martial, I take leave to subjoin the following desultory observations. No one doubts the right of the King to dismiss any of his officers from the Service, without offering any motive except his own will; but it must be admitted that this power may be used without sufficient examination, and consequently without that thorough understanding of a case which cannot be otherwise obtained, except by fully hearing all parties. Mr. F— had entered the Service in 1815, and remained an Hospital Assistant until May, 1822, when he was promoted to the rank of Assistant-Surgeon, and attached to the regiment in question. An officer of the rank of Hospital Assistant is seldom required to be officially present at a punishment parade, and as Mr. F may not have joined the regiment more than a few months, when he was present at the punishment of the above-mentioned two men, he may perhaps have had little or no practical experience of the duties of a medical officer, when corporal punishment is inflicted. The duty, in fact, may have been quite new to him, and hitherto no instructions have been issued for the guidance of novices in that important branch of a medical officer's duty. He was no doubt present officially when the two men were punished, which punishment unfortunately proved fatal in both cases; but although * * * "It is generally supposed, that the Surgeon who is present at a military execution is responsible for its consequences; this is not legally true, and it is physiologically impossible: the punishment is too uncertain in its operation to allow of any medical officer ascertaining the boundaries of danger. No Surgeon can answer either for the ultimate or immediate consequences of this species of corporal punishment. He may indeed err on the safe side by interposing as early as possible, but there is no criterion by which he may be guided in forming an absolute opinion on the danger or safety of the punishment." (Paris and Fonblanque, vol. iii. 149.) "Let a medical officer bear in mind, whatever his sentiments may be concerning the nature of the punishment, that he has nothing to do with the merits of the case; and if the prisoner is able to endure the award, he has no business to stop the course of law or justice. If he gives way to his feelings once or twice, he will find himself unpleasantly situated, unless he can show satisfactory cause for his interference." (Forensic Medicine, by Dr. J. Gordon Smith, page 403.) Dr. Smith served long in the 12th Dragoons. A Medical Staff Officer of my acquaintance, who, in the opinion of his commanding officer and the officers of the garrison, was too ready to recommend suspension of corporal infliction, came to be considered in some degree a nuisance in the station. He was ultimately removed to another garrison, in consequence of his being thonglit an impediment to the Service. I have elsewhere stated that medical officers, whose feelings were easily excited by being present at a corporal infliction |
