Discussion Post: A Study in Scarlet, Pt. 1
Apr. 3rd, 2016 08:01 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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sherlock60Welcome to the very first discussion post for Round 5!
As you probably already know, the canon discussion post has been retired for this round and instead we will be looking at topics inspired by the stories.
This week, the canon story we’re looking at is A Study in Scarlet (part 1, chapters 1-7), and the chosen topic is The Battle of Maiwand.
This is naturally a complex subject. I will endeavour to give some facts here but I really can’t do the historical situation justice. If you are interested, I would urge you to go and read the source material—links are given at the end.
• The Battle of Maiwand took place 27th July 1880. It was one of the main battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880).
• British and Indian troops led by Brigadier General Burrows fought against Ayub Khan, the Governor of Herat and his followers. Khan intended to replace the new Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman, who was a British protégé.
• The British and Indian troops consisted of 2,566 men; the Afghans consisted of 10,000 regular troops and 15,000 tribesmen.
• Out of the British and Indian troops, 962 died and 161 were wounded.
• Out of the Afghan troops, over 5,500 died and over 1,500 were wounded. (All these figures come from The British Empire.)
• Ayub Khan’s army was eventually defeated a month later by an army led by General Sir Frederick Roberts.
From my very limited reading, I gather the British and Indian troops were (obviously) hopelessly outnumbered. 6,000 tribesmen who had been loyal to the Wali of Kandahar (and therefore friendly to the British) changed sides and become loyal to Ayub Khan, and other tribesmen had joined him as his army marched.
The British and Indian troops had set off too late to reach Maiwand before Ayub Khan’s army got there. (They needed to reach Maiwand first to stop Ayub Khan getting to Kabul.) And they had had to pack up their camp before leaving, so the troops were tired even before they started marching. Also, the men hadn’t been fed before they set off into battle. There was the terrible heat to contend with and there wasn’t enough water. Some of the troops hadn’t had sufficient training. And the British and Indian troops weren’t familiar with the territory so Ayub Khan’s troops had the advantage there as well.
Dr. Watson states that he was “...attached to the Berkshires…” I assume this is the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot. They are famous for their doomed last stand in the battle.
A quotation taken from a section on the website The British Empire: The Destruction of the 66th, based on the account by Bryan Perrett in "Against All Odds!"
Even in the flush of their victory, the Afghans were awed by the end of the 66th. "Surrounded by most of the Afghan army, they fought on until only eleven men were left, inflicting enormous loss on the enemy", wrote one of Ayub's senior artillery officers. "These men charged out of the garden and died with their faces to the foe, their conduct was the admiration of all who witnessed it."
Watson would not have been part of this last stand, of course. The 66th was divided in some confusion just previous to this, and Watson may possibly have been wounded during the general retreat.
There is a memorial to the men from the 66th lost at Maiwand—in Forbury Gardens, in Reading in Berkshire: the Maiwand Lion. It was erected in 1886—I wonder if Watson ever went to see it. In SIXN, Mr. Sandeford lives in Reading but he comes to Baker Street—Holmes and Watson don’t go to visit him. However, in SHOS Shoscombe Old Place is in Berkshire, and we know Watson had “summer quarters” in the vicinity—though that might have been before Maiwand.
Some useful and interesting resources:
The Second Anglo-Afghan War 1878-1880
For the above website, you might specifically like to have a look at the article on Army Surgeons in the Afghan War, and the Did you know? section.
One fact from the Did you know? section that particularly caught my eye:
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was one of the earliest campaigns where British soldiers wore khaki in large numbers. As khaki-manufactured uniforms were not common, the soldiers had to make their own by dying their white summer uniforms with a variety of substances, including coffee, tea, curry powder, and all kinds of dyes - resulting in whole companies marching out in a variety of shades - from bright yellow to dark brown.
The British Empire
British Battles
British Military & Criminal History 1900 to 1999 This article tells you about a survivor of Maiwand and about the medal he was awarded.
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Suggested by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rachelindeed: Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. Rachel also suggested offering fic prompts, so if you have any suggestions springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
As you probably already know, the canon discussion post has been retired for this round and instead we will be looking at topics inspired by the stories.
This week, the canon story we’re looking at is A Study in Scarlet (part 1, chapters 1-7), and the chosen topic is The Battle of Maiwand.
This is naturally a complex subject. I will endeavour to give some facts here but I really can’t do the historical situation justice. If you are interested, I would urge you to go and read the source material—links are given at the end.
• The Battle of Maiwand took place 27th July 1880. It was one of the main battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880).
• British and Indian troops led by Brigadier General Burrows fought against Ayub Khan, the Governor of Herat and his followers. Khan intended to replace the new Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman, who was a British protégé.
• The British and Indian troops consisted of 2,566 men; the Afghans consisted of 10,000 regular troops and 15,000 tribesmen.
• Out of the British and Indian troops, 962 died and 161 were wounded.
• Out of the Afghan troops, over 5,500 died and over 1,500 were wounded. (All these figures come from The British Empire.)
• Ayub Khan’s army was eventually defeated a month later by an army led by General Sir Frederick Roberts.
From my very limited reading, I gather the British and Indian troops were (obviously) hopelessly outnumbered. 6,000 tribesmen who had been loyal to the Wali of Kandahar (and therefore friendly to the British) changed sides and become loyal to Ayub Khan, and other tribesmen had joined him as his army marched.
The British and Indian troops had set off too late to reach Maiwand before Ayub Khan’s army got there. (They needed to reach Maiwand first to stop Ayub Khan getting to Kabul.) And they had had to pack up their camp before leaving, so the troops were tired even before they started marching. Also, the men hadn’t been fed before they set off into battle. There was the terrible heat to contend with and there wasn’t enough water. Some of the troops hadn’t had sufficient training. And the British and Indian troops weren’t familiar with the territory so Ayub Khan’s troops had the advantage there as well.
Dr. Watson states that he was “...attached to the Berkshires…” I assume this is the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot. They are famous for their doomed last stand in the battle.
A quotation taken from a section on the website The British Empire: The Destruction of the 66th, based on the account by Bryan Perrett in "Against All Odds!"
Even in the flush of their victory, the Afghans were awed by the end of the 66th. "Surrounded by most of the Afghan army, they fought on until only eleven men were left, inflicting enormous loss on the enemy", wrote one of Ayub's senior artillery officers. "These men charged out of the garden and died with their faces to the foe, their conduct was the admiration of all who witnessed it."
Watson would not have been part of this last stand, of course. The 66th was divided in some confusion just previous to this, and Watson may possibly have been wounded during the general retreat.
There is a memorial to the men from the 66th lost at Maiwand—in Forbury Gardens, in Reading in Berkshire: the Maiwand Lion. It was erected in 1886—I wonder if Watson ever went to see it. In SIXN, Mr. Sandeford lives in Reading but he comes to Baker Street—Holmes and Watson don’t go to visit him. However, in SHOS Shoscombe Old Place is in Berkshire, and we know Watson had “summer quarters” in the vicinity—though that might have been before Maiwand.
Some useful and interesting resources:
The Second Anglo-Afghan War 1878-1880
For the above website, you might specifically like to have a look at the article on Army Surgeons in the Afghan War, and the Did you know? section.
One fact from the Did you know? section that particularly caught my eye:
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was one of the earliest campaigns where British soldiers wore khaki in large numbers. As khaki-manufactured uniforms were not common, the soldiers had to make their own by dying their white summer uniforms with a variety of substances, including coffee, tea, curry powder, and all kinds of dyes - resulting in whole companies marching out in a variety of shades - from bright yellow to dark brown.
The British Empire
British Battles
British Military & Criminal History 1900 to 1999 This article tells you about a survivor of Maiwand and about the medal he was awarded.
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Suggested by
rachelindeed: Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. Rachel also suggested offering fic prompts, so if you have any suggestions springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
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