A Narrative of the March and Operations of the Army of the Indus, in the Expedition to Affghanistan [sic] in the Years 1838-1839. Comprising also the history of the Dooranee Empire from its Foundation to the Present Time.

HOUGH, William.

Published by London: Wm. H. Allen, 1841

About this Item

First British edition, following the rare Calcutta edition of 1840. This detailed and attractively illustrated eye-witness account covers the initial successes of the First Afghan War (1839-42): Kandahar fell without a fight and Kabul followed after the storming and capture of the formidable citadel at Ghazni. Obtaining an East India Company cadetship in 1805, Hough (1789-1865) served in the Nepal War (1814-16), Third Maratha War (1817-18), and as judge advocate of the Bengal Column of the Army of the Indus; he was an "authority on military law" (Stanley, p. 38 note). His Political and Military Events in British India (1853) became the standard textbook on Company rule; he also wrote Hints Regarding the Reorganisation of the Bengal Army (1857). Luckily for Hough, he was put on the invalid list following the capture of Kabul and sent to Calcutta, thus missing the destruction of the British forces on their disastrous retreat. In addition to recounting the campaign, his descriptions of the towns and cities through which he passed have been praised as "among the most professional of those set down at this time" (Trousdale, p. 86). Bruce 4473; Wilber 328. Peter Stanley, White Mutiny: British Military Culture in India, 1825-1875, 1998; William B. Trousdale, Kandahar in the Nineteenth Century, 2021. Octavo (215 x 132 mm). Folding map frontispiece (hand-coloured in outline) by Lt. A. M. Becher, lithographed by G. H. Stapleton and printed by the Harmonic Lithographic Press, 3 tinted lithograph plates printed by Day & Haghe, errata slip tipped in at p. iv. Contemporary dark blue half calf, red morocco label, sides and corners edged with blind paired fillets, moderate blue diaper-grain cloth sides, Nonpareil pattern marbled edges and endpapers. Ink signature to blank before half-title of G. D. Barker, possibly General Sir George Digby Barker (1833-1914), who served with the 78th Foot in the Anglo-Persian War (1856) and the Indian Rebellion (present at the siege of Lucknow), subsequently holding various colonial postings. Binding a little rubbed, minor insect depredation to cloth at head of front cover, pencilled binder's note on title page, prelims misbound but complete, map foxed and with short closed tear at linen-reinforced stub, otherwise very good.

Seller Inventory # 150345

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Narrative of the March and Operations of the Army of the Indus, in the Expedition to Affghanistan [sic] in the Years 1838-1839. Comprising also the history of the Dooranee Empire from its Foundation to the Present Time.
• Publisher: London: Wm. H. Allen, 1841
• Edition: 1st Edition