The Chitral campaign : a narrative of events in Chitral, Swat, and Bajour . ough the siege this covered waywas the main object of the enemys attack. Theyknew that if they could cut off the water the garrisonwould be reduced to the most desperate straits, andwould be compelled to fight their way down to theriver every time they required water. As it was, theywere never in any want of it ; but both the towerover the water gate and the waterway itself wereunder constant fire, and had to be held nieht andday by a strong picquet. An abutment in the southwall of the fort, overlooking the garden, was
The Chitral campaign : a narrative of events in Chitral, Swat, and Bajour . ough the siege this covered waywas the main object of the enemys attack. Theyknew that if they could cut off the water the garrisonwould be reduced to the most desperate straits, andwould be compelled to fight their way down to theriver every time they required water. As it was, theywere never in any want of it ; but both the towerover the water gate and the waterway itself wereunder constant fire, and had to be held nieht andday by a strong picquet. An abutment in the southwall of the fort, overlooking the garden, was at thesame time converted into a tambour, the gardenseats being utilised to make a banquerette to firefrom. Until hostilities had actually commenced it 48 THE CHITRAL CAMPAIGN was not possible to do more than this, for the worstfeatures of the fort as a defensible position were thelarge number of outbuildings immediately outsidethe walls. These, and the walls of the garden, hadnow to be demolished by moonlight under a heavyfire from the enemy by the Puniali levies under. CHITRAI. FORT. Sipat Bahadur and Morad Khan, two chiefs whohad accompanied Mr. Robertson from Punial, alittle tributary state lying between Gilgit and the siege went on and weak spots were dis-covered, they were strengthened as far as was possi-ble with the limited means at command. A tambour DEFENCES OF THE FORT 49 and caponier were built out in front of the main gate,effectually flanking the north face of the fort ; andsweeping both it and the north and south stables, which were on the river face to the rightof the water tower, were loopholed and the endswalled up. The parados were improved, and flank-ing loopholes made in the machicoulis galleries andin the towers. An endeavour was also made toloophole the basement stories of the towers, but thishad to be abandoned, as there was danger of disturb-ing the foundations. Vertical loopholes for groundfire were, however, made in the gun tower,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidchitralcampa, bookyear1895
