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When a movie studio next needs a story of cool-headed bravery and
unbelievable survival against the odds it should look no further than the
1841/42 Afghanistan diary of Lady Florentia Sale. Add to that the recent
book by Michael Scott on Lady Sale and the disastrous Kabul siege and
subsequent retreat and massacre of 16,000 troops and camp followers in
January 1842 and you have a drama on an epic scale. Lady Sale was a
Victorian hero. She was feted on the publication of her account (it quickly
went to seven editions) and dined with Queen Victoria, who described Sale
in her Journal as ‘so simple, retiring & quiet, & so sensible’. Sale was a
dedicated army wife to General Robert ‘Fighting Bob’ Sale, the mother of
12 children, and as former Major General Michael Scott writes, she ‘had
the intelligence and shrewdness that her husband lacked’. Scott says:
‘Today, she would be a Cabinet Minister or CEO of a FTSE 100 company.’
Lady Sale’s story has it all: A garrison under siege; a daughter’s wedding; a
son-in-law’s death and burial; a forced march in freezing snow; a retreating
army, massacred and defeated; earthquakes; captivity; a newly born granddaughter;
fear of being sold into slavery; and ultimately freedom and
reunion with her husband.
Through all the deprivations and chaos of an army under siege and on
retreat. Lady Sale established her reputation for bravery, leadership,
intelligence-gathering (an Afghan secretly came to see her and warn of the
impending massacre), the odd tumbler of whisky, and even having a
musket ball removed from her arm ‘without, of course any anaesthetic’,
Scott writes.
The author Michael Scott commanded the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in the
Falklands War so he’s well placed to provide a detailed military history of
1841/1842 in Kabul. By the time the retreat began in January 1842, in a
foot of snow and freezing temperatures, he writes that: ‘Leadership and
morale were rock bottom.’ Scott paints a vivid description of the chaos,
panic and slaughter that became one of the worst defeats of the Victorian
era. According to Scott: ‘On paper, the order of march looked tidy and
militarily efficient but it wasn’t.’ Yet, it’s against this background that
Lady Sale displayed her ‘courage and superb confidence’ and ‘was unfazed
by the perils in which she found herself.
Florentia Sale was born in Madras in 1790 and in 1809 married Captain
Robert Sale. She lived the typical life of a British officer’s wife in India of
social events and following her husband on overseas assignments. Her
husband was killed in 1844 and Lady Sale died in South Africa in July
1853. The insurrection began in Kabul on 2 November 1841 when
political officer Sir Alexander Burnes was murdered. From there
everything in this instalment of the ‘Great Game’ went down hill as the
British faced attacks at the Bala Hissar fortress and the military
cantonments. The British were promised safe passage out of Kabul to
Jalalabad in the east, but the Afghan commander, Wazir Akbar Khan had
other ideas. Only Lady Sale seemed to forecast and appreciate the
treachery of the massacre that followed.
The retreat from Kabul became infamous for the final defeat at the village
of Gandamack. There are two renowned paintings of the action. William
Barns Wollen painted the last stand of the 44th Regiment (East Essex) of
Foot showing Captain Thomas Souter who was spared by the Afghan
forces who thought he was of some importance with the regimental colours
wrapped around his waist. And ‘contrary to popular myth’ Scott writes,
the only survivor of the retreat. Dr Brydon, painted by Lady Elizabeth
Butler, arriving on horseback at Jalalabad. During the forced march the
Afghans take hostage Lady Sale and others. Scott writes: ‘Her captors
must have regretted every day they had her in their power.’ Captivity
threw up all manner of difficulties and obstacles. Afghans recalled the
worst earthquake in years followed by other quakes and freezing
conditions. Lady Sale caught a fever. Her daughter gave birth (‘another
female captive’ Lady Sale wrote). The hapless gout-ridden commander Major General Elphinstone (a Battle of Waterloo 1815 veteran) died whilst
being held. Eventually, after nine months of captivity, Lady Sale is
reunited with her husband and they return to England in 1843 where they
are treated as heroes. Her daughter Alexandrina was killed in the 1857
mutiny. Grand-daughter Julia lived an army wife’s life as well and is
buried in Somerset with ‘Born In Afghanistan’ written on her grave (see
Llewelyn Morgan The Buddhas of Bamiyan published in 2015.
Having worked extensively in Kabul I can provide a few current
connections to the story of Lady Sale. One of the main areas of the city is
named Wazir Akbar Khan after the Afghan general who led the attack on
the British. The UK’s first base on the outskirts of the city in 2002 was
named Camp Souter. The area where much of the action took place in
1841, the cantonments, is today home to the US Embassy and the NATO
military headquarters. The Bala Hissar fortress is still magnificent today
and undergoing some excavations and restoration.
1I never came across anything directly connected to Lady Sale in Kabul but
I was thrilled to discover her grave in Cape Town in 2019. The inscription
on the grave includes: ‘Her heroism, her fortitude, and her patience under
arduous circumstances are part of her country’s story.’ With the eye and
admiration of a retired British Army general, Michael Scott captures the
calm under fire she exuded and provides a much-needed account of what
she faced with distinction.
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