The piquets had to be pushed further out , and the difficulty and labour of relieving these was so great , that on the right front of the camp , where were the piquets of the Regiment , the whole of Major Keyes's command finally moved forward and occupied a plateau known as " Keyes's Piquet , " and this position was held by the Corps during the whole of the two further months that the operations lasted .sx General Chamberlain " fortified his front by a breastwork and guns in position , and he also secured the rear from attack .sx On his left rose the Gooroo Mountain , whose spurs came down to the camp , and on these he placed in well-chosen positions defensive piquets .sx The principal one on the left was the Eagle's Nest , which Neville Chamberlain has described ` as occupying the top of a very steep rocky knoll which rises out of the southern face of the Gooroo , and is the apex of that portion of the mountain which overlooks the left flank of the camp .sx ' On the right the hills were lower , and here the General also found some good positions for his piquets .sx The main position on this side , called 'the Crag Piquet,' was , however , as commanding as the Eagle's Nest , and towered up into the sky , a pinnacle of huge rocks scantily clothed with pines .sx Round these two points centred the chief part of the fighting .sx " On the morning of October 25th , just as the strong night piquets furnished by the Regiment were being reduced to day strength , a body of the enemy was observed on the heights in the vicinity of the main piquet .sx This was some 200 in number , and they gradually came nearer , availing themselves of cover , and began to annoy the outposts with their well-directed fire .sx Major Keyes at once advanced and dislodged them , and occupied a position commanding the open ground over which the enemy had retired , but now found that he was himself to some degree commanded , at a range of 700 yards , from a height known as the Conical Hill .sx Major Keyes had only some 200 men with him , while .sx the numbers of the enemy were visibly increasing .sx Reinforcements were sent for to camp , but these did not arrive until nearly 2 p.m. , by which time the enemy in front numbered 3,000 .sx The reinforcements consisted of 150 men of the 71st and 101st Regiments , followed by the 5th Gurkhas and the Peshawar Mountain Battery ; and now , covered by the fire of the guns and the sharpshooters of the two British regiments , the 1st Punjab Infantry and 5th Gurkhas charged the enemy and drove them off the hill into the Chamla Valley , whence they rapidly dispersed to their homes .sx On the 26th the enemy made two very fierce assaults upon the Eagle's Nest , but were beaten off , and among the dead left behind by the attackers were the bodies of some ex-soldiers of the pre-Mutiny 55th Native Infantry .sx All these attacks had been made in very considerable strength , and it was evident that the force opposing General Chamberlain had received and was still receiving large reinforcements .sx " News was now to hand that the Akhund of Swat , the Border Pope , had thrown in his lot with the Bunerwals and had summoned also the people of Bajaur and Dir .sx Chamla had sent its quota ; the Utman Khel Afridis from Lundkhwar also took the field ; and it was evident that there was now a general combination against us of almost all the tribes from the Indus to the boundary of Afghanistan .sx Old feuds seemed to be forgotten , for tribes and chiefs , usually bitter enemies , were now ready to fight side by side against us , and it was clear how greatly the situation had changed for the worse since the force had first entered the Ambles Pass .sx .. General Chamberlain recognized that it would be inadvisable to make any advance , such as had been contemplated , with his present force against so large a combination .sx He therefore decided to remain on the defensive in the position he now occupied , trusting that the discouragement of repeated unsuccessful attacks would gradually weaken the enemy's number and break up the coalition .sx " On October 29th a small further reinforcement reached General Chamberlain two guns of No .sx 3 Punjab Light Field Battery , the 14th Sikhs and the 4th Gurkhas ; and " on the night of the 29th the summit of the Crag Piquet was occupied by twelve men of the 1st Punjab Regiment under a non-commissioned officer " Havildar Sherag .sx " It was all that the platform could hold .sx A body of Hindustani fanatics under the leadership of a native officer of one of the mutinous Bengal regiments , taking advantage of the darkness , crept silently towards the post and slowly collected among the brushwood and ravines to its front .sx About half an hour before daylight they opened fire , made a sudden rush , and drove the small piquet from the summit .sx Driven down by the weight of numbers , the twelve men bravely took up a position at the base of the perpendicular rocks and returned the fire of the tribesmen .sx Major Keyes , on hearing the firing , knew that the piquet would be closely pressed , and , accompanied by Lieutenant H. W. Pitcher , the adjutant of the 1st , and twenty chosen men , hastened to their assistance .sx On arriving at the base of the rocks he found nine of the piquet , and , placing his men under cover , he determined to await reinforcements and the break of day .sx At daylight Major Brownlow with the 20th Punjab Infantry reached the main piquet .sx He was the senior officer , and Keyes suggested to Brownlow that he should advance by a ridge which ran to the right of the crag and threaten the enemy in the rear , while Keyes attacked them in front .sx Brownlow assented .sx This flank movement greatly disconcerted the enemy .sx Meanwhile , Keyes , ordering his men to fix swords , led them up a path which , owing to the rocks , was so narrow that only one or two men could pass at a time .sx At the same moment Lieutenants Fosbery , 104th Foot , and H. W. Pitcher , 1st Punjab Infantry , with a few men pushed up two paths , equally distant , equally narrow .sx Pitcher , as he led his men up the last rock , was knocked down by a stone and stunned .sx The tribesmen fought with their backs to the rocks .sx A few minutes the combat lasted , and fifty-four of the enemy lay dead and seven wounded in and around the spot .sx " In this affair a havildar and three men of the Regiment were killed ; Major Keyes , Lieutenant Pitcher , a naik and two sepoys were wounded .sx While this attack was in progress the enemy had assailed the position on two other sides , but was driven off .sx It was thenceforth considered advisable to support the Crag Piquet position with the Peshawar Mountain Battery , the 14th Sikhs and the 20th Punjab .sx Infantry .sx General Chamberlain now adopted a new and less exposed line of communication ; he changed his base from Rustam to Parmalao , while , in response to his demands for additional troops , the 7th Foot , 93rd Highlanders , 23rd and 24th Punjab Infantry were ordered up to this part of the frontier .sx Further , a small body of police , mounted and on foot , was sent to Nawa Killa to help protect the communications , and a large number of camels and mules was held ready at Nowshera to provide the transport which would be needed were the force to move forward .sx On the night of November 12th the Crag Piquet , then held by the 20th Punjab Infantry , was repeatedly and fiercely , but unsuccessfully , attacked , and on the morning of the 13th the post was relieved by a mixed party of the 14th Sikhs and 1st Punjab Infantry , under the command of Captain J. P. Davidson of the latter regiment , while fifteen sharpshooters of the 101st Foot , of the relieved piquet , also remained behind with the new one .sx The Crag Piquet was a weak and false position , but the best that could be occupied under the circumstances , and its retention was absolutely vital for the safety of the lower piquets which it commanded ; but it was itself overlooked from a higher ridge only 250 to 400 yards distant , while large rocks and broken ground in the immediate vicinity enabled the enemy to get close up to the position undetected even in the daytime .sx Captain Davidson had only ninety men of his regiment with him , and in view of the probability of attack he did not consider this number sufficient , and sent to Major Keyes for reinforcements .sx Upon this , another thirty men joined him , all that could then be spared , as serious attacks were momentarily expected upon other parts of the defences .sx Before , however , this additional party had arrived upon the scene , the enemy had begun to make his presence felt by throwing stones into the portion of the post held by the Regiment , upon which Havildar Mulliah Aman , who had been promoted for gallantry on October 30th , raised his head above the breastwork and was at once shot dead .sx At this moment somebody wavered , men began to leave the piquet men not of the 1st Punjab Infantry and , as the reinforcements came up , the defenders of the piquet post were seen to be vacating it and .sx falling back in confusion down the hill .sx On this occasion fell Captain Davidson , gallantly defending his post , which he was the last man to leave ; and in the covering letter by the Commander-in-Chief in India , General Sir Hugh Rose , to General Chamberlain's despatch of November 14th , he wrote :sx " Lieutenant Davidson , of the 1st Punjab Infantry , rather than retire from his post , died fighting to the last against overwhelming odds , with a heroism that elicited the admiration of one of the principal chiefs of the Buner tribe .sx " Subadar Rahim Khan endeavoured to save his officer and lost his own life in the attempt .sx Lieutenants Pitcher and Young of the Regiment also greatly distinguished themselves on this occasion ; for when the day appeared irretrievably lost and the men in the lower piquet began to waver , a panic having seized the camp followers , Lieutenant Pitcher , at the head of a few men , led a charge , which though not wholly successful , regained possession of the rocks under the Crag Piquet and restored confidence in the troops .sx Lieutenant Pitcher was severely wounded in this charge , and was in danger of being attacked in the rear , when Lieutenant Young , taking his place , held on to the advanced position till supports came up from the main camp .sx On this day the Regiment had 1 European officer , an Indian officer , 2 havildars and 22 sepoys killed ; 1 European officer , 2 Indian officers , 4 havildars , 2 naiks and 56 sepoys wounded a total of 91 casualties .sx On November 20th the Crag Piquet was lost and retaken for the third and last time , General Chamberlain in person bringing up supports .sx " At his request , " so writes Major Keyes in the Regimental Digest , " I went up with them to the Crag .sx The General was severely wounded in the assault and had subsequently to relinquish his command .sx On this occasion the Regiment lost one of its bravest soldiers and best non-commissioned officers , a Malikdin Khel ( Afridi ) , Colour-Havildar Moosullie .sx He accompanied me as my orderly , and was shot through the heart on the top of the Crag .sx " On November 20th General Chamberlain's place was taken by Major-General J. Garvock .sx From November 20th to December 15th the enemy made no attack in any force , and during this time the efforts of the political .sx officers to break up the coalition against us had met with a considerable measure of success .sx Two divisions of the Bunerwals had thrown up the sponge ; 2,000 tribesmen from Swat had returned to their homes ; more than one influential chief had withdrawn his followers ; while among those who remained there was but little " stomach for the fight .sx " Finally , on December 10th the chiefs of Buner and Chamla sent a deputation into the British camp , conveying an offer to accompany any force which we might choose to send to destroy the settlement at Malka , and promising to expel the Hindustanis from their country .sx