Afgháns into active foes. But his hopes of aid from Shelton were doomed to early disappointment. Shelton was very soon at odds both with the Envoy, whose advice on military matters he angrily scouted, and with Elphinstone, whose timid vacillations filled him with intense disgust. Instead of giving his second-in-command a free hand at such a crisis, the invalid General found fault with Shelton for acting without reference to his own wishes, complained of his stubborn contumacy, and petulantly reminded him that he himself was still in command.
In such circumstances everything was sure to go wrong. Divided counsels, embittered by service jealousies, took all heart and clear purpose out of the military plans. The lives of our soldiers were frittered away, their energies wasted, their discipline destroyed in feeble, dilatory, ill -managed efforts to retrieve past blunders, or to recover lost ground. On the very day after Shelton's arrival, an attack in force was ordered against a fort which commanded the north-east angle of cantonments. The troops under Shelton himself were ready and eager for the fray, when Elphinstone thought fit to countermand a movement for whose success Macnaghten had engaged to answer. Two hours later Elphinstone changed his mind, and again ordered the advance. Meanwhile the enemy had gained time to strengthen their position with men and guns. The fort was carried after more than one repulse, at a heavy cost to the victors, who a few hours earlier would have done their work more
