With the Persian Expedition — A Reader’s Guide

A Forlorn Hope on the Road to Zinjan

The excerpt from Chapter XIII, 'The Race for Tabriz,' provides the clearest picture of the expedition's character. Donohoe describes a 'scratch pack' of fifteen British officers, one French officer, and about thirty-five N.C.O.s, armed with rifles and swords 'dug out of the Ordnance Store at the last moment.' Their mounts ranged from heavy limber horses to Persian 'Rosinantes' and donkeys. The column had a Lewis gun but no artillery, and medical stores were scant. Donohoe calls it a 'British forlorn hope,' led by Major Wagstaff, a Persian-speaking officer with intimate tribal knowledge. The mission: march on Zinjan, defeat a few hundred Turks, raise Persian levies, and push on to Tabriz. The description of equipment and the phrase 'self-supporting, and to live on the country' underscore the improvisation and risk.

Tribal Politics and the Afshars

Donohoe devotes considerable space to the ethnic and political landscape. He notes that a large proportion of Azarbaijan's inhabitants are of Turkish origin, with blood ties across the Araxes. He explains the Afshari tribe as 'one of the powerful Turkish tribes known as Kizil Bashis,' settled in Persia in the seventeenth century. He recounts how Shah Abbas organized the Shahsavans to counter these newcomers, but they soon 'turned their arms against their royal master' and allied with the Russians in 1826. This historical digression is typical of Donohoe's method: he weaves geography, ethnography, and recent politics into the narrative, treating the reader as needing context to understand the tangled loyalties on the ground. The Shahsavans are called 'a turbulent crew,' a phrase that hints at the difficulty of winning reliable allies.

The Author's Voice and Perspective

Donohoe writes as both a participant and a journalist. He was attached to Dunsterforce as a Special Correspondent for the Daily Chronicle, and his prose carries the immediacy of reportage. He does not shy from admitting limitations: the force was 'seemingly forgotten a great part of the time even by the authorities themselves.' His tone is matter-of-fact, with occasional dry humor—calling Wagstaff 'born an optimist' for his high opinion of Persian soldiers. The preface's self-deprecating awareness of 'the making of war books' suggests a desire to be read as a corrective, not a boast. The excerpts show a writer who balances tactical detail (the composition of the column) with broader observation (the 'starving land of Persia'). This dual focus gives the book its texture.

Geography as a Character

Donohoe treats the landscape as an active force. The route from Hamadan to Zinjan is described as 'due north,' cutting in on the main Tabriz road. He notes that the Turks operated on 'favourable ground' because of ethnic ties. The column's need to 'live on the country' is not a throwaway line—it recurs as a constraint. In the preface, he promises 'descriptions of places and people as I saw them,' and the excerpts deliver: the 'bare-boned and razor-backed' Persian horses, the 'humble mule and humbler donkey,' the 'dhoolies' (litters) harnessed to mules. These details ground the narrative in a specific, harsh environment. For a first-time reader, paying attention to these geographical and logistical details will illuminate the campaign's difficulties beyond the combat itself.

Donohoe's book rewards readers who approach it as a hybrid: part war memoir, part travelogue, part political briefing. The excerpts suggest that the narrative moves between fast-paced action (the race for Tabriz) and patient explanation (tribal histories). Because the text is incomplete here, a reader should note that Donohoe often withholds judgment, letting the details speak. The preface's humility—'my humble quota'—is a useful guide: this is a participant's account, not a grand history. Treat his observations as those of a well-informed but fallible witness, and the book will yield its particular value.

That grey afternoon, rain ticking the window, I was lost in Donohoe's Persian dust and the quiet courage of a stranded force. The book’s worn pages felt like a campfire companion, and when I closed it, I picked up Campfire and battlefield — Reading Notes, almost by reflex. Its scattered jottings felt like the same warm, weary voice, murmuring on past the final page.