1842 retreat from Kabul

Overview

The Battle of Gandamak on 13 January 1842 was a defeat of British forces by Afghan tribesmen in the 1842 retreat from Kabul of General Elphinstone's army, during which the last survivors of the force—twenty officers and forty-five British soldiers of the 44th East Essex Regiment—were killed.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The retreat from Kabul stands as one of the most catastrophic military disasters in British imperial history. Forced out of Kabul by an Afghan uprising, the British and East India Company force under Major-General William Elphinstone attempted to withdraw to the garrison at Jalalabad. The column, which included dependants and camp followers in addition to soldiers, suffered catastrophic losses of approximately 16,600 to Afghan tribal attacks, exposure, frostbite, and starvation. The destruction of the force effectively ended the British position in Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War, demonstrating the limits of British power projection into the interior of the country and the vulnerability of large, encumbered columns operating in hostile terrain far from reliable support.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (1)