1842 Retreat From Kabul

[Music] on january 13 1842 a lone writer approached a british garrison in the city of jalalabad where they are awaiting the retreat of an army of thousands of men the bedraggled emaciated man had clearly been wounded a part of his skull had been cut off by a saber stroke his horse was so exhausted that would perry soon after as he was escorted alone into the city he was asked where the rest of the army was and he responded i am the army thus ended a disastrous retreat from cabell by an army of more than 4 500 soldiers and thousands of civilians the culmination of an ill-conceived and ultimately unsuccessful attempt not the first in history and certainly not the last by a foreign army to occupy afghanistan it is history that deserves to be remembered the great game is a term popularized by rudyard kipling in his 1901 novel kim describing the political and diplomatic maneuvers and wars fought over central asia principally between the british and russian empires the game was often considered a begun in 1830 when edward law lord alan vareau president of the board of control for india ordered the governor general of india to increase trade with the central asian emirate of bukhara this was the first move in a diplomatic battle that would last the rest of the century as the russian empire steadily advanced their southern border at the time india was a proprietary colony completely run by the british east india company and concerns for their business operations hung over nearly all of the actions in the region the british were concerned about russia's growing influence as it threatened their overseas empire and saw conflict between themselves and russia and india as inevitable the issue became urgent by 1830 after the perceived buffer states of the ottoman empire in persia both signed treaties settling wars with russia the british feared these states becoming protectorates of russia which would put the british empire's long trade routes along the coast of the middle east and india at serious risk in 1835 william eden lord auckland was appointed the governor general of india was instructed to watch more closely than has hitherto been attempted the progress of events in afghanistan and to counteract the progress of russian influence british and russian agents explored and visited the various powers in the region especially afghanistan both feared that the other was finding far more success than they were in 1837 a persian army with russian support attacked the afghan city of herat britain sent an officer in disguise to help the city's defense eventually the persons gave up the siege when britain threatened to officially intervene britain hoped to modernize afghanistan and install a british friendly government that would be strong enough to resist russian influence or invasion that saw the more or less futile structure of afghan society insufficient dost muhammad emir of afghanistan was simultaneously trying to elicit british help to retake peshwa from the sikh empire he invited a russian agent in the misguided hope that it would convince britain to align with him against the sikhs instead auckland insisted that afghanistan have no contact with russia at all in october 1838 lord auckland issued the simla manifesto which claimed that das muhammad openly threatened to call in every foreign aid that he could command against the british and auckland hoped the shah will speedily be replaced on his throne auckland concluded the governor general has been led to these measures by the duty which is imposed upon him for providing for the security of the possessions of the british crown but he rejoices that in the discharge of his duty he will be unable to assist in restoring the union and prosperity of the afghan people britain chose to support shuja a former afghan leader who had been deposed in 1809 and in november 1838 the british prepared to invade afghanistan the main reason for the invasion the possibility of the fall of herat and afghan russian alliance had already fallen apart and the attack was widely criticized an editorial in the west yorkshire bradford observer noted that the british gov punishes a sovereign in asia for taking part in transactions which it declares in a european sovereign to be perfectly innocent the editorial calls the war a violation of principle and at the same time bad policy the duke of wellington called the war stupid and advised that while the tribal levees would be easily defeated the lack of roads and harsh terrain would make it impossible to hold auckland went ahead anyway twenty one thousand british troops assembled from british east india company armies to form the army of indus invaded in december of 1838. most of these troops were sepoys indian troops under european officers took them four months to reach kandahar they captured the fortress of gonzi in july and reached kabul with little resistance shuja was enthroned in august and he quickly sought brutal revenge against his enemies but while the war seemed easily won the british would find out as so many invaders have throughout history afghanistan is not easy to hold eight thousand british and indian troops were left to occupy the country most of them in kabul the british tried to be comfortable bringing in their families and servants and building a horse track das muhammad was captured in 1840 and major general william elphinstone was put in charge of the cabell garrison which had built a camp in a poorly defensible site near the city one officer said that it was a wonder that anyone would camp in so extraordinary and injudicious a military position elfinstone himself was almost 60 and not in good health when he arrived bedridden with gout and rheumatism he also had no experience in asia and had seen his last significant command at waterloo in 1813. local resistance the shuja was already brewing but the tipping point was when william mcnaughton political agent of the east india company cut in half the bribes being paid to ensure the loyalty of a number of local chiefs mcnaughton blew off serious concern writing that the rascals have completely succeeded in cutting communications for the time being which is very provoking to me at this time shusha was so unpopular that many of his own ministers defected to the resistance on november 2nd 1841 kabul was in commotion and a mob accosted the east india company's second political officer sir alexander burns after some argument the british opened fire on the mob which then killed burns his family and a number of soldiers british forces nearby did nothing and british officers said that xuja was stabbed in the palace control of the city was entirely lost and shuja fell into a pitiable state of dejection and alarm a week later ahmab stormed the garrison's supply fort force under robert sale had been said to clear the line of communication but found themselves under constant attack by afghan tribes after byrne's death the column was ordered back to kabul but sale disobeyed orders and marston said further out of the country to jalalabad where he built up defenses but was trapped by afghan tribes by then the afghan forces around kabul were under the command of akbar khan son of the deposed dost muhammad general sales wife florencia was highly critical of eldenstone's leadership he vacillates on every point his own judgment appears to be good but he is swayed by the last speaker an officer reported that elphinstone's indecision gradually disheartened the troops after the loss of the supply for it on november 9th the garrison situation became grave mcnaughton attempted to salvage the situation through diplomacy while simultaneously attempting to pay assassins to kill akbar khan the cantonment that garrison had built was commanded on all sides by hills or forts before the end of november afghan forces had put cannons atop one of those hills and begun bombarding the defenders a force selling out to displace the afghans but took serious casualties the afghans proved to actually be the better rifleman able to hit the british with accuracy at much greater distance and the british could return it hundreds were left outside the containment including most of the wounded who were miserably cut to pieces after the battle remaining troops lost all confidence by december 8th the situation was dire enough that general elfinstone ordered the negotiations should be made for a safe retreat from the country there was no hope of reinforcements or supplies arriving from any source only three days the supply remained at even half rations fighting slowed over the next two weeks as negotiations continue until on december 23rd mcnaughton met with akbar khan mcnaughton was killed possibly by akbar himself and the other officers taken prisoner elephant stone endeavored to save the negotiations by agreeing to leave the country with the protection of afghans to jalalabad on january 6 self and stone's army made up of about 4 500 regular troops and as many as 14 000 civilians began leaving kabul for the roughly 90 mile journey to jalalabad where general sale was waiting the journey even with the supposed protection of akbar khan would be a difficult one they would be traveling through rough mountain passes in the middle of winter low on supplies the civilians made the march impossible turning demoralized columns into a mob even before the end of the first day the rear guard was under fire by afghan forces one soldier described scores of worn out sepoys and camp followers sat down in despair to perish in the snow many more suffered from frostbite akbar insisted they were being attacked for marching contrary to their wishes after two days only a few hundred men were in shape to fight and they found the kurd kabul pass to be filled with enemies that akbar khan had promised to order away instead the british were exposed to withering fire later witnesses described the pass the dead of general elfinstone's army lay in heaps in some places they seem to be mowed down in whole battalions lady sale was shot in the arm nearly making it to the other side a lieutenant who was there suggested that 3 000 souls perished in the past and many more were captured an account by william briden a doctor for the east india company was later published in an 1879 history of the war he described the wavering and imbecility of the leaders the insubordinate conduct of the men their desperate valor on all occasions which led however to no results because there was no mind present to direct it wisely akbar offered the following morning to take the women children and married men and escort them personally to jalalabad with little option they went and they were immediately made prisoners sipoi wives and servants were killed the british guns were frozen over most of them unusable and yet the next day they were again attacked mercilessly by the evening of january 10th most of the thousands that had left on the retreat from kabul were either killed or captured but then elfinstone had finally given up on negotiation with akbar khan and the retreat became desperate as those who survived flood through passes and hills still full of the enemy they took shelter and some mud ruins still surrounded and under constant fire akbar khan then demanded elfinstone and senior officers visit him at his camp he fed them and then he made them prisoners arguing that the british would pay a dear ransom for them what was left of the cobble garrison was under the command of brigadier general thomas john and coutille the party had suffered over 12 000 casualties and what few were left were starving and dehydrated they decided their only chance was to flee by night and when they did they found the way blocked by branches of the prickly holly oaks stretching completely across the defile few managed to climb through this barrier and the enemy pounce closing in on the few survivors and committing wholesale slaughter a small number were able to escape riding hard in the hope of reaching dalalabad on the morning of january 13th still over 30 miles from jalalabad about 65 survivors found the way blocked they occupied a hill near the town of gandamac they had only 20 muskets and little ammo the men refused to surrender one sergeant reporter who said not bloody likely when tribesmen promised them safety there the men made a last stand massively outnumbered the enemy attacked them from a distance and then charged the hill where the remaining british soldiers battled them back only a handful were captured alive 12 others were known to have escaped and been slowly picked off as they retreated six were left when they reached a village and were given bread by the peasants there and believing themselves safe they failed to notice the peasants arming themselves two more were then cut down and the remaining four were under attack as they fled ultimately three of those four died on january 13th centuries that jalalabad saw a mounted man in the distance cavalry patrol went to meet him the 1879 history of the war described the scene grasping in his right hand the hilt and a small fragment of a sword which had broken in the terrible conflict from which he was come he proved to be dr briden whose escape from the scene of slaughter had been marvelous and who at the moment believed himself to be and was regarded by others as the sole survivor of general elfinstone's once magnificent little army bryden a doctor of the east india company had nearly been killed by a sword struck to his head which had been partially deflected by a copy of blackwood's magazine that he had shoved in his hat while dr briden is largely described as the last survivor of elphinstone's army a few others did manage to reach jalalabad another european a greek merchant arrived there later but he died shortly after and a handful of sepoys managed to straggle in over the next few days an army of retribution marched back to kabul in the fall was a punitive expedition the british were not interested in other occupation just in revenge the british forces raised whole villages killed and raped civilians they defeated the afghan opposition retook cable destroyed significant parts of the city including its historic main bazaar as revenge and then left they secured the release of around 100 europeans and 2 000 seaboy captives and an unknown number of camp followers from elfinstone's army including lady sale the london morning post wrote the success has been glorious the temporary cloud upon our military prowess in hindustan has been swept away and though the private griefs of many must still remain yet the somber feelings of the nation have been dispelled by the sunshine of our triumphs shashujah was assassinated and adas muhammad was returned to power akbar khan died in 1847 most likely of cholera although some argue that he was poisoned by his own father general elfinstone died while he was in captivity his syrians today still disagree over whether akbar khan was just lying to elphinstone or where he just really didn't have control over other afghans the defeat came as a major shock to the empire to england and to the british east india company whose reputation for invincibility and luck was shattered 15 years later when sepoys up rose and what the british called the great bengal mutiny when officer observed men remember kabul it was one of the most significant and humiliating defeats of the british empire in the victorian era and one of the reasons that afghanistan has come to be known as the graveyard of empire i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short snippets of forgotten history and if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have suggestions for future episodes please send those to our suggestions email box check out our web page at thehistoryguy.net and of course we're on facebook instagram and twitter you can book a special message from 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Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 130,047

Rating: 4.9729185 out of 5

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, british empire, afghanistan, Elphinstone's army, Anglo-Afghan war

Id: jtT7Z9QpMgU

Length: 15min 1sec (901 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 22 2021