The First Anglo-Afghan War - Part Five: Britain Returned to Kabul After the Disaster

The First Anglo-Afghan War - Part Five: Britain Returned to Kabul After the Disaster

Seven months earlier, a British-led army had stumbled out of Kabul into the snow.

Almost the entire column had been destroyed.

Now another army was heading towards the Afghan capital.

But this time Britain was not returning to conquer Afghanistan.

It was returning to recover its prisoners, restore some of its shattered military reputation and make certain that Kabul remembered what had happened.

In Part Four, we followed the disastrous retreat from Kabul in January 1842, when approximately 4,500 British and Indian troops and thousands of camp followers attempted to reach Jalalabad. Very few survived the journey, while others were taken prisoner.

The disaster caused shock across British India.

Today I want to continue the story, because the First Anglo-Afghan War did not end with that retreat.

Within months, British-led forces were marching back.

One of the men given the task was Major-General George Pollock.

Pollock advanced from Peshawar with what became widely known as the Army of Retribution. In April 1842, his troops forced their way through the Khyber Pass and reached Jalalabad, where Major-General Robert Sale and his garrison had survived months of siege.

But Pollock did not stop there.

By late summer, his army began advancing towards Kabul.

At the same time, another force under Major-General William Nott was approaching from Kandahar. Nott had successfully held Kandahar during the uprising and was now making his own way towards the Afghan capital.

For Pollock's men, the journey carried an uncomfortable reminder of what had happened only months earlier.

As they passed through the Khurd Kabul Pass, they came across the remains of those who had died during Elphinstone's retreat.

The army was travelling across the same ground where thousands of soldiers, servants and families had perished in January.

There would be fighting too.

Akbar Khan, who had played such an important role in the destruction of the retreating Kabul army, attempted to stop Pollock's advance. British-led forces defeated his men at Jagdalak and Tezeen, clearing the way towards the capital.

On the 15th of September 1842, Pollock reached Kabul.

Two days later, Nott's army arrived.

Less than a year after the uprising had driven the British from the city, British-led troops were once again outside Kabul.

But there was another reason for returning.

Prisoners from the January retreat were still being held.

Among them was Lady Florentia Sale, the wife of General Robert Sale, with her daughter and other women, children, officers and soldiers.

As Pollock approached Kabul, the prisoners had been moved towards Bamiyan, apparently to keep them out of his reach.

Pollock sent Sir Richmond Shakespear with cavalry to find them, while Robert Sale later followed with additional troops.

But there is an interesting detail that is sometimes lost when this story is described simply as a British rescue.

The prisoners had already been working to secure their own freedom.

They negotiated with the man guarding them and agreed payments in exchange for their release. Shakespear's force met the freed captives on their way back, and soon afterwards Robert Sale was reunited with his wife and daughter.

After everything Lady Sale had experienced during the retreat and months of captivity, it must have been an extraordinary reunion.

The return to Kabul, however, soon took a darker turn.

The return to Kabul also had a deliberate punitive purpose. British leaders wanted to restore military prestige and exact retribution for the destruction of the previous army.

Pollock therefore ordered the destruction of Kabul's great covered bazaar and part of the citadel.

The bazaar was deliberately blown up, soldiers entered the city, looting followed, buildings were damaged and fires spread through parts of Kabul.

It was presented at the time as punishment.

For civilians living in the city, the consequences were very different.

And after all of that, Britain did something which perhaps tells us more about the war than any triumphant announcement could.

It left.

On the 12th of October 1842, the British-led armies began withdrawing from Kabul towards Jalalabad and eventually India.

There would be no attempt to permanently occupy the Afghan capital.

Shah Shuja, the ruler Britain had placed on the throne in 1839, had already been killed.

Dost Mohammad, the man Britain had originally removed, was released from captivity and eventually returned to Afghanistan.

So after three years of invasion, occupation, rebellion, retreat and retaliation, the political situation moved remarkably close to where it had begun.

Britain could claim that its army had returned to Kabul.

Its prisoners had been recovered and its soldiers had demonstrated that the January disaster had not destroyed British military power.

But it had come at an enormous cost.

Thousands were dead.

Kabul had suffered occupation, uprising and retaliation.

And the ruler Britain had removed would soon be back on the throne.

The First Anglo-Afghan War had begun with fears about influence, power and control.

It ended with Britain marching away.

And perhaps that is the most striking part of the entire story.

After everything that had happened, what exactly had the war achieved?