Afghan uprising of 1842

Massacre of Elphinstone's army
Part of the First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839–1842
An 1898 depiction of the last stand of survivors of Her Majesty's 44th Foot at Gandamak
Date 6–13 January 1842 Location Kabul–Jalalabad Road, near Gandamak, Afghanistan Result Decisive Afghan victory nearly the entire British Indian army either perished or captured.
Belligerents
Emirate of Afghanistan	British Empire British East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Wazir Akbar Khan	William Elphinstone  (POW)
Strength
Unknown but a British source claims possibly around 30,000	4,500 regular troops (including 690 British) and 12,000 civilians (workers, family members and camp followers)
Casualties and losses
Unknown	~approximately 16,500 soldiers and civilians killed, perished or captured

 British Empire

The 1842 Kabul Retreat (or Massacre of Elphinstone's army) took place during the First Anglo-Afghan War. At the beginning of the conflict, British forces had defeated the forces of Afghan Emir Dost Mohammad Barakzai and in 1839 occupied Kabul, restoring the former ruler, Shah Shujah Durrani, as emir. However a deteriorating situation made their position more and more precarious, until an uprising in Kabul forced the then commander, Major General Sir William Elphinstone, to withdraw the garrison. To this end he negotiated an agreement with Wazir Akbar Khan, one of the sons of Dost Mohammad Barakzai, by which his army was to fall back to the British garrison at Jalalabad, more than 90 miles (140 km) away. As the army and its numerous dependents and camp-followers began its march, it came under attack from Afghan tribesmen. Many of the column died of exposure, frostbite or starvation or were killed during the fighting.

The Afghans launched numerous attacks against the column as it made slow progress through the winter snows of the Hindu Kush. In total the British army lost 4,500 troops, along with about 12,000 civilians: the latter comprising both the families of Indian and British soldiers, plus workmen, servants and other Indian camp-followers. The final stand was made just outside a village called Gandamak on 13 January.

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