The Battle of Peiwar Kotal was fought on 2 December 1878 between

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces under Major General Frederick Roberts and Afghan forces under Karim Khan, during the opening stages of the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

. The British were victorious, and seized the strategic Peiwar Kotal Pass leading into the interior of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

The battle

After the outbreak of the Second Afghan War in November 1878, British-led forces invaded Afghanistan in three separate columns, the smallest of which was commanded by Major General Roberts. This column entered Afghanistan via the

Kurram Valley Kurram District ( ps, کرم ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Kohat Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.The name Kurram comes from the river Kuramá ( ps, کورمه) in Pashto which itself derives from the Sanskrit name Kr ...

on 21 November 1878, heading towards

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. The pass was however heavily defended at the Peiwar Kotal. This included Afghan regular forces, reinforced by local tribesman, who had established themselves in a strongly fortified position on a mountain overlooking the pass, which Robert described as an 'apparently impregnable position'. Roberts halted and camped just outside Afghan artillery range for several days, sending out

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

parties before deciding on his response. Finally, on 1 December, he ordered preparations for a frontal attack, including marking out artillery emplacements directly facing the main Afghan position. This was however a

feint Feint is a French term that entered English via the discipline of swordsmanship and fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or e ...

, and that night Roberts led the main body of his force around the flank of the Afghan defences. His attack on the morning of 2 December took the Afghans by surprise. After Roberts' forces, led by the Highlanders and Gurkhas, took a number of strongly held positions, the Afghans realised that their line of retreat was threatened and retreated from the battlefield.

Aftermath

This victory, against a well positioned superior force, opened the route to Kabul and helped lead to the Afghan government suing for peace and accepting a

British Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...

in Kabul, the first phase of the war ending on 26 May 1879. It also brought General Roberts, until then a little known staff officer, into public prominence, both in Britain and the wider Empire. Captain John Cook was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for his role in the battle, while his regiment, the 5th Gurkha Rifles, was awarded its first battle honour. At least 16 cannon were captured from the Afghans. These were photographed by John Burke, who accompanied British forces.

Order of battle

The following regiments participated in the battle:

British Regiments

*2nd battalion, 8th King's Regiment *

72nd Highlanders The 72nd Highlanders was a British Army Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line. Raised in 1778, it was originally numbered 78th, before being redesignated the 72nd in 1786. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 78th (Highlanders) ...

(half-battalion)

Indian Regiments

* 12th Bengal Cavalry * 2nd Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force * 5th Punjab Infantry *

23rd Bengal Native Infantry (Punjab Pioneers) The 23rd Sikh Pioneers were a regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1857, when they were known as the 15th (Pioneer) Regiment of Punjab Infantry. The regiment recruited the Mazhabi Sikhs and Ramdasia Sikhs of Pu ...

29th Bengal Native Infantry (Punjabis) The 29th Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 21st Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 29th Punjabis in 1903 and became 10th (Training) Battalion of 15th Punjab Regiment in 19 ...

5th Gurkha Rifles 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force), also abbreviated as 5 GR(FF) is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese origin. It was formed in 1858 as part of the British Indian Army. The regiment's battalions served ...

21st (Kohat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) The 21st Kohat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery unit of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1851 as the No. 2 Horse or Punjab Light Field Battery, Punjab Irregular Force. It became the 21st Kohat Mountain Battery (Frontier ...

22nd (Derajat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) The 2nd Derajat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery battery in the British Indian Army. The battery was raised in 1851, from disbanded Sikh artillerymen following the Second Sikh War. In 1857, one detachment saw service against mu ...

Thirty-eight members of the

10th Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince Al ...

were also present. Prior to the battle, the total strength of the force in camp was 889 Europeans, including officers, and 2,415 native Indians.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peiwar Kotal, Battle of 1878 Conflicts in 1878 1878 in India Battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Battles involving the United Kingdom Battles involving Afghanistan History of Pakistan December 1878 events