The siege of the Sherpur Cantonment was a battle fought in December 1879, during 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 ...

Background

On 3 September 1879 Sir Pierre Cavagnari, the British Resident in Kabul, and his escort were massacred by mutinous Afghan troops, initiating the second phase of the

. A force was assembled and named the

Kabul Field Force The Kabul Field Force was a field force created in September 1879 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, under the command of General Frederick Roberts. It combined British and Indian Army regiments, and initially numbered around 7,500 men, but la ...

, under the command of Major-General Frederick Roberts. After defeating Afghan forces at Chariasab on 6 October, Roberts marched into Kabul on 13 October. With Kabul itself vulnerable to attack, Roberts based his force in the unfinished Sherpur cantonment, a mile north of the city. A military commission was then set up to try those responsible for Cavagnari's death. While a strong response to the murders was considered necessary, the resultant public executions helped unite Afghan opposition against the British presence. At the end of November, an army of tribesmen under the command of

Mohammed Jan Khan Wardak Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

, who had denounced Amir

Mohammad Yaqub Khan Mohammad Yaqub Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 1849November 15, 1923) was Emir of Afghanistan from February 21 to October 12, 1879. He was the son of the previous ruler, Sher Ali Khan. Mohammad Yaqub Khan was appointed as the governor of Herat province in ...

as a British puppet and instead declared Musa Jan the new amir, gathered in the area north of Kabul. On 11 December a small detachment (c.170 men) of the

9th Queen's Royal Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but wa ...

and the 14th Bengal Lancers encountered a 10,000+ Afghan army advancing on Kabul.A Short History of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers 1715–1949 In an attempt to delay the advance, the outnumbered Lancers charged the Afghans. Heavy casualties were suffered and the Afghans continued their advance. Anglican chaplain James Adams was awarded the Victoria Cross for rescuing the wounded.

The siege

On 15 December, the Afghan army began to

besiege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

the British forces entrenched in the Sherpur Cantonment. As news of a relief column under the command of Brigadier General Charles Gough reached Mohammed Jan, he ordered his troops to storm the cantonment on 23 December. By midday, the assault had been repulsed, and the Afghan army dispersed. No quarter was given to Afghans found in the area with weapons. The Sherpur Cantonment is maintained up to the present as a British military cemetery.Afghanistan's 'graveyard of foreigners'
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Order of battle

British regiments

* 9th Lancers * 67th Foot * 72nd Highlanders * 92nd Highlanders

British Indian Army regiments

* 12th Cavalry * 14th Murray’s Lancers * Queen’s Own Corps of Guides * 5th Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force * 1st PWO Sappers and Miners * 23rd Bengal Native Infantry (Pioneers) * 28th Bengal Native Infantry (Punjabis) * 3rd Sikh Infantry * 5th Punjabis (Vaughan’s Rifles) *

2nd Gurkha Rifles The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India's independence in 1947. The 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Ba ...

4th Gurkha Rifles The 4th Gorkha Rifles or the Fourth Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 4 GR, is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese nationality, especially Magars and Gurungs hill tribes of Nepal. The Fourth Gorkha Rifles h ...

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 ...

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 ...

24th (Hazara) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) The 24th Hazara Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery battery of the British Indian Army. Formation The battery was raised in 1851, at Haripur in order to help defend the Hazara District of the North West Frontier. Name changes T ...

Gallery

File:Afghan charge at Sherpur Cantonment.jpg, The Afghan forces charge (illustration by Sidney Paget) File:Bengal Sapper and Miners Bastion, in Sherpur cantonment, Kabul, Second Afghan War, c. 1879.jpg, Bengal Sapper and Miners Bastion, in Sherpur Cantonment circa 1879 File:British Cemetery (1 of 1)-8.jpg, View inside the Sherpur Cantonment today

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siege Of The Sherpur Cantonment

Sherpur Cantonment Sherpur Cantonment, or the British Cemetery, is located in Kabul, Afghanistan. The area was a British military camp or cantonment and the site of the 1879 Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Now officially called th ...

1879 in Afghanistan

History of Kabul 19th century in Kabul

December 1879 events