The Peshawar Valley Field Force was a British

field force A field force in British, Indian Army and Tanzanian military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances, usually for the length of a specific military campaign. It is used by other nations, but c ...

. It was the largest of three military columns created in November 1878 at the start of the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...

(1878–1880), each of which invaded

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

by a different route. The Peshawar force initially consisted of around 16,000 men, a mix of both

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

and

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

regiments, under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Samuel J. Browne. Browne's force crossed into

from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in November 1878 and advanced up the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

in the direction of Ali Masjid. Here, on 21 November 1878, the force gained victory at the

Battle of Ali Masjid The Battle of Ali Masjid, which took place on 21 November 1878, was the opening battle in the Second Anglo-Afghan War between the British forces, under Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel James Browne, and the Afghan forces, under Ghulam Haider Khan ...

, the first battle of the war. The Field Force then progressed further into Afghanistan towards

Kabul Kabul 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, occupying

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...

on 20 December 1878. After camping here over the winter, they advanced to Gandamak, 50 miles east of Kabul, in April 1879. The advance was however slow, given the difficulty in keeping communications open and the hostile attitude of the Afghan people. The

Treaty of Gandamak The Treaty of Gandamak (Dari: معاهده گندمک, Pashto: د گندمک تړون) officially ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The Afghan emir Mohammad Yaqub Khan ceded various frontier areas as well as Afghanistan's con ...

in May 1879 marked the end of the first phase of the Afghan War and led to the withdrawal of the Peshawar Valley Field Force to

, where it was disbanded in mid–1879.

Composition

At the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War the Force was made up of the following: Sir Samuel J. Browne (Overall Command of the Peshawar Valley Field Force) * ''Cavalry Brigade'' * Commander: Brigadier-General Sir Charles J. S. Gough **

10th Royal Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the World War I, First World War and World War II, Sec ...

(2 squadrons) ** 11th Prince of Wales's Own Lancers **

Guides Cavalry The Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army which was raised in 1846 as Corps of Guides (India), The Corps of Guides. During more than a hundred and fifty years of military service, the regiment has earned the ...

* ''

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

'' * Commander:

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

W. J. Williams ** One Horse Battery ** One Field Battery ** Three Heavy Batteries ** Three Mountain Batteries: *** 21st (Kohat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) *** 22nd (Derajat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) *** 24th (Hazara) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) * ''First Infantry Brigade'' * Commander: Brigadier-General Herbert T. Macpherson ** 4th Battalion

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

** 20th (Punjab) Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry ** 4th Gurkha Rifles * ''Second Infantry Brigade'' * Commander: Brigadier-General John A. Tytler ** 1st Battalion

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both ...

Guides Infantry The Guides Infantry, or 2nd Battalion (Guides) The Frontier Force Regiment, is an infantry battalion of the Pakistan Army. It was raised in 1846 as part of the famous Corps of Guides (British India), Corps of Guides, a highly mobile force to a ...

** 1st Sikhs * ''Third Infantry Brigade'' * Commander: Brigadier-General Frederick E. Appleyard ** 81st Loyal Lincolnshire Volunteers **

14th Sikhs The 14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs was a regiment of the British Indian Army; they can trace their origins to the ''Regiment of Ferozepore'' formed in 1846. The regiment had a number of different titles over the following years: the 14th ...

27th Punjabis The 27th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 19th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 27th Punjabis in 1903 and became 3rd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, i ...

* ''Fourth Infantry Brigade'' * Commander: Brigadier-General W. Browne ** 51st King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry ** 6th Bengal Native (Light) Infantry **

45th Sikhs The 45th Rattray's Sikhs was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to the 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion raised in April 1856, at Lahore, by Captain Thomas Rattray originally consisting of a troop o ...

Bengal Sappers and Miners Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

References

{{Reflist Ad hoc units and formations of the British Army Peshawar British Army deployments Second Anglo-Afghan War