The Kabul Field Force was a

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 ...

created in September 1879 during 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 ...

, under the command of General Frederick Roberts. It combined

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

regiments, and initially numbered around 7,500 men, but later reached about 14,000. The second phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War was set in motion by the murder of the British envoy

Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari (4 July 1841 – 3 September 1879) was a British soldier and military administrator. Cavagnari was the son of Count Louis Adolphus Cavagnari, of an old family from Parma in the service of the Bonaparte family ...

and his staff in

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 ...

on 3 September 1879. The only British troops then in

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 ...

was the

Kurram Valley Field Force __NOTOC__ The Kurram Valley Field ForceOften referred to at the time as the ''Kuram Field Force''. e.g.: was a British military formation during the first phase of the Second Afghan War, 1878–79. It was one of three military columns created b ...

, commanded by Roberts. This was speedily reinforced by new units and ordered to advance on Kabul, with the objective of taking punitive action. With twenty field guns and 7,500 men,

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

, and

Sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

s & Miners. Roberts' force moved up the

Kurram Valley Kurram District () is a district in the Kohat Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The name Kurram comes from the river ''Kwarma'' () in Pashto, which itself derives from the Sanskrit word ''Krumu'' (). Until 2018, it funct ...

and towards Kabul, winning various skirmishes and receiving envoys from Emir

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

denying responsibility for the murders. By early October the force was at Charasiab, twelve miles from Kabul, where 8,000 Afghans were dug in. Here Roberts' force defeated the

Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...

at the

Battle of Charasiab The Battle of Charasiab was fought on 6 October 1879 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War between British and Indian troops against Afghan regular forces and tribesmen. The battle The first phase of the Afghan War ended in May 1879 with the Trea ...

on 6 October 1879. The subsequent capture of Kabul on 13 October was described by Howard Hensman, correspondent of the '' Daily News'' of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. On 11 November, a fall of snow caused the death of some of the force's elephants. By mid-November, the Force was divided into two Divisions, the first at and around Kabul, the 2nd on the Khyber line. The 1st Division contained 100 British Army officers and 2,783 other ranks, plus 71 Indian Army officers and 5,060 other ranks; while the 2nd Division contained 90 British Army officers and 2,385 other ranks, plus 118 Indian Army officers and 8,590 other ranks. In December 1879, 10,000 Afghans rose against the occupiers, but Roberts was well prepared and was victorious at the Battle of Sherpur. In an action at Killa Kazi on 11 December 1879, James Adams, a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to the Force, rescued some men of the

9th 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, ...

from a ditch while under enemy fire, for which he was later awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. On 1 May 1880 Lieutenant General

Sir Donald Stewart Field Marshal Sir Donald Martin Stewart, 1st Baronet, (1 March 182426 March 1900) was a senior Indian Army officer. He fought on the Aka Khel Expedition to the North-West Frontier in 1854, took part in the response to the Indian Rebellion in 18 ...

arrived in Kabul from

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

with a further 7,200 troops, taking over command of the Kabul Field Force from Roberts the following day. This combined force was now designated the Northern Afghanistan Field Force. With the pro-British Emir

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan (Pashto: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) also known by his epithet, The Iron Amir, was Amir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for perpetrating the Hazara genocide, but also uniting the ...

installed, British Forces were preparing to leave Kabul. However, after the July 1880 British defeat at the

Battle of Maiwand The Battle of Maiwand (Dari: نبرد میوند, Pashto: د ميوند جگړه), fought on 27 July 1880, was one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the leadership of Ayub Khan, the Afghan forces defeated a much sma ...

in southern Afghanistan, Stewart ordered Roberts with 10,000 men to march on

– creating a separate Kabul-Kandahar Field Force. The Northern Afghanistan Field Force, still commanded by Stewart, finally returned to India in August 1880 via the Khyber Pass. With no British-led troops remaining in northern Afghanistan, the Northern Afghanistan Field Force was then disbanded.

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite book , last=Wilkinson-Latham , first=Robert , title=North-West Frontier, 1837–1947, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AQ_vgAACAAJ, year=1977 , publisher=Macmillan & Co , location=London, isbn=0850452759 Ad hoc units and formations of the British Army British Army deployments Second Anglo-Afghan War Military units and formations established in 1879

See also

References

Sources