Action at Hykulzye

Last updated

Action at Hykulzye
Part of the First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839–1842
Crimean War 1854-56 Q71459.jpg
General Sir Richard England
Date28 March 1842
Location
Hykulzye, Pishin, Pakistan
Result Afghan victory
Belligerents
Flag of Afghanistan pre-1901.svg Afghan insurgentsFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad Sadiq Brigadier-General Richard England
Strength
Unknown but more than British 1,070 men (only 470 engaged)
Casualties and losses
30 killed
50 wounded
27 killed
71 wounded

The Action at Hykulzye was an engagement between Afghan insurgents and British troops led by Brigadier-General Richard England at the village of Hykulzye. The Afghans were victorious and the British were repulsed.

Contents

Background

On receiving the news of the uprising of Afghans in Kabul in November 1841, General William Nott took energetic measures.[ clarification needed ] On 23 December 1841 the British envoy, Sir William Hay Macnaghten, was murdered at Kabul, and in February 1842 the commander-in-chief, General Elphinstone, sent orders that Kandahar was to be evacuated. Nott disobeyed, supposing that Elphinstone was not a free agent in Kabul; and as soon as he heard the news of the massacre of Elphinstone's army, he urged the government at Calcutta to maintain the garrison of Kandahar.

Battle

Political officers in Sindh decided to reinforce General Nott at Kandahar. [1] [2] The troops made their way to Quetta under Brigadier-General Richard England. [1] [2] Nott retained his position [3] and did not send reinforcements to catch up with England's detachment, which arrived at Hykulzye on 28 March, [2] knowing nothing about the territory. Colonel Stacy informed him that he might meet the Afghans south of Kandahar. [2] Muhammad Sadiq positioned himself on the heights and awaited the British to offer a fight. The British had a force of 1070, but only 470 engaged. [1]

The British attacked, but due to the high hills and the Afghans' numeric superiority, the British were repulsed. They retreated down the hill and reached the plain. The British then formed a square and resisted the Afghans who withdrew to their hills. [1]

The British lost 27, with 71 wounded, while the Afghans lost 30 with 50 wounded. The British attempted to attack again, but Richard decided to retreat and fell back to Quetta. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Nott</span> Welsh military officer of the Bengal Army

Major-General Sir William Nott was a British military officer of the Bengal Army, East India Company in British India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Anglo-Afghan War</span> 1838–1842 war between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan

The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad Khan (Barakzai) and former King Shah Shujah (Durrani), whom they reinstalled upon occupying Kabul in August 1839. The main British Indian force occupied Kabul and endured harsh winters. The force and its camp followers were almost completely massacred during the 1842 retreat from Kabul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Anglo-Afghan War</span> 1878–1880 war between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan

The Second Anglo-Afghan War 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 dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. The war was part of the Great Game between the British and Russian empires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wazir Akbar Khan</span> Emir of Afghanistan and hero of the Anglo-Afghan War

Wazīr Akbar Khān, born Mohammad Akbar Khān and also known as Amīr Akbar Khān, was a Barakzai prince, general, emir for a year, and finally wazir/heir apparent to Dost Mohammad Khan until his death in 1847. His fame began with the 1837 Battle of Jamrud, while attempting to regain Afghanistan's second capital Peshawar from the Sikh Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Maiwand</span> 1880 battle of the Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Maiwand, 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 smaller British force consisting of two brigades of British and Indian troops under Brigadier-General George Burrows, albeit at a high price: between 2,050 and 2,750 Afghan warriors were killed, and probably about 1,500 wounded. British and Indian forces suffered 1,200 dead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Donald Stewart, 1st Baronet</span> British field marshal

Field Marshal Sir Donald Martin Stewart, 1st Baronet, 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 1857 and, after serving as commandant of the penal settlement of the Andaman Islands, fought in the Second Anglo-Afghan War as Commander of the Quetta Army. In that role, he advanced through the Bolan Pass to Quetta, and then on to Kandahar in January 1879. In March 1880, he made a difficult march from Kandahar to Kabul, fighting on the way the Battle of Ahmed Khel and Battle of Arzu, and then holding supreme military and civil command in northern Afghanistan. He became Commander-in-Chief, India in April 1881 and a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India in 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet</span> British Indian Army officer (1786–1872)

Field Marshal Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet was a British Indian Army officer. He first saw action at the Battle of Deeg and at the Siege of Bhurtpore during the Second Anglo-Maratha War before taking part in the Anglo-Nepalese War. He also commanded the British artillery at the Battle of Prome and at Bagan during the First Anglo-Burmese War. Following a disastrous retreat from Kabul in January 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War, the retreating forces became stranded at the small British garrison at Jalalabad and Pollock was appointed Commander of the Force sent to relieve the garrison: he advanced through the Khyber Pass and relieved the garrison in April 1842. He then set about an unauthorised but ultimately successful mission to rescue the British hostages who had been left behind in Kabul prior to the retreat. In 1844 the Pollock Medal was created to commemorate Pollock's achievements: this medal was to be awarded to the "best cadet of the season" at the Addiscombe Military Seminary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William George Keith Elphinstone</span> British Army general (1782–1842)

Major-General William George Keith Elphinstone CB was an officer of the British Army during the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabul Expedition (1842)</span> Punitive campaign, British v. Afghanistan

The Kabul Expedition was a punitive campaign undertaken by the British against the Afghans following the disastrous retreat from Kabul. Two British and East India Company armies forced through the Khyber Pass and advanced on the Afghan capital from Kandahar and Jalalabad to avenge the complete annihilation of the British-Indian military-civilian column in January 1842.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kandahar (1880)</span> Last major conflict of the Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Kandahar, 1 September 1880, was the last major conflict of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The battle in southern Afghanistan was fought between the British forces under command of General Roberts and the Afghan forces led by Ayub Khan. It ended with a decisive British victory over Afghan forces. Ayub Khan, who lost his entire artillery, vast quantities of ammunition, and about 1,000 men killed, became a fugitive along with the small remnants of his army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Brydon</span> 19th-century British soldier

William Brydon was a British doctor who was assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, famous for reportedly being the only member of an army of 4,500 men, plus 12,000 accompanying civilians, to reach safety in Jalalabad at the end of the 1842 retreat from Kabul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ghazni</span> 1839 battle of the First Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Ghazni took place in the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 23, 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1842 retreat from Kabul</span> Retreat during the First Anglo-Afghan War

The 1842 retreat from Kabul was the retreat of the British and East India Company forces from Kabul during the First Anglo-Afghan War. An uprising in Kabul forced the then-commander, Major-General William Elphinstone, to fall back to the British garrison at Jalalabad. As the army and its numerous dependants and camp followers began their march, it came under attack from Afghan tribesmen. Many in the column died of exposure, frostbite or starvation, or were killed during the fighting.

Major General Robert Carey was an officer of the British Army and served as colonel in the New Zealand Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medal for the Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie</span> Award

The Kelat-I-Ghilzie Medal is a campaign medal issued by the British East India Company, to the defenders of the fort at Kelat-I-Ghilzie during the First Anglo-Afghan War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Talbot Airey</span>

Sir James Talbot Airey was an officer of the British Army. He served during the First Anglo-Afghan War and the Crimean War, rising to the rank of general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard England (British Army officer, born 1793)</span> British and Indian Army general (1793–1883)

General Sir Richard England, was a British Army officer, born at Detroit, which was then part of Upper Canada. During the Napoleonic Wars he saw active service in Walcheren, Sicily, and at Waterloo, before commanding regiments and divisions in the Crimean War and in India.

Colonel John Shelton was an officer of the British Army who commanded the 44th Regiment of Foot during the First Anglo-Afghan War and was second-in-command to Major General Sir William Elphinstone. He was one of only a small number of British soldiers to survive the disastrous 1842 retreat from Kabul, in which a British army column of 4,500 men and 12,000 civilians was massacred by Afghan tribesmen as it attempted to march to Jalalabad. He was widely disliked as a tyrannical and ineffective commander whose failures led to the annihilation of his regiment and whose accidental death was cheered by his men, but he also had a deserved reputation for great physical bravery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Willshire</span> British Army general

General Sir Thomas Willshire, 1st Baronet, was a British Army officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Rattray</span> British soldier and artist (1818–1854)

James Rattray was a soldier and artist, born in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, who died at Dorundah, in the Ranchi Division, Nagpore, India. At the time of making his notable sketches he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Grenadiers, Bengal Army, serving in Afghanistan.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Stocqueler, Joachim Hayward (1843). Memorials of Afghanistan: Being State Papers, Official Documents, Dispatches, Authentic Narratives, Etc.: Illustrative of the British Expedition To, and Occupation Of, Afghanistan and Scinde, Between the Years 1838 and 1842. Ostell and Lepage. pp. 198–200. ISBN   978-1-4067-2682-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sir John William Kaye , History of the War in Afghanistan Vol III, pp. 169-172
  3. Document Ga 2 C 86: Copy letter from Major General R(ichard) England to (his brother-in-law) Montagu; 1842–1854 University of Nottingham, 1854