The Battle of Gandamak on 13 January 1842 was a defeat of British forces by Afghan tribesmen in the

1842 retreat from Kabul The 1842 retreat from Kabul, also called the Massacre of Elphinstone's army, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, was the retreat of the British and East India Company forces from Kabul. An uprising in Kabul forced the then commander, Major-Genera ...

of General Elphinstone's army, during which the last survivors of the force—twenty officers and forty-five British soldiers of the 44th East Essex Regiment—were killed. The biggest single surviving group of men, consisting of 20 officers and 45 European soldiers, mostly infantry from the 44th Regiment of Foot, tried to press on but found themselves surrounded on a snowy hillock near the village of

Gandamak Gandamak is a village of Afghanistan located between Kabul and Jalalabad, from Jalalabad on the old road to Kabul. History During the retreat from Kabul of General Elphinstone's army in 1842, a hill near Gandamak was the scene of the Battle of G ...

. With only 20 working muskets and two shots per weapon, the troops refused to surrender. A British sergeant is said to have cried "not bloody likely!" when the Afghans tried to persuade the soldiers they would spare their lives.Terence R. Blackburn. David, The extermination of a British army: the retreat from Cabul, 2008 APH Publishing Corporation. p.121 Sniping then began, followed by a series of rushes; soon the hillock was overrun by tribesmen. An officer named Captain Souter was mistaken by the Afghans as a high-ranking officer because they thought he was wearing a general's yellow waistcoat. In fact the officer had wrapped the

regimental colours In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some ...

of the 44th Foot around his body. He was dragged into captivity along with a sergeant named Fair and seven privates. The remaining troops were killed.Traces of weapons and equipment from the battle could be seen in the 1970s and as late as 2010, the bones of the dead still covered the hillside.

References

1842 in military history 1842 in Afghanistan January 1842 events First Anglo-Afghan War {{Afghanistan-stub