Battle of Jellalabad
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Battle of Jellalabad | |||||||
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Part of First Anglo-Afghan War | |||||||
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Combatants | |||||||
British and Indian troops of the Bengal Army, The army of Shah Shuja |
Afghans and Ghilzai tribesmen | ||||||
Commanders | |||||||
Brigadier Sir Robert Sale | Ameer Akbar Khan | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,500 British and Indian troops | 5,000 Afghans | ||||||
Casualties | |||||||
62 troops, including Colonel Dennie | Unknown
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First Anglo-Afghan War |
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Ghazni – |
The Battle of Jellalabad was an Afghan siege of the isolated British outpost at Jellalabad (now Jalalabad) about 80 miles (130 km) east of Kabul. The siege was lifted after five months when a British counterattack routed the Afghans, driving them back to Kabul.
The outpost was little more than a wide place in the road with a fort, held by about 2,000 troops under General Sir Robert Sale. After the massacre of the British force in Kabul, Jellallabad was surrounded by Afghan forces which launched a series of attacks on the force. The British managed to beat off the assaults, and even captured 300 sheep from the besieging force when rations ran short. Eventually, after five months under siege, Sale mounted an attack against the Afghan forces, captured their main camp, baggage, stores, guns, and horses and the Afghans fled to Kabul.