Battle of Peiwar Kotal
The Battle of Peiwar Kotal was fought on 2 December 1878 between British forces under Major General Frederick Roberts and Afghan forces under Karim Khan, during the opening stages of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The British were victorious and seized the strategic Peiwar Kotal Pass leading into the interior of Afghanistan.[1][2]
Background
After the expiry of the British ultimatum on 21 November 1878, the British Raj declared war on Afghanistan. Three British columns, consisting of some 40,000 men, invaded Afghanistan: one through the Bolan Pass to seize Kandahar, a second through the Khyber Pass to occupy Ali Masjid and advance towards Jalalabad, and a third under Major General Roberts along the Kurram Valley towards Kabul.[3][4]
Roberts' Kurram Valley Field Force crossed the Kurram River upstream of its concentration point at Thal on 21 November. The force comprised 73 officers and 3,058 men with 13 guns, including the 8th King's Regiment, 72nd Highlanders, 5th Gurkha Rifles, 29th Bengal Native Infantry, 5th Punjab Infantry, 23rd Bengal Native Infantry (Punjab Pioneers), 12th Bengal Cavalry, and two mountain batteries.[2][5]
The advance guard pushed through to Kurram Fort on 25 November, finding the Afghan garrison at Khapianga had been hastily abandoned. Locals informed the British that the Afghans had made a hasty retreat over Peiwar Kotal at the head of the valley.[2]
The Afghan position
Roberts set off on 28 November to try to catch the Afghans while they were attempting to flee. He sent two Indian battalions to take the Kotal quickly, but they found that the Afghans were far more prepared than anticipated: they were dug in and had artillery pieces ready to support them. A fierce firefight forced the 5th Gurkhas to cover the retreat of the Indian battalions.[2]
The Afghan force numbered approximately 4,000 men with 23–25 guns, holding a four-mile-long fortified position centred on the mountain pass. The position extended from the Spin Gawai Kotal on the left to commanding heights about a mile south of Peiwar Kotal, facing due east along a lofty and rugged range of mountains mostly covered with dense pine forests.[2][5]
Roberts' reconnaissance revealed that the position could not be carried by a frontal attack without incurring very heavy loss. He resolved to halt for a few days, recruiting his men's strength after several days of continuous marching over extremely difficult roads.[2]
The battle
On the evening of 1 December, Roberts made a feint: he marked out artillery emplacements directly facing the main Afghan position and established a gun line in the valley beneath the Kotal, with officers bustling about as if reconnoitring. This was all a distraction.[2]
That night, at 2200 hours, Roberts led the main body of his force — the vast majority of his troops — around the flank of the Afghan defences. All camp fires were kept burning and patrols marched loudly around the remaining position to lull the Afghans into thinking nothing was amiss. The force marched quietly through the night along the steep Spingawi Valley, a twelve- mile walk over treacherous terrain.[2]
At 0500 hours on 2 December, the artillery from the holding force began to bombard the Afghan positions, diverting attention from the flanking movement. At 0600 hours, the 5th Gurkhas, led by Major Fitzhugh and Captain John Cook, had moved to within fifty yards of the enemy before being spotted. They rushed a barricade and were followed by the 72nd Highlanders.[2][5]
The Gurkhas and Highlanders stormed the Spingawi Kotal defences, capturing two guns. They then attacked along the ridge into the main Afghan positions, but found themselves blocked by a ravine held on the far side by the Afghans. Meanwhile, the holding force in the Kurram Valley advanced up the northern side of the valley toward the Kotal itself.[2]
Heavy fighting developed as the Gurkhas and Highlanders fought over the ravine. Regiments from the Spingawi flanking attack felt their way further north and west, until they were behind the Afghans on the Peiwar Kotal. The mountain battery followed and opened fire on the Afghan camp and positions, setting tents on fire and causing a regular flight from the neighbourhood.[2]
The turning movement
At about noon, under the direction of Colonel Perkins of the Royal Engineers, two guns of the 1st Mountain Battery gained a position from which they could see the enemy's camp at Peiwar Kotal.[5]
At 1230, some Afghans began to retreat in good order. Roberts then took a bold move: he broke off most of his force from the ravine line and sent them behind the Afghan forces to cut off their line of retreat. This column comprised the 5th Gurkhas, 5th Punjab Infantry, 1st Mountain Battery, 72nd Highlanders, and 23rd Pioneers, under Brigadier-General Thelwall.[2][5]
The effect was almost immediate. As soon as the march of these troops was perceived, the fire in front of the hill occupied by the 2nd Punjab Infantry slackened, and the Afghans on the Peiwar Kotal became so disturbed that Colonel Barry Drew of the 8th King's Regiment, then commanding the troops on that side, determined to deliver his attack.[5]
This was most gallantly executed. At 1330 the Peiwar Kotal was in British possession, and the enemy was in full flight along the Ali Khel road, which for some distance was found strewn with abandoned guns, limber boxes, and stores. By 1430 it was clear that the British had secured a major victory against a foe that was larger and better equipped than they had realised.[2]
Aftermath
The British and Indian regiments suffered 92 casualties: 21 killed and 72 wounded. The Afghans probably suffered around 200 casualties. At least 16 cannon were captured from the Afghans. Captain John Cook of the 5th Gurkhas was awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the battle, and the regiment was awarded its first battle honour.[1][2]
Roberts' force spent four days collecting the stores and weapons left by the Afghans and sending the wounded back to Kurram. On 6 December the force moved on to Ali Khel, from where Roberts reconnoitred the Shutagardan Pass. The Kurrum Valley Field Force then fell back from the exposed Shutagardan and wintered in the Peiwar and Kurram positions.[2]
This victory opened the route to Kabul and helped lead to the Afghan government suing for peace, accepting a British Resident in Kabul, and ending the first phase of the war on 26 May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak.[1][4] It also brought General Roberts, until then a little-known staff officer, into public prominence in Britain and the wider Empire.[2]