General Stewart's March to Kandahar

Summary

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General Stewart set out at the end of November 1878 with the third invading force from Multan and, on 8 January 1879, reached Kandahar which the enemy had abandoned. In March 1880 he left the Bombay division of his force as a garrison under Maj-Gen Primrose and marched to Kabul fighting battles at Ahmed Khel and Urzu on the way. Part of the field force went with General Roberts on his march to relieve Kandahar while he led the remainder back to India via the Khyber Pass.

Kandahar Field Force

First Division
13,000 troops under Lt Gen Donald Stewart

Cavalry Brigade
Brig Gen Walter Fane

• 15th Hussars
• 8th Cavalry
• 19th Fane's Lancers

Royal Artillery
Brig Gen Charles George Arbuthnot

• One Horse Battery
• Three Field Batteries
• Two Heavy Batteries
• Three Seige Batteries
• One Mountain Battery

First Infantry Brigade
Brig Gen R. Barter

• 2nd Battalion King's Royal Rifles
• 15th Sikhs
• 25th Punjabis

Second Infantry Brigade
Brig Gen W. Hughes

• 59th East Lancashire
• 12th Kelat-i-Ghilzai Regt
• 1st Gurkhas
• 3rd Gurkhas

2nd Division
Maj Gen Michael Anthony Shrapnel Biddulph

Cavalry Brigade
Brig Gen C. H. Palliser

• 21st Daly's Horse
• 22nd Sam Browne's Horse
• 35th Scinde Horse

Artillery
Col Le Mesurier

• One Field Battery
• Two Mountain Batteries

First Infantry
Brig Gen R. Lacy

• 70th East Surrey
• 19th Punjabis
• 127th Baluchis

Second Infantry Brigade
Brig Gen Thomas Nuttall

• 26th Punjabis
• 32nd Pioneers
• 55th Coke's Rifles
• 129th Baluchis

General Stewart's March to Kabul
Actions fought on this march: Ahmad Khel – Urzoo
Phases: General Browne's March from Peshawar to Gandamak – General Roberts' March to Ali Kheyl – General Stewart's March to Kandahar
General Roberts' March to Kabul – General Stewart's March to Kabul – General Roberts' March from Kabul to Kandahar
Part of the 2nd Afghan War