Battle of Jalalabad

Battle of Jalalabad
Part of 1st Afghan War 1839-42
Date:	7 April 1842
Location:	Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Presidency:	Bengal
Co-ordinates:	34.456712°N 70.384276°E
Result:	Akbar Khan defeated
Combatants
British & Indians	Ghilzai tribesmen
Commanders
Maj-Gen Sir Robert Sale	Mohammed Akbar Khan
Strength
1,500	5,000
Casualties
14 killed 66 wounded

Synopsis

On 1 April a sortie was able to bring in a flock of 500 sheep and on 7 April Sale mounted a major assault on Akbar Khan's forces and defeated them convincingly though Colonel Dennie was killed. Akbar retreated towards Kabul and the district chiefs tendered their submission. Sale had effectively raised the siege. Pollock's army reached Jalalabad on 16th April.

Troops in the Sortie

Left Column 500 men under Lieut-Col Thomas Monteath CB

• 35th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry 500 bayonets
  

Centre Column 500 men under Col. William Dennie

• 13th Regiment of Foot
  

Right Column 360 men under Capt. Henry Havelock

• One company 13th Regiment of Foot
  
• One company 35th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
• Detachment of Sappers
  

Artillery

• No 6 Light Field Battery under Capt Augustus Abbott

Cavalry

• Small troop under Capt Oldfield and Lieut William Mayne

Biographies

Entries in the Dictionary of Indian Biography 1906:
Augustus Abbott (1804-1867)
Mahommed Akbar Khan (1813?-1849)
William Dennie (1785?-1842)
Henry Havelock (1782-1842)
William Mayne (1818-1855)
Thomas Monteath (Douglas) (1795-1857)
Robert Sale (1782-1845)

External Links

1st Afghan War Wikipedia
1st Afghan War Somerset Record Office
Siege of Jellalabad Google Books
Siege of Jellalabad BritishBattles.com
Siege of Jellalabad Google Books
Maj Gen Sir Robert Sale ODNB

Historical books on-line

Sale's Brigade in Afghanistan: with an Account of the Seizure and Defence of Jellalabad by George Robert Gleig 1846 (Google Books)
History of the war in Afghanistan, Volume 3 - Siege of Jalalabad by John William Kaye 1851 (Google Books)