Siege and Relief of Chitral
| Siege and Relief of Chitral | ||
|---|---|---|
| Part of Chitral Campaign | ||
| Date: | 4 March- 20 April 1895 | |
| Location: | Chitral, NWF | |
| Presidency: | Bengal | |
| Co-ordinates: | 35.884157°N 71.795963°E | |
| Result: | Siege relieved | |
| Combatants | ||
| British Army | Chitralis | |
| Commanders | ||
| Political Agent: Surgeon Major George Robertson Garrison Commander: Capt Charles Townshend Commanding Relief Force: Col James Kelly |
Sher Afzal Umra Khan | |
| Strength | ||
| Garrison: 419 fighting men Relief Force: 616 men & 2 guns |
3-5,000 men | |
| Casualties | ||
Chitral Garrison
- Surg Maj G S Robertson, Political Agent
- Capt C Campbell, Central India Horse, Inspecting Officer Kashmir Imperial Service Troops
- Captain C V F Townshend, Central India Horse, commanding Political Agent's Escort then Fort Commander
- Lieut B E M Gurdon Assistant to British Agent
- Surg Capt Whitchurch, 24th Punjab Infantry
- Lieut H.K.Harley, commanding 14th Sikhs (99 men)
- Kashmir Infantry (301 men)
- 109 Non-combatants incl 52 Chitralis
Gilgit Relief Force
- 32nd Pioneers (382 men)
- Kashmir Infantry (100 men)
- Kashmir Sappers & Miners (34 men)
- Kashmir Mountain Artillery (2 guns)
- Hunza and Punial Levies (100 men)
External Links
- North West Frontier Military History Wikipedia
- Forts of the Chitral Campaign of 1895 by Bill Woodburn www.khyber.org
- Siege of Chitral www.onwar.com
- Siege of Chitral Devon Heritage
Historical Books online
- Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Vol I - Siege of Chitral archive.org
- The Relief of Chitral by George John Younghusband 1895 (archive.org)
- With Kelly to Chitral by Lt W G L Beynon 1896 (archive.org)
- The Chitral campaign; a narrative of events in Chitral, Swat and Bajour by H C Thomson 1895 archive.org
- Townshend of Chitral and Kut: Based on the diaries and private papers of Sir Charles Vere Townshend by Erroll Sherson 1928. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
- "The Chitral Campaign of 1895" by Major General T Bland Strange, pages 169-184 Battles of the Nineteenth Century Volume III, c 1901. With Illustrations. archive.org
- An Offical Account of the Chitral Expendition 1895 by W R Robertson 1898. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
- Chitral: the Story of a Minor Siege by Sir George S Robertson 1898 Hathi Trust Digital Library. 1905, New and cheaper Issue Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
- Four Score Years and Ten: Sir Bindon Bloodʼs Reminscences by General Sir Bindon Blood, Representative Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers 1933. 2nd file where images have been rotated. Archive.org. Born 1842, he went to India in 1871, page 47. He was with the Chitral Field Force 1895, page 264.
- Maxim guns were used in the Chitral Campaign: Page 38 The book of the Machine Gun by F.V. Longstaff and A. Hilliard Atteridge. 1917 Archive.org