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'''For context see main article [[General Sale's March from Kabul to Jalalabad]]'''
== Synopsis ==
'''Sirdar Mahommed Akbar Khan''' came to [[Jalalabad]] with a large body of troops hoping to take the city following the earthquake of 19 February. He found the damage had been quickly repaired however so he established a rigorous blockade. Rumour came on 5 April that the relieving army under '''[[George Pollock|General Pollock]]''' had been repulsed at the Khyber Pass (later found not to be true). '''General Sale''' decided on an attack on the Afghan camp in the hope of raising the siege.
Almost all the garrison's fighting men were detailed in three columns for the assault. A skeleton guard was left on the walls under Captain Robert Pattisson. On 7 April at dawn the force issued from the the Kabul and Peshawar gates. The right column under '''Captain Havelock'''<ref>Later to become [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Havelock Maj- Gen Sir Henry Havelock KCB] who led the relief of Lucknow</ref> drove the enemy back while '''Colonel Dennie''' attacked a fort on the right and was killed at the head of his regiment.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=1m8BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA96&dq=History+of+the+war+in+Afghanistan+Mr+Gleig+gives+the+following+account+of++Dennie's+end&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false Account of Glennie's death]</ref> The battle lasted twelve hours at the end of which the enemy was in full retreat. The Afghan standards were captured together with a great quantity of stores.
