The British War in Afghanistan: The Dreadful Retreat from Kabul in 1842

The British Army has rarely experienced a defeat of the kind that occurred in Afghanistan in January 1842. Provided here are extracts from the official government account of events between October 1841 and January 1842, along with excerpts from the diaries of Lieutenant Vincent Eyre and Lady Florentia Sale, both of whom were finally released in September 1842 - after eight months of being moved around the region in fear of their lives.