Tirah campaign
Tirah campaign | |
---|---|
British India | |
Result | British victory |
Orakzai
Chamkani
Pratap Singh
20,000 camp followers
1,150 British casualties[2]
The Tirah campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah expedition, was an Indian frontier campaign from September 1897 to April 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in what was formerly known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Rebellion
The
British advance
October
The general commanding was
November
The force, in detached brigades, now traversed the Tirah district in all directions, and destroyed the walled and fortified hamlets of the Afridi. The two divisions available for this duty numbered about 20,000 men. A force about 3,200 strong commanded by Brigadier-General (afterwards Major General Sir Richard) Westmacott was first employed to attack Saran Sar, which was easily carried, but during the retirement the troops were hard pressed and had 64 casualties. On 11 November, Saran Sar was again attacked by the brigade of Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir Alfred) Gaselee. Experience enabled better dispositions to be made, and the casualties were only three.[1]
The traversing of the valley continued, and on 13 November a third brigade under
December
The Kurram column then returned to its camp, and Lockhart prepared to evacuate Tirah, despatching his two divisions by separate routes: the first under Major-General W. Penn Symons (died 1899) to return via the Mastura valley, destroying the forts on the way, and to join at Bara, within easy march of Peshawar; the second division under Major General Yeatman Biggs (died 1898), and, accompanied by Lockhart, to move along the Bara valley. The base was thus to be transferred from Kohat to Peshawar. The return march began on 9 December. The cold was intense, 21 degrees of frost[clarification needed] being registered before leaving Tirah. The movement of the first division though arduous was practically unopposed, but the 40 miles to be covered by the second division were contested almost throughout.[1]
The march down the Bara valley (34 miles) commenced on 10 December, and involved four days of the hardest fighting and marching of the campaign. The road crossed and recrossed the icy stream, while snow, sleet and rain fell constantly. On the 10th, the casualties numbered about twenty. On the 11th, some fifty or sixty casualties were recorded among the troops, but many followers were killed or died of exposure, and quantities of stores were lost. On the 12th, the column halted for rest. On the 13th, the march was resumed in improved weather, though the cold was still severe. The rearguard was heavily engaged, and the casualties numbered about sixty. On the 14th, after further fighting, a junction with the Peshawar column was effected. The first division, aided by the Peshawar column, now took possession of the Khyber forts without opposition.[1]
Surrender
Negotiations for peace were then begun with the Afridis, who under the threat of another expedition into Tirah in the spring at length agreed to pay the fines and to surrender the rifles demanded. The expeditionary force was broken up on 4 April 1898. A memorable feature of this campaign was the presence in the fighting line of the Imperial Service native troops under their own officers, while several of the best known of the Indian princes served on Lockhart's staff.[1]
See also
Notes
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References
- Biggins, David (November 2012). "Leinster Regiment (Prince of Wales's): Kempster, Francis James (born 12 March 1855)". AngloBoerWar.com. cites: DSO recipients (VC and DSO Book).
- Churchill, Randolph Spencer; Gilbert, Martin (1967). Winston S. Churchill: Youth, 1874–1900, Part 2 (1876–1900). Vol. 1. Houghton Mifflin. p. 860.
Attribution:
- public domain: Blunt, Charles Jasper (1911). "Tirah Campaign". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1005–1006. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Hernon, Ian (2003). Britain's Forgotten Wars, Colonial Campaigns of the 19th Century. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 9780750931625. (Chapter 18)
- Hutchinson, Col. H.D. (1898). The Campaign in the Tirah 1897-1898: An Account of the Expedition Against the Orakzais & Afridis under Gen. Sir. William Lockhart. London: Macmillan.
- James, Colonel Lionel (1898). The Indian Frontier War: Being an Account of the Mohamud & Tirah Expeditions 1897. London: Heinemann.
- Johnson, Rob. "The 1897 Revolt and Tirah Valley Operations from the Pashtun Perspective" (PDF). Tribal Analysis Center.
- Shadwell, Leonard Julius (1898). Lockhart's advance through Tirah. London: W. Thacker.
- Callwell, C. E. (1911). Tirah 1897. London: Constable.
- Henty, George A (1904). Through Three Campaigns A Story of Chitral, Tirah and Ashanti. – historical fiction