18. A Doctor’s Lucky Escape
In 1842, Afghanistan was as messy and wracked by strife as it is today. On January 13th, British sentries in Jellalabad, Afghanistan, were on high alert. They were on the lookout for a British army that had recently evacuated the Afghan capital, Kabul, and was expected to arrive any day now.
No army arrived, but late that afternoon, the sentries saw a single rider approaching. It was Dr. William Brydon, a surgeon in the East India Company’s Bengal Army. He was the sole survivor to complete the British retreat from Kabul, and escape an epic disaster that had annihilated an entire army. The ordeal that had consumed his comrades was a harrowing one.