13. A Lone Survivor
On January 11th, the British commander and his deputy were forced to surrender in exchange for yet another promise of safe passage. Like the previous promises, it was worthless. Soon thereafter, the British found their escape path barred, this time for good, by entrenched Afghans who had blocked and fortified a pass. A desperate charge was made to try and breakthrough, but it was beaten back.
Dr. William Brydon and five other British officers managed to escape as far as Fatehabad. There, hostile Afghans fell upon them, and all of Brydon’s companions were slain. On January 13th, 1842, a week after setting out from Kabul, the last group of armed survivors formed a tiny square and made a last stand. They put up a heroic fight, but went under just the same. Later that afternoon, British sentries in Jellalabad, on the lookout for the arrival of the Kabul garrison, saw a single rider approaching. It was Dr. Brydon, wounded and just about on his last legs from hunger, thirst, and fatigue. He was the only one who completed the British retreat from Kabul.