"The Black Mountain Expedition of 1888" Topic

"Battle: ‘Hazara Field Force 1888'.

War: Operations on the North West Frontier of India.

Date: 1st October 1888 to 13th November 1888.

Place: The area of the Black Mountain on the east or left bank of the Indus River to the North of the Kabul River/ Vale of Peshawar.

Combatants:
In 1888 the north western border of British India was the boundary of the old Sikh state of the Punjab. This followed the Indus River to a point short of the Black Mountain.

The tribes involved in this campaign lived in the area of the Black Mountain on the east or left bank of the northern section of the Indus River beyond the border.

The Pathan tribes of Hassanzais and the Akazais (both sub-clans of the Yusufzai, being descended from sons of Yusuf said to be the ancestor of the tribal group). The Hassanzais lived on both sides of the Indus River and comprised 10 sub clans with a fighting strength of around 2,000 men…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Thanks, a fascinating read. With all those hills, 6mm is a good scale for gaming – mountains will look more convincing on table.

Note the negligible British casualties, so typical of NW Frontier campaigns.

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Agree about 6mm!

Amicalement
Armand

Note the negligible British casualties, so typical of NW Frontier campaigns

I wouldn't say "typical", maybe not un-common would be a better term. Even if you don't include the 2nd Afghan War and its own ancillary NWF campaigns, there were still enough dust-ups from 1849 onwards to prove that things could either go fairly badly (Umbeyla, 1863) to just plain old messy and bloody.

I will certainly concede the fact that the PIF/PFF was an, or at least a fairly, elite body of troops and very well versed in their craft, so positive results could always be expected, but sometimes those damn Pathans didn't read the same memo!