NAM.1950-11-55-5

Lt J C Haughton, 31st Bengal N I. From folio of 29 coloured lithographs by and after Lt Vincent Eyre, Bengal Artillery, (to be) published by John Murray, 1843. Officers, ladies, and scenes in Afghanistan, 1842. From drawings made during the artist’s capture in Afghanistan; some with notes for printing; in green leather bound album. Lt J C Haughton, 31st Bengal Native Infantry, seated, in Afghan dress. Associated with the 1st Afghan War (1838-1842). John Colpoys Haughton (1817-1887) served as a midshipman in the Royal Navy before being invalided from the service in 1835. Two years later he joined the Bengal Army. During the 1st Afghan War (1839-1842) he was Adjutant of the 4th Gurkhas of Sha Shuja’s force, winning great fame during the defence of Charikar, a town near Kabul, which was besieged by a huge Afghan force in November 1841. Haughton lost a hand during the siege and after returning to the Afghan capital was taken hostage by Akbar Khan on 29 December 1841. Haughton was eventually released in September 1842 when Major-General Sir George Pollock’s Army of Retribution arrived in Kabul. He later undertook regimental duties in the Andaman Islands and Assam, where he joined both the Khasi-Jaintia expedition of 1863 and the Garo expedition of 1872-1873. From 1865 until 1873 he also served as Commissioner of Cooch-Behar. Appointed a Companion of the Star of India (CSI) in 1866, Haughton returned to Britain in 1873. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1882.

Kabul, Retreat from, 1842 (1st Afghan War 1838-1842)