The massacre of Lord Elphinstone's Column in January 1842 might have been a bit of a reverse but his was only one of four British Garrison's in Afghanistan at the time. Akbar Khan must have latterly rued the second he decided to play the treachery card and order the Ghilzai Tribesmen to attack the 4,500 troops (700 British Troops and 3,800 Indian Troops belonging to the East India Company) and 12,000 civilians (men, women and children) withdrawing to Jalalabad under his (Akbar Khan's) safe conduct.

The British withdrawal had been decided upon in November 1841. Once Surgeon William Brydon rode in alone to Jalalabad on the 15th January the withdrawal order was rescinded and the three remaining Garrisons and reinforcements from India became a Force of Retribution ordered to teach the Afghans and Akbar Khan in particular a lesson.

In the following ten months, Akbar Khan and his forces were defeated four times, the border fortress of Ghazni was blown up, the British entered Kabul and blew up the Great Bazaar and Akbar Khan fled. All the prisoners taken from Elphinstone's Column were rescued and Akbar Khan's father was placed on the throne (Five years later Akbar Khan was murdered on the orders of his father to prevent him causing any future embarrassment). The British withrew almost one year on from when the original order had been given and the Russians did not attempt to enter Afghanistan again until 1878.