The Infantry and Artillery then retired within the line of piquets, and the moment they began to fall back the Afghans came after them in great strength; they were so persistent that I ordered the whole of the 3rd Brigade and part of the 1st Brigade under arms.

The enemy, however, were unable to come to close quarters owing to the bold front shown by the 15th Sikhs, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hennessy, and before dark the troops were all back in camp, with a loss of five men killed and fifteen wounded.
From the information obtained by this reconnaissance, I found that it was quite practicable to turn the Afghan right, and thus place myself in rear of the Baba Wali range; I decided, therefore, to attack the position the following morning.

It was too close to our camp to risk delay.

Moreover, I knew that the retrograde movement of Gough's small body would be construed into a defeat by the enemy, who, if we did not move at once, would assuredly think that we were afraid to take the initiative, and would become correspondingly bold.
I accordingly issued orders for the troops to breakfast at 7 a.m., and for one day's cooked rations to be carried by the Infantry and two days by the Cavalry and Horse Artillery.

Brigades were to be in position by eight o'clock, tents being previously struck and the baggage stored in a walled enclosure.
The night passed quietly except for occasional bursts of musketry along the line of piquets to the west, showing that the Afghans were holding the villages they had occupied the previous evening.
[Footnote 1: The garrison consisted of 2 guns of C/2, Royal Artillery, 145 rifles of the 66th Foot, 100 of the 3nd Sind Horse, and the 2nd Baluch Regiment, 639 strong.] [Footnote 2: Now Lieutenant-General Sir Oriel Tanner, K.C.B.] [Footnote 3: Estimate of daily requirements for the Kabul-Kandahar Field Force and the Kelat-i-Ghilzai garrison: Europeans 3,200 Native troops 8,000 Followers 8,500 Horses 2,300 Transport -- yabus 1,592, mules and ponies 5,926, camels 400, donkeys 400.
Meat 4,000 lbs.
Bread-stuff 40 maunds.[*] Vegetables 4,000 lbs.
Rice 800 " Salt 133 " Sugar 600 " Tea 150 " Rum, 25 per cent.