Know Your 'Victoria' History: "A Soldier's Daughter/The Green-Eyed Monster"
Think you know the history of Queen Victoria's reign? Wondering how much of the history portrayed by PBS series Victoria is accurate? We run down the truth behind the drama in the Season 2 premiere, "A Soldier's Daughter/The Green-Eyed Monster."
The 1842 Kabul Retreat
Victoria: I think the fighting spirit of this country is more important than plumbing.
Victoria grounds the opening episode in a real-life incident, during the 1840s Afghan war. Quite a bit of the real situation is edited down for television. For instance, the incident did not start at the Khyber Pass, but in fact, began back in Kabul, as the 14,500 strong garrison (not 4,000 as the show claims) was forced to leave the city. (Hence the historical name of the event is "The Kabul Retreat.") The TV show drops us into the unfolding disaster about halfway through the calamity, when British forces reached the mountain passes and found themselves having to cross in the middle of winter. The Prime Minister, Robert Peel, notes that they have assurances of safe passage from Afghan Prince Wazir Khan, which was true. The Duke of Wellington notes they're not worth the air used to speak them, which was also sadly true.
Some historians call it the worst military disaster the British army faced until World War I. The truth is, most of the assembled forces (and their camp followers) died from the terrible conditions over the weeks and months of slow going in the snows: freezing to death, starving, illness, etc. If that wasn't enough, Khan then ambushed them. There were actually several attacks over the journey, pairing the forces down over and over, but the show simply boils them down to one big one, based on the final attack near the village of Gandamak, which was when the last of the survivors (about 65 or so) surrendered.
Assistant Surgeon William Brydon is recorded as the only one to make it alive to Jalalabad, and when asked where the army was, supposedly answered: "I am the army." For the record, Brydon wasn't strictly the sole survivor, some of the prisoners did eventually make it home, but for the show's purposes, it's close enough. (Though he probably didn't actually get to meet Victoria herself.)
