US soldiers (file photo)

The Hill: When the United States finally left Afghanistan amid the chaos that claimed the lives of 170 civilians and 13 U.S. service personnel on Aug. 30, 2021, at Hamid Karzai International Airport, it was not the most disastrous retreat from Kabul ever suffered.  In January 1842, nearly 16,000 souls, mostly civilian men, women and children, escaped from Kabul under the command of British Major General William Elphinstone headed for Jalalabad 90 miles away. Only one survived — the surgeon William Brydon. Click here to read more (external link).