The Peshawar Valley Field Force was a British field force

Field Force

A Field Force in British and Indian Army military parlance is a combined arms land force operating under actual or assumed combat circumstances usually for the length of a specific military campaign....

 of around 12,000 men, a mix of both British regiments and Indian regiments, under the command of Sir Samuel J. Browne

Sam Browne

General Sir Samuel James Browne VC GCB KCSI was a British Indian Army cavalry officer in India and the Afghanistan, best known today as the namesake of the Sam Browne belt...

 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War

Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...

 (1878-1880). The force fought at the Battle of Ali Masjid

Battle of Ali Masjid

The Battle of Ali Masjid, which took place on 21 November 1878, was the opening battle in the Second Anglo-Afghan War between the British forces, under Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel James Browne, and the Afghan tribesmen, under Ghulam Haider Khan...

 which was the first battle of the war.

At the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War the Force was made up of the following:

Sir Samuel J. Browne

Sam Browne

General Sir Samuel James Browne VC GCB KCSI was a British Indian Army cavalry officer in India and the Afghanistan, best known today as the namesake of the Sam Browne belt...

 (Overall Command of the Peshawar Valley Field Force)

• Cavalry Brigade
• Commander: Brigadier-General Sir Charles J. S. Gough
  Charles John Stanley Gough
  General Sir Charles John Stanley Gough VC, GCB was born in Chittagong, India was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:At age 16, Gough moved to India,...
  
  
  • 10th Royal Hussars (2 squadrons)
  • 11th Prince of Wales's Own Lancers
  • Guide's Cavalry

• Royal Artillery
• Commander: Colonel
  Colonel
  Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
  
   W. J. Williams
  • One Horse Battery
  • One Field Battery
  • Three Heavy Batteries
  • Three Mountain Batteries

• First Infantry Brigade
• Commander: Brigadier-General Herbert T. MacPherson
  Herbert Taylor MacPherson
  Major-General Sir Herbert Taylor MacPherson VC, GCB, KCSI was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:He was 30 years old, and a lieutenant in the 78th...
  
  
  • 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade
  • 20th Brownlow's Punjabis
  • 4th Gurkhas

• Second Infantry Brigade
• Commander: Brigadier-General John A. Tytler
  John Adam Tytler
  Brigadier General John Adam Tytler VC CB was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
  
  
  • 1st Battalion Leicestershire
  • Guides Infantry
  • 51st Sikh

• Third Infantry Brigade
• Commander: Brigadier-General Frederick E. Appleyard
  Frederick Ernest Appleyard
  Major General Frederick Ernest Appleyard CB was a British Army commander that served in numerous Victorian Era military campaigns including the Crimean War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War....
  
  
  • 81st Loyal Lincolnshire Volunteers
  • 14th Sikhs
  • 27th Punjabis

• Fourth Infantry Brigade
• Commander: Brigadier-General W. Browne
  • 51st King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
  • 6th Jat Light Infantry
  • 45th Sikhs