began to receive considerably better treatment and they were taken to join other British prisoners of war in Kabul on 24 August where they dined with the leader of the revolt, Akbar Khan. Following the Battle of Kabul, Nicholson and the rest of the British prisoners were released in September 1842, after six long months of captivity. Despite the British victory, their position in Afghanistan was no longer tenable and the army began the difficult process of retreating back to Peshawar. Following the trail which was still littered with thousands of dead from the previous disastrous attempt at withdrawal by a British army in January, Nicholson's regiment was part of the final rear guard as the British force was harassed through the Khyber Pass. On 1 November 1842, Nicholson was briefly reunited with his younger brother Alexander, who had arrived in India only a few short months before and was now helping to escort the British force through the pass. Alexander's unit was ambushed and overwhelmed two days later and it was Nicholson who was the first to find the mutilated body of his younger brother. This disturbing experience, as well as his experience of the Afghan War as a whole, is said to have deeply affected Nicholson and left him with "an intense feeling of hatred" of Afghans and the entirety of India. Nicholson's first experience of war had also, however, instilled a "near-messianic sense of destiny" on him and he now believed it was his duty to spread Christian civilization into what he considered a "heathen" land. Following the return of the British forces from Afghanistan, Nicholson was first stationed at Peshawar, and later for two years at Moradabad. These two years were largely uneventful for Nicholson who concerned himself mainly with military matters and mastering the Urdu language. In November 1845, on passing his Urdu vernacular examination, Nicholson was posted to the Delhi Field Force which was being organised at that time, as the threat of a war with the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab loomed near. Anglo-Sikh Wars and the Punjab Upon the outbreak of the First Anglo-Sikh War in December 1845, Nicholson was serving as a staff officer in the commissariat department of Sir Hugh Gough's field force which marched into the Punjab. In this role, Nicholson's main responsibility throughout the war was keeping Gough's force well supplied with provisions and ammunition. Following the decisive