 On 28 July , when word of the attacks were received , a division of " 6800 bayonets , 700 lances or sabres , with 24 guns " was given to Major @-@ General Sir Bindon Blood with orders to hold " the Malakand , and the adjacent posts , and of operating against the neighbouring tribes as may be required . " Blood arrived at Nowshera on 31 July 1897 to take command , and on 1 August he was informed that the Pashtun forces had turned their attention to the nearby British fort of Chakdara . This was a small , under @-@ garrisoned fort with few supplies that had itself been holding out with 200 men since the first attacks in Malakand began , and had recently sent the signal " Help us " to the British forces . Blood reached Malakand at noon on the same day . While Blood and his relief force marched for Chakdara from the main camp at Nowshera , Meiklejohn set out from Malakand South with the 45th , 24th and guns from No. 8 Battery . An advance force of Guides cavalry under Captain Baldwin met with an enemy force along the road and were forced to retreat with two British officers and one sepoy officer wounded and 16 other ranks killed or wounded . 
