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John Nicholson (general)
Encyclopedia
Brigadier-General John Nicholson (11 December 1822 – 23 September 1857) was a Victorian era
military officer known for his role in British India. A charismatic and authoritarian figure, Nicholson created a legend for himself as a political officer under Henry Lawrence
in the frontier provinces of the British Empire in India. He was instrumental in the settlement of the North-West Frontier
and a played a legendary part in the Indian Mutiny.
.
of the British East India Company
. He obtained his commission as Ensign on 24 February 1839 and landed at Calcutta in July the same year, from where he joined the 41st Native Infantry at Benares, being transferred 6 months later in December to the 27th Native Infantry at Ferozepore. He served in the First Anglo-Afghan War
, during which he was taken prisoner by the Afghans and held for some time.
as a junior officer, he was taken under the wing of Henry Montgomery Lawrence
along with several other similarly-aged officers such as Herbert Edwardes, James Abbott, Neville Chamberlain, Frederick Mackeson, Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew
, William Hodson
, Reynell Taylor, Harry Burnett Lumsden
, Henry Daly, John Coke
, which group was known as Henry Lawrence's young men
, and was given much power as a political officer, and later a District Commissioner. He was feared for his foul temper and authoritarian manner, but also gained the respect of the Afghan tribes in the area for his fairhandedness and sense of honour. He inspired the short lived cult of Nikal Seyn.
Nicholson was best known for his role in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, planning and leading the Storming of Delhi. Famously dismissive of the incompetence of his superiors, he said, upon hearing of General Wilson's hesitancy, "Thank God I have yet the strength to shoot him, if necessary". One famous story recounted by Charles Allen in Soldier Sahibs is of a night during the Mutiny when Nicholson strode into the British mess tent at Jullunder, coughed to attract the attention of the officers, then said, "I am sorry, gentlemen, to have kept you waiting for your dinner, but I have been hanging your cooks." He had been told that the regimental chefs had poisoned the soup with aconite
. When they refused to taste it for him, he force fed it to a monkey - and when it expired on the spot, he proceeded to hang the cooks from a nearby tree without a trial.
Nicholson never married, the most significant people in his life being his brother Punjab administrators Sir Henry Lawrence and Herbert Edwardes. At Bannu, Nicholson used to ride one hundred and twenty miles every weekend to spend a few hours with Edwardes, and lived in his beloved friend's house for some time when Edwardes' wife Emma was in England. At his deathbed he dictated a message to Edwardes saying, "Tell him that, if at this moment a good fairy were to grant me a wish, my wish would be sleeping next to my Love,Edwardes." The love between him and Edwardes made them, as Edwardes' wife latter described it "more than brothers in the tenderness of their whole lives".
He died on 23 September 1857, in a small bungalow in the cantonments of Delhi, as a result of wounds received in the taking of the city nine days previously. He was 34, not as the tombstone gives it, 35.
's Kim, in which the protagonist, Kim, meets an aged Rissaldar-Major (a native NCO of Cavalry). The man turns out to be a veteran of the Great Uprising of 1857, and in his interaction with Kim, he is said to sing the old song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi.
Nicholson features in a number of novels about this period in history. He is mentioned by George MacDonald Frazier in his book Flashman and the Great Game, in it Flashman meets Nicholson on the road between Bombay and Jansi just before the mutiny, he describes Nicholson as "The downiest bird in all India and could be trusted with anything, money even." This from Flashman is a rare compliment. He also appears as one of the main characters in James Leasor
's novel about the Indian Mutiny, 'Follow the Drum', which describes his death in some detail.
Brigadier-General John Nicholson's tombstone, made from a white marble slab near Delhi’s Kashmir gate, was a former garden seat of the Mughals. His gallant service and untimely death are commemorated on a white marble memorial plaque at the Mutiny Memorial, on the Ridge in New Delhi. A large statue of Nicholson showing him with a naked sword in hand and surrounded by mortars was erected in his honor in Delhi, but was taken down when India became independent and later removed to the Royal School Dungannon, his old school.
A granite obelisk (Nicholson's obelisk
) was erected in 1868 at Margalla hills near Rawalpindi
as a monument to pay tribute to his valour.
A tablet in the church at Bannu
where Nicholson served as Deputy Commissioner from 1852-1854 carries the following inscription: “Gifted in mind and body, he was as brilliant in government as in arms. The snows of Ghazni
attest his youthful fortitude; the songs of the Punjab
his manly deeds; the peace of this frontier his strong rule. The enemies of his country know how terrible he was in battle, and we his friends have to recall how gentle, generous, and true he was.”
One of the four Houses of the Royal School Dungannon is named after him, having yellow as its colours. It is the youngest House at the school.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
military officer known for his role in British India. A charismatic and authoritarian figure, Nicholson created a legend for himself as a political officer under Henry Lawrence
Henry Montgomery Lawrence
Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence was a British soldier and statesman in India, who died defending Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny.-Career:Lawrence was the brother of John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence and was born at Matara, Ceylon...
in the frontier provinces of the British Empire in India. He was instrumental in the settlement of the North-West Frontier
North-West Frontier (military history)
The North-West Frontier was the most difficult area, from a military point of view, of the former British India in the Indian sub-continent. It remains the frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and separating the...
and a played a legendary part in the Indian Mutiny.
Family & Education
Nicholson was born in Lisburn, Ireland, UK the eldest son of Dr Alexander Jaffray Nicholson (who died when J.N. was eight) and Clara Hogg. He was privately educated in Delgany and later attended the Royal School DungannonRoyal School Dungannon
The Royal School is a school located in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was one of a number of 'free schools' created by James I in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation of Ulster. Originally setup in Mountjoy near Lough Neagh...
.
Early career
Nicholson's uncle obtained a cadetship for him in the Bengal InfantryBengal Army
The Bengal Army was the army of the Presidency of Bengal, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia. Although based in Bengal in eastern India, the presidency stretched across northern India and the Himalayas all the way to the North West Frontier Province...
of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. He obtained his commission as Ensign on 24 February 1839 and landed at Calcutta in July the same year, from where he joined the 41st Native Infantry at Benares, being transferred 6 months later in December to the 27th Native Infantry at Ferozepore. He served in the First Anglo-Afghan War
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...
, during which he was taken prisoner by the Afghans and held for some time.
First Anglo-Sikh War
Involved in the First Anglo-Sikh WarFirst Anglo-Sikh War
The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846. It resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom.-Background and causes of the war:...
as a junior officer, he was taken under the wing of Henry Montgomery Lawrence
Henry Montgomery Lawrence
Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence was a British soldier and statesman in India, who died defending Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny.-Career:Lawrence was the brother of John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence and was born at Matara, Ceylon...
along with several other similarly-aged officers such as Herbert Edwardes, James Abbott, Neville Chamberlain, Frederick Mackeson, Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew
Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew
Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew was an Indian civil servant, whose murder during the Siege of Multan by the retainers of Mulráj led to the Second Sikh War and to the annexation of the Punjab as a British province.-Biography:...
, William Hodson
William Stephen Raikes Hodson
Brevet Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . He was known as "Hodson of Hodson's Horse."His most notable action was to apprehend the Emperor of India...
, Reynell Taylor, Harry Burnett Lumsden
Harry Burnett Lumsden
Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Burnett "Joe" Lumsden was a British military officer active in India.Lumsden was born aboard the East India Company’s ship Rose in the Bay of Bengal, the son of a British Army Colonel Thomas Lumsden, C.B...
, Henry Daly, John Coke
John Coke (EICo)
Pronounced "Cook"Major-General John Coke, C.B., 10th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry was a soldier of the British Indian Army, who raised in 1849 the 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry, renamed in 1903 55th Coke's Rifles . Major-General Coke received the Delhi medal and clasp, and was made Companion...
, which group was known as Henry Lawrence's young men
Henry Lawrence's young men
The Young Men were a group of East India Company Officers, sent as 'advisers' to the Sikhs after the First Sikh War in 1846. In the words of George Lawrence, his duties were 'to act as a friendly adviser to the native officials.' They were known as Henry Lawrence's 'Young Men as they worked under...
, and was given much power as a political officer, and later a District Commissioner. He was feared for his foul temper and authoritarian manner, but also gained the respect of the Afghan tribes in the area for his fairhandedness and sense of honour. He inspired the short lived cult of Nikal Seyn.
Indian Mutiny
Aconitine
Aconitine is a highly poisonous alkaloid derived from various aconite species.-Uses:...
. When they refused to taste it for him, he force fed it to a monkey - and when it expired on the spot, he proceeded to hang the cooks from a nearby tree without a trial.
Nicholson never married, the most significant people in his life being his brother Punjab administrators Sir Henry Lawrence and Herbert Edwardes. At Bannu, Nicholson used to ride one hundred and twenty miles every weekend to spend a few hours with Edwardes, and lived in his beloved friend's house for some time when Edwardes' wife Emma was in England. At his deathbed he dictated a message to Edwardes saying, "Tell him that, if at this moment a good fairy were to grant me a wish, my wish would be sleeping next to my Love,Edwardes." The love between him and Edwardes made them, as Edwardes' wife latter described it "more than brothers in the tenderness of their whole lives".
He died on 23 September 1857, in a small bungalow in the cantonments of Delhi, as a result of wounds received in the taking of the city nine days previously. He was 34, not as the tombstone gives it, 35.
Legacy
He became the Victorian "Hero of Delhi" inspiring books, ballads and generations of young boys to join the army. Nicholson is referenced in numerous literary works, including Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's Kim, in which the protagonist, Kim, meets an aged Rissaldar-Major (a native NCO of Cavalry). The man turns out to be a veteran of the Great Uprising of 1857, and in his interaction with Kim, he is said to sing the old song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi.
Nicholson features in a number of novels about this period in history. He is mentioned by George MacDonald Frazier in his book Flashman and the Great Game, in it Flashman meets Nicholson on the road between Bombay and Jansi just before the mutiny, he describes Nicholson as "The downiest bird in all India and could be trusted with anything, money even." This from Flashman is a rare compliment. He also appears as one of the main characters in James Leasor
James Leasor
James Leasor was a prolific British author, who wrote historical books and thrillers. Leasor's 1978 book, Boarding Party, about an incident that took place in the Second World War, was turned into a film, The Sea Wolves, starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven.-Biography:Leasor was born...
's novel about the Indian Mutiny, 'Follow the Drum', which describes his death in some detail.
Brigadier-General John Nicholson's tombstone, made from a white marble slab near Delhi’s Kashmir gate, was a former garden seat of the Mughals. His gallant service and untimely death are commemorated on a white marble memorial plaque at the Mutiny Memorial, on the Ridge in New Delhi. A large statue of Nicholson showing him with a naked sword in hand and surrounded by mortars was erected in his honor in Delhi, but was taken down when India became independent and later removed to the Royal School Dungannon, his old school.
A granite obelisk (Nicholson's obelisk
Nicholson's obelisk
Nicholson's obelisk is a monument in Pakistan, erected in 1868 in honour of one of the British Empire's greatest military heroes—Brigadier-General John Nicholson....
) was erected in 1868 at Margalla hills near Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
as a monument to pay tribute to his valour.
A tablet in the church at Bannu
Bannu
Bannu is the principal city of the Bannu District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is an important road junction and market city. Bannu is a very old city, founded in ancient times; however, the present location of the downtown Bannu was founded by Sir Herbert Edwardes in 1848,...
where Nicholson served as Deputy Commissioner from 1852-1854 carries the following inscription: “Gifted in mind and body, he was as brilliant in government as in arms. The snows of Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
attest his youthful fortitude; the songs of the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
his manly deeds; the peace of this frontier his strong rule. The enemies of his country know how terrible he was in battle, and we his friends have to recall how gentle, generous, and true he was.”
One of the four Houses of the Royal School Dungannon is named after him, having yellow as its colours. It is the youngest House at the school.
Sources
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography