John Nicholson (East India Company officer)
John Nicholson ( born December 11, 1822 † September 23, 1857 ) was an officer of the British East India Company, who played a major role in the suppression of the rebellion during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He died from gunshot wounds he suffered during the re- capture of Delhi in September 1857.
Life
John Nicholson was the eldest son of the physician Alexander Jaffray Nicholson and his wife Clara Hogg. after his uncle James Hogg 1839 had given him an officer's position in the army of the British East India Company, he went there at his service. His first military experience was gained during the First Anglo-Afghan War, where he found the mutilated body of his brother Alexander on the Khyber Pass. He then served as a political assistant to Sir Henry Lawrence. At the beginning of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he was Deputy Commissioner in Peshawar, one of the northernmost regions of British India. John Nicholson was known for his quick and decisive actions, with which he prevented the uprising in Peshawar escalated. He left on May 22, just days after the uprising in Meerut broke out, his outnumbered troops disarm their Indian fellow soldiers and thus prevented an expansion of the insurgency in this region. On June 14, he was appointed Brigadier General and provisionally entrusted to him a mobile task force, with which he disarmed Indian troops before they could join the Indian rebellion or put them in fights. Because of its great success in this task he was sent on July 25 by Henry Lawrence to Delhi. Delhi was in Indian hands since the beginning of the uprising. On a ridge northwest of the city, British troops had entrenched themselves, which it had not yet managed to retake the city. Nicholson succeeded on 24 August, beating a numerically far stronger insurgent force that wanted to catch a supply train for the British troops in Delhi. The success was considered by his contemporaries as a military feat. John Nicholson was one of the officers, who pushed for a storming of Delhi. His superior officers, who shrank before the recapture of Delhi, he accused disability. He threatened to forcibly depose the commanding officer of the British troops, who besieged Delhi, if this is not finally decided for a storm to Delhi. John Nicholson was severely wounded at the beginning of the storming of Delhi. However, he lived to see that Delhi could be taken back successfully.
John Nicholson was considered charismatic officer who was, however, willing to take high risks for himself and his troops in purchasing. Infamous is its contempt for Indians, against whom he took often very brutal measures. In the Victorian era, he was revered as one of the heroes of Delhi. It plays a role in a series of books that was aimed at young readers. Rudyard Kipling also plays in his book Kim on him.