Campbell, Sir Colin, 1st Baron Clyde

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Campbell, Sir Colin, 1st Baron Clyde (1792–1863). Campbell was born in Glasgow and entered the army in 1807. He fought in many of the most celebrated campaigns of his era: the Peninsular War (1808–14); the Demerara insurrection (1823); the Opium War (1839–42); the second Sikh war (1848–9); and the Crimean War (1854), where he commanded a brigade at both Alma and Balaclava. However, he lacked connections and it took him thirty years to rise from captain to colonel; and another ten to become a general. On the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Indian army and was principally responsible for putting down the rebellion and relieving the sieges of Lucknow and Cawnpore. He was knighted in 1849 and made a peer in 1858. He was nicknamed ‘Old Khabadar’ (Old Careful) in the Indian army for his cautious tactics, most notably at the relief of Lucknow.

David Anthony Washbrook

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Baron Clyde Colin Campbell

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