John Nicholson

John Nicholson, by R. E.
Cholmeley

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Title: John Nicholson The Lion of the Punjaub
Author: R. E. Cholmeley

Release Date: July 2, 2007 [eBook #21985]
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JOHN NICHOLSON
"The Lion of the Punjaub"
by
R. E. CHOLMELEY
"My Lord, you may rely upon this, that if ever there is a desperate deed
to be done in India, John Nicholson is the man to do it." Sir Herbert
Edwardes to Lord Canning, March 1857.
With Eight Coloured Plates

[Frontispiece: "'Seize those men!' commanded Nicholson fiercely, as he
pointed out the ringleaders."]

London: Andrew Melrose 16 Pilgrim Street, E.C. 1908

TO
GILBERT BRANDON WHITE

CONTENTS
Chap.
I. Eastward Ho! II. Fighting the Afghans III. One of Lawrence's

Lieutenants IV. The Second Sikh War V. On Furlough VI. The Master
of Bannu VII. The Great Mutiny VIII. With the Movable Column IX.
Before Delhi X. In the Hour of Victory

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"Seize those men!" commanded Nicholson fiercely, as he pointed out
the ringleaders . . . Frontispiece
One by one dropped through into the narrow street below
They seated themselves and fixed their eyes upon the object of their
adoration
"You have just five minutes to read it and give me any message for
your husband"
They saw Nicholson himself fastened with ropes to a tree
Portrait of John Nicholson
He saw Nicholson's great form riding steadily on as if nothing was the
matter
A sepoy leaned out . . . and pointed his musket at the tall figure beneath
him

JOHN NICHOLSON
CHAPTER I.
EASTWARD HO!
High up on the crest of the wild and rugged Margalla Pass, on the
north-western frontier of India, stands a plain stone obelisk. It looks
down on to the road that winds from Rawal Pindi to Hasan Abdal, the

road where once only the Afghan camel-train passed on its way to and
from Peshawur, but where now a railway marks the progress of modern
India. Severely simple in its exterior, the obelisk is yet one of the most
notable monuments to be seen in our great Eastern Empire, for it
commemorates a soldier-hero of high fame. On its base is inscribed the
name of John Nicholson.
This Margalla monument is not the only memorial to Nicholson in
India: there is a tablet to his memory in a church at Bannu, the scene of
his administrative work; and there is at Delhi, where he lies buried, a
fine bronze statue of recent erection. But the stone obelisk in the
frontier pass will stand for ever as the most striking tribute to the man
who played so prominent a part in the saving of India. Its very position
appeals strongly to the imagination. Here it was, in the district which he
ruled so wisely and well, that Nicholson's early reputation was made;
and here it is that among the wild tribesmen whom he tamed to his will
his memory is still fondly cherished.
Who was John Nicholson? The question may well rise to the lips of
many, for the writers of history textbooks have hitherto done him scant
justice. And yet the tale of the Great Mutiny cannot be properly told
without due acknowledgment being made to his genius. Those who
know how the fate of India trembled in the balance in those dark days
of 1857, know what we owe to him among other strong men whom the
occasion brought to the front. It is now fifty years since Nicholson fell
in the hour of victory at Delhi; the present year is, therefore, a fitting
time to retell the story of his short but glorious career.
Like his distinguished chief, Sir Henry Lawrence, John Nicholson was
an Irishman. He was born, in December 1822, at Lisburn, near Belfast,
where his father, Dr. Alexander Nicholson, had a flourishing practice.
On the paternal side he came of a family which had been established in
Ireland since the sixteenth century, while through his mother, who was
a Miss Hogg, he was connected with a well-known Ulster family, of
which the late Lord Magheramorne was a representative.
Of young John's early life several stories have been preserved which
give some indication of his character. According