Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet
David Baird | |
---|---|
Born | Newbyth House, East Lothian | 6 December 1757
Died | 18 August 1829 | (aged 71)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Rank | General |
Commands held | Ireland |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth, GCB (6 December 1757 – 18 August 1829) was a British Army officer.
Military career
He was born at Newbyth House in
He was promoted to major in 1787, visited
Disappointed that the command of the large contingent of the nizam was given to the then Colonel Arthur Wellesley, and that after the capture of the fortress the same officer obtained the governorship, Baird felt he had been treated with injustice and disrespect. He later received the thanks of parliament and of the Honourable East India Company for his gallant bearing on that important day, and a pension was offered him by the company, which he declined, apparently in the hope of receiving the Order of the Bath from the government.
General Baird commanded an Anglo-Indian expeditionary that had been raised in Bombay early 1801
On his return to India in 1802, he was employed against
Shortly after his return, he was sent out to the
He was not given the full rank of general until 1814, and his governorship of Kinsale was given five years later. In 1820 he was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland and made a Privy Counsellor for Ireland, but the command was soon reduced, and he resigned in 1822.[2]
Family
Sir David Baird was the fifth son of an Edinburgh merchant, William Baird of Newbyth, who was grandson of Sir Robert Baird, Bart., of Saughton, and cousin and heir of Sir John Baird, Bart., of Newbyth, and Alicia Johnston.
Sir David married Anne Preston Menzies Campbell Preston, daughter and heiress of Major Patrick Preston, Younger of Valleyfield, on 4 August 1810.
He died on 18 August 1829 at age 71, without issue, and was succeeded by his nephew, David, the son of Robert Baird and Hersey Christina Maria Gavin.
His widow erected an obelisk to him on a hillock above Trowan[6] near Crieff.[7][8] On the south side of the monument is a plaque commemorating the march of the Anglo-Indian army across the Great desert from Kosseir to Alexandria 1801.[9]
Popular culture
Baird appears as a character in the
Baird also appears as a commanding General in the naval fiction book The Only Victor by Alexander Kent.[10] This is set just before Baird's successful campaign to capture Cape Town of which he eventually became the Governor.
Baird's role in the capture of Cape Town is described in some detail by Julian Stockwin in his novel Conquest, published in 2011, as is Baird's role in the attack on Buenos Aires in Stockwin's book Betrayal, released in 2012.
Baird is one of several 17th and 18th century generals, used as computer opponent identities in many computer adaptations of the board game Risk.
Baird also appears by reference in the opening pages of the novel The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins.
References
- ^ "Seringapatam sword". National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Jerdan, William; Workman, William Ring; Arnold, Frederick; Morley, John; Goodwin, Charles Wycliffe (1832). "Raising of the Anglo-Indian army". The Literary Gazette and Journal: 711.
- ^ Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: The Egyptian Expedition. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India. 1911. pp. Vol. 6. Chapter 2.
- ^ "March to Alexandria". wiki.fibis.org. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
- ^ Farm on River Earn, three miles west of town
- ^ "Tom A' Chaisteil". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Sir David Baird's Monument, Tom a' Chaisteil (Category B Listed Building) (LB18148)". Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ^ "March across the Desert". geograph. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
- ISBN 0-09-949769-7.
Attribution
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
- Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). . A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. pp. 96–100 – via Wikisource.
- Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- Theodore Hook, Life of Sir David Baird.
- Brendan Carnduff, 'Baird, Sir David, first baronet (1757–1829)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
External links