Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lieutenant General
Battles/warsFirst Anglo-Afghan War

Anglo-Persian War

Indian Rebellion of 1857

Awards
Oudh

KCSI (29 January 1803 – 11 March 1863) was a British general who fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857
.

Early life

James Outram was the son of

Poona, an experience which he found to be of immense advantage to him later in his career.[1]

Khandesh – 1825

Statue of Sir James Outram by Matthew Noble, in Whitehall Gardens, London

In 1825, he was sent to Khandesh, where he trained a light infantry corps, formed of the Bhils, a tribe native to the densely forested hills of that region. He gained over them a marvellous personal influence, and employed them with great success in checking outrages and plunder. Their loyalty to him had its principal source in their admiration of his hunting achievements, which in cool daring and hairbreadth escapes have perhaps never been equalled. Originally a puny lad, and for many years after his arrival in India subject to constant attacks of sickness, Outram seemed to gain strength by every new illness, eventually acquiring a strong constitution and "nerves of steel, shoulders and muscles worthy of a six-foot Highlander."[1]

Gujarat and Sindh campaigns

In 1835 he was sent to

Baroda, where he incurred the resentment of the Bombay government by his fearless exposure of corruption.[1]

Lucknow – 1854

In 1854 he was appointed resident at

Persia during the Anglo-Persian War, he defeated the Persian forces in February 1857 after an attempted ambush by their commander Khanlar Mirza at Khushab. Outram conducted the campaign with such rapid decision that peace was concluded by the Treaty of Paris in March 1857, his services being rewarded by the grand cross of the Bath.[2] Later that year, the Governor-General's wife, Lady Canning was unimpressed with him when he stayed at Government House in August 1857: she recorded that ‘he is a very common looking little dark Jewish bearded man, with a desponding slow hesitating manner, very unlike descriptions — or rather the idea raised in one’s mind by the old Bombay name the "Bayard of the East" . . . He is not the least my idea of a hero.’[3]

From Persia he was summoned in June to India, with the brief explanation "We want all our best men here". It was said of him at this time that a fox is a fool and a lion a coward by the side of Sir J. Outram. Immediately on his arrival in

Gomti, and afterwards, having recrossed the river, he advanced through the Chattar Manzil to take the residency, thus, in the words of Colin Campbell, putting the finishing stroke on the enemy. After the capture of Lucknow he was gazetted lieutenant-general.[2]

Thanks – Bayard of India

Memorial to Sir James Outram, Dean Cemetery

In February 1858, he received the special thanks of both houses of Parliament, and in the same year the dignity of baronet with an annuity of £1000. When, on account of shattered health, he returned finally to England in 1860, a movement resulted in the presentation of a public testimonial, and the erection of statues in London (by sculptor Matthew Noble) and Calcutta.[2]

He died at

Pau in the south of France[4] on 11 March 1863,[5] and was buried on 25 March in the nave of Westminster Abbey, where the marble slab on his grave bears the poignant epitaph The Bayard of India.[4][6]

Family

He was married to Margaret Clementine Anderson (1813-1911). She is buried in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. The grave is also to the memory of Sir James. Their son Sir Francis Boyd Outram lies with her.[7]

Legacy

Statue of Sir James Outram at Maidan, now in garden of Victoria Memorial, Kolkata

A memorial to Outram was erected in Westminster Abbey in 1863 to the designs of Matthew Noble.[8]

Fictional portrayals

General James Outrum appears as a character in Flashman in the Great Game[12] by George MacDonald Fraser. Outram is played by Richard Attenborough in the 1977 Satyajit Ray film The Chess Players.

Works

  • Outram, James (1840). Rough Notes on the Campaign in Sinde and Affganistan in 1838–39. Bombay: American Mission Press.
  • Outram, James (1846). The Conquest of Scinde: A Commentary. Vol. Part 1: General Sir Charles Napier's Negotiations with the Amers. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
  • Outram, James (1846). The Conquest of Scinde: A Commentary. Vol. Part 2: Campaign in Scinde and treatment of the Amers. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
  • Outram, James (1853). A Memoir of the Public Services Rendered by Lieut. Colonel Outram, CB. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
  • Outram, James (1853). A Few Brief Memoranda of Some of the Public Services Rendered by Lieut.-Colonel Outram, C.B. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
  • Outram, James (1853). Baroda Intrigues and Bombay Khutput. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
  • Outram, James (1860). Lieut.-General Sir James Outram's Persian Campaign in 1857. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
  • Outram, James (1860). Lieut.-General Sir James Outram's campaign in India, 1857–1858. London: Smith, Elder and Co.

References

  1. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 381.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 382.
  3. ISBN 0670911372
    .
  4. ^
    Ainslie T. Embree
    .
  5. ^ Index of death entry.
  6. ^ Sir James Outram, Westminster Abbey.org, accessed February 2011
  7. ^ Outram grave Dean Cemetery
  8. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.275
  9. ^ "Perth for Everyone: Perth's City Street Names". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  10. ^ Reed, A.W. Place Names of New Zealand, Wellington, A.H. & A.W. Reed (1975)
  11. ^ "The History of Addiscombe and the H.O.M.E Roads". H.O.M.E. Residents' Association. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  12. ISBN 978-0-00-721719-9
    . No doubt he does," mutters Outram, "but he'll no more pass for a native than my aunt's parrot.

Attribution:

Further reading

Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation
Baronet

(of Bengal)
1858–1863 		Succeeded by
Francis Boyd Outram
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sir_James_Outram,_1st_Baronet&oldid=1214075949"