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Vincent Eyre

2022-10-15T14:35:05Z

69.42.23.89: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = Vincent Eyre
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] [[Order of the Bath|CB]]
| image = Vincent_Eyre.jpg
| caption = Vincent Eyre
| rank = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
| branch = [[East India Company]]<br/>[[British Indian Army]]
| commands =
| unit =
| battles = [[First Anglo-Afghan War]]<br/>[[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Mutiny]]
| awards =
| family =
| nickname =
| allegiance = [[United Kingdom]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1811|01|22|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1881|09|22|1811|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Portsdown, Portsmouth
| death_place = [[Aix-les-Bains]], France
| placeofburial =
| serviceyears =
| other work =
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Sir Vincent Eyre''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCSI|CB}} (22 January 1811 – 22 September 1881<ref name="DNB" />) was an officer in the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], who saw [[active service]] in [[India]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Norvicensian I">{{cite book|last=Drake|first=W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPAHAAAAQAAJ|title=The Norvicensian|publisher=[[Norwich School]]|year=1880|volume=1|location=Norwich|page=88|language=en|chapter=Reminisccences of the Late Vincent Eyre, K.C.B. (Part I)|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPAHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA85}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born in [[Portsdown Hill|Portsdown]], [[Portsmouth]] on 22 January 1811, Eyre was the third son of Captain Henry Eyre and was educated at [[Norwich School]].<ref name="Norvicensian I" />

==Military career==
[[File:Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the Cabul prisoners, and other subjects (BM 1970,0527.2.1).jpg|alt=|thumb|Self-portrait of Lieutenant Vincent Eyre from ''Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the Cabul prisoners, and other subjects'']]
In 1827, he entered the [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]] and the service of the [[East India Company]]. He joined the [[Bengal Army|Bengal Artillery]] in 1828, and in 1829 arrived in [[Calcutta]]. In 1837 he was appointed to the horse artillery and promoted Lieutenant. Two years later, he was appointed Commissary of Ordnance to the [[Cabul field force]]. In January 1842, During the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]], Eyre and his family were captured by [[Wazir Akbar Khan|Akbar Khan]]. During nearly nine months in captivity, Eyre kept a diary describing his experiences, illustrated by the sketches of other officers and ladies. The manuscript was smuggled out to a friend in [[British India]] and was then published in England as ''Military Operations at Cabul'' (1842). The Eyre family were rescued by [[Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet|Sir George Pollock]] in September 1842. In 1844 Eyre was appointed to command the artillery of the new [[Gwalior Fort|Gwalior contingent]]. He was responsible for the relief of the [[Siege of Arrah]]. He took part in the [[Siege of Lucknow|Relief of Lucknow]], during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. He was promoted [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] that year and [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] the following year.

In 1857 he founded [[Esapore|Esapóre]] (or the "Abode of Christians"),<ref name="Norvicensian II">{{cite book|last=Drake|first=W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPAHAAAAQAAJ|title=The Norvicensian|publisher=[[Norwich School]]|year=1880|volume=1|location=Norwich|pages=100–103|language=en|chapter=Reminisccences of the Late Vincent Eyre, K.C.B. (Part II)|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPAHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA100}}</ref> a colony for destitute families of Portuguese descent.<ref name="Poetry">{{Cite book|last=Reilly|first=Catherine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bzRDJeN4KxQC|title=Mid-Victorian Poetry, 1860-1879|publisher=A&C Black|year=2000|isbn=9780720123180|pages=157}}</ref> In 1861, [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|Lord Canning]] selected Eyre to serve on a commission set up to consider amalgamating the [[Presidency armies]] of the [[East India Company]] with the [[British Army]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Eyre, Vincent|volume=18}}</ref> In 1863 he was ordered home on sick leave and retired as a [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]].<ref name="Norvicensian II" />

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Star of India]] in 1867.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Later activities==
Finding himself in France during the [[Franco-Prussian War]], Eyre set up an ambulance service under the auspices of the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]]. In his later years, he spent the winters in Rome. He died in [[Aix-les-Bains]], France, on 22 September 1881.<ref name="DNB" /> His remains were brought to London and a tomb was erected for him in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]]. A sketch of his tomb is archived in the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tomb of Sir Vincent Eyre in Kensal Green Cemetery|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw194875/Tomb-of-Sir-Vincent-Eyre-in-Kensal-Green-Cemetery|access-date=12 July 2020|website=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>
[[File:-Colonel Vincent Eyre C.B. Bengal Artillery, "The Hero of Arrah" and Mrs Eyre- MET DP146116.jpg|thumb|Photograph (1858–1861) of Mr and Mrs Eyre]]

==Publications==
* {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|url=https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b18557296|title=The Military Operations at Cabul, which Ended in the Retreat and Destruction of the British Army, January 1842|publisher=John Murray|year=1842|edition=1|location=London}}
** {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/17793/view/1/1/|title=The Military Operations at Cabul, which Ended in the Retreat and Destruction of the British Army, January 1842|publisher=John Murray|year=1843|edition=2|location=London|author-mask=6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/17792/view/1/1/|title=Prison Sketches, Comprising Portraits of the Cabul Prisoners, and Other Subjects|publisher=Dickinson & Son|year=1843|location=London|author-mask=6}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|author-mask=6|date=1867|title=The Sikh and European Soldiers of our Indian Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EJUEAAAAQAAJ|journal=The Journal of the Royal United Service Institution|volume=11|issue=43|pages=86–103|doi=10.1080/03071846709433586}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U-_uZ-m7ZBUC|title=A Retrospect of the Affghan War: With Reference to Passing Events in Central Asia|publisher=W. H. Allen & Co.|year=1869|location=London|author-mask=6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFMCAAAAQAAJ|title=Lays of a Knight-Errant in Many Lands|publisher=Henry S. King & Co|year=1874|location=London|author-mask=6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|title=The old stories of Rome: a Lent lecture in verse and prose, dedicated to the British and American Archaelogical Society|publisher=Tipografia Romana|year=1875|location=Rome|author-mask=6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eyre|first=Vincent|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/17695/view/1/3/|title=The Kabul Insurrection of 1841‒42|publisher=W. H. Allen & Company|year=1879|editor-last=Malleson|editor-first=George Bruce|editor-link=George Bruce Malleson|location=London|author-mask=6}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|last=Malleson|first=George Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQ2SsuCjUccC|title=Recreations of an Indian Official|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|year=1872|location=London|pages=249–329|author-link=George Bruce Malleson}}
* {{Cite ODNB|id=9040|title=Eyre, Sir Vincent|first=James|last=Lunt}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5leAAAAcAAJ|title=Memorandum of Services of Colonel Vincent Eyre|publisher=W. Clowes and Sons|year=1863|location=London}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Eyre, Vincent|volume=18}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links| wikt=no | commons=Category:Vincent Eyre | b=no | n=no | q=no | s=Author:Vincent Eyre | v=no | voy=no | species=no | d=no}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Vincent}}
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1881 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:People educated at Norwich School]]

William Brydon

2022-09-14T15:04:33Z

69.42.23.89: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

{{Short description|19th-century British soldier }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = William Brydon
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1811|10|10}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1873|03|20|1811|10|10}}
| birth_place = [[London]], [[England]]
| death_place = near [[Nigg, Highland]], [[Scotland]]
| placeofburial = [[Rosemarkie]] churchyard
| image = Williambrydon.jpg
| caption = Photograph of Dr. William Brydon, circa 1864
| nickname =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| serviceyears =
| rank = Assistant surgeon
| commands =
| unit = [[Bengal Army]]
| battles = {{plainlist|
*[[First Anglo-Afghan War]]
*[[Second Anglo-Burmese War]]
*[[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian mutiny]]
}}
| awards = [[Companion of the Order of the Bath|CB]]
| relations = Major General [[Donald Macintyre (VC)|Donald Macintyre]] [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (brother-in-law)
}}
'''William Brydon''' [[Order of the Bath|CB]] (10 October 1811 – 20 March 1873) was an assistant surgeon in the [[British East India Company]] Army during the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]], famous for reportedly being the only member of an army of 4,500 men, plus 12,000 accompanying civilians, to reach safety in [[Jalalabad]] at the end of the [[Massacre of Elphinstone's Army|long retreat]] from [[Kabul]].

==Early life==
Brydon was born in London of Scottish descent. He studied medicine at [[University College London]] and at the [[University of Edinburgh]].<ref>Claire E. J. Herrick, "Brydon, William (1811–1873)", ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, September 2004.</ref> He subsequently was appointed as a surgeon in the [[Bengal Army]] of the British [[East India Company]].

==Retreat from Kabul==
In 1841 William Brydon was posted to Afghanistan as the assistant surgeon<ref name="Dalrymple 368">{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=368|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref> of Shah Shuja's Contingent—a British officered infantry force recruited in India to provide protection for the British-backed ruler in Kabul. This mercenary unit formed part of a combined British and Indian army which occupied the city in August 1839.<ref>Sita Ram page 81 "From Sepoy to Subedar", {{ISBN|0-333-45672-6}}</ref>

In January 1842, following the killing of the two British representatives there, it was decided to withdraw the British force in Kabul. The nearest British garrison was in [[Jalalabad]], {{convert|90|mi|km}} away, and the army would need to go through mountain passes with the January snow hindering them.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|pages=355–356|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

Under the command of [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[William George Keith Elphinstone]], 4,500 British and Indian soldiers plus 12,000 civilian [[camp follower]]s, including wives and children, set out for Jalalabad on 6 January 1842, on the understanding that they had been offered safe passage. [[Ghilzai|Afghan tribesmen]] intercepted them and proceeded to [[First Anglo-Afghan War#Retreat and massacre|attack]] them during the next seven days. Brydon recorded in his diary that as early as the first night of the retreat many of his [[sepoy]]s were crippled by [[frostbite]] and had to be abandoned in the snow.<ref name="Dalrymple 368"/>

[[File:The Last Stand, by William Barnes Wollen (1898).jpg|left|thumb|Last stand of the 44th at Gandamak, painted by [[William Barnes Wollen]]]]

By the fourth day of the retreat Brydon's regiment had virtually ceased to exist though he himself was fortunate enough to have found some food abandoned by Lady Macnaghten—the wife of the British envoy murdered in Kabul.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=378|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref> The [[Battle of Gandamak|final stand]] took place at [[Gandamak]] on the morning of 13 January 1842, in the snow. Twenty officers and forty-five British soldiers, mostly of the [[44th Foot]], found themselves surrounded on a hillock. The Afghans attempted to persuade the soldiers that they intended them no harm. Then the [[sniper|sniping]] began, followed by a series of rushes. [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] Souter wrapped the [[regimental colours]] around his body and was dragged into captivity with a sergeant named Fair and seven privates. The remainder were shot or cut down.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=385|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

Surgeon Brydon was one of twelve mounted officers who had become separated from the remnants of the main column before the final stand at Gandamak. This small group had ridden to Futtehabad, but half had been killed there while six escaped. All but Brydon were killed, one by one, further along the road as their horses became exhausted.<ref>Robert Wilkinson-Latham, page 11 "North-West Frontier 1837–1947" {{ISBN|0-85045-275-9}}</ref> Both Brydon and his pony were wounded in the course of encounters with small Afghan parties. On the afternoon of 13 January 1842, the British troops in Jalalabad, watching for their comrades of the Kabul garrison, saw a single figure ride up to the town walls. It was Brydon. Part of his skull had been sheared off by an Afghan sword, and he survived the blow because he had stuffed a copy of ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'' into his hat to fight the intense cold weather. The magazine took most of the blow, saving the doctor's life.<ref>{{cite web |title=Article in theaustralian.news.com |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714034945/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2006 |access-date=24 August 2006}}</ref>

[[File:THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF AN ARMY DR. BRYDON REACHES JELLALABAD ALONE.gif|thumb|Brydon reaches Jellalabad alone]]
Brydon became widely, if inaccurately, known as being the only survivor of the entire army.<ref name= "cnn">{{cite news | title = Transcripts from CNN| url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/27/se.50.html | access-date =24 August 2006 | date=7 February 2001}}</ref> In fact, he was not the only European to survive the retreat; about 115 British officers, soldiers, wives and children were captured or taken as hostages and survived to be subsequently released.<ref>Linda Colley, page 350 "Captives – Britain, Empire and the World 1600–1850" {{ISBN|0-7126-6528-5}}</ref> Included, was the wife of [[Robert Henry Sale|Sir Robert Henry Sale]], [[Florentia Sale|Lady Sale]], though not [[William George Keith Elphinstone|Elphinstone]], who died in captivity. Nor was Brydon the only European to survive the trek from Kabul to Jalalabad without spending time in captivity; by Brydon's own account a "Greek merchant", a Mr Baness, also made it to Jalalabad, arriving two days after Brydon but surviving for only one day. In addition a small number of Indian [[sepoy]]s reached Jalalabad on foot over the subsequent weeks. One sepoy, [[havildar]] Sita Ram,<ref>Sita Ram, like William Brydon, had accepted secondment from the regular Bengal Army to serve with Shah Shuja's Contingent in Afghanistan</ref> escaped from Afghanistan after 21 months of slavery and rejoined his former regiment at [[Delhi]].<ref>Sita Ram pages 119–128 "[[iarchive:dli.pahar.0743/mode/2up|From Sepoy to Subedar]]", {{ISBN|0-333-45672-6}}</ref> About 2,000 sepoys and an unrecorded number of camp followers were eventually found in Kabul and brought back to India by [[Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet|Pollock]]'s "Army of Retribution" following their occupation of the city.<ref name=Dalrymple-387>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=387|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

The episode was made the subject of a famous painting by the Victorian artist [[Elizabeth Thompson|Lady Butler]], who portrayed Brydon approaching the gates of the Jalalabad fort perched on his exhausted horse (which, according to Brydon, collapsed and died when put in a stable after arrival in the city<ref name=Dalrymple-387/>). The painting is titled ''[[Remnants of an Army]]'' (see above).

==Subsequent career and death==
Upon recovering from his wound Brydon resumed his duties as a regimental surgeon with the "Army of Retribution" under General Pollock, which briefly reoccupied Kabul in September 1842. He narrowly escaped death from an enemy shell during this campaign.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=452|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

Brydon fought in the [[Second Anglo-Burmese War]] of 1852, when Rangoon was taken.<ref name=it>{{Cite news | last=Obituary | first=14 May | title=Brydon's daughter, Mrs Walter Scott | newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]| year= 1932 }}</ref>

At the time of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Sepoy Rebellion]] of 1857, Brydon was still serving as a surgeon of the [[Bengal Army]]. Stationed in [[Lucknow]] along with his wife and children, Brydon survived his second siege; that of the [[Siege of Lucknow|Lucknow residency]] (June – November 1857), in which he was badly wounded in the thigh. He was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB) in November 1858.<ref name="bath">{{London Gazette
|issue=22201
|date=16 November 1858
|page=4855
}}</ref> His wife, Colina Maxwell Brydon, published a memoir of the siege.

Brydon died at his home Westfield near [[Nigg, Highland|Nigg]] in [[Ross-shire]]<ref name="it"/> on 20 March 1873, and is buried in [[Rosemarkie]] churchyard alongside his brother-in-law [[Donald Macintyre (VC)|Donald MacIntyre VC]].<ref>Heroes ... and Others, Eric H Malcolm, Cromarty History Society, 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-898416-74-6}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|en-williambrydon.ogg|date=2007-01-12}}
* [http://www.khyber.org/publications/011-015/brydonreport.shtml An article about William Brydon's report of the massacre]
* {{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140811070509/http://afghanistan-photos.com/crbst_31.html | archivedate = 11 August 2014 | url = http://www.afghanistan-photos.com/crbst_31.html | title = The first Anglo-Afghan War : Dr Brydon's report of the British defeat}}
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999962&workid=1868 Elizabeth Butler (Lady Butler) The Remnants of an Army 1879, Henry Tate Collection]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.fortrosemarkie.org/brydon01.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726062210/http://www.fortrosemarkie.org/brydon01.htm |archivedate=26 July 2011 |title=William Brydon – A Lecture to the History Group |author=Peter McLoughlin |url-status=dead}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brydon, William}}
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:British surgeons]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1873 deaths]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Sole survivors]]

William Brydon

2022-09-14T15:04:33Z

69.42.23.89: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

{{Short description|19th-century British soldier }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = William Brydon
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1811|10|10}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1873|03|20|1811|10|10}}
| birth_place = [[London]], [[England]]
| death_place = near [[Nigg, Highland]], [[Scotland]]
| placeofburial = [[Rosemarkie]] churchyard
| image = Williambrydon.jpg
| caption = Photograph of Dr. William Brydon, circa 1864
| nickname =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| serviceyears =
| rank = Assistant surgeon
| commands =
| unit = [[Bengal Army]]
| battles = {{plainlist|
*[[First Anglo-Afghan War]]
*[[Second Anglo-Burmese War]]
*[[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian mutiny]]
}}
| awards = [[Companion of the Order of the Bath|CB]]
| relations = Major General [[Donald Macintyre (VC)|Donald Macintyre]] [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (brother-in-law)
}}
'''William Brydon''' [[Order of the Bath|CB]] (10 October 1811 – 20 March 1873) was an assistant surgeon in the [[British East India Company]] Army during the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]], famous for reportedly being the only member of an army of 4,500 men, plus 12,000 accompanying civilians, to reach safety in [[Jalalabad]] at the end of the [[Massacre of Elphinstone's Army|long retreat]] from [[Kabul]].

==Early life==
Brydon was born in London of Scottish descent. He studied medicine at [[University College London]] and at the [[University of Edinburgh]].<ref>Claire E. J. Herrick, "Brydon, William (1811–1873)", ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, September 2004.</ref> He subsequently was appointed as a surgeon in the [[Bengal Army]] of the British [[East India Company]].

==Retreat from Kabul==
In 1841 William Brydon was posted to Afghanistan as the assistant surgeon<ref name="Dalrymple 368">{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=368|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref> of Shah Shuja's Contingent—a British officered infantry force recruited in India to provide protection for the British-backed ruler in Kabul. This mercenary unit formed part of a combined British and Indian army which occupied the city in August 1839.<ref>Sita Ram page 81 "From Sepoy to Subedar", {{ISBN|0-333-45672-6}}</ref>

In January 1842, following the killing of the two British representatives there, it was decided to withdraw the British force in Kabul. The nearest British garrison was in [[Jalalabad]], {{convert|90|mi|km}} away, and the army would need to go through mountain passes with the January snow hindering them.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|pages=355–356|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

Under the command of [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[William George Keith Elphinstone]], 4,500 British and Indian soldiers plus 12,000 civilian [[camp follower]]s, including wives and children, set out for Jalalabad on 6 January 1842, on the understanding that they had been offered safe passage. [[Ghilzai|Afghan tribesmen]] intercepted them and proceeded to [[First Anglo-Afghan War#Retreat and massacre|attack]] them during the next seven days. Brydon recorded in his diary that as early as the first night of the retreat many of his [[sepoy]]s were crippled by [[frostbite]] and had to be abandoned in the snow.<ref name="Dalrymple 368"/>

[[File:The Last Stand, by William Barnes Wollen (1898).jpg|left|thumb|Last stand of the 44th at Gandamak, painted by [[William Barnes Wollen]]]]

By the fourth day of the retreat Brydon's regiment had virtually ceased to exist though he himself was fortunate enough to have found some food abandoned by Lady Macnaghten—the wife of the British envoy murdered in Kabul.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=378|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref> The [[Battle of Gandamak|final stand]] took place at [[Gandamak]] on the morning of 13 January 1842, in the snow. Twenty officers and forty-five British soldiers, mostly of the [[44th Foot]], found themselves surrounded on a hillock. The Afghans attempted to persuade the soldiers that they intended them no harm. Then the [[sniper|sniping]] began, followed by a series of rushes. [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] Souter wrapped the [[regimental colours]] around his body and was dragged into captivity with a sergeant named Fair and seven privates. The remainder were shot or cut down.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=385|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

Surgeon Brydon was one of twelve mounted officers who had become separated from the remnants of the main column before the final stand at Gandamak. This small group had ridden to Futtehabad, but half had been killed there while six escaped. All but Brydon were killed, one by one, further along the road as their horses became exhausted.<ref>Robert Wilkinson-Latham, page 11 "North-West Frontier 1837–1947" {{ISBN|0-85045-275-9}}</ref> Both Brydon and his pony were wounded in the course of encounters with small Afghan parties. On the afternoon of 13 January 1842, the British troops in Jalalabad, watching for their comrades of the Kabul garrison, saw a single figure ride up to the town walls. It was Brydon. Part of his skull had been sheared off by an Afghan sword, and he survived the blow because he had stuffed a copy of ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'' into his hat to fight the intense cold weather. The magazine took most of the blow, saving the doctor's life.<ref>{{cite web |title=Article in theaustralian.news.com |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714034945/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19721272-2703,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2006 |access-date=24 August 2022}}</ref>

[[File:THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF AN ARMY DR. BRYDON REACHES JELLALABAD ALONE.gif|thumb|Brydon reaches Jellalabad alone]]
Brydon became widely, if inaccurately, known as being the only survivor of the entire army.<ref name= "cnn">{{cite news | title = Transcripts from CNN| url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/27/se.50.html | access-date =24 August 2006 | date=7 February 2001}}</ref> In fact, he was not the only European to survive the retreat; about 115 British officers, soldiers, wives and children were captured or taken as hostages and survived to be subsequently released.<ref>Linda Colley, page 350 "Captives – Britain, Empire and the World 1600–1850" {{ISBN|0-7126-6528-5}}</ref> Included, was the wife of [[Robert Henry Sale|Sir Robert Henry Sale]], [[Florentia Sale|Lady Sale]], though not [[William George Keith Elphinstone|Elphinstone]], who died in captivity. Nor was Brydon the only European to survive the trek from Kabul to Jalalabad without spending time in captivity; by Brydon's own account a "Greek merchant", a Mr Baness, also made it to Jalalabad, arriving two days after Brydon but surviving for only one day. In addition a small number of Indian [[sepoy]]s reached Jalalabad on foot over the subsequent weeks. One sepoy, [[havildar]] Sita Ram,<ref>Sita Ram, like William Brydon, had accepted secondment from the regular Bengal Army to serve with Shah Shuja's Contingent in Afghanistan</ref> escaped from Afghanistan after 21 months of slavery and rejoined his former regiment at [[Delhi]].<ref>Sita Ram pages 119–128 "[[iarchive:dli.pahar.0743/mode/2up|From Sepoy to Subedar]]", {{ISBN|0-333-45672-6}}</ref> About 2,000 sepoys and an unrecorded number of camp followers were eventually found in Kabul and brought back to India by [[Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet|Pollock]]'s "Army of Retribution" following their occupation of the city.<ref name=Dalrymple-387>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=387|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

The episode was made the subject of a famous painting by the Victorian artist [[Elizabeth Thompson|Lady Butler]], who portrayed Brydon approaching the gates of the Jalalabad fort perched on his exhausted horse (which, according to Brydon, collapsed and died when put in a stable after arrival in the city<ref name=Dalrymple-387/>). The painting is titled ''[[Remnants of an Army]]'' (see above).

==Subsequent career and death==
Upon recovering from his wound Brydon resumed his duties as a regimental surgeon with the "Army of Retribution" under General Pollock, which briefly reoccupied Kabul in September 1842. He narrowly escaped death from an enemy shell during this campaign.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|page=452|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2013|isbn=978-1-4088-1830-5}}</ref>

Brydon fought in the [[Second Anglo-Burmese War]] of 1852, when Rangoon was taken.<ref name=it>{{Cite news | last=Obituary | first=14 May | title=Brydon's daughter, Mrs Walter Scott | newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]| year= 1932 }}</ref>

At the time of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Sepoy Rebellion]] of 1857, Brydon was still serving as a surgeon of the [[Bengal Army]]. Stationed in [[Lucknow]] along with his wife and children, Brydon survived his second siege; that of the [[Siege of Lucknow|Lucknow residency]] (June – November 1857), in which he was badly wounded in the thigh. He was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB) in November 1858.<ref name="bath">{{London Gazette
|issue=22201
|date=16 November 1858
|page=4855
}}</ref> His wife, Colina Maxwell Brydon, published a memoir of the siege.

Brydon died at his home Westfield near [[Nigg, Highland|Nigg]] in [[Ross-shire]]<ref name="it"/> on 20 March 1873, and is buried in [[Rosemarkie]] churchyard alongside his brother-in-law [[Donald Macintyre (VC)|Donald MacIntyre VC]].<ref>Heroes ... and Others, Eric H Malcolm, Cromarty History Society, 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-898416-74-6}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Bharatpedia|en-williambrydon.ogg|date=2007-01-12}}
* [http://www.khyber.org/publications/011-015/brydonreport.shtml An article about William Brydon's report of the massacre]
* {{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140811070509/http://afghanistan-photos.com/crbst_31.html | archivedate = 11 August 2014 | url = http://www.afghanistan-photos.com/crbst_31.html | title = The first Anglo-Afghan War : Dr Brydon's report of the British defeat}}
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999962&workid=1868 Elizabeth Butler (Lady Butler) The Remnants of an Army 1879, Henry Tate Collection]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.fortrosemarkie.org/brydon01.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726062210/http://www.fortrosemarkie.org/brydon01.htm |archivedate=26 July 2011 |title=William Brydon – A Lecture to the History Group |author=Peter McLoughlin |url-status=dead}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brydon, William}}
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:British surgeons]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1873 deaths]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Sole survivors]]