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{{Short description|Scottish army officer in the East India Company (1805–1857)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2022}}

{{Infobox military person
| name = Alexander Jack
| honorific_suffix = [[Companion of the Order of the Bath|CB]]
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = 19 October 1805
| death_date = 27 June 1857 (aged 51)
| birth_place = [[Aberdeen]], Scotland
| death_place = [[Cawnpore]], India
| nickname =
| allegiance = [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|22x20px|border]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]<br>[[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|22x20px|border]] [[East India Company]]
| branch = [[Bengal Army]]
* [[Bengal Native Infantry]]
| serviceyears = 1824–1857
| rank = [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]]
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = {{tree list}}
* [[First Anglo-Sikh War|First Sikh War]]
** [[Battle of Aliwal]]
* [[Second Anglo-Sikh War|Second Sikh War]]
** [[Battle of Chillianwala]]
** [[Battle of Goojerat]]
* [[Indian Mutiny]]
** [[Siege of Cawnpore]]{{KIA}}
| awards =
| spouse =
| relations =
}}

'''Alexander Jack''', '''{{post-nominals|country=GBR|CB|size=small}}''' (19 October 1805 – 27 June 1857) was a Scottish officer in the service of the [[East India Company]] in the [[Bengal Army]]. He was educated at [[King's College, Aberdeen]]. He was with the [[30th Bengal Native Infantry]] at [[Battle of Aliwal|Aliwal]], and acted as brigadier of the force sent against Kangra, in 1846, during the [[First Sikh War]]. He commanded his battalion in the [[Second Sikh War]]; was promoted colonel in 1854, and brigadier in 1857. He was treacherously shot and killed during the [[Cawnpore Massacre|Cawnpore massacre]] in June 1857.<ref name=":0">Chichester 1892, p. 85.</ref>

== Origins ==
Alexander Jack was a grandson of William Jack, the minister of [[Northmavine]], Shetland. His father, the Rev. [[William Jack (principal)|William Jack]] (died 9 February 1854) ([[M.D.]], [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]]), was sub-principal of University and King's colleges, Aberdeen, from 1800 to 1815, and principal from 1815 to 1854. Principal Jack married in 1794 Grace, daughter of Andrew Bolt of Lerwick, Shetland, by whom he had six children.<ref name=":0" />

Alexander, one of four sons, was born in Old Machar, [[Aberdeen]],<ref>Chichester; May 2004.</ref> on 19 October 1805, was a student in mathematics and philosophy at [[King's College, Aberdeen]], in 1820–1822, and was remembered by a class-fellow who survived him as a tall, handsome, soldierly young man.<ref name=":0" />

== Career ==
Jack obtained a Bengal cadetship in 1823, was appointed ensign in the [[30th Bengal Native Infantry]] on 23 May 1824, and became lieutenant in the regiment on 30 August 1825, captain on 2 December 1832, and major and brevet-lieutenant-colonel on 19 June 1846.<ref name=":0" />

=== First Sikh War ===
[[File:Jullunder Doab Kote Kangra..jpg|thumb|View of [[Kangra Fort]], 1847|220x220px]]
Jack was present with his battalion at the [[Battle of Aliwal]] (medal), and acted as brigadier of the force sent against the town and fort of [[Kangra Fort|Kangra]] in the [[Punjab]], when he received great credit for his extraordinary exertions in bringing up his 18-pounder guns, which he had been recommended to leave behind. The march was said 'to reflect everlasting credit on the Bengal artillery'.<ref>Buckle 1852, p. 520.</ref> Some views of the place taken by Jack were published under the title ''Six Sketches of Kot-Kangra, drawn on the spot'' (London, 1847, fol.).<ref name=":0" />

=== Second Sikh War ===
Jack was in command of his battalion in the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War|Second Sikh War]], including the battles of [[Battle of Chillianwala|Chillianwalla]] and [[Battle of Goojerat|Goojerat]] (medal and clasps and [[Companion of the Order of the Bath|C.B.]]). He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in the 34th Bengal Native infantry on 18 December 1851. He became colonel on 20 June 1854, and on 18 July 1856 was appointed brigadier at Cawnpore, the headquarters of Sir [[Hugh Wheeler (East India Company officer)|Hugh Wheeler]]'s division of the Bengal Army.<ref name=":0" />[[File:Thomson, Mowbray (1859). The Story of Cawnpore. (1) (cropped) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Going on board the boats at Cawnpore, 27 June 1857|220x220px]]

=== Indian Mutiny ===
On 7 June 1857 the mutiny broke out at [[Siege of Cawnpore|Cawnpore]]. Wheeler maintained his position in an entrenched camp until 27 June, when an attempted evacuation was made in accordance with an arrangement entered into with [[Nana Sahib]]. After the troops had embarked in boats for [[Allahabad]], the mutineers treacherously shot down Jack and all the Englishmen except four. During the previous defence of the lines a brother, Andrew William Thomas Jack, who was on a visit from Australia, had his leg shattered, and succumbed under amputation.<ref name=":0" />

== Honours ==

* [[File:Order_of_the_Bath_UK_ribbon.svg|border|50x50px]] [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
* [[File:Sutlej_Medal_BAR.svg|border|50x50px]] [[Sutlej Medal]], with clasp for Aliwal
* [[File:Punjab_Medal_BAR.svg|border|50x50px]] [[Punjab Medal]], with clasps for Chillianwalla and Goojerat

== ''Six Views of Kot-Kangra'' ==
<gallery mode="nolines" heights="150" widths="160">
File:'Six Views of Kot Kangra and the Surrounding Country', 1847 (c) (2).jpg|[[Title page]]
File:Transporting artillery by boat across the river Beas, Himachal Pradesh. Coloured lithograph after Alexander Jack, c. 1847 (cropped).jpg|Crossing the [[Beas River|River Beas]]
File:'Crossing of the River Guj', 1846 (2).jpg|Crossing the River Guj
File:'Showing part of the road by which the guns were taken up above the town of Mulkera', 1846 (2).jpg|Part of the road by which guns were taken up above the town of Mulkera
File:'View of the mountains round Kot Kangra', 1846 (2).jpg|View of the mountains round Kot Kangra
File:'Gilt Temple in the town of Muklera', 1846 (2).jpg|Gilt temple in the town of Mulkera
File:'Fortress of Kot Kangra', 1846 (2).jpg|Fortress of Kot Kangra
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==

* Buckle, E. (1852). ''[https://archive.org/details/memoirofservices00buck/page/520/mode/2up?view=theater Memoir of the Services of the Bengal Artillery from the Formation of the Corps to the Present Time]''. Kaye, J. W. (ed.). London: Wm. H. Allen. p. 520.
* {{cite ODNB|last=Chichester|first=H. M.|last2=May|first2=Alex|date=2010|title=Jack, Alexander (1805–1857), army officer in the East India Company|id=14511}}
* Jack, Alexander (1847). ''[https://historyarchive.org/works/books/six-views-of-kot-kangra-and-the-surrounding-country-1847 Six Views of Kot Kangra and the Surrounding Country. Sketches on the Spot]''. London: Smith, Elder & Co. [6 plates].

'''Attribution:'''

* {{DNB|last=Chichester|first=Henry Manners|wstitle=Jack, Alexander|volume=29|pages=85}}

== Further reading ==

* Buckland, C. E. (1906). "Jack, Alexander (1805–1857)". ''[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofindi00buck/page/218/mode/2up?view=theater Dictionary of Indian Biography]''. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Lim. p. 218.
* Kaye, John (1889). ''Kaye's and Malleson's History of the Indian Mutiny of 1857–8''. Malleson, G. B. (ed.). Cabinet Edition. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106012110513&view=1up&seq=251 Vol. 2]. London: W. H. Allen. pp. 217–268.
* Thomson, Mowbray (1859). ''[https://archive.org/details/storyofcawnpore00thom/page/62/mode/2up?view=theater The Story of Cawnpore]''. London: Richard Bentley. pp. 62, 109.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack, Alexander}}
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1857 deaths]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:People from Aberdeen]]

Alexander Jack - Revision history

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