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	{{Short description\|Scottish army officer in the East India Company}}		{{Short description\|Scottish army officer in the East India Company}}
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	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| honorific_prefix = Sir		\| honorific_prefix = Sir

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{{Short description|Scottish army officer in the East India Company}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name = Alexander Lindsay
| honorific_suffix = KCB
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| birth_date = 14 January 1785
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1872|1|22|1785|01|14}}
| death_place =
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| allegiance = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]<br />[[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|22x25px]] [[East India Company]]
| branch = *[[British Army]]
*[[Bengal Army]]
| serviceyears = *1795-1872 (British Army)
*1804-1872 (Bengal Army)
| serviceyears_label =
| rank = *Lieutenant (British Army)
*General (Bengal Army)
| rank_label =
| servicenumber = 
| unit = *[[104th Regiment of Foot (1782)|104th Regiment of Foot]] (1795-1872)
*Bengal Artillery (1804-1872)
| commands =
| battles_label =
| battles = *[[Anglo-Nepalese War]] (1814-16)
*[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] (1817-18)
*[[First Anglo-Burmese War]] (1824-26)
| awards =
| memorials =
| spouse = Flora Loudon Mackenzie
| relations =
| children =
| laterwork =
| signature =
| signature_size =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| module =
}}
General Sir '''Alexander Lindsay''' [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath|KCB]] (14 January 1785{{spnd}}22 January 1872) was an officer in both the British and [[East India Company]] armies. Commissioned into the [[British Army]] at the age of nine, he was placed on [[half-pay]] after the [[104th Regiment of Foot (Royal Manchester Volunteers)]] was disbanded in 1795.

After [[Passing out (military)|passing out]] from the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]], Lindsay joined the [[Bengal Army]] of the East India Company as an artillery officer in 1804. He served in a number of sieges and on campaign in [[Bundelkhand]] before joining [[David Ochterlony]]'s army in the 1814–16 [[Anglo-Nepalese War]], in which he was wounded in the hand and leg. Lindsay recovered to fight in the 1817–18 [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] and later had responsibility for telegraphs and gunpowder manufacture in part of Bengal. He commanded the artillery of [[Joseph Wanton Morrison]]'s division during the 1824–26 [[First Anglo-Burmese War]]. Lindsay was promoted to [[Major General (United Kingdom)|major-general]] in 1838, to [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] in 1851 and to [[General (United Kingdom)|general]] in 1859. His general's commission was transferred to the British Army when the East India Company armies were absorbed in the 1860s. Because of this he was in the unusual position of holding two British Army commissions, one as a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] (from his service in the 104th Regiment) and one as a general.

== Early life ==
Alexander Lindsay was born on 14 January 1785, the second son of Ann and James Smyth Lindsay of the [[Dowhill Castle|Dowhill]] branch of the [[Lindsay baronets|Lindsay family]].<ref name=odnb/> His elder brother was Colonel Martin Lindsay, who commanded the [[78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot]] from 1819 to 1837.{{Sfn|Lindsay|1972|p=200}} On 9 January 1795, at the age of nine, Alexander Lindsay was appointed an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] in Meyrick's [[Independent Company|Independent Company of Foot]] of the British Army.<ref name=odnb/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=13738 |date=6 January 1795 |page=19 }}</ref> He transferred to the [[104th Regiment of Foot (Royal Manchester Volunteers)]] on 3 March 1795 and at the same time was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=13756|date=28 February 1795 |page=198 }}</ref> The regiment was on garrison in Ireland but army inspections found it to be failing to reach minimum standards and it was disbanded towards the end of 1795.<ref name=odnb>{{Cite ODNB|id=16684|title=Lindsay, Sir Alexander}}</ref> Upon its disbandment Lindsay was transferred, for administrative purposes, into [[104th Regiment of Foot (1782)|a previous 104th Regiment]], that had been disbanded in 1783.{{Sfn|Baldry|White|1922|p=92}} Lindsay would remain a half-pay lieutenant in the British Army for the rest of his life.<ref name=odnb/>

== East India Company career ==
===Early roles===
[[File:Oldmilitaryacademywoolwich.jpg|thumb|The Old Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, where Lindsay was taught.]]
Lindsay studied at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]], from January 1800.<ref name=odnb/>
The academy primarily trained engineer and artillery officers for the British Army but during this period around 40% of places were allocated to candidates for commissions in the [[presidency armies]] of the [[East India Company]].{{Sfn|Raugh|2004|p=255}} Lindsay [[Passing out (military)|passed out]] in February 1804 and joined the East India Company's [[Bengal Army]] as a first lieutenant of artillery on 14 August 1804.<ref name=odnb/> Lindsay first served with the Company's garrison at [[Calcutta]] but was posted out on 15 March 1805 for duty at Cawnpore (modern [[Kanpur]]), arriving there in July.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}}

In September Lindsay was attached to a company of artillery serving in a campaign against the [[Jat people|Jat]] Rana of [[Gohad]], [[Kirat Singh]]. Gohad had been disputed between Singh and the [[Maratha Empire]]. It had been regained by Singh with the assistance of East India Company troops during the [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]] (1803-1805) but had been granted to Maratha leader [[Daulat Rao Sindhia]] in the subsequent peace treaty. Singh refused to vacate his territory and the Company acted to forcibly evict him.{{Sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=176}} Lindsay served with the foot artillery at the February 1806 siege of [[Gohad Fort]].<ref name=odnb/> The artillery succeeded in breaching the fort's walls, allowing the infantry to take the defences by assault. During the remainder of the campaign the artillery was not required and Lindsay was sent to [[Agra]] and then Cawnpore, arriving there in June.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}} The Company forces were victorious; Singh was deposed but given new territory as Rana of [[Dholpur State|Dholpur]].{{Sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=176}}

Lindsay was afterwards posted to command a detachment of four [[6-pounder]] artillery pieces at [[Lucknow]]. He was promoted to [[captain-lieutenant]] on 28 February 1806 and given command of a company at Agra in October.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}} Lindsay deployed with his unit to a campaign in Allyghur district (modern [[Aligarh]]), part of the 1807-1808 campaign against Gopal Singh in the [[Bundelkhand]] region.<ref>{{cite web |title=Military operations undertaken to suppress the renewed depredations of Gopal Singh in Bundelkhand |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/edf9f5ed-f253-4d27-9903-edc749996475 |publisher=National Archives |access-date=16 August 2021 |language=English |date=October 1807}}</ref>{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}}<ref name=odnb/> Lindsay took part in the siege of Cummonah (modern [[Kamona, Uttar Pradesh]]), where the East India Company's infantry suffered heavy losses in an attempted storming. Lindsay's artillery was afterwards required to continue a month-long bombardment before the fort surrendered. The army proceeded to attack another fort in the district at Gunnowrie (modern [[Ginauri]], to the north of [[Shikarpur, Bulandshahr]]) which surrendered after a two-week siege. Lindsay returned to Agra in January 1808.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}}

In July 1808 Lindsay commanded five companies of Indian infantry and two 6-pounder cannon in an expedition against some minor forts in Candoulee (modern [[Kandali, Uttar Pradesh]]). He succeeded in capturing the forts. Lindsay was posted to Muttra (modern [[Mathura]]) in November 1808 to command a detachment of eight 6-pounders. He was posted to Futtehghur (modern [[Fatehgarh]]) in October 1809 to command the artillery there. Lindsay was posted to the Bengal Artillery's headquarters at [[Dum Dum]] on 1 January 1813.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}}

===Anglo-Nepalese War ===
[[File:British attack in Burma 1824.png|thumb|British troops attack a stockade during the Anglo-Burmese War]]
Lindsay was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 26 March 1813.<ref name=odnb/> He was appointed to command an artillery company and joined Major-General [[Bennett Marlay]]'s division for the 1814 campaign of the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]]. Marlay's force entered the Nepalese [[Terai]] in November but otherwise carried out no significant action before it returned to the [[Dinapur Cantonment]] in May 1815. Lindsay remained with a detachment of troops left to guard the frontier.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=112}}

The campaign was renewed in the following season with Major-General [[David Ochterlony]] leading a force that was three times the size of Marlay's.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=112}} Lindsay was assigned to one of the three columns of Ochterlony's army, the Dinapur Division led by Brigadier-General [[William Kelly (British Army officer)|William Kelly]].<ref name=odnb/>{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=111}} Lindsay commanded the artillery of that column and also acted as its field engineer, there being no engineers assigned to it. Lindsay led a reconnaissance to Hurrechurpoor ([[Hariharpurgadhi]]) in February 1816 and selected a site for a battery to fire upon the Nepalese fort there. The British occupied the site, driving off a small Nepalese force, but faced a significant counter-attack by troops who sallied from the fort. The Nepalese were driven back in an eight-hour battle but the British suffered heavy casualties of 250 men killed or wounded.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=112}} Lindsay was one of five officers wounded, being hit by a musket ball that shattered the forefinger and thumb of his right hand and continued into his right hip.<ref name=odnb/>{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=112}} In March 1816 [[Treaty of Sugauli|a peace treaty]] was signed ending the war.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=112}}

Lindsay was moved to Dinapur in May 1816 and to [[Allahabad]] in August.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=113}} Lindsay had recovered sufficiently from his wounds by January 1817 to be put in command of an [[artillery train]] being assembled for an East India Company campaign again Daya Ram, the Zaminder of [[Hathras]], who was in rebellion.{{Sfn|Bhanu|1979|p=22}}<ref name=odnb/> Lindsay took part in the March 1817 Siege of Hathras during which the fortress was bombarded and captured.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=113}} The territory was annexed to the Company's domains.{{Sfn|Bhanu|1979|p=22}}

===Anglo-Maratha War and senior roles ===
[[File:Malegaon Fort 10 11 2012.jpg|thumb|Malegaon Fort which was besieged in May 1818.{{Sfn|Jaques|2007|p=938}}]]
Lindsay was appointed superintendent of materials used for the manufacture of gun carriages and other equipment for the Bengal Presidency in September 1817. With the coming of the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] he obtained permission to join the army in the field. Lindsay commanded the artillery of the army's left division from 30 September. The division pursued the Marathas without success until a siege train arrived in February 1818 which allowed it to capture several forts.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=113}} After the capture of Saugor ([[Sagar district|Sagar]]), Lindsay left the army and returned to Cawnpore to take up his appointment with the presidency in October 1818.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=114}}

On 12 August 1819 Lindsay was appointed to the [[brevet rank]] of [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] and in November he was appointed as superintendent of telegraphs between Calcutta and [[Chunar]].{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=114}}<ref name=odnb/> Lindsay married Flora Loudon Mackenzie, the daughter of a British Army officer, at [[Raj Bhavan, Kolkata|Government House]] in Calcutta on 1 January 1820.<ref name=odnb/>{{Sfn|India Office Library|1969|p=121}} The couple had no children.{{Sfn|Mackenzie|1888|p=552}} In October 1820 he became the Company's agent for the manufacture of gunpowder in Allahabad.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=114}}<ref name=odnb/> Lindsay was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-colonel]] on 1 May 1824.<ref name=odnb/> He left his position at Allahabad in June and returned to Dum Dum before being appointed to command the artillery on the Burmese border.{{Sfn|Philippart|1826|p=114}}

During the 1824-26 [[First Anglo-Burmese War]] Lindsay commanded the artillery of Brigadier-General [[Joseph Wanton Morrison]]'s division.<ref name=odnb/> The Army List of 1863 notes this was Lindsay's last period of wartime service.{{Sfn|Hart|1863|p=92o}} Lindsay was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] on 26 September 1831.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=18854|date=27 September 1831|page=1970}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] and [[colonel-commandant]] on 2 July 1835.<ref name=odnb/>

Lindsay received promotion to [[Major General (United Kingdom)|major-general]] in the Bengal Army on 28 June 1838 and to [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] on 11 November 1851.{{Sfn|Hart|1872|p=6}} He was awarded the equivalent brevet rank in the British Army on 21 November 1851, the [[local rank|rank being local]] to the [[East Indies]] only.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=6128|date=25 November 1851|page=1083|city=Edinburgh}}</ref> Lindsay was promoted to [[General (United Kingdom)|general]] in the Bengal Army on 11 September 1859.<ref name=odnb/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22317|date=18 October 1859|page=3767}}</ref>

== Return to the British Army and later life ==
When the presidency armies came into the control of the British government in 1860 (in the aftermath of the [[Indian Mutiny]]) Lindsay became colonel-commandant of the Bengal Artillery, an honorary, non-active service appointment.<ref name=odnb/> His appointment as colonel-commandant transferred to the [[Royal Artillery]] on 29 April 1862, being antedated to 2 July 1835.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22621|date=29 April 1862|page=2230}}</ref> His general's commission was also transferred and his commission in the 104th not cancelled so Lindsay was in the unusual position of holding both a general's and lieutenant's commission in the British Army at the same time.{{Sfn|Baldry|White|1922|p=92}} He had continued to draw his British Army half-pay throughout and was listed twice in the [[Army List]].{{Sfn|Biddulph|1933|p=229}}

Lindsay was appointed a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] on 9 November 1862.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22679|date=10 November 1862|page=5343}}</ref> His wife died in 1863, and Lindsay died of [[bronchitis]] at home in [[Perth, Scotland]], on 22 January 1872.<ref name=odnb/> Lindsay's nephew [[Alexander Hadden Lindsay]] also served in the Bengal Artillery and became a major-general in the British Army.{{Sfn|Lindsay|1972|p=200}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography ==
*{{cite journal |last1=Baldry |first1=W. Y. |last2=White |first2=A. S. |title=Disbanded Regiments. The New Brunswick Fencibles—afterwards the 104th Foot |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |date=1922 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=90–92|jstor=44231987 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44231987.pdf |issn=0037-9700}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Biddulph |first1=H. |title=The Era of Army Purchase|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |date=1933 |volume=12 |issue=48 |pages=221–233 |jstor=44221599 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44221599 |issn=0037-9700}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bhanu |first1=Dharma |title=The Province of Agra: Its History and Administration |date=1979 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Province_of_Agra/CctFMm9HSH8C |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Chaurasia |first1=R. S. |title=History of the Marathas |date=2004 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0394-8 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/History_of_the_Marathas/D_v3Y7hns8QC |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=Henry George |title=Annual Army List |date=1872 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/104520386}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=Henry George |title=The new army list, by H.G. Hart [afterw.] Hart's army list. [Quarterly] |date=1863 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_new_army_list_by_H_G_Hart_afterw_Har/lewNAAAAQAAJ |language=en|publisher=John Murray|location=London}}
*{{cite book |last1=India Office Library |title=British Drawings in the India Office Library |date=1969 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |isbn=978-0-11-880416-5 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/British_Drawings_in_the_India_Office_Lib/cnvqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Jaques |first1=Tony |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z |date=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33539-6 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Dictionary_of_Battles_and_Sieges_P_Z/tW_eEVbVxpEC |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Lindsay |first1=Martin |title=The Indian Mutiny Letters of Lieutenant Alexander Hadden Lindsay, Bengal Horse Artillery |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |date=1972 |volume=50 |issue=204 |pages=200–220|jstor=44225345 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44225345 |issn=0037-9700}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Mackenzie |first1=Alexander |title=The Macleods of Raasay |journal=The Celtic Magazine |date=October 1888 |volume=13 |issue=156 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Celtic_Magazine/5WZJAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book |last1=Philippart |first1=John |title=The East India Military Calendar: Containing the Services of General and Field Officers of the Indian Army |date=1826 |publisher=Kingsbury, Parbury and Allen |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_East_India_Military_Calendar/srUIAAAAQAAJ |language=en}}
*{{cite book|last1=Raugh|first1=Harold E.|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Victorians_at_War_1815_1914/HvE_Pa_ZlfsC|title=The Victorians at War, 1815-1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-925-6|language=en}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Alexander}}
[[Category:1785 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Bengal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Maratha War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Burmese War]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army generals]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Anglo-Nepalese War]]
[[Category:Deaths from bronchitis]]

Alexander Lindsay (East India Company officer) - Revision history

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