JAMES

See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

GEORGE

See also:

• SMITH
• SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
• SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
• SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
• SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
• SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
• SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
• SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
• SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
• SMITH, G
• SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
• SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
• SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
• SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
• SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
• SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
• SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
• SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
• SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
• SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
• SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
• SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
• SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
• SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
• SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
• SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
• SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
• SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
• SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
• SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
• SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)

SMITH

See also:

• JAMES GEORGE SMITH NEILL (1810-1857)

NEILL (1810-1857)  , British soldier, was born near Ayr, Scotland, on the 26th of May 181o, and educated at Glasgow University . Entering the service of the East India Company in 1827, he received his lieutenant's commission a year later . From 1828 to 1852 he was mainly employed in duty with his regiment, the 1st Madras Europeans (of which he wrote a Historical Record), but gained some experience on the general and the personal staffs as D.A.A.G. and as aide-de-camp . In 185o he received his majority, and two years later set out for the Burmese War with the regiment . He served throughout the war with distinction, became second-in-command to Cheape, and took part in the minor operations which followed, receiving the brevet of lieutenant-colonel . In June 1854 he was appointed second-in-command to Sir Robert Vivian to organize the Turkish contingent for the Crimean War . Early in 1857 he returned to India . Six weeks after his arrival came the news that all northern India was aflame with revolt . Neill acted promptly; he left Madras with his regiment at a moment's notice, and proceeded to Benares . The day after his arrival he completely and ruthlessly crushed the mutineers (4th June 1857) . He next turned his attention to Ailahabad, where a handful of Europeans still held out in the fort against the rebels . From the 6th to the 15th of June his men forced their way under conditions of heat and of opposition that would have appalled any but a real leader of men, and _the place, " the most precious in India at that moment," as Lord Canning wrote, was saved .

Neill received his

reward in an army colonelcy and appointment of aide-de-camp to the queen . Allahabad was soon made the concentration of Havelock's column . The two officers, through a misunderstanding in their respective instructions, disagreed, and when Havelock went on from Cawnpore (which Neill had reoccupied shortly before) he left his subordinate there to command the lines of communication . At Cawnpore, while the traces of the massacre were yet fresh, Neill inflicted the death penalty on all his prisoners with the most merciless rigour . Meanwhile, Havelock, in spite of a succession of victories, had been compelled to fall back for lack of men; and Neill criticized his superior's action with a total want of restraint . A second expedition had the same fate, and Neill himself was nowattacked, though by his own exertions and Havelock's victory at Bithor (16th August) the tension on the communications was ended . Havelock's men returned to Cawnpore, and cholera broke out there, whereupon Neill again committed himself to criticisms, this time addressed to the commander-in-chief and to Outram, who was on the way with reinforcements . In spite of these very grave acts of insubordination, Havelock gave his rival a brigade command in the final advance . The famous march from Cawnpore to Lucknow began on September 19th; on the 21st there was a sharp fight, on the 22nd incessant rain, on the 23rd intense heat . On the 23rd the fighting opened with the assault on the Alum Bagh, Neill at the head of the leading brigade recklessly exposing himself . Next day he was again heavily engaged, and on the 25th he led the great attack on Lucknow itself . The fury of his assault carried everything before it, and his men were entering the city when a bullet killed their commander .

Strict as he was, he was loved not less than feared, and throughout the British dominions he had established a name as a skilful and extraordinarily energetic commander . The

rank and precedence of the wife of a K.C.E. was given to his widow, and memorials have been erected in India and at Ayr . See J . W . Kaye, Lives of Indian Officers (1889) ; and J . C . Marsh-man, Life of Havelock (1867) .