Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol III (1901).djvu/139

  

MACKENZIE, COLIN (1806–1881), lieutenant-general in the Indian army, born in London on 25 March 1806, and baptised at St. James's Church, Piccadilly, was youngest son but one of Kenneth Francis Mackenzie (d. 1831) and his wife, Anne Townsend. His father, who belonged to the Redcastle branch of Mackenzies, was attorney-general of Grenada, and lost much during the war with France, 1793-1815. Colin was educated successively at a school in Cumberland, at Dollar, and at Oswestry, and in 1825 he was appointed a cadet of infantry on the Madras establishment. He served as adjutant of the 48th Madras native infantry in the Coorg campaign in 1834, and was present in all the actions of that campaign, during a portion of which he held the appointment of deputy-assistant quartermaster-general. At the close of the campaign his services were favourably noticed by the brigadier-general commanding the force. In 1836 he accompanied Captain (afterwards Admiral Sir Henry Ducie) Chads in an expedition to the Straits of Malacca, which had been organised for the purpose of extirpating piracy in those seas. Although Mackenzie was on board Captain Chads's ship only as a passenger, his services and his gallantry were such that they elicited warm acknowledgments from Captain Chads and afterwards from Lord Auckland, then governor-general of India, who selected him in 1840 for employment with the force then serving in Afghanistan. In this unfortunate expedition, which, owing mainly to the incompetence of the general in command, ended in the complete destruction of a large British force, Mackenzie greatly distinguished himself. He was employed at first as assistant political agent under Mr. (afterwards Sir George) Clerk at Peshawar. Thence he proceeded to Kabul, where he joined a corps of sappers which had been raised in Afghanistan by George Broadfoot, a shipmate of his on his voyage to India. Mackenzie led the advanced guard of Sir Robert Sale's force as far as Gundamack on its march to Jellalabad, and then, returning to Kabul, he commanded a so-called, but absolutely indefensible, fort, called the fort of Nishan Khan, in which the commissariat of Shah Soojah's troops was kept. He was in command of this fort when the insurrection of the Afghans at Kabul broke out. Kaye, in his history of the first war in Afghanistan, thus describes Mackenzie's defence: 'On 3 Nov. it became certain that Mackenzie, with all his gallantry and all his laborious zeal, working day and night without food and without rest, conducting the defence with as much judgment as spirit, could not much longer hold his post. His men were wearied out, his ammunition was exhausted, his wounded were dying for want of medical aid. He had defended his position throughout two days of toil, suffering, and danger; and no aid had come from cantonments, none was likely to come. So, yielding at last to the importunity of others, he moved out of the fort and fought his way by night to cantonments. It was a difficult and hazardous march; and almost by a miracle Mackenzie escaped to encounter new dangers, to sustain new trials, and to live in habitual gratitude to God for his wonderful preservation.'

In the following month Mackenzie was present at the conference between the envoy, Sir [q.v.], and the Afghan chief, Akbàr Khàn. He and [q.v.] had in vain endeavoured to dissuade Macnaghten from attending the conference, assuring him that there were strong grounds for suspecting treachery. But the conference took place and the envoy was treacherously seized and shot by Akbàr Khàn. At the same time Mackenzie and [q.v.] were made prisoners. Later on, during the unfortunate retreat from Kabul, Mackenzie, who had been set free, displayed the greatest courage and excellent judgment, and did all in his power to stimulate the efforts of the officers in superior military command. Indeed it is not too much to say that, if Mackenzie had been the general in command, instead of being only a captain, the disasters which attended the first Afghan war might have been averted. In the course of the retreat, it having been arranged that hostages should be given up to Akbàr Khàn, Mackenzie was selected as one of them. His selection was approved by Akbàr Khàn as a man who was certain to keep his word. In consequence of his deeply religious life the Afghans called him the 'English Moollah,' and had the greatest confidence in him. While in this position he was deputed by Eldred Pottinger, with the approval of Akbàr Khàn, to convey letters to the political agent at Jellalabad and to [q. v.], who had reached that place. On both these missions he had more than one very narrow escape, and after ithe second he was attacked by a dangerous illness which nearly cost him his life. Mackenzie was subsequently carried off by Akbàr Khàn with the rest of the hostages