William Nott
Encyclopedia
Early life
Nott was born in 1782, near NeathNeath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the second son of Charles Nott, a Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
farmer, who in 1794 became an innkeeper of the Ivy Bush Inn at Carmarthen
Carmarthen
Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Nott was educated in Neath, and then at Cowbridge Grammar School
Cowbridge Grammar School
Cowbridge Grammar School was one of the best-known schools in Wales until its closure in 1974. It was replaced by a comprehensive school.Founded in the 17th century by Sir John Stradling and refounded by Sir Leoline Jenkins, it had close links with Jesus College, Oxford. The school took both...
but left education after his father became an innkeeper. Nott joined the volunteer corps in 1798 and obtained a cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
ship in the Indian army and went to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1800 when under Company rule in India
Company rule in India
Company rule in India refers to the rule or dominion of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent...
it was a key component of the growing British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Military history
In 1825 Nott was promoted to the command of his regiment of native infantry; and in 1838, on the outbreak of the First Afghan war, he was appointed to the command of a brigade. From April to October 1839 he was in command of the troops left at QuettaQuetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
, where he rendered valuable service. In November 1840 he captured Khelat, and in the following year compelled Akbar Khan
Akbar Khan
Amir Akbar Khan Amir Akbar Khan Amir Akbar Khan (1816 – 1846;, born as Mohammad Akbar Khan and famously known as Wazir Akbar Khan, was an Afghan Prince, a general, a tribal leader and Emir. He was active in the First Anglo-Afghan War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842...
and other tribal chiefs to submit to the British.
On receiving the news of the rising of the Afghans at Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
in November 1841, Nott took energetic measures. On 23 December the British envoy
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
, Sir William Hay Macnaghten
William Hay Macnaghten
Sir William Hay Macnaghten, 1st Baronet was a British civil servant in India, who played a major part in the First Anglo-Afghan War....
, was murdered at Kabul; and in February 1842 the weak and incompetent commander-in-chief, General Elphinstone
William Elphinstone (major-general)
Major-General William George Keith Elphinstone CB was an officer of the British Army during the 19th century.-Biography:...
, sent orders that Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
was to be evacuated. Nott at once decided to disobey, on the supposition that Elphinstone was not a free agent at Kabul; and as soon as he heard the news of the Massacre of Elphinstone's army
Massacre of Elphinstone's Army
The Massacre of Elphinstone's Army was the destruction by Afghan forces, led by Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Mohammad Khan, of a combined British and Indian force of the British East India Company, led by Major General William Elphinstone, in January 1842....
, he urged the government at Calcutta to maintain the garrison of Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
with a view to avenging the massacre and the murder of Macnaghten. In March he inflicted a severe defeat on the enemy near Kandahar, and in May drove them with heavy loss out of the Baba Wali Pass.
In July he received orders from Lord Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough GCB, PC was a British Tory politician. He was four times President of the Board of Control and also served as Governor-General of India between 1842 and 1844.-Background and education:...
, the Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
, to evacuate Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, with permission to retire by Kabul. Nott arranged with Sir George Pollock
George Pollock
Field Marshal Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCSI was a British soldier.-Military career:Educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Pollock was commissioned into the Bengal Artillery in 1803....
, now commander-in-chief, to join him at Kabul. On 30 August he rout
Rout
A rout is commonly defined as a chaotic and disorderly retreat or withdrawal of troops from a battlefield, resulting in the victory of the opposing party, or following defeat, a collapse of discipline, or poor morale. A routed army often degenerates into a sense of "every man for himself" as the...
ed the Afghans at Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
, and on 6 September occupied the fortress, from which he carried away, by the governor-general's express instructions, the gates of the temple of Somnath
Somnath
The Somnath Temple located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of the God Shiva. Somnath means "The Protector of Moon God". The Somnath Temple is known as "the Shrine Eternal", having been destroyed...
; on the 17th he joined Pollock at Kabul. The combined army recrossed the Sutlej
Sutlej
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
in December.
Honours and pension
Nott's services were highly commended; he was immediately appointed ResidentResident (title)
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule....
at Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, was presented with a Sword of Honour
Sword of Honour
The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms , Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender , which loosely parallel his wartime experiences...
, and was appointed GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. In 1843 he returned to Britain, where the directors of the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
voted him a pension of £1,000 per annum (equivalent to £83,000 pa in 2008).
He died at Carmarthen in January 1845.
Statue of General Nott in Carmarthen
A statue of General Nott was erected in his home town of CarmarthenCarmarthen
Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
in 1851. Sculpted by Edward Davis, it has Grade II Listed status. According to the PMSA "the bronze statue was cast from cannon captured at the Battle of Maharajpur
Gwalior Campaign
The Gwalior Campaign was fought between British and Marathan forces in Gwalior in India, December 1843.- Background :The Maratha Empire controlled much of central and northern India and had fallen to the British in 1818 giving the British control over almost all of the Indian subcontinent...
. Queen Victoria gave 200 guineas to the memorial fund. The statue occupies the site of the market cross which was dismantled when the market was resited and Nott Square created in 1846."
Further reading
- Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir William Nott, edited by JH StocquelerJocquim Hayward StocquelerJ. H. Stocqueler was a journalist, government employee, entrepreneur, and inventor in England, India, and the United States of America.-Biography:Stocqueler traveled extensively during his life...
(2 vols, London, 1854) - Charles R Low, The Afghan War 1838-1842 (London, 1879), and Life and Correspondence of Sir George Pollock (London, 1873)
- Sir JW KayeJohn William KayeSir John William Kaye was a British military historian.The son of Charles Kaye, a solicitor, he was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College, Addiscombe. From 1832 to 1841 he was an officer in the Bengal Artillery, afterwards spending some years in literary pursuits both in...
, History of the War in Afghanistan (2 vols., London, 1851).