Sir James Outram

The statue of Sir James Outram stands in the City of Westminster, a piece of public art by Matthew Noble. Westminster is full of monuments and statues like this one, each with its own story from the past. The story here belongs to a British general whose career played out in nineteenth-century India.

Outram was born in Butterley, Derbyshire, in 1803 and joined the East India Company's army in 1819. He served four decades with the Bombay and Bengal Armies. A reputation for bravery and honour earned him the nickname "the Bayard of India". An early posting to Khandesh had him training a corps of Bhil tribesmen, and his hunting skill won them over. He led attacks in the First Anglo-Afghan War and captured an enemy flag before the city of Ghazni. In Sindh he defended the British residency at Hyderabad against thousands of Baluchi fighters. The Anglo-Persian War of 1857 brought him victory at Khushab and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 called him back to India. At the Siege of Lucknow he arrived with reinforcements, then served as a volunteer under General Havelock rather than lead the relief. Once the garrison was rescued, he took command and held the town until fresh British troops arrived. Both houses of Parliament thanked him formally in 1858, and a baronetcy with a yearly pension followed.

People raised money for memorials, and Calcutta put up a statue of its own. Streets, towns and even a mountain pass in India still carry his name. Fiction keeps him alive too, in Flashman in the Great Game and the film The Chess Players. He died in Pau, France, in 1863, and his grave in Westminster Abbey bears the same words, "the Bayard of India".