Bible Encyclopedias
Sir John Eccles Nixon

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Sir John Dugdale Astley

Next Entry
Sir John Edward Arthur Murray, Bart Scott

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

"SIR JOHN ECCLES NIXON (1857-1921), British general, was born Aug. 15 1857 and joined the army in 1875. He was transferred to the Indian cavalry in 1878, and he served in the Afghan War, the Mahsud Waziri expedition of 1881, the Chitral relief expedition in 1895, for which he was promoted brevet lieutenantcolonel, and the Tochi operations of 1897-8. He was promoted colonel in 1899, and he commanded a column during the later stages of the South African War and was given the C.B. for his services. Promoted major-general in 1904, he was inspectorgeneral of cavalry in India from 1906-8, and he then held various higher commands in that country (being promoted lieutenantgeneral in 1909 and general in 1914) till in April 1915 he was sent to Mesopotamia to take charge of the campaign there. Under his auspices Gen. Townshend advanced successfully up the Tigris to Kut; but Nixon was largely responsible for the subsequent abortive attempt to 'reach Bagdad, which led to the retreat from Ctesiphon and to the investment of Kut. He fell ill towards the end of 1915 and quitted the theatre of war. In 1919 he was given the G.C.M.G. in recognition of his services four years earlier, and he retired in that year. He died at St. Raphael, France, Dec. 15 1921.