Sir David Baird | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byJohn Watson Gordon,c. 1825 | |
| Born | (1757-12-06)6 December 1757 Newbyth House,East Lothian |
| Died | 18 August 1829(1829-08-18) (aged 71) Creiff, Perthshire |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Ireland |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
GeneralSir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth,GCB (6 December 1757 – 18 August 1829) was aBritish Army officer who served in theAnglo-Mysore wars andFrench Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
He was born at Newbyth House inHaddingtonshire,Scotland, the son of anEdinburgh merchant family,[1] and entered theBritish Army in 1772. He was sent to India in 1779 with the73rd (afterwards 71st) Highlanders, in which he was a captain. Immediately on his arrival, Baird was attached to the force commanded by SirHector Munro, which was sent forward to assist the detachment of Colonel Baillie, threatened byHyder Ali. In the action which followed the whole force was destroyed, and Baird, severely wounded, fell into the hands of theMysore chief. The prisoners remained captive for over four years. Baird's mother, on hearing that her son and other prisoners were in fetters, is said to have remarked, "God help the chiel chained to our Davie." The bullet was not extracted from Baird's wound until his release.[2]
He was promoted to major in 1787, visitedEngland in 1789, and purchased a lieutenant-colonelcy in 1790, returning toIndia the following year. He held a brigade command in the war againstTipu Sultan, and served underLord Cornwallis in theSeringapatam operations of 1792. He capturedPondicherry, being promoted colonel in 1795. Baird served also at theCape of Good Hope as a brigadier-general, and he returned to India as a major-general in 1798. In the last war against Tipu in 1799 Baird was appointed to the senior brigade command in the army. At the successful assault ofSeringapatam, Baird led the storming party, and soon took the stronghold where he had previously been a prisoner.[2]
Disappointed that the command of the large contingent of the nizam was given to the thenColonel Arthur Wellesley, and that after the capture of the fortress the same officer obtained the governorship, Baird felt he had been treated with injustice and disrespect. He later received the thanks of parliament and of theHonourable East India Company for his gallant bearing on that important day, and a pension was offered him by the company, which he declined, apparently in the hope of receiving theOrder of the Bath from the government.
General Baird commanded an Anglo-Indian expeditionary that had been raised in Bombay early 1801[3] to co-operate with SirRalph Abercromby in the expulsion of theFrench fromEgypt. He arrived after theBattle of Alexandria on 21 March 1801, where soon afterward Abercromby was killed in a skirmish, dying on 28 March. Wellesley had been appointed second in command to Baird, but owing to ill-health did not accompany the expedition on 9 April 1801.[4] Baird reachedJeddah on 17 May, where he was joined by a contingent from the Cape of Good Hope. The force went onto and landed atKosseir on 8 June, and marched 167 miles across the desert toQena on theNile, and then another 253 miles toCairo.[5] The French surrendered Cairo on 27 June. The Indian contingent then marched on to Alexandria in time for theSiege of Alexandria fought between 17 August and 2 September 1801.[2]
On his return to India in 1802, he was employed againstSindhia, but being irritated at another appointment given to Wellesley he relinquished his command and returned to Europe. In 1804 he was knighted, and in 1805–1806, being by now a lieutenant-general, he commanded the expedition against the Cape of Good Hope with complete success, capturingCape Town andforcing the Dutch generalJanssens to surrender. But here again his usual ill luck attended him.Commodore Sir Home Popham persuaded Sir David to lend him troops foran expedition against Buenos Aires; the successive failures of operations against this place involved the recall of Baird early in 1807, though on his return home he was quickly re-employed as a divisional general in theCopenhagen expedition of 1807. During the subsequentBattle of Copenhagen, Baird was wounded.[2] The same year he was made Colonel of the24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, a post he would hold until his death.
Shortly after his return, he was sent out to thePeninsular War in command of a considerable force which was sent toSpain to cooperate withSir John Moore, to whom he was appointed second in command.It was Baird's misfortune that he was junior by a few days both to Moore and toLord Cavan, under whom he had served atAlexandria, and thus never had an opportunity of a chief command in the field.At theBattle of Corunna, he succeeded to the supreme command after Moore's death, but shortly afterwards his left arm was shattered, and the command passed to SirJohn Hope.Once again thanked by parliament for his gallant services, he was made aKnight Grand Cross of the Bath and abaronet in 1809. He was not employed again in the field, and personal and political enmities caused him to be neglected and repeatedly passed over.[2]
He was not given the full rank of general until 1814, and his governorship ofKinsale was given five years later. In 1820 he was appointed commander-in-chief inIreland and made aPrivy Counsellor for Ireland, but the command was soon reduced, and he resigned in 1822.[2]
Sir David Baird was the fifth son of an Edinburgh merchant, William Baird of Newbyth, who was grandson of Sir Robert Baird, Bart., of Saughton, and cousin and heir of Sir John Baird, Bart., of Newbyth, and Alicia Johnston.
Sir David married Anne Preston Menzies Campbell Preston, daughter and heiress of Major Patrick Preston, Younger of Valleyfield, on 4 August 1810.
He died on 18 August 1829 at age 71, without issue, and was succeeded by his nephew,David, the son of Robert Baird and Hersey Christina Maria Gavin.
His widow erected an obelisk to him on a hillock above Trowan[6] near Crieff.[7][8] On the south side of the monument is a plaque commemorating the march of the Anglo-Indian army across the Great desert from Kosseir to Alexandria 1801.[9]
Baird appears as a character in theSharpe series of novels, focusing on his role in the 1799 Mysore campaign, and the 1807 expedition to Copenhagen. Baird is shown as hearty, bluff likeable man, and is friendly towards Sharpe. He is described as being able to move within the high society. Though an officer, he was considered to be fearless, he could outswear any sergeant and was as tough as an enlisted man. Though a high-ranking officer, he led from the front with the men.
Baird also appears as a commanding General in thenaval fiction bookThe Only Victor byAlexander Kent.[10] This is set just before Baird's successful campaign to capture Cape Town of which he eventually became the Governor.
Baird's role in the capture of Cape Town is described in some detail byJulian Stockwin in his novelConquest, published in 2011, as is Baird's role in the attack on Buenos Aires in Stockwin's bookBetrayal, released in 2012.
Baird is one of several 17th and 18th century generals, used as computer opponent identities in many computer adaptations of the board gameRisk.
Baird also appears by reference in the opening pages of the novelThe Moonstone, byWilkie Collins.
Attribution
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911)."Baird, Sir David" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byasGovernor of the Dutch Cape Colony | Governor of the Cape Colony,acting 1806–1807 | Succeeded by Henry George Grey,acting |
| Preceded by | Colonel of the24th (the 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot 1807–1829 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Mariscoe Frederick | Colonel of the54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 1801–1807 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Ireland 1820–1822 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Inverness 1827–1829 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of Newbyth) 1809–1829 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
