R. E. Cholmeley

John Nicholson: the Lion of the Punjaub (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press) R. E. Cholmeley Illustrated, Ill edition

Brigadier-General John Nicholson (1822-1857) was a Victorian era military officer. Involved in the First Anglo-Sikh War as a junior officer, he was taken under the wing of Henry Lawrence along with several other similarly-aged officers and was given much power as a political officer, and later a District Commissioner. He was best known for his role in the Great Uprising of 1857, planning and leading the Storming of Delhi. Famously dismissive of the incompetence of his superiors, he said, upon hearing of General Wilson's hesitancy "Thank God I have yet the strength to shoot him, if necessary". He died on 23 September 1857, in a small bungalow in the cantonments of Delhi, as a result of wounds received in the taking of the city nine days previously.