# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Outram, James

​OUTRAM, Sir JAMES (1803–1863), baronet, lieutenant-general Indian army, second son of Benjamin Outram [q. v.], of Butterley Hall, Derbyshire, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Dr. James Anderson of Mounie, Aberdeenshire, and granddaughter of a Scottish judge, Sir William Seton, lord Pitmeddon, was born at Butterley Hall on 29 Jan. 1803. Mrs. Outram, who by the sudden death of her husband was left in very straitened circumstances, was a woman of great self-reliance and independence. With her young family she resided for three years at Worksop, then for two years at Barnby Moor, and in 1810 removed to Aberdeen. Outram was educated first at Udny, then at Mr. Esson's school in Aberdeen, and finally at Marischal College. In 1819 he received a direct Indian cadetship, and sailed for India in May in the ship York, in company with a fellow-cadet, afterwards Major-general Stalker. He arrived in Bombay on 15 Aug., and was temporarily posted to the 4th native infantry, with rank as ensign from 2 May 1819. He joined the regiment at Púna, and accompanied it to Savandrúg, returning to Bombay in September, when he was gazetted a lieutenant in the 1st grenadier native infantry, to date from 4 Aug. He joined the 2nd battalion of his regiment at Púna in December, but was shortly afterwards transferred to the 12th regiment on its embodiment at the same place, and became acting-adjutant in July 1820. He accompanied the regiment to Baroda in February 1821, but towards the end of the year was compelled to take sick leave to Bombay. On returning to rejoin his regiment at Káthiáwar in February 1822, he had a narrow escape of his life. The native boat in which he had embarked was blown up by the explosion of some fireworks which Outram had taken on board. Outram was much scorched about the face, but otherwise uninjured.
In November 1822 Outram arranged with his brother Francis, a second lieutenant in the Bombay engineers, that they should put by out of their pay as subalterns an allowance for their mother. At Rajkot, where his regiment was quartered, he became an enthusiastic sportsman; and his shikar-book for the seasons of 1822–3 and 1823–4 shows a record of seventy-four ‘first spears’ out of 123 gained by a party of twelve. He also killed four nílgáí, two hyenas, and two wolves in these two seasons, the nílgáí having been obtained in seven runs at the cost of four horses. In April 1824 he moved with his regiment to Malegáon in Khandesh, but, on a general reorganisation of the army in the spring of this year, his regiment was converted into the 23rd native infantry, and Outram was appointed to the 44th native infantry, and gazetted adjutant on 1 Aug. He, however, effected an exchange back to his old regiment, renumbered the 23rd, and was continued in the appointment of adjutant.
Towards the end of 1824 Outram was permitted to join Lieut.-colonel Deacon's expedition against Kittúr, a native state which had lapsed to the paramount power on the death of the Deshai without heirs, but had resisted the British government, and repulsed a small force sent to take possession. Outram's brother Francis served in the same expedition, and both brothers distinguished themselves. Kittúr was besieged, and surrendered on 5 Dec. 1824, when the expedition returned to Bombay, and Outram rejoined his regiment at Malegáon the following February. In March 1825 Outram was sent, with two hundred men of the 11th and 23rd native infantry regiments, to seize the hill fort of Malair between Surat and Malegáon, an insurrection having broken out in the western districts of Khandesh. Directing his junior officers—Ensigns Whitmore and Paul—to attack in front before daybreak with 150 men, he took fifty men to the rear, and, assaulting shortly after the front attack commenced, created a panic. The garrison fled, the leader and many of his adherents were cut down, and the rest escaped to the hills completely disorganised. Outram's services on this occasion were acknowledged by the government, and also in general orders by the commander-in-chief. In further recognition of his services and merit, he was placed, on 22 April 1825, at the disposal of the collector and political agent in Khandesh, to command a Bhîl corps, to be raised in ​that province for police duties. On leaving the 23rd native infantry regiment, his exertions in bringing the newly formed regiment into shape were warmly acknowledged by his commanding officer.
The province of Khandesh became British territory in 1818, after the Peshwá's downfall. At that time the Bhîls, a distinct race driven out of Meywar and Jodhpur, and subsisting mainly on plunder, formed an eighth part of the whole population. The Bhîl agency was established in 1825 under Colonel Archibald Robertson, collector of Khandesh. There were three agents: Captain Rigby in the north-west, Captain Ovans in the south, and Outram in the north-east. To the latter was entrusted the duty of raising a Bhîl light infantry corps, under native commissioned and non-commissioned officers of line regiments. A severe illness detained Outram in Malegáon until May; when, proceeding to Jatigáon, he led the detachment of his own regiment stationed there to dislodge some marauding Bhîls from the mountain fastnesses. Supported by reinforcements from Malegáon, the operation ended in the occupation of the Bhîl haunts by regular troops, and the destruction of so much of their power in that quarter that the introduction of remedial measures became possible. Outram commenced the formation of his corps by enlisting his captives, who, again, brought in their relatives. He also succeeded in gaining the confidence of the chief men by living unguarded among them, and persuaded five to join his corps. He made his headquarters at Dharangáon, and by July 1826 three hundred Bhîls were enrolled in his corps who had become efficient soldiers, and whose conduct was quite satisfactory. By 1828 the corps numbered six hundred men, and the collector was able to report that for the first time in twenty years the country had enjoyed six months of uninterrupted repose. In 1829 his brother Francis killed himself in a fit of mental depression, and for some time a deep gloom was cast over his life.
In 1830 it was determined to invade and subdue the Dáng country, a tract of tangled forest on the west of Khandesh and on the further side of the Sukhain hills, inhabited by marauding Bhîls. Outram, after a fortnight's campaign, overran the country and subdued it, returning with the principal chiefs as his prisoners, and all the others in alliance. On 30 May 1830 the magistrate of Khandesh conveyed to Outram the thanks of the Bombay government for the judgment he had shown in the course of unwearied exertions.
In 1831 Outram was directed to inquire into certain daring outrages committed in the districts of Yáwal and Sauda, and to apprehend the offenders. He captured 469 suspected persons, and, after inquiry, 158 were committed for trial. In 1833, the Bhîls of the Barwáni territory in the Satpura mountains north of Khandesh having risen in rebellion, Outram, who had been promoted captain on 7 Oct. 1832, took the field against them and struck a decisive blow, capturing the rebel chief Hatnia. On 27 June the government of Bombay expressed their great satisfaction at the successful termination of the expedition. During his residence in Khandesh, Outram was always ready for dangerous sport, and many a tiger fell to his gun. By his fearless bearing in the presence of danger, and his general prowess in the chase, he won the affection and admiration of the wild men among whom his lot was cast. During the ten years from 1825 to 1834 he himself killed no fewer than one hundred and ninety-one tigers, twenty-five bears, twelve buffaloes, and fifteen leopards.
Early in 1835 Outram accompanied Mr. Bax, then resident at Indore, through Malwa and Nimar; and, after his annual Khandesh tour in June, the government invited his opinion on the affairs of the neighbouring province of Gujrat, which, in the Máhi Kánta, had assumed a threatening aspect. On 11 Sept. he left Khandesh for Indore, whence he made his way to Baroda, Ahmadabad, Ahmadnagar, Edar, and Disa, returning to Ahmadabad, where he drew up his report in collaboration with the political commissioner Mr. Williams. The report, which is an elaborate state paper, dated 14 Nov. 1835, was completed at Baroda. It expressed the writer's conviction that the Máhi Kánta could not be tranquillised until the unruly clans which occupied it had been subdued and the chiefs punished for opposition to British arms. Sir John Keane offered Outram the command of the troops to be assembled for the subjection of the Máhi Kánta, but he declined the honour in favour of a friend very much his senior. Outram went on leave to Bombay in December, to be married, but a fortnight after was obliged to hurry off to the Máhi Kánta on appointment as political agent, with the general direction of affairs civil and military. Outram succeeded in the Máhi Kánta, as he had succeeded in Khandesh; and if his measures were more violent than either the governor of Bombay, Sir Robert Grant, or the court or directors found agreeable, the reproofs he received were generally softened by compliments on ​his military genius, energy, and sound judgment.
The residency in the Máhi Kánta was at Sadra, where there was no sport. His wife had been invalided home, and in October 1838, when a British force was ordered to assemble for service across the Indus, Outram at once volunteered, and was appointed extra aide-de-camp to Sir John Keane. On 21 Nov. 1838 he embarked with his chief at Bombay, reaching the Hujamri mouth of the Indus on the 27th, when he was despatched on a special mission to Cutch, to arrange for land and water transport for the expedition. In ten days he had made arrangements; camels arrived on 19 Dec., and on the 24th the force moved forward, reaching Thatta on the 28th. Outram was associated with Lieutenant Eastwick (afterwards a director of the East India Company), the assistant resident, in a mission to the court of Haidarabad, to conclude a detailed treaty with the amir. The envoys, however, met with such unmistakable signs of hostility that they were compelled to return without effecting their object, and rejoined Keane at Jerak. Keane, having succeeded to the chief command on the departure of Sir Henry Fane, employed Outram on missions to Shah Shuja and MacNaghten in February and March 1839. In the latter month a fall from his horse fractured a bone, and Outram had to be carried through the Bolan pass in a palanquin. He was able to take part on arrival at Kandahar in the ceremonies attending the installation of Shah Shuja, and left that city with the advanced column on 27 June. The column arrived at Ghazni on 22 July, and Outram did good service by leading the Shah's horse against a large force of the enemy, who had taken up a position on the hills to the southward of and commanding the British camp. He put them to flight, capturing their banner. Ghazni fell the following day. On arriving at Haidar Khel on 3 Aug., Outram was appointed to command an expedition for the capture of Dost Muhammad Khan, who had fled towards Bamian. The force consisted of two thousand of the shah's Afghan horse and one hundred of British Indian cavalry. The Afghans were under Haji Khan, who did his best to prevent the success of the expedition. It was a rough piece of work, over hills and along tortuous river channels. On arrival at Yourt, Dost Muhammad was reported to be only sixteen miles ahead, but the Afghan leader threw every obstacle in the way. Outram, with only the British force, pushed on without him, crossing the Haji Khak pass (twelve thousand feet), and then over the higher pass of the Shutar Gardan, arriving at Bamian on 9 Aug., only to find that Dost Muhammad had escaped beyond the Oxus. Outram got back to Kabul on 17 Aug., and Haji Khan was arrested by Shah Shuja for treason.
On 21 Aug. Outram was placed at the disposal of the British envoy MacNaghten, for the purpose of conducting an expedition into disturbed districts lying between Kabul and Kandahar. The object of the expedition was to tranquillise the disaffected Ghilzai tribes, to arrest four refractory chiefs, to punish the inhabitants of the village of Maruf, who had destroyed a caravan en route for India, and to reduce the forts of Haji Khan. Outram's force consisted of the Ghúrka infantry regiment, the shah's infantry regiment from Kandahar, a proportion of cavalry and artillery from the shah's contingent, a detail from the camel battery, and Captain Anderson's troop of horse artillery. He marched out of Kabul on 7 Sept. On the 16th the force was strengthened by a wing of the 16th Bengal native infantry from Ghazni. Having surmounted the Kharwár pass, crossed the Kharwár district, and scoured the turbulent region of the Zurmal valley, Outram captured several forts, and secured six of the gang concerned in Colonel Herring's murder. He arrived on 3 Oct. at Ushlan, where he was joined by the Púna auxiliary horse under Captain Keith Erskine. He pushed on to Kalá-i-Murgha, the fort of Abdu-r-Rahman Khan, the principal Ghilzai chief, who, however, escaped. He attacked and demolished the forts of Haji Khan, and finally arrived at Quetta on 31 Oct., having accomplished his mission.
He accompanied General Willshire as aide-de-camp in November to the siege of Kalát, and did good service, which was mentioned in Willshire's despatch of 14 Nov. to Lord Auckland. Outram was deputed to take a copy of the despatch to the governor of Bombay by the direct route to Sonmiáni Bundar, the practicability or otherwise of which for the passage of troops Willshire considered it an object of importance to ascertain. Disguised as an Afghan, he started on this perilous journey through an enemy's country, accompanied by a private servant and two Saiyids of Shal as guides. After many adventures and hairbreadth escapes he reached Sonmiáni on 23 Nov., having subsisted during the whole journey on dates and water. From Sonmiáni he went by water to Karáchi and Bombay. For his services at Kalát Outram was promoted brevet-major on 13 Nov. 1839, and received the thanks of both the Bombay and Indian governments for his report on ​the Kalát-Sonmiáni route, while Shah Shuja bestowed on him the second class order of the Durráni empire.
At the end of 1839 Lord Auckland appointed Outram political agent in Lower Sind, in succession to Colonel Pottinger. He arrived at Haidarabad on 24 Feb., after seeing Pottinger at Bhúj. The main features of his work in 1840 were the reduction of taxes on inland produce brought to the British camp at Karáchi, the relief of the Indus traffic from excessive tolls, and the negotiations with Mir Sher Muhammad of Mirpur, whereby quasi-amicable relations were established. In 1841 he negotiated a satisfactory treaty with Mir Sher Muhammad. Soon afterwards Mir Nur Muhammad, the amir of Haidarabad, summoned Outram to his deathbed, and confided his brother, Mir Nasir Khan, and his youngest son, Mir Husain Ali, to Outram's protection, saying ‘No one has known so great truth and friendship as I have found in you.’ Outram regarded this as a sacred charge, and the boy as an adopted son.
On 18 Aug. 1841 Outram left Haidarabad for Quetta, having been appointed political agent in Upper Sind in addition to his charge of Lower Sind. He arrived at Quetta on 2 Sept., and the young Nasir, khan of Kalát, met him in darbár. On 6 Oct. the khan was installed by Outram at Kalát, after signing the ratification to a treaty with the Indian government. At the end of November Outram heard that the state of affairs at Kabul was growing desperate, and for the next few months his energies were taxed to the utmost to support the failing prestige of the government.
In February 1842 Lord Ellenborough [see Law, Edward, Earl of Ellenborough] succeeded Lord Auckland as governor-general. Outram did his best to impress on the new governor-general the inadvisability of retiring from Afghanistan without first reasserting the power of the government at Kabul. On 28 March 1842 General England was defeated at Haikalzai, in the Pishin valley. The mishap was retrieved on 28 April, but the general officially laid the blame upon Outram's assistant, Lieutenant Hammersley, for want of proper acquaintance with the disposition and movements of the enemy. Outram could not acquiesce in the censure, and his bold and generous advocacy of Hammersley's cause brought him under the displeasure of the authorities. Lord Ellenborough invested General William Nott [q. v.] with the chief political as well as military control in Kandahar and Sind, thus subordinating Outram to him as a political officer. Outram admitted the wisdom of leaving the military commander unfettered during the operations of war, and acquiesced in the arrangement by which he was virtually superseded.
On 1 June Outram left Sakhar for Quetta, to assist General Nott in his preparations for an advance on Kabul. In October he accompanied General England in the withdrawal of his force to India through the dangerous part of the Bolan pass, and himself aided to flank the heights at the head of Brahui auxiliaries. He then pushed on alone to Sakhar to report himself to Sir Charles James Napier [q. v.], who in August had taken over the command of the troops in Sind and Baluchistan, with entire control over the political agents and civil officers. Outram had not been many days at Sakhar when he was remanded to his regiment, and the political establishment dissolved, while the only recognition of his services during the previous three years was the thanks of the governments for his zeal and ability. Sir Charles Napier expressed his high sense of his obligations to him for the information which he had placed at his disposal as his successor in the political department of Sind, and at a public dinner given to Outram at Sakhar, on 5 Nov. 1842, Napier proposed his health in the following terms: ‘Gentlemen, I give you the “Bayard of India,” sans peur et sans reproche, Major James Outram of the Bombay army,’ and the epithet has since become permanently linked with his name.
Outram was offered the command of the Púna horse on his return to Bombay, but declined it, applied for furlough for two years, took his passage for England, and was to have sailed on 2 Jan. 1843, when, on the application of Napier, he was appointed a commissioner for the arrangement of the details of a revised treaty with the amirs of Sind. He arrived at Sakhar on 3 Jan., and accompanied Napier in his march across the desert to Imamgarh, arriving on 11 Jan. After the fort was demolished, Outram went to Khairpur to meet the chiefs of Upper Sind and the wakils of the amirs of Lower Sind, and on 8 Feb. he arrived at Haidarabad. In January 1843 Outram had written to Napier disagreeing with the policy of the government in the treatment of Sind, and there is little doubt that owing to the solemn trust confided to him by the dying amir, Mir Nur, his sympathies were strongly enlisted on the side of the Sind amir, while Napier took, with the full approval of the government, a diametrically opposite view. Upon Outram's urgent representations, Napier refrained from taking the active measures which the failure of the amirs to comply with his conditions ​seemed to demand. On 14 Feb. Outram first realised that the amirs intended open hostility. On the 15th his residence at Haidarabad was attacked by a force of eight thousand men under Mir Shahdad Khan and other principal chiefs. After four hours' gallant defence, Outram, with his little bodyguard of one hundred men, was compelled to evacuate in consequence of ammunition running short. He retired with his small force on board the steamer Satellite, and proceeded up the river under heavy fire for some miles. On 16 Feb. he joined Napier at Matári, sixteen miles above Haidarabad. Napier at once sent Outram off at his own request to burn the Miáni and neighbouring forests (shikárgáhs), in which it was expected the enemy would collect, and from which it would be difficult to dislodge them. He was employed on this duty while Napier was fighting the battle of Miáni (Meanee). Napier prefaced his despatch on this battle with a notice of the risks run by his commissioner at Haidarabad, and observed that the defence of the residency by Outram and the small force with him against such numbers of the enemy was so admirable that he would send a detailed account as a brilliant example of defending a military post. On 18 Feb. the amirs of Haidarabad, Mirs Hasan Khan, Shahdad, and Husain Ali Khan, surrendered. The two former were detained as prisoners, but the latter was released at Outram's request out of respect for the memory of his late father, Mir Nur Muhammad. Outram's functions as commissioner having ceased on the outbreak of hostilities, he left on 20 Feb. for Bombay, carrying despatches. In April he was presented at Bombay with a sword of honour of the value of three hundred guineas and a costly piece of plate, in token of the high estimation in which he was held for the intrepid gallantry which had marked his career in India, and more especially his heroic defence of the British residency at Haidarabad against an army of eight thousand Baluchis with six guns. For his services in the Sind campaign he was promoted brevet-lieutenant colonel on 4 July 1843, and made a C.B. Outram's share of the prize-money amounted to 3,000l., but he declined to take the money for himself, and distributed it among charitable institutions in India.
Outram returned to England in May 1843 with his mind filled with the unfortunate condition of the amirs of Sind, and during his furlough was much engaged in making representations on their behalf. He was also engaged in the great controversy on the annexation of Sind, and the difference of opinion between Napier and himself led to a serious rupture. The contest proved a long and costly one for Outram. For years the uncongenial paper warfare dragged on, and was the source of misrepresentations, misunderstandings, and aspersions which are better forgotten.
Intelligence of the revolution of Lahore and the murder of the Maharaja Sher Singh was received in London in November, and Outram returned to India in December, armed with a letter from the Duke of Wellington to the commander-in-chief in India. On arrival at Sir Hugh Gough's camp at Fathpur, Lord Ellenborough, who was there, refused him a personal interview, and objected to his joining Gough, but gave him political charge of Minar, an appendage of Indore. He reached his station, Mandlaisir, on 10 March 1844. There was not sufficient work to occupy him in Minar; he was worried with the Sind controversy, and in September he resigned his appointment, intending to return home.
An outbreak, however, in the southern Maráthá country between Bombay and Goa, and a check which a detachment, under Colonel Wallace of the Madras army, had received on 24 Sept. before the strong fort of Samangarh, led Outram to offer his services. He was sent on special duty, and joined Wallace on 11 Oct. On the 13th he was present at the capture of Samangarh. The rebellion spreading, he was attached to Major-general Delamotte's staff, and his duties were those of a special commissioner and head of the intelligence department. During the campaign he distinguished himself at the storming and capture of the forts of Páwangarh and Panála, and received the thanks of the government.
Outram returned to Bombay in December, and was at once ordered to take part in the suppression of disturbances in Sawant-Wari, south of the country he had just quitted. He was given a command of twelve hundred men, and did good service before Forts Manohar and Mansantosh, and in scouring the country, as well as in delicate negotiations with the Portuguese government of Goa.
In May 1845 Outram was appointed resident at Satára, and took up his appointment on 26 May, and in May 1847 he was transferred, at the instance of Sir George Clerk, governor of Bombay, to the British residency at Baroda, the highest position under the Bombay government. On 21 Feb. 1848 he became a regimental major. The murder in 1848 of Agnew and Anderson, the latter a brother of Outram's wife, brought on the second Sikh war, and again Outram applied to serve in the field; but ill-health compelled ​him in November to go for change of air to Egypt and Syria, and he occupied himself there by writing an exhaustive memoir on Egypt for the East India Company, for which he received the thanks of government. Outram returned to his post at Baroda in May 1850. Here he set himself to work to put down ‘khatpat’ or corruption. He sent in charges against Narsu Pant, head native agent at the residency, and in a full report, dated 31 Oct. 1851, for submission to the court of directors, he dealt with the khatpat case without respect of persons.
He did not mince matters, and his report was considered by the government to be couched in disrespectful terms to itself, and likely to affect amicable relations with the gáekwár. The result was that Outram was removed from the office of resident at Baroda. He returned to England in March 1852. While the court of directors upheld the Bombay government, they expressed regret that Outram had not been required to withdraw or modify any objectionable expressions which rendered him liable to censure, and they gave Outram credit for the zeal, energy, ability, and success with which he had prosecuted inquiries attended with great difficulty. The directors also expressed a hope that on Outram's return to India a suitable opportunity would be found of employing him. Even then there were some directors who considered that the despatch did not do justice to Outram, nor make sufficient allowance for his irritation at finding his efforts for a great public object constantly thwarted or inadequately supported.
In July 1853, having been promoted regimental lieutenant-colonel in the preceding month, Outram returned to India, arriving at Calcutta on 12 Sept. While at Calcutta, at the request of the governor-general, he wrote a ‘Memorandum on the Invasion of India from the Westward.’ Lord Dalhousie, moreover, appointed him an honorary aide-de-camp to the governor-general. The court of directors had written to the governor-general to find employment for Outram under the supreme government, and the transfer, towards the end of the year, of Baroda from the Bombay government to the government of India enabled Lord Dalhousie to reinstate Outram as resident there, and so make the ‘amende honorable.’ After a public dinner in his honour at Calcutta, Outram arrived at Baroda on 19 March 1854, and, after holding the office for a month, was appointed political agent and commandant at Aden. He embarked at Bombay in June, but the change to Aden in the hot season affected his health. In November Lord Dalhousie appointed him to the residency of Oudh, and he made his official entry into Lucknow on 5 Dec. Outram was instructed to prepare at once a report on the condition of the country, and to state whether the improvement peremptorily demanded by Lord Hardinge seven years previously had in any degree been effected; and, if not, whether the duties imposed by treaty on the British government would admit of any longer delay in proceeding to extreme measures to remedy the evils existing. In March 1855 he submitted his report, which represented the condition of Oudh as deplorable, and reluctantly recommended annexation as the only remedy. Annexation took place in February 1856. Outram was promoted major-general on 28 Nov. 1854, and was made a K.C.B. in February 1856, having been specially recommended for the honour in September 1855 by Lord Dalhousie, who expressed the opinion that Outram had not received the reward that was his due. Ill-health compelled him to return home in May. On 13 Nov. he was summoned to the India house and informed that he had been appointed to the command of the army for the Persian war, of which a division under Major-general Stalker had already gone to Persia from Bombay. Outram was given the local rank of lieutenant-general, and invested with diplomatic powers. He left England at once, and landed at Bombay on 22 Dec. 1856. There he found active preparations in progress for the despatch of a second division, under Havelock, and a cavalry division under John Jacob, to Bushahr.
Outram left Bombay on 15 Jan. 1857, and arrived at Bushahr on the 27th. The second division began to arrive shortly after. The Persian commander-in-chief had formed an entrenched camp at Barazján, and was collecting a large force there. He determined to attack this position before extending operations elsewhere. After a march of forty-six miles in forty-one hours, in cold, wet, and stormy weather, the camp was reached, and found to have been hastily abandoned on Outram's approach, together with the camp equipage and magazines. Having destroyed the gunpowder, Outram commenced his return march on the night of 7 Feb. to Bushahr, carrying with him large stores of provisions. On the march, at daybreak on 8 Feb., they were attacked at Khush-áb by some six thousand Persians, with a few guns. After a smart action, in which seven hundred Persians were killed and two guns captured, the Persian force fled, and only the paucity of British cavalry saved the fugitives from total destruction. ​Early in March the troops for the attack on Muhamra commenced to embark, but strong gales delayed the arrangements. It was not till 26 March that operations were commenced. The fire of the enemy was soon silenced, and the troops landed. After exploding their largest magazine, the Persians abandoned their position and fled, leaving sixteen guns and all their baggage stores and ammunition behind them. Peace had already been concluded at Baghdad, and the war was at an end. Outram was sent to Baghdad in May to arrange the formation of a mission to see that the evacuation of Herat fortress and district was duly carried out by the Persians. He returned to Bombay on 26 June 1857.
For his services Outram was made a G.C.B. In the meantime the Indian mutiny had commenced, and Outram's son, who was stationed at Aligahr, and his wife, who was staying there, had a narrow escape. Outram reached Calcutta on 31 July, and on 8 Aug. was given command of two divisions of the Bengal army occupying the country from Calcutta to Cawnpore inclusive, while he was also made chief commissioner of Oudh in succession to Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence [q. v.], killed in the defence of Lucknow. He took with him Robert Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala) [q. v.], as his military secretary and chief of the staff, and arrived at Dánapur on 19 Aug. On 1 Sept. he was at Allahabad, and on the 15th he reached Cawnpore. Outram had already telegraphed from Banáras to Havelock that he would shortly join him at Cawnpore with reinforcements, but that he would leave to Havelock the glory of the relief of Lucknow, accompanying him only in his civil capacity as commissioner, and placing his military services at Havelock's disposal as a volunteer. The arrangement had been made known to Sir Colin Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde) [q. v.] at army headquarters, and to the governor-general, who united in expressing their admiration of the generous proposal. On 16 Sept. the force for the relief of Lucknow was constituted and announced in division orders, with Major-general Havelock in command. The order concluded as follows: ‘The important duty of relieving the garrison of Lucknow had been first entrusted to Major-general Havelock, C.B., and Major-general Outram feels that it is due to this distinguished officer and the strenuous and noble exertions which he has already made to effect that object that to him should accrue the honour of the achievement … The Major-general, therefore, in gratitude for, and admiration of the brilliant deeds of arms achieved by General Havelock and his gallant troops, will cheerfully waive his rank on the occasion, and will accompany the force to Lucknow in his civil capacity—as chief commissioner of Oude—tendering his military services to General Havelock as a volunteer. On the relief of Lucknow, the major-general will resume his position at the head of the force.’ On 28 Sept. Sir Colin Campbell confirmed Outram's temporary transfer of command by a general order, in which he called attention to the disinterested sacrifice made by Outram in favour of Havelock.
On 19 Sept. 1857 the force crossed the river and marched out of Cawnpore. On the 20th Outram headed the volunteer cavalry in a charge at the affair of Mangalwár. On the 23rd, in the action of the Alam-bágh, Outram, at the head of the volunteer and native cavalry, pursued the flying enemy to the Chhár-bágh bridge. On the 25th Havelock's force, after severe fighting, in which Outram received a flesh-wound in the arm, won their way to the residency.
Outram resumed his military command by a general order on 26 Sept. He found that he had simply reinforced a beleaguered garrison, and was himself effectually besieged until November, when Sir Colin Campbell, the commander-in-chief, came to the rescue. Campbell left Cawnpore for Lucknow on 9 Nov., joining the headquarters of his small army under Sir Hope Grant beyond Banni. On the 12th he encamped behind the Alam-bágh. On the 13th Fort Jalálabad was destroyed, and on the 16th the Sikandra-bágh was captured. The same day Outram, on his side, blew in the outer wall of the garden of the palace of Farid Bakhsh, and opened his batteries on the insurgent defences in front, following up the operations by the storm of the Hírn-khána and steam-engine house, under which three mines had been driven. Two of the mines blew up, and the buildings were soon in his possession; but he was still half a mile from the most advanced post of Sir Colin Campbell's force, and the way was under the enemy's fire. Outram, however, determined to meet Sir Colin Campbell without delay, and, with Havelock and seven others, set out. Four were struck down, but Outram, Havelock, and their surviving companions reached the Moti Mahál unhurt. After a short conference, they made their way back. Sir Colin entrusted the withdrawal of the garrison and the evacuation of the residency to Outram. The delicate operation of evacuation was effected by night, along the bank of the Gúmti. The whole force under his command reached Dilkúsha on the afternoon of the 23rd. On the evening of that day Outram had an affecting interview with the ​dying Havelock, who was buried on the 25th at the Alam-bágh.
After the evacuation of the residency, Sir Colin Campbell determined to leave Outram with a field force at the Alam-bágh position to hold the city of Lucknow in check until Sir Colin had placed his convoy in safety and disposed of the Gwáliár mutineers, and circumstances should admit of its capture. For three months Outram's division, consisting of about five thousand men and twenty-five guns, kept in check 120,000 organised troops with more than 130 guns. Holding the Alam-bágh with a small detachment and a few guns, Outram pitched his camp in the open about half a mile behind it. He occupied a position across the road to Cawnpore, and covered it by batteries, trenches, and obstacles. The leader of the rebels at Lucknow was the famous Moulvi known as Ahmad Shah. He made determined efforts to sever Outram's communications, and continually harassed his outposts. On 22 Dec. 1857, on 12 and 16 Jan., and on 15 and 21 Feb. 1858, sharp engagements were fought, in which Outram's troops were successful. The last and most desperate attack was made by the rebels on 25 Feb., and it was not till the dawn of the 26th that they were completely routed and fell back on Lucknow. On 1 March 1858 Sir Colin Campbell returned to take Lucknow. Outram was placed in command of a large force of picked troops on the north side of the Gúmti, and he had an admirable second-in-command and leader of his cavalry in Sir James Hope Grant. Outram, crossing the river on 6 March, pitched his camp near the Faizabad road. On 9 March he made his attack; himself leading the left column across the Kokrail stream, he seized the Chakar Kothi, or yellow house, the key of the enemy's position in that quarter, and, driving the rebels to the river, threw up batteries on its bank to keep down the enemy's fire and explode the works in rear of the Martinière. On 10 March he strengthened his position, repelled the attack of the enemy, and kept up the fire of his batteries upon the Kaisar-bágh and main street. The Kaisar-bágh fell to Sir Colin Campbell on the morning of the 14th. On the 16th Outram, having recrossed the Gúmti, advanced through the Chattar Manzil and carried the residency. On the morning of the 19th Outram attacked the Músa-bágh, held by five thousand men and thirteen guns, and carried it, capturing twelve guns. So ended the capture of Lucknow.
Outram was appointed military member of the governor-general's council, and, handing over the charge of Oudh to Robert Montgomery, left Lucknow on 4 April and joined Lord Canning at Allahabad. Many important matters, such as the reorganisation of the Indian army, were under consideration during Outram's tenure of office, and he left many wise and carefully prepared minutes recording his views. For his services at the Alam-bágh he received the thanks of parliament, and he again received them at the close of the Oudh campaign and the fall of Lucknow. A baronetcy was conferred upon him by the queen, and the House of Commons voted him an annuity of 1,000l., to be continued to his immediate successor. In June 1858 his friends in Bombay presented him with a silver shield, designed by H. H. Armitstead, R.A., and called the Outram shield. It has been on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. On 16 July Outram was promoted lieutenant-general. In October the city of London resolved to confer upon him its freedom and to present him with a sword of honour.
In July 1860 Outram's health gave way. He resigned his seat in the council of the viceroy, and, after a public entertainment at Calcutta, left India for good. An equestrian statue of him by J. H. Foley, R.A., was erected on the Maidan in Calcutta by public subscription. On the institution of the order of the Star of India in 1861, Outram was one of the first to receive the honour of K.S.I. In October 1861 he went to Egypt for the winter. In June the following year he received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the university of Oxford. In July a deputation, headed by the Duke of Argyll, of subscribers to the London testimonial of silver plate waited upon him at his residence in Queen's Gate Gardens to make the presentation. He died at Pau in the south of France on 11 March 1863. His remains were honoured with a public funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey. The grave is near the centre of the nave, marked by a marble slab bearing the words, ‘The Bayard of India.’ Over the doorway on the south side of the nave is a bust of Outram by Matthew Noble, R.A., erected by the secretary of state for India in council. A statue by Noble has also been erected on the Thames Embankment. There is a portrait by Brigstocke in the Oriental Club, London. It was taken late in life, when Outram was a confirmed invalid, and the portrait is feeble and uncharacteristic. There is also an unfinished head in the National Portrait Gallery done by the same artist. Outram sat for his portrait also to A. Buxton at Sir Joseph Fayrer's request.
Outram was a good soldier and a skilful diplomatist. Filled with ambition, he was ​nevertheless most unselfish. Possessed of great courage, a strong individuality, a warm temper, untiring energy, and good physique, he was kind-hearted, modest, and chivalrous. There used to be a Bombay service saying, ‘A fox is a fool and a lion a coward compared with James Outram.’ In speech Outram was hesitating until he warmed to a subject, when he could speak forcibly. An idea too often got complete command of him, and it was then difficult for him to see the other side of a question. He had a strong feeling of personal responsibility. He quickly saw and rewarded merit in young men. The welfare of the British soldier was ever uppermost in his thoughts. He expended large sums in the purchase of books for various regimental libraries in India, and he established at Dum-Dum a soldiers' club known as the Outram Institute.
Outram married, at Bombay, in December 1835, his cousin, Margaret Clementina, daughter of James Anderson, esq. of Bridgend, Brechin, Forfarshire, by whom he had an only son, Francis Boyd, the present baronet. His wife survived him.
The following is a list of Outram's works, in addition to his reports and minutes printed officially in Indian records and bluebooks: 1. ‘Rough Notes of the Campaign in Sinde and Afghanistan in 1838–9: being Extracts from a personal Journal kept while on the staff of the army of the Indus’ (privately printed), 8vo, Bombay and London, 1840. 2. ‘The Conquest of Scinde: a Commentary,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1846. 3. ‘Baroda Intrigues and Bombay Kutput: being an Exposition of the Fallacies … recently promulgated by Mr. L. R. Reid in a “Letter to the Editor of the Daily News”’ (privately printed), 8vo, London, 1853. 4. ‘A Suppressed Despatch from Lieut.-colonel Outram to A. Malet, Chief Secretary to Government, Bombay, Bombay Briberies, &c.,’ 8vo, 1853. 5. ‘A few Brief Memoranda of some of the Public Services rendered by Lieut.-colonel Outram’ (privately printed), 8vo, London, 1853. 6. ‘Our Indian Army: Minute of … Sir J. Outram in Opposition to the proposed Amalgamation of the European and Native Forces,’ 8vo, London, 1860. 7. ‘Lieutenant-general Sir James Outram's Persian Campaign in 1857–8, comprising General Orders and Despatches … also Selections from his Correspondence, &c.’ (privately printed), 8vo, London, 1860.
[Despatches; India Office Records; Outram's Printed Official Reports and Minutes; Outram's Works as given above, James Outram: A Biography, by Major-general Sir F. J. Goldsmid, 2 vols. London, 8vo, 1880; Brief Historical Sketch of the Bhîl Tribes inhabiting the Province of Khandesh, Bombay, 1843; Synopsis of Bhîl Settlement in Khandesh by Captain Douglas Graham; A few Brief Memoranda of some of the Public Services rendered by Lieut.-colonel Outram (privately printed), London, 8vo, 1852; Stocqueler's Memorial of Afghanistan, and Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir William Nott, 2 vols. 1854; Kaye's Hist. of the War in Afghanistan in 1838–42, 3 vols., and Hist. of the Sepoy War in India, 3 vols. 1872; Low's Life of Field-marshal Sir George Pollock, 1873; Broadfoot's Career of Major George Broadfoot, 1888; Napier's Conquest of Scinde, 2 vols. 1845; Bruce's Life of Sir Charles Napier, 1885; Napier's Life and Opinions of Sir Charles Napier, 4 vols. 1857; Scinde Correspondence, 1838–43, presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, 1843; Durand's First Afghan War, 1879; Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, by an ex-Political, 1851; Dennie's Personal Narrative of the Campaign in Afghanistan; Lushington's A Great Country's Little Wars; Calcutta Review, No. 7, vol. iv. 1845, and March 1859; Baroda and Bombay … in relation to the Removal of Lieut.-Colonel Outram from the Office of Resident at the Court of the Gaekwar, by John Chapman, 8vo, 1853; Baroda Bluebooks, 2 vols. fol. 1852; Edwardes and Merivale's Life of Sir Henry Lawrence; Outram and Havelock's Persian Campaign, &c., by G. H. Hunt, 8vo, 1858; Lieut.-General Sir James Outram's Persian Campaign in 1857, comprising general orders and despatches … also selections from his Correspondence (privately printed), 8vo, London, 1860; Malleson's Hist. of the Indian Mutiny, 3 vols. 1878; Calcutta Englishman, 19 Dec. 1854; Marshman's Life of Havelock; Blackwood's Magazine, October 1858 and September 1861, article ‘Lord Clyde's Campaign in India;’ Persian War of 1856–7, by Lieutenant (afterwards Lieut.-general) Ballard; Russell's My Diary in India; Times, 23 June 1862 and 13 March 1863; Cornhill Magazine, May 1863; Short Account of the Outram Statue, Calcutta, by W. R. Tucker, 4to, 1879.]
R. H. V.