Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Caldwell, Alexander
CALDWELL, Sir ALEXANDER (1763–1839), general, a younger son of William Caldwell (1710–1802), by his third wife, Isabella, daughter of Alexander Clark of Inverness, was born on 1 Feb. 1763. He was a grandson of Sir John Caldwell, second baronet of Castle Caldwell, co. Fermanagh. Alexander was nominated a cadet in the Bengal artillery in 1782, and on 3 April 1783, after a year's study at Woolwich, was appointed lieutenant fire-worker, and soon after arrived at Calcutta. After some garrison duty there he was ordered to Dacca in 1787 in command of a brigade of four 6-pounders, but was sent home on sick leave in 1789. He again studied at Woolwich, and after being promoted a lieutenant on 26 Nov. 1790 returned to India in 1791. In 1792 he was made commandant of the artillery at Midnapore; in the following year he was present at the reduction of Pondicherry; from 1794 to 1796 he commanded the artillery at Dinapore and Cawnpore, and on 7 Jan. 1796 he was promoted captain. In 1798 he was nominated to command the artillery of the force which, under the command of Colonel Hyndman and the superintendence of John Malcolm, conquered and disbanded the powerful army trained for the service of the Nizam by M. Raymond. After this service he proceeded with the Nizam's contingent, which was placed under the command of Colonel Arthur Wellesley, to take part in the last Mysore war. He commanded the six guns posted on the left at the battle of Malavelly, and also the battery of artillery which supported Colonel Wellesley in his unsuccessful attack on the great ‘tope’ during the siege of Seringapatam. After the fall of Seringapatam Caldwell commanded the artillery and acted as field engineer with the force detached under Colonel Bowser to take the forts of Gooty and Gurrumcondah, and particularly distinguished himself at the head of the storming party which took the ‘pettah’ or inner fort of Gooty. He acted in the same double capacity with the force under Colonel Desse which took Cuptal, where he was wounded in the shoulder, and received by a special resolution of General Harris the allowances of both commanding officer of artillery and of field engineer for his services in these two expeditions. In 1800 he returned to Calcutta, and from 1802 to 1806 was aide-de-camp to Major-general George Green there, and was employed in instructing the cadets for the Bengal artillery on their arrival from England. (The cadets were no longer permitted to receive their professional education at Woolwich.) In 1806 Caldwell came to England on sick leave; in 1807 was promoted major, and in 1810 returned to Calcutta. In February 1811 he was appointed to command the artillery, consisting of detachments from the Royal, Bengal, and Madras artillery, which accompanied the expedition under Sir Samuel Auchmuty to Java, and was very instrumental in the reduction of Batavia. He was then prostrated with fever, but nevertheless insisted on reporting himself well, and was present at the battle and the storming of the lines of Cornelis on 26 Aug., when his services were specially noticed in General Auchmuty's despatch (Stubbs, History of the Bengal Artillery, p. 119). He was rewarded with the Java medal, and promoted lieutenant-colonel on 1 March 1812. In July 1812 he commanded the artillery at Agra in the operations against Zeman Shah, and was thanked in general orders for his conduct. In 1815 he again came to England on sick leave, and on 3 Feb. 1817 was appointed C.B. In 1819 he returned to India for the last time, and in 1821 retired from active service. In 1829 he was promoted colonel, and in 1837 major-general, and in the latter year he was also made a K.C.B. In 1838, when the court of directors was asked to nominate three distinguished officers of their army to be made extra G.C.B.'s on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Victoria, Caldwell was one of those selected. He died at his house in Upper Berkeley Street on 6 Dec. 1839.
[Stubbs's Hist. of the Bengal Artillery; obit. notices in Gent. Mag. and Colburn's United Serv. Mag. for February 1840.]Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.48–49
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 247 | i | 19 | Caldwell, Sir Alexander: for 1765 read 1763 |
| 19-23 | for Captain Alexander Caldwell . . . . in 1765 read William Caldwell by his third wife, Isabella, daughter of Alexander Clark of Inverness. He was a grandson of Sir John Caldwell, 2nd baronet, of Castle Caldwell, Co. Fermanagh | ||
| 247 | ii | 11 f.e. | Caldwell, Sir Alexander: after 1839 insert Sir Alexander was twice married, first to Ann Miller, who died 22 Oct. 1836, and secondly to Elizabeth Shepheard. The second Lady Caldwell afterwards married Colonel Le Blanc and died in 1891 |