Named for Field Marshal Lord Clyde – Colin Campbell, the Glasgow carpenter’s son who held the ‘Thin Red Line’ at Balaclava
The Lord Clyde holds a hundred and eight reviews and a 4.6 – a strong score on a fair sample – and it bears the name of one of the great British military heroes of the Victorian age: Field Marshal Lord Clyde, born Colin Campbell, the Glasgow carpenter’s son who rose from humble beginnings to command the famous “Thin Red Line” at Balaclava.
The carpenter’s son
“Lord Clyde” was the title given to Field Marshal Sir Colin Campbell (1792-1863) – and his is a genuinely inspiring story of rising from humble beginnings to the very heights of military glory. He was born Colin Macliver in Glasgow, the son of a carpenter – a humble beginning indeed for one who would rise to become a Field Marshal and a peer of the realm. Taken under the wing of his uncle, Colonel John Campbell (whose surname he adopted for life), the young Campbell joined the army at sixteen and fought bravely as a young man in the Napoleonic Wars – at the great battles of the Peninsular War, where he was wounded leading the “forlorn hope” at the storming of San Sebastian. His rise thereafter was slow (he lacked the wealth and connections that sped others’ careers), but through sheer merit, courage and ability he rose steadily to high command – a genuine self-made military hero, the carpenter’s son who became one of the greatest soldiers of his age.
The Thin Red Line
Campbell’s most famous and celebrated feat came in the Crimean War, at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854. As commander of the Highland Brigade, Campbell and his 93rd Sutherland Highlanders faced a charge of Russian cavalry – and instead of forming the usual defensive square, Campbell held his Highlanders in a simple line, just two ranks deep, to meet the charge. “There is no retreat from here, men,” he told them; “you must die where you stand.” And the thin line of Highlanders held firm, standing steady and pouring fire into the Russian cavalry until the charge broke and turned away. A journalist watching described the scene as a “thin red streak tipped with a line of steel” – and from this came the immortal phrase “the Thin Red Line,” one of the most famous images in all of British military history: the steady, disciplined, courageous line of red-coated Highlanders holding firm against the cavalry charge. It became a byword for steady courage and disciplined valour, and it sealed Campbell’s fame forever.
The relief of Lucknow
Campbell’s other great fame came in India. When the Indian Mutiny (or Rebellion) of 1857 broke out – a vast and traumatic upheaval, one of the most significant and contested events in the history of British India – Campbell was appointed Commander-in-Chief in India, and directed the British military response, most famously the relief of Lucknow, where a besieged British garrison and civilians were rescued. (The events of 1857 were complex, bitter and violent on all sides, and remain a deeply significant and contested chapter in the history of India and empire – viewed very differently in Britain and in India, where it is often seen as a first war of independence. The Prat notes this honestly, as part of the full historical picture.) For his role, Campbell was rewarded with the title “Baron Clyde,” made a Field Marshal in 1862, and buried, on his death, in Westminster Abbey – the carpenter’s son laid to rest among the nation’s greatest, lamented (his epitaph records) “by the Queen, the Army and the People.”
To name a pub “The Lord Clyde” is to honour this remarkable Victorian figure – the humble carpenter’s son who rose through sheer merit and courage to the heights of military glory, the commander of the immortal “Thin Red Line,” one of the great soldiers of his age. His is a genuinely inspiring story of merit and courage overcoming humble origins, and his fame – the Thin Red Line above all – is woven into the fabric of British history. Its strong score across a fair sample marks it as a genuinely good and well-liked pub, worthily bearing its historic name. The Prat’s history desk salutes the carpenter’s son who became Lord Clyde, remembers the Thin Red Line, and raises a steady glass.
The pub
A strong, well-regarded pub doing a good 4.6 across a fair sample, named “The Lord Clyde” for Field Marshal Colin Campbell – the Glasgow carpenter’s son who held the famous “Thin Red Line” at Balaclava.
Verdict
Strong, well-regarded, and richly historic – the Lord Clyde, honouring the carpenter’s son who rose to Field Marshal and commanded the immortal “Thin Red Line.”
Have a pint at the Lord Clyde, and raise it to the hero of the name – Field Marshal Lord Clyde, Colin Campbell, the Glasgow carpenter’s son who rose through merit and courage to command the famous “Thin Red Line” at Balaclava.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
