Dictionary of Indian Biography/Ballard, John Archibald
BALLARD, JOHN ARCHIBALD (1830–1880)
Born June 20, 1830: son of a Calcutta merchant: educated at Addiscombe: joined the Bombay Engineers in 1850: on his way to England in 1854, he went to Constantinople, and joined the Turkish Army, as Lt-Colonel, at the siege of Silistria by the Russians, and in the attack on the Russians at Giurgevo: in the Crimean campaign, including the siege of Sebastopol, the operations at Eupatoria and the occupation of Kertch: he also commanded a Turkish Brigade in Omar Pasha's campaign in Mingrelia: was conspicuous for his cool bravery in action: C.B., 1856: served as A.Q.M.G. in the Persian war of 1856–7, and in the same capacity in the Indian mutiny in the Rajputana Field Force: was Mint-master at Bombay, 1861, and Chairman of the Bombay Port Trust: retired at end of 1878 as Lt-General: wrote articles for Blackwood's Magazine, on Indian subjects: LL.D. of Edinburgh: he died near the battlefield of Thermopylae April 2, 1880.