Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 63.djvu/263

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fortified on the heights of Jiran. In December 1826 he was appointed brigade-major to the Malwa field force, and on 20 Feb. 1829 was posted to Sholapur.

In 1838 Wyllie was appointed brigade-major of the first brigade under Major-general (afterwards Sir) Thomas Willshire [q. v.] of the Bombay column of ‘the army of the Indus’ for the invasion of Afghanistan. He went with the column by sea to Vikkar on the Indus, about fifty miles east of Karachi, and then marched up the right bank of the Indus to Sakkar, following the Bengal column through the Bolan Pass to Shalkot or Quetta, and thence through the Khojak Pass, arriving at Kandahar in May 1839. After a rest of six weeks he marched with the army under Sir John, first Baron Keane, through Afghanistan, was present at the assault and capture of Ghazni on 23 July, and at the occupation of Kabul on 7 Aug. He returned to Quetta with the Bombay force as assistant adjutant-general under Willshire, leaving Kabul on 18 Sept. and marching through the Ghilzai country by Tokarak. The column arrived at Quetta on 31 Oct. and left again to attack Kalat on 3 Nov. Wyllie accompanied the storming party in the successful assault and capture of that fortress on 13 Nov. After the capture he found in the citadel the dead body of Mahrab Khan, and had it conveyed to the tent of Willshire, who was unaware that the Kalat chief had fallen. Wyllie was mentioned in despatches, was thanked for his services by Willshire (London Gazette, 13 Feb. 1840), and received brevet promotion from the date of the storm of Kalat.

He returned to his staff appointment at Puna in February 1840, and in August was appointed brigade-major of the second brigade of the Sind force. On 8 Dec. he joined Major-general (afterwards Sir) Richard England's column as brigade-major, marching with it early in March 1842 from Dadar to convey supplies of money, ammunition, and medicines to Major-general (afterwards Sir) William Nott [q. v.] at Kandahar. The enemy was encountered at Haikalzai on 28 March, and the column was obliged to fall back on Quetta. It again advanced on 26 April, defeated the enemy on the 28th at Haikalzai, and, the Khojak Pass having been cleared by Colonel Wymer, sent from Kandahar by Nott, the column arrived safely at Kandahar on 10 May.

Wyllie returned in August with the Bombay column through the Khojak and Bolan passes to Sind, withdrawing the garrisons from Quetta and Kala Abdullah on the way, and was mentioned in despatches (ib. 10 Jan. 1843). On 4 Nov. 1842 he was appointed assistant adjutant-general of the forces in Sind and Baluchistan, took part in the operations under Sir Charles Napier [q. v.] and was severely wounded in the early part of the battle of Miani on 17 Feb. 1843. Napier mentioned in his despatch of the following day that Wyllie was wounded when leading up the bank, ‘gloriously animating the men to sustain the shock of numbers,’ and that no man had been more serviceable to him in all the previous operations (ib. 11 April and 9 May 1843). Wyllie received for his services the Afghan and Sind medals and a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy, and was made a C.B. (military division) (ib. 4 July 1843).

He rejoined his regiment in November, and commanded the troops employed on the coast during the rebellion in the South Maratha country in 1844 and 1845, receiving the government's approval of his measures, and especially of the capture of rebels in the village of Kandauli on 28 March 1845. In May he went on furlough to England, and, on his return to India, was appointed deputy adjutant-general of the Bombay army on 17 Jan. 1849. In April 1850 he was made a brigadier-general of the second class, and given the command of the Bombay garrison. In February 1855 he was appointed to the command of the brigade at Ahmadnagar.

Wyllie left India for good in 1858. He was appointed colonel commandant of the 12th Bombay infantry on 14 March 1857, colonel of the 109th Bombay infantry on 30 Sept. 1862, made a knight commander of the order of the Bath (military division) on 28 May 1865, transferred to the colonelcy of the royal Dublin fusiliers on 14 Feb. 1873, received the grand cross of the order of the Bath (military division) on 2 June 1877, and retired from the service on a pension on 1 Oct. of that year. He died of influenza after a few days' illness at his residence, 3 Queensborough Terrace, London, on 26 May 1891, and was buried at Kensal Green on 30 May.

Wyllie married, in 1831, at Sholapur, in Bombay Presidency, Amelia (b. 1806), daughter of Richards Hutt of Appley, Ryde, Isle of Wight, and sister of Sir William Hutt [q. v.] She died in January 1891. They had issue: (1) John William Shaw (see below). (2) Francis Robert Shaw (b. 1837), under-secretary to government of Bombay, retired in 1876; secretary to the army purchase commission, 1886–91. (3) Sir William Hutt Curzon, K.C.I.E., C.V.O. (b. 1848), lieut.-colonel Indian staff corps, companion of the Indian