General Sir John Eccles Nixon (16 August 1857 – 15 December 1921) was a senior commander of the British Indian Army. He gave the orders for the ultimately disastrous first British Expedition against Baghdad during the First World War. Early career Educated at Rossall School and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Nixon was commissioned into the 75th Regiment of Foot in 1875. He transferred to the Bengal Staff Corps in 1878 and was posted to the 18th Bengal Lancers and then served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War where he was mentioned in despatches. He also took part in the Mahsud Waziri expedition in 1881, was promoted to captain on 10 September 1886, and served in the Chitral Relief Force in 1895, following which he was promoted to major on 10 September 1895. He was Chief Staff Officer of the Tochi Field Force in 1897, and later served as an Assistant Quartermaster General (in charge of intelligence) at Indian Headquarters. Nixon served as a Cavalry Brigade Commander during the Second Boer War, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 10 September 1901, and mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902). In recognition of services during the war, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902. Following the war, he became Assistant Quartermaster General (Intelligence) in India in 1902. He became commander of the Bangalore Brigade in 1903, Inspector General of Cavalry in India 1906 and General Officer Commanding 7th (Meerut) Division in 1908. He went on to be General Officer Commanding 1st (Peshawar) Division in 1910 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Army in India in 1912. First World War Nixon was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Army in India in February 1915. Two months later he became Commander of an Expeditionary Force sent to Mesopotamia. He ordered an aggressive plan to take Baghdad. The British forces in India for nearly a century had operated with little or no direction from London. Following in this tradition, Nixon's aggressive stance in Mesopotamia was not submitted for approval from London. It was approved in New Delhi, and that was enough. The advance into Mesopotamia met with initial success. The local Ottoman forces, mostly Arab troops under the overall command of Khalil Pasha in Baghdad and locally under Nur-Ud Din Pasha were not very well equipped nor experienced. As far as