He served in the Sikh Army during the final years of Punjab's independence, and rose from a trumpeter to the rank of Colonel.
He joined the Bengal Horse Artillery and in September 1829 resigned his post and moved to Punjab in search of a better future.
While most of the European Officers were discharged from the Sikh Army after the First Anglo-Sikh war, John Holmes was retained in service as a reward for supplying secret information to the Ludhiana Political Agency.
He was posted at Bannu where, in October 1848, the Sikh troops under his command mutinied and killed him for his treasonable conduct.
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