General Sir John Eccles Nixon GCMG KCB (16 August 1857 – 15 December 1921) was a senior commander of the British Indian Army.

[3] He was Chief Staff Officer of the Tochi Field Force in 1897,[1] and later served as an Assistant Quartermaster General (in charge of intelligence) at Indian Headquarters.

[4] 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[5]).

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.

By this time the Ottoman Army had brought a retired military expert into command - Baron von der Goltz - and sent experienced Turkish troops from Anatolia to defend Baghdad.

However, in late November, when news reached him that Townshend's forces had fought an inconclusive battle at Ctesiphon and were retreating to Kut, Nixon turned back towards Basra.

A sitting target, with only bales of straw around the deck for protection, casualties mounted until the Commander in Chief of Mesopotamia ran up a white flag and invited his attackers to parley.

While Townshend's cavalry and some Royal Flying Corps assets were sent down the river, the vast majority of the 6th Poona Division stayed and dug in at Kut.

Nixon's apologists, that included the first historian of the Mesopotamian campaigns, Field Marshal Robertson, have pointed out that the War Office was undergoing extensive Imperial reorganization, amidst a critical time on the Western Front.

The supply problem caused Nixon to rapidly gather his remaining divisions and launch a hasty effort to break the siege.

Nixon had to take the blame for the looming disaster at Kut and the inability of his army to rectify the situation and so he was removed from command (officially it was due to ill-health).

He was replaced by General Sir Percy Lake, who would also fail to rescue the garrison at Kut and be removed from command for his failure.