Colin Mackenzie

Lieutenant general Colin Mackenzie, CB (25 March 1806 – 22 October 1881) was a British officer in the Madras Army who was active as a political officer in Afghanistan.

Early life He was born in London on 25 March 1806, and baptised at St James's Church, Piccadilly, the youngest son but one of Kenneth Francis Mackenzie (died 1831) and his wife, Anne Townsend. His father, who belonged to the Redcastle branch of Mackenzies, was attorney-general of Grenada and briefly governor, and lost a lot during the wars with France and Fédon’s rebellion, 1793–1815. Colin Mackenzie was educated successively at a school in Cumberland, at Dollar Academy, and at Oswestry, and in 1825 was appointed a cadet of infantry on the Madras establishment of the East India Company.