He was born the third son of
Lawrence Craigie, later twice
Lord Provost of Glasgow. He was educated at Glasgow School and College and in 1813 joined the
52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) as an ensign. He served with the 2nd Battalion in Holland during the
Napoleonic Wars in the campaign of 1813–14. He took part in the attacks on the fortified village of
Merxem on the outskirts of Antwerp, where he led the advance party of Major-General
Sir Herbert Taylor's Brigade, and in the
bombardment of Antwerp itself. He became Lieutenant by purchase in 1814, Captain by purchase in 1821 and Major by purchase in 1826. In 1834 he transferred as a Lieutenant-Colonel to take command of the
55th Foot. In 1841 he was posted to China under
Lord Gough and commanded the 55th Foot during the
First Opium War. There he led a brigade at the
capture of Amoy,
Chusan and
Chinhai. He was subsequently made governor of the Island of Chusan for eight months until the peace treaty had been signed. In reward for his services, he was promoted Colonel in 1842, made Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria and a
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). From 1855 to 1860 he commanded the Centre Division of the Madras Army and was promoted Major-General in 1854 and Lieutenant-General in 1860. During the
Indian Mutiny of 1857 he was in command of the Mysore division at
Bangalore until the
fall of Delhi. He was made Colonel of the
31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot in 1859, transferring to be Colonel of the
55th Foot from 1862 until his death in 1873. In 1867 he was created
KCB and he was made up to full General on 21 January 1868. He died at his home in
St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex. He had married twice; firstly Belle, the daughter of Henry Williams and secondly Mary Jane, the daughter of Lt-General Trewman. He had two sons and seven daughters. ==References==