Alfred Robert Davidson Mackenzie was born in 1835. He entered the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry in 1854 and was promoted to lieutenant on 22 June 1856. He was a 22 year-old lieutenant at Meerut at the time of the mutiny when it broke out on 10 May 1857. He shared a bungalow with recently arrived Lieutenant John Macnabb who was the first officer to be killed by a mob of mutineers. Later in May, he organised a rescue party to go towards Delhi where it was reported that a group of officers and their families were taking refuge. He was joined by Lt Hugh Gough and after a dangerous ride, accompanied by some loyal troopers, they managed to rescue the traumatised fugitives.
After the Mutiny the Bengal Regular regiments ceased to exist and the officers were dispersed to other units. Mackenzie was promoted to captain in 1862, major in 1872 and lieutenant-colonel in 1878. He commanded troops in the Second Afghan War and in 1882 was promoted to colonel. He was appointed ADC to Lord Lansdowne, Viceroy of India, and had time to write his autobiography: Mutiny Memoirs: Being Personal Reminiscences of the Great Sepoy Revolt of 1857, published in 1891. In 1907 he was invested with the KCSI (Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India). He died on 7 May 1921 at the age of 86.
