General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Mowbray Thomson (April 1, 1832 – February 25, 1917) was an officer in the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. Thomson was born in "Bhurtpore" (modern day Bharatpur, Rajasthan), India on April 1, 1832. He was educated in England and attended Addiscombe Military Seminary as a cadet. In 1853 he received a commission in the 53rd Bengal Native Infantry, a regiment in the British East India Company. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, Thomson played a key role in the defense of Wheeler's Entrenchment during the

Siege of Cawnpore The siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The besieged East India Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) were unprepared for an extended siege and surrendered to rebel forces under Nana Sahib in ret ...

. He was one of the few survivors of the siege and subsequent massacre at Sati Chaura Ghat .The Annual Register, p. 162 Thomson was invalided to England, heavily wounded, and promoted to brevet-major. While convalescing in England, he wrote ''The Story of Cawnpore'', a first-hand account of the siege, which was published in 1859. After returning to India, he was given a civilian post as political agent at

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

, and later appointed Governor-General's agent for

Wajid Ali Shah Mirza Wajid Ali Shah ( ur, ) (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better k ...

, the former King of

Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...

. He retired in 1885, with the Army rank of

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, and was promoted to full general in 1894. Thomson died in Reading, England on February 25, 1917. The funeral service was held on February 28 in Saint Bartholomew's church, Reading and his body cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in London.

References

Sources

*Obituary: p. 162, ''The Annual Register: a review of public events at home and abroad, for the year 1917''. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1918. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Mowbray 1832 births 1917 deaths British East India Company Army officers British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British Indian Army generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire