General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Peter Stark Lumsden (9 November 1829 – 9 November 1918) was a British military officer who served in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Born in Belhelvie,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, he was the fourth son of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Thomas Lumsden CB. He studied at

Addiscombe Military Seminary The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...

, before officially joining military service as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the 60th

Bengal Native Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing in ...

in 1847. From 1852 to 1857 he served on the North-West Frontier, where, among other activities, he participated in the suppression of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

and the capture of Tantya Tope in 1859. Following his time on the North-West Frontier, Lumsden served as quartermaster general in 1860 during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...

, where he participated in the capture of both Tang-ku and the

Taku Forts The Taku Forts or Dagukou Forts (大沽口炮台), also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary in the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban ...

. He was promoted to brevet- lieutenant-colonel, before giving his final act of military service in the

Bhutan War The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutanese War) was a war fought between British Raj, British India and Bhutan in 1864 to 1865. It has been the only military conflict between the two states since 1774. Background Across the nineteenth century, British ...

of 1865. He was promoted again to Adjutant-General of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

in 1874, and also acted as aide-de-camp to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

for eleven years. In 1883, Lumsden was awarded a

Knight Grand Cross A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

and was appointed as a commissioner on the

Council of India The Council of India (1858 – 1935) was an advisory body to the Secretary of State for India, established in 1858 by the Government of India Act 1858. It was based in London and initially consisted of 15 members. The Council of India was dissolve ...

for 10 years. He represented Britain a year later at the Anglo-Russian Commission for the demarcation of the north-west boundary of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, then acted as British representative on the Afghan Frontier Commission. After retiring from military service in 1893, Lumsden served as a justice of the peace in his home county of

, before dying on his 89th birthday, 9 November 1918, in

Dufftown Dufftown ( ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has several listed 19th centur ...

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

Life and military career

Early life and North-West Frontier

Peter Stark Lumsden was born at Belhelvie Lodge, Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire, on 9 November 1829. He was trained at

from the age of 20, and entered the

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

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...

in 1847 as an

in the 60th

. Between 1852 and 1857 he served on the North-West Frontier in five expeditions against native tribes: the Mohmunds, the Ootman Khel, the Bori Afridis and the Miranzais. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

five times and awarded the special thanks of the Local and supreme Governments. From 1857 to 1858 he accompanied a special peace-finding mission to

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

with his brother Harry Lumsden. He received thanks from the Government for his work, but returned to

to take part in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny. Lumsden next joined the Central India Field Force at Gwalior under General Sir Robert Napier, and, as assistant quartermaster general under Major-General Hugh Rose, shared in the pursuit and capture of Tantya Tope in 1859, when he was again mentioned in despatches.

Second Opium War and Bhutan War

Peter Stark Lumsden Vanity Fair 8 August 1885

Lumsden's next period of active service was as quartermaster general on the staff of General Napier, who commanded the 2nd division of the expeditionary force to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

during the

, in 1860. Lumsden took part in the operations of the Anglo-French forces, including the action of Sin-ho, the capture of Tang-ku and the capture of the

that led up to the advance on and occupation of

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He was again mentioned in despatches and promoted to brevet-

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and then brevet- lieutenant-colonel. The final spell of active service in Lumsden's military career was in the

of 1865: his later employment was on the staff and in political posts. He was deputy quartermaster general from 1864 to 1868, and quartermaster general of the Indian Army from 1868 to 1873. He was Acting Resident in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, 1873, and Adjutant-General, India from 1874 to 1879, when he was appointed Chief of the Staff in India. He also served for eleven years as an aide-de-camp to

Second Anglo-Afghan War

Lumsden served as Chief of Staff to the commander-in-chief, General Sir F. P. Haines, during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...

, for which he received the

. In 1884, Lumsden returned to the North-West frontier, when he was selected as British representative on the Anglo-Russian Commission for the demarcation of the north-west boundary of

. While leading the Commission, he felt he had been given insufficiently clear instructions by the British government, which proved very dangerous as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated to the brink of war with Russia. He resigned and returned to England in 1885 after the Panjdeh Incident. He left London to represent the British at negotiations with Russia in selecting the Afghan Frontier Commission to determine the Afghan boundary. Lumsden was appointed a

of the

and given a commissioner's seat on the

, which he occupied for a 10-year tenure from 1883. In 1885 he wrote "Countries and Tribes Bordering on the Koh-i-Baba Range", an article for the seventh volume of the journal '' Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography''.

Later life

Following completion of his tenure on the Council of India, Lumsden retired from military service in 1893. He was placed on the Unemployed Supernumerary List three years later and settled down on Buchromb, an estate that he had purchased near

. During this time he co-wrote ''Lumsden of the Guides'' with

G. R. Elsmie George Robert Elsmie (31 October 1838 – 26 March 1909) was a Scottish civil servant and judge in India, known also as an author. Early life Born at Aberdeen on 31 October 1838, he was only child of George Elsmie, a ship-owner there and from 1 ...

. The book detailed the role that his brother, Harry Burnett Lumsden, had played in founding The Corps of the Guides, a regiment of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

. He identified himself with local affairs and served as a justice of the peace and as Deputy Lieutenant for

and Aberdeenshire. Lumsden died on 9 November 1918 in his estate at Dufftown, Banffshire.

Family

Lumsden was married to Mary Marriott in 1862. His father was

Thomas Lumsden CB, with one of his three older brothers being Harry Burnett Lumsden. Thomas Lumsden was a distinguished officer of the Bengal Horse Artillery who had served in the Nepal Campaign of 1814 and at the

siege of Hatrass A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

and the capture of Kalunga in 1817. Thomas was himself the son of Harry Lumsden, an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

who had bought an estate at Belhelvie. He returned home on leave from the

in 1819 to marry Hay Burnett of Elrick, and went on to serve another 23 years in India before retiring to Belhelvie in 1842. They had a total of six sons, of whom three emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and two (Harry and Peter) followed in their father's footsteps by pursuing military careers in India.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumsden, Peter Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary British East India Company Army officers British Indian Army generals Military personnel from Aberdeen British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British military personnel of the Second Opium War British military personnel of the Bhutan War British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Deputy lieutenants of Banffshire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath People from Belhelvie 1829 births 1918 deaths