Souter was born in Guildford, Surrey, to a career army officer father, Major Thomas Souter of Derbyshire. The younger Souter was promoted to the 44th Foot Regiment as a lieutenant in 1835 after serving in the 57th Foot. During the
1842 retreat from Kabul, Souter lost two horses and sustained a serious shoulder wound. He and a sergeant had donned the somewhat bedraggled colours of the 44th under their coats to protect them from further deterioration; the sergeant was killed before the remnants of the British army, a force of only 65-80 officers and men with 20 muskets between them, arrived near
Gandamak on the morning of 13 January. According to Souter's account in a five-page letter to his wife written in captivity, only he, a mess sergeant, and seven men were spared while the rest were slaughtered after a day's fighting: "In the conflict my posteen flew open and exposed the colour: thinking I was some great man from looking so flash, I was seized by two fellows who. . .took my clothes from me, except my trousers and cap, led me to a village, . . .and I was made over to the head man". '' by
William Barnes Wollen, 1898 Souter and the other prisoners were finally released in September 1842. Back in England, Souter served as a captain in the 22nd Regiment. He resigned on 26 May 1848 and died two weeks later. The regiment's colour endured a complicated fate: It was returned to Souter by one of his original captors, though stripped of its tinsel and tassels, In recent times, it has been displayed at the
National Army Museum, London, England, along with a life-sized mannequin of Souter and the painting depicting the last stand at Gandamak, by
William Barnes Wollen (1898), in which Souter is prominently positioned wearing the colour. ==Descendants==