Background Lumsden was born aboard the
East India Company's ship
Rose in the
Bay of Bengal. He spent the first six years of his life in
Bengal, where his father Colonel Thomas Lumsden was serving as an Artillery officer. His first cousin once removed was the
orientalist Matthew Lumsden. He had six brothers, three of whom emigrated to
Canada, whilst his younger brother
Peter followed his path to India. He was sent to
Scotland at age six, where he was cared for by his grandmother in
Aberdeenshire. He travelled to
India in 1838 commissioned into the
59th Bengal Native Infantry. During the
First Anglo-Afghan War he was appointed as interpreter and quartermaster to the
33rd Bengal Native Infantry, marching to
Peshawar with the army of
George Pollock. He was present at the forcing of the
Khyber Pass in 1842. During the war he would become close friends with two fellow officers who would also achieve distinction
John Nicholson and
Neville Bowles Chamberlain. Following the war he returned to base in
Ferozepur, having earned a campaign medal and six months extra pay. Lawrence intended the corps as 'trustworthy men who could at a moment's notice act as guides to troops in the field, collect intelligence beyond as well as within the border.'
Lord Napier subsequently referred to the Guides as "the only properly dressed light troops in India". To enhance the regiment's prestige, Lumsden adopted selective recruitment, initially recruiting mainly from the local
Pathan tribes of the Yusufzai,
Khatak and
Muhammadzai. So successful was the Corps that within months of its formation, there was a waiting list for enlistment. Lumsden with the aid of Muhammad Pir Buksh succeeded in obtaining papers proving the conspiracy and linking it with Maharani
Jind Kaur, who he was then charged with escorting from
Sheikhupura to Ferozepur. Later that year, the
Second Anglo-Sikh War broke out. Lumsden was sent to support Herbert Edwardes in the
Siege of Multan, where his Guides would go on to achieve considerable distinction. He would later assist
General Hugh Wheeler in operations at the heights of
Dullah and see action at the
Battle of Gujrat. Following the war, he noted his disappointment that all of Lawrence's assistants, despite their achievements in service, were being overlooked for key political postings at the expense of more junior civilians. Nonetheless he was rewarded by Lawrence with a pay rise, the chance to remain in
Peshawar and at the head of his beloved Guides, whose strength was now raised to four hundred horse and six hundred foot. Lumsden initially based his regimental headquarters in a ruin outside of Peshawar, known as the Burj, which had been built in the seventeenth century by a
wazir of the
Mughal Empire. In 1851, Lumsden relocated the headquarters to
Mardan and the Guides became part of the
Punjab Irregular Force.
North West Frontier In the years after the annexation of the Punjab, Lumsden was largely concerned with affairs of the border tribes. In 1849, he assisted in an expedition against the Baizai, who had been refusing to pay tribute to the British. Lumsden had favoured friendly relations with the hill tribes, especially the Afridis, as he feared military occupation would be prohibitively costly in terms of lives and treasure and his views were cordially endorsed by the new military commander in Peshawar,
Sir Colin Campbell. Lumsden, relying on regular updates from Herbert Edwardes in Peshawar, requested permission to return to India, but his service in Afghanistan was deemed vital in the interests of the Empire by the Governor General. On 1 September 1857 he received news from his friend John Nicholson that his younger brother William had been killed in Delhi, whilst later that month he was informed Nicholson himself had been killed. In 1860 he served under his friend Neville Bowles Chamberlain in the
Waziri Expedition. On 2 August 1860, whilst attending a regimental ball practice an assassin grabbed his sword and struck his arm. The assassin was subsequently apprehended by a Guide. In 1862, he was offered and accepted the command of the
Nizam of Hyderabad's army in the
Deccan. He pithily summarised his service in the Deccan saying, "found the Hyderabad Contingent in debt, and left it clear." In 1866, whilst on leave in Britain he married Fanny Myers of
Cumberland. He returned to India in November the same year, and resided in
Rawalpindi with his wife. In 1869 his commission in
Hyderabad expired and with no immediate prospects available in India, he resolved to return to
England on leave. Before returning, he rested some months in the Deccan on account of his wife's health. In the spring of 1869, on the invitation of
Lord Mayo he travelled to
Ambala for the
Durbar of
Sher Ali Khan, affording him the chance to re-acquaint with old friends and comrades. Lumsden left India with his wife on 12 April 1869, never to return. On the death of his father in 1874 he inherited the family estate in
Belhelvie and made it their permanent home. He was made a
Knight Commander of the Star of India in 1873 and retired in 1875 with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-General. He died on 12 August 1896 in Belhevlie following a short illness and was buried in the local church graveyard.
Legacy His friend, Sir
Richard Pollock remarked of him in later years: ==See also==