Major-General Sir Frederick William Benson, KCB was a Canadian-born British Army officer. Born into a prominent Canadian family, Benson fought in the Fenian raids as a teen, before proceeding to England to pursue a military career. A cavalry officer, Benson spent much of his early career in India, with the exception of a stint in England to attend the Staff College.
Born at St. Catharines, Canada West, Frederick Benson was the son of Senator James Rea Benson by his wife, the daughter of Charles Fortescue Ingersoll and a niece of Laura Secord. [1] He was educated at the Grantham Academy, T. B. Phillips' private school at St. Catharines, and Upper Canada College. [1]
In 1866, he enlisted in the 19th Battalion Volunteer Militia (Infantry), Canada, and took part in that year's campaign against Fenian raiders on the Niagara frontier as a private. For his service, he received the Canada General Service Medal with clasp. [1] Benson later became honorary colonel of the 19th St. Catharines Regiment. [2]
After the Fenian raids, Benson proceeded to England to attend the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he received a sword of honour from the Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Cambridge upon his graduation, as well as a second sword from the gentleman cadets of his company as a mark of their esteem. [2]
In 1869, Benson was commissioned into the 21st Hussars, then in India, as a cornet, the regiment which (as 21st Lancers) of which he would later become colonel. [3] [2] He became a lieutenant in 1870, [4] before exchanging into the 12th Royal Lancers in 1876. [5] [2] The following year, he became aide-de-camp to the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces, Sir George Couper Bt., whose daughter he married in 1881.
He passed into the Staff College in 1878, heading the list of all cavalry and infantry officers. [2] Upon passing out of the Staff College in 1880, he became a captain in the 5th Dragoon Guards, [6] before exchanging into the 17th Lancers in 1881 in order to serve in India. [7] [2] He was brigade-major at Poona from 1882 to 1884, and garrison instructor at Bengal from 1884 to 1890. He was promoted to major in 1886. [8] In 1890, Benson returned to England with the 17th Lancers. [2]
After two years in England, Benson was given the command of the Egyptian Cavalry in 1892, at the request of General Sir Francis Grenfell and on the recommendation of General Sir George Luck. During his tenure, he expanded and reorganized the force; in 1893, he led the cavalry and camel corps patrol from Suakin to Senkat Wells over unexplored country, returning by a different route in order to offer reassurance to inhabitants who had been recently raided by Osman Digna. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on half-pay in 1893, [9] but was not offered promotion to the rank of miralay in the Egyptian army, even though more junior British officers had been promoted to the rank. [10] He resigned the Egyptian appointment in 1894, being received by the Khedive before his departure. On his last day in Cairo, he passed an examination in Arabic with honours, receiving a prize of 100 guineas. [11]
From 1895 to 1898, he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General for Instruction, Dublin District. Promoted to full colonel in 1898, he was Assistant Adjutant-General, South-Eastern District and Chief Staff Officer to Lieutenant-General Sir William Butler from 1898 to 1900.
He retired from the Army in December 1909 with the rank of major-general. [12]
Frederick Benson Mews, built on the former Joint Services School of Intelligence site in Ashford, Kent, is named after him.
Field Marshal Sir Henry Evelyn Wood, was a British Army officer. After an early career in the Royal Navy, Wood joined the British Army in 1855. He served in several major conflicts including the Indian Mutiny where, as a lieutenant, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour in the face of the enemy that is awarded to British and Imperial forces, for rescuing a local merchant from a band of robbers who had taken their captive into the jungle, where they intended to hang him. Wood further served as a commander in several other conflicts, notably the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, the Anglo-Zulu War, the First Boer War and the Mahdist War. His service in Egypt led to his appointment as Sirdar where he reorganised the Egyptian Army. He returned to Britain to serve as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Aldershot Command from 1889, as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1893 and as Adjutant General from 1897. His last appointment was as commander of 2nd Army Corps from 1901 to 1904.
Sir Charles Hastings Doyle was a British military officer who was the second Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia post Confederation and the first Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick.
Major General Charles Frederick Cox, was an Australian Army officer and politician. He retired in 1923 as an honorary major general.
Field Marshal Sir John Michel was a British Army officer. He commanded the 6th Regiment of Foot during the Eighth Xhosa War in 1851 and served as Chief of Staff of the British Army's Turkish contingent during the Crimean War in 1854 before transferring to India where he commanded the Malwa Field Force which pursued Tatya Tope in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny. He then commanded the 1st Division at the Battle of Taku Forts in August 1860 during the Second Opium War and took part in the burning of the Old Summer Palace at Peking in October 1860 as a reprisal for the torture and murder of British prisoners before being appointed Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong in 1861. He later commanded the forces in British North America playing a key role in the organization of the militia volunteers in resistance to the Fenian raids invasions in 1866. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief of Ireland in 1875.
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General The Honourable Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton, was a British Army officer from the Lyttelton family who served against the Fenian Raids, and in the Anglo-Egyptian War, the Mahdist War and the Second Boer War. He was Chief of the General Staff at the time of the Haldane Reforms and then became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
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Charles Levinge Gregory was an officer in the British Army and a Major-General in the British Indian Army.
Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Alexander Campbell Godwin was a cavalry officer in the British Indian Army.
Brigadier-General Malcolm Orme Little, was a cavalry officer in the British Army and champion polo player. He commanded a cavalry brigade in the Second Boer War and a yeomanry brigade in the First World War.
Major-General Sir William Henry Rodes Green was a British Indian Army officer and colonial official.
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Colonel Gervase Francis Newport Tinley, CB, CMG was a British officer in the Indian Army who ended his career as Base Commandant at Marseilles during the First World War.
Ernest Henry Rivett-Carnac was an English first-class cricketer and an officer in both the British Army and later British Indian Army.
