Maj Gen Hector Archibald MACDONALD

1853 - 1903  (49 years)

• Name	Hector Archibald MACDONALD
  Prefix	Maj Gen
  Born	13 Apr 1853	Rootfield, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland
  Gender	Male
  Died	25 Mar 1903	Paris, France
  Person ID	I4455	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	28 Nov 2021

  
  

  Father	William MACDONALD, of Rootfield,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Ann BOYD,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Married	9 Jan 1845	Boleskine, Invernesshire, Scotland
  Family ID	F1962	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Christina MacLouchlan DUNCAN,   d. 3 Nov 1911, Edinburgh, Scotland
  Married	1884	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
  Children	1. Hector Duncan MACDONALD, of Rootfield,   b. 1887,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	27 Nov 2021
  Family ID	F1961	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Enlisted in 92nd (later Gordon Highlanders) 1870; service in ranks 1870-1879; Afghan War 1879-1880; South African War 1881; Nile expedition 1884-1885; Suakin 1888; Nile 1889; Commander, 2 Infantry Bde, Dongola Expeditionary Force 1896; Egyptian Bde 1897-1898; India 1899; South Africa 1899-1901; In command of Highland Bde, South Africa 1900; Commander, Southern and Belgaum District, India 1901; Commander, Ceylon 1902-1903; committed suicide shortly before he was due to be courtmartialled for indecent behaviour 1903. He was buried in the Dean cemetery, Edinburgh. In 1884 he married Christina McDonald, daughter of Alexander MacLouchlan Duncan of Leith; she died at Edinburgh on 11 March 1911, leaving one son. Macdonald holds an exceptional place in the history of the British army as a private who rose wholly by virtue of his soldierly capacity and physical courage to all but the highest military rank. As a dauntless fighter and a resourceful leader of men in battle he acquired well-merited fame. A rough tongue always showed traces of his origin. Among the Highlanders his memory was idolised. A memorial in the form of a tower 100 feet high was completed at Dingwall, overlooking his birthplace.