Colonel Dugald McTavish Lumsden CB (5 March 1851–10 May 1915) was a Scottish-born British army officer who founded the cavalry unit

Lumsden's Horse Lumsden's Horse, also known as Colonel Lumsden's Corps, was the name given to the Indian Mounted Infantry Corps, which was formed in Calcutta in 1899 by Lieutenant-Colonel Dugald McTavish Lumsden of the Assam Valley Light Horse. The new corps was ...

in India in 1899. Lumsden was the oldest of the four sons of James Lumsden (1812-1882) and Grace (née McTavish, died 1894) of Peterhead in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Scotland. Aged 22 Lumsden obtained a post with the Borelli Tea Estate in the Tezpur district of Assam. On arriving in India Lumsden attempted to popularise the volunteer movement in Assam, perhaps taking the volunteer movement in his native Scotland as his model. When the Durrung Mounted Rifles was founded in 1887 Lumsden was appointed a captain in the force. In 1888 this unit was renamed the

Assam Valley Light Horse The Assam Valley Light Horse regiment was raised in 1891 and formed part of Indian Volunteer Force, later the Indian Defence Force and finally the Auxiliary Force (India). The regimental headquarters was at Dibrugarh in Assam. It was recruited ...

and Lumsden commanded F Squadron in the Durrung District.Ian F W Beckett (ed), ''Citizen Soldiers and the British Empire, 1837–1902''
Routledge (2012) - Google Books pg 117 Lumsden left India in 1893 but maintained contact with his comrades there, which was useful six years later when he raised

to fight in the Boer War in South Africa. In December 1899 Lumsden was travelling in Australia so he cabled his contacts in Calcutta about raising a unit there and took passage on the first available ship to India. On 10 January 1900 adverts appeared in the London newspapers requesting men and money for the new volunteer unit. The response was so great that Lumsden could have raised 1,000 volunteers.

and 'Colonel Lumsden's Corps' was the name given to the new Indian Mounted Infantry Corps which was raised from volunteers from various existing Indian regiments, including the Assam Valley Light Horse. Colonel Lumsden contributed 50,000 rupees towards the cost of founding the Corps. He set an age limit of between 20 and 40 years and preferred unmarried men. The Corps left Calcutta 250 strong in February 1900 to take part in the Boer War, under the command of Field Marshal Lord Roberts. The Corps took part in the march to Bloemfontein, the occupation of Johannesburg and Pretoria, the pursuit of de Wet, and the Barberton and De Kaap campaigns against the Boers. Lieutenant-Colonel Lumsden was formally appointed Commandant of Lumsden's Horse in March 1900, with Lieutenant-Colonel Eden Showers from the Surma Valley Light Horse as second in command. Showers was succeeded by Major Henry Chamney in late April 1900. Lumsden was appointed a Companion in the Order of the Bath (CB) on 19 April 1901. Dugald McTavish Lumsden died in London in 1915 and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He never married and in his will he left £22,492 17s 5d to several relatives.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995 for Dugald McTavish Lumsden (1915)
- Ancestry.com

References

* Henry H S Pearse, ''The History of Lumsden's Horse'', Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1903 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumsden, Dugald McTavish 1851 births 1915 deaths People from Peterhead British military personnel of the Second Boer War South African Light Horse officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Burials at Brookwood Cemetery