Major-General Francis Hugh Plowden (15 August 1851 – 24 August 1911) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer.

Military career

Plowden was commissioned into the

43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot The 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) to form the 1st and 2nd battalions of t ...

on 5 October 1872. He commanded 2nd Battalion, the

Oxfordshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

in skirmishes with Pathans on the North West Frontier of India in 1897 for which he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

(1899–1902) he held several temporary appointments in India while the actual holder was with the forces in South Africa. He was an Assistant Adjutant-General in Mhow from March 1900, and held the command of the second class district of

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous ...

Madras Command Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, from August 1900 (in the absence of Colonel Sir

Reginald Hart General (United Kingdom), General Sir Reginald Clare Hart, (11 June 1848 – 18 October 1931), was an Irish people, Irish British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the ...

and then of Hector MacDonald). He was appointed a

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in the

1904 Birthday Honours The 1904 Birthday Honours were announced on 9 November 1904, to celebrate the birthday of King Edward VII that day. The list included appointments to Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, various orders and honours of the United ...

. He then became General Officer Commanding the

Northumbrian Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

in March 1910 before his death in August 1911 aged 60.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plowden, Francis 1851 births 1911 deaths British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath 43rd Regiment of Foot officers Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War