Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Frederick William Benson, KCB was a Canadian-born

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. 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 Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For ex ...

Biography

Early life in Canada

Born at St. Catharines,

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

, Frederick Benson was the son of Senator

James Rea Benson James Rea Benson (January 21, 1807 – March 18, 1885) was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Lincoln in the 1st Canadian Parliament as a Liberal-Conservative member until March 14, 1868, when he was named to the Sen ...

by his wife, the daughter of Charles Fortescue Ingersoll and a niece of

Laura Secord Laura Secord ( Ingersoll; 13 September 1775 – 17 October 1868) was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American atta ...

. He was educated at the Grantham Academy, T. B. Phillips' private school at St. Catharines, and

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

. In 1866, he enlisted in the 19th Battalion Volunteer Militia (Infantry), Canada, and took part in that year's

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

against Fenian raiders on the Niagara frontier as a private. For his service, he received the

Canada General Service Medal The Canada General Service Medal was a campaign medal awarded by the Canadian Government to both Imperial and Canadian forces for duties related to the Fenian raids between 1866 and 1871. The medal was initially issued in 1899 and had to be ap ...

with clasp. Benson later became honorary colonel of the 19th St. Catharines Regiment.

British Army service

After the Fenian raids, Benson proceeded to England to attend the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, where he received a sword of honour from the Commander-in-Chief, the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male des ...

upon his graduation, as well as a second sword from the gentleman cadets of his company as a mark of their esteem. In 1869, Benson was commissioned into the 21st Hussars, then in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, as a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, the regiment which (as 21st Lancers) of which he would later become colonel. He became a lieutenant in 1870, before exchanging into the

12th Royal Lancers The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...

in 1876. The following year, he became aide-de-camp to the

Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces This is a list of lieutenant-governors of the North-Western Provinces. The provisional establishment of the lieutenant-governors of the North-Western Provinces happened in 1836 until the title was merged with Chief Commissioners of Oudh and was ...

, Sir George Couper Bt., whose daughter he married in 1881. He passed into the

in 1878, heading the list of all cavalry and infantry officers. Upon passing out of the Staff College in 1880, he became a captain in the

5th Dragoon Guards The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a British army cavalry regiment, officially formed in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. Following a number of name changes, it became the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) ...

, before exchanging into the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lanc ...

in 1881 in order to serve in India. He was

brigade-major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

from 1882 to 1884, and garrison instructor at Bengal from 1884 to 1890. He was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1886. In 1890, Benson returned to England with the 17th Lancers. 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 Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to b ...

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 Osman Digna ( ar, عثمان دقنة) (c.1840 – 1926) was a follower of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, in Sudan, who became his best known military commander during the Mahdist War. He was claimed to be a descendant from the Abb ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

in 1893, but was not offered promotion to the rank of

miralay ''Miralay'' or ''Mîr-i alay'' (Gendarmerie: ''Alaybeyi'') was a military rank of the Ottoman Army and Navy. The modern Turkish equivalent is ''Albay'', meaning Colonel.Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, he passed an examination in Arabic with honours, receiving a prize of 100

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

. 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. Frederick Benson Mews, built on the former

Joint Services School of Intelligence The Joint Services School of Intelligence - officially known as the School of Service Intelligence (SSI) - was formed in around 1969 by adding Royal Navy and Royal Air Force elements to the former School of Military Intelligence. It was based at ''T ...

site in

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the ...

, is named after him.

References

* https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/425257

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Frederick William 1849 births 1916 deaths Upper Canada College alumni Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British Army major generals Canadian Militia officers British Army generals of World War I British Army personnel of the Second Boer War 21st Lancers officers 12th Royal Lancers officers 5th Dragoon Guards officers 17th Lancers officers Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Canadian military personnel from Ontario