The memorial plaque to Robert Dundas VC in St Marys Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh

James Dundas VC (10 September 1842 – 23 December 1879) was a Scottish recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces.

Early life

He was born the son of

George Dundas, Lord Manor George Dundas, Lord Manor (19 November 1802 – 7 October 1869) was a Scottish Senator of the College of Justice. Life He was born on 19 November 1802, the son of James Dundas of Ochtertyre, Stirlingshire, founder of the major Scottish legal firm ...

a law lord in the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

High Court, and his wife Elizabeth Mackenzie on 10 September 1842 and baptised on 12 September. He was the older brother of William John Dundas

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1849–1921). His early education was at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

. From 1855 to 1857 he attended Glenalmond School. He then attended

Addiscombe Military Seminary The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...

for specific officer training for the British Army. In 1860 he was given a commission as a lieutenant in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. In 1862 he went with his regiment to India under General

Henry Tombs Major General Sir Henry Tombs VC KCB (10 November 1824 – 2 August 1874) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth for ...

VC, and rose to the level of Executive Engineer as part of a series of public works in the Bengal area.

Details of Award

Dundas was 22 years old, and a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the

Bengal Engineers The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) (informally the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Ben ...

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

during the

Bhutan War The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutan War) was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864–1865. It has been the only military conflict between the two states since 1774. Background Across the nineteenth century, British India commissioned ...

when the following deed took place on 30 April 1865 at Dewan-Giri,

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

for which he was awarded the VC in a joint citation with Major William Spottiswoode Trevor: The medal was presented to Dundas in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

on 23 March 1868 by Major General C F Fordyce on behalf of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. The medal forms part of the Ashworth Collection at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Later life

In March 1877, he had inherited the family estate of

Ochtertyre Ochtertyre is a country house and estate in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is located in Strathearn, between Crieff and Loch Turret, north of the A85. History The ancient seat of the Ochtertyre estate was Castle Cluggy, on the shore of Loch ...

, near Stirling in Scotland, from his uncle Sir David Dundas MP. He returned to Britain briefly that year to inspect the property but returned to India after a few months. In 1878 he is recorded as saving a man's life in a fire at the

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

bazaar. Remaining in the army, Dundas died during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

. General Roberts had selected him to lead a group advancing on Kabul. He was killed on 23 December 1879 during the

Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment The siege of the Sherpur Cantonment was a battle fought in December 1879, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Background On 3 September 1879 Sir Pierre Cavagnari, the British Resident in Kabul, and his escort were massacred by mutinous Af ...

. He was killed by a British mine going off prematurely due to a makeshift fuse. He is buried nearby at the Seah Sang Cemetery in Afghanistan. James Dundas died unmarried, and on his death the estate passed to his twin brother Colin Mackenzie Dundas.

Memorials

A brass memorial plaque exists in

St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh (Episcopal) The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly known as St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Anglican Scottish Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its foundation stone was laid in Palmerston Place, in the city's ...

. A plaque also exists at Glenalmond School. Listed on the "For Valour" memorial at the Royal Engineers Museum in Kent. A memorial window and brass plaque in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

. In 2002 the Royal Engineers erected a new bridge in Afghanistan close to where he met his fate and named it the James Dundas Bridge.

Further information

"The Dundas Bridge", between

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and

Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/ fa, بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Va ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, was named after him, by the

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 ...

, following reconstruction work during 2002.

References

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 36 ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fol ...

(This England, 1997) *

The Sapper VCs The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(Gerald Napier, 1998) *

Scotland's Forgotten Valour ''Scotland's Forgotten Valour'' is a 1995 book by Graham Ross, published by MacLean Press under . (The typography of the title on the book uses capitalisation to contrast emphasis ("SCOTLAND'S FORgotten VALOUR"), to communicate additional meanin ...

(Graham Ross, 1995)

External links

Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs {{DEFAULTSORT:Dundas, James People educated at Edinburgh Academy People educated at Glenalmond College British recipients of the Victoria Cross British Indian Army officers Military personnel from Edinburgh British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War British military personnel killed in action British military personnel of the Bhutan War Bengal Engineers officers 1842 births 1879 deaths