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 ...
William George Keith Elphinstone
CB (26 January 1782 – 23 April 1842) was an officer of 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 ...
during the 19th century.
Biography
Early life and military career
He was born in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in 1782, the son of
William Fullerton Elphinstone, who was a director of the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, and nephew of
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
George Keith Elphinstone
George Keith Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith (7 January 1746 – 10 March 1823), was a British naval officer active throughout the Napoleonic Wars.
Career Early service
George Elphinstone was the fourth son of Charles Elphinstone, 10th ...
, 1st
Viscount
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
Keith.
Elphinstone entered 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 ...
in 1804 as 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 ...
; he saw service throughout the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, rising to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
by 1813, when he became commander of the
33rd Regiment of Foot
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division.
In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...
, which he led at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
in 1815. For his actions at Waterloo, Elphinstone was made a
Companion of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...
, as well as a knight of the Dutch
Order of William
The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William ( Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Or ...
and of the Russian
Order of St. Anna
The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...
2nd class (6–18 August 1815). He left the regiment in 1822. After Elphinstone was promoted to colonel in 1825, he served for a time as
aide-de-camp to King
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
.
In 1837 Elphinstone was effectively retired, as a long term half-pay officer who had not seen active-service since Waterloo. His increasing debts however led him to seek re-employment in the army.
First Anglo-Afghan War
Elphinstone was promoted to
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 ...
in 1837. In 1840 he was, under the patronage of
Fitzroy Somerset
Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, (30 September 1788 – 28 June 1855), known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British Army officer. When a junior officer, he served in the Peninsular War and the Waterlo ...
, Lord Raglan, appointed to command the British Army then occupying
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 ...
during the
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...
. In Britain he had been socially acquainted with
George Eden
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, (25 August 1784 – 1 January 1849) was an English Whig politician and colonial administrator. He was thrice First Lord of the Admiralty and also served as Governor-General of India between 1836 and 1842 ...
, Earl of Auckland and Governor General of India. Eden had approved Elphinstone's appointment but was disturbed to discover that his state of health had markedly declined. In addition Elphinstone had no understanding of his new environment and appeared prejudiced against the Indian
sepoy
''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...
s whom he was to command.
Confirmed in his appointment in December 1840, Elphinstone took command of the British garrison in Kabul,
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 ...
, numbering around 4,500 troops, of whom 690 were European and the rest Indian. The garrison also included 12,000 civilians, including soldiers' families and
camp followers
Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have histori ...
. He was elderly, indecisive, weak, and unwell, and proved himself utterly incompetent for the post. His entire command was massacred during the British
retreat from Kabul during January 1842.
Death
Elphinstone died as a captive in Afghanistan some months later. Present at his death was the Military Secretary
George Lawrence, who while under no illusions as to Elphinstone's unsuitability for his command, commented "His kind, mild disposition and courteous detachment had made him esteemed by us all".
Elphinstone's body was dispatched with a small guard of Afghan soldiers to the British garrison at
Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
. Elphinstone's "faithful"
batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
Moore who had stayed with the General accompanied the body. En route, they were attacked by a band of tribesmen who stripped and abused the corpse until it was rescued by horsemen sent by the Afghan leader
Akbar Khan.
Eventually the body and Moore reached the garrison. Elphinstone was buried with military honours but in an unmarked grave, before the British finally abandoned the fortress.
[Macrory (1972), pp. 261–262]
See also
*''
Flashman''
Notes
References
*
* Macrory, Patrick. 1972. ''Signal Catastrophe: The Story of the Disastrous Retreat from Kabul 1842''. Book Club Associates, London.
* Macrory, Patrick. 2002. ''Retreat from Kabul: The Catastrophic British Defeat in Afghanistan, 1842''. The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elphinstone, William George Keith
1782 births
1842 deaths
British Army major generals
33rd Regiment of Foot officers
Companions of the Order of the Bath
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
People of the First Anglo-Afghan War
British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War
British prisoners of war
British people who died in prison custody
Knights Fourth Class of the Military Order of William
Recipients of the Waterloo Medal
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class