Archibald Cameron Macdonell Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell , ( 6 October 1864 – 23 December 1941 ) was a Canadian police officer and soldier . Education . He was born in Windsor , Canada West . He was educated at Trinity College School , Port Hope , Ontario , and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1886 , student number 151 . He received a commission in the Royal Artillery but resigned for family reasons without actually joining . Military service . Macdonell became a Lieutenant in the Canadian Militia on 26 June 1886 . He joined the Regular Canadian Army as a Lieutenant in the Canadian Mounted Infantry , Permanent Corps of Canada , on 6 April 1888 . He exchanged into the North - West Mounted Police in September 1889 , and was Adjutant of the whole force . He was in command of C Division and the Battleford District . He volunteered into the 2nd Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War in January 1900 , as Captain , and was promoted Major in May 1900 . He was awarded a DSO for his actions with 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles in South Africa . He fought with the 2nd Battalion , Canadian Mounted Rifles and was commander of the 5th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles . Macdonell was Commanding Officer of the Lord Strathcona ' s Horse ( Royal Canadians ) regiment , during the periods March 1907 to April 1910 and April 1912 to December 1915 . He was the Commander 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade and 1st Canadian Division during the First World War . Sir Archie had been awarded the Order - Knight Commander , The Most Honourable Order of the Bath ( military division ) [ hence the post - nominals , KCB ] for his service in the First World War . This grade of the Order conferred Knighthood and the right to bear the title , “ Sir ” . He was awarded the neck badge and the Breast Star of a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath . After being promoted to Brigadier - General , he commanded the 7th Infantry Brigade , 3rd Canadian Infantry Division , and in June 1917 the 1st Canadian Division . Pierre Berton described MacDonnell in the book Vimy : MacDonell was known as a front - line soldier ; indeed , ( 28 year old intelligence officer Hal ) Wallis was to say he spent as much time at the front with his brigadier as he had in his days as a private . Not for nothing did the men of the 7th call MacDonell " Fighting Mac " and sometimes " Batty Mac " because of his eccentricities under fire . Everybody knew the story of how he ' d gone so far into No Man ' s Land that a sniper put a bullet in his arm . Instead of ducking , Batty Mac had stood up swearing , shaking his unwounded arm angrily at the sniper , who immediately put another bullet in his good arm . And everybody also knew that MacDonell , at the Somme , had insisted on walking among the wounded after the attack on the Regina Trench , unmindful of the enemy shells , to salute the corpses of the Black Watch . A sentimental Scot who sometimes swore in Gaelic in moments of great pressure , MacDonell stopped at every corpse and said " I salute you , my brave Highlander , " until Wallis managed to pull him to safety . A Presentation General Officer sword , which he was awarded on May 1919 by the Officers of the 1st Canadian Division , ' The Older Patch ' is in the collection of the Royal Military College of Canada virtual museum From 1919 - 25 , he was appointed Commandant of the RMC . He was the first Canadian Commandant at the College . When the Prince of Wales ' s Leinster Regiment was disbanded in 1922 , they gave their silver plate , in trust , to the Government of Canada , which in turn , placed the collection , in trust , with then Commandant Archibald Macdonell . Some pieces are on display in the College ' s Senior Staff Mess , and other select pieces are on display at the Royal Military College of Canada Museum . A plaque in the Senior Staff Mess , enumerates Regiment ' s locations of service . On his retirement from the Army in 1925 , he was promoted to Lieut - General in recognition of his years of service . From 8 May 1922 until his death in January 1942 , he was Honorary Colonel to Lord Strathcona ' s Horse . He was placed on the Reserve of Officers as a Lieutenant General . He died in 1942 and was buried in Catarqui Cemetery in Kingston , Ontario . Legacy . The Sir Archibald Macdonell Athletic Centre or SAM Centre , which opened in 1974 , at the RMC in Kingston , Ontario is named after Lieutenant - General , Sir A . C . Macdonell , KCB , CMG , DSO , C de G . His cocked bi - corn hat , a form of headdress worn by Colonels , General Officers and Staff Officers , with red and white feathers for Generals , is on display at the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre . The personal Coat of Arms of Lt Gen Sir Archibald Cameron Macdonell were carved on the Currie Building at the Royal Military College of Canada .