Peter Lumsden General Sir Peter Stark Lumsden GCB , CSI , DL ( 9 November 1829 – 9 November 1918 ) was a British military officer who served in India . Born in Belhelvie , Aberdeenshire , he was the fourth son of Colonel Thomas Lumsden CB . He studied at Addiscombe Military Seminary , before officially joining military service as an ensign in the 60th Bengal Native Infantry in 1847 . From 1852 to 1857 he served on the North - West Frontier , where , among other activities , he participated in the suppression of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the capture of Tantya Tope in 1859 . Following his time on the North - West Frontier , Lumsden served as quartermaster general in 1960 during the Second Opium War , where he participated in the capture of both Tang - ku and the Taku Forts . He was promoted to brevet - lieutenant - colonel , before giving his final act of military service in the Bhutan War of 1865 . He was promoted again to Adjutant - General of the Indian Army in 1874 , and also acted as aide - de - camp to Queen Victoria for eleven years . In 1883 , Lumsden was awarded a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and was appointed as a commissioner on the Council of India for 10 years . He represented Britain a year later at the Anglo - Russian Commission for the emarcation of the north - west boundary of Afghanistan , then acted as British representative on the Afghan Frontier Commission . After retiring from military service in 1893 , Lumsden served as a justice of the peace in his home county of Aberdeenshire , before dying on his 89th birthday , 9 November 1918 , in Dufftown , Banffshire . Life and military career . Early life and North - West Frontier . Peter Stark Lumsden was born at Belhelvie Lodge , Belhelvie , Aberdeenshire , on 9 November 1829 . He was trained at Addiscombe Military Seminary from the age of 20 , and entered the East India Company ' s Bengal Army in 1847 as an ensign in the 60th Bengal Native Infantry . Between 1852 and 1857 he served on the North - West Frontier in five expeditions against native tribes : the Mohmunds , the Ootman Khel , the Bori Afridis and the Miranzais . He was mentioned in despatches five times and awarded the special thanks of the Local and supreme Governments . From 1857 to 1858 he accompanied a special peace - finding mission to Kandahar with his brother Harry Lumsden . He received thanks from the Government for his work , but returned to India to take part in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny . Lumsden next joined the Central India Field Force at Gwalior under General Sir Robert Napier , and , as assistant quartermaster general under Major - General Hugh Rose , shared in the pursuit and capture of Tantya Tope in 1859 , when he was again mentioned in despatches . Second Opium War and Bhutan War . Lumsden ' s next period of active service was as quartermaster general on the staff of General Napier , who commanded the 2nd division of the expeditionary force to China during the Second Opium War , in 1860 . Lumsden took part in the operations of the Anglo - French forces , including the action of Sin - ho , the capture of Tang - ku and the capture of the Taku Forts that led up to the advance on and occupation of Beijing . He was again mentioned in despatches and promoted to brevet - Major and then brevet - lieutenant - colonel . The final spell of active service in Lumsden ' s military career was in the Bhutan War of 1865 : his later employment was on the staff and in political posts . He was deputy quartermaster general from 1864 to 1868 , and quartermaster general of the Indian Army from 1868 to 1873 . He was Acting Resident in Hyderabad , 1873 , and Adjutant - General of the Indian Army from 1874 to 1879 , when he was appointed Chief of the Staff in India . He also served for eleven years as an aide - de - camp to Queen Victoria . Second Anglo - Afghan War . Lumsden served as Chief of Staff to the commander - in - chief , General Sir F . P . Haines , during the Second Anglo - Afghan War , for which he received the Order of the Bath . In 1884 , Lumsden returned to the North - West frontier , when he was selected as British representative on the Anglo - Russian Commission for the emarcation of the north - west boundary of Afghanistan , but resigned and returned to England in 1885 after the Panjdeh Incident . He left London to represent the British at negotiations with Russia in selecting the Afghan Frontier Commission to determine the Afghan boundary . Lumsden was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and given a commissioner ' s seat on the Council of India , which he occupied for a 10 - year tenure from 1883 . In 1885 he wrote " Countries and Tribes Bordering on the Koh - i - Baba Range " , an article for the seventh volume of the journal " Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography " . Later life . Following completion of his tenure on the Council of India , Lumsden retired from military service in 1893 . He was placed on the Unemployed Supernumerary List three years later and settled down on Buchromb , an estate that he had purchased near Dufftown . During this time he co - wrote " Lumsden of the Guides " with G . R . Elsmie . The book detailed the role that his brother , Harry Burnett Lumsden , had played in founding The Corps of the Guides , a regiment of the British Indian Army . He identified himself with local affairs and served as a justice of the peace and as Deputy Lieutenant for Banffshire and Aberdeenshire . Lumsden died on 9 November 1918 in his estate at Dufftown , Banffshire . Family . Lumsden was married to Mary Marriott in 1862 . His father was Colonel Thomas Lumsden CB , with one of his three older brothers being Harry Burnett Lumsden . Thomas Lumsden was a distinguished officer of the Bengal Horse Artillery who had served in the Nepal Campaign of 1814 and at the Siege of Hatrass and the capture of Kalunga in 1817 . Thomas was himself the son of Harry Lumsden , an advocate in Aberdeen who had bought an estate at Belhelvie . He returned home on leave from the Bengal Army in 1819 to marry Hay Burnett of Elrick , and went on to serve another 23 years in India before retiring to Belhelvie in 1842 . They had a total of six sons , of whom three emigrated to Canada and two ( Harry and Peter ) followed in their father ' s footsteps by pursuing military careers in India .