George St Patrick Lawrence General Sir George St Patrick Lawrence ( 17 March 1804 — 16 November 1884 ) was an officer in the British Indian Army . Early life . Lawrence , third son of Lt . - Col . Alexander Lawrence ( 1764 – 1835 ) , was elder brother of Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence and John Lawrence , 1st Baron Lawrence . His father , an Indian officer , led , with three other lieutenants , the storming of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799 , and returned to England in 1809 , after fifteen years ' severe service . George St Patrick Lawrence was born at Trincomalee , Ceylon , on 17 March 1804 , and was educated at Foyle College , Derry . His middle name derived from his birth on St Patrick ' s Day . In 1819 he entered Addiscombe Military Seminary , on 5 May 1821 was appointed a cavalry cadet , on 15 January 1822 joined the Second Bengal Light Cavalry in Bengal , and on 5 September 1825 was promoted to be adjutant of his regiment , a post which he held until September 1834 . With his regiment he took part in the Afghan War of 1838 , and was present at the storming of Ghuznee on 23 July 1839 , and in the attempt to capture Dost Mahomed in his flight in August through the Bamian pass . On 3 April 1830 Lawrence married Charlotte Isabella , daughter of Dr . Benjamin Browne ( M . D . of the Bengal Medical Board ) . She died on 12 May 1878 , having borne three sons and six daughters . Kabul . On returning to Kabul , Lawrence became political assistant to Sir William Hay Macnaghten , the envoy of Afghanistan , and subsequently his military secretary , a post which he kept from September 1839 to the death of his chief . On the surrender of Dost Mahomed Khan , 3 November 1840 , he was placed in the charge of Lawrence until he was sent to Calcutta . In the revolution at Cabul , in November 1841 , Lawrence had many narrow escapes of his life , and on the surrender of the troops he was one of the four officers delivered up on 11 December 1841 as hostages for the performance of the stipulations . On 23 December , when Macnaghten and others were treacherously murdered by Akbar Khan , he was saved by the interposition of Mahomed Shah Khan . In the retreat from Kabul , 6 January 1842 , Lawrence had charge of the ladies and children , with whom he remained until 8 January , when he was again given up to Akbar Khan as a hostage . With the ladies and children he was imprisoned , and remained with them until their release on 17 September 1842 . He owed his safety during this period to the high opinion which Akbar Khan had of his character , and to his strict adherence to all the promises which he made to his captor . Ill - health obliged Lawrence to return to England in August 1843 , and shortly after that date the East India Company awarded him ₤600 in testimony of their sense of his services in Afghanistan . Return to India . On his going back to India in October 1846 he was appointed an assistant political agent in the Punjab , having charge over the important Rajputana district . In the autumn of 1847 Lawrence , with only two thousand troops , engaged and defeated on two occasions large numbers of the hill men of the tribes on the Swat border . On the breaking out of the second Sikh War in 1848 , Lawrence ' s great personal influence at Peshawur for some time kept his regiments faithful , but at last they went over to the enemy , and , on 25 October 1848 he was a prisoner in the hands of Chutter Singh , but was three times permitted to leave his captivity on parole . With his wife and children he was released after the peace conquered at Guzerat , 22 February 1849 and received the thanks of both houses of parliament and of the governor - general for remaining at his post with such devotion . On 7 June 1849 he was promoted to be brevet lieutenant - colonel , and appointed deputy commissioner of Peshawur . In the capacity of political officer he , in the following November , accompanied the forces sent under General Bradshaw into the Eusofzye country , and was present at the capture of Pullee on the Swat border . Again in February 1850 , in command of militia , he went with Sir Charles Napier to the forcing of the Kohat pass , and guided him through that defile . In July 1850 he became political agent in Méwar , one of the Rajputana states , where he remained until 13 March 1857 , when he succeeded his brother Henry Lawrence as resident or chief agent for the governor - general in the Rajputana states , and in April took up his residence in Abu . On the breaking out of the great Mutiny of 1857 he was named brigadier - general of all the forces in Rajputana , and on the death of Colonel Dixon on 12 June 1857 , he took chief military command . By his vigorous and decided action the arsenal of Ajmír was retained ; a proclamation confirmed the native princes in their loyalty , and the Rajputana states were prevented from joining the revolt . Such outbreaks as did take place were successfully quelled , first by himself , and afterwards by Major - General Roberts . Death . Up to this date Lawrence had received no decoration beyond the medals for the Punjaub and Indian campaigns , but on 18 May 1860 he was created a civil companion of the Bath . On 25 May 1861 he was gazetted major - general , and in December 1864 resigned his post in Rajputana , and ended his Indian career after a service of forty - three years . Both Sir Charles Napier and Lord Dalhousie had expressed their high regard for his character and achievements . » He is a right good soldier , « said the former , » and a right good fellow , and my opinion of him is high . « On 11 January 1865 he received a good - service pension of ₤100l a year ; and on 24 May 1866 was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India . He also held the third class of the order of the Dooranee Empire . He retired from the army on full pay on 29 October 1866 , and was advanced to be Honorary Lt . - General on 11 January 1867 . He died at 20 Kensington Park Gardens , London , on 16 November 1884 , aged 80 . Writing . He wrote " Forty - three Years in India " , which was published in 1874 , a decade before his death .