Frank Rhodes ( British Army officer ) Colonel Francis William Rhodes , CB , DSO ( 9 April 1850 – 21 September 1905 ) , better known as " Frank " , is perhaps the best known member of the Rhodes family after his brother Cecil . Trained as a soldier from his youth , he participated in a considerable amount of conflict in different parts of the world . After graduating from the Royal Military College , Sandhurst , he joined the 1st Royal Dragoons in 1873 and served the British Army for 23 years . He participated in the Sudan Campaign , accompanied the Nile Expedition to Khartoum in the abortive effort to relieve General Charles George Gordon , and was present at the battles of El Teb and Tamai . At the Battle of Abu Klea , he distinguished himself when he had several horses shot from under him in the course of the engagement . He was awarded several medals and clasps , including the Distinguished Service Order . Rhodes filled various staff appointments . From 1890 – 93 , he served as military secretary to Lord Harris while he was Governor of Bombay , and in 1893 he was chief of staff on Sir Gerald Herbert Portal ' s mission to Uganda . Rhodes also served for a brief period as Administrator of Mashonaland and as the appointed military member of the council of four in the government of Matabeleland under Leander Starr Jameson . In perhaps the most trying event in his career , Rhodes served as a leading member of the Reform Committee ( Transvaal ) , in Johannesburg , attempting to liberalise the government of Transvaal Republic President Paul Kruger on behalf of the Uitlander population living in Transvaal . Following the Jameson Raid in November 1895 , the members of the Reform Committee were charged with high treason for their collaboration with Jameson . Rhodes , John Hays Hammond , and other leaders of the Committee were sentenced to death in April 1896 , only this sentence was later commuted to 15 years ’ imprisonment . In June 1896 , all members of the Committee were released on payment of a heavy fine . As a punishment for his support of Jameson the British Army placed Rhodes on the retired list and barred him from active involvement in army business . After his release from jail , he immediately joined his brother Cecil and the British South Africa Company in the Second Matabele War . In 1898 he joined Field Marshal Earl Kitchener ’ s Nile expedition as war correspondent for " The Times " . At the Battle of Omdurman on 2 September he was shot and severely wounded in the right arm . For his services during that campaign he was restored to the army active list . During the Second Boer War , Rhodes continued to work as a war correspondent . He was trapped for the duration in the Siege of Ladysmith and participated in the relief of Mafeking . In 1899 , he was sued by a man named Burrows for falsely representing the purpose of the raid and therefore convincing him to participate in the raid , wherein he lost a leg . His suit for £3000 in damages was successful . With the death of his brother Cecil in 1902 , Frank took possession of Dalham Hall , and erected a hall in the village in Cecil ' s memory . After retiring from the Army in 1903 , he served as managing director of the African Trans - Continental Telegraph Company until his death in 1905 .