Rank General officer | Name Mowbray Thomson Books The Story of Cawnpore | |
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Died February 25, 1917, London, United Kingdom Awards Order of the Indian Empire | ||
Battles and wars Indian Rebellion of 1857 | ||
General Sir Mowbray Thomson KCIE (1832 – 25 February 1917) was a British Indian Army officer.
Thomson was born in 1832, and travelled to India at an early age. In 1853 he joined the 53rd Bengal Native Infantry – a regiment with Indian troops and white officers - as a subaltern, and in early 1857 moved with the regiment to Cawnpore. During the Indian Mutiny, the regiment was caught up in the Siege of Cawnpore; Thomson led a small party of men in the attempt to escape, and was one of only four male survivors from the garrison.
He was invalided home, heavily wounded, and promoted to brevet-major. On returning to duty he was given a civilian post as political agent at Manipur, and later appointed Governor-General's agent for Wajid Ali Shah, the former King of Oudh. He retired in 1885, with the Army rank of major-general, and was promoted to full general in 1894.
Whilst convalescing in England, he wrote The Story of Cawnpore, published 1859, a first-hand account of the siege. He died on 25 February 1917 and was buried at All Souls Memorial Church in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.