Hector Archibald MacDonald

Hector Archibald MacDonald

Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald KCB , DSO (also: Fighting Mac ) (born April 13, 1853 on Black Isle (Scotland) , † March 25, 1903 in Paris ) was a British major-general and fought in various British colonial wars , for example the suppression of the Mahdi uprising and the Boer War .

Life

Hector Archibald MacDonald joined the 92nd (Gordon) Highlanders in 1870 as a common soldier. As a color sergeant , he took part in the Second Anglo-Afghan War and distinguished himself in the process. He then fought in the First Boer War .

In the course of the occupation of Egypt by British troops under General Wolseley in 1882 during the Urabi uprising , the Egyptian army was crushed at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir . It was then rebuilt under the command of a British Commander in Chief, the Sirdar Evelyn Wood . From 1885, Hector Archibald MacDonald served under Wood and trained troops in the Egyptian army. He took part in the Nile Expedition , to rescue Gordon Pasha and to the relief of Khartoum by the Mahdi in Sudan . In 1891 he fought against the Mahdists at the Battle of Toski and in 1891 at Tokar against Osman Digna . For this he was promoted to major.

MacDonald during the Second Boer War

From 1896 MacDonald commanded an Egyptian brigade of the Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force in Kitchener's campaign to recapture Sudan. In the Battle of Firket he led the 2nd Brigade of the so-called River Column . In July 1897 a flying column was formed under Archibald Hunter to take Abu Hamed. MacDonald's brigade formed the bulk of this column. From July 29th to August 7th, Hunter and MacDonald advanced in forced marches and were able to reach Abu Hamed before the relief troops of the Mahdists. In the Battle of Atbara , MacDonald's brigade formed the center of the British order of battle. In the Battle of Omdurman he led the 1st Brigade of the Egyptian Division. After the British counterattacked, MacDonald's 3,000 men were in reserve about a mile behind the main forces. Here he was attacked by 20,000 dervishes . MacDonald formed his troops in a semicircle and repulsed the attack of the Mahdists, sometimes in close combat. With that he saved the victory of the British in battle. For his large part in the victory, he became known in the UK as "Fighting Mac". Kitchener called him the "true hero of Omdurman". He was promoted to colonel and in 1899 received a command in India as major general.

MacDonald took over command of the third (Highland) Brigade in the Second Boer War after the death of Andrew Gilbert Wauchope . On January 30, 1900, he met his brigade in the camp on the Modder River. The former Color Sergeant MacDonald drilled with his units over the next few days and got to know them down to the lower ranks. In some cases he even took on the function of a company commander . From February 18 to 27, he led the brigade at the Battle of Paardeberg and was wounded in the process.

In 1902, Hector Archibald MacDonald was given command of the troops on Ceylon . He shot himself to death in Paris in 1903 because he was facing a military trial for child abuse of Ceylonese boys.

Others

Years after his death, the rumor arose that MacDonald was alive and identical to the German Field Marshal August von Mackensen . These rumors were based on roughly the same age, typical beard, and the syllable Mac in both names.

literature

• Trevor Royle: Death Before Dishonour. The True Story of Fighting Mac - Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald . ISBN 0-906391-30-X .
• Philip J. Haythornthwaite: The Colonial Wars Source Book . ISBN 978-1-85409-436-0 .