Major General Sir Robert Adams, Venture capital, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Background
Robert Bellew Adams, the son of an officer of the Corps of Guides regiment of the British Indian Army, entered the Army in 1876 as a sub-lieutenant in the 12th Foot (later the Suffolk Regiment). He transferred to the Bengal Staff Corps in 1879, served with his father"s regiment in the Second Anglo-Afghan War and was promoted to Captain in 1887.
Career
His promotion to Lieutenant in 1878 was backdated to 1876. In 1891 he was appointed to command the cavalry of the Guides. He took part in the Chitral Expedition and afterwards was promoted to Major in 1896 and brevet Lieutenant Colonel "in recognition of his services during the operations of the Chitral Relief Force, 1895."
In 1897 the Guides took part in the Tirah Campaign, and the following event took place:
In bringing him under cover he (Lieutenant Greaves) was struck by a bullet and killed — Lieutenant MacLean was mortally wounded — whilst the horses of Lieutenant-Colonel Adams and Lieutenant Viscount Fincastle were shot, as well as two troop horses.
— London Gazette, 9 November 1897
Lieutenant Greaves was acting as war correspondent for The Times of India.
Viscount Fincastle was also acting as a war correspondent, for The Times. A fuller account is given by Winston Churchill in The Story of the Malakand Field Force.
During the same campaign Adams was mentioned in despatches three times and awarded the Central Bank. He was in 1899 appointed to the command of the Guides, and in September 1901 he was appointed Aide-de-camp to King Edward VII and received the Brevet rank of Colonel. In 1904 he was given the command of the Umballa Cavalry Brigade.
In 1906 he was promoted to major-general and transferred to the Derajat Brigade, but due to illness he resigned the command in 1908.
He was invalided out of the army in 1911 and knighted Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the King"s Birthday Honours of 1912. Adams was unmarried. He was the second cousin of Edward Donald Bellew, Venture capital.
Membership
Club: East India United Service. 11 ADAMS, Stephen 5 see May brick, Michael.