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ARCHIBALD FORBES (1838-1900)

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 637 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ARCHIBALD See also:FORBES (1838-1900)  , See also:British See also:war correspondent, the son of a Presbyterian See also:minister in Morayshire, was See also:born on the 17th of See also:April 1838, and was educated at See also:Aberdeen University . Entering the Royal Dragoons as a private, he gained, while in the service, considerable See also:practical experience of military See also:life and affairs . Being invalided from his See also:regiment, he settled in See also:London, and became a journalist . When the Franco-See also:German War See also:broke out in 187o, See also:Forbes was sent to the front as war correspondent td the See also:Morning Advertiser, and in this capacity he gained valuable See also:information as to the plans of the Parisians for withstanding a See also:siege . Transferring his services to the Daily See also:News, his brilliant feats in the transmission of intelligence See also:drew See also:world-wide . See also:attention to his despatches . He was with the German See also:army from the beginning of the See also:campaign, and he after-wards witnessed the rise and fall of the See also:Commune . Forbes afterwards proceeded to See also:Spain, where he chronicled the outbreak of the second Carlist War; but his See also:work here was interrupted by a visit to See also:India, where he spent eight months upon a See also:mission of investigation into the See also:Bengal See also:famine of 1874 . Then he returned to Spain, and followed at various times the Carlist, the Republican and the Alfonsist forces . As representative of the Daily News, he accompanied the See also:prince of See also:Wales in his tour through India in 1875-1876 . Forbes went through the Servian campaign of 1876, and was See also:present at all the important engagements . In the Russo-See also:Turkish campaign of 1877 he achieved striking journalistic successes at See also:great See also:personal See also:risk . Attached to the See also:Russian army, he witnessed most of the See also:principal operations, and remained continuously in the See also:field until attacked by See also:fever .

His letters, together with those of his colleagues, MacGahan and See also:

Millet, were republished by the Daily News . On recovering from his fever, Forbes proceeded to See also:Cyprus, in See also:order to See also:witness the British occupation . The same See also:year (1878) he went to India, and in the See also:winter accompanied the Khyber Pass force to See also:Jalalabad He was present at the taking of See also:Ali Musjid, and marched with' several expeditions against the See also:hill tribes . See also:Burma was Forbes's next field of See also:adventure, and at See also:Mandalay, the See also:capital, he had several interesting interviews with See also:King See also:Thibaw . He See also:left Burma hurriedly for See also:South See also:Africa, where, in consequence of the disaster of Isandlwana, a British. force was See also:collecting for the invasion of See also:Zululand . He was present at the victory of See also:Ulundi, and his famous ride of 120 M. in fifteen See also:hours, by which he was enabled to convey the first news of the See also:battle to See also:England, remains one of the finest achievements in journalistic enterprise . Forbes subsequently delivered many lectures on his war experiences to large audiences . His closing years were spent in See also:literary work . He had some years before published a military novel entitled See also:Drawn from Life, and a See also:volume on his experiences of the war between See also:France and See also:Germany . These were now followed by numerous publications, including Glimpses through the See also:Cannon See also:Smoke (188o); Souvenirs of some Continents (1885); See also:William I. of Germany: a See also:Biography (1888); See also:Havelock, in the " See also:English Men of See also:Action " See also:Series (189o); See also:Barracks, Bivouacs, and Battles (1891); The Afghan See also:Wars, 1839-80 (1892); Czar and See also:Sultan (1895); Memories and Studies of War and See also:Peace (1895), in many respects autobiographic; and See also:Colin See also:Campbell, See also:Lord See also:Clyde (1896) . He died on the 3oth of See also:March 1900 .

End of Article: ARCHIBALD FORBES (1838-1900)
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