Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Burroughs, Frederick William
BURROUGHS [afterwards Traill-Burroughs], Sir FREDERICK WILLIAM (1831–1905), lieutenant-general, born on 1 Feb. 1831, was eldest of the seven children of Major-general Frederick William Burroughs (d. 1879), of the Bengal army. His grandfather, Sir William Burroughs of Castle Bagshaw, co. Cavan, was advocate-general of Bengal under Marquis Cornwallis. His mother, Caroline (d. 1863), only daughter of Captain Charles Adolphus Marie de Peyron, of the Bengal light cavalry was grand-daughter of Chevalier Charles Adrien de Peyron, who was killed in a duel in Paris in 1777 by the Comte de la Marck.
After education at Kensington grammar school, at Blackheath proprietary school, and in Switzerland, Burroughs was gazetted ensign in the 93rd bighlanders on 31 March 1848. Promoted lieutenant on 23rd Sept. 1851, he became captain on 10 Nov. 1854 and major on 20 July 1858. On his twenty - first birthday (1 Feb. 1852) Burroughs succeeded to the Scottish estates of his grand-uncle, George William Traill, of Viera, Orkney, and assumed the surname of Traill-Burroughs. He served with the 93rd highlanders under Sir Colin Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde) [q. v.] throughout the Crimean war of 1854-5, and was present at the battle of the Alma and at Balaklava, when he commanded the left centre company of his regiment, on which Kinglake bestowed the name of 'the thin red line' (Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea, v. 80). Burroughs took part in the expedition to Kertch and Yenikhale, the siege and fall of Sevastopol, and assaults of 18 June and 8 Sept. He was awarded for his services the medal with three clasps, the Turkish medal, and the fifth claws of the order of the Medjidieh. During the Indian Mutiny, of 1857-8 Burroughs was engaged again under Lord Clyde in the fighting that preceded the relief of Lucknow, in the storming of the Secunderabagh and of Shah Najaf. He was the first through the breach at the Secunderabagh, and with some dozen men overpowered the gate guard. For this service, in which he received a slight wound, he was recommended for, but was not awarded, the Victoria Cross. For his subsequent conduct at the battle of Cawnpore on 6 Dec., and the pursuit to Serai Ghat at the action of Khodagunge, the storming of the Begum Kotce and the siege and capture of Lucknow, Burroughs was mentioned in despatches, and received a brevet majority (29 July 1858) and the medal with two clasps. The wounds he received during the mutiny campaign disabled him for two years, and it was not till 1860 that he rejoined his regiment. In 1862 he succeeded to the temporary command of the 93rd highlanders, which had lost two commanding officers owing to an outbreak of cholera.
He accompanied the Eusofzai field force, under Sir Neville Chamberlain [q. v. Suppl. II], in the campaign against the Hindustani fanatics and other tribes on the North-west frontier in December 1863, and commanded the 93rd highlanders in the action at Ambela. He was mentioned in despatches (Lond. Gaz. 19 March 1864) and received the medal with clasp. Promoted lieutenant-colonel on 10 Aug. 1864, he became full colonel on 10 Aug. 1869. Retiring from the command of the 93rd highlanders in 1873, he was promoted major-general on 16 March 1880 and lieutenant-general on 1 July 1881. In 1904 he was transferred from the colonelcy of the Royal Warwickshire regiment, which he had held since 1897, to that of the Argyll and Sutherland highlanders. He was appointed C.B. on 24 May 1873 and K.C.B. in 1904. He died in London on 9 April 1905 and was buried at Brompton. His seat was Truinland House, Island of Rousay, Orkney, and he was vice-lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland. On 4 June 1870 he married Eliza D'Oyly, the youngest daughter of Colonel William Geddes, C.B., Bengal horse artillery, J.P. and D.L. of Midlothian (d. 1879), by Emma, daughter of Edward D'Oyly, of Zion Hill, Yorkshire; he had no issue.
[The Thin Red Line, the regimental paper of 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, May 1905; Kaye and Malleson, History of the Indian Mutiny, 1889, iv. 129; W. H. Paget, A Record of the Expeditions against the North-West Frontier Tribes, revised by A. H. Mason, 1884, 150; P. Groves, History of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, 1895; W. Munro, Reminiscences of Service with the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, 1883; Burke's Landed Gentry; Walford's County Families; Hart's Army List and Official Army List.]