East Indies had never been discovered; but that India, having once been acquired, must never be given up : died March 25, 1807.
FLETCHER, SIR ROBERT ( ? –1776)
When a Lieutenant in the Madras Army, he was summarily dismissed for writing an insolent letter to Government, but apologized and was reinstated at Coote's intercession : served in the war, 1760–1 : sent to reconnoitre the French settlements at Bourbon and in the Mauritius : in the Manilla expedition, 1762 : transferred to Bengal as Major, 1763 : Brigadier, 1766 : fomented and encouraged the mutiny of officers against the withdrawal of extra hatta, 1766 : cashiered : restored : to Madras as Colonel, 1771 : C. in C. Madras, 1772 : being obstructive, was sent to command at Trichinopoly, 1773 : pleaded privilege as M.P. and claimed to return to England, which was allowed : returned to Madras as C. in C. 1775 : was arrested by Lord Pigot's order, Aug. 23, 1776, for causing mutiny among the troops : implicated in the arrest of Lord Pigot, Aug. 25, 1776 : died on his way to Mauritius, Dec. 1776.
FLOYD, SIR JOHN, BARONET (1748–1818)
Son of Capt. John Floyd : born Feb. 22, 1748 : entered the Army as Cornet in Elliot's Light Dragoons in 1760 : was riding master in 1763 to his regt., the 15th Hussars : went to India in 1781–2, as Lt-Colonel of the 19th Light Dragoons : greatly distinguished-himself as a cavalry commander on the Coromandel coast in Cornwallis' campaign of 1701–2, especially at Sattimangalum, 1790, and afterwards against Tippoo : was at Bangalore, and Arikera, in 1791 : at Seringapatam, 1792 : at the capture of Bangalore, 1793 : Maj-General, 1794 : in the second war with Tippoo, commanded the cavalry under General Harris : was at Malavilli, and commanded the covering Army during the siege of Seringapatam, 1799 : returned to England in 1800 : held command in Ireland : General, 1812 : Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury : Baronet, 1816 : died Jan, 10. 1818.
FORBES, ARCHIBALD (1838–1900)
The famous war correspondent : son of the Rev. Lewis William Forbes : born 1838 : educated at Aberdeen and Edinburgh : enlisted in the Royal Dragoons, 1857 : left the Army in 1867 : wrote on military life in the public Press : after conducting a weekly journal, 1867–71, made his reputation as a war correspondent for the Daily News, in the Franco- Prussian war, 1870–1 : the Russo-Turkish war of 1877 : the Zulu war, 1879–80 : and other wars : in India as a special correspondent in the Bengal-Bihar famine of 1874, where—as Sir R. Temple wrote, "he pourtrayed with graphic force and absolute fidelity, for the information of the English public, the mortal peril to which the people were exposed, and from which they could be rescued only by the utmost exertions of the Government" :—during the visit of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to India, 1875–6, during the Afghan War, 1878–9, and went to Mandalay, to have interviews with King Theebaw. He visited the United States and Australia as a lecturer and correspondent. Besides his works on wars in other countries, and on other distinguished soldiers, he wrote The Afghan Wars of 1839 and 1879; Havelock, and Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde ("Men of Action" series), and on certain distinguished officers in The Soldiers I have Known : died March 30, 1900.
FORBES, ARTHUR (1843–)
I.C.S. : son of Rev. E. Forbes, D.D. : educated at Sedburgh and St. John's College,Cambridge : steered the Cambridge Eight against Oxford in 1866 and 1867 : went to Bengal in the Indian Civil Service, 1867 : Deputy Commissioner in Assam, 1875 : Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Bengal, 1890 : Commissioner of Dacca, 1891 : Patna, 1892–6 : Chota Nagpur, 1896–1902 : C.S.I., 1895.
FORBES, SIR CHARLES, BARONET (1774–1849)
Son of the Rev. George Forbes : born in 1774 : educated at Aberdeen University (afterwards Lord Rector) : went out to India and was for many years head of the firm of Forbes & Co., of Bombay : on returning to England he became M.P. for Beverley, 1812–18, and represented Malmesbury, 1818–32 : when he left India the natives gave him a service of plate : and, 27 years after he had left Bombay, his statue by Sir F. Chantrey was placed
