William McMurdo

Sir William Montagu Scott McMurdo (30 May 1819 – 2 March 1894) was a British Army officer who rose to the rank of general. He saw active service in India, helped to run a military railway in the Crimean War and then managed various groups of volunteers working with the army. He was eventually knighted.

Biography

He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald McMurdo of Loch Arthur, Kirkcudbrightshire and commissioned in the 8th Foot in 1837. In 1841 he became lieutenant in the 22nd Foot which went to India that year. There he served under Sir Charles Napier and in 1843 was involved in the battles of Miani and Hyderabad. In the latter he was wounded and also mentioned in dispatches. Later that year he was promoted to captain in the 28th Foot but then transferred to the 78th Highlanders. In 1844 he married Napier's daughter, Susan Sarah Napier, 1827-1912. When Napier returned to India in 1849, McMurdo went with him as his aide-de-camp.

In 1853 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and acted as assistant adjutant-general in Dublin. The following year he was appointed director-general of the newly formed Land Transport Corps and went to Crimea to assist in running the Grand Crimean Central Railway. He eventually took it over from the contractors Peto, Brassey and Betts. He received from the French the Légion d'honneur (fourth class) and from the Turks the Mejidiye (fourth class). After the end of the Crimean War the Land Transport Corps was converted into the Military Train in 1857 and McMurdo was made its colonel-commander. From 1860 he became involved with the volunteers working with the army and became the inspector-general of volunteers. In 1865 he established the Engineer and Volunteers Staff Corps. He also became the colonel of the Inns of Court Volunteers and of the Engineer and Volunteers Staff Corps.