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Major-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, (; 4 March 1853 – 25 March 1903), also known as Fighting Mac, was a British Army officer.
The son of a crofter, MacDonald left school before he was 15, enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders as a private at 17, and finished his career as a major general, a rare example of a British Army general who rose through the ranks on merit alone. Harold E. Raugh, "The Victorians at War, 1815–1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History, (ABC-CLIO, 2003) He distinguished himself in action at the Battle of Omdurman (1898), became a popular hero in Scotland and England, and was knighted for his service in the Second Boer War. Posted to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as Commander-in-Chief of British forces, he committed suicide in 1903 following accusations of homosexuality activity with local boys.
MacDonald served as a subaltern in the First Boer War (1880–81), and at the Battle of Majuba Hill, where he was made prisoner, his bravery was so conspicuous that Piet Joubert gave him back his sword. In 1885 he served under Sir Evelyn Wood in the reorganization of the Egyptian army, and took part in the Nile Expedition of that year. In 1888 he became a regimental captain in the British service, but continued in Egyptian service, concentrating on training troops. In 1889 he received the Distinguished Service Order for his conduct at the Battle of Toski and in 1891, after the action at Tokar, he was promoted substantive major.
During the Mahdist War, MacDonald commanded a brigade of the Egyptian army in the Dongola Expedition (1896), and subsequently distinguished himself at Abu Hamed (7 August 1897) and Atbara (8 April 1898). At the Battle of Omdurman (2 September 1898) the British commander, Lord Kitchener, unwittingly exposed his flanks to the Dervish (i.e., Mahdist) army. MacDonald swung his men by companies in an arc as the Dervishes charged and by skillful manoeuvring held his ground until Kitchener could redeploy his brigades. When the fight was over MacDonald's troops had an average of only two rounds left per man. ibiblio.org, "Hector the Hero"
After Omdurman, MacDonald became a household name in Britain. He received a brevet promotion to colonel in the British Army, appointed an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria, and received the thanks of Parliament and a cash award. His fame was especially high in his native Scotland: on 12 May that year, described as "one of the heroes of Omdurman," he was entertained to luncheon by the City of Edinburgh Council, and many Scots felt that MacDonald, and not Kitchener, was the true hero.
In October 1899, MacDonald received the temporary rank of brigadier general and was seconded to command the Sirhind-Fategarh in the Punjab with headquarters at Umballa. Following the outbreak of war in South Africa the same month, he was in December ordered there to command the Highland Brigade, part of the army of Lord Roberts. He received the substantive rank of colonel on 4 January 1900, arrived in Cape Town on 18 January 1900 by the transport Dwarka, and six days later assumed command of the Highland Brigade stationed at Modder River, with the local rank of major general. While in South Africa he prepared the way for Lord Roberts's march to the relief of Kimberley by seizing Koodoesberg (5–8 February 1900), and by this demonstration the attention of the Boers was distracted from the main advance. Later the same month he took part in the Battle of Paardeberg (16–27 February 1900), where he was wounded by a gunshot in the foot in an attack on a Boer laager. He was discharged from hospital in mid-March, and took part in later operations in Bloemfontein and Pretoria. In April 1901 he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) for his services (dated to November 1900).
MacDonald returned to the United Kingdom in May 1901, but soon left for India where he had been appointed to command the South District Army, and was in command of in Belgaum district, near Madras. In early 1902 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of British troops in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) with the temporary rank of major general while so employed, and he arrived there and took up the command on 26 March 1902.
Rumours began circulating that he was having a sexual relationship with the two teenage sons of a Burgher people named De Saram, and that he was patronising a "dubious club" attended by British and Sinhalese youths. Matters came to a crisis when a tea-planter informed Ridgeway that he had surprised Sir Hector in a railway carriage with four Sinhalese boys; further allegations followed from other prominent members of the colonial establishment, with the threat of even more to come, involving up to seventy witnesses. Ridgeway advised MacDonald to return to London, his main concern being to avoid a massive scandal: "Some, indeed most, of his victims ... are the sons of the best-known men in the Colony, English and native", he wrote, noting that he had persuaded the local press to keep quiet in hopes that "no more mud" would be stirred up.
In London MacDonald "was probably told by the king that the best thing he could do was to shoot himself". Lord Roberts, now commander-in-chief of the Army, advised MacDonald to go back to Ceylon and face a court martial to clear his name. (There was no question of a criminal trial as MacDonald's alleged offence was not illegal in Ceylon.) MacDonald left London for Ceylon.Martin Marais, The Battle of Paardeberg: Lord Roberts' Gambit, pp. 411–412 Meanwhile, Ridgeway, coming under increasing pressure in the Legislature, revealed that "serious charges" had been laid and that the general was returning to a court martial. MacDonald, reading this in the morning newspaper over breakfast in the Hôtel Régina in Paris, returned to his room and shot himself.
It is possible that attitudes within the British Army hierarchy were influenced by his status as a commoner and the son of a Highland crofter. There were comparable rumours about other commanders from the British upper class, including "Chinese" Gordon and Field Marshals Montgomery and Auchinleck, but they were protected by the loyalty of their staff; only MacDonald was required to face a court martial. A clergyman at the time commented: "Had he been the son of a duke, an easier way of escape could have been made for him."
The grave lies towards the north-east in the first northern rxtension. A highly elaborate monument including a bronze bust of Sir Hector by William Birnie Rhind was erected on the grave the following year.Dictionary of Scottish Sculptors: W B Rhind
MacDonald remains a national hero in Scotland. A memorial was erected above Dingwall in 1907, as well as another memorial at Mulbuie on the Black Isle, near where MacDonald was born.
Conspiracy theories emerged after his death. It was rumoured that he had staged his suicide and had defected to Germany, taking up the identity of General August von Mackensen after the real Mackensen was supposed to have died of cancer. During the First World War the German High Command attempted to capitalise on his continuing popularity among Scottish rank and file in the British Army by fostering the rumours that MacDonald was von Mackensen.
Along with the occultist Aleister Crowley, MacDonald is one of the central characters of the novel The Devil's Paintbrush by Jake Arnott. Arnott's novel uses a historical meeting between Crowley and MacDonald in Paris "as a springboard for a fictional tale that entwines the two figures closely together and charts the final days of MacDonald's life." Catherine Deveney, Jake Arnott interview: The thrill of the novel, Scotland on Sunday, 24 May 2009
Hector Waller, captain of HMAS Perth, was named after him.
Scottish fiddler J Scott Skinner, composed a lament as a tribute to MacDonald, entitled Hector the Hero. Lyrics by Thomas McWilliamin were set to the air.
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