John Rowland Smyth

Who was John Rowland Smyth?

Colonel Sir John Rowland Smyth KCB was a British Army officer.

Born to Grice Smyth and his wife Mary, Smyth was commissioned as a cornet into the on 5 July 1821. Promoted to Lieutenant on 26 May 1825, he fought at the Capture of Bharatpur a year later. He was made a Captain on 22 April 1826, and transferred to the 32nd Regiment of Foot. After 10 years with the 32nd he moved to the 6th Dragoon Guards, before being given a year-long leave of absence in 1830 to serve a prison sentence. Smyth had fought one of the last duels in the United Kingdom, and both he and his second were imprisoned for manslaughter. Promoted to Major on 17 August 1841, he returned to the 16th Lancers on 6 May 1842 and served with it during the Gwalior Campaign and First Anglo-Sikh War. At the Battle of Aliwal, Smyth led the 16th Lancers to rout the Sikh cavalry and break a square of infantry; he was mentioned in dispatches and made a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. After a series of promotions and successes he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 13 March 1867, promoted to Lieutenant-General on 1 April 1870, and became Colonel of the 6th Dragoon Guards on 21 January 1868.