General

General (United Kingdom)

General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....

 Sir Edward Stedman GCB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 KCIE

Order of the Indian Empire

The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...

 (1842–1925) was a senior British Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

 officer who went on to be Military Secretary to the India Office

Military Secretary to the India Office

The Military Secretary to the India Office was responsible for the recruitment of British and other European nationals to the officer ranks of the Indian Army.-Military Secretaries to the India Office:The Military Secretaries were as follows:...

.

Military career

Stedman was commissioned into the Bengal Staff Corps in 1860. By 1887 he was appointed Commanding Officer

Commanding officer

The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...

 of the 3 Gorkha Rifles and was strongly commended for his leadership in Upper Burma

Upper Burma

Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....

 by Major-General Sir George Stuart White, Commanding the Upper Burma Field Force. Later that year Stedman was made Inspector-General of Police in Upper Burma

Upper Burma

Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....

.

He joined the Chitral Expedition

Chitral Expedition

The Chitral Expedition was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral which was under siege after a local coup.-Background to the conflict:Chitral was at the extreme north west of British India...

 in 1895 as Second-in-command

Second-in-command

The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...

 and General of Communications.

He was appointed Military Secretary to the India Office

Military Secretary to the India Office

The Military Secretary to the India Office was responsible for the recruitment of British and other European nationals to the officer ranks of the Indian Army.-Military Secretaries to the India Office:The Military Secretaries were as follows:...

 in 1899.

He was also Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 of the 23rd Sikh Pioneers

23rd Sikh Pioneers

The 23rd Sikh Pioneers were a regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1857, when they were known as the 15th Regiment of Punjab Infantry....

.