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{{Short description|Scottish general of the Indian Army and recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Major-General (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
| name = Sir Robert Adams
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|VC|KCB}}
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = Victoria Cross Winners- Pre 1914. Q80464.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Robert Adams, c1897 (IWM Q80464)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1856|07|26|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1928|02|13|1856|07|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Muree, [[British India]]
| death_place = [[Inverness]], Scotland
| burial_place = [[Glasgow]]
| burial_label =
| burial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom|23px}}
| branch = [[Bengal Army]] {{army|British India|23px}}
| service_years = 1876 - 1911
| rank = [[Major-General]]
| service_number = 
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] [[Chitral Expedition]] [[Tirah Campaign]]
| battles_label =
| awards = [[Victoria Cross]] [[Order of the Bath]]
| memorials =
| spouse = 
| relations = [[Edward Donald Bellew]] VC (second cousin)
| other_work =
| signature =
| website = 
| module =
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Sir Robert Bellew Adams''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|VC|KCB}} (Muree, [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], [[India]], 26 July 1856 – 13 February 1928, [[Inverness]]) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] general of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] and recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Military career==
Robert Bellew Adams, the son of an officer of the [[Corps of Guides (India)|Corps of Guides]] regiment of the Indian Army, entered the Army in 1876 as a [[sub-lieutenant]] in the 12th Foot (later the [[Suffolk Regiment]]).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24362|page=4962|date=12 September 1876}}</ref> His promotion to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] in 1878 was backdated to 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24625|page=5174|date=17 September 1878}}</ref> He transferred to the [[Bengal Staff Corps]] in 1879,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24905|page=5939|date=23 November 1880}}</ref> served with his father's regiment in the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] and was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25758|page=6067|date=15 November 1887}}</ref> In 1891 he was appointed to command the cavalry of the Guides. He took part in the [[Chitral expedition]] and afterwards was promoted to [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] in 1896<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26795|page=6275|date=17 November 1896}}</ref> and [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] "in recognition of his services during the operations of the [[Chitral (princely state)|Chitral]] [[Chitral Expedition|Relief Force]], 1895."<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26797|page=6507|date=24 November 1896}}</ref>

In 1897 the Guides took part in the [[Tirah campaign]], and the following event took place:
{{blockquote|During the fighting at Nawa Kili, in [[Swat District|Upper Swat]], on the 17th August, 1897, Lieutenant-Colonel R.B. Adams proceeded with Lieutenants [[Hector Lachlan Stewart MacLean|H.L.S. MacLean]] and [[Alexander Murray, 8th Earl of Dunmore|Viscount Fincastle]], and five men of the Guides, under a very heavy and close fire, to the rescue of Lieutenant R.T. Greaves, Lancashire Fusiliers, who was lying disabled by a bullet wound and surrounded by the enemy's swordsmen. In bringing him under cover he (Lieutenant Greaves) was struck by a bullet and killed—Lieutenant MacLean was mortally wounded—whilst the horses of Lieutenant-Colonel Adams and Lieutenant Viscount Fincastle were shot, as well as two troop horses. — ''London Gazette'', 9 November 1897<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26908|page=6143|date=9 November 1897}}</ref>}}
Lieutenant Greaves was acting as [[war correspondent]] for ''[[The Times of India]]''. Viscount Fincastle was also acting as a war correspondent, for ''[[The Times]]''. A fuller account is given by [[Winston Churchill]] in ''[[The Story of the Malakand Field Force]]''.<ref>Churchill, W.S., [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_ugUZWB1GsC&pg=PA81 ''The Story of the Malakand Field Force - An Episode of the Frontier War''], reprinted by Arc Manor, 2008, pages 81-82</ref>

Adams and Fincastle were awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). At that time the VC was not awarded posthumously, and the ''London Gazette'' noted "Lieutenant Hector Lachlan Stewart MacLean, Indian Staff Corps, on account of his gallant conduct as recorded above, would have been recommended to Her Majesty for the Victoria Cross had he survived." MacLean was awarded a posthumous VC in 1907 after the policy had been changed.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27986 |page=325|date=15 January 1907}}</ref>

During the same campaign Adams was [[mentioned in despatches]] three times and made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB). In 1899 he was appointed to the command of the Guides, and in September 1901 he was appointed [[aide-de-camp]] to [[Edward VII|King Edward VII]] and received the [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] rank of [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27359 |date=27 September 1901 |page=6295 }}</ref> Promotion to the substantive rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-colonel]] followed on 11 September 1902.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27498 |page=7941 |date=25 November 1902}}</ref> In June 1904 he was promoted to temporary brigadier general<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27736|page=7477|date=18 November 1904}}</ref> and given the command of the [[Ambala Cavalry Brigade|Umballa Cavalry Brigade]]. In March 1906 he was promoted to [[Major general (United Kingdom)|major-general]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27911|page=3168|date=8 May 1906}}</ref> and transferred to the [[Derajat Brigade]], but due to illness he resigned the command in 1908. He was invalided out of the army in 1911 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the [[King's Birthday Honours]] of 1912.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28617 |page=4297 |supp=y |date=11 June 1912}}</ref>

Adams died in retirement at [[Inverness]] in February 1928 at the age of 71. After cremation in Maryhill, [[Glasgow]], his ashes were buried at Tomnahuich Cemetery, Inverness.<ref>[http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/scoinver.htm Burial location of Robert Adams] ''Inverness''</ref>

==Family==
Adams was unmarried. He was the [[second cousin]] of [[Edward Donald Bellew]], a Canadian WWI VC recipient.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U192612 ADAMS, Maj.-Gen. Sir Robert Bellew], Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 4 November 2012
*Major-General Sir R.B. Adams, V.C. (obituary), ''The Times'', London, 14 February 1928, page 19
*[[Monuments to Courage]] (David Harvey, 1999)
*[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]] (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)

==External links==
*[http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/scoinver.htm Burial location of Robert Adams] ''Inverness''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Robert Bellew}}
[[Category:1856 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Murree]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Tirah campaign]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Corps of Guides (India) officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:Indian Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Suffolk Regiment officers]]
[[Category:19th-century British Army personnel]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross]]

Robert Adams (Indian Army officer) - Revision history

CoralRaphael599: put up basic data needs work