Archibald Forbes

Who was Archibald Forbes?

Archibald Forbes was a British war correspondent, the son of a Presbyterian minister in Morayshire, Scotland; educated at the University of Aberdeen. Entering the Royal Dragoons as a private, he gained, while in the service, considerable practical experience of military life and affairs. Being invalided from his regiment, he settled in London, and became a journalist. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Forbes was sent to the front as war correspondent, and in this capacity he gained valuable information as to the plans of the Parisians for withstanding a siege. Transferring his services to the Daily News, his brilliant feats in the transmission of intelligence drew worldwide attention to his dispatches. He was with the German army from the beginning of the campaign, and he afterwards witnessed the rise and fall of the Paris Commune.

Thereafter, Forbes proceeded to Spain, where he chronicled the outbreak of the second Carlist War; but his work here was interrupted by a visit to India, where he spent eight months upon a mission of investigation into the Bengal famine of 1873–74. Then he returned to Spain, and followed at various times the Carlist, the Republican and the Alfonsist forces. As representative of the Daily News, he accompanied the Prince of Wales in his tour through India in 1875-1876. Forbes went through the Serbian campaign of 1876, and was present at all the important engagements.