Of all the Americans who served in Egypt, Henry Ronald Douglas MacIver best fit the job of soldier of fortune. In 1906, one author reckoned that MacIver had fought under eighteen different flags. While he spent little time in Egypt, his life is nonetheless noteworthy.

MacIver was born on Christmas Day, 1841, in a ship off the coast of Virginia. At the age of ten, young Henry was sent to Scotland to be educated, and five years later, embarked on his military career as an ensign in the East India Company. The following year, MacIver was caught up in the Sepoy Rebellion, in which he was almost killed. Undeterred, he was soon back in action, fighting under Garibaldi in Italy. During the Civil War, MacIver was a major in the Confederate army. He served on the staffs of “Stonewall” Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, and Kirby Smith, and was wounded four times. After the war, MacIver took part in a scheme to conquer Haiti and establish a pro-slavery government, but the plot was squashed by General Phillip Sheridan, who put him in jail. MacIver was soon back in action, fighting under Maximilian in Mexico. He spent three months in captivity, but was able to escape. Over the next several years, he also took part in Brazil’s war against Paraguay, Cretan and Greek insurrections against Turkey, and a Cuban uprising against Spain.

In 1870, MacIver met Thaddeus Mott, and signed a contract to become a colonel in the Egyptian army. On his arrival in Cairo, he was appointed inspector-general of cavalry. Apparently, Egypt’s climate did not agree with MacIver, and after only six months he left the Egyptian service. He soon recovered, and fought for the French in the Franco-Prussian War. Further adventures continued, and MacIver would join in the Carlist uprising in Spain and then fight with the Montenegrans and Serbs against Turkey. During the Russo-Turkish War he rose to the rank of brigadier general. Among his later accomplishments, he served as United States Consul in Denia, Spain. MacIver died in 1907.

For more on MacIver’s career, see the first chapter of Real Soldiers of Fortune.