Plowden was commissioned into the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot on 5 October 1872.
[1] He commanded 2nd Battalion, the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in skirmishes with Pathans on the North West Frontier of India in 1897[2] for which he was mentioned in dispatches.
[3] During the Second Boer War (1899–1902) he held several temporary appointments in India while the actual holder was with the forces in South Africa.
He was an Assistant Adjutant-General in Mhow from March 1900,[4] and held the command of the second class district of Belgaum, Madras Command, from August 1900 (in the absence of Colonel Sir Reginald Hart and then of Hector MacDonald).
[6] He then became General Officer Commanding the Northumbrian Division in March 1910[7] before his death in August 1911 aged 60.