General Lord Wolseley

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

SOME explanation appears necessary in publishing the Biography of a man still living. On the 6th of May, 1874 immediately on the return of Sir Garnet Wolseley from Ashantee, I commenced to write this Memoir of his military services. The task was a difficult one, for Sir Garnet had lost all his papers and journals. During the Indian Mutiny they were stolen, and what remained to him were burnt at the great fire at the Pantechnicon, where all his furniture and effects were consumed. When, therefore, I applied to him for assistance, he expressed his regret that he had no private papers whatever in his possession, but consented to give me all the information in his power. Thus, at numerous interviews, whenever he had a spare hour from his duties at the War Office, as head of the Auxiliary Forces, he told me

He ran it through, even from his boyish days,
To the very moment that I bade him tell it.'

As I was not unfamiliar with the military events of the wars in which he had participated, I was enabled to put to him what lawyers call 'leading questions;' and these, as he frequently owned to me, assisted a naturally retentive memory

in reviving his recollections of the past. In this story of an eventful life, he

'Spoke of most disastrous chances,

Of moving accidents by flood and field;

Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach.

By correspondence and personal acquaintance with officers of his Staff, and others who had served under his orders, I learned anecdotes illustrative of traits of character, which will lend an additional interest to the narrative. In this manner the book was written, and Sir Garnet Wolseley, after perusal, testified to its absolute veracity in a letter addressed to me. The Memoir, especially the earlier portion, may, therefore, almost be regarded as an Autobiography.

The Memoir was passed through a military magazine, but it was not until early in the present year, when war with Russia was imminent, and Sir Garnet was placed under orders as Chief of the Staff to the Expeditionary Army, that I decided to republish, in book form, the military experiences of an officer whose name was in everyone's mouth, as that of a General of established reputation, from whom great things were expected. The Press and periodicals of the day were full of speculations as to his chances of success, and the events of his past career, so far as they were known, were eagerly discussed, thus showing the public interest in him. I accordingly revised the work, and completed it up to date, including an account of the Natal Mission, derived from papers supplied by Sir Garnet Wolseley. However well or ill, from a literary point of view, I may have acquitted myself of the task, at least I may claim for the book the merits of authenticity and completeness, and trust it may be found interesting, as the hero's life has been a changeful scene of adventure, such as falls to the lot of few men in this prosaic age.

In writing of one still among us, it would be unseemly to

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

speak in the terms of eulogy warranted by the circumstances of his career; but it is allowable to quote despatches and the opinions of those who have served with him. As a young officer, wherever the danger was greatest and the fire hottest, there he was to be found. In Burmah he led two stormingparties in one day, and was dangerously wounded at the moment of victory. In the Crimea he was once so severely wounded, that the surgeon passed him over for dead, and he was twice slightly wounded, while he was, perhaps, oftener in the trenches than any officer in the British army.

At the Relief of Lucknow he again led a storming-party; and, in the China Campaign, he was in the thick of the fire at the capture of the Taku Forts. The bare enumeration of the occasions on which he courted death and won 'the bubble reputation,' shows that he was possessed in a conspicuous degree of the first of military virtues. More admirable than the fierce courage which inspires during the heat of battle is the calm lofty spirit that retains its equanimity when failure appears certain and all men despair of success. That Sir Garnet Wolseley possesses this noblest of the attributes of those who claim to be leaders of men, is testified by those who served with him in the Red River and Ashantee Expeditions. A distinguished officer assured us that when, in the advance through the Canadian wilderness, everyone resigned all hope of reaching Fort Garry, so many, and seemingly insurmountable, were the natural obstacles, the Commander alone retained his sanguine anticipations of success, and nerved all hearts by his encouraging words and example. The same we know was the case in the Ashantee Campaign, when, at one time, it appeared that the task of reaching Coomassie and returning to the coast within the limited period available for hostilities, was an impossibility. But his indomitable will surmounted all obstacles, and the campaign was a brilliant success.

We are accustomed to applaud such acts of heroism and devotion when told of the warriors of Greece and Rome, but they are not less worthy of chronicle and admiration when narrated of our fellow-countrymen and contemporaries. Moreover, the narrative of deeds such as we are about to recount is useful as an example to the rising generation of young Englishmen, who will learn that the age of chivalry, notwithstanding Burke's magnificent lament, is not yet over, but will last as long as there are brave hearts to illustrate the page of our history, and generous instincts to applaud them.

Sir Garnet Wolseley carries self-reliance almost to a fault, if that is possible; though the absolute confidence he inspires in his Staff, who rally round him as he passes from one triumph to another, willing tools in the hands of the master workman, shows that it is founded on just appreciation of his own powers. Swift to form his plans, he executes them with unfaltering tenacity of will, and the correctness of his judgment amounts almost to instinct.

CHELSEA, July, 1878.

C. R. LOW.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE BURMESE WAR.

Introduction.-Parentage.-Early Life.-The Burmese War.-The Ad-

vance on Myat-toon's Position.-Ensign Wolseley leads the Storming

Party on the 19th of March, 1853.-Is wounded.-Returns to Eng-