The organisation of the War Office was not up to the task of ultimately supporting a force so large with many ancillary and support units, which had been paper units only. Some of this blame can be shouldered by Wolseley but overall it is more of the ‘system’ that was in place in the late Victorian army that limited the capability of the army more so than any one individual. Wolseley was responsible for some much-needed reform and his influence cannot be denied in this area as a reformer and innovator in army organisation.51
Wolseley did lay the framework for the birth of a modern British army and some of his reforms did pay dividends in 1914. However, he was faced by many challenges, with the Duke of Cambridge being one of the greatest obstacles to his reform ideas. Wolseley’s ‘ring’ was one of three rings (Roberts, Cambridge and Wolseley) that existed and the rivalry between the rings could be ascribed to the personal nature of the late Victorian army. The Wolseley ‘ring’ did produce some talented and determined officers who were promoted more on merit than social status. This in many ways was a major legacy of Wolseley. One of his boldest achievements was the organisation of the British army into corps ready for general mobilisation. Wolseley was motivated by his driving ambition to make the late Victorian army more efficient in the waging of modern warfare. In the environment of low-intensity conflict, Wolseley can be seen as an influential impetus for the adoption of modern strategic, tactical and most importantly logistic structural changes in the British military system. Where Roberts, ‘Bobs’, was considered the most-loved and congenial general of this period, Wolseley can be considered the more distant ‘father’ of the modern British army.
Bibliography
Garnet Wolseley was a prolific author. He wrote a memorable two-volume biography, The Life of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough 1650–1702 (1894), and also a shorter biographical sketch, The Decline and Fall of Napoleon (1895). His contribution to British army service manuals is evidenced by five editions of The Soldiers Pocket-Book for Field Services (1868–89), and he also wrote The Field Pocket Book for the Auxiliary Services (1873). Wolseley is also known for some of his personal observations on the American Civil War, some of which were published in magazine articles and have been reproduced in James A Rawley, ed., The American Civil War: An English View by Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1964). His contributions on the Franco-Prussian War are also noteworthy with articles in the United Service Magazine such as ‘Field Marshal Count von Moltke’ (1891) and ‘Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71’ (1891). He also wrote his own two-volume autobiography, The Story of a Soldier’s Life (London: Archibald Constable & Co., 1903), though this only takes his career up to the end of the Asante campaign. Wolseley’s Narrative of the War with China in 1860 (London, 1862) was heavily edited by his sister, Matilda. The most recent standard single-volume biography of Wolseley is Halik Kochanski, Sir Garnet Wolseley: Victorian Hero (London: Hambledon, 1999), and this represents the most up-to-date scholarship. There are earlier more popular accounts by Joseph Lehmann, All Sir Garnet: A Life of Field Marshal Lord Wolseley (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964); Leigh Maxwell, The Ashanti Ring: Sir Garnet Wolseley’s Campaigns 1870–1882 (London: Leo Cooper, 1985); and a chapter on Wolseley in Byron Farwell, Eminent Victorian Soldiers: Seekers of Glory (New York: Viking Press, 1985). A still earlier work is R J Kentish, Maxims of the Late Field Marshal Wolseley (1916). There are also the hagiographical works of Sir Frederick Maurice and Sir George Arthur, The Life of Lord Wolseley (London: Heinemann, 1924) and Charles Rathbone Low, General Lord Wolseley (of Cairo): A Memoir (London: Richard Bentley & Son, 1883), which was based on interviews with Wolseley. Sir George Arthur, ed., The Letters of Lord and Lady Wolseley, 1870–1911 (London: Heinemann, 1922) chronicles the correspondence between Wolseley and his wife throughout his life but in an often heavily bowdlerised form. However, four of Wolseley’s campaign journals have been published in full: Adrian Preston, ed., Sir Garnet Wolseley’s South African Diaries (Natal) 1875 (Cape Town: A A Balkema, 1971); Anne Cavendish, ed., Cyprus, 1878: The Journal of Sir Garnet Wolseley (Nicosia: Cyprus Popular Bank Cultural Centre, 1991); Adrian Preston, ed., Sir Garnet Wolseley’s South African Journal, 1879–80 (Cape Town: A A Balkema, 1973); Adrian Preston, ed., In Relief of Gordon: Lord Wolseley’s Campaign Journal of the Khartoum Relief Expedition, 1884–85 (London: Hutchinson, 1967). Wolseley’s remaining journal of the Asante campaign is to be published by the Army Records Society in an edition by Ian Beckett in 2009. Wolseley’s version of events is also presented in those official or semi-official histories produced by his own staff: G L Huyshe, The Red River Expedition (London, 1871); Henry Brackenbury, The Ashanti War: A Narrative (Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1874); Frederick Maurice, The Campaign of 1882 in Egypt (London: HMSO, 1887); and H E Colvile, History of the Sudan Campaign (London: War Office Intelligence Division, 1889).
Chapter 2
Evelyn Wood
Stephen Manning
The year 1906 saw the publication of Evelyn Wood’s hugely successful autobiography entitled From Midshipman to Field Marshal. The book’s title immediately identified that, quite unusually, Wood had begun his military career in the Royal Navy, seeing active service in the Crimean War, before transferring to the army. Here Wood was to enjoy a long and illustrious career, which saw his involvement in many of the great colonial campaigns of Victoria’s reign, before he reached the pinnacle of his profession as a Field Marshal.
Evelyn Wood was arguably one of Victoria’s most successful field commanders, as well as one of her closest friends. He was mentioned in dispatches on twenty-five occasions. He became the holder of medals from the Crimea, India, Asante, South Africa and Egypt, as well as the Victoria Cross, the Legion of Honour, the Medjidieh and the Khedive’s Star. He was a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Bath and a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George. After Wolseley’s victory against the Egyptian army in 1882, Wood was given the responsibility of reforming and training the former enemy along British lines. He became the second most senior soldier in the British army when he was appointed to the position of Adjutant General in 1897. Wood was a survivor; his longevity meant that he outlived Victoria, as well as such contemporaries as Wolseley and Buller. He also had a talent for personal survival and he was able to ensure that his reputation was to remain largely intact following the debacle of ‘Black Week’ during the Boer War, when many of his colleagues suffered criticism at the hands of the press. Wood even managed to maintain the belief that he was the most successful field commander during the Zulu War, despite suffering a serious defeat at Hlobane on 28 March 1879.
There is no doubt that Wood’s personality and character were somewhat flawed. His vanity was well known and became something of a trademark. It was even rumoured that he wore his decorations on his pyjamas!1 Although this last tale was no doubt fanciful, there is evidence that he did place a small black border around each of his many ribbons so that the contrast would make them stand out more, or perhaps add to the length of the rows on his chest. On one particular occasion Wolseley could not resist chaffing Wood over the use of the black border and he shouted, ‘Hullo! Evelyn you seem to have got some more medals lately. Where did you get them? From the Mahdi [his forces were then besieging Khartoum]?’ Wood conveniently used his renowned deafness to pretend not to hear Wolseley’s comment and the moment passed.2
Chronology
9 February 1838
Henry Evelyn Wood born at Cressing, Essex Educated at Marlborough
15 April 1852
Appointed Midshipman in Royal Navy
1 January 1855
Appointed ADC to Naval Brigade, Crimea
18 June 1855
Severely wounded in assault on the Redan, Sebastopol
7 September 1855
Commissioned Cornet, 13th Light Dragoons
1 February 1856
Promoted Lieutenant
9 October 1857
Exchanged into 17th Lancers<
br />
1858–60
Service in India
1 November 1858
Appointed Brigade Major, Central India Flying Column
19 October 1858
Won VC at Sindwaha
16 April 1861
Purchased Captaincy
19 August 1862
Promoted Brevet Major
21 October 1862
Exchanged into 73rd Foot
1862–64
Attended Staff College
10 January 1865
Exchanged into 17th Foot
31 July 1866
Appointed Brigade Major, Aldershot
1867
Married the Hon. Paulina Southwell
22 June 1870
Purchased Substantive Majority
28 October 1871
Exchanged into 90th Foot
19 January 1873
Promoted Brevet Lieutenant Colonel
1873–74
Service on Gold Coast
1 April 1874
Promoted Brevet Colonel
10 September 1874
Appointed Superintending Officer of Garrison Instruction
23 March 1876
Appointed AQMG, Aldershot
1878–79
Service in South Africa
3 November 1878
Promoted Substantive Lieutenant Colonel
3 April 1879
Appointed Brigadier General, South Africa
15 December 1879
Appointed Brigadier General, Belfast
1881
Service in South Africa
12 August 1881
Promoted Major General
14 February 1882
Appointed GOC, Chatham
1882
Service in Egypt
21 December 1882
Appointed Sirdar of Egyptian Army
1 April 1886
Appointed GOC, Eastern District
1 January 1889
Appointed GOC, Aldershot
1 April 1890
Promoted Lieutenant General
9 October 1893
Appointed Quartermaster General
26 March 1895
Promoted General
1 October 1897
Appointed Adjutant General
1 October 1901
Appointed GOC, I Corps
8 April 1903
Promoted Field Marshal
2 December 1919
Died at Harlow, Essex
Appointed CB, 1874; GCMG, 1879; GCB, 1901
Wood also possessed a love of money, which was no doubt encouraged by his wife, Paulina, the daughter of a Viscount, who had somewhat expensive tastes. His passion for fox-hunting and horses saw him incur the expense of his own stables and his constant need for money made Wood sometimes behave in a rather mercenary manner. This was certainly the case when he contested the will of his Aunt ‘Ben’ and schemed during the divorce proceedings surrounding his youngest sister, Kitty O’Shea. Yet all who served under him thought him kind, considerate and possessed of the ability to smile and make a joke even in the most demanding of circumstances. On his death, General Sir Ian Hamilton, who had served under Wood in South Africa, Egypt and at home, wrote ‘Sir Evelyn’s vitality was so intense, his spirit so dauntless and so bright … I have never known Evelyn give expression to a selfish, vindictive, or jealous thought. His heart was young, and it was his constant endeavour to give youth a chance.’3 This last characteristic was clearly seen in Wood’s skill and ability as a trainer of troops. This was given free rein when he commanded at Aldershot and in the Southern Command. He had a foresight that many in the upper echelons of the army of the late nineteenth century did not possess, and with this he recognised the flaws in the army.
It must not be forgotten that Wood was attempting to reform a system that was highly suspicious of change. This was particularly true during the leadership of the Commander in Chief, the Duke of Cambridge, with whom Wood and Wolseley often clashed. Wood’s reforms and innovations began from a very low base of knowledge and experience within the army. For example, until Wood introduced the concept of night-time manoeuvres in the Eastern Command, based at Colchester, the British army had never considered such exercises important or worthwhile.4 His legacy was much more than his evident bravery and his ability to inspire and organise; he allowed those who served under him to consider deeply their profession and this, perhaps, alone ensured that these officers, such as Kitchener, French and Smith-Dorrien, were later to shine in their army careers.
Henry Evelyn Wood was born in Cressing, Essex on 9 February 1838, the youngest son of John Wood, a vicar, and one of thirteen children, of whom only seven would survive to reach adulthood. It was his mother, Emma, who was the major early influence on his life and they remained extremely close. Indeed it was to be Emma’s intervention that saved Evelyn from the barbaric care he received from Florence Nightingale’s nurses during the Crimean War. During the Victorian period two of his sisters would also gain some fame, or notoriety. His eccentric sister Anna Steele achieved success as a novelist, while his youngest sister, Katharine, better known as Kitty O’Shea, became notorious for her affair with, and subsequent marriage to, the Irish Nationalist Leader, Charles Stewart Parnell. The divorce case that centred on their affair caused a sensation in Victorian Britain.
After an unhappy time at Marlborough, Wood managed to persuade his mother that his career lay in the Navy. Through the influence of his uncle, Captain Frederick Michell, Evelyn joined the crew of HMS Queen in July 1852, aged just 14 years. Within two years Wood had been promoted to the rank of midshipman and had already displayed a willingness to accept responsibility and take risks. He was to first experience the sounds of battle when his ship was assigned to a flotilla, which had been ordered to bombard the Russian port of Odessa as part of the opening salvoes of the Crimean War. HMS Queen was later to support the British and French landings at Kalamita Bay and, from the high rigging of the ship, Wood was able to watch as a spectator as the Allies and the Russians fought at the battle of the Alma.5 The subsequent retreat of Russian forces into Sebastopol was to lead to the Allied siege of that city.
The need for heavy siege guns to bombard the Russian defences resulted in the formation of the Naval Brigade, under the command of Captain Peel, and, with his uncle’s encouragement, Wood became part of the initial deployment of men and guns. This was to be the beginning of eight months of continuous service, during which Wood struggled to survive not only the Russian guns, but also the appalling weather and living conditions that the Allies suffered over the winter of 1854–55. During this time he was to receive his first of two recommendations for the Victoria Cross when, under constant Russian fire, he put out a blaze that was threatening his guns’ ammunition magazine. After the failed Russian attempts to break the siege at the battle of Inkerman, both sides focussed their aggressive activities on exchanges of shells, in which Wood’s batteries were heavily engaged. By June 1855, the Allies planned a massed combined assault upon the Russian Redan, but the attacks of 18 June were ill-timed and both the British and the French forces were beaten back. The Naval Brigade joined the assault and Wood was the only officer to reach the base of the enemy defences. However, he was seriously wounded in the assault. Although Wood was successful in managing to persuade the army doctors not to amputate his injured arm, he was forced to return to England to recover. The bravery that the 17-year-old Wood had shown gained him much recognition in the Crimea, and the Allied Commander, Lord Raglan, wrote him a glowing testimonial, and even provided his own carriage and physician to convey Wood back to HMS Queen.6
Despite the notoriety he had gained while serving in the Navy, it is clear that Wood did not see a future in this service. It seems that he considered that there was not much fame left for him to earn there and that he yearned for something more active than keeping harbour watch or any of the daily duties on board a warship. Having obtained his parents consent to join the army, Wood wrote
to the Commander in Chief, asking for a commission in any light cavalry regiment, and enclosed a copy of Lord Raglan’s letter. It only took one week for Wood to receive the news that he had been accepted as a cornet in the 13th Light Dragoons, and the speed of the decision, together with the fact that Evelyn was not obliged, as others were at that time, to purchase his commission, suggests that his fame, and the support given by Raglan’s letter, had allowed him an easy transfer. This move, however, does seem to have cost Evelyn his VC, for despite the support given to him by Raglan and others, and the fact that his name was third on the list of recommendations, he was turned down for the award.7
Victoria's Generals Page 5
