Victoria's Generals

by Steven J Corvi

  Wood returned to the Crimea as a cavalry officer in January 1856. He was soon struck down with a combination of typhoid and pneumonia and was delivered to Scutari hospital, and into the hands of Florence Nightingale and her team. He seems to have been particularly unfortunate in that much of his care was left to a sadistic nurse, who would deliberately inflict pain on the ailing dragoon. Wood lost so much weight that the bones of both hips had pierced his skin. When changing his bandages, the nurse, rather than wetting them first, would tear off the lint roughly, ripping off skin and drawing blood. She would also slap and hit Wood when left alone with him. Of course, this did nothing to aid his recovery and on more than one occasion the doctors considered him close to death and informed Wood’s parents of the seriousness of the situation. His parents travelled to the Crimea, where Wood’s mother soon established that her son was being mistreated and, in a confrontational meeting with the doctors, and Nightingale, she insisted that she be allowed to take her son back home. Despite protestations from the hospital staff, and claims that Wood would not survive the journey, Lady Wood safely extracted her beloved son, who made a slow return to health in England.8 Her actions almost certainly saved Wood’s life.

  Wood’s recovery coincided with news of the Indian Mutiny and, desperate for active service, he negotiated a transfer to the 17th Lancers, and in October 1857 sailed for India. During the voyage, he busied himself by learning Hindustani and his endeavours were rewarded when he was given the position of company interpreter. Although Wood arrived after the last of the large set-piece battles of the Mutiny, he was actively involved in the pursuit of many of the prominent leaders of the mutineers, including Tatya Tope. Thus, as part of the Central India Force, Wood spent many months in the saddle, in extremely trying conditions of oppressive heat, in, mostly, futile attempts to corner the rebels. This is not to say that he was not involved in a number of skirmishes. In September 1858, at a place called Rajghur, a troop of cavalry, commanded by Wood, made contact with the rearguard of Tatya Tope’s army, and Wood successfully led his troopers against the fleeing rebel artillery. This action forced the rebels to abandon many of their artillery pieces. The following month Wood, leading a reconnaissance patrol, first engaged the rebels at Sindwaha. This was to be the largest engagement Wood was to witness while in India and he would receive much praise for his action in the pursuit of the fleeing rebels after the battle. With only his orderly by his side, Wood charged a party of sepoys, who had turned to make a stand. In the resulting clash, Wood killed one of the rebels with his sword, and, following his example, he was then joined by the remainder of his command, who quickly dispatched and dispersed the remaining mutineers.9

  A brief rest in the pursuit saw Wood trying to ride a giraffe! He was staying with the Prince of Jaora, who possessed a menagerie of animals in his palace grounds. One of Wood’s fellow officers waged with him that he could not ride a giraffe, which was being led around by a string through its nostrils. Never one to turn down a challenge, Wood gamely jumped on the animal’s back and initially had some success riding the beast, until it, unfortunately, bolted for its stable door. Wood decided that he should lower himself off the giraffe’s back, but, in doing so, he was hit by the animal’s knee, which knocked Wood underneath its hind legs, where the hooves mangled Wood’s face and nose. He regained consciousness three days later, but was able to rejoin the pursuit of the rebels the following week.10

  Although Wood and his comrades were unsuccessful in their attempts to corner Tatya Tope, who was later captured as a result of the treachery of one of his followers, Wood received much praise from his commanding officers for his conduct throughout the lengthy pursuit. General Michel wrote to the Commander in Chief of the British army that Wood had, ‘highly distinguished himself’,11 while Brigadier General Somerset commented on Wood’s ‘unwearied zeal’.12 Such praise allowed Wood to assume the position of Brigade Major of Beatson’s Horse, an irregular cavalry unit of native troops, which was headquartered at Arangabad. Wood was later to complain that his new command showed all the imperfections of a unit raised in haste to meet the threat of the Mutiny. Most of the native officers were illiterate, the majority of the men were poor riders, and little time had been given over to drill to improve this situation. Wood set about transforming the unit, although his direct, energetic approach upset several of his native officers, who were used to an easier pace of army life. Indeed, the situation became so severe that Wood faced a mutiny and feared for his life. It was only with the arrival of reinforcements, from a nearby army base, that the potential for rebellion diminished and he was able to restore his authority.

  Within a month of taking command, Wood had transformed the regiment and he could at least put several squadrons into the field. This was timely, for Wood received intelligence from the town of Sindwaha that a band of rebels, under Madhoo Singh, were in the vicinity and that they had kidnapped an influential landowner called Chemmun Singh, who had offered active support to the government in the suppression of the Mutiny. Wood knew he had to act quickly if the man’s life was to be saved and, with the help of a former mutineer, he set out to find the rebels. Still wary of some of his men’s loyalty, Wood elected to take with him only fifteen troopers, unaware that his command was to face a band in excess of eighty men.13

  A slow, cautious approach brought Wood’s party to the edge of the sleeping rebels and it was then that he realised he faced overwhelming odds. Retreat was briefly considered, but aware that the kidnapped victim would surely be hung, Wood instead ordered a surprise attack. As Wood charged, he realised that only two of his men had joined him, but in the noise and confusion, the rebels assumed that they were being attacked by a large force and fled, leaving their victim alive, tied to a tree. The remainder of the detachment, who had held back, made up for their lack of activity by shouting to the fleeing rebels ‘Bring up the artillery, bring up the Cavalry’, and Evelyn later admitted that this action was perhaps more effective in dispersing the rebels than any bayonet charge might have been.14 The final act was when Wood was forced to knock out a private who became ‘idiotic’ at the sight of blood. News of the daring rescue was conveyed to the Viceroy of India, who did not hesitate to recommend Evelyn’s actions to the Queen for the award of the VC.

  Wood was to receive reports that he had indeed been awarded the VC in September 1860. By the time of this news, Wood was back in England, his promising career in India cut short. It appears that, in pursuing his orders to arrest rebels who were known to be sheltering in the palace of the Prince of Naringhgarh, Wood overstepped the mark and insulted the elderly Prince, and even threatened to arrest him. When news of this reached the local political agent, Wood was severely reprimanded and he felt compelled to offer his resignation and return to England.15

  Wood was now destined for a considerable period of home service and in this time he was to find love and marriage, to the Hon. Paulina Southwell, as well as to continue his increasingly successful army career. He passed through the Staff College at Camberley, his natural ability at languages ensuring that he passed out in the top 10 per cent of candidates. An unhappy period in Ireland followed, during which time the wet climate there severely affected his health. He was to much enjoy his next posting to Aldershot, which was to become his second home. Here, Wood experienced his first role as a staff officer, when he served under General Horsford, and he gained a real appreciation of what was required to enhance the training of the British soldier, as well as the need to expand upon the number and quality of army manoeuvres. This experience was to cement his future thinking on army reform.

  Wood’s continuing health problems, combined with ongoing financial concerns, led him to consider his long-term future in the army. In his position as Brigade Major, Wood had acquired some interest and knowledge in military law, and this seems to have made him consider becoming a barrister. Thus, while serving at Aldershot, he studied to pass his entrance examinations to the Middle Temple. He, somehow, managed to balanc
e his responsibilities at Aldershot with study in London and an ever-growing family. After years of study, in which Wood would rise at 0400 and study until 0730, he passed his final exams in 1874 and became a Barrister-at-Law in that year.16 However, sudden army advancement, from the middle of the 1870s, ensured that he would never be obliged to earn his living at the Bar.

  Wood’s return to active service came as a result of a supposedly chance encounter with Wolseley, who was to command an expedition to Ashanti (Asante) in 1873. The Asante, led by the aggressive King Kofi Karikari, had invaded the British Protectorate on the Gold Coast of West Africa, and had the affront to attack, unsuccessfully, the British coastal fort at Elmina. The British government clearly felt that the Asante needed to be taught a lesson and, if Wolseley’s force was unable to secure adequate peace terms and assurances, it was then tasked with travelling from the coastal region into the very heart of Asante to destroy the capital at Kumase. Wolseley was able to obtain the services of a number of promising officers including Buller, Brackenbury and Wood, and these men, and others, were to be become central figures in what became known as the ‘Ashanti Ring’. Wolseley later showered his patronage on these like-minded officers and they served alongside him throughout his career.

  With around thirty officers, a West India Regiment and the assistance of a number of marines, Wolseley planned his campaign. Wood was tasked with moulding a number of separate friendly tribes, which included the Hausas and the local Fante, into a fighting force, to be known as ‘Wood’s Irregulars’. Yet the material he was forced to work with was not promising. The Fante were later described as the ‘most cowardly of mankind’17 and Wood described one tribe, the Bonny, as very clever at basket work, but with no aptitude for war!18

  Wolseley’s first action was to plan a raid along the coast, to attack those villages that had been supplying the Asante army. Wood was given command of this mixed force, although in a crucial moment during a fire-fight, Wolseley stepped in and started giving orders, much to Wood’s annoyance. Although the raid had been a success, it demonstrated to Wolseley that he would not be able to rely on the fighting abilities of the friendly tribes and he was forced to request that two battalions be sent from England. To pacify a somewhat disgruntled Wood, Wolseley wrote to him to state, ‘I have to congratulate you upon the very able manner in which you did everything yesterday. I am very much obliged to you. The operations were well carried out, and all your previous arrangements were admirable.’19

  Activity now centred on preparing for the arrival of the British troops. ‘Wood’s Irregulars’ were used to clear a path through the dense jungle, to the banks of the River Pra, the boundary of Asante proper, and here build a camp large enough to accommodate 5,000 men. While engaged in this activity, Wood’s men had a number of encounters with Asante picquets and, much to Wood’s fury, they again did not distinguish themselves. Indeed, on one occasion Wolseley was to write of their actions that: ‘Their duplicity and cowardice surpasses all description.’20 While at the Pra River camp, Wood received a delegation of officials from the Asante King, who had come to seek peace terms. During the time it took for Wood to receive Wolseley’s response to the terms, he showed the Asante the latest British weapon, the Gatling Gun. This demonstration so overwhelmed the chiefs that one of the party committed suicide. Wolseley was furious that Wood had behaved so childishly and he severely reprimanded his second in command.21 Although this was the first campaign in which the British had the ability to use this new weapon of mass destruction, the Gatling Gun proved too unreliable for battlefield operations. It was be five years, during the Zulu War, before the Gatling was to overcome the initial technical problems. Here the weapon caused high numbers of casualties, particularly at the battle of Ulundi, and it was to serve effectively in many of the colonial campaigns of the later Victorian period.

  With the British troops in place by the end of January 1874, Wolseley marched in force across the River Pra. The main Asante army was met in battle at Amoaful on 31 January and, in a hard-fought, 12-hour long engagement, a British victory was only secured by the use of an artillery piece, firing case shot at point-blank range into the Asante warriors. Wood was prominent throughout the battle, as he tried to encourage his reluctant force forward, in what Brackenbury was later to describe as a ‘rare example of bravery and fortitude to his men’.22 It was thus not surprising that Wood was finally shot, in the chest just above his heart, by a rusty nail fired from one of the Asante antique firearms. He was forced to withdraw from the battlefield and the location of the wound meant that the doctors were unable to extract all of the nail. When it became clear that his life was not in danger, all that Evelyn was prescribed was rest and Brand’s essence of beef and brandy.23

  When Wolseley was informed of Wood’s injury, he joked that he expected to see Wood back leading the advance within a week, and indeed this was the case. Wood managed, somehow, to persuade his doctor that he was fit to return to service and Wolseley gave him the honour of leading his Irregulars against the Asante army, which had massed to make a last stand before Kumase, at Ordasu. Again, Wood was to experience frustration, as his men would simply not advance against the firepower of the Asante, and he was forced to retire, while British regulars achieved battlefield success against their formidable enemy. Wolseley was able to enter Kumase on 4 February, and the following day the capital was burnt to the ground. Although the King was never captured, peace terms were agreed and the expedition was considered a great success. Wolseley was to earn much praise, and his officers, including Wood, received much reflected glory. Wood had, perhaps, been unfortunate in that he had been given an impossible task, that of trying to turn the local tribes into an effective fighting force. However, the expedition gave him much valuable experience of handling troops in the field.

  Back in England, Wood was promoted to full Colonel of the 90th and he again returned to Aldershot. Here he was able to continue to introduce new ideas in field exercises and manoeuvres and he began to acquire a reputation as a reformist and innovator. In 1877 he was offered the position of Commandant at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, although he declined this, in the hope of active service.24 His patience was finally rewarded when he received the news that he was to accompany General Thesiger, later Lord Chelmsford, to South Africa to quell a rising of the Gaika tribes, which was to become known as the Ninth Frontier War. The conflict was centred on the Amatola Mountains and the Perie Bush, outside of King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape. Although of only a short duration, the conflict was particularly bitter and exhausting. The British played a ‘cat and mouse’ game with the rebels, who used the cover of the bush superbly and frustrated the British repeatedly. It took four months for Thesiger and Wood to perfect their tactics for such warfare and achieve the capture and surrender of the rebel tribes. Wood had, once more, gained useful experience of handling friendly natives, as well as an understanding of how to deal with colonial troops, which would be of much use in the future conflict with the Zulus. Thesiger was later to report to the War Office that ‘I cannot speak too highly of the good service rendered by this officer [Wood]. He has exercised his command with marked ability and great tact. I am of opinion that his indefatigable exertions and personal influence have been mainly instrumental in bringing the war to a speedy close.’25

  The two men now journeyed to Natal, where both planned the likely invasion of Zululand. Wood was heavily involved in the logistics of acquiring suitable and sufficient wagons to transport stores for three British columns as they advanced on the Zulu capital of Ulundi. After his success at Khambula in March 1879, Wood maintained his independent command and his Number 4 Column was renamed ‘Wood’s Flying Column’, and was at the vanguard of the advance on Ulundi during the Second Invasion. Wolseley, who replaced Chelmsford after Ulundi, firmly believed that if it was not for Wood’s drive and determination, Chelmsford would never have had the energy to advance on the Zulu capital. Throughout the final battle, Evelyn stayed by the si
de of Lord Chelmsford, as both mounted men exposed themselves to Zulu fire. Archibald Forbes, the special correspondent of the Daily News, was to write of Wood at Ulundi, ‘Evelyn Wood’s face was radiant with the rapture of the fray as he rode up and down behind his regiment exposed to a storm of missiles.’26

  To express his thanks to Wood, Wolseley issued the following order: ‘Sir Garnet Wolseley desires to place on record his high appreciation of the services they [Wood and Buller] have rendered during the war…. The success which has attended the operations of the Flying Column is largely due to General Wood’s genius for war, to the admirable system he has established in his command, and to the zeal and energy with which his ably conceived plans have been carried out.’27 Privately, Wolseley informed Evelyn that, ‘you and Buller have been the bright spots in this miserable war, and all through I have felt proud that I numbered you among my friends and companions in arms’.28

  Wood was to return to England as a ‘conquering hero’, with his reputation enhanced. Queen Victoria was very keen to meet the Empire’s latest saviour, and Wood was invited to Balmoral. Here he clearly impressed the Queen, who wrote in her journal that, ‘Sir Evelyn is wonderfully lively and hardly ceases talking, which no doubt comes from his deafness and inability to hear any general conversation. He is clever and amusing, and all he says is very interesting.’29 The monarch also wrote to Disraeli, now Lord Beaconsfield, that she had found Wood a remarkable man and an admirable general with, ‘plenty of dash as well as prudence’, and a man of ‘Imperial views, loyal and devoted to Sovereign and country’.30 A real friendship developed between Wood and Victoria, which was to last to her death.