Forgotten Victorian Generals. Studies in the exercise of command and control in the British Army 1837-1901

From Musket To Maxim 1815-1914

by Christopher Brice (Editor)

Many of the British Army s actions during the Victorian Era are forgotten, misunderstood and misrepresented. Stereotypes of the Victorian officer, soldier and battlefield abound. As the latter half of the twentieth century was one of Imperial Guilt it is perhaps unsurprising that many of the heroes of the age have been forgotten. This is particularly true of the Generals . They were lauded in their day but now are unknown. Yet there were many capable individuals exercising high office. This new work provides some examples of the many interesting and talented officers who exercised command during the Victorian Era. It is hoped that such a work will be of interest to both the casual reader and the student of military history. Much of the military history of this age has been unfairly ignored, and there are many powerful and important lessons to be learnt from the careers of the men included in this book. The Generals featured in this book represent different types of General. Field Marshal Sir George White was Commander in Chief in India from 1893 to 1898 and was a rising star of the Army. Yet his reputation suffered from the South African War and his decision to take refuge in Ladysmith and become sieged during the early part of the war. Field Marshal Robert Napier was also Commander-in-Chief India from 1870 to 1876. He was originally an officer of engineers in the East India Company Army. He was considered one of the finest civil engineers in India and developed a reputation as a fine battlefield commander, culminating in his successfully conducting the Abyssinia Campaign of 1867-68. Brigadier General Robert Loyd-Lindsay's success lay in the political arena more than the military. He did much in the name of military reform and worked hard for the medical support of soldiers. General Sir Archibald Allison was very much the fighting soldier in his younger days, but in later life proved a successful Commandant at Sandhurst and Head of the Intelligence Branch at the War Office. Field Marshal William Nicholson had an interesting campaigning career and had the distinction of being the Second Chief of the General Staff of the British Army and was credited with much success in reforming the army. General Sir William Lockhart was yet another Commander-in-Chief in India who had seen considerable active service including commanding the Tirah Expedition of 1897-1898. General Sir Henry Brackenbury saw considerable active service but his greatest contributions were behind the scenes. He was the greatest administrator in the British Army during the Victorian Era. Major-General Sir John Ardagh had served under Brackenbury in the Intelligence Branch and later became its leader. Ardagh was also a first rate administrator and did an excellent job in the Intelligence Branch. Although criticised during the South African War for a perceived failure of military intelligence he was exonerated by the Royal Commission set up after the war. General Sir Arthur Cunynghame was an officer of the old school. He perhaps deserves more credit than he gets and certainly provides for an interesting study. All in all the Generals featured in this book provides us with a very interesting insight into generals of this era and the way in which they exercised command. The authors are a collection of experienced and early career historians. Contains 40 b/w ills.

400 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2015

About the author

Dr Christopher Brice read History and Politics at undergraduate level before embarking on his PhD thesis, initially as part of a joint research agreement between the War Studies Department of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and De Montfort University. The thesis was entitled 'The Military Career of General Sir Henry Brackenbury 1856-1904'. Dr Brice has given guest lectures at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and the National Army Museum, Chelsea, on Henry Brackenbury and elements of his career.

Reviews

[Robert Neil Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Say what you like about the Victorian period and the British Empire, but there’s no doubting the range of colourful characters that inhabited the era. Nowhere is this truer than in the British Army. In this collection of essays, Christopher Brice has drawn together essays from various historians on seven of Queen Victoria’s lesser lights.
Anyone doubting the relevance of this work need only turn to the first general on the list, Sir George White, who made his reputation as a young major in Afghanistan in the 1878 campaign as described by Rodney Atwood. He went on to command in Burma during a particularly volatile period, then in Balochistan. He was also the hero of the Ladysmith siege during the Boer War. Ian Beckett narrates the career of Sir William Lockhart. He served in the Indian Mutiny and the Far East then back to the North-West Frontier. Indeed, he would become the army’s foremost frontier expert. His signal moment came when he commanded the Tirah Campaign in the winter of 1897. Unfortunately, Lockhart’s career ended with his premature death from malaria in March 1900.
Christopher Brice takes up the baton with his account of Sir Robert Cornelis Napier. Napier, Brice points out, is now largely forgotten but was once Britain’s ‘go-to’ general in the event of war. He arrived in India in 1829 to command the 1st Bengal Sappers but greater things lay ahead. He served in the Anglo-Sikh Wars and the Indian Mutiny. He also commanded in China and led the stunning 1867 Abyssinian expedition. From there, he returned to become the Commander-in-Chief of India then took up the same position in Gibraltar. That was his last command as new leaders were rising in the British army. Edward Gosling looks at the career of Sir John Charles Ardagh, a Royal Engineer from 1859 who made his reputation as an intelligence officer, beginning in 1875. Much of his valuable work lay in engineering, surveying, and diplomacy, though he saw action in the Sudan. Gosling argues that Ardagh was an important general through the modernization period for Victoria’s army.
Notable historian John Laband’s contribution is an analysis of the aristocratic Sir Arthur Cunynghame in South Africa from 1873 to 1878. He was a veteran of the First Opium War and the Crimean War before landing in India in 1862. He commanded his first true colonial expedition in 1877 in the Ninth Cape Frontier War in South Africa, though he saw no action. Politics rather than military failure did him in and he was recalled to Britain. Paul Ramsay continues the essays with his review of Sir William Nicholson, the ‘leading staff officer of his generation’. He spent thirty years in India, Afghanistan, Egypt, and South African honing his skills as an engineer and staff officer, and played a significant role in preparing the British army for World War I. Finally, Roger Stearn considers Lord Wantage VC. He joined the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1850 and was one of the earliest VC winners, earning his in the Crimean War. However, he never commanded a formation in battle, according to Stearn. Indeed, he did not see much action at all after Crimea, but he played a role from the side lines as one of the benevolent aristocracy that populated Late Victorian England.
While all that might seem like an extensive summary of contents, I’ve barely scratched the surface of this enthralling and information packed book: Victoria’s generals were an extremely industrious lot. The seven essays are uniformly well-written by historians who know their material, though there is some inevitable overlap between essays. As for the generals, what comes across are universal attributes, such as courage, administrative expertise, political awareness, and logistical and planning skills that kept an extensive empire running through Victoria’s long reign. That these were the ‘forgotten’ generals speaks volumes for those who are still household names. If you have an interest in the Victorian empire or the 19th Century British army, you will want to read this book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting set of mini-biographies of soldiers famous in the Victorian era but largely forgotten now.