Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Wolseley, Garnet Joseph
WOLSELEY, GARNET JOSEPH, first Viscount Wolseley (1833–1913), field-marshal, the eldest son of Major Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 25th Borderers, by his wife, Frances Anne, daughter of William Smith, of Golden Bridge House, co. Dublin, was born at Golden Bridge House 4 June 1833. His family, a junior branch of the Staffordshire Wolseleys, had obtained land in county Carlow under William III. Major Garnet Wolseley died when his eldest son Garnet was only seven years old, leaving a widow, four sons, and three daughters in somewhat straitened circumstances. Garnet was educated at a day school in Dublin, and at a very early age determined to be a soldier. Eager to improve his education to this end, and unable to afford special tuition, he took service in a surveyor's office in Dublin, and there acquired a sound knowledge of draughtsmanship and surveying, which knowledge was to bring him at an early stage of his career to the notice of his superior officers.
Wolseley's mother was a woman of remarkable character. Intensely religious, with a simple form of Irish Protestantism, she took the Bible as her one guide, and from her Wolseley acquired a profound belief, which lasted until his death, that his life was in God's hands. To this faith he added from the first a keen ambition to make a name for himself, while his parentage made him turn naturally to the army for a career. In after-life he said that the first business of the young officer who wishes to distinguish himself in his profession is to seek to get himself killed, and he did his best to apply that principle to himself. His faith in God's providence made him a fatalist. The resultant of this faith joined to an eager temperament and an ambitious nature was a rare degree of courage.
Wolseley received his commission as second lieutenant in the 12th Foot on 12 March 1852, and at once transferred to the 80th Foot, which was engaged in the second Burma War, in order that he might see active service. He arrived in Calcutta at the end of October 1852 to hear the guns of Fort William firing a salute on the death of the Duke of Wellington. Thus, the soldier destined to create a new phase in the history of the British army began his service just when the great leader of the régime which he was to modernize passed away. A few months later Wolseley, not yet twenty, won his first distinction by leading with judgement and gallantry an assault upon Meeah Toon's stockade, in which at the moment of victory he fell severely wounded in the left thigh. For this service he was mentioned in dispatches, was promoted lieutenant on 16 May 1853, and received the Burma War medal. He was sent home to recover from his wound, and transferred to the 90th Foot in Dublin, where, as the crisis in the Near East which culminated in the Crimean War developed, he grew more and more restless until orders arrived for his battalion to embark. When he landed in the Crimea the siege of Sebastopol was in progress, and his knowledge of surveying was soon of service. In January 1855 he was appointed an assistant engineer and served in that capacity in the trenches, becoming, owing to a run of promotion, captain at the age of twenty-one. In the trenches he first met Charles George Gordon [q.v.], the common bond of religion drawing the two men together and cementing a close friendship which was to last till Gordon's death. In June 1855 he distinguished himself greatly in the attack on the Quarries, in which he was slightly wounded, the success of the operation being in a great measure due to his personal example and initiative. On 30 August, a few days before the fall of Sebastopol, he was severely wounded by a shell, losing the sight of one eye. On recovery he was appointed to the quartermaster-general's staff and remained with it till the end of the War. For his services he was recommended for a brevet majority, which he could not receive till he had completed (24 March 1858) six years' service. Returning home from the Crimea he was for a short time with the 90th at Aldershot. Then orders came for the battalion to go to China, where risings were threatening the security both of Shanghai and Hong Kong. On its way to the Far East the transport was wrecked, and, owing to the mutiny of the Bengal army, a second vessel took the three companies of the 90th, with which Wolseley travelled, from Chinese waters to Calcutta, where they were landed in 1857. In November of that year he took part in Sir Colin Campbell's first relief of Lucknow, and so distinguished himself in the leading of his company that with it he accomplished what Sir Colin had planned to be undertaken the next day by his pet regiment, the 93rd Highlanders. After the withdrawal from Lucknow, the 90th was shut up with Sir James Outram in the Alumbagh until Sir Colin was able to return on 5 February 1858 for the final capture of Lucknow. This achieved, Wolseley was appointed by Sir Colin quartermaster-general on Sir Hope Grant's staff, and served throughout the campaign of Oudh. He was mentioned five times in dispatches, and at the end of the Mutiny was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel at the age of twenty-five.
Hardly was the Mutiny over before Wolseley was sent to China, still on Sir Hope Grant's staff, for the campaign which the war in India had postponed. Reaching China in April 1860, he took part in the capture of the Taku Forts and of the Summer Palace at Pekin. During the looting of the treasures of the palace he was observed looking sadly upon a scene which he was powerless to stop, and he paid for such few treasures as he could afford to buy, a very real piece of self-denial to a man with great natural taste for works of art, of which as soon as he had any money he became an ardent and judicious collector. Throughout his life he was strongly opposed to looting, which he regarded as immoral and injurious to discipline, and on the first occasion when he had authority, at the capture of Kumassi (1874), he insisted on King Koffee's treasure being regularly valued and systematically sold. The close of the China campaign, at the end of which he was awarded a substantive majority, marks the end of the first period of Wolseley's career. With less than eight years' service he was a brevet lieutenant-colonel, he had distinguished himself in four campaigns, each very different in character, he had established a reputation for personal courage, cool leading and judgement in action, and had proved himself to be a staff officer of ability. He was marked out as a coming man. But his experiences had done more for him than the laying of the foundation of a successful career. They had taught him to respect profoundly the fighting quality of the British soldier, but also they had taught him the grave defects of organization and training from which the British army suffered. In the Crimean winter and the Indian summer he had marked the suffering and want of efficiency due to lack of preparation and organization. He had noted the evils of a long-service system which provided no reserves to fill the losses due to battle and disease, the weakness of the purchase system, and the lack of inducements to officers to study their profession. He left China resolved to devote himself to the remedying of these evils.
After his four campaigns he was entitled to a period of long leave, which he occupied partly in the writing of his first book, Narrative of the War with China in 1860 (1862), partly in sketching and painting, in which he had considerable skill, and partly in hunting in Ireland, and it was while enjoying this sport that he was suddenly in 1861 ordered to Canada as assistant quartermaster-general. The American Civil War was then in progress, and the Trent incident had decided the British government to increase the forces in Canada. During his period of staff service there he had opportunities of testing his theories of military organization and training, and also of increasing his experience of war by a visit to the United States while the Civil War was in progress.
During that visit Wolseley met Robert Lee and ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, of whose character, generalship, and ability he expressed unbounded admiration in a vivid article on the War which he wrote for Blackwood's Magazine in 1863. The Canadian service also gave him more leisure than his campaigns had allowed him for serious study, particularly of military history. In June 1865 he was promoted full colonel, and not long afterwards was made deputy quartermaster-general in Canada. Two years later, during a period of leave, he married Louisa, daughter of Mr. Alexander Erskine; and since he was a man capable of great devotion and very responsive to all that is best in woman's influence, his wife filled during the remainder of his life the place in his mind which his mother had occupied. How large that place was and how much Lady Wolseley's keen wit and shrewd observation influenced and aided her husband are shown in The Letters of Lord and Lady Wolseley, 1870–1911, edited by Sir George Arthur (1922).In 1869 Wolseley increased his reputation by publishing The Soldier's Pocket Book, a manual of military organization and tactics, the keynote of which is preparation for war in time of peace. At that time the official manuals and regulations were almost solely concerned with peacetime drill and administration, and Wolseley's book, which ran through many editions, was the forerunner of the modern field service regulations. The next year he obtained his first chance of displaying his ability as a commander. During his period of service in Canada, the Fenians had been giving constant trouble by raids from the United States into Canada, and by their endeavours to enlist the sympathy of the French Canadians. These disturbances culminated at the end of 1869 in the rebellion of Louis Riel [q.v.], the direct cause of which was the transfer of the Hudson Bay Territory to the Canadian government. Riel proclaimed a republic of the North West and established himself at Fort Garry. It was necessary to send an expedition, known as the Red River expedition (August–September 1870) against him, and Wolseley was chosen to command it. The problem was chiefly one of organization, and consisted in transporting a little force of 1,200 men with all their stores some 600 miles from Lake Superior to Fort Garry mainly by river. For this Wolseley relied largely on the services of the Canadian voyageurs, and he was completely successful, receiving the K.C.M.G. and C.B. for his services. In May 1871 he was brought home to the War Office as assistant adjutant-general, and was from the first an ardent supporter of the reforms which Mr. (afterwards Viscount) Cardwell [q.v.], then secretary of state for war, was inaugurating. He became the military leader of the reformers and was deeply involved in the fierce struggle which resulted in the establishment of short service, the creation of an army reserve, the abolition of purchase, and the amalgamation of the regular army, auxiliary forces, and reserve under the commander-in-chief.
While this struggle was still in progress, the outrages of King Koffee of Ashanti brought about the first Ashanti War (1873–1874), and Wolseley was sent out in command of the expedition. He took with him a band of men most of whom were to serve with him for the remainder of his career. This band, which became known as the ‘Wolseley ring’, was the target of much unreasoning jealousy. He had made a practice of noting down the names of soldiers of ability and character, who were keen students of their profession, wherever he met them, and these were the only passports to his favour. The men whom he selected were little known even in the army at the time when he chose them, and included those known later as Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir Henry Brackenbury, Sir Redvers Buller, Sir George Pomeroy Colley, Sir William Butler, and Sir Frederick Maurice. The last of these he picked out for the sole reason that he (Maurice) had beaten him in a competition for a prize offered by the second Duke of Wellington for an essay on the lessons of the Franco-Prussian War. Wolseley's essay, entitled Field Manœuvres, was published in Essays written for the Wellington Prize (1872). Wolseley landed at Cape Coast Castle in October 1873. The chief difficulties to be overcome were those of country and a pestilent climate. He made his plans so as to keep British troops as short a time as possible in the country. These reached him early in January 1874, and on the 21st of that month he had defeated King Koffee at Amoaful; the capital, Kumassi, was occupied four days later. For this swift success he received the thanks of parliament, was promoted major-general, created G.C.M.G. and K.C.B., and given a grant of £25,000.
These rewards may seem excessive in relation to the scope of the expedition, but Wolseley had come to be regarded by the government as a political asset. The Franco-Prussian War had opened men's eyes to the immense importance of military organization, and there were loud outcries about British unpreparedness. Strangely enough, the man who was the leader of the military reformers was used to show that all was well. Wolseley became a popular hero. ‘All Sir Garnet’ was the slang equivalent of the day for ‘all correct’, and George Grossmith [q.v.] made himself up as Wolseley to sing ‘The Modern Major-General’ in The Pirates of Penance. After a short spell at the War Office as inspector-general of the auxiliary forces, Wolseley was sent in 1875 as administrator and general commanding to Natal, where difficulties had arisen between the colonists and the Kaffirs. He settled these difficulties with tact and judgement. On his return home he became a member of the council of India at the India Office, and in 1878 was promoted lieutenant-general. In that year Lord Beaconsfield acquired Cyprus from the Turks and sent Wolseley to take over the island and to be its first administrator. While he was there the Zulu War broke out, and after the disaster of Isandhlwana (22 January 1879) he was chosen by the government to restore the situation. Before he landed, Lord Chelmsford [q.v.] had defeated the Zulus at Ulundi (4 July), and Wolseley's military tasks consisted in the pursuit and capture of the Zulu king, Cetywayo, and the defeat of Sekukuni, a native chief who had long harried the Boers. The problem of civil administration in South Africa had few attractions for Wolseley, and he was anxious to be rid of them as soon as possible. His instructions from the government separated him from Sir Bartle Frere [q.v.], who, until his arrival, had in preparation a scheme for the federation of South Africa, with results that were not altogether happy. After establishing an administration in Zululand which was not unjustly criticized, and granting to the Transvaal the constitution of a Crown colony in accordance with the orders of the government, Wolseley returned home to the more congenial duties of quartermaster-general at the War Office.
Wolseley then entered with increased power and authority into the struggle for army reform, and for the completion of the Cardwell programme. This threw him at once into violent opposition to the second Duke of Cambridge [q.v.], then commander-in-chief. The Duke had a profound knowledge of the personnel of the army, and was very popular in the service, but he believed that drill and discipline were the chief, if not the only, means to military efficiency, and held that long service was essential to discipline. He had not the imagination to enable him to envisage the requirements of modern war, and was satisfied with troops who made a fine show on parade. Wolseley made preparation for war the first principle of his policy, and in order to further that, obtained, after a fight for each item on his programme, an extension of the intelligence department, the preparation of plans for mobilization, the completion of the territorialization of the army, the encouragement of professional study, the simplification of equipment, and a gradual development of training for field warfare. His keenness, his intense belief that he was right, his impatience of opposition, and his quick temper often caused him to make enemies unnecessarily, and placed him in an unfavourable light. The Queen and the Duke of Cambridge, though both later changed their opinions, were disposed to regard him as a pushing upstart. Lord Beaconsfield, who had a high appreciation of Wolseley's qualities, did not think that they were altogether wrong, and he wrote to the Queen in 1879: ‘It is quite true that Wolseley is an egotist and a braggart. So was Nelson. … Men of action when eminently successful in early life are generally boastful and full of themselves. It is not limited to military and naval heroes’ [Monypenny and Buckle, Life of Disraeli, vi, 435]. Amongst the very conservative class to which most of the officers of the army belonged, a class which he did not always trouble to conciliate, Wolseley figured as an iconoclast who cared nothing for regimental history or tradition. This was far from the truth. No man had a greater belief in the value of regimental esprit de corps, but he believed in it as a thing which made for proficiency, and not as a thing to delight nursemaids. He could get little money for his plans, and in order to provide clothing economically for the reservists on mobilization, dress had to be made uniform; he was therefore driven to abolish the cherished facings of line regiments, an innovation for which he was roundly abused. This is but one example of the kind of struggle which went on throughout Wolseley's periods of service in the War Office. He won, because all the arguments were on his side; but the struggle wore him out.
In 1882 Wolseley became adjutant-general, the official then responsible for the military training, and while in this office his campaign for reform was interrupted by his last two and most famous expeditions. In 1882 Arabi Pasha headed a rebellion of the Egyptian army, and on France's refusal to intervene, the British government took the law into its own hands and sent Wolseley to enforce it. After a futile naval bombardment of Alexandria, which Wolseley condemned, there followed a short and brilliant military campaign. Wolseley left England on 15 August, and after a feint at Alexandria, swiftly and secretly transferred his troops down the Suez Canal to Ismailia. A sharp action at Kassassin brought him before Arabi's fortified lines at Tel-el-Kebir, and these were carried on 13 September by a night attack, a more daring enterprise at that date than it sounds to-day. Arabi's force was routed, and Cairo promptly occupied. For this achievement Wolseley was promoted general, received the thanks of parliament, a grant of £30,000, and was created Baron Wolseley, of Cairo and Wolseley. Eighteen months after his return from Egypt Wolseley saw his friend Charles Gordon off to Khartoum (January 1884), and as soon as the extent of the Mahdi's rising became evident, urged upon a reluctant government the necessity for a relief expedition. He did not prevail in time, and in the Nile campaign he led what was from the first a forlorn hope. It has been said that Wolseley in his choice of the route for the advance to Khartoum was prejudiced by his experiences on the Red River, and he certainly used that experience to the fullest extent, for he had 800 special boats built and employed some 400 Canadian voyageurs in their navigation. Whether the rival school which advocated the Suakin-Berber route across the desert was right can never now be determined, but it is certain that (Lord) Kitchener [q.v.], who served under Wolseley in the Nile campaign, chose in different circumstances to follow the Nile, and that Gordon himself strongly advocated the same route. As it was, Wolseley's steamers, after the Mahdi's followers had been defeated in a number of engagements, reached Khartoum (28 January 1885) just too late, but it is at least probable that a somewhat earlier arrival would merely have hastened Gordon's death. With this expedition, for which he was created viscount, and knight of Saint Patrick, Wolseley's long series of campaigns ended, and he returned to complete his work as an army reformer.
In October 1890 he was made commander-in-chief in Ireland, an appointment which gave him opportunity for experiment in modernizing the system of military training, and at the same time left him more leisure to indulge his tastes. Though he disliked society functions, he was a delightful host and greatly enjoyed the conversation of men and women of wit, with whom he was well able to hold his own. In furnishing Kilmainham Hospital he was able to give scope to his ardour as a collector of bric-à-brac, and there too he found time both for reading and writing. He again became a fairly constant contributor to the magazines, and in 1894 wrote for the Pall Mall Magazine a series of articles on The Decline and Fall of Napoleon, which were republished in book form (1895). He also began to write a work for which he had long been collecting material—the Life of Marlborough. Of this he only completed two volumes (published 1894), for in 1895, on the resignation of the Duke of Cambridge, he was appointed commander-in-chief. His struggles for reform now entered upon a new phase. He had won his battle within the army, and he now became engaged in an almost continuous effort to get ministers to give him the means to make the army efficient in war. He found his powers more cramped than he had expected. One of the Duke of Cambridge's chief efforts had been to preserve the prerogative of the Crown, particularly as regards army patronage, and in this he had received the full support of Queen Victoria. Ministers, on the other hand, were anxious to make their control complete, and they had the political sagacity to see that this would be best achieved by curbing the power of the commander-in-chief and giving the secretary of state for war a number of military advisers. Thus, Wolseley found himself not supreme but primus inter pares, a position which added to his difficulties in preparing for the South African War, which he foresaw, and for the great European struggle which he anticipated. In those days it was difficult to get the government to spend money upon stores and preparations which made no show in time of peace. But Wolseley so far won his way that, when the South African War broke out, for the first time in our military history brigades and divisions, which had been trained as such in time of peace, were swiftly mobilized and dispatched with adequate equipment to the theatre of war. It had taken Wolseley forty years to get the lessons of the Crimean War applied. The struggle with the Boers taught the army the defects in its training, and the truth of all that Wolseley had been preaching for years. Thereafter the training and preparation which enabled Great Britain in 1914 to place in the field an incomparable expeditionary force went forward without controversy.
But the long struggle for efficiency had worn out the protagonist. Wolseley retired in 1899. In 1903 he published The Story of a Soldier's Life, an interesting but not very adequate account of his life down to the Ashanti expedition. Thereafter his brain began to fail rapidly, and he died at Mentone 25 March 1913, to be buried with fitting pomp in St. Paul's Cathedral. Lady Wolseley survived her husband seven years, and the title devolved by special remainder upon their only daughter.
As a commander in the field, Wolseley never endured the supreme test of war against an equal adversary, and of his generalship it is only possible to say that everything he was asked to do he did well. His real title to fame is that he recreated the British army, which had fallen into inanition and inefficiency after the Napoleonic wars. It is he who laid the foundations upon which were built up, both the expeditionary force which saved France in 1914, and the great national army which brought victory to the Allies in 1918.
A whole-length portrait of Lord Wolseley standing by his charger, painted by Albert Besnard in 1880, was presented to the National Portrait Gallery by Lady Wolseley in 1917; a bronze bust by Sir J. E. Boehm, modelled in 1883, was also given to the Gallery by Lady Wolseley in 1919. An equestrian statue for Trafalgar Square was designed by Sir W. Goscombe John in 1918.
[Viscount Wolseley, The Story of a Soldier's Life, 2 vols., 1903, and Narrative of the War with China, 1862; C. R. Low, A Memoir of Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Wolseley, 2 vols., 1878; G. L. Huyshe, The Red River Expedition, 1871; Sir Henry Brackenbury, Narrative of the Ashantee War, 2 vols., 1874; J. F. Maurice, The Military History of the Campaign of 1882 in Egypt, 1888; H. E. Colvile, The History of the Sudan Campaign, 2 parts, 1890; Sir F. Maurice and Sir George Arthur, The Life of Lord Wolseley, 1924.]