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High Ranking Officers


Military History Army High Ranking Officers

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Photographs of High ranking Officers of the British Army  during the reign of Queen Victoria. Including photographs of H.R.H The Duke of Cambridge,  H.R.H The Duke of Connaught, Field Marshal The Rt.-Hon. Viscount Wolseley, Lieutenant-General Sir H. Evelyn Wood, V.C., Field Marshal Lord Roberts, V.C., Field-Marshal Sir John Lintorn Simmons Major-General Sir Robert Cunliffe Low, Brigadier-General Sir H.H. Kitchener. (1896) Later to become Lord Kitchener and General Sir Drury Curzon Drury Lowe.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V13

H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge (1895)

The Duke of Cambridge was born in 1819, and entered the army in 1837, with the rank of Colonel.  He became Major-General in 1845, Lieutenant-General in 1854, General in 1856, Field Marshal in 1862.  In the Crimea the Duke commanded the 1st Division, and was present at the Alma, Balaclava and at Inkerman, where he had his horse shot under him.  In July, 1856, the Duke was appointed Commander-in-Chief, which office he held until October 1895.  On his retirement the Duke of Cambridge was specially appointed Chief Personnel A.D.C. to the Queen, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Army, a distinction that will give the Duke precedence and an ex-officio position at all reviews and military ceremonies he may be present at.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V14

Field Marshal The Rt.-Hon. Viscount Wolseley (1895)

Ever since the Coomassie Expedition of 1873 Lord Wolesley (then for nine years after known as Sir Garnet) has been before the public.  Tel-el-Kebir brought him a peerage, and the Nile Expedition a Viscounty.  In May, 1894, he was promoted a Field Marshal, and in March 1895, he was appointed Colonel of the Blues.  On the 1st of November 1895 he became Commander-in-Chief vice the Duke of Cambridge.  Entering the service in 1852, Lord Wolesley has seen fighting all the world over, has been repeatedly wounded, and repeatedly mentioned in despatches.  Here he appears in the full dress of a Field Marshal, with the baton of his rank in hand.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V33

Lieutenant-General H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught (1896)

The Duke of Connaught (then Prince Arthur) entered the Army in 1868, at the age of eighteen, and served successfully in the Engineers, Artillery, Rifle Brigade, 7th Hussars, becoming in 1876 Lieutenant-Colonel of the Rifle Brigade.  After being Brigade-Major at Aldershot, A.A.G. at Gibraltar, and Brigadier at Aldershot, he went to Egypt in command of the Guard's Brigade, and was at Tel-el-Kebir, "evincing on all occasions the utmost zeal for his profession", and "setting an example of cool courage under fire".  Then he served in India as a Divisional General and as Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, after which he was appointed to Aldershot command, his present (1896) post.  The Duke is widely acknowledged as a keen and thorough soldier.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V35

Lord Roberts and his Headquarter Staff (1896)

Here we have a portrait group showing Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, commanding the forces in Ireland, with the officers who comprise the headquarter staff under him.  Lord Roberts took over the command in Ireland from Lord Wolesley on the 1st of October 1895.  The photograph reproduced above was taken at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Lord Roberts' official residence in Ireland.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V53

Lieutenant-General Sir H. Evelyn Wood, V.C. (1896)

Sir Evelyn Wood began life in the Navy, and served with the Naval Brigade in Crimea.  From Midshipman he became Cornet of Light Dragoons, and then a Lieutenant in the 17th Lancers, while holding which rank he served in the Indian Mutiny and won his V.C.  He then exchanged as Captain into the Infantry.  The Ashanti War of 1873-74 brought Colonel Wood prominently forward, and he added to his reputation in the Kaffir War of 1878, in Zululand, and in the Egyptian and Khartoum Expeditions, taking part in the latter as Chief of the Staff to Lord Wolesley.  After commanding the Eastern District at Home, and at Aldershot, he became Quartermaster-General at Headquarters in 1894.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V57

Lord Wolesley and the Headquarters Staff in Ireland (1895)

Our illustration of Lord Wolesley and the officers of the Headquarter Staff of the Army in Ireland is the last photograph taken of the Field Marshal during his tenure of the chief command of the Forces across St George's Channel.  It was while holding the command in Ireland that Lord Wolesley received his promotion to Field Marshal.  He is photographed in the uniform (Field Day Order) of that rank.  Lord Wolesley handed over the command to Lord Roberts at the end of September 1895, having in the previous August received notification of his appointment to succeed the Duke of Cambridge at the War Office.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V89

Field Marshal Lord Roberts, V.C.

There is no more popular officer in the Military Service than "Bobs".  Frederick Sleigh Roberts, the distinguished son of a distinguished father, is an old officer of the Bengal Artillery.  In the mutiny before Delhi, where he was wounded and his horse shot under him, he repeatedly distinguished himself, and won the V.C.  The Umbeylah and Abyssinian Campaigns brought him more credit, and the Afghan War capped it.  His march to Candahar assured his position in the front rank.  India never has had a more able or successful Commander-in-Chief.  Now he is a Peer of the Realm and a Field-Marshal, further progress toward effieciency of the Forces in Ireland is assured in his capable hands.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V90

The Major of the Tower

Lieutenant-General George Bryan Milman is a veteran officer of some fifty seven years' service.  He made his mark as a Captain in the Indian Mutiny at Lucknow, where he fought brilliantly and distinguished himself with the advance guard in the first relief of the garrison, taking part after that in the heroic defence of the place under Outram, and again coming to the front in the final capture.  The close of the campaign found him a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel with C.B. and a grant of a year's service.  General Milman, besides his Mutiny medal with two clasps, wears the gold medal of the Royal Humane Society for saving the lives of several brother officers at sea, under exceptionally heroic circumstances.  He has been Major of the Tower since 1870.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 1V109

General the Rt. Hon Sir Redvers Henry Buller, V.C. (1896) 

The present (1896) Adjutant-General of the British Army is a soldier who owes his good fortune to his own merits.  Entering the Army in 1858, he has practically won his way to his present (1896) high position by brilliant war service, and the display of capabilities for command on the battlefield of the first order. He is an old comrade in arms to Lord Wolseley, under whom Sir Redvers Bulle served in the Red River Expedition.  Now he is his old chief's right-hand man at the War Office.

Lower picture - General Sir Redevers Buller, V.C., G.C.B., at Military Manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain (1898)

Field-Marshal Sir John Lintorn Simmons, G.C.B. (1896)

Field-Marshal Sir John Lintorn Simmons has a record of service coinciding exactly with the length of Her Majesty's reign, his ditinguished career beginning in 1837, in which year he entered the Royal Engineers.  The veteran Field-Marshal has played many parts.  He helped to fortify the Canadian frontier; was with Omar Pasha at Silistria; and served before Sebastopol.  Since then he has commanded the "Shop" at Woolwich, the School of Engineering at Chatham, and the Royal Engineers at Aldershot.  After being Inspector-General of Fortifications, and Director of Works at the War Office, he concluded his active career as Governor of Malta.  Sir Lintorn Simmons was made a Field-Marshal in 1890.

The Commander of the First Brigade at Aldershot.  (1896)

Major-General H. M. Bengough, C.B., who is shown in the foreground of our illustration, with his Aide-de-Camp and Brigade Major (shown a little to the rear), commands the First Brigade of the Aldershot Division under the Duke of Connaught.  He has seen war service in Zululand, in command of a battalion of the Natal Native Contingent, and on the staff in Burmah, as Assistant Adjutant and Quarter-Master General; winning a brevet in the first campaign, and the C.B. in the second, and being in both expeditions mentioned in despatches.  Our portrait was taken in January 1896 on the occasion of a long distance route march of the Aldershot Division, during a halt of the troops on the way home.

The Constable of the Tower (1896)

It is as long ago as sixty three years (1833) since Daniel Lysons, then eighteen, entered the Army as an ensign in the First Royals.  He saw his first service in Canada in the "thirties", at the time of the rebellion, a period of which, in his recently published reminiscences, Sir Daniel has many stirring tales to tell.  Between that and war service before the enemy in the Crimea, came a long spell of duty in America and the West Indies.  In 1861, Sir Daniel was again in Canada, charged with organizing the Canadian Militia in connection with the Trent affair.  Sir Daniel Lysons in 1880 was appointed to the Aldershot Command, and six years ago (1890) he was made Constable of the Tower.  In his day "Dodgy Dan", as he used to be called, was considered second to none as a tactician.  He is Colonel of the "Sherwood Foresters".

Chitral: Major-General Sir Robert Cunliffe Low, G.C.B. (1896)

Few Indian officers of the day have had a more active career than the gallant Major-General who so ably conducted the operations of the Chitral Relief Expedition.  Entering the Indian cavalry forty-two years ago, General Low first saw service in the Indian Mutiny, where he was present at both the Siege and Capture of Delhi, and the Relief of Lucknow.  The Afghan War gave him his great opportunity.  Appointed Director of Transport to the Army at Cabul, it was he who practically rendered Lord Roberts' march to Candahar possible.  His services in the Afghan War brought Colonel Loww, as he then was, the C.B. and the command of a brigade in India.  The Burmese War brought him the K.C.B., and further promotion, and then came his selection to Major-General Low, the G.C.B., a distinction never granted before to an officer below the grade of full General or Lieutenant-General.

The Sirdar: Brigadier-General Sir H.H. Kitchener. (1896) Later to become Lord Kitchener

We are fortunate in having at the head of the Egyptian forces at the present moment an officer of such proved merit and so well experienced in Soudan warfare as Sir Horatio Herbert Kitchener.  General Kitchener has been for upwards of ten years attached to the Khedive's Army.  He served on the staff in the Nile Expedition of 1884-5, was present at the operation before Suakim in 1888, and in the next year took part in the campaign which resulted in the defeat of the Dervish invading force as Toski.  For his services Sir H. H. Kitchener has been repeatedly mentioned in despatches.  He is forty-five, and is an officer of the Royal Engineers - a Major R.E. in substanctal rank, with the Brevet of Colonel.  It is as "Sirdar" or Commander-ib-Chief of the Khedive's forces that Colonel Kitchener ranks as a Brigadier General.

General Sir Drury Curzon Drury Lowe. (1896)

This well know and distinguished cavalry officer is the Colonel of the 17th Lancers, with which gallant regiment Sir Drury Lowe throughout his career, from cornet to colonel, has ever been intimately associated.  He served with the 17th Lancers in the Crimea, in India during the Mutiny, and in Zululand, and was at the head of the regiment as Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding from 1866 to 1879.  As Commander of the British cavalry throughtout the Egyptian War of 1882, Sir Drury Lowe's name has become widely familiar particularly in connection with the "midnight charge" at Kassassin, and brilliant dash across country after the battle of Tel-El-Kebir, which resulted in the capture of Cairo.  Since then Sir Drury Lowe has commanded the Aldershot Cavalry Brigade and held the post of Inspector-General in Great Britain.  He was born in 1830, joined the 17th Lancers in 1854, and was appointed Colonel of his regiment in 1892.

Officers of the Aldershot Division

Our portrait group of officers serving under the Duke of Connaught, was taken on the occasion of the Presentation of Coloors by the Duchess of Connaught to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.  The general officer, with feather in his cocked hat, shown in the immediate foreground, with his horse's head outside the limits of the picture, is Major-General H. M. Bengough, C.B., commanding the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Aldershot Division.  The other officer wearing feathers in his cocked hat, shown on the left of the picture as the reader looks at it, is General Bengough's Brigade Major, Captain T. D'O. Snow.  The three officers wearing the Aide-de-camp's plume in their cocked hats, are the Duke of Connaught's three A.D.C.'s - Captain Lord Bingham, of the Rifle Brigade (shown speaking with Captain Snow), Captain Godfrey (shown with his hand raised to his head), and Captain Blunt, of the Royal Artillery.

General H.S.H. Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, G.C.B. (1896)

Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar is the eldest son of Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and was born in 1823.  He entered the Grenadier Guards in 1841 as Ensign, and gained all his steps up to Major-General's rank in the regiment, with whom, further, he served as Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel in the Crimea.  Prince Edward was present with the Grenadiers at the Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman, and in the trenches before Sebastopol.  He was wounded in action, and for his services was mentioned in despatches.  From 1870 to 1890, as a General Officer, he commanded the Home District, the Southern District, and the Forces in Ireland, in which last-named post he was succeeded by Lord Wolseley.  since 1888, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar has been the Colonel of the 1st Life Guards.  A kinder and more considerate officer to those under him in all ranks, and one more personally beloved by all, it is safe to say, the Service has never seen.

General Sir Collingwood Dickson, V.C. (1897)

Sir Collingwood Dickson entered the Royal Artillery in December 1835.  His record is one of which he may well be proud.  As one of Lord Raglan's Staff in the Eastern Campaign of1854-55, he was present at the Alma, Inkerman, and Balaclava, and took part in the expedition to Kertch.  When commanding the night siege train in the bombardment of Sebastopol, 17th October, 1854, he gained the Victoria Cross "for having, when the batteries of the right attack had run short of powder, displayed the greatest coolness and contempt of danger in directing the unloading of several waggons of the field battery which were brought up to the trenches to supply the want, and having personally assisted in carrying the powder barrels under severe fire from the enemy."  Sir Collingwood became Major-General 1866, Lieutenant-General 1876, and general 1877.  He is one of the Colonels-Commandant Royal Artillery, and was made G.C.B 1884.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 6V13

Lieutenant-General Henry Fanshawe Davies. (1898)

Lieutenant-General Davies, like the present Adjutant-General (Sir Evelyn Wood) and Lord William Seymour, is an ex-midshipman of the Royal Navy.  Like the two well known officers just named, he is also among the lucky few who, having for one reason or another many years ago transferred their services from the Queen's Naval forces to the land forces, have eventually attained to rank and distinction on the generals list of the Army while still full of energy, and with good prospects of active employment before the day of compulsory retirement arrives.  He first saw war service as a Naval officer in the Burmese War of 1852, and then in the Baltic in the Russian War in 1854, for each of which campaigns General Davies wears a medal.  After the first year of Naval operations in the Baltic, General Davies joined the Army, his first commission being dated December 19th 1854.  Three years later he got his captaincy.  As colonel, General Davies took part in the Zulu War of 1879, commanding at various points within the field of operations, particularly at Conference Hill and at Fort Newdigate, his services being rewarded with mention in despatches and a clasp to his medal.  He became major-general in 1886, and from 1889 to 1894 commanded the Cork District, becoming lieutenant-general (his present rank) in 1893.

The Commander-in-Chief in Scotland (1898)

General Edward Francis Chapman, C.B., who commands the Scottish District, with his headquarters in Edinburgh, is a very distinguished officer of the Royal Artillery.  Entering the Service in 1858, he first saw fighting in the Abyssinian War of ten years later, during which campaign he served with No. 5 Battery, 21st Brigade, and then as aide-de-camp to the general officer in command of the Royal Artillery, Brigadier-General Petrie.  In Abyssinia he was present at the action of Arogee and at the fall of Magdala, being mentioned in despatches for his services.  Ten years later still came the Afghan War, in which general Chapman won the two brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel for staff services as deputy adjutant-general and deputy quartermaster general.  He was with Sir Donald Stewart in the adventurous march north from Candahar to Cabul, including the fierce fight at Ahmed Khel, and with Lord Roberts in the better remembered Cabul-Candahar march, including the final battle of Candahar.  For the Afghan War general Chapman was twice mentioned in despatches.  Since then, in 1885-86, General Chapman has seen service in Burmah.  He became Major-General in 1889, lieutenant-general in 1892, and general in March 1896.  General Chapman is a Staff College graduate, and from 1891 to 1896 was Director of Military Intelligence at the War Office.  He was appointed to command the Scottish District in May 1896.

Became Master Gunner of St James's Park 1919 - 1926.

General John Hart Dunne (1898)

General Dunne is an old Scots Fusilier, which celebrated old fighting corps he entered in September 1852.  With the Royal Scots Fusiliers he, in 1854, went to the Crimea, and had a share in every engagement in which the Army took part in the Eastern Campaign.  He was present with his regiment at the battle of the Alma - in the 4th division - after that at Balaclava, then in the thick of the fray in the terrible November fight at Inkerman, "the soldier's battle", in the trenches before Sebastopol, and finally in the great assault on the Redan on June 18th 1855.  Before the war was over he had gained his captaincy - on July 27th, 1855.  General Dunne wears for the Crimea the British Army medal with four clasps, the fifth class of the Medjidie, and the Turkish medal.  general Dunne also saw service in the North China War in 1860, in which he served with the 99th Regiment (now the 2nd Wiltshire), and took part in several engagements, including the assault and capture of the Taku Forts and the final surrender of Pekin.  For the China War he holds the China medal with two clasps.  He became major-general in 1881, lieutenant-general in 1889, and general in 1893.  General Dunne is the holder of a reward for distinguished and meritorious service.

Major-General H Le Guay Geary, C.B.

The gallant gunner who commands the Belfast District, Major-General Henry Le Guay Geary, C.B., began his Army service with the siege train in the trenches before Sebastopol in 1855, and had the good fortune to be present at and take part in three bombardments of the great Russian fortress - those of June 6th and 17th, and August 17th, 1855 - and at the final taking of Sebastopol.  Three years after the Russian War he was in India, taking part in the flying column operations of the Mutiny in 1858 and 1859, first with the field force commanded by Sir Hope Grant, and later with the Gorruckpore Field Force.  In the Abyssinian War of 1868, Captain Geary, as he then was, for the third time saw active service as Brigade-Major of Artillery, in which capacity he was present at the action of Arogee, and final assault and capture of Magdala.  General Geary, as colonel, served on the staff of the Army at headquarters as assistant to the director of Artillery from 1885 to 1889.  He was promoted to major-general in 1891, and in September, 1895, was appointed to his present post - the command of the Belfast District, one of the four into which the little army across St George's channel, commanded in chief by Lord Roberts, is for administrative purposes divided.  General Geary, who comes of an old family that has given several distinguished officers to both the Army and the Navy, holds a reward for distinguished service.

Sir Henry Le Guay Geary went on to become President of the Ordnance Committee from 1899 to 1902, then the Governor of Bermuda from 1902 until his retirement in 1904.  He was born in 1837 and died in 1918.

Lieutenant-General John Plumptre Carr Glyn (1898)

General Carr Glyn is an old Rifle Brigade man.  He entered the favourite and very distinguished regiment in August, 1854, just before the opening of hostilities in the Crimea, in which, during the second year's campaign, he saw active service, being present before Sebastopol, from June 17th 1855, down to the fall of the fortress.  He next saw war service as a major in the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, under Lord Wolseley (the Colonel Sir Garnet Wolseley), in the operations of the Ashanti War, where he was present at the front in all the fighting, particularly in the two actions of Amoaful and Ordahsu, and at the final event of the smartly carried out campaign, the capture of Kumasi.  The Ashanti Was gave Major Carr Glyn his brevet of lieutenant-colonel, dated April 1st 1874.  He became colonel in 1879 and major-general in 1889.  While holding the latter rank, General Glyn, from 1892 to 1897, held the command of the Eastern District of the Army at home, succeeding at Colchester the present Adjutant-General Sir Evelyn Wood.  General Glyn became lieutenant general in January of 1898.  He holds the reward for distinguished and meritorious services.

Lieutenant-General Sir George Benjamin Wolseley, K.C.B. (1898)

Sir George Wolseley, who has been acting in charge of the Punjab army corps of the Indian Army during the absence of Sir William Lockhart and Sir Palmer Power with the Tirah Expeditionary Forces, is the divisional commander of the Lahore District in India, which post he has held since March 1895.  He entered Her Majesty's Service in 1857, five years after his distinguished brother, Lord Wolseley, and first saw field service with one of the punitive columns in the second stage in the Indian Mutiny.  This was the 84th Foot, now the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment in which corps (either in the 84th o its senior and linked battalion the old 65th) all Sir George Wolseley's regimental service has been passed.  In 1878 - 79 he served as A.A.G. with the Candahar Field Force; in 1882 as A.A.G. with the army in Egypt, being present at Tel-El-Kebir.  Sir George again served in Egypt as A.A.G. in the Khartoum Relief Expedition of 1884- 85, and in 1887 in the campaign in Burma, where in the operations of 1889 - 91 he commanded a brigade.  He has been three times mentioned in despatches, and won a brevet lieutenant-colonecly in Afghanistan, an A.D.C.ship in 1882, the C.B. in 1885, and the K.C.B. for his services in 1889 - 91.

Original magazine photo page published 1895 - 1902.  Price ?25.   Or reproduction of photograph ready mounted. Price ?25. Click here to order.  ORDER CODE 6V193

Major-General Archibald Hunter (1898)

Few officers can boast of such an excellent record of service as Major-General Archibald Hunter, who lately distinguished himself at the battle of Atbara when commanding the Egyptian troops.  He served in the Nile expedition in 1884-85, was mentioned in despatches, and obtained his brevet-majority with the 4th Class Osmanieh and 3rd Class Medjidie.  
General Hunter accompanied the Frontier Field Force in 1885 - 86, and was severely wounded at Giniss, being mentioned in despatches.  For his services he was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.  In the operations on the Soudan frontier in 1889 he commanded a brigade at Arguin and Toski.  During the latter battle he was severely wounded.  In the words of Major General Grenfell, K.C.B., "he commanded his brigade in a cool and soldier-like manner, and remained on the field after having received a spear wound in the arm."  For his gallantry he was made brevet-lieutenant-colonel.  He was governor of the Red Sea littoral from August 1892 to July 1894, governor of the Frontier and Commandant Frontier Force from July 1894 to November 1896 and was appointed governor of Dongola in December 1896.  He became brevet-colonel in January 1894, but it was in the Dongola Expedition of 1896 that General Hunter proved himself an able leader.  At Firket he rendered distinguished service and in consequence became Major-General in November 1896 at the early age of forty.

Hunter went on to serve at Omdurman in 1898 and during the Boer War 1899 - 1902.  He was Governor of Gibraltar 1910 - 1913.  He was Colonel of the King's Own Regiment from 1913 - 1926.  At the break out of the First World War, he was considered too old for a post in the field.  Instead he was to become GOC at Aldershot.  Hunter was born in 1856 and died in 1936.

Major-General William F Gatacre, C.B., D.S.O.

Major-General William Gatacre who is in command of the British brigade in the Soudan, only went to Aldershot a few months ago to succeed Major-General Kelly-Kenny in command of the 3rd Infantry Brigade.  General Gatacre received his first commission in 1862.  He served with the Hazara Expedition in 1888 as deputy adjutant and quartermaster general (D.S.O. and medal with clasp).  He came into prominent notice by his services in connection with the operations of the Chitral relief Force in 1895, when he commanded a flying column.  The gallant passage of the Lowarai Pass by the troops under his command was rewarded by a particularly honourable mention in Sir R C Low's final despatch.  Major-General Gatacre won special mention in the Sirdar's recent despatch on the battle of the Atbara, in which "by the careful training and gallant leading of his brigade he fully sustained his former high reputation."  Again the Sirdar says "The high state of efficiency to which the British brigade was brought is, I consider, in a large measure due to the untiring energy and devotion to duty of Major-General Gatacre...  During the engagement General Gatacre showed a fine example of gallant leading."

Lieutenant-General William Godfrey Dunham Massy, C.B.

"Redan Massy" - to give the gallant colonel of the 5th Lancers the sobriquet by which the British Army best knows him - entered the service in October 1854.  Going out to the Crimea he joined the troops before Sebastopol, and was under fire at the battle of Tchernaya.  He commanded the Grenadiers of the 19th Foot at the assault on the Redan on September 8th 1855, where his extreme gallantry won him the admiration of all England.  In the attack he was dangerously wounded by a bullet which shattered his left thigh, received other less serious wounds, and was left wounded on the field, with the result that the night after the assault he fell into the hands of the Russians.  They, however, believing him mortally wounded, did not trouble to remove him.  Brought back some hours later to the British camp, Lieutenant Massy, as the gallant general then was, for nearly six months was confined to his camp stretcher, his fortitude and patient endurance, coupled with the splendid heroism he had shown at the attack on the Redan, winning him recommendation from the Commander in Chief in a special despatch and promotion to Captain.  in the Afghan War of 1879, Colonel Massy commanded the Cavalry Brigade with Lord Roberts, and took part at the battle of Charasiah and the operations up to the fall of Cabul, the capture of Sherpur, the Chardeh Valley action, the sortie from Sherpur, and the final pursuit of the enemy.  From 1888 to 1893, Major-General Massy commanded the troops in Ceylon.  He was appointed colonel of the 5th Lancers in October 1896 and on april 1st 1898 was placed on the Retired List, having been five years unemployed.  his promotion to lieutenant general took place in 1894.

General Sir H S Jones, K.C.B., Royal Marines.

General Howard Sutton Jones entered the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1853, just a twelve month previous to the outbreak of the Russian War.  In that war he had his first experience of active service, as a first lieutenant of Marines, in one of the ships of the Baltic Fleet during the expeditionary cruise of 1855.  After the war he embarked in the "Satellite" for service on the Pacific station, where Lieutenant Jones (as the General then was) was employed for four years on special service duty in connection with the British North American boundary settlement in the Far West, and in restoring order, as officer in charge of a detachment of Marines, among the riotous gold miners on the Fraser River, British Columbia.  For his services in the North-West, he was specially thanked by the Colonial Government.  In 1882 - after as lieutenant colonel commandin a battalion of Royal Marines on special duty in the South of Ireland in connection with the Land League troubles - General Jones was ordered out to Egypt to command the Royal Marine force serving with Lord Wolseley's army.  Lord Wolseley appointed General Jones a colonel on the staff, in which capacity he was present at the capture and occupation of Tel-el-Mahuta, took part in the two attacks on Kassasssin (mentioned in despatches), and was at the final storming of the entrenchments of Tel-El-Kebir.  General Jones, as major and lieutenant general, was from 1888 to 1893 Deputy-Adjutant General royal Marines at the Admiralty.  he became full general in May 1897.

Colonel the Right Honourable J H A Macdonald, C.B., C.D.

Brigadier-General the right Honourable J H A Macdonald, commanding the Forth Volunteer Infantry Brigade, was born in the Scottish capital on December 28th 1836.  General MacDonald has won an unique position in military matters, and is the author of several well known works on drill and tactics.  Indeed, the sobriquet of "The Heaven-born soldier", bestowed on Major Macdonald some thrity-six years ago at a review in Edinburgh by Lord Wolseley, is h

generally acknowledged as describing his genius as a tactician : and the fitting phrase was uttered by the now field marshal - the general commanding on that occasion - after observation of the brilliant manner in which the brigadier general handled his forces.  He received command of the forth Brigade on September 15th 1888, and was appointed in 1896 the adjutant general of the Royal Company of Archers (Queen's Body-Guard).  he had previously (1891) been made a brigadier-general of this company, whose duty it is to guard the person  of the Sovereign on state occasions.  Every officer is of the rank of a general, and privates rank at court as aristocracy.  The photo opposite shows the adjutant general in his Body-Guard uniform, a combination of an admiral's and a general's  in dark green cloth, profusely ornamented with gold lace, showing thistles and arrows, bullion epaulettes, etc. General Macdonald also commanded the Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade (Royal Scots), which increased by some 7,000 men while under his command.  He was the first officer, whose service had been wholly as a volunteer, who was made a brigadier general, and the Forth Brigade is a very important one, embracing several counties.  As brigadier general of troops on duty at the Royal procession, he last year received from Her Majesty one of the personal medals issued by the Queen to commemorate the Jubilee, while he was also the fortunate recipient of another of those tokens of Royal favour in his capacity as adjutant general of Her Majesty's Body Guard.

Major-Genral H J T Hildyard, C.B., P.S.C.

Major-Genral H J T Hildyard, commanding the 3rd Infantry Brigade at Aldershot, is one of several distinguished officers who commenced their career in the sister service.  He was born on July 5th 1846, and entered the Royal Navy in September 1859.  He retired after a service of a few years, obtaining in 1867 an ensigncy in the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers, from which he was transferred in the same year to the 71st Highland Light Infantry.  In this battalion he was lieutenant and adjutant for nearly seven years.  he passed the Staff College in 1877, was promoted captain in the Somersetshire Light Infantry in 1878, and brevet-major in 1882.  In the latter year, after some years' service in South Africa, he took part in the Egyptian Expedition, and was present at El Magfar, Tel-El-Mahuta, Kassassin and Tel-El-Kebir, for which he received the medal with clasp, bronze star, brevet of lieutenant-colonel and 4th Class of the Osmanieh.  General Hildyard was employed with the Egyptian Army from 1883 to 1888, and was appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1886.  He subsequently held other important posts, including that of commandant of the Staff College, and was made a Companion of the Bath in 1897.

Lord Wolseley and Staff. (1898)

The Commander in Chief of the British Army is not a mere figure-head, but an official who is always fully employed.  If he is not to be found busily engaged on the subject of Army Reform at the War Office, he is witnessing a field day at Aldershot, or inspecting some branch of the regular or reserve forces.  Except during his annual leave he can lay claim to very little leisure time.  Lord Wolseley lately visited Portsmouth and inspected the garrison, which, however, was to a great extent depleted, owing to the absence of the "Fighting Fifth" or Northumberland Fusiliers, on a recruiting march through the 5th Regimental District.  The scientific corps, too, were conspicuous by their absence, for they were at the moment concerned with the arrangements for the defence of the port; but, for all that, some 2,000 troops appeared on parade and marched past Lord Wolseley.  When at Portsmouth, the Commander in Chief of the Army determined to witness some experiments in connection with the facilities for resisting a naval attack on that place.  A display was arranged for his benefit, and on the first night of his stay Lord Wolseley took up his position on the Square Tower and watched an attack by torpedo boats on the harbour.  Search-lights were employed on shore, and the six quick firing guns placed along the beach were brought into play.   The following day the Commander in Chief and his staff visited the Isle of Wight and inspected the defences.  In the visit of the Commander in Chief to Portsmouth, the military critic discerns more than a mere official inspection.  Such experiments are but signs of the times, and tend to show that the authorities are fully alive to the intimate connection which ought to be maintained between our naval forces and the defenders of our ports on land by whom their efforts are supplemented.

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