Chapter 1

Garnet Wolseley

Steven J Corvi

‘I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General’ was the line from the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, The Pirates of Penzance (1879). Some can draw the similarities between the Gilbert and Sullivan’s character Major General Stanley and Garnet Wolseley, who also permeated Victorian popular culture and slang with the then contemporary term ‘All Sir Garnet’, meaning everything is in good order. The Victorian Imperial period was dominated by two major military figures, Wolseley and Roberts. Where Roberts was the hero in the field, Wolseley was more of the reforming intellectual general. This of course does not discount Wolseley’s vast experience in Victorian campaigns: Crimea, China, Canada, Asante, Egypt and the Sudan. His productive association with Edward Cardwell (Secretary of State for War, 1868–74) proved to be an important step in producing a more professional and highly trained British army. Wolseley said of Cardwell, ‘no British war minister ever responded more readily to demands made upon him by his military advisers’.1 Wolseley was considered the most influential reforming soldier of the Victorian age, with his firm support of Cardwell’s reforms and his practical battlefield experiences, which left an indelible mark on the British army.

Garnet Wolseley was born on 4 June 1833 in Dublin. He was one of seven children, which included three brothers (Richard, Frederick and George) and three sisters (Matilda, Frances and Caroline). Garnet’s father died when he was only 7 years old and this profoundly affected his life. The family was forced to struggle on a meagre army pension. This poverty had an obvious immediate impact on Garnet’s life and it was also to cause hardship in his then future army career. Garnet Wolseley was forced by circumstances to excel by sheer ability and competency. Since he was not afforded a public-school education, his mother and then, later, tutors educated him. He was forced at 14 to leave school and become a land surveyor in a Dublin office. Garnet considered a life in the Protestant clergy, but could not afford the education to pursue such a career. He then turned to the army and sought commission via a nomination from the Commander in Chief, the Duke of Wellington. He was at first ignored, but finally was gazetted an ensign in the 12th Foot in 1852.

Chronology

4 June 1833	Garnet Joseph Wolseley born at Golden Bridge House, Co. Dublin Educated in Dublin
12 March 1852	Commissioned as Ensign in 12th Foot
13 April 1852	Transferred to 80th Foot
1852–53	Service in Burma
19 March 1853	Severely wounded at Kyault Azein
16 May 1853	Promoted Lieutenant
27 January 1854	Transferred to 84th Foot
24 February 1854	Transferred to 90th Foot
1854–56	Service in Crimea
26 January 1855	Promoted Captain
30 August 1855	Severely wounded at Sebastopol
1857–58	Service in India
24 March 1858	Promoted Brevet Major
26 April 1859	Promoted Brevet Lieutenant Colonel
1860–61	Service in China
15 February 1861	Promoted Major (Unattached)
6 August 1861	Promoted Major in regiment
11 January 1862	Appointed AQMG, Canada
5 June 1865	Promoted Brevet Colonel
4 June 1867	Married Louisa Erskine
1 October 1867	Appointed DQMG, Canada
5 April 1870	Appointed to lead Red River expedition
1 May 1871	Appointed AAG, Horse Guards
6 September 1873	Appointed to command Asante expedition as Local Major General
1 April 1874	Promoted Major General, antedated to 6 March 1868
April 1874	Appointed Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces
16 February 1875	Appointed High Commissioner and GOC, Natal
25 November 1876	Appointed Member of Council of India
25 March 1878	Promoted Lieutenant General
22 July 1878	Appointed High Commissioner and Governor General, Cyprus
23 June 1879	Appointed High Commissioner and Governor, Natal and Transvaal as Local General
1 July 1880	Appointed QMG, War Office
1 April 1882	Appointed AG, War Office
4 August 1882	Appointed C in C, Egyptian expedition as Temporary General
13 September 1882	Victory of Tel-el-Kebir
18 November 1882	Promoted General and created Baron Wolseley of Cairo and Wolseley
1884–85	Commanded Gordon Relief Expedition
19 August 1885	Elevated to Viscount
1 October 1890	Appointed GOC, Ireland
26 May1894	Promoted Field Marshal
1 November 1895	Appointed C in C of the British army
30 November 1900	Retired as C in C
25 March 1913	Died at Menton, France
31 March 1913	Buried in St Paul’s Cathedral

Appointed CB, 1870; KCMG, 1870; KCB, 1874; GCMG, 1874; GCB, 1880; KP, 1885

The army that Wolseley was commissioned into was one that had seemingly declined since the Napoleonic Wars, though some reforms were underway by the late 1840s and early 1850s. The conditions of enlisted service remained substandard, however, and the ‘army life’ only attracted the man without means. Wellington referred to his army as the ‘scum of the earth’. This scum was what Wolseley would inherit and later greatly improve. Caught at a moment of transition, the army would be severely tested in the Crimea and forced to reform further under more modern lines. This was a fortuitous time for Wolseley to enter the army and be a formative edifice for reform.²

Garnet’s career began with active duty in the Second Burma War and he was badly wounded at Kyault Azein, leading an attack on a stronghold. This valorous act earned him a mention in dispatches and a promotion. Wolseley commented in his published biography, ‘I have never experienced the same unalloyed and elevating satisfaction, or known again the joy I then felt as I ran for the enemy’s stockade …’.³ He received, however, a fierce leg wound, which would take him out of action in Burma. He luckily recovered quickly, for he could have just have easily died from this wound or at least have lost his leg, which would have effectively ended his active military career. Wolseley was shipped home to convalesce, and this was just in time for the Crimean War.⁴

Garnet had transferred to the 90th Perthshire Light Infantry (later the Cameronians) in February 1854. Wolseley arrived after the major battles of the war, Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman, had been bungled by Lord Raglan: ‘The first object that greeted Wolseley’s eyes as he stepped out of the boat on to the inhospitable shores of the Crimea, was a firelock which lay half in and half out of the water.’⁵ This was an eerie precursor to the later siege of Sebastopol, the incompetent handling of troops and the use of archaic weapon technology by Wolseley’s regiment. Lieutenant Wolseley volunteered for dangerous duty with the Royal Engineers, which was the best opportunity for action and promotion. During his service with them in the trenches, he started a friendship with young Charles Gordon, whom he would later lead an expedition to save during Gordon’s ill-fated defence of Khartoum (1884–85). He served in ‘Gordon’s Battery’ on 4 January 1855, which inculcated a lasting relationship and earned him a promotion to Captain for his front-line duty.⁶ Wolseley was badly wounded while working on a sap trench with two other Sergeant Sappers, who were killed by the artillery fire. He slowly convalesced at a hospital near Balaclava. He stayed in the Crimea until the Peace of Paris was signed in April 1856.

The origins of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 had deep roots, but it stemmed from the basic principle that the British were trying to convert the Muslim and Hindu soldiers to Christianity. Rumours were circulated that cartridges were greased with beef and pork fat and that the powdered bones of pigs and cows were added to the ration flour, which of course offended both Muslim and Hindus alike serving in native Sepoy regiments. The Mutiny began in Meerut and spread rapidly across British military installations from Agra, Lucknow and the infamous Cawnpore. Wolseley participated in the relief of Lucknow and garnered admiration for his composure under fire in a few engagements. This was to mark Wolseley’s last service as a regimental officer, for he was to serve as a staff officer or commander on future campaigns. He was also promoted to Brevet Major in 1858 and served as Quartermaster General to Major General Sir Hope Grant. At the conclusion of the Indian mutiny campaign, Wolseley was promoted to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, which made him the youngest colonel in the British army, and the most rapidly promoted officer of this time period.⁷

Wolseley was called upon for an expedition to China, which was initiated to ratify the Treaty of Tientsin that had been agreed after the siege of Canton in June of 1858. Sir Hope Grant commanded the expedition and Wolseley again served on his staff as Quartermaster General. The campaign was a joint venture between British and French forces, focussing on the Taku forts, which fell after a brief engagement. Wolseley was engrossed in logistical planning of the campaign and especially the aftermath.⁸ The peace treaty was finally signed in 1861, but there was another threat that was rising, the Taiping Rebellion, later crushed by Wolseley’s friend Charles Gordon.⁹

After China, Garnet took eighteen months’ leave, and took care of family affairs. He was then ordered to Canada by the War Office and given the duty of Assistant Quartermaster General. Wolseley reached Halifax on 5 January 1862. The American Civil War was raging in the United States and this interested Wolseley very much, especially in the prosecution of a modern industrialised war on such a large scale. Wolseley used his time wisely and took two months’ leave to observe the Confederate armies close up. He had a letter of introduction and travelled with The Times correspondent Frank Lawley, meeting up with the Confederate army at Fredericksburg. Wolseley visited Robert E Lee’s headquarters at Winchester, where he met Lee himself, and his two Corps commanders, ‘Stonewall’ Jackson and Longstreet. This made quite the impression on the young Colonel. He wrote an article for Blackwood’s Magazine about his visit to Lee’s army. This led to later biographical works on Union General William Sherman and Confederate General Nathan Forest. He learned many valuable lessons during his visit of American Civil War battles, which was the only major industrialised war that he witnessed in person. However, Garnet mistakenly still held his belief in the use of cavalry in large-scale operations on Civil War battlefields, a stalwart concept in the arme blanche school that prevailed in many quarters until the First World War.¹⁰ Wolseley himself later switched his ideas on cavalry and derived an immensely more practical idea on the use of horses on the modern battlefield, which was more in line with Havelock and Denison’s theories¹¹ on mounted infantry.¹² There was a scare that the Union forces would invade Canada after they defeated the Confederate forces. This was quickly dispelled when it was realised this was not the intention of the North.

Wolseley wrote the first edition of his The Soldiers Pocket Book for Field Service during his time in Canada, a work that was greatly improved by his new wife’s grammatical input, Wolseley having married Louisa Erskine in 1867. Wolseley was able to put his theories to practical work when he was given command of the Red River expedition on 5 April 1870. In November 1869 French-Canadian residents rose up in rebellion to British rule and the Hudson Bay Company in Fort Garry, Manitoba under the leadership of Louis Riel. This afforded Wolseley his first independent command. He commanded the British regular force of the 1st Battalion, 60th Rifles and a battery of Royal Field Artillery and the Canadian Militia, which consisted of the 1st Ontario Rifles and 2nd Quebec Rifles. The expedition was meticulously planned and it succeeded with the bloodless capitulation of Riel. This expedition was the origin of the first ‘Wolseley Ring’,¹³ which was to be a powerful clique in the late Victorian army. Initially, it included Colonel John McNeill, Captain Redvers Buller, Lieutenant William Butler and Lieutenant Hugh McCalmont. Wolseley would widen his circle to other officers such as Henry Brackenbury, George Colley, Frederick Maurice and Evelyn Wood in the Asante campaign, which more properly marked the real beginning of the ‘Wolseley Ring’ and its arguably undue influence on the late Victorian army.

Returning to England to become Assistant Adjutant General at Horse Guards under the Crimean veteran Adjutant General Sir Richard Airey, Wolseley’s arrival coincided with the reform-oriented administration of the Liberal Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell. Cardwell faced the monumental task of improving the efficiency, organisation and social strata of the army, while simultaneously reducing the overall budget. Wolseley’s position was potentially influential since, under the then present structure of the British army, the most important staff officers under the Commander in Chief were the Military Secretary and Adjutant General.¹⁴ Some of the major reforms that were implemented were the abolition of purchased commissions, the adoption of short service, the creation of a more efficient reserve system, and the localisation and linking of battalions. The Commander in Chief, the Duke of Cambridge, and also the Queen herself opposed these reforms. Wolseley, who became associated with Cardwell, believed that the army was a naturally conservative institution and by its nature tended to resist reform due to its myriad of inhibitions such as adherence to discipline, deference to civil authority and respect for tradition, especially regimental tradition.¹⁵ Wolseley declared that reforms would only go forward after temporary setbacks, ‘Discipline is apt to make parrots of us all; we have much less individuality than the members of civil professions.’¹⁶ Wolseley and his ‘ring’ were linked to reforms in the army but not without other competitive ‘rings’, such as that soon associated with Roberts. The further rivalry and competition for staff appointments between the ‘rings’ supporting Roberts and Wolseley merely emphasised that the army was not a monolithic body. The movements in favour of reform were split, with Roberts advocating proposals that differed radically from those of Wolseley inasmuch as they reflected his own military experience and strategic priorities shaped by (Roberts’) service on the Indian subcontinent.¹⁷

Wolseley made an impact on army reform but, more importantly, he was the impetus to further propel this reform movement after Cardwell’s tenure as Secretary. He pushed further for professionalisation of the army and went loggerheads with the Duke of Cambridge on many occasions. Wolseley no doubt was in favour of Cardwell’s reforms and he rarely agreed with the Duke of Cambridge’s opinions. In fact, he challenged the Duke’s leadership, position, values and stalwart conservatism, which Wolseley felt stagnated the growth of the army in a very dynamic period of industrial growth and rapid change in the application of technology on the battlefield. Wolseley understood that modern weapons made the defensive more favourable than the offensive and the ignorance of these principles would incur unacceptable casualties on the battlefield. He also urged the use of defensive entrenchment, and indirect fire in artillery, so as not to expose the artillery battery to counter fire from both the opposing artillery and infantry. Wolseley understood modern massed rifle firepower and its increasing killing range, which was ever expanding from 1870 to 1900. However, not all his prescience was readily accepted and only after some sore defeats and heavy casualties were Wolseley’s reform ideas adopted into the army, after the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), which was indicative of a steep learning curve in staff work.¹⁸ The Wolseley ‘ring’ was said to be the ‘young school with advanced ideas’, and this propelled many of its members on to successful careers, such as Wood, Brackenbury, Colley and Maurice. However, this personal ambition could vitiate the enthusiasm for reform and in some cases the ‘ring’ members would placate the conservative establishment, the Duke of Cambridge.¹⁹

The Asante campaign was considered the campaign that made Wolseley’s name familiar in the Victorian household,

But the name and services of Sir Garnet Wolseley would have remained in comparative obscurity had not one of those crises arisen which this country, with her vast colonies and dependencies, has so frequently been called upon to meet, and once again ‘the hour brought forth the man’.²⁰

The Asante king, Kofi Karikari, ordered his army to attack the British protectorate at Elmina, which would provide the Asante access to the ocean. This attack was considered intolerable and the Gladstone government was determined to drive the Asante back to their own country. Wolseley put forward a plan to expel the Asante from British territory which was approved by both Cardwell and the Colonial Secretary, Lord Kimberley. Wolseley had a succinct and precise plan with clear-cut objectives, as outlined in his memorandum of August 1873:

The first object to be attained, as I understand the circumstances existing on the Gold Coast at present, is to free the Protectorate of its Ashanti invaders; and secondly, having accomplished this, to advance into the Ashanti territory, and by the seizure and destruction of Coomassie, strike a decisive blow at the Ashanti power, not only directly by the loss and secure punishment inflicted upon its Government, but, by the moral effects of a great victory, to destroy for ever it military prestige and influence over the neighbouring nations.²¹

He arrived in Cape Coast Castle on 2 October 1873 and went straight into preparing logistically for the military campaign. He raised two regiments of native soldiers under the command of Colonel Evelyn Wood (90th Foot) and Major Baker Russell (13th Hussars). Wolseley’s selection of his staff is considered the origin of the Asante or Wolseley ‘ring’, with Buller, Wood, McNeill, Butler, Brackenbury, Colley and Maurice all participating. They were a competent group of men that proved themselves in battle but were not always the best in command of soldiers themselves. Colley comes to mind as a great military mind but a not so competent leader at Majuba Hill. The ‘ring’ was a high-quality staff, which was essential for success due to the fact that Wolseley had very little information on the terrain, and the few surviving members of the expedition of 1864 could only give scant details of the country and the enemy’s numbers and capacities.²²

Wolseley began the campaign against the Asante-controlled villages on 13 October and moved forward with reasonable rapidity. The native troops (Fante tribesmen and ‘Hausa’) employed proved to be unreliable in battle and created problems so that Wolseley sent an expected message to Cardwell that British troops would be needed to reach the Asante capital of Kumase. Wolseley requested two (later three) battalions of infantry, and a detachment of Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers, the whole amounting to approximately 1,450 men. Wolseley stated:

There is, but one method of freeing these settlements from the continued menace of Ashanti invasion; and this is to defeat the Ashanti army in the field, to drive it from the protected territories, and, if necessary, to pursue it into its own land, and to march victorious on the Ashanti capital.²³

The Cabinet met and dispatched the 2/23rd Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers); the 42nd Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) made up to strength with 170 men from the 79th Highlanders; and the 2nd Rifle Brigade. One of the main problems was the desertion of the native carriers and this had to be overcome on the spot. Wolseley reluctantly imposed his power to enforce conscript labour, through his position as Civil Governor. Now that transportation was more secure the campaign was able to move ahead in January. The largest battles were for Kumase. Wolseley made careful preparations with a halt at Fommanah to replenish his supplies and ready his men; it also gave King Kofi Karikari time to sue for peace as he inferred he would do.

The battle at Amoaful on 31 January 1874 was the battle that enabled Wolseley to advance through to Kumase and the final defeat of the Asante. The 42nd Highlanders took the brunt of action and casualties at Amoaful, and were highly praised by Wolseley:

It is impossible for me to speak in too high terms of that magnificent regiment the 42nd Highlanders; their steadiness and discipline, the admirable way in which they were kept in hand by their officers, and the enthusiastic gallantry with which each charge was executed exceed all praise.²⁴

He occupied and then destroyed Kumase, completing what he outlined as a successful campaign,

I believe that the main object of my expedition has been perfectly secured. The territories of the Gold Coast will not again be troubled with warlike ambition of this restless Power [Ashanti]. I may add that the Flag of England from this moment will be received throughout western Africa with respectful awe.²⁵

Wolseley’s return to Britain was triumphant and it secured his reputation as a highly successful field commander: he was promoted to Major General and given £25,000 from Parliament for his services in Africa. However, the question of reform was still of paramount concern to Wolseley, and he felt that, with the resignation of Cardwell, after Disraeli’s government took over in early 1874, reform would not be implemented and most likely blocked by the Duke of Cambridge. The new Secretary of State for War, Gathorne Hardy, played into the Duke’s hands and Wolseley thought that India might now be the best location for him to improve and reform the British army, but he was appointed Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces at home. His principal job was to organise the Militia, Volunteers and the Yeomanry units. The goal was to prepare these home defence units to defend Britain. After less than a year as Inspector General, Wolseley was sent to the Natal Colony as High Commissioner and GOC to further the government’s plan for a federation between the British and Afrikaner colonies in southern Africa by securing amendment to the Natal constitution. The largest perceived threat to Natal was from the highly militaristic and organised tribe of the Zulu. Wolseley brought his ‘ring’ officers with him to form his staff, principally Colley, Brackenbury and Butler. Colley was sent out to reconnoitre the Transvaal and the Boer frontier settlements. Butler was sent to the Orange Free State, the other independent Boer republic, to surmise the native problem. Having secured the constitutional arrangements, Wolseley returned to England after a short time, and Colley was posted to India as Military Secretary to Viceroy Lord Lytton: Colley would be back in South Africa fighting the Boers with tragic results at Majuba Hill.²⁶

With the possibility of war with Russia looming in 1878 over Russia’s Balkan ambitions, Wolseley was designated as chief of staff to any potential British expeditionary force but was then sent to the island of Cyprus, which had been recently ceded by the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey to Britain in preparation for any conflict with Tsarist Russia. It proved a quiet posting as the possibility of conflict was brought to an end at the Congress of Berlin in July 1878. Meanwhile, conflict started to flare up in South Africa with the Zulu and Lord Chelmsford led British forces into Zululand in January 1879, two members of the ‘ring’, Wood and Buller, serving under him: Buller commanded the Frontier Light Horse, an irregular volunteer unit, and Wood one of Chelmsford’s columns. Chelmsford’s own column came under a devastating attack from a Zulu army 10,000 strong at Isandlwana with disastrous results. Wolseley was sent out in April 1879 to supersede Chelmsford. He landed in Cape Town on 23 June 1879 and was greeted with two alarming pieces of news. The first was that a Zulu raiding party had killed the Prince Imperial of France, serving with the British forces in an ambiguous semi-official capacity. The other was that Chelmsford’s second invasion force was nearing the Zulu capital at Ulundi. Wolseley wanted to consolidate his forces, but Chelmsford had disobeyed orders to wait for Wolseley to arrive before engaging in any battles and moved on Ulundi. Chelmsford defeated a much larger Zulu army with his force of 5,000 men. This was a much-welcomed victory for Chelmsford if not for Wolseley, who wanted to conclude the campaign himself, but Chelmsford did not follow up and capture the Zulu chief, Cetshwayo. Thus, Wolseley set up camp at Ulundi and finally captured Cetshwayo on 28 August 1879. This was to mark the end of the Zulu War but with its end came new problems with the Boers. Imposing a settlement on Zululand, Wolseley left the Transvaal question and pending Boer issues in 1880 to his friend, Colley. This was to lead, of course, to some dire circumstances at Majuba Hill a year later.²⁷

Wolseley was hoping to secure the chief command in India, but was offered instead a War Office position as Quartermaster General. Moreover, he only received the GCB for concluding the Zulu War, which was the same award given to Lord Chelmsford. Wolseley was hoping to at least maintain the local rank of General which was conferred upon him when he went to the Natal Colony, but this was not retained for reasons that did not reflect his service and professionalism as a soldier, but rather the political and highly personal nature of the British army of this era. As Quartermaster General, Wolseley attended the German autumn military manoeuvres. This was considered an honour for Wolseley and he met the German Emperor Wilhelm I, the Crown Prince, and Count von Moltke (the Elder). This was thought-provoking after the recent Franco-Prussian War victories, considering the interest Wolseley had in modern warfare.²⁸

However, 1881 proved to be a disastrous year for the British army in the Transvaal. Colley suffered a defeat at Laing’s Nek on 28 January 1881. The Colonial Office ordered Colley to either defeat the Boers succinctly or end hostilities before the war spread throughout the region. Colley was defeated and killed at Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881, news that echoed loudly throughout the British empire. Wolseley had lost a good friend and felt the government-negotiated peace was an insult to Colley and his men. Wolseley was not happy with Wood, who had signed the Pretoria Convention Peace Treaty,

I feel sure we should never have relinquished our hold over the Transvaal. If we were to have a fight upon the question, how much better it would have been to have had it when the Boers possessed no artillery, were only armed with bad sporting rifles, had very little ammunition and still less money than in 1899.²⁹

This was an erudite assessment that shows prescience of the military-political situation of this period and would weigh heavy upon the British army in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902).

Wolseley showed great dedication to army reform, as is reflected in the following extract:

The depth of Wolseley’s commitment to army reform and his recognition of the importance of mobilizing the public are at no point clearer than when considering the proposal he put forward after the government had all but abandoned the idea of making him a peer. On hearing of the postponement of the matter, he indicated to Childers that, if the argument still centred round the inadvisability of having the Quarter-Master General sit in the House of Lords, he was prepared to resign his position and accept a peerage and the position of Governor-General of Gibraltar in succession to Lord Robert Napier. He would then be able to support the government in its programme of [army] reform …³⁰

The government backed down on making Wolseley a peer and offered him the job of Adjutant General. This position had a condition brought down from the Duke of Cambridge by which Wolseley had to promise not to publish publicly anything on military affairs that would oppose the Duke’s views. This was an assurance that Wolseley had no intention of keeping and he showed great resistance to the Duke’s views and, in his position as Adjutant General, pressed his own opinions readily forward, especially in the case of much-needed army reform issues. Wolseley in his new position was appointed president to the Colour Committee, which decided to change the colour of the British Army uniform from red to khaki: ‘After red had proved such a conspicuous target at Majuba Hill in 1881 the Adjutant-General, Garnet Wolseley, threw his weight behind efforts to modernise and improve the army uniform. In 1883 a committee of which he was chairman suggested the adoption of grey for service dress. Yet significant clothing reforms were not brought about much before 1900.’³¹ This issue would take some time to be concluded but the practicality of the colour change would of course be the deciding factor, even in the face of royal opposition by the Duke of Cambridge and Queen Victoria herself.

Tel-el-Kebir and the Egyptian Campaign, 1882

Unrest in Egypt and the eventual collapse of the Egyptian government led to the military taking over the government in April 1882. Wolseley’s task was purely militaristic and he was to defeat and disperse the forces under Arabi Pasha, which were in rebellion to the Khedive Tewfik. He was then subsequently to restore the prince to the throne in Egypt. Prime Minister Gladstone in a breakfast meeting with Wolseley had told him that the British government is ‘bound to protect Tewfik’.³² Wolseley was appointed Commander in Chief of all land forces in Egypt and was sent with an army of 24,000 men from Malta and Cyprus and a further 7,000 from India. The operation was originally to be a joint venture between France and Great Britain. France had been eager not to allow rebellion to foment across North Africa, especially since they had recently acquired Tunis. The French Chamber of Deputies refused the vote to the Freycinet administration and the ministry fell from power. The Ottoman Turkish government was also content to watch from the sidelines. It was apparent by July 1882 that Britain would be acting alone. It was imperative that the flow of shipping through the Suez Canal to Port Said not be disrupted. This was of vital interest to British trade, especially routes to India and China.³³

Wolseley perceived this campaign as a logistical problem rather than tactical or strategic. The problem was the desert and supply of an army in the desert. The most important provision for men and animals was water. Horses require on average 8 gallons of water a day, and since transportation was vital this was an element that had to be well planned in the summer heat of the Sahara. Lieutenant General Wolseley was given the local rank of General and was given command of the full operation. As usual, he managed to bring many of the ‘ring’ with him: Wood was in command of an infantry brigade; Buller was in the intelligence department; Baker Russell commanded the 1st Cavalry Brigade; and Butler and Maurice received appointments on Wolseley’s staff. These selections created a bit of a stir with the Duke of Cambridge and other detractors of Wolseley, but nevertheless he went forward with what he perceived to be the best men for the jobs.³⁴ Wolseley received two divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry with full transportation and, since animals would not be available in Egypt, he also asked for mules to be shipped from America and he wanted five steam locomotives to expedite all transportation of men, animals and supplies. He also put in a request for open rail stock to repair anticipated demolition by the enemy. The ready supply of water was paramount in an operation in the Sahara and Wolseley wanted to be prepared for every contingency.³⁵ Wolseley’s concern for transportation is interestingly observed in his earlier diary entry of May 1882 when he was still back in the War Office.

Discussed transport with Adye, Maurice and Reeve. Adye is unsafe on such points & very ignorant of practical war: he thinks because he has mules, carts & a collection of Levantine ruffians whom he calls drivers that he has an effective transport: he might as well imagine he had secured a painter, when he purchased a canvas & a paint box.³⁶

The plan was to have separate forces to attack and secure the Suez Canal and Cairo. Wolseley had another Asante veteran, though one he did not entirely like, Major General Alison, command two battalions of infantry and a company of Naval Engineers from Cyprus. They were prepared to go forward within 24 hours of given notice, a sort of modern-day rapid deployment force. Wolseley planned to move forward on the Canal Zone and Ismailia and then to Tel-el-Kebir and then eventually to Cairo. Secrecy was maintained since there were many foreign correspondents and Egyptian spies and even the French designer of the Suez Canal was considered hostile to British plans. After Wolseley landed and took Alexandria on 21/22 August 1882, his first point of action was to take Tel-el-Mahuta, since there was a large force of infantry there and the dams there were making the water supply at the Sweetwater canal dangerously low. He left behind his main force to repair the railways and to secure logistical supplies from the ships to supply the main body of troops. Wolseley made a bold move to attack and take Tel-el-Mahuta with a small force. This was important to secure the water supply and to catch Arabi Pasha’s men off guard. The move paid off and Wolseley was able to take Tel-el-Mahuta. After this action Wolseley meticulously brought up his dispersed forces. It was important that supply lines be maintained and secured before any forces moved forward. There was pressure in early September from the press and home government for Wolseley to move forward, but he needed to wait for supplies to be concentrated at Kassassin. They had to come up through rail and land transportation via Ismailia, Tel-el-Mahuta to Kassassin. This was essential for a successful campaign to be launched on Tel-el-Kebir. Wolseley had followed the age-old lesson of securing lines of supply before advancing tactically into battle. Since he was in the largest desert in the world this was very prudent.³⁷ Wolseley made his headquarters at Kassassin on 8 September 1882 and began a plan to take Tel-el-Kebir.

Since the advance to Tel-el-Kebir would be across open desert with no cover and the Egyptian forces were armed with modern breech-loading rifles (equal to the British rifles), Wolseley decided on a daring night march with a dawn attack on Tel-el-Kebir. The attack proceeded at 0450 on 13 September when his force was detected by Egyptian sentries, then Wolseley’s whole force moved forward to attack and overwhelmed the Egyptian forces in a short time. The whole of Tel-el-Kebir and the railway station had been taken by 0700. This was a lightning attack that was dominated by artillery support and finally fell to a lot of hand-to-hand combat. Wolseley spoke highly of the fighting men in a telegram to Secretary of State for War, Hugh Childers, and his diary entry read, ‘All rendezvous at 5 AM and heard first shot on Tel-el-Kebir by 6:45 and send off telegram to Childers at 7AM. Our loss not as heavy as I expected.’³⁸ He followed up with a gleaming telegram to Childers, ‘I can say emphatically, that I never wish to have under my orders better Infantry Battalions than those which I am proud to have commanded at Tel-el-Kebir.’³⁹

Wolseley, true to his word, achieved his objective from the beginning until the end of the Egyptian campaign in 1882. His job was simple, to maintain the flow of shipping through the Suez Canal to Port Said without major disruptions and to capture Cairo intact. The campaign needed to be planned quickly and efficiently, since the terrain provided many challenges, and Wolseley did not want this campaign to descend into a battle of attrition in which heat exhaustion and sickness would have taken there toll.⁴⁰ Wolseley finally went home on 21 October 1882 after all loose ends were tied up. A garrison of 12,000 British soldiers were left behind under the command of Alison, who had come from Cyprus at the beginning of the campaign. Evelyn Wood, a prominent Wolseley ‘ring’ member became Sirdar of the Egypt army in December 1882. Wolseley was awarded his much-deserved peerage and attained the rank of full General for his duties in Egypt.⁴¹