Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833-1913) – Brief Profile & History

In the last half of the nineteenth century, Garnet Wolseley modernized the British army and elevated the status of the individual soldier as he protected the vast possessions of the empire. So popular and well known was this military leader that the citizens of Great Britain referred to him as “our only general.”

Born on June 4, 1833, at Golden Bridge, near Dublin, Ireland, to a shopkeeper who was a retired army major, Wolseley secured a commission in the Twelfth Infantry Regiment in 1852. For financial reasons he soon transferred to the Eightieth Foot Regiment for duty in India, where an officer could live much more cheaply than in England. He arrived in time to participate in the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1853, where he fought bravely be¬fore he received a serious wound to the thigh from a stone bullet After convalescing in Britain until 1854, Wolseley joined the Ninetieth Light Infantry in the Crimea, again displaying his valor and suffering yet another wound, this one resulting in the loss of an eye. After recovering, Wolseley served briefly in China before transferring to combat the Sepoy Rebellion in India in 1857. His participation in the relief of Lucknow and its capture in 1858 resulted in his promotion to brevet lieutenant colonel at twenty- five—the youngest officer in the British army so recognized.

After another tour in China, Wolseley served in Canada as the assistant quartermaster general in 1861. For the next decade Wolseley remained in North America, advancing to full colonel and performing mosdy garrison duties. He visited the headquarters of Confederate general ROBERT EDWARD LEE during the American Civil War and later expressed his admiration for him.

Wolseley published a book in 1862 on the war with China and then turned his pen to his ideas on soldier performance and military reform. Published in 1869, his Soldier’s Pocket-book for Field Service, which was critical of the army and its administration, met with a favorable response from the ranks and civilians. Wolseley’s book, however, made him few friends with senior officers, whom the author viewed as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Through performance, Wolseley had gained respect; through his writings, notoriety. It was not, however, until the end of his tour in Canada that he made the first inroads into becoming a national hero and household name in Britain. In May 1870, Canadian rebel Louis Riel declared Manitoba independent of the British Empire. Wolseley, in command of the Red River Expedition, advanced across six hundred miles of wilderness to confront the rebels at Fort Garry. By show of force and wise negotiations, Wolseley gained the rebels’ surrender without bloodshed.

Wolseley returned to England in 1871, where, as assistant adjutant general, he immediately began reforms, including shorter service requirements in order to recruit more able enlistees, the creation of a reserve force, and the practice of officer commissions being earned rather than purchased. Reformation of the army remained Wolseley’s primary objective for the remainder of his career, although the government frequently called him to lead expeditions against rebellions and other threats to the empire.

Wolseley’s first “troubleshooting” opportunity came in 1873, when he led a punitive expedition against Ashanti slave traders in West Africa. In his typical fashion, he approached the mission along the Gold Coast, known as the “white man’s grave” because of the diseases, hardship, and zealous opponents encountered Garnet Joseph Wolseley there. Wolseley carefully selected subordinate officers who had dis-played bravery, leadership, and tactical knowledge, disregarding class background or other connections. He planned his operation with detailed attention to logistics, terrain, and the seasonal weather conditions. Within his plan, he also provided flexibility to accommodate situational changes or unpredicled factors. Wolseley also kept the campaign “within a budget” and squandered neither funds nor personnel in his batdes.

Along with a few handpicked officers, Wolseley personally per-formed his own reconnaissance of West Africa. He then waited for the dry season, when fewer disease-carrying insects were present, before he landed his force. Pressing rapidly inland, he captured and destroyed the slave-trader center at Kumasi, ending Ashanti dominance of the region. In 1879, Wolseley returned to Africa to command the forces that ended the Zululand uprising.

Back in England between each of these campaigns, Wolseley continued his reform efforts. In 1882 he again took to the field to put down the nationalist uprising in Egypt led by Arabi Pasha. He swiftly secured the Suez Canal and then, in a night attack, surprised and defeated the Pasha at Tell el-Kebir on September 13. Two years later, he led an expedition to Khartoum to rescue the besieged gen¬eral Charles “Chinese” Gordon, arriving two days after Gordon died but in time to secure the city on January 28, 1885.

Wolseley^ commanded the empire’s troops in Ireland from 1890 to 1894 before being promoted to field marshal and elevated to commander in chief in 1895. In that position he prepared and deployed the army for the Boer War in 1898 and continued to implement reforms and changes that prepared the British field forces for the modern combat of the impending world war. In November 1900, Wolseley retired to allow the hero of the Boer War, Lord FREDERICK SLEIGH ROBERTS, to assume the position of commander in chief. Wolseley died at Menton, France, on March 26, 1913. He was buried at ST Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Wolseley never faced an enemy force on the European Continent or engaged in a major war. “Vfet he tremendously influenced the late-nineteenth-century British army, preparing it for the fu¬ture by implementing reforms, such as upgrading the quality of re¬cruits and officers. While criticized within the army for favoritism toward selected officers, known as “the ring,” Wolseley nevertheless earned the respect of the common soldier and the affection of the British people, who called him “our only general.”

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