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At a time when successful generals enjoyed the celebrity status which pop stars and footballers have to-day, Wolseley was Victorian England’s most famous and admired soldier. Dubbed by the Press as “Our Only General”, his name gave rise to such expressions as “All Sir Garnet” (Everything’s fine) and adaptation by Gilbert and Sullivan in Pirates of Penzance as “The Model of a Modern Major-General”.
As a young infantry officer he distinguished himself in the Crimea, Indian Mutiny and Burma going on to become leader of “The Wolseley Ring” of senior officers engaged in many colonial campaigns including Canada, Ashanti and the Zulu War.
In 1882 he commanded the force which crushed Urabi’s rebellion against the Khedive of Egypt thus further enhancing his reputation. However, in 1884/5, after a slow start and lack of urgency, the Relief Expedition under Wolseley failed to rescue Gordon from Khartoum, rather denting Sir Garnet’s record of success and it was to be his last active command.
Nonetheless, as Adjutant-General and eventually as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, he proved himself progressive and innovative frequently clashing with the War Office Establishment, in particular the ultra-reactionary Duke of Cambridge, his predecessor as C-in-C.
Described by Disraeli as “an egotist and a braggart” he was often spiteful and vituperative in his relations with senior colleagues but he was a life-long admirer and champion of the private soldier doing much to improve his lot both in war and peace.
A Glaswegian of Irish descent Healey enlisted in the 79th Highlanders (Camerons) in 1878. After service in Egypt during the Urabi Rebellion he joined the Egyptian Army as the Mulahiz of the 9th Soudanese Battalion and was to serve in this capacity for ten years. The British NCO or Mulahiz (literally Superintendant) of an Egyptian Army battalion was roughly the equivalent of a Regimental Sergeant Major responsible for drill and parade ground discipline but in action assumed the role of a supernumerary officer.
Uniquely, prior to the First World War, Healey was the holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal with two bars, all won while serving with the 9th Soudanese at the Battles of Ginnis (1885), Sarras (1887, where he is reputed to have killed a Mahdist emir in hand to hand combat) and Toski (1889).
Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Camerons in 1895 he was appointed Yuzbashi (Captain) in the Transport Department of the EA with which he served throughout the campaign of reconquest 1896-99 taking part in all the major actions.
He left the Egyptian Army in 1902 with a Mejidie 4th class and eight bars to his Khedives Sudan Medal and retired from the British Army in 1904.
He had been wounded in action several times and to have survived a career of such hardship and continuous active service in one of the harshist climates in the world is astonishing.
Although he is known to have died in 1928, where his death took place or what he did for the last 24 years of his life is yet to be discovered despite exhaustive research. His medals were sold at Christie's in 1988 for £14,000. Several bars from his Khedive's Sudan Medal are missing.
Bailey’s claim to fame was that he was Kitchener’s Chief Clerk and, later, Staff Captain, in charge of his office before and during the campaign of reconquest .
Enlisting in the British Army in 1882 he served in the Nile Campaign of 1884-5. He joined the Egyptian Army as a Mulahiz (see Healey above) in about 1888 and fought at the Battle of Toski . After being commissioned in the East Lancashire Regiment in 1896 he rose to the rank of Kaimakam (Lt Col) in the Egyptian Army.
One of Kitchener’s ADC’s, Lord Edward Cecil, wrote “…K’s office was a sea of papers, lying on tables, chairs, window-sills, the floor…he never let anyone touch them except Watson (another ADC) and Bailey…”.
Kitchener was a harsh task master and Bailey’s burden must have been a heavy one but his chief saw to it that he was rewarded with promotion, an MBE and Mejidie 4th Class.
He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General in 1901 and left the Egyptian Army in 1902, later serving in the First World War.
Enlisting in the Gordon Highlanders in 1889, having reached the rank of Sergeant by 1897 he joined the 11th Soudanese Battalion as its Mulahiz (see Healey and Bailey above) under a fellow Gordon, Kaimakam Herbert Jackson (see Famous Soldiers).
He served with the battalion at the Battles of Abu Hamed, the Atbara and Omdurman after which he was twice Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Commissioned in the Highland Light Infantry in 1899 he took part as a Transport Officer in the operations leading to the death of the Khalifa at Um Dibaykarat in November of that year.
In January 1902, while serving as an Inspector in Bahr el Ghazal Province, he and a number of his men were murdered by dissident tribesmen of the Agar Dinka. For a full account of this event see “Death of a Highlander” in the British Army Review no.95 of August 1990 and the Melik Bulletin of July 2004.
A man of huge stature and strength and a swashbuckling dare-devil who lived a life of excitement and adventure, Fred Burnaby of the Blues was also intelligent and literate, his book describing a remarkable journey through Russia, “A Ride to Kiva”, being a best seller, still read to-day.
A favourite of Wolseley, it was through his influence that he managed to join the Gordon Relief Expedition in a more or less unofficial capacity despite opposition from the War Office and the Prince of Wales who regarded him as a bumptious upstart . Dressed in a Norfolk jacket and sometimes using a shot-gun, he tended to regard warfare as a rather dangerous, and therefore enjoyable, blood sport.
At the Battle of Abu Klea on 17th January 1885 Burnaby, although not officially in command, ordered the Heavy Camel Regiment to part ranks to allow a machine-gun through. This near fatal manoeuvre enabled the Mahdist ansar to pour into the “unbreakable” British square inflicting serious casualties. Only the steadiness of the Guards and Marines, who turned about and fired inwards, saved the square and the entire Desert Column from destruction.
Probably realising his blunder, Burnaby rode suicidally from the square and was speared to death. A Corporal MacIntosh of his regiment dashed to his aid but was himself cut down.
After Burnaby’s death Wolseley wrote, “How delighted the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge will be that poor Burnaby is killed. His high military spirit, energy and remarkable personal courage were not sufficient in the eyes of these Royal tailors (sic) to cover up the fact that socially Burnaby was distasteful to them and their set”.
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FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT (SIR GARNET) WOLSELEY (1833-1913)
COLONEL FRED BURNABY (1842 -1885)