From Midshipman to Field Marshal

1 He was created a baronet in 1837.

2 Later Queen Victoria.

3 “Highly cultivated, of a noble presence, of warm heart, of great social faculty, and of unaffected piety, he was one of the best specimens of a type of clergymen who were never very common, and are now fast disappearing—those who combine in their purity the character of a priest with that of the fine old English country gentleman.” Times, 23rd February 1866.

4 Croft West, five miles out of Truro, is now (1906) a farmhouse, the flagged stones of the kennels remaining.

5 In 1887 my friend Dr. Norman Moore, having been summoned to Algiers to see a patient, was on his return seated at dinner in an hotel at Toulouse, and being the only guest, in talking to the waiter asked, “Is there anyone left of the D’Arragon family?” “Oh no,” he said; “the last of them, a young lady, eloped with an English officer after the battle, 1814. When you have finished your dinner, if you come to the window, I will show you the bridge on which they met; and she carried her bag with some clothes, to show that she met him of her own accord.” Norman Moore, who knew the story, said, “Yes, but the bag was not much bigger than a bonbonnière.” He greatly interested the waiter by showing he knew much about the family.

6 He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1843.

7 An account-book, carried by soldiers of all European armies, showing their service, with statements of pay received, and due.

8 Doctor Cotton, later Bishop of Calcutta, who came in 1852, reformed the College, which for many years has been, and is now, one of the best in the kingdom.

9 He was killed at my side in the 21-gun battery before Sevastopol, 19th October 1854.

10 This place was, and is now reserved for Naval and Military Officers, being close under Government House, while Mutton Cove is the landing-place for private boats and men-of-war’s liberty men.

11 Men when suffering corporal punishment were lashed to gratings.

12 Burgoyne was drowned, with all but eighteen of his command, in 1871, in the Bay of Biscay, when H.M.S. Captain, struck by a squall, “turned turtle,” being overweighted above her water-line. Eurydice capsized, 1878; H.M.S. Atalanta disappeared, 1880.

13 Probably a record depth.

14 Van Amberg, in the forties a celebrated wild-beast tamer, dominated them by breaking their rest.

15 In my log, 12.8.54, I read: “H.M.S. Trafalgar stood under our stern last night, and asked for medical assistance.”

16 I read in my Diary that in seven successive days later I spent four on duty in the batteries or elsewhere, and three at Balaklava and Kamiesh.

17 He commanded the Artillery at Aldershot in 1892.

18 He was lost with 200 of the crew in February 1863, when H.M.S. Orpheus was wrecked, being in charge of a pilot, on the Mana Kau reef, New Zealand.

19 An attenuated faggot, used for facing, or revetting earthen walls.

20 Letter from Captain W. Peel, R.N., to the Rev. Sir John Page Wood: “Your son was only known to me through his gallant behaviour.... He volunteered to bring up powder through a fire which daunted others.”

21 The “Col” was the ascent from Balaklava Plain to the Upland.

22 Later, Admiral Sir W. M. W. Hewett, V.C., K.C.B.

23 The general officer in charge of the Front at Inkerman had written a week previous to the battle, “I have only the six hundred men on this front position.”

24 Throughout the winter there was always barley for the taking away, except for ten days, and during that time I fed my pony on biscuits and bread, bought in the French camp, paying 2s. 6d. for a 2-lb. loaf.

25 Erected in January 1855.

26 Commodore Lushington’s Diary shows he saw a soldier coming out of the trenches towards camp, and ran to help him; but the man fell dead before he got to him, having struggled on till his heart ceased to act.

27 Later, Admiral Sir W. M. W. Hewett, V.C.

28 Captain Hugh Burgoyne, V.C., lost in H.M.S. Captain, 1871.

29 Sir W. Howard Russell, K.C.B.

30 This consists in stopping with the thumb all currents of air in the gun, which if allowed to pass up the vent would cause sparks remaining in the chamber to ignite the fresh cartridge.

31 We learned later they were awaiting the arrival of the Emperor, who was then expected.

32 For the sake of civilian readers, I explain. A mortar-shell is fired from a short, squat piece, at an angle of 45°, and having attained its greatest altitude over the spot where it is intended to fall, it descends vertically to the ground, the range being regulated by the charge of powder which throws the shell into the air. The Russians used a wooden fuse to explode the bursting charge; it was roughly made, and protruded a couple of inches outside the shell, and thus when the shell, having attained its greatest height, commenced to descend, the projecting fuse end, caught by the wind with each revolution, produced a peculiar sound, which gave rise to its name. If a mortar-shell does not explode until it reaches the ground, as is intended, the whole force of concussion is upwards, owing to the resistance of the surface of the earth, and thus men may be close to the shell and yet incur little danger from its lateral spread, if they are lying at a lower level, when the only danger is from falling fragments.

33 Opening at the rear of the work.

34 He was anxious that I should be saved from the fire we were about to encounter. This I only knew afterwards, from a letter written to his brother the following day, and at the time I was greatly irritated.

35 An imaginary straight line, bisecting the salient angle.

36 i.e. unfurled, by a jerk of the other lanyard.

37 Field Marshal Lord Wolseley, K.P., G.C.B., etc. etc.

38 Lord Raglan, who witnessed the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos, forty years earlier, described in Napier’s History of the Peninsular War, wrote: “I never before witnessed such a continued and heavy fire of grape and musketry,” and in a private letter observed, “I never had a conception before of such a shower of grape.”

39 As we learned afterwards, all the soldier carriers of the first ladder were shot down by one volley, and the remaining ladders had not been taken far before all three officers with them fell, the Captain dangerously, and the two Subalterns severely wounded. Blackett (later Sir William) remained on the ground until a sergeant lifted him into the shelter of a trench.

40 As I rolled down the slope my wounded arm, probably from instinct, remained uppermost. There was nothing to indicate I was an officer, for I had thrown away my scabbard when my sword was destroyed; my gold-band cap was underneath me, and my blue serge jacket was threadbare and dirty.

41 Bayoneted.

42 Extract from a letter from Captain W. Peel to Frederick Peel, M.P., 20.6.55: “Would you let Sir Page Wood know his gallant son behaved with extreme intrepidity?”

43 Later, General Sir Thomas Steele, K.C.B.

44 Letter from Sir S. Lushington to Captain Michell, R.N.:—

“Camp before Sevastopol,
“18th June, 10.30 a.m.

“My dear Michell,—You will be sorry to hear your young nephew, Wood, has been wounded by a grape-shot in the arm. The shot struck the bone obliquely, and was cut out when he got into camp. I saw him in the trenches, and he bore it like a hero. He was Peel’s A.D.C., and Peel endeavoured to keep the boy from the murderous fire into which they plunged with the scaling ladders, but he would take no refusal, and went out with the rest. Wood will be at Kazatch to-day in Lord Raglan’s carriage. Will you have a boat?—Yours, in haste,

“Stephen Lushington,
“Commanding Naval Brigade.”

45 “June 21st, 1855. My dear Captain Michell,—I am very glad to have had an opportunity of being even in the smallest degree useful to your nephew, whose distinguished career cannot fail to enlist everybody in his favour. I am rejoiced to hear that he is going on well.—Believe me, very faithfully yours, Raglan.”

46 My father wrote to the Admiralty for permission for me to resign my appointment, and received a courteous reply:—

“Admiralty, 7th September 1855.

“Sir,—In accepting the resignation of your son, Mr. E. Wood, I am to express their Lordships’ regret that so gallant an officer is lost to the Naval Service.

“To the Rev. Sir John Page Wood, Bart.”

47 Extract from the Despatch of Lord Raglan to Lord Panmure:—

“Before Sevastopol, 23rd June 1855.

“My Lord,—I must not omit to mention the following officers of the Royal Navy who particularly distinguished themselves on the 18th June:—Messrs. Wood (severely wounded) and Daniel, who have been through the whole siege.—I have, etc.,

Raglan.”

48 Riding trousers.

49 “Colonel Vivian, who commanded, immediately ordered Major Brotherton to charge with the 14th Dragoons across the bridge, but it was an ill-judged order, and the impossibility of succeeding so manifest that when Brotherton, noted throughout the Army for his daring, galloped forward, only two men and one Subaltern, Lieutenant Southwell, passed the narrow bridge with him, and they were all taken.”—Napier’s Peninsular War, vol. vi. p. 391.

50 My uncle, Vice-Chancellor Sir William Page Wood, bought my Lieutenancy on the 1st February.

51 Extract from the speech of Lord Lyons, delivered at the Mansion House on the 13th February 1856: “All behaved well, but I doubt whether there is anything in the annals of Chivalry that surpasses the conduct of Captain Peel’s Aides-de-Camp, Messrs. Daniel and Wood, one of whom (Mr. Wood), when wounded, placed a scaling ladder against the Redan.”

52 “I hope all seven recommended will get it, but in any case the names will stand in sequence.” (Mr. Wood’s name was third.) Eleven Crosses were given in the Naval Brigade.

53 Each letter has three forms—initial, medial, final.

54 Most of our officers gave much higher prices, the two Majors paying about £200 for a charger.

55 A noted athlete and swimmer; he had distinguished himself by jumping into the Hooghly River and saving a woman. He was, for many years before his death, Professor of Sanskrit and Oriental languages, at the University of Oxford.

56 During the Pánjáb campaign a Sikh careering in front of the 16th Lancers challenged the Regiment. Cornet Morris, a Serre-file, galloped out, and after an exciting encounter killed his opponent.

57 He afterwards obtained for me my Brevet Majority, and did his utmost to get me the Victoria Cross.

58 Bundelas, a tribe of Rájpúts, inhabitants of Bundelcund.

59 Wilayati, literally a foreigner; those with Tantia came from the North-west Frontiers of India.

60 These towns are situated:

61 Meer Umjid Ali, a well-born Muhammadan, was a Silidar and Sergeant in the Contingent. Although the King of Dihlí wrote personally to him, Umjid Ali refused to be untrue to his salt, and in spite of all opposition joined the British troops. He served later as an officer in the Central India Horse, dying an honoured pensioner.

62 A cut at the head.

63 Ravine.

64 Footman.

65 In the following April I camped at Biora for one night on my way from Gwáliár to Máu, and rode over to the village. Calling the Mead man, I narrated what I had seen on the 15th September of the previous year, and asked whether my surmise that the sufferer was a villager was correct. The Head man said, “Yes, he is still alive, but a cripple.” I had the man brought to me, and although a ghastly sight, being paralysed, and unable to work, with the patient resignation of the Asiatic, he was thankful to be alive, and was profuse in gratitude for a small present I gave him.

66 Ravine.

67 Body coverings which nearly reach the knees.

68 Later, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford—Chief Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, 1890–1903.

69 Extract from General Orders by H.E. the Viceroy and Governor-General:—

“January 16th, 1859.

“16. L—— in separate command during a portion of the day, brings specially to notice, etc. etc., as does ——, the gallantry of Lieutenant Wood of the 17th Lancers, who having, from paucity of officers, volunteered, during the campaign, to serve with Native Cavalry, on this occasion (action at Sindwaha), almost single-handed, came up to and attacked a body of the enemy.”

70 As Risaldar Major Dhokul Singh Bahadur, he was Aide-de-Camp to the Commander-in-Chief, Bombay, for many years in the eighties.

71 The light on the horizon about one hour before dawn.

72 It is said he saved Sir William Gordon’s life at Balaklava by shooting a Russian officer who attacked Gordon when he was helpless from wounds.

73 Herd.

74 Extracts from a Report by General Somerset, to Assistant Adjutant-General:—

“Camp, Puchore, 15th April 1859.

“... my Brigade-Major, Lieutenant Wood, 17th Lancers, with whose previous services and conspicuous gallantry in action, the Major-General is already acquainted, ... as my only Staff officer he has shown the most unvaried zeal, particularly on occasions of rapid pursuit of the enemy, when his position did not admit of his taking advantage of the few short hours others had for rest.”

75 He had got the K.C.B. for his services in Central India.

76 “Camp fashion Mess” implies that each member brings his own stool, plates, cutlery, and drinking mug.

77 Barélí Police.

78 The calculations are given in sterling, but at that period the rupee was worth a penny more than its face value.

79 Some weeks after assuming command, when presiding at a Native Court Martial, my colleagues gravely sentenced a forger to be imprisoned for a long period, and to have his nose slit. I had much difficulty in persuading them to omit the sentence of mutilation.

80 He commanded a troop, but could not ride without holding on, having spent his life manufacturing puggarees.

81 Eighty miles by one hundred.

82 Prepared opium.

83 Scott’s Old Mortality.

84 I got cold in my face during the ride, and suffered considerably, Sylvester warning me on my return to Bersia, that if I shook my head all the teeth in the left side of my jaw would tumble out. Forty-eight hours of rest, however, brought me round.

85 One was the former puggaree manufacturer who owned forty-five horses.

86 Before I turned him out of the Lines.

87 Vide chap. xv. p. 172.

88 He told Lieutenant, now Sir E. Bradford, a month later, my visit to the Rajah cleared Narsinghgarh of rebels for a time, and saved Lakanwas from being looted.

89 Blue cattle.

90 He wrote about my resuming command of a Regiment later:—

“Your untiring zeal, great patience and tact are well known to me. I am not acquainted with any man who has stronger or better claims, or, with your professional abilities, would do it greater justice. I consider that you have great qualifications for such a command, and that you carry with you the respect and goodwill of all, having maintained strict discipline at the same time.—With best wishes, believe me, sincerely yours,

James Travers, Col.,
“Commanding Central India Horse.

“To Evelyn Wood, Esq., 17th Lancers.”

91 Later, Sir George Edmonstone, K.C.B.

92 He not only showed me unbounded hospitality, but in my absence on Foreign Service watched over the interests of my wife and children.

93 By the Regulations only one officer from a Regiment could be at the College.

94 On the 8th November, Captain Wilkes of the San Jacinto seized the Confederate Commissioners Slidell and Mason on board the British Mail steamer Trent.

95 The wound in my head prevented my wearing a hat.

96 In the Saxon Switzerland.

97 I received at the same time an offer to go abroad with a General officer whom I had known in India as his Military Secretary, but declined the offer, feeling sure that we should not find each other’s society congenial.

98 Author of Parkes’ Hygiene.

99 Aldershot.

100 Rent.

101 Later, Major-General Sir George Colley.

102 The Aldershot Railway was not then projected.

103 A local nickname, from an expression often used by the Colonel.

104 That is, each battalion would have a frontage of one company composed of two halves of different companies.

105 The custom was so widely spread, that the “Wait-a-Bits,” an old-fashioned but one of the steadiest battalions I ever knew at Aldershot, asked me when I was Brigade-Major to be allowed to give up their place in line of columns in order to avoid standing next to a very vituperative though brave Commanding officer.

106 At Arroyo dos Molinos, in the Peninsular, 1811, the French 34th was captured by the English Regiment of the same number. The representative bands rushed at each other, with the result that the baton of the Tambour Major and ten of the French Regiment drums remained in the hands of our 34th.

107 The Crimea in 1854–’94.

108 General Pennyfather led many charges at Inkerman, where Sir George Cathcart was killed at the head of two companies, and as Generals did in war, so did they then in peace.

109 The Right Hon. F. Wrench, Irish Land Commissioner.

110 The Right Hon. Arthur Balfour, M.P.

111 Which pace I was bound not to exceed, neither could we trot farther than a mile at one time.

112 Later, Lord Wolverton. I knew him in the sixties, as he rode brilliantly with the Essex Stag Hounds.

113 The fort, St. George della Mina, named from the gold mines in the vicinity, is said to have been built by French merchants in 1383, though the Portuguese allege that they built the first fort. The Dutch held it from 1637 to 1872, when England took it over. St. George stands on a rock close to the sea, just above high water, and St. Iago, a fort inland, 100 feet higher, commands both St. George and the town built on either side of the Beyah backwater.

114 Trade gin.

115 The English Government took over the Fort in 1872.

116 Now General Sir Henry Brackenbury, G.C.B.

117 Son of Lord Elcho—died of fever.

118 Sir Garnet Wolseley wrote:—

“Cape Coast Castle, 5.38 a.m., October 15th.

“What hour did you get back last night? I watched you through a glass till you got close to the Marines we left on the beach.... I have to congratulate you on the very able manner in which you did everything yesterday. I am very much obliged to you. The operations were well carried out, and all your previous arrangements were admirable.”

119 “I have Her Majesty’s commands to convey to you and Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, who under your general direction was in immediate command, Her Majesty’s approbation.... I observe with great satisfaction the terms in which you speak of the services rendered by Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, V.C.”

120 Wild pigs.

121 As every Black man was apparently called Quashi or Quamina, we knew them only by the numbers suspended from their necks.

122 General the Right Honourable Sir Redvers Buller, V.C., G.C.B.

123 So called from the gentleman who proposed in the early seventies openwork coffins for burial in England.

124 Now General Sir William Butler, G.C.B.

125 From Sir Garnet Wolseley to Secretary of State for War:—

“Amoaful, 1st February 1871.

“The Officers commanding the columns performed their difficult task most excellently.... Lieutenant-Colonel Evelyn Wood, V.C., was wounded, while at the head of his troops.”

126 Now Lieutenant-General C. Burnett, C.B.

127 Later, Sir George Colley.

128 Died as Admiral Sir W. N. W. Hewett, K.C.B.

129 Now General Sir George Greaves, K.C.B.

130 Later, General Sir Thomas Durand Baker.