Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford

The Lord Chelmsford
Frederic Thesiger, c.1870
Born	31 May 1827
Died	9 April 1905 (aged 77) Westminster, London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1844–1905
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Crimean War Indian Rebellion of 1857 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia Xhosa Wars Anglo-Zulu War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Mentioned in Despatches Order of the Medjidie (Ottoman Empire)
Other work	Lieutenant of the Tower of London Colonel of Sherwood Foresters Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards

General Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford GCB, GCVO (31 May 1827 – 9 April 1905) was a British Army officer best known for his commanding role during the Anglo-Zulu war. The centre column of his forces was defeated at the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana, an unanticipated victory for the Zulu and the British Army's worst ever defeat from a technologically inferior indigenous force. He would avenge his defeat at the Battle of Ulundi in the same year, which ended the Zulu campaign.

Early life

Frederic Augustus Thesiger was born 31 May 1827, the son of Frederic Thesiger, a lawyer who later became Lord Chancellor and was created Baron Chelmsford. Thesiger was educated at Eton College.^[1][2]

Career

He wished to pursue a military career, and after unsuccessfully trying to obtain a place in the Grenadier Guards, he purchased (1844) a commission in the Rifle Brigade. He served (1845) with the Rifles in Halifax, Nova Scotia before purchasing an exchange (November 1845) into the Grenadiers as Ensign and Lieutenant. He was promoted Lieutenant and Captain in 1850, and became aide-de-camp (1852) to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Eglinton, and then to the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, Sir Edward Blakeney, from 1853 to 1854.^[1][2]

Crimean War

In May 1855, he left for the Crimean War, in which he served firstly with his battalion, then as aide-de-camp (from July 1855) to the commander of the 2nd Division, Lieutenant-General Edwin Markham, and finally as deputy assistant quartermaster general (from November 1855) on the staff at Headquarters, being promoted brevet Major. He was mentioned in despatches and received the fifth class of the Turkish Order of the Medjidie and the British, Turkish and Sardinian Crimean medals.^[1][2]

Indian Rebellion of 1857

In 1857, he was promoted captain and lieutenant colonel, and transferred (1858), as a lieutenant colonel, to the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot, serving with that regiment at the end of the Indian Rebellion, for which he was again mentioned in despatches. He served as deputy adjutant general to the forces in Bombay from 1861 to 1862, and was promoted brevet colonel in 1863. There, he befriended the then governor of Bombay, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, and this relationship would be important later when serving in South Africa. He served, again as deputy adjutant general, in the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia, for which he was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Bath and made an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria in 1868. He was Adjutant-General, India from 1869 to 1874.^[1][2]

Thesiger returned to England in 1874 as colonel on the staff, commanding the forces at Shorncliffe Army Camp, and was appointed to command a brigade at Aldershot, with the temporary rank of brigadier general, in 1877. He had however requested a posting overseas in order to benefit from the cheaper cost of living.^[1][2]

Anglo-Zulu Wars

Lord Chelmsford sketched by another officer at the Battle of Ulundi

Defeat at Isandlwana

Thesiger was promoted to major general in March 1877, appointed to command the forces in South Africa with the local rank of lieutenant general in February 1878, and in October succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Chelmsford. He brought the Ninth Cape Frontier War to its completion in July 1878, and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in November 1878. His experiences fighting against the Xhosa confirmed his low opinion of the fighting capabilities of black Africans, a mistake that would come back to haunt him.^[1][2]

His friend, Sir Bartle Frere, engineered a war (January 1879) against a previous British ally, King Cetshwayo. Chelmsford's forces approached the Zulu at Isandlwana in a three columns formation. The Zulu overran the centre column, reduced the effectiveness of the British by this division which allowed the Zulu to concentrate their military action on the poorly defended army camp. The engagement was an unexpected victory for the Zulu; the worst defeat of the British army with a technologically inferior indigenous force and the first incursion into Zululand.^[3][4][5]

The defeat concerned the British that an incursion by the Natal could result, so, Chelmsford was relieved of his command and replaced by Sir Garnet Wolseley.^[6] The order could not be implemented until the arrival of Wolseley. Chelmsford ignored the peace offers from Cetshwayo^[7] and wanted to strike the Zulu at Ulundi to regain his reputation and end the campaign before Wolseley could remove him from command of the army.^[8] Chelmsford left for England in July 1879 and Wolseley disclosed in his despatches that Thesiger should receive all the credit for the Ulundi success; he was awarded the GCB in August.^[1]

Lord Chelmsford became lieutenant general in 1882, Lieutenant of the Tower of London (1884 until 1889), colonel of the 4th (West London) Rifle Volunteer Corps (1887), full general (1888), and colonel of the Derbyshire Regiment (1889). He exchanged the colonelcy of the Derbyshires for that of the 2nd Life Guards (1900), and was made Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (1902).^[1][2] He was the inaugural Governor and Commandant of the Church Lads' Brigade, a post he held until his death.^[1]

Funerary monument, Brompton Cemetery, London

Family

His sister, Julia (1833–1904) was married to Sir John Eardley Wilmot Inglis (1814–1862) ^[9] who commanded the British forces during the Siege of Lucknow in 1857. She later wrote of her experiences during the siege including extracts from her diary.^[10] He was the uncle of the actor Ernest Thesiger.

Death and legacy

In 1905, he suffered a seizure and died while playing billiards at the United Service Club. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery in London.^[2]

He left four sons, the eldest of whom succeeded as 3rd Baron Chelmsford and later became Viceroy of India and first Viscount Chelmsford. Another son was Lieutenant Colonel Eric Thesiger who served in the First World War and was also a Page of Honour for Queen Victoria. The diplomat Wilfred Gilbert Thesiger, who served in Addis Ababa in 1916, was another son, and father of the author and explorer Wilfred Thesiger.^[1]

Peter O'Toole portrayed Lord Chelmsford in the film Zulu Dawn as an arrogant commander, whose strategic and tactical mistakes led directly to British defeat at Isandlwana.

References

Notes

1. "Thesiger, Frederic Augustus". Oxford DNB. Retrieved 17 May 2011. (subscription required (help)).
2. Greaves 2011, p.161-163
3. Thompson (2006), p.75, "Thus ended the first British invasion of Zululand."
4. Knight (2003), p. 27 Map titled: "First invasion of Zululand".
5. Doyle (2002), p. 118.
6. Colenso (1880), p. 455
7. Colenso (1880), p. 456
8. Colenso (1880), p. 461, "... everyone understood that he would try and end the war before he was superseded ... that 'poor Lord Chelmsford' might get a chance, win a battle ...".
9. "Hon. Julia Selina Thesiger". thepeerage.com. 13 February 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
10. Inglis, Julia Selina (1892). "The Siege of Lucknow: a Diary". A Celebration of Woman Writers. James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.,. Retrieved 16 April 2011.

Sources

• Doyle, Peter; Bennett, Matthew R. Fields of Battle, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002, ISBN 1-4020-0433-8, essay by Tony Pollard The Mountain is their Monument, pp. 118 ff
• Colenso, Frances Ellen (1880). History of the Zulu War and Its Origin. London: Chapman & Hall.
• Greaves, Adrian (2011). Isandlwana: How the Zulus humbled the British Empire. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84884-532-9.
• Knight, Ian (2003). Zulu War 1879. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-612-7.
• Thompson, Paul Singer (2006). Black soldiers of the queen: the Natal native contingent in the Anglo-Zulu War. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-5368-2.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Chelmsford