John Grenfell Maxwell

Sir John Grenfell Maxwell

Sir John Grenfell Maxwell GCB , KCMG , CVO , DSO (born August 13, 1859 in Toxteth Park, Liverpool , † February 20, 1929 in Cape Town ) was a British general and fought in various British colonial wars. He put down the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916 .

Life

In 1879 Maxwell joined the British Army at the 42nd Royal Highland Foot . In 1882 he took part with this unit in the campaign to suppress the Urabi uprising and to occupy Egypt . He fought in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir . During the rebuilding of the Egyptian army , Maxwell served as a captain in the military police from 1883 to 1885 . During this time he took the baton in Sirdars Francis Grenfell to Garnet Joseph Wolseley " Nile Expedition " to rescue Gordon Pasha and to the relief of Khartoum by the Mahdi in Sudan in part. From 1885 to 1889 he was involved in the fighting against the Mahdists as an adjutant to the Sirdar. He married Louise Selina Bonynge in 1892.

When in 1896 the Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force under Horatio Herbert Kitchener was marched to end the Mahdi uprising and retake Sudan, Maxwell was there as brigade commander. In the Battle of Firket he commanded the 3rd Brigade, later the 1st Egyptian Brigade in the Battle of Atbara . In the Battle of Omdurman he commanded the 2nd Brigade. In 1897 he became governor of Nubia and in 1898 of Omdurman .

From 1900 to 1902 Maxwell commanded the 14th Brigade in the Boer War . In 1900 he became military governor of Pretoria and the West Transvaal. For this he was named Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and Companion of the Orders of St. Michael and St. George . As the military governor of Pretoria, he developed an almost friendly relationship with the South African propagandist, spy , prophet and writer Johanna Brandt . In 1902 he became Chief of Staff of the III. Army Corps appointed in Ireland. From 1904 to 1908 he served with Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn in Ireland, London and Malta. In 1907 he was ranked major general, his chief of staff as commander in chief in the Mediterranean. From 1908 to 1912 Maxwell was Commanding General in Egypt.

After the outbreak of World War I , he served briefly on the Western Front as chief of the British mission in the French army . From September 1914 to 1916 he commanded the Allied troops in Egypt and successfully defended the Suez Canal . For this he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.

General Sir John Maxwell 1916

In 1916 Maxwell became Commander in Chief in Ireland . There the Easter Rising , an attempt by militant Irish Republicans to force independence from Great Britain, broke out. Although he was closely related to Constance Markiewicz , he had no knowledge of the current political situation in Ireland. His order - given by British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith - was to end the rebellion as quickly as possible. In the end he did - regardless of the political consequences. Maxwell had the captured Irish commanders executed . As soon as the executions became known, the sympathy of the Irish people swung to the side of the Republicans. The uprising is considered a turning point in Ireland's history that ultimately led to independence, and the IRA was born .

From 1916 to 1919 he was elevated to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and served as Commander in Chief of the North Command in York . In 1919 he was promoted to general. After leaving in 1922, he made several trips to the Middle East.

Web links

• General, Sir John Grenfell Maxwell PC GCB KCMG CVO DSO 1859-1929 at maxwellsociety.com

predecessor	Office	successor
Sir Lovick Friend	Commander in Chief in Ireland 1916–1917	Sir Bryan Mahon