Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford

Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford

Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford , GCB , GCVO , (born May 31, 1827 in Derby , † April 9, 1905 in Westminster ) was a British general and Commander-in-Chief of the British in the Zulu War . He fought in various British colonial wars (including the Crimean War , India and South Africa ).

First missions

Frederic Augustus Thesiger was the son of Frederic Thesiger , who later became Lord Chancellor . In December 1844, he joined the Rifle Brigade . From 1853 to 1854 Thesiger was adjutant to the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, Sir Edward Blakeney. 1855 Thesinger took first with the Grenadier Guards , to which he had moved in the meantime, then as adjutant to the commander of the 2nd Division , Lieutenant-General Markham, the Crimean War in part.

In 1857 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the 95th Rifles Regiment. With this he took part in the suppression of the Sepoy uprising in India . In the following years he served in Bombay .

In 1868 he took part in the British Ethiopia expedition of 1868 against Emperor Theodor II to Abyssinia as Deputy General Adjutant of Robert Cornelis Napier . He was then appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath and Adjutant to Queen Victoria . In 1877, Thesiger was promoted to command of a brigade in Aldershot and to brigadier general.

In February 1878 Thesiger went to South Africa as major general , with the brevet rank of lieutenant general, as commander in chief in the ninth Kaffir war . In October of the same year his father died and he became the 2nd Baron Chelmsford.

Zulu War

At the beginning of the Zulu War in January 1879, after an ultimatum, English colonial troops under Lord Chelmsford invaded the Zulu Empire of King Cetshwayo from Natal . The British army consisted of 5,000 Europeans and 8,200 Africans. It was organized in three departments, each made up of two battalions. The middle division was commanded by Chelmsford himself. King Cetshwayo's army was about 40,000 strong. In the Battle of Isandhlwana on January 22, 1879, the British suffered a catastrophic defeat in which the contingent of 1,300 British soldiers involved was completely wiped out.

Lord Chelmsford began restructuring his troops in the summer. The British sent troops from across the Empire to South Africa during this period. Garnet Joseph Wolseley was sent to replace Lord Chelmsford. So he was looking for a quick decision. In the Battle of Ulundi on July 4, 1879, the British were finally able to defeat the Zulu. Two weeks after the decisive battle, the British announced that the Zulu Kingdom no longer existed. Cetshwayo was captured a month later. The Zululand was divided into thirteen separate kingdoms. Although Lord Chelmsford left South Africa in July, Wolseley credited him with defeating the Zulu. He was awarded the Bath Order for this victory .

Back in England

Lord Chelmsford was Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1884 to 1889 , and was promoted to general in 1888 .

Frederic Augustus Thesiger died in 1905 while playing billiards . He left four sons. The eldest, Frederic Thesiger , became Viceroy of India and 1st Viscount Chelmsford in 1916 . One of his grandchildren was the officer and traveler Wilfred Thesiger .

literature

• Donald Featherstone: Victorian Colonial Warfare. Africa. From the Campaigns against the Kaffirs to the South African War . Cassell, London 1992, ISBN 0-304-34174-6 .
• Ian Knight, Ian Castle: Zulu War . Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-84176-858-8 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Frederic Thesiger	Baron Chelmsford 1878-1905	Frederic John Napier Thesiger