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THE LIFE OF
MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE C.B., C.M.G., LL.D.
BY
SIR GEORGE DOUGLAS, BART.
author of 'the diversions of
a country gentleman,' etc.

WITH THREE PORTRAITS IN
PHOTOGRAVURE

LONDON
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
27 PATERNOSTER ROW
1904

r^LE

Edinburgh ; T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty

CONTENTS CHAPTER I
Introduction — Early Years with his Parents 1

PAGE

CHAPTER II
Schooldays — Service in the Navy . . 17
CHAPTER III
Preparation for the Army — Joins the Black
Watch — Early Days in the Regiment 47
CHAPTER IV
Adjutancy of the Regiment — Ashanti
Campaign of 1873-1874 ... 72
CHAPTER V
Home-coming Festivities — Death of Mr.
Wauchope — Tour of Franco-Prussian
Battlefields— Malta— Cyprus . . 104

iv MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
CHAPTER VI PAGE
Wauchope as Company and Regimental
Officer  145
CHAPTER VII
Transvaal Campaign — Engagement to be
Married — Egyptian Campaign of '82 —
Death of Major Wauchope — Marriage 169
CHAPTER VIII
Life in Cairo — Cholera — Death of Mrs.
Wauchope — Sir Gerald Graham's Cam
paign against the Mahdi — El Teb —
Again severely wounded — Promotion
—The Gordon Relief Expedition . 195
CHAPTER IX
Characteristic Letter — Visits to the
Erskine Family — Continental Trips—
His Friendliness to all Sorts and
Conditions — Views on Marriage, and
Special Kindness to Lovers — Anec
dotes of the Malta Period — Three
Letters— Gibraltar— A New Departure 245

CONTENTS v
CHAPTER X PAGE
The Colonel in a New Character — Letters
to Sir Charles Dalrymple — His canvass
of the Constituency — Incidents of the
Campaign — His Powers as a Platform
Orator  263
CHAPTER XI
Engagement to be Married — Letters to Miss
Muir — His Relations with Tenants and
Dependents — As a Churchman . . 296
CHAPTER XII
Extracts from Letters — Appointed to Com
mand a Brigade on Active Service —
The Soudan Campaign . . . 333
CHAPTER XIII
The Boer War — Extracts from Letters —
Magersfontein — Death and Burial —
Conclusion  366
APPENDIX
The Wauchopes of Niddrie . . . 425

NOTE
The Author desires to return thanks to the following
ladies and gentlemen for assistance in the writing of this
book : —
Mrs. Wauchope of Niddrie, the Lady Ventry, Miss
Wauchope, the Countess-Dowager of Northesk, the Vis
countess Wolseley, the Honourable Mrs. Trotter of Colinton,
Lady Alison, Mrs. J. C. Shairp, Mrs. Gaiter, Miss Hogg ;
To General the Right Honourable Sir Henry Brackenbury
and Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. Trotter for reading proof-
sheets ;
To Field- Marshal Viscount Wolseley ; General the Right
Honourable Sir Redvers Buller ; General Sir Archibald Alison,
Bart., G.C.B. ; Major-General Sir J. F. Maurice, K.C.B. ;
Major-General Sir William Gatacre, K.C.B.; General Wavell ;
To Vice-Admiral the Right Honourable Lord Charles
Beresford, K.C.B. ; Admiral Sir Charles Fane, K.C.B. ; Captain
Henry Walters, R.N., and the Officials of the Admiralty ;
To Colonel E. G. Grogan, C.B. ; Colonel A. G. Duff;
Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel P. J. C. Livingston ; Major Hugh
Rose ; Captains J. G. Rennie, D.S.O., and A. G. Wauchope,
and Quarter-Master Davidson of the Black Watch ; and
Colonels Davidson, Cumberland, and Fox, late of the same
regiment ;

viii MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Also to the Right Honourable Sir Charles Dalrymple,
Bart., M.P. ; the Very Reverend Principal Story ; Sheriff
J. C. Shairp ; David Maclaren, Esq. ; A. D. M. Black, Esq. ;
Dr. Charles Cooper of The Scotsman ; Archibald Trotter,
Esq. ; Robert Oliver, Esq. ; J. B. Boyd, Esq. ; John Scott,
Esq., Frogden ; T. Craig-Brown, Esq. ; William Baird, Esq.,
author of Mqjor-General Wauchope. The Reverend Dr. James
M'Gregor ; Hugh Adair, Esq. ; Andrew Balfour, Esq., M.D. ;
the Reverend J. Mactaggart, Chaplain to the Forces ; Robert
Martin, Esq., Colliery-Manager ; Frederick Leman, Esq. ;
Montagu Foster, Esq. ; the Reverend J. Leishman ; Mr.
Thomas Bowie ;
Also to Quarter- Master Sergeants J. Anderson and Logan ;
Canteen-Sergeant Hector White ; Sergeants Smeaton, Howden,
and Watt, now or formerly of the Black Watch; Police-
Constable Goddard ; City-Guide Watson, and many others.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION — EARLY YEARS WITH HIS PARENTS
It was on the dark afternoon of December 13th,
1899, that news reached Edinburgh that Major-
General Andrew Wauchope had fallen, at the head
of the Highland Brigade, whilst leading a night
attack on the enemy's position at Magersfontein.
As this news was quickly communicated by one to
another, a deep gloom spread over many hearts,
first in the capital, then in the suburbs, then in the
surrounding country. Considering that, even at
that time, the Highland Brigade was understood to
have been severely cut up in the late engagement,
this was but in the nature of things. And yet the
sorrow — the word is not too strong — manifested by
that entity so oft misunderstood, the man in the
street, had in it something which at once distin
guished it from that which follows upon most
collective calamities. This something was a personal
note : the name of Wauchope — of 'Andy Wauchope'
— was breathed with tender and affectionate regret
from almost every speaker's lip. Many had fallen ;
it was round the General's name that grief was
precipitated. It is not always thus — perhaps not
often — in a country where strong personal independ
ence is carried to the point of a fault or a religion.

2 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
And when, at a later hour, the sad news reached the
Border country — where, as well as in Edinburgh,
the fallen leader had been a well-known figure — the
feeling which it evoked was the same. So was it,
there is good ground for believing, in some more or
less modified degree, throughout the whole of Scot
land. Over-emphasis in writing is a distinctive vice
of the age, though not one with which the present
writer is conscious of much affinity. This, at least,
he strongly feels : that nowhere would it be more out
of place to overstep the moderation of fact than in
writing of such a man as Wauchope — one who was
in his nature modest and of fine reserve, to whom
anything approaching to advertisement would have
been even more distasteful than to the average
gentleman. The writer therefore restricts himself
to stating with dispassion, in a spirit as of science,
the fact which stands and is deserving record, that
Scotland mourned for Wauchope as for one of the
best-loved and most sorely missed of all her sons.
' There is no other Scottish soldier,' it was written
at the time, ' whose death would have produced a
like impression.'
Now Scotland's sympathies have ever been swift
to respond to the appeal of military distinction,
more especially when that distinction is embodied in
the person of one of her own sons. Notwithstand
ing this, there may seem at first sight to be in
Wauchope's case a certain disproportion between
the recognition and the thing recognised. No one
claims for Wauchope that he had proved himself a
great soldier, though he may have had it in him to

A REGIMENTAL OFFICER 3
do so. No one, to be more particular, would think
of ranking him alongside of a Colin Campbell, a
Hugh Rose, or a Hope Grant. For distinction
such as theirs, he had lacked the first requisite —
opportunity. As a general-officer he was all but
untried in the field — his chances lay still in the
future. Dying at the age of fifty-three, it is doubt
ful, in spite of his many and hard-fought campaigns,
if he can be described with perfect fitness as a
veteran. Nor, though his courage by the universal
consent of those qualified to judge was of the finest,
had any specially conspicuous act of personal valour
happened to mark him off from his comrades-in
arms. As a soldier, it had never been his practice
to fight ' for his own hand ' ; the aim which he set
before himself was not the winning of personal
glory, but to take his share of the day's work with
the rest. But to the doing of that said day's work
he brought a spirit, energy, devotion which are rare.
He had that finest, happily not rarest, quality in a
workman — the desire, the determination, to have
his work well done. In him this amounted to a
ruling passion. And when this becomes known, as
it does not in any sphere whatever of labour or
enterprise take long to do, the worker's individual
share in the day's work is certain henceforth to
grow and grow. It was as a plain regimental officer,
then, not as a ' hero' or commander, that Wauchope's
military reputation was made. His was the nature
which entirely and unquestioningly sinks self in its
endeavour for the general weal. In this he was
whole-hearted, and in this consistent throughout.

4 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Whether this type of soldier is or is not in its own
degree less valuable than the other types referred
to, let me leave it to soldiers to pronounce. It is
certain, it is indeed in the nature of things, that this
self-effacing type has met with far less than its due
share of the attention it so easily dispenses with of
the world and the biographer.
But, since Wauchope's merits were of this kind,
it will be asked, How came they to receive such
widespread recognition ? They were not of the
showy order, and though the circle of friends whom
his noble and kindly nature had attached to him
was a very wide one, that fact was quite insufficient
to account for his reputation. The explanation lies
partly in extraneous circumstances — circumstances
lying outside his immediate professional work — which
had attracted attention to him. For Wauchope was,
in a sense, many-sided. But it lies much more in
his character. He united in himself a certain com
bination of qualities which, if not unique, was rare ;
he realised in his own person a high type — one
might almost say an ideal — of Scottish character.
And that character, by his untiring devotion to
duty, his constant and unvarying kindliness to all
sorts and conditions of men, by other qualities as
well, he had, without stepping aside from the walks
of everyday life, impressed upon his countrymen.
' Even the man who brings our milk is mourning for
him, as the whole town is,' wrote an Edinburgh lady,
a few days after his death. ' Eh, he was good to
cabmen,' said a cabman's wife at the same time. An
other lady wrote as follows : — < I heard a little story

THE GENIUS OF GOODNESS 5
in Lanark which may interest you, though it is
only one of very many. The day the news of
Magersfontein came, the Jubilee nurse was visiting
a miner's wife, and found the husband sitting by
the fire with tears rolling down his cheeks. He told
her he had been many years in the dear old Forty-
Second, and that the General had been just like a
father to them — they would never see his like
again.' When Wauchope died there were many
'tributes' to his memory — tributes from quarters
which conventional usage would describe as high
and low. But, if I knew the man, the specimens
which I have quoted (could he have heard them)
were not those which would have touched him
least. Of the two classes — those who erect barriers
between themselves and their subordinates, and
those who break existing barriers down — he be
longed not to the former. And were I to describe
him in a single phrase, I should say that he had,
combined with the best qualities proper to the
soldier, the genius of goodness and of loving-
kindness. For there is a genius of the heart as
well as of the mind, and it is perhaps the rarer of
the two.
From the above it will appear that the task to be
performed by Wauchope's biographer is a double
one. In the first place, he must present a record
of the incidents of an active military career. But
the mere telling of the ' story of a soldier's life ' is
the lesser part of his undertaking. Through and
beyond that record, he must endeavour to put
before the reader a character- sketch of a unique

6 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
and inspiring personality. And the combination of
these two sources of interest should give to the
result, among military biographies, an individuality
of its own. How imperfectly this double aim has
been realised in the following pages no one is more
deeply conscious than their author. He may plead,
in partial extenuation of his shortcomings, that his
task has been by no means an easy one — scarcity of
document, scarcity even of oral tradition, being
among the unsurmountable difficulties encountered
by him. For, despite the generous collaboration of
a large number of General Wauchope's companions-
in-arms, the fact remains that, saving in exceptional
cases, the busy life of the soldier employed on active
service is not favourable to the amassing of remi
niscence of the kind here required. And not more
' strict in his arrest ' is Death than is Oblivion swift
to spread her condor- wings — wide to envelop,
powerful to enfold, and feathered with the night.
Such waifs and strays of recollection as his best
efforts have found still available, the author con
fidently offers to the public, as authentic, though
imperfect, illustrations of a man whose memory and
example are well worthy to survive.

Andrew Gilbert Wauchope was born at Niddrie
Marischal, in a room which can still be pointed out,
in the second oldest part of the house, on the 5th
July 1846, and was the third of the four children of
Andrew Wauchope, Esquire, of Niddrie, and Frances,

AN IRISH STRAIN 7
his wife, daughter of Henry Lloyd, of Lloyds-
borough, County Tipperary, — his elders being a
brother, William John, born in September 1841,
and a sister, Harriet Elizabeth Frances, now the
wife of the fourth Baron Ventry ; whilst a second
sister, Hersey Josephine Frances Mary, was many
years younger than himself. Of the boys, the elder,
William, took after his mother's family ; whereas
Andrew, from his earliest years, developed the
characteristics of a Wauchope — somewhat modified,
no doubt, by the Irish strain which was in him, and
which later showed itself specially in his gift of
speech, and strong, though restricted, sense of hum
our. It was partly on this account, perhaps, that at
a very early age he became a special favourite with
his father — a distinction which he retained through
out the remainder of Mr. Wauchope's life-time, and
which he consistently repaid with a dutiful filial
devotion. The two boys, Andy and his brother,
were and remained through life devotedly attached
to one another.
From the published account of the General's early
childhood, one would gather that he spent that
portion of his life altogether in his native country.
This was by no means the case. The as yet barely
articulate Andrew lisped in German, ' for the Ger
man came ' ; and, when wishing to speak English,
would translate his thoughts word for word from the
German idiom. For example, 'Now must I up-
stand' (Jetzt muss ich aufstehen), his elder sister
remembers hearing him say. The explanation of
this is as follows :— Mr. Wauchope, who was a keen

8 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
sportsman, had at one time rented Belchester, near
Coldstream, as a hunting-box ; and, whilst following
the Berwickshire fox-hounds from that place, had
met with a serious accident — sustaining an injury by
which his health was permanently impaired, and
which finally caused his death at the age of fifty-six
years. About the year 1851 he determined to try
the effect upon his ailment of the famous water-cure
which had been established, by a physician named
Priessnitz, at Grafenberg, in the mountains of Aus
trian Silesia, not far from the Prussian frontier. To
Grafenberg accordingly he went, accompanied by
Mrs. Wauchope and the children, where, having
rented a house, he remained for about two years.
During this period the young Wauchopes made
acquaintance with the better-class children of the
place, who became their playfellows ; whence it arose
that — German being the language in which this in
tercourse was carried on — the young Scots came
to speak it naturally. It is also recorded that even
their kind nurse, Mrs. Gairdiner, though long past
the age when a language is easily picked up, attained
at this time to speaking a mixed or hybrid tongue.
But, as so often happens with knowledge acquired
without conscious effort of the brain, as regards little
Andrew at least, the language thus early learned was
in after years completely forgotten. After leaving
Grafenberg, the family spent a winter at Nice, and
before returning to Scotland visited Florence.
It was as a travelled child, therefore, that Andy —
as, not only now but throughout life, he was most
generally called — saw again the patrimonial estate

DELIGHTS OF NIDDRIE 9
which he had left as little more than a baby. To a
lad of his keen, adventurous, and high-spirited
temper, the place must at once have presented the
most delightful of opportunities, of possibilities.
An oasis in the midst of the Black Country which
lies to the immediate south-east of Edinburgh, its
spacious shrubbery-girdled house, its green parks,
timber trees, and rivulet, would constitute to such
a boy as he a world of inexhaustible delights.
Accordingly he loved it early ; whilst to the very
last evening that he spent there, and beyond it, his
love continued to occupy a foremost place among
those local affections which it was his nature to
cherish with peculiar warmth. Nor was he now
long in testing, from his own boyish point of view,
the sporting capacities of Niddrie. His beginning
was made in tree-climbing and bird's-nesting. Then
there was angling in Niddrie Burn, which at that
time still harboured trout, though these have since
become extinct, as have likewise the Niddrie
pheasants which later claimed his attention. Pro
bably, to judge from a more mature standpoint, the
proximity of a mining-district is not favourable to
sport. But, for the present, Andy's opportunities
amply sufficed him ; and many a torn jacket and
drenched pair of breeches bore witness to the zest
with which he availed himself thereof. He has been
described by one who remembers him at this time
as a ' thorough little pickle,' and no doubt he de
served the character.
For the expanding mind, however, objects of
interest were by no means confined to the home

10 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
policies. Breaking bounds in one direction, he
would be confronted by Craigmillar Castle — still
preserving, as the soul of its huge body, associations
of the lovely Queen of Scots ; whilst, in another
direction, his gaze would fall upon the sea — now so
soon to fill a foremost and absorbing place in his
young imagination. Here, also, lay Portobello
sands, at that time a favourite spot for the exercising
of troops — a spectacle on which the future Brigadier
looked not in vain. So, since it is the nature of
childhood to imitate maturity, we hear of his put
ting the boys of the neighbourhood through their
drill. He had also a second regiment under his
command which was of mixed composition. After
the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, his uncle,
Captain George Elliot of the Royal Navy, — he
had married Mr. Wauchope's sister, — was ordered
with his ship to the Black Sea. The juvenile party
at Niddrie was then recruited by the Captain's
daughters — now the Countess Dowager of Northesk
and Mrs. Dacre Butler — coming to reside there, —
which young ladies, with his sister, and some boys
and girls living on the estate, he formed into a
household corps. Nor must it be understood that,
merry as the little party was, its enrolment was
treated purely as a joke. That would not have been
in keeping with Andy's character ; and, though the
entire regiment was devoted to its commander, they
knew that, when occasion required, it was quite
within his power to be irascible, and were conse
quently just the least bit afraid of him. Those were
the days of spirited attacks on, and defences of, the

PLAYING AT SOLDIERS 11
ice-house — a chamber of which the roof formed a
mound of turf, constituting, in mimic warfare, an
ideal position to hold or to assail. That Andy's
mind was just then running upon military things is
shown by his reply to the village schoolmaster, when
called on to descend from the high park-wall upon
which he had mounted to the peril of his neck : ' All
right, Mr. Savage,' he shouted, with a wave of his
hand ; ' I 'm only viewing the enemy ! ' But his most
remarkable performance of this kind is yet to be told.
There were visitors at Niddrie, and he had marched
his corps, of which he was justly proud, to the house
for inspection, himself riding before on his black
pony, Donald. He put his soldiers through their
facings to the entertainment of the guests, who,
however, were scarcely prepared for what came next.
For, having given the word of command, ' March —
forward,' he actually proceeded to ride into the hall,
through the dining-room, and out on to the terrace
at the back of the house, his well-drilled soldiers
following, with drum beating and flag flying. Surely,
for one who in time to come was to be famous as a
leader, this early disregard of obstacles was no bad
beginning !
Rich, however, as were the resources of Niddrie,
they were perhaps surpassed by those of the second
family property at Yetholm, to which the boy paid
occasional visits. Here, indeed, were no enclosed
park, no stately mansion ; but, in their place, the
green open country of the Cheviot Hills, Bowmont
Water with its trout-streams, Yetholm Loch with
its flocks of various wild-fowl, its shoals of perch,

12 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
and its pike for which a trimmer might be set.
Truly the paradise of any healthily minded bOy who
has preserved the natural instincts of the race ! At
Yetholm, too, one may assume that a greater free
dom of intercourse with all conditions of men
would naturally be his than within the gates of
Niddrie Marischal. And to Andrew Wauchope,
man and boy, such intercourse was dear. Already,
at the age of eight, he made himself known to every
soul in Yetholm village, and would run as he chose
in and out of every house there. To all alike he
was just ' Andy ' ; and, though during youth he was
undoubtedly a bit of a tease, being described by
those who remember him at that time as brimful
of mischief, his instinct so guided him that he never
overstepped the line where legitimate fun ends. On
their side, the villagers were far too fond of him
ever to take serious exception to his pranks. And
it is pleasant to be able to record that friendships
formed in those boyish days endured unchanged
through life. So that, years afterwards, when on
one of his periodical visits to Yetholm, as a mature
man who had served his country with distinction,
he would tap upon a cottage-door, it was as like as
not that the answer of the occupant — some aged
goodwife — would be, 'Is that you, Andy? Come
your ways in ! ' There was in particular one old
man, a crofter, Willie Grahamslaw by name, now
deceased, whom Wauchope on his return from a
campaign never failed to visit before any one else
in the village. ' Andy, that 's never you ! ' the de
lighted veteran would exclaim, as the fact dawned

A BORN ACTOR 13
by degrees upon perceptions dimmed by time. And
what a hearty shaking of hands would then ensue !
Need we wonder that in life he was beloved, that
after death his memory is green within the Border
village ?
So much, then, for young Wauchope's out-door
life at this time, and of course he was primarily an
out-door boy. But, within doors also, a like fulness
of life and spirits characterised him, making him a
source of constant amusement to his young com
panions. A born actor, he took great pleasure in
dressing up to assume and sustain a character, one
of his impersonations being that of a Muleteer,
whose song he would sing to an accompaniment
of the cracking of a whip. A favourite play of his
was the classical burlesque of Bombastes Furioso,
in which he has been known to take a part at a
period very much later than that at which we have
as yet arrived. And, indeed, it is a fact — though
perhaps difficult of credence to those who only
knew him in his later and graver years — that
through life his mimetic power never deserted
him ; so that when, at a time of cholera-scare in
Egypt, it was deemed particularly desirable to keep
the men's minds occupied, he returned at the call
of duty for a single night to his early love, and,
throwing himself as was his wont heart and soul
into all he did, sustained with great applause a part
in regimental theatricals.
Easy as was his intercourse with mankind in the
free society of the village, like most country-bred
children, Andy, in a more formal world, was by no

14 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
means free from shyness — which, indeed, continued
to characterise him until a much later date. In
illustration of this, one of the cousins who spent
her childhood with him relates how, once when the
children from Niddrie had been sent to attend a
party at the neighbouring house of New Hailes
(then occupied by a tenant), she and Andy felt
ill at ease among the unfamiliar faces surrounding
them. Whilst in this plight, they happened to
notice an open window, having steps leading down
from it, which seemed to invite their escape. The
temptation was irresistible ; so, hand in hand, they
passed out of the house, nor did they cease running
till they had left the intervening miners' village
behind them, and were safe at home once more.
Meantime, in the house they had just left, their
absence, and the failure to discover them by search,
were causing consternation.
More surprising than to hear that he was shy
with strangers is it to learn that the boy who was
afterwards to be celebrated for his dauntless and
unflinching courage was at this time highly strung
and extremely nervous. He was likewise a prey
to superstitious fear and to terrors of the imagina
tion — more afraid to go upstairs alone in the dark
than were the sister and girl-cousins, his playmates ;
nay, addicted upon occasion to leaving his own
solitary bedroom, for company's sake, to sleep upon
the floor of theirs. I have already hinted that his
temper could be warm, not to say fiery. This was
especially apt to be the case when any one, wishing
to tease him, would address him as 'Carrots,' or

DEATH OF MRS. WAUCHOPE 15
otherwise rudely allude to the redness of his hair
— a point as to which he was peculiarly sensitive.
Indeed it is remembered that, at a later date, in one
of his early letters from school, he reported progress
by speaking of himself as ' becoming very brave ' (as,
upon parental exhortation, he had doubtless set him
self to do) and 'not minding much now when the
other boys teased him about his hair.' On this point,
his kind nurse, Gairdiner, used to seek to soothe his
amour-propre by saying consolingly of the auburn
locks, 'Eh! yon 's no reid.' And it is characteristic of
his grateful and affectionate nature that, long after
wards, when a young officer of the Black Watch,
'with all the world before him where to choose,'
he found time to travel twice to Dundee for the
express purpose of visiting the old woman, then a
pensioner of the family and bedridden. So that,
if his temper was warm, his heart was certainly not
less so. Another of his boyish virtues was unselfish
ness. ' Extraordinarily unselfish for a man,' says of
him one of those who at this time and afterwards
lived on terms of closest intimacy with him. And
that, from a woman, is as handsome a concession
as can be expected. Also, before concluding this
chapter — though it belongs by date to his twelfth
year — there is one little anecdote, told by a nurse
of the family, which to me seems admirably to
illustrate that sense of deep and far-away thought-
fulness which his aspect sometimes conveyed to
those who were in his company, and which served
to mark him off from commoner men.
In June 1858 he lost his mother. By this time

16 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
he had made up his mind to go to sea, and was
indeed being prepared to enter the training-ship.
Strolling dejectedly near Niddrie in the interval
before the funeral, he came upon the gardener, who
was assisting in digging poor Mrs. Wauchope's
grave. Him he addressed by name, and — dreaming,
no doubt, in his mournful mood of a foreign or a
watery grave as his own probable portion — to him
said, 'You need not leave room for me — I shall
not be buried there.' Viewed by the light of after
events, this utterance seems prophetic. At the
lowest estimate, it suffices to prove in Wauchope's
case the truth of the poetic adage, ' A boy's thoughts
are long, long thoughts.' His sense of loss sus
tained by his mother's death was not soon or easily
assuaged, and at least up to the period of his early
manhood he would still at times experience a sensa
tion as of her spiritual presence beside his bed at
night.

CHAPTER II
SCHOOLDAYS — SERVICE IN THE NAVY
To resume the chronological narration of events,
when in his tenth year Andy was put to a school
at Worksop, in Nottinghamshire. This school,
which had been carefully selected for him by Mrs.
Wauchope, was in more than one respect a remark
able one. It had been founded some time before
by a certain Dr. Heldenmeyer, who in earlier days
had been an assistant-master under the celebrated
philanthropic educationist, Pestalozzi, in his insti
tution at Yverdun. Jean-Henri Pestalozzi had died
in 1827 ; and, before young Wauchope went to
Worksop, his former assistant Heldenmeyer had
been succeeded in the management of the school
by a Dr. Ellenberger, a Swiss gentleman of high
character, who continued to conduct the establish
ment upon Pestalozzian lines.
It may be remembered that, in his Livre des
Meres, the much-misunderstood reformer of Zurich
had made a special appeal to mothers ; whilst, in
the sequel to his famous work of fiction entitled
Leonard et Gertrude, he had sought to instruct
these in the art of developing the affections of their
children. Well, it seems more than likely that,
B

18 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
during her long residence on the Continent, Mrs.
Wauchope may have read these books, and been
attracted by them ; whence her choice of the Work
sop school for her younger boy. It is now most
commonly considered that, though admittedly a
man of genius, Pestalozzi was unpractical ; but, in
the fifties of the last century, the humanity of his
system, together with his fascinating doctrine of
developing the human faculties in conformity with
natural progress, may well have appealed success
fully to an enlightened and affectionate English
mother. To Worksop, at any rate, Andrew was
sent ; and it is certainly not too much to claim that,
were the school memorable for nothing else, its
existence is justified by the share it had in pro
ducing the man whom he came to be. His own
account of this experience of his, as he would give
it later in life, was that he had been placed at the
Pestalozzian school because it was known that there
he would not be corporally corrected; but that
being a very naughty little boy, he was not found
to progress under this system, and so was removed
elsewhither — an account, as I need not insist, due
solely to his fondness for fun.
The means of intellectual training mainly relied on
at Dr. Ellenberger 's were mathematics and modern
languages. The study of Latin may have been
compulsory ; but Greek, if taught at all, was cer
tainly optional ; so that Wauchope in later life
would sometimes regret that he had received little
or no classical education. Gymnastics filled an im
portant place in the course. Diet, by comparison

A LITTLE RED-HAIRED LAD 19
with more modern standards, was Spartan — meat
being eaten but once daily — whence a surviving
schoolfellow of the General's recalls retiring to bed
at night with stomach crying aloud for fresh sup
plies. The tone of school-life was exceptionally
pure and high, the use of foul language being voted
by the boys themselves ' bad form ' ; whilst that the
school found favour among parents is proved by
the fact that it would be patronised by the youth
of entire families — brothers, cousins, and kinsmen
of more remote degree succeeding each other in
it. When at the fullest, it numbered as many as
a hundred pupils.
It was as a ' little, red-haired, freckled boy ' that
Wauchope struck one of his contemporaries when
he made his appearance at Worksop. Portraits of
Dr. Ellenberger's scholars of that period show that
they wore large white collars and full black bow
ties, with hair hanging in heavy side-locks ; and, in
reference to the last, it is a curious fact that at this
early age Wauchope had already developed the
trick, which in moments of abstraction clung to
him through life, of twisting a finger in his fore
lock. Indeed, it was on seeing him do this that
a friend, who had been at Worksop with him and
had not met him again until many years after, ex
claimed, ' Ah ! now I know for certain that you are
the same Wauchope with whom I was at school ! '
Being the only Scots boy in the school, he was
known to his schoolmates as ' Scotchie ' ; and it is
noteworthy that when asked what profession he
proposed to enter, he would, even at this age,

20 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
invariably reply, ' I shall join the Forty- Second
Regiment.' Perhaps the school-days of remarkable men are not
generally remarkable ; if this is so, then Wauchope's
are exceptional. But from this it must not for a
moment be understood that he is to be pictured as
a faultless creature, of the type of Arthur in Tom
Brown's School-Days. That would be altogether
misleading. If Wauchope at this time displayed
an excellent disposition, it was a disposition for
whatever mischief might be toward at the moment.
Tn that, indeed, he bore a foremost part. So that
were there, for example, question of a 'barring-out,'
he was sure to be art and part of it. But, no doubt,
it was in breaking bounds that he most distinguished
himself. Among Dr. Ellenberger's charges, to enter
the village of Worksop was strictly against rules.
But Scotchie's escapades to that forbidden spot, to
procure and fetch back ' tuck,' were notorious and
remain memorable. It is also remembered that,
when he received a hamper of good things from
home, he would always gather his friends about him
to assist at the opening. Nor was it only in law-
breaking that he showed his superior mettle. He
is described as 'the hardest of boys.' So, in the
game of 'shinny,' a variety of hockey which was
played on the ground adjoining the school-house, he
would never hesitate to * go for ' a boy of double
his size; and when knocked over, as happened
generally — no matter how roughly — he was never
known to utter a word or sound of complaint.
Being this sort of boy, it is not to be wondered at

A SCHOOL-BOY'S JOURNEY 21
that, despite his tender age, he soon became a leader
among his fellows — of whom some at least admired
him enthusiastically. But, notwithstanding his
hardiness, it is recorded of him that he was capable, in
certain circumstances, of exhibiting strong emotion.
The description of one of his journeys, when re
turning to school, is characteristic. He had entered
the railway-carriage neatly attired in an Eton jacket
and grey trousers. But, before he had reached his
journey's end, this immaculate get-up had under
gone some sullying from the contents of a succes
sion of pork-pies, which he had bought at the rail
way refreshment-room, and of which he devoured
the meat, flinging the crust out of window. On
this occasion, also, he contrived to lose his railway-
ticket, whence his fellow-passengers anticipated
difficulties. Not a bit of it ! For, with the good
fortune which attends the happy-go-lucky, even
this accident turned to his advantage. For, having
been conducted into the presence of the station-
master, he returned triumphant, announcing his
intention to lose his ticket every time he travelled
— the official having not only accepted his explana
tions, but treated him to tea, with jam ad lib. into
the bargain.
Side by side with his boyish spirit there was
in Andy a strong vein of romance. This showed
itself in various ways. For one thing, following
the traditions of his family, he was in early life a
stout (if not always quite consistent) adherent of
Jacobitism. So that one day, when the members
of a family-party assembled at Niddrie were singing

22 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
together the song of The Blue Bells of Scotland,
on coming to the line,
' He 's gone to fight the French for King George upon the
throne,'
Andy insisted on substituting the name of Charles
for that of George, in defiance of the consideration
that Prince Charlie had never been de facto a king,
or occupied a throne. At variance with this spirit
was the profound admiration which, in later life,
he developed for Cromwell, as also for Napoleon,
founded no doubt in either case upon his love of
good soldiership.
He was also much interested in the remarkable
men produced in historic times by his own family.1
For example, he was extremely proud of two
Wauchope brothers who had taken part in the
defence of Limerick, and who, after the triumph of
William the Third, rose to be generals in foreign
services. Of these, by the way, one settled in
France, becoming the founder of a French branch of
the Wauchope family, which continued until lately
in existence. The other served in the Spanish
army. Again, in the dining-room at Niddrie hang
two portraits, one of them representing that Sir
John Wauchope who, departing from his family
traditions, became distinguished as a Covenanter;
the other a Wauchope of the preceding century,
'a man of rare ability,'2 who, besides rising to
the primacy of Ireland, and being present at the
1 See Appendix.
2 Life of Ignatius Loyola, by 'Stewart Rose' (Lady Buchan), p. 256.

FASCINATION OF THE SEA 23
Council of Trent, must have been remarkable
also in a very different line, since, notwithstanding
that he had been blind from childhood, it is said
that he would ride ' across country,' trusting entirely
to his horse : well, it was a favourite subject of
debate between Andy and one of his sisters whether
it would have been more desirable to be the Arch
bishop or the Covenanter.
So much for the appeal made to his imagination
by the glamour surrounding the royal Stuarts, and
by the figures which had issued from his own race
to leave a name and tradition behind them. Whilst
he was at Dr. Ellenberger's school, however, it was
an influence of a very different kind which was at
work upon him. He read Captain Marryat's novels
of sea-life, and their rich humour and gallant spirit
of adventure captivated his fancy. ' Sailors are
such jolly fellows ! ' he would say, characteristically,
at this period ; and an old woman -servant of the
Niddrie family still remembers his kindly desire to
induce her to read the books which had so power
fully and delightfully affected himself. Evidently,
like many another, Master Andy had not yet
mastered the truth that, in literature as well as
outside it, one man's meat may be another's poison.
Among the books of his choice, his favourite was
Peter Simple ; and one can fancy his vaguely recog
nising an affinity in that most charmingly ingenuous
of ' young gentlemen ' — a gentleman certainly by no
means in conventional style only. Now, probably
there is not one boy in a thousand whose course in
life is much affected by what he reads; Andrew

24 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Wauchope was, however, that thousandth boy.
His passion for the sea was confirmed by a visit
which he paid to the ship of his uncle, Sir George
Elliot, probably at Portsmouth; so that, forgetful
now of his earlier military aspirations, he made up
his mind to enter the Royal Navy. In another case
than his own, there might of course have been
difficulties about his carrying out his intention.
But, in this as in most other things, his devotedly
attached father was willing to let him have his way.
Accordingly it was decided that he should go to
sea.1 This decision rendered advisable his transference
from the Worksop School to one where more
specialised training would be available. He was
therefore removed from Dr. Ellenberger's establish
ment, after the comparatively short stay of two
1 Among the influences which served to turn the lad's thoughts sea
ward, that of one of his grand-uncles must on no account be overlooked.
Robert Wauchope had been born at Niddrie in 1788 ; he entered the
Royal Navy in 1805, rose to the rank of an Admiral of the Blue, and
died in Edinburgh in 1862. His career was a stirring one, comprising
participation in the war with Napoleon, voyages in treasure ships, the
chase and capture of slavers, a personal interview with the ex-Emperor
in his exile at St. Helena, and other similar incidents characteristic of
those more adventurous times. He was, further, a man of considerable
mechanical ingenuity — the inventor of the time-ball in use in observa
tories — and, lastly and most essentially, of the profoundest religious
feelings. Young Wauchope, with his brother and a sister, visited him
at his residence, Dacre Lodge, in Cumberland, when the Admiral took
a strong fancy to the boy, who may perhaps have reminded him of a
dearly loved only son whom he had lost. The result was that when, in
1861, he wrote a 'Short Narrative of God's Merciful Dealings* towards
himself, he addressed the ms. to his ' Very dear Andy ' — the fifteen-year-
old lad who was entering his own profession. The narrative, which has
been preserved, forms a document of much human, and no little histori
cal, interest.

STUBBINGTON HOUSE 25
years or less, to be placed at Stubbington House,
near Fareham, Hampshire, which he entered in June
1858, when he had all but completed his twelfth
year. The village of. Stubbington is pleasantly
situated, among the green fields, hedge-rows, and
timber-trees of true country, distant about a mile
from the Solent shore, and separated from Gosport
by six or seven miles of furze-grown open. Stub
bington House, which stands in good grounds of its
own, must have been rather an imposing structure
even before it received the additions which, since
Wauchope's day, have been necessitated by a large
increase in the number of the pupils. It is of the
Georgian type, contains at least one fine panelled
room, and is traditionally said to have been built
about the year 1715, by a person bearing the some
what inauspicious and equivocal name of Missing,
from the proceeds of a contract to supply the Army
and Navy with flour and biscuit at the time of the
siege of Gibraltar — that is, most probably, of the
capture of that fortress by Rooke in 1704. Stub
bington House School had been founded in 1841 by
the Reverend William Foster, of St. John's College,
Cambridge, who still presided over it; and at the
date of Wauchope's entering, it numbered about forty
alumni. It was at that time carried on as a training-
school for the Army, Navy, and other professions.
Youths would consequently continue their studies
there up to the ages of eighteen and nineteen ; and
it is probably due to the fact of his being over
shadowed by pupils so much older than himself that
Wauchope seems to have left a much less distinct

26 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
impression of his personality behind him here than
he had done at Worksop. His stay here was also
shorter. In any case, my endeavours to recover traces of
him whilst at Stubbington House School have not
been successful. The present genial headmaster,
Montagu Foster, Esquire, who, though senior to
Wauchope, was at school with him under his own
father, remembers him only as a well-bred boy,
wearing plaid trousers and a heavy gold watch-
chain. The colour of his hair still attracted the
notice of his schoolfellows, for he was known among
them as 'Reddy.' One of them, now a retired
Captain of the Navy, with whom — though they were
but for a short time together — he became great
friends, recalls him as a ' kind, warm-hearted boy, very
considerate to boys younger than himself. ' Another,
with him both here and on board H.M.S. Britannia,
speaks of 'his cheeriness and sociability being in
those days unequalled.' It is also remembered that
his schoolfellows were not a little impressed by a
visit paid to him by his uncle Elliot, who had then
just been appointed Captain of the Fleet.
Of those schoolfellows, at least one has since
risen to fame. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford,
who was not only with Wauchope at Stubbington,
but whose chest stood next his in the Britannia,
and who through life continued on terms of warm
friendship with him, thus writes of him : ' We met
often about the world in different ports, and were
mutually delighted at our meetings. He had a
splendid character — bold, unselfish, manly, and

RUNNING AWAY FROM SCHOOL 27
chivalrous ; and he commanded not only the respect,
but the honest affection of all who knew him. He
was a brilliant example of what a British officer
should be in all his characteristics.' And again :
'Andy Wauchope was a grand and good man in
every sense of the word — the Empire cannot afford
to lose such men.' Wauchope and Beresford, the
Scotsman and the Irishman, each enthusiastically
proud of his own nationality, had many an argument
together as to which nation produced the most in
teresting characters ; and it is stated that, though
agreeing cordially upon every other point, as to this
they never once agreed.
One anecdote of this period of Wauchope's life
has been preserved. It is to the effect that, feeling
the monotony of their daily life weigh heavily upon
them, the boys of Stubbington one day agreed to
draw lots to determine who should break it by run
ning away from school, and that they even clubbed
their money to defray the expenses of the truant.
The lot fell upon Andy, who, true to his word,
abode by the terms of the agreement, and left the
school — arriving in due course in Paris (where his
family then was), with no luggage save a monkey,
which he had bought from an Italian organ-grinder
at Boulogne. He was, of course, sent promptly
back. In later life he often told and laughed over
this episode. For my own part, I am inclined to
regard the earlier part of it as a ' put up thing ' — a
boys' trick played off upon a companion whose
character of simplicity, combined with strictness in
observance of the obligations of honour, real or

28 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
imagined, had to them seemed to present an irresist
ible opportunity for practices of this kind. In after
life Wauchope was used to remark that he had been
at two schools, at one of which he was the best, at
the other the worst, of the boys. From what we
have seen of him at Worksop, it was evidently at
Stubbington that he bore the higher character. And
it seems not at all unlikely that a desire to pass
promptly for the Navy may have brought about the
change. So, in due course, he presented himself
at the Naval College, Portsmouth, for examination
by the Rev. Mr. Mayne — Second Wrangler of his
year at Cambridge, and to this day remembered
for his exceptional skill and judgment as an ex
aminer; and, having satisfied that gentleman's re
quirements, on the 13th September 1859 he entered
the Britannia training-ship, under Captain Harris
and Chief-Instructor Inskip, at Portsmouth. His
stay at Stubbington House had terminated in the
previous July.
In those days a naval cadet's term of service,
before being drafted into a sea-going ship, varied
from six months to twelve. Wauchope remained
the longer time in the Britannia, his career there
being uneventful, but noticeable for the fact that
throughout it he continued to impress his comrades
by his personality, and to win and hold their good
opinion. By those among them with whom I have
communicated, he is described as being universally
popular, of a cheerful and straightforward disposi
tion, though reserved, keen in all matters both of
work and play, high-couraged and resolute. Rear-

H.M.S. BRITANNIA 29
Admiral William Mann speaks of him in these
words : ' A strong character, absolutely fearless, he
was a leader of boys as he afterwards was of men ;
one that we all looked up to — the sort of boy one
felt one could take no liberties with, and would love
to gain the approval of. He never bullied, and
couldn't be bullied. Always cheerful and hopeful.'
I think that all those who knew Wauchope in later
years will recognise in this portrait the boy as father
to the man.
Physically he had developed since the old Work
sop days, his appearance, when on board the
Britannia, being thus described by another of his
messmates : ' An admirable type of the well-born
Scotch laddie, he had reddish hair curling close to
the head, a broad white forehead, and very bright
blue eyes — rather high cheek-bones.' The same
writer adds, ' I have seen his portrait since his death,
and it gives him a very thin face ; but of course as a
boy his face was much fuller.' Speaking of his
humour, another correspondent says, ' I can see the
twinkle of his blue eyes before me as I am writing.'
In the cockpit of the ship, where the cadets slept
and made their toilet, his chest stood next to that of
Mr. (now Captain) Horatio Kemble, with whom he
shared a servant, one Nichols of the R.M.L.I.
Wauchope was discharged from the Britannia on
the 21st September 1860. On the 5th October
following, an Admiralty Minute, initialed by Sir
Robert Dundas, Lord of the Admiralty, appoints
him as 'part complement' to H.M.S. St. George,
Captain the Hon. Francis Egerton, then lying

30 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
in Plymouth Sound. ' It was one of the happiest
days of my life,' says he, speaking of himself, as,
attired in his new uniform, he walked down the
High Street of Portsmouth — the scene, by the way,
of Nelson's last exploit on British ground, when he
gave an enthusiastic mob the slip by passing through
the courtyard of ' The George.' ' It was one of the
happiest days of my life, — a day in which I felt my
self identified as an officer in Her Majesty's service
— more particularly as on the way down to the
harbour I was met and saluted by a marine.'
The St. George was a screw steamship of 500 horse
power, carrying ninety-one guns and a crew of eight
hundred all told. She was considered one of the
finest fighting vessels afloat, and is described as
among the noblest-looking ships in the service.
Her next commission was to carry the sailor prince
Alfred, Queen Victoria's second son, then a lad of
sixteen years of age, on a cruise to the West Indian
Islands and the North American Station. In con
sideration of the Prince's presence, her officers had
been selected with special care ; and, apart from
family considerations, it may be regarded as a proof
of the good estimation in which Wauchope was held
that he should have been among their number.
The log of the St. George, preserved in the
Record Office of the Admiralty, shows that she
remained at Plymouth until near the end of Novem
ber, being alternately moored in the Sound and
secured to a hulk in the Hamoaze, whilst her officers
and men were employed as is usual under similar
conditions. Such entries as 'Young gentlemen at

H.M.S. ST. GEORGE 31
gun-drill,' at cutlass or rifle-drill, or at knotting and
splicing, or seamanship, are the nearest approaches
we obtain to any reference to Naval Cadet
Wauchope. On November the 25th the ship was
in Portland Harbour, where, with short intervals
spent in steaming or in sailing 'propeller up,' she
remained until her return to Plymouth on Decem
ber 15th. At Plymouth the New Year, 1861, was
ushered in by the young officers in a somewhat
hilarious manner. It was blowing a gale at the
time, and they, a little elevated, made a 'tre
mendous row' in the cockpit, striking sixteen
bells,1 and so on. In the evening they had
been ashore to see a pantomime performed. Hav
ing proceeded from Plymouth to Spithead, and
thence to Osborne, on January 7th the aS^. George
was visited by Her Majesty the Queen. After this
the crew were employed in taking in stores. On
January 16th H.R.H. Prince Alfred joined the ship
at Plymouth, whence she at once proceeded under
sail, with wind right aft, on her voyage to the
West Indies. Young Wauchope's dream was now
realised; nor was it long ere the strength of his
passion for the sea was to be rudely tested.
For the first three days after leaving Plymouth
the weather continued favourable to the ship's
course, and not altogether unpleasant. The
Channel was, therefore, soon cleared, and the crew
began to indulge in visions of a quick passage to
Barbadoes, the first island they were to visit. These
1 For the benefit of non-nautical readers, I may explain that sixteen
bells are struck but once in a year, at midnight on the 31st December.

32 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
agreeable anticipations were, however, doomed to
disappointment ; for on the third day of the voyage
the wind headed the ship, which thereupon began to
knock about in a manner very uncomfortable to
those within her. By this time, too, harbour
luxuries in the shape of milk and fresh vegetables
were exhausted, and the usual discomforts of a mid
winter cruise in the North Atlantic began to be felt.
The St. George was now off the Bay of Biscay,
to the north-west of Cape Finisterre. The wind,
which blew from the south-west, went on increasing
in strength until the 25th or 26th of the month, and
for several days the ship was driven from her course.
On the evening of the latter day, the barometer fell
still lower than before, and night closed in with as
unpleasant a prospect of a hard blow as has often
been experienced. About 11 p.m. the gale reached
its height. A close-reefed main-topsail, fore stay
sail and mizzen course were then the only canvas
which could be shown to it, and that was momen
tarily expected to be blown away. The ship heeled
over to an angle of thirty degrees, laying at times
lee-chains under, and took in seas over her bows and
waist continuously. The decks were all afloat — the
cockpit having in it from twelve to twenty inches
of water. It was here that the chests of the gun
room officers were billeted; and at last, as squall
followed squall in quick succession and the ship con
tinued rolling, these chests took charge, dashing
from side to side in the water, with results disastrous
to the contents of those which were not water-tight.
In the mess-room, crockery was smashed, and books

A STORM AND AN ACCIDENT 33
and instruments came to grief. During all this
time, the moon shone and the weather was quite
clear ; so that the scene to any one who could have
viewed it in an artistic sense must have been mag
nificent in the extreme. When daylight broke next
morning, however, the aspect presented by the ship
was one of the most dreary discomfort imaginable.
So much, then, for Wauchope's first taste of sea-
life. It was in itself enough to try the mettle of a
seaman. But, in the boy's case, the disagreeables of
the situation were heightened to positive misery in
consequence of an accident which had befallen him
on the night of the 25th January, when, in short
ening sail in the dark, during a heavy squall, he had
been caught in the coil of the jib halyards, which
lifted him from the deck and threw him down,
badly breaking his arm. On the 27th January the
gale moderated— only, however, to increase again,
until a scene resembling that just described was re-
enacted. This lasted for two or three days, at the
end of which time the ship went about to the north
ward, shortly afterwards catching a fair wind which
put her well on her course to Barbadoes — where she
arrived without further mishap on the 21st February.
Here she anchored in Carlisle Bay, where she found
Her Majesty's ships Nile, Styx, and Barracouta ;
and where Wauchope found himself amid scenery
celebrated in his favourite Peter Simple.
After the perils of ocean, the pleasures of the port.
The island was en fite to do honour to her royal
visitor, who, having landed 'under all proper salutes,
met with an excellent reception from the islanders.
c

34 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Bridgetown was decorated. Illuminations and a pro
cession, a dejeuner, levde, and ball at Government
House, and a ' dignity ball ' followed ; at some or all
of which we may imagine Wauchope present — his
arm, still carried in a sling, eliciting the sympathy of
the fair and compassionate ladies of the place.
Among their coloured sisters, his boyish face and
bright colouring were the subject of much admira
tion, so much so that one of his messmates still
recalls the embarrassment to which the modest lad
was put by the frank declaration of a native washer
woman, ' Massa Wauchope, I do lub you so ' — an
incident, as may be imagined, which gave rise to a
good deal of ' chaff' among his companions.
The days following the Prince's landing were
devoted to visiting a sugar-mill and other sight
seeing, to playing a cricket-match, and attending a
review ; whilst the evenings were spent in dancing.
And the visit to Barbadoes was but the first stage in
a royal progress made by the Prince through the
adjacent islands, each of which, according to ability,
did its best to welcome him heartily. The young
officers of the St. George had every opportunity
of thoroughly enjoying themselves. From Bar
badoes the ship proceeded to St. Vincent, where an
ascent to the craters of the Soufrtere was the princi
pal event. On the way down, two snakes which had
been killed, of which each measured some four feet
six inches in length, came into the possession of one
of the midshipmen — Wauchope or another — who
caused some amusement to those present by pro
ceeding forthwith to pack them into his pockets,

A VERY PLEASANT LIFE 35
merely remarking as he did so that he ' hoped the
beggars were dead.'1
On leaving St. Vincent, the St. George visited
first St. Lucia, where a torchlight dance, per
formed by negroes, was one of the entertainments
offered to the visitors ; and, next, Fort Royal,
Martinique, where four French men-of-war were
lying, and where Wauchope may perhaps have
recalled memories of the fair Celeste and the
tender experiences of his favourite hero in romance.
Thence — the French squadron accompanying — to
St. Pierre, and thence to Dominica, Guadaloupe,
Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Tortola,
and St. Thomas, — in all of which islands the
authorities vied with each other in doing honour
to the royal visitor — the officers of the ship coming
in, of course, for their share in the festivities.
Their life, when not on duty, was, in fact, to a
large extent a round of gaieties, which they varied
by seining-parties, or by rides into the interior of
the islands, by bathing, cutter-racing, and playing
at 'swinging the monkey.' In other respects it
was uneventful, the sight of an albatross or of
masses of Gulf weed being the sort of incidents
which diversified it. During this cruise, steam
was only used when necessary to enable the ship
to keep up to time in carrying out the programme
which had been arranged for her.
Wauchope was now for a time to be separated
1 The authority for this anecdote merely gives the initial, W., which
may refer either to Wauchope or to another officer of the St. George,
Watson by name.

36 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
from his companions. He had been returning in
the dark from a ride at Santa Cruz, the seat of
the Danish West Indian Government, when his
horse fell under him, fracturing his arm a second
time, almost in the same place as before. His
good-nature made him an excellent subject for
gun-room badinage, and henceforth his messmates
poked their fun at him as being peculiarly brittle.
The poor lad's case, however, demanded greater
care than could be given on shipboard; so it was
arranged when the ship sailed that he should be
left behind. He was placed in charge of the
Governor of the island, whose heart he seems
entirely to have won ; for the kindly Dane, when
writing to report progress to Mr. Wauchope, used
to say that the longer the boy could be left with
him the better he would be pleased. Wauchope
also remembered with gratitude, in later years, the
kindness of a native woman named Dinah, who
had acted as his nurse at Santa Cruz. When he
rejoined his ship some two months later, he was
jubilant over the ' high old time ' which he declared
he had spent on shore.
Recording as it does, with equal gravity, the
breaking of a sherry-glass and the falling of a man
from aloft, a ship's log does not afford very stimu
lating literary fare ; nor, except in so far as they
illustrate Wauchope's life, are the movements of
the St. George of interest to ourselves. In May
1861 she was at Bermuda; whence, in company
with the Nile and Jason, she started for Halifax,
Nova Scotia — the warships testing their sailing

A PRANK AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 37
powers one against the other on the voyage. At
Halifax, or between there and neighbouring ports,
she spent the remainder of the summer and the
autumn. The American Civil War, as will be
remembered, was then raging, and her presence in
these waters was calculated to produce a wholesome
impression. For there was loose gunpowder about
at the time ; which, as it happened, a thoughtless
prank of the St. George's middies came very near
igniting. Some of these young gentlemen, sky
larking about Halifax after a supper, had come
on what they took for a phoenix doing duty for a
sign, which they proceeded with some difficulty
to unship. After acting in like manner to other
signs, three of the lads were captured by the police
and placed in ' chokey.' And now, lo and behold,
it is discovered that the supposed phoenix is in
reality the American eagle, displayed above the
Consulate ! In the inflamed state of public feeling
the newspapers took up the incident, describing it
as a ' secession act,' an insult by British officers to
the States ; so that, had not the American Consul
been a man of good sense and feeling, this freak of
a few wild lads might have been followed by serious
consequences. As it was, the offenders got off with
the payment of a £4 fine and damages.
From a journal kept by one of Wauchope's mess
mates, I extract the following entry, under date
June 12th: 'Fine day. I, Wauchope, and Francis
went for a fishing excursion up the Basin. Caught
five dozen fish. Encamped in the woods ; made
a slight supper ; went to the Indian camp ; had a

38 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
little more supper there, and then went with one
of them lobster-spearing at 10 p.m. Speared about
half-a-dozen. We had not enough torches, or we
should have got more.' This 'specimen day' of
happy boyhood is one of the very few from
Wauchope's life at this period now recoverable
from the deepening shades.
Passing on to the winter, we find a prospect of
active service now opening before the St. George.
It had come about in this way. After having
exercised considerable forbearance towards Mexico,
England had at last agreed to co-operate with
France and Spain in demanding from the Con
stitutional Government of Benito Juarez satis
faction for the claims of foreign creditors, redress
for injuries to foreign subjects. Accordingly,
having proceeded from Halifax to the Bahamas,
in January 1862 the St. George cruised off the
Mexican coast, visiting Sacraficios, Anton Lizardo,
and Vera Cruz. But by this time the self-
interested designs of the French Emperor had
become patent to the world, with the result that
England and Spain withdrew from the Convention.
A turn in the fortunes of the American War then
induced Napoleon himself to withdraw his troops,
and his tool, the unfortunate Maximilian, was left
to pay for his ambitious schemes.
Whilst lying in the bay of Sacraficios, anxiously
awaiting orders which should lead to some move
ment on active service, the crew of the St. George
had received a communication of a very different
kind— namely, that of the lamented death of the

RECALLED HOME— A HURRICANE 39
Prince Consort, which reached them through a
Spanish newspaper. At the Havana, a few days
later, this news was officially confirmed ; whilst, at
Bermuda — her next destination, where she arrived
on the 4th February — the ship received her recall
home. On February 20th, when in mid-ocean, her
log records the observation of a lunar halo, having
' a peculiar dark band running across the lower
part from SE. to NW.' Next day a heavy sea
ran from the southward, and the ship encountered
a hurricane which far surpassed the storm experi
enced on her outward voyage. Rolling heavily,
she took in a vast quantity of water; whilst
her starboard quarter boats were blown inboard,
jamming up against the mizzen rigging, so that
they had to be cut away in order to preserve the
mizzen-mast. A picture representing the St. George
under these conditions was painted by Admiral
Beechey, and now hangs in Windsor Castle. She
had also been painted, before starting on her pre
sent commission, by the Queen's Marine Painter,
Brierley. On the 25th February she moored off
Hawlbowline Island, Ireland, and early in March
was at Keyham Dockyard, Plymouth, to refit and
make good defects.
Wauchope's experiences in the Navy were now
almost at an end. A cruise in home waters, which
took him northward as far as Cromarty Firth,
southward as far as Brest Roads, and to Milford
Haven on the west, occupied the months of May
and June. A stay of a few days which was made
off Burntisland enabled him to visit his father, in

40 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
company with a party of his brother-officers. On
June 30th he addressed to Captain Egerton the
following formal letter : —

To Captain Egerton.
'H.M.S. St. George,
' Spithead.
' Sir, — Having received my father's permission to make an
application to leave H.M.'s Navy, to enable me to qualify for
the Army, I beg you will be pleased to move their Lordships
to grant me my discharge accordingly. — I have the honour to
be, Sir, your most humble servant,
'Andrew G. Wauchope, Midshipman.''
(It is perhaps worthy of notice that in this, the
earliest of Wauchope's letters that I have seen, the
character of his handwriting is already formed.)
The application, in the Admiralty phrase, 'not
having been made on account of any misconduct
on the part of the officer making it,' was forwarded
for their Lordships' approval — with the result that
on July 3rd, 1862, Wauchope obtained his dis
charge from the Royal Navy.
Among his shipmates regret at the step which
was to part him from them seems to have been
universal. For, short and interrupted though his
naval career had been, it had yet afforded him time
to impress those about him with his good qualities,
which are still remembered after more than forty
years. But on this point let some of his former
brother -officers speak for themselves. Admiral
Sir Charles Fane writes : ' He was then a most
promising young officer, popular, and a favourite
with every one on board, and when he left us was

OPINIONS OF BROTHER-OFFICERS 41
a loss to us in the Navy.' Mr. Francis Delmd
Radcliffe : ' A boy of high principles, very con
scientious, and of a chivalrous and romantic dis
position ... he was very popular with his mess-mates,
and also with the men, in whose well-being he
took great interest.' Vice- Admiral Sir Robert
Harris: 'Young Wauchope, when I first met him
in the gun-room of the St. George, was a ruddy,
cheery, red-headed, very Scotch boy, very good-
tempered, and never put out by any of the chaff
without which a gun-room mess of those days
would have been not a gun-room. We all liked
him immensely.' Rear-Admiral Charles Johnstone :
' The impression of him left on my mind was that
of a very high-minded and, in that sense, promising
boy. He was of a bright and cheerful disposition.'
Captain Henry Walters, R.N. : ' I remember him
as a charming companion, humorous, never a nasty
thing to say about any one, always looking on
the bright side of everything, exceptionally kind-
hearted, and as a rule good-tempered to a degree,
though I remember distinctly one of our mess-mates
remarking to me on one occasion that "Niddrie"
— as we generally called him when we did not call
him Andy — "in a passion was 'a caution.'" So
evidently he could be roused on occasion.'
The impression left by these and other extracts
from similar letters is a charming one — to wit, that
of a well-principled, high-spirited, and merry lad,
whose good-nature took in the best possible part
the boyish teasing of his associates. These, we are
told, were fond of poking their fun at his ' Scotch-

42 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
ness,' by addressing him, in what they innocently
supposed were the accents of his native land, as
' Maister Andrae Wauchope o' Needrie.' Another
victim of badinage on the score of nationality was
the band-master of the St. George, a German, whom
they thought fit also to put to the severer ordeal of
having his beard set alight. And, by the way, in
this connection it says more for the fineness of ear
than for the linguistic accomplishment of one of the
seniors of the ship that a lad who had asked the
band-master the question, 'Mein Herr Schneider,
sprechen Sie Deutsch ? ' was rebuked for the use of
bad language. Cacophonous, if you like ; but of
evil import, no !
To his bright humour and good-nature, young
Wauchope added the attractive quality of keenness
in games and sports — being, in particular, a good
oarsman and a successful player in the ship's
cricket-matches. But, in order to attain a perfect
resemblance, the portrait sketched thus far requires
some modification by the addition of qualities which
may at first sight appear incompatible with the
above. His disposition, then, was shy — not only in
intercourse with the other sex — so that, on hearing
himself addressed by name in presence of the ship's
company, he would colour like a girl. One observer
speaks of him as possessing a slight vein of eccen
tricity ; another, whose glance was perhaps more
penetrating than the rest, calls him nervous and
highly sensitive, though his pluck was equally
noticeable. It is further remarked that he was sub
ject to occasional moody silences, which, though

CAUSES OF HIS RETIREMENT 43
perhaps not frequently displayed by midshipmen,
are often found where a character is in process of
formation. One writer suggests as his own impres
sion that the stage of mental development to which
Wauchope had attained at this time was somewhat
less advanced than that of many another lad of his
age. And certainly slowness of maturing in a rare
character is no unprecedented experience.
A question which ere this must have presented
itself to the reader is, What determined Wauchope
thus early to leave the Navy ? It has been seen
that his entrance into it had been, all things con
sidered, of very good hope for the future — indeed,
more than commonly auspicious. For, among
sailors, it is given only to the budding Nelson to
distinguish himself during his first voyage. Well,
the answer to the question is simply this — that,
though in after life he would look back upon the
bright side of his naval career, he was not happy in
it at the time. His letters home were evidence of
this, and there were various causes which might
account for it. For one thing, the life of a mid
shipman of those days was not only rough — at
which Wauchope was far too well-plucked a lad to
flinch — but in other respects less desirable than it is
now. Again, there exists some doubt as to whether
he was in reality cut out for the sea-life — his
accident with the running rope being thought to
indicate a lack of that special sort of quickness which
should characterise the good seaman. Probably he
recognised this defect in himself, which wo uld certainly
weigh with the sensible lad he was in his decision

44 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
as to a career. Certainly, in later life, his native
modesty made him ready to acknowledge, with
perhaps undue emphasis, his want of quickness.
But there is little doubt that the really determining
cause of his leaving the Navy must be sought in the
personnel of the ship he sailed in. For, notwith
standing the care which had been taken in selecting
her officers, it is indisputable that the St. George
was not in this respect a happy ship. It is true
that her Captain was one of the best and kindest
who ever sailed ; but among the senior officers were
two whose ideas of duty and discipline were, to
say the least of it, most unfortunate. These have
now passed to their rest, and it were therefore un
generous to go into particulars as to their misdeeds.
It is enough to say that the conduct of these
gentlemen sufficed to disgust Wauchope with the
service, and to drive him from it, and that he was
not the only midshipman of the St. George so
driven. As for the others, they probably had not
the free hand which Wauchope's father gave him in
the choice of a profession. Among themselves they
formed a happy company, and they were perforce of
circumstance obliged to put up with what he could
prevent. Later in life, Andrew judged that his
father had been wrong in indulging him so far.
But it is probable that Mr. Wauchope's strong
religious principles made him fear the moral risks
of the sea-life for his young son, and hence not un
willing to give him the advantage of continuing
under his own eye until his character should have
realised the high promise which it already held out.

HIS GAINS FROM THE NAVY 45
Thus ended Wauchope's sea-dream. He had
probably found the actuality approach nearer to
the life depicted in James Hannay's Singleton
Fontenoy than to that of Peter Simple. And
though his career had been thus far abortive, there
can be no doubt that of the various schools he had
attended he owed infinitely most to the St. George ;
which, while developing his native manliness and
spirit of adventure, had furnished him with an
experience of life very rare in a boy of sixteen. It
had also given him a lesson in discipline which he
was not to forget. Long afterwards, when he was
an officer in the Army, it was before all things for
his sense of justice that he was beloved and looked
up to by his soldiers. Well, it is more than likely
that to his own early experience under a tyran
nical Commander or First Lieutenant this virtue
owed something of its development. Among his
contemporaries in the Army, he was by no means
the only one to gain distinction who had begun
life in the sister service ; and, besides his own case,
those of Field-Marshal Sir George White, and
Generals Hildyard and Sir John French speak well
for soldiers who have received early training in the
Navy. And now, under this head, it only remains to
speak of Wauchope's relations with the Royal
Prince who was his mess-mate in the St. George.
A persistent tradition asserts that, early in their
acquaintance, Wauchope had the honour of thrash
ing the Prince — who, by the way, was a year or two
older than himself. If this was so, it only reflects

46 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
the greater credit on the Prince that to the last he
preserved, as he certainly did, a most affectionate
regard for the antagonist of his boyhood. And this
affords one more proof of that wholesome and
favourite English doctrine that the best of friends
are those who have quarrelled and ' had it out.' In
the winter of 1863-1864, when Prince Alfred was
living for a time at Holyrood, he paid a friendly visit
to his former shipmate, and spent an afternoon with
him in pigeon- shooting at Niddrie.

CHAPTER III
PREPARATION FOR THE AKMY — JOINS THE BLACK
WATCH — EARLY DAYS IN THE REGIMENT
It has been seen that Wauchope's aspirations had
now reverted to that first love of his Worksop days,
the Army. But his education, so far, had been
rudimentary. In order to enter the Army, further
studies were necessary ; and to a lad of his active
disposition, to resume discarded harness, and after
tasting the sweets of independence as an officer and
gentleman, to revert to the condition of a pupil,
must have gone much against the grain. Credit,
therefore, is his due for the docility and good sense
with which, during the next three years, he applied
himself to the task of preparing for his new pro
fession. These three years were spent chiefly at
Niddrie, where he worked under a tutor — an
arrangement which had been adopted in deference
to Mr. Wauchope, the progress of whose malady
(a paralytic affection) rendered him more and more
dependent on the attentions of the younger of his
sons, particularly now that the elder had entered
the Army, and was absent with his regiment, the
6th Dragoon Guards.
Young Wauchope is said at this time to have
applied himself specially to the study of mathe-

48 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
matics ; he also went periodically to Edinburgh to
receive instruction in French. In holiday seasons
he made short excursions to Yetholm, which he
always much enjoyed, and also paid two of his
many visits to his married sister in the south-west
of Ireland. During the year 1863 he and his father
spent some time together at Cheltenham.
As for his amusements at this time, besides the
fishing and shooting which his father's estates
afforded, they comprised a pack of beagles, with
which he hunted the country round Niddrie — his
principal associates in this sport being two younger
members of the families of Gibson-Craig of Riccar-
ton and Trotter of Morton Hall, and a Mr. Craig, a
paper-manufacturer of the district. He also raised
a cricket-eleven at Niddrie, where the game was till
then unknown ; and it is recalled that, with the keen
relish for rustic quaintness which at all times char
acterised him (and which afterwards procured him
many a good laugh over the sayings of his soldiers),
he hugely enjoyed the instructions given by one
novice to another in these words, 'Man! juist tak'
the bat in yer hand, an' gie the ba' a thunderin lick.'
An anecdote of this period, though trifling,
may serve to illustrate his tenacity. One day he
happened to catch sight of a well-known local
poacher plying his business in the Niddrie coverts.
The misdoer took to his heels, with Andy after
him. The poacher, who was a good runner, led his
pursuer an exciting and fatiguing chase. At last,
being nearly spent, he had recourse to cunning, and
' went to earth ' — which he did by entering a tunnel

A SPARTAN REGIMEN 49
on the railway-line near Arthur's Seat, where,
crouching in the darkness, he allowed the pursuit to
go by him, and then emerged where he had entered.
Meantime Wauchope still held on his course, until,
discovering how he had been duped, he returned
home exhausted by his run and even more chagrined
by his discomfiture.
Of his habits during this and somewhat later
times spent at Niddrie, the following particulars
have been communicated by those who knew him
well, and they are not uncharacteristic. Though
his physique in later days was such that no fatigue
or hardship seemed enough to tax its powers of
endurance, he inclined at this somewhat critical
period of life to be fanciful about his health, and
would dose himself with camomile tea as a specific
against stomachtitis — his own burlesque name for
dyspepsia. In matters of diet, he was by nature
rather lacking in judgment; so that, after a long
experience of errors and repentances, it became his
practice, as the dishes circulated at table, to glance
inquiringly at his ally, Falside, the butler— who
would respond, when occasion demanded it, by a
warning shake of the head. In his own private
quarters he favoured a fresh air system, and so
would draw his bed out into the middle of the room,
and, flinging open the windows, would sleep where
the winds of heaven had free access to his person.
Similarly, in place of keeping his clothes shut up
within a wardrobe, he suspended them from lines
which crossed his room, and kept them exposed to
the air. D

50 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
He became known for the Spartan simplicity of
his taste in the matter of surroundings. A narrow
camp-bed, a portable chest of drawers, a plain
table, and a 'regulation' chair or two, set on an
uncarpeted floor : this composed the furniture of
his barrack-room, whose sole ornaments were books
and maps. Nor did he alter anything after he had
become a wealthy man. So well known, indeed,
were his habits in this respect, that once when the
wife of a brother-officer had accepted an invitation
to tea with him, ' A queer tea you 11 get ! ' was the
comment of her husband. And, sure enough, the
brew which was served amid these severely plain
surroundings was found to have been boiled! In
this respect, anything was good enough for Andrew
Wauchope. Nor was it that he did not appreciate
' comforts ' when he happened to come across them.
But, for himself, he preferred to cultivate a simple
and frugal style of living, doubtless because he
judged it more conducive to hard work, more con
sonant to the career which he had chosen. There
was at that time, whatever now may be the case,
ample room for a silent protest against excessive
luxury among officers, and almost the only instance
known to me of a snub (not a very harsh one)
publicly administered by Wauchope occurred in
that connection. One or two rather lately joined
juniors — good fellows enough in other respects —
had shown a disposition to pose as epicures. So,
' This won't do,' ' That is not as it ought to be,'
were criticisms frequently passed over the mess-
table — which with Wauchope went against the

CARELESSNESS IN DRESS 51
grain. ' Come ! ' said he, at last, when his patience
was exhausted, 'you know you didn't get feeding
like this in the  Militia ! ' And the hint had
its due effect.
As regards dress, Wauchope was at this early
time unusually careless. Perhaps professors of the
science would affirm that he never quite outgrew
this carelessness ; and certainly these can point to
stories which would seem to bear them out : one
story, in particular, which tells of his starting to
address a great meeting wearing an Ulster coat which
had a huge rent full in the back — a rent which deft
fingers just contrived to get repaired in time. For
himself — who does not pretend to have served an
apprenticeship with a Poole or Harborow — the
writer can only say that to him the General ever
appeared, in mere externals even, the quiet and
unpretentious gentleman he was. Howbeit, during
this early period of his life, his attire was apt to be,
to say the least of it, unconventional. A battered
straw-hat in winter, or shoes laced up with any
fragment of twine that came most readily to hand,
were among the features of it. He would seem, in
fact, to have brought to bear on it the rough-and-
readiness, without the neatness, of a sailor. He was
not even very particular whether the clothes he wore
were his own or not — for which reason his brother,
who was the pink of neatness, found it convenient,
when at home, to keep his wardrobe under lock
and key.
As his time during this period was divided mainly
between study and sport, this place in our narrative

52 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
may serve as well as another to speak of him as
student and sportsman. We have already seen that
his native keenness of temperament made him eager
in all sports and games. He was a clever cricketer,
and a good man in a boat ; but at no time, I think,
was he more than a fair marksman. The wound
which he sustained at Kirbekan, from a bullet which
entered his body below the collar-bone, for a long
time incapacitated him from shooting ; during
which interval he was content to accompany shoot
ing-parties of his friends over his own ground,
carrying the gun which he could not raise. For it
was at all times characteristic of him, whether in
shooting or elsewhere, to be anxious for the enjoy
ment of others and careless of his own. But he
liked all things to be done rightly and according to
order. Hence his remembered rebuke to a young
friend, who, in partridge-shooting, had made a
' wrong shot ' — snatching a bird which belonged by
right to some one else : ' My dear fellow, I am sur
prised at you, after the training you have had ! '
But, on an apology being tendered, he was im
mediately appeased. In arranging and managing a
shooting-party he was first-rate ; and, having once
made his arrangement, he would shoot all day in a
deluge rather than allow weather to interfere with
his carrying it out. Over his shooting-parties —
guns, gamekeepers, and beaters — he exercised the
perfect control of an officer over private soldiers,
keeping every one in order ; and it is needless to add
that this control was exercised to the great advantage
of all. For instance, there was, on his Yetholm

IN THE HUNTING-FIELD 53
property, a certain field known as Hens Hole,
where the ground undulated abruptly, and where a
head might easily be blown off by a shot fired at a
bird as it disappeared over a ridge. In shooting
this field, Wauchope always insisted on the observ
ance of special precautions. Were others as careful,
there would be fewer shooting accidents.
He was a good, if not specially elegant, horseman,
— a rider by nature, gifted with hands as light as a
woman's, and with a particular aptitude for making
a screw go — a useful possession this, as he probably
found, to a younger son with a passion for fox
hunting. He hunted principally with the Stirling
and Linlithgowshire foxhounds — of which his
brother for a time was Master — and with the
Buccleuch Hunt in Roxburghshire. When hunt
ing from Edinburgh, in his earlier days, he would
hire horses from a certain well-known job-master,
famous for the possession of some unrivalled screws ;
and, following the less luxurious customs of those
days, would occasionally rise at six o'clock to ride
twenty miles to a Meet. Once started on a run, he
would often take a line of his own across country,
and hardly anything save fatigue on the part of his
mount could stop him. And yet he always rode
with judgment, and was a man whom one would
have trusted with any horse. In the field he
enjoyed talking with all sorts and conditions of men
upon all manner of subjects, but might also fre
quently be seen alone. As he grew older, too, and
especially after the injury to his shoulder, he
attached less importance to the actual sport of

54 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
hunting. Thus it is recalled of him that once at
Spottiswoode, when the hounds were having a par
ticularly bad day, a fellow -sportsman rode up to
him and complained of the poorness of the sport.
' Why,' said Wauchope, rousing himself, ' I think
this is positively delightful ! ' and, gazing round him
on the wide and somewhat bare landscape, he added
emphatically, '/ love this country,' — thus revealing
on what his thoughts had been dwelling, and
wherein he found a pleasure which the other
missed. He was always fond of horses, and had an eye for
them — of which fact an amusing proof has been
furnished to the writer by Lord Wolseley. When
the latter was Governor of Cyprus, it fell to
Wauchope, as a Commissioner acting under him,
to present an official report. Well, in the middle
of this document — amongst matters of high and
dry import — was interjected the unexpected and
delightful sentence, ' I 've just seen such a thorough
bred mare ! ' Nor was he less a lover of the canine —
among which his small bull-dog, ' Brindle,' is speci
ally remembered. He also made it a practice to
encourage the soldiers serving under him to keep
dogs. Now a regulation prescribed that, when the
regiment received its marching-orders, dogs owned
by private soldiers must one and all be left behind.
Wauchope, however, winked at their transportation
from one quarter to another — contriving, as he
passed along the railway-platform on his final tour
of inspection, to be good-naturedly blind and deaf
to the little creatures stuffed away within the

AS A READER 55
carriages — supposing, that is, that any of these had
so far forgotten their own interest as to make their
presence evident. The result was that, no sooner
was the regiment settled in its new barracks, than
the dogs from the former station began, one by one,
to reappear.
In his later years, Wauchope would sometimes
declare that he had received next to no education.
This was obviously an over-statement, and may be
ascribed partly to the self-depreciation natural to a
very modest man, partly to the generously exagger
ated estimate of bookish attainments sometimes held
by men of action. The fact remains that he was not
a man of much literary culture, though of great
appreciation for the same when he came across it in
others. Caring little for general literature, he had
certain favourite books. Among these, the chief
were the works of Sir Walter Scott, of which he had
an intimate knowledge, his favourite among them
being Old Mortality and Rob Roy. He had begun
perhaps by admiring them, as many do, ' on principle ' ;
but their conquest of him became complete. So much
so that, on one occasion, shortly before his second
marriage, wishing to convey the impression of an
absolutely enjoyable Sunday evening to be spent by
him, he is remembered to have said, ' I shall go back
to Niddrie, have some dinner, and then sit in my big
chair and read Scott ! ' In particular he relished
Scott's humour, so that, in reading the novels aloud,
be would sometimes begin to laugh heartily at the
mere approach to some ludicrous passage which
happened to have lingered in his memory — a habit

56 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
which was a little tantalising to the person being
read to, who was of course still in the dark as to the
joke. Mr. Kipling's books he did not like, objecting
— I think from defective appreciation of the writer's
intentions — to the tone in which the private soldier
was there written of. It must be remembered that
to Wauchope the private was a dear and sacred
object, with whom no liberties must be taken ; he
even resented the use of the generic nickname
'Tommy.' His method and Mr. Kipling's were,
therefore, different ; but, if I understand the two men
rightly, the essential inspiration in both cases was
the same. Finally, if Wauchope's early education
had indeed been somewhat imperfect, he certainly
laboured in later life, as few men do, to make good
its defects. History and the literature of his pro
fession were his particular studies. Moreover, when
he had conceived his admiration for Napoleon the
Great, he formed an interesting and valuable collec
tion of books bearing upon the life of that worthy.
He would apply himself to study, as he did most
other things, in a way of his own ; and here again
his temperamental ardour served him well. During
the years when he was stationed at St. Elmo, the
principal piece of furniture in his quarters was a
bench, which ran the whole length of the room, and
from end to end was laden with books. And at the
same period, having by that time committed himself
to his political career, he is remembered to have
spent his days during a voyage to Malta, seated,
from morn to even, beside an open port-hole, with a
file of The Times before him, going steadily through

NEWSPAPER-CUTTINGS 57
whatever he judged might be of use to him in his
coming campaign, and making excerpts from the
reported utterances of Gladstone. It is not surpris
ing that fellow-passengers not in his confidence were
much puzzled to account for his occupation. Both
at this juncture and previously, when his studies had
been exclusively mihtary, he was a great collector of
newspaper-cuttings, with which his pockets would
frequently be stuffed.
My account of his studies and amusements — for
sport was almost the sole amusement he cared for, or
allowed himself — has carried me ahead of my narra
tive ; but it is perhaps as well to have cleared off
such details as these before coming to the more
strenuous part of the story, which will leave little
space for them. Though generally exemplary, and in
relation to his father deserving of far warmer praise
than that somewhat frigid word infers, Wauchope
is not to be understood, during these three years
spent at Niddrie, to have uniformly and without
exception held aloof from such minor indiscre
tions as have in all times characterised the conduct
of our generous British youth. In other words, his
character at this time did not conform to the imma
culate ideal as set forth in feminine fiction of the
Heir of Redely ffe type. It was too human for that.
For instance, there is a floating tradition of a wrecked
Edinburgh cab, and of damages duly paid for the
same by Mr. Wauchope, which, if substantiated,
would indicate an occasional excursus into high-jinks
on the part of young Andy and his companions. And,
even if this story of reckless driving has no actual

58 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
truth, it has most probably at least a typical one.
Escapades of this kind were, however, mere casual
occurrences. So far as was necessary, Wauchope
stuck manfully to his books ; and when the time
arrived for his attainments to be tested, he was not
found wanting. During the Army entrance-exam
ination he stayed at No. 10 Eaton Square; and,
having satisfied the requirements of the authorities,
in November 1865, at the age of nineteen, he was
gazetted to the 42nd Royal Highlanders, which he
joined at Stirling.
Here, then, was the future General definitely em
barked on that career of arms with which his name
was destined to be associated, and to the heroic
traditions of which his life was to add a mellow
lustre of its own. To any young man whatever
such an era is momentous, and we may be sure that
by one so open to romantic impressions as was
Wauchope nothing that was special in his own case
would fail to be appreciated. We have seen that,
as a child, his imagination had been attracted by the
Army, whilst as a school-boy the goal of his aspira
tions had been that gallant corps of which he now
found himself a member. What in particular had
served to attract him to it is unknown ; but there
was certainly enough and to spare — whether, materi
ally, in the spectacle of the regiment seen on parade
or on the march, or morally, in its historical associa
tions — to have impressed and fascinated a far duller
mind than his. On the score of antiquity, indeed,
there were other regiments with which the Black
Watch could not compete — its distinctive history

THE BLACK WATCH 59
dating at that time but about one hundred and
twenty years back. But for fine qualities manifested,
for a distinguished record of service, during that
period, it stood perhaps alone ; hence its high repu
tation through the world, hence the unique position
held by it in the affections of all true Scots, and the
pride with which they regard it. Recruited from a
race which naturally and by heredity combines in an
unusual degree the qualities proper to the good soldier
with those most generally associated with birth and
breeding, its traditional character was that of a
' regiment of gentlemen,' uniting the highest courage
in the field with the most exemplary behaviour out
of it. This is no place in which to attempt to sum
marise its martial achievements. But it may be
permitted me to recall the facts that a crowded and
eventful history included service in countries as re
mote and diverse as Flanders, North America, the
West Indies, and in campaigns as varied as the
Peninsular, Crimean, and Sepoy ; together with par
ticipation in innumerable engagements, from among
which perhaps stand out (to name but one or two)
the glorious victories of Alexandria, Toulouse, and
the Alma, and the scarcely less glorious defeats of
Ticonderoga and Fontenoy. In more than one or
two of these hard-fought battles the Royal High
landers had borne the brunt. Whilst, of those in
cidents of individual experience which, perhaps even
more than the heroism of masses, serve to stir the
blood of the individual soldier and to keep alive the
sacred fire within him, it is enough to allude to the
capture of the standard of the French ' Invincibles '

60 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
in Egypt, the burial of Sir John Moore at Corufia,
the award of the 'red heckle' in recognition of
gallantry in the Low Countries, and the adoption by
Sir Colin Campbell of the ' feather bonnet ' during
the Crimean War. Such incidents as these are well
worthy to rank beside the honours inscribed upon a
regimental colour. And here was enough to fire or
to melt the imagination of a young soldier such as
Wauchope. We have seen that the appeal to him
was made early, nor did custom stale its power. On
the contrary, fuller knowledge served steadily to
deepen attachment. Late in life he has been known
to say that the two things which he loved best in
the world were the City of Edinburgh and his regi
ment. And Wauchope was a man of acts, not
words ; so that, so far as affects the latter part of his
speech, this narrative must either bear him out or
fail entirely in its purpose and justification.
It is not to be understood, however, that, to the
common eye at least, Ensign Wauchope from the
first stood out as a marked man in the regiment.
I have, indeed, the best authority for stating that
such was not the case. His military talents were
developed slowly, the unique position which he
afterwards occupied in the esteem of officers and
men was attained to step by step. To his con
temporaries in the regiment, at this period and for
some years afterwards, Wauchope appeared but as
one of themselves — a light-hearted subaltern among
light-hearted subalterns, nay, a 'harum-scarum
fellow,' by no means puritanical in his views,
though steering his own course clear of vice. One

HIGH SPIRITS 61
describes him as 'a good chap on a big night' — a
St. Andrew's Night, for instance ; when he would
take his full share in the fun and festivity of the
occasion, joking and speech-making with the best.
By those who knew him only in his later and graver
days, this phase of his character is apt to be over
looked ; but at all times it was a part of his nature
to throw himself heart and soul into whatever he
went in for. It is at this time that a visitor to the
officers' mess vividly remembers some after-dinner
dancing in which Wauchope took part; and to
about the same period belong some regimental
theatricals at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in
which H. J. Byron's burlesque of Ill-treated II
Trovatore was performed, Wauchope sustaining
with great applause the rdle of the Gipsy mother,
Azucena, and throwing himself with much earnest
ness into the humours of the part. At this per
formance the gallery of the theatre was occupied by
the rank and file of the regiment, and Wauchope's
delivery of the line, 'Your queen is thusty,' and
subsequent draining of the proffered goblet, are
specially remembered as bringing down the house.
An anecdote or two may serve to illustrate his
high and somewhat irresponsible spirits during these
years. But it must be borne in mind that those were
the days of old-fashioned high spirits and high-jinks.
To them belong fine old stories of the regimental
coach at Musselburgh Races, of a popular win, and
of the jubilation which followed — to the great profit
of one of the sergeants of the regiment ; stories of
the wrecking of a gambling-hell in Princes Street,

62 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
of a collision with bullies, and the triumphant exit
of the young officers after recapturing the money
out of which they had been cheated ; of a Highland
Fling danced one Sunday night on the dinner-table
of a certain Club, of the just ire of the Club Com
mittee which followed, of the subsequent exemplary
conduct of the offenders, and the final reconciliation,
— stories such as these, I say, are plentiful ; but in
none of the affairs above noted did Andy Wauchope
play a part. Yet he had his own little escapades.
For instance : —
It happened one night that, contrary to expecta
tion, the regimental piper was not in attendance at
mess. Though this was by the Colonel's orders,
the disappointment, none the less, provoked em
phatic comment on the part of some of the lately
joined subs. 'I call it a d  d shame of the
Colonel ! ' said one defiantly ; on which Wauchope,
undeterred by the presence of a senior officer who
was known for a martinet, boldly endorsed the
sentiment. For this insubordination the two
youngsters were condemned by the senior to be
confined to barracks. But their gaiety was irre
pressible. They determined to make the best of
things, and with this object in view started a
mimic fox-hunt through Edinburgh Castle, where
the regiment was then quartered. The credit of
the idea was due to Wauchope, who himself under
took the part of fox, whilst his fellow-malcontent
was to represent a hound, and a companion in
misfortune the huntsman. Then, through the in
tricate windings of the rambling old fortress, along

A PRACTICAL JOKE 63
corridors, up stairs and down, away went the chase
— not, certainly, without noise. At last — as the
fox, with tongue hanging from his mouth, burst
through a door, the hound hard at his heels, and
the huntsman holloaing him on not far behind —
into whose arms should they run full pelt but
those of the rigid old Colonel in command ? Now
the Colonel was one in whom a sense of the
ludicrous was certainly not generously developed —
in fact, it used to be currently said of him that he
was never known to smile. But there are limits
even to stoicism of this kind, and when the boys
came up for sentence next morning — having been
ordered to present themselves in the orderly-room
— they were dismissed without a word.
On another occasion, Andy, accompanied by two
kindred spirits — one a brother-officer slightly senior
to himself, the other a civilian — had come into
Edinburgh from Stirling to attend some big ball
or other — I rather think it was that given by the
Boat Club. They put up for the night at a certain
hotel in Princes Street which at that time enjoyed
something of a reputation for rowdiness, — whither,
having stayed late at the dance, they returned in
hilarious spirits — some of which it occurred to them
to work off by ' drawing ' one of the visitors.
Accordingly, guided by blind chance alone, they
opened a bed-room door, which, however, had to be
promptly closed again. Their next attempt pro
duced more promising results, for it disclosed to
view a stout middle-aged gentleman, who lay upon
his back, sound asleep and snoring through his open

64 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
mouth. He was the leading bass singer of an opera
company which was then performing in Edinburgh,
and if the sonority of his chest-notes equalled that
of his snore he must have been among singers a
very Lablache. The temptation was irresistible, and
one of the intruders took the end of cigar which
he had been smoking from between his own lips
and popped it between those of the sleeper. He
awoke, sputtering, coughing, fulminating; but his
three nocturnal visitors were already disappearing
down the corridor, bearing their light. They gained
the room which had been allotted to one of them,
where they found the fire burnt out. So, as the
night was cold, whilst they felt by no means in
clined as yet to close the day's proceedings, all three
of them turned together into the bed, a four-poster,
to smoke a final pipe in company. Needless to say
that within five minutes they were all fast asleep.
There is a special providence which watches over
the light-hearted, so the hotel was not burned to
the ground. Neither did the three ball-goers re
member anything more until they were awakened
in broad daylight by the entrance of the outraged
basso — come to exact a terrible vengeance. But
to do justice to the scene which followed would
require the pen of a Charles Lever, so I shall wisely
leave it alone.
But, after all, such incidents as the above are less
characteristic of the man than of the medium in
which for a time he moved. The following em
bodies an unmistakable touch of his quality. One
night when he was absent from mess, some of his

A JOKE WELL TAKEN 65
brother-officers determined to 'make hay' in his
quarter. By some means not explained, the door
was found to be fastened on the inside ; but this did
not delay the intending hay-makers long. A panel
was cut out, and the smallest of their number — a
cavalry officer from Piershill, who was one of the
mess -guests — was passed, spurs and all, through
the aperture. He opened the door to his fellow-
marauders, and these fell to their work with a will
from which the difficulty of the entrance had abated
nothing. The result was a masterpiece of its kind.
The entire furniture of the room was piled in one
grand erection in the centre ; and on the top, as a
sort of finial or coping-stone, was placed a bath filled
with water, wherein was set afloat a lighted candle.
Will it be believed that all this labour and ingenuity
was entirely thrown away ? For when Wauchope's
servant entered the room next morning, he found
that his master had not even troubled to pull out
his bed from the lumber-heap, but had been content
to lay a rug in a corner of the room and sleep on
that. Probably, had he tried, he could have devised
no better way of damping the ardour of the practical-
jokers, and deterring them from renewed efforts.
Of his native drollery, one instance must suffice.
At the time of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian
War, when the air was thick with rumour of wars,
some officers of Wauchope's regiment were dining
one night at the mess of a battalion of militia. The
fun had begun to grow furious, and Wauchope was
called on for a speech. His peroration was as
follows : ' Let Prussia arm her squadrons, Russia
E

66 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
pour forth her legions, so long as the British
subaltern stands firm '. . . (here he contrived to
tumble from the chair on which he had stood up to
address his audience). He resumed, standing on the
ground, ' So long as the British subaltern stands
firm, Britain has naught to fear ! '
There are other stories of these years which re
late to visits paid to the regimental detachments
quartered at Dundee and elsewhere, and to the
royal cheer provided for the visitors, which are
perhaps less suitable for retailing here. But, in
any case, I have probably dwelt at sufficient length
upon this side of regimental life. One glimpse of
Wauchope as he appeared when on leave, and I pass
on to graver matters.
Soon after receiving his commission in the Black
Watch, when life was at its brightest, he visited
Yetholm during the shooting-season, being accom
panied by one of his brother-officers and another
friend. They stayed in lodgings, and it is to the
daughter of their hostess, then a young woman, that
I am indebted for these trifling details.
'Oh, he was a happy boy!' says she, and she
describes him throwing wide open the window
which looked out upon the village-green, putting
out his head, and singing at the top of his voice in
sheer lightness of heart.
The young men spent the day shooting, and would
come indoors at night with the proverbial appetite
of hunters.
'What have you got for dinner to-night?'
Wauchope, as host, would ask.

A HAPPY BOY 67
' Roast mutton, sir.'
' Roast mutton — and roast potatoes ? ' And being
answered yes, he would proceed to set the village
hostess at ease as regarded her menu by expressing
his huge satisfaction in the schoolboy phrase, 'I
shall make a beast of myself ! '
What with fine sport and congenial society, the
three friends must have spent a glorious time to
gether — the makeshifts of their simple mode of life
supplying them with abundant material for witticism.
One night, however, a damper fell upon their gaiety ;
for, just as they had finished dinner, the local Free
Church minister was shown into the room. We
may be sure that he would meet with a most cheery
and courteous reception. But when at last his
back was turned, Wauchope summoned the girl in
attendance and earnestly adjured her not to show
up any more Free Church ministers who might
happen to call at that hour. He lived to become a
pillar of the churches of all denominations, and the
adored of the General Assembly of Scotland ; but
we must remember that at this time he had the
comfort of guests depending on him.
When we bear in mind that, beneath his high
spirits and spontaneous light-heartedness, he thought
perpetually of others, we shall not wonder that he
should have captivated the kind heart of his hostess's
daughter, or that to this day she should delight to
recall the bygone time when it fell to her lot to wait
on him.
In 1865, when Wauchope was gazetted to the
Black Watch, the regiment was stationed in India,

68 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
but he did not join it there, the first two or three
years of his military life being passed at the regi
mental dep&t, sometimes at Stirling, sometimes at
Aberdeen. For reasons into which it is unnecessary
here to enter, this was probably the roughest and
most critical period of his entire career in the Army.
Young and unformed in character as he was, how
ever, he came through it unscathed. In March
1868 the regiment returned to this country, and
he joined it at Stirling Castle. In the previous
year he had been promoted to the rank of Lieu
tenant, and had also passed through the School of
Musketry Instruction at Hythe, obtaining a first-
class certificate.
During these years his father's health had con
tinued to decline. His walking powers had long
been affected, and in time he became obliged to
discontinue his rides about the Niddrie pleasure-
grounds upon a quiet old pony. There is always
something profoundly saddening about the spectacle
of gradually failing powers in one who should by
rights be in the prime of life ; but when suffering
comes to be the means of calling forth devotion, then
sadness is no longer bitter. So it was in the case of
Mr. Wauchope and his son. As he grew feebler, the
father became ever more and more dependent upon
his beloved Andy ; and what could be accomplished
by filial piety to soothe and cheer his final years,
that Andy did. Of his unfailing attention it is
enough to cite the single proof that, when quartered
at Edinburgh, he would generally contrive to be at
Niddrie in time to attend and assist the invalid at

AS A PEDESTRIAN 69
the hour of his daily outing. There is many a
dashing young officer, and no bad son either, who
would consider that, with much less than this, he
had acquitted himself well.
When visiting his father from Stirling, Wauchope
would occasionally perform the journey on foot. And
it may here be mentioned by the way that he was at
all times a remarkable walker, and inclined to culti
vate his powers in that direction. Thus, at a later
date, when he was quartered at Aldershot, it was a
favourite practice of his to walk up to town — a trifle
of six-and-thirty miles or so — dine at the Naval and
Military Club, and return by the 9 p.m. train. Nor,
when starting on one of these little expeditions,
would he announce his intention with preliminary
fuss, as others might have done ; but on the con
trary would stroll away from quarters, with hands
stuck in the pockets of his grey tweed suit, in a
perfectly unconcerned manner, and without saying
a word to any one as to whither he was bound.
Though to his own contemporaries at this stage
he seemed but as one of themselves, there were
others whose sharper or more practised vision had
already detected something uncommon in him. For
instance, I am assured by one that, even now, his
superficial light-heartedness and readiness to enter
into the amusement of the moment covered a serious
way of looking at life, of which one notable feature
was a Carlylean detestation of shams. As a soldier,
too, he had begun to attract the attention of those ac
customed to recognise soldierly qualities. Mr. Baird,
for example, tells how he quickly won the approval

70 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
of a certain grave old sergeant who had served
in the Crimea, and who on this head was wont to
express himself by declaring that ' that red-heided
Wauchope chap ' would either 'gang tae the deil, or
dee Commander-in-Chief.' In the meantime, this
veteran took the young officer under his own special
patronage. But it is to Sir John M'Leod, the
Colonel in command of the regiment, that the credit
of discovering the future General rightly belongs.
Those were days in which, at least among the
younger officers, serious application to the study of
their profession was highly exceptional. It was,
however, a part of Wauchope's nature that, whatever
his hand found to do, he should do with his might.
And this applied not less to the routine of military
duties than to other things. Well, this fact was
noticed by his Colonel, who thereupon began to form
a high opinion of his aptitude and ability as a
soldier — whence arose a ' sensation ' for Wauchope's
immediate contemporaries. The adjutancy at this
time was in the hands of one who, though a gallant
soldier, cared at least as much for sport as soldiering
— a state of matters by no means squaring with the
views of Colonel M'Leod, who since succeeding to
the command had determined to work up the regi
ment into what is professionally known as a ' soldier's
regiment.' The adjutant now desired to be relieved
of his office ; the Colonel fumed, and declared his
intention to raise a sergeant from the ranks and
appoint him in his room. But he was better than
his word ; and, to the surprise of all who were less
than sharp-sighted, he appointed Wauchope to the

AS ADJUTANT 71
adjutancy. From his previous reference to the
sergeant, it would seem that he may have harboured
a doubt as to the wisdom of his choice. But never
did appointment better justify itself. In Sir John
M'Leod's words, Wauchope ' addressed himself to
his new duties with the painstaking assiduity of his
energetic nature, and continued to perform them to
my entire satisfaction.' One characteristic peculi
arity of his conduct as adjutant was that he never
failed to report to the Colonel any neglects or short
comings of which he had himself been guilty. The
date of his appointment was April 5th, 1870, and
from this time forward his part in the practical jokes
of his fellow-subalterns was abandoned. This was,
in fact, the true beginning of the career of one who
was later to be well described as the ' ideal regimental
officer.' His newly developed ardour soon received
a further stimulus. For it was about this period
that the Government of the day, determining that
military officers should be properly educated for
their profession, established Garrison Classes for
their benefit — through one of which he passed.
Yet, though these were the immediately determin
ing causes of the change which about this time
came over the spirit of his dream, it is practically
certain that for a man of his earnest nature much
longer to ' fleet the time carelessly as in the golden
world ' would have been an impossibility.

CHAPTER IV
ADJUTANCY OF THE REGIMENT — ASHANTI
CAMPAIGN OF 1873-1874
Though rich in development of character and the
attainment of professional knowledge, the first seven
or eight years of Wauchope's life as a soldier were
decidedly uneventful. In October 1868 the regi
ment's head-quarters had been transferred to Edin
burgh, and in November 1869 to Aldershot. In
September 1871 it moved to Devonport, and in
August 1873 to Portsmouth. In 1871 and 1873 it
took part in Autumnal Manoeuvres, held at Chobham
and on Dartmoor.
Of these years there is not much for me to tell.
Walking expeditions, with observation of the fea
tures of the country, continued to be Wauchope's
favourite relaxation ; and for the indulgence of this
hobby the North Downs from Aldershot, and the
wilds of Dartmoor from Devonport, afforded him
the best of opportunities. Setting out generally on
a Saturday, and working from the basis of Murray's
guide-books, he developed a remarkable knack of
finding his way across country by means of footpaths
and short cuts, whilst his power of physical endurance
enabled him to return unfatigued from excursions
which had sufficed to exhaust his companions.
72

UNEVENTFUL YEARS 73
Besides walking for his amusement, he would take
part in fox-hunting, as far as was practicable for a
younger son whose moderate allowance from his
father enabled him to keep but one horse. (In this
connection it must be recalled that the estate of
Niddrie was not then the valuable property which it
has since become. ) His grey charger, ' Lady Jane
Grey,' was, however, celebrated as among mares a
paragon ; so that, when mounted on her, ' nothing
could touch him.' Doubtful, however, of doing her
full justice, when entering for a race, he put up one
of his brother officers. From Aldershot he hunted
with the Hampshire (Garth's) hounds, from Devon-
port either with the Devonshire ( Trelawny 's), or
with another pack, hunted at that time by two
brothers whose extraordinary likeness to one another
was often the means of puzzling strangers who went
out with them. At Devonport he would also revert
to an accomplishment acquired in his Navy days by
rowing in the regimental four-oared gig. Excepting
a fondness for inviting friends to dinner, he had no
taste which was expensive to gratify, or at least
which he allowed himself to gratify in an expensive
manner. In Wauchope's life these were years of routine-
work — strenuous, no doubt, and of much value in
the making of the man, yet lacking the stimulus of
excitement and the interest of variety. That that
routine-work was admirably performed is sufficiently
proved by the testimony of the late Colonel Bayly
of the 42nd Regiment, who, after giving it as his
opinion that Wauchope made one of the best

74 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
adjutants ever appointed, goes on to say that ' his
charm of disposition enabled him to gain the love of
his men, whilst his tact and firmness enabled him to
enforce the necessary discipline.' But however well
he had discharged these duties, he was now to resign
them. In order to make clear his motive for so
doing, it is necessary to pass for a moment from the
history of the man to that of the country.
With the commencement of the year 1873, the
war-cloud had made its appearance on the horizon
of the empire. It arose from the kingdom of the
Ashantis — a country with which we had long had a
warlike account awaiting settlement. Without here
attempting to summarise the history of our relations
with that martial but bloodthirsty race, it may
suffice to say that at least four times already within
the century we had been at war with them, and that
these wars had repeatedly been disastrous to our
selves : notably, in 1824, when the Ashantis had
defeated a small British force and had carried home
as a trophy the skull of the British commander;
and in 1863, when a war which had been rashly
engaged in was abandoned in consequence of the
ravages wrought by climatic sickness among our
troops. Well, in 1872 negotiations were being
carried on between ourselves and the Ashanti king,
Koffee Kalkalli. These were mainly concerned with
the captivity of certain Europeans in the Ashanti
capital, and with a claim advanced by the Ashantis
of rights over certain possessions which we had
recently acquired from the Dutch. Into the history
of these negotiations it is unnecessary here to go ;

OUTBREAK OF WAR 75
it will suffice to say that, whilst they appeared to
be proceeding amicably, an Ashanti army, estimated
at between twenty and thirty thousand strong, with
out warning crossed the river Prah, and advanced
upon the British Protectorate. This was in January
1873. Our garrisons in West Africa were at that
time unaccountably weak, so that the situation was
critical — the more so because the native tribes under
our protection were strikingly inferior in soldiership
to the Ashantis, whilst their loyalty was not con
sidered equal to the bearing of any great strain.
Meanwhile, at home, the members of Mr. Glad
stone's Government, preoccupied with domestic
interests, seemed scarcely as yet to recognise the
gravity of the case.
Even the events which followed were slow to
rouse them. Having rallied the friendly tribe of
the Fantis, Colonel Harley, Governor of Cape
Coast, had advanced to meet the invaders ; he was
driven back under the very walls of Cape Coast
Castle. And though, with the aid of a small rein
forcement, Colonel Festing, who now assumed the
command, succeeded in expelling the Ashantis from
the town of Elmina, where they had established
themselves, a reverse which was soon afterwards
sustained by Commodore Commerell was sufficient
to restore the enemy's reputation among the neutral
tribes of the Coast, who accordingly began to turn
openly to what they believed to be the stronger
side. Meanwhile the sickness incident to the
climate and the season was doing its work among
our garrisons. At last, in the fulness of time, the

76 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
necessity of more vigorous action was forced home
to the Cabinet, and in the month of September,
Major-General Sir Garnet Wolseley was despatched
to Cape Coast in the dual capacity of Civil Adminis
trator and Commander of Her Majesty's land forces
in West Africa.
The prospect of active employment was as usual
the signal for much volunteering among army
officers of high spirit, anxious at once to serve
their country and to increase their own military
experience ; and among those who sent in their
names for employment on special service was
Lieutenant Andrew Wauchope. His Colonel, un
willing to lose so useful an officer, viewed his
application with regret, if not indeed with actual
disapproval ; and the result was that in August
1873 Wauchope formally resigned his adjutancy.
His application for special employment was not,
however, at first sustained, so that he was able
to continue to discharge the duties of adjutant
during the Autumn Manoeuvres of this year, and
to accompany the regiment to Portsmouth on their
conclusion. Indeed his successor was not gazetted
until December 10th. And, to complete the tale
of his employments under this category, I may here
state that on his return from the Gold Coast, in
1874, he was appointed Acting- Adjutant at the
Regimental Dep6t at Perth — a post which he
held until 1876, when, in the month of March, he
rejoined his regiment at Malta and was appointed
Musketry Instructor.
The objects of Sir Garnet Wolseley 's campaign

OBJECTS OF THE CAMPAIGN 77
were two — namely, first, to rid our Protectorate of
its invaders; and, secondly, to penetrate to the
Ashanti capital of Coomassie — lying more than
one hundred miles up the country — and, by destroy
ing it, incurably to damage the military prestige
of the hostile nation. It would then rest with the
victor to exact from the vanquished reparation for
past misdeeds, and security for peace in the future,
as well as, so far as might be, the opening up of the
country to trade, and the discontinuance of human
sacrifice and of kidnapping for slavery. When the
peculiar features of the case are borne in mind — to
wit, the deadliness of the climate, the impenetrability
of the bush, and the advantage thereby afforded for
ambush and other stratagems of native warfare —
it will be seen that the task was one of special
and extraordinary difficulty. It was a part of
Wauchope's nature, however, that he 'liked a
hard nut to crack.' And it was also natural that
he should now eagerly desire the opportunity of
serving under a leader whose reputation for prac
tical soldiership stood as high as did Sir Garnet
Wolseley 's, and who, as it happened, was destined
to become among living men his idol and hero.
So far his application for employment as a
Special Service Officer had been without result.
As it turned out, however, he was not without a
friend who was willing and able to advance his
interest. Among the officers who had been invited
to join Sir Garnet Wolseley 's Staff was Captain
G. A. Furse of the 42nd Regiment. Captain
Furse, who had already served upon the Staff at

78 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Aldershot, as well as in successive manoeuvres, was
known to have an extensive acquaintance among
army officers. Accordingly, during the passage
(memorable for its discomforts) of the ss. Ambriz,
bearing Sir Garnet Wolseley to the Gold Coast,
the Assistant Adjutant-General of the expedition
placed in Furse's hand a paper bearing a long list
of names, asking him at the same time to mark
with a cross any name which he considered to be
that of a good and energetic officer. Now, besides
belonging to the same regiment, Wauchope was to
some extent a protege of Furse. For instance, at
the time when the regimental adjutancy had last
been vacant, the following little scene had taken
place between them. Wauchope had invited his
senior officer to walk with him to Niddrie, and on
the way had asked his opinion as to who was likely
to be the new adjutant. ' My dear Andy,' replied
Furse, guessing the thought that was in his mind,
' had you shown more keenness about your duty,
you might have had a chance.' Wauchope, in
return, confessed that he had not the smallest
claim upon the post. The same night, however,
he went to Furse's room, and telling him that
Captain Baird — his kinsman and mentor in the
regiment — had informed him that Colonel M'Leod
intended next day to offer him the appointment,
asked advice what to do in regard to it. 'Take
it, and consider yourself very lucky,' was Captain
Furse's reply, ' and try to do justice to the Colonel's
choice ! ' How faithfully Wauchope had acted upon
this advice we have already seen. The result was

A STAFF APPOINTMENT 79
that, as the Ambriz steamed on her way towards
Cape Coast Castle, a big cross took shape against
his name on the A.A.-G.'s list. And this, in its
turn, had the effect of bringing him to the same
destination as that brother-officer whose kindly
remembrance of him he had such good reason to
bless. Eager for his first active, which was also his first
foreign, service, Wauchope arrived at Cape Coast,
in the ss. Volta, on the 30th November 1873. And
here he at once experienced a second little stroke
of good fortune. It happened thus. Among his
recent ship-mates had been Lieutenant the Hon.
Henry Wood, of the 10th Hussars, who had come
out to the Gold Coast to act as aide-de-camp to
Sir Garnet Wolseley. At dinner on the night of
his arrival, Wood was questioned as to his fellow-
passengers, and mentioned Wauchope, describing
him as the best adjutant in the service. On this
Sir Garnet Wolseley became interested, remarking
that 'they must look after that fellow'; and the
end of it was that Wauchope received an appoint
ment on the Major- General's Staff. For this
appointment he had also been strongly recom
mended by his own Colonel, whose displeasure at
his defection had been obviously short-lived ; but
I quote the above incident as helping to show that
Wauchope owed his emergence from obscurity as
a soldier, not in any way to birth or influence, but
solely to his good qualities and the impression made
by them upon his fellow- workers. And I may here
likewise point out that, as the Major-General was

80 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
extremely strict as to the qualifications physical
and professional of those employed upon his Staff,
it is a further testimony to Wauchope's high
reputation at this early stage of his career that he
should have been among the number selected. He
was posted to the regiment, composed of Houssas
and other natives to the number of 540, which was
known as Russell's, from its commanding officer,
Major Baker Russell of the 13th Hussars. Its
regimental head-quarters had then just been moved
to Dunquah, a native village situated some fifteen
or twenty miles from Cape Coast Castle on the
Coomassie road, and thither accordingly Wauchope
at once proceeded.
The position of affairs was then as follows.
Barely two months had elapsed since Sir Garnet
Wolseley's landing at Cape Coast, but that brief
period had been turned to splendid account by
the Major-General and his subordinates. Indeed,
the first and in some respects more difficult half
of the original plan of campaign was already an
accomplished fact ; for, by the first days of Decem
ber, the Ashantis to a man had withdrawn from the
British Protectorate — recrossing the Sacred River,
Prah, and re-entering their own dominions. To this
happy result a succession of small military actions
had contributed. Of these the first — skilfully
planned, and fought at Essaman, lying to the north
east of Elmina, on the 14th October — had had the
effect of cutting off from the Ashanti army at
Mampon its food-supplies drawn from the coast
villages, and so causing the break-up of the great

PRELIMINARY LABOURS 81
camp at that place. The enemy had thereupon
begun falling back upon Dunquah, when the sur
prise of a camp at Iscabio had enforced the lesson of
Essaman. A repulse from our own post at Abrakrampa,
where he had taken the initiative, and a further fight
at Faysowah, had sufficed thoroughly to alarm him
and to convince him of the expediency of retiring
within his own borders.
Satisfactory, however, as all this was, the purely
military operations had been, so far, the lesser part
of the work accomplished. This had comprised
negotiations, always tedious and often futile, with
the native chiefs who were friendly to ourselves ;
likewise the toilsome drilling and discipline of native
troops raised by their co-operation ; item, the survey
of the country, and the formation in the early days
of the campaign of a cordon of military outposts
round Cape Coast Castle. Add to all this the con
struction — in view of future operations — of com
plete systems of transport, commissariat, hospital,
and intelligence ; and it will be seen that the exer
tions of Sir Garnet Wolseley and his officers must
have been well-nigh superhuman. Nor must it
for a moment be forgotten that these were made
in the face of the frequent illnesses and constant
sufferings inseparable from the most pestilent of
climates. With a view to minimising the ravages of
pestilence, it had been hoped at the outset
of the campaign that native and West Indian
soldiers, acting under British officers, might suffice
F

82 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
for the work to be performed. But a very short
experience of the natives of the Gold Coast had
served to convince Sir Garnet Wolseley that, with
out British troops, its effective accomplishment was
impossible. Then the belief that — at least through
out the non-rainy season, extending from December
to March inclusive — these might be employed with
out undue risk to life and health from the climate
had justified his demanding to have them sent out
to him. His letter to this purport bore date
October 13th ; and it was against the arrival of the
expected battalions, and in view of their subsequent
operations, that much of the work detailed above —
notably that connected with transport, feeding, and
the care of the sick — was required.
For, when the difficulty of the country is taken
into account, it is evident that four months were
but a scanty time-allowance in which to conduct an
army from the coast to Coomassie, crush a powerful
enemy, and return. It therefore became important
that everything should be in readiness for the British
reinforcement to march immediately upon landing,
and that its passage up the country should be made
as easy as possible. This necessitated, in addition
to the works above named, the construction of a
road, furnished with sites for encampments, through
the bush to the Ashanti frontier. The camps
along the line of march were carefully prepared.
Site and water-supply having first been considered,
they were furnished with huts for the men and
officers, with a control store, hospital, and mess-shed.
The huts, which were built of wattle and thatched

HIS ' BLACK BOYS ' 83
with palm-leaves, were fitted with beds slightly
raised above the ground. Also the road where it
led through the camp was widened, and the sur
rounding bush cleared.
Upon this work Wauchope was now employed,
and it of course took him up the country. Nor was
it long ere the energy displayed by him in clearing
and preparing the camping-ground at Yancoomassie
Assin had won him the golden opinion of one so
well qualified to appreciate good work of this kind
as the indefatigable Major Robert Home, C.R.E. of
the expedition. In the intervals of such work as
this, the men under his command rendered valuable
service in connection with the transport system.
In Russell's regiment he had been placed in com
mand of a company composed of Winnebahs, a
coast tribe dwelling to the east of Cape Coast Castle.
That the drill and discipline of natives such as these
was no easy task has been recorded by the historian
of the war, General Sir Henry Brackenbury, who
represents, in an amusing passage, the black faces of
the troops (in strong contrast to their white frocks)
being turned to the left when the word ' right ' was
given, and breaking into complacent grins on finding
themselves face to face with their next neighbours
in the ranks. Wauchope's natural liking for drill
must have been severely put to the proof. But his
love for fighting men of all sorts would stand him
in good stead. He took a pride in the training of
his 'black boys,' as he called them, and is even said
to have succeeded in instilling something of his own
spirit into them. His present employment, however,

84 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
was not to last long. Among the regiments de
spatched to the Gold Coast in compliance with Sir
Garnet Wolseley's requisition, was the 42nd High
landers; so that, contrary to first expectation,
Wauchope underwent no long separation from his
old comrades. The regiment was landed at Cape
Coast Castle on the 3rd and 4th January 1874 —
about which time Wauchope sought the Major-
General in command and resigned his post upon the
Staff. The conversation which passed between
them was as follows: 'I am very sorry, sir,' said
Wauchope, ' that I must leave you.' Sir Garnet asked
if this was absolutely necessary. ' Absolutely,' re
plied Wauchope ; ' for I could not possibly allow the
regiment to go into action without me.'
For the present, however, no action being im
minent, he remained with Russell's regiment. And
when I mention that Russell's had been chosen to
lead the advance into the enemy's country, it will
be understood that he was there in a position en
tirely to his liking. The Major-General had directed
that a camp should be formed at Prahsu, about mid
way between Cape Coast Castle and Coomassie, and
not far from the Ashanti frontier, which should be
capable of containing 2000 Europeans, with depot
of provisions and military stores. Russell's regi
ment — numbering 500, and including 12 British
officers — was employed in the clearing of the
camping-ground, and it will surprise no one to hear
that the regimental lines attracted the attention and
moved the commendation of the General and the
head-quarter Staff, on the arrival of these latter at

THE ADVANCE 85
Prahsu. On the morning of the 5th January — a
bridge which was being built over the Prah being
still uncompleted — the regiment was ferried over
on rafts, to take up a position at Attobiassie on the
north bank of the river — each man being furnished
with supplies for a week and a reserve of ammuni
tion. Arrived at Attobiassie, the ground was
cleared, huts erected, and the continuing of the road
was set about over perhaps the very worst ground
encountered in the whole line of march. At Essia-
man, the next point, a defensible post was con
structed ; and thence, on January 9th, 100 men of
Russell's, under Lieutenant Wauchope, advanced
half-way to Ansah. Meantime, far in the rear, the
main column, acting under Brigadier Sir Archibald
Alison, pushed its way laboriously between the
green and living walls of the breathless and horizon-
less forest already traversed by Wauchope, whilst
subsidiary columns, under Captain Glover and
Captain (now General Sir William) Butler, act
ing in concert with it, converged upon distant
Coomassie. So far the enemy had offered no resistance to our
advance. On the 13th January, Russell's regiment,
accompanied by a rocket-party, was sent on to Ac-
crofoomu, where a control store was to be built.
On the 17th, having been ordered to proceed with
great caution, and avoid engaging the enemy,
Russell succeeded in occupying the crest of one of
the Adansi range of hills, which constitutes the
barrier of the Ashanti kingdom. From this point
a view over endless successions of tree-tops melt-

86 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
ing into mist was obtained in the direction of
Coomassie. Here he fortified himself, and thus
secured a very important military position. On
this occasion Wauchope's company, numbering
100, had acted as the reserve. On the 19th, still
without opposition, Russell occupied Quisah, the
first village of the Ashanti kingdom proper to be
entered by our troops. On the same day Wauchope
met an old and attached friend in the person of
his own colonel, who had come to the front to take
over the command of the advanced-guard — made
up of Russell's and Wood's native regiments, Rait's
artillery, and the head-quarters of the 2nd West
India Regiment — and who appointed Wauchope his
Brigade-Major. On the 23rd inst., the force pro
ceeded to Fomannah, within thirty miles of their
destination. Meantime Lord Gifford's scouts had
gone before ; whilst hard in the traces of the
advanced-guard followed Major Home with his
sappers, to form military posts in the villages
occupied. The difficulties of transport which had delayed
the progress of our main column having now been
overcome, it became important, owing to the ravages
which were being wrought daily in our ranks by
sickness, that decisive action should not be deferred.
Accordingly our troops prepared to concentrate to
the north of the Adansi hills, their communica
tions with Prahsu being kept open by means of
six fortified posts. Meantime indications were not
wanting that the drama had begun to thicken.
King Koffee had sent forward repeated, but unsatis-

A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY 87
factory, embassages. The payment of indemnity
was offered, the white captives were released. Por
tents, both weird and horrible, marked the route
of our advanced-guard : a white thread stretched
from tree to tree, a rude representation of a gun
studded with knives and planted in the path, a
mutilated corpse impaled on a bamboo by the way
side. The fetish priests had been at work. The
body was interred by men of Russell's regiment.
Creeping steadily onward, the advanced-guard
reached Dompoassie on the 26th January. Next
day Colonel M'Leod ordered a reconnaissance along
a bush-path which branched off to the west of the
main road. There was a slight brush with the
enemy — who fled, pursued by the left wing of
Russell's regiment — and a native village was burnt.
In this affair the conduct of our native troops was
blamed for impetuosity — there was no holding them
back. On the 28th the head-quarters and a detach
ment of the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers joined the
advanced-guard, and a reconnaissance in force was
undertaken. The village of Borborassie was sur
prised, the Ashantis taking refuge in the bush on
every side. But, in rushing the village, Captain
Nicol, Adjutant of the Hampshire Militia, who led
the advance with a company of Russell's, was shot
dead. He was the first white man killed in action
north of the Prah, and his manly qualities having
won him the respect of his comrades, his death
produced a strong impression. For the following
glimpses of Wauchope's characteristic conduct on
this occasion I am indebted to an officer who served

88 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
with him in the campaign. ' I remember meeting
him,' writes Rear- Admiral Mann, ' in Ashanti, after
a fight. We were burying poor old Nicol, who had
been shot ; and the nerves were strained. We had
a few words on the general position. I forget the
exact words he used, but perfectly remember leaving
him encouraged and strengthened by his cheerful
ness and confidence. That was the sort of man
he was : he had the power to give others strength."
During the twenty-five years of life and activity
which yet remained to Wauchope, it was natural
that his character should be much more fully
revealed to his fellow-men than it could be at
this time. But this one remark of an acute and
sympathetic observer shows us that, though that
character might grow, it did not change; for I
question if any truer word than the above was
ever spoken of it ! By the 30th of the month the
advanced-guard had moved up the country as far
as Quaiman, where it entrenched itself. It was
now evident that a battle was impending.
On the evening of the 30th January, Colonel
M'Leod came in to the main column, then halted
at Insarfu, from the front and announced that all
further forward movements must be conducted with
extreme caution, as a formidable army, assembled
beyond Egginassie, two or three miles from our
front, was prepared to dispute our advance. Ac
cordingly, next morning at daybreak, our troops
marched off to meet the enemy. To the 42nd
Highlanders, under Major Duncan Macpherson, had
been assigned the honour of heading the advance

AMOAFUL 89
— a disposition, by the way, of the force under
his leadership which formed the ground of some
irresponsible criticism directed against the Brigadier ;
who was now again taxed with favouring his own
countrymen, as he had already been when he gave
them precedence in landing at Cape Coast Castle.
In answer to this, it is enough to say that Sir
Archibald Alison knew well what he was about,
though his very excellent reason for what he now
did is not one into which it is here desirable to go.
In the advance, Colonel M'Leod, having Wauchope
with him as his orderly officer, had command of
the left column, composed of Russell's regiment
and a wing of the Naval Brigade. So that the
posts of these two officers in the action which
followed were not with their own regiment.
Of the battle of Amoaful the main features were
as follows. Firing commenced at a little after
eight o'clock, when Lord Gifford's scouts rushed
the village of Egginassie, beyond which point were
assembled the Ashantis in numbers unofficially
estimated as from 15,000 to 20,000. But the
density of the forest undergrowth amid which the
battle was contested gave to the enemy, to a large
extent, the property of invisibility. The brunt of
the fighting was borne by the Highlanders. Follow
ing up the attack of the scouts, the 42nd had pushed
on to the further side of the captured village, where,
having deployed into line, they continued by means
of well-directed volleys to drive the enemy before
them. Pauses in the fighting, caused by the enemy's
retreat, were employed by the sappers in clearing

90 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
ground for a fresh advance. In the above manner
the position was reached which had been selected
by the Ashantis for a stand. It was one of great
natural strength, evincing the strategical judgment
of those who were to defend it. On the further
side of a swamp, which a sluggish stream inter
sected, rose in the form of a crescent an extensive
ridge, of which the left extremity was thrown
forward — thus enabling the enemy to bring their
fire to bear against the left flank of their assailants.
To the stirring music of their native pipes, the
Highlanders now descended by successive com
panies into the swamp, directing their attack full
on the enemy's front, and becoming quickly lost
to sight amid the bush — so that from that time
forward the progress of the battle was made apparent
only by the noise and smoke of the opposing fire
arms. For the enemy stood his ground manfully,
keeping up a determined fire, whilst at the same
time making repeated efforts to envelop the left
flank of the British. Indeed, how spirited was their
resistance is shown by the fact that, of 27 officers
and 489 men of the Black Watch who entered the
action, no fewer than 9 officers and 104 men were
wounded. Dogged, however, as was the stand of
the Ashantis, the play of our artillery from the
rising ground on the further side of the swamp was
too much for them, so that they evacuated their
position, and retreated, being pressed closely by our
soldiers from behind. And though some further
resistance was still to be experienced, by shortly
after mid-day the gallant Highlanders were in occu-

THE LEFT COLUMN 91
pation of the village of Amoaful, the objective of
the day's fighting.
How, meanwhile, had M'Leod's column been
employed ? It had advanced through the bush
with the view of meeting the left flank of the
Highlanders on their extension, for which purpose
it was necessary that a pathway should be cut
under a heavy fire from either side. The peculiar
hide-and-seek nature of the country defeated the
immediate object aimed at. Nevertheless, after
seizing and clearing a hill, the left column became
engaged with a body of the enemy which had
become separated from the main one when the
latter was driven back. Having dealt with the
above, it emerged from the bush upon the
Coomassie road, and kept up the communication
with the advance at Amoaful. The part played
by Wauchope in the day's fighting was the uncon-
spicuous one of many another faithful and valiant
soldier ; nor are his personal impressions of it now
recoverable. (What life and spirit, combined with
the perfection of modest self-effacement, he would
himself have imparted to these in the telling !)
In common with others, he distinguished himself
by courage and coolness, throughout the day never
sparing himself, and contributing much under
trying circumstances to preserve the prescribed
order of the advance. Such conduct was char
acteristic of the man ; for matchless as was his
courage, he was never one to fight for his own
hand, but always thought first of his place in the
general organisation and of the men under his

92 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
charge. To such as he the most prized of all
military decorations comes less often than they
deserve. What certainly afforded him the sincerest pleasure
was the conduct of his own regiment. Speaking of
its share in the day's action — and we have seen that
this was the lion's share— the Brigadier-General had
written thus : ' It is impossible for me to speak in
too high terms of that magnificent regiment, the
42nd Highlanders; their steadiness and discipline,
the admirable way in which they were kept in hand
by their officers, and the enthusiastic gallantry with
which every charge was executed, exceed all praise.'1
Special commendations of individuals followed.
When the news of the battle reached England,
the newspapers also waxed loud in applause of the
Highlanders and other troops which had taken part
in it. Here is a sample of their eulogy. . . . ' Nor
is the credit won by the Black Watch less because
they showed in Ashantiland that courage, stead
fastness, and dash at the right moment which have
won them high renown in British military annals.
We do not overrate the exploits performed by
any of the famous regiments engaged. They only
did what they have so often done before, face and
overcome deadly odds and peril. But undoubtedly
African fighting was a new experience for them ;
yet they proved again that they are alike in all
fields. Surrounded by thousands of unseen enemies,
far from all support or aid, compelled to move along
narrow paths, and fight as it were in the dark, the
1 Regimental Records of the kind Highlanders, ms.

DEATH OF MAJOR BAIRD 93
handful of Britons, self-reliant, disciplined, daring,
amply justified the confidence reposed in them by
their commander and their countrymen.' Nor, in
estimating the day's achievement, must it be for
gotten that our troops had had to contend, not
alone against the enemy, but against one of the most
demoralising climates in the world — a climate which
I have heard described by one who fought bravely
in the campaign as of itself enough to predispose
the strong soldier to a womanly break-down.
Wauchope's joy over the gallantry of his regiment
was unhappily destined to an abatement. Among
those wounded during the frontal attack on the
Ashanti position had been his brother-officer, Major
Baird. From the time when they had been thrown
together in the regiment, Baird — who, be it said in
passing, was a man of remarkably fine physique —
had acted as Wauchope's guide, philosopher, and
friend. As a kinsman, he had taken him under his
protection, training him up in the way he ought to
go, and not hesitating to reprimand him when he
thought the occasion required it. Invalided home,
Baird died of his wounds ere reaching England-
regretted by every officer and man of the regiment,
and not least, we may be sure, by Wauchope.
Before this, however, many things had happened.
On the night following the battle, the troops
bivouacked in Amoaful — a town constructed after
the typical Ashanti fashion, round a square planted
with trees. Sir Garnet Wolseley had now de
termined to diverge from the main road to Coo
massie in order to destroy the important town of

94 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Becquah, lying about two miles to the west,
which was reported to be filled with Ashantis.
Accordingly next morning at eleven o'clock the
force destined for this purpose was mustered in the
captured village. It was divided into an advanced-
guard and main body, the former being led by the
tall figure of Colonel M'Leod, with whom of course
was his orderly officer, Wauchope. A native path
way leading through dense bush conducted them
to the town, where Gifford's scouts forced an
entrance. They encountered a vigorous opposition ;
but this did not last long, for, as the veteran M'Leod
observed, the effect of the previous day's fighting
was evident (though in opposite ways) both on our
own troops and the enemy. After being occupied
by the advanced-guard, the town was evacuated
and burnt — the enemy, which had attempted to col
lect again, being dispersed by a few volleys. The
return of the troops to camp was unmolested.
Colonel M'Leod's conduct of this affair won the
warm commendation of the Brigadier-General, and
the Colonel in turn brought to favourable notice
the names of his staff officers for their share in the
proceedings. The next day (February 2nd) the entire force
advanced from Amoaful, the advanced-guard under
Colonel M'Leod having orders to halt at Aggem-
mamu, some six miles onward, to report. Wauchope
and his companions now proceeded over a track
which bore marks of having been recently trampled
by the feet of many fugitives, whilst from the
thicket on either hand exhaled a sinister odour of

SLIGHTLY WOUNDED 95
dead men. But the conquerors' progress was not
to be entirely uninterrupted. In ascending a broad
patch of miry ground, after crossing a stream, the
advanced-guard was fired on by a well-placed am
buscade, covering a larger force of the enemy.
Fortunately the Ashantis had opened their fire out
of range, or the result might have been serious.
Major Russell now at once deployed his men in
skirmishing order across the road, whence they
poured the contents of their rifles ahead and into
the bush on either side. But their shooting was
unfortunately wild. Whilst endeavouring to con
trol them, Wauchope sustained a slight contused
wound in the right hand from a slug. But he
was not the sort of man to regard such trifles.
His influence soon made itself felt, the Ashantis,
estimated at 1000 strong, were driven back, and
the neighbouring village of Jarbinbah was in our
hands. The advanced -guard then proceeded to
Aggemmamu, its progress being more or less
opposed at each of three successive villages on the
way. Certain critical points upon the road had
been secured by leaving pickets behind. The
same afternoon M'Leod scouted to Adwabin,
where Ashantis were understood to be collected,
but found them fled.
Sir Garnet Wolseley now resolved to secure
Aggemmamu as a base, and to march his force on
to Coomassie, which was but fifteen miles distant,
as a flying column. On the arrival of the head of
the column at Adwabin, on the 3rd February,
Colonel M'Leod with the advanced-guard again

96 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
moved forward. Before he had been an hour upon
the road the attack of the day before was repeated
from a precisely similar position. On this occasion
M'Leod brought up the seven-pounder gun of the
advanced-guard and opened with shell upon the
ambush. We have seen that, on the former occa
sion, the rifle-practice of Russell's regiment had been
erratic and wasteful; some companies of the Rifle
Brigade had in consequence been called to the front.
The united fire of these two bodies was now brought
to bear upon the enemy, who after a short, sharp
action was driven back. After this, however, owing
to the repeated ambuscades encountered by the way,
the progress of M'Leod's column was necessarily
slow, whilst almost every discharge of the enemy's
musketry inflicted some loss upon his men. But in a
case of this kind the post of danger is also the post
of glory. The steadiness and self-control in reserv
ing their fire now shown by the men of Russell's
completely retrieved the character of that regiment,
so that Wauchope's labours had not been in vain.
In the day's fighting, they alone had three killed and
over thirty wounded.
Early in the afternoon the advanced-guard reached
the river Ordah, the head-quarters following closely.
Here it was understood that a force of 10,000
Ashantis awaited them on the further bank, an equal
number being still in our army's rear. Meantime,
under cover of a flag of truce, a last effort had been
made by the King to stay our progress. It was
received for what it was worth. Yet he was allowed
one more chance of meeting our terms by sending in

NEARING THE END 97
hostages — of which, as was expected, he declined to
avail himself.
The river being about fifty feet in breadth and
three or four feet deep, it was necessary to bridge it ;
in the meanwhile Russell's regiment was passed over,
to act as a covering-party to the Engineers who
undertook this duty. On landing on the north
bank, they proceeded to make a fairly large clearing
in the bush, and a small entrenchment, where the
remainder of the advanced-guard presently joined
them. The bivouac of the main body formed three
sides of a square, resting on the south bank of the
river. At nightfall a tornado set in ; heavy and long-
continued rains soon saturated the flimsy shelter-
tents of the flying column, and the night was spent
in great physical discomfort. The dawn came
languidly. ' It seemed,' says an eye-witness, ' as if
the day sympathised with the waning of the once
terrible Ashanti power, and lagged in its course to
delay what had now become inevitable. '
But, in spite of adverse atmospheric conditions,
the Engineers had continued their work through a
great part of the night, with the result that by day
break, or soon after, a complete bridge, furnished
with hand-rails, spanned the river. On our side
faint hopes were for a time entertained that, after
the lesson of Amoaful, the enemy would not risk
another stand-up fight. But it soon became appa
rent that he was prepared to make a last stand ; and
fight he did, though perhaps not with quite the same
courage and tenacity as on the last occasion. In the
comfortless dawn the camp had been early astir, the
G

98 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
camp-fires forming centres of groups of drenched
men and officers. At seven o'clock the advanced-
guard began to move off. M'Leod commanded, and
to some companies of the Rifle Brigade had been
assigned this morning the post of honour in the
front, which had been occupied by the Highlanders
at Amoaful. The objective was the village of
Ordahsu, about a mile and a quarter from the river.
Hardly was the column clear of the river-bank when
the enemy opened fire upon its head. 'No man,'
has remarked a keen observer, ' is more cool in action
than Colonel M'Leod.' Finding that the native
troops (of Wood's regiment) were not making the
most of their opportunities, he ordered up the seven-
pounder gun and passed a company of Rifles to the
front. Then he pressed slowly on towards the
village, in face of a spirited resistance. Meantime,
an uproar of cheering and drumming on the right
rear announced that the enemy had developed an
attack on the flank of the main body.
About half-way to the village the road began to
pass along a narrow ridge with a ravine on either
side. Along this, under cover of the seven-pounder,
the advanced-guard now felt its way — a few rounds
being from time to time discharged from the gun, to
clear the way for a corresponding advance of the
column. In this manner Ordahsu was reached and
carried by shortly after nine, though not without
heavy loss sustained, especially by the gun-party.
The Highlanders and head-quarters followed
M'Leod's column after an interval, having repulsed
flank and rear attacks from the enemy. Meantime,

ORDAHSU 99
the ground on either side the ridge-way had been
cleared of covert, and a good deal of further fighting
had taken place in and around the village. In fact
the bush which encircled the latter, except where it
was broken by the main road, is described as having
for a whole hour presented the appearance of a ring of
flame from whence issued a continuous roar of fire.
Colonel M'Leod's work with the advanced-guard
being now finished, he was replaced in command of
his regiment, and intrusted with the supreme task
of breaking out of the village of Ordahsu and advanc
ing on Coomassie. Placing himself at the head of
his men, of which two companies were extended
into the bush to right and left of the road, the
gallant veteran 1 gave the word to advance : ' A
Company, front rank fire to the right, rear rank to
the left. Forward ! ' And here I cannot do better
than describe the scene which followed, not in his
own words — for these are far too modest — but in
those of Sir Archibald Alison, who was with him.
' On first debouching from the village,' says the
Brigadier, * a tremendous fire was opened on the
head of the column from a well-planned and strong
ambuscade, six men being knocked over in an in
stant. But the flank companies worked steadily
through the bush ; the leading company in the path
sprang forward with a cheer ; the pipes struck up,
and the ambuscade was at once carried. Then
followed one of the finest spectacles I have ever seen
in war. Without stop or stay the 42nd rushed on
1 A veteran in service, not in years, of which he numbered at that
time but forty-three. He had entered the Army at fifteen.

100 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
cheering, their pipes playing, their officers to the
front ; ambuscade after ambuscade was successfully
carried, village after village won in succession, till the
whole Ashantis broke and fled in the wildest disorder
down the pathway on their front to Coomassie.
The ground was covered with traces of their flight.'
Scarcely pausing to draw breath, the dauntless High
landers swept on after them, and without further
opposition that evening entered Coomassie.
In the meanwhile demoralisation had gained the
native assailants of the captured village ; they seemed
to realise that their last hope was gone, and the loud
blowing of their horns for retreat soon died away in
the distance. Till now, King Koffee had continued to
direct his army from a distant spot — where, beneath
a canopy of plantain leaves, he sat upon a golden
stool, surrounded by his chiefs. He could not bring
himself to believe in the approaching overthrow of
his people. But the whizzing of a Snider bullet in
his immediate proximity startled him rudely from his
dream. He fled. The Ashanti power was broken.
Ere this, however, the active part played in the
proceedings by the orderly -officer to the leader of the
advanced-guard had been brought to an untimely
end. In crossing the exposed ground before
Ordahsu, Wauchope had been severely wounded in
the left shoulder by a slug from the musket of an
Ashanti perched in a tree. That a man of his
energetic and fearless temper, peculiarly exposed as
he had lately been by the special nature of his duties,
should for so long have escaped serious hurt was
perhaps what was chiefly to be wondered at. Yet

SEVERELY WOUNDED 101
that he should be disabled at this crowning moment
of the campaign is of a piece with the strangely bad
luck which on so many other occasions was his portion.
For to study the story of Wauchope's life is to run
a risk of conversion to the pagan belief in Luck —
assuredly, through life, he had far more of bad luck
to contend against than falls to the share of most
men. As an instance, his repeated accidents when
on the St. George will be fresh in the reader's
memory. Now look at his luck in the present
campaign. First the call of duty to another part of
the field had prevented his partaking in the glorious
doings of his regiment at Amoaful ; and now, when
his comrades were starting on their march to King
Koffee's capital, a grievous hurt sustained in the
performance of a soldier's duty held him back from
sharing in their triumph. And yet he had borne
the burden and heat of the day as few had been
called to do. It was ' all in the day's work,' that is
true ; but it was 'hard luck' none the less. And he
felt it so. Says one who saw him as he lay wounded,
' I quite remember the sort of worried, fierce look in
his eyes — bearing the pain, but chafing at being laid
low when he wished to be up and doing. " Eh, he
is a gra-a-and mon ! " said one of his Highlanders to
me at the time.'
On falling, Wauchope had been placed in one of
the ordinary travelling-hammocks of the country,
which are provided with light movable roofs for
protection from the sun, and had been deposited
beside the way to await further attendance. As he
lay there, a certain Good Samaritan (name unknown)

102 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
passed that way. His attention was first drawn to
the wounded man by the peculiar blueness of the
latter's eyes, and, having recognised him, he placed
beside him a pint of Champagne — at that time and
place a rare luxury. The hemorrhage from his wound
had been very great, and to this timely draught, im
bibed at that moment of exhaustion, Wauchope in
after days ascribed the preservation of his life. With
him had fallen Lieutenant Eyre of Wood's native
regiment, whose wound unhappily was mortal.
Wauchope was carried into the field hospital.
And now see what a saving power in man hath a
sense of humour ! For he had not lain there long
before he laughed. The occasion was this. A
sailor of the Naval Brigade had been brought in
beside him. The poor fellow, who was badly
wounded, was bewailing himself lustily, in language
which was none of the most choice. But which of
his various misfortunes had he chosen to bewail?
His wound ? Not at all. That morning, instead of
drinking his ration of rum, he had saved it for use
later in the day, mixing it with the contents of his
water-bottle. But the same bullet which had
shattered his thigh had likewise shivered the bottle.
And the question which was now exercising the
mind of honest Jack was whether he was on that
account to be done out of that there tot of grog !
Medical aid at last arrived, and, whether on
account of the severity of the case or the patient's
rank as an officer, Wauchope was one of the first to
whom it was offered. But, with the true spirit of a
Sidney, he insisted on waiting to have his wound

INVALIDED HOME 103
dressed until all other serious cases had received
attention, thus voluntarily in the interests of others
prolonging the tax on his own endurance. The
wound proved to be a serious one, and, to the regret
of all who knew him, he was now invalided home.
' He was a universal favourite in the regiment,'
writes his former Colonel, now Lieutenant-General
Sir John M'Leod, ' and his temporary disablement
was much regretted.' Not least among those who
shared in this regret were the native troops of
Russell's regiment, from whom he too parted with
reluctance. It is said that they ' looked up to him
as a father, and would willingly have followed him
through any danger, even to death itself.'
For the sake of completeness I may be permitted
to add that the Ashanti Expedition of 1873-74
terminated in a perfect triumph for its leader and
the force which he commanded. Having entered
and destroyed Coomassie, Sir Garnet Wolseley im
posed his terms upon King Koffee, and forthwith
marched his army back to the coast — where it
arrived just in time to escape the perils and hard
ships of the rainy season, of which a foretaste had
already been experienced on the banks of the Ordah
river. He had accomplished the object of his
mission, and had done so within the limit of time
fixed by himself. And not since the famous charge
at the battle of Alma, twenty years before, had the
Black Watch so greatly enhanced its reputation.
Sir Garnet and his Staff, who were the last of the
expeditionary force to return to England, were back
at Portsmouth by the 20th day of March.

CHAPTER V
HOME-COMING FESTIVITIES — DEATH OF MR. WAUCHOPE
— TOUR OF FRANCO-PRUSSIAN BATTLEFIELDS —
MALTA — CYPRUS
By his service with the advanced-guard under
Colonel M'Leod in Ashantiland, Wauchope had, so
to speak, won his professional spurs. On the said
body had devolved the duty of forcing all positions
held by the enemy in front of our army, and that
duty had been performed with admirable skill and
gallantry.1 On the conclusion of the war Wauchope
was therefore offered the command of an unattached
company, which he refused on the ground that he
had not the least desire to be removed from his
regiment. The professional reputation which he
had won in time of peace as adjutant of his regiment
had, however, been sustained and confirmed in time
of war ; he had been mentioned in despatches, and
he now wore the medal and clasp awarded for the
Ashanti Expedition. But for this distinction he had
been called to pay a dearer price than most. I
allude to the peculiar nature and consequences of
the wound received by him at Ordahsu.
It is true that the fire-arms at that time in use
1 Sir Garnet Wolseley's despatch to the Secretary of State for War,
dated Coomassie, 6th February 1874.
104

A NASTY WOUND 105
among Ashanti warriors were not of a very formid
able kind. They consisted mainly of flint-locks, of
Danish manufacture, into the barrels of which gun
powder was loosely sprinkled without wadding, an
iron 'slug,' or piece of unsmelted ore, being generally
used for a bullet. This accounts for the fact that,
despite the first-class opportunities enjoyed by the
enemy, firing from under cover of the bush, the
casualties on our side were, comparatively speaking,
few and trifling. But it will readily be understood
that a wound inflicted by one of the above-described
missiles might in an odd case prove exceptionally
troublesome. So was it in the case of Wauchope.
Thanks to a naturally sound and vigorous constitu
tion, his wounds healed rapidly ; but the slug had
obstinately resisted every effort made to extract it.
And, for fully three or four years from the present
time, it continued to be a source of physical trouble
— nay, of actual and serious danger to life. For,
being liable to shift its position, it might at any
moment affect a vital part. To this precarious
tenure of his life, among other causes, has been
ascribed a gradual but permanent change which
about this time began to declare itself in Wauchope's
character. But of this more anon. It is to an Edin
burgh surgeon, Professor Annandale, that the credit
belongs of at last extracting the intrusive metal ;
and it would be wrong not to mention that, having
submitted to the operation without an anassthetic,
on returning to Niddrie afterwards Wauchope spoke
only to one servant, whose aid he required, of what
he had just undergone, and this under seal of secrecy.

106 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
The fact was that there was a case of serious illness
in the house at the time, and his thoughts being as
ever of others, he wished to avoid having a fuss made
about himself.
Upon the conclusion of the Ashanti Campaign
followed the usual public recognition of the services
rendered by the commander and his troops to
their Queen and Country. Before embarking on
their homeward voyage they had been flted and
thanked at Cape Coast Castle ; their reception in
London was one of great enthusiasm. Among
other festivities in their honour, the Lord Mayor
entertained the officers of the expedition at a
banquet at which were present the Prince of Wales,
the Duke of Cambridge, and various members of
the Cabinet. As a junior, Wauchope was not, of
course, called on to figure prominently on that
occasion ; but after his return to Scotland, a public
dinner in his own special honour was got up in his
own countryside. It was held at Portobello on the
12th June, and, whilst affording pleasing testimony
of the good- will of the neighbourhood towards his
family and himself, it is still of some interest to us
as the occasion of the first recorded public speech of
one who later on became a very popular public
speaker. The characteristics of his style seem
already to have been what they were in later years
— a soldierly simplicity and unpretentiousness,
rising when required to earnestness, which would
sit with a becoming grace on the young hero re
turned wounded from the wars. In responding to
the toast of the evening, his own health, which had

A NOBLE ASPIRATION 107
been proposed by the Provost, who presided, he
began by gracefully waving aside all praise for
himself, preferring to recognise in the banquet a
compliment paid to the distinguished corps in which
he had the honour of serving. Then— as he often
did in later life — he proceeded to sum up the recent
campaign in terms of his own — continuing char
acteristically, that if people would invade our
territory and commit murders and other crimes, they
must be prepared to face a terrible retribution.
The British lion took a long time to rise — he was a
grand old animal in his way. But when he did rise,
his vengeance was apt to be speedy. He himself
believed that the King of Ashanti by this time
bitterly regretted the day when he first invaded the
British Protectorate. He concluded with a few
playful compliments to the address of the neigh
bourhood and its representatives.
There was nothing remarkable in this speech,
but, so long as it is hearty and spontaneous, after-
dinner speaking is not wont to please less well on
that account ; nor do we need the reporter's com
ment to assure us that the speaker secured a perfect
ovation. Later in the evening, in replying to the
toast of the House of Niddrie, he spoke more
gravely — giving expression to the wish that, as that
House had never in the past brought dishonour on
the district, so it might never do so in the future.
For himself, so far as in him lay, he would always
try to uphold its honour. This was the deepest
note he sounded that night. By the light of after
events we know beyond doubt that the aspiration

108 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
came direct from his heart, and it affords us valuable
insight into the impulses which shaped his conduct
at the time. For Wauchope was never one to wear
his heart upon his sleeve ; and, except in moments
of strong emotion or in the society of his nearest
friends, was one of the most reserved of men.
On his return from the war he was quartered at
Perth, where he undertook the Acting Adjutancy
of the Regimental Depot. Much of his time, how
ever, was spent at Niddrie, where his health could
receive the special attention which just then it
required, and where his father (a much more cogent
motive) stood more than ever in need of his
attendance. Owing to the progress of the disease
from which he suffered, Mr. Wauchope was now
extremely infirm, and to his great regret had been
unable to attend the Dinner at Portobello. More
than ever now he depended on Andy, whom he
frequently summoned to his side by telegram, and
who was always eager to support him with an arm
in the sadly short walks about the grounds of
Niddrie to which the invalid's failing powers
restricted him. About this time the old pony upon
which Mr. Wauchope had latterly been accustomed
to ride became unfit for use ; nor could Andy alto
gether regret this, knowing as he did that the time
had come for his father to discontinue even that
mild form of exercise. It was now plainly evident
that the end could not be far off, and on November
22nd of this year Mr. Wauchope died. He was
but fifty-six years of age. Andy felt his death
deeply, for he had ever been the most affectionate

DEATH OF MR. WAUCHOPE 109
of sons to the most doting of fathers ; and, among
the several influences which at this time tended to
deepen his inner life and to make his outward
conduct graver, his father's death must count as one.
Besides the direct loss, the death of the head of a
house such as that of Niddrie can scarcely fail to
bring with it, at least to the younger members of a
family, a break-up of home and of many old ties
and habits. It is creditable to both Wauchope and
his elder brother that, notwithstanding the manifest
preference of their father, no two brothers could
well have been more mutually attached than they.
And thus they continued to the end. Still William
Wauchope had now been for several years a married
man, with separate interests of his own, and it was
not in the nature of things that Niddrie could con
tinue to be to the younger brother all that up to
now it had been. And we have seen that his
attachment to the place of his birth, the home of
his early years, was one of unusual warmth.
To resume. So profound was the impression
made on Wauchope by his bereavement that it was
feared at first that his health would suffer. Anxious
to distract his mind from its grief, a kinsman and
brother-soldier, the Honourable Fitzwilliam Elliot,
who was then on leave from the Staff College,
invited him to be his companion in a Continental
tour, of which the main object was the inspection of
some of the battlefields of the then recent Franco-
Prussian War. The professional interest of the pro
ject appealed to Wauchope, and the two friends left
London together for Brussels on the 8th December,

110 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
travelling by way of Dover and Calais. In
the Channel the weather was wet and stormy,
and Wauchope's conduct on the steamboat was
thoroughly characteristic of the kind-hearted fellow
he was. During the entire passage he continued to
hold his umbrella over a poor sea-sick maid-servant,
shielding her as well as he could from the rain, and
from the seas that dashed over the boat. In thus
looking after her, he himself got drenched ; nor did
he receive one word of thanks for his trouble, for
the girl was too miserable to realise what was being
done for her.
Next day the two friends examined the field of
Waterloo, walking from Braine l'Alleud — repre
senting Wellington's extreme right in the battle —
along the front of his position, by La Haye Sainte,
to Papelotte and La Haye ; whence they returned
by La Belle Alliance along Napoleon's position, and
so through Hougomont to Waterloo. The associa
tions of a spot so touchingly memorable to every
British heart affected Wauchope powerfully — in
the then condition of his feelings, perhaps even
morbidly, and as he walked he kept muttering to
himself the words, ' Holy ground, holy ground ! '
Next day he and his friend visited the barracks of
one of the cavalry regiments of the Guard at
Brussels, and were very civilly received ; but with
Waterloo and the unheroic part there played by
the Belgians fresh in his mind, Wauchope saw all
things through much prejudiced eyes.
On the 11th December the travellers had in
tended to visit Quatre Bras and Ligny, but weather

STUDY OF BATTLEFIELDS 111
proving very unfavourable, they went on to Cologne
instead. Years afterwards Wauchope completed
this part of the tour on his own account, and was
used to tell how, in endeavouring to obtain infor
mation regarding Quatre Bras, he underwent an
experience familiar to investigators in all branches
of research — being corrected by the superior ignor
ance of the landlord of the Estaminet at the cross
roads, who assured him that no fighting had ever
taken place in that locality, and that if it was a
battlefield he was after, he must go to Waterloo.
Having been permitted to inspect the fortifica
tions and a cavalry barrack at Cologne, the friends
went on to Coblentz. There, while watching some
recruits at drill, Wauchope was moved to strong
disgust by the brutality displayed towards one of
the squad by the N.C.O. in charge. Thence to
Mayence and Wissemburg, where they walked over
the field of the first battle of the war. Having
spent the night here, they devoted the whole of
next day to the field of Worth, and at a late hour
continued their journey as far as Metz, where they
spent the next ten days.
This time was devoted to walking over the sur
rounding country, studying the details of the various
battles fought there in the months of August and
September 1870. Wauchope's companion already
knew the ground, and was well up in the subject,
without which it would have been impossible to
overtake the work within the time named. He had
also many friends among the officers of the garrison,
so that he and his companion now saw much of

112 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
German military life, in both cavalry and infantry
— going over barracks, dining frequently at regi
mental messes, and taking part in seasonable
festivities, of which a Christmas tree and distribu
tion of gifts were incidents sometimes reverted to
in after life by Wauchope.
His pleasure in all these doings was much tem
pered by his ignorance of the German language, for,
as generally happens in the case of foreign tongues,
he had forgotten most of what he had picked up in
infancy. His French, also, was unpractised. At
this time, too, he was not well versed in the details
of the great war, and could not naturally take much
interest in going over ground at Spicheren or round
Metz where there was nothing left to mark the
various positions of the armies. In tracing the lines
of the investment of Paris — whither the friends
went on December 27th, and where they stayed a
fortnight — he got on better ; for here the remains of
batteries and trenches were still visible, to aid the
mind in picturing what had taken place. It is
suggested that at this time he obtained greater
pleasure from constructing imaginary pictures of
what might have happened on a given piece of
ground than from studying the ground in relation to
what actually did happen there. Certainly during
this tour he never studied a battle before visiting
the battlefield; but, possessing as he did a good
eye for country, he probably thought much of how
things might or ought to have been done. Possibly
this was not the worst way of going to -work ; for at
that time the operations of the war were still too

MALTA 113
recent to be criticised correctly, and there was a
strong tendency on the part of Staff College officers
to accept as necessarily right, from a military point
of view, everything that had been done by the
Prussians. With these the Official History of the
War was as a Bible ; but of that book Wauchope
knew nothing — indeed, in those days he had read
but little modern military literature, and studied
none, — having still, for example, to make acquaint
ance with even so well known a book as Hamley's
Operations of War. At a later time he strove
manfully to make up leeway in his studies ; but to
the end he remained a practical rather than theo
retical soldier. It must, of course, be borne in mind
that for the ordinary line officer this was a very
unstudious age. In Paris the two friends did not
frequent society, their time being wholly taken up
by long walks in the environs, except on a single
day when they hunted with the Due d'Aumale's
stag-hounds at Chantilly. On the 12th January
1875 they left Paris for London. Thus ended the
first of several foreign tours made by Wauchope
for the purpose of studying his profession.
In indifferent health and worse spirits, he divided
the greater part of this year between Niddrie and the
depot. He had not altogether escaped the effects
of the pestilential Gold Coast climate, the depression
bred of which he was used in after years to liken to
that accompanying the latter-day scourge of influ
enza. But his native air so far restored him that he
sometimes spoke of it as having 'saved his life.'
Still his wound continued to trouble him. In the
H

114 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
month of November he rejoined the regiment at
Malta, where it had then been for nearly a year —
the present being the first of two periods of service
which he was to spend with it in that island.
His comrades stationed at the Floriana barracks
were rejoiced to have him back among them once
more. But it soon became apparent to them that a
change had come over him. He now no longer
indulged those ebullitions of high spirits which had
formerly characterised him — nay, he no longer cared
even to allude to the times or the doings associated
with them. He had become abstracted, or, as some
mistakenly thought, morose ; so that one of his old
cronies, who remained his attached friend to the
end, would now complain that he and Andy could
scarcely go for a walk together without some dis
agreement arising between them which would send
them back to quarters by different roads. But
this gentleman, gallant officer as he is, was pro
bably incapable of comprehending the intricacies of
Wauchope's character, or the causes which had led
up to the change in him. For one thing, he was
now an older man : he was at this time Father of
the Subalterns, or senior Lieutenant of the regi
ment, as well as its Musketry Instructor. Then, he
had once and for all become a ' serious soldier ' — the
love of his profession had developed desire of dis
tinction in it, and he was working steadily towards
that end. This, at a period when scarcely anything
was rarer among young officers than a devotion to
professional pursuits, would of itself render him
liable to being misunderstood. It was about this

DEEPENING OF THE INNER LIFE 115
time, by the way, that he went through a course of
instruction in Topography, Gunnery, and Fortifica
tion. But beneath comparatively speaking superficial
causes of change, there were deeper ones also at work.
We know that profound religious convictions had
repeatedly characterised members of the Wauchope
family — in support of which statement it may here
suffice to cite the instances of Wauchope the
Covenanter and of Admiral Robert Wauchope,
grand-uncle of the subject of this memoir. The
late Mr. Wauchope, also, had been a man of
strongly religious leanings, who had given his son
the advantages of an early training in religion, and
had been tenderly solicitous on his behalf as to the
dangers of early exposure to the world. Wauchope
himself was, therefore, in all probability predisposed
to spiritual impressions. At a later period than the
above, in his relations with Colonel M'Leod — to
whom he looked up with a mixture of awe and
strong admiration — he had again been brought into
close contact with a piously minded man, — of whom,
by the way, it is told that, when his orderly-officer
lay wounded in Ashantiland, he himself carried a
copy of the Book of Psalms to his cot-side. So
much, then, for external influences. But in the life
of almost every man of deep thought and feeling —
and such a man, beyond all doubt, was Wauchope
— there comes a time when he feels himself irre
sistibly impelled to re-examine his own position in
relation to the deeper things of life. So far his
Christianity — however sincere in itself — has pro
bably been more or less an official or conventional

116 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
thing, received upon trust ; it is now, by an effort,
or it may be merely an experience of the spirit, to
be converted into a living reality. This conversion
is what is sometimes spoken of by the professors of
religion as the second baptism. Well, there had
recently been much in Wauchope's experience to
awaken his deeper nature, and it seems certain that
he now went through some process of feeling
analogous to the above. The result was that
religious truth was borne in upon his life with new
force, and that he was enabled to accept the doc
trines of Christianity — not (as many a sincere and
well-principled man is perforce constrained to do)
as a mere ' working hypothesis,' or best in its kind
that can be got — but frankly and unreservedly.
In him this change did not produce the commoner
manifestations ; for like a sensible man he kept his
religion to himself, or at least never talked of it to
his comrades. It was destined none the less to be
deep and lasting, and fruitful of much good in his
subsequent life. In bringing it about, a gentleman
whose acquaintance he had made in Malta had been
largely instrumental.
The Presbyterian Chaplain to the Forces in the
island was at that time Dr. Wisely, who, having
held his appointment for many years, had necessarily
great experience of soldiers. To him Wauchope
had brought a letter of introduction from a common
friend in Edinburgh ; it resulted in the formation
of an intimate friendship, and it was to Wisely
that Wauchope, amid his present heart-searchings,
unburdened his mind, — on which subject I quote

DR. WISELY'S STATEMENT 117
an interesting statement from Mr. Baird's Life of the
General : ' He spoke freely,' writes the Presbyterian
Chaplain, ' of the possibility, not to say probability,
that his time on earth might be short; but he
showed no craven fear.' He said he wished to know
as much as was possible for him to know about the
'undiscovered country' into which he might soon
be going. 'I have seldom met,' continues the
Doctor, 'a man further removed from fanaticism,
and at the same time so full of reverence. From
his earliest days he seems to have feared God. He
had not, however, escaped from the doubts and
difficulties raised by the sceptical spirit of the
age. . . . He wanted to be sure that there was
no mistake, and he took the best means of becom
ing sure. If any man will do His will, Christ
says, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be
of God. This is what Wauchope did. He put
the desire to do God's will into every duty which
fell to him. He followed on to know the Lord,
and he came to know the truth of the Gospel, not
only as a truth of faith, but a truth of personal
experience.' In a word, his Christianity was as
practical as was his soldiership.
But it was only under stress of strong emotion, or
when circumstances compelled, that it found utter
ance. An example or two may serve to make
this plain. On the occasion of the occupation of
Cyprus by the British, Wauchope and his Company
were told off to land at Larnaca before the rest
of the regiment, and to proceed to the inland
village of Cheflik. It was midsummer, the heat

118 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
was great, and whilst they were on the march one
of the party, Sergeant Samuel M°Gaw, fell dead
of apoplexy. It was natural that his death should
cast a gloom over his comrades, and this was intensi
fied by the fact that he had been a particularly
gallant fellow, having won the Victoria Cross at
Amoaful — where, in the words of the Gazette, ' he
had led his section through the bush in the most
excellent manner throughout the day, although
badly wounded early in the engagement.' But
the British were as yet strangers in Cyprus, and
there was nothing for it but to inter the ser
geant where he fell. Wauchope superintended the
arrangements for the burial, and in the absence
of a chaplain, himself stepped forward and raised
an earnest extempore prayer above the grave. We
are told, and can readily believe, that the incident
made a deep impression on those present. The
men of E Company then fired over the grave, and
the march was resumed. The spot selected for the
burial was under a large thorn-tree, upon the bark
of which a brief memorial was inscribed. At a later
period it was found necessary to remove the sergeant's
body to another resting-place ; but Wauchope, who
was at that time resident in a distant part of the
island, had no part in these proceedings.
My second illustration belongs to his last years,
and may serve to prove the continuity of his religi
ous life. In the course of an address to the Mission
Sabbath School of New Craighall, in earnestly
exhorting his hearers to study the Bible, he said :
' Ah, children ! if you had seen men dying on the

A MOHAMMEDAN 119
battlefield as I have, you would know that nothing
gave them comfort like the Old Story.' One who
was present, and who knew his usual reticence on
religious subjects — for there was nothing more alien
to his nature than sanctimoniousness — was much
impressed by the fervour with which he had spoken,
and shortly afterwards took occasion to mention this
to Mrs. Wauchope. Her reply was simply, ' If you
knew his inner life as I do, you would not be sur
prised — all his day's work is influenced by his
morning's devotions.' So, to repeat Dr. Wisely 's
words, he put the desire to do God's will into every
duty which fell to him. It is from incidents such as
these that we must form our idea of the experience
undergone by him during his early stay in Malta.
It must not be presumed, however, that this
inward change had altogether obscured his sense
of humour, or the brighter side of his nature. He
had always had a keen relish for the quaint sayings
of the soldiers, and it was in Malta, one day when
the regiment had marched out into the country, that
he overheard a fragment of dialogue which vastly
tickled his fancy. A private who had lately arrived
in the island, and was eager to turn his foreign
experiences to account, inquired of the sergeant
marching next him respecting a priest, wearing a
baretta, who had appeared in the verandah of a house
by the wayside to see the troops pass, what manner
of person that might be. To which the N.C.O. re
plied, in good broad Scots, and in perfect good faith,
' That's what they ca' a Mehawmedan.'
Meantime his professional work kept him in con-

120 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
genial employment, though this was often associated
with the usual cares and worries. For instance :
when first he took over the duties of Musketry
Instructor, the men's marksmanship fell far short
of the standard at which he aimed. He felt that
it lay with him to improve it, and this purpose so
filled his mind that his Colonel — the same 'Old
Jack,' as he was familiarly called, who had so long
ago recognised his worth as an officer — was heard
to remark that Wauchope was making himself quite
ill over this business. ' If he would only be anxious
twenty-three hours out of the twenty-four I should
not so much mind,' he added, 'but he is anxious
all the twenty-four ! ' Well, in no line of life is it
given to a man at once to be keen and conscientious
in his work and to preserve his brow unwrinkled.
Wauchope had now been ten or twelve years
a soldier, but promotion in the Black Watch was
slow, and he remained a subaltern. This was like
his luck. Even so, his prospects of a captaincy
were vague, so that he was once asked by the
Reverend Dr. Wisely if he had never thought of
improving his chances by exchanging into some
other corps. As on the occasion when he had been
offered an unattached company, his answer was
' No ' — this time a very emphatic ' No.' He would
stick staunchly to the old regiment, he declared,
and be content to take what came to him. In July
1878, though still a Lieutenant, he was appointed to
command E Company — destined thereafter to be so
closely and fondly associated with his name. But of
this more in a later chapter. At last, on September
14th of the same year, he was gazetted Captain.

TOUR IN SICILY 121
Whilst stationed at Malta, he more than once
visited England on leave. He also made two tours
— of the kind for which his recent travels with his
kinsman, now Colonel Elliot, would seem to have
given him a taste — with an eye to the military
possibilities of given countries. The first of these
was a ride across Sicily — an island which was just
then reported to be swarming with brigands. Not
withstanding this, Wauchope declined an escort,
asserting that he would attract less attention if he
went alone. This was doubtless true; and sure
enough, his homely garb and friendly and unpre
tentious ways assisting, he entirely escaped molesta
tion. Indeed his experience on this occasion seems
to have been much to his liking, and to have given
him a desire to see more of Sicilian life, which later
on he did.
His second tour was of a more adventurous kind,
through a wilder country, and made with a more
definite object. It will be remembered that these
years (1876-78) were remarkable for a crisis of the
periodic scare of war with Russia. The circumstances
may be briefly recapitulated. An insurrection against
Turkish rule which had arisen in the Herzegovina,
had spread like fire over a train of gunpowder, evok
ing by way of reprisals from the Turks the historic
' Bulgarian atrocities.' In April 1877 Russia, acting
ostensibly in the cause of humanity, had declared
war on Turkey, and two months later a Russian
army, moving towards the Balkans, had crossed the
Danube. Before the end of the year Kars had
fallen and Plevna surrendered. Meantime, at home,
the most histrionic of British Prime Ministers was

122 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
exploiting against his old - time rival, Bulgaria's
advocate, the anti-Russian feeling of the country.
The war fever ran high. The British fleet was
ordered to Constantinople, whilst the Chancellor of
the Exchequer asked for a supplementary £6,000,000
for naval and military expenditure. Hostilities
seemed imminent, and Wauchope, ever eager in
matters affecting his profession, thought this a
good opportunity for gaining some knowledge of
the probable field of operations. With this view,
in 1877 he had made a cruise to Constantinople
and the Black Sea, in the ship of his friend Captain
Drummond, R.N., who well remembers the keen
interest taken by him in the various incidents which
came under his notice in the Turkish capital at that
critical epoch. Not content with this, however, he
now obtained further leave of absence from Malta,
which he devoted to a solitary tour through the
interior of Turkey. When he rejoined his regiment
he was well equipped with maps and primed to the
lips with knowledge of the country — which he con
fidently expected, on the outbreak of war, to find
most serviceable. As, however, instead of war,
' Peace with Honour ' was the portion of this
country, his labour was so far thrown away — which
led to a vast deal of good-natured chaff on the
subject of his ' previousness.'
These travels were necessarily extremely rough,
but for ' roughing it ' few men were so well qualified
as Wauchope. According to an expression of his
own, in allusion to his aptitude for putting up with
the hardest of fare, he was able to ' thrive on dirt.'

TURKISH HOSPITALITY 123
It is regrettable that no record of these journeys
has been preserved ; but he was no diary-keeper, nor
one to talk much of his own doings, and perhaps the
only reminiscence of them which has survived is one
of his arriving late at night at some wretched
Turkish change-house or caravanserai. This was
found to contain but one guest's bed, and that was
occupied. But the Turks are evidently an obliging
people, for, according to Wauchope's version, by a
sort of Box and Cox arrangement, the occupant was
at once kicked out of it, and he himself kicked in.
But the Turco-Russian War was not, after all, to
be without its effect on his career. Turkey had
been defeated, but the Treaty of San Stefano,
forced on that country by the conquering nation,
was more than the European Powers were prepared
to admit. In order to give weight to her protest
against it, England now summoned a contingent
of Indian troops to Malta, and at the same time
occupied Cyprus. Of the army of occupation the
42nd Regiment formed a part. The events which
followed are well known. The Berlin Congress
served its purpose ot preserving peace, and among
the various agreements which thereafter came to
light was an undertaking by England to guarantee
the Asiatic possessions of Turkey from invasion, in
consideration of the right to occupy Cyprus. Thus
Great Britain obtained another foot-hold in the
Mediterranean. The Black Watch was soon trans
ferred to Gibraltar, but Captain Wauchope re
mained behind. The reason was this. The first
British Governor of Cyprus was no other than Sir

124 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Garnet Wolseley, under whose favourable notice
Wauchope had been brought during the Ashanti
expedition. On taking up his new appointment,
Sir Garnet had adopted the existing division of the
island into six ' cazas ' or districts — a division which
still remains in use. To each of these districts he
appointed a Deputy -Governor or Commissioner,
appointing Wauchope to that of Papho, on the ex
treme east of the island. Here, then, was the subject
of our story called on to figure in an entirely new
capacity. The appointment was not one at which
every man would have jumped ; for there had been
much sickness among both British and Indian troops
employed in the recent occupation, so that at home
the weathercock public opinion had already veered to
pronouncing the climate pestilential, and the island
generally a bad bargain. But Wauchope was not the
man to be deterred by considerations of this kind.
Associated with him as Assistant- Commissioner he
had Lieutenant (now Colonel) A. G. Duff, a young
officer of his own regiment, who, throughout the
period of his present labours, continued to render
him valuable help.
Apart from climatic considerations there was
much in Wauchope's new appointment to attract
or inflame a mind less ardent than, in its own
peculiar sphere, was his. The excitement of being
among the first colonists of a new holding of the
mother-country would of itself appeal strongly to
his love of adventure and his patriotism. Then, it
is indisputable that, to the modern traveller, the
charm of foreign travel, or of residence abroad,

CYPRUS 125
is to a great extent proportioned to the number
of associations evoked by the country visited or
inhabited. And, in this respect, few territories of
equal extent could pretend to compare with Cyprus.
Its deeply -indented coast and fertile gorges, rising
through bands of dark plutonic rock or bold and
glaring chalk-hills to the mountains, can boast a
variety and a continuity of history not often rivalled.
The landscape, with its sites of vanished cities, its
rifled cemeteries, ancient aqueducts, and abandoned
mine- workings, tells on all sides of the past. It
claims connection with some of the greatest powers
and most sounding names of antiquity. The
Phoenicians, those mighty metal-workers, had drawn
their copper from its hill-sides. The Greeks had
located there the birth-place of Aphrodite, and the
chief temple of her worship. It had acknowledged
the sway of Alexander the Great; had been a
possession of Cleopatra, and a Roman province
whence Cicero, as praetor, had dated correspondence.
In later times it had been a subject of Cceur de
Lion's generosity, and had been ' held in fee ' by
the Republic of Venice. But of all its many and
motley memories and associations, we doubt not
that those which most impressed the new Com
missioner of Papho were the visits of Saint Paul
with Barnabas, and the fact that within his own
government the temple-steps whence Paul had
preached could still be pointed out. For it will
be remembered that it was at Paphos that Elymas
the Sorcerer — that 'child of the devil, full of all
subtlety and all mischief — was smitten with

126 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
temporary blindness, that the Roman pro-consul,
Sergius Paulus, was converted to belief in Christ, and
that the Apostles' journey through Cyprus ended.
Wauchope's sense of the picturesque was not
strong, nor had he ever made any attempt to
cultivate it. Still, the strange foreign life which
he now saw would not be without its effect on him.
It was the life of a composite and divided popula
tion, mild in manner, and subsisting mainly by the,
cultivation of cereals and fruit-trees, or by the
production and export of articles which minister
to luxury — pigments, beautiful embroideries, silks,
fine leather, essences, oils, black heady wines.
Such were the businesses on which he might look
from his present residence in the town of Ktima,
situated in its grove on a ridge above the sea.
But in one respect appearances were deceitful —
the gentleness of the islanders was superficial, or,
at least, was by no means universal, for crime and
corruption were plentiful among them, their most
prevalent misdemeanours being rape, stabbing, sheep
and cattle stealing, petty theft. Three centuries
of Turkish misrule had, in fact, done their work.
That work had now to be undone, and stern and
laborious duties awaited the new Deputy-Governor.
His Annual Report, dated September 1879, after
the completion of the first year of British adminis
tration, is one of the very few documents under
Wauchope's hand which have been preserved ; it is
of interest to us here less for its ostensible subject
than for the light which it throws upon its author's
labours and his character. In style it is simple and

HIS REPORT AS COMMISSIONER 127
downright, with an occasional touch of raciness or
hint of irony.
The Commissioners had been generally instructed
to supervise the administration of justice by the
Turkish district official called the Ka'imakam, and
to collect all possible information respecting their
several districts. The Papho district measured about
35 miles by 25, and contained 138 villages, inhabited
by a population numbering about 25,500, of whom
16,900 were Christians, and the remainder Moham
medans. Roughly speaking, it consists of a sea
board plain 19 miles long by about 3^ miles broad,
on the landward side of which the ground suddenly
rises into mountainous ranges, which are intersected
by large river-beds, usually dry or nearly so during
the summer months. The plain is given up to corn-
growing; but, except where irrigation- works have
been carried out, is entirely dependent on the rainfall
for its productiveness. Besides the above, Papho
comprises one very large mountain plateau which is
cultivated. The northern portion of the district is
entirely covered with a forest of maritime pine-trees,
with undergrowth of dwarf oaks.
Wauchope's report is divided under the headings,
General Administration; Justice; Finance; Trade
and Industry.
Under General Administration, he first deals indi
vidually with the Nahiehs, or sub-districts under his
control — Papho contained three, and with the Mudirs
or native officials in charge of them, whose duties
were to convey the orders of the Kai'makam to the
headmen of the villages (Mukhtars), and generally to

128 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
conduct the revenue and police- work of the division.
In the Nahieh of Chrysofo, he says, ' The Mudir, on
our arrival, was an old Turk whose whole time
seemed to be spent in smoking and inflicting fines
on the people. No police were regularly told off to
act under him ; there were no barracks, and the house
of the Mudir was reported unsafe. The Mudirate
buildings generally presented a scene of woe and
desolation. They were literally tumbling down.'
Well, into the place of the official caustically
sketched above, a young Turk who spoke French
was now put ; and he was bound to visit every part
of his Nahieh. at least once in six weeks, and to render
a weekly return to the Commissioner, stating what
places he had called at, and reporting on custom
and excise, as well as on anything unusual which
might have occurred in the district for which he was
responsible. Besides this, Commissioner and Mudir
met twice a month — once in the Nahieh, once at
Ktima, the capital of the caza.
Having got a good Mudir, and established him on
a proper working footing, 'the next thing to do,'
continues Wauchope, ' was to improve the Mudirate ;
so that he should have a proper place to live in,
and the zaptiehs (policemen), of whom there were
thirteen, under a sergeant, a suitable barrack with
stable. ' At a cost of £80 we were able to make a really
nice barrack, with a decent stable. Also a good and
healthy quarter for the Mudir. Of course we had
the old walls to work upon, and we got the wood
cheap ; indeed, we had many advantages. However,

SUPPRESSION OF CRIME 129
the fact remains, the Mudir and his men are well
housed, and I really hope that altogether the Nahieh
of Chrysofo has improved very considerably as re
gards administration during the last twelve months.
There would seem to have been every ground for
believing that this hope was well founded, — in sup
port of which it is stated that the tithe-proctor of the
district, who three or four years before would never
have thought of travelling by night unless armed and
accompanied by. an escort, now rode alone even
when carrying money to twice the amount he had
carried formerly. At the earlier date robberies had
been continually taking place, whereas now they
were unheard of. As to former crimes in the dis
trict, Commissioner Wauchope further mentions
that, only a fortnight previous to the British occupa
tion, a brutal murder had taken place within two miles
of the Mudirate ; whilst a short time earlier, at a dis
tance of three miles from Chrysofo, ten burglars had
entered the house of one of the richest men in the sub-
district, and robbed him of literally all he had. Both
these cases had been investigated by Wauchope in
person. In another of his three sub-districts, no less
than three murders had been committed in the two
months previous to the date of the arrival of the
British, and were under investigation at that time.
In reference to such acts of violence as the above,
he adds the following significant warning : ' The
European traveller, rushing through a country such
as this in the days of the late Administration, in all
probability would never hear of crimes such as these ;
nevertheless they were committed, and of this I feel
i

130 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
sure — that they will only be prevented in the future
by constant watching on the part of the authorities.'
Thus the work of the new Administration had
already produced good results, but of course such
lawlessness as had here existed could not be stamped
out all at once. Wauchope goes on to say that a
certain portion of one of the Nahiehs had given him
more ground for anxiety than the whole of the rest
of the territory under his control. This was the
Esusa Valley. As a consequence it had been more
patrolled, and had received more attention generally,
than any other part, so that at one time he had been
inclined to hope that crime had been eradicated
from it. But only three or four days before the
time of writing, he had received intimation of a case
of sheep - stealing there, whereby a farmer from
Nicosia had lost one hundred and thirty sheep.
Unfortunately the plaintiff had delayed bringing
forward his complaint until thirty-five days had
passed. On the day following its receipt, the local
Commandant of Police, accompanied by the man
who had been robbed, had proceeded to the neigh
bourhood where the crime had been committed and
examined all the flocks they could lay hands on.
But the stolen sheep were not forthcoming. Still,
notwithstanding such disappointments as the above,
the Commissioner felt assured that, even in the un
regenerate valley, a great change for the better had
been effected. Among curative measures which he
purposed taking in the future was the establishment
of a Mudirate in the very heart of the evil locality
— at Gelogedera, which he proposed should hence-

POLICE IMPROVEMENTS 131
forth rank as chief town of the Nahieh. Then
follows a paragraph which reveals his shrewdness :
' There is one thing concerning this Nahieh which I
should like to put on record. . . i I believe most of
the thieves — certainly the worst of them — are Turks.
I think it would be very advisable to appoint a
Greek Mudir for the place. Of course it is difficult
to find a thoroughly good man, and as a rule the
best thing to do is to appoint the best man, no matter
of what religion. But I think here, if possible, put a
Greek.' I need scarcely explain that the antagonism
between the rival races in the island was keen.
The Commissioner proceeds to report improve
ments in the organisation of the local police force.
In the first place, within the last year its numbers
had been almost quadrupled. Then, in former times,
the men had been under the control of a Mulazin —
an officer, who, in Wauchope's words, ' seemed never
to leave the town of Ktima.' At the commence
ment of the past year, however, this person had
been superseded by an active English officer, who
had been constantly going to and fro upon his beat,
looking after his men and inquiring as to how they
had been employed.
Secondly, the police had been wretchedly paid
and clothed. 'No doubt,' says Wauchope, 'that in
order to keep themselves going at all, they were
often compelled to take from the peasants, and it
got to be considered as part of their pay. Let a
zaptieh try to force a peasant now ! Next morning
the whole village would turn up at the Commissioner's
house.' Another crying abuse satisfactorily checked.

132 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Then, again, as to the balance of the races. ' I
think the enlistment of some Greeks into the force
had a most excellent effect. It showed the Turkish
element that it was possible for a Greek to become a
zaptieh, and to do his work. I should like to see
many more in the force.'
After this : ' The supervision exercised over the
zaptieh 's movements when away in the villages has
borne good fruit. The hour of the zaptieh's depar
ture is registered ; likewise his return. He can no
longer remain at some pleasant village for days at a
time doing nothing.' On reading the above, one
feels tempted to conclude that among policemen
the world over a strong family likeness exists.
Of course Wauchope realised the necessity of
guarding against the abuse of power by his zaptiehs
— a subject on which he has made a practice of from
time to time interrogating the headmen of the
villages, on whose information he is able to rely.
So far, he has elicited but one complaint of any
gravity. It was the case of a police-officer who had
been employed to aid the tax-collector in a district
where that official's work was notoriously difficult
to perform. Under strong provocation the zaptieh
had been tempted to draw his sword, and administer
some not serious blows with the blunt edge. Still
this was too dangerous a precedent to be passed
over. So the offender had been dismissed the
service, after imprisonment with hard labour.
Another of Wauchope's cares had been prison
reform. On his arrival in the caza, he had found
the local prison accommodation quite inadequate.

PRISON REFORM 133
For though the building contained three chambers,
the prisoners — at that time fifteen in number — were
all confined in one of these. This was accounted
for by the statement that the other compartments
were not considered secure — a number of prisoners
incarcerated in one of them having recently effected
their escape, after pulling down a partition-wall and
overpowering the guard. Since then the prison
had been repaired, and the accommodation, though
scarcely all that might be wished, was at least much
more satisfactory than formerly. Besides this, a
proper prison discipline had been introduced, to
gether with a humaner treatment of prisoners.
Here, then, on Wauchope's own showing, was a
fair number of reforms inaugurated and abuses
rectified within his district. And it must be re
membered that his was no over-sanguine nature,
and that he was the last man in the world to exalt
his own horn. Yet the things above mentioned
represent but a small part of his year's work.
Let us now turn to reforms in the Medjliss Daavi
or District Law-Court. This Court was composed
of four members — two of either creed — and a Kadi
who presided ; it had jurisdiction in both civil and
criminal cases, where sums of not more than 5000
piastres, or terms of not more than three months'
imprisonment were involved, and its sentences were
subject only to ratification by the Kaimakam. Other
cases were tried at Nicosia. The law which it
administered was drawn from the Ottoman Code,
which had been founded upon the Code Napoleon,
and in itself left little to be desired. In this Court

134 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Wauchope sat as an assessor in civil cases, and to
watch proceedings in criminal ones ; and he now
puts forward a well-founded claim to having puri
fied it. Prior to his advent, says he, a Kadi had
in most cases ' had the power to ensure a verdict
as he desired. Now he perfectly realises the fact
that any unjust decision will in all probability be
forwarded to head-quarters. That, in such a case,
not only will the decision be reversed, but also his
position be at stake. This of itself dealt a death
blow at bribery ; for what is the use of giving when
it can no longer ensure a verdict ? Then the
English official sitting in Court has been the means
of giving a fair and impartial hearing to all taking
part in the proceedings.'
No difference is now made between rich and
poor ; whereas, says Wauchope, ' formerly, arid
after our arrival too, powerful men in the district
used to be treated quite differently to their more
humble brethren. The great man's case would be
immediately looked into, while the poor villager
was told to wait. The powerful man was not
required to take an oath.' But the Court has ceased
to be a respecter of persons. Pari passu, impar
tiality as between the rival nationalities had been
introduced ; the salaries of officials had been raised
— so as to ensure on their part a more personal
interest in their work ; punctuality in the transac
tion of business had been enforced, and the practice
of recording all law-cases had been adopted. One
need not be surprised to learn that not all these
changes were entirely popular. Hear the Commis-

LAW COURT REFORMS 135
sioner's characteristic admission : ' No doubt,' says
he, ' there are some, especially among the powerful
men, who do not appreciate the Court ; they can no
longer come in and sit down beside the Kadi or mem
bers, and smoke their cigarettes. Then, of course,
there must be losers in the cases ; sometimes these
give vent to their disappointment by abusing the
Daavi Court.' But, on the whole, it was respected
by the body of the people. Since the date of the
occupation, the number of petitions which had come
before it was in all 1298 ; of which 658 civil, and 167
criminal cases had been tried. Of the latter it is
comforting to be assured that many were extremely
trivial. Scarcely less interesting than these things is
Wauchope's account of the steps taken by him in
regard to what was almost a chronic difficulty in
Cyprus — namely, the Water Question, with special
reference to running waters. It so happened
that an exceptionally dry winter had considerably
reduced even such supplies as were generally
available, so that in certain parts of the caza
complaints of ' diversion ' were extremely rife.
To meet these, Wauchope suggested the appoint
ment of a Medjliss or Committee, composed of
persons interested in the question, whose duties
should be, first, to examine into all existing claims
over running waters ; and secondly, to report on
the best means of preventing waste, of causing
owners of channels to keep these in good repair
so as to prevent escape, and of imparting instruc
tion to the people on the subject of making channels

136 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
for irrigation. His proposals were agreed to by the
native Administrative Council, and were found to
work well, so that, to his surprise (as he acknow
ledges), from that moment complaint ceased. He
had himself taken an active part in the work of
apportioning the water, as fairly as possible, between
the various riverine or riparian proprietors.
The reader will scarcely wish to be troubled with
details of the Report on Finance and Revenue in
the Papho district, and doubtless a very few items
will suffice to illustrate Wauchope's activity and
effectiveness in this department. For example :
the work of tithe-collecting had been placed by
him upon a new and improved basis, with result that
a saving of at least twenty-five per cent, was con
fidently anticipated. He would superintend this
work in person, and in regard to the tithes on silk-
cocoons and carobs he has a useful recommendation
to make. Turning to the exemption from Military
Service Tax, we find that in the year preceding
the British occupation only about a half of the sum
assessed under this head had come in ; whereas, in
the year just expired, practically the whole assess
ment had been collected. Under ' Customs and
Excise,' it is a fact significant of greatly increased
activity that the amount derived from smuggling-
fines had risen from 21,577 piastres to 76,505 piastres.
Meanwhile the Swine Tax, assessed at 15,000 piastres,
had yielded the Government a net gain of 13,793
piastres as against 2500 piastres in the previous
financial year. In the same time Court fees had
nearly doubled their amount, whilst a number of

REVENUE AND TRADE RETURNS 137
useless officials had been suppressed. The Com
missioner concludes his report with a few remarks
on the local Trade Returns. Within the past year
the value of carobs exported from the district has
almost doubled itself, whilst the value of corn ex
ported has substantially increased. In the latter
connection, it is surprising to learn that prior to the
British occupation flour had been unknown in Papho.
It had first been imported by a Greek merchant,
whose benefaction to the locality in the shape of
better and cheaper bread had been acknowledged
by prayers for his welfare put up actually in one
of the Turkish mosques. Of agriculture Wauchope
writes that no change has taken place therein since
the occupation. ... ' I do not think a single new
implement has been introduced, and I am certain
that the farmer has not changed his method of
tilling the ground.' It may be that a few more
potatoes are now grown, and that is all. But the
agriculturist's brain is proverbially sluggish in ac
cepting new ideas.
In estimating the work — economical, judicial,
and administrative — of which Wauchope, in the
Report above quoted, gives his own plain and
modest account, we are bound to bear in mind that
it was work of a kind which was entirely new to him.
But our reason for remembering this is not in
order that any shortcomings in the work may be
excused, but, on the contrary, rather that full justice
may be done to the character and ability of the man
who, without preliminary training, could perform it.
Similarly, in order to do justice to the success with

138 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
which it had been performed, it is necessary to quote
some other testimony than that of Wauchope him
self. Take, for example, that of Mr. F. H. Parker,
District Judge of Limasol (quoted by Baird), who
says that, though more than twenty years have
elapsed since Wauchope's term of government, ' the
inhabitants, irrespective of creed or nationality, still
look back on his civil administration with admiration
and deep respect.' To this day his decisions in dis
puted land and water rights — invariably arrived at
after minute and personal investigation conducted
on the spot — are relied on as res judicata?. Still
stronger is the declaration of Dr. Wisely, who
assures us that ' the inhabitants looked on Wauchope
as an angel from heaven — as well they might, when
they contrasted his righteous rule with the wretched
misrule of the Turkish officials who had tyrannised
over them.' When the time came for him to retire,
both Turks and Greeks concurred in the desire
to retain him in office. Yet he was neither an
easy-going nor a mild ruler, as is indicated by the
fact that a complaint of the severity of some of his
sentences on natives was submitted to the Colonial
Office. In this instance, the crimes punished had
been heinous, and the punishment meted out to
them was flogging, which Wauchope justified by
explaining that the criminals had deserved more
than they had received, but that he preferred that
method of correction to hanging them. The testi
monies quoted above are borne out by that of Sir
Robert Biddulph, Sir Garnet Wolseley's successor
in the office of High Commissioner, who asserts that,

TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES 139
'in carrying out his duties Captain Wauchope
showed much administrative ability, as well as great
tact and judgment in dealing with the inhabitants.
This enabled him to steer a clear course through the
political agitation which broke out in Cyprus early
in 1879, and which had -many adherents in Papho.'
The mention of Sir Robert Biddulph recalls the fact
that, at the time of his taking over the rule of the
island, several of the Commissioners, amongst whom
was Wauchope, had recently resigned their com
missions — being impelled to do so by attacks
directed against their administration in Parliament
at home. Sir Robert, however, pressed Wauchope
to reconsider his decision ; on which he, responsive
as always to the call of duty, and ever willing to
sacrifice his own personal preference, withdrew his
resignation. The admirable manner in which his duties as
Commissioner had been discharged, now led to his
further employment in Cyprus in the following un
foreseen way. The Sultan having claimed certain
property in the island as belonging to himself per
sonally, the late Lord Salisbury, as Foreign Minister,
determined to appoint an official who was conversant
with the country to inquire into the justice of this
claim, and, on the recommendation of the High Com
missioner, chose Wauchope for the purpose. After
visiting every part of the dependency, and conduct
ing a careful inquiry, Wauchope arrived at a decision
which was at all points adverse to the Sultan. Yet
so genuinely friendly were his manners, and so much
tact and transparent honesty did he display, that,

140 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
notwithstanding his decision, he contrived to pre
serve his cordial relations with the Sultan's advocate.
His services on the occasion were recognised by the
Government, who conferred on him, on his return
to England in August 1880, the Order of St. Michael
and St. George.
Of this period a few characteristic personalia
have been communicated to the writer. During
Wauchope's first season in Cyprus malarial fever
was particularly prevalent ; he fell a victim to it, his
temperature rising at times to 105°, whilst a large,
hard swelling formed beneath his chin. But he
allowed no physical pain or inconvenience to inter
fere with the performance of his work, continuing to
discharge his duties in the Law Court with the same
patience in exhaustive inquiry, the same scrupulous
care for fairness as heretofore. Nor was any mur
mur ever heard to pass his lips.
That his duties were sometimes of the sternest
will be shown by the following incidents, significant
of the lawlessness of the caza. A young Turk,
having violated a Christian girl, fled from justice to
the mountains, and being pursued, refused to sur
render. Wauchope saw that it was necessary to
have him 'peppered,' after which his" capture was
easy. The next story is yet grimmer. When Sir Garnet
Wolseley took up the government of the island, the
rivalry of conquered Greek and conquering Turk
made the two nationalities extremely jealous of
British preference, so that indications of favour were
anxiously watched for on either side. On his part,

AN EXECUTION 141
the High Commissioner was equally anxious to con
vince both nations of his perfect impartiality — a task
made somewhat the easier by the fact that, on the
score of lawlessness, there was not much to choose
between them. There was thus a certain fitness in
the accident by which, a Turk having already been
hanged, the next man sentenced proved to be a
Greek — a noted malefactor of the Papho district,
who had added murder to other crimes. To
Wauchope fell the superintendence of the arrange
ments for the execution, and he set about it with
his usual thoroughness. He had at first anticipated
difficulty in finding any one to act as executioner,
but a native official came forward who claimed this
as his right and privilege. Then the scaffold was
erected by blue-jackets from H.M.S. Raleigh — which
had opportunely arrived off the coast — who likewise
supphed and carefully tested a rope. It was owing
solely to an excess of precaution that the affair mis
carried ; for too long a drop having been allowed,
the rope unfortunately broke. Death had already
supervened ; but Wauchope took the accident so
much to heart that it required the assurance of his
ever-honoured chief, that ' ropes had broken before
now,' to restore him to his usual equanimity. His
method of signifying that the sentence of the law
had been carried out was original. Doubling down
a corner of the death-warrant which had been
forwarded to him, and having written across it, ' I
certify that the man is dead,' he signed and returned
it to head-quarters.
From such incidents as these it is pleasant to

142 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
turn to the friendly relations which he managed
to cultivate with his neighbours for the time being :
with the local Greek Church bishop, for instance —
a worthy old soul who had enough of the old Adam
left in him to relish a St. Andrew's night banquet,
in which good Cyprus wine figured, to which
Wauchope and his subaltern invited him ; or with
his zaptiehs, for whom he organised pony-races,
tactfully contriving that racial hatred should give
way to sporting emulation.
A clever lady who at this time knew him well,
and came to recognise his high qualities, has in
formed me that in the earlier stages of their ac
quaintance she thought him unusual both in manner
and appearance, and deplored his total want of
' small talk ' — a defect, by the way, which, in a
man's sight, would of itself constitute considerable
merit. There is doubtless justice in the observa
tion ; for certain young ladies, whose father was
Wauchope's friend, recall how as children they
would be stopped by Wauchope when he met them
in their walks, how he would shake them kindly by
the hand, and then, finding nothing to say, would
shake hands and bid them good-bye.
When he spoke, however, it was to some purpose,
and often memorably. For instance, he had always
a warm sympathy with lovers, and a proportionate
dislike of married ladies who flirted, — of one of whom
— a handsome woman of the Hawksbee type, who
had done considerable mischief among men he
knew — he remarked that she was 'a torpedo — a
thing that blows up ironclads.' Another of his

A SAMPLE OF IRONY 143
characteristic utterances occurred in an official re
port written in the following circumstances. The
Medical Officer attached to his district had been
reprimanded from head-quarters for failing to vac
cinate the native population under his charge. But
the doctor was not really to blame, his vaccine
having run short, and a request for a further supply
having met with no response. In backing up his
subordinate, Wauchope used the following delight
fully sententious phrase — now quoted textually by
one of his colleagues after more than twenty years :
'A doctor without medicines is placed in a some
what humiliating position. He can administer
bread-pills ; he can recommend water applications ;
but to heal he cannot, not having the wherewithal.'
His official reports to his superior officers were
at all times pithy — characteristic of the man and
unlike those of other men.
My final anecdote exhibits him in another light.
Whilst in Cyprus he inherited a legacy of £1000,
which, by a somewhat unusual procedure — possibly
at his own request — was transmitted to him in the
form of a single bank-note. Impressed with the
importance of taking good care of this precious
paper, he placed it in his breast-pocket. Shortly
afterwards, in the course of a walk, he happened to
pass a well from which he wished to drink. But
mindful of the value he bore about him, before
drawing out a cup which he carried in the same
pocket, he deposited the bank-note on a neighbour
ing rock, in what he considered a place of safety.
Then, having drunk, he went his way, forgetting

144 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
its existence, which only flashed across his mind
after he had walked some distance. He hastily
turned back ; but, remembering the number of
people who habitually frequented the well, it seemed
to him hardly possible that the note could still be
where he had left it. None the less he determined
to do the best that he could in the circumstances —
with which view he induced all persons who met
him as he walked to turn back and go with him
towards the well. His object was to ensure that the
note should not be carried past him ; for having met
nobody whilst travelling in the contrary direction,
he legitimately inferred that there was small chance
of its being carried away from him. On reaching
the well, however, he beheld the treasure where he
had left it — and so was enabled to dismiss his in
voluntary companions, which we may be sure he
did with becoming apologies. Between the care
lessness by which he lost the bank-note and the
shrewdness by which he sought to recover it, there is
a singular contrast which is characteristic of the man.
On concluding his work in Cyprus, he rejoined
his regiment at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. Shortly
afterwards it was transferred to the South Camp,
Aldershot ; where, on the formation of Army Corps
for ' Summer Drills,' it was brigaded with the 1st
Battalion Grenadier Guards and the 2nd Battalion
Scots Guards, forming the First Brigade, First
Division. On the 26th May 1881 it returned after
a long absence to Edinburgh, meeting on its arrival
as a matter of course with a highly enthusiastic
welcome.

CHAPTER VI
WAUCHOPE AS COMPANY AND REGIMENTAL OFFICER
Claiming as we do for Wauchope that his special
distinction as a soldier lay in his almost unequalled
excellence as a company or regimental officer, it will
not be out of place to furnish here a few examples of
his conduct in that capacity. Nor is it needful that
these should be presented in strictly chronological
succession. It will be well to remember, however,
that within the last twenty years a marked improve
ment in interest in, and knowledge of, their profession
has been shown among military officers generally.
This is not the place to determine the part played
by competitive examinations in bringing about that
change ; let it suffice to say that there are probably
few competent judges who would dispute the fact.
The purely decorative or official soldier, of the
Brummell type, is in fact now a thing of the past ;
and it is well that this can be said. There were of
course efficient officers before Wauchope, as there
were strong men before Agamemnon ; none the less
in this respect was Wauchope in advance of his
time. In the movement indicated, he acted not
only as a standard of excellence, but as a pioneer
as well.
Perhaps it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that,
K

146 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
in the late 'seventies and early 'eighties, almost the
last thing to occupy the thoughts of the average
subaltern was his profession. He lived to enjoy life,
got through his duties with the least possible trouble
to himself, not infrequently spent more than his
income. Against this state of matters Wauchope's
influence — the powerful influence of a man of recog
nised high character and established standing in his
regiment — was uniformly exerted. He encouraged
the youngsters under him to do their work well and
to keep out of mischief and extravagance, and was
himself at all times ready and anxious to help them
to the best of his ability. ' How he looked after me
when I went into the 42nd,' writes a former brother-
officer, ' and how one looked up to him in everything!'
Says another, ' When once he knew and liked
a man, there was hardly anything he would not
do for him.' Or again, 'His truth and straight
forwardness were inspiriting, his honourable aspira
tions were infectious, and every man felt the
better for having known him.' ' He was the truest
friend the regiment ever had,' wrote one of its
colonels. Enthusiast as he was for his profession, he had
pleasant devices of his own for imparting instruction
or directing the thoughts of his juniors into the
desired channels. For example, at Malta, on a
Sunday after church, he would invite some of the
subalterns to accompany him on a ride. Then his
practice was to 'take up a position' — that is, he
would select a rising ground or other prominent
object on the sky-line, and proceed to gain it by the

HIS THOROUGHNESS 147
best and shortest way he could find. As he rode,
his eye was ever alert to the -military possibilities of
the surrounding country, and he would point out
how, for instance, such a wood might be held by so
many men against an enemy. In this manner long
distances were covered, and if it happened that his
young companions were thereby made late for mess,
then Wauchope would invite them to dine with him
self at the Club instead.
As regards himself, it was his object to become
conversant with every department of a soldier's duty,
no matter what it might be. Thus, during one of
his voyages to a foreign station, he amused himself
by balancing his company's accounts — doing, in fact,
what was a pay-sergeant's work. But to him that
mattered nothing — his ruling principle was thorough
ness all round. Here is another example which, I
believe, would be notable in a company officer now
adays ; how much more so in one belonging to the
slacker times of twenty years ago ! On the 6th
August 1882, when the regiment was on the point
of embarking for Egypt, his company was recruited
by sixty reservists who had rejoined the Colours.
Of course these men had to be clothed and equipped,
which kept their officer occupied throughout the
day. None the less, with the assistance of his
Colour-Sergeant (Logan), he made up the clothing-
accounts and ledger - sheets of each of the one
hundred and fifty men with whom he had to settle ;
and this, notwithstanding the fact that there were
but three days in which to do the work, and that he
had to sit up all night to do it. The object gained

148 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
was that every man of the company started for the
war with accounts absolutely square. It is no
reproach to say that in no other company of the
battalion was this so much as attempted. This is
but one of innumerable acts of Wauchope's which
made the name of E Company a proverb in the
Black Watch. It is therefore not surprising that
membership of that company came to be regarded
as a privilege in the regiment.
In this connection, the following letters are repro
duced — not, indeed, for their intrinsic interest, but
as characteristic specimens of Wauchope's written
communications with those who served under him,
containing evidence of the kindly relations subsist
ing between himself and them, and exhibiting his
close attention to the personal welfare of his men.
They are addressed to Colour- Sergeant R. Logan.
To Colour-Sergeant Logan.
' Niddrie (?),
' January Wth, 1883.
' Colour-Sergeant Logan, — I hope that you will have
got a watch which was sent to you by post. Pray accept
the same as a mark of my respect, and let me take this
opportunity of thanking you for the manner in which you
have at all times served and supported me.
' I hope the sergeants of E are well. Remember me
kindly to them. I am bringing out some small presents for
them. ' If I can bring out anything for you, or any of the
sergeants and corporals of E, let me have a line to New Club,
Edinburgh. — I remain, yours truly,
'A. G. Wauchope.''

LETTERS TO A COLOUR-SERGEANT 149
The regiment was at this time in Egypt. The
next letter is a reply to one from the Colour-
Sergeant announcing the death of a Lance-Cor
poral of the company, from cholera, in hospital
at Suez ; also a purchase of lanterns for the men's
tents. To Colour- Sergeant Logan.
' Cairo, July 31««, 1883.
I
' . . . I entirely agree with what you have done. I am
very sorry about Duff; he always seemed to be a good
man. ' I trust that our troubles are getting better. Well, take
care of yourself, and with my best wishes for you all, I
remain, yours truly, A. Gr. Wauchope.1
' New Club, Edinburgh,
' December 10th, 1883.
' - . . Many thanks for your letters, which as you know
interest me muchly.
'You have done perfectly right about the £1, 5s. 5d. ; I
am writing to Sergeant Adams.
' In the event of a sudden move being certainly possible,
please instruct Crowe [Wauchope's soldier-servant] to get
my field-kit overhauled, especially the cooking things and
the bed.
'It rejoices my heart to hear that the men are behaving
so well. I thought better of C  . Let us hope that he
is learning to be wise, which so very few of us are. . . .,
' Limasol, Cyprus,
'July 20th, 1884.
' - . . Your letter was forwarded to me here, and I
received it on the 17th inst. (last mail).

150 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' I am very glad to hear that you are much better.
Sergeant Murrie did very well, but I hope to see you back
soon. I am much better, and derived the greatest benefit
from Troodos, and so did Crowe, who desires to be remem
bered to you. We are waiting for the steamer, which we
hope will land us in Alexandria on the 22nd inst.'

' Cambo, Crail, Fife,
' August list, 1885.
' My Dear Colour-Sergeant, — I send you my photo. I
hope that you may always have a kindly feeling for your old
Captain — certainly I shall always feel a keen interest in your
welfare. . . .' ' Naval and Military Club,
' February 2nd, 1886.
' Quarter- Master Sergeant It. Logan, — Yours of January
30th has just been received by me. Well, there can be no
doubt that things must have been going wrong in E. I am
sure Sergeant W  is incapable of exaggeration in such a
matter. ' However, neither you nor I can help it. It shows me
conclusively what a loss I have sustained in you. However,
that can't be helped, and must just be endured like a great
many other things in this world.
' I cannot for the life of me understand why you should
write so bitterly. . . . However, you are a strange man, and
you must just do things in your own way. But there is no
greater mistake than to create evils which do not exist.
' See Crowe off if you have time. When I get out, I
expect you will hear from me very frequently anent' the
accounts. ' Well, good-bye for the present — you know very well that
I shall always be very glad to hear of your welfare. . . .'

ATTENTION TO DETAILS 151
' Kasr-el-Nil, Cairo,
'March 1th, 1886.
' Pay- Master Sergeant Logan, — Will you be so good as
to inform me with regard to Private Robert Douglas, who
left Suakim in 1884, as servant to Lieutenant Gordon : —
' He states that at the time he left with a credit of
£l, 10s. lid. [Pencil Note. — This in accordance with E
Company Ledger of that date\ which has never been paid to
him, although when serving with the 2nd Battalion he re
peatedly complained — once at the General's inspection. I
can remember nothing in regard to this case — you will be
able to, I doubt not. His " small book " for February and
March 1884 he would not sign. He returned to our com
pany in September 1885.
'Private W. S  , 1st Battalion, returned from prison
about the 1st November last. Now he complains that he
has received no Nile clearance. The depot Ledger Sheet
shows a credit of £3 for Private S  , which the man
states that he has never received, and we can find no trace of
the money having been paid.
' Hoping that you are in every way well and flourishing,
I remain, yours truly,
'A. G. Wauchope,
' Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel,
' Commanding E Company.'
The above letters help to show that, where the
interest of his men was concerned, there was no
detail which he thought beneath him, no trouble
he begrudged. The following, addressed to Mr.
Thomas Watt, late Colour-Sergeant, 1st Battalion
Royal Highlanders, may serve to indicate what was
no less true — namely, that his interest in his soldiers
did not terminate with their period of military
service. Indeed a claim on his good-will once

152 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
established was, he considered, terminable only by
death, or, it might be — but of this I am by/ no
means sure — by misconduct. The letter refers to
an endeavour to secure for Sergeant Watt's many
and gallant services to his country the recognition
of the much-prized ' Meritorious Medal.'
To Sergeant Watt. 'Niddrie, Midlothian,
'May 29th, 1899.
' My dear Tommy Watt, — -I have been fighting your
battles to the best of my powers, but I cannot get a distinct
promise. However, I think you had best leave the papers
with me in the meantime. Come and see me some day. —
Yours very truly,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
This is a typical specimen of much correspond
ence of like tenor or purport which has passed
through the biographer's hands, which, though it
would be wearisome to the reader if produced at
length, is yet eloquent of character in the writer.
After this, one is not surprised to hear that, in
all the home stations where he served — perhaps
especially at York — Wauchope was much run after
by old soldiers, and indeed by old Service men of
all sorts. There were certainly none to whom he
more gladly gave his time and labour ; and though,
as he says, he 'hated writing,' their letters were
generally replied to by return of post. To how
many men of this kind he in his time did a ' good
turn ' will never now be known. Those who have

QUAINT DELICACY 153
been heard to avow their gratitude to him are not
a few. One word as to his handwriting in correspond
ence. It varied with circumstance, from the small
and neat to the large and sprawling. In composi
tion his aim was not elegance but clearness — which
he always attained — accompanied by rapidity. His
letters abound in abbreviations, constituting almost
a self-framed system of short-hand, and indicative
of constant pressure on his time. But to take up
the thread of the discourse.
His kindly intercourse with his N.C.O.'s was by
no means limited to pen and paper. He was a
good judge of character, and when he had found
among them a man after his own heart, he would
make a friend of him to an extent which, as between
superior and inferior officer, is only practicable where
mutual confidence and respect exist in an unusual
degree. Such a man he found at Malta in the
person of Mess-Sergeant Davidson, in whose com
pany he spent much of his time in talking over
regimental matters. And those who incline to
figure him to themselves as at all times direct of
utterance may learn that, when occasion required,
he had a quaint delicacy in his way of putting
things which was his own. Thus sometimes of
an evening, entering Davidson's office, he would
exclaim off-handedly : ' Look here ! I am not going
in to mess to-night — just have some dinner, with
a bottle of Champagne, sent in here for me, will
you ? ' But the Champagne was not for his own
consumption.

154 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Coming in one afternoon and meeting Davidson,
he asked him if he had been at some races which
had just been held. The answer was No. ' Well, /
have — and I 've brought home your share of the
winnings — here it is ! ' Again, when the time came
for Wauchope to take his leave of the regiment, at
Gibraltar, he called at Davidson's house to say
good-bye. But the leave-taking went against the
grain. Mrs. Davidson was at home, and he spent
some two hours chatting in her company. But,
though the sergeant was in his office close at hand,
he would not have him fetched. Only, as he passed
out, hurrying away, he shouted over to him, ' Ah,
well! good-bye, Davidson.' That was all. That
such relations of brotherly friendliness between
commander and commanded are for the advantage
of the Service does not, perhaps, need pointing
out. They are also for the credit of our common
kind. 'Faults he had none,' says Mr. Davidson,
now a commissioned officer in the regiment ; ' his
greatest failing was generosity to the faults of
others.' By the way, the ejaculation of ' Ah, well ! ' was
highly characteristic of Wauchope — so much so
that a clever caricature, preserved in the regimental
mess, which represents him in meditation, his head
supported by his hand, has a label bearing these
words coming out of his mouth. They express
the subdued or resigned rather than the sanguine
side of his nature — a side which the persecutions
of ill-luck had doubtless done not a little to
develop.

ENCOURAGEMENT OF ATHLETICS 155
As an officer he was a firm believer in the drill-
sergeant; and when once thorough drill and dis
cipline had been attained, he believed that the men
could scarcely be too much in the open. Hence
he was always ready to encourage healthy out-door
sports and athletic exercises, and in so doing he
never spared his own pocket, though native good
sense kept him clear of the vulgar and demoralising
lavishness which is an unpleasing feature of our
time. Does not experience bear out the dictum
that kindness which is apt to be overdone is gener
ally intermittent and capricious ? His kindness, on
the other hand, was constant and could be counted
on. At Malta he kept a small yacht of his own, in
which he would occasionally invite the sergeants
of his corps to cruise with him. In addition to this,
for the benefit of his company, which turned out
a good boating-crew, he had the best boat built at
his own charge which Malta could produce. It was
christened ' The Black Watch,' for there is much
in a name, and he would sometimes steer it himself
in rowing-matches with other regiments.
Whilst on the same station, E Company also
raised a football-team. Subscriptions were col
lected, but after the money thus got together had
been expended, it was discovered that no ' pants '
had been provided for the players. In this difficulty
an N.C.O. approached Wauchope, who promptly put
his hand in his pocket. ' I will advance the money,'
said he ; ' and if you lose the match you are to play,
you shall pay me back — if you win it, you shall not.'
Whether this extra inducement had anything to do

156 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
with the result or not, I cannot say ; but E Company
won its match.
Small acts of kindness such as these are gratefully
remembered in the regiment. Sometimes, in per
forming one of them, the doer had a special object
in view — to reward good conduct, or encourage a
laudable impulse. I append a trifling instance. It
is well known that every man who enters the Army
has served out to him what is known as a 'small
book,' or ' pocket ledger,' in which particulars of his
parentage, age, native place, trade (if any), and
army career are recorded. These books are ori
ginally covered in cheap and perishable material ;
but at Malta there is a tradesman who makes a
specialty of binding them in more durable sub
stance, and inscribing each with the owner's name.
Well, the men of E Company, learning this, agreed
together to have their ' small books ' bound at their
own expense. When this came under Wauchope's
notice, however, on the books being inspected, he
testified his approval of their little act of self-denial
in the interest of tidiness by refunding to each man
the sum he had laid out. And this he did, not
through the sergeant, but in person, during a ' stand
easy ' at ' Military Training.'
Here is another act of his which must have con
ferred great pleasure upon many ; for I think I
am not wrong in saying that the Scottish private
soldier is very sensible to little attentions of the
kind. He likes to see himself, in Burns's phrase,
' respected like the lave ' — as, certainly, he has the
best of rights to be. Well, one day, still in Malta,

A KINDLY ATTENTION 157
Wauchope thought fit to mingle pleasure with
work in the following fashion. Having marched
his men to the railway station of Valetta, he there
entrained them, when a pipe and cake of tobacco
were supplied to each man. At Citta Vecchia they
detrained, marching thence a distance of about ten
miles to a fort which dominates the Comino Channel.
There Wauchope pointed out and explained to them
the system of fortifications lying between that point
and Valetta. This done, a cart, which by his fore
thought had been sent on in advance, was brought
up, and found to contain an ample luncheon, with
aerated waters for those men who were abstainers,
and beer for those who were not. Coming as it did
after the morning's march, this picnic was much
relished. Then, on the return to Citta Vecchia,
before entraining, Wauchope paid for the men's
admission to a neighbouring Roman villa, where
some remarkable tesselated pavements and other
antiquities were displayed to them.
He liked to share in their labours, and so far as
possible in their pleasures, and would even set them
an example of physical activity and endurance.
For instance, when at Pembroke Camp, the soldiers
had adopted from the Maltese the custom of the
siesta. Wauchope thought that this indulgence
might be carried too far ; so one day, during a
period of Military Training, when the men of E
were preparing to lie down, he had them called
together by the Colour- Sergeant. They fell in.
He placed himself at their head, and accompanied
by his subaltern, Lieutenant Percy Livingston, who

158 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
was distinguished as a runner, led them at the
' double ' over some rough ground in the neighbour
hood. About three miles off was a certain ravine,
which — from Wauchope's fondness for using it in
his object-lessons, when illustrating the process of
attacking, or crowning the heights of a defile — had
come to be known to the company as ' Our Old
Friend.' To this ravine the Captain now led his
men, still at the double, and maintaining his posi
tion at their head. There they halted, and were
permitted to rest, — upon which the soldiers, of their
own initiative, in order to avoid taking cold by cooling
too rapidly, began to practise such athletic exercises
as putting the weight and the hop, step, and jump
— which when Wauchope saw he was well pleased,
for it showed their good disposition for exertion, and
that there was plenty of work left in them still.
As Colonel he was still fond of taking the regiment
out for long marches into the country — on which
occasions he, of course, rode. But having one day
overheard a man in the ranks grumble over the fatigue
of the march, remarking that ' it was all very well for
him, who had a horse . . . ' the next time he ordered
a route-march he came on parade on foot, and in that
manner performed the day's journey with his men.
Soldiers in matters of this kind are fairly * gleg in the
up-take,' and it is surprising how quickly the moral
of such an act is grasped by a battalion.
Under his command, however, grumbling was
exceptional; for, as a rule, every man was glad to
do what he could for Wauchope. This is shown by
the fact that, in route-marching, they would march

' THE BOERS KNEW THIS ' 159
cheerfully long distances for him, whilst murmuring
over lesser distances done at the order of another.
Another lesson ' in kind ' which he gave them as
Captain was as follows. One day, on the return
journey after a march out into the country, the man
who happened to be leading suggested to his neigh
bour, by way of a lark, that they should ' put on the
pace, and warm old Micky's jacket.'1 The hint was
acted on ; but Wauchope, who had chanced to over
hear the remark, stepped out with the best of them
— with the result of completely turning the tables
on him who had suggested the ploy. Methods such
as these, in such hands as his, are as insinuating as
they are irresistible.
Here is an anecdote to which subsequent history
has contributed a marked significance. In Malta,
in 1886, whilst exercising his men in 'judging dis
tances,' he is remembered to have directed special
attention to the allowance which has to be made for
a clear atmosphere by those who are accustomed to
a misty one — the object aimed at naturally looking
nearer in the one case than in the other. He
summed up the admonition by adding, in allusion
to the then recent Boer War, which had been
allowed to terminate so disastrously at Majuba Hill,
'The Boers knew this, and we did not; therefore
they shot us, and we did not shoot them.' (The
terse and syllogistic style of the remark is eminently
characteristic.) After this he ordered the N.C.O.
to 'take answers.'
Compare now with the above the following evi-
1 Among the men Wauchope's nickname was ' Red Mick. '

160 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
dence given before the Royal Commission on the
recent War in South Africa : a —
' Lord Methuen. — " The shooting of the Regular
troops was conducted under exceptional difficulties
on account of the clearness of the atmosphere. . . ."
' Sir John Hopkins. — " May I interrupt for one
moment to ask how the clearness of the atmosphere
interferes with good shooting ? "
'Lord Methuen. — "Because it is so difficult to
tell the distances after being accustomed to the
English atmosphere." '
Probably not all our regulars had had the advan
tage of training such as that described above.
In a similar connection it is worth pointing
out that Wauchope, who, from his residence at
Yetholm, was well acquainted with the Border hills,
had often remarked on the splendid advantages
possessed by them as a training-ground for troops,
expressing the wish that the War Department
could be induced to acquire land in the district for
that purpose — thus anticipating the formation of
Stobs Camp, which it required the lessons of the
last Boer War to bring about.
His terse style in speech, and summary method
of settling matters, are exemplified by the following :
His company being in detachment at Salvator, a
difference arose among the men as to what fare
should be provided for the daily breakfast — some
favouring porridge and milk, and others eggs. The
Captain called a meeting to decide the weighty
point, and when the men were before him, amused
1 Minutes of Evidence, vol. ii. p. 121.

HIS MILITARY LECTURES 161
them by giving, with military brevity, the word of
command, 'Stand up porridge; sit down eggs' —
thus obtaining in a moment the results of a vexed
debate. Lectures were a strong point with him, and he
lost no opportunity of giving his company the
benefit. For example, on the hot afternoons in
Malta, when the men lay down, he would regularly
seat himself upon the barrack-room table and
lecture away on Minor Tactics — hoping, rather
against hope, as it would seem, that some of the
good seed thus cast abroad might strike. His
lectures on the Theory of Warfare were often illus
trated by references to the successive stages of the
battles of the Franco-Prussian War — of which by
this time he had attained to an intimate knowledge.
In later years, as, for instance, when quartered at
York, and lecturing in the interest of certain fort
nightly concerts which had been got up for his
battahon, he utilised his knowledge of South Africa
and of Turkey by choosing those countries for his
subjects. It was also noticed that he would seldom
lecture without touching on South Africa, whilst
the necessity of holding Egypt was a text on
which he never tired of dwelling. As to the
lectures which at about the same time he was
occasionally persuaded to deliver before civilian
audiences, it may be said that the interest and
enthusiasm which they excited was remarkable, and
indeed astonishing.
Among the married men serving under him he
was, if possible, a special favourite, and for them

162 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
he had doubtless a special consideration. What, for
example, in a small way, could exceed the kindly
forethought of the following ? During the Egyptian
Expedition of 1882 it was found when at Ramleh
that no Postal Orders were available — hence no
means by which money could be remitted to wives
at home. Wauchope, however, had anticipated this,
and in order to meet the difficulty had brought out
with him a large number of Scots one pound notes,
which he now distributed among the married men,
and which came in very usefully.
Nor did his kindness stop short of the women not
on the strength of the regiment, of whose existence
the Army Regulation does not require that any
account be taken — this, of course, quite irrespective
of any consideration of character, for they are often
the best of helpmates to their husbands. Thus
when the regiment was moving from Edinburgh to
York, these women — a large number — would in the
ordinary course of things have been left behind, had
not Wauchope stepped forward with a cheque to
defray the cost of their journey. Not only did he
do this, but on their arrival as strangers in the
English city, he put himself to great trouble to find
suitable quarters for them. No unique case was
this, but a fair sample of his care and sympathy for
a class who stood in special need of both.
Again, he was generally at hand while his men
were receiving their pay, and would note the names
of those whose pay had been for any reason docked.
Quietly telling them to stay behind the others, he
would then speak to each man separately a word of

POLITENESS AND CONSIDERATION 163
sympathy and admonition, expressing as he dis
missed him the hope that he would try to do better
in the future — a hope which he seasoned and en
forced by a gift of money. Of course it is easy to
say that to give money is not the best way to benefit
a poor man ; Wauchope probably recognised that it
is at least the best and readiest means of assuring
him that the interest shown in him is genuine, and
not a mere indulgence of the human weakness for
regulating the conduct of other persons. Yet I
believe that, as between officer and men, such con
duct was, to say the least, extremely unusual.
To inferiors his politeness was of the finest, and it
is still remembered that he gave great pleasure to
the men's wives, when in command at Edinburgh
Castle, by taking off his hat when he met them, 'as
if they had been ladies.'
Having the interest of the private soldier always
at heart, he was opposed to giving him unnecessary
or unprofitable work, — as an example of which it
may be recalled that, during his tenure of office as
Brigadier at Gibraltar, he knocked off several useless
sentries, and also did away with the Southport
Guard — thus adding to the number of the men's
'nights in bed.'
It is even suspected that his zealous advocacy of
the men's interests, if it did not make of him at
times a thorn in the side of the higher authorities,
may at least have seemed to these gentlemen as
excessive in its pertinacity. So there was supposed
to be a special significance underlying the generous
testimony of General Thynne, commanding the

164 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
York District, when, in the course of addressing
the men of the regiment after inspecting them,
he used the words : ' You ought to be proud of
your Colonel, for he looks after your interests;
and if you don't know it, / do.' From which it
was shrewdly surmised that, in his endeavours to
obtain some advantage for his men, Wauchope had
been leading the gallant general a life.
From the same point of view, especially inoppor
tune and ill-judged was his standpoint felt to be
when, one night at a political meeting in Roxburgh
shire, he was called on to follow a very highly placed
speaker who had just been assuring a large audience
that the country had the best of all possible armies,
and that the private soldier was the most fortunate
of men. Surely those who had expected that
Wauchope would docilely endorse every word that
had been uttered by so high an authority must have
strangely misknown the man ; for he was one who,
when he felt himself in the right, and when the
interests of others for which he was responsible
were at stake, would fight matters out to the bitter
end, no matter who his antagonist. Accordingly,
when he now rose to his feet, it was to curse
rather than to bless; for he put the case of the
private as it really was, adding an eloquent plea
for an increase of pay.1 Among those who were
present and listened to his speech, there were doubt-
1 ' When will our rulers awake to the necessity of paying the British
soldier at the market rate of wages, as is done in the American army,
which, as far as its members go, is, I think, the finest army in the
world?' — Lord Wolseley's Story of a Soldier's Life, vol. i. p. 206.

STERNNESS ON OCCASION 165
less a few who felt that it had sadly disturbed the
harmony of the evening. Others knew that they
had heard an honest man — one who thoroughly
knew what he was talking of — speak out his mind,
and had seen a blow dealt to a Fool's Paradise.
But it would be misleading to convey the im
pression that Wauchope's methods, where his men
were concerned, were all alike gentle and kindly.
He could be terribly stern when the occasion really
warranted it, and was, besides, quite capable of being
a bit dry — I might say dour — when things were not
going as he felt they ought to be.
For instance, once when the 42nd landed in
Malta, the Gordon Highlanders, who were already
there, proposed to 'treat ' them, company by company
— the A Company of the one regiment treating the
A Company of the other, and so on. While this
plan was being carried out, Wauchope entered the
room where E Company was, and whether on
account of some neglect of duty or for another
reason, the proceedings did not find favour with
him — as he showed by taking a barrel of beer, and,
after kicking it down the steps of the building,
requesting the men of the Gordons to be good
enough to remove it.
' Look to your front ! every man can look to his
front if he can do nothing else.' This was a
favourite form of exhortation with him when he
saw men's eyes wandering on parade.
For chronic carelessness he suggested drastic
correction. For example : ' If I could get you
behind that wood, my boy . . . ' he would say,

166 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
when, as adjutant, he passed along the ranks and
tapped his leg with his whip, addressing a drummer
who was notorious for his slovenly appearance.
And then, with whip or cane, he significantly
indicated what in that case would follow. Nor,
if all stories are to be believed, did he always
confine himself in this kind to suggestion.
At any rate there is current among the men of
the regiment a legend (for whose truth I do not
vouch) that at least once he took an incorrigible
with him into his own room, and there as a last
resource tried the effect of a sound hiding, personally
administered. The castigation (if administered at
all) was certainly administered in the spirit of
fatherly correction, and the man who received it
had the good sense to see it in that light. Let us
hope that it helped him to mend his ways. Had
he chosen to enter a complaint with the authorities,
it is probable that his position in the ranks would
have become unenviable. For his comrades had
good reason to know Wauchope, and they knew
he was above all things just, and had their good at
heart in all he did. But, as I have said, the story
may after all very possibly be mythic.
The anger of a patient man is proverbially
terrible, and the air and accent with which, on
one occasion, after paying the company, he shook
the money-bag in the face of a confirmed bad
soldier, with the exclamation, 'There is mutiny
in your face, sir!' — these things remain indelibly
engraven on the mind of one who was present, as
an example of just ire — a very different thing, of

NO LABOUR HE GRUDGED 167
course, from irritability, or a temper under insuffi
cient control.
To sum up, while Wauchope was eminently
beloved by all ranks, the secret of the extra
ordinary and unexampled confidence reposed in
him by the men was their conviction at once of
the justice of his dealings with them, and of his
firm and whole-hearted devotion to their interest.
In the ordinary life of peace-time, they knew that
if he was strict and punctual — which he also ex
pected all who served under him to be — they could
depend on him for perfect fairness, whilst there was
no labour he grudged in their service. And in
warfare they were equally well aware that his great
personal daring was associated with an excellent
Scots caution when leading themselves.
During the hardships endured at the period of the
battle of Tel-el-Kebir, he would actually rise from
sleep an hour and a half before his men, and go
forth to collect wood to light the fires for their break
fast ; for he knew the instantaneous and wonderful
effect produced by a cup of hot coffee upon a
hard-worked and fasting man. On these occasions
he was sometimes accompanied by his subaltern,
Duff, and his colour-sergeant, Logan. At Assouan,
in 1884, when he was Mess and Canteen President,
he would sally forth on horseback in search of
supplies at three o'clock in the morning, returning
only when his duty called him. Or if it did not
happen to call him at all that day, he might be seen
coming in from his foraging expedition, weary and
worn, at any hour of the evening.

168 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
When in hospital at Suez, after being wounded
at El Teb, he made a tour of the hospital tents
and huts, found out all wounded men who belonged
to his battalion, and got them to forward money
home — himself undertaking all arrangements con
nected with the forwarding. He also questioned
the worst cases as to what they intended to do
on being discharged from the service, and urged
them to correspond with himself, in order that
he might, if possible, be of use to them in settling
in life.
Finally, when at Gibraltar — holding the rank
of a Colonel in the Army, but only that of a
' mud Major ' in the regiment — during a temporary
absence of the Governor he was appointed to act
in his place. Yet, even then, he did not hand over
his company, but would duly appear once a week to
pay his men.
In conclusion, it is possible that some of the
various little incidents here recorded may appear
at first sight trifling. Yet I cannot help thinking
that, in its own way, each one of them helps to show
Wauchope as he was in his capacity as company or
regimental officer. And of this there is little
doubt, that they might easily be added to to such
an extent as of themselves to form a book.

CHAPTER VII
TRANSVAAL CAMPAIGN — ENGAGEMENT TO BE MARRIED
 EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN OF '82 — DEATH OF MAJOR
WAUCHOPE — MARRIAGE
And now to resume once more our interrupted
narrative. After his return from Cyprus in the late
summer of 1880, Wauchope stayed but a short time
in England. A chance of active service had again
presented itself, of which he eagerly sought to avail
himself. In referring to the origin of the Boer War
of 1880-1881, we are on such familiar ground that
detail is entirely superfluous. Suffice it, then, to
recall the fact that in April 1877, Sir Theophilus
Shepstone had annexed the Transvaal to the British
Empire. The inhabitants of the country were at
the time divided in their views of the measure ;
which, however, once fairly accomplished, appeared
to give general satisfaction. ' It was amply justi
fied,' says the latest writer on the subject,1 'by the
situation in the Transvaal, by its hopeless bank
ruptcy, by the general anarchy prevailing, by the
decay of civilisation, by the failure of the Boers to
hold their own against the natives in the Transvaal,
by the danger of Zulu invasion, and by the legiti-
1 L. S. Amery, The Times History of the War in South Africa, vol. i.
p. 60.

170 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
mate desire of the Imperial Government to bring
about a South African Confederation.'
The immediate result of annexation was a revival
of order and prosperity in the country annexed, and,
side by side with this, the development on the part
of the Boers of a tendency to question their own
wisdom in having parted with independence. For
the revolt which broke out in December 1880
three main causes are assigned by the authority just
quoted : namely, the anti-British intrigues and agita
tions of Mr. Kruger, the Midlothian election-
speeches of Mr. Gladstone, and the reprehensible
failure or neglect on the part of the home ad
ministration to implement its promise of a free
representative government to the country which it
had adopted. The two months or so which fol
lowed the outbreak of war are among the darkest in
our modern history. They witnessed the disastrous
affairs of Bronkhorst Spruit and the Ingogo Height,
and the British defeats of Laing's Nek and Majuba.
The last named was followed by an armistice, to
which succeeded negotiations by no means credit
able to the national spirit or traditional independ
ence of Great Britain. Finally, by the Pretoria
Convention, signed in the following August, Mr.
Gladstone, disregarding alike engagements with
native chiefs and the just expectations of Boer
loyalists, agreed to a humiliating peace. From
whatever point of view it may be judged, this step
was a mistake; since it is obvious that the mag
nanimity of the vanquished is but too liable to
misconstruction, whilst the value of graceful con-

A HURRIED DEPARTURE 171
cessions from an opponent supposed weaker than
oneself is oftener than not undervalued. 'I will
comply with my adversary's requests as soon as I
have repaid the thrashing just received from him,' —
this is perhaps as far as international generosity, under
present conditions, can safely go. But to repeat this
is to insist on a moral which no longer requires to be
pointed. If a mistake was made, it is one which we
as a nation have since done our utmost to correct,
and of which the correction has cost us dear.
Wauchope was in the Transvaal during these
events, and we may believe that his high spirit felt
our national position at the time as few could feel
it. Referring thereto long afterwards, he spoke of
'those terrible times in 1881, when we suffered the
terrible disgrace from which all our after troubles
there arose. It was the vacillation and weakness
and change of policy,' he added, ' that caused all the
trouble then.'
As soon as the opportunity of active service had
occurred, he had applied at the War Office for
employment, had been accepted for Staff duty, and
received a commission to go out to South Africa at
once. Indeed, so short was the time allowed him
for preparation, that he was unable even to visit
Aldershot, where the regiment then lay, and was
compelled to content himself with telegraphing to
have a small kit made up and forwarded to South
ampton to meet him ere he sailed next day.
But though he was present in South Africa
during the war, Captain Wauchope's orders kept
him employed upon the line of communication,

172 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
and he was thus denied the consolation of taking
part in operations at the front. The time spent by
him in the country was, however, very far from
being thrown away. It served for one thing to
convince him of the immense importance of the
South African question — to which, as we have seen
in the case of his lectures on military subjects, he
never tired of drawing attention. And secondly, it
enabled him to form a far juster estimate of the
strength of the Boer nation, and its warlike qualifi
cations, than was held by one soldier in a thousand
in this country. Hence, at the outbreak of the
recent Boer War, in October 1899, when the
termination of hostilities was being foretold for the
approaching Christmas, and when one high military
authority had fixed the Derby Day as the date by
which the British army would have returned from
the campaign — at that very time, Wauchope gave
it as his opinion that the war would last not less
than two years ; whilst in writing to Colonel
Davidson, late of the 42nd Highlanders, he made
use of the significant and ominous phrase, 'We
shall want all the recruits you can pour out.' He
returned to England in the summer of 1881, rejoin
ing his regiment in Edinburgh, and being on duty at
the Queen's Review, which was held there on the 25th
August, and which is chiefly memorable to those who
attended it on account of the wetness of the day.
A change in his worldly circumstances had
in the meantime become imminent. His brother,
Major Wauchope, to whom he was warmly
attached, and of whom he has been heard

BECOMES ENGAGED 173
to speak admiringly as ' the straightest of men,' was
now suffering from an incurable malady. Major
Wauchope's marriage had been childless, his brother
was his heir of entail, and the prospects of the latter
had therefore materially altered. The change had
also an indirect effect. Some years before this he
had made the acquaintance of Miss Elythea Ruth
Erskine, second daughter of Sir Thomas Erskine,
Baronet, of Cambo, in the county of Fife, a young
lady who united great personal beauty with an
equal charm of character. With her he had fallen
in love at first sight ; but, conscious of the medio
crity of his circumstances and ever modest to a
fault, he had persuaded himself that he was not
justified in coming forward as a suitor for her hand.
Now, however, those circumstances were altered.
He was a favourite with Sir Thomas Erskine, who
had a genuine appreciation of his character, and he
began to visit Cambo more frequently than before.
In the family circle there he was to find that
warmth and sympathy for which he had by nature
a strong desire and relish, but of which the break
up of his home at Niddrie had early deprived him.
For Lady Erskine in particular he cherished an
affection of unusual depth, whilst her younger
daughters were to him as sisters. Indeed, in the
truest sense he may be said to have become one of
the Cambo family, and for some twelve years from
the present time the home of the Erskines was as
his own home. This, however, is an anticipation.
In November 1881 he became engaged to Miss
Elythea Erskine. In the following January he

174 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
and his company were transferred to Maryhill,
Glasgow. In April he attended the regimental
ball in Edinburgh with his affianced, coming from
Balmoral for the purpose. It may perhaps be
worth recalling that the Music Hall, where the ball
took place, was for this occasion decorated with
sphinxes and other objects in the Egyptian taste.
I may add that Wauchope was a good dancer and
keen. Egypt was just then uppermost in the minds of
Englishmen; but, within less than three months
of the date of the Edinburgh ball, its associations
were to assume a very different character from
those of the ball-room. The position of affairs in
that country was briefly as follows. Its deplorable
financial condition — the result of combined ex
travagance and corruption — had necessitated an
international arrangement by which France and
England came to exercise over it what was known
as the Dual Control. But the interests of the two
controlling members in the country controlled were
unequal. Those of France, in fact, could scarcely
be said to extend beyond a care for the proper
financial administration of a principality in which
her subjects had invested money. But, for Eng
land, all that affected a territory which lay full
across her route to India must necessarily be of
paramount importance, and had long been recog
nised in that light. France was thus less ready
than England to intervene actively in Egyptian
affairs. And that active intervention would be
called for was now becoming daily more evident.

AFFAIRS IN EGYPT 175
The flooding of the country with foreign officials in
connection with the working of the Dual Control,
together with unpopular reforms which had been
carried out, had not unnaturally set up a National
opposition, of which the cry of 'Egypt for the
Egyptians' represented the aim. The method by
which that aim should be attained was not at first
clearly defined, but in due course the inevitable
strong man emerged to direct the movement. In
September 1881 a rising on the part of a portion of
the Army had coerced the Khedive, Tewfik, into
dismissing his Ministry; and from that time for
ward, Arabi Bey — a soldier of fortune, by birth a
fellah of Lower Egypt — who had led the insurrec
tion, was definitely recognised as the head of the
National or Military party. He became War Mini
ster under the futile and undecided Tewfik, and it
was further evident that he enjoyed the countenance
of no less a person than Tewfik's suzerain the Sultan.
The 'insurrection of the colonels,' as it was
called, though bloodless, had practically brought
Egypt under the control of the Army. Arabi him
self controlled the army, and his natural astute
ness led him to hope that the diverse interests of
Great Britain and France would leave him free to
follow his own course. A crisis was obviously im
minent, and rumours of projected massacres spread
alarm among the foreign populations of Cairo and
Alexandria. On June the 11th a serious riot broke out between
the natives and foreigners of the latter city. Its
origin was not clear, yet the fact remained that the

176 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
British Consul was severely handled, whilst several
British and French subjects lost their lives. Arabi
Pasha, who had practically thrust aside the Khedive,
claiming to draw his authority direct from the
Sultan, had ere this set to work to fortify Alexandria,
and was now pushing on his defensive works with
vigour. English and French fleets had appeared
before the port, for the Dual Control had guaranteed
Tewfik's power; but the unwillingness of France,
coupled with England's respect for the existing
agreement, had so far prevented action. Meantime
disorder prevailed, two-thirds of the European resi
dents fled from the country, the integrity of the
Suez Canal was jeopardised. At last Great Britain
resolved to act alone.
Her preparations being complete, Sir Beauchamp
Seymour, the admiral in command of the British
fleet, put forth an ultimatum requiring the sur
render of the fortifications commanding the entrance
to the harbour, which had become a source of danger
to the shipping. From this action France disso
ciated herself, withdrawing her fleet from Alexan
drian waters, and thus virtually terminating the
Dual Control. The ultimatum not being complied
with, on the 11th July Alexandria was bombarded.
The main result of the day's fighting was, of course,
a foregone conclusion. But the force at the dis
posal of the British admiral was inadequate to
prevent some deplorable consequences. When the
course of events had declared itself, Arabi had
drawn off his army. Control was thus removed
from the elements of lawlessness in Alexandria,

A GREAT 'SEND-OFF' 177
and during two days that historic city — once the
head-quarters of learning and capital of the world's
commerce — was given up to rapine and massacre.
Then, after some brisk police-work by our blue
jackets, order was restored, and the city was handed
over, somewhat the worse for wear, to the Khedive
who had deserted it.
In this manner the combined circumstances of an
armed rising under a leader who was part patriot
part adventurer, of the indecision of a prince who
knew not whether to side with the insurgent or
against him, of the French defection and the inaction
of the Porte, had forced on England the task of
armed intervention in Egypt. Her next move was
to send out a military expedition, and on July 4th
secret instructions were issued to the officers in
command of certain regiments, directing them to
be prepared to embark their men at shortest
notice. On the 21st of the month these orders
were communicated to the Royal Highlanders,
and on the evening of the 2nd August the
battalion marched out of Edinburgh, proceeding
to Woolwich Docks, and thence to Gravesend,
whence on the 9th of the month it sailed in
the transport Nepaul for Alexandria. The ' send-
off' from Edinburgh had been an unusually en
thusiastic one — men, women, and children, in vast
numbers, assembling in the streets to take their
leave of the regiment. That this scene affected
Wauchope deeply is proved by the fact that ten
years afterwards, when addressing a meeting of old
members of the Black Watch, it was still fresh in
M

178 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
his memory. The interval had made him familiar
with political enthusiasm as manifested towards the
most popular of then living demagogues, but he
denied that the hearts of the people went out to
wards their political leader as they had done
towards the soldiers. And, on behalf of the
soldiers, he gratefully acknowledged the might
of sympathy.
The battalion reached Alexandria on the 20th
August, proceeding thence by train to Ramleh,
where it joined the Highland Brigade — then con
sisting of the 2nd Battalion Highland Light
Infantry, 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders, and
Cameron Highlanders, under the command of
Wauchope's old chief, Major-General Sir Archibald
Alison, and forming part of a Division commanded
by Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Hamley. The
near prospect of active service, together with other
causes which may be guessed, had put Wauchope
once more in his old hilarious spirits, which found
one vent in looking over the walls of the suburb
and making faces in the direction of the insurgent
chief's position at Kafr-ed-Dauar, some ten miles
off. I may here mention that by this time Arabi
regarded himself as Commander-in-Chief and ruler
of Egypt, and that by calling out reserves he had
increased the army under his command from some
9000 to about 60,000 regulars. The present object
of Sir Edward Hamley 's force was to throw dust in
his eyes by misleading him as to the quarter from
which our attack was to be expected. Our objective
was Cairo ; but for excellent military reasons — chief

INCIDENT AT RAMLEH 179
among them facility of transport, and a ' hard ' desert
unintersected by irrigation-works — that city was to
be approached, not from Alexandria, but from the
Suez Canal. To Ismailia, therefore, after a feint
against Aboukir, Sir Garnet Wolseley with the
main strength of the expedition had already made
a moonlight flitting — with the result that at this
very time the Canal with the principal places on
its shores were in his hands. In seizing them, he
acted, of course, with the authority of that puppet,
the Khedive. Meanwhile the task of Sir Edward
Hamley from Alexandria was to delude Arabi and
keep him in play. And, by the way, it is a re
markable fact that the sudden shifting of the scene
of action on the night of August 19th remained
unknown to the insurgent leader until he heard of it
about a year later as a prisoner in Ceylon. During
this time, also, the suburb of Ramleh was converted
into an entrenched camp.
Ten or eleven days devoted to work of this kind
were more than enough to set Wauchope privately
chafing, and to make him fearful of renewing his
experience of enforced inaction during the recent
South African campaign. Nor would these feelings
be lessened by receipt of the news of the action
fought by the advanced-guard at Kassassin, twenty
miles west of Ismailia, on the 28th August, and
memorable chiefly on account of a charge through
the darkness made by the Household Cavalry.
Whilst detained at Alexandria, however, he had
at least one opportunity of distinguishing himself.
It happened thus. After the rioting which had

180 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
followed the bombardment, a few desperate fellaheen
had seized a house at Ramleh, in an upper room of
which they still held out. It was determined to
dislodge them, and a line of pickets was formed
round the house. Into this hornets' nest, sword in
hand, Wauchope then led the way, in command of
a handful of men. In doing so, he met with a hair
breadth escape, for a bullet fired by one of the
defenders from the staircase struck his helmet,
knocking it off upon the marble pavement of the
hall. After this the house was cleared by a rush,
one of the desperadoes being killed in the scuffle.
The incident helped to confirm the reputation as
one ' who did not know what fear was ' with which
Wauchope had gone out to Egypt.
On the 31st August delay at last ended, and
Sir Archibald Alison's Brigade proceeded to Port
Said, and thence through the Canal to Ismailia,
where it arrived on the following evening. There
the men were still lodged on shipboard, being
employed during the daytime in supplying the
necessary fatigue - parties for disembarking stores
and loading trains and boats. By September 7th the
railway-line — the state of which had so far retarded
movement — was in fair working order. On the 9th,
orders having been received for Sir Archibald's
Brigade to advance to the front, the regiment dis
embarked and marched to Magfar. Next day the
march through the (cultivated) desert was resumed
as far as Tel-el-Maskhuta, and on the 11th the
Black Watch was encamped at Kassassin, where
the British Army was now being concentrated.

WOLSELEY'S STRATEGY 181
A second action had been fought from there on
the 9th instant, but Wauchope was still in plenty
of time to take part in the crowning fight of the
campaign. Before the commencement of the war, the Com
mander of the Expedition had foreseen that its
result would probably be decided at Tel-el-Kebir,
an extensive fortification situated in mid-desert,
some thirty miles west of Ismailia and fifty north
east of Cairo, and having its south-western extremity
resting on the railroad and fresh- water canal. This
stronghold was well known to Arabi from his having
commanded there as a colonel in the Egyptian
service ; it was also the gateway to Zagazig, the
main point of concentration for the rebels, and to
Cairo. Sir Garnet's plan of action was, then, after
winning his battle, to push on cavalry in advance,
who should arrive in Cairo before the inhabitants
had recovered from the first shock of the news of
their countrymen's defeat. By this means he hoped
to save the southern capital from the pillage which
had befallen Alexandria ; but for this purpose it was
necessary that the enemy should be not merely dis
persed but crushed.
From observations made by himself and his Staff
in the earliest hours of the morning, the General
Commanding was aware that the enemy's outposts
and pickets were not sent out from the entrench
ments until day broke, which in that country and
season happened at about 5.45 am. This piece of
information confirmed him in his previous project
of a night attack. The chief argument in favour of

182 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
the above was, of course, the inestimable advantage
of securing the cover of darkness under which to cross
the zone of fire immediately in front of the entrench
ments. On the other side of the account must be
set the difficulty of successfully piloting an army
in the dark through a desert which was pathless
and almost without landmarks. The conditions of
approach bore a certain resemblance to those of the
fatal battle of Magersfontein fought some seventeen
years later, and it has been suggested by a very high
military authority that Lord Methuen may have
modelled his attack in the latter instance upon that
of Sir Garnet Wolseley, of which he had been a
witness. If this was so, then at least one factor
of enormous importance had been left out of the
calculation — namely, the entirely different character
of the enemy about to be attacked. To recognise
this now is, of course, to be wise after the occasion.
In the winter of 1899 we had still much to learn of
the Boer's fighting character, whilst the fact is now
scarcely disputed that tactical training as carried on
at Aldershot for many years previously had been
hopelessly inapplicable to his case.
To resume. The front of the fortified position
held by the Egyptians extended to the great length
of four miles. In view of this, the General Com
manding — whose aim was to secure ' as many inde
pendent chances of success as could be arranged
without unduly weakening the attack delivered at
one spot ' — had assigned to each of his two Divisional
Generals an independent sphere of operations.
Hence resulted a considerable interval between the

DISTRIBUTION OF THE FORCE 183
Infantry Divisions — an interval in which was con
centrated the entire strength of the Army Corps'
artillery. Hamley 's Division (the Second) was to
direct its attack upon a part of the defence- works
which when reconnoitred by day rose conspicuous
above the rest — to reach which his men would have
to march in a due westerly direction, keeping some
what to the north of a ridge which on its south side
sloped to the canal. To avoid confusion at starting,
the lines of direction were indicated by posts placed
after sunset by the Royal Engineers. The Cavalry
and Horse Artillery were stationed on the extreme
right, so as to be ready after the surprise to sweep
round the enemy's left flank ; the Naval and Indian
Brigades were on the left and in rear, following the
main body of the army at an interval of an hour.
The Army Corps was to be prepared to march at
5 p.m. o'clock on the 12th September, from about
which time until broad daylight on the fateful
morrow no bugle was to sound. Every soldier
would carry one hundred rounds of ammunition.
Finally, in order to avoid the fate of the Gauls at
the Roman Capitol, precautions had been taken
against meeting dogs, cattle, geese, or the like.
The night proved exceptionally dark — so dark,
indeed, that great difficulty was experienced in
making use of the Engineers' starting-posts. By
about 11 p.m. however, the troops were in the
places assigned to them. Alison's Highlanders and
Graham's Brigade formed respectively the leading
brigades of their Divisions — the former being guided
by Lieutenant Rawson of the Royal Navy, an officer

184 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
familiar with the desert and accustomed to steer his
course by the stars. For, except those heavenly
beacons, there was no means of guidance.
It was about 1.30 a.m. when the movement of the
troops from their temporary bivouac began. The
distance to be traversed was about four miles ; the
rate of progress, allowing for interruptions and un
foreseen accidents, had been estimated at about one
mile per hour — the object aimed at being to arrive
before the entrenchments when day was on the
point of breaking. The Highland Brigade marched
in column of half-battalions, in double companies
— the Black Watch, which was on the right of the
Brigade, having Wauchope's company with the A,
B, and F Companies in the front line, the second line
following at an interval of about one hundred yards.
The distance between half-battalions was some forty
or fifty yards ; that between the regiments of the
Brigade from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
yards. Silence was rigorously insisted on ; smoking
and the striking of lights were of course prohibited ;
officers had been instructed to give their words of
command in as low a tone of voice as was practic
able. Cloaked thus in darkness and thus swathed
in silence, our force of 17,000 men and forty-two
cannon moved onward over the desert. It is said
that within a few yards of their front no person would
have guessed that an army was in motion. The hour
was big with fate. A more imposing or impressive
conception than that of the muted progress through
the night of this invisible pageant, imagination
scarce can body forth. The difficulties of steering

AN ERROR IN THE DARK 185
the right course were immense ; for, though the stars
that would be over Tel-el-Kebir during the small
hours had been noted during reconnaissances, the
drift of clouds obscured them now. Only the North
Star and the constellation of the Little Bear re
mained visible throughout the night. An examina
tion of the wheel-tracks over the desert, made after
the battle, showed that the artillery had deviated
northward from the right line. To prevent the
various portions of the armament losing trace of
one another, connection by means of a series of files
had been established between them. Yet even so
there was great risk of bewilderment. Staff officers
despatched with orders to a distant part of the force
had to trust solely for finding their way to a general
sense of the direction. At one moment disaster
was near arising from this cause — indeed was
narrowly averted. Owing to some miscalculation of
bearings, one body of our men found itself confronted
by another advancing towards it. In the dark
ness the on-comers were naturally mistaken for
enemies, and it was due solely to the alertness of
our officers that they were not greeted by a discharge
of rifles. Had this happened, it would certainly
have been fatal, not merely to some lives, but to the
success of the attack. That an accident such as
this would profoundly impress so careful a leader as
Wauchope is beyond doubt, and it would naturally
be present to his mind in the later advance, amid
similar conditions, on Magersfontein. On a mistake
of this kind being recognised, the troops were halted
and carefully reformed ere the march was resumed.

186 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
When something like half the journey had been
accomplished, the Highlanders were allowed to halt
and lie down for a short rest.
A second disturbing episode of the march was
the appearance, ere its time, of a streak of light to
eastward. The hour being unknown and watches
useless in the darkness, it was feared that this was
the precursor of the dawn. If so, the expedition
was too late ! But the warning light disappeared as
it had come. It was afterwards explained to be a
comet which had first become visible to Europe on
that day. But to the army, in the meantime, it
remained unaccountable.
Contrary to previous calculation, the Highland
Brigade was the first to strike the enemy's lines.
Its advance had been timed to a nicety. The first
warning received of its position— when about 250
yards from the entrenchment, where it arrived just
at dawn — was the firing of three shots by the
enemy's scouts, who then immediately fell back.
It has since been ascertained that at this time the
distribution of the army over the desert was that of
an irregular echelon, having, of course, the left — the
Highlanders — thrown forward. Hence, says the
Official Account, ' the history of the seizure of the
works, for the first ten minutes to a quarter of an
hour of the fight, is the history of the advance of the
Highland Brigade.'
Sir Archibald Alison at once gave the order to fix
bayonets, without halting and without sound.
There was an instant of suspense, then the long
silence broke indeed. The enemy's bugles sounded

A FALSE REPORT 187
the alarm, a shell passed whizzing over the Brigade,
for a mile or more the entrenchments were lighted
up with the continuous fire of Egyptian rifles.
On the side of the British, the signal for storming
was instantly given. Bugle after bugle sounded the
advance, and as they charged a ringing cheer burst
from the men of the Brigade. By the closing up of
intervals, their formation had now assumed the form
of two nearly continuous lines. At the order of the
General of Division the rear companies of the
Cameron and Gordon Highlanders were held back
as a support. A picture of Wauchope as he stood
at the moment of the onslaught, with sword raised
at arm's length above his head, has remained photo
graphed on the memory of one who was near him at
the time.
The loose sand of the enemy's steep scarps afforded
treacherous foothold, whilst his fire told heavily on
the attacking line. In crossing the trench, into
which he had been one of the first to leap, Wauchope
fell or was knocked down. But for a wonder — so
consistently adverse was his luck — he escaped un-
wounded. A bullet through his helmet and another
through the scabbard of his sword constituted the
total of that day's dilapidations. Nevertheless,
on the strength of this accident, a report of his
death went abroad, so that after the fight was
over, the Duke of Connaught was heard to regret
that ' that good fellow Andy Wauchope had been
killed.' In the Regimental Records of the Black Watch
the account of what followed is meagre and laconic.

188 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Only to him who reads between the lines is its
splendid significance apparent. - It runs thus : ' The
regiment, without firing a shot,1 stormed the fort
and that part of the entrenchments which had been
assigned to it by the Commander-in-Chief. In
twenty-five minutes the enemy was in full flight,
and never rallied for one moment.' Yet the resist
ance, whilst it lasted, had been resolute and the fire
most trying. As compared with those sustained by
the rest of the army, the losses of the Highlanders
were great ; for, as at Amoaful, they had borne the
brunt of the fighting. In amplification of the above
it may be added that the Highland Brigade made
its entrance into the enemy's works in the form of a
wedge, the Black Watch and Highland Light In
fantry being momentarily retarded by having struck
on the fortifications where they were strongest and
of boldest outline. The carrying of the inner and
reverse works then proceeded, the enemy's guns
being rendered useless as they were captured.
In the bloodshed inseparable from an occasion
such as this, Wauchope had naturally borne his
part. But it was that side of warfare which was
repugnant to his finer feelings. When the conflict
was over, he, with his subaltern, sought a momentary
repose and shelter from the risen sun, seating them
selves upon the mud floor of a room in the neigh
bouring barracks. A sergeant of the regiment
stumbled by accident upon this place, and seeing
by whom it was occupied, would have withdrawn.
But Wauchope in his own kindly way called him
1 That is, until the summit was reached.

AFTER THE BATTLE 189
back, naming him and adding, ' Come in, come in,
and sit down ; you have as much right to be here as
we have.' About eight inches of his blood-stained
sword protruded from the end of the broken scab
bard, and, as he sat, he surprised his companions by
the ejaculation, ' I say, Duff, what brutes we men
are ! ' He referred of course to the recent slaughter.
A sorry reflection this when made in cold blood.
But after all it was a soldier's work in which he had
been engaged, and it had to be done.
Pleasanter to contemplate, however, than this
Homeric reminiscence is the account of Wauchope's
labours after the battle. I have said that the losses
of the Highlanders had been heavy ; it was at such
a time as this that the Captain's ever-active sym
pathy for his men was most active and most
tender. So now he went carefully over the battle
field, singling out the living from the dead, giving
them to drink out of his water-bottle, superintending,
or himself aiding in, their removal from the ground.
In the hospital he was equally assiduous in ministra
tion. Such scenes as these, we are told, never failed
to fill him with sadness.
On the afternoon of the same day, September
13th, the battalion proceeded by train to within
a few miles of Zagazig, where it arrived next
morning. Having secured the railway plant, it
proceeded to Belbeis, an important junction on
the desert's edge, where it remained for nine days,
without tents and enduring considerable privations.
Here Wauchope, as usual, thought less of his own
discomforts than of those of his men. His colour-

190 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
sergeant gratefully recalls, when food was short,
being beckoned under a wagon where his Captain
was seated and supplied with biscuits and a flask of
wine, which he was commanded to eat before he
stirred from the place. On another day he received
a basket of fruit from the same quarter. No doubt
there are many others who could tell similar tales.
It was here also, as has been already described, that
Wauchope would rise early to prepare fires for the
breakfasts of the men of his company.
On the 23rd the battalion proceeded to Camp
Ghezireh near Cairo, where it was again brigaded
with the Highland Brigade under Hamley. The
fruits of victory had now begun to be enjoyed. In
congratulating the Brigade on its steadiness through
out the night march and determined courage shown
in the storming of the works at Tel-el-Kebir, Sir
Archibald Alison had compared its conduct to that
of the ' historical Brigade which Sir Colin led up the
grassy slopes of Alma' — a noble compliment and
well-earned. On the 16th the Queen had con
gratulated her army on their ' bloodless occupation
of Cairo, capture of Arabi and other rebels against
the authority of the Khedive, and termination of
the campaign.' The war was over. Wauchope's
services in it were recognised by the British and
Egyptian Governments by the presentation of the
Egyptian medal with clasp and of the Khedive's
Star. The battalion remained at Ghezireh until
towards the end of November.
Ere this, however, Wauchope had returned to
England. The disease from which his brother had

AN EVIL-DOER 191
been suffering had entered its final phase, and on
November 28th Major Wauchope died. Robust-
looking man though he had been, he was but forty-
one years old. Andy was now laird of the Niddrie
Marischal and Yetholm estates ; but, except in so
far as it affected his duty, we may be sure that
that was the last aspect of the occurrence which he
regarded. The severing of so old and intimate a
tie must have grieved him very deeply. As an
illustration of the terms of boyish playfulness with
one another on which the brothers had remained,
the following little episode is to the point.
During William Wauchope's tenure of office as
an M.F.H., he was much annoyed by a certain
owner of land situated within his ' country,' who,
because he himself preferred shooting to hunting,
persisted in destroying every fox he could lay hands
on. Andy, who at the time was hunting with his
brother, entered warmly into his feelings. Well,
the obnoxious person — a novus homo, as I think —
was about to come up for election to that strong
hold of the county gentlemen of Scotland, the
New Club of Edinburgh. His misdeeds had lately
been particularly heinous, and on the eve of the
Club ballot, the Master and his brother, sitting up
late together in confidential talk, mooted the ques
tion of 'blackballing' him. Once suggested, the
notion gained upon them. It seemed, indeed, no
more than the just punishment of egregious wrong
doing — there could be no other view of it. Yes ;
the morrow was a non-hunting day — they would
go into Edinburgh together, and put their idea into

192 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
practice. So they parted for the night, their minds
fully and irrevocably made up. But a few minutes
later the door of the Master's bedroom opened, and
Andy en deshabille put in his head. ' I think we
won't,' said he deprecatingly. That was all, and
then and there the cherished project fell to the
ground. It takes a sweet nature to be thus per
suasive, or thus persuaded. And now, as I have
said, the old pleasant tie was severed for good
and all.
But a yet nearer and dearer tie was on the point
of being formed. The duration of the Egyptian
campaign had been a time of great anxiety for the
family at Cambo ; who, besides their prospective
connection by marriage, Captain Wauchope, had a
son among the troops engaged. Fortunately the
unfounded report of Wauchope's death at Tel-el-
Kebir did not reach Scotland. Nevertheless Miss
Erskine's suspense at that time was not only acute
but prolonged ; for, though the news of her brother's
safety reached Cambo soon after the engagement,
the returns of killed and wounded in the Black
Watch had taken longer to make up and did not
come to hand until some time afterwards. But now
at last anxiety was fairly past, and the wedding,
which had been postponed once already on account
of the outbreak of the war, need be delayed no
longer. It was arranged that it should be cele
brated quietly at Cambo on December the 9th.
As things turned out, however, but for exceptional
determination and perseverance on the bridegroom's
part, it could not have taken place upon that day.

A DIFFICULT JOURNEY 193
It must be realised that Cambo is situated in the
outlying seaboard district which terminates in Fife
Ness — the East Neuk of Fife as it is called — a
tract of country which was until recently a house
hold word among Scotch folk for its ' out of the
world ' and exclusive character. Twenty years ago
there was no railway-station nearer to Sir Thomas
Erskine's seat than either Anstruther or St. Andrews
— neither of them less than eight miles off. This
in itself would have been nothing had not an in
opportune and protracted snow-storm chosen just
then to block the roads. Add to this a game
of cross-purposes, and the situation has romantic
possibilities enough to serve, without heightening,
for the use of Mr. Thomas Hardy.
In the circumstances above indicated, after due
deliberation on the problem of the journey, Captain
Wauchope had decided to take the more round
about route — judging that St. Andrews would be
more likely than Anstruther to furnish the means
necessary amid present difficulties for accomplishing
the final stage. To St. Andrews accordingly he
went ; but it so happened that, the Anstruther road
being the nearer as well as the clearer of the two,
it was from Anstruther that Sir Thomas Erskine
was expecting his son-in-law elect.
Arrived amid the wind and foam of the little
University town, the bridegroom found himself
pulled up short. The storm still raged, the roads
were pronounced impassable, no job-master could
be induced by money or persuasion to forward him
upon his way. Thus was he thrown back upon
N

194 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
himself; but he was equal to the occasion. Hiring
the two best horses which the livery-stable could
produce, and having transferred his effects to ex
temporised saddle-bags, he set forth in defiance of
weather, drift, and wreath, a servant of his own
attending him. Their journey was toilsome, dan
gerous even, and lacked not its mishaps. For
before they had gone far, the depth of the confront
ing block drove them to what Wauchope, when he
told the tale, described as a 'flank movement.' In
other words, they were compelled to leave the road
and take to the fields. Here the Captain's horse
fell, and rolling through drifted snow into a ditch,
narrowly escaped being buried alive. Nor were the
united efforts of the rider and his henchman of avail
to extricate the beast. Well might the latter, as
he wiped the perspiration from his brow, protest
that, in comparison with this, 'Egypt wasn't in it.'
But at last assistance was procured from a farm,
the horse was set upon his legs, and the travellers
resumed their journey.
Meantime Miss Erskine had driven to Anstruther
to meet her bridegroom, where of course no bride
groom was, and had returned disappointed to Cambo.
Still, all's well that ends well. Thanks to his
pluck and energy, the Captain duly reached his
destination — way-worn, perhaps, but sound of limb,
and in ample time for the ceremony, which next
day took place as arranged.
Thus were the circumstances attending his first
marriage by no means the least characteristic of
his life.

CHAPTER VIII
LIFE IN CAIRO — CHOLERA — DEATH OF MRS. WAUCHOPE
 SIR GERALD GRAHAM'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE
MAHDI — EL TEB— AGAIN SEVERELY WOUNDED —
PROMOTION — THE GORDON RELIEF EXPEDITION
The wedding over, Captain and Mrs. Wauchope
took their departure for" Edinburgh, returning to
Cambo on December 23rd to spend Christmas, and
leaving again before the end of the year. On
February 13th, 1883, after a short stay in London,
they started for Cairo, where Wauchope's battalion
still occupied the Kasr-el-Nil barracks.
At Cairo Wauchope and his bride spent a very
happy time together, and in view of what the future
held in store it seems doubly hard that this should
have been curtailed. To Mrs. Wauchope the East
was new. The beautiful and bizarre city, with its
motley indwellers; its tortuous lanes and over
hanging houses ; its mosques and minarets ; its
palaces, tombs, gardens, cisterns; its bazaars with
their display of gold-work, woven fabrics, and
strange sweetmeats ; its groves of palm, mimosa,
and acacia; its neighbouring pyramids, and its
associations of Saladin and the Egyptian Caliphs
— these things were amply sufficient to impress and
fascinate the mind of a new comer. And, besides
195

196 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
this, we may be sure that Wauchope would lose
no time in interesting his wife in the company
and the regiment which filled so large a space in
his own life. He found in her an apt pupil, who
was able to render him material assistance in his
care for the welfare of his men. The young couple
inhabited one of the large hotels of Cairo, made
many riding-excursions together, and enjoyed a
good deal of the society of Dr. Grant, well known
as ' Grant Bey,' and, I believe, of the present Lord
Kitchener. But, as I have said, this pleasant exist
ence was not to last long. Though blessed with
a healthy climate, Cairo was this year visited by
epidemic cholera ; which, having first appeared at
Damietta, in Lower Egypt, towards the end of
June, spread thence along the valley of the Nile,
reaching the capital on July the 15th. Several cases
occurred in the regiment, which, on the 20th of
the month, was transferred to Suez, where a cholera-
camp was formed. But before this it had been
decided that, in order to be out of the way of
infection, Mrs. Wauchope must return to Eng
land. And as her husband could not at such a
time desert the post of duty, unwelcome as was
the parting to them both, she went alone. After
being detained in quarantine at Venice during
very hot weather, she reached London on July
17th. In August the regiment again shifted its
quarters — this time to Geneffeh, between Suez
and Ismailia, and early in September it returned
to Kasr-el-Nil.
Meantime Wauchope, acting as Brigade-Major,

Jwttn, bferM-u; fat/fwi/uij L .

y/.C^Ua,,/,

(I

f>p*

CHOLERA 197
had been left behind in Cairo in charge of a small
detachment. The epidemic raged around him, and
his own men did not entirely escape.1 This afforded
just the sort of opportunity in which his strong
qualities would especially shine out, and we are
not surprised to hear that he was indefatigable in
his exertions on behalf of the sufferers, thoughtless
of risk to self in his visits to their bedsides in
hospital, open-handed in contributing to their com
fort, and earnest in cheering and encouraging them.
By August 16th he is able to write to a friend
at home that ' cholera is dwindling down rapidly.'
He adds : ' It is an awful pestilence ; 176 soldiers
have been attacked — 139 deaths. I have been in
perfect health, and as Brigade-Major to the troops
here have had my work cut out for me.' It was
not until October 25th that he found it possible
to rejoin his wife at Cambo. From November 26th
to December 22nd they stayed together at Niddrie,
thoroughly enjoying a picnic-like existence in the
old house, where the prospect of a prompt return
to Egypt made it seem useless to inaugurate a
regular establishment. Then, after spending Christ
mas and the New Year at Cambo, they went to
London, where on January 25th Mrs. Wauchope
gave birth to twin boys. At first the young mother
appeared to be doing well; but on February 3rd,
to the unspeakable grief of her husband, she was
taken from him. Their married life had lasted less
than fourteen months, and during four of these
they had been separated. Let me here close this
1 See Letter to Colour-Sergeant Logan, dated July 31st, 1883, p. 149.

198 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
saddest of chapters in Wauchope's history, for the
sequel is scarcely less sad than the commence-^
ment. On Mrs. Wauchope's death her little boys
were removed to Cambo, where Lady Erskine and
her daughters did all that was possible to supply
the place of a mother to them. There they remained
until three years later, when, in April 1887, Willie,
a remarkably clever and promising child, died after
a short illness. In the same month his brother,
who had never shared his bright intellect, took
scarlet-fever and became dangerously ill ; and though
by the help of devoted nursing his life was spared,
he remained disqualified from taking his part in
life. To return to the father, it is generally agreed
among his friends that from this time forward the
seriousness which had first noticeably characterised
him after the Ashanti campaign, and which had
been broken in on by the past year's great happi
ness, became deepened and intensified. It is no
conventional form of speech to say that it took
him many years to get over his loss. His grief
was that of a strong, deep, self-contained nature ;
and as one looked on his fine, austere, but never
ungenial countenance, one could not but feel that
the wounds incurred in old campaigns were not the
only ones from which he suffered, and that those
other wounds were the more difficult to heal. None
the less is there one alleged token of his sorrow
which we are compelled to deny. It has been said
that, in the first overpowering pain of his bereave
ment, he would gladly have availed himself of the

POWER OF SELF-CONTROL 199
opportunities of the campaign in which he found
himself engaged to throw away a life which had
become burdensome to him. But besides the
evidence from character — in itself conclusive to
those who knew him well — there is sufficient
external evidence for rejecting this story. Cases
of the kind alleged — where grief has completely
mastered a brave soldier — there have doubtless
been, and they can but call forth deep sympathy.
But Wauchope was far too fine a fellow, too strong
in moral self-control, too deeply religious by nature,
for conduct such as has been suggested. Uniformly
fearless, he would as little have courted danger for
objects of his own as he would have shirked when
duty called him to face it. For to him this would
have meant a dereliction of what he held most
sacred in the world.
One striking instance of his power of self-control
is afforded by his conduct while in hospital after
being wounded at El Teb. His loss was at that
time still fresh, so that between grief and physical
pain his lot for the time must have been a particu
larly cruel one. Anxious to know how he had
borne it, some friends who were warmly interested
in him took the first opportunity of inquiring from
eye-witnesses. To their surprise, it was replied to
them that Wauchope had been the ' life and soul '
of the patients in hospital. But, to any one who
had had experience of his power of putting self
aside in the thought of others, the anomaly is easily
explained. This statement, as I need hardly add,
does not suggest the conduct of a man who would

200 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
allow desperation to master him. But I am here
in advance of my story.
In the midst of his great sorrow one great con
solation was vouchsafed to him. For to a nature
such as his, the one possible distraction at such a time
lay in the call of duty to active employment, and
such employment now lay ready for him. On the
13th February his battalion had received orders to
hold itself in immediate readiness to proceed to
Suakim, on the Red Sea, as part of a Field Force
under Major-General Sir Gerald Graham, destined
to operate in the Eastern Soudan. At six o'clock
next morning the regiment was paraded in marching
order (grey serges), all present, and proceeded to
Suez, where it embarked on board H.M.S. Orontes.
Off Suakim it was ordered to continue its journey
as far as Trinkitat, where it disembarked late on
the evening of the 21st February. There it was
detained for a week by scarcity of water and by
delay in the arrival of transports ; and there it was
joined by Wauchope, who had sailed from England
nine days after losing his wife, and was not to
return there until May of the year following. A
letter dated from H.M.S. Helicon, February 18th,
and addressed to A. D. M. Black, Esquire, his
lawyer and intimate friend, affords some insight
into his state of mind at this time. ' We have had
a gale of wind since we left,' he says, • and I am
writing now under the utmost difficulties. ... If
this weather continues, we shall be late for relief
of Tokar, and I shall lose professionally, for I am
appointed Deputy- Assistant -Adjutant -General to

THE MAHDI 201
the Expedition. But I care little now — I feel as
if the spur to my ambition was no longer there, as
if I cared not now what may befall me.' Later on,
alluding to his infant children, he adds : ' Poor little
things ! I know you will be good to them should
they be orphans — and it is not unlikely.'
A word or two to recall to the reader the occa
sion of the present campaign. The lapsing of the
Dual Control, just prior to the .bombardment of
Alexandria, had thrown upon England the onus
of maintaining order in Egypt ; and that this
promised to be no easy task was shown by the
fact that, hardly had Arabi's revolt against the
authority of the Khedive been reduced, when it
became necessary to deal with a second and cer
tainly not less formidable rising. The leader of
the new insurrection was Mohammed Achmet,
the son of a carpenter of Dongola, in Nubia, who
some three years before this time had put forth a
claim to be recognised as the ' Mahdi ' foretold by
Mohammed, and in this character had declared war
against the Egyptian Government. As to his true
character there is room for wide divergence of
opinion. Let us cite the verdict of one who not
only understands the Arab better than most British
writers, but who also has less of insular fixity of
standpoint than is generally found in our native
histories of our own times. Says Sir William
Butler in his Life of General Gordon (p. 193) :
' To his friends he was a genius, a guide, a Mahdi ;
to his enemies an impostor, a villain, a fanatic ; to
history he will be a man who proved his possession

202 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
of great genius by the creation of empire out of
nothing, and by the triumph of his revolt of Islam
over the highly disciplined efforts of the most
powerful of European nations.' That much at least
seems incontestable.
Supposing that his main aspiration were really
to unite in one confederation the inhabitants of that
almost limitless tract of unreclaimed world known
as the Soudan, Mohammed Achmet could scarcely
have chosen a more suitable moment for his attempt.
For the condition of that country was ripe indeed
for revolution. In 1879 ' Chinese ' Gordon had
resigned its government, to which he had been
appointed five years previously — his withdrawal
being the signal for a new outbreak of all those
forces of disorder which he had contrived to hold
in comparative restraint. Slave -dealers resumed
the cruel and wholesale traffic which his rule had
interrupted — thus goading to madness those desert
races which Egyptian over- taxation had already
roused to the extreme of discontent. The fire lay
ready for the fuse, and the Mahdi — whose efforts so
far had been directed to forming useful connections
and to establishing a reputation for personal sanctity
— was quick to perceive his opportunity. One ad
vantage he enjoyed which could not have been fore
seen. It lay in the sympathy of Gladstone J and the
marvellous supineness of the then Foreign Secretary,
Lord Granville, whose policy — called by courtesy of
non-intervention — carried pusillanimity and vacilla
tion to a point which they had scarcely reached before.
1 Morley's Life of Gladstone, vol. iii. p. 144 et seq.

THE BELEAGUERED GARRISONS 203
Committed though he was by the bombardment of
Alexandria to the armed support of the Egyptian
Government, he now decided that Egypt should
relinquish the Soudan. But, before relinquishing
it, it was at least necessary that the Egyptian
garrisons, fiercely beleaguered in various towns and
stations of the desert, should be relieved and fetched
away. Attempts to relieve garrisons thus situated
had, however, already proved fatal to the expedition
of Hicks Pasha at Kashgate, and to the force com
manded by Baker Pasha at the first battle fought
at El Teb. It was abundantly evident that the
Egyptian army was unequal to its task — which was
therefore now assigned to British troops.
The little army assembled for the purpose num
bered in all 206 officers and 4233 men, and formed
two Brigades under the respective commands of
Sir Redvers Buller and Major-General John Davis,
with which were associated a Naval Brigade, Royal
Artillery, Mounted Infantry, and Cavalry. The
Black Watch (1st Battalion) formed part of the
Second Brigade. Starting from Trinkitat on the
28th February, it bivouacked that night at Fort
Baker, which had been seized two days previously.
Though the distance was short, the march thither
had been not without difficulties, it having been
found necessary in one place to cut down acacia-
trees to form a corduroy road across morass. And
here I may explain that the first object of the
present concentration of troops had been the relief
of the neighbouring garrison of Tokar. But the
garrison having surrendered a few days earlier, it

204 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
seems to have been determined to utilise the
expedition by striking a blow at Osman Digna, the
Mahdi's redoubtable lieutenant in the Eastern
Soudan, and capturing his fortified works at El
Teb. There were also British dead who had fallen
in the recent fight there awaiting burial.
At eight o'clock on the morning of February 29th
the march was resumed from Fort Baker. The
formation adopted in the advance was that of a
rectangle, having an interior space of about 500
by 150 yards. The Black Watch advanced in line,
and when halted formed the rear face of the figure
— being drawn up 25 yards to the rear of its right
and left faces. The intervals left at the angles were
designed to be filled by the guns and Gatlings
which accompanied the force. The front and left of
the square were covered by a squadron of the 10th
Hussars, the right by a troop of the 19th Hussars,
the remainder of the cavalry being in rear. Detach
ments in charge of a gun or two had been left behind
at the last halting-place, as well as at the base of
operations, to secure them. The men marched with
water-bottles filled, carrying one day's rations. A
heavy shower which had fallen before daybreak
made the ground — consisting of low sand-hills over
grown with bush — at first very heavy ; so that, as
the Naval Brigade and Artillery dragged their guns
by hand, frequent halts were necessary to rest them.
The only transport animals present were those em
ployed to bear ammunition and surgical appliances,
which occupied the centre of the rectangle.
After a misleading report of the enemy's presence,

BATTLE OF EL TEB 205
at about 11.20 o'clock Sir Gerald Graham unex
pectedly found his square in front of an entrenched
position, which had somehow escaped the notice of
the reconnoitring party. The entrenchment was
roughly semi-circular in form, and was armed with
two Krupp guns, captured at the rout of Baker's
force. Fire was now opened from it on the British
square, which, however, continued its advance in
silence until it came opposite to the left flank of the
position, towards which it was then fronted (its
proper left face being thus turned to the enemy).
From this time the progress of the battle may be»
divided into four movements.
The men, being halted, were now ordered to lie down
until our guns, playing upon the enemy at a distance
of about 900 yards, should have silenced his battery
— thus preparing the way for our assault. And here
it may be mentioned that, among the peculiar
horrors of this battle — of which there were several
— not the least was the odour of death arising from
the bodies which had fallen in the recent action
fought in the neighbourhood. The practice made
by our gunners, which was carried on with great
coolness, proved remarkably accurate ; so that, with
the help of the machine-guns of the Naval Brigade,
in less than half an hour the two Krupps had ceased
to respond to us. The gunners employed to work
them, being taken slightly in reverse, had indeed
been driven from their posts. They were ascer
tained to be Egyptians from the garrison of Tokar,
and their marksmanship, faulty at first, had rapidly
improved, so that, before ceasing fire, they had

206 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
dropped several shells within our square. The
desertion of the enemy's guns concluded the first
act of the engagement.
It was now the turn of the infantry to come into
action. Accordingly, moving by its left face, the
square advanced upon the two-gun battery, on
which rested the enemy's left flank. The orders
were that up to within 300 yards of the position
firing was to be by volleys only, independent firing
commencing afterwards.
Having thus approached within a short distance
of the works, the fighting-line then raised a cheer
and rushed upon them — the blue-jackets rendering
valuable assistance with their guns, and the re
mainder of the square following them up to the
music of the bagpipes. But the Soudanese, as
recent fighting had proved, were a very different
sort of enemy from the Lower Egyptian. Instead
of awaiting the assault, they rushed forward to meet
it. Nor, so long as life remained, did the fixed
bayonets, or the deadly fire of Martini rifles, upon
which they flung themselves, avail to check their
onslaught. Armed with spears and rudely-shapen
swords, the work of native smiths, they fought with
the desperation of fanaticism, dashing recklessly
against the square, and provoking a series of hand-
to-hand encounters, under the strain of which our
formation lost some of its famed power of resistance.
But though a few of the Soudanese entered, none
left it alive.
Whilst it lasted the contest was fierce, but it
did not last long. The square was reformed, the

PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE 207
advance resumed, and, though still subjected to a
succession of fierce rushes on the part of the enemy,
by 12.20 o'clock1 — one hour, that is, after the first
opening of the enemy's fire — our troops were in
possession of the battery. Colonel Burnaby, re
puted the strongest man in the British army of his
day, and famous for his memorable ride to Khiva
and his narrative recounting the same, was the
first to mount the enemy's defence-works. He
was closely followed by some soldiers of the Black
Watch. No sooner was the position seized than
the Krupp guns were wheeled round and directed
against the remaining battery of the enemy's cres
cent-shaped entrenchment.
As yet, however, the battle was but half won.
The British square was now turned to its rear —
which brought the First Battalion Black Watch
into the front face — with the object of ' rolling up '
the enemy in his position from left to right.
But, ere this movement could be executed, oc
curred the cavalry charge under Brigadier-General
Stewart, which, however brilliant and dashing in
itself, has been much criticised on the ground of
prematureness. Sweeping round to the rear of the
enemy's position, and passing by the present right
face of the square, the hussars fell upon the enemy,
which was there collected in large numbers, perhaps
with the intention of forming a reserve-force. But
though the execution thus effected was considerable,
it was dearly purchased by a long list of casualties.
1 The Regimental Records of the Black Watch give an even earlier
hour.

208 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
To return to the infantry. Though one of the
enemy's batteries had fallen, there remained the
second — placed roughly at a right angle to the other,
and strengthened by a number of rifle-pits, which
had been dug with science, and were occupied by
resolute men, prepared to sell their lives dearly.
This point, indeed, formed the strength of the
enemy's position. It was defended with extra
ordinary determination ; nor were the rifle-pits
carried until the last of their defenders had been
shot down. The advance of our soldiers, however,
was irresistible. Perhaps the hottest of the fighting
took place around a certain brick building in the
village, which had been loopholed by the Arabs,
and within which, when it was carried, one hundred
and sixty of their bodies were discovered. It was
one o'clock ere the enemy showed signs of retiring,
and an hour later ere their remaining battery was
seized. The Arabs then drew off in the direction of
Tokar or of Suakim, our soldiers crowded to the
wells of El Teb, and the victory was complete.
Before this, however, Wauchope's share in the
battle had terminated. During the advance on the
guns, his position on horseback as a member of the
Staff had made him conspicuous as a mark for the
enemy. As he rode, he reconnoitred the position
through his field-glass — having done which, he
returned the latter to its case, but neglected to re
place the case where it usually swung at his back.
In after years he would tell how this trifling neglect,
due to the pre-occupation of the moment, was pro
bably the means of saving his life. For, a moment

BREVET LIEUTENANT-COLONEL 209
later, a bullet struck the glass, but for the interven
tion of which it is believed that the shot must have
killed him. As it was he was badly wounded.
Yet he had no thought of leaving the field. At
last his pallor, following loss of blood, attracted
the attention of Sir Redvers, who endeavoured to
persuade him to have his wound attended to.
Wauchope, however, scouted the idea, protesting
that it was unnecessary, that he felt ' as fit as a fiddle,'
— till at last the Brigadier took the only course which,
in these circumstances, was likely to be effective, and
declared that he was in the way. After that, of course,
there was nothing for it but for Wauchope to retire.
Says Sir Gerald Graham's despatch, published in the
London Gazette of May 6th, 1884, ' . . . both before
and during the action — even after receiving his
wound — he did good service, and would not go on
the sick-list until compelled to do so.' The shattered
glass, which had rendered so important a service, is
preserved at Niddrie House with other relics and
war-trophies of the General's.
Along with the rest of the wounded, he was taken
back to Trinkitat, and thence to Suakim, and placed
in hospital. But, hating inaction as he did, he was
the reverse of a good patient, and it was difficult to
keep him there. So, a few days after being wounded,
he might have been seen seated on the Red Sea
shore, among military stores of various kinds, calmly
entering a note of certain provisions which were
being landed. He would make himself useful in
this way at least, if no other was possible. Doubt
less, too, he intended that this should serve as a
o

210 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
demonstration of recovery, and a first step to a
return to the front — for which the news of the cut
ting up of his regiment at Tamai must have made
him restlessly anxious. But, strong as it was, his
constitution was not equal to his demands on it. As
the result of his wound, peritonitis was set up, and
his share in the present short campaign was thus
definitely closed. His services were recognised by
his being mentioned in despatches, by two clasps,
and by a Brevet Lieutenant- Colonelcy, dated May
21st. He had become a Major on March 14th of
this year, and thus gained two steps in as many
months. Referring to this in a letter addressed to
Mr. Black, he says, ' I am to be made a Lieutenant-
Colonel, which is an enormous promotion for me.
As I am situated, my Lieutenant-Colonel service en
ables me to qualify at once for full Colonel. I ought
to be a young Major-General if I live.' His wound
proved much more troublesome than had at first been
expected, but he derived much benefit from the
mountain air of Troodos in Cyprus, where, during
the summer, he paid a visit to an old military friend.
A further letter to A. D. M. Black, Esq., dated
Kasr-el-Nil, May 15th, 1884, shows him in much
better spirits than an earlier one quoted from. After
touching upon the decline of trade at home and
abroad, he continues : ' Things here are going from
bad to worse — we have a really rotten Govern
ment. . . . ' Then he goes on : ' By the way, please
pay Mansfield Mackenzie ' (Mr. Black's partner) '£5,
which I lost in a wager. Give him my love. It
would do his lungs good to come up with us to

HELPING A FRIEND 211
Khartoum, and then we would employ him in " con
veyancing " the Soudan over to somebody or another
— with fortalices, and manors, and biggings, there
unto belonging, etc. etc. I shall be glad to see
one of my sons in the Law, but I should prefer
the Advocate line. And yet I don't know — it all
depends on the brains.'
The subjoined letter, addressed to Lieutenant
(afterwards Captain) Norman MacLeod,1 of the
Black Watch, refers to an incident at the battle of El
Teb. It was written before Wauchope had recovered
his health, and exhibits in a very characteristic
manner his unfailing desire to forward, so far as in
him lay, the interests of those who served with him.
To Lieutenant Macleod.
' Cairo, June 6th, 1884.
' My dear Mac, — I got yours this mail, and have been
thinking much over it.
' In my report I brought your name forward for a conspicu
ous act of cool gallantry, just such as the V.C. is wont to be
given for, and then I described the particulars. Graham,
for some reason or another which I can neither fathom nor
divine, declines to recommend you, because your getting it
would reflect on others. By what argument he arrives at that
conclusion I cannot make out. He does not attempt to deny
that you deserve it. But then what can one do ? Graham
refused to forward it at the proper time ; is it possible to
make him do it hereafter ? And if he did, could the matter
be now arranged ? The game of fighting for a V.C. is always
a losing one unless done and finished on the spot — that is my
fear. I will write Wolseley and tell him the whole thing, but
frankly I tell you I don't think he will move in the matter.
1 Mentioned in Sir Gerald Graham's despatch, dated March 31st,
1884, for 'coolness and gallantry in action.'

212 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' I think you have been abominably treated, and the whole
regiment thinks the same. However, it must be a source of
satisfaction to you to know that your having deserved the
V.C. is a fact known to all. . . . — Yours always,
' A. G. Wauchope.'

Returning now to the history of affairs in Egypt,
it will be remembered that, after the victory of El
Teb, further advantages over Osman Digna's fol
lowers were gained at Tokar, Tamai, Tamanieb.
After this, in pursuance of its policy of evacuation,
the British Government of the day withdrew our
force from the Soudan. This step was much criti
cised at the time, and there is little doubt that it
was received by the enemy in the light of an ac
knowledgment of weakness. Still less that, by
retiring from a present difficulty, that Government
vastly increased the work to be done in the not
distant future. In this respect the case of the
Soudan resembled that of the Transvaal. In
January 1884 General Gordon had been sent back
to Khartoum to superintend the work of evacuation.
But the evacuation of a beleaguered town is not
always feasible at will, and that was soon the con
dition of Khartoum. Realising how critical were
his own position and that of the well-affected in
habitants who relied on him for protection, as early
as the beginning of March Gordon had urged on
the home Government the desirability of relieving
him. To these representations the Government
for a long time continued obdurate. But, surely,
the whole sad story is too fresh in men's minds, too

A COLOSSAL ENTERPRISE 213
deeply engraven thereon, to call for recapitulation.
Suffice it to say that it was August ere the business
of relief was definitely set about. Once the expedi
tion was decided on, the necessary preparations were
pushed on with wonderful activity. That there was
no time to lose was indeed abundantly evident.
But the difficulties even of preparation were great.
Those who wish for a stirring and graphic account
of them can scarcely do better than turn to Sir
William Butler's Campaign of the Cataracts — a
work in which a man of action, who is also a poet,
has placed not only the practical, but also the spec
tacular and poetic sides of a great undertaking before
the eyes of times to come. Our business here is to
follow the movements of the Royal Highlanders, with
a special eye for Colonel Wauchope's share in them.
On September 16th the regiment was inspected at
Cairo by Sir Garnet Wolseley, who, after paying it
the high compliments due to its efficiency and con
duct in the field, alluded to the coming campaign
as likely to be one not so much of hard fighting
as hard work. . . . ' I shall want you to show
that you can work hard as well as fight,' he said ;
' and if there is any fighting to be done, I know that
I have only to call on the Black Watch, and you
will behave as you have always done.' Among the
remarkable gifts of the victor of Tel-el-Kebir
military prescience holds a foremost place, and his
prognostication in this instance was as usual veri
fied. The transport of an army by water, in the
face of superhuman difficulties of navigation,
through a distance of more than fifteen hundred

214 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
miles of blank, resourceless, and practically un
bounded wilderness, was indeed a colossal under
taking. But it is by encountering difficulties that
character is moulded, and human nature becomes
interesting to the spectator in proportion to the
struggle in which it is engaged, the degree of
resistance which it is called on to exercise. Hence
the lasting fascination of the story of the Nile
Expedition. Starting on October 5th, the regiment proceeded
by rail to Assiout, and thence in boats to the First
Cataract at Assouan. Here an unexpected check
occurred; for, two cases of smallpox having ap
peared in Wauchope's company, the Black Watch was
cut off from the expedition, and placed in a mild form
of quarantine. An irksome hindrance this, when
time was of such infinite value, and when all were
anxious to be pushing on, and to be ' in ' whatever
might await the Expedition. Still there was nothing
for it but to submit and make the best of things.
During this period of suspended operations, it
was important to keep the men amused, with which
object a series of theatrical representations was in
augurated. The camp having been pitched in a
palm-grove, a theatre of palm-trees was constructed,
on the stage of which Wauchope — the born come
dian, whose talent none would have suspected —
repeated his success won long before at the Theatre
Royal, Edinburgh. As was his manner always, he
had thrown himself into the business of the moment,
though one cannot but believe that his thoughts
were otherwise occupied. It was also long since he

IRKSOME DELAY 215
had played his part, and his recollection of the words
being imperfect, one day during a 'stand easy'
when the corps was exercising, he pulled the play-
book out of his pocket and began to con it over.
So absorbed did he become that the regiment moved
off without his knowledge, leaving him solitary in
mid-desert in an attitude of deep contemplation.
A sand-storm which was blowing at the time com
pletes a striking though unrehearsed tableau. On
another occasion he appeared on the stage in an
absurd get-up, designed to travesty that of his friend
the Commander of the Expedition.
Such were the lighter occupations of the time.
During work-hours Wauchope was indefatigable in
preparing his men, by means of daily instruction,
for the arduous duties which lay before them. Here
his early experience as a sailor was of great service,
and among other things he is remembered to have
given lessons in the art of splicing a rope. But all
the while he was inwardly chafing lest the present
enforced delay should make him too late to take
part in any fighting which might await the Expedi
tion. As his bad luck would have it, this delay
was protracted. For, after his period of quarantine
had expired, he had still to await the arrival of the
Canadian boatmen, who had been specially engaged
for the present service, and without two of whom
on board it had been ordered that no boat was to
commence its voyage up the Nile. The Canadians,
by the way, aware of the dependence placed on
them, in some instances abused their power. It is
said that the value of their services varied very

216 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
considerably. In certain cases they were not only
useless, but troublesome into the bargain, taking
exception to informality of speech on the part of
the officers they served, and perversely declining
to be hurried. When at last the Forty-Second got
under way, it was found that there were still not
enough Canadians to go round the boats, and it was
afterwards remarked with some satisfaction that it
was not those which were without them which got
on worst.
Owing to the causes assigned above, Wauchope's
company was the last to leave Assouan — whence it
started with orders to push on with the utmost
speed possible, sweeping up as it went all details
and detachments which for any reason had been
left behind upon the route followed by the main
body of the Expedition. Hence it came about that
Wauchope had an unusually large number of boats
— about sixty, I believe — under his command.
Boats had been specially constructed for the present
service, and the Colonel had employed his interval
of leisure in instructing his men how to enter and
leave, load, unload, and otherwise manage them.
For a maximum of speed compatible with proper
navigation it was quite safe to rely on him.
It was not till now that the tug of war began,
and a tug of war it proved to be indeed. Cataract
and current, broken water and rapids had to be
surmounted and struggled with as best might be
— a work not only of appallingly hard labour, but
of varied danger too. But this was just the sort of
occasion to which Wauchope rose ; these daily trials

A PLUCKY ACT 217
were the touchstones which revealed the grit of his
character. There are many incidents to prove this,
of which here is one. In the risky proceeding of
ascending a cataract, in addition to the rope by
which it was towed, each boat was secured by a
' life-line ' — that is, a rope stretched at right angles
from the boat to the shore, of which the object is
to prevent the boat getting its broadside to the force
of the water and so being capsized. One day when
superintending the passage of his flotilla, Wauchope
saw that one of these life-lines had got out of hand,
and that the current, having caught the boat to
which it was attached, was carrying it out into
mid-stream. Seeing this, he at once intervened in
person, rushing forward and grasping the rope, and
— though it tore through the flesh of both hands to
the bone, and dragged him out up to the middle in
the river — keeping fast hold of it, and thus preserving
the boat from swamping and the man who was in
it from drowning. But so severe was the laceration
of his own hands that for weeks he had to keep
them bandaged — no slight aggravation of the hard
ships and discomforts of a campaign.
If I have written thus far without showing that
few if any officers of the British Army have been
more considerate of their men than was Wauchope,
then have I written in vain. What I am aware
that I have not yet fully shown is how stern a
disciplinarian he could be when occasion called for
it. Let me repair my omission. The reader will
easily realise that the circumstances now described
brooked no trifling ; the vital importance of losing

218 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
no time has already been insisted on. In the
procession of boats strict orders had been issued
that each boat should follow without deviation in
the course laid down by the leading boat, com
manded at this time by a young officer who was
something of an expert. On no pretext what
soever was there to be any indulgence in 'taking
a line of one's own.' Well, having arrived at a
point where the channel forked, and having duly
made his observations, the young officer saw reasons
for following the rougher and less inviting of the
two streams. He did so, and with one exception
the other boats followed him. The exception was
a boat commanded by a sergeant (who shall here be
nameless) who now, dressed in a little short-lived
exultation, made good progress up the smoother
waters. When Wauchope realised his defection,
there was nothing for it but to halt the procession,
and, after consultation, to send a boat in pursuit.
For there were the best of grounds for believing
that the channel taken by the sergeant would bring
him up in a cul-de-sac The pursuit downstream,
up the side-channel, and back, delayed Wauchope's
progress by some twelve precious hours in all, and his
righteous anger was in consequence extreme. He
declared then and there that he would have the
sergeant shot (as it was competent for him to do)
for disobedience of orders whilst in an enemy's
country. Accordingly that night the death-penalty
hung over the misdoer's head. Next day he was
reprieved, but the impression made by the Colonel's
sternness lasted throughout the campaign, so that

HARDSHIPS 219
no more was heard of his orders being disregarded.
This incident occurred just to the north of the
Amarah Cataract.
Painfully the Expedition pushed its way up the
mighty river, the only variation in its toil being
from land to water — from the Nile to the desert
rocks and sands which formed its shores. Living
was hard ; for, of the stores carried by the boats, only
common rations were allowed to be consumed, the
more luxurious provisions packed below them being
held by command in reserve. Where it was possible,
these supplies were supplemented by ' living on the
country.' Upon this regimen, seasoned with hard
labour, officers and men were not long in becoming
'fine-drawn.' To sleeping on the desert they soon
grew accustomed — that was by no means one of the
worst of their discomforts. But the impossibility,
after a while, of changing their clothes bred a plague
of body- vermin, which thrive rarely in a desert,
where it appears that they develop an amphibious
habit unknown in other places. And it was ' aye
the langer the waur.' Still there was Gordon to be
relieved ahead of them,, and no one ever thought of
giving in, or if he did, it was but for an instant.
Nor, mercifully, does any one at this time appear to
have regarded the possibility of his own best efforts
being in vain.
Like the worthy Scot he was, the Colonel had
taken the Presbyterian Chaplain who accompanied
the regiment under his own special protection, in
viting him to voyage with his company, where he
could personally look after his comfort. The Rev.

220 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
John Mactaggart is acknowledged to be a man of
great courage and coolness in action, and it is worth
remembering that the courage of the Army Chaplain,
if of a different quality, is no whit inferior to that of
the soldier himself. For he faces death without the
martial enthusiasm, the ' blood up,' the hope of dis
tinction, which sustain the latter, supported only by
his own quiet sense of duty. Mr. Mactaggart has
thus described to the writer some of the difficulties
of the voyage. There were places, he says, where
the current of the river was compressed between
rocks, where a boat's crew would pull for half-an-
hour at a stretch without gaining an inch. ' This is
heart-breaking work ! ' one of the men would per
haps then say ; when the pastor, mingling sympathy
with admonition, would reply, ' Yes, my lad ; but if
you stop for a moment to think of that, it is all up
with you.' And then presently the boat would
begin at last to make headway. The Chaplain adds
that, in spite of all difficulties and discouragements,
the next morning the boat's crew would turn to
their work as readily as ever. It is scarcely possible
to cut down closer to the quick of humanity than this.
True that it is only by struggling against adverse
circumstances that human nature comes to its own.
But, though that knowledge may be enough for those
engaged in the struggle, it ought not to be enough
for us who ' sit at home at ease.' Wauchope once
said that he felt ashamed at what he had to ask his
men to do, under the tropical Egyptian sun, for the
wage of tenpence a day ; and this remark of his was
quoted in the House of Commons by a Secretary of

'NO DERBY RACING' 221
State for War. The fact was that the Colonel had
the heart to feel for others, and to make their diffi
culties his own. To the Chaplain, who had then
recently experienced a run of bad luck — withheld
recognition of service and the like — he spoke these
cheering words : ' It was the same with myself —
everything was going against me when the tide
turned.' Of course the tussle against the forces of
nature was not of one equal severity, or no human
endurance could have stood it. So at Sarras, just
below the Second Cataract, where there was a fine
sheet of smooth water, Wauchope, fearing the
rebound of his men's spirits, found it expedient to
caution them against ' Derby racing,' as he put it.
Nor must it be supposed that no humorous
incidents relieved the mental strain of the journey.
There is one in particular which shows Wauchope's
resourcefulness in an amusing light. When the
boats under his command, after catching up the
remainder of the fleet, had arrived at Korti, where
the General had his head-quarters, Wauchope re
ceived an invitation to dine with Lord Wolseley.
But the hard labour of the route had told heavily on
his wardrobe, so that his trews were simply riddled
with holes. The only spare pair he had with him
was in no better condition — how then was he to cut
a decent figure in the presence of the superior officer
to whom he so looked up ? He was not long in
answering that question. Necessity is the mother
of invention, and, judging it extremely unlikely
that any pair of holes in the two pairs of trews
would be in exactly the same position, he put on

222 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
one pair over the other, and thus attired successfully
evaded the disgrace of honest Humphry Clinker.
One of his repartees of this period is worth pre
serving. Staff-officers had been told off to different
districts on the river-banks, whose business it was to
guide and instruct the crews in their passage up the
rapids. Sometimes, to those who were labouring
hard, advice tendered from this quarter would seem
rather officious than helpful, and so on one occasion
a certain smart Staff-officer found it necessary to pro
test against the neglect of his directions — which he
did in these words, ' I say there ! do you know who
I am ? I am Colonel  of the Guards.' Upon
which a roughly-attired worker in the boat paused
for a moment in his labours to reply, ' And do you
know who I am ? I am Colonel Wauchope of the
Black Watch — so honours are easy!' A good
rebuke to the snobbishness which shows signs of
invading our army.
Evidently also he was one of those who believe
that there is much in a name ; for, happening one
day to see a boat named Flying Scotsman in the act
of drifting back towards Cairo, he promptly issued
an order for the erasing of the ambiguous name.
By some means or other, Wauchope had con
ceived an altogether misleading notion of Abu
Fatmeh, at the head of the so-called Third Cataract.
This is a spot at which, by dint of hard pumping of
Nile mud, a certain meagre breadth of greenery on
both sides the river has been won. He, however,
had conceived of it as the most delightful of oases,
his ardent imagination had coloured the conception,

ABU FATMEH 223
and at last he had come to hold it out before his
men in many a struggle as a sort of Promised Land.
When his eye beheld the reality, he was grievously
disappointed — not on his own account, one may be
sure — and one can picture him, after taking his fill
of contemplation, at last throwing up his hands,
giving vent to his resigned ejaculation of 'Ah, well!'
and turning to the next work in hand.
Associated with the same place is another little
incident which also helps to reveal character. A Staff-
officer, Colonel (now General Sir Frederick) Maurice,
R. A., had been sent on in advance of the Relieving
Column to form a depot of provisions there. He
had been instructed that he would find a large supply
of biscuits awaiting him, but the reality fell far short
of the promise. Seeking a set-off against the de
ficiency, Maurice contrived to get wind of a corn-
growing district at no great distance. There he
bought corn, and having with great difficulty pro
cured women to grind it, he obtained a supply of
good fresh bread. This done, he would ride down
to meet the boats of the Expedition as they came in,
and offer to those in charge of them their choice of
bread or biscuit. In thus doing, he was employing
a little innocent disingenuousness to conceal his own
weak points ; for, though acting as if the choice
made were a matter of indifference to him, he was
secretly anxious to avoid a run upon his small stock
of biscuit. The supply of bread, on the other hand,
was not likely to be exhausted. It will readily be
understood that in most cases the fresh bread was
chosen as an acceptable variation on the monotony

224 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
of desert rations. Indeed the purveyor not only had
his unexpressed wishes gratified, but also received
not a little praise for his cleverness in providing
the change. But when Wauchope in his turn
came up, his choice fell upon biscuit, for which he
assigned the reason that his men were now so inured
to desert fare as positively to prefer it — adding on
his own part that it would be a pity now to expose
them to the risk of hungering after dainties which
would not generally be available. This was the man
all over whose scorn of luxuries was once forcibly ex
pressed by himself in the assertion that he could 'thrive
on dirt.' But Colonel Maurice was disconcerted.
Gallantly as he kept up his own spirits and those
of his subordinates, there is no doubt that the
hard labour, heavy responsibility, and anxiety of his
present position told even on Wauchope's constitu
tion. So, after showing some signs of overstrain, at
Handak, below Old Dongola, on the Christmas Eve
of 1884, he became ill. The symptoms were those
of poisoning, accompanied by delirium ; and the
crisis whilst it lasted was severe. But the next day
he was better ; his subalterns — Lieutenants Souter
and Livingston — fed him up, and he was soon him
self again.
A few extracts from an unpublished journal, kept
by one who at this time was in his company, will
here be not without interest. They take us back a
little in our narrative.
'December 1st. Leave Wady Haifa for Sarras
by train, thirty-five miles. To 10th December. —
Await boats at Sarras. Wauchope instructs his

A JOURNAL 225
men. E Company under his charge — sixteen boats,
ten men in each boat. Chaplain in leading boat of
second half; Wauchope in last. (Boats sunk in
river from twenty-four to forty-eight hours after
being brought from England to Alexandria ; then
by train to Assiout ; thence in barges, piled up in
tiers and covered with matting, to Philae. When
water-tight, over eighty boxes of various sizes and
weights, along with kits, rifles, etc., had to be stowed
in boat, thirty feet by seven feet. Two Canadians
to be in each boat to steer and at bow.)
'December 10th. Leave Sarras at 8.30 o'clock.
Pass over first rapid at 12.30. Wauchope buries
body of a Gordon Highlander.
' December 11th. By 8.30 o'clock got all our boats
over first rapid by "tracking"; all rifles and ac
coutrements taken out, and masts lowered. Replace
them, and begin ascent of upper rapid. Take all
out of boats for portage. Boats taken empty
through Semneh Gate. [A formidable obstacle to
navigation, thus described in Sir William Butler's
book before alluded to : " Below the cliff the river
pours with hoarse tumult through the narrow
passages which form the upper ' gate ' of Semneh 's
Cataract, and as the whole volume of the Nile is held
in these three confined channels, the rush of water
through them is of great strength and swiftness."]
' December 12th. Start at 8. Boats in difficulty
among wrecked dahabeeyahs. Reach Ateries alone.
On rock, natives aid. Again on rock ; got off; had
tea. Two Naval boats pass us ; we catch them up
later and halt.

226 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' December l'dth. Ambigol ; reached foot of great
cataract at 12 noon.
'December IMh, Sunday. At foot of cataract
thirty hours before the others. Had service.
Visited hospital and saw all in it.
'December 15th. Unload boats, and hand them
over to Colonel Wynne and 150 Egyptian soldiers.
Every article portaged for over three miles ; natives
pilfering. Patch and repair damaged boats.
' December 16th. Leave Ambigol at 1 o'clock
with good wind. Struggle long in strong current,
and had three rapids, two nasty currents to get over.
Distance sailed very short.
' December 17th. Start at 6.30 with light breeze.
Track through two rapids before dinner at 12.45.
Made only three and a half miles.
' December 18th. Start at 6 o'clock by tracking
over nasty rapids. At 8 o'clock five Canadians
came to our aid, to pilot us, as the place is full of
rocks and the water is getting low. They took us
through two cataracts, our men tracking. Close to
Tangour, Egyptians under an English officer take
us over a nasty rapid. We bivouac opposite camp
at Tangour.
'December 19th. Canadians left us yesterday.
Dr. Major's boat damaged. This morning early I
repaired her so successfully that I was constituted
carpenter, and the tool-chest was transferred to my
boat. Had to-day various difficult places. The
rapids of Okme" took us a long time. Several boats
on rocks and sandbanks. It was 5.20 ere we got over
upper rapid. Made only six miles — very hard work.

JOURNAL CONTINUED 227
'December 20th. Sergeant Morison's boat
damaged on rocks. Had to unload her, draw
her on bank. It took two hours to patch her
bottom with oiled canvas and lead. Dr. Major's
boat got also on rocks and damaged rudder. Too
short a tow-line the cause of much delay. After
passing through two rapids, had clear water but
very strong current. All got over it except two,
which had to spend the night at foot.
' December 21st. Men got a long lie in tents on
account of two boats being far behind. Rose at
6.15, struck tents, breakfast, and had Church Parade
for ten minutes. We begin to track on arrival of
the two boats. One struck on rocks, which detained
us. Then with a good breeze we reached foot
of Akasha Cataract at 11 o'clock. Canadians
pilot us through. Then through long reach of
clear water we sail to Dal Cataract. Canadians
again take us through nasty rapids. We then land,
empty boats, which are taken for two miles by
Canadians alone. Baggage taken by camels. Three
boats left to be repaired.
'December 22nd. Bay two miles south of Dal.
As the three boats could not reach us till 11
o'clock, the men had a longer rest. The forenoon
spent in mending boats. At 2.15 first starts and
others follow closely, sailing till we reach Sarka-
matto at 4 o'clock. Here we take nineteen days'
additional stores. Hospital of four marquees and
one tent. Visit all in hospital, and held divine
service in three marquees. Got supply of lint,
bandages, pills, and tow for dressing. Here Colonel

228 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Boyd of Gordon Highlanders lost a boat, and a
little below Colonel Wauchope lost one.
'December 23rd. Leave Sarkamatto at 7.40.
Morning chill. Water shallow; sailing under
gentle breeze. Shore shallow and rocky — we can't
land for dinner. Pass two rapids, and then land,
at 1.45, weary with rowing. After dinner two
Canadians enter each boat and guide us through
Amara Cataracts. After which we sail till 5 o'clock.
'December 24>th. Start at 7. No wind, had to
row ; frequently on rocks. Overtook two boats —
one damaged, other to help her. Pass two rapids
and stiff currents. Men, for a change, track. At
5 o'clock encamp at Abri, north of Say Island, a
sandy beach.
' December 25th. Cool breeze ; start at 7. Boats
sailing with awning up for sail. Pretty spot with
islets, river expanding. Christmas dinner by our
selves. At Whica village considerable cultivation,
banks green, goats, etc., grazing. Hippopotami
here. Banks studded with palm-trees on both sides ;
numerous isles with bushes. Current strong, water
very clear.
'December 26th. Morning cold; good breeze;
sail all day. Through carelessness of man on the
out-look we got on the rocks, which detained us
half-an-hour. Then sandbanks. The day's run
was good.
' December 27th. Morning at first calm ; then a
breeze, and turning a bend of river had wind favour
able. Wind increased and brought us well through
rapids and currents. Then sailed till after 5 o'clock,

JOURNAL CONTINUED 229
when boats got scattered and two stuck on sand
banks. We encamped alone at Sudely. At 12.30
we left two men in hospital at Absarat, at which we
merely touched.
' December 2%th, Sunday. Had Divine Service with
men of my boat after all the rest leave. Gave men
rest. The six boats track. Wind rose, so we sailed
and rested. We sail over rapids where they track.
We took the opposite channel and got far ahead
of the rest. We get through the Cataract Kaybar
first, at 12.30. In less than two hours all through
cataract, and we press on. Wind failed and we row.
Overtook 75th regiment ; their boats passed Kaybar
day before, but had to repair boat, which detained
them. We had good wind for a time, but got among
rocks and sandbanks, which tried and detained us.
' December 29th. Rose early, but the Gordons
were not found napping. No wind, so had a long
row, and got on sandbanks. The wind sprung up,
we shot past other boats, passed a rapid and waited
for  , to see him over. Scenery not so fine
as that of two previous days, and less cultivated.
Wind falling and rising, we row or sail; wait on
others. I have to see all before me. At 4.45 reach
the immense rock Shaban, and over rapids [ten
miles below the Third Cataract. Butler states that
out of the dozen soldiers who were lost in the whole
length of the Nile Cataracts, from Wadi Haifa to
Dar Robatab, Shaban was answerable for about one-
fourth]. We halt on island in midst of rapids. Two
Gordon boats beside us.
' December 30th. Rise very early and start. Had

230 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
hard and trying work to get through rapids by sailing
and rowing. Had to track ; got on rock, then came
to a block. Had to wait two hours for our turn to
try and pass. Then cross to eastern side, where we
had other three hours to wait. Only a quarter of
a mile from where we started in early morning. One
boat went over rapid and was almost lost. Natives
aid and save. Though leaky, we were all able to
proceed by tracking, rowing, and sailing. Two boats
had to be beached on a sandbank in mid-river,
emptied, and I as carpenter had to mend and patch
them.  urges me to leave and take him to
find the other boats. We reach long island and
find two boats. We bivouac for night, and await
the two mended boats.
' December 31st. At 6.30 we begin to track, and
soon come to nasty ground, full of rocks and
boulders, where we stuck. A wind springing up,
we sail and pass others tracking. Get safely over
a rapid, and halt above it for others. After dinner
we track. In coming into sight of camp at Hannik
Cataract we find ourselves among rocks. No sooner
off one than on another. The corporal was at the
helm ; he lost patience and forgot himself, thinking
the man at bow was not attending as he should.
The boat was on a rock — I had to take the helm.
One man stripped and got on to the rock to ease
the bow. The boat went off with a bound, and ere
we could check her she was a good way off, M°Nab
standing on rock. We were last half the way.
Signal to proceed through the strong rapids. There
was a breeze, so we sail through nasty and danger-

JOURNAL CONTINUED 231
ous currents. Boats in distress on every side of us.
After earnest work we succeed in getting over a
nasty rapid, but had to take rest at a sandbank in
mid-river. Had the sand been dry, we would have
halted. We crossed another strong current and
encamped for the night. Our boats all scattered,
one here, two there, in the midst of roaring torrent.
So we closed the year 1884. A guide was sent to
lead us over, but he was useless.
' January 1st, 1885. In the morning among rocks
and in a nasty bit of river. Mid- day reach Abu
Fatmeh, where hospital with officers and men.
'January 2nd. Leave Abu Fatmeh. In flat
country, sailing and rowing. River studded with
islets, broad, water smooth. Various channels ; our
difficulty, owing to sandbanks, was to get or keep
right one.
' January 3rd. No wind at first — had to row.
Still among sandbanks. Nearing Dongola.
' January Mh. Breakfast at 6. After it Divine
Service (short). Start at 7 o'clock. A strong
breeze and favourable, with which we make pro
gress. Five boats caught in a cul-de-sac. After
that we find ourselves in a cul-de-sac. We suc
ceeded after some labour in hauling the boat over
the sandbank into the stream. Pass Dongola at
9.30 under a strong breeze. Major Brophy drowned.
In afternoon wind falls to a gentle breeze.
' January 5th. No wind. Start early ; men com
plain of cold and damp. Both sides of river bare.
'January 6th. Flat but well-cultivated land;
trees abundant ; water-wheels numerous and close ;

232 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
river wide with large isles ; fields reaped ; more
natives about.
' January 7th. Old Dongola. Currents strong —
track. We camp for night on beach under rock
on which is Old Dongola; fine position with
extensive view.
'January 9th. Touched at Dabbeh at 10.30 for
provision and wood.
'January 12th. Reach Korti, where Lord
Wolseley and Staff are.
'January 16th. Leave Korti — eleven in a boat
heavily laden.'
Bald as it is, the Presbyterian Chaplain's log
conveys, perhaps, as convincing an account of the
many difficulties and trials to patience of the Nile
Expedition as a more elaborate history could do.
And in reading narratives of the kind, there is
always this to be remembered : that if the licence
of explorers has done something to bring ' travellers'
tales ' into discredit, there is at least an equal allow
ance to be made, on the other side, for cynical
scepticism and materialised lack of imagination on
the part of those who prefer an arm-chair to a
camel's saddle and a four-poster to an open boat.
Would that it had been the writer's fortune to
hear Wauchope discourse of this wondrous journey
in which he took part — of its labours and discourage
ments by day and night, its monotonous yet chang
ing phantasmagoria of tumbled rocks and whirling
waters, of sternly repellent mountains and boundless
desert plains ! His glowing enthusiasm and his
remarkable gift of expression would have made of

THE ARMY DIVIDES 233
it a tale of wonder told with simplicity and power.
Whilst the historic sense which in large measure
he instinctively possessed would have thrilled to
the recollection of sand-drifted ruin — temple, fort,
column, pyramid — and of this very Old Dongola
just referred to, by some held to embody the clue
to the ancient mystery of the realm of Prester John.
Alas ! the least self-centred of men, Wauchope was
not given to fighting his battles o'er again ; or, if
he did so, it was seldom and not for the benefit of
general society.
A glance at the map will show that near Korti,
where the expeditionary force had now arrived,
there is an abrupt bend in the river Nile — necessi
tating, for those who are ascending it, a journey of
about 150 miles in a retrograde direction. And it
will be remembered that at this point the army
which was now marching on Khartoum was
divided — a Desert Column, under General Sir
Herbert Stewart, being despatched by the most
direct route to Metemmeh to communicate with
Gordon, whilst the remainder of the force, under
General Earle, continued its route circuitously by
the river. The instructions of the latter party were
to punish the murderers of Colonel Stewart and the
other European emissaries from the besieged city,
and, advancing by Berber, to co-operate with Sir
Herbert Stewart's column in its attack on the
Mahdi before Khartoum. Earle's force contained
about 2900 men, and comprised the Black Watch,
Gordon Highlanders, Staffordshire Regiment, and
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, besides a

234 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
squadron of the 19th Hussars, a battery of Egyptian
Artillery, the Egyptian Camel Corps, and 300
camels. With it, of course, went Wauchope.
Chaplain Mactaggart narrowly escaped being left
behind by it — a fate which actually befell his brethren
of the cloth. But, thanks to his own fine spirit,
and to Wauchope's staunch backing, an exception
was made in his favour — with result that he was
the only chaplain present on the field of Kirbekan.
Lastly, the small friendly native force known as
the Mudir 's was to march parallel with our army
along the right bank of the river.
The River Column was now to sever its connection
with its base, being constituted henceforth a ' flying
column.' Its proper labours were also at last about
to begin ; for so far its progress, however arduous,
had been pacific. But it was now to be pitted not
only against the forces of nature — an enemy, whose
numbers were variously stated at from 3000 to 7000,
being understood to be awaiting its advance in a
wild portion of the neighbouring Monassir country.
Accordingly, after concentration at Hamdab, some
fifty miles above Korti, we read in the Chaplain's
journal, under date January 23rd, ' Discipline begins
— we are now in the field of action.' Two days
later, being now at the Isle of Ooli, he notes, ' Half-
battalion Black Watch in kilts for action.' I may
here mention that up to this time the last com
munication received from Gordon (December 30th)
had been the written message, dated December
14th, ' Khartoum all right.' It was accompanied,
however, by a verbal message of a less reassuring

THE TUG OF WAR 235
character. News of the Desert Column's hard-won
victory at Abu Klea had reached Hamdab on
January 21st.
On the 26th January the Black Watch entered
the Edermih, or Fourth, Cataract, and — severe as
their labour had hitherto been — it now became
severer yet. Desert plains had disappeared from
the landscape — the river, intersected by numerous
islands, being here hemmed in by rocks. Also, an
element which had till lately befriended them now
took the other side. This was the wind, of which
the prevailing direction was from north to south —
contrary, therefore, to that in which they were now
travelling. In the next cataract — the Rahami — by
dint of hard toil from dawn to dusk they covered
in four days a distance of seven miles, losing one
man by drowning and two boats. ' Heart-breaking
work ' indeed !
On February 4th the Black Watch concentrated
in a welcome oasis at Birti, whence the enemy had
fallen back on their approach. Here, as a punitive
measure, the houses, date-palms, and water-wheels
of Suleiman, the murderer of Colonel Stewart and
his companions, were destroyed. Next day the
members of the Staff received a memorable tele
gram from Lord Wolseley. It contained the fatal
intelligence that a reconnaissance under Sir Charles
Wilson had reported Khartoum in the hands of
the enemy. In other words, the whole of the vast
labour performed by the Expedition had been in
vain. Short of annihilation, a more crushing blow
could scarcely have fallen on the British force.

236 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
For the present, however, it was judged prudent
to keep the news back from the junior officers
and the men. Wauchope's rank entitled him to
the sorry privilege of being apprised of it, but he
kept his counsel well. ' There was nothing in his
behaviour or expression,' writes his subaltern of the
period, ' to lead us to suppose any disaster had taken
place.' In the meantime the advance was stayed.
On the 8th orders were received to advance on
Abu Hamed, and the same afternoon our scouts
fell in with the enemy. He was posted upon some
rocky outcrops — koppies they would be called in
Southern Africa — from 50 to 80 feet in height,
his right flank resting on the river. Among the
rocks stone breastworks had been erected, whence
his rifles commanded both road and river — thus
effectually barring the way to our force. On his left
rear, a marble-topped ridge, of remarkable appear
ance, about 300 feet in height, held a portion of his
force. A few shots were now exchanged. On the
9th, as the enemy still occupied his position, it was
resolved to attack him on the following morning —
the attack being directed so as to turn the position
on the ridge. That night, after a day of toilsome
navigation, seven companies of the Black Watch
bivouacked within a mile of the scene of to-morrow's
operations. Dispositions were made for the advance
next day, and for the protection of a zareba which
was then to be formed on the site of the bivouac.
Early next morning, to the great satisfaction of
the entire British force, the enemy was reported to
be still in position. Accordingly, after breakfast, the

ENEMY'S POSITION ATTACKED 237
men were paraded — when, in spite of the recent
hardships endured by them, they presented a smart
and workmanlike appearance. At 7.15 they marched
off, moving in line of half-battalion columns at an
interval of two companies — six companies of the
Staffords leading, six of the Black Watch follow
ing, the camels attached to the field-hospital and
reserve ammunition being massed in the interval.
The object of this formation was to combine ease
in passing over rocky ground with rapidity in form
ing square with the camels in the interior. The
front of the advance was covered by the cavalry,
its left flank by the Egyptian Camel Corps. Before
the start the projected zareba had been formed.
At the same time two companies of the Staffords
with two guns, under the command of Colonel
Alleyne, had proceeded to occupy the ground which
on the previous day had been occupied by our re
connoitring party. Their object was, by attracting
attention in that direction, to hold the enemy in
check in front whilst our flank movement was being
carried out. Alleyne 's orders were not to open fire
until the main body of the attacking force should
have reached the outer flank of the ridge. The
advance was led by Colonel (Sir William) Butler.
After marching for a mile over hard ground, a
wady of loose sand was entered, where progress
became necessarily slow. At 8.30 the outer flank
of the ridge was reached, whereupon Alleyne duly
opened. Hitherto the enemy had not fired a shot,
though time and again our advance must have been
visible to him.

238 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
The enemy having now been sighted by the
cavalry scouts, the infantry turned the corner of
the ridge and were advancing along its reverse side,
through a rocky valley leading in the direction of
the river, when fire was opened from the ridge.
The breastworks, or rifle-pits, which faced the
other way had by our movement been rendered
useless. It was now about 9.15 o'clock. Two or
three of our men were hit, and as our advance
continued the fire grew hotter. From this point,
however, it is unnecessary to follow the movements
of our little force in detail through the various
incidents of fighting in loose order which ensued.
Let it be realised that its object was to dislodge
the enemy from his extremely strong position on
the summit of the ridge, as well as from the various
koppies on its front which had been reconnoitred
on the previous day. Then we may concentrate
our attention on Wauchope, whose experience in
the morning's fighting was a sufficiently adven
turous one.
The column was now halted under cover, and
presently General Earle ordered Wauchope's com
pany to assail the enemy's position. Almost im
mediately afterwards, however, a counter-order was
issued, which called back the majority of the men.
But Wauchope had already given the word to
charge, and being of course in front, he with his
subalterns, Lieutenants Burton and Livingston,
and a few others, had gone too far to be recalled.
They had, indeed, crossed the open ground to the
foot of the outcrop — a distance of about 200 yards

A NARROW ESCAPE 239
— before discovering their isolation. The ascent
which now rose above them was rocky and ex
tremely steep. Whilst they paused at the foot of
it, a single negro — a powerful and finely trained
fellow — descended, making at once for Wauchope,
who was knocked down. Sergeant Baldwin of the
E Company stood beside him ; but his rifle had
become choked with sand. He therefore flung his
body between the Colonel and his assailant, and in
so doing received a spear-wound in the side. But
there is little doubt that his gallant action saved
Wauchope's life. On this, Burton stepped forward,
and clubbing his claymore, whirled it round his
head and knocked over the Egyptian, who was then
promptly bayoneted. It may be mentioned that
the claymore used on this occasion is preserved as
a relic of the little impromptu m&lee, and that its
basket-hilt is completely flattened by the blow.
The single negro had been the precursor of a
host, who almost immediately after this charged
down from above, and, curiously enough, in their
preoccupation, passed Wauchope and his com
panions without seeing them. A miss is as good
as a mile, and here was escape number two for the
Colonel. Unfortunately he was not to be so lucky
next time.
The Arab host were received by the British with
a hot fire, the bullets from which soon began to
drop around the spot where Wauchope and his
companions stood. They therefore recrossed the
open ground, and it was soon after this that
Wauchope was struck by a bullet fired from the

240 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
high ground of the enemy's position. He had by
that time adopted a kneeling attitude, in order to
avail himself of the partial cover afforded by some
low stones, whilst coolly watching the progress of
the fight. The bullet entered the body below one
of the collar-bones, and, coming as it did from
above, passed diagonally downwards, inflicting a
very serious wound. On being struck, he fell back
from his kneeling posture upon his outspread hands,
exclaiming as he fell, ' I 've got a nasty one this
time ! ' or words of similar effect.
His faithful, if occasionally irascible, Colour-
Sergeant, Logan, was soon by his side. He opened
the Colonel's tunic, and tied up the wound — in doing
which he said —
' I 'm very sorry for this, sir.'
To this Wauchope answered somewhat brusquely —
' It is only what a soldier expects.'
Soon after which he spoke again — saying, bitterly,
that he knew full well that he had come to this
accursed country to die. The sergeant in reply
endeavoured to reassure him, giving it as his opinion
that the lung was untouched and the wound not
dangerous ; but Wauchope's only answer was —
' What do you know about it ? '
Then, after an interval, he declared that he was
'the unluckiest man in the world.' And so he was.
I need scarcely explain that the ordeal which
could wring such words as these from Wauchope,
even under stress of pain and weakness, was a
crucial one. Indeed, his medical attendant, Dr.
Andrew Balfour of Portobello, has informed the

A DANGEROUS WOUND 241
writer that only a man of very strong constitution
could have recovered from the wound which he had
now sustained. As it was, his arm long remained
partially disabled, preventing his getting a gun up
to the shoulder to shoot, and necessitating his
obtaining a special dispensation from saluting on
parade. Also, as he had now been shot through
both shoulders — at Kirbekan and in Ashanti — it
was from henceforth useless for him to attempt to
hold a pulling horse. Yet even now his habitual
self-control was almost immediately regained ; and
when, some weeks later, there was a possibility of
sending him down Nile to recruit, and he was
informed that this was in question, his reply was
the forcible and characteristic one —
' I '11 rot in the country first. '
My object in quoting the words given higher up
is to show that his nature was not callous or insens
ible, but one which, except in the rarest moments,
was kept under the strictest of self-discipline.
To return to the battlefield. The Chaplain,
Mactaggart, was soon upon the spot. He placed his
flask, containing brandy, to Wauchope's lips, who
sipped, seemed to revive, and presently asked for
another sip. He was then removed by the stretcher-
bearers to a spot beyond the line of fire, where his
wound could receive better attention.
When visited that evening by his subaltern,
Livingston, he had quite regained his usual cheeri-
ness of manner, inquired with interest how E Com
pany had fared in the engagement, and gave some
directions regarding it. Then, with his invariable
Q

242 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
thoughtfulness for others, he spoke to the Lieu
tenant with a view to averting a misunderstanding
which might very likely have occurred, and which
would have been prejudicial to the younger officer's
interests. Long ere this, as all the world knows, the battle
had terminated to the advantage of the British.
By a succession of movements directed to one end,
the enemy had been driven from their various van
tage-grounds, and on charging down from the high
ground (as already mentioned) they had been re
ceived with a withering fire, which sent those who
survived it fleeing for refuge to the river. Though
the numbers engaged on either side had not been
large, the moral effect of the victory was great.
And we must remember that it came at a time
when the enemy's courage had been stimulated by
the tidings of the fall of Khartoum. That our
troops could vanquish the Arabs in hand-to-hand
fighting in loose order, that even when not in
square-formation they could withstand the Arab
rush : these were points in our favour which the
day's fighting had established satisfactorily. In
counting its cost, one cannot but be struck by its
fatahty to officers in high positions — the General
Commanding, a Colonel of the Black Watch, and
one of the Staffords being among the number of
the slain.
From taking any further active part in the cam
paign, Wauchope was now of course effectually
incapacitated. What could be done by fortitude
and cheerfulness in his present circumstances we

HIS FORTITUDE 243
have proof that he did. One of the great draw
backs under which a flying column labours is that
it has no means of disposing of its wounded ; accord
ingly Wauchope had to be made as comfortable as
was possible in a hospital bed which had been rigged
up for him in a boat, and to continue his journey up
the river with the Column. At this time he showed
far more solicitude for his kinsman and brother-
officer Captain Kennedy, who had been wounded at
the same time as himself, though far less seriously,
than he had of thought for his own condition. The
one luxury in which he indulged himself was
cigarettes. They appeared to soothe the pain of
his wound, and Lieutenant Livingston and others
did their best to supply his craving for them — often
no easy task.
On the 19th February — nine days after the battle
— the boats of the Expedition reached Sulimat — of
which place the Sheikh was held responsible for the
murder of Colonel Stewart and the Consuls. Here
punitive measures were carried out similar to those
which had already been employed* at Birti. At
Elemah, on the 24th February, the expedition
received the order to return. The news of the fall
of Khartoum had now of course become public
property. It inevitably spread a feeling of gloom
and depression among the troops — a feeling which
Wauchope, in so far as was at present possible,
exerted himself to dissipate.
The perils of the homeward journey were in some
respects even greater than had been those of the
journey upstream. During that time, to move at

244 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
all had been a frequent difficulty ; now, on the
other hand, all resources were taxed to curb excess
of speed among the dangerous rapids and currents of
the strongly flowing river. In passing the Shukook
Pass, above Kirbekan, it was expected that our force
would be ' held up ' ; but the enemy being behind
time by twelve hours, it passed through unmolested.
Passing the scene of the recent battle on the
1st March, the regiment reached Merawi on the
5th. There, in expectation of further employment
later in the year, it remained until the 26th
May following. And there Wauchope was parted
from it. We have seen that he had stoutly
rebelled against being sent home ; still he was a
soldier and had to obey orders. As it happened, no
loss of active service resulted from so doing. For
on the date above assigned, the regiment itself set
out on the return journey to Cairo. Khartoum had
fallen, Gordon was dead, and the Government had
decided, at least for the present, to take no further
steps against the Mahdi.
So terminated the Egyptian Campaigns of 1882-
1885. Wauchope's share in the last of the three was
recognised by the Government by the addition of
two clasps, inscribed Nile and Kirbekan, to his
Egyptian medal.

CHAPTER IX
CHARACTERISTIC LETTER — VISITS TO THE ERSKINE
FAMILY  CONTINENTAL TRIPS — HIS FRIENDLI
NESS TO ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS— VIEWS ON
MARRIAGE, AND SPECIAL KINDNESS TO LOVERS
— ANECDOTES OF THE MALTA PERIOD — THREE
LETTERS — GIBRALTAR — A NEW DEPARTURE
I cannot open this new chapter better than by
quoting the following characteristic note of
Wauchope's. It refers to his appearance before a
Medical Board, and being dated October 2nd,
1885 — eight months, that is, after the battle of
Kirbekan — it shows that, in the long- continued
trouble which it caused him, the wound which he
received there resembled that received at El Teb.
It is addressed to the family lawyer.
To A. D. M. Black, Esq..
'Naval and Military Club,
c94 Piccadilly, W.
' My dear Black, — Just been before Board. Send you
one line to say that I do not think the doctors have passed
me. So I shall be back in Scotland. Bone ain't right.
The President said, " I have been warned against you, as one
that always comes up smiling." Well, Black, I have tried to
come up smiling always — and often I did so feel inclined to
cry. — Yours always, A. G. W.'
245

246 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Surely I was right in saying, a few pages back,
that Wauchope — the nervous child that had been —
had not grown callous or insensible with time. But
the courage of the sensitive is the finest of all kinds
of courage.
During the intervening months, the Colonel had
spent a good deal of time in Scotland, making his
head-quarters at Cambo, the house of his father-in-
law — where he was always welcome — and leading a
pleasant country-house life, in which riding formed
a principal occupation. He had left Cambo on
October 1st to go before the Board, and thither he
returned for a short stay two months later.
This and the five or six years following form a
comparatively uneventful period in his life. It was
a time of peace, which offered him no opportunities
of facing dangers and hardships in his country's
service. In his case, however, uneventfulness must
by no means be confounded with idleness. But
doubtless enough has been already said to show
that, even when he was employed only as a regi
mental officer in garrison, his life was one of
strenuous and unremitting activity. On the 30th
April 1886 the battalion left Cairo for Malta, where
it remained for three years, three months, and three
days. In July of this year Wauchope was again at
Cambo, where he stayed, on and off, during the
remainder of the summer, returning to Malta for
the winter. In May of 1887 he rejoined the
Erskines, and whilst staying with them studied the
art of horse-taming under Professor Galvayne at
Cupar. At the end of the month he accompanied

PONTRESINA 247
Lady Erskine and other members of the family to
Schwalbach, stopping on the way at Cologne, where
he ascended to the top of the cathedral, and was
also greatly impressed by the sight of some fine
German soldiers. At Schwalbach, by way of turn
ing his visit to account, whilst one of his party took
the waters, he himself drank from the iron spring.
He also made excursions to Homburg, and to
Heidelberg, and Frankfort. Heidelberg he found
especially interesting, having been there as a child
with his parents, and he now took special pleasure
in tracing out such of his former haunts as he
remembered. The course of waters completed, the party pro
ceeded to Pontresina — Wauchope walking over the
Albula Pass — where they arrived on July 8th, and
stayed for two or three weeks. Here his usual
energy was manifest. For instance, in mountain
eering expeditions, when a carriage was engaged, he
would generally start in advance of it on foot, and
it is remembered that on one occasion he excited
amazement in the occupants of a diligence by racing
up the mountain-road to prevent the carriage over
taking him. In ascending Pitzlangard, when, after
passing the height of 10,000 feet, the aneroid which
he carried ceased to act, he professed the most com
plete bewilderment.
In the hotel life of this period he kept much by
himself, for at this time of his life he was naturally
shy among strangers — a failing (if it be one) which
his political experiences wore away. Yet the above
assertion must not be understood too literally, for

248 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
to all with whom he was thrown in contact, he was
invariably friendly. In particular he made great
friends with the landlord of the hotel, who re
sponded by inviting him to his private room to
taste and give his opinion on new choice brands of
Rhine wine — a pleasant mark of landlordly good-
feeling. This faculty of attaining to friendly
relations with all sorts and conditions of men was
most characteristic of the Colonel, and it is certain
that this power, or it may be the care to exercise it,
is a much rarer thing than the world is apt to
suppose. An incident which occurred during his stay at
Schwalbach will afford a good example of the quiet
helpfulness which characterised him. An English
gentleman who was staying in the same hotel, with
his wife and daughters, died. His relatives were
prostrated by grief, and to add to the distress of
their position, it so happened that they were entirely
without acquaintance in the place. Some of the
visitors in the hotel therefore held a conference with
a view to befriending them, and assisting to make
arrangements for the funeral. On approaching the
ladies, however, these gentlemen found that
Wauchope had been before them, and that all
that could be done to help had been already quietly
and expeditiously carried out. This was his way.
Whilst others conferred, he did what had to be
done. The last man in the world to push him
self forward, he was the first to come forward
when he saw that he could serve a fellow creature.
From Pontresina he returned to London by way

MONTE CARLO 249
of Berne and Paris, again walking over the Albula
Pass. The winter was again spent in Malta, and at the
end of the following March (1888) he joined his
brother-in-law, Mr. Harry Erskine, with one of his
sisters-in-law and some other Scotch friends at San
Remo. Here the party amused themselves by tak
ing long walks through the olive-gardens and into
the mountains. One of the places which they
visited was Monte Carlo, which was new to them,
and of which Wauchope had from hearsay formed
high anticipations. But it was in reality the very
place not to appeal to him. He was disgusted by
its artificiality, and pronounced it inferior to all
other places known to him on the Riviera. The
truth was that he could be interested in any form
of honest labour or of healthy pleasure, but that
unqualified luxury and amusement had no attraction
for him. Doubtless the strong Scottish element in
his nature made him less than just to the Princi
pality. In any case the method of his protest
against what was unwholesome in its atmosphere
was original. For he lunched with his party at the
best hotel it contained, but instead of ' sampling '
the cooking for which the establishment was famous,
he ordered himself a mutton chop which he washed
down with beer. In May he returned to London,
and in July again visited Cambo, this time accom
panied by his younger sister. A drive to the Forth
Bridge — then a novelty — on the regimental coach
of the 15th Hussars, who then occupied Piershill,
was among the incidents of this visit to Scotland.

250 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
When at Niddrie during these years, his manner of
life was of the simplest. An aged laundress attended
to his wants, and the staple of his diet would be oat
meal porridge. Of course when he had friends to
stay with him additional servants were engaged.
But, as a matter of fact, during these and succeed
ing years his home, when not with his regiment,
was Cambo. There, as has been already said, he had
found a settled local habitation of a kind which had
long been denied him — one, that is, supplying the
affection which was the demand of his nature. It is
a proof not only of his own constancy, but also of
the hold he had secured on the regard of the Erskine
family, that for long after the death of his wife his
ties to that family continued to be drawn ever
closer. Sir Thomas Erskine, a man of unusual dis
cernment, who had from the first formed a high
opinion of him, came by degrees to depend much
upon his judgment. With Lady Erskine his rela
tions — founded as they were upon a common attach
ment, a common sorrow — became of a peculiar and
beautiful kind. The two were, indeed, in entire
sympathy, understanding each other perfectly. To
her he wrote fully and freely during absence, and it is
matter of much regret that his letters have not been
preserved. Each had a lively sense of humour, and
within the family circle their interchanges of fun
were notorious. The lady was by birth an Irish
woman, as his own tenderly remembered mother
had been, and he was fond of declaring his opinion
that for a Scotsman to have an Irish mother was
an absolutely perfect arrangement. A pretty

CATANIA 251
compliment which he paid her, at a time when he
was feeling worn out after his political campaign,
was to say that his ideal of a restful holiday would
be a voyage to Australia with no companion save
herself. The following letter, addressed to one of his
sisters-in-law, now Mrs. Shairp, suggests in a pleasant
manner the brotherly terms on which he was with
the younger members of the family. It relates to a
tour in Sicily made by him whilst quartered in
Malta, and its unusual fulness must be attributed
partly to the comparative leisure of the time when
it was written — a rare experience in his busy and
well-filled life. To Mes. Shaiep. ' Catania, October 19th, 1888.
' My deab,  , — Many thanks for your letter which
followed me here. I have just got it. My note-paper is
finished. I leave this on Sunday, I am sorry to say, for Malta,
after a real happy time of it.
'I have been walking about with a Sicilian guide, who
speaks English in the funniest way possible, but who thor
oughly understands this country. And then I have a whole
big hotel to myself, with enormous tables, and a nice land
lord and waiter. They don't know quite what the deuce I
am up to, but they know I am an English Colonello from
Malta, and so they don't put me down as a spy. Yesterday
my guide took me out to the campagna of a musical friend
of his, and he brought his fiddle with him, and there were
several guitars at the house. This at about 9 a.m. or 10
a.m., and they played away and danced with the ladies — I
really thought I should burst my stomach with laughing,

252 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
and yet it was all very natural and nice. They just came
in from the fields and danced, and by Jove there was some
vino brought very quickly, and sweet-meats, and they decked
themselves with flowers — put some on to me. It was really
like a scene out of a theatre. I certainly intend to bring
Hersey [his younger sister] here ; this guide will kill her
and M. T. He was describing a cyclone which occurred here
three years ago, and he said, " Ah, I escape by de mirakle of
de God — I run away like de devel." I believe he is a good
creature. His mother has a picture which they want me to
buy, but I shan't. — Your most affectionate brother-in-law,
' A. G. Wauchope.
' P.S. — To-morrow I am to pay a visit with my guide to
an artist friend of his in the country, which I am looking
forward to. I understand that there is a very strong
Bourbon feeling here, and much on the increase, and they
don't like the German Emperor being made so much of at
Roma. Isn't it curious how in this world things always go
contrariwise ? You can never get people to agree.
' I am very glad you have been having a nice time of it,
Lina. I think you do really deserve to enjoy yourself.
It is very nice to enjoy oneself, and one is intended to enjoy
oneself. Isn't the sky blue, and doesn't the sun shine ? . . .
Do you know, in my humble opinion, there is no greater fallacy
than to think that, because a man can't look you in the face,
that therefore he is not an honest man ? It is generally
through nervousness. . . .'
Here, among other things — good-humour, pleasant
chat, healthy tolerance, and the like — we obtain a
fuller glimpse than before of the British officer who
is ready to cast aside the usual social and profes
sional limitations, and to fraternise with his kind
in whatever shape they may be met. And it is

A FRIEND'S OPINION 253
worth noting that the man who can do this with
satisfaction to himself is generally one who feels
pretty sure of his title to command respect on other
grounds than those of worldly station.
For the following few notes I am indebted to one
who first became acquainted with Wauchope during
this period, and came to know him very intim
ately. He describes him as in essentials a very
high-bred man, but utterly intolerant of pretension.
Extremely shrewd, he was apt at grasping a situa
tion, whilst tact and good-will made him an adept
at composing the differences of others. He was at
this time quite capable of occasionally rapping out
a sharp answer ; but, as time went on, and brought
with it constant and unmistakable proofs of the
widespread affection with which he was regarded,
he mellowed sensibly. He had a high ideal, based
on his own experience, of the possibilities of married
life, and of the great help in his work which a man
may derive from a sensible and loving wife ; and
this, coupled with native kindness of heart, tended
to make him specially considerate towards any
whom he knew or suspected to be lovers. So he
was always ready to sacrifice himself to playing the
unthankful part of 'Gooseberry' for their benefit.
Holding these views, he was of course an advocate
of love-matches, inclining to attribute much of the
unhappiness which he saw in life to the fact that
the sufferers had not married the persons they
loved. On one occasion, when he had invited a
young engaged couple — now long since happily
married — to visit him at Niddrie, the lady was at

254 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
the last moment prevented coming. On hearing
this, he produced from his cellar, for the consolation
of the swain at dinner, a bottle of particularly
choice old Port. A poor substitute, one may say,
for the presence of the well-beloved ! Ay, but a
kindly sympathy counts for somewhat, even in these
deep, momentary disappointments. There was a
quaintness, too, in the form in which that sympathy
was here embodied. I think I have already stated
that a married woman who flirted was in his sight
anathema maranatha.
During these years his life at Malta was, as has
been already hinted, the normal life of military
routine. He spent most of the time at the St.
Elmo Barracks, visiting Pembroke Camp for Mus
ketry. Thence he was fond of taking his company
out to the neighbouring rocky Plain of Nasciar, to
exercise the men in outpost-duty ; and there he
would train them to move rapidly and in loose
formation — thus, as may be pointed out, foreshadow
ing the formation which, on the strength of later
experience, is now generally recommended. It was
from this peculiarity in their training that the E
Company, Black Watch, came to be nicknamed
Bersaglieri — in allusion to the Italian cavalry corps
who move always at the gallop.
And here I may append a few odds and ends
belonging to this period, which, slight as they are,
help, each in its own way, to put the originality of
the man before the reader. First, a touch of his
irony. One night his subaltern of the time had
been dining at the mess of a regiment which occu-

' THE BERSAGLIERI ' 255
pied barracks situated at the opposite side of one
of those numerous creeks by which the coast-line
near Valetta is indented. Having sat up playing
cards until very late, he found that the last boat
man had left his post, and so was obliged to accept
his host's offer of a shake-down for the night.
Early next morning he had himself ferried across
the creek, and — wearing his military great-coat,
with the collar up, over his mess-dress, and feeling
anything rather than refreshed — was re-entering
barracks when he met his Captain, the picture of
matutinal energy, issuing forth to take an early
ride. ' That 's right, my boy ! ' exclaimed Wauchope
cheerily, in passing ; ' there 's nothing like an early
walk for keeping a man in health ! ' Of course none
knew better than the speaker that the particular
walk referred to had been begun on the evening
before. During this period he was honoured by seeing
a good deal of his former shipmate, the Duke of
Edinburgh, who was now in command on the
Mediterranean Station, and who had the generosity
to cherish the warmest regard for the successful
antagonist of his early days, whom, by the way,
he invariably addressed as 'Andy.' On the St.
Andrew's Night of 1887 or 1888, the Duke honoured
the regimental mess by his presence, after which a
burlesque, in which Andy took a leading part, was
performed for his entertainment. The actors' parts
had been written up by Wauchope for the occasion,
and His Royal Highness, who occupied an arm
chair in the centre of the front-row seats, appeared

256 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
to relish the performance keenly. Being Honorary
Colonel of the regiment, he that night wore its
uniform — of which, however, it was noticed that
one detail was not in accordance with regulation.
He also displayed the badge of a Knight of the
Thistle, and as this happens to be almost identical
with the regimental cap-badge, some of the sub
alterns afterwards amused themselves by making
out a charge against him — taxing him with the
Minor Offence of wearing his cap-badge on his left
breast — to which they appended their names in
evidence. This joke happened to come to the ears
of the Duke, who took it in excellent part, express
ing a desire to see the charge-sheet.
In reference to Wauchope's occasional fits of
abstraction, it is related that on one occasion he
made a crossing in a boat in the company of a
certain very junior officer, who did his best to wile
away the tedium of the passage with agreeable con
versation. Wauchope, however, said little in reply
— until just as the boat reached the landing-stage,
when he suddenly sprang to his feet, exclaiming
with great energy, a propos de bottes, ' I '11 tell you
what it is ! Minor offences ought to be abolished ! '
The young officer, whose well-meant efforts had
been thrown away, was very much taken by sur
prise, and afterwards gave it as his opinion that
Wauchope was ' a very odd man.' Probably the
lady who judged that 'small talk' was not his
strong point was not very far wrong. Notwith
standing this, he was quick and happy in repartee,
whilst there was a quaintness about some of his

ABSENT-MINDEDNESS 257
rejoinders which was his own. For instance, when
his duties required that he should be mounted, and
he appeared one morning attired for the first time
in regimental boots and breeches, a glance was
exchanged among some of his friends as though to
express a certain well-known slang phrase. This
did not escape Wauchope's eye, who straightway
exclaimed, in his own inimitable way, ' I may not
look well in the kilt, but by the Lord Harry I
shine in the trews ! '
The following letter, addressed to a sutler who had
accompanied the regiment up the Nile in 1884-1885,
may serve as an example of his friendliness in rela
tions of this kind. To 'Curly.'
' Malta, November 16th, 1887.
' My dear Curly, — Many thanks for your letter with
the feathers. I am delighted to hear of your getting on so
well. I am certain of this — that Colonel Rundle will find
you a most useful and excellent man to deal with ; at least
we found you that way disposed at all times.
' If we fight the Russians, you must come and be our
Camp Sutler again.
' I am not against Greece at all. A year ago, when we
conversed on the subject at Kasr-el-Nil, I told you that in
my opinion Greece had chosen the wrong moment to set
forth her rights — and I think it turned out so.
' By the way, I want an alligator's egg for my sisters —
would like you to buy one for me.
' Colonel Bayly desires to be remembered to you — indeed
so do all the officers. — I remain, yours truly,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
R

258 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
His relations with the native Maltese were no less
friendly. With them he was brought into close con
tact in connection with the formation of a local
militia — a work into which he threw himself with
his accustomed zeal — and so successful was he in
winning their respect and affection that the news of
his death, years afterwards, was received by some of
them with tears.
The following hearty scrawl is addressed to a
brother-officer. The allusions are obscure.
To a Brother Officer.
'November 23rd, 1887.
' My Dear Old  , — The mail has just come in — at
least I speak more truly when I say that I have just this
moment received your letter, and I have shown it to the
Colonel and to D  . Well, we all of us agree, and they
want me to tell you how delighted we shall all be at seeing
you again in your proper place — that is to say, in the old
corps. ' I know nothing that would give me greater pleasure than
to see your old phiz again, even though you did grumble at
the M. U.
' I wouldn't stop up to shake my fist at the old nobles
now. — I remain, your affectionate
' A. G. W.
-Just time to catch mail by which your letter came on
return.' The next, addressed to Colonel Leslie of the 79th
Regiment, shows his warm interest in the advance
ment of an old Army friend and contemporary.

GIBRALTAR 259
To Colonel Leslie.
'Gibraltar, June 14th, 1890.
' My dear Leslie, — Please let me congratulate you on
your getting the command of the old corps. All your old
friends here are much pleased thereat, and we all agree
emphatically that as C. O. of the old 79th the right man
has been put into the right place.— Very sincerely yours,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
In August 1889 the First Battalion, Black Watch,
had left Malta for Gibraltar, where it remained
until January 1893. But nearly two years before
the latter date Wauchope had left it on being trans
ferred to the Second Battalion.
Whilst stationed at The Rock, he made repeated
solitary riding excursions into Spain — to Ronda and
elsewhere — as well as on the coast of Morocco and
Algeria. And though it is scarcely likely that he
was acquainted with Machiavelli's precepts for the
use of the soldier, it may here be pointed out that
his daily practice conformed to them with striking
accuracy. For instance, says the Florentine, in this
connection : ' He ought never to let his thoughts
stray from the exercise of war; and in peace he
ought to practise it more than in war, which he can
do in two ways : both by action and by study. As
to action, besides keeping his men well disciplined
and exercised, he must engage continually in hunt
ing, and thus accustom his body to hardships ; and,
on the other hand, learn the nature of the land — how

260 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
the mountains rise, how the valleys are disposed,
where the plains lie — and understand the nature of
the rivers and swamps ; and to this he should devote
great attention. . . .' In confirmation of which
the author cites the example of Philopoemen, ' who,
when he was in the country with his friends, often
stopped and asked them : If the enemy were on that
hill, and we found ourselves here with our army,
which of us would have the advantage ? How could
we safely approach him, maintaining our order ? If
we wished to retire, what ought we to do ? If they
retired, how should we follow them ? And he put
before his friends as they went along all the cases
that might happen to an army, heard their opinion,
and gave his own, fortifying it by argument'1 —
every word of which might have been written of
Wauchope. Nor was he less particular in the
' reading of history or study of the actions of eminent
men, in inquiring how they acted in warfare, and
examining the causes of their victories and losses,
in order to imitate the former and avoid the
latter.' Whilst at Gibraltar he occasionally found himself
called on to fill positions of high command in the
garrison. For instance, on his landing there, the
Garrison Orders notified that, during the absence of
the Major-General commanding the Infantry Bri
gade, Colonel Wauchope would act as Brigadier.
This led accidentally to a severe shock to that
natural modesty which was one of his chief charac
teristics. For, chancing one day to run into the
1 II Principe, cap. xiv.

A DILEMMA 261
regiment as it was returning by the Line Wall from
the Neutral Ground, the word Shoulder Arms was of
course immediately given. He said afterwards that
he would rather have paid £50 than have had this
happen, and no doubt he meant it. By virtue
of regimental, as distinct from army, seniority,
he was at this time still only in command of a
company. Again, whilst temporarily commanding the regi
ment, he was called on for the second time to take
over the command of the brigade of four regiments
— a situation which suggested to his mind the fol
lowing Gilbertian dilemma : ' Suppose,' said he,
'that a man of my company has a complaint to
make, and that I decide against him, as I probably
should : his remedy is to appeal to the officer
commanding his regiment, and he gets Andrew
Wauchope again to judge his case. His next
appeal is to the General, and so again he comes
before Wauchope. But being only human myself, I
fear he would find the decision confirmed, and would
go away with the reflection that it was " Andrew
Wauchope all along the line ! " ' During his stay at
Gibraltar, there was also at least one occasion on
which he was appointed to act as interim Governor
of that fortress.
He had become a full Colonel in May 1888, and
in June of the following year, on account of his
services in Egypt, he was created a Companion of
the Order of the Bath. He was at home on leave
— at Cambo and Niddrie — in the autumn of 1889,
and again in spring of the years 1890 and 1891.

262 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Before the earliest of these dates, a definite scheme
of for him an entirely novel character had taken a
foremost place in his mind. But the discussion of
this scheme, its origin, and the results that sprung
from it, demands a chapter to itself.

CHAPTER X
THE COLONEL IN A NEW CHARACTER — LETTERS TO
SIR CHARLES DALRYMPLE — HIS CANVASS OF THE
CONSTITUENCY — INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN —
HIS POWERS AS A PLATFORM ORATOR
I have said that from an early period Wauchope
had been a close student of Army matters — his
studies being conducted after an original method
of his own, in which an elaborate apparatus of
newspaper-cuttings played an important part. His
self-devised case for the accommodation of these
cuttings, which accompanied him everywhere he
went, had indeed been long a subject of 'chaff'
among his intimates. In time the close study of
politics came to be associated with that of military
matters — whether, at first, with any specific object
in view, or merely on grounds of general culture
and efficiency, is not known with certainty. There
is reason, however, for believing that he cherished
political aspirations early, and that his researches in
this line were deliberately directed towards quali
fying himself for the character of political candidate
at some undefined period to come. Whether this
were so or not, his chance certainly came to him
before he had expected it. It was brought about
as follows.

264 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
At the general election of 1880, Mr. Gladstone
had defeated the Earl of Dalkeith by a small
majority in the contest for the County of Mid-
Lothian. Throughout the country this contest had
been watched with keenest interest — as, amid
smaller fights, the duel of representative champions.
Never, certainly, before or since, has the present
generation been treated to a similar spectacle of the
sheer and naked opposition in the political arena of
the aristocratic and the democratic principles. For
among Scottish noblemen of that day the Duke
of Buccleuch stood second to none in influence
personal and territorial. And Mid-Lothian was the
centre of that influence. To explain Mr. Glad
stone's selection of that point of attack, a queer
story has been spread abroad. But this story lacks
verification — nor is any explanation other than the
obvious one required. Suffice it to say that, with
his characteristic daring, he bearded the lion in his
den : he came, he saw, he conquered. Writing
from the point of view of a Conservative, it seemed
at this time that his eloquence had hypnotised
Scotland, which lay at his feet as in a charmed
sleep. To Lord Dalkeith, as the champion of Conserva
tism, at the next General Election, succeeded Sir
Charles Dalrymple — a local land-owner, who united
with the highest personal character a very consider
able Parliamentary experience. In the interval of
five and a half years since the last polling, the
franchise had been enormously extended, so that it
now embraced the miners and farm-servants of the

CHANCES OF SUCCESS 265
constituency. This had been largely due to Glad
stone's influence, and in the event he triumphed
easily. But, whether he cared for it or not, Sir
Charles certainly had his revenge of his successful
rival. For to him was mainly due the selection of
his successor, Colonel Wauchope.
In many respects this choice was an extremely
bold one. For though Wauchope's mental quali
fications might be realised by his personal friends,
it was still only as a distinguished soldier, a man of
fine and lovable character, that he was known to
any considerable section of the public. Very much
must therefore depend upon his success in working
the constituency. And in estimating this, it would
have to be borne in mind that he was a soldier in
active employment, whose regiment was stationed
abroad. Moreover, it was clearly to be understood
that he had no intention of abandoning his chosen
career for any other. To quote from his first
address to his supporters, ' he wore the red livery
of the State, and that livery, he told them frankly,
he did not mean to take off whilst he had health and
strength to wear it.' On the other hand, his personal
popularity could not fail to be estimated by his party
as an extremely valuable asset. And it was also
known that any duty which he might take in hand
to perform, he would perform 'with his might.'
He might fail from many a cause, but not from
want of zeal or energy — as to that there was all
confidence. Nevertheless, all things considered, the
faith shown in him — untried as he was — by the
leading men of his own party in the County reflects

266 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
almost as much of credit upon them as upon him.
How fully that faith was justified the sequel will
set forth. Meantime it may be said with all but
certainty that no other conceivable candidate could
have made a fight at all approaching to his. How
the question ' to stand or not to stand ' presented
itself to him in its successive stages may be learnt
from the following letters, addressed privately to
Sir Charles Dalrymple.

To Sir Charles Dalrymple.
' Malta, March 25th, 1889.
' My dear Dalrymple, — You may be quite sure of this
— that anything you write to me will not be lightly put
away. ' Do you think one would ever have the slightest chance ?
And there is another very important point to consider,
namely, the expense. Can you tell me more on these points ?
' You know, I fear, that landlords will have a worse and
worse time of it : the County Council will, I should think,
pretty nearly double our local taxation — with the result
that there will be very little net income. Everything is so
difficult in regard to land — I really think if I could get
even a decent price for it, I'd sell and be done with it.
Being in this doubtful frame of mind, you will readily under
stand that I do not feel much inclined to embark in new
projects; at the same time, in my opinion, I have never yet
shirked the path of duty. As for the hard work, why I 'd
like that part of it ; so if it had to be done, I 'd do it. But
I must see my way in front much clearer before I can think
of undertaking the job. It would be rather poor fun to
fight an uphill battle over and over again, and over and

PROS AND CONS 267
over again have to stump up. And I notice these contests
are not carried on for nothing.
' Well, I think I have said everything that I would like
to hear from you about, and I should be much obliged by
your letting me have a line or so to this address. Things
look rather blue in regard to the party at large. I am
ashamed of Randolph Churchill, and yet [I had] quite a high
opinion [of him] a very short time ago.
' The Captain of the late Sultan has gone home ; he will
be acquitted by the Court-Martial. The Chart is entirely
wrong, and no blame can, I believe, be attributed to The
Sultan. — I remain, yours very sincerely,
' A. G. Wauchope.
' P.S. — Mind in this letter I engage myself to nothing,
neither morally nor practically.'

To the Same.
( Florence, April 16th, 1889.
' My dear Dalrymple, — Yours of the 2nd inst. has been
forwarded from place to place until at last it reached me
here. 'Now don't let there be any mistake about it. I have
pledged myself to no way whatever. I agree absolutely to
nothing — indeed I am only conning the matter over in my
mind, and it is impossible for me to give any decision until
after I come home about 1st September next. Under these
circumstances I can well imagine the Committee deciding
upon some more reliable individual at your Meeting on the
24th inst., and therefore it is that I write you these lines.
' I return to Malta forthwith. — I remain, yours very
sincerely,
' A. G. Wauchope.'

268 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
To the Same.
' Malta, June 25th, 1889.
' My dear Dalrymple, — I didn't answer your letter
because I didn't think you wanted it answered.
' Please bear this in mind — that to me the step you ask
me to take is of the very greatest importance.
' You see I am not an idle man — on the contrary, I am
in a profession, getting to the top after much work. Now
the thing is just this : I feel doubtful, very, whether I could
remain on in the Army and at the same time go in for Mid-
Lothian, and also give satisfaction to myself and my clients.
That is why I pause and hesitate.
' Now if I was at home I could talk it over with Wolseley
and these kind of people, and I would gain much. But I
shall not be home till the 1st September. However, I can
write — perhaps I ought to have done so before. I am sure
you see and feel for my difficulty. It is a great one.
' As a simple matter of money, if I were to leave the Army
the loss would be considerable. In our career we serve for
little in the beginning and middle, but the third stage is
not a bad paying one. And in these days of land tumbling
down this is a fact not to be lightly put away.
' I am sorry not to give you a square answer, but as I am
neither off nor on — and I tell you plainly just as likely to
be off as not — I should not be surprised in the least were
you to tell me in your next that you had pitched upon a
more stable candidate, and most assuredly he would get my
humble support. — Yours most sincerely,
' A. G. Wauchope.'

THE ARMY v. POLITICS 269

To the Same. ' Auberge de Baviere,
' Malta, July 31st, 1889.
' My dear Dalrymple, — After much thinking of it out,
I have come to the conclusion that I am doing best for all
parties by definitely declining to be put up as standing for
Mid-Lothian. ' I have been long in making up my mind because you
told me in your first letter that I might consider over
matters for long, and I have done that, and now my mind
is made up.
' Of late here we have had a war-scare, and I felt at once
that, situated as I now am, it would be very wrong for me
to be bound, or partly bound, to any constituency. To get
into the field I would throw them all overboard without a
moment's hesitation ; and how can I, or any one else, tell
what may be before one in these most uncertain and ticklish
times ?
' Holy Writ tells one that it is impossible to serve two
masters : I feel that this applies now to me. Were I to
leave the service in which I have spent my life, I would be
proud to work for the Mid-Lothian constituency. But,
please God, I shall remain on in the service ; and until I
do leave the service, I feel that it is best not to engage
myself. ' Now, Dalrymple, you are a man that I greatly look up
to ; I hope that in this transaction I shall have done nothing
to forfeit your good opinion. I have not tried to hunt
with the hare and run with the hounds — I have long and
anxiously thought over the business, and I now give you
the decision. — Yours most sincerely,
' A. G. Wauchope.'

270 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE

To the Same. 'Cambo, Crail, Fife,
' October 8th, 1889.
'My dear Dalrymple, — I was very sorry to hear of the
cause of your absence this night at Liberton. . . .
' We had a fairish meeting, and an excellent address from
Hardy. I sat out after, and we had the Conservative
Association. ' I heard the most doleful accounts of the cause, and how
much a candidate who was ever on the spot was required, and
that nothing else would ever do.
' I must say I think that if that Association had been told
that there was a possibility of their candidate being an
officer quartered in Gib., I don't think they would have
approved of it at all. And, mind you, these are the men
who ought to know.
' I hope the opinion of these kind of people may be taken
if possible — I should not like to be rammed down their
throats. And I can quite sympathise with them.
' The candidate should be on the ground, as you were,
fighting away continually.
' Well, I cannot leave my profession, and yet I shall hate
to make a mess of this M-L. by my being away. — Yours
most sincerely,
'A. G. Wauchope.'

To the Same.

'Cambo, Crail,
' October 11th, 1889.

'My dear Dalrymple, — What would happen supposing
an election were to take place and I couldn't get leave, and
yet we were not on, or ordered for, active service ?

EVENTUALITIES 271
' For instance, at Malta, for six months in the year no
leave is given. Would the fighting of a constituency be
considered a sufficient reason, supposing the General in
command were a Gladstonian ?
' If I didn't turn up at such a time, wouldn't it look rather
bad ? And yet it would have been no fault of mine.
c I should like all this to be thoroughly made known to
the constituency if possible. — I remain, yours most sincerely,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
In these most interesting and most straight
forward letters there are many points which attract
attention. In the first place, the writer's frank
statement that, in order to 'get into the field,' he
would throw any constituency overboard without a
moment's hesitation. For once and all this clearly
proves — were proof required — that Wauchope's
early love for soldiering still occupied the first place
in his heart. Nor could strange gods lure him from
it. He was and he remained a soldier first, a poli
tician afterwards ; and I believe that neither the
gradual discovery of his power as a speaker over an
audience, or as a canvasser over a constituency, nor
yet the triumph of a defeat which was more intoxi
cating than most successes, made in this respect any
difference. Secondly, there is the statement, which
we shall readily accept, that he has 'never yet
shirked the path of duty.' His entry into politics
was made, therefore, not indeed against the grain,
but mainly in response to duty's call : the position
of honour and of trust is not self-sought, but thrust
upon him. ' As for the hard work, why I 'd like
that part of it ! ' is from the Colonel only what we

272 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
expect, knowing it to be true. And, then, through
out the entire series of the letters, illuminated as
they are by a transparent honesty of purpose and
fairness in dealing, there shows a good Scots caution,
a good Scots frugality, associated with a winning
simplicity which at times is almost naive — as, for
instance, where it puts the question as to the
possible attitude of a Gladstonian General towards
a subordinate standing against Gladstone.
On his return to Scotland the question of his
candidature was not long in being settled. On
November 18th a meeting of the Mid-Lothian
Liberal Unionist Association unanimously resolved
to adopt him as candidate at the next election.
This was announced in The Scotsman of the follow
ing day ; and on the 20th, at a joint meeting of
the Liberal Unionist and Conservative Committees
for the County, held in Edinburgh, he formally
accepted an invitation to come forward. This was
the occasion of a short speech, in which he expressed
his views on the burning question of the time —
Home Rule for Ireland, and on the Disestablish
ment and Disendowment of the Church of Scot
land—two questions upon which, throughout his
candidature, he was uniformly sound and strong.
There was nothing whatever remarkable in what
he said, though the effect of his newspaper-cutting
hobby may perhaps be traced in certain apt quota
tions from the leading Separatists, whilst it is also
worth noting that from the first he speaks of his
contest (as well he might) as a ' forlorn hope.' For
the rest, in the speeches of political candidates,

ADOPTED AS CANDIDATE 273
declarations against rash promises, as against curry
ing favour with the masses, have by now become
pretty well stereotyped; and the constituency at
large had yet to prove that in the present case
these declarations came not from the lips only.
So much for the first political utterance of the
new candidate. But it is also worth mentioning
here that, though the requisition to Wauchope to
come forward had been technically unanimous,
there were certain quarters in which it was, to
say the least, not over zealous. Among his own
supporters some were lukewarm ; others would have
it that to oppose Mr. Gladstone — no matter by
means of what candidate — was tactically a mistake,
which could not fail to bring ridicule on the party.
To speak quite plainly, side by side with staunch
and loyal backing there was some cold water poured
on Wauchope's candidature. It must be added,
however, that the declaration of the poll, when at
last it came, brought over all who had hitherto
been half-hearted to entire belief in him. And it
is pleasant to state that most of them became
converts of that thoroughgoing kind which refuses
to acknowledge that there was ever any need, or
even any place, for conversion. Except from
Mr. A. J. Balfour, the Colonel throughout his
candidature received neither support nor assistance
from any Minister of the Crown.
Two years and a half had, however, still to elapse
before the actual contest arrived — an interval which
the Unionist candidate must be acknowledged to
have turned to very good account. The files of
s

274 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
The Scotsman of this period, indeed, bear witness
to his unflagging industry in working up the
electorate whenever his military duties permitted
him to visit Scotland. For instance, having
returned from Gibraltar in January, between
February 8th and April 17th, 1890, he held a
meeting in one or other of the towns or villages
of the constituency on an average on every third
night. It must have been uphill work, for his
style and manner in public speaking on contro
versial subjects were still unformed, and his open
ing speech had been no less than a blank failure.
It had been delivered at New Craighall, where
fortunately he was well known. The miners who
chiefly composed his audience would stand a good
deal from ' the Kurnel,' and they heard him patiently
and with good-humour, where another man would
have been 'booed.' Indeed I have heard it sug
gested that the favour in which he stood with
them was hardly ever more strikingly manifested
than by their self-control on this occasion. For
his harangue was altogether ill-judged. To begin
with, he had elected to speak of the Land Question
— a subject for which that particular audience
cared nothing. Then he proceeded to illustrate
it by comparisons drawn from other countries,
enforcing his points with much characteristic
and emphatic gesture, and yet all the while
travelling further and further from the sym
pathy of his hearers. An old parliamentary hand
who was present describes his effort as producing
the effect of a ' got-up affair ' — of something, that

A FAILURE 275
is, which lacked all true vitality and spontaneity.
' I 've made a mess of it ! ' was his own candid con
fession when the meeting was over. But he took
his failure in good part, and turned its lesson to
the best account. The result was that a speech
made at Dalkeith only a few weeks later was a
triumphant success. Indeed it was extremely diffi
cult for one who had heard them both to realise
that the two addresses proceeded from the same
speaker. One qualification of the successful orator he
certainly had from the first — to wit, a proper
sense of his duty to an audience. Thus, though
his platform appearances at this period might be
numerous, they were always supported by much
work which did not directly meet the public eye.
So, when visiting at Cambo, it was his custom to
withdraw as soon as breakfast was over to his bed
room, whence he would not emerge again until
the hour of afternoon tea — for on those days he
ate no luncheon — the interval being spent in close
application. Then, by way of exercise, he would
set off running towards the sea — which lies within
quite a short distance of the house — and, if the tide
happened to be out, would continue his run out
over the rocks as far as possible. As one result
of his labours, newspaper- cuttings were more in
evidence than ever. He likewise took great pains
to verify statements which he proposed to make,
and a young lawyer who often met him at this
time well remembers the eagerness with which he
would be consulted on such a subject as, for

276 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
instance, the ' change of venue ' in Ireland. Was
this legal in Scotland ? Should it be advocated,
could he deny that it placed the inhabitants of
Ireland on a different footing from those of Scot
land ? When informed that he might safely do
this, he expressed great satisfaction. Similarly,
when he had been betrayed by the authority he
had consulted — a book written by a well-known
member of the Scottish Bar — into a mis-statement
regarding the Kirk, his annoyance was extreme.
Of course it must be borne in mind that in prac
tical politics he was, so far, but a novice. But
what could be accomplished by hard work — by
' Pegging away ' — that he had shown that he would
do. On the expiration of his leave, early in the
summer of 1890, he rejoined his regiment at
Gibraltar. In October of the same year Mid-Lothian
was honoured by a visit from the sitting member,
who addressed meetings in Edinburgh and else
where. In February 1891 Wauchope was again in this
country, and began his second tour of the con
stituency. As was almost inevitable in his circum
stances, he had wasted a good deal of strength in
the beginning of his campaign in what he himself
described as 'beating the air.' By and by, how
ever, having tumbled to the trick of the business,
he entered under able guidance upon the Herculean
task of personally canvassing an electorate of over
13,000 voters. ' I 'm a soldier,' was his simple reply
to all apologies on the part of the gentlemen who
now acted as his taskmasters — whereby he implied

CANVASSING 277
that he had been trained to obey orders, and was
not one to spare himself. In this his excellent
physical toughness served him well, for a more
delicate organisation must have given in under
the labour now imposed on it.1 Not so his. Early
afoot, and day after day making a long day of it,
he spoke individually or in small groups to the
miners, iron-workers, and farm-hands who mainly
composed the constituency, shaking hands with
them ' up to the shoulder,' and winning golden
opinions of all who could recognise a true man
when they met one. And this applies not alone
to his supporters ; for on polling- day there were
not a few who sympathised with the cry uttered
as his carriage passed, ' Man, we winna vote for
ye, but for a' that we '11 aye cheer ye ! ' And cheer
him they did. Indeed it is not too much to say
that, ere that time arrived, he had become the
hero alike of county and town. For his was
a character which, to be valued, required only to
be known. Doubtless there is often something
sickly and factitious — as, at the worst, a lamentable
sacrifice of personal dignity — in electioneering
geniality. But from anything of that kind
Wauchope's nature and antecedents preserved
him. It was not in him to " assume a virtue "
which he had not. A life-long friend of the
working-man — one who knew, understood, and re
spected him — his present relations with that worthy
1 Well might he write : ' For three long years every spare moment I
have had I have given to Mid-Lothian. I have worked in my leave time,
three months a year, without cessation — all day long canvassing. ... It
was heavy, heavy work speaking day after day.'

278 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
were no disguise adopted for a specific purpose, to
be laid aside when that purpose was fulfilled. In a
word he was genuine — a point as to which the
Scottish working-man is in general no mean judge.
And, by the way, in this context it may be noted
that his mastery of the Doric, which he spoke as
to the manner born, seems to have contributed in
its due degree towards the total effect of his candi
dature. In the following autumn he held further
meetings, and in January 1892 was again upon the
warpath. Hard as was his work at this time — when he
was both visiting his constituents individually
and holding meetings in the centres of popula
tion, small as well as great — that work was yet
scarcely of a kind to leave much reminiscence
behind it. After his experience in campaigns of
another class, the physical difficulties now en
countered might well seem a laughing matter.
Such was, for instance, a snowstorm which ren
dered the roads almost impassable, yet could not
deter him from keeping an engagement at West
Calder — a stronghold of the Home Rule party,
where one of his supporters had laughingly recom
mended him to carry a revolver. We have already
seen that it took more than a snowdrift to turn
him from his purpose. On the present occasion he
did more than he had bargained for — contriving,
indeed, to penetrate into the hills beyond the village,
and addressing an audience from beneath a shower
which fell from a defective roof. Other adventur
ous journeys — undertaken on a dark, wet night

ELECTIONEERING EXPERIENCES 279
when the railway arrangements made for him had
somehow broken down — were to the outlying
hamlet of Heriot and back. On another occasion
the rival candidate was to have addressed a meet
ing at Hailes Quarry in Colinton parish, where
a great concourse of people had accordingly assem
bled to hear him. The original plan had been that
Wauchope should speak afterwards. But by some
cause or other the Grand Old Man was prevented
putting in an appearance. Wauchope therefore
filled the gap, and profited by the circumstances.
His battalion was at this time stationed at
Limerick, and in travelling to and fro between
that place and his constituency he performed
prodigies. But that, as he himself would have
said, was all in the day's work.
And now as to the character of the speeches
which he was all this time delivering. Judging
from the published reports, it must be confessed
that their substance is disappointing. To demand
originality from the average political candidate were,
indeed, to demand what there is little chance of
obtaining. But, from a man of Wauchope's pro
nounced individuality of character, higher expecta
tions in this article might fairly be entertained.
Yet I think I am within the mark in saying that
of strikingly original argument, point of view, or
phraseology, his published utterances show very
little. For philosophic views of the subjects dis
cussed we do not look ; since, rightly or wrongly,
in our practical nation, these are generally taboo.
Let it be admitted, then, that Wauchope shone

280 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
rather in the forcible application of current argu
ment to the themes in question than by contribution
to the controversy in hand of any novel matter of
his own. From another point of view, he may be
said to have carried something of army tradition
into the political arena — where he excelled less as
a thinker on his own account than as one who,
receiving his instructions from above, carries them
out to the very best of his ability. But, after all,
the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and these
things alone are not enough to account for his
remarkable success not merely as a political candi
date, but as a platform orator. To understand this
it is necessary to recognise that a single mode of
eloquence — who shall say that it is not the highest ?
was possessed by him in a very exceptional degree.
To wit, he spoke with the earnestness of profound
conviction : it was at all times perfectly obvious
that he meant every word he said. This in itself
is much, but it was by no means all his strength.
A saying of Mr. John Morley's has declared that
the momentum of a speech must be gauged, not
only in relation to the thing said, but also in
relation to the conception of the speaker pre
existing in the mind of his hearers. In this there
is much truth, and from the source here indicated
Wauchope had everything to gain. For, on ap
pearing on a platform, he was recognised by his
audience, not merely as a political aspirant or
suitor for suffrages, but as one who was gradually
becoming known to a wider and wider circle as the
very soul of uprightness, the very heart of human

HIS STRENGTH AS A SPEAKER 281
kindness, a soldier who times and again had risked
his life at his country's call, and a country gentle
man whose best services might be relied on quite
irrespective of political considerations. To any
mind which is at once shrewd and unsophisticated,
the appeal of these things is strong ; and to that
appeal must mainly be attributed the fact that
Wauchope — a man of the highest character, but
of no extraordinary intellectual endowment —
should have succeeded in shaking the parliamentary
seat of the most remarkable politician of his time.
Whencesoever it may have arisen, his power as a
platform-speaker was on occasion sufficient to pro
voke astonishment even in the most experienced of
hearers. Of this a single incident may serve as
evidence. As a rule he deprecated outside assist
ance at his meetings, but at West Calder, which is
the principal centre of the shale-working and mining
population in the West of the County, a kind offer
of help as second speaker had been accepted from
Mr. J. G. Baird. On arriving at West Calder it
was found that this gentleman had to leave early
to catch a train, and that if he spoke at all it must
be before and not after the candidate. The hall,
which is one of the largest in the lowlands, occupies
the site of a worked out quarry, and at that time
had a gallery available for supporters or opponents
extending behind the platform, making it a most
difficult place in which to address a mixed audience.
The Chairman attempted to speak at some length,
but was obliged to give way to repeated interrup
tions ; and when it was realised that, instead of

282 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
calling on the candidate, he had invited Mr. Baird,
M.P., to address the meeting, the latter was received
with deafening shouts of ' Wauchope ' from friends
and opponents, and after a gallant and perhaps too
prolonged struggle to get a hearing, resumed his
seat, leaving the meeting, in a condition bordering
on that of free fight. So far as noise was concerned
the situation appeared desperate and irretrievable.
Wauchope however was exceptional. Indeed it
had been noticed by some of the most constant
attenders at his meetings that opposition served to
stimulate his powers, and that he was at his best in
face of it. So, now, without any fresh subject left
to talk about, he yet contrived to get the meeting
in hand again, compelling it not only to give him a
hearing, but to applaud him warmly when he had
spoken. A senior member of The Times reporting-
staff, who happened to witness this feat, declared
that in the course of a long experience he had never
seen it equalled.1 For to force an unwilling audi
ence to listen is one thing ; to bring it back from
demoralisation to order is another and far more
difficult one. The candidate had brought an unusu
ally large file of notes and extracts with him. These
he gradually scrunched up in his left hand. After
the meeting, one of his leading committee-men
present said to him, 'You did not make much use
of your notes to-night.' He replied, ' Well, the fact
is that a little Orderly-room business was required
1 His words were : ' I may tell you that, in all my experience of
reporting, I have never seen a difficult audience held as those people
were by your candidate to-night. '

A FRIEND IN NEED 283
to give people who wanted to listen a chance of
hearing what I had to say, and I was never able
for one moment to keep my eye off the audience.'
A second scene which in one respect resembled
the above was enacted in Dalkeith Corn Exchange,
where, an over-zealous Chairman having cut the
ground from under his feet, Wauchope simply flung
away the notes he had brought with him, and
delivered an excellent extempore speech. In a
practised politician this might have been no remark
able feat ; but in a military man who has been but a
short while in training it affords striking evidence of
ready wit. Another of his merits as a speaker was a
knack of forcible and homely illustration : as, for
example, when, being heckled on the subject of
bloated Naval Estimates, he met his adversary with
this reply, ' If Great Britain hadn't had a good Navy
a hundred years ago, you and I would have been
speaking French now,' — a specimen of the argu-
mentum ad hominem which at once brought down
the house.
For the following anecdote I am indebted to
the Reverend George Dodds of Liberton. In the
midst of one very stormy meeting, when the uproar
seemed to have got altogether beyond control, the
audience was surprised to see a smart-looking work
ing-man step on to the platform beside the Colonel.
A momentary hush ensued, of which the intruder
took advantage to speak somewhat as follows : ' I
dinna ken vera much aboot politics. But I was
wounded at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and a man
came up to me and gave me his water-bottle, and

284 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
carried me back to a safe place. That man is on
the platform to-night— and that's the man I'm
gaen to vote for ! ' The instant change in the feel
ing of the crowd which followed this declaration
may be better imagined than described.
It may be that a comparison between the political
platform and the lecturer's desk is not in all respects
a fair one. But, his nerve when ' facing the music '
notwithstanding, I for my part incline to believe
that Wauchope's powers were seen to best advan
tage in the lecture-room. For one thing, it was
only in that calmer atmosphere that he had any
prolonged opportunity of speaking of the things
which were at all times nearest to his heart —
namely, of soldiers and soldiering. And it was
undoubtedly when speaking of these that he most
drew inspiration from his subject, most freely com
municated (as he certainly had the power to do)
his own emotion to his hearers. This was perhaps
specially noticeable in a lecture delivered before the
Y.M.C.A. of Edinburgh soon after his return from
Egypt in 1898. Taking the late campaign for his
subject, and having but a single sheet of notepaper
before him, he held his audience spellbound through
out an address which lasted well over an hour. His
speech was clear, straightforward, well-expressed ;
whilst, of the energy with which it was illustrated,
an amusing proof is supplied by the fact that the
lecturer's pointing-rod was broken in his hands. Of
course the novel and absorbing interest of his theme
was greatly in his favour. But that was not all.
Though no one could have kept self more entirely

AS LECTURER 285
in the background than did he — at times even to
the injury of his argument — it was inseparable from
the nature of his subject that it should bring him
into close relation with his hearers. And from this he
had all to gain. Perhaps of those then present there
are many who still recall his saying, when speaking
of the night before Omdurman, and of how he had
lain down to sleep without taking off his boots,
' Where my men lie, I lie. . . .' Or again, in allud
ing to the advance on Tel-el-Kebir, and the serving
out of a ' go ' of rum before the attack, ' On these
occasions it is the law that the officer has a double
shot — and I think that is one of the best of laws.'
Such quaint or familiar touches as these went
home at once to his hearers. And finally, remark
able as, judging by results, was the power of
his political oratory, I incline to believe that
neither Home Rule nor Disestablishment, Labour
Questions nor Imperial Policy — strongly as he
felt upon them all — could call forth from him a
note so deep or so harmonious as did a military
theme. This attempt at a critical estimate of Wauchope's
oratorical powers has carried me away from the
immediate subject of his electoral contest with
Gladstone. The following extracts from corre
spondence addressed to Hugh Adair, Esquire, an
able and zealous political friend of this time, throw
some light on his feelings and position at the
period. Writing from the New Barracks, Limerick, on
April 9th, he says : —

286 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' I am now fussing away over the new Drill-Book, and
almost forget that Mid-Lothian is in existence, and that
ere long I shall be facing Old Shirt-Collars.'
On May 26th, from the same place, he writes : —
' You know well my position anent the Eight Hours
(Bill), 'and from that I cannot as an honest man recede.
Of course it will be a pleasure to me to see the colliers.
' I am tied down here absolutely by the leg — I cannot
sleep one night away. Of course when the dissolution comes,
then I can get away — but not before. I think I told that
to them all. . . .'
It was in June that the dissolution did come.
On the 9th of that month he had dashed off the
following characteristic note from Limerick : —

To Hugh Adair, Esq.
' My dear Adair, — On Monday I am ready to spout
wherever and whenever I am required. The only thing is
that, if I reel it all off at once, there won't be much left !
' You know the position exactly — you know that as a
speaker I have not much confidence, if any ; but I'll go
ahead somehow or another.
' Will it be better for me to speak just before G. O. M. ?
Like the Eagle on its Prey, will he not swoop down on my
utterances ?
' Then, can any one with reasonable truth, at Lasswade
or anywhere else, say that it has up to date of dissolution
not had plenty of visits ? It is in the hands of my advisers
completely, and I would rather not decide.
' The less I speak the better I am pleased, but then I want
to give myself entirely to the cause during these days. So
it is for you all to consider, in regard to my speaking, what

RESULT OF THE POLL 287
is best for the Unionist Cause. If it is best, I will speak
every night — with pleasure, too. — I remain, sincerely yours,
' A. G. Wauchope.
' P.S. — I will be glad to hear anything that is decided.
' Do you think our pledges will stand to us ? '
Here was evidently a candidate who had at least
the negative qualities that he neither ' fancied him
self nor had any nonsense about him. He was
plainly also a man of honour, and one who placed
his powers unreservedly at the service of his party.
The contest now began in right earnest. On June
30th Mr. Gladstone came to Edinburgh and began
a tour of the county, which at once attracted the
attention of the country at large. Meantime it is
needless to say that his opponent was not idle. On
the night before the election he spoke at Bonnyrigg,
in a state almost of exhaustion, yet with an effect
which he had rarely equalled. Polling took place
on July 12th — before which date it had become
evident that a Radical reaction was at work in the
land. The Mid-Lothian poll was a very heavy one
— amounting to 84 per cent, of the entire con
stituency. By some of his supporters Mr. Glad
stone's majority was fixed in advance at about 2500.
But when the poll was declared, on July 13th, in
presence of a great multitude, the figures proved to
be as follows : —
Gladstone, . . . 5845
Wauchope, . . .5155
Majority for Gladstone, 690

288 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
In 1886 the Liberal leader's return had been un
opposed. In 1885 his majority had amounted to
4631. The present difference furnished eloquent
proof that the Colonel's hard work had borne fruit.
For it is to hard work and to the influence of per
sonal character that his achievement must mainly
be ascribed.
I believe that throughout the contest Mr. Glad
stone had but once alluded publicly to his rival, of
whom he spoke as a 'very respectable man.' It
would have been easy — far too easy — to retort upon
him now. For it was not among his characteristics,
as he advanced in years, to become more patient of
crossing. His present rebuff galled him sharply.
The current story declares that when the news
could no longer be kept from him, he became of a
livid pallor, and cried out that he had been ' betrayed.'
By this he probably implied that he had been kept
in the dark as to the true nature of the contest.
Without vouching for the truth of this statement,
it may be pointed out that it is not wholly irrecon
cilable with Mr. Morley's description of the scene.
' On July 13th,' he writes, ' his own Mid-Lothian
poll was declared, and instead of his old majority of
4000, or the 3000 on which he counted, he was only
in by 690. His chagrin was undoubtedly intense,
for he had put forth every atom of his strength in
the campaign. But with that splendid suppression
of vexation which is one of the good lessons that
men learn in public life, he put a brave face on it,
was perfectly cheery all through the luncheon, and
afterwards took me to the music-room, where,

THE EIGHT HOURS BILL 289
instead of constructing a triumphant Cabinet with
a majority of a hundred, he had to try to adjust an
Irish policy to a parliament with hardly a majority
at all.'1
Supposing, then, that he did give way on first
hearing the news, the Grand Old Man still showed
his quality by so quickly regaining self-control.
The sands of his years were by this time run low,
and the remnant of public life which awaited him
was brief indeed. Wauchope took his own success
— for as such we must count it — very lightly. ' I
got an awful fright,' he remarked to a friend ; 'they
came and told me I was in ! ' There are many who
believe to this day that, but for his scruples as to
the Eight Hours Bill, he would indeed have been
in. But from these scruples, as ' an honest man,' he
felt unable to recede. As a comment upon this, it
is worth recording that there was not a miner in the
Niddrie collieries who worked for more than eight
hours a day.
And now, as summing up the impression pro
duced by Wauchope at this stage of his career upon
a friendly critic, widely versed in men and in affairs,
let me quote the following letter from Dr. Charles
Cooper of The Scotsman. And parenthetically be
it said that, when asked by the veteran editor at
the outset of his campaign what he could do for
him, Wauchope's reply had been, 'Report me as
briefly as you can.' Whether in or out of his pro
fession, the self-advertising spirit of the age had not
affected him.
1 Life of Gladstone, vol. iii. p. 492.
T

290 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' My association with General Wauchope,' writes
Dr. Cooper, ' was personal. I do not think I ever
learned to esteem a man taking part in public affairs
so unreservedly and so highly as I did him. He
was to me' a truly chivalric figure — a true knight
without fear and without reproach. I first made
his acquaintance when he began his candidature
against Mr. Gladstone in Mid-Lothian. He did
me the honour then to seek my counsel. His
modesty made him shrink from the contest. He
persisted in assuring me that he had not the ability
desirable in a candidate in such a contest. Before
I had talked with him half an hour, I thought I
saw his true worth and the real force of his char
acter. I combated his self-depreciation, which was
perfectly sincere. I remember that on one occasion
he said to me, "My father told me once, 'Andy,
you 're a duffer, and you will be a duffer all your
life." I replied, "Fathers have been wrong before
now, and assuredly your father was wrong." The
truth is that no description could be more ludi
crously absurd than that of " duffer " applied to
him. He had that genius which has been described
as an infinite capacity for taking pains. He never
pretended to knowledge that he did not possess.
But no man acquired knowledge quicker or more
thoroughly when he was put in the way of getting
it. He began by lamenting his incapacity as a
public speaker : he soon became the popular orator
of the district. I have heard him called for by
audiences at public functions, when other men sup
posed to be good speakers were not mentioned.

'A CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN' 291
The truth was that he had the true gift of good
public-speaking. He was never flashy. He tried
no rhetorical devices. He was transparently sin
cere. He had also the gift of rare and true humour.
There was no Cockney smartness; but there was
genuine humour which his hearers did not fail to
appreciate. I never heard him say an ill-natured
word of anybody — not even of those who disparaged
him. He would humorously say that they knew
him and his weaknesses better than I did. Charity
towards all men was the beginning, the middle, and
the end of all his feeling ; and his feeling directed
his conduct. To no one could the appellation " a
Christian gentleman " be more truly applied. He
carried into his every-day life the teachings of the
religious faith which he possessed.
' I often heard from him matters relating to his
profession. That he dearly loved that profession
every one knows ; but perhaps few men know how
much of his life the love of his profession was. He
was slow to censure his Army superiors. That he
was a brave man he proved, not by words, but by
actions. ' It was my good fortune to have him at my table
on two or three occasions when nobody besides our
selves was present. Then it was possible to see
how capable a man he was. He had great foresight
in public affairs. His weakness — if it was a weak
ness — was that he always credited opponents with
the same sincerity and single-mindedness as himself.
That he was genial, all who ever met him know.'
The writer cannot but be glad to have his own

292 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
independent impressions confirmed in so many
respects by so judicious and well-informed an
authority. That the esteem was mutual is shown
by the following extract from a letter of Wauchope's :
— ' I do like Cooper's letter ! ' he says. ' He was not
always so friendly to me — at first I was in his eyes
the representative of Tories. But the more I worked
on, the more friendly and nice he got ; and now he
is a valued friend. I won him off my own bat, and
he is, I think, the ablest man I know. I know he
has a high opinion of me — because I never flinched,
he said. God knows I often felt otherwise ! '
It was a matter of course that high jubilation
among the Mid-Lothian Unionists should follow
the result of the election. Official recognition of
the candidate's services took the usual form of
banquets, complimentary speeches, illuminated ad
dresses. Wauchope was, in fact, the local lion of
the hour. The chief function in his honour was a
grand Unionist Dinner held in the Corn Exchange,
Edinburgh. A more ' innerly,' or appealing, demon
stration was a supper of a hundred and fifty coal-
miners at which he was entertained at New Craighall
village. On the former occasion, in returning thanks
for the toast of the evening, the Colonel spoke
gallantly and cheerily, making no attempt to dis
guise his satisfaction at the result achieved, so
far as it went. Only he attributed most of the
credit to good organisation and a hard-working
committee. A complete collection of his speeches
throughout this campaign lies before me as I
write. But few indeed are the political speeches

UNIONIST BANQUET 293
which remain readable once their immediate
occasion has gone by ! And, from their want of
anything like studied form, Wauchope's speeches,
in proportion to their interest at the time, are
perhaps less durable than most. To reproduce, a
decade after date, the orations delivered at a politi
cal banquet would be an act well-nigh of cruelty —
so baseless, incomprehensible, would plaudits and
enthusiasm appear. I content myself, therefore,
with one brief quotation, which has perhaps a more
than momentary interest. The speaker is fighting
his battle o'er again, and recalling his relations with
the constituency. ' If we had difficulties to contend
against,' he says, ' we had much to support, much to
strengthen, we had much to cheer us on our way ;
and perhaps the greatest strength we had was this —
that you had in me, and I had in you, the most
perfect, the most unbounded confidence. You
chose me three years ago to stand up in this fight.
I was chosen unanimously by the two great Unionist
bodies of this county. You knew very well at the
time that I was not a Demosthenes. You knew
very well that I knew very little in regard to politics.
But you took me like you take your wife, for better
or for worse — and as the days went on you found I
was not afraid to do some work. You found that I
was doing my level best ; and that confidence
ripened into mutual regard, and on my side it
ripened into affection, and I hope it has on your
side. And, my lords, and ladies, and gentlemen, we
had a grand cause, we had a great cause — ah, and
more than that, we had a holy cause to fight for.

294 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
We fought mainly and chiefly for the maintenance
of the Union, and we fought for the maintenance of
the old historic Church of Scotland.'
In such a passage as this the man appears above
the candidate. He speaks from the heart, and does
so with a grace that becomes him well. But such
passages are rare in his speeches, where, as a rule,
the subject-matter blocks the way — comes between
the speaker and ourselves. And though for his own
purposes this was right enough, for our purpose it is
baffling. ' Self-effacement,' says one who knew him
well, ' was his main characteristic' There is much
truth in this ; still it is a hard saying for the
biographer !
Wauchope was certainly deeply gratified, as well
he might be, by the ovation he received at the Edin
burgh banquet, or rather by all it meant. And yet,
on that very occasion, considerable persuasion had
had to be brought to bear to restrain him from
announcing his withdrawal from the role of political
candidate. The fact was that he realised that the
time was now approaching when he must definitely
choose between politics and the following up of his
career in the army. For in the natural course of
things he would soon be called on to command his
battalion — a position which was incompatible with a
seat in the House of Commons. I have already said
that the army always ranked first with himself;
nevertheless his staunchness to his party, backed by
earnest representations on their part, induced him
to continue his political labours for something like
two years to come. At the end of that time the

TO SIR CHARLES DALRYMPLE 295
expected election being still deferred, he was released
from his candidature. Had it happened that he had
been returned to parliament, upon succeeding to the
command of the regiment he must have allowed
himself to be passed over.
The following letter obviously refers to his with
drawal from the candidature.

To Sir Charles Dalrymple.
'August 12th, 1894.
' My dear old Charles, — -Now that our political arms
have been laid aside, I cannot refrain from writing you to
say how much I regret having done anything to cause you
regret ; for you have been so good and kind and affectionate
to me these five years. Into your ears I have growled and
grumbled, and you have never complained.
' It is a pang to think that I am no longer to be associated
with you in politics. What talks we have had !
'You and old Trotter1 have been my stays — never had a
man such men to advise and rely on.
' Mrs. Wauchope wants to be very kindly remembered to
you, and with my best love to you. — I remain, yours ever,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
1 Colonel Trotter of Colinton.

CHAPTER XI
ENGAGEMENT TO BE MARRIED  LETTERS TO MISS
MUIR — HIS RELATIONS WITH TENANTS AND DE
PENDENTS — AS A CHURCHMAN
The years of life which now remained to the
Colonel were in all probability his happiest. His
powers were by this time fully expanded ; his
position in the army was assured ; gifts of whose
existence or extent he himself could scarce have
been aware had been brought to light by his politi
cal campaign. For one thing he had had ample
evidence of his ability to stir and to impress an
audience. Then, to a man of his affectionate temper,
the abounding proofs of confidence and of regard
which he had lately received must have been sweet.
Moreover, his popularity — events have proved it —
was none of that light evanescent sort which waits
upon most ' heroes of the hour.' It was of the rare
kind which is deep and lasting, than which few
things are more precious or more irresistible.
Of course the claims on his time had increased in
proportion to his reputation; but to one so energetic,
and unself- sparing, this was scarcely a drawback. He
had earned the love and esteem of troops of friends.
Last, and best, he was now again to enjoy what from
296

THE RED HECKLE 297
the time of his early manhood had been denied to
him — a happy home of his own.
In the summer of 1892 he had become engaged to
Miss Jean Muir, a daughter of Sir William Muir,
the veteran Principal of Edinburgh University. In
the October following they were married. The
subjoined letter, from which I am permitted to
quote, was written by Wauchope during his engage
ment, and enclosed a 'red heckle,' the cherished
badge of his regiment. Before now I have had
occasion to regret the scantiness, and for the most
part the matter-of-fact nature, of the correspondence
of one who had in him so much of warm emotion,
of the spirit of romance and chivalry. The following
letter is exceptional, and it redeems the rest. For,
unless I am mistaken, it is one of the most beautiful
of soldiers' letters in our language.
To Miss Muir.
'Maryhill Barracks, Glasgow,
'July 16th, 1892.
' . . . I 've been looking for this enclosed everywhere,
and at last I have found it ; it is my red heckle, as worn in
my helmet in the years 1885 and 1886. It was also at
Suakim in 1884. The red heckle is what the old 42nd
loves — it is our distinguishing mark. I have been shot
with that red heckle. Keep it as long as you are my wife.
It really is what I love best of that kind of thing — it has
so much in it, or rather it represents so much to me of old
tradition of noble men who gave their all for this old land.
' It isn't beautiful, and it is faded, but I do love it so
dearly. . . . And I think those in the service who knew

298 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
me would say, if I were gone, that this heckle would bring
me to them more to mind than anything else, because I
have loved our red plume so much. I loved the story. It
happened in 1798. Two guns were just in the act of being
taken by the French, when a dragoon regiment was ordered
to protect these guns. Well, they started forward, but
turned tail. So four companions of the Forty-Second were
staunch, rushed forward, and secured the guns. This
dragoon regiment had a red plume in its head-dress. The
General in command on the field itself took the red plume
from the dragoon Colonel, and gave it to ours, pending the
King's approval, which was given. And for nigh a hundred
years our people have worn it, and they now treasure it as
they do nothing else. . . . Keep it for my sake, as long
as you are alive — unless in action I run away, when you
can throw it away.'
The Colonel intended that his future wife should
share his feeling for the regiment and all connected
with it, and he had an apt and willing pupil. A day
or two after their engagement had been arranged
he said to her, ' I want you to come along with me
and pay a visit.' He preferred to go in a cab, and
so, having selected one of his numerous cabmen
friends, away they went. It was characteristic of
him that this early visit was paid to the wife of a
retired sergeant of the Black Watch, who kept a
shop in the Canongate, in which it is strongly sus
pected that the Colonel in his kindness had set
her up.
I am permitted to subjoin the following few
extracts from his letters of this time addressed to
the future Mrs. Wauchope.

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 299
To Miss Muir.
' Maryhill Barracks, Glasgow,
'July 1th, 1892.
' Popularity ! of all the uncertain things is popularity
(the worst).' 'June 11th, 1893.
' I love Rob Roy — and the older I get the more do I ; and
Old Mortality, and the Legend of Montrose. I suppose you
have read Kingsley's Ravenshoe and Geoffrey Hamlyn? I
just read the same old books over and over again — Peter
Simple, Midshipman Easy, etc' 'June 23rd, 1893.
'A great national disaster has just been made known to
me — H.M.S. Victoria has gone down, with they say 300
men, with many friends of mine. ... It is really too
terrible altogether. . . . My life has been spent as a
professional soldier, and in that line of business I have
come very much in contact with the Navy.
' Now, what has happened ? First, two of our principal
ironclads entirely useless.
' Secondly, the Admiral, Sir George Tryon, drowned, and
300 men. I tell you, in the Mediterranean for another
twelve-month we are 30 per cent, weaker than we were this
time yesterday. And then to think of the gallant fellows
gone for ever ! . . . Well, after all, it is the way I 'd soonest
die. Death we all hate ; but I think I 'd almost face it with
a cheer in my heart if I saw the old Union Jack flying over
my head, whether in the day of battle or the terribleness of
a sinking ship. Oh, how many noble men have died for
this old land of ours, and how many must die for her in the
future !
' - . . The Captain of the Victoria was such a friend of
mine. He is single. I dined with him just before I left
this country for the last time.'

300 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE

'June 24th, 1893.
' For three years every spare moment I have had I have
given to Mid-Lothian. As for lunch or dinner, took that
where I could get it — many and many a time in the cottage
of the poorest, where I am as much at home, far more than
in the mansion of the rich.' 'June 25th, 1893.
' Many and many a time on service as a Staff-Officer,
after hard work all day, I've been sitting up all night,
straining my eyes with an old candle to get work posted up.
Of course it is nothing to what a man like your father has
done ; but then he is one of the great ones.' 'June 26th, 1893.
'I have lots of work to do to-day, and shall have for
another week. You see we have a lot of things to attend
to in barracks which involve money, and I am one of those
fidgety people who will always go into these things myself.'
' June 29th, 1893.
' I do love simplicity — I cannot bear gossip. Woodstock
is Sir Walter Scott's novel on which Holmby House is founded.
Get it and don't be damped by a little prosiness at first,
you 11 be rewarded. Besides in Woodstock you get a lot of
history.' 'July 10th, 1893.
'I think I am very strong. I've had pretty nearly all
the blood out of me twice. I 've never been sick or sorry,
and many a comrade I 've seen go down with sickness. . . .
' I do think many of the best don't look at things humanly
enough — I feel that very often.'

FURTHER EXTRACTS 301

'July 15th, 1893.
' I 'm just going to Church with the men. I like going
to Church with them — I like being in the middle of the
men. What a lot I 've lived with soldiers. . . .
' I send you my dear old chief's 1 letter. I have worked
hard for him — in dreary days too, when the sky wasn't blue.
I think he '11 say I was steadfast — and what a friend he has
been to me ! He is misunderstood. He is the biggest man
in our service, and if in our day the country really is in
danger the country will insist on having him at the head.
He is a gallant fellow — so fearless, rather hasty in speech
sometimes. Well, I am proud of his friendship. I believe
he has trust and confidence in me, and I know that I have
never misplaced it. How I have laughed at his spinning
yarns over a bottle of liquor which he was sharing with
others who could get nothing ! ' 'August 9th, 1893.
' We have had another great blow in the political world
of this part — the Secretary of our organisation, one of the
best men I have ever known, has resigned owing to ill-health.
I am sure I don't know what we shall do. And yet one
must stand up and try and see the right done. People go
talking to me as if I were so anxious to be in parliament —
I hate the very idea of such a thing ! Mine is a curious
instance of a man being forced into that which he does not
want. And don't mistake me — it is in no spirit of vanity
that I say this. Well aware am I that in Mid-Lothian and
out I get a great deal more credit and praise than I deserve.
But it is simply the truth that I don't want this kind of
praise. My line of thought has been elsewhere. But one
just has to take things as they come.'
1 Lord Wolseley's.

302 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
'August 10th, 1893.
' I think you will like living in barracks. If you are in
barracks I don't think I'll ever want to go out. Upon my
word I am quite happy in barracks. It is a world of its
own, with all its interests — men and women looking after
their food, their children. And the whole thing is very
interesting.' 'August 11th, 1893.
' Some think that we old Tories don't want to do good to
the people. We do indeed ; but we cannot go promising
things which we know in our hearts can never be fulfilled.
These Radicals go promising all kinds of things which in
their hearts can never be fulfilled they know. But all the
same they go on promising away just as hard as ever
they can.' 'August 14th, 1893.
c I was going to have a good long Field-Day to-day, but
1 '11 let them have a day in the country for cricket and games,
etc., instead. It really is too lovely a day for sweating away
at drill. I believe I am a better drill than anything else. I
have worked so hard and long at it, and drill is one of those
things that really to understand thoroughly require from
ordinary mortals great and constant care and attention.'
' I have been a faithful public servant in the past, and so
long as I am in it that comes before anything. But mind
that it is with our noblest that duty and love have gone
together.' 'August 15th, 1893.
' I shall soon have to write to Sir Charles Dalrymple, the
Chairman of the Unionist party in Mid-Lothian, to say that
I must before very long give up the political business. I

EXTRACTS CONTINUED 303
told him that the Army was my first consideration, and that
I could not go on much longer with Mid-Lothian, and that
nothing should prevent my commanding a regiment — this
regiment, and that I could not according to the regulations
of the service do the two. I only took it for a time, and
at first they generally (not all) said I was going to be a
dismal failure. Well, I stood it out, and more or less
scored, and now the very people who prophesied my failure
are loudest in saying that I must go on to the very end. I
have said to my real good supporters that I would not desert
them at this moment, but that I could never give up the
Army. ... I hated always being in parliament (i.e. the
idea of it). We have worked and organised this county —
we have converted and improved it into a possibility ; now
let some other cove come forward. How I was laughed at
by friends and foes ! I felt it often, but I had put my hand
to the plough and I never swerved to the election-time of
June 1892. Since then I have time after time asked to be
relieved.' ' Maryhill, Glasgow,
' August 17th, 1893.
' The enclosed x I got from Mr. Dundas of Arniston. He
is Chairman of the County Council of Mid-Lothian. I got
it last night. It seems to me that if something could be
arranged for in the Royal Infirmary that that would be
about the most sensible way — they might put up a bed or
something. The Royal Infirmary is the grandest institution
that I know of. It is very much connected with Mid-
Lothian ; it is specially connected with miners, with whom
I have so much to do. What colliers would do without the
Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh I know not. Now I daresay
this isn't feasible, and not a word to a soul shall I say.'
1 Referring to a proposed presentation from the Unionists of Mid-
Lothian. It ultimately took the form of a portrait of the candidate
painted by Sir George Reid, reproduced as frontispiece to this volume.

304 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' August 19th, 1893.
'It is a difficult thing for me to get away except after
the accounts are closed at the end of the month, unless I
hand them over completely, as I do when I go on long leave.
You see I run a great big shop, and I am one of those
people who will do things themselves, and really, if one
doesn't, things never go right. Well, at the end of the
month one squares them, and I can trust some youngster
to carry on for fifteen or sixteen days. . . .
' God Almighty never meant people to spend much on
themselves, I am sure of that. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
meant one to live plain, means one to live plain, to be
humble and not caring for the great — by that I mean
bowing to wealth, and to those that can give to one. I am
a Tory, and yet I am a Democrat. My father and those
who were before him were the same.' ' August 21st, 1893.
' The more I have to do with men the more sure I am of
this — that example is the thing. You may talk till you 're
blue in the face, but if you want to be followed you must
lead. ... I like being in the middle of the men — it is a
glorious feeling to lead men in a hot corner if they will
follow. Oh yes, I like also doing what I am told. I like
the great old British service, the old British Infantry so
famous in the history of the world — that Infantry that
fought and conquered in Spain, that licked the French at
Waterloo. . . . The country we call our own is a great
one — the Union Jack is a noble flag . . . but I must stop.
I am in the service, but I feel it all, and it makes my blood
run fast.' ' Barry Camp, September *lth, 1893.
' . . . You will have to make up your mind quite to this
— that during the next year I shall have more and more to

TO MRS. WAUCHOPE 305
devote my time to this regiment. It does require more atten
tion than I have given it, and it is imperative that I shall
be ever and continually looking after things. I was wrong
when I told you, when we first began at this regiment, that
after the first year I would not be so much obliged to look
after things. On the contrary I shall have to look after it
more and more. . . . But you know and understand that a
man who undertakes a job must carry it out. I tell you
truly when I say that I would so much more give it up al
together than not work it out properly. The Commanding
Officer of a regiment is the mainspring of all — without his
constant attention and supervision the whole machine drags
and gets out of order.'
There is now a gap of eight months in the corre-'
spondence, the next letter being dated after his
marriage.
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Carnoustie, May 15th, 1894.
' (I was unable to get) away, as I did so hope I would. . . .
The hotel is most comfortable in every way. I have not read
a single paper, and feel as if I didn't want to. I am thinking
of nothing but the Camp, and I am not the least bit pleased
with it. Indeed we shall have to very nearly pitch it again.
But I was most anxious to get the tents put on the driest
ground possible, and in so doing lost sight of symmetry. On
the 1 7th, Thursday morning, we begin to fire, and I am very
anxious to see that the sentries are thoroughly up in their
orders.' It is surely unnecessary to insist on the value
of the self-revelation embodied in these extracts.
Written for the eye of the most sympathetic of
correspondents, they for once afford a glimpse
behind the curtain of the writer's habitual reserve.
0

306 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
As an obviously unstudied picture of a soldier,
ideally immersed in the work to which he is heart
and soul devoted, they outweigh whole volumes of
comment or of biographical insistence. And it is
not only in such noble words as those evoked by
the sinking of the Victoria, or 'It is a glorious
feeling to lead men in a hot corner if they will
follow,' that the heaven-born soldier shows himself.
' Oh yes, I like also doing what I am told ' ;
' I delight in living in barracks ' ; ' I like going to
Church with the men — I like being in the middle
of them,'— these things are not less characteristic
or typical, whilst perhaps — if truth were known —
they are rarer. Of Wauchope's faith in example
as the thing in dealing with men, it is enough to
say that he lived up to it.
It is touching to note that, gallantly though he
might bear himself, he was not insensible (as who
could have been insensible ?) to the strain of his
hard military service, his almost harder political
service ; for to a man of his training and tempera
ment the latter was probably the harder of the two.
Evidently at the time of writing he is feeling these
conflicting and almost irreconcilable claims tell
heavily upon him, so that, in his remarks on parlia
ment and his hatred of the thought of sitting there,
perhaps we are justified in allowing something for
the severe reaction which necessarily follows a
severe over-taxing of the powers. At the same
time, if ever there existed any doubt as to his whole
hearted preference of the Army, these letters dis
pose of it. His confession of political faith, his

JOINS THE SECOND BATTALION 307
uprightness of political purpose, and his staunchness
to his constituents are just what we should look for
in him.
His lofty belief that in the highest characters
duty and love go hand in hand ; his plea for toler
ance, for humanity ; his plea for the Infirmary ; his
close attention to his duties, his philosophy of plain
living, his scorn of empty popularity, his declaration
as to feeling most at home in poor men's dwellings,
— all these are lights upon his character which we
should have been much the poorer for missing.
It is now time to write up the arrears of his
mihtary life from February 1891, when he was
called on to take leave of his beloved battahon
at Gibraltar.
Ten years before that date — namely, on July 1st,
1881 — in pursuance of the War Office Linked
Battalions Scheme, the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment
had become the 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch
— a relation to that regiment which it had held up
to the year 1786.1 Now the Army being nothing
if not conservative, regimental changes of this kind
are seldom welcomed by it. The present case
proved no exception, and Wauchope certainly shared
in the prevailing feeling. But it was for a moment
only. His second thoughts were better thoughts,
and thenceforward his best efforts were consistently
directed to the fusing of the two battalions. From
the time when he was appointed to the 2nd Bat
talion, nothing could exceed his staunchness to it ;
and in the following note, referring to arrangements
1 It had been raised in 1758.

308 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
for a joint ball, may be read the expression of his
satisfaction that the battalions were now acting in
concert — that their fusion, that is, was accomplished.
To Major (now Colonel) Duff.
' Edinburgh Castle, October 1st, 1895.
c My dear Duff, — You will have heard that the whole
regiment, speaking with one voice, looks to you to manage
this ball, an4 the powers given include the selection of your
own committee. Never were greater powers given — never,
I don't think, has a body of officers shown greater confidence
in a messmate than this Battalion has in you. Burton pro
posed you. Of course I am immensely gratified at this —
take it as a personal gratification. — I remain, yours ever,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
This quotation has brought me ahead of my
narrative, in which it is necessary now to go back in
order to cite from the Colonel's professional conduct
another instance of his habitual uprightness and
unselfishness. The Second Battalion, Black Watch, was stationed
at Limerick when he joined it as seco,nd in command.
It had long been his ambition to command a regi
ment ; and when the senior officer announced his
intention of retiring, this seemed at length about to
be realised. Instead of retiring, however, Colonel
Gunter effected an exchange with Colonel Wavell,
who, by thus coming into the regiment over
Wauchope's head, postponed the fulfilment of his
dream. In these circumstances there are many men
who, in Wauchope's place, would have felt that bare

AS SECOND IN COMMAND 309
justice to the new comer would meet the require
ments of the case. But this was not Wauchope's
way. Extending from the first a kindly welcome to
Wavell, he, throughout the term of their service
together, rendered him a loyal and unfailing support
— a support, be it said, which Wavell, as a stranger
among men who had for the most part known each
other long, was in a position fully to appreciate.
Meantime the fact that, though his junior in the
regiment, Wauchope was Wavell's senior in the
army serves rather to enhance his conduct ; for
except between two sensible and forbearing men this
might in itself have been a source of discord.
As a matter of fact, the two Colonels became the
fastest of friends. Both being alike enthusiasts in
mihtary matters, they had at least one topic of in
exhaustible interest in common ; and it was noticed
between them, during the many hours they spent
in friendly colloquy, that, from whatever point the
conversation might happen to start, it invariably
turned in the long run towards that which was the
ruling passion of either. Nor must it be understood
that the advantage in their intercourse was entirely
on Wavell's side ; for if Wauchope had shown
staunchness to his superior officer, he was not with
out reaping the reward of it. It so happened that
Colonel Wavell was one of the best commanding-
officers in the service — being remarkable in par
ticular for tenacity of purpose and for an amazing
knowledge of all things connected with his regiment ;
and it is certain that Wauchope himself would
have been the first to acknowledge that he had

310 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
learnt much from him, that in time he applied on his
own account ideas which he had derived from him,
and in fact that to some extent he owed it to him
that he also came to be regarded as among the
best of commanding-officers. As a single proof of
the kindly relations subsisting between the two
colonels, I may mention that, a case of scarlet-
fever having occurred in Wavell's house, a refuge
from infection was at onoe provided for his two
little daughters at Niddrie, where they spent six
pleasant weeks.
So much, then, for Wauchope's relation to an
officer under whom he was serving. An officer who
afterwards occupied the same position in regard to
him as he had here occupied in regard to Colonel
Wavell gives a somewhat dryer account of their
relations. They became the best of friends, but not
immediately. At the first Wauchope was reticent —
seeming to take the measure of the new comer ; and,
indeed, throughout their intercourse it was never his
practice to be very communicative upon regimental
matters, preferring to leave his subordinate to follow
his own judgment when temporarily called on to
command. That his good-will was not on that
account the less, the following letter is a proof.
To Major (now Colonel) Duff.
' The Castle, Edinburgh,
' March 17th, 1896.
' My dear old  , — I was very pleased to see your
hand-write once more, but I am distressed to find that you
have not heard something yet. [This relates to an applica-

/>//• /.'t/ !fp/ifi '•'/ ' SJl/yfitburti/t , OduhZ/uraJh . Jwo/l Cnec/ri£- Cmtfravuu/ L*
. 7 . u (i/anr/ipp/p

CALLED TO COMMAND 311
tion for an appointment, which Wauchope had supported.]
I can only hope that my humble utterances on your behalf
may not have done you harm. I do assure you they have
been very strong, but not one whit stronger than they deserve.
Well, you have my hearty wish for employment, and the same
feeling is in all the minds of your old brother- officers, who I
do assure you miss you more than I can tell you. We all
think it exceedingly wrong of you not to come to the ball —
we might introduce you to an heiress !
' I got a wire yesterday saying Charlie Eden had breathed
his last, and I don't know whether I may not run up for
a few hours to his funeral. He and I joined together, and
until 1889, when he left, served continuously together.
' Mrs. Wauchope sends you her best and kindest regards,
and I send you my love. — Very sincerely yours,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
A month later he writes to the same : —
' It was very refreshing to get your letter. I am — we are
all so delighted at your getting a billet which will be to your
liking. There is one thing quite certain, and it is that you
have not got as much as you deserve.'
The letters are slight, but their affectionate
cordiality and keen desire to serve a friend are
typical. In the latter part of 1894 he had succeeded to the
command of his battalion — thus realising an ambition
avowed years before, when, in a memorable speech
delivered at a certain regimental dinner, he had
enlarged in glowing terms upon the glory of com
manding a battalion of Highlanders wearing red
heckles. Of the spirit in which he approached his
new duties an idea is furnished in a letter of Mrs.

312 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Wauchope's, in which, after speaking of the
* solemnity ' with which he regarded them, she goes
on to say, ' He was quite weighed down with the
responsibility for a day or two previous to it. He
told me that it was a tremendous jump, and when I
said that I knew he was considered such a good
soldier, and had given his life and time to it, he said
that did not matter — no man knew till he had tried
them the difficulties of commanding. Many would
do excellently so long as the responsibility did not
rest entirely upon them.' This is the temper which
makes for capacity.
The following extract from a speech made at a
regimental gathering, soon after his accession to the
command, is worth quoting as embodying his views
upon the subject. . . . ' Our old regiment,' he said,
' has become renowned chiefly, I believe, because of
the strict and stern yet good discipline exercised by
such commanders as Sir Daniel Cameron, Sir John
M'Leod, and others. These men have always stood
up for discipline, and it is discipline which brings
the soldier comfort, whilst it is the reverse that
brings disorder, crime, and everything that is disa
greeable. . . .' Well, the speaker was one who
might be relied on to uphold the tradition of the
regiment upon the old lines.
Whilst in command at Edinburgh Castle, he was
able to spend more time at his well-loved Niddrie
than had hitherto been possible — an opportunity
which he turned, as was his wont, to the advantage
of the district and his neighbours. Among the
miners he was simply ' worshipped ' — I quote from

DOWN A COAL-PIT 313
one who is not given to exaggeration — and to judge
from his relations with them, this can scarcely be
wondered at. For example: Having become a
member of the local School Board and Parish
Council — acting in this like the model country
gentleman he was — he would take a pleasure in
discussing the affairs of these bodies with the colliers
as they plied their toil in the bowels of the earth.
It happens that in one of the Niddrie pits the work
ings are exceptionally steep— sloping, indeed, at an
angle of something like 60°. Now, as any one who
has essayed it will probably allow, it is a somewhat
trying experience to stand at the ' working face '
of such a pit whilst the worked coal crackles noisily,
breaking away under the superincumbent weight, as
if endowed with power of its own to help the miner.
Standing in such a position one day, Wauchope was
asked if it did not make him nervous. His reply
was characteristic of the old campaigner, for he
laughed and said that ' many a time in his life he
would have been thankful to get a place like that
to stick his head in ! '
But he had the gentler as well as the more virile
virtues. Thus : It happened that he was returned
to serve on the School Board of Liberton together
with a certain Niddrie miner who was strongly
opposed to him in politics. Liberton is distant
three miles from Niddrie, and as Mr. Bowie, the
miner delegate, was at this time working for eight
hours daily in his pit, Wauchope, naturally con
cluding that he would be tired by evening, charged
him to call at Niddrie House on meeting-nights to

314 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
be driven with himself to the meeting. When ' the
Kurnel ' was prevented attending a meeting, he had
Bowie driven there alone. And so fixed a rule did
this become, that once when Wauchope, who was
absent, had neglected to give the necessary order,
his coachman insisted on stretching a point and
acting by his own initiative — feeling assured that
in so doing he was carrying out his master's wishes.
One evening Wauchope had not expected Bowie
to attend the meeting, and accordingly had had
himself driven to it in a vehicle seated for two only.
Bowie, however, did turn up ; whereupon, says
Wauchope airily, on leaving the council-chamber,
' I really don't feel that I could eat my dinner unless
I have a three mile walk first ' — by this fiction per
suading the miner to take his place in the trap, and so
saving him the tiring walk home. It may perhaps
be objected that such trifles as these are scarcely
worth the telling. I do not think so. After all,
'tis trifles paint the man. Besides, is thoughtfulness
for others so common in the world as to need no
commendation ? When associated, as here, with
the soldier's sterner virtues, such thoughtfulness
acquires to the writer's thinking a special and
additional beauty. Nor does the little story lose
from the political antagonism of its characters.
Whatever useful purposes they may serve, the
pits and their adjuncts are certainly no ornament —
a visitor standing at the door of Niddrie House one
day remarked as much. His host promptly put the
extinguisher on such superfine criticism. ' That 's
my bread and butter,' says he.

RELATIONS WITH COLLIERS 315
Whilst at Cairo, in 1884, he received a telegram
reporting an accident in one of his pits. Asked if
the workings had sustained much damage, he re
plied excitedly, ' I don't care a damn for the damage
— I want to know what injury there has been to life
or limb ! '
On learning that the accident had been fatal, he
promptly notified to his agent his desire to assist
the bereaved. From the time of his succeeding to
the estate, this had been his attitude. For instance,
in 1882, when about to leave home for Egypt, he
had enjoined on Dr. Balfour of Portobello, if he
could be of any use to those employed in Niddrie
Collieries, to be sure to let him know. Soon after
wards it was proposed to get up a Working Men's
Club and Reading-Room for New Craighall — on
being informed of which, Wauchope wrote from
Egypt, enclosing an order for a handsome sum.
He also took much interest in such local institu
tions as the Football Club, Brass Band, and
especially the Bowling Green — where, when he
was at home, he seldom failed to put in an appear
ance on the opening and closing days of the season,
to present prizes and take part in the play.
Having in a large measure the gift of remember
ing names and faces, he knew the miners individu
ally, and on meeting them in his walks would stop
to address and shake them by the hand. Grimy
those hands might often be — it made no difference
to him. And here, if any reader should object that
these things again are trifles, I can only reply that
to me such trifles convey more of the human and

316 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
kindly relations of the Colonel and his dependents
than would a page of generalities or a score of
epithets. The protracted strike of the Scottish coal- workers
which occurred in 1894 put a severe strain on
Wauchope's friendship for the miners — a strain
which was weathered, however, triumphantly.
Strongly opposed by his traditions to insubordina
tion in whatever form, the Colonel had no sympathy
whatever with the strike, and this he plainly told
the strikers when a deputation waited upon him.
Than these industrial wars, he said, ' there is nothing
more deplorable, nothing which has tended more
to unhappy homes and all the consequences thereof.'
Yet his heart was too humane not to bleed for the
hardships of the women and children. Should he
act against his better judgment ? Say, rather, that
he reconciled conflicting duties ; for, having de
nounced the strike, he straightway proceeded to
contribute to the maintenance of those families
whose breadwinners were engaged in it. From
one point of view his conduct might be inconsis
tent ; from a higher point of view it was consistent
enough. To this period belongs a story which has been
touchingly told by the Rev. George Dodds of
Liberton, an eye-witness of what it relates. In
inspecting the hospital at Maryhill Barracks,
Wauchope had come upon a boy who was dying
of consumption. He was one of two brothers,
Egan by name, in the band of the Black Watch.
Finding that he was an orphan, the Colonel had

YOUNG EGAN 317
him removed to Niddrie House, where all that
kindness could do was done for him. 'When he
died,' writes Mr. Dodds, who had visited him in
his illness, ' it was a sight which I shall never for
get.' At the close of the funeral service, Wauchope
stood by the coffin in tears. Then ' uncovered, he
walked from the house through the snow, with all
the reverence of a bereaved man, to the grave in
the private burial-ground, where the young soldier
whose closing weeks he had soothed so tenderly
was laid to rest by comrades.' Surely this in
cident deserves to be remembered with that which
hallows the churchyard of wind-swept Deal — where
a local tradition fondly recalls that the greatest
of all British seamen, when attending the funeral
of an unknown midshipman, was affected even to
tears. I have already spoken of Wauchope's attachment
to his second estate of Yetholm as equalling that
which he felt for Niddrie. Yetholm was an agricul
tural property, and before he succeeded to it the
bad times for Scottish landlords had set in.1 The
outlook was anything but bright, and this he fully
realised. ' There may be no property in land twenty
years hence,' he said in 1884, in writing to his
friend and agent, Mr. Black. And again, 'I had
a letter from Swan last mail which gave a gloomy
account of agriculture. I have managed to preside
over the Niddrie estate in troublous times . . .
but as Wolseley once said, " Difficulties, diffi
culties, sir! why they are only made in order to
1 They may be dated from 1877.

318 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
be surmounted.'" His personal expenditure was
small, nor did the present difficulties, paralysing
as they were to many landlords, prevent his con
tributing largely towards introducing a better water-
supply and better sanitation into the Town and
Kirk villages of Yetholm. The subjoined letters
afford some insight into his manner of dealing with
his agricultural tenantry.
To A. D. M. Black, Esq.
'Cambo, Crail,
'August 29th, 1884.
'My dear Black, — ... I am prepared to deal most
liberally with the small tenants this year, as times are bad —
perhaps I shall not be able to do so again.
' It is better, if one has to suffer reduction, to meet — or
perhaps even to forestall — the demand than to have to give
it at the point of the bayonet. Turnips, I fear, are bad. . . .
I should think that lime would be the thing as far as
possible, but then I fear that the scarcity of turnips will
make it so difficult for them to keep their cattle during the
winter. If I don't see you on Monday, let this letter be
the authority for you to act. I am sure that you will do
the best for my interests. — I remain, yours sincerely,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
To the Same.
' Cambo, September 7th, 1885.
' My dear Black, — I have sent to my tenants at Yetholm,
as per enclosed list, the sums as set against their names —
except those two in red, which I will ask you to do. I have
done so in a letter to each, stating that it is money returned

RELATIONS WITH TENANTS 319
on the half-year's rent. ... I send the letters under cover
to you, in order that you may re-address them as a whole
to Grahame, who can serve them out. In this way they will
see that it comes through the proper channel.
' The question of lime I should like gone into as soon as
convenient. Get these letters away as soon as possible. —
Yours sincerely,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
Enclosed in this letter is a list of names, to which
is appended — the whole in his own handwriting —
the sum returnable in each case.
In passing, it must be allowed that, in such cases,
Wauchope would sometimes show excessive indul
gence — he was quite aware of it himself. For
instance, a tenant who for some good reason had
been refused a reduction by the agent tried a
personal appeal to the landlord. Wauchope listened
to his statement, and then, thrusting the £20, or
whatever the sum might be, into the man's hand,
said, with admonishing gesture, 'Now, whatever
you do, don't tell Black!' Demoralising to the
tenant? Wanting in consideration for the poorer
landlords ? It may be so ; but when all is said, the
heart that measures all things is a poor one ! On
the other hand, the laird of Yetholm was not the
man to be afraid to say no to any suitor who in
his opinion failed to adduce good reason for a
request. As the letters quoted above have helped
to show, it was his practice to go thoroughly and
in person into business questions which arose
between himself and his tenantry. And, in dealing
with these, he could prove himself not only gener-

320 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
ous, but shrewd. He understood the working of
a farm, knew whether any particular farm on his
estate was well farmed or the reverse, and — to
quote the words of one of his tenants — ' the better
a man farmed his place, he would give it him the
less rent.' That is, he would let at a lower rent
to a good farmer than a bad one. It was also
his custom, when a tenant tried to make a bargain
with him, to try on his part to make a bargain also
— in other words, to try to secure some sort of
equivalent in return for the advantages he ceded.
So much for his business relations with his tenant-
farmers and crofters. In his personal dealings with
them he showed a keen interest, not only in such
questions as those of housing and water-supply,
but in the private affairs of the individual too. In
a word, as to his soldiers he was fellow-man as well
as officer, so to his dependents he was friend as well
as landlord. A few quotations from his letters will
bring out this relationship.

To John Scott, Esa., Frogden.
' Yetholm Hall, January 11th, 1897.
'My dear Scott, — Mrs. Wauchope and self will come
over to call upon you to-morrow, Tuesday, if fine — if not
fine, then the next fine day as it turns up. We'd arrive
about 11 a.m. I have a young nephew learning to shoot —
I propose to potter round with a gun. — Sincerely yours,
' A. G. Wauchope.'

LETTERS TO A TENANT 321
To the Same.
' Niddrie, Edinburgh, October 16th, 1898.
' My dear Scott, — On Thursday next I am bringing my
chief, General Gatacre, to have a crack at Frogden partridges,
when I do hope you will be able to joki our party. If this
day won't suit, then send me a wire to Niddrie, Duddingston,
and we'll come some other day soon following. We leave
Edinburgh so as to arrive at Kelso at 9 a.m. on 20th
October. Will drive straight out to you, and we will be
much obliged for a bit of breakfast for three of us.
' With our united kind regards to Mrs. Scott, I remain,
sincerely yours, A. G. Wauchope.'
These pleasant informal notes are addressed to one
of his tenants with whom, at an earlier and less
busy period, Wauchope had been in the habit of
corresponding once a month regularly. The three
letters following, addressed to the same gentleman,
refer to the last illness of Mr. Scott, senior, and
attest the genuineness of the writer's concern and
the delicacy of his sympathy.
To the Same.
' Niddrie, Mid-Lothian, April 5th, 1899.
' My dear Scott, — Last Friday I saw your father, and he
told me he was returning forthwith to his home, and this
was confirmed by the Head Nurse, who said that Annandale
had determined not to operate. To-day I get a letter from
Annandale saying he had operated, and at the same time he
gives a most sad report which distresses me more than I can
tell you. I shall go in to try to see your father this after
noon — anyhow to ask after him. — I remain, very sincerely
yours, A. G. Wauchope.'
X

322 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
To the Same.
' Scottish Conservative Club,
' Edinburgh, April 16th, 1899.
' My dear Scott, — I have been hearing continually from
Annandale, and this morning he told me that to-morrow he
(Annandale) wished me, at 10.30 a.m., to go to see your
father for a second. I know that you and your family will
feel that this is no interfering on my part at this supreme
moment. I go because Annandale thinks your father would
be pleased, and Annandale will see that no harm can accrue.
On these occasions writing is of no avail. I have nothing
further to say than to tell you and your family that you
have our deepest sympathy. — Sincerely yours,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
To the Same.
' Niddrie, April 18th, 1899.
' My dear Scott, — I was distressed at seeing your father
this morn, and feel as if I had been wrong in advice.1 Well,
whatever comes of it, this is true — that I would have [done]
what he has done. Well, I can think of nothing else ! —
Very sincerely yours, A. G. Wauchope.'
With many of the older Yetholm folks the
happy relations of Wauchope's boyhood had been
maintained uninterrupted. Of these was the farm-
steward of Frogden, William Jack, a most long
headed husbandman, and a great ' character,' within
whose house in years gone by Andy and his brother
1 Advice to undergo an operation, which unfortunately had not heen
successful. It was Professor Annandale who had eventually removed
the bullet which had so long troubled Wauchope after Ordahsu,

AT YETHOLM 323
had often devoured 'jelly-pieces,' and whom they
always made a point of visiting when in the neigh
bourhood. A later acquaintance, of a very different
type, on the same farm, was a certain ne'er-do-weel
who was much given to drink. His redeeming
point was a high respect for the Colonel — under
whom he had served in the army, in whose fairness
he had the utmost confidence, and of whom he
would proudly relate that, if he had sometimes got
him locked up overnight, he had often given him
a shilling the next morning.
So in that little secluded community he had
friends among all sorts and conditions — without
bating a jot of native dignity, he was, as it is given
few to be, all things to all. The writer calls to
mind one instance, within his knowledge, in which
this was conspicuously brought out. The date was
some time in the later eighties, and the occasion the
annual dinner which follows the local Shepherds'
Show and Sports. Wauchope had been announced
to preside, which of itself ensured a crowded attend
ance. The scene still rises clear before me : — strips
of table running the length of the gaunt, dimly-
lighted hall, and lined on either side with rugged
hill-men from the Cheviot wilds — men to whom a
daily life which brought little contact with their
fellows had taught habits of self-reliance, indepen
dence. As croupiers, or at the ' high table,' a few
Border farmers, a bonnet-laird or so. And dominat
ing all, as was most fit, the clear-cut, self-repressive
features and the red poll of the Preses — the hero of
the hour, admired of all admirers, the right man in

324 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
the right place. For these were the men whom
Wauchope loved, as they loved him. 'To lead a
regiment of Yetholm men ! ' he has been heard to
aspire, as after one of life's most choice experiences.
And to address them now, to fire them with the
thoughts that fired himself, was in one way to lead
them. To the shepherds the occasion meant the
unbending of austerity. They gave themselves to
it as do those to whom social pleasure comes infre
quently — meaning to have their fill, and make the
most of it. I have no doubt but there were many
there who can recall the incidents of the night more
fully far than I.
Seated beside the President, I remember spirts
of kindly talk with him — talk interrupted by long
intervals of silence, while his thoughts anticipated
coming duties. But these periods of abstraction
were at all times characteristic. I remember, also,
his kindly commendation of a rather ' miss-fire '
speech about the Ettrick Shepherd — one of those
speeches one would wish to think 'went over the
heads ' of the audience — commendation of the inten
tion, surely, much rather than the performance.
But the quick sympathy of the stern-seeming
soldier was a paradox familiar to his friends. He
had kind words for all, but his kind words were
spontaneous always and sincere. And of the songs
sung that night — they were many, very many, for
we sat down early and rose late — I remember only
his : — the old pathetic sea-song of ' The Mermaid ' :
' Then up spake the captain of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken captain was he . . .'

AS CHAIRMAN 325
of which he gave us a few verses only. And, by
the way, it is worth noticing that a man of his
strong sense of humour, and occasional high spirits,
would seem to have affected pathos in his choice
of songs ; for another of his favourites — a limited
repertory — was the well-known Lancer ditty which
begins : —
' Wrap me up in my old stable-jacket . . .'
Of his speech — his numerous speeches — I remember
nothing. But as to this I am quite clear : I have
seen many chairmen who were more witty, more
polished, or more eloquent than Wauchope — for, as
a matter of fact, in these kinds he attempted very
little ; but never in my life have I seen one who so
fully possessed the hearts of his hearers, who so
entirely satisfied their expectations and delighted
them. Possibly in one way it was scarcely a fair
trial, for I more than suspect that whatever he had
chosen to do or say, that would have appeared to
them the right thing. How he obtained his hold
upon them I have been at some pains to discover,
but I have failed. Old acquaintance, character,
reputation — these things will not account for it.
Well, then, let me be content to state the fact, and
to rejoice in it, that men will sometimes recognise
a true man when they meet him, and will delight to
do him honour.
No picture of this phase or side of his life could
pretend to completeness which did not take account
of his relation to the Church of Scotland — for the
following particulars of which I am indebted to the
Very Reverend Dr. Herbert Story.

326 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
'My originally slight acquaintance with him,'
writes the Principal, 'was strengthened by our
common associations with Yetholm, and more
frequent opportunities of meeting when he was
with his regiment at Maryhill. His interest in the
Church was of course a bond of union. He often
spoke of the ecclesiastical affairs of the parish, of
which his predecessors had been the patrons; and
everything that concerned the moral and religious
welfare of his men, the garrison chapel, the services
there, the wives and children were near his heart.
When his residence in or near Edinburgh suggested
his becoming a member of the General Assembly,
he was elected, much to his gratification, as a
member of that Court. No elder could be more
assiduous in his attendance, or feel a keener concern
in the proceedings. I remember his coming into
the House on one occasion at least, in full uniform,
he having been at Holy rood, and not taking time to
get into " mufti " lest he should lose the beginning
of a debate. He did not often speak in the Assembly,
and never unless he had something to say really
bearing on the point at issue. He was brief, dis
tinct, and forcible, emphasising special sentences
with a slap of his clenched right hand on the palm
of his left, which compelled the attention even of
the most light-minded. On all questions — military
and social especially — he was heard with the respect
due to his character and experience, and transparent
veracity and honesty of purpose. He was, in
matters of order and usage, as far as regarded ritual,
decidedly conservative ; and I think loved the

AS A CHURCHMAN 327
Psalms of David, with the noble old Scots tunes,
better than any " human hymns," and was inclined
to be rather impatient of new fashions and forms,
whether in services or creeds : but there was not a
tinge of intolerance or prejudice in his opinion or
conduct about these or any other points. What
the majority decided he accepted, and was loyal to
the decision. ... His method, when he felt a diffi
culty in giving his vote on a debated point, was to
mark how a member on whose judgment he thought
he could rely gave his, and to follow him.
' Whatever he made up his mind to do — for the
Church, for his men, for any object which he
believed in as doing good — he did with all his heart.
Nothing could be allowed to interfere with duty. I
remember spending a Sunday afternoon at Niddrie ;
when a certain hour came the General left his
friends, mounted his horse, and rode off to town, to
take part in a meeting — about Temperance, I think
— for the benefit of the soldiers. His example did
immense good, and his influence still lives.'1
From another source I am informed that, on his
rising to speak in the Assembly, a noticeable still
ness of attention would at once ensue. That he was
well-beloved there is easily credible, for he brought
the humanity and accessibility of his nature with
him. For example : At one of the sittings, a young
Border minister was endeavouring to carry a certain
point against one much senior to himself, who had,
1 The mention of his name in the Assembly — in connection with the
Wauchope Memorial Fund, or other matter — is the signal for a sympa
thetic demonstration. See, for example, Scotsman, May 22nd, 1903.

328 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
I believe, held the office of Moderator. In the face
of some rather overbearing opposition, the junior
carried his point. On passing out, he happened to
fall in with Wauchope, who, though a stranger, gave
him a friendly nod, remarking, 'Well, you won
that ! ' Then the General walked with the minister
as far as their several ways lay together ; and,
having learnt in the course of their conversation
that improvements were being carried out in the
minister's church, soon afterwards sent him a guinea
by way of subscription. The fact is that few ' big
men ' had the gift of easy and unconscious con
descension in a greater degree than Wauchope.
And if the said big men only realised how a
gracious word from them is sometimes treasured in
memory as among the crowning experiences of an
obscure life, I think they would cultivate this
winning gift a little more than they do.
Conspicuous among Wauchope's work in the
General Assembly was his service on the Temper
ance Committee, where, though by no means an
extremist, he extended a loyal and liberal support
to the Convener, Dr. Paton — to whose courtesy I
am indebted for the following lively little picture.
The period is 1895.
' The Colonel had a great reception,' writes the
Reverend Doctor, ' when he stood up in his High
land military uniform, on the floor of the General
Assembly, and supported the work of the Com
mittee in a dashing, generous, and transparently
sincere speech, which was listened to with universal
admiration, and elicited rounds of applause. It was

COMMUNION CELEBRATIONS 329
on this occasion that he expressed his personal
loyalty to the Convener, and in eulogising his first
year's work, woke uproarious merriment by declar
ing, " I don't know what you '11 do with him in the
Church; but if we had such a man in the Army,
we 'd make him a Major-General ! " '
Opposed to the Local Veto as he instinctively
was, it is evident that, between his native con
scientiousness and his desire to be staunch to his
convener, his duties upon this committee must have
cost the Colonel anxious thought.
His home life at Niddrie was closely identified
with that of the local church. Thus, on Com
munion Sundays, in his capacity of Elder, he made
a point of attending service in the Parish Church of
Liberton, and of waiting for the second table. In
the interval between the services he and Mrs.
Wauchope would lunch or dine with the minister
and his wife, the other elders being also present ; on
which occasion toasts were formally proposed — as,
for instance, on Wauchope's first appearance, the
toast of the Junior Elder, to which he appropriately
responded. Then the minister would propose the
health of the other elders, at the same time giving
expression to his sense of the admirable manner in
which the tables had been served.
In this connection is recalled an incident of which
the moral may well be laid to heart by many even
of the professors of religion. It being necessary to
elect a Parish Minister, Wauchope was placed by
the congregation upon the electing committee — a
spontaneous mark of confidence and respect by

830 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
which he was much gratified. Proceeding with the
work of election, the committee formed a 'short
leet.' But on learning that the name of the Assist
ant to the late minister was not upon this leet, the
congregation, becoming dissatisfied, dissolved the
committee and elected a fresh one, which did not
include the Colonel. This he could not but regard
in the light of a rebuff — to which he was naturally
the more sensible from having been very scrupulous
in his attendance at committee meetings ; and this
notwithstanding that each attendance involved a
journey from York, where he was then quartered.
(On these occasions he would leave York in the
early afternoon, arrive in Edinburgh in time to
attend an eight o'clock meeting at Liberton, catch
the midnight express train from Edinburgh, and be
back in York in time for early parade — so you see
he did not spare himself.)
Well, to resume, the Assistant was duly elected
by the new committee — upon which several
members of the old committee proceeded to with
draw from the congregation and to join other
churches. Not so Wauchope. Said he, instead, to
one of his fellow committee men, ' We have fought
and fought well, and have been beaten — now is the
time to show that we can take a beating, and to
think not of ourselves but of the good of the parish.
Mr. Burnett is now our minister, and it is for us to
do all we can to uphold him as the constituted
authority.' Acting consistently upon the rule which he had
here laid down, ere long he came to form a very
high opinion of the new minister. About this time

AN ANECDOTE 331
Lord Wolseley was to visit Niddrie, and to stay
there over a Sunday — a great event in Wauchope's
eyes, for there was no one whom he admired more
enthusiastically than his old 'chief.' Among the
carefully chosen guests (mostly military) whom he
invited to meet his lordship was Mr. Burnett, who
was called on to say grace at dinner. And the next
day the Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by the
Colonel, attended service in Mr. Burnett's church.
From Wauchope no higher compliment was pos
sible, and it must be remembered that he had all
the ministers of Edinburgh to choose from. Were
it not well that more of his spirit should be shown
in similar circumstances ? In his memorial sermon,
the Reverend Mr. Burnett bore witness as follows :
'. . . Since I have been associated with him in the
work of this church, I am constrained to testify
how nobly he has fulfilled his generous promise of
co-operation and support, so heartily proffered to
me on the occasion of my appointment — sparing
himself neither trouble nor inconvenience in the
midst of pressing and multifarious duties, and when ,
thanked for doing so, replying simply, " Not at all ;
it 's my duty."'
At York, whither his battalion moved in the
autumn of 1896, the Colonel withstood the attrac
tions of the King of Cathedrals to remain faithful to
the Presbyterian Church. But there was nothing
whatever of narrowness in his attitude. In general
he preferred to attend service in the Parish Church,
wherever he might be spending the Sunday ; or, if
in London, to do so at St. Paul's Cathedral. Whilst
at York, in reference to a yearly Military Service,

332 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
held in the Minster, he wrote as follows to the
Dean, the Very Reverend Arthur Purey-Cust.
The Very Reverend Arthur Purey-Cust.
' Strensall Camp, June 7th, 1898.
' ... I am strongly of opinion that the yearly Military
Service has a most excellent effect both on the officers and
men. It is a great thing for us all to be together in the
worship of God Almighty, and especially does this come out
when there is a Presbyterian regiment here. We would
never be all together were it not for this service. But I
think, besides, that the service has a great effect in elevating
the mind . . . and I am a Presbyterian — bred and born
one, and mean to die one. — I remain, very sincerely yours,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
On another occasion, when the Dean had spoken
of the mixed feelings with which this Military
Service had been at first regarded, and of a reported
disposition on the part of some to deride it, the
Colonel at once fired up : ' Don't let any one say
that ! ' he cried. ' To bring us together into God's
house, to worship Him together in His house — that
is nothing to be derided ; it is a very great blessing.
There could not be a greater privilege for any of us.'
Evidently he had not exaggerated when he spoke of
liking to go to church with the men. And, indeed,
there is scarcely any aspect of him which I prefer to
contemplate to that when he would appear attired
in full regimentals for Church Parade, with the
edges of a big Bible protruding from his sporran
— looking a worthy descendant of his ancestor,
Wauchope the Covenanter.

CHAPTER XII
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS — APPOINTED TO COMMAND
A BRIGADE ON ACTIVE SERVICE — THE SOUDAN
CAMPAIGN
The following extracts from letters to Mrs.
Wauchope belong to the Edinburgh Castle period.
To Mrs. Wauchope. ' New Club,
' Edinburgh, August 1895.
' Well, the midshipmite comes at 7 p.m. We shall have
a solitary dinner together, and then go to the ball together
— rather an amusing party, is it not ? Well, I go to please
the Lord-Provost of Edinburgh, for whom I have such a
high respect, and also to show my humble respect for our
great sea Service, for whom the entertainment has been given.
It begins at 8.30 p.m., which has a healthy atmosphere. . . .
' I want you to think over the nicest place for Colonel
Andrew Wauchope's memorial — the man who was killed at
the battle of the Pyrenees in 1812. He is my hero in the
family — he died with his face to the foe, rallying his
regiment ; and Sir Colin Campbell, into whose arms he fell
when hit, used always to speak of him as the bravest of the
brave — and they were brave in those days.' 'Edinburgh Castle,
'August 1895.
' The Lord-Provost has asked me to come with him to the
ship on Monday. On Wednesday there is to be a great

334 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
lunch at the City Chambers, at which I am to be, and on
Thursday an evening-party for the whole Channel Fleet, at
which I must be present — so my social duties will be many
and varied.' ' New Club, August 1895.
' We began lunch at 2 p.m., and I have just left, and it
is 7 p.m. — almost as bad as my dinner with the Germans,
which lasted from 2 p.m. till 4 a.m.1 We left the Council
Chamber at 3 p.m. and went to the Music Hall, where
600 British blue-jackets were being entertained, and it was
a sight, and I couldn't tear myself away. Our band was
there and was much appreciated. There was a song sung,
" The Anchor 's Weighed," and the end of it is, " Then
remember me " ; and the blue-jackets sang the chorus so
beautifully that when the " remember me " died away, the
tears were in my eyes. . . . There is something enthralling
to me in the cheers and voices of some hundreds of blue
jackets or soldiers. Their united voice is a music to me
such as can be evoked by no other means. I have heard
it in the hour of victory, with a fleeing foe in front of us,
and it brought rapture to my heart. The Admiral is a
brother of Lord Lothian's — a splendid specimen to look at
of a Scottish gentleman. I tell you a real Scotch gentleman
is not easy to beat — one of the old families I refer to —
when he is a tip-top one.'
The following refer to the York period, 1896-1898.
' Yorkshire Club, York.
' Well, here we are in York. We came here fairly well,
and I like the look of the quarters. ... I don't feel as if
I had made much of a speech at the Union Club ' (Edinburgh),
1 A dinner with German officers during his tour of the battlefields of
the Franco-Prussian War.

THE 'IMMORTAL MEMORY' 335
' but they cheered me to the echo, which naturally cheered
my old heart.' ' Infantry Barracks, York.
' I am just off to Hull. Have marched seventeen miles,
and the old corps marched like bricks in the snow.'
'Imperial Hotel,
' Hull, January 26th.
' Well, there was a tremendous big party at the dinner1 —
some 120, and it was a great success. I quite brought the
house down, and made about the best speech I ever made,
and mentioned Robbie Burns very little — a few quotations.
The old Mayor of Hull, a grand old specimen, was on my
left, and he clapped me on the shoulders and said it was
the greatest speech he ever heard — and the old chap meant
it. Well, as a matter of fact it was not a bad one, even
in regard to its language ; but where I enlightened them
was that I was not long, spoke without restraint, had some
homely yarns, and just got together the quotations of Burns
best suited for them. When I quoted " Highland Mary "
I had them completely. There was another good quotation :
" Wha willna sing
God save the King
We 11 hang upon the steeple ;
But while we sing
God save the King,
We '11 no forget the people."
' I am stopping here till 3 p.m. and taking a good walk.'
'July 1st, 1897.
' I think the Compensation Bill is perfectly right, and if
I were going in for politics I would go in for it heart and
1 Burns Club Anniversary Dinner.

336 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
soul. No doubt it will cost me money, but not so much as
some in my situation. And why ? Because whenever a man
is injured now I subscribe and give freely — the Bill will
make it useless for me to subscribe. Now I think a collier,
when he is injured, has a right to be compensated, for he is,
so to speak, wounded in the battle of industry, and for that
all should pay — coal-masters and royalty-owners especially.
' Yes, I think the Government are doing nobly, and also
in what they are doing in Ireland, in introducing the Local
Government Bill. The great difficulty in introducing the
measure is that in all previous bills the power of taxing the
landlords was given to the tenants. Well, under the present
bill of this Government the local taxes are to be paid out
of the fund which Great Britain has to make up to Ireland.
The landlords of Ireland will get a great benefit thereby.
Of course the money has to come out of the pockets of the
British people some time or another ; but no doubt a sum
had to be given to Ireland from Great Britain, and there
could have been no better plan devised than the one which
Balfour has evolved out of his head.'
In the Autumn Manoeuvres of 1897, held in
Sussex, Wauchope took part — his brigade uniting
with the force of General Burnett, near Arundel,
and so enabling that commander to recover lost
ground. Sharp skirmishing with the enemy under
General Gosset was continued through successive
days, and in the upshot the attempt to drive
Burnett and Wauchope back over the river Arun
was decided by the umpires to have failed.
In a letter to Colonel Richard Kerr Bayly of the
Black Watch, dated September 16th, Wauchope
thus alludes to the manoeuvres.

TO COMMAND A BRIGADE 337
To Colonel R. K. Bayly, C.B.
' We had a very interesting time at the Sussex manoeuvres.
I found myself rather strange, and though none of us
Infantry people shone very much — certainly I didn't — we
got on ; and I tell you the country was a difficult one, with
great woods intervening everywhere. And then strange
regiments coming together from all parts — one of mine just
back from Ceylon, where it had been four years — just made
it a little difficult.'
From mimic war he was soon to return to the
reality, for in June of the next year he was selected
to command a brigade in the expedition then being
organised by General Sir Herbert Kitchener for
the advance on Khartoum. This appointment,
made before he had completed his time in command
of his battalion, was of course a very signal honour.
In response to congratulations from his old friend,
he writes as follows : —
To the Same.
' Strensall Camp, July 1st, 1898.
' My dear old Colonel, — Many thanks for your kind and
affectionate letter.
' I wish you were going out in charge of the Brigade — I
shall sadly miss your wise counsel. Well, I will do my best,
and this I know — whether I succeed or fail, you will stick up
for me. — Yours ever, A. G. Wauchope.'
As on the occasion of his appointment to the
command of the battalion, so now again Wauchope
deeply realised the increased responsibilities upon

338 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
which he was about to enter, displaying an anxiety
to show himself worthy of them which, in one of
his tried and acknowledged military proficiency,
was nothing less than touching. He had also to
face the trial of parting from the beloved regiment
with which he had served, in war and peace, for
close upon thirty-three years — a trial which fell
scarcely less heavily than upon himself upon some
of his brother-officers. Indeed I believe that there
were several who, feeling their main interest in
soldiering broken by the separation, now proposed
to send in their papers, and would actually have done
so had he not convinced them that this would be
unfair to the regiment.
I need not say that it was not the officers only
who felt the parting. If ever any officer had done so,
he had earned the love of his men, of whom many
must now have felt that they were losing their best
friend. It is not surprising, therefore, to read that
his 'send-off' from Strensall Camp was one which
will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it ;
for never, by those who knew them best, had Scottish
soldiers been known to exhibit such emotion.
The Colonel had arranged to leave York by the
midnight express, after being entertained at mess,
with Mrs. Wauchope, by the officers of the battalion.
Accordingly, by the time he set forth, the camp was
hushed — being to all outward appearance wrapped in
slumbers deep and sound. But the first rumble of
carriage-wheels was the signal for a striking trans
formation-scene. At once all was hubbub and
activity, and from every tent issued helter-skelter

HIS INDEPENDENT SPIRIT 339
its complement of soldiers. They had not stayed
to dress, for their only thought was to see the last
of their departing ' chief.' As he came in sight a
storm of cheers arose, the carriage was surrounded,
many and eager were the hands which were stretched
forth for a last shake of his hand. And half-dressed
as they were, not a few of the men ran cheering him
far along the road. To an unconcerned onlooker
the demonstration must have mingled strangely
the grotesque with the affecting. But there is no
doubt as to its true significance, and equally little
that it must have gone right home to Wauchope's
heart. A little incident of this period will serve to illus
trate at once his independence and his staunchness
to his old regiment. Before his present appointment
had been officially made known to him, he received
a kindly letter from an officer in a very high position
— with whom his acquaintance was but slight — in
which the Field-Marshal graciously requested him
as a favour to take his son with him, as galloper, to
the Soudan. Wauchope's reply was characteristic.
Whilst most gratefully acknowledging the pleasing
mark of confidence extended to him, he wrote that
if ever he should be employed in the capacity named,
he felt that the officers serving in his own regiment
of two battalions must have the first chance — adding
that they ' had not had much opportunity of late,
and that among them were some right good ones
who were dying to serve.'
The subjoined letter was written when on his way
to the seat of the war.

340 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
To Captain W. MacFarlan, Adjutant, 2nd Battalion
Black Watch.
' ss. " Shannon " : at Sea, July 18th, 1898.
' My dear MacFarlan, — Well, here we are within a few
hours of Port Said. It seems so strange to be away, and cut
off from the regimental life in which I have been so long, and
where I feel that I have taken such deep root. Oh well ! the
change had to come, and it came as well as it could.
' I felt very much parting with you. The relations of
C. O. and Adjutant are very peculiar — well, I couldn't have
had a better than you have been to me, professionally, socially,
every way. Yes, you are hard to beat ; but I mustn't make
you conceited.
' I could have no greater satisfaction in this kind of thing
than to serve with you again. I shall hope very soon to see
your brother, and will be sure to drop you a line about him.
Now you must give your wife my love — she will know how
bitter was my parting with mine. I pray she is all right. I
don't like to think of it. — Ever yours,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
On the next day, July 19th, the Brigadier-General
landed at Port Said. Thence via Luxor by rail to
Shillal, where he arrived July 26th, after a journey
which the dust of an Egyptian summer had ren
dered most trying. At Shillal he took steamer to
Wady Haifa, arriving there on July 29th, and there
again taking train — this time under much more
comfortable circumstances— to Abu Hamed, Berber,
and Darmali— where, on July 31st, he joined General
Gatacre and his Staff.

THE MILITARY SITUATION 341
During the thirteen years which had elapsed
since Wauchope, then hanging between life and
death after his wound received at Kirbekan, had
left the Soudan, a great work had been in progress
there, a great change had taken place. Tardily and
reluctantly the British Government had come to
recognise that the reclamation of that vast and
inhospitable country was one of the duties which
our occupation and management of Egypt had
entailed upon us, and that this was by far too great
an undertaking to be performed by any single
military expedition within the limits of a single
season. No doubt the inroads of the enemy which
had followed upon the withdrawal of the Gordon
Relief Expedition had tended to enforce this lesson.
So also had the barbarities of the rule of the Mahdi's
successor. Howbeit, in the fulness of time, the
work had been intrusted to the sternest, most per
severing, and most resolute of living British com
manders, who, realising its magnitude, had brought
to bear on it the patience and thoroughness of a
great mind. Save by teaching him what errors to
avoid, all that had been done hitherto had helped
him little ; he had had to begin his task from the
beginning. So, by creating the Egyptian soldier,
he had forged his weapon ; by insisting on the
severest discipline, he had tempered it ; by bridling
the desert with a railroad he had assured his trans
port, and to a great extent overcome the opposition
of the forces of nature — unquestionably the most
formidable opposition against which he had to fight.
All this had, of course, taken time. Nor had the

342 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
intervening years been without their share of fight
ing ; but in the main they had been years of con
solidation, preparation, acclimatisation. At last the
battle of the Atbara, fought on the 8th April of
the year we have now reached, had prepared the
way for a final blow, and that final blow was now
on the point of being struck.
Soldier to his finger-tips as Wauchope was, he
must have found the situation which confronted
him on his return to the Soudan brimful of interest.
Most generous as he ever was in his appreciation
of others, he must now have outdone himself in
admiration of the Sirdar's scheme of action and the
details of its execution. Alas ! that the flood-tide
of military business should have robbed us of his
comments on these things. For his letters of this
period are hurried compositions1 — interesting indeed,
yet without scope for the least enlargement on such
themes as the above. For example : —
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Between Korosko and Wady Halpa,
* July 28th, 1898.
' I deposited a letter this morning at Korosko. Am writing
this in the stern of the steamer, where it is shaking violently.
I cannot write in my cabin, it is too stuffy even for me —
110° in the shade, with a lot of oily smell about it. I slept
on deck last night — it was very nice. It is trying coming
out to so great a heat, and in uncomfortable circumstances,
for we are very crowded on board here. There are about
200 souls on board. I am told it is 118° in my cabin quite
1 It is regrettable, too, that many of them have been destroyed.

LETTERS HOME 343
in the shade. Korosko was always noted as being the hottest
place in the Soudan ; but we have no cause to complain, for
the nights are cool. ... It is fifteen days since I left. ... I felt
as if my heart would break. Dear old Niddrie ! if only I get
back, I am blessed if I ever leave it again.' 'Darmali, August 1st.
' Well, here we are at Darmali, where we reached last
night, after a week's journey. General Gatacre received me at
the train, where were assembled all the other officers com
manding regiments, and then that night I was entertained at
dinner by General Gatacre. He before all the other colonels
proposed my health, and I was received by them with open
arms, which is very pleasing to me, I can assure you. This
morning the General had the brigade out — some 3500 men
— and formally handed it over to me. Certainly they are a
splendid lot of men, and look as fit as fleas. You will under
stand that to-day is a busy day with me — I am going round
to see the different regiments.' ' Darmali, August 2nd.
' South wind blowing with a lot of dust, but it is not bad
at all. The natives say the worst is over as regards climate,
and I expect they are right. I am so well and fit. . . . My
great wish is that I shall do justice to this splendid brigade,
for it is a splendid brigade. I am in a mud house, which
was the harem, and I have a delightful angareb x for a bed
stead. They say we shall be here for another week, and then
we go to the Shabluka Pass, within forty miles of Khartoum.'
' Darmali, August 6th.
' . . . We have got five ponies for self, Rennie, and
Christie, who is my galloper, and I am to get another pony
at Wadi Bishara from Captain Haig of the Egyptian
Cavalry. Wadi Bishara is the place we make for from here,
1 Native bed.

344 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
and it is some sixty miles from Khartoum. Rennie and
Christie look well after me and the horses, and that is a
great comfort. I have spent a small fortune already, and
it seems to me I will go on doing so to the end of the
business. ' Our mess consists of Major Snow ; Brigade-Major Rennie ;
A. D. C. Sloggett, head doctor ; Christie, Warwick Regiment,
galloper ; Father Brindle, R.C. chaplain. I have taken the
last in, as he is an old campaigning friend of mine ; and
the Presbyterian chaplain is with the Camerons. We are
living very well, and are happy and very well. It is, I
believe, settled that on the 11th inst. — that is five days
hence — we embark in barges, with a view to being towed
up to Wadi Bishara, from thence to Khartoum. . . . From
Wadi Bishara we march ten miles a day, and it is calculated
that on September 6th we enter Khartoum.'
' Atbara Fort, August 8th, 1898.
' Well, here I am — stuck here for some little time at
least, I hope not for very long.' ' Camp, Darmali, August 10th.
' I have had to buy another pony, one of mine going sick,
and I am afraid very sick. ... Of course I am being worried
right and left about all sorts of things, but my health is
just tip-top, and we are a very happy mess.'
' ss. " Dal," August 17th.
< We are being kept longer on here than I had expected. . . .
The river here is very beautiful — thickly wooded, with
flowers and any number of birds. It has been very nice and
cool. We came across, when tied up to the bank getting
fuel on board, a large party of dervish deserters. Poor

LETTERS HOME 345
creatures ! they were famished, and many of them died on
the journey. There are rumours of more deserters coming
in, which does not look as if things were going well with the
Khalifa. We arrived in the middle of the night. Rennie
is as well as possible. He is my right-hand man with a
vengeance. He is so cool and quiet and resolute, and never
makes a fuss about doing anything. There is a big bath on
board the steamer, and we all have our turns fixed. There
will be very little sleep for me to-night, I know. Two
nights before Darmali was evacuated I just slept as I was
standing, and that will be the case now continually.'
1 ss. " Dal," same date.
' We are now within a few hours' steaming of Wad el
Bishara, and soon we shall be landed practically within
striking distance of Khartoum, where I presume we shall
wait till the whole force is concentrated, with a view to the
final advance on Khartoum. Long before you get this it
will be settled one way or another — I trust I may do my
share of it all right. I have many difficulties to encounter —
I hope they may be overcome. We are very crowded in this
boat, but we are feeding very well, and I am in the best of
health. Rennie is very well and most useful — I rejoice that
I brought him out. As I told you, I have an excellent
galloper ; but he is separated from us, having to bring up
the horses. We are going to land at a place called Wad el
Bishara, which is at the north end of the Shabluka Pass or
cataract. This cataract is ten miles long, and the doubt is
whether the Khalifa will defend this bit of cataract or not.
I think he is a fool if he does not, so I presume that he will
do so.' ' Abu Bishara, August 21st, 1898.
' There is no doubt, I think, but that the Khalifa is going
to stand. You will know all about it by this time, for I

346 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
don't suppose you will get this for a month. I have seen
such a funny scene — it is a black soldier being had up for
stealing biscuits. We had a tremendous storm of rain and
wind last night — every moment, I thought, would see my
tent fly away into the desert ; but it kept up, though I
could not get much sleep. We have not got finally started
on our last jump — we are getting up supplies and reinforce
ments. I should think next Thursday would see us on the
final move. I dined with the Sirdar last night — he was very
nice. General Lyttleton is still behind with his brigade. . . .
It is four weeks ago this very day since I left you at Charing
Cross. ... I have no presentiment of evil — quite the
reverse. But, as the leader of the First Brigade, I must be
in the front rank, though it is more than likely that my
brigade may find itself in reserve. I will not try to get it
in the front line — quite the reverse ; I shall do nothing in
this matter — will just take my chance. I take it you are
at Niddrie now — dear, sweet Niddrie, where all will be so
peaceful. . . .'
These letters I am permitted to supplement by
quotation from the journal of an officer serving on
the Brigadier's Staff. We have already seen that
on August 1st Wauchope had taken over the com
mand of his Brigade — the First — which was com
posed of the Camerons, Seaforths, Lincolnshire and
Warwickshire regiments, with Maxim battery. The
advance had been ordered for the 25th August. On
the 24th (Wad Hamed), the diarist notes : —
'At 3 p.m. I rode out with the Chief and Christie
on to-morrow's line of march. Found a bivou-
acking-ground about 6 to 6\ miles away — main
track there being about one mile from the river;
bearing W. to SW. Home at 5.30.

LEAVES FROM A JOURNAL 347
'August 25th. Good night. Second Brigade
moved off about 5.30 a.m. I left camp 8.40 a.m.
with the Chief and Christie and rode to the same
place as yesterday, trying to find a bivouacking-
ground somewhat nearer, but without success
unless we shortened the first two marches consider
ably. Back to camp 11.30 a.m. Struck camp
1.30 p.m. . . . Marched off in Column of Route,
i.e. in five columns — Warwicks on left, then Sea-
forths, then Camerons, and then Lincolns. Then
Rifle Brigade, Fifth Fusiliers, and Lancashire
Fusiliers in one column.'
Thus far the Staff-Officer. The succeeding para
graph from the diary of the late G. W. Stevens,
the war-correspondent, describes the scene as it
impressed an eye-witness.
'. . . The march out of the First British Brigade
this afternoon was a most imposing spectacle. The
four battalions had all their baggage packed to the
minute, and at the sound of the bugle moved off
and took the road in four parallel columns.' Of
these, three were carrying battalion flags, " a new
element of colour since the Atbara campaign. The
ground just outside the camp was broken, but the
men struck along with an easy swing from the
loins, ignoring the weight of their kits. Many of
the men were bearded, and all were tanned by the
sun, acclimatised by a summer in the country,
hardened by perpetual labours, and confident from
the recollection of victory — a magnificent force
which any man might be proud to accompany
into the field.'

348 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
No one needs to be told that there was one man
present who would share largely in this feeling of
just pride.
That day the column duly marched its six and a
half miles — not, however, without a good many men
falhng out. Next morning, August 26th, reveille
sounded at 4.30. The camels were promptly loaded,
and after a good breakfast the march was resumed in
the same formation as the day before, but with the
order of the regiments reversed. Here the Staff-
Officer again takes up the narrative.
'. . . We marched about 4j miles to El Gez,
where we picked up the Second Brigade. The
rearguard arrived there 9.15 a.m. River still rising
fast. So many men falling out yesterday may
perhaps be attributed to the fact that they had
very heavy "fatigues" from reveille' until the
moment of departure. Gave the Mess a good
breakfast at 10 a.m. Lunch at 1 p.m., and managed
to give them tea before we started on the march
again. The Second Brigade marched off 4.4 p.m.
We followed at 4.24 p.m. Regiments in Column
of Route — heads of regiments parallel. First halt
4.54 p.m. ; on again 5 p.m. Bad going — first
through scrub, then a broad khor [outflow from
the Nile], and then over some very rocky ground.
. . . Reached bivouacking-ground 7.30 p.m. Whole
Division formed one square — sides roughly 600 to
700 yards in length. Camels and mules were sent
out to pick up stragglers.
'August 27th.— Up at 3.15 a.m. Marched off
5.8 a.m. — same order of march, except that the First

NEARING KHARTOUM 349
Brigade led to-day. Rather bad going, but not
many men fell out. Arrived camp about half mile
from river, at head of Shabluka Pass, opposite
Gib el Royan, about 7.30 a.m. . . . All the Sou
danese bands played us into camp, and the men
bucked up a lot.' For this attention Wauchope,
on visiting the Soudanese camp, cordially thanked
the various brigadiers.
The British force was now estimated to be
within forty miles of Khartoum. Up to shortly
before this, the point which had most exercised
the officers and men composing it was as to
whether the Khalifa would stand to fight or not.
But, though in falling back from the Shabluka
Pass he had committed a tactical error, the reports
of spies had ere this relieved anxiety as to his
disappearing altogether. The spirits of the little
army — numbering something over 20,000 men —
were therefore now buoyant, for the prospect of a
battle had become near and almost certain.
So, on successive days, the march up the left
bank of the Nile was continued. For the next
twenty miles or so the bank was flat and more or
less cultivated. Then, at Kerreri, the ground be
came rough with thick, low-growing, thorny scrub ;
and from thence to Omdurman it rose in a succes
sion of sandstone hills, of from 300 to 500 feet
in height.
For Wauchope this period was one of hard work
combined with keen enjoyment. By an officer of
his own or senior rank, he is described as ' extremely
pleased with his command ' — perhaps none ever

350 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
more so. Owing to the fact that the river-bank,
for breadths varying from one quarter mile to one
mile and a half, was overgrown with vegetation,
affording covert for an enemy, the left flank of the
advance was the point of danger. It was occupied,
on alternate days, by his brigade and another, the
native troops being always on the right. The start
for the day's march would be made, as we have
seen, very early in the morning. Then Wauchope,
mounted perhaps on his white pony, would ride on
well in front of the advancing force. And so, as
he mounted a hillock, would turn in his saddle to
survey the army — when the sight which he beheld
was one to stir a soldier's heart, and among all
soldiers', his ; for there was none more ready to
respond to the moving sights and sounds of soldier-
life. In one long line — extending for perhaps a
mile, and broken only by intervals of a hundred
yards or so dividing the regiments — the army
advanced steadily. The sun, rising upon the left
hand, caught the rifle-barrels, kindling them to
a glow. And what immensely increased the im-
pressiveness of the spectacle — the sense of order,
power, irresistibility, which it presented — as well as
Wauchope's joy in it, was the admirable ' dressing '
preserved by the advancing line. No wonder, then,
that at such times as these he was extremely pleased
with his command.
Later in the day, after the halt, he would be
noticeable for his activity within the zareba — on
which occasions his characteristics are described to
me as being: first, never where it could be avoided

NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 1st 351
to chance an uncertainty ; . and, secondly, never to
leave work to another which he could do himself.
It is added that he showed himself very keen for
the welfare of his men. But though this is added
for the writer's information, for him to add it
here for that of the reader is, I hope, entirely
superfluous. It was not until August 31st, in front of Kerreri,
that the British force got touch of the enemy.
Then, after a further advance to within about
seven miles of Omdurman, on the night of Sep
tember 1st, at a spot where were some native huts,
a zareba was formed. Its shape was that of an
irregular pentagon, resting upon the river, which
formed its longest side, and it was enclosed partly
by entrenchments, but on the south-west face,
which was that most exposed to attack, by a
defence-work of wait-a-bit thorns. Several gun
boats, moored at either extremity, could sweep the
plain to either side of it. The position taken up
by Wauchope was towards its south-west angle.
A night attack was half expected. But the dark
hours passed without any incident more formidable
than a false alarm, occasioned by the driving in of
two scouts, who had been sent out to occupy a ris
ing ground to the south-west. As they leaped the
trench, one or two rifles were discharged ; but the
true state of matters was soon realised. At 3.30 a.m.
the men of the First Brigade stood to their arms.
And from that hour until 3.15 p.m. they may be said
to have been hard at work. For it was soon to be
come evident that the enemy had decided to trust

352 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
to their overwhelming superiority in numbers, and
to fling themselves on our position.
So, as morning broke, the dervish standards
began to make their appearance against the sky-line
of the rising ground to the south-west. Then, as
the sun rose higher, there appeared upon the west
what is described as a ' sea of light. ' It was created
by the rising rays catching the swords and spear-
points of avast multitude — 'more people than I had
ever seen together before,' says one who was present.
Their movement was at this time parallel to the
British position. Then it began to sweep on over
the intervening plain of some two miles' extent.
The first gun was fired at 5.45 a.m., probably from a
gun-boat up the river. The dervish fire opened at
about 6.30 o'clock, and the first answering shot from
our zareba was timed by an officer at 6.46.
Meantime, at six o'clock, Wauchope had lined
his face of the zareba with six companies in the first
or firing line, and two companies per battalion in
support. On the right were the Lincolns, then the
Camerons, Seaforths, and Warwicks, four Maxim
guns being in the centre, and two upon the right of
the Brigade — which flank touched Brigadier Max
well's Soudanese. Ranges had already been com
puted and taken.
When the enemy's advance had brought them
well within the British shell-fire, Wauchope's
Maxims, directed by Captain Smeaton, R.A., opened
upon them with good effect. A few minutes later his
infantry opened fire with long range volleys at 1400
yards, their shooting being admirably controlled.

OMDURMAN 353
But in spite of this, up to within 1200 yards the
attack of the dervishes never faltered. After that it
was only the bravest who persevered in the advance.
Of these several hundreds continued to come on
to within a distance of seven or eight hundred yards.
There, having availed themselves of a depression
in the ground which confronted the centre of
Wauchope's position, they proceeded to ensconce
themselves, and, under a heavy fire of Maxims and
rifles, blazed away for nearly half an hour; after
which — the attack having now been repulsed all
along the line — they at last drew off. The first lull
in the firing occurred at 7.30 o'clock ; the ' cease
fire ' call sounded at 8. Such was the first phase of
the battle, during which (as in the later phase)
Wauchope's men behaved with admirable steadi
ness. The plain before them was by this time
littered with the dead or wounded bodies of the
enemy. A brief interval for recuperation followed the
beating off of the attack. Then, the order being
given to advance towards Omdurman, the second
phase of the battle was entered on. For when the
First Brigade had marched about a mile from the
zareba — moving slightly in echelon on the right rear
of the Second Brigade — a renewed attack of a fierce
and determined character was delivered on the right
wing of the force. This right wing was formed by
the Egyptian Division, having on its extreme right
the Soudanese Brigade under command of Brigadier
Macdonald. And, in order to meet the onslaught,
the General commanding the British Division now
z

354 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
ordered Wauchope to move his brigade direct to the
support of the Egyptian right. Let words of his
own describe how the order was carried out. ' And
so away we went,' he wrote soon afterwards, ' and at
a rattling pace — and here the Brigade, both officers
and men, played up splendidly; for, though the
ground was bad and heavy going, yet the men
doubled with a will whenever called upon to do so. '
The zareba had been left at about 9 a.m. —
Wauchope was detached at 9.35. He was now
called on by Major- General Hunter to fill a gap
which had made its appearance between Mac
donald's Brigade on the extreme right and the right
wing of the Egyptian Division. This he was pro
ceeding to do under a heavy fire, which cost him
seventeen casualties, when the severe pressure on
Macdonald's right caused Hunter to modify his first
order and divert Wauchope to that point.
To the right accordingly he now went as hard as
he could go, and there meeting Hunter and Mac-
donald in consultation, rapidly discussed the situa
tion — with the result that his brigade was divided —
the Lincolns under Colonel Lowth being detached
to Macdonald's right, where they rendered valuable
service, whilst Wauchope with the Camerons, Sea-
forths, and Warwicks, under heavy fire, reoccupied
the gap before referred to. Fierce as it had been
whilst it lasted,1 the attack was now not long in
flagging, and the dervishes were soon again in flight.
1 Yet by no means without science. The dervish manoeuvring was,
indeed, very remarkable ; for ' they seemed to feint here and strike there,
just where they weren't wanted.'

AFTER THE BATTLE 355
Such was Wauchope's share in the battle of Omdur-
man — of which the remaining principal features do
not here need recapitulation : an active and a highly
serviceable, if not a positively brilliant share. For
if ' Fighting Mac ' and his Egyptians had borne the
brunt of the battle, and carried off the honours of
the day, Wauchope and his brigade had ably sus
tained their efforts at a very critical moment. To
their honour be it said that soldiers are seldom slow
to recognise such services as this. The present case
was not exceptional. General Hunter warmly
acknowledged the assistance furnished by the First
Brigade; whilst General Macdonald, acting for those
under him, sent to the Lincolns the best standard
which had been captured during the day. A second
standard, sent to Wauchope, was accompanied by
the following letter :
' Omdurman, September 5th, 1898.
' Dear General Wauchope, — I am requested by the
Brigade under my command to forward for your acceptance
the accompanying Dervish flag in recognition of the relief
you afforded the Brigade on the 2nd inst. at a most critical
phase of the action fought by the Anglo-Egyptian forces on
that day. — Believe me, dear General, yours most sincerely,
'H. A. Macdonald.'
The standard here alluded to now hangs in the
hall at Niddrie Marischal. On a gold band which
encircles the staff is the inscription, ' They were
brave foemen, those Dervishes.' In the joy felt by
Wauchope over the victory, not the least ingredient
was a generous delight in the brilliant part played

356 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
by his brother Scot, the romantic splendour of whose
military career he had the heart and the imagination
to appreciate. On the other hand he deplored the
slaughter of dervishes which followed the battle,
and afterwards expressed himself strongly to the
effect that no British troops had taken part in it.
On September 4th (sic), he wrote to Mrs.
Wauchope, dating his letter from Khartoum, as
follows :
'Well, we fought them yesterday, and licked their heads
off; but they came on with a vengeance. I am simply
worked off my legs, trying to get accounts written up. . . .
How I long to be back ! I hate war.'
On September 14th :
' I have a splendid banner which was taken from the
Dervishes, and which was presented to me by one of the
Soudanese regiments. I will bring it home — also a shirt of
mail which I will present to my old regiment.'
In the latter intention, however, he was dis
appointed ; for this, the only loot he ever had (and
for this he paid), disappeared when his black servant
left him.
The fighting over, the First Brigade had pro
ceeded in quest of what it most needed — water;
then, having rejoined the Division, it marched to
Omdurman, where Wauchope and his men were
bivouacked in a market-place near the Mahdi's
tomb, and immediately in rear of General Lyttelton,
who occupied the west or desert front. The
casualties sustained by the brigade amounted to
five officers wounded (of whom one died) ; rank and

GORDON MEMORIAL SERVICE 357
file, two killed and seventy-two wounded. The
average expenditure of ammunition is noted as
forty-six rounds per man. The number of the
enemy's killed was officially returned as 10,834.
Wauchope's stay in Omdurman was extremely
brief, for the First Brigade began its northward
journey as early as September 5th. The intervening
days were principally occupied in drawing up and
collecting his official reports of the battle, and in
bringing to notice the names of those whose services
he desired to commend. One other incident of the
time deserves special mention. On the occasion of
the formal taking possession of Omdurman, it was
decided by the authorities that a Gordon Memorial
Service should be held, in which the Anglican,
Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic chaplains should
take part. But an unforeseen difficulty arose, for
the Anglican chaplain declined to act in concert
with the Presbyterian. There are some, not neces
sarily Broad Churchmen, who would have felt that
such objections were singularly ill-timed. Others,
given the circumstances, might have expressed
their opinions somewhat freely. Not so Wauchope.
Hard-worked as he was, he brought persuasion to
bear upon the cleric. But the cleric remained
obdurate : he could not see his way to give in. A
great national effort had been crowned with success,
a great national hero fell to be commemorated ; yet
the Almighty could not be approached collectively.
Because of what ? Because of clerical punctilio.
Seeing that the General himself was a staunch,
though by no means narrow Presbyterian, it was

358 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
a little hard on him. Some might have asked where
the religion came in. He simply said, ' Then there
is nothing for me to do but to report you to my
General of Division.' So, in due course, the matter
came before the Sirdar. The Sirdar uttered a magic
word, and the refractory one fell into line. The
service, when it came to be held, was an impressive
one. The British and Egyptian flags had just been
hoisted amid the firing of a salute from a gunboat.
Then the Dead March and ' Flowers of the Forest '
were played by the military bands and pipes, and
prayer and Scripture reading followed. Two days
later (September 6th) Wauchope started on his
down-Nile journey. One regrets to add that an
inexpert Reis, combined with sand-flies, mosquitoes,
and a sharp attack of illness, contrived to make the
first part of it a somewhat unpleasant experience.
He reached Cairo on September 19th, and two days
later issued the following Farewell Order to his
Brigade :
' Brigade-General Wauchope, before leaving Egyptian soil,
wishes to congratulate the several battalions which he had
the great honour so lately to command on their safe return
to Cairo and Alexandria; and to point out that, although
the First Brigade, of Atbara and Khartoum fame, has ceased
to exist, its noble deeds as done in 1898 in the dark Soudan
will live for ever, giving history one more bright example
of British courage and fortitude under the most trying
circumstances. (Signed) A. G. Wauchope.'
'Cairo, September 21st, 1898.'
Most readers of this book will remember the
enthusiasm which greeted the victors of Omdurman

HOME-COMING FESTIVITIES 359
on their home-coming. Of the welcoming which
awaited them Wauchope naturally received his
share. Its warmth fairly took him by surprise.
For instance, on his arrival, accompanied by
Mrs. Wauchope, at Niddrie (October 10th), a vast
crowd met him at the station. Then, all that could
be done by triumphal arches, by displays of bunting,
by presentation of addresses, by taking the horses
out of his carriage and supplying their place with
willing hands, by brass bands, processions of school
children and the like — all this was eagerly done for
him by the Niddrie miners and tenantry. And,
as the spontaneous manifestation of the love and
admiration they bore him, there can be no doubt it
touched him deeply. In the course of his speech of
acknowledgment he said, ' If there is one thing that
makes a man nerve himself to accomplish a difficult
task, it is the thought that he is thought well of by
the people in the midst of whom he lives.' The
sentiment affords an insight into his deeply sym
pathetic nature. And the Niddrie demonstration
was indeed a particularly gratifying one ; for it was
only on the previous evening that the miners had
got wind of his approaching return, and they had
consequently spent the night in preparations to give
him the most splendid reception in their power.
Shortly afterwards he addressed them on their
bowling-green — for the last time as it proved —
giving a most interesting account of the recent
campaign, which was unfortunately never publicly
reported. Other marks of honour showered upon him at

360 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
this time were more conspicuous ; that they could
be more gratifying was scarcely possible. He was
commanded to Windsor, and had the honour of
dining with the venerable Sovereign whose gracious
and heartfelt interest in her soldiers had ever been
among her most striking and most lovable charac
teristics ; he was gazetted a Major-General ; he
received from the Edinburgh University the
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws ; with the
other general-officers who had been engaged in
the late campaign, he was entertained at a great
banquet in Edinburgh. At the first-named of these
last two functions, when being formally presented
to the Senatus, he was thus felicitously characterised
by Professor Sir Ludovic Grant : ' An embodiment
of all that is best and bravest in the British Army,
here in Scotland his name is a household word,
synonymous with high courage and devotion to
duty.' The Professor then continued: 'It were
superfluous to recall the occasions on which their
gallant commander had led the Black Watch to
victory, or to rehearse the long tale of all his
exploits and all but mortal wounds. But it is not
in his capacity as a soldier only that he does with
his might that which his right hand finds to do.
There is not a miner in the village of Niddrie who
will not testify to the watchful guardianship which
he exercises over his people.' Truth well and
tersely expressed. At the Omdurman banquet it
is recalled as a mark of his humility that he was on
the point of seating himself beside a friend in the
body of the hall when compelled to ' go up higher,'

PEACEFUL AVOCATIONS 361
and join Lord Kitchener and the other generals in
his proper place at the high table.
Of the flood of public engagements which his
celebrity and comparative leisure from military
duties now brought with them, I can only speak in
the most general terms. Political meetings, lectures,
the opening of bazaars, attendance at public dinners
— for all such functions his services were in high
request in many parts of the country. And his
strong sense of duty, coupled with native kindness,
made him ever eager to help a deserving institution,
to be of use to a good cause. His duties as a
country gentleman, as an Elder of the Church, a
member of the local School Board, the local Parish
Council, were also now receiving full attention. He
had a native aptitude for these, and there is no
doubt that this was for him a very happy year.
Everywhere he was warmly received, everywhere he
met with tokens of the love and admiration inspired
by his character. And he had many pleasant inci
dental experiences. One of these was a meeting
with the late Mr. Lecky, who with Mrs. Lecky was
on a visit to Sir Charles Dalrymple at New Hailes,
where the General and Mrs. Wauchope were invited
to meet them. Wauchope and the historian walked
up and down together on the terrace ; and, on leav
ing, Wauchope said to his host, ' I cannot tell you
how much pleasure you have given me by asking me
to meet Mr. Lecky, whose books I 've read again
and again ' — a statement which throws light on the
efforts after self-improvement of one who would
never lay claim to any share of literary culture.

362 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
A second glimpse shows him in the house of his
friend and tenant, Mr. Scott of Frogden, where,
spending an evening with his former chief, General
Sir William Gatacre, he electrified the company
invited to meet him by a graphic description of the
night march on Tel-el-Kebir. Ranging toddy-
ladles, tea-spoons, and salt-cellars on the table
before him, to illustrate the disposition and move
ments of the troops, and speaking with kindling
eye and animated gesture, he made the whole
scene live before his hearers in a way they are not
likely to forget. Among those who knew him well,
this magnetic gift was one of his most striking
characteristics — a gift of the possession of which he
could not but be conscious. About the same time
he was much gratified by the gift of an ancient cross
which had been removed from the chapel of Niddrie,
and which he eagerly looked forward to replacing
when he should have had the chapel renovated.
From this sabbath of peaceful avocations, he was
all too soon called back to the conflicts of the
political arena. In June 1899, the Member for
South Edinburgh, Mr. Robert Cox, died unex
pectedly abroad. Wauchope was invited to contest
the seat, and, though very unwilling to do so,
yielded to exceptional pressure brought to bear
upon him by the party. From the first the con
ditions of the fight were against him. For one
thing, though he had zealous and able fellow-
workers, the local Liberal-Unionist organisation
was by no means so good as had been that of
Mid-Lothian in 1892. Nor was there time now to

SOUTH EDINBURGH ELECTION 363
amend it. Nor, again, was the constituency one
to which military considerations made any special
appeal. Worst of all, the shortness of time — owing
to peculiar circumstances it was exceptionally short
even for a by-election — told fatally against the
General. For, by depriving him of the chance of
convassing, or, more properly speaking, of making
himself known to the electors individually, it cut
the ground from under his feet, or, in other words,
rendered ineffective the best weapon in his armoury.
So from the first he clearly recognised that he
fought a losing fight. But with that wonderful
self-repression which characterised him — and which
at a somewhat later time he was to employ in far
more trying circumstances — once committed to the
fight, he kept his misgivings to himself. For the
public, and even for his intimate friends, he pre
served a bright and cheery exterior — to such a
point, indeed, as to inspire them with a confidence
which he did not feel. But to be able to act thus
is one of the qualities of the born leader of men.
On polling-day in particular, his manner as he
visited the committee-rooms diffused cheeriness
wherever he went. And yet, long before that
time, he had finally given up all expectation of
success. The same effect was produced by the
speeches he delivered, which to the very end of
the contest were marked by all his former fire and
courage. When the poll was declared, the Liberal
candidate, Mr. Arthur Dewar, had a majority of
831 — the votes cast for the General numbering
4989. The supporters, whose spirits as in duty

364 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
bound he had to the end done his best to keep
up, were disillusioned. Not so himself.
It is true that after the declaration of the result,
instead of at once coming forward to congratulate
the successful candidate, he remained seated in deep
thought. This by some who were present was
interpreted as a symptom of surprise and dis
appointment. But to those who knew Wauchope
best, and were familiar with his fits of abstraction,
it seemed much more likely that his thoughts
during those moments were far away from elections
and everything connected with them. That there
was at least no surprise in the case I have the
most irrefutable of evidence. This incident is, of
course, a very trifling one, yet in its own way
characteristic. Though resulting in a defeat, the contest was
marked (as was bound to be the case where
Wauchope was concerned) by several pleasing
traits and incidents. Among these were the
friendly relations maintained by the rival candi
dates. For instance, one day, owing to a mistake
of the agents, both candidates had been announced
to hold meetings at the same hour at some big
works in the constituency. It was the over-time
of the employes' dinner-hour — in any case a short
enough interval. Here was a fix ! Wauchope met
it, however, by proposing that they should hold a
joint meeting, speaking successively, and that the
first speaker should be allowed a reply — an arrange
ment which resulted to the satisfaction of all.
Again, this election served to bring out many

SOUTH EDINBURGH ELECTION 365
striking instances of the hold he had gained on
the affections of those who had worked for him
in his previous contest. ' For example,' writes one
of his committee-men, ' I remember particularly a
miner, whose name, I think, was Y  , who every
evening for a week before the election came all
the way from Penicuik after his day's work, and
worked till all hours of the night at any work he
was asked to do — ending by sacrificing a whole
day's pay on the polling-day, and working for fully
twelve hours at the dullest of committee-room
work. He had nothing to gain by his exertions,
and he obviously felt more than sufficiently rewarded
by a shake of the candidate's hand.' The writer
adds that many similar instances might be quoted,
and indeed that the most striking point of the
whole contest was the pleasure and fidelity with
which working-men who had known the candidate
years before gathered round him in South Edin
burgh, often at considerable sacrifice to themselves.
Well might the General write, as he does to Mr.
Craig-Brown of Selkirk, May 17th, 1899, ' I have
made during my political tours friends of the very
best.' For the rest his candidature was signalised by his
usual outspoken honesty and heartiness. Home
Rule for Ireland and the grievances of the Transvaal
Uitlanders were perhaps the most burning questions
of the moment, and on both of these he expressed
himself in no ambiguous or half-hearted terms.

CHAPTER XIII
THE BOER WAR — EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS — MAGERS-
FONTEIN — DEATH AND BURIAL — CONCLUSION
It is the opinion of one who was probably the most
intimate of the General's many friends that, towards
the end of his life, the idea of retiring from the Army
was occasionally present to his mind. It was not
that his natural energies were in any degree abated
— far, indeed, from that. Nor was it that the hold
of military life upon him had become slacker — rather
that the hold of certain other things upon him had
for long been growing ever firmer. For example :
for a man of his great personal influence, of his
interest in every form of useful local work, and
willingness to devote himself thereto — for such an
one, the oft too otiose life of the country gentleman
presented of itself great opportunities. Then there
was a political career — as regards which he may be
said to have had the ball at his feet ; and if in this
direction he was not ambitious for himself, there
were others who were ambitious for him. There
was also his strong attachment to Niddrie, Yetholm,
Edinburgh, and to his countless friends of all classes
in those places. Most of all there was his happy
home life. For a man of his deep and intense
affections, to turn his back on all this was hard ;
366

THE COMING CONFLICT 367
and that he felt it so, when the time came,
there is the best of evidence. Lastly, though I
may have said otherwise above, I think that with
his unavoidable severance from his old regiment —
first from one battalion, then from the other — the
strongest tie which bound him to the Army had
been broken. But, in spite of all this, it must be
clearly understood that any thoughts or feelings
of this tendency which he may have entertained
had not yet assumed concrete shape. Nor were
they destined so to do. Through the later summer
of 1899 the war-cloud looming ever bigger and
darker on the horizon, though uncertain still of
bursting, put such thoughts entirely out of his
head. ' Should a war break out what will happen
then ? ' he had been asked by a heckler in the
contest of 1892. And in 1899 his spirit remained
the spirit which, in no uncertain tones, had rapped
out the answer, ' I shall be there.'
It was natural that his knowledge of the Boers
and their country should lead him to watch the
progress of the present negotiations with special
interest. The following letter conveys clearly his
opinion on the questions at issue between the
Transvaal Government and our own :
To the Rev. Dr. Paton. ' Niddrie, Midlothian,
' September 25th.
'My dear Mr. Paton, — . . . This Transvaal business
is long in maturing. Well, I for one am in entire accord
with the Government.

368 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
'Everything must be done to try and settle the matter
without war ; but two things we must stand up for :
' 1st. That we are the Paramount Power in South Africa,
and therefore responsible for its law and order ;
' 2nd. Equality of treatment as between a British subject
and a Dutchman — at the same time making every allowance
for the Jameson Raid, and the rush of a perhaps not very
desirable population to Johannesburg.
' And this is the programme of the Government. — Very
sincerely yours,
' A. G. Wauchope.'
It is unnecessary here to trace the course of
events which led, a fortnight after the date of this
letter, to the presentation of the Boer Ultimatum.
That Ultimatum was a practical Declaration of
War, and three days later the first shot in the war
was fired. This gave to Wauchope the undesirable
satisfaction of beholding the fulfilment of a pre
diction of his own. For, ever since 1881, he had
consistently maintained that a war between the
Boers and ourselves was a question merely of time.
It was a subject upon which he often spoke, and
on which his opinion never varied. And, if in time
past he had foretold the war, he now foretold its
magnitude — a very much more exceptional feat.
For no reader will have forgotten how, during the
excitement of those first few weeks of a new order
of things, even professional men and experts talked
of it as likely to come to an end before the approach
ing Christmastide. Later on it was allowed an
extension until the following Derby Day. From
these insane prognostications, some deductions must

HIS VIEWS THEREON 369
probably be made on the score of kindly consider
ation for friends and relatives at home. On the
other hand, many who gave voice to them were
simply uttering what they believed. Of these
Wauchope was not one. Though he never had
the smallest doubt of its ultimate result, from the
first he spoke of the war as a very serious one,
likely to occupy the country long, and severely to
tax its resources. At times he was specific in his
estimates to the point of saying that it would take
two years and 200,000 men to conquer the Boers.
And so, throughout the remaining fortnight of his
life in England, he consistently checked any
tendency to make light of the coming contest.
In the next letter are embodied some of his
anticipations of the future.
To David McLaren, Esc, Putney.
' Cooling's Private Hotel,
'Dover Street, W., October 12th, 1899.
' My dear Mr. McLaren, — Many thanks for your letter.
I hope that war may not last long, but I am too old at the
business not to realise how uncertain war is, especially in
South Africa, where I served in the disastrous times of 1880
and 1881.
' As for evil effects being left behind it, I don't believe any
such argument. We don't intend to crush the Boers once
they elect to treat our people on equal terms with themselves.
' Were the end of the war to mean for the Dutch our
trampling under foot their liberties, religion, or anything
which free citizens or a free state desire, then there would
be bad blood.
' I fancy our terms will be if we beat them :
2a

370 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
' 1. Razing of the forts at Pretoria and Bloemfontein.
(They are levelled at us and no one else : this proved
by their armament.)
' 2. Not disarming of the Boers in regard to rifles, but
right of the Outlanders to have permission to bear
rifles as they please and where they please.
' 3. Equality of citizenship as between Scotchmen, English
men, Irishmen, and Dutchmen.
' 4. The Transvaal and Orange State to bear the expense of
this war, which really means that the Outlander
pays.
' I think the Government have shown marvellous patience,
and a true Christian feeling towards the Dutch, which
impartial historians will in the future tell.
' My great-uncle took the Cape of Good Hope from the
Dutch about ninety years ago — my father has often told me
that he used to speak of them in the highest terms.
'Some twenty years after that, my great-uncle Admiral
Robert Wauchope was stationed there, and for years he
lived chiefly with his wife at Cape Town, and they knew the
Dutch just as much as the British — then there was equality.
' We have no feeling against the Dutch if they will only
be so kind as to treat us not as their inferiors but as their
equals. I trust the day is very near when we shall be able
to be magnanimous, and very magnanimous, after victory.
'We were misunderstood when we took that line, as in
1881, after four defeats. — I remain, very sincerely yours,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
It will have been noticed that the above letter is
written from London. The General had left Niddrie
a few days before, slipping away quietly and without
warning, so as to escape the 'send off' which he
knew was contemplated by his well-wishers in the

FAREWELL TO NIDDRIE 371
neighbourhood.1 But the public was not to be thus
deprived of its chance of demonstrating in his
honour, and accordingly the send-off fell to the
share of his groom, Jobson, who, accompanying
a favourite mare, left Edinburgh at a somewhat
later date en route for South Africa. This, like
Wauchope's own departure, was on a Sunday night,
when I am assured that the Waverley Railway
Station was besieged by a crowd of sympathisers,
every one of whom was eager to ' get a clap of the
General's mare,' or a shake of the hand from the
General's man. Surely a Sabbath evening might
easily be worse spent than in such spontaneous and
warm-hearted hero-worship. Thus, at any rate, it
was that Edinburgh said good-bye to the last of its
General. He has been heard to say that he loved
the very pavement of the dear old city — clearly his
attachment was returned. I should have said that,
long ere this, he had received intimation that, in the
event of a war, he would be commissioned to com
mand the Third or Highland Brigade ; and that the
brigade was now under orders for Port Elizabeth,
to serve in General Clery's Division. Also, if at
the last he had left Niddrie without warning, he
had not done so without adieux. For before
leaving he had visited the neighbouring cottages,
and bid good-bye to their inmates ; had attended a
farewell service in New Craighall Church, and had
enjoyed a final stroll with Mrs. Wauchope through
his own favourite shrubberies.
1 Though all precautions had been taken to keep his departure from
Edinburgh a secret, a large number of persons somehow got wind of it
and turned out to see him off.

372 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
The next letter is addressed to his elder sister :
To the Lady Ventry. ' 26 Dover Street, W.
'October 20th, 1899.
' I will look to you all to give my wife a good cheer up.
She is beginning to shrink, but there it is — it can't be
helped. My best love to his lordship, and say I entirely
agree with what he says about South Africa and other
matters. Chamberlain is the greatest Minister we have
had for generations, and though personally I loathe and hate
and detest this war, I know it has long been inevitable,
owing to the Dutch being determined to oust us in South
Africa unless we were content to let Englishmen and Scots
men and Irishmen be treated as inferiors. So I go in the
knowledge that it is a righteous war and inevitable.
' Well, we start for Southampton to-morrow. I hope
you '11 be all right soon. You and I have had many hard
knocks, but they will come — things will go wrong and we
just have to put up with them. Give my best love to Hersey
[Miss Wauchope, his younger sister], this letter is meant for
her as well, and for you all. I have a lot of letters to write,
and I hate writing.'
In view of misleading reports which have been
circulated, it is perhaps desirable here to describe
Wauchope's demeanour during this period. It was
grave, as, in one who realised the stern work which
lay before him, one who felt the strain of parting as
did he, was only natural. But of conspicuous or
persistent depression there was about it nothing.
To chance- encountered acquaintances he generally
presented a cheery exterior — though, as we have
already seen, this was no sure index of the state of

ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS 373
mind within. And, just as many years before he
had talked laughingly of bringing home King
Koffee's umbrella from the Gold Coast, so now in a
passing lighter mood he cracked his joke about
Kruger's tall hat. To an intimate friend who said
to him in leave-taking, ' We shall be thinking much
of you, Andy,' he answered merely, 'Thank you.'
It is not without a reason that I am thus particular.
Nearly three years later there was published a
review-article which contained the sensational state
ment that ' it was known through the brigade ' that,
from the moment of his landing in South Africa,
Wauchope 'regarded his own death as certain.'1
Similarly the novelist Sir Conan Doyle has thought
it worth while to record that, on the eve of the
fatal battle, there were some who claimed to have
seen on Wauchope's face 'that shadow of doom
which is summed up in the one word " fey." ' 2 Now I
do not question that both these statements are made
in perfectly good faith — I merely declare that they
are neither of them worthy of a moment's serious
consideration. In reply to the first, I can but say
that what is there spoken of as ' known through the
brigade ' was unknown to the General's nearest
friends. To what babbling confidant, then, had he
intrusted it — he, a man who knew, if any did, when
to speak and when be silent, and who erred, if at all,
upon the side of silence ? The second statement is
pure superstition. Both alike are cases of theory
formed after the event, and as such I here dismiss
1 Fortnightly Review, July 1902, p. 79.
2 Great Boer War, p. 164.

374 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
them, merely adding that there is no evidence what
ever that, now or at any later time, the General
regarded his life as exposed to any greater or more
special risks than those which await all men of his
daring, and of his military rank, who engage in
arduous warfare. Certain it is that almost at the last
he was debating plans for Mrs. Wauchope's joining
him by-and-by in South Africa. At the same time
the statements quoted are worth noting if only as
proofs that, in Wauchope's case, legend was of even
swifter growth than is usual in the case of popular
heroes. It began, in fact, to grow up about his
name almost ere life had left his body. Nor, in
a book concerned solely with facts, is it essential
to the point at issue that that legend was always
affectionate in impulse and idealising in tendency.
To return from this digression, it had been arranged
that the General should sail for South Africa from
Southampton, on Monday, October 23rd. Wishing
to have a quiet Sunday together before parting, he
and Mrs. Wauchope therefore left London on the
Saturday for the port of embarkation, where they
spent the next day. The following letter, addressed
to his colliery-manager, is possibly the last he wrote
from England : To Mr. Martin. ' Southampton,
' October 23rd, 1899.
'I am just about to embark. Please go and see Mrs.
Wauchope when she gets back. She will act for me at all
times according to my spirit. I hope you understand about

EMBARKS FOR SOUTH AFRICA 375
the send-off. I hate a fuss. Give my love to all my numer
ous friends in the works. I hope " Klondyke " [a new work
ing] will prosper and flourish. I hope the war will soon be
over. Symons ! is a terrible loss. He was one of our best.
The British officer and soldier are showing to the world that
they are not behind their fathers in the days of the Peninsular
and Waterloo. I hope all may continue so to do, and then
make it up with the Boers, who really must be reasonable.
We have no grudge against them, beyond that we can't allow
a Dutchman to be worth three Scotsmen. — Ever yours,
'A. G. Wauchope.'
To his head-gardener, Mr. Alexander, he wrote
under the same date, ' Please convey to all our men
and women my thanks for their faithful service to
me, and that I will hope to see them soon again.'
The same afternoon he went on board the Cunard
liner Aurania, a hired transport of remarkable
steaming-power, which at 5.45 p.m. cast off, in the
presence of a huge crowd of well-wishers, and bore
him finally from England. The ship carried the
First Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry,
besides some Engineers and Mounted Infantry.
The General was accompanied by Captain Rennie,
of the Black Watch, as A.D.C.
During his voyage to the Cape, the General
wrote with great regularity to Mrs. Wauchope, his
habit on this and similar occasions being to post a
daily letter in the ship's post-office — a plan which
he preferred to the more usual one of a single diary-
letter. To Mrs. Wauchope I am deeply indebted
for the following extracts : —
1 General Symons fell at the battle of Glencoe, October 20th.

376 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
To Mrs. Wauchope.
'ss. "Aurania," October 24th, 1899.
'We steamed away for a few, a very few, miles and then
we anchored, and here we are with a fog as dense as dense
can be, and at present little or no prospect of the fog lifting
— it really is bad luck, for it means delay in landing troops
at the Cape. I am in the deck-cabin. . . . It is no use con
necting this room with you, so I must just drive it out, as
one has to drive out so many things if one wants to get on
at all. By this time you will know the real result of the last
Glencoe fight. I do pray that our troops have been successful
once more, but we shan't hear for another seven days at the
very least, when we get to St. Vincent, where we coal. The
ship could go right on, but the order is for us to take to the
Cape as much coal as we can, so as to have a large stock.
The fog is beginning to lift. I have handed over command
of the troops to Colonel Sharpe, an Engineer officer. The
Captain of the ship is a very nice man, and so I'll make
good friends with him. . . . Fog is clearing away, and soon
it will be full steam ahead, and away from old England where
my heart is. . . .
' The mare is very well, and I think happy. The men look
very well — they are very crowded, I fear, but that can't be
helped.' ' October 27th, 1899.
' The ship is most comfortable, and we are fed like
fighting-cocks — I never saw such a " bill of fare." We are
all wondering as to what is going on in Natal. It is very
tantalising not to hear, but we shall touch in at St. Vincent
and hear there. It will be a heavenly delight to hear good
news, but I am quite prepared to hear the other. I am afraid
about the Glencoe people being so far away from the Lady-
smith lot. However, at Elandslaagte battle they seem to have
been able to reopen communication, and if they can keep it

LETTERS TO MRS. WAUCHOPE 377
clear that ought to help on matters greatly. You will know
everything. . . . ' October 28th, 1899.
' I have done a lot of work since I left, and am in a
good way to do a lot more. We are now two days from
St. Vincent. I wonder so what has happened. We have made
a marvellous run in this ship — something like 420 miles
every twenty-four hours. I like the Captain so much. I go
to his chart-room and have a crack with him whenever I feel
inclined. He is a real old salt, and very anxious to oblige.
The mare is well. . . . The men are too crowded, but they are
all very well — they are all sleeping on deck to-night, which
will please them. However, we shall have to be on the look
out, because the rain comes on very suddenly in these climates
at this time of the year.' ' October 29th, 1899.
' To-morrow morning we are to arrive at St. Vincent, and
we are all very anxious, as you may suppose, in regard to the
news we shall get when we arrive there. I do hope and pray
that they are to be of a favourable nature. And why am I
so anxious ? one reason because if they are favourable it would
mean that I shall be all the sooner back. . . .
' I am quite prepared to-morrow to hear news not satis
factory. I have read and re-read the accounts of the Eland
slaagte Glen fight, and I must say I am not altogether too
satisfied. I do hope I am a croaker, and that my dismal
prognostication will turn out altogether wrong. We are
having very hot weather, of course we are well into the
tropics and can expect nothing else.
' I really think I deserve a time of perfect peace — tho' I
have had time at home, yet there has always been some
thing on.'
At 9 a.m. on October 30th the Aurania anchored
in St. Vincent harbour. Her voyage so far had been
prosperous, the only mishap experienced being the

378 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
loss overboard of a man of the 71st Regiment. On
arriving here, the first instalment of the eagerly-
awaited war-news was received in the form of a
telegram announcing the evacuation of Glencoe and
the leaving behind of the British wounded. There
was more bad news to follow. On this Wauchope
writes : To Mrs. Wauchope. 'St. Vincent,
'Monday, October 30th, 1899.
' I have seen the telegrams, and they are far from good.
Well, long ere you get this you will know whether White is
holding out or not. As you know, I always dreaded the
space which separated poor Symons from White — at the
same time I have no doubt there were excellent reasons for
doing as they did. . . . But the Cape Dutch will be enor
mously excited, and before we come out a lot may happen.
However, there it is, and there is no use to try and make
things out worse than they are ; but they must be bad
enough. I fear the Government will be getting it hot ; well,
I don't see how they could have done much differently — the
Boers must have a much larger force than we gave them
credit for. Have just heard that the Boers have captured
1500 mules, which is a bad business. How thankful I am
that I am not in London hearing all these things roared out
in the street ! It will be a good long time, I fear, ere we get
once more together, and great events will very likely have
taken place. . . . We think now that it is very likely for us
to be sent to Natal, for this ship is very fast, and we are
likely to outstrip them all — to arrive even before the Guards,
who left this some forty-eight hours ago. You must just
keep your heart up, and don't fear about me. ... I know
and feel that a great work is before me. I hear Buller
is arriving at Cape Town to-day or to-morrow. I wish he

BAD NEWS 379
had been there some two or three months before. We have
belittled the Boers too much. However, in Buller I have
the most complete confidence — he is absolutely cool and
reliable. I hear we are not to get off from here as soon
as one would expect, owing to the slowness of the coaling,
which is very stupid. There is going to be a cricket-match
on shore between the telegraph people and the officers of this
ship. The transport arrives in with the old corps at any time.'
'ss. "Aurania,"
' St. Vincent, October 31st, 1899.
' No news to-day, which is not encouraging, I fear. It
seems to me as if we have been completely misled, and I don't
envy White. ... I fear the Government will be terribly
blamed, and that a great upheaval may take place against it,
which I dread; both as regards home and foreign affairs, it
looks as if a great trial was before the Nation. As I have said
to you so often, we should have done nothing unless ready to
take the field with crushing numbers. As for horses and mules,
we must raise them anywhere and everywhere ; the cost will
be frightful, but there can be no looking back.'
'ss. "Aurania," October 31st, 1899.
' The most distressing wires are coming, and the persistent
way in which they do arrive makes me fear the worst. I
fancy we shall hear at the Cape that White's force is
practically wiped out as a fighting machine. Well, I hope
the Nation will wake up, and be the cost what it may, fight
it out to the bitter end. The news must have a tremendous
effect in the Cape Colony, and what we may find on our
arrival there I don't know. However, Buller is there, and
that is a great matter. I know so well how your heart will
bleed at all this. Well, don't be disturbed, be of good
cheer — this may do us a lot of good yet. Of course these
telegrams may be false, but I must say any hope of such is
dwindling away as far as I am concerned. Our waiting will
soon be finished, and the sooner the better.'

380 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
On October 30th, the General had visited the
Eastern Telegraph Company's premises. Meantime
coaling proceeded slowly, until the Portuguese
labourers, by whom it was carried on, were rein
forced by blue-jackets from a British man-of-war
then lying in the harbour. After this, enlivened by
the music of the pipes and band of the Highland
Light Infantry, the work proceeded faster. But it
was not till 5 p.m. on the evening of the 31st that the
Aurania could resume her journey. Ere this, tele
grams had come to hand announcing that the Boers
were closing on Ladysmith — 10,000 men on a radius
of six miles, and stating the number, up to date, of
British prisoners at 2000, including the Colonel and
other officers of the 18th Hussars. A gloomy hear
ing to those in enforced inactivity. Other transport
ships, bound to the same destination, had been en
countered by the Aurania at St. Vincent.
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' ss. " Aurania," November 1st, 1899.
' There is a dog on board that reminds me so of Stoney !
What wouldn't I give to be back with you and Stoney ! . . .
but every time the screw moves I am getting further and
further away. . . . But for all that I am more cheery
to-night. I was dreadfully low at the sad news — it clean
took me overboard, not only because it meant longer separa
tion from you, but also for the evil, and I fear, pernicious
effect that it will have on our country and the world at
large. All the Radicals in the country, and there are many,
will be chirping with delight, and their chorus will be,
" Didn't we tell you so ? " which is deplorably sad to think of
and to have to bear. However, the result may come out all

HOPES AND FEARS 381
the better in the long-run, if the Nation can be true to
itself and its interests. If we can only get our transport in
the shape pf mules quickly put in shape, we may yet give
the Boers a sound thrashing before very long, which may
make up for all the bad of the last fortnight and have
lasting results to the glory of our land. Of course I feel
very anxious for Sir G. White and what is left of his army.
You will know what the state of affairs is long before this —
if he is able to shove ahead in Natal things may not be so
bad even there.
'But we must send out more troops, more than we
thought of doing when I left Southampton. I would like to
see Wolseley come out — he would rally things round as no
other man can in a crisis such as this. And then, with
Buller at Natal and Wolseley at the Cape, we ought to get
along without any other botches. . . .
' . . . We ought to arrive at the Cape to-morrow (Thurs
day) week, and what a fussing there will be then ! We shall
be one of the first to arrive, and it will be very exciting to
know where we are sent to. So far as our South African
horses are concerned, I wonder shall we ever see them ? ' *
'ss. "Aurania," November 3rd, 1899.
' Well, six days at most will in all human probability see
us at Cape Town, and then we '11 know what is to happen to
us. ... I am not going to bother about what the news of
the situation may then be — I have given that up. All we care
about now is to know where we go to — whether we disembark
at Cape Town to go up to the borders of the Free State, or
to Port Elizabeth, or to Natal. I hope the original plan
may still hold good, viz. that we disembark at Port Eliza
beth, though I fear things will be so bad at Natal that we
shall be sent direct there, though what we are to do without
our transport of mules and horses I know not. However,
1 They had been arranged for by Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson, and met
the General on his arrival.

382 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
it is idle to speculate. I am more than comfortable on board
this ship — food fit enough for Mrs.  to have cooked it,
good wine, and very nice companions. And as for a ship to
go, I have never been in one like her — there is quite a heavy
wind against us, and yet we are driving a good fifteen to
sixteen knots in the teeth of it all. Well, this is Friday ;
one fortnight ago I was with you in London — our last
evening there. . . . Four weeks ago we left Yetholm ; five
weeks ago to-morrow I went to the Shepherds' Show ; and
now it seems strange to be here at the Equator. . . . The
mare is very well — she is sweating a bit, for we have had it
very hot, but she is feeding well.
' I wonder if  is still alive. I would like them to be
easily treated in regard to their rent, for I fear they will be
hard up when the old man dies. . . .
' By the way, I never did anything about that Episcopalian
who wants land near Niddrie for a Church. I want him
liberally dealt with. . . .' ' ss. " Aurania," November 4th, 1899.
' . . . Another day has passed. I hope I have done some
good in getting our arrangements perfected for the days of
trial that most surely are before us. I like this regiment, the
Highland Light Infantry, more and more — the men are big
fine fellows and the officers a good lot, and I think like a capable
lot, with a good Commanding Officer. I wonder where you
are. . . . Well, it *s no use to sigh — the work is before us both,
or rather I should say the trial is before us both. Perhaps
you have the worst part to bear — I believe you have ; but we
have to go through with it, and through it we will go. I
hope I may be guided aright in the hour of trial. ... I told
Bobby Martin that you would look after the miners' interests,
as I have tried to do. Their brass band will want help.
The mare is very well — we are past the heat of the Equator,
and so there is no fear of her going wrong, but still they are

A FORTNIGHT OUT 383
apt to get a kick, and I shall be glad when we get her on
shore. It is a fortnight since we went to Southampton.'
' ss. " Aurania," Sunday, November 5th, 1899.
' A Sunday has passed and gone, and they say Friday or
Saturday next is bound to see us at Cape Town, so the time
is getting very near indeed. This day a fortnight ago we
were in that nice hotel at Southampton, . . . but at the
same time the shadow, the black shadow of coming separation
was upon us. . . . The mare is very well.
' Now the question as to our four horses. If we land at
Cape Town, I 'm afraid we shan't get the horses for some
time, as they would have to come round from Port Elizabeth.
I am very anxious about Colonel Ewart who is to be my
Brigade-Major — if he is at the landing-place it will be a
great comfort. It is so curious to find oneself on board
ship, knowing nothing for all these days, when such stirring
events must be taking place all over South Africa. Sir
Redvers will have his work cut out for him, if ever a man
had. Well, he is a big, clever and great man, and we ought
to be very thankful to have him. I have studied my books
to that extent now that, if books can do anything, I ought
to be a terrible soldier.'
Meantime the voyage was proceeding unevent
fully, leaving little for the diarist to chronicle. In
due course the weather had become oppressively
hot, then it became pleasantly cooler. The fact
that the usual shipboard amusements of cricket,
quoits, and so forth, seem to have been rather a
failure is evidently an indication of tense feeling
prevailing among the passengers. The soldiers
were exercised in physical training ; junior officers
employed themselves as best they could. Wauchope,
as we have seen, found plenty of work to do. On

384 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
November 7th there was an attempt at a concert ;
but as a strong head- wind was blowing at the time,
the singing was inaudible to the audience, who,
however, made up for this by shouting the choruses.
The band performed a selection from The Runaway
Girl. On November 8th the ship rolled a good
deal, the 'fiddle' appearing for the first time qn
the dinner-table. Next day it was blowing almost
a gale, which during the twenty-four hours following
moderated to half-a-gale — the ship still rolling
considerably. I resume my quotations from the General's
letters. It is evident that he was in a very
anxious frame of mind, and that the reverses
sustained by his country's arms were preying deeply
on his spirits. To Mrs. Wauchope.
' ss. " Aurania," November 6th, 1899.
' This is Monday, and on Saturday in the early morn we
are to be at Cape Town ; and what a lot we shall have to
hear there ! You will know everything all this time — we
poor children on the sea know nothing. Would to God
we were to hear something good after all the bad tidings
we got at St. Vincent ! But I fear that 's too good to be
true. It is only a miracle that could have saved Sir George
White, and the days of miracles have passed away. The
old mare up to date is very well. ... I wonder what Sir
Redvers Buller is doing. Sir William Gatacre and the two
other Divisional Generals should be arriving to-morrow at
Cape Town — some four days before us, and they all will
have, I take it, a Grand Council of War.
'From the accounts we got we heard nothing about the

LETTERS TO MRS. WAUCHOPE 385
Boer losses ; if they have been heavy, that might save the situa
tion. I have been so comfortable on board the ship, and I have
kept my spirits up towards outsiders ; yet I have been very
down in my luck, and so have you at home, I fear. . . .
'I expect the Radicals will be crowing over our misfortunes.
Isn't it sad that our country should be like that, when we
are fighting their battles ? ' 'ss. " Aurania," November 9th, 1899.
' The ship is steaming full speed ahead against a gale of
wind, and she is tossing about like anything, but she is
going at a great rate ; but it is difficult indeed to write,
and the cabin is very stuffy. Well, the day after to-morrow
(early) is the wind-up of this long voyage, and we shall know
what you know when I am writing this letter as to what
has happened in these last ten days. I cannot hope for
any good news, so I shall not be disappointed at whatever
we may hear. I shall be rejoiced to hear that Mafeking and
Kimberley are still holding out. I shall be rejoiced to hear
that the Dutch in Cape Colony have not risen. My great
hope is that by some miracle the telegrams we received at
St. Vincent have been exaggerated. These hopes are based,
I fear, on no solid foundation — on the contrary, I expect to
hear the worst.
' This is a splendid ship, and we have had a most prosperous
journey. If by good luck we are sent to Port Elizabeth it
will show that things are not so bad.
' I am not going to read any papers until we have things
pretty right again.' ' ss. " Aurania," November 10th, 1899.
' Well, to-morrow we are to reach Cape Town, so the end
of this voyage is drawing to a close. It has been blowing
all day, and great seas have been against us ; and yet this
great ship has ploughed its way at a great speed. We shall
soon hear all, and, as I said before, I am prepared to hear
2B

386 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
the worst — it seems to me that it is nothing but a miracle
which can save the situation for the time. Of course the
result in the long-run can only be in one direction, viz.
the complete conquest of the South African Republic ; and
perhaps in the long-run it will have been all for the best.
And also it is possible, and more than possible, that, when
the big army gets under weigh, our task may prove to be
easier than we can think will be the case at present. I have
the most unbounded confidence in our superiors, especially
Buller. Would that he had been on the ground sooner.
He has a most capable staff. Now, what is likely to happen
to me to-morrow ? Well, time alone can prove ; but I
think there are three chances for me.
' 1 . To land at Cape Town and go to the Orange River at
the junction.
' 2. To go to Natal.
' 3. To go to Port Elizabeth, which is the original idea.
I would much prefer No. 3. It would enable the Brigade to
see each other and get together, and enable us to equip our
transport. But the exigencies of the moment will have to
be considered, and what they may be God alone knows as
far as this ship is concerned and all on board of it.
' Three weeks to-day we were in London — how strange it
all seems ! '
At 10 a.m. on November 11th, the Aurania
reached Cape Town. The news which met him
there must have come as a great relief to
Wauchope's worst fears : Kimberley and Mafeking
still stood ; there had been no rising of Cape Dutch.
He also learnt that the original idea for his employ
ment had been altered (as had all along been
probable), his present orders being to serve in Lord
Methuen's (the Western) Column, for the relief of

ARRIVAL AT CAPE TOWN 387
Kimberley — the Highland and Guards' Brigades
in the meantime to concentrate at De Aar, the
junction of the Port Elizabeth and Cape Town
railways. But let him tell his own story.
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' ss. "Aurania," November 11th, 1899,
(at Cape Town) Saturday.
' This has been a busy day indeed. The situation is not
so bad, but it is bad enough. I go to the De Aar Station
immediately. It is towards the Orange River but not on
it. I am to be under Lord Methuen, and with the Guards.
We are to be employed in the relief of Kimberley. I do
hope I may do my duty in a manner worthy of you and
myself. Our difficulties are great and we have a determined
foe against us, who seems to be using his opportunities with
marked skill and effect. My thought outside all this is of
you. . . .'
After an interview with Sir Redvers Buller, the
General started for De Aar, where he arrived at 3
p.m. on November 13th, and took up his quarters in
a newly-formed camp. The journey thither had
been through a sandy, desolate country, interspersed
with hills and overgrown with scrub, which in some
of its main features recalled the Soudan. Next day
he proceeded to Orange River Station to meet Lord
Methuen, by whom it was decided that, for the pre
sent, the Highland Brigade should be employed on
the lines of communication — two battalions being
stationed at De Aar and two at Orange River —
whilst the Guards and 9th Brigade (which had
already been for some time on the spot) should pro
ceed to the relief of Kimberley. On his return to De

388 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Aar, a remarkable demonstration awaited him. The
Second Battalion of his old regiment had reached
Table Bay two or three days after his own arrival
there, and had followed him up country. The first
sight of their old Commanding Officer was the signal
to the men for a demonstration of their love for him,
recalling that which had been witnessed at Strensall,
eighteen months before, when he last took leave of
them. They happened to be at dinner when he
came in sight ; but as on the former occasion they
had left their sleep, so now they left their food to
do him honour. Cheer after cheer went up to greet
him, and there must certainly have been something
particularly pleasing to the General in a welcome
which told so eloquently that he was not forgotten
by those whom he had served so well. It doubtless
raised his spirits as almost nothing else could have
done. The period which followed was one of extremely
hard and trying work, during which he was mainly
occupied in getting together transport and supply.
The difficulties encountered in respect to carts and
horses were great, whilst the prevailing pressure and
confusion complicated his task. On November 18th
he carried out an order to re-occupy Naauwpoort.
Next day he superintended the repair of a railway-
bridge two miles from De Aar which had been
damaged by dynamite. The Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders arrived at De Aar, and were followed
on the morrow by the Seaforths. On the 20th the
General went to Orange River, whence on the 22nd
he writes as follows : —

'A BIG JOB IN HAND' 389
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Orange River, November 22nd, 1899.
' My life since I wrote last has been a continuous worry.
I will wire to say how well I am, which is a fact. I have
been one week at De Aar and half a week here. Long ere
this you will know what has occurred in so far as the Methuen
column is concerned. I hope all will go well with them,
though I must say I have my misgivings. There has been
such a tremendous rush and everybody has been in such a
hurry that I cannot help feeling queer. How I hope all may
go right, and that soon Kimberley may be relieved and all be
well with us ! I am here trying to work things up at this
station. I have a big job in hand. I am never with my
Brigade, but, on the contrary, am arranging about supplies
and everything of that kind.
' I find this climate so healthy, and it is a real good place
for the men — they enjoy themselves highly, but, poor fellows,
a lot of them don't quite know what is before them. I was
interrupted by two messengers just come from Kimberley ; they
report that it is all right yet. I am worked off my legs. . . .
well, important events are now before us, there can be no
question of that. I am afraid things are in a confused con
dition — the whole plan of the army was changed, and it has
resulted in a complete jumble up.
'I have the Brigade all over the place, spread over 130
miles of ground. I have so few.
' The Coldstream Guards are now going to start — I must
see them off; the station will be much less overcrowded then,
and there will be more breathing-space.
' The Regt. and departments have got split up, got into a
lot of different detachments almost impossible to get together
again. I am thinking always of you . . . and if it pleases
God Almighty to bring us together again, there is nothing
will ever make me leave you.'

390 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
On November 23rd the battle of Belmont was
fought by Methuen 's force. On the 24th Wauchope
writes : To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Orange River, November 24th, 1899.
'News just in that Methuen met the enemy about 16 or
17 miles from this, attacked the Boers at Belmont, and I am
afraid has met with heavy losses, which will be difficult for
him. You will have heard all about it, and long before this
you will know whether I am in the land of the living or not.
. . . The next five or six weeks will be terrible times I expect.
Well, you must be brave and face it. I know that for my
sake you will do exactly as I have been doing . . . and you
will live for duty. ... I shall not have any time for writing.
To the last I shall think of you, and I will not forget my
dear sisters. ... Of course things may improve greatly in a
way which seems to me absolutely impossible.
' Here we are hundreds and hundreds of miles inland, away
from our lines of communication.
' The exact news of what has, or has not, happened has not
yet come in. I fear that, in so far as to-day's fight is con
cerned, from what I hear, and that by men on our side, they
could not be more annoying; for though we have gained the
heights, we have done so at very serious loss, and that on the
first day. I don't know that they can send up many more
troops — I believe they are not in the country. The mobility
of the force is not so great, as we have depended entirely on
the line of railway. Well, I shall hear more to-night.'
The diarist now chronicles the coming in of Boer
prisoners, and of hospital trains bearing wounded.
The reports of the battle are still various and
conflicting.

'BELITTLING OUR ENEMIES' 391
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' November 25th, 1899.
' . . . This station is full of wounded, and at any moment
we may hear of another lot coming in. It is a fortnight
since we landed, it seems a perfect age. It looks like a
hundred years since I left you. . . .
' I am going to have a parade of the troops at 3 p.m. I
fear they will find it very hot, but it can't be helped. It is
five weeks to-day since I left Southampton. . . .
' I can see by the papers that every one is very much
shocked at home, and well they may be. It is the foolish
spirit of belittling our enemies that is at the bottom of all
our troubles. I am afraid the Government will get into hot
water ; it isn't really their fault so much as the system which
enables the politician to try and not give way to the advice
of the soldier. Curious how little one hears in a place like
this — you will know everything that is going on and I abso
lutely nothing. Our horses are turning out very well, and
I think will prove to be a very useful lot.
' As for me, I am in the most perfect health, as every one is
here, for the climate is as near perfection as anything can be in
this world. The wounded heal in a perfectly marvellous way.'
On November 25th Methuen fought the battle of
Enslin, otherwise Graspan.
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Orange River, November 26th, 1899.
' This morning I got a wire from Lord Methuen that I
was to join him with the Highland Brigade at once. So we
got ready ; and then came a wire contradicting the whole
thing, but that two Highland regiments are to go to him.
They fought a desperate battle yesterday, and I fear lost
heavily ; but I have not heard the particulars, nor have I
heard how the fight went on. I think we are getting on in

392 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
spite of all our losses. If we could only get a good crack at
them. There are some three or four hundred wounded
coming in by a train this afternoon, and they should bring
us news. I hear Lord Methuen is two miles on the further
side of the Modder River, and if that be so we are getting
on. The relief of Kimberley up to now must have taken
900 men in killed and wounded. I hope you got my wire
yesterday. . . .
' It is now five weeks yesterday since I left you. . . .
' I expect Methuen will halt on the Modder for some days
before pushing forward. He has had a hard time of it, and
must be a real gallant soul, and he does shove along. It is
wonderful how well the men are behaving, and how fearless
and brave they are — nothing could surpass their bravery.
Well, war is a horrible thing — especially a war like this,
which in many ways has the characteristics of a civil war.
' The Boers are no doubt a brave lot, and they are deter
mined to go on to the bitter end. I see that there is every
prospect of an advance towards Ladysmith — what a blessing
it would be if the place could be relieved. I am awfully
lucky in having the P.M.O. up here that was at York, and
I do not know what we should have done without him with
all this heap of wounded coming in day after day. . . .
' The mare is looking as well as possible, and enjoys her
self — she seems to like the sun, which is plenty about here.'
On the evening of November 26th a report was
brought into camp that Boers had been seen on the
railway between Belmont and Witte Putts, but on
investigation it led to nothing. Occasionally a des
patch-rider came in from Kimberley. Meantime
wounded and prisoners were passing down the line,
and fresh troops were passing up it. The equip
ment of the latter was at times a work of great
labour. On the 27th the Argyll and Sutherland

ORDERED TO THE FRONT 393
Highlanders and four guns of the 62nd Battery left
Orange River for the front.
To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Orange River, November 28th, 1899.
' I have been round the whole station with young A. G. W.
[Captain Wauchope, D.S.O., Black Watch, his galloper], and
I feel much more comfortable. As for my health it never
was better, and they will all tell you so. I fear the stream
of wounded which Methuen is sending down must have a very
weakening effect on him. I get up at 4 a.m., and Goddard
[his soldier servant] brings me some very hot tea, and then
we go out for a ride round the different posts, and then back
to the Headquarters Office to wait for telegrams coming
in, but which I have not been getting the last 12 hours, I
don't know why. Well, you will know all about it long ere
this — that 's always a comfort to me. . . . Then there is a
refreshment kind of hotel at the station here, and I go to
have breakfast there at 7.30 a.m., and then it is just the
same thing over and over again. Well, of course there is
a good chance of my being back with you . . . fancy being
at dear old Niddrie once more. . . . The Boer prisoners we do
take are not at all a bad-looking lot, and I think are deeply
grateful for the kindness shown to them — we treat them just
the same as our wounded, so we couldn't do more, could we ?
Our men are all very well. The Black Watch have just come
in to this station, at least half of them — the other half being
left at a place called Naauwpoort. All are in the very best
of health. It cheers one greatly to see them. The 71st
H.L.I. are leaving for Modder River where Lord Methuen is
and the Argyll and Sutherlands are going also. I will wire
you to-day saying I am in perfect health and strength. . . .
' Just received orders to proceed to Modder River, there
to join Methuen, with the Highland Brigade, and you may
be sure that we shall be in the thick of it. But long ere this
reaches you, it will be known to you what has happened. . . .

394 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
It seems so curious to be writing in this strain . . . but there
it is. I know we have a very severe task before us before we
reach Kimberley, that is sure, and we are so very far away,
and our lines of communication desperately long — but there
it is, one must fight it out, and God Almighty give us the
victory. We are in the right, that is sure. We shall have
great hardships to encounter. The marches will not be very
long, but the weather is hot. The enemy have entrenched
themselves with great vigour and skill, and will be fighting
behind cover, while we shall be in the open ; but there it is,
such must be done. I proceed by route march to-morrow.
' Yes, it is so sad how absolutely we have under-estimated
the Boer power. Well, I fear it will be a long business — the
great mistake we have made is this : not to exercise our men
together, say at Salisbury Plain, in this kind of fighting.
' I feel that we ought not to have come up for relief of
Kimberley just now — it is too far, and our lines of communica
tion too slender.'
November 28th was the date of Lord Methuen's
battle at the Modder River ; but the news was not
received at Orange River Station until the day fol
lowing, its reception being presently followed by the
arrival of trains bearing wounded. On the 28th
half of the Highland Light Infantry and some Cape
Artillery had left Orange River for the front. On
December 1st, Boers having been again reported in
that neighbourhood, four Companies of the Sea-
forths were despatched to reinforce Witte Putts, and
the General went there in person. But, as before,
the Boers had disappeared. On his return to Orange
River, the General received his orders to proceed to
the front.
On December 2nd the Gordons arrived at Orange

THE MARCH TO MODDER RIVER 395
River, whence on the same day half the Black
Watch started to march to Modder River, the
remaining half proceeding thither from Naauwpoort
by train. On December 3rd the Seaforths started
on their march to the front, the General catching
them up at Witte Putts. On the 4th the march was
continued to Van der Wyck's Farm, two miles
beyond Belmont ; on the 5th to Enslin ; and on
the 6th to Honeynest Kloof. The 'going' is
described as bad in places, yet the men accom
plished about two and three-quarter miles an hour.
The weather by day was hot, and by night cold in
proportion. To Mrs. Wauchope.
' Honeynest Kloof, near Modder River,
' December 6th, 1899.
' Well, here we are, and to-morrow will find us at Modder
River, within 22 or 23 miles of Kimberley — the three
days' march which we have had having not been at all
unpleasant. To-day has been nice and quiet — it is the lull
before the storm. We have just had such a nice tea —
Rennie, A. G. W., and self — tea and raspberry jam and
biscuits in a nice Dutchman's garden.
'We have been with the Seaforths. I like them very
much. To-morrow at Modder River the whole Highland
Brigade will be concentrated.
'The fight will be a stubborn one, and I think our difficulties
will be very great. The mare is doing very well, she is
eating well and is really very fresh. I like the idea of your
coming out very much indeed. ... Of course distances are very
great, and for a good bit you would have the greatest
difficulty in getting up by the train, so perhaps I am too
hopeful. ... I fear it must be a very long time ere troops can
leave the Colony, even supposing things to go extremely well

396 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
for us. It was so nice of the Parish Council asking me to
hang on. Have you seen Mr. Burnett lately?1 How is
Bobby Martin ? 2 he will be very interested.'
Having ridden on ahead of the accompanying
force, Wauchope and his A.D.C. had arrived at
Honeynest Kloof at about 5 a.m. They found a
squadron of the 12th Lancers just moving off. The
Black Watch had started about three-quarters of an
hour earlier. And here I may take up the words of
the diarist :
' Station-house and store had been looted by the
Boers, and everything destroyed. Water scarce :
one well, but low. So we decided, after watering
the Seaforths on arrival, to go on to Wittkop's Farm
(where water was reported plentiful) three miles
N.E. of Honeynest Kloof. On arrival there — we
rode on ahead again — found one well, but no bucket
or windlass, and a large dam. Water looked very
dirty, but was tasteless. Arranged to water men
on one side and mules on the other. One or two
small farmsteads in the neighbourhood— everything
looted and broken. Some stray Government horses
and mules about three miles off. Seaforths arrived in
camp about 8.45 a.m. Quiet day afterwards. Vague
rumours of an action at Ladysmith in which Boers
are supposed to have lost heavily. We move on to
Modder River (estimated distance eight miles) to
morrow. Track from Enslin to Honeynest Kloof
fairly hard and good.
'December 7th. Marched off 4 a.m. with Sea
forths, arrived Modder River about 7 a.m. No
1 Minister of Liberton. 2 Colliery Manager, Niddrie.

AT MODDER RIVER 397
sooner had we arrived than we heard that the Boers
had been shelling Enslin since early in the morning.1
The Seaforths were ordered to proceed there at
once by train, the 12th Lancers and 62nd Battery
by march. The last two started at once. We
(General went in command) got off by 10 am., but
owing to block on line only arrived Enslin 1.20 p.m.
Found the Boers had fired about seventy shells at
the place. We extended the Seaforths and went out
about a mile, but only to see the Boers take their
departure about 2000 yards off. Guns and cavalry
had practically driven them away before our arrival.
Reported strength 1000 — from Jacobsdaal, and
believe they retired there. They did a good deal
of damage to line between Enslin and Belmont.
Our casualties: wounded, eleven Northamptons, two
Lancers, one guide. Remained Enslin the night.
'December Sth. Armoured train arrived with
breakdowns going from Modder. We left half
battalion Seaforths at Enslin, two guns and one
squadron, and sent remaining guns and cavalry to
Modder, returning there ourselves with the other
half Seaforths. Started 10 a.m., arrived Modder
River 2 p.m. Encamped N. side of river. Bridge
now up for train to cross. Pretty well tired out.'
On December 9th the diarist records: 'Cavalry
and Naval Brigade made a reconnaissance this
morning. Howitzer Battery arrived, and line was
repaired south of Enslin. Rumours of an intended
advance to-morrow.' It is perhaps to this day that
1 This refers to an abortive attempt by Commandant Prinsloo to cut
the British line of communications.

398 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
belongs a letter addressed to Mrs. Wauchope which
is dated merely December 1899, and which termi
nates with the words : ' You are ever in my thoughts,
and will continue so to be to my last hour.' This
was the last letter received from the General. The
next day was Sunday — the day preceding the
advance on Magersfontein. But before proceeding
to describe that final scene, it is desirable briefly to
review the present position of affairs as regards
Lord Methuen's column and the events which had
led up to that position.
The object of that column is stated in Lord
Methuen's evidence before the War Commission1
as being 'to relieve Kimberley, throw in a large
supply of provisions, clear out the non-combatants
(elsewhere estimated at about 11,000 in number),
and return to Orange River'; and his movements
to this end were to be made ' with as great celerity
as possible, because Kimberley seemed to be in
straits according to Mr. Rhodes, and because there
was the danger of reinforcements coming from
Natal to the enemy ' as soon as Methuen's advance
should be known.
In proceeding to carry out the above instructions,
General Lord Methuen had fought, in rapid succes
sion, the battles of Belmont, Enslin, and Modder
River (November 23rd, 25th, and 28th), in all of
which his tactics had been similar — a direct frontal
attack on a resolute foe — and in each of which his
victory had been dearly bought. Belmont, ' origin
ally planned with some tactical skill, had become,
1 Minutes of Evidence, vol. ii. pp. 119 et seq.

POSITION ON WAUCHOPE'S ARRIVAL 399
through no special fault of any one concerned, a
soldier's battle ' ; x Enslin was chiefly memorable for
the valour displayed by the Naval Brigade in
storming the enemy's position, and these battles
had resembled each other in so far that in either
case the Boers had been dislodged from points of
vantage on high ground.
The comparative ease with which they had been
driven from these positions, coupled with the un
expected heaviness of their casualty-lists, had by
now gone far to dispirit the losing side, and prisoners
in conversation with their captors were already pro
fessing themselves sick of the war. But at that
juncture the command of this portion of the Boer
army passed practically into new hands, and those
the hands of one who united ardent determination
with a high military genius. Quickly turning to
account the lessons of experience, General De la
Rey had grasped the fact that the tactics hitherto
pursued had been at fault, that (as had been shown
as long ago as at Majuba) high ground was not by
any means a necessary or unqualified source of
strength, and that for troops armed with modern
rifles a horizontal fire was likely to be far more
effective than one proceeding from above. The
immediate result of these deductions was seen in
the Boer ambush in the bed of the Modder River,
with the deadly consequences of its fire upon our
troops surprised in their advance. Except that the
later surprise came in the darkness, instead of by
daylight, the situation was very similar to the
1 The ' Times ' History of the War, vol. ii. p. 332.

400 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
commencement of the coming battle of Magers-
fontein, which it may be said to have foreshadowed.
Only in the second case the Boers had shown the
additional subtlety of occupying a low-ground
position in immediate proximity to a kopje — thus
securing, in addition to a horizontal fire, the further
advantage of hoodwinking our commanders as to
their real whereabouts. Doubtless ere now the
Boers had learnt that in the matter of reconnaissance
they had little to fear from Methuen. He has
himself stated 1 that ' with modern weapons, firing
2000 yards, to reconnoitre over a perfectly flat
plain and give any good reconnaissance report is an
impossibility.' Yet this hardly avails to justify
his neglect to use the balloon, which had reached
him by December 7th, for reconnaissance purposes.
(It was not used until December 11th, when the
battle was in full swing.) Nor is it conceivable,
scientifically though their trenches were contrived,
that the activity of the Boers now occupied in
forming them could thus have escaped observa
tion. At any rate it was upon this chance that
the preventibility of the approaching disaster
depended. These, then, were the circumstances
amid which Wauchope came forward to take a
leading part in the advance on Kimberley, though
of course these circumstances were not then realised
with the same fulness and clearness as now. Arriving
as he did on the afternoon of December 8th, it was
natural that he should expect to reap the benefit
of the knowledge of the surrounding country which
1 Minutes of Evidence, Question 14, 365.

INTERVIEW WITH METHUEN 401
had been acquired by those who had been for ten
days on the spot. But that knowledge, as we have
seen, was nil. The reconnaissance of December 9th
does not seem to have augmented it, whilst the
following day was lost through Lord Methuen's
indecision. But, had time been allowed him, it is
impossible not to believe that Wauchope would
have made good this defect. For, great as was his
personal daring, it is agreed by those who knew
him best that, where men were to be led, his
caution was not less.
To return now to the narrative. On December
10th the General had an interview with Lord
Methuen, now sufficiently recovered from his wound
received at the Modder to have resumed the chief
command. As to this interview wild stories have
been freely circulated, of which it is enough to
say that they may be dismissed as resting on no
evidence whatever. They form, in fact, a part of
that crop of legend of which I have already spoken
as having grown up with astonishing rapidity around
the fallen General's name. At the same time there
is good ground for believing that he had not now
that full confidence in his superior officer's soldier
ship which had been his pride on former occasions,
and which in military service is so great a source
of pleasure and of inspiration. It may seem harsh
to say it of a gallant soldier, but a very moderate
knowledge of the state of matters which had pre
ceded the battle of the Modder, or of Methuen's
supineness since that battle, would have gone far
to justify the said lack of confidence. Wauchope,
2c

402 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
however, was too staunch and too well-trained a
soldier to allow to this feeling more than its due
weight. He received his orders, making a jotting
of them in a little pocket-book which lies before
me as I write.
It would appear that, as at the Modder, almost
up to the very last Methuen's frame of mind had
been one of indecision as to the plan of advance
to be adopted. He had before him the choice
between a flanking movement and a frontal attack,
and the fact that as late as 3 p.m. the force at his
disposal was paraded with five days' provisions
seems clearly to indicate that at that hour he
inclined to the former alternative. At the last
other counsels prevailed, and the afternoon parade
resolved itself into a demonstration in face of the
enemy. Even then, in the opinion of The Times
historian,1 had Wauchope been left to himself he
would have seized the ridge which formed the
extremity of the enemy's position on the left, and
which owing to the tardiness with which the Boer
plans had been formed was weakly manned and
imperfectly entrenched. The result of this move
ment would have been, in the said historian's opinion,
the evacuation of Magersfontein. But Wauchope
was recalled, and the night attack determined on.
It was during the afternoon's evolutions that he
was seen for the last time by one of his former
brother-officers, who has thus described the occa
sion : — ' The last time I saw General Wauchope he
was riding on our right, parallel with our advanced
1 Vol. ii. p. 394.

A FUTILE BOMBARDMENT 403
companies, about 4.30 p.m. on December 10th. We
were moving in battle formation against the left of
the Boer position. We were the leading regiment,
and before extending my Company, and while the
movement was being carried out, General Wauchope
sat on his horse by my side and gave me his in
structions just as he had done many and many a
time before on a Field Day. That was the last time
I was near General Wauchope, and I shall never
forget his face on that occasion — so calm and yet
so keen. Afterwards he rode on our right until
we were ordered to retire at dusk by Lord Methuen.'
The same correspondent adds some interesting par
ticulars as to the General's activity during the preced
ing period, his assiduity in going round outposts,
and his habit of being in the saddle at daybreak.
From the letter of a second correspondent who
was with him at this time I quote the following
striking and significant statement : — ' On the occa
sions when I remember him exercising the troops
in his brigade, he worked at an extension of five
to ten paces : this sounds natural now — it was not
so in 1899.'
On Saturday, December 9th, a few trial shells
had been discharged at the Boer position. On the
Sunday afternoon the whole of Methuen's available
artillery was paraded with the rest of the force at
2 p.m. At 3 p.m. a bombardment of the Boer
position was commenced, which was maintained for
over three hours, until dusk. Shortly before that
time, and presumably with the intention of drawing
the enemy's fire, some of Wauchope's infantry were

404 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
extended and demonstrated towards the enemy's
position, but elicited no response. The bombard
ment was intended, of course, to prepare the way
for the night attack, a great moral effect being
anticipated by Lord Methuen from such a furious
cannonade. But, as ill-luck would have it, the
moral effect was entirely in the other direction.
To quote the words of a not altogether unfriendly
critic,1 ' not a stone, not a bush was left unscathed ;
all were smashed to pieces, but not a single Boer
was killed.' Entirely out of harm's way in their
trenches a hundred or two yards in advance of the
base of the hill, they had time to grow accustomed
to the fire which passed over their heads and to
learn to despise it. More than this, it served the to
them extremely useful purpose of giving intimation
of the coming attack.
The element of chance, which had ruled in the
matter of the balloon, had a large part in the
approaching tragedy, and even now it was active.
For example, whilst the shelling was in process, one
or two shells had fallen short of the hill which was
their target. These were observed to raise a dust
of a peculiar kind, from which a Colour- Sergeant of
the Black Watch drew his own inference, remark
ing, ' There must be trenches there.' His conclusion
was but too correct, yet it so happened that his
observation failed to reach the proper quarter.
Similarly, about the same time, one of Rimington's
Guides is stated to have come into camp reporting
that the Boers had deserted the hills, and betaken
1 Count Sterneberg'g Experiences of the Boer War, p. 120,

METHUEN'S PLAN OF ATTACK 405
themselves to the plain in front. This information
also was allowed to pass unattended to. So day
passed into night.
Methuen's plan for the attack was that the High
land Brigade — the freshest of his troops — should
march for Magersfontein at 12.80 midnight, should
reach the hill at its south-east point or salient just
before daybreak, and should rush it in extended
order as the Guards had rushed Belmont ; and with
this view he had now disposed the rest of his troops
— the Ninth Brigade being broken up to act as a
reserve, and the Guards receiving their instructions
for supporting the Highlanders. In the meantime
the Highland Brigade — consisting of the Black
Watch, Seaforths, Argylls, and Highland Light
Infantry — was bivouacked in rear of a rising ground
which had been christened Headquarters Hill, which
immediately confronted Magersfontein Hill, and
was distant from it by the line of march to be
followed about two miles and a half. With the
Highlanders were most of the Cavalry, to whom
was to be assigned the task of covering their right
flank. Having rushed the hill, it was Methuen's
intention to entrench and hold it with a part of the
attacking force, whilst the remainder should push
on in the direction of Kimberley, and the consider
ation which had led him to prefer this attack to
a turning-movement was the fact that the latter
would necessitate the rupture of his communica
tions.1 He has been severely criticised, not only on
1 His own words are as follows :—' Without wishing to rake up more
than I can help the disputed question as to whether or no my force

406 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
this ground, but for incurring the risks inseparable
from a night attack. At the same time it is only
fair to add that, up to the present time, a collation
of the dicta of his ' expert ' critics does not reveal
an absolute consensus of opinion.
We have already seen that, in regard to the plan
of attack, Wauchope differed from his commander.
But it may be assumed that, in conformity with
Army tradition and his own training and character,
he would forbear to press his objections. ' His not
to reason why.' When at the last unfavourable
weather caused it to be suggested that the enter
prise might be deferred, he is said to have declared
himself against this proposal. Since the night
march and frontal attack had been decided on, let
them be carried out forthwith, and in the face of
obstacles. It is even possible that, given Lord
Methuen's tactics, Wauchope recognised in storm
and darkness elements not wholly unfavourable to
a night march leading up to a surprise.
Some details as to these the last hours of
Wauchope's life have been gathered from his
servant, Goddard, a reservist who, having previ
ously served him, had re-entered his service on
rejoining the colours at the outbreak of the war.
According to the testimony of this witness, as also
should have marched round the enemy's left flank, I consider that such
a movement, entailing as it did quitting my line of communications,
leaving the strong ridge of which Magersfontein formed the key in the
enemy's hands, would have been unjustifiably hazardous. My reason
for saying so was because my force was not sufficiently mobile, nor was
my mounted force, augmented by one cavalry regiment, adequate.' —
Minutes of Evidence, Question 14, 169.

THE NIGHT MARCH 407
to that of the civilian groom Jobson, the General's
manner was cheery to the last. Only he had been
somewhat perturbed during the day by the loss of a
belt, with knife and compass attached, which had
been the gift of Mrs. Wauchope. He had also, as
it happened, met with an accident to his sword,
which prevented his carrying it in leading the
attack. He carried instead his old regimental
claymore. After returning to the bivouac from his
interview with Lord Methuen, he was served by
Goddard with some beef sandwiches, and he then
lay down in his blanket-sack in the open to snatch
some rest before starting on the march. Since his
landing in South Africa it had been his custom to
sleep without removing his clothes.
It was rather more than half an hour after mid
night when the Highland Brigade moved off. The
story of its advance on Magersfontein has been told
too often to require detailed recapitulation. From
the first the luck was against it. The weather,
which had before been unfavourable, had now
grown worse : a thunderstorm broke, and a con
tinuous downpour of rain descended. This was
accompanied by pitchy darkness. The Brigade
advanced in the only formation which under the
given conditions was possible — that of mass of
quarter columns — company behind company in
close order. Even so, and with the additional pre
caution of guide-ropes, the preservation of the
formation was difficult, and many men became
detached from their companies. What materially
added to the difficulty of the advance was the nature

408 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
of the ground — encumbered with boulders, over
grown with prickly brush, and now reduced by the
rain to mud. Again, the compasses held by Major
Benson, R.A., the staff-officer who acted as
Wauchope's guide, were repeatedly falsified by the
electricity in the air, the ironstone rocks, the proxi
mity of the rifles. All this caused delay, of which
there is clear proof that Wauchope fully realised
the danger. Under the circumstances the wonder
is that the Brigade should have succeeded in reach
ing its destination. Before starting Wauchope had
explained his plan to his Staff and Commanding
Officers. It was briefly as follows : — To approach
Magersfontein Hill and deploy under cover of dark
ness, and, lying down, to wait till there should be
light enough to advance. Wauchope's intention
then was to ' envelope ' the hill, getting well round
the eastern side of it — the Black Watch being on
the right, the Seaforths in the centre, the Argyll
and Sutherland Highlanders on the left, and each of
these battalions having ultimately two companies in
front, two in support, and four in reserve. The
Highland Light Infantry was to be kept back to act
as a general reserve. This plan, as things turned
out, the delay above referred to must of itself have
sufficed to modify.
The bearings given at starting had been forty-
five degrees for 1000 yards, and then thirty-two
degrees on to Magersfontein Hill. When the
column had been for over three hours on the
march, an occasional lightning-flash showed the
outline of Magersfontein Hill looming indistinctly

THE SURPRISE 409
ahead. But with the experience of Tel-el-Kebir
probably present to his mind, the General decided
to gain a few more yards before deploying. It
must be remembered that he was still more than
700 yards from the foot of the hill, and that the ex
istence of the trenches which ran out into the plain
before it was entirely unknown to him. At this
juncture a further delay was occasioned by the
impingement of the leading battalion, the Black
Watch, on a particularly dense mass of bush, whilst
in order to get the entire column clear of this
obstacle a further advance was necessary. Then
Wauchope gave the order to deploy. And in doing
so, he presumably recognised that the leading of
Major Benson — admirable as, when all things are
considered, it must be allowed to have been — had
conducted him somewhat to the west of the ' salient '
of Magersfontein, the point at which he had aimed.
For instead of, as previously arranged, directing that
both the Seaforths and Argylls should deploy to the
left of the Black Watch, he now ordered that one of
these battalions should deploy on either side of the
leading battalion. By this means he sought to
correct a deviation which, as it turned out, was to
have serious results — though these could not have
been foreseen — for it led the column right on to the
strongest part of the Boer trenches.
There are various stories current as to the means
by which the Boers were informed that the British
were approaching. It is said, for instance, that the
waving of a light from the left of the column gave
the necessary warning. By whom it was waved, or

410 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
how the waver escaped detection, is not stated.
Other stories speak of a signal by lanterns from a
farm-house near the point of departure, and of a
sentry posted in front of the trenches. By one
means or another there could be little difficulty
about making the intimation, and it is known that
throughout the night the Boer officers were active
in the trenches keeping their men on the alert to
meet the expected advance.
The deployment was proceeding, and had reached
the leading companies of the Argyll and Suther
land Highlanders — so that in a few minutes more
the whole Brigade would have been ready for the
attack — when, without warning, from the trenches
in front, to right and left, and from the hillside
above, a converging fire was poured in by the enemy.
The surprise was complete, the Brigade was caught
at a terrible disadvantage. It has been stated
elsewhere that the one redeeming feature in the
circumstances was that the Boers had not fully
realised the closeness of their enemies, and hence
much of their fire went too high. This was, how
ever, scarcely the case; much of the aiming was
of deadly precision, whilst numerous bullets also
struck the ground in front of the leading battalion.
Instantly grasping what had taken place, the
General gave the word to charge. But the inten
sity of the fire made an advance impossible. The
leading battalion, however, completed the deploy
ment as if on parade, the only confusion which
occurred being due to some of the companies
becoming entangled in a barbed wire fence.

HIS DEATH 411
When the fire broke out Wauchope was standing
a little in advance of the column, with Major Benson,
who had acted as his guide, Captain Cumming-
Bruce of the Black Watch, who had been assisting
Benson, and one of his own A.D.C.'s, his kinsman,
Lieutenant A. G. Wauchope of the same regiment.
With the same calmness which had characterised
him on parade that afternoon, he now advanced
straight ahead, and then a little to the left. The
bullets were flying thick and fast, and as he advanced
he half turned to Lieutenant Wauchope and re
peated twice the words, 'This is fighting.' The
object of his present movement was to reconnoitre
the Boer position. Before him, to his right front,
there was a considerable gap in the line of fire — this
being the point at which Captain MacFarlan of the
Black Watch succeeded later in passing the enemy's
lines. Quickly seizing this fact, the General turned
to his A.D.C. and said, 'A. G., do you go back and
bring up reinforcements to the right of A company.'
To prevent mistakes, the young officer repeated the
order, and then hastened back to execute it. On
his return to the front, of the three figures he had
left there but one remained standing. Wauchope
had been shot by two bullets, of which one entered
the groin, the other furrowing the temple. When
his body was found next day by Captain Rennie of
the Black Watch, the legs were slightly gathered up,
as would be caused by the muscular contraction
following the wound in the groin. This would
appear to indicate that death had been swift if not
instantaneous.

412 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
A story, which is believed by the rank and file
throughout both battalions of his old regiment,
though the writer has sought in vain for evidence
on which to base it, would assign to his dying
moments the words, 'Don't blame me for this,
lads ! ' It will be seen that this speech is capable of
widely different interpretations, according as the
emphasis is laid on the second or third word of the
sentence. For, by emphasising the 'me,' what is
otherwise a mere reference to the proverbial fortune
of war assumes the character of a reflection on some
other person or persons. In the nature of things
there is nothing unlikely in Wauchope's having used
these words in the first sense, though, as I have said,
beyond the vaguest hearsay, there is no evidence
that he did so use them. That he would have used
them in the second sense is to all who knew him
incredible. Thus, at the head of his troops, in the perform
ance of his duty, died one of the bravest and truest
soldiers, one of the most perfect characters, and one
of the best-loved men of his time. He perished in
the moment of disaster, but for that disaster he was
in no sense or degree responsible. A well-nigh im
possible task — one which partook, indeed, of the
nature of a forlorn hope — had been set him, and
against this his better judgment had protested. But,
having received his orders, he loyally did his best to
carry them out. In one sense he was the martyr of
circumstances, in another he died a death as noble as
even his heart could have desired. The pity of the
tragedy lies with ourselves — left to bewail the sacri-

A VICTORY NARROWLY MISSED 413
fice of such lives as his to the lethargy or infatuation
which seems almost inevitably to affect our military
nature when it has become inured to peace. Twice
within living memory has this spectacle been wit
nessed, and it is scarcely too much to declare that
the blessings of peace are dearly purchased at the
cost of it. For the future there is better hope, and
it is largely due to Wauchope and to those who fell
with him that this can even now be said.
To describe in detail the battle which followed
the General's death does not fall within the scope of
this book. Suffice it to say that his last order was
promptly obeyed — such officers of the Black Watch
as had not been placed hors de combat doubling for
ward their men to the right of the companies already
extended, where they were joined by the Seaforth
Highlanders. Thence, in the face of a deadly fire,
they pushed forward, surmounting obstacles which
had been placed in their way, so that, within twenty
minutes of the first surprise, several hundred men of
the two battalions had made their way into the gap
which had been espied by Wauchope on the right of
the Boer central trench, and in this manner had
reached the foot of the hill. One little party under
Captain MacFarlan of the Black Watch rushed
straight up ; another party penetrated to the reverse
side and began to ascend there. So, for a time, it
looked as if the fortune of Otterburn were about to
be renewed, and 'a dead man would win a field.'
But death had been too prompt for that — Wauchope's
controlling mind, which, had he been spared for
half an hour longer, might well have guided his men

414 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
to victory, was too sorely missed ; and despite the
noblest gallantry displayed by the Highlanders, the
temporary advantage had to be forgone. Many
there must have been in these earlier stages of the
fight who looked anxiously for their loved and
trusted leader. Later on it was reported that he
had been carried wounded to the rear. After that
the heat and burden of the day were still to be en
dured — when, through many hours of thirst and
famishing, exposed to burning sun and murderous
rifle-fire, despite the failure of Lord Methuen to
support them, the troops still clung with heroic
tenacity to their position.1
But for ourselves the story is already told. On the
Tuesday the General's body was discovered by his
faithful aide-de-camp, Captain J. G. Rennie, within
200 yards of the Boer trenches, and that night,
amid the mourning of a host, was solemnly interred.
An eye-witness thus describes the ceremony :
' Last night we buried poor General Wauchope,
his Brigade giving him farewell honours. I shall
never forget the scene. The body, wrapped in a
soldier's blanket, was laid on a stretcher borne by
four Highlanders of the Black Watch. Pipers from
1 Of the conduct of the troops the author of The ' Times ' History of the
War writes as follows : — ' Few accounts yet published have done sufficient
justice either to the splendid courage with which the unshaken portions
of the brigade sought to retrieve the initial disaster, or to the endurance
of the rallied men who hung on practically unsupported for eight or nine
hours in front of the trenches. It was during these gallant struggles
and not in the original surprise that the heavy losses of the brigade,
especially of the two leading battalions, were chiefly incurred.' In
killed and wounded, the Highland Brigade lost 46 officers and 706 men,
of which total 17 officers and 338 men belonged to the Black Watch.

AN IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY 415
every regiment solemnly preceded it, playing a
lament — in front of them the firing-party with arms
reversed, and behind hundreds more, voluntary
mourners, marching unarmed.
' The procession passed close to the hospital, and
quite a number of men with one arm hanging limp
by their side raised the other to the salute as it
passed. ' The service was taken by " Padre " Robertson,
Chaplain to the Highland Brigade. At its close
the sun was setting in the glorious beauty for
which this country is famous, and we left "Andy"
Wauchope, as most of his brigade had learned to
call him, where he will lie peacefully enough when
the tide of war has surged over his head.
' I have never met a man of whom it could be
more truly said, "Every one who knew him loved
him.'" Soon afterwards the body was removed to Mat-
jesfontein, some 300 miles down the Cape Town
railway, where it was interred in the private
burial-ground of the Honourable J. D. Logan,
a member of the Cape Legislative Council, and a
native of that Scottish Border-land which had been
Wauchope's foster-mother. An opinion which he
had been heard to express when speaking of those
who had died in battle abroad determined his re
presentatives against bringing home his remains.
In the opening pages of this memoir some at
tempt was made to describe the grief with which
Scotland mourned the fallen leader of the Highland

416 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
Brigade. The historian of the war finds time to
turn aside from the course of events to tell us
that his death was ' felt by the whole nation as a
personal bereavement ' — adding that ' it was not only
among his soldiers that " Andy " Wauchope's fear
less courage and unwavering high principles had
made him beloved, but wherever men had enjoyed
the privilege of knowing his grave dignity and un-
condescending sympathy.' This is true and finely
expressed — assuredly without exaggeration was it
said at the time, that throughout the length and
breadth of the land his loss was felt as that of no
other Scottish soldier could have been.
The grief of those nearest to him remains sacred ;
that of his innumerable friends and admirers of
every class and calling found the customary means
of expression in letters of condolence, spoken and
written eulogies, resolutions of public bodies, public
memorials, and the like — all having their very real
value and interest, but too numerous to be men
tioned otherwise than collectively. One exceptional
mark of respect paid to his memory by the Service
to which he had given his life was a Special District
Order, issued in Edinburgh three days after his death,
which directed that officers in the Scottish District
should wear mourning for him and those who fell
with him. The Church of Scotland, of which he
had been so staunch a supporter, was not behind
the Army. In a tribute to his memory the General
Assembly, after referring to the kindly and generous
help received from him by the Church, recalls affec
tionately the cordial greeting with which he was at

APPRECIATIONS 417
all times received when he entered the House, or
took part in its proceedings, adding that ' his features
always bright and beaming, the calm, unassuming
demeanour with which he rose to address the
Assembly, invariably commanded the attention of
the House, whilst the clear, earnest words that came
direct from his heart never failed to touch respon
sive chords in those who heard them.'
An adequate selection from the letters referring
to him which were written shortly after his death
would demand a volume to itself. They represent,
as has been already indicated, the opinions of all
sorts and conditions of men. Thus a minister of
religion writes : ' There was something inspiring in
the brave soldier being so ready to take his place in
the ranks of Christ's followers, in the company
bearing the banner of the Church of Scotland.
When I saw him in the front I used to say to
myself, "Nee tamen consumebatur" — there are strong
men coming forward still. But I am sure there
are very many who will think of the man himself,
and will tell you, in phrases that must be like
each other because they are true, that they never
knew a man more simple and single, and straight
and considerate and helpful — and above all truly
religious.' A University Professor adds: 'I keep thinking
of those bright, happy days we had together at
Loch Ness last summer (1899), when we had so
much interesting talk ; and of the many previous
opportunities I have had of learning to admire his
beautiful simplicity of character, that inflexible
2d

418 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
tenacity to what he thought right, and that un
sparing, unselfish devotion to duty which made him
the idol of his soldiers. How charmingly kind and
sympathetic he could be to any one working under
him my son experienced last summer. ... I don't
wonder that he was loved by all under him.'
A soldier, one who knew him as few others did,
and is on other grounds well qualified to speak,
writes at a later date demurring to the present
writer's classification of Wauchope as par excellence
a ' company ' or ' regimental ' officer. He was that,
indeed, but, though as yet scarcely tried, he had in
him the making of far more. ' He was late in his
too short life,' writes this gentleman, 'in getting
command of his regiment, and this was a great
event to him, but only a stage in the career that he
had in view. He cared for regimental details, and
tolerated no slackness in himself or his subordinates,
because the regiment is the unit of the service, on
the perfection of which all depends. But his talk
and his thoughts were of great commanders and
their achievements. He studied strategy and not
only tactics, and cared much for the strategy of
Montrose's marvellous campaigns in the Highlands.'
All remarks, says this writer, which might convey
the impression of a contemplated retirement from
the army were but the expression of a passing
sentiment. ' He was cut out for a great commander,
and realised this more and more during his last
years.' The same correspondent alludes to the
General as 'a man of "infinite wit, most excellent
fancy," — a side of his character which many of his

SIR C. DALRYMPLE'S ESTIMATE 419
friends hardly suspected. But the feeling that " all
things are big with jest" was always present with
him, and pulled him through his long and often lonely
work in Mid-Lothian, and no doubt elsewhere.'
Finally, I append the estimate of his near
neighbour and most intimate friend, Sir Charles
Dalrymple, M.P., of New Hailes, published a few
days after his death : — x
' The country has had many losses in the war in
South Africa, and home after home has its own
special sorrow. Apart altogether from the grievous
loss to his home and his neighbourhood, the country
has to lament, in the death of General Wauchope,
the loss of a most distinguished soldier and citizen.
His military career, with its services and distinctions,
will be duly chronicled, and the mere narration of
the varied scenes of duty through which he passed,
beginning with a short service in the Navy, will
remind his countrymen of what he had achieved.
But it was the man himself — the man who loved
and cared for his soldiers, the man who had a
sympathetic heart for the miners who were his
nearest neighbours, the man full of chivalrous
devotion to his profession, but who counted no duty
small that fell to him to perform — who will be
mourned truly and for long, and who will be
missed as few have ever been. He was the most
modest and unassuming of men, and diffident of
his own intellectual powers; but, with the gift of
a natural forcibleness, and the grace of a trans
parent sincerity, he constantly strove to equip
1 As a letter to The Scotsman of December 15th, 1899.

420 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
himself, by reading and study, for duties to which
he was called. So it was that when he addressed
his fellow-countrymen publicly he reached their
hearts, and made a deep impression upon them.
He was the most liberal-minded of politicians,
keenly interested in social questions, absolutely free
from narrowness or prejudice on any subject.
That such a man should have been dubbed by a
political name which, in those who uttered it,
implied a suggestion of narrowness, was as ludicrous
as it was inappropriate.
'He set himself, whenever he was permitted by
professional duty to remain for a while at home, to
serve his Church and his country in every way that
lay in his power. The sight of him was a stimulus
to all that was good ; the words that he spoke
kindled enthusiasm in all who heard them. He
loved Niddrie and Yetholm, and was never, I think,
so happy as when he could dwell among his own
people. The call of duty took him away over and
over again, and if it had pleased God to spare him,
he would have been welcomed back with even
greater rejoicing than when he last returned from
Omdurman. ' We shall not look upon his like again ; but the
thought and the recollection of him must stir all
who knew him to a higher view and a more faithful
discharge of duty. His country appreciated his
services : the public press will do justice to him :
comrades in arms will recount what he was to those
with whom he served or who served under him.
'I have ventured, as his friend and neighbour,

A SUMMING UP 421
and fellow- worker in many causes, to offer out of a
full heart a poor tribute to his memory. Thank
God for him ! '
Memorials to General Wauchope were erected,
soon after his death, by public subscription, at
Niddrie village, in the Presbyterian church where
he had worshipped at York, at Perth, and on the
village-green at Yetholm. At the unveiling of the
last-named, in presence of many of his old friends,
a speaker summed up in the following words the
chief points in the General's character and career : —
' We are met to perform an act of sacred import,
— to consecrate, by means of a poor human symbol,
the memory of one whom in life we loved and
looked up to ; whom, being dead, we mourn and
would remember. And seldom, indeed, has this
our Border-Land — the nursing-mother though she
be of many good and true — seldom, indeed, has she
had cause to mourn a name so pure and bright, a
broken record gallant and untarnished, as the record
and the name of Andrew Wauchope ! Nay, not
perhaps since Collingwood, great Nelson's friend,
demitting only at the last his watchword "Duty,"
was consigned worn out with toil and battle to
Northumbrian earth, has she bewailed a martial
spirit of so fine a temper, a life so knightly gentle.
' To arms, and to the service of his country and
his kind, he with a whole heart dedicated such gifts
as are bestowed on few. To rehearse the tale of
his campaigns is to recapitulate his country's wars
of the last thirty years. Thus many skies and
various climates knew, and many adventures,

422 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
labours, accidents befell him, steadfast still in duty
and unchangeable : — the miasmatic swamps before
Kumasi, the thirsty Soudan, and the stony veldt ;
the piercing of a virgin jungle whilst exposed to
onslaughts from insidious foes ; the painful naviga
tion of the Nile towards Khartoum, the discipline
of Haussa troops, the reclamation of the lawless
Cypriote ; the victories of Amoaful, El Teb, and
Kirbekan ; the storming of Tel-el-Kebir, where
sword in hand he was among the first to pass the
enemy's defences ; lastly, Omdurman, in which
battle a timely movement of the brigade under his
command is believed to have averted a reverse.
' Repeated were his hair-breadth 'scapes ; in all
but one of his campaigns he sustained wounds ;
after each his country, not ungrateful, recognised
his services with distinctions, decorations. It is,
indeed, a splendid record. And yet, to those who
knew him, how little does that record tell of what is
to be told ! For to these I think that it will always
be less what he did that made the man than what
he was. I have touched but on his foreign service.
Less brilliant possibly, but not less useful or less
faithfully or ardently performed, were his daily
duties with his regiment at home. For if there be
one thing which strikes us as we read the story of
his life even more than his daring gallantry, it is his
care and kindness and sympathy for the men under
his charge. He was indeed a heaven-born leader,
and as such was recognised by those he led. More
than this. A staunch adherent of Christianity, he
manifested from the first that other courage to

CONCLUSION 423
stand forth, when occasion asked it, and bear
witness to the faith that was in him. He met at
last a soldier's death, falling in the discharge of
his orders, at the head of his gallant Highlanders,
with face set towards the foe. — So have died many
at their country's call, — surely attesting by their
deaths their nobleness of race, freely discharging
with their lives the debt they proudly own, forging
upon an " anvil hot and hard " the iron chain of
empire — that so the nation's destiny may be ful
filled, and out of strife at last rise brotherhood.
' Now, let the rest be silence. For who would vex,
with light impertinence of praise, the deep and still
emotion of this hour of memory ? He stood above,
as he has passed beyond, our human estimate —
blind, hasty, and imperfect as that is ! Suffice it,
then, that to one higher than ourselves- — more
gifted, more a man — we raise, here by the quiet
hills where sometimes he dwelt, a frail memorial.
Frail! and yet may it speak, in times to come,
with no uncertain voice, — exhorting those, less
favoured than ourselves, who have not known him
to courage and true manliness, kindness and piety.
For of those virtues, whilst he lived, the General
shone a gracious incarnation and example.'
To these estimates the writer need add nothing.
He is deeply conscious of the shortcomings of his
book — of its failure to do justice to the man who
for a while moved among us, his radiant nature
scarce obscured behind this ' cloud and veil of Time.'
These shortcomings, however, he cannot now hope
to amend. In one sole item has his task been easy

424 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
— it has demanded from him no reserve, necessi
tated neither compromise nor consideration of
expediency. For Andrew Wauchope's was an open
life, and gains all — loses nothing — from the day
light. If we must confine his character within the
limit of a phrase or formula, that character may,
perhaps, be said to represent the highest result
attained by military training. That he was a great
soldier in more than the potential sense we do not
claim for him : no man can be great in spite of
opportunity, and opportunity of great command he
had not lived to know. Neither in him, as in many
others of his calling, had the more abstract intel
lectual attributes received the last development of
which they were susceptible. Nobler than this,
however, the sense of duty, of self-abnegation, self-
sacrifice, had been cultivated to the highest pitch.
For this is the loftiest lesson taught, the loftiest
benefit conferred, by the profession of arms. And
so, in a new calendar of later saints who were plain
men, Wauchope might fitly take the place of Martin,
called Christ's Soldier, because this lesson he had
deeply conned, of its inspiration he had deeply
drunk, and in the faith which springs of it he lived
and moved a type and pattern for all soldiers.
And till our swords and spears be turned at last to
gentler use, there are few higher destinies. Thus,
then, we sum him up. But the formula still leaves
unaccounted for the initial kindness of his heart, the
chivalrous aspiring nature which had marked him
from a boy.

APPENDIX
THE WATJCHOPES OF NIDDRIE
The family of Wauchope of Niddrie Marischal is an ancient
one, which during four centuries produced many notable men.
Whether it be of Norman or of British origin, its historian
wisely refrains from determining.1 There are two rivulets or
' waters , of the name Wauchope — one flowing into the Esk
in Dumfriesshire, the other into the Rule in Roxburghshire.
It was upon the banks of the latter that the family of
Wauchope was first seated. They were vassals of the House
of Douglas.
The earliest recorded bearer of the name is Ada de
Waleuchope, witness of a charter by Symon de Lyndesay [of
Wauchopedale in Dumfriesshire] to the Abbey of Melrose,
in the reign of William the Lion (11 65-1 21 4).2 The same
name recurs as witnessing a charter of the same reign by
Patrick de Ridal ; 3 whilst, in the succeeding reign of Alexander
the Second, Ada de Walchope witnesses a charter by Ada de
Baggat. As early, therefore, as the twelfth or the beginning
of the thirteenth century, the family had its clearly defined
existence in the county of Roxburgh. In the Ragman
Rolls (1291-1296) various signatories of the name appear.
In 1389 King Robert the Second confirms a charter of
1 History and Genealogy of the Family of Wauchope of Niddrie-Merschell,
by James Paterson ; Edinburgh, 1858 (Privately printed), p. 12.
2 Liber Sancte Marie de Metros, Bannatyne Club Publications, vol. i.
p. 132.
3 Ibid., p. 149. 425

426 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
James, Earl of Douglas, of the lands of Walchope to
Alexander de Walchope, and failing his male heirs to
Sir Adam de Glendonwin, who had married his daughter,
and to whose family the lands of Wauchope eventually
passed. The connection between the Wauchopes of Wauchope
and those of Niddrie Marischal 1 is not clearly established.
The genealogist suggests as a probable cause the destruction
of ancient muniments — a very fertile and useful resource in
time of difficulty. Possibly the line of descent was through
a branch of the family which appears to have been trans
planted by the middle of the thirteenth century to the
lands of Culter in Aberdeenshire. One of the Ragman
Rolls' Wauchopes is Thomas, described as 'holding of the
Bishop of St. Andrew of the County of Edinburgh.' But
it is not till a century later that Gilbert Wauchope definitely
receives a charter of ' the lands of Niddery ' from Robert
the Third (1390-1406). 2 Of course, as the genealogist
remarks, it is possible that he was not the first of the
family in possession of lands in Niddrie — ' his immediate
predecessors may have been King's or ecclesiastical tenants.'
At any rate, from that time onward the lands of Niddrie
remained in occupation of the Wauchopes, who from time
to time extended their bounds.
Among the historical notabilities produced by the family,
perhaps the first is Robert, Archbishop of Armagh, to whom
there is some allusion in the body of this volume. Born in
the reign of James the Fourth (1489-1514), he is under
stood to have been a younger son of Archibald Wauchope
of Niddrie — third in descent from the original Gilbert — who
founded the chapel of Niddrie, and is presumed to have
1 The addition of 'Marischal' to the name Niddrie arose from the
heads of the family of Wauchope of Niddrie having been hereditary
Bailies and Marischal-Deputes in Mid-Lothian to the Keiths, Lords
Marischal, from whom they received the lands of Niddrie — such, at
least, is the traditional belief in the Wauchope family.
2 Paterson, p. 15.

APPENDIX 427
been a man of much piety. In spite of a defect of vision
amounting almost to blindness, Robert Wauchope attained
distinction as a scholar, was made a Doctor of Divinity in
the University of Paris, and was employed as Legate to
the Courts of France and of the Emperor by the Pope,
Paul the Third. Having exhibited the highest qualities as
an ambassador, he was promoted to the Primacy of Ireland,
in which country he laboured with great zeal at the task of
enlightening the inhabitants, whom he found extremely
ignorant. Not being versed in the Irish tongue, he employed
an interpreter, by whose aid he contrived to preach four
or five times a week in different parts of his diocese.
On determining to hold the Council of Trent, with a view
of counteracting the influence of Luther, the Pope summoned
Wauchope to assist his deliberations. The Archbishop was
present throughout the protracted sittings of the Council
(1544-1551) — in which latter year he died, after writing an
account of the proceedings. There is abundant evidence of
the high esteem in which his virtues and attainments were
held by his contemporaries.
The next of the family to come prominently before the
public was Gilbert, son of the Archbishop's elder brother.
Far from following in his uncle's footsteps, however, this
laird of Niddrie threw off his allegiance to the Pope and
became active in promoting the Reformation. He was
among the congregation at Knox's first sermon, preached at
St. Andrews in 1547, on the text Daniel vii. 24 and 25.
At a Council held afterwards, being asked his opinion of
the preacher, he characterised him as 'a man fervent and
upright in religion ' — a reply deemed worthy by the great
Reformer to be recorded in his History. After this we need
not be surprised to hear of this Gilbert Wauchope sitting
in the Scots Parliament of 1560, by which the Church of
Scotland was settled on its present basis.
Following him we have George Wauchope, the grandson
as is thought of the above, who at the age of about twenty-

428 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
five wrote a Treatise concerning the Ancient People of Rome,
and who rose to be a celebrated Professor of Civil Law at
Caen, in Normandy. It may be noted that, by proceeding
to distinction in arms from distinction in learning and
religion, the House of Wauchope reverses the order of
progress most commonly met with in ancient families. But
there were fighters among them in the sixteenth century too,
though their fighting was not in the very best of causes :
for instance, Robert Wauchope and his son and heir-apparent,
Archibald, who were forfeited in 1587 for aiding and
abetting the turbulent fifth Earl of Bothwell. Notwith
standing — or perhaps because of — this act of discipline,
they still continued to defy justice, — the son escaping from
the Tolbooth, where he had been incarcerated, to lead there
after ' a wandering and lawless life.' The father also escaped
from the prison in which he had been confined after taking
part in the Raid of Falkland, 1590.
The disorders of the times afford, perhaps, some excuse
for the insubordination of Robert and Archibald Wauchope.
It fell to Sir John Wauchope, commonly known as
' Wauchope the Covenanter,' to re-establish the reputation
of the family. He was the son of Francis — son of Archibald
Wauchope — to whom the estate of Niddrie had been
restored in 1608-1609. To Niddrie, Sir John — he had
been knighted in 1633 — added in 1661 the lands of Town
Yetholm in Roxburghshire. In 1643 he was one of the
Commissioners for the County of Edinburgh, and during
the three years following was a member of the ' Committee
of Estates.' He was likewise an Elder of the Kirk, and a
member of the Commission for putting the kingdom in
a state of defence. But although he had sided against
Charles the First, he does not seem to have forfeited the
regard of Charles the Second, at whose Coronation in
London he was present, accompanied by his wife. In 1663
he was elected to a seat in the Scottish Parliament.
After this the Niddrie family reverted for a time to Roman

APPENDIX 429
Catholicism — Sir John's successor, Andrew Wauchope, being
a Catholic, whilst his half-brother, James, joined the army of
Viscount Dundee and is believed to have fought at Killie-
crankie. John and Francis Wauchope, sons of Sir John's
only brother, also adhered to the Stuart cause. They took
part in the defence of Limerick, and afterwards entered the
services of France and Spain, in which they rose to be Majors-
General. It is said that two hundred years afterwards, when
another distinguished soldier named Wauchope came to be
quartered at Limerick, the reputation of these two gallant
officers, and of their predecessor, the Primate, contributed
something to his great popularity.
After this the Wauchopes of Niddrie remained Jacobites
in sympathy, though apparently not taking active part in the
risings of 1715 and 1745. Coming to more recent times,
we find that Andrew Wauchope of Niddrie, the great-grand
father of the subject of this memoir, fought at Minden in
1759, as a Captain in the First Dragoon Guards. He was
still living in 1822, when he was thus apostrophised by
Sir Walter Scott, in a ballad written to celebrate the visit
of George the Fourth to Scotland : —
' Come, stately Niddrie, auld and true,
Girt with the sword that Minden knew,
We have owre few sic lairds as you.'. . .
This Andrew Wauchope married in 1786 a daughter of
William Baird of Newbyth, and sister of the celebrated
Sir David Baird, the giant hero of Seringapatam, who, in
1805, commanded the expedition to the Cape of Good Hope,
which by a decisive victory over the Dutch won Cape Colony
for Great Britain. ' Stately Niddrie's ' eldest son, another
Andrew, was killed at the Battle of the Pyrenees while com
manding the 20th Regiment of Foot. It is he who is alluded
to in General Wauchope's letters as his favourite hero in the
family. Andrew Wauchope the younger had predeceased
his father, on whose death the estate accordingly descended

430 MAJOR-GENERAL WAUCHOPE
to William, the second son. William Wauchope was an
officer in the army, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-
Colonel. He married a cousin, of the Newbyth family, and
became the father of Andrew Wauchope, father of the subject
of this sketch.

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