Eminent Victorian soldiers.

Eminent Victorian Soldiers

"THERE WAS NOT a single year in Queen Victoria's long reign, from 1837 to 1901, when her soldiers were not fighting and dying somewhere in the world," Byron Farwell, writes by way of introduction to this study of the lives of eight generals. Mr. Farwell, an unapologetic and lusty stylist, here carries on in the tradition of his own Queen Victoria's Little Wars and Mr. Kipling's Army. He tells the stories of professional soldiers who loved war, who would even "travel great distances at their own expense in the hope of being allowed to take part in campaigns," and who counted themselves lucky to be living in an age "that provided them with battles in such profusion." The first of the military heroes covered here, Hugh Gough, was born in 1779; the last, Herbert Kitchener, died in 1916. They fought in every corner of the Empire, and against Russians, Burmese, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Ashantis, Egyptians, Zulus, Afghans, Sudanese, and Boers. They usually commanded small forces, but they led with a sense of moral superiority and absolute fearlessness; indeed, on one occasion, when Hugh Gough was informed that ammunition was running low, he exclaimed, "Thank God! Then I'll be at them with the bayonet," the bayonet charge being his favorite method of carrying the day. They fought under frightful conditions and amidst awful scenes of bloodletting, yet managed to take joy in battle. Farwell goes well beyond the gore, however, and recounts, among others, the bizarre life of Charles "Chinese" Gordon, the politicking of Garnet Wolseley, and the sad case of Hector MacDonald, who committed suicide rather than face a trial and the exposure of his sexual preferences. Farwell understands these warriors, avoids revisionist judgments, and knows how to spin a yarn.