Wolseley ring
Encyclopedia
The Wolseley ring was a group of 19th century British army
officers loyal to Garnet Wolseley and considered by him to be clever, brave, experienced and hard-working.
After the Crimean War
Wolseley started to keep a note of the best officers he met, and began gathering a network of able military men loyal to him. There were other circles around other military leaders; later these would dwindle as more formal selection and promotion procedures became established.
The 'ring' itself was rooted in Wolseley's appointments for the Ashanti Campaign of 1873-4, in which Wolseley led British troops to take control of the Gold Coast
. He chose officers he had got to know during his Red River Campaign
in Canada
in 1870:
as well as other key figures:
Men from this group accompanied Wolseley on his various projects for about a decade. They are sometimes called the Ashanti Ring, or, in a pun
ning reference to Wolseley's first name, the Garnet
Ring.
Later they were the "Africans", against the "Indians" of the rival Roberts Ring of Lord Roberts
and Herbert Kitchener during the Boer War
. The Secretary for War Lord Lansdowne
had worked with Roberts in India, so was alienated from Wolseley and most of the War Office. The Cabinet made Wolseley Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and Roberts was fobbed off as the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. But during the Boer War, Roberts and then Kitchener replaced Buller of the Wolseley Ring.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officers loyal to Garnet Wolseley and considered by him to be clever, brave, experienced and hard-working.
After the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
Wolseley started to keep a note of the best officers he met, and began gathering a network of able military men loyal to him. There were other circles around other military leaders; later these would dwindle as more formal selection and promotion procedures became established.
The 'ring' itself was rooted in Wolseley's appointments for the Ashanti Campaign of 1873-4, in which Wolseley led British troops to take control of the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
. He chose officers he had got to know during his Red River Campaign
Wolseley Expedition
The Wolseley Expedition was a military force authorized by Sir John A. Macdonald to confront Louis Riel and the Métis in 1870, during the Red River Rebellion, at the Red River Settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1870:
- John Carstairs McNeillJohn Carstairs McNeillMajor General Sir John Carstairs McNeill VC, GCVO, KCB, KCMG was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Early life:He was the son of Anne Elizabeth McNeill née...
- William Francis ButlerWilliam Francis ButlerLieutenant-General Sir William Francis Butler GCB PC was an Irish 19th-century British Army officer, writer, and adventurer.-Military career:...
- Redvers Henry Buller
- Hugh McCalmontHugh McCalmontMajor-General Sir Hugh McCalmont KCB CVO was a British politician. He was elected as an Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Antrim in 1895, resigning in 1899 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.-Career:...
as well as other key figures:
- Henry BrackenburyHenry BrackenburyGeneral Sir Henry Brackenbury, GCB, KCSI was a British army officer who was assistant to Garnet Wolseley in the 1870s and became part of his 'Ring' of loyal officers. He also wrote several books of military history and memoirs....
- John Frederick MauriceJohn Frederick MauriceMajor-General Sir John Frederick Maurice was an English soldier, born in London. He studied at Addiscombe College and Woolwich Academy and entered the Royal Artillery in 1861...
- George Pomeroy ColleyGeorge Pomeroy ColleyMajor-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley KCSI CB CMG was a British Army officer who became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal and High Commissionerfor South Eastern Africa....
- Baker Creed RussellBaker RussellGeneral Sir Baker Creed Russell GCB KCMG was an Australian-born British Army officer who served with distinction in the Indian Mutiny, Anglo-Ashanti War, Anglo-Zulu War and Egyptian War.-Early life:...
- Henry Evelyn Wood
- John Plumptre Carr GlynJohn Plumptre Carr GlynLieutenant-General John Plumptre Carr Glyn KCB was a British general who saw active service in the Crimean War and the Anglo-Ashanti War.-Early life:John Plumptre Carr Glyn was born Witchampton, east Dorset....
Men from this group accompanied Wolseley on his various projects for about a decade. They are sometimes called the Ashanti Ring, or, in a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
ning reference to Wolseley's first name, the Garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
Ring.
Later they were the "Africans", against the "Indians" of the rival Roberts Ring of Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
and Herbert Kitchener during the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. The Secretary for War Lord Lansdowne
Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British politician and Irish peer who served successively as the fifth Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs...
had worked with Roberts in India, so was alienated from Wolseley and most of the War Office. The Cabinet made Wolseley Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and Roberts was fobbed off as the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. But during the Boer War, Roberts and then Kitchener replaced Buller of the Wolseley Ring.
Further reading
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Hew Strachan , The Politics of the British Army (1997)
- Byron FarwellByron FarwellByron Edgar Farwell was an American military historian and biographer.-Biography:Farwell graduated from Ohio State University and the University of Chicago...
, Queen Victoria's Little Wars (1973) - Leigh Maxwell, The Ashanti Ring: Sir Garnet Wolseley's Campaigns 1870-1882 (London 1985)
- Thomas Packenham, The Boer War (1979) (indexed under Roberts and Wolseley Rings).