CHARACTERISTICS
[Sidenote: A devoted soldier]
That General Wauchope was a skilled officer goes without saying. He
had made military tactics his life study. And he had the personal
influence that enabled men to follow his leadership without
hesitation. Several of his brother officers who had been with him
for years, and had fought beside him in many a battle, have favoured
us with their opinion of his skill as a commander; and, as to his
responsibility for the blunder or misadventure of Magersfontein, one
of them says: 'As a commanding officer, he was beloved by all ranks;
respected as a born leader of men, for he had but to hold up his
little finger and the whole regiment would have followed him
to--anywhere! He brought the battalion to a wonderful pitch of
excellency, both in professional and social success, and invariably
received the highest praise from every general officer who ever
inspected them.' And from another we have the remarkable testimony:
'Wauchope diligently studied his profession, to which he was devoted,
and was noted in his regiment for his coolness and judgment. I say
this with special reference to the circumstances preceding his
lamentable death, and the loss of a large part of the Highland
Brigade recently in South Africa. Eminently a cool and cautious
leader, Wauchope would have never led his brigade in close formation
into the very {199} jaws of destruction without scouting or other
means of discovering the near proximity of the enemy, unless he had
had direct stringent orders to do so.' From still another
distinguished officer comes the following: 'General Wauchope's name
as a soldier was known to all ranks in the army, and I am certain
that time will prove that he was not responsible for the decimation
of the brigade he loved so well. He was far too good a tactician for
that blunder.'
It will be seen as our narrative has proceeded, that while the career
of Andrew Gilbert Wauchope of Niddrie is in the main that of an
earnest, devoted soldier of the Crown, full of chequered incident and
varied experience, there is at the same time a many-sidedness of
character developed in his life. A soldier first, he was as much at
home, it has been said, in the commonplace business of the local
School Board and Parish Council, or in the transactions of the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Essentially a modest
man, he never made an affectation of superiority, and indeed he was
much inclined to underrate his own ability in almost every work in
which he was engaged. As a politician he knew his own mind, and he
had become one of the clearest and most humorous exponents of the
policy which he advocated. Great in arms, he was equally great in
the arts of peace; and while professionally attached to his duties as
a soldier, he had a horror of war, and an unbounded appreciation of
the blessings of peace.
Those who knew him best, who had lived with him in barracks or camp,
who shared with him the dangers of war, bear witness to his many kind
deeds, and his sympathetic interest in others, of his kind-hearted
generosity, his homeliness, and general simplicity of heart. He was
{200} indeed a typical Scotsman, possessing all the best
characteristics of a Scotsman, with no fear in his heart but the fear
of God, or, as one has described him--'A man among men, and a man of
God.'
[Sidenote: Honoured by all]
To the people on his estate he was more than anything else a father,
in his interest and care; the active patron of everything that was
worthy, the participator in all that was helpful to their life; the
benefactor whose liberal hand supplied many a need, and brightened
and blessed many a home. When the news of his death came from South
Africa, all ranks and classes united in lamenting the fall of a brave
and a good man, of one who would be much missed, of one who could ill
be spared. 'From the Queen on the throne to some of her humblest
subjects, through all ranks of statesmen and politicians of all
shades of opinion, from soldiers and from sailors of all grades, and
most affectionately from the rank and file of his own historic
regiment, from newspapers throughout the length and breadth of the
land, from neighbours and friends--and who were not his friends who
knew him?--even from opponents; in short, from all classes, the
highest and the humblest, came tributes of respect and eulogy, and
expressions of sorrow over what seemed, at first thought, his
untimely end.'
As it has been well said, 'the simple record of his campaigns and
wounds, in the service of Queen and country, would alone be
sufficient to confer greatness on any man. His was the truest
greatness, because he was so utterly unconscious that it was great;
and his extreme modesty, and almost diffidence, obscured it from the
merely superficial observer.'
His was the kind of life that exerted a magnetic charm upon all with
whom he had dealings. His plain exterior, {201} his somewhat awkward
gait and habiliments, more frequently marked by the absence of
fashionable conventionality than by military smartness, were a
deception to a stranger. 'That the great Captain Wauchope!' said a
man on the road one day, when he was pointed out to him as the hero
of Tel-el-Kebir--'_That_ Captain Wauchope, impossible! I thought
that was a labourer!' Though carrying no outward symbol of what was
in him, to his friends he was dear. But we do not always gather
diamonds on the surface. ''Tis the mind that makes the body rich.'
He seemed best to those who knew him longest, for about his actions
there was a sincerity that was all the better because it was
spontaneous; and behind that bronzed, ascetic face--said by some to
resemble that of Cicero or Cæsar--there was a soul with the courage
of a hero and the tenderness of a woman.
In a letter from Dr. Wisely of Malta, we have striking testimony in
confirmation of this. 'Wauchope,' he says, 'in a remarkable manner
fulfilled the New Testament injunction to "honour all men," and this,
I believe, was the secret of his being honoured by all, for he was
liked and trusted by all sorts and conditions of men. His brother
officers found in him a friend, and so did the men in the ranks. If
any man had a grievance he was sure of getting a fair hearing from
him. But Wauchope was not easily taken in. I remember seeing him
once standing in the street when I was speaking to a man of his
regiment, who had seen better days. After the man had left me, he
came up and said, "I was just waiting to warn you, lest you should be
taken in by that man. He will tell you plausible stories to get
money out of you, but don't listen to him. He is a humbug, and is
not to be trusted." I found he was right. But when there was {202}
real distress, Wauchope was ever ready to do what he could to relieve
it, and he did it in the most unostentatious way. In 1878, when he
went with his regiment to Cyprus, a man in his company, whom I knew,
died of heat apoplexy on landing. Wauchope immediately wrote to me
and enclosed a cheque for £10, to be given to the man's widow to help
her, as he said, to make a fresh start. I happened to mention this
incident recently to a lady, whose husband at one time commanded the
regiment, and she said "it was just like Wauchope," and that she knew
of many similar cases where his help was as quietly given. On one
occasion, when the regiment was in Egypt, he presented a cheque for
£200, to be expended, he informed me, for the benefit of the women of
the regiment, on the one sole condition that his name should not be
mentioned. He had his own way, however, of dispensing charity, and
was not afraid to refuse to subscribe to objects merely because other
people subscribed and thought he ought to do so too. He judged for
himself. And he did so, not only regarding cases of charity, but in
whatever he had to do with. Some years ago we happened to be
speaking of his tenants in Scotland, and he told me that he made a
point of occasionally seeing each one alone, without a factor or any
one being present, and he would ask the tenant to speak frankly to
him, and let him know of any grievance he had to complain of. He did
not promise to agree with him, or to see things in the same light,
but he promised to give the case a fair hearing, and to do his best
to remedy the grievance, if he was convinced that there was one.'
[Sidenote: A religious life]
It is not difficult to discern that the secret spring of such a life
is to be found not so much in early education, social influences,
rank, ample means, or even {203} natural kind-heartedness--though
these doubtless had a certain influence in the formation of
character--as in that fervent, devout spirit which characterised
nearly all that he said or did--in short, from that 'fear of the Lord
which is the beginning of wisdom.' Wauchope's life was indeed a
deeply religious life. Not religious certainly in the conventional
sense of the term, that looks to the repetition of favourite texts of
Scripture and the recurrence of pious sentiments; but in the
deep-down utterances of a devout heart that sought the expression of
his faith rather in deeds of kindness and thoughtful sympathy. His
whole life, as we have seen, was saturated with affection for those
in life's path who were bound to him by kindred ties, and for whom
his quick eye saw his help was needed. Yet, let it be said, he
shrank from no opportunity which presented itself of making a good
confession before men, or of giving religious comfort, or engaging in
religious services, where he might be able to do good. His daily
duties, he once remarked to a company of Sabbath-school boys, were
largely influenced by his morning devotions. The early training of a
Scottish home, with a pious father's example, laid the foundation of
a religious life, which after-trouble and affliction more fully
developed into ripe conviction, and matured Christian faith. He
believed in prayer and in family worship, and it was doubtless this
that so much imbued him with strength and courage for many a day of
arduous work and patient pain. How else can we explain that trying
period of his life when in Malta, with a drawn sword, as it were,
hanging over his head, and only a step between him and death? There
he sought to know of the doctrine whether it be of God, and with
reverent fear put himself into his Saviour's hands, with the desire
to do God's will in every duty that fell to him. 'He {204} followed
on to know the Lord,' says Dr. Wisely of Malta, 'and he came to know
the truth of the Gospel, not only as a truth of faith, but a truth of
personal experience.'
How else can we explain that impressive scene at the grave in Cyprus
shortly afterwards, when in the absence of the chaplain he stepped
forward, and in the midst of his hushed and weeping comrades,
touchingly performed the last offices over the dead?
All through his life it was the same. Consistent and true, but
without affectation, in his relationship to God and to man, he sought
to have a conscience void of offence, and to do his duty as in view
of the Eternal.
[Illustration: THE GRAVE AT MATJESFONTEIN. Marked by Wreath on left
of the Cross.]
Fearless of death, and accustomed to meet it on many occasions, he
dreaded it the less that he fully realised the after-issues. It has
been well said that the man who has no place for death in his
philosophy has not learned to live. The lesson of life is death.
For Wauchope, death had no terrors, because it had been overcome
through faith in Him who has conquered death and the grave. The
pathos of life was with him no forced sentiment, for he had often
felt the pity for suffering and bereavement which underlies all true
life. In his own family and person he had experienced the loss of
loved ones, and known the grief and disappointments of a bereaved
father. Such experiences broaden out sympathy and cause 'the primal
duties shine aloft like stars.' In his own parish of Liberton he
discharged the office of the eldership with much acceptance, visiting
among the parishioners, and officiating at the communion in the
parish church; leading a quiet, useful, unobtrusive life, doing good
where he had opportunity. On several occasions a representative
elder in the highest court of the Scottish Church, he took an active
part in the work of the General Assembly. {205} There indeed he was
a prominent figure, as he would sometimes take his seat in his
military uniform fresh from his duties as the officer commanding the
Black Watch at the Castle. The Church of Scotland had no more true
and loyal son, and in many ways he identified himself with her
interests, and was always ready to testify to the value of the
national recognition of religion. He was for some time vice-convener
of the Church's Committee on Temperance, and had he been spared
longer, his ripe judgment, his knowledge of men, and his own personal
experience would doubtless have been of much service in the
advancement of this important cause.
[Sidenote: An elder of the Church]
In 1895 he was chosen as one of the deputies by the Assembly to
represent the Church of Scotland at the General Assembly of the Irish
Presbyterian Church, which met in Belfast in June of that year. In
introducing him to the Assembly, the Rev. Professor Todd Martin, the
Moderator, paid a high tribute to his abilities as a soldier, and
spoke of the courage and bravery with which he had faced the Right
Honourable W. E. Gladstone, the greatest political general of the
age. 'Colonel Wauchope,' he said, 'had won for himself the
admiration and love of his most strenuous opponents. They honoured
him, however, specially because he took his place from year to year
as a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church, and entered with great
enthusiasm into the maintenance of their Presbyterian faith, to the
advocacy of the simplicity of ritual, and to the furtherance of
temperance and every other good cause that was for the salvation of
the great body of the people.' Wauchope's address, which, according
to the prints of the day, was 'long, eloquent, and deeply
interesting,' feelingly referred at the outset to his Irish
connection through his mother; and after pointing out the {206}
dangers surrounding the Protestant population of Scotland and
Ireland, and the necessity for more united sympathy for each other,
he concluded as follows:--'I thank you, Moderator of this vast
Assembly, for the kind manner in which you have been pleased to
receive me as a member of the Church of Scotland. I am proud, and I
cannot say how proud, to be a member of it. It is also a matter of
great thankfulness to all of us, especially to us laymen, that now in
the Church of Scotland we have elders--men of great transcendent
ability--who love their Church, and work loyally as Christian men for
the furtherance of that great Church.'
[Sidenote: A Christian gentleman]
He had a high ideal of the Church's duty, and so far at least as in
him lay he sought to take his share of that duty. In the cause of
temperance he had done much among his soldiers, and in the Assembly
he was ever the eloquent advocate of its claims upon the attention of
the Church.
To one like him, more accustomed to the political platform and the
style of address there required than to the ecclesiastical forms of
the Church, it was natural he should sometimes forget the ceremonial
style peculiar to the General Assembly. On one occasion he rose to
second a motion, and inadvertently addressed the venerable Assembly
not as 'Fathers and Brethren,' but as 'Gentlemen,' which immediately
caused a titter to pass over the House. He at once became conscious
of his mistake, and turning to the chair, said, 'Moderator, I am no
theologian, nor am I an ecclesiastic; I am a soldier; I second the
motion.' The brevity and pointed nature of this short speech drew
out an appreciative cheer, and the motion was carried _nem. con_.
Though loving and serving his own Church faithfully {207} and well,
General Wauchope was no sectarian. He had seen too much of the world
not to take a wide view of the brotherhood of Christianity. As the
different regiments of one army serving a common cause, he viewed the
various sections of the Church of Christ--whether Roman Catholic or
Protestant, whether Established Church or Nonconformist, whether
Episcopal or Presbyterian--as all members one with another of the
great army of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the one Captain and
Head. He could, and often did, extend a helping hand to one and all
as he had opportunity. 'Wherever I am wanted, I shall be there,
straight,' was his prompt and witty reply once to a 'heckler' at one
of his political meetings, when asked how it was possible for him to
serve both in Parliament and in the army. The same answer might have
been given as to church and philanthropic demands made upon his
sympathy. 'Wherever he was wanted' to advance any good object, he
was ready to be 'there, straight.'
The spontaneous references made after his death from nearly every
pulpit in Midlothian, and in various churches in England and
Scotland--too numerous to quote--and the more formal deliverance of
the General Assembly in May 1900, all bear testimony to the nation's
grief over the loss of one who could ill be spared. These
expressions may be found fittingly summarised in the words of one who
knew the General well, and who was accustomed to experience his
influence in his own parish of Liberton. The Rev. George Dodds, of
the Free Church there, in concluding a memorial service in his
church, and taking as his text 2 Samuel i. 25--'How are the mighty
fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, slain in thine high
places,' spoke as follows:--'Nothing which has hitherto {208}
occurred,' he said, 'and perhaps no casualty which can yet happen,
could to any greater extent quicken our imagination to realise the
horrors of war, and the desperate work these brave men face who fight
our battles. The people of this parish will always remember the
battle of Magersfontein as that which deprived them of one of whom
they were more than proud. General Wauchope was a man whom every one
loved, and it was little wonder. Anything else was impossible. A
man so real, with no vestige of the actor about him; so free from
narrowness both in church and political creed; so generous as a
patron, so philanthropic as a gentleman among his people; so
honourable as a public man, so brotherly as a neighbour--when shall
we look upon his like again? ... Liberton parish knows what the army
and the empire have lost, but our loss is one of those sacred things
with which no outsider can intermeddle.... Much which I could tell
of him makes me know with undying conviction that Andrew Gilbert
Wauchope of Niddrie was one of the finest Christian gentlemen one
could find in a lifetime.'
'Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking;
Dream of battlefields no more,
Days of danger, nights of waking.
No rude sound shall reach thine ear;
Armour's clang, or war-steed champing;
Trump nor pibroch summon here,
Mustering clan or squadron tramping.'
{209}
INDEX
Abu-Hammed, 147.
Albert, Prince, 32.
Aldershot, 38, 75.
Alexandria, 73, 74, 90, 106.
Alfred, Prince, Duke of Edinburgh, 32, 33, 34, 107.
Alison, Sir Archibald, 76.
Arabi Pasha, 73, 79, 163.
Ashanti, 39, 46, 49.
Assouan, 93, 105.
Atbara River, 148, 151, 155.
Babington, Major-General, 187.
Baird, Sir David, 21.
---- Sir James Gardiner, 47.
---- Robert, 21.
---- of Newbyth, William, 21.
Balfour, Dr. Andrew, 135, 163.
Ballater, 141.
Balmoral, 33.
Bayly, Colonel R. K., 11, 39, 75, 92, 99, 105, 107, 180.
Belfast, 120, 205.
Benson, Major, 185, 186.
Berber, 149, 152.
Beresford, Lord Charles, 11, 30.
Bermuda, 33.
Biddulph, Sir Robert, 59, 66, 92, 129.
Black Watch, 36, 40, 75, 84, 86, 92, 99, 105, 123, 131, 140, 144,
163, 179, 181, 183, 196.
_Britannia_, H.M.S., 30.
Buccleuch, Duke of, 109, 127.
Buller, Sir Redvers, 41, 42, 90, 101.
Cairo, 74, 78, 80, 84, 86, 90, 105.
Cambo, 82, 87, 88.
Cameron Highlanders, 149, 150, 151, 152.
Cameron, Sir Daniel, 132.
Cape Colony, 21, 71, 178, 182, 193.
Chamberlain, Right Hon. Joseph, 172.
Charles Edward, 20.
---- I., 19, 20.
---- II., 20.
Christie, Captain, 37.
Church of Scotland, 124, 161, 199, 204, 206.
Colville, Sir Henry, 187.
Convention of Estates, 20.
Cox, Robert, M. P., 166.
Craigmillar, 17, 26.
Cyprus, 58, 67, 75, 92, 202.
Dalrymple, Sir Charles, 109, 113, 124, 126, 137, 138, 157.
Devonport, 38.
Dewar, Mr. Arthur, 166, 167, 169, 170.
Dodds, Rev. George, 135, 207.
Douglas, Earls of, 14.
Downman, Colonel, 179, 188, 197.
Duff, Major A. G., 11, 59, 63, 79, 181.
Dufferin, Marquis of, 164.
Dundee, Viscount, 20.
Earle, Major-General, 99, 100.
Ed-Damer, 148.
Edinburgh, 38, 75, 133, 140, 142, 196.
---- Duke of. _See_ Alfred, Prince.
---- University, 164.
---- South, Election, 166, 170.
Egan, Charlie, 135.
Egerton, Hon. Francis, 32.
Egypt, 72, 75, 76, 81, 84, 89, 94, 147, 202.
Elliot, Admiral, 32.
Erskine, Sir Thomas, 82.
Foster's School, Gosport, 29.
Gatacre, Major-General, 150, 154, 156, 159, 161, 181.
Gibraltar, 11, 75, 107, 111, 114, 120.
Gifford, Lord, 42.
Gironard, Lieutenant, 148.
Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., 70, 109-129, 166, 168, 205.
Gordon, General, 89, 93, 98, 101, 146.
Gordon Highlanders, 179, 183, 188, 190.
Gregor, Clan, 18.
Grant, Professor Sir Ludovic, 164.
Guards' Brigade, 187, 189, 191.
Halifax, 32.
Harley, Colonel, 39.
Hamley, Sir E., 80.
Highland Brigade, 9, 76, 185, 188, 193, 194, 198.
Holyroodhouse, 16, 19, 34.
Hopetoun, Earl of, 24, 196.
Hughes-Hallett, Lieut.-Col., 186, 188.
Hunter, General, 149, 150, 154.
Hythe, 38.
Ireland, Rev. Robert H., 52.
James V., 16.
---- VI., 18.
Kass-el-Nil Barracks, 81, 85.
Keith Lords Marischal, 14.
Khalifa Abdullahi, 146.
Khartoum, 92, 98, 101, 146, 147, 152, 158.
King Koffee, 43.
Kitchener, Lord, 102, 144, 147, 159.
Kimberley, 178, 183, 184.
Kirbekan, battle of, 99.
Knox, John, 17.
Kruger, President, 173, 174, 181.
Kumasi, 45.
Ladysmith, 178.
Lauderdale, Duke of, 20.
Liberton, 135, 162, 179.
Limerick Barracks, 129, 131.
Lloyd, Henry, 33.
Lochtour, 20.
Logan, Hon. J. D., 193.
Macdonald, General, 149, 150, 154, 159, 160, 195.
M'Gaw, Sergeant, 61.
M'Leod, Sir John C., 11, 36, 42, 44, 56, 132.
M'Neil, Sir John, 41.
Mactaggart, Rev. John, 12, 86, 95, 100, 103.
Mafeking, 178.
Magersfontein, 184, 192, 208.
Matjesfontein, 193.
Malcolm Caenmore, 14.
Mahdi, 89, 92, 101, 105, 146, 153.
Mahmoud, 149.
Majuba Hill, 70, 172.
Malta, 53, 106, 203.
Martin, Professor Todd, 205.
---- Robert, 128, 180.
Maryhill, 75, 107, 131, 133.
Methuen, Lord, 178, 182, 183, 185, 189, 193, 198.
Midlothian campaign, 109, 113, 121, 123, 126.
Miller, Hugh, 22.
Modder River, 182, 184, 192.
Muir, Sir William, 134, 164.
Natal, 177, 178, 180, 182.
New Craighall, 113, 134, 137, 139, 157, 162, 179.
Niddrie Marischal, 13, 19, 81, 133, 157, 160, 163, 167.
Niddrie, 25, 34, 87, 134, 136, 157, 160, 163, 178.
Nile Expeditions, 95, 97, 99, 103, 105, 146, 152, 156.
Omdurman, 146, 152, 153, 155, 160.
Orange Free State, 177, 182.
Osman Digna, 148,
Papho, Cyprus, 59.
Parker, F. H., 60.
Pinkney, Sergeant, 79, 80
Pope Paul III., 15, 16.
Portobello, 26, 46, 162.
Presbyterian Church, 103, 143, 155.
'Red Mick,' 36, 142.
Rennie, Captain, 181, 194.
Restalrig, church of, 16.
Roberts, Sir F., or Lord, 172.
Robertson, Rev. J., 191, 193, 194.
Rosebery, Lord, 125.
Rossyth, 19.
Salisbury, Lord, 67, 110, 123, 126, 168.
Sandilands, Sir James, 19.
St. Andrews, 82.
_St. George_, H.M.S., 31, 33, 35, 107.
Seaforth Highlanders, 152, 179, 186, 188.
Selborne, Lord, 174.
Seymour, Sir Beauchamp, 73, 74.
Shepstone, Sir Theophilus, 70.
Stirling Castle, 36.
Stirling, Rev. Alexander, 12, 143.
Soudan, the, 89, 92, 146.
South Africa, 68, 173, 199.
Spottiswood, 18.
Steyn, President, 181.
Suakim, 146.
Suez Canal, 72, 75, 76.
Sussex Manoeuvres, 141.
Sutherland Highlanders, 186.
Symons, General, 180.
Tait, F. G., 197.
Tel-el-Kebir, 74, 76, 78, 115, 147, 201.
Transvaal, 68, 168, 172, 177.
Trent, Council of, 15.
Trinkitat, 90.
Uitlander Grievances, 173, 175, 177.
Ventry, Lord and Lady, 24, 47, 196.
Wady Halfa, 94, 105, 147, 148.
Wallace, Sir William, 23.
Ware, Sir James, 15.
Wauchope, Andrew, 21, 22, 34.
---- Sir Francis, 19.
---- George, 17.
---- Gilbert, 16, 17.
---- James, 23.
---- Robert, Archbishop, 14,
---- Thomas, 14.
---- William, 21, 22.
---- Major William, 53, 81.
Wellington, Duke of, 79.
Windsor, 161.
Wisely, Dr. George, 12, 55, 65, 106.
Wood, Sir Evelyn, 41, 172.
Wood, Provost, Portobello, 47.
Worksop, school at, 29.
Wolseley, Sir G., or Lord, 40, 46, 59, 76, 90, 92, 98, 101, 104, 164,
166, 201,
Yetholm, 20, 25, 137, 158.
York, Cardinal, 20.
York, city, 140, 141, 144.
Zagazig, 76, 79, 80.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press