Major-General Andrew Gilbert Wauchope (5 July 1846 – 11 December 1899) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who was killed while commanding a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

at the

Battle of Magersfontein The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". ( ) was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein, near Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, South Africa, on t ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

Biography

Early life

Andrew Gilbert Wauchope was the second son of Andrew Wauchope of Niddrie Marischal House, located just southeast of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and Frances-Mary (née Lloyd), the daughter of Henry Lloyd, Esq., of County Tipperary, Ireland. He received his early education at

Stubbington House School Stubbington House School was founded in 1841 as a boys' preparatory school, originally located in the Hampshire village of Stubbington, around from the Solent. Stubbington House School was known by the sobriquet "the cradle of the Navy". The s ...

and, in 1859, was sent to HMS ''Britannia'' to train as a naval cadet. The following year, he was posted as a midshipman to ''St George''. Unhappy with naval life, he obtained his discharge from the Navy on 3 July 1862, shortly before his eighteenth birthday.

Army career 1865-1873

He resolved to enter the Army and purchased a second lieutenant's commission in the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

in 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1867 and served as an adjutant from 1870 to 1873. In 1873, he participated in the Second Anglo-Ashanti War, serving on special duty with a

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

regiment. During this conflict, he was twice wounded and mentioned in despatches.

Cyprus 1878-1880

In July 1878, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

took control of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

as a result of the

Cyprus Convention The Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878 was a secret agreement reached between Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire which granted administrative control of Cyprus to Britain (see British Cyprus), in exchange for its support of the Ottomans during th ...

, and Wauchope was appointed governor of the Paphos region. He returned to England in August 1880. He was promoted to captain in 1878 and was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1880.

Transvaal and Egypt 1881-1885

He served on the staff during the Transvaal War in 1881 and with his regiment in the

1882 Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt, also known as the Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It e ...

. That year, he married his first wife, Elythea Ruth Erskine; she died in childbirth in 1884, leaving him with twin sons. He fought in the

Mahdist War The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...

in 1884, where he was severely wounded at the Battle of El Teb on 29 February and mentioned in despatches. He was promoted to major in March and received a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy in May. He then served on the

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...

, where he was again severely wounded at the

Battle of Kirbekan The Battle of Kirbekan took place during the Mahdist War. It was fought February 10, 1885, when the British Nile Column, about 1,000 strong, under General Earle, stormed the heights of Kirbekan, which were held by a strong Mahdist force, and to ...

in February 1885.

Scotland

Following the expedition, he returned to Scotland to manage his family estates at Niddrie and Yetholm, which he had recently inherited. The coal mines at Niddrie were highly productive, and as a result, he became one of the richest men in Scotland. In 1893, he married his second wife, Jean Muir, the daughter of

William Muir Sir William Muir (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish oriental studies, Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-Western Provinces of British Raj, Brit ...

. She became the only woman residing at

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

, where her husband commanded the Black Watch. They had no children, and she survived him.

Politician 1892-1899

A staunch Conservative, he was politically active and opposed

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

for the constituency of

in the 1892 election. Although he did not win, he reduced Gladstone's majority by over 80%. He opposed the coal strike of 1894 and the proposed eight-hour work limits for miners but was generally recognized by his workers as a generous employer; during the coal strike, he supported the families of the strikers. He again ran for Parliament at the 1899 Edinburgh South by-election in Edinburgh South in June 1899, losing to Arthur Dewar. At the local level, he was an elder of Liberton Kirk, a member of the local school board, the parish council, and the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

Sudan 1898

He was promoted to colonel in 1888, made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1889, and given command of the 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch in 1894. In 1898, he commanded a brigade during the reconquest of Sudan, seeing action at the

Battle of Atbara The Battle of Atbara also known as the Battle of the Atbara River took place during the Mahdist War. Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated 15,000 Mahdists on the banks of the River Atbara. The battle proved to be the turning point in the reconquest of S ...

and the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman, also known as the Battle of Karary, was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert ...

. As a result of his service, he was promoted to major-general that same year.

Boer War 1899

He was appointed to command the 3rd (Highland) Brigade in the

South African War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, which saw action at the

Battle of Belmont The Battle of Belmont was fought on November 7, 1861, in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was the first combat test in the American Civil War for Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the future Union Army general in chief and eventual U.S. president ...

and the

Battle of Modder River The Battle of Modder River (, fought near the confluence of the Modder and Riet Rivers) was an engagement in the Boer War, fought at Modder River, on 28 November 1899. A British column under Lord Methuen, that was attempting to relieve the ...

as part of the force sent to relieve the

Siege of Kimberley The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, Transvaal besieged the diam ...

. Pushing further, they again encountered Boer forces at

Magersfontein The MagersfonteinMisspelt "Maaghersfontein" in some British texts ( ) battlefield is a site of the Battle of Magersfontein (11 December 1899), part of the Second Boer War in South Africa. The battlefield is located at south of Kimberley, Norther ...

. The Wauchope memorial in the centre of Town Yetholm In the ensuing

on 11 December 1899, the Highland Brigade was ordered to make a dawn attack on the Boer defenses. However, the force was spotted before it was prepared to attack, and faulty reconnaissance meant that the enemy positions were not properly located. The column came under heavy fire as it struggled to deploy for action. Wauchope was killed by rifle fire in the opening minutes of combat; the brigade was pinned down and went to ground. After Wauchope's death, the brigade was leaderless, and no one assumed command until late in the afternoon. Despite the support of the Guards Brigade, the brigade was routed in the early afternoon. Wauchope's dying words are a subject of some dispute. Douglas' biography quotes them as "Don't blame me for this, lads." However, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote:

Rumour has placed words of reproach upon his dying lips, but his nature, both gentle and soldierly, forbids the supposition. "What a pity!" was the only utterance which a brother Highlander ascribes to him.

Memorials

After Wauchope's death, a stained glass window was donated by the people of Liberton

Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning 'church'. The term ''the Kirk'' is often used informally to refer specifically to the Church of Scotland, the Scottish national church that developed from the 16th-century Reformation ...

. The window is located just a few feet from where Wauchope always sat in the East Gallery. To date, this is the only stained glass window in the church. Another memorial, a granite obelisk, was erected in Yetholm, near his Roxburghshire estate, in September 1902. He was also the subject of at least one poem, ''Wauchope! (To the memory of a gallant officer.)'' (1900), by Scottish Border poet and Australian bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963), who had also grown up near the Yetholm area. A significant stained glass window was also erected in

St Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; ...

in central

. The window is located in the south-west portion of the church. His wife, Jean, arranged for the creation of Wauchope Hall in Town Yetholm, which was opened in 1919. The hall was a conversion from a former church.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wauchope, Andrew Gilbert 1846 births 1899 deaths British Army major generals British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War British military personnel of the First Boer War British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel killed in the Second Boer War Black Watch officers Military personnel from Edinburgh Scottish Presbyterians

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at Stubbington House School