Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Sir Edward Bruce Hamley (27 April 182412 August 1893) was a British general and military writer and a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1885 to 1892.

Early life

Hamley was the youngest son of Vice-Admiral William Hamley, born at

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

, Cornwall, and entered the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1843.

Career

Hamley was promoted captain in 1850, and in 1851 went to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, where he began his literary career by contributing articles to magazines. He served throughout the

Crimean campaign The Crimean campaign was conducted by the Axis powers, Axis as part of Operation Barbarossa during World War II. The invading force was led by Nazi Germany, Germany with support from Kingdom of Romania, Romania and Fascist Italy, Italy, wh ...

as '' aide-de-camp'' to Sir Richard Dacres, commanding the

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

, taking part in all the operations with distinction, and becoming successively major and lieutenant-colonel by brevet. He also received the CB and French and Turkish orders. During the war Hamley contributed to ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

'' an admirable account of the progress of the campaign, which was afterwards republished. The combination in Hamley of literary and military ability secured for him in 1859 the professorship of military history at the new Staff College at Sandhurst, from which in 1866 he went to the council of military education, returning in 1870 to the Staff College as

commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

. From 1879 to 1881 Hamley was British commissioner successively for the

delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

of the frontiers of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, Ottoman Empire in Asia and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and Ottoman Empire and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and was rewarded with the KCMG. Promoted colonel in 1863, he became a lieutenant-general in 1882, when he commanded the 2nd Division of the expedition to Egypt under Lord Wolseley, and led his troops in the

Battle of Tell El Kebir The Battle of Tel El Kebir (often spelled Tel-El-Kebir) was fought on 13 September 1882 at Tell El Kebir in Egypt, 110 km north-north-east of Cairo. An entrenched Egyptian force under the command of Ahmed ʻUrabi was defeated by a British ...

, for which he received the KCB, the thanks of Parliament, and 2nd class of the

Order of Osmanieh The Order of Osmanieh (, Modern ) was a civil and military decoration of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was created in January 1862 by Sultan Abdülaziz. With the obsolescence of the Nişan-i Iftikhar, this became the second highest order ...

. Hamley considered that his services in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

had been insufficiently recognised in Lord Wolseley's despatches, and expressed his indignation freely, but he had no sufficient ground for supposing that there was any intention to belittle his services.

Later life

From 1885 until 1892, Hamley was Member of Parliament for

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

in parliament in the

interest. He was promoted to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in 1890. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the

2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers The 2nd Middlesex Artillery was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Artillery. First raised in the Victorian era among Customs officers in the Port of London, it later became the 3rd London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in the Territorial Force a ...

on 6 November 1887. Hamley is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

, London.Brompton Cemetery
/ref>

Writings

Hamley was a clever and versatile writer. His principal work, ''The Operations of War'', published in 1866, became a text-book of military instruction. It was praised by the German General Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of the

Prussian General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of ...

, and until 1894 it was the sole text used in the entrance examination for the Camberley Staff College. He also published some pamphlets on national defence, was a frequent contributor to magazines, and the author of several novels, of which perhaps the best known is ''Lady Lee's Widowhood''. Hamley took interest in

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

.Handley, Graham. (1996)
''The Two Georges and The Gunner''
''The George Eliot Review'' 272: 56–60. He authored ''Our Poor Relations'', in 1872. The book reflected his compassion for animals and his horror of their abuse. He attacked

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal test ...

and condemned the collecting of moths. ''The War in the Crimea'' was published in 1891 by Seeley and Co., London. Within this publication, was a complete overview of events leading up to the war in the Crimea all the way through to the close of the war.

Selected publications

*''Lady Lee's Widowhood'' (2 volumes, 1854) *''The Story of the Campaign of Sebastopol'' (1855) *''A Legend of Gibraltar, and Lazaroo's Legacy'' (1858) *''Wellington's Career'' (1860)
''The Operations of War Explained and Illustrated''
(1866)
''Our Poor Relations: A Philozoic Essay''
(1872) *''A Chapter on Outposts'' (1875) *''Staff College Exercises'' (1875)
''Voltaire''
(1877) *''The Strategical Conditions of Our Indian N.W. Frontier'' (1879)
''Thomas Carlyle''
(1881) *''Shakespeare's Funeral and Other Papers'' (1889) *''National Defence'' (1889)
''The War in the Crimea''
(1891)

References

* *

Byron Farwell Byron Edgar Farwell (June 20, 1921 – August 3, 1999) was an American military historian, biographer, and politician. He was the mayor of Hillsboro, Virginia, for three terms. He also worked for Chrysler, and was the author of 14 books and p ...

, "Queen Victoria's little wars", Wordsworth Editions,

External links

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamley, Edward Bruce 1824 births 1893 deaths Military personnel from Cornwall British anti-vivisectionists British animal welfare scholars British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army personnel of the Crimean War British military writers Burials at Brompton Cemetery Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Bodmin Royal Artillery officers UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 19th-century English novelists English male novelists Victorian novelists English military writers English anti-vivisectionists