Gerald Graham

Lieutenant General Sir Gerald Graham, (27 June 1831 – 17 December 1899) was a senior British Army commander in the late 19th century and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

As an officer of the Royal Engineers, he served in the Crimean War, China, Canada, and Africa — including as a Brigadier General in the Anglo-Egyptian War and as commander of the Suakin Expedition against Mahdist Sudan in 1884–85.

In February 1884, Graham accompanied his close friend and colleague Charles George Gordon up the Nile to Gordon's disembarkation at Korosko, making Graham one of the last Englishmen to see Gordon alive before he set out across the Nubian Desert on his fateful mission to Khartoum. In 1887 Graham commemorated Gordon, reflecting on his life, character, and the context of the Mahdist War, in a publication entitled “Last Words with Gordon”.

Early life

Graham was born in Acton, Middlesex to Frances (née Oakley), of Yorkshire, and Robert Hay Graham, of north Cumberland, a medical doctor and descendent of Clan Graham.

After studying at Wimbledon and Dresden he was admitted (1847) to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich where he passed third out of his batch and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 19 June 1850. He subsequently completed his military training in the School of Military Engineering at Chatham.

As a young man, he was noted for his strong and imposing stature, reaching a height of – a quality ultimately remarked upon throughout his career – as well as a reserved but kind disposition and a fondness for boating on the Medway.

Crimea & Victoria Cross

Graham was ordered to the 11th Company of Royal Sappers and Miners at Woolwich and shipped to Gallipoli in April 1854 to engage in the building of defensive works at the Gulf of Saros. He then served in the Crimea at the battles of Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sebastopol where his actions at the assault of the Redan on June 18, 1854, earned him the award of a Victoria Cross.

The ill-fated attack on the Russian fortifications consisted of three columns (1,600 men each) with 23 year old Lieutenant Graham in command of the ladder party at the head of Number 1 column. Notably, Charles George Gordon was in command of the same column's reserves - a former peer of Graham's at the Royal Academy and subsequent close friend and colleague through later campaigns in China and the Sudan.

Commencing their offensive after dawn, the Number 1 column became pinned down by heavy Russian fire as it endeavoured to close on the right flank of the Redan across approximately 400 yards of open, level ground. Graham later recalled:

Graham carried Tylden to the rear before returning to the action but after numerous attempts to move forward and suffering severe casualties, the column retired to their advance trench. At this point, Graham and sapper John Perie gallantly scaled the parapet and returned to the field under withering grape and musket fire to retrieve wounded comrades.

Lord West, who succeeded command of Graham's column following the death of Sir John Campbell, later wrote to Lieutenant General Betnick, "...Lieutenant Graham of the Engineers, who lead the ladder party, evinced a coolness and readiness to expose himself to any personal risk which does him the greatest credit."

The citation for Graham's VC, published in the London Gazette, noted his "Devoted heroism in sallying out of the trenches on numerous occasions, and bringing in wounded officers and men." For his actions in the Crimea Graham was awarded the Victoria Cross, twice mentioned in dispatches, made a Knight of the French Legion d'honneur, received the 5th Class of the Order of the Medjidie, and promoted to Brevet Major.

At the inaugural VC ceremony in Hyde Park, on 26 June 1857, Graham was personally decorated by Queen Victoria, who pierced his chest while pinning the Cross to his coat.

Later service

During the Second Anglo-Chinese War he again displayed great courage and skill and, although seriously wounded in the storming of the Taku forts (21 August 1860), subsequently entered Peking with the victors. Following his return to England in 1861, he was for 16 years commanding engineer successively at Brighton, Aldershot, Montreal, Chatham, Manchester, and York. In 1877 he was appointed assistant director of works for barracks at the War Office.

In 1882 he accompanied Sir Garnet Wolseley to Egypt as brigadier general, and his forces had a great share in the victorious campaign against Urabi Pasha. In 1884 he took the field against Osman Digna, whose army he defeated at El-Teb and Tamai. In the meantime he had urged a plan for the assistance of Gordon, which, however, was not accepted.

Graham led a second Suakin Field Force which arrived at the port on 12 March 1885. Its purpose was to suppress Osman Digna's forces which were active in the area, and to supervise the construction of the Suakin-Berber Railway. The field force engaged in two actions: at Hashin on 20 March and at Tofrek on 22 March, before the British government changed its policies, shutting down the railway project and leaving the Sudan in May 1885.

In his book "The Battle of Tofrek, fought near Suakin, March 22nd 1885", written shortly after the battle for the purpose of correcting erroneous statements in both official and press reports of the battle, William Galloway was strongly critical of General Graham's planning of the Tofrek expedition on three counts:
# Compared to the expedition to Hashin on 20 March which Graham commanded himself, which had been protected by four squadrons of British cavalry and a regiment of Bengal cavalry acting as scouts, the Tofrek expedition which he delegated to the command of General McNeill had only one squadron of Lancers plus a company of Mounted Infantry to provide warning of enemy activity;
# Whereas Graham had the protection of a battery of Royal Horse Artillery able to shell the enemy at long range, no artillery was assigned to McNeill's force;
# Whereas the ratio of men to transport animals had been over 5:1 in the earlier expedition, it was no more than 2:1 for the later one, resulting in greater difficulties in keeping controlling of the animals.
Galloway was even more critical of Graham for a last-minute change to McNeill's marching orders. Instead of following an established track in a southwesterly direction towards Tamai as originally planned, Graham personally instructed McNeill to march westwards into uncharted territory, which turned out to be thickly covered by a jungle of mimosa bushes with long low-lying branches covered in sharp thorns. This caused progress to be both slow and difficult while affording the enemy excellent cover for the surprise attack that they launched later in the day.

Graham was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1896, and a colonel commandant of the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1899. He is buried in East-the Water Cemetery in Bideford in Devon in a grave adjacent to that of George Channer VC.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is currently owned by Graham's great great great grandson Oliver Brooks and is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham, England.

Works

He published a number of scientific papers and a contribution to the ''Fortnightly Review'', entitled "Last Words with Gordon" (1887), and prepared a translation of Goetze's ''Operations of the German Engineers and Technical Troops during the Franco-German War of 1870–71'' (1875).

References

Further reading

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External links

Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs

''(Devonshire)''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Gerald
1831 births
1899 deaths
19th-century English memoirists
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
Military personnel from the London Borough of Ealing
British Army personnel of the Crimean War
British Army personnel of the Second Opium War
British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War
British Army personnel of the Mahdist War
Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
British Army lieutenant generals
Royal Engineers officers
British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
People from Acton, London