General Wauchope

by F.S.A. Scot. William Baird

CHAPTER XI

CHARACTERISTICS

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 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 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.'

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, 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 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.'

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 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 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.

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. 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.

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 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.'

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 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 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.'