Recollections of a Military Life

by Sir John Adye

A somewhat singular story is told of General Sir Robert Wilson on his arrival as Governor of Gibraltar in 1843. It may be premised that Sir Robert's services in the army had been of a very distinguished character. Born in 1777, he was appointed a cornet of dragoons in 1794, and saw active service in Flanders and in Holland, and then in Egypt in 1801. In 1802 he became a Lieutenant Colonel and went to Brazil, and was also at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806. In subsequent years he served in Poland, and also in Portugal and Spain during the Peninsular war. He was with the Russians in the campaign of 1812, and with the allied armies on the Continent up to 1814. From 1818 to 1830 he was Member of Parliament for Southwark. In September 1821, however, he was dismissed from the service by King George IV. on account of his participation in the London riots which occurred on the death of Queen Caroline. On the accession of William IV, in 1830, he was restored to his rank in the army, and in 1843, was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, in succession to Sir Alexander Woodford. It is related that on his arrival he inquired of Sir Alexander if he remembered the last occasion on which they had met? Woodford's reply was that so many years had elapsed that he was unable to recall the exact time or incident. Sir Robert Wilson then said: 'The last time we met was in 1821, when you were at the head of the Guards and I was with the mob, and you were driving us through the streets of London!' It is not often, perhaps, that two general officers meet on two occasions under such very different circumstances.

ZOBEHR PASHA

In March 1885 Zobehr Pasha, accompanied by two sons, an interpreter, and several servants, arrived at Gibraltar from Egypt as a state prisoner by order of the British Government, and he was detained there during the remainder of my period of office. I had many conversations with him on the subject of the Soudan, and found him to be a man of considerable ability; and, although cautious in the expression of his views on Egyptian affairs, I gathered from him that the people of the Soudan specially detested the rule of the Egyptian Pashas, and that the cause of their hostility to us arose solely from a belief that in sending an expedition up the Nile to Khartoum in 1884, our object was to reinstate the rule of Egypt in that country.

Without entering at any length into this much discussed question, it must be borne in mind that until conquered in 1821 by the late Mohammed Ali the Soudan was entirely independent of Egypt, and separated from it by a great desert. Colonel Charles Gordon wrote: 'From Wady Halfa southwards to Hannek, a distance of 180 miles, an utter desert extends, spreading also for miles eastwards and westwards, on both sides of the Nile.... It was this boundary that kept the warlike and independent tribes of the Soudan quite apart from the inhabitants of Egypt proper, and made the Soudanese and the Egyptians two distinct peoples that have not the least sympathy one with the other.' Of the result of Egyptian rule, the late Sir Samuel Baker, writing in 1864, drew a melancholy picture. He described the provinces as utterly ruined and only governed by military force, the revenue unequal to the expenditure, and the country paralysed by taxation; shut in by deserts, all communication with the outer world was most difficult, and the existing conditions rendered these countries so worthless to the State that their annexation could only be accounted for by the fruits of the slave trade. Zobehr Pasha's opinion as expressed to me was, that if the people of the Soudan were assured that no attempt would be made to restore the authority of Egypt, their hostility would cease, and they would be anxious to open their country to trade. Speaking generally, it appeared to me that his views were sound, and that if we were to proclaim a policy of peace at Souakim, combined possibly with some annual payment to the neighbouring chiefs, the road to Berber and Khartoum would soon re-open and commerce be renewed. At all events I cannot see that it is any part of our duty to assist the Egyptians to reconquer the Soudan.

Gibraltar, like many another ancient fortress, has undergone frequent changes in its defences from time to time, owing to the advances in military science, and to the constantly increasing power of modern artillery. These changes have been incessant during the present century, and it has been re-fortified and re-armed over and over again. It is said that many years ago the Inspector General of Fortifications of the day, desirous of bringing it up to date, recommended an extra expenditure of 100,000l., and had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the purpose of obtaining his consent. He explained to the Chancellor the steep and isolated nature of the rock, and, after giving him a graphic account of its numerous sieges, asked his opinion. The Chancellor of the Exchequer's reply was discouraging, and he said that, from the lucid and interesting description of the Inspector General, it appeared to him that Gibraltar would be perfectly impregnable if the military authorities would only leave it alone. The money, however, was ultimately granted, and I only mention it as an example of the different conclusions which financial and military authorities may arrive at from a consideration of the same facts. The one was evidently thinking of bastions and the other of budgets.

Gibraltar has a population of about twenty-four thousand persons, of which between four and five thousand are military, and as it is said to be one of the most thickly inhabited places in the world[129] its sanitary condition is a matter not only of importance, but under the circumstances one of some difficulty. In the early part of the century it was frequently visited by severe epidemics of fever, and more recently by serious attacks of cholera. Of late years, however, its sanitation has been under the careful supervision of a Sanitary Commission, which during my period of office consisted of twelve members, four official, and eight civilians selected from the grand jury list, and all unpaid. They had charge of the drainage, water, gas, and general improvements of the city; and, under the authority of the Governor, levied an annual rate on the inhabitants to meet the necessary expenditure. It is evident that their duties were arduous and responsible. The Sanitary Commission may be said to be the only form of representation given to the people, and it is one which should be carefully preserved. However necessary it may be that the governor of a city, such as Gibraltar, enclosed within a fortress should have full power and authority, still it must be an advantage to him and to the public service that in a matter of vital interest to the people, in which also their local knowledge can be utilised, they should be consulted and associated with the Government. I may go farther and record my opinion that at Gibraltar, as elsewhere, it is desirable that representatives of the people should be freely consulted, not only in regard to sanitation, but also in commercial and other matters; and during my residence there I derived much assistance from their knowledge and friendly co-operation.

The results of the care bestowed, for many years past, on the sanitary arrangements at Gibraltar have been very satisfactory. Not only is its condition far better than that of the neighbouring towns of Spain, but it is now one of the healthiest stations of the British army at home or abroad, as the following statistics will prove.

Annual death rate per thousand of the troops at various stations at home and abroad, on the average of ten years from 1882 to 1891—[130]