Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford (31 May 1827 – 9 April 1905) was a British Army general who served in the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Expedition to Abyssinia, the Xhosa Wars, and the Anglo-Zulu War. He was famously defeated by the Zulu king Cetshwayo at the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana, and, in a bid to restore his reputation, he led the assault and capture of the Zulu capital of Ulundi in July, winning the war. Nevertheless, his reputation was soiled by the defeat at Isandlwana, and he never held a field command again.
Biography[]
Frederic Thesiger was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England on 31 May 1827, the eldest son of Lord Chancellor Lord Chelmsford. Thesiger purchased a commission in the British Army in 1844, serving in Canada and Ireland before seeing his first action in the Crimean War, during which he was mentioned in dispatches. In 1858, as a Lieutenant-Colonel, he was transferred to British India to assist in the final suppression of the Sepoy Mutiny, and he was again mentioned in dispatches. In 1863, he befriended the Governor of Bombay, Henry Bartle Frere, and he served as Deputy Adjutant-General in the 1868 British Expedition to Abyssinia, after which he was made aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria. From 1869 to 1874, he served as Adjutant-General of India, and he was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1877 while stationed in England.
Zulu War[]
Chelmsford in 1879
In March 1877, he was promoted to Major-General and appointed to command the British forces in South Africa; in February 1878, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General. He came to underestimate the fighting capabilities of the native Africans due to his easy triumphs over the Xhosa people, and, in January 1879, his friend Bartle Frere (now High Commissioner for South Africa) engineered a war with the Zulu and sent the recently-created Lord Chelmsford with 4,000 men to subdue King Cetshwayo. Chelmsford's army invaded the Zulu Kingdom that same month, but Chelmsford split his army in half, taking 2,500 troops to pursue Zulu scouts as the remaining 1,700 troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pulleine encamped at Isandlwana. There, on 22 January 1879, they were massacred by Cetswhayo's impi in an infamous disaster. The British government was outraged, and they sent Garnet Wolseley to replace Chelmsford. However, Chelmsford decided to redeem himself before Wolseley could take over, and he assaulted and captured the Zulu capital of Ulundi in July 1879, forcing Cetshwayo into exile at Cape Town and annexing Zululand. Chelmsford was knighted, but he was permanently removed from field command following an inquiry into his leadership at Isandlwana. He served as Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1884 to 1889, promoted to General in 1888, and made Governor and Commandant of the Church Lads' Brigade. He died in 1905, and his son Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Thesiger would become the first Viscount Thesiger and a Viceroy of India.