General Sir Garnet Wolseley had a dislike for both Chard and Bromhead.

Posts : 1862 Join date : 2009-03-25

Can anyone shed light on why he disliked these two fellows, had he been served with them before. Or was it deep rooted. I would have thought that with success of Rorkes drift, Chard and Bromhead saved the day and there little battle certainly over shadowed the disaster at Isandlwana.
Perhaps it was just a case of jealousy and the fact that high ranking officers such as Wolseley did not received public recognition they expected when they embarked fro the Zulu War.

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 62 Location : UK

Commander-in Chief, General Sir Garnet Wolseley had little time for either Major Chard or Major Bromhead, but in public, was more than willing to bask in the adulation they attracted. This can be clearly seen from the comments he made in his journal. On recording the award of The Victoria Cross to Major Chard, at Inkwenken Camp, St.Paul's Nission Station,Zululand, he wrote - "A more uninteresting or more stupid looking fellow I never saw. Wood tells me he is a most useless officer, fit for nothing. I hear in their camp also that, the man who worked hardest in defence of Rorke's Drift Post was a Commissiariat officer,who has not been rewarded at all. The only one who behaved badly was the Doctor and reports say he was a coward. Bromhead of the 24th. Regiment, who was the second-in -command of the Post, is a very stupid fellow also". He also wrote in his journal on llth.September,1879,when he presented Majoor Bromhead with his Victoria Cross, at a parade held at Utrecht, Transvaal - "I have now given away these decorations to both the officers who took part in the defence of Rorke's DrIft and two duller,more stupid,more uninteresting men or less like gentlemen it has not been my luck to meet for a long time".

Source Millfield School

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