Henry Brackenbury

General Sir Henry Brackenbury GCB KCSI PC (1837 - 1914), was a British army officer who was assistant to Garnet Wolseley in the 1870s and became part of his 'Ring' of loyal officers. He also wrote several books of military history and memoirs.

Life and career

Henry Brackenbury was born in Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire on 1 September 1837. He was educated at Eton, then at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He joined the British Army in 1856, served in the Central Indian Campaign in 1857–58 and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71.

After making Wolseley's acquaintance, Brackenbury offered to join his Ashanti Campaign (1873–74) at which time he became part of the "Wolseley ring", and later acted as his military secretary in the Zulu War of 1879–80. Wolseley thought highly of his talents and helped advance his career. However, Brackenbury was unpopular with other colleagues and with Lady Wolseley.

He became Private Secretary to the Viceroy of India in 1880, acted as British Military attaché in Paris between 1881 and 1882, and then became assistant Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He had a senior role in the River Column in Egypt in 1884–85.

He was promoted to Major-General for distinguished service in the field, then became Director of Military Intelligence in 1886. From 1891 he was a Member of the Council of the Viceroy of India, and in 1896 became President of the War Office Ordnance Committee until 1899. He was made Colonel Commandant in 1897, Director-General of Ordnance in 1899 and a General in 1901. Brackenbury retired in 1904 and was made a Privy Councillor. His wife Emilia (married 1861 but long separated) died in 1905 and later that year he married Edith Desanges. He died on 20 April 1914 in Nice, France.

Decorations

* C.B., K.C.B. and G.C.B. (1900) for military services
* K.C.S.J. for service as Member of Council in India, 1896

Publications

* "The Last Campaign of Hanover", 1870
* "The Tactics of the Three Arms", 1873
* "Narrative of the Ashantee War" (2 vol.) 1874
* "The River Column", 1885
* "Some Memories of My Spare Time", 1909

ee also

*Ashanti Confederacy

References

*"Who was Who"
*"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
*Ian Harvie. "A Very Dangerous Man - a Profile of Sir Henry Brackenbury". Soldiers of the Queen (journal of the Victorian Military Society). March 1999.