The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-10-18 00:00:00

PEEKINTATION of a SWORD of HONOUR
TO SIR EVELYN WOOD, V.C.
Chelmsford was en fête on Tuesday—the occasion
being the presentation of a sword of honour to Sir
Evelyn Wood in the name of the County of Essex.—
The Daily News, in their opening remarks on the
ceremony, observes :
" The vivid contrasts of a soldier's his were well brought
home to those who, having in mind General Sir E. Wood's
reeent Campaigning experiences, witnessed his magnificent
Public reception at Chelmsford. The men of Essex had
eel:tared a welcome for Sir Evelyn that he should
look uPon with surprise and remember with pride.
As the feted hero returned from the wars he was the centre
of an inspiriting scene such as the dramatist and novelist
ight have given much to witness. The whole county seemed '
to have come together to welcome home the general who
Only sir months ago was storming a mountain fastness in
South Africa, and seeing valiant supporters dying by his '
aide, who defended Kambula against the savage onslaught of
Cetewayo's hosts essaying to repeat Isanduia ; and who ;
tbarelY three months since, on the eve of Ulundi, while I
'fte'ng the fact that on the morrow he 'could not promise
to be alive, was confidently promising victory to his per. '
severing soldiery. As the grandson of Sir Matthew Wood,
and the ton of an Es ex vicar so highly esteemed as the late I
Sir John Page Wood, the leader of 'the fighting column'
in Zululand would have been sure of a place in
the affections of the Essex people, even had he done
less to deserve it- but a career so distinguished,
and Personal qualities so amiable as his have called
out for him an enthusiastic admiration to which evidently
no comeaonplace demonstration could give expression; so
that of Tuesday was one befitting a prince. Bunting was
never more plentiful on any Royal visit to a county town;
mottoes were never more appropriate, and cheers were never
rnore hearty and exuberant. Honour to the brave l' was the
Prevailing sentiment. 'A hearty English welcome to a brave
ttaex man! " Welcome our hero home ! ' and similar greet- '
lags. were frequently expressed in brilliant colours."
The show made by the combined decorations was very
effective as seen from the stage on which Sir Evelyn Wood
was to be received. This was a stage erected on the
Pedestal of the Russian gun presented to the town by the
Government in 1858. Balconies decorated with flowers as
well as flags, and accommodating numerous ladies, were
Prominent both left and right.
On the arrival of Sir E. Wood from Danbury Hall, the
Palace of the Bishop of St. Albans, at half-past three in I
the afternoon, the picture was animated and complete.
The General had come up in the Bishop's carriage, in
enn'PanY with his wife and daughter and the Bishop,
Preceded by outriders and a friendly escort consist-
ing of some of the members of the committee and the
nonanlauders of the Essex Yeomanry and Volunteer Regi-
Inenta- The let Essex Volunteers had drawn up as
MITI of honour round the stage, and their band had
signalized the arrival with "See the Conquering Hero
comes The "conquering hero" had meunted the platform,
shaken hands cordially with his numerous friends stationed
there
.had faced the great crowd in his regimental dress as
...monel of the 90th Light Infantry, adorned with a long row
O Medals a Victoria Cross, end a Star of India, had bowed
ula acknowledgments of the • :ering, and was waiting for
silence. Around him were a vast company of county
notables and friends, and the military authorities of the
Pintiet• Every window in the Shire Hall was crowded with
tide
aPectators. Tne High-street and Tindal-square were
Packed with people, from the street to the hceLetops, and,
a° far as the quaint old timbered houses at the High-street
corner of the square were concerned, even the housetops
were covered too. The Chairman of the Reception Com-
ralttee, Sir Charles Du Cane, seeing only one way to compose
Pell an audience—unquiet by reason of its own uncom-
ortable extent—began the ceremony of the day and said :
Although I am very pleased, I confess that I am in
110 degree surprised at seeing around me such a county
gathering as I now behold; for I think that if ever
there was an occasion that might kindle a legitimate
enthusiasm in the hearts of Essex men and Essex
women, and bring them together from parts of the
e_eounty, that occasion is the present one. (Cheers.)
,l_ye are met here to-day to do honour to one who I
am done honour to us to one who is our beau '
ideal of a brave and gallant soldier, the man
. Without fear and without reproach (cheers)
,--whose whole career has been distinguished, not
~
' `"erelY by deeds of personal daring, but by those
.. qualities of head and of heart which mark a man out
..,ta be a leader of men and win for him the love and the
mevotion of the men whom he leads. (Cheers.) lam
•.; aure of this, that none of us of late have ever heard or
. read of the name of Evelyn Wood without a thrill of
Pride in the thought that Essex can claim him as one
of her sons. (Cheers.) And in meeting as we have done
today to testify to that pride, and to do him all honour
there is something to my mind very appropriate in the
sPot we have selected. It is in itself a right and
,Proper thing that a county hero should be welcomed
rra the midstof our chief county town,and in front of our
reeelni, tY•hall. But that is not at all. The military
"`nPlaY around which this platform is erected carries
nur recollections back to the memorable days of the
Crimean campaign, when the best blood of England
and of Essex was shed like water on the fields of
e
",-una Balaklava, and Inkerman, and when on the
bloody' day of the storming of the Redan there dawned
a career the lustre of which has ever since shone with
an increasing brightness. The events of that time are
to fresh in my recollection that to me it seems
sent as yesterday that our streets were ringing with
"ue 017 of "News from Sebastopol." I can hardly
beet
eve that since that time a whole generation
has been born and grown to manhood, and that
the bronzed warrior who stands et my side covered
With medals and decorations is the individual as
the stripling middy of eightsen, who, elthough severely
wounded, was the oely naval efficer who dragged his
keeling ladder to the walls of the Redan, and by his
Pereonal courage in endeavouriug alone te extinguish
a burning powder magazine gained even then a recom-
naendation from Lord Raelsn for the Victoria Cross,
(Cheers ) As I just now observed, the promise of that
bright dawn has never since been dimmed. The
recerds of the Indian Mutiny can tell us how the
gallant midshipman of the Royal Navy underwent a
transformation into the dashing cavalry officer ;
ow he covered himself with fresh laurels in seversl
b
ard•fought acti fls, receiving the thanks of the
Government of India, and being finally gazetted to
that Victoria Crust for which he had been already
;.,t),_essranaended in the days of the Crimea, (Cheers.)
'tie records, again, of the Ashantee War can tell us
who led the right colnren of the British foroes at the
battle of Amoaf al. They can tell us, too, who it was
ee°lst, though wounded in the cheat in that engage-
"'sannet, left hospital within three days, and travelled
rgnt and day till he rejoined his General in time to
e„ad his regiment once more to victory at the battle
Ordahsu and the capture of Coomassie. (Cheers)
zat te these events, stirring as they are to the
41,„senwrY of us all, I feel that I cannot do
more than eive a cursory mention on the present
oecca;ion. I must hurry on to that arduous end
eusqtrered campaign in Zululand, which has been
recently so triumphantly terminated under the leader-
;abin of Lord Chelmsford at Ulundi, and in which,
rilliaet as they were, Sir Evelyn Wood may be fairly
&lid to have eclipsed all his former achievements. We
six,ll of us remember how a year and a half ago Colonel
°od, ever on the watch for a chance of service and
distinction in the field, threw up his staff appoint-
tent at Aldershot, and sailed for Somh Africa ;
tWe littlt dreamt, I think, at that time of all
that via, destined to happen before his native
cenntY beheld him once more. We heard of him as
Usual, showing energy, tact, and valour in the war
re. With the Gaikas, and contributing in no slight
dv
egyee by his exhibition of those qualities to its suc-
cessful conclusion. But we little dreamt, lam sure,
rire the war with the Gaikas was to be succeeded by
• the
eewar with the Zulus, and what serious proportions
Vg-a_4 war was destined to assume before its termination.
,•tt e little dreamt how our country was soon to be
rileU to its very heart's core by the disaster at
_ e andiana and the heroic defence of Rorke's Drift,
leay that long period of suspense which intervened before
"Le gallant Pearson was relieved in Ekowe, and by
.that dark shadow of death which blighted the hop-..s
ee(der the French Imperialists, that took from the
'.."4°Wed Empress her loved and only son, and nipped
the bud a career that seemed fraught with so much
• at
bright hope and promise for the future. (Cheers.) But,
least, we may
also say that the darkness and
.-11,171:12 of their earlier tidings were relieved by
e se flashes of the electric wire that revealed to us
, something of the doings of Wood and Buller, and told
e: especially of the gallant achievements of NVood's
• "Itinan. We read with mixed feelings of admiration
atn,d sorrow of that attack on the Zasbane
_a.148, undertaken to divert the Zulus from Ekowe,
!mere the brave son-in law of one loved and re-
etteacted by us all heroically sacrificed his life to save
sae t °I hie comrades and where the loss on our
s cf 13 officers and '9O men killed attested to the
Virsetinacy and determination of the enemy's resistance.
12,„„rjad, too, how, yielding at last to overpowering-
• ei,—"-'er°, the attackers were forced to retire
b their camp Katubula, and in turn
ecalue the attacked. We read bow, gathering
;0212:rage from their success, and largely reinforce I,
in, Zulus next day surrounded the Ka.mbula Kop,
•6• 4ere certain hope—as we have since learnt from
je_ 'wart) himself—of converting it into a second
_
.ip ,-"r", but were doomed to find those hopes
aeatlY frnstrated and the day of Isandlana amply
lenge& (Cheers.') I needly hardly recall the events
cve that day, for I. think it will be long indeed before
• e e.!°rget how a comparative handful of English and
,!.tive troops were attacked in their camp by some
• 400 Zulus—how for five hours the battle raged
• sU (4" intermiseion, and assault after assault was
tecesefully repulsed, till, turning the tables on their
eviett,ies, the beeieged sallied forth, and, routing them
e" great slaughter, gained a victory of which it is
Thr
Xa'ible to exaggerate the results. For, as the ex-
eng of Zululand has himself confessed, it was the vie.
ee
of Kambula that not merely assisted the relief of
t owe, but which dealt whet was really a mortel blow
the Zulu army, and paved the way for L .rd
1-.neleasford's sub.eq' tient advance into Zululand, and
(nirvr,al,.triunsph of Ulundi. (Loud cheers.) If Ido not
ceiell upon the conspicuous part b rue Woods
i
be comm Upon
in that advance, and in the final battle, it s
_ cause I feel that these events are only too fresh in
'pre recollection, and because I feel, too, that any
quaeesetiPtion that I could give would be most Made-
r, to the otscas'ien. I feel, too, that perhaps mouse
maY think that in eedeavouring to give, As brie fly
ea I Could, this epitome of Sir Evelyn Wood's
reere 1 have either said too little or too enuele
rtnil indeed, I ashould not have attempted this very
nittope.rfect sketch which I have thus ventured to draw
b its moving accidents by flood and field, its hair.
isreadth 'serapes in the imminent deadly breach," had
" not been for two reasons, The inscription on the
!le,cl'ord which I shall have the honour to present to Sir
ta'!_elYn testifies that it is presented by the county of
S'el'eert not merely in recognition of the eminent ter-
:lees which he has rendered to his country during the
Zeent campaign, hut also of the conspicuous zen
entire
erg 3 aud gallantry which has distinguished
that • Military career. And my other reason
• if some epitome of that career had not been
given b
3' me, I am quite certain that the weds.
Inn!. would never have been supplied by him, for
rtsEtet heard it said a few nights since by Mr, Arch!,
,„ let Forhee, "the worse place in which to hear of Sir
vely Wood's own deeds is in Sir Evelyn Wood's
e-
17:1t ennaPanYa" (Cheers.) Now, I am sore of this,
far from speaking to you of himself, he would
al?ea, k of those gallant comrades whom he led to
Ifi'llcoeret, and who fuiltereadeanzi.ireeetel himewith
as'eturty and devotion worthy r f such a leader. (Cheers)
tee would speak to you of those who shared with
nun SO unflinchingly the toils and the privations of
the campaign,
and of those who fought and fell at his
Slide, dying as soldiers should die, in the front of
e bettle. God forbid that their gallant lives and
soldier& deaths should be forgo•ten by any of us at
klaeb a Inorne.ot as this; but we feel that if their voices

BAI'OR:TAY, OTIB. 1879. :