The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-10-06
AN ENGLISH SOLDIER.
LORD WOLSElEY is THE KIND OF
A MAN A SOLDIER SHOULD BE.

a MAN n SOlDlEh SftOUlD BE.
England's Great General Must Have Had
Remarkable Vitality to Have Pulled
Him Through So Many Encounters with
Death-A Record of Wounds.
II am worth a good many dead men
yet," was the characteristic remark of the
man when regarded as dead un" by the
army doctor in the Crimea. Lord Wolse-
ley's remarkable vitality helped him to
pass with success through many such ex-
periences, and to impress his mark on the
modern military history of Great Britain
in way unequaled by any other soldier
since the great Wellington died.
The career of the commander in chief of
her majesty's forces in Ireland began in
1852, when, as a young enthusiastic Irish
lad, he joined the army as ensign. He at
once tasted blood. He passed through the
Burmese war, and then returned to Eng
land. Few have had Lord Wolseley's
luck, and few his i'll luck. While he has
won more victories than his fellows, SO has
he been wounded Ottener than most soldiers
in his position. dis life has been one full
of narrow escapes from death.
His first experience was ugly enough in
all conscience. Burmah was the scene; and
here, while heading an attacking party,
young Wolseley saved himself from de-
struction by falling into pit. Then, in
the second attempt he and his fellow of
ficer were each struck in the left thigh by
large iron iingal balls. His friend lived
but few minutes, while Wolseley himself
needed all his strength in the fight be-
tween life and death. He recovered only
to meet experiences as hard in the Crimea
His biographer, Mr.. Lowe, tells that
during the progress Of the Crimean war
Captain Wolseley was wounded severely
on Aug. 80, and slightly on April 10 and
June 7. On Feb. 15 his coat was pierced
by ball; on April 10 round shot struck
the embrasure at which he was working,
and his trousers were cut, and on June
bali passed through his forage cap from
the peak to the back, knocking it off his
head.
ut may be said without exaggeration
that he bore charmed life, for at the ter
mination of the siege, of three messes Of
four members each, he was the only re
naming officer in the Crimea, all the
others having been killed or forced to leave
through wounds"
1t was not without truth that his fellow
officers regarded him rs possessing more
lives than even the proverbial cat.
But these hairbreadth escapes from death
were trivial compared to some of Lord
Wolseley's other experiences. Outside
Sebastopol he was giving orders to two
sappers in the trenches, when suddenly
round shot took off one mans head and
drove his jawbone into the other mans
face, to which it adhered, bespattering the
party with blood" Aug. 80 was bloody
day in the trenches.
A sortie by the Russians, successful for
the moment, made it important that the
gap opened by the attack should be re-
paired. Wolseley and two sappers be.g,ssn
the work Of repair, but their labor was
stopped by the appearance of round shot,
which struck the gabion, (which was full
of stones, and striking its contents with
terrific force, instantly killed the poor fel-
lows by his side, the head of one being
taken off, while the other was disem-
boweled." Wolseley did not escape
Thrown senseless to the ground, he lay for
time as one dead. At length he came to
himself, staggered to the Doctors hut, and
again fell unconscious. 1t was then that
the doctor said, "He's dead un" This
reused Wolseley, who, turning in his
blood, said, II am worth good many
men yet"
Tho Ntoiy iyt, ruo,pIo fbs,
casion presented shocking appearance.
The doctor fancied, after probing the
wound, that his jawbone was shattered,
but Wolsely made him pull out the sub
stance in his mouth, when large stone
came away. The surgeon then lifted up
and stitched the cheek.
Both his eyes were completely closed,
and the injury done to one of them was so
serious that the sight has been perma-
nently lost. Not square inch Of his face
but was battered and cut about, while his
body was wounded all over. just as if he
had been peppered with small shot. He
had received also severe wound on his
right leg, so both his limbs had now been
injured. The wound in the left thigh re-
ceived in Burmah rendered him slightly
lame.
Many opportunities havesince been given
him of fulfilling the instructions often de-
livered by Sir Hope Grant in China, "Take
Wolseley; he will do the work for you. "
1t is certain, too, that he has thoroughly
acted throughout life up to his own die
tum-that the only way for young man
to get on in the army is to try and get
killed in every way he possibly can.
Three years after the close of the Crimean
war Wolseley was ordered to China
Wrecked on the way, he made for India
and greatly distinguished himself in the
suppression Of the Indian mutiny. For
one of his deeds he deserved an honor
which every soldier most cherishes-thG
Victoria Cross. Lord Wolseley has him
self told the story He was leading the
storming party against the Metee MohuI
in November, 1857, which opened up the
way into the Lucknow residency, when
Private Andrews of his own company
lone of the very bravest private soldiers
: he knew, fell wounded.
Wolseley at once took the stricken man in
} his arms and made rush for shelter
Before reaching a friendly hodse, however
+ poor Andrews was again shot by bullet
intended by a rebel Sepoy for his rescuer
| The end Of the mutiny saw Wolseley, N
the age of twenty-six, lieutenant colonel
. An experience in China came after, to b.
0 followed by his appointment in 1861 ai
9 quartermaster general in Canada. Years
l of quiet elapsed until the Red River expe
dition and the Ashantee war, when Wolse
ley became known among the natives
Q against whom he fought as "the genera
5 who never stops"
He came out of the Ashantee campaign
Q n major general A rest of five year.
5 brought him to the wars in Zululand, the
Egyptian campaign, Tel el Kebir and Q
D peerage, and, in 1884, the war in the Sou
r dan, when he was only forty eight hours