General Sir Edward Selby Smyth, (31 March 1819 22 September 1896) was a British General. He served as the first General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada from 1874 to 1880.

Military career

Educated at Putney College in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Smyth was commissioned in to the 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment in 1841. He went straight to India only returning with his Regiment to England as

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

of his Battalion in 1846. He went to South Africa in 1851 to protect the administration of the

Orange River Sovereignty The Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) was a short-lived political entity between the Orange and Vaal rivers in Southern Africa, a region known informally as Transorangia. In 1854, it became the Orange Free State, and is now the Free State ...

from attack by the Basotho and Khoikhoi people. In 1853 he was made Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General of the 2nd Division in South Africa and then Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at British Army Headquarters in South Africa. In 1861 he was appointed Inspector-General of the Militia in Ireland and was involved in suppressing the early stages of the Fenian Rising. He was appointed General Officer Commanding British Troops in Mauritius in 1870. He was made General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada in 1874: he carried out the role successfully and was thanked by the Governor-General of Canada for protecting Montreal from rioting.

Family

In 1848 he married Lucy Sophia Julia Campbell, daughter of Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet and Pamela FitzGerald.

References

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Edward 1819 births 1896 deaths Military personnel from Belfast British Army generals Canadian generals Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Queen's Royal Regiment officers Commanders of the Canadian Army