John French, 1st Earl Of Ypres
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Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
officer. Born in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, he saw brief service as a
midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...
in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, before becoming a
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
officer. He achieved rapid promotion and distinguished himself on the Gordon Relief Expedition. He became a national hero during the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
. He commanded I Corps at
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
, then served as Inspector-General of the Forces, before becoming
Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...
(CIGS, the professional head of the British Army) in 1912. He helped to prepare the British Army for a possible European war, and was among those who insisted that cavalry still be trained to charge with sabre and lance. During the
Curragh incident The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland, which at the time still formed part of the ...
he had to resign as CIGS. French's most important role was as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) for the first year and a half of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. After the British suffered heavy casualties at the battles of
Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...
and Le Cateau, French wanted to withdraw the BEF from the Allied line to refit and only agreed to take part in the
First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...
after a private meeting with the
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
, Lord Kitchener, against whom he bore a grudge thereafter. In May 1915 he leaked information about shell shortages to the press in the hope of engineering Kitchener's removal. By summer 1915 French's command was being increasingly criticised in London by Kitchener and other members of the government, and by
Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...
, William Robertson and other senior generals in France. After the
Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...
, at which French's slow release of XI Corps from reserve was blamed for the failure to achieve a decisive breakthrough on the first day, Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
demanded his resignation. French was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces for 1916–1918. He then became
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...
in 1918, a position he held through much of the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
(1919–1922). During this time he published ''1914'', an inaccurate and much criticised volume of memoirs.


Early life and career


Family

French's family was related to the French/De Freyne family which had gone to present-day
County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
in the fourteenth century and had substantial estates at Frenchpark,
County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
. French always regarded himself as "Irish", although his branch of the family had lived in England since the eighteenth century.Heathcote, p. 130Holmes 2004, p. 15 His father was
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
Commander John Tracey William French, who had fought at
Navarino Navarino or Navarin may refer to: Battle * Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino, Greece, now known as Pylos Geography * Navarino is the former name of Pylos, a Greek town on the Ionian Sea, where the 1827 battle took place ** Old Na ...
and under Napier in the Portuguese Civil War. His mother was Margaret Eccles, from
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, who after suffering a breakdown following her husband's death was eventually institutionalised. She died in 1867 leaving French to be brought up by his sisters.Bond & Cave 2009, p. 52 He was educated at a Harrow preparatory school and Eastman's Royal Naval Academy at
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
before joining the Royal Navy in 1866.


Royal Navy

He joined the Royal Navy because it gave him a chance to leave home four or five years earlier than the Army. From August 1866 he trained on board the three-decker battleship HMS ''Britannia'' at Dartmouth. He obtained only an "average" certificate which required him to do a further six months of training on board the frigate HMS ''Bristol'' at
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from January 1868 before qualifying as a midshipman.Holmes 2004, pp. 17–19 In 1869 he served as a
midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...
on HMS ''Warrior'' commanded by Captain Boys, an old friend of French's father. She patrolled in the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
and off Spain and Portugal. During his service he witnessed the accidental sinking of HMS ''Captain''. He resigned from the Royal Navy in November 1870 as he was discovered to be acrophobic and to suffer from seasickness.


Early army career

French joined the Suffolk Artillery Militia in November 1870 where he was expected to put in about two months a year with the regiment. He initially failed his exams (mathematics and foreign languages) for a regular commission.Holmes 2004, pp. 20–22 He was commissioned as a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the
8th King's Royal Irish Hussars The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. ...
on 28 February 1874, but there is no evidence that he ever served with them. He transferred to the 19th Hussars on 11 March 1874 possibly as it was less expensive—following the sale of the family home at Ripple Valley French's private income of £1,000 per annum was enough to cover the £500–£600 required by his new regiment. He was posted to Aldershot Command. He became an expert hunter and steeplechaser, permanently damaging the little finger of his right hand in a fall. The 19th Hussars were posted to Ireland in June 1876. In September 1877 French was one of two lieutenants who persuaded 70 drunk and mutinous troopers, who had armed themselves with sticks and threatened "murder", to return to barracks. In 1880 the 19th were deployed to
Ballinrobe Ballinrobe () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is located on the River Robe, which empties into Lough Mask two kilometres to the west. As of the 2022 census, the population was 3,148. The town is in a civil parish of the same name. Hist ...
and
Lough Mask Lough Mask () is a limestone lake of about in Counties Mayo and Galway, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the middle of the three lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. Lough Carra flows into ...
to protect labourers ricking hay at the height of the Captain Boycott disturbances. An Irishman hamstrung French's horse with a sickle while he was sitting on it.Holmes 2004, p. 27 He became adjutant of his regiment on 1 June 1880. At that time the 19th Hussars had only one
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
but as three different men held that rank in three years (1877–1880) the resulting turnover of officers brought French his promotion to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
on 16 October 1880. He became adjutant of the Northumberland Hussars on 1 April 1881. While in Northumberland he missed out on active service: the 19th Hussars took part in the occupation of Egypt and
Battle of Tel el-Kebir The Battle of Tel El Kebir (often spelled Tel-El-Kebir) was fought on 13 September 1882 at Tell El Kebir in Egypt, 110 km north-north-east of Cairo. An entrenched Egyptian force under the command of Ahmed ʻUrabi was defeated by a British ...
(13 September 1882) but French's applications to rejoin his regiment were rejected by the
War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
.Holmes 2004, p. 29 An increase in the number of majors in the 19th Hussars brought French promotion to that rank on 3 April 1883.Holmes 2004, p. 30 These promotions (captain at the age of 28, major at 30) were relatively rapid.Bond & Cave 2009, p. 53


Sudan

French was initially expected to rejoin his regiment when they returned to Ireland, but the emergence of the Mahdi in the Sudan required them to fight Mahdist forces near Suakin. French rejoined the regiment when they returned to
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
in October 1884. French took part in the Sudan expedition to relieve Major-General Charles Gordon in 1884. He was second-in-command to his friend Lieutenant Colonel Percy Barrow, with the cavalry which accompanied Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Stewart as he took the short route across 176 miles of desert. Most of the cavalry work was in reconnaissance and warding off Dervish raids, although they did—at a walk—pursue the retreating enemy after the
Battle of Abu Klea The Battle of Abu Klea, also known as the Battle of Abu Tulayh, took place between 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Muhammad Ahmad, Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea. The Desert Column, a for ...
in January 1885. By the time they reached the Nile the horses had not been watered for between 56 and 72 hours. During the retreat back across the desert via Jakdul (the expedition had reached
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
too late to save Gordon) French led a rearguard of thirteen men, warding off Dervish attacks and impressing
Redvers Buller General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief ...
and Sir Garnet Wolseley. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 7 February 1885. Once again, this was an unusually early promotion, and he was appointed second-in-command of the 19th Hussars. His experience of handling cavalry with scarce water would stand him in good stead in South Africa. In January 1886 he briefly acted as Commanding Officer when Colonel Barrow died, but French was considered too young for the position, and Colonel Boyce Combe was transferred in. From June 1886 to April 1888 French was stationed at
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
with the regiment. He became Commanding Officer of the 19th Hussars on 27 September 1888. He impressed Evelyn Wood by his initiative in organising his regiment into squadrons.


India and divorce scandal

He was promoted brevet
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
(7 February 1889), and was posted to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
in September 1891.Heathcote, p. 131 There, at cavalry camp during an exercise in November 1891, he first met Captain
Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...
, with whose career his own was to be entwined for the next 25 years. French became Assistant Adjutant-General of Cavalry in 1893. In India serving initially at
Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...
and
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, French worked as a staff officer under Sir George Luck, a noted trainer of cavalry, albeit with perhaps an excessive emphasis on parade-ground drill. French commanded a brigade of Indian Cavalry on manoeuvres near
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
in January 1893. He seems not to have acquired the deep affection for India common in officers who served there. French's wife did not accompany him to India (they seem to have lived apart for a while after his return from Egypt). When commanding the 19th Hussars in India, French was cited for adultery with the wife of a brother officer during his leave in the Indian hills; he was lucky this did not terminate his career.Reid 2006, p. 53 There were also unsubstantiated rumours that French had had affairs with the daughter of an Anglo-Indian railway official and also, earlier in his career, with his commanding officer's wife.Holmes 2004, p. 372 A later tale, that he had once been the lover of the Irish nationalist Maud Gonne, appeared in
Mary Colum Mary Catherine Gunning Colum ( Maguire; 13 June 1884 – 22 October 1957) was an Irish literary critic and author, who also co-founded a literary journal. Biography Mary Catherine Gunning Maguire was born in Collooney, County Sligo, the ...
's ''Life and the Dream'' (1947), although his biographer comments that it "lacks firm evidence". He was on half-pay in 1893–1895, possibly as a result of the Indian divorce scandal, and reduced to bicycling with his sons as he could not afford to keep horses. According to his son Gerald he would hop alongside the bicycle as he never mastered the art of mounting it.


Career saved twice

Two years on half pay would normally have meant compulsory retirement but in autumn 1894 he temporarily commanded a cavalry brigade on the manoeuvres in the Vale of the White Horse in Berkshire. French commented that the role of modern cavalry was not to "cut and hack and thrust" but rather to herd the enemy within range of friendly artillery. His handling of the brigade was seen as one of the few successful parts of the manoeuvres. He was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General at Army Headquarters on 24 August 1895, writing a new cavalry training manual (in practice extensively assisted by Captain
Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...
). French went on to be Commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade at
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
on 1 May 1897 and Commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade at Aldershot Command on 12 January 1899. Haig, recently returned from the Sudan War, was French's brigade major at Aldershot. French was promoted to temporary major-general early in 1899. There were some accusations that these promotions, for a man whose career had so recently nearly ended, relied too much on powerful patrons. Early in 1899, at his own request, French borrowed £2,500, in a formal contract with interest, from Haig. He was within 24 hours of bankruptcy—which would have required him to resign his commission—after unwise investments in South African mining shares (Transvaal Golds), which crashed in value as war loomed. Richard Holmes believed the loan was never repaid, but Haig's biographer Walter Reid believes that the loan was probably repaid in 1909.


Boer War


Early war


Arrival

French embarked from Southampton for the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
on 23 September 1899, inviting Haig to share his cabin. War had not yet officially been declared when French put to sea. British troops were being sent in the hope of intimidating President
Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...
of the Transvaal into granting equal voting rights to the Uitlanders—non-
Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...
settlers—which would break the Boer stronghold on political power. It had the opposite effect, as the Boers issued their own ultimatum on 9 October, while the British troops were still at sea, in the hope of provoking an anti-British rising by the Boers of the British-ruled
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
. He was appointed both a major-general on the staff and a local major-general. French arrived at
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
on 11 October. He had expected to command a cavalry brigade under Lieutenant-General George White in Natal, White also had the equivalent of a division of infantry but Colonel Brocklehurst was appointed to this command, while French and Haig were ordered to proceed to Natal "for the present" after receiving a cable from the War Office, which they guessed correctly meant that they were to take charge of the Cavalry Division when Buller's Army Corps arrived. After steaming to
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
French and Haig arrived in Ladysmith at 5:40am on 20 October, just as hostilities were beginning.


Elandslaagte

On the morning of his arrival, French was ordered to investigate reports that the Boers had taken Elandslaagte. Taking with him the 5th Lancers, six squadrons of Natal Carbineers and
Natal Mounted Rifles NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...
, a battery of field artillery and a brigade of infantry under Colonel Ian Hamilton, he made contact with the Boers at 13:00 that day. White was initially cautious but on 21 October, having learned of Symons' victory at
Talana Talana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy. The town is located above a valley, at an elevation of almost . The area has been occupied since the Bronze Age, with many nuraghes nearby. It was part of the Giudicato of ...
the previous day, he permitted French to attack. Concerned at French's lack of experience at commanding infantry, White initially proposed that his chief of staff Maj-Gen Archibald Hunter take command, but Hunter advised that French should be left in command. White himself came merely to observe. French enjoyed numerical superiority of around 3:1. Elandslaagte saw British cavalry charge with the lance, cutting down fleeing Boers amid gory scenes described by one British officer as "most excellent pig-sticking". This was portrayed as proving the continued relevance of cavalry charges, but in fact owed much to the success of Hamilton's preceding infantry attack and the fact that the charge was carried out at dusk. French celebrated the anniversary of this small battle for the rest of his life and it was seized on by the press in Britain. That night White ordered all British forces to fall back on Ladysmith, where it was soon clear that they were about to be besieged by the combined Transvaal and
Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
forces. French spent much of 26 and 27 October patrolling around the advancing Boer forces. On 30 October his cavalry fought dismounted at Lombard's Kop north-east of Ladysmith; this was the right flank of three unsuccessful actions—the others being Nicholson's Nek and an infantry action at Long Hill in the centre which ended in near-rout—fought by White's troops on "Mournful Monday". Although French pointed out that cavalry were unlikely to be of much use in a besieged town, White refused him permission to break out. On 2 November, after he had spent the morning on a raid on a Boer laager, French received orders to leave Ladysmith. French and Haig escaped under fire on the last train out as the Boer siege began; Boers tore up the track minutes after the train passed. Steaming from Durban on 3 November, he arrived at Cape Town on 8 November, meeting with Buller, whose Army Corps was then arriving.


Colesberg operations

French was initially ordered to assemble the Cavalry Division at Maitland, near Cape Town. Now a local
lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
like Buller's other four division commanders, he was then ordered to take command of forces covering the Colesberg area, filling the gap between
Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen Field Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen, (1 September 1845 – 30 October 1932), was a British Army officer. He served in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War in 1873 and then in the expedition of Sir Charles Warren to Bechuanaland in t ...
's division (operating at Orange River Station, with a view to relieving
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
and Mafeking) and William Forbes Gatacre's Division at Stormberg. On 18 November he went up to De Aar, nearer the front, to confer with Maj-Gen Andrew Gilbert Wauchope, in charge of the lines of communication. French arrived at Naawpoort on the afternoon of 20 November, and personally led a reconnaissance the following morning. The Boer force of General Hendrik Schoeman had been reinforced by local Boers, and French, not strong enough to attack Arundel directly, conducted an active defence. At one stage, in late November and until 14 December, he was also required to extend his forces east to Rosmead to protect the railway to
Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...
. A Boer penetration here would have cut off Cape Colony from Natal. French was proud of having kept the initiative over the Boers despite his force of 2,000 men being outnumbered two to one. French's subordinate Colonel T. C. Porter won a small action near Vaal Kop on 13 December, but the Boers captured that place on 16 December, causing French to go forward and take personal command. Around this time he offered to cancel his plans to advance on Colesberg and lend his cavalry to Methuen, who had been defeated at Magersfontein, but this was rejected as there was insufficient water even for Methuen's own horses in the sector. Between Field Marshal Frederick Roberts' appointment as Commander-in-Chief on 17 December 1899 (following the defeats of Black Week) and arrival at Cape Town on 10 January, French was the only senior British commander to conduct active operations. Although Schoeman's force had grown further in size, he had lost the confidence of his subordinates and, after a Boer council of war, fell back on a strong position surrounded by hills at Colesberg (29 December) just as French had been preparing to outflank him. French instead (1 January 1900) pinned down the Boer forces and turned their right flank (the British left). The fighting went on until 25 January, with French several times attempting to turn the Boer flanks but pulling back as his forces ran into resistance. French did not succeed in capturing Colesberg, but he had prevented a Boer invasion of the Cape and tied down Boer forces which might have been used elsewhere.
Leo Amery Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery (22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955), also known as L. S. Amery, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and journalist. During his career, he was known for his interest in ...
's ''Times History'', highly critical of British generalship during this period, later wrote of his "almost unbroken series of successes", showing grasp of tactics. Cavalry—often fighting dismounted—never made up more than half of his force, and were usually outnumbered three-to-one by Boer cavalry. There were some accusations that French was a glory-hunter.


Under Roberts


Cavalry Division

French was one of the few senior officers to be retained by Roberts. Roberts summoned French to Cape Town on 29 January to inquire about expenditure of horses and ammunition around Colesberg. French came away with the impression that he had "only with difficulty persuaded (Roberts and Kitchener) on 29 January to send the Cavalry Division and himself in command of it". French's insecurity was increased by this turn of events—not only did he belong to the wrong faction in the Army—the followers of Wolseley and Buller—now in eclipse, but he had up until now been denied command both of the cavalry brigade in Natal and the Cavalry Division (instead being given ''ad hoc'' forces to command in both cases). French was affectionate about "dear old Bobs" but sometimes took a dim view of his military abilities. He correctly predicted that the centralisation of transport would lead to a collapse in supply arrangements.Holmes 2004, p. 84 French disliked William Nicholson, under whose control Roberts had centralised all transport, and retained autonomy for Cavalry Division transport. Unlike Roberts, French and Haig believed that cavalry should still be trained to charge with steel as well as to fight dismounted with firearms. They appreciated the value of good colonial troops and trained Mounted Infantry, but had already insisted that the
New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was a brigade of the New Zealand Army during the First World War. Raised in 1914 as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, it was one of the first New Zealand units to sail for service overseas. T ...
fix bayonets to their carbines to use as lances, and were sceptical about the Colonial "Skallywag" units which Roberts was raising. Roberts also appointed Charles Hay, 20th Earl of Erroll as Assistant Adjutant-General (AAG) of the Cavalry Division, with Haig, to whom Buller had promised the job, as his deputy—French did his best to bypass Erroll and work through Haig. On 31 January French returned to the Colesberg front to break up his old command, leaving Maj-Gen Ralph Arthur Penrhyn Clements to cover the Colesberg area with a mixed force.


March to relieve Kimberley

Kitchener ordered French (10 February) "The cavalry must relieve Kimberley at all costs". French promised Roberts that if he were still alive he would be in Kimberley, where the civilian population was urging Colonel Robert Kekewich to surrender, in five days. French's Cavalry Division consisted of three cavalry brigades and two brigades of mounted infantry, although the latter did not accompany them when they broke camp at 3 am on 11 March—a separate provisional brigade of mounted infantry was provided instead. Roberts gave an inspirational speech to French's brigade and regimental commanders. Rather than cross the Modder River directly (Kimberley lay around 25 miles north-east), they made an envelopment move: first over 20 miles south to Ramdam, then about 15 miles east to seize the Riet River Crossings, then about 25 miles (roughly north-north-east) to Klip Drift on the Modder, then another 20 miles north-west to Kimberley. This was to be accomplished across arid land in five days, with much of the travel by moonlight as it was the middle of summer. French carried only six days' rations for the men and five days' forage for the horses. The force left Ramdam at 2 am on 12 February, with only 4,000 horsemen rather than the 8,000 he had expected to have, but French felt he had to push on rather than wait for straggling units to catch up (the brigades' staffs were all new, and brigadiers only joined their units in the course of the march). De Kiel's Drift on the Riet was seized by mid afternoon—French ordered his cavalry to gallop for it as soon as he saw the way was clear—but the crossing was soon in what Haig called "an indescribable state of confusion" as Roberts had neglected to order priority for Cavalry Division baggage. Kitchener, arriving in the evening, ordered French to seize Waterval Drift, another crossing a few miles to the northwest where he had left a brigade masking a small Boer force under
Christiaan de Wet Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician. Life Born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, he later resided at ...
. Although this was done, the advance could not be resumed until 10.30am on 13 February, and accompanied by five baggage wagons which had managed to get through the logjam at De Kiel's Drift.


Klip Drift

French's division moved in line of squadron columns across a five-mile wide front, halting between 12.30 and 1 pm at the well at Blauuwboschpan, where he left a garrison to hold until the infantry arrived. He brushed aside a small Boer force (perhaps 300 men) which attempted to block his path to the Modder River, but concerned that he might be attacked from the east by de Wet's main force, moved quickly at 2 pm to seize the crossings at Rondeval and Klip Drift (he aimed to at least threaten two crossings to avoid the delay which had happened at De Kiel's Drift). By 5 pm he was able to send a galloper to Roberts with the message that he was across the Modder. He had lost only three men wounded, although 40 horses had died of exhaustion and over 500 were incapable of further work. French then had to wait a day while Thomas Kelly-Kenny's 6th Infantry Division made a forced march from the Riet Crossings to the Modder Crossings, during which time Piet Cronje, believing French's advance to be a feint, missed an opportunity to reinforce the area. Equipped with three days' supplies, French resumed his advance at 9.30 am on 15 February. At Abon's Dam, five miles north of the Modder, French sent his cavalry, supported by the fire of 56 guns, charging up a valley between two Boer held ridges. The charge was led by the 9th and 16th Lancers. The Boer riflemen, perhaps 600 in number, were able to achieve little at ranges of 1,000 yards. Amery's ''Times History'' later wrote "the charge at Klip Drift marks an epoch in the history of cavalry", arguing that French had "divined" that a cavalry charge made with "reckless, dare-devil confidence" could cut through a line of "unseen" enemy infantry who could have resisted a cautious attack by British infantry. The ''Official History'' called it "the most brilliant stroke of the war". He was also later praised by the cavalry writer Erskine Childers and by the German history of the campaign, which cited Klip Drift as evidence that cavalry could still charge infantry armed with magazine rifles. These claims were exaggerated. French had attacked a thinly-held part of the line, under cover of artillery fire and dust clouds, inflicting only 20 Boer casualties to sword and lance (as opposed to 60 at Elandslaagte). French himself saw it as a triumph of the cavalry spirit rather than a charge with cold steel ''per se''. French entered Kimberley at 6 pm on 15 February, and was entertained at the Sanatorium by
Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...
, who soon persuaded him to relieve Kekewich, the military commander of the town. Holmes cites this as an evidence of French's tendency to take against people based only on superficial evidence. French was congratulated by Roberts, and
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
praised the cavalry's "brilliant success". For his success with the relief, French was promoted for distinguished service in the field on 21 February 1900, from substantive colonel to supernumerary major-general, and to local
lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
. Although French was later criticised for attacking the Boers around Kimberley on 16 February, Roberts' orders to pursue the retreating Cronje did not reach him owing to a cut telegraph line, and there is no evidence that Roberts made further efforts to contact him, although French
heliograph A heliograph () is a solar telegraph system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code from the 1840s) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a s ...
ed to request orders.


Paardeberg

Orders to pursue Cronje were hand-delivered to French at 10 pm on 16 February. French had only 1,500 mounted men and 12 guns fit for duty, but, setting out at 3 am on 17 February, he and Robert Broadwood led an advanced guard on a forced march, twice as fast as Cronje's force, to intercept them at 10 am as they tried to cross the Modder at Vendutie Drift (around 30 miles from Kimberley). Outnumbered three to one, and with another 2,000 Boers close by, French held his position long enough for the British infantry to catch up with Cronje's army at Paardeberg. French was too far away to interfere in the
Battle of Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Ford (crossing), Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free St ...
, although he sent a message urging caution—Kitchener ignored this and launched a disastrous frontal assault on 18 February. French spent the day holding off Boers who attempted to reinforce Cronje's force. French also prevented the main Boer field army from escaping across the Modder River after the battle.


Poplar Grove

Cronje at last surrendered his field army to Roberts on 27 February. On the morning of Klip Drift French had had 5,027 horses, but by 28 February exhaustion had reduced this number to 3,553. As Roberts prepared to advance on
Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
, French was now, on 6 March, ordered to take his division and two Mounted Infantry Brigades and swing seventeen miles around the left flank of the Boer position at Poplar Grove on the Modder River, while Roberts' main force prepared to attack them from the front. Although French now had 5,665 horses again, many of these were of poor quality and sick, and he was short of fodder. On the basis of incorrect information from Colonel Richardson, Director of Supplies, who had not realised that sick horses were also entitled to fodder, Roberts gave French a dressing-down in front of his brigadiers, for consuming too many supplies. This was probably a turning point in their relationship. French led his men out of camp at 3 am on 7 March, amid confusion as Kelly-Kenny's Division, which was supposed to follow his, had started an hour earlier owing to unclear orders. The moon had set and French had to halt between 5 am and 5.45 am to await daybreak. By 7 am he had reached Kalkfontein Dam, a march of 12 miles, and spent 45 minutes watering his horses. By 7.30 am the Boers began to retreat from their position. Roberts later blamed French for failing to cut them off (and missing a chance to capture President
Kruger Krüger, Krueger, Kreuger‘’’’ or Kruger (without the umlaut ü) are German surnames originating from '' Krüger'', meaning tavern-keeper in Low German and potter in Central German and Upper German, both associated with the Germanic wor ...
). French argued that his horses were too weak to do more than trot, and that he was not strong enough as Kelly-Kenny's men had not yet arrived. He concentrated his Division for a pursuit, but even then was beaten off by the Boer rearguard. The ''Official History'' supported French's decision, although some felt that French was giving less than wholehearted co-operation after his unjustified public rebuke over the fodder issue. Holmes suggests that French carried out a plan in which he had no confidence because of Roberts' reputation for ruthlessness with unsatisfactory officers. French and Haig were sceptical about the riding abilities of Mounted Infantry, and felt that Roberts was wasting too many horses on them (Haig letter to his sister 16 March 1900) and that the cavalry had been "practically starving" since 11 February. Bloemfontein fell on 13 March, and soon suffered an outbreak of
typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
. In an implicit criticism of Roberts, French recorded (22 March 1900) that there "would be a grand opportunity for a great strategist at the head of affairs". With Roberts' main army immobilised by disease at Bloemfontein, de Wet was still active making raids around the British periphery. Roberts eventually (20 March) sent French with a single cavalry brigade and some guns and Mounted Infantry in a vain attempt to intercept Jan Hendrik Olivier's column (numbering 6,000–7,000 men) at Thaba 'Nchu.Holmes 2004, pp. 102–03 French made another raid to Karee Siding (29 March)—but until the middle of April he devoted most of his energies to inspecting the horses, many of them Argentinian, with which his division was being remounted. French was summoned to see Roberts (5 April 1900), who told him (5 April 1900) that the fighting at Poplar Grove proved that the future lay with Mounted Infantry. French wrote to Colonel Lonsdale Hale, former professor at Staff College (12 April 1900), for speaking out for the idea of cavalry against the "chatter and cackle" of its opponents, quoting the opinion of a German officer that Mounted Infantry were too poor at riding to fight effectively. French also clashed with Edward Hutton (14 April) when he asked for French's cavalry to be used to relieve his mounted infantry on outpost duty.


Kroonstad

On the march to Pretoria (early May 1900) French's three brigades made up the left wing of Roberts' main thrust. (Other thrusts were by Bryan Mahon and Archibald Hunter over the Bechuanaland border, by Buller up from Natal and a semi-independent command under Hamilton, which might have been French's had he not been out of favour.) French lost another 184 of his still unacclimatised horses making—on Roberts' orders—a forced march to the Vet River.
Louis Botha Louis Botha ( , ; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Africa, prime minister of the Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war v ...
was now making a stand along the River Zand, in front of the Orange Free State's temporary capital at
Kroonstad Kroonstad ( in Afrikaans) is a town in Free State, South Africa, consisting of the following suburbs: Brentpark, Constantia, Constantia Park, Dawid Malanville, Elandia, Gelukwaarts, Goedgedacht, Heuningspruit, Industria, Jordania, Koek ...
. French was ordered to encircle Botha from the left, accompanied by Hutton's Mounted Infantry, while Broadwood struck from the right. Roberts over-ruled French's wish to make a wide encirclement and ordered a shallower one—this lost the advantage of surprise, and Botha pulled his forces back so that French ran into strong resistance on 10 May. Roberts now ordered French to pull back and make a deeper encirclement as he had originally proposed, with a view to cutting the railway behind Kroonstad. However, French's cavalry were now too tired, after an advance of forty miles, to achieve much, and Botha's army escaped. The ''Times History'' later praised French's rapidity of movement but criticised him—unfairly in Richard Holmes' view—for failure to concentrate his forces.


Transvaal

Roberts halted in Kroonstad to repair the railway and refit between 12 and 22 May. New horses arrived for French, but a third of them were unfit for action, and French and Hutton were only able to muster 2,330 effectives. French and Hamilton were now sent to threaten Johannesburg from the left. Roberts entered
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
(31 May) and
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
(5 June), although without pressing Botha to a decisive battle in either case. French correctly dismissed talk of victory as premature, and continued to spend much of his time inspecting remounts—the job of Director of Remounts at
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
had been given to an incompetent and manic depressive officer, who eventually shot himself. French played a key role at the victory over Botha at Diamond Hill (11–12 June) in the north-east Transvaal. French, leading one of his own brigades in the usual encircling movement, came under heavy fire—a medical major was shot at his side—but held his position despite Roberts' permission to withdraw. In mid-July French operated against de Wet's guerrilla force around Pretoria, although he did not understand that this was an autonomous force, and advised Roberts that the best defence would be to continue to attack Botha's main army. French was then recalled to take part in another attack on Botha's army, but once again Roberts vetoed French's proposal of a deeper encirclement (on the British right this time), allowing Botha's army to escape. In late July 1900 Reginald Pole-Carew, commander of 11th Division, refused to accept French's orders. French at first asked to be relieved of responsibility for Pole-Carew's sector, but matters were patched up after what French described as a "somewhat stormy" meeting.


Barberton

By August 1900 the Boer forces had been pushed into the northeast Transvaal. French was holding a position beyond Middelburg, maintaining moral ascendancy over the enemy by active probing and patrolling as he had around Colesberg earlier in the year. Roberts' plan was to push slowly eastward along the Pretoria-Lourenço Marques railway connecting Pretoria with the sea, while he ordered French to co-operate with Buller as he marched up from Natal. French wrote (24 August) "We sadly want someone in Chief Command here". Roberts at first refused French permission to concentrate the Cavalry Division for an outflanking move towards Barberton, an important Boer depot, and when he at last gave permission in late August Botha's force had retreated too far to be encircled as French had intended. Barberton is surrounded by 3,000 foot mountains, and French once again made a bold encircling move—first (9 September) south from the railway to Carolina, deceiving the Boer commandos that he intended to move southwest. He then moved back, and personally led his 1st Cavalry Brigade up a bridle path through the mountains ready to attack Barberton from the west. As soon as Henry Jenner Scobell, who had been sent around with two squadrons of the
Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the Army of Scotland that became a regiment of the British Army in 1707 upon the Union of Scotland and England, continuing until 1971 when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of ...
, heliographed that he had cut the railway, French led his men down into the town. Scobell captured £10,000 in gold and notes, while French telegraphed to Roberts: "Have captured forty engines, seventy wagons of stores, eighty women all in good working order". Boer sniping from the hills ceased after French threatened to withdraw his men and shell the town. The war seemed over as Kruger left the country on 11 September 1900 (he sailed to the Netherlands from Portuguese
Lourenço Marques Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
on 19 November 1900). French was promoted from supernumerary to substantive major-general on 9 October 1900, while continuing to hold the local rank of lieutenant-general.


Under Kitchener


Johannesburg Area

French's colonials were sent home and replaced by regular Mounted Infantry. Roberts told French that the Cavalry Division was to be broken up, although he would retain "nominal command", and gave him command of
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
Area.Holmes 2004, pp. 110–11 On 17 December 1900 Pieter Hendrik Kritzinger and J. B. M. Hertzog invaded Cape Colony, hoping to stir up rebellion among the Cape Boers. French had only 22,000 men, of whom 13,000 were combatants, to fight 20,000 Boer guerrillas. By April 1901, French's eight columns had captured 1,332 Boers. French was appointed a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
(KCB), for his role in the conventional phases of the war (the award was dated 29 November 1900 and gazetted in April 1901, but French did not receive the decoration itself until an audience with King
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...
at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
on 8 August 1902).Holmes 2004, p. 118


Cape Colony

On 1 June 1901 Kitchener ordered French to take command in
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
.Holmes 2004, pp. 112–14 He was ordered to use "''severity''" against captured rebels—this was intended to complement lenient treatment for those who surrendered voluntarily.
Alfred Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British politician, statesman and colonial administrator who played a very important role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-189 ...
had already warned French not to treat every Cape Boer as a rebel unless it was proven so. French, who had lost several friends during the war, believed that stern measures would help end matters more quickly. French even forced the inhabitants of Middelburg to watch one hanging, incurring a concerned inquiry from St John Brodrick (
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
). During this period of the war—conducting "drives" across the country for Boer guerrillas, and eventually dividing up the country with barbed wire and imprisoning Boer civilians in camps—French had to struggle with out-of-date information, and trying to maintain communications between British forces by
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
, heliograph and dispatch rider. Kritzinger was driven out of the Cape in mid-August 1901, and Harry Scobell captured Johannes Lötter's commando (5 September 1901). On 7 September
Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...
defeated a squadron of Haig's
17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regim ...
at Elands River Poort. Gideon Scheepers was captured on 11 October.Holmes 2004, p. 115


Relations with Kitchener

French had a serious personality clash with the ascetic Kitchener, worsened by both men's obstinacy; French would later have a poor relationship with Kitchener during the First World War. Although he had been unimpressed by his handling of Paardeberg, he seems to have broadly welcomed his appointment as Commander-in-Chief, not least because he was not as opposed as Roberts to the "arme blanche". In August 1900 Kitchener praised French to the Duke of York (later
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
) and wrote to Roberts that French was "quite first rate, and has the absolute confidence of all serving under him, as well as mine".Holmes 2004, p. 111 Kitchener wrote to Roberts praising French for the capture of Lötter's commando, but by 17 January 1902 he wrote to Roberts "French has not done much lately in the colony. I cannot make out why, the country is no doubt difficult but I certainly expected more." After meeting French at Nauuwport Kitchener recorded (14 February 1902) "he was quite cheerful and happy about progress made, though it appears to me slow". Ian Hamilton, now Kitchener's chief of staff, wrote that French was "very much left to his own devices ... he was one of the few men that Kitchener had trusted to do a job on his own". Kitchener later wrote of French "his willingness to accept responsibility, and his bold and sanguine disposition have relieved me from many anxieties". Kitchener wrote of him to Roberts: "French is the most thoroughly loyal, energetic soldier I have, and all under him are devoted to him—not because he is lenient, but because they admire his soldier-like qualities".Holmes 2004, p. 119


War ends

Roberts (now
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, later Commander-in-Chief, British Army, or just Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), was (intermittently) the title of the professional head of the English Army from 1660 to 1707 (the English Army, founded in 1645, wa ...
) ordered French to convene a committee to report on cavalry tactics; French accepted that cavalry should fight dismounted with firearms, but that they needed a better sword.Holmes 2004, p. 155 French was appointed (23 October 1901) to command 1st Army Corps at
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
, in place of the disgraced Buller. French wrote to thank Roberts, to whose recommendation he guessed – correctly – that he owed the job, but also wrote to Buller, stressing that he had not been ''offered'' the position, but had been appointed to it by the King. The report on cavalry tactics (8 November 1901) demanded an effective rifle for cavalry rather than the existing carbine, but only as a "secondary" weapon. Roberts ordered cavalry to give up their steel weapons for the duration of the campaign, over the protests of French. In early November 1901 French, who was by now reliant on methodical operations and excellent field Intelligence, was infuriated by Kitchener's attempt to micromanage operations. In March French had expected the war to drag on until September 1902, but Kritzinger was captured in mid-November. The war ended at the start of June 1902, after over a month of negotiations. French and Lord Kitchener returned to Southampton on 12 July 1902, and received an enthusiastic welcome with thousands of people lining the streets of London for their procession. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
(KCMG) in recognition of his services in South Africa, an unusual award for a soldier. He also received honorary degrees from
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and Cambridge Universities and the freedom of a number of cities and livery companies.


Edwardian period


Corps Commander, Aldershot

French was promoted to permanent
lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
for distinguished service in the field on 22 August 1902. In September 1902, he accompanied Lord Roberts and St John Brodrick, Secretary of State for War, to
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
to attend the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
maneuvers as guest of Emperor
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
. French took office as Commander of 1st Army Corps at Aldershot Command, from 15 September 1902. He attracted the attention of Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher when he testified before the Elgin Commission.Bond & Cave 2009, p. 59 Esher reported to the King that he regarded French as the outstanding soldier of his generation, both as a field commander and a thinker. However,
Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...
the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, blocked French's appointment to the Esher Committee. French was proposed as a potential
Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
in 1903–04. Esher wrote "he has never failed" while Admiral John Arbuthnot Fisher—who stressed French's excellent record in South Africa, his skill as a judge of men, and his openness to army-navy operations—wrote "plump for French and efficiency", although Fisher hoped that French would be an ally in opposing Army plans for deploying an expeditionary force to Europe. French's appointment was—to his relief, as he did not relish having to fight with H. O. Arnold-Forster over his mooted reforms—vetoed by the King, who thought him too junior. Esher pressed Neville Lyttelton, who was appointed instead, to give French as free a hand as possible.Holmes 2004, pp. 124–25 French had been insisting since January 1904 that, irrespective of what reforms the War Secretaries were pushing through, I Corps should be the Army's main strike force with at least one of its divisions kept up to strength for service overseas, and managed to force his view through the Army Council in August 1904. French may have privately shared the doubts which others had about his intellectual capacity, but Esher wrote of him that his grasp of strategy and tactics broadened, and, although naturally gregarious, he became more aloof and solitary as he prepared himself for high command. In 1904 French urged the adoption of the
Ordnance QF 18-pounder The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the World War I, Fi ...
on Esher. He also recognised the importance of
howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
s. At the 1904 Manoeuvres French commanded an "invasion force" which advanced inland from
Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea, often simply called Clacton, is a seaside town and seaside resort, resort in the county of Essex, on the east coast of England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District, wi ...
—many horses and supplies were lost, which apparently persuaded French that an enemy would find it hard to invade Britain successfully.Holmes 2004, p. 139 In October 1904 French won Fisher's approval with a paper on the strategic importance of the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
. French threatened resignation unless his aide de camp Major Algy Lawson, who had not attended Staff College, was appointed Brigade major of the 1st Cavalry Brigade. He suspected a
War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
plot led by the rising staff officers Henry Rawlinson and Henry Wilson, whom at this stage he distrusted. Despite being advised by Esher that this was not a sufficiently serious matter to justify such obstinacy, French got his way (December 1904) by threatening to appeal to the King. He also got his way over a similar matter involving Esher's son Lt Maurice Brett, who served as French's ADC, and on this occasion did approach the King's secretary (February 1905). French was given General Officer Commanding-in-Chief status at Aldershot on 1 June 1905. He was on the Committee of Imperial Defence in 1905, possibly because of his willingness to consider amphibious operations including at various times, in the Baltic and on the Belgian Coast. Philpott discusses French's significant influence on pre-war strategic planning.Bond & Cave 2009, pp. 56–57 He generally confined his advice to practical questions such as the difficulties of keeping horses at sea for long periods. French had a poor regard for staff officers and had poor relations with the general staff. At one meeting of the CID he became speechless with rage while listening to Neville Lyttelton proposing that
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
could be defended by warships in the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
.Holmes 2004, pp. 135–36 On 19 December 1905 and 6 January 1906, as a result of the
First Moroccan Crisis The First Moroccan Crisis or the Tangier Crisis was an international crisis between March 31, 1905, and April 7, 1906, over the status of Morocco. Germany wanted to challenge France's growing control over Morocco, aggravating France and Great Br ...
, French was one of a four-man committee convened by Esher to discuss war planning: the options were purely naval operations, an amphibious landing in the Baltic, or a deployment of an expeditionary force to France. At the second meeting French presented a plan for deployment to France or Belgium ten days after mobilisation, possibly mobilising on French territory to save time. Although French helped to draw up deployment plans as asked, it is not entirely clear from the surviving documents that he wholeheartedly supported such a commitment to France ("WF"—"With France"—as this scheme was known) until he was eventually persuaded by Henry Wilson, and he did not entirely rule out an amphibious landing in the Baltic. He also maintained an interest in a possible deployment to
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
. French generally had good relation with Richard Haldane, the new
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
, but lobbied him against cutting two Guards battalions (the Liberals had been elected on a platform of retrenchment). In February 1906 French told Major-General James Grierson (Director of Military Operations) that he was to be Commander-in-Chief of the BEF during the next war, with Grierson as his chief of staff. He had meetings with Grierson throughout March until the Moroccan crisis was resolved. French told the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' (12 May 1906) that a force of trained volunteers would deter an enemy invasion. In June 1906 French still believed that another war scare might come soon, and in July he attended
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
manoeuvres in Champagne, by which he was impressed, although he was less impressed by the
Belgian Army The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the Land warfare, land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land ...
. On this trip he was accused of giving unauthorised interviews to the French press, after uttering what Grierson called "a few platitudes" to the ''
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'' correspondent.Holmes 2004, p. 143 Haldane confirmed to Esher (26 September 1906) that French was to be Commander-in-Chief of the BEF during the next war.Holmes 2004, p. 138 He visited France unofficially in November 1906 in an attempt to improve his French, although he never became fluent in the language. A Special Army Order of 1 January 1907 laid down that in the event of war Britain would send an Expeditionary force of six infantry and one cavalry division to assist the French. French was promoted to full general on 12 February 1907. In the summer of 1907 he entertained General Victor-Constant Michel, French Commander-in-Chief designate, at Aldershot to observe British manoeuvres.Holmes 2004, p. 144


Cavalry controversy

French testified to the Elgin Commission that cavalry should be trained to shoot but that the sword and
lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...
should remain their main weapons. Hutton wrote to French that cavalry should retain some shock capacity but that the real issue was recruiting "professional" officers in place of the present aristocratic ones. French strongly disagreed, although he remained on friendly terms with Hutton and recognised that the expense of being a cavalry officer deterred many able young men.Holmes 2004, pp. 155–157 The Adjutant-General's memorandum (10 March 1903) recommended the retention of the sword but not the lance. Haig's heavily traditional "Cavalry Training" appeared in 1904, leaning heavily on the 1898 Cavalry Drill Book which he had helped French to write, although with a "reforming" preface by Roberts. In response to a request from Arnold-Forster, French submitted a memorandum (7 March 1904) arguing that cavalry still needed to fight the old-fashioned way as a European War would begin with a "great cavalry battle". He also sent a copy to the King. In response to Roberts' claim that he wanted to give cavalry the ability to act independently, French wrote in the margin that the campaigns of early 1900 ''had'' seen cavalry acting independently, although he replied politely that their differences were not as great as Roberts seemed to think. Roberts had the support of Kitchener (who thought cavalry should be able to seize and hold positions, but not to roam about the battlefield looking for enemy cavalry), but he was away as
Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...
. French's memorandum was supported by Robert Baden-Powell (Inspector-General of Cavalry), Sir Francis Grenfell (who commented that he had not spoken to any junior officer who agreed with Roberts) and by Evelyn Wood. In February 1905, after Roberts' removal as Commander-in-Chief, the Army Council authorised the publication of Haig's "Cavalry Training" but without Roberts' preface, although the lance was declared abolished as a weapon of war—a decision ignored by French, who allowed his lancer regiments at Aldershot to carry the lance in field training. The first edition of the ''Cavalry Journal'' appeared in 1906, promoted by C. S. Goldman, an admirer of French. It was put on an official basis in 1911.Holmes 2004, p. 160 Lieutenant General Friedrich von Bernhardi's ''Cavalry in Future Wars'' was published in 1906, with a preface by French, repeating his arguments that cold steel gave the cavalry moral superiority, and that the next war would see an opening clash of cavalry. French also claimed that Russian cavalry in the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
had come off worse as they were too willing to fight dismounted—this was the opposite of the truth.Bond & Cave 2009, p. 54 The new edition of ''Cavalry Training'' in 1907 reaffirmed that cold steel was the main weapon of the cavalry. However, at the end of the 1908 Manoeuvres French criticised cavalry's poor dismounted work, and—to Haig's annoyance—declared that the rifle was cavalry's main weapon. He also noted that infantry lacked a doctrine for the final stages of their attack, as they closed with the enemy—something which was to prove a problem in the middle years of the Great War. The lance was formally reinstated in June 1909. However, in his 1909 Inspection Report French again criticised cavalry's poor dismounted work. Although French believed that the "cavalry spirit" gave them an edge in action, his tendency to identify with his subordinates—in this case the cavalry, whose identity seemed under threat—and to take disagreements personally caused him to be seen as more of a reactionary than was in fact the case. In the event, cavalry would fight successfully in 1914: the "cavalry spirit" helped them to perform well on the Retreat From
Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...
, while they were still capable of fighting effectively on foot at First Ypres. There was general agreement that the greater size of battlefields would increase the importance of cavalry. The publication of Erskine Childers' ''War and the Arme Blanche'' (1910) with a preface by Roberts went some way to reinstating the reformers' case. Childers argued that there had been only four real cavalry charges in South Africa, inflicting at most 100 casualties by cold steel, but acknowledged that French, "our ablest cavalry officer", disagreed with him. However, in September 1913 the Army Council decreed that Mounted Infantry would not be used in future wars and the two existing Mounted Infantry brigades were broken up.


Inspector-General of the Army

After extensive lobbying by Esher, and with the King's support, French was selected as Inspector-General of the Forces in November 1907.Heathcote, p. 132 Irish MP
Moreton Frewen Moreton Frewen (8 May 1853 – 2 September 1924), nicknamed "Mortal Ruin", was a British entrepreneur and writer on monetary reform, who served briefly as a Member of Parliament (MP). Early life Frewen was born on 8 May 1853 at Brickwall Ho ...
demanded – apparently in vain – a Court of Inquiry into French's dismissal of his brother Stephen Frewen from command of the 16th Lancers during the Boer War, pointing out to Haldane that French was "an adulterer convicted in a court of law". French was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the
Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...
in 1907. French openly opposed
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
. He was generally supportive of the new
Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...
, although he had some doubts about the effectiveness of Territorial Artillery. In 1907–08 he sat on a Committee of Imperial Defence (CID) committee to consider the risk of German invasion—it was decided to retain two divisions at home as a deterrent to invasion, until the Territorial Force was ready. At the August 1908 manoeuvres, French's poor report ended the military career of Harry Scobell, who commanded the Cavalry Division on the exercise, despite being well connected, a personal friend of French, and a successful commander from the South African campaigns. French's reports showed great interest in trenches, machine guns and artillery. He also believed strongly that peacetime drill was necessary to prepare men for combat discipline. In the winter of 1908–09 French served on the "Military Needs of the Empire" sub-committee of the CID, which reaffirmed the commitment to France in the event of war. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
in 1909. French courted unpopularity with some infantry officers by urging a doubling in the size of infantry companies. In the winter of 1909–10 he toured British troops in the Far East, and in the summer of 1910 he inspected the
Canadian Militia The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Ca ...
. This period also saw the beginning of the feud between French and Horace Smith-Dorrien, his successor at Aldershot. Smith-Dorrien annoyed French by insisting that cavalry improve their musketry, abolishing the pickets which trawled the streets for drunken soldiers, more than doubling the number of playing fields available, cutting down trees, and building new and better barracks. By 1910 the feud was common knowledge throughout the Army. Smith-Dorrien also objected to French's womanising. French was made an
Aide-de-Camp General Aide-de-camp general is a senior honorary appointment for General (United Kingdom), generals in the British Army. The recipient is appointed as an aide-de-camp general to the head of state, currently King Charles III. They are entitled to the post- ...
to the King on 19 June 1911. The Second Moroccan Crisis was occasion for French to push again for greater Army-Navy co-operation. On 23 August Henry Wilson carried a CID meeting with a lucid presentation of the Army's plans for deployment to France; Admiral Arthur Wilson's plans to land on the Baltic Coast were rejected. French spoke to the Navy Club that year on the need for co-operation.Holmes 2004, p. 145 The autumn 1911 manoeuvres were cancelled, supposedly because of shortage of water but in reality because of the war scare. French accompanied Grierson and the French military attaché Victor Huguet to France for talks with de Castelnau, Assistant Chief of the French General Staff. On the journey, French talked of how Charles W. H. Douglas and Arthur Paget would command armies under him in the event of war. Plans for British deployment were especially welcome as French war plans were in a state of flux, with
Joseph Joffre Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre , (; 12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 19 ...
having been appointed commander-in-chief designate on 28 July. After his return from France in 1911 French inspected German cavalry manoeuvres in
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
, and was summoned from his bath to receive the
Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...
. On presenting him with a signed photograph of himself the Kaiser told him: "You may have seen just how long my sword is: you may find it just as sharp". In January 1912 French attended the annual staff conference at Staff College, and was impressed by the quality of the discussion. However, he lectured staff officers that they should not consider themselves the superiors of regimental officers, but that their job was to provide the commander with impartial advice and then endeavour to carry out his wishes.


Chief of the Imperial General Staff

He became
Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...
("CIGS"—professional head of the Army) on 15 March 1912 although he neither had staff experience nor had studied at Staff College. On his first day, he told his three directors ( Henry Hughes Wilson—Director of Military Operations, Archibald Murray—Director of Military Training and Launcelot Kiggell—Director of Staff Duties) that he intended to get the Army ready for war. French was receptive to Wilson's wishes to explore co-operation with Belgium. French had initially been suspicious of Wilson as a Roberts protégé, but in 1906 had supported Wilson's candidacy for Commandant of Staff College. By 1912 Wilson had become French's most trusted adviser. On 8 November 1912, with the
First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...
causing another war scare, Wilson helped French draw up a list of key officers for the Expeditionary Force: Haig and Smith-Dorrien were to command "armies",
Edmund Allenby Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer ...
the cavalry division, and James Grierson was to be chief of staff.Holmes 2004, p. 148 In February 1913
Charles à Court Repington Charles à Court Repington, (29 January 1858 – 25 May 1925), known until 1903 as Charles à Court, was an English soldier, who went on to have a second career as an influential war correspondent during the First World War. He is also credited ...
wrote a series of articles in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' demanding conscription for home defence. The Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
led the CID "Invasion Inquiry", on which French sat. The conclusions, which were not reached until early 1914, were that two divisions should be retained at home, reducing the size of the BEF. In April 1913, French told Wilson that he expected to serve as CIGS (extending his term by two years) until 1918, and to be succeeded by Murray. He was promoted to
field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
on 3 June 1913. French's efforts "to get the Army ready for war" were hampered by budgetary constraints, and he was unsuited by temperament or experience for the job. French caused controversy by passing over four generals for promotion in the autumn of 1913, and angered some infantry officers by forcing through the changes to infantry battalions so that they comprised four large companies commanded by majors rather than eight small companies commanded by captains. French lobbied Secretary of State for War John Seely for an increase in pay and allowances for officers, to widen the social base from which officers were recruited—this was enacted from 1 January 1914. In the summer of 1913 French, accompanied by Grierson and Wilson, again visited French manoeuvres in Champagne.Holmes 2004, p. 149 After the September 1913 Manoeuvres Repington wrote in ''The Times'' that French had found it difficult to defeat even a skeleton army. Since 1904 French himself had to act as Director of the Annual Manoeuvres, so that although other officers had the chance to learn to handle divisions, he himself had little chance to learn to handle a force of ''several'' divisions. This lack of training may well have been factor in his poor performance in August 1914. The BEF senior officers (French, Haig, Wilson, Grierson and Paget who had replaced Smith-Dorrien by then) met to discuss strategy on 17 November 1913. In his diary Wilson praised "Johnnie French" for "hitting out" at the Royal Navy over their poor transport arrangements, but recorded his concerns at French's lack of intellect and hoped there would not be a war just yet.


Curragh incident

With
Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...
about to become law in 1914, the Cabinet were contemplating military action against the
Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...
(UVF) who wanted no part of it, and who were seen by many officers as loyal
British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
s. In response to
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
's request for his views, French wrote that the army would obey "the absolute commands of the King", but he warned that some might think "that they were best serving their King and country either by refusing to march against the Ulstermen or by openly joining their ranks". With political negotiations deadlocked and intelligence reports that the Ulster Volunteers (now 100,000 strong) might be about to seize the ammunition at
Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of B ...
, French only agreed to summon Arthur Paget ( Commander-in-Chief, Ireland) to London to discuss planned troop movements when John Seely (
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
) repeatedly assured him of the accuracy of intelligence that UVF might march on Dublin. French did not oppose the deployment of troops in principle but told Wilson that the government were "scattering troops all over Ulster as if it were a Pontypool coal strike". On 19 March French was summoned to an emergency meeting at
10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...
with Asquith, Seely,
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
(
First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...
), Augustine Birrell (
Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...
) and Paget, where he was told that
Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...
, who had stormed out of a
Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
debate, was expected to declare a provisional government in Ulster. French was persuaded by Asquith to send infantry to defend the artillery at
Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
, and by Seely that a unionist coup was imminent in Ulster. The result was the Curragh incident, in which
Hubert Gough General (United Kingdom), General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( ; 12 August 1870 – 18 March 1963) was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A controversial figure, he was a favourite of the Commander-in-chief, Commande ...
and other of Paget's officers threatened to resign rather than coerce Ulster. French, advised by Richard Haldane (
Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
) told the King on 22 March that he would resign unless Gough, who had confirmed that he would have obeyed a direct order to move against Ulster, was reinstated. French suggested to Seely that a written document from the Army Council might help to convince Gough's officers. The Cabinet text stated that the Army Council were satisfied that the incident had been a misunderstanding, and that it was "the duty of all soldiers to obey lawful commands", to which Seely added two paragraphs, stating that the Government had the right to use "the forces of the Crown" in Ireland or elsewhere, but had no intention of using force "to crush opposition to the Home Rule Bill". Gough insisted on adding a further paragraph clarifying that the Army would not be used to enforce Home Rule "on Ulster", to which French added in writing "This is how I read it. JF CIGS". Asquith publicly repudiated the "peccant paragraphs". Wilson, who hoped to bring down the government, advised French to resign, as an officer could not be seen to break his word, even at the behest of politicians. Asquith at first wanted French to stay on as he had been "so loyal and well-behaved", but then changed his mind despite French drawing up two statements with Haldane, claiming that he had been acting in accordance with Haldane's statement in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
on 23 March. Seely also had to resign. French resigned on 6 April 1914. French had been made to look naive and overly friendly to the Liberal government. Most officers were
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
and Ulster Unionist sympathisers, but, with a few exceptions, took pride in their loyalty to the King and professed contempt for party politics.Holmes 2004, pp. 167–169, 192–194 French for his part blamed Roberts for stirring up the Incident. After 1918 French became a Home Ruler, but at this stage he simply thought his duty to be ensuring that the Army obeyed the government's orders. French told Wilson that Asquith had promised him command of the BEF in the event of war, although nobody realised how quickly this would come.
Margot Asquith Emma Alice Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite and author. She was married to British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from 1894 to his ...
wrote that he would soon be "coming back", suggesting that Asquith may have promised to appoint French Inspector-General. Churchill described him as "a broken-hearted man" when he joined the trial mobilisation of the fleet in mid-July. French was still seen as a potential Commander-in-Chief of the BEF, although even in early August French himself was uncertain that he would be appointed.Holmes 2004, pp. 192–194Heathcote, p. 133


Commander-in-Chief, BEF


1914: BEF goes to war


Mobilisation and deployment

The "Precautionary Period" for British mobilisation began on 29 July. French was summoned by Sir Charles W. H. Douglas (
Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...
) and told he would command the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).Holmes 2004, pp. 196–198 British mobilisation began at 4 pm on 4 August,Holmes 2004, pp. 199–201 and Britain joined the war at midnight. French attended the War Council at 10 Downing Street (5 August), and there presented the War Office plans (drawn up by Wilson) to send the BEF to
Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical or ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and ab ...
, although he also suggested that as British mobilisation was lagging behind France's it might be safer to send the BEF to
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
. French also suggested that the BEF might operate from
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
against the German right flank, reflecting French's reluctant acceptance of the continental commitment. This suggestion was dropped when Churchill said the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
could not guarantee safe passage. Kitchener, believing the war would be long, decided at Cabinet that the BEF would consist of only 4 infantry divisions (and 1 cavalry); French, believing the war would be short, demanded 5 infantry divisions but was overruled. Embarkation began on 9 August. On 12 August, French, Murray, Wilson and the French liaison officer Victor Huguet met at French's house and agreed to concentrate at Maubeuge, and after another meeting with Kitchener (who had had an argument with Wilson on 9 August—given Wilson's influence over French, this served to worsen relations between French and Kitchener), who still preferred to concentrate further back at Amiens, they left to obtain the Prime Minister's agreement. French crossed to France on 14 August. President
Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. He was a conservative leader, primarily committed to ...
, meeting French on 15 August, commented on his "quiet manner ... not very military in appearance". French told Poincaré that he would not be ready until 24 August, not 20 August as planned. French also met Adolphe Messimy ( French War Minister) and Joffre . Sir John's orders from Kitchener were to co-operate with the French but not to take orders from them, and given that the tiny BEF (about 100,000 men, half of them regulars and half reservists) was Britain's only army, to avoid undue losses and being exposed to "forward movements where large numbers of French troops are not engaged" until Kitchener had had a chance to discuss the matter with the Cabinet.


Clash with Lanrezac

The Siege of Liège ended when the last of the Belgian fortresses fell on 16 August and most of the remaining Belgian troops were soon besieged in Antwerp, opening Belgium to the German advance. Previously ardent and bombastic, French became hesitant and cautious, giving different answers about the date when the BEF could be expected to begin operations in the field.Cassar 1985, p. 94Tuchman, pp. 242–43 French met General
Charles Lanrezac Charles Lanrezac (31 July 1852 – 18 January 1925) was a French general, formerly a distinguished staff college lecturer, who briefly commanded the French Fifth Army at the outbreak of the First World War. His army, originally intended to stri ...
, commanding the French Fifth Army on his right, at Rethel (17 August)—they were met by Lanrezac's Chief of Staff Hely d'Oissel, with the words: "At last you're here: it's not a moment too soon. If we are beaten we will owe it to you". They conferred in private despite the fact that Lanrezac spoke no English and Sir John could speak little French, Wilson being eventually called over to translate. French informed Lanrezac that his forces would not be ready until 24 August, three days later than promised. The French cavalry under André Sordet, which Sir John had previously asked Joffre in vain to be placed under his command, were further north trying to maintain contact with the Belgians. Sir John, concerned that he had only four infantry divisions rather than the planned six, wanted to keep Allenby's cavalry division in reserve and refused Lanrezac's request that he lend it for reconnaissance in front of the French forces. French and Lanrezac came away from the meeting with a poor relationship. At the time French wrote in his diary that Lanrezac was "a very capable soldier", although he claimed otherwise in his memoirs ''1914''. Besides their mutual dislike he believed Lanrezac was about to take the offensive, whereas Lanrezac had in fact been forbidden by Joffre to fall back and wanted the BEF moved back further to clear roads for a possible French retreat. French's friend General Grierson, General Officer Commanding (GOC) II Corps, had died suddenly and French returned to GHQ on 17 August, to find that Kitchener had appointed Lieutenant-General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien to command, knowing that French disliked him, rather than Herbert Plumer (French's choice) or Ian Hamilton (who asked for it). Spears arrived at GHQ (21 August) and reported to Wilson (French was out visiting Allenby) that Lanrezac did not want to leave his strong position and "had declaimed at length on the folly of attack". Holmes believes French was receiving very bad advice from Wilson at this time, in spite of good air and cavalry intelligence of strong German forces. French set out for Lanrezac's HQ (22 August) but by chance met Edward Spears on the way, who told him that Lanrezac was in no position to attack after losses the previous day at the Battle of Charleroi, which Sir John did not quite believe and that Lanrezac was out at a forward command post. Brushing aside Spears' arguments that another meeting with Lanrezac would help, French cancelled his journey and returned to GHQ; "relations with Lanrezac had broken down", writes Holmes, because Sir John saw no point in driving for hours, only to be insulted once again in a language he did not quite understand.Holmes 2004, pp. 212–215 French was then visited again over dinner by Spears, who warned him that the BEF was now ahead of the main French line, exposing the BEF to potential encirclement. Spears was accompanied by George Macdonogh, who had deduced from air reconnaissance that the BEF was facing three German corps, one of which was moving around the BEF left flank. Sir John cancelled the planned advance. Also that evening a request arrived from Lanrezac, that the BEF attack the flank of the German forces which were attacking Fifth Army. French thought Lanrezac's request unrealistic but agreed to hold his current position for another 24 hours.


Mons

Despite the events of the previous evening, French had—perhaps under the influence of Henry Wilson—reverted to the belief that an advance might again be possible soon. French's and Smith-Dorrien's accounts differ about the conference at 5.30 am on 23 August. French's account in his memoirs ''1914'' stated that he had become doubtful of the advance and warned his officers to be ready to attack or retreat, which agrees largely with his own diary at the time, in which he wrote that he had warned Smith-Dorrien that the Mons position might not be tenable. When ''1914'' was published, Smith-Dorrien claimed that French had been "in excellent form" and had still been planning to advance. However, in his own memoirs, Smith-Dorrien admitted that French had talked of either attacking or retreating, although he claimed that it had been he who had warned that the Mons position was untenable. Edmonds in the ''Official History'' agreed that French had probably been prepared either to attack or to retreat. French at first believed that the German attacks at
Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...
were merely trying to "feel" the British position and drove off to
Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
] to inspect a French brigade. On his return he sent a letter to Lanrezac in which he talked of resuming the attack the following day. Wilson had "calculated" that the BEF was faced only by one German corps and a cavalry division, and was allowed to draw up orders for an attack the next day. Although Macdonogh warned that the BEF was faced by at least two German corps, French did not cancel the planned advance until a message from Joffre (7 pm) warned that he was faced by at least three German corps, although he still ordered Smith-Dorrien to try to hold his ground. At midnight Spears arrived with the news, which disgusted Sir John, that Lanrezac was falling back, and the French Third Army (France), Third and Fourth Armies were also falling back after being defeated at Virton and Neufchateau. Murray summoned the Corps Chiefs of Staff at around 1 am on 24 August and ordered them to retreat. Even after Mons, French still thought that a deeper Allied thrust into Belgium would have disrupted the German advance.
Alexander von Kluck Alexander Heinrich Rudolph von Kluck (20 May 1846 – 19 October 1934) was a German general during World War I. Early life Kluck was born in Münster, in Westphalia on 20 May 1846. He was the son of architect Karl von Kluck and his wife Elisa ...
sent Georg von der Marwitz's II Cavalry Corps (3 cavalry divisions) around the British west flank to prevent a British retreat on the Channel ports. Sir John French sent a message (24 August), with an unmistakable tone of pique, to Lanrezac, which Spears insisted on watering down, warning that the BEF might have to retreat southwest towards Amiens on its lines of communication, although it is unclear that this would actually have been practicable if the Germans had actually been moving in force around the British left flank. However, Sir John agreed to Joffre's request that the BEF, now numbering 5 divisions as it had been joined by the 4th Infantry Division, would instead fall back on
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...
if it had to, so that the BEF could still protect the French left flank. Joffre also sent a further two French reserve divisions to the British left flank, the beginning of the redeployment of French forces which would see Michel-Joseph Maunoury's Sixth Army form around Amiens and then fight near Paris. French considered, but rejected, the option of sheltering the BEF in the fortified town of Maubeuge, partly out of instinct that the Germans were hoping to tempt him into allowing himself to be besieged there and partly because he remembered that Edward Bruce Hamley had likened
François Achille Bazaine François Achille Bazaine (13 February 181123 September 1888) was an officer of the French army. Rising from the ranks, during four decades of distinguished service (including 35 years on campaign) under Louis-Philippe I, Louis-Philippe and then ...
allowing himself to be besieged in Metz in 1870 to a shipwrecked man taking hold of the anchor. French himself issued no direct written orders between 11.15 pm on 21 August and 8.25 pm on 24 August; John Terraine argued that this, along with his absence during the Battle of Mons (although on the German side von Kluck also played little direct role in the battle), marks the point when he and GHQ began to disengage from active command of the BEF, leaving Smith-Dorrien and Haig in effective control of their corps.


1914: Retreat to the Marne


Le Cateau

GHQ moved back from Le Cateau to St Quentin on 25 August.Terraine 1960, p. 125 French had a long discussion with Murray and Wilson (25 August) as to whether the BEF should stand and fight at Le Cateau. Wilson and Murray were concerned about the risk of encirclement from the left. Sir John did not agree but wanted to fall back as agreed with Joffre, and hoped that the BEF could pull out and refit behind the River
Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...
. Besides concern for his men, he was also worried that he was exposing his small force to the risk of destruction which Kitchener had forbidden. Wilson ordered Smith-Dorrien to retreat from Le Cateau the next day. French was awakened at 2 am on 26 August with news that
Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...
's I Corps was under attack at Landrecies, and ordered Smith-Dorrien to assist him. Smith-Dorrien replied that he was "unable to move a man". French was woken again at 5 am with the news that Smith-Dorrien had decided to stand and fight at Le Cateau. Insisting that the exhausted Murray not be woken, French telegraphed back that he still wanted Smith-Dorrien to "make every endeavour" to fall back but that he had "a free hand as to the method", which Smith-Dorrien took as permission to make a stand. On waking properly, French ordered Wilson to telephone Smith-Dorrien and order him to break off as soon as possible. French and his staff believed that the Cavalry Division had been completely destroyed at Le Cateau (it had in fact suffered no more than 15 casualties) and that 5th Division had lost nearly all its guns, destroying II Corps as a fighting unit (in fact units reassembled after the retreat). French later told Haig that he should have had Smith-Dorrien court-martialled after Le Cateau. In his memoirs French later claimed that Smith-Dorrien had risked destruction of his corps and lost 14,000 men and 80 guns (actual losses of each were around half of this number).Holmes 2004, p. 223 However, it has also been argued that the vigorous defensive action at Le Cateau relieved the pressure and allowed the troops to re-organise and make a fighting withdrawal. On the morning of 26 August, while the Battle of Le Cateau was in progress, Sir John had a hostile meeting with Joffre and Lanrezac at St Quentin. This meeting, held at Joffre's insistence, was the second and last time Sir John met Lanrezac, who attended only reluctantly. He complained of Lanrezac's behaviour, to which Lanrezac "merely shrugged" and gave a vague and academic reply. Joffre talked of his ''Instruction Generale No 2'' which talked of a new French Sixth Army forming around Amiens, but although this had been received by GHQ during the night French had not been shown it. French insisted that he must retreat further, although he agreed to press Kitchener to send the remaining British division bringing the BEF up to six infantry divisions, to France rather than to Belgium. Joffre stayed for lunch (Lanrezac declined to do so), at which the atmosphere improved as he confessed that he too was dissatisfied with Lanzerac. Joffre was surprised at the "rather excited tone" in which Sir John criticised Lanrezac, unlike his calm demeanour of a few days' earlier, and came away deeply concerned at the obvious personal friction between French and Lanrezac, but also at Sir John's reluctance to stand and fight.


Retreat

GHQ fell back to
Noyon Noyon (; ; , Noviomagus of the Viromandui, Veromandui, then ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department, Northern France. Geography Noyon lies on the river Oise (river), Oise, about northeast of Paris. The ...
(26 August). Huguet reported to Joffre that the British had been defeated at Le Cateau and would need French protection to recover cohesion; he also reported that although the BEF's fighting spirit was undaunted, the British Government might order the BEF to retreat to Le Havre. Colonel Brecard, another liaison officer attached to the British staff, reported that two out of the five British divisions were destroyed and that, in Wilson's view, the BEF would need a week to refit. Sir John warned Huguet that there would be "bitterness and regret" in England over British losses, and Joffre, who had decided to order an attack by Fifth Army to take the pressure off the BEF, visited Sir John at Noyon on 27 August and gave him a message congratulating the BEF for its efforts protecting Fifth Army's flank. In fact Smith-Dorrien's staff were making intense efforts to hold II Corps together, although at a meeting (held at 2 am on 27 August, as Smith-Dorrien had found GHQ's present location with great difficulty) French accused him of being overly optimistic. GHQ moved back to
Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...
on 28 August, although Sir John was able to visit his troops on the march for the first time since 25 August, telling men who were resting on the ground of Joffre's message. French refused Haig permission to join in an attack by Lanrezac, who wrote of French's "bad humour and cowardice". Even Spears felt Sir John was in the wrong here. The BEF also did not join in Lanrezac's attack on German Second Army at Guise (29 August). Joffre, who had spent the morning with Lanrezac, was concerned by rumours that the BEF might retreat towards the Channel Ports. He visited French in the afternoon, urging him to hold his place in the line promising that Russian successes would soon allow the Allies to attack. However, French insisted that his forces needed 48 hours of absolute rest, and Murray, whom Joffre noticed had been tugging at French's tunic throughout this, then showed an intelligence report of the strength of the German forces facing the BEF. After Joffre had departed in bad humour, French received an incorrect report that Fifth Army was falling back behind the Oise, and issued orders for the BEF to fall back to Rethondes-
Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...
; when he received fresh reports that the French were holding their positions after all he replied that it was too late to cancel his orders. Sir John's opinion of Lanrezac was so low that he did not believe reports of his success at Guise (29 August) until he had sent Seely to interview the French corps commanders. The BEF was doing little fighting on 29 August and on 30 August had no contact with the enemy at all, and on that day III Corps ( 4th Division and 19th Infantry Brigade) became operational under William Pulteney. On 31 August the BEF engaged in only a few minor cavalry skirmishes. Losses had indeed been high by Boer War standards, and Sir John, believing them to be greater than they were, and that the Kaiser was making an especial effort to destroy the BEF, believed he was carrying out the "letter and spirit" of Kitchener's instructions to avoid undue loss without Cabinet authority.Holmes 2004, p. 231


Meeting with Kitchener

Spears later wrote of French's coolness and calmness on 30 August, although he also recorded that French no longer took much interest in matters unless they directly impinged on the BEF.Hastings 2013, p. 292 Nonetheless a few hours after a meeting with Joffre, Sir John telegraphed him that the BEF would have to leave the line entirely and retreat behind the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
for up to ten days to refit, tracing supply from
Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...
and moving the forward base to
Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
rather than Amiens. Kitchener heard of these plans from the Inspector-General of Communications, and when he demanded an explanation (Sir John's previous messages had been optimistic) French sent a long telegram saying he had told Joffre that the BEF was unable to remain in the front line and that he wanted the BEF to move back behind the Seine, and that would take eight days if done at a pace which would not fatigue the troops unduly. He added (contradicting himself somewhat) that he would have preferred Joffre to resume the offensive, but that Joffre was giving the BEF's inability to join in as a reason for not doing so. He thought that the French Army had "defective higher leading". On 31 August Sir John received messages from Joffre and President
Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. He was a conservative leader, primarily committed to ...
(relayed via Francis Bertie, the British Ambassador) asking him not to withdraw. Joffre pointed out that the Germans were already shifting forces to the East. Kitchener demanded further details, and after showing French's previous message to the Cabinet telegraphed again warning that it was the manner and length of the retreat which concerned the Cabinet. Sir John then replied that the "shattered condition" of II Corps had reduced his offensive capability and that the BEF could not withstand an attack by so much as a single German corps. He wrote: "I do not see why I should again be called upon to run the risk of absolute disaster in order a second time to save (the French)." He also argued that the best solution would be for the French to counterattack and so "close the gap by uniting their inward flanks", although he agreed to halt at Nanteuil, which he expected the BEF to reach the following day, if the French halted their own retreat. Kitchener, authorised by a midnight meeting of whichever Cabinet ministers could be found, left for France for a meeting on 1 September. They met, together with René Viviani (French Prime Minister) and Alexandre Millerand (now French War Minister). Huguet recorded that Kitchener was "calm, balanced, reflective" while Sir John was "sour, impetuous, with congested face, sullen and ill-tempered". On Bertie's advice, Kitchener dropped his intention of inspecting the BEF. They moved to a separate room, and no independent account of the meeting exists. French admitted that Kitchener had taken exception to his tone and that he had assured him that this was simply in his mind. In his diary Sir John wrote "we had rather a disagreeable time. I think K found he was making a mistake". In ''1914'' French later claimed that he had told Kitchener that although he valued his he would not tolerate any interference in his executive authority so long as he remained in command, and that they "finally came to an amicable understanding". Terraine dismisses as absurd Sir John's later claims that he resented being called away from GHQ (given that no battle was in progress, and that he had played little directing part in either of the two battles fought so far), and that an inspection of the BEF (by Kitchener, Britain's most celebrated soldier at the time) might have disheartened the men by the implied challenge to French's authority. Terraine suggests that Sir John was more anxious to prevent Kitchener from inspecting the BEF as he might have seen for himself that they were less "shattered" than he claimed, and that Haig and Smith-Dorrien might have criticised him if given a chance to speak privately to Kitchener. After the meeting Kitchener telegraphed the Cabinet that the BEF would remain in the line, although taking care not to be outflanked, and told French to consider this "an instruction". French had a friendly exchange of letters with Joffre. French had been particularly angry that Kitchener had arrived wearing his Field Marshal's uniform. This was how Kitchener normally dressed at the time, but French felt that Kitchener was implying that he was his military superior and not simply a cabinet member. Barbara W. Tuchman argued that French was particularly conscious of this, as he was known for his own quirks of dress. At Asquith's behest Churchill attempted to act as mediator, exchanging letters with French (4 September), who replied that Kitchener was "a fine organiser but he never was and he never will be a Commander in the field". By the end of the year, his hostility had become common knowledge at GHQ and GQG. In ''1914'' French claimed that Kitchener had come to Paris to try to stop him retreating, which was untrue—it was the manner of the retreat, without consultation with Britain's allies, which was the problem. On 1 September, while French and Kitchener were meeting, the British fought a small engagement at Néry. The gap between I and II Corps was finally closed for the first time since 25 August, but GHQ had to be evacuated from Dammartin in a hurry under threat from German cavalry, General Nevil Macready being left behind in the confusion and General William Robertson having to hastily wrap up in newspaper a leg of mutton he had been about to eat.


Sir John agrees to fight

French was pleased at Lanrezac's dismissal (3 September), thinking at first that he had been arrested, and his Military Secretary reported to the King that "the fat pompous political general" had been sacked.
Louis Franchet d'Espèrey Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...
, Lanzerac's successor, immediately sent a telegram to Sir John signed "Franchet d'Esperey KCVO" promising co-operation. On return to GHQ, now at
Melun Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...
, from visits to troops, including a talk with Haig who agreed with him that the troops needed rest and replacements (4 September) he found his staff had agreed to two plans. Murray had been visited by Joseph Gallieni ( Military governor of Paris) and Michel-Joseph Maunoury ( French Sixth Army, and currently under Gallieni's command) and had drawn up plans for an attack suggested by them. Wilson, on Sir John's orders, had travelled to meet Franchet d'Esperey and had agreed to the plan which became the basis for Joffre's ''Instruction Generale No 6''. Gallieni was still planning, with Joffre's initial agreement, to attack south, not north, of the Marne, so the result of Murray's orders was that the BEF should fall back another day's march, putting it 15 miles south of where Joffre wanted it to be for his new plan. Sir John at first intended to study the situation before making up his mind. Joffre sent a copy of his plan to GHQ and asked Millerand to lobby the British Government. Hearing at last that Sir John was willing to co-operate, Joffre arrived for a meeting with French on 5 September. According to Spears' account, he explained his plan (in French), ending by clasping his hands together tightly enough to hurt them and begging "" ("Field Marshal, France is begging you"). Sir John cried and, unable to find the words in French, replied "Damn it, I can't explain. Tell him that all that men can do our fellows will do". When Murray protested that the BEF could not be ready as soon as Joffre hoped, Joffre replied that Sir John's word was good enough for him.Holmes 2004, pp. 238–39 Joffre believed at the time that the BEF were technically under his orders and that French's uncooperativeness was because the British government were too weak to insist that he obey orders. French was conscious that he was Joffre's senior in rank and had more combat experience.Holmes 2004, pp. 202–03


Marne and Aisne

The BEF advanced to take part in the
First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...
on the morning of 6 September, Sir John's mood marred by a telegram from Kitchener urging him to co-operate with Joffre. This was the result of Joffre's appeal to Millerand, and Joffre repaired the damage by praising the performance of French and the BEF to Kitchener. The BEF began its advance from 20 km behind where Joffre had wanted it. Franchet d'Esperey, to the right of the BEF, was repeatedly demanding a quicker advance, and at 3.30 pm Sir John ordered Haig (I Corps, on the BEF right) to resume his advance, but by nightfall Haig was still 12 km away from his objective, having lost only 7 men killed and 44 wounded. The BEF advanced further on 7 September. Lord Ernest Hamilton recorded that "in the strict sense there was no battle ... the fighting ... was desultory". John Charteris, Haig's intelligence adviser, thought the advance "absurdly slow" and noted that the cavalry moved ''behind'' the infantry. When the BEF reached the Petit Morin on 8 September, von der Marwitz's German cavalry broke off and retreated further, only for the BEF to halt because of a heavy thunderstorm. Joffre urged that it was "essential" that the BEF advance further. By 8 September, despite outnumbering the enemy by 10:1, the BEF had advanced just 40 km in three days. On 9 September Sir John, arriving on the spot in person, ordered I Corps to halt as soon as they had reached the main road, a mere 5 miles from the river (at midday Haig, who had halted for four hours after crossing the river after seeing aerial reconnaissance of German forces opposite him, had just given orders to resume the advance). This prevented I Corps from taking Richard von Kraewel's detachment from the east flank, which would have helped II Corps, which had halted after encountering a mixed brigade at
Montreuil-aux-Lions Montreuil-aux-Lions is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population Mayors * Charles Bauchot (1983-1989) * Jacques Delammare (1989-2001) * Yves Fouquet (2001-2008) * Olivier Devron (2008-) See also ...
, and was now fighting uphill through woods. On the left Pulteney's engineers did not have enough pontoons to cross the Marne, and by nightfall half of 4th Division's battalions crossed on a makeshift floating bridge. The cavalry ( "Gough's Command" on the left flank, Allenby's 1st Cavalry Division on the right, each maintaining contact with the adjacent French forces) was in Hew Strachan's words "entirely out of the equation". Sewell Tyng notes that the BEF had "exercised no effective intervention" in the battle and "remained no more than a threat which was never translated into decisive action", although
Holger Herwig Dr. Holger H. Herwig (born 1941) is a German-born Canadian historian and professor. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including the award-winning, ''The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918'' and ''The Origins of World ...
points out that the men were exhausted after the long retreat, that the French cavalry performed no better and yet the advance – into the gap between the German First and
Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
Armies – had a decisive effect on the German commanders. Sir John initially thought that the enemy was only "making a determined stand" on the
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...
. He urged the importance of entrenching wherever possible and stressed that heavy artillery would be necessary going forward.


1914: Autumn battles


Race to the Sea

After lobbying by
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, who was keen to bring the Channel Ports under British control, and by Wilson, French lobbied Joffre (27 September) for the BEF, which was less heavily gunned and more mobile than a similarly-sized French Army, to disengage and try to move around the Allied left flank, part of the outflanking movements known as the Race to the Sea. Joffre agreed in principle, although he had private doubts about having no French troops between the BEF and the sea and later came to believe that this move had, by using up scarce rail capacity for ten days, prevented him from reinforcing
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
and had allowed the Germans to capture it. Throughout September and October 1914 French warned Kitchener that his forces were running dangerously short of shells, at one point being rationed to 20 rounds per gun per day. French was impressed by the first 9.2-inch howitzers, but very conscious of German artillery superiority. French took a keen interest in the development of mortars and grenades, although during his time as Commander-in-Chief more were produced at the BEF's own workshops than in the UK. He also pressed the War Office for more machine guns, believing that a battalion needed at least six or seven (as opposed to two at the start of the war). The Germans opened fire on the Antwerp outer forts (28 September) and over the opposition of French and Joffre the British 7th Division was earmarked for Antwerp (1 October) instead of for the BEF. French, who did not get on with Rawlinson, was once again suspicious that Kitchener was attempting to usurp operational control of the BEF. After a temporary stay in
Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...
for five days, GHQ was established in
Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Sa ...
(13 October) where it was to remain for the rest of French's tenure. When asked to help shore up the Belgian line on his left French said (16 October 1914) "he would be d——d if he would be dictated to by Foch who had better mind his own business".Jeffery 2006, pp. 145–46


First Ypres

French had thought in mid-October of establishing an "entrenched camp" large enough to hold the entire BEF around
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
, but was soon persuaded by Foch and Wilson to move around the German flank towards Roulers. The following day he ordered Rawlinson to move on Menin (southeast of
Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...
) and Haig's I Corps to move on Roulers (northeast of Ypres), despite reports that there were at least 3 German corps facing Haig. Sir John had believed the Germans were running out of men (19 October), but instead the BEF ran into German forces also trying to turn the Allied flank. At a meeting on 21 October Joffre refused to lend him enough men to construct a fortified camp around Boulogne; Joffre instead ordered a French corps to the BEF's left, and French ordered the BEF to hold its positions. French at first reported to Kitchener that the German attacks by Fourth and Sixth Armies were their "last card" and the BEF were holding them off. He was unimpressed by Smith-Dorrien telling him (midnight on 25 October) that his Corps "might go during the night", although he did send reinforcements. Generals George Macdonogh and Percy Radcliffe later testified to the Official Historian
James Edward Edmonds Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier-General Sir James Edward Edmonds, (25 December 1861 – 2 August 1956) was an commissioned officer, officer of the Royal Engineers in the late-Victorian era British Army who worked in the Intelligence Corps ...
in the early 1920s that French "believed what he wished to believe" and "never could believe that the Germans were not at their last gasp". He thought "everything was going splendidly" and "the Germans were exhausted" until warned of the arrival of German reinforcements, at which point he (allegedly) grew angry and banged his fist on the table shouting "How do you expect me to carry out my campaign if you carry on bringing up these blasted divisions?"Robbins 2005, p. 70
Erich von Falkenhayn Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was a German general and Ottoman Field Marshal who served as Prussian Minister of War and Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War. Falkenha ...
now ordered a new attack south of Ypres, between Gheluveld and Ploegsteert Wood, by "Army Group Fabeck". IV Corps was broken up (27 October) and Rawlinson and his staff sent home to supervise the arrival of 8th Division. French still expected to attack, turning the German western flank, on 29 October, and even after the Germans had pressed I Corps hard SE of Ypres that day (he later claimed in ''1914'' to have realised that the BEF could now do no more than hold its ground, but he, in fact, issued orders for the flanking attack to go ahead on 30 October). Sir John supervised the arrangement of reinforcements from Smith-Dorrien and Pierre Joseph Dubois' 9th corps to Haig's and Allenby's hard pressed forces at Ypres (30 October). Once again, the British planned to counterattack, but French was roused from his sleep (12.30 am on 31 October) by Foch, who warned him that his staff had spotted a gap in the British lines at Hollebeke Chateau; Foch advised him to "hammer away, keep on hammering" and promised to send a further eight French battalions and three batteries. Sir John spent the crisis day of 31 October visiting Allenby and Gough, and was with Haig when they learned that a single battalion of the Worcesters had retaken Gheluveld ("The Worcesters saved the Empire" French later wrote). He then met Foch at the
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
at Ypres to warn him that he had no more reserves apart from "the sentries at his gate"—the next day (1 November) Haig's I Corps held its ground, with cooks, grooms and drivers pressed into the line, and aided by French counterattacks which drew off German reserves. The line stabilised, although there was a final day of crisis on 11 November. The fighting at
Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...
, the last before major trenching began, destroyed the last of the original BEF. Since the outbreak of war the BEF had suffered 90,000 casualties, 58,000 of them in October and November, compared to an initial infantry strength (the first seven divisions) of 84,000. Of those who had landed in August, an average of one officer and thirty men per battalion remained. French was particularly disturbed at the lack of company commanders, and extremely reluctant to send trained officers and NCOs home to train the New Armies.


Possible dismissal

Sir John was unable to get away during the Battle of Ypres to attend the Dunkirk conference (1 November) between Kitchener and Joffre, Foch and Millerand. There Kitchener offered to replace French with Ian Hamilton, but Joffre declined, saying this would be bad for BEF morale and he worked "well and cordially" with Sir John. Foch told Wilson of this on 5 November) French sent Captain Freddy Guest to complain to the Prime Minister, who refused to believe it, and both Asquith and Churchill wrote French reassuring letters. French went to see Foch (6 November) to thank him for his "comradeship and loyalty".Holmes 2004, pp. 253–256 This did not stop him writing to Kitchener on 15 November that ", they are a low lot, and one always has to remember the class these French generals come from". French talked of inciting Howell Arthur Gwynne to start a press campaign against Kitchener. Over lunch on 21 November Haig noted that French looked unwell—French told him he thought he had had a heart attack and had been ordered to rest by his doctors. The King visited France (30 November – 5 December) and passed on his concerns that the Germans were about to invade Britain with 250,000 men, a rumour which French assumed to have been concocted by Kitchener. French's aides made inquiries—apparently in vain—about an increase in "table money" (expenses for entertaining visiting dignitaries) on top of his official salary of £5,000 per annum.


End of 1914

In late November and early December the Germans moved forces to the East, and French expected the Russians to defeat them soon. In December he offered limited assistance to French attacks, out of affection for Foch and fear that Joffre would otherwise complain to Kitchener, and despite his concerns that the ground on Smith-Dorrien's front was too wet.Holmes 2004, pp. 260–61 Foch said of French (8 December 1914) "How he likes to cry, this Baby". The
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
(9 December) formally asked the French government for the BEF to move to the coast where it could co-operate with the Royal Navy and the Belgian Army, but this was rejected by Millerand on Joffre's advice, and Foch regarded the plan "with the greatest contempt", although on a visit to GHQ (11 December) he found Sir John only mildly in favour. A German counterattack (20 December) mauled the Indian Corps, who could not handle the cold, so badly that they had to be pulled into reserve. French was still dissatisfied with Murray's performance as BEF Chief of Staff, but Asquith and Kitchener (20 December) forbade him to replace Murray with Wilson.Holmes 2004, pp. 266–268 The BEF was split into Haig's First Army ( I, IV and Indian Corps) and Smith-Dorrien's Second Army ( II and III Corps and 27th Division), effective 25 December. Allenby's Cavalry Corps and
Michael Rimington Lieutenant General Sir Michael Frederic Rimington, (23 May 1858 – 19 December 1928) was a British Army officer who commanded cavalry forces in the Second Boer War and First World War. After early service with the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, ...
's
Indian Cavalry Corps The Indian Cavalry Corps was a formation of the Indian Army during World War I. It was formed in France in December 1914. It remained in France until March 1916, when it was broken up. The corps consisted of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and ...
continued to report directly to French.Holmes 2004, p. 265 At the Chantilly Conference (27 December 1914) French agreed with Joffre that the British Cabinet was mad. They discussed the relative merits of shrapnel and high-explosive shell, and events on the Eastern Front. Joffre told Sir John of his plans for twin offensives at
Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...
and
Rheims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...
in 1915, the former offensive to be assisted by the BEF, and then a further thrust towards the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
from
Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...
and Nancy. He agreed that the British could take over line up to the coast but only as further reinforcements arrived, which would not be until much later in 1915.


1915: Neuve Chapelle


Deployment of the New Armies

French had hoped to incorporate the Belgian Army into the BEF, but
Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (, ) or Soldier King (, ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I ...
vetoed this. French instead demanded that the New Armies be sent out as battalions and incorporated into existing units. All the senior commanders agreed that to have the New Armies fighting under their own inexperienced division and corps staff would be folly.Holmes 2004, pp. 262–265 French was further irritated by an "incomprehensible" letter from Kitchener (2 January) stating that no more troops should remain on the Western Front than were necessary to hold the line, and seeking GHQ's views as to which other theatres British troops should be redeployed. French replied that given sufficient resources he could break the German front, that to attack the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
would be "to play the German game" and that he preferred an advance into
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
via
Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
, or preferably an attack to clear the Belgian Coast, and that if Russia collapsed the government would have no choice but to send all available troops to France. French also had Murray hand-deliver a copy of this letter to the Prime Minister, earning French a rebuke from Kitchener for not using the normal channels of communication. The War Council (7–8 January) discussed French's demand that 50 Territorial or New Army battalions be sent to France, but in the face of Kitchener's strong opposition it was agreed instead to examine the possibilities of other fronts. French, having sent Wilson and Murray on ahead to raise support, himself lobbied the War Council (13 January), informing them that he expected only 5,000–8,000 casualties in his forthcoming offensive, and that the Germans were short of manpower and would have reached the end of their resources by November 1915. Although he expected Joffre's offensives in 1915 to be successful, he "relied on the Russians to finish the business". Kitchener agreed, but the War Council was then swayed by Churchill arguing for an attack on the Dardanelles, and it was agreed to send French only two Territorial Divisions by mid-February. The mooted Flanders Offensive was then cancelled altogether after further lobbying of Kitchener by Joffre and Millerand. Sir John agreed to relieve two French corps north of Ypres to allow Joffre to build up French reserves for his own offensive. Murray was sent off sick for a month (24 January) and French demanded his resignation. Robertson replaced him.


Argument with Joffre

At the War Council in London (9 February) French learned that the regular 29th Division was to be sent to the Near East rather than to France as he had been promised. French opposed this transfer, but his advice was not adopted. Sir John believed that the Russian withdrawals were "only a strategic move" designed to overextend the Germans. He ordered Haig to prepare for an attack at Aubers Ridge, rather than an attack by Smith-Dorrien at Messines-Wytschaete Ridge, as he had more confidence in both Haig and his troops than he had in Smith-Dorrien. GHQ then learned that Joffre wanted de Maud'huy's French Tenth Army to attack at Vimy, with which attack Haig was ordered to co-ordinate his efforts.Holmes 2004, pp. 269–271 Joffre wrote a letter of complaint that the BEF might not be carrying out Sir John's promise to take over more line; in reply French summoned the liaison officer Victor Huguet to complain of Joffre's claims that the British had ''demanded'' French participation in the offensive. When he had calmed down he sent Robertson and Wilson to smooth things over with Joffre. Even so, Joffre was angered by French's formal reply and thought that he ought to be able to carry out the planned relief as he was receiving the 46th (Territorial) Division. Millerand wrote to Kitchener to complain, enclosing another letter of complaint from Joffre. Kitchener forwarded both letters to Sir John, along with a letter of complaint of his own. Joffre thought French a "liar" and "a bad comrade".


Neuve Chapelle

French genuinely hoped for a breakthrough at Neuve Chapelle (10–12 March 1915) and personally briefed the cavalry commanders Allenby and Rimington beforehand, although, aware of the effect of modern firepower on cavalry, he cautioned Rimington against getting too close to the enemy. He believed that victory would prove to Kitchener that British efforts should be concentrated on the Western Front, and that it would be merely a prelude to a much larger Battle of Lille. French moved to a forward headquarters at
Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, , , ) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught ...
during the battle. A renewed attack was planned for 22 March, but French was told by Lieutenant-General Roland Maxwell (Quartermaster General) that sufficient shell was available only for a bombardment half the intensity of Neuve Chapelle, and he was warned by John Du Cane of defective fuses causing guns to explode (14 March). To some extent the shell shortage was an excuse, as French was also critical of planning errors in First Army's attack. Kitchener told Asquith (18 March) that French was "not really a scientific soldier; a good capable leader in the field, but without adequate equipment and expert knowledge for the huge task of commanding 450,000 men." French's almost daily letters to his mistress in 1915 reveal his wish to see Kitchener sacked, his concern at lack of high explosive shells, his ambivalent relations with the French (although sympathetic at the political interference which French generals suffered), his anger (shared with many other Western Front generals) at the way scarce men and shells were being sent to
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
, and his belief that the German advance into Russia in 1915 would ultimately fail; he hoped that Germany would sue for peace by the summer of 1915 or spring 1916.Holmes 2004, pp. 278–280


1915: Aubers Ridge and shells scandal

Joffre renewed negotiations for an Anglo-French offensive in
Artois Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...
, and again asked Sir John to relieve the two French corps north of Ypres. He agreed to do so by 20 April. French breakfasted with Kitchener (31 March) who told him that he and Joffre were "on ... trial" over the next five weeks, and that the Allied governments would reinforce other theatres unless they made "substantial advances" and "br kethe German line". There were rumours in both British and French circles, probably baseless, that Kitchener coveted French's job for himself. French also objected to rumours that Joffre was trying to put the BEF under Foch's command. By April 1915 the BEF had grown to 900,000 men. French continued to be dissatisfied at Smith-Dorrien's grip on his army and in March was concerned that the rate of sickness was running at three times the rate in Second Army as in First.Holmes 2004, pp. 283–84 The Germans attacked (22 April) ground which Smith-Dorrien had recently taken over from the French, using poison gas, causing some French units to break on the British flank. Sir John spurred on Smith-Dorrien in costly counterattacks, but thought the French had made "a horrible mistake" and "Joffre ... really deceived me" in holding the line so thinly.Holmes 2004, pp. 282–284 Sir John was angry (26 April 1915) that French troops had broken under German gas attack, commenting that French troops had also failed to hold their positions in the retreat of 1914. Smith-Dorrien suggested withdrawing to the so-called "GHQ Line". French privately agreed, but was angered that the suggestion came from Smith-Dorrien. Plumer was the given responsibility for the Ypres Salient (27 April). Smith-Dorrien was finally relieved of command of Second Army (6 May). On 2 May French, who appears to have persuaded himself that a short sharp bombardment might work once again, assured Kitchener that "the ammunition will be all right", a declaration which Kitchener passed on to Asquith. This caused Asquith to claim in a public speech that there was no munitions shortage in the BEF.Holmes 2004, pp. 285–287, 293 The attack at Aubers Ridge, against stronger German positions (9 May), failed. French watched the battle from a ruined church and attributed the failure to lack of HE shelling. He returned to GHQ to find an order to send shells to Gallipoli, although after protest replacement shells were sent from the UK within days. Fighting still continued at Ypres, and Sir John was under pressure from Joffre to renew the attack at Aubers Ridge. Although he would have preferred (10 May) to stand on the defensive until more high explosive was available, he agreed to Joffre's pressure to take over more French line and renew the attack.Holmes 2004, p. 293


Shells Scandal

After Aubers Ridge Charles a Court Repingtonsent a telegram to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' blaming lack of high explosive shell, which despite being heavily censored by Macdonogh was printed after Brinsley Fitzgerald assured him Sir John would approve. French had, despite Repington's denial of his prior knowledge at the time, supplied Repington with information, and Fitzgerald and Freddie Guest were sent to London to show the same documents to
Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
and the Opposition leaders
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...
and
Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...
. Repington's article appeared in ''The Times'' (14 May 1915). Kitchener wrote to French that day that Repington should not be allowed out with the Army, to which French replied that Repington was a personal friend and he (French) "really ha(d) no time to attend to these matters". Kitchener, reluctant to deploy the volunteer New Armies to the Western Front, wired French (16 May 1915) that he would send no more reinforcements to France until he was clear the German line could be broken, although at the end of May he agreed to send two divisions to keep Joffre happy. The King wrote of French at this time to his uncle the Duke of Connaught: "I don't think he is particularly clever and he has an awful temper" (23 May 1915). Another offensive at Festubert began on the night of 15–16 May and dragged on until 27 May. Some ground was gained (1,000 yards over a 3,000 front) and the Germans had to rush in reserves. French was still optimistic that with sufficient high explosive a breakthrough for cavalry could be achieved. Robert Whigham (BEF Sub-Chief of Staff) "was very sick as (at French's behest) he had to cancel & then rewrite his orders" (Wilson Diary 27 May 1915). The shells scandal contributed to the fall of the Liberal Government. Although French's involvement was widely rumoured, many, including the Prime Minister, refused to believe it. At the time
Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...
and others thought a clique of people were acting in what they believed to be French's interests;
Margot Asquith Emma Alice Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite and author. She was married to British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from 1894 to his ...
and
William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne (17 October 185926 February 1942), styled Viscount Wolmer between 1882 and 1895, was a British politician and colonial administrator, who served as High Commissioner for Southern Africa. Backgroun ...
suspected French's American friend George Moore. French later claimed in ''1914'' that he had leaked information to Repington to "destroy the apathy of a Government which had brought the Empire to the brink of disaster". By the time he wrote ''1914'' he had come to regard Asquith and Haig as responsible for his removal at the end of 1915, but at the time French was still on good terms with Asquith and wrote to him (20 May 1915, the day before the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' attacked Kitchener, and whilst Asquith was forming his new coalition government) urging him "as a friend" to sack Kitchener. Holmes believes French's object was to bring down Kitchener rather than the whole government.


1915: Loos and resignation


Planning Loos

Joffre often wrote to Kitchener complaining about French. Sidney Clive noted that meetings between French and Joffre could be counterproductive as "the former is irritable & the latter silent". Joffre planned once again for attacks by the BEF and French Tenth Army, combined with another French offensive in Champagne. He wrote to GHQ (12 June) that the ground at Loos was "particularly favourable", although Haig reported (23 June) that it was unsuitable for an attack. At a conference at Chantilly (24 June) French and Joffre agreed that further attacks on the Western Front were needed and that they should ask their governments to send all available troops to France rather than other fronts. Asquith had a lengthy discussion (26 June) about the desirability of sacking French.Holmes 2004, p. 298 Wilson thought French "ridiculously optimistic about the German state of collapse", while General Aylmer Haldane thought him "obstinate and unreasonable" (Haldane diary, 30 June 1915). After a "long talk" with Robertson (1 July) the King became convinced that French should be removed.Jeffery 2006, pp. 150–51, 153 Margot Asquith warned French (2 July) that his aides Freddy Guest and Brinsley Fitzgerald (whom she thought "wonderfully unclever") were making trouble between him and Kitchener. Kitchener also opposed a major British offensive (Calais Conference, 6 July). Sir John expressed his concern that, although a successful attack was possible, his artillery had less than the 17 rounds per day which he deemed necessary. He was initially sceptical of Haig's reluctance to attack and inspected the ground himself (12 July). Although he felt that the high ground already in British hands would provide good observation, he broadly concurred with Haig's analysis. Robertson also opposed the attack.Holmes 2004, pp. 296–298 Haig discovered (14 July) that the King had lost confidence in French, and discussed the matter with Kitchener. Wilson noted that relations between French and Robertson were breaking down by the summer, and suspected (correctly) that Robertson was blackening French's reputation by sending home documents which French had refused to read or sign. French told Cliv] (20 July) to inform GQG that ammunition shortage only permitted "holding" attacks and then (25 July) announced that there would be no attack at all. However, after an unsatisfactory meeting with Foch the previous day, he wrote a personal letter to Joffre (28 July) leaving the decision in his hands, although he noted concerns in his diary that night that the French attack at Arras would not be "decisive". He also noted (diary, 29 July) that the French were annoyed at British strikes and failure to bring in conscription, and might make a separate peace if Britain did not pull her weight, and may also have agreed to the attack because he had learned that his own job was under threat. Kitchener, who had changed his mind, eventually (19 August) ordered the attack to proceed.


Loos

French went sick in September, Robertson acting as Commander-in-Chief BEF.Woodward, 1998, pp. 23–24 Both GHQ and First Army persuaded themselves that the Loos attack could succeed, perhaps as the use of gas, whose use by the Germans at Second Battle of Ypres, Second Ypres had been condemned by Sir John, would allow a decisive victory. French was privately doubtful that a breakthrough would be achieved and was concerned that in the event of failure the government would want to "change the bowler". Haig (and Foch) wanted the reserves close to hand to exploit a breakthrough on the first day; French agreed to deploy them closer to the front but still thought they should be committed on the second day.Holmes 2004, pp. 300–302 On the day of the attack, the engineers manning the poison gas cylinders warned not to use them, citing the weakness and unpredictability of the wind. When overruled by Lt-General
Hubert Gough General (United Kingdom), General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( ; 12 August 1870 – 18 March 1963) was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A controversial figure, he was a favourite of the Commander-in-chief, Commande ...
the gas drifted back into the British lines and caused more British than German casualties. Though one division did break through the German defences on the first day (25 September), French had positioned reserves too far to the rear, and they only reached the front line by night.Meyer 2006, p. 351 Wanting to be closer to the battle, French had moved to a forward command post at Lillers, less than 20 miles behind First Army's front. He left Robertson and most of his staff behind at GHQ and had no direct telephone link to the First Army. Haig's infantry attacked at 6.30 am on 25 September and he sent an officer by car requesting release of the reserves at 7 am—he did not hear until 10.02 am that the divisions were moving up to the front. French visited Haig between 11 and 11:30 and agreed that Haig could have the reserve, but rather than using the telephone he drove to Richard Haking's headquarters and gave the order personally at 12:10 pm. Haig then heard from Haking at 1.20 pm that the reserves were moving forward, but by the time the men, already exhausted from an overnight march in the rain, reached the front line through the chaos of the battlefield they were committed against strengthened German positions the following morning. Joffre sent a letter of congratulation (26 September)—Clive sensed that Joffre did not really believe the British attack would succeed but wanted it kept going as a diversion from
Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
, although after complaints from Sir John that the French Tenth Army were not doing enough Foch ordered them to take over some line from the British around Loos.Holmes 2004, pp. 305–06 When the British reserves were ordered to attack on the second day (26 September), the advancing divisions found unbroken barbed wire and intact and ungassed German defenses. The slaughter that day resulted in 7,861 British casualties without a single German casualty. Sir John was still keen for a concerted Anglo-French attack, telling Foch (28 September) that a gap could be "rushed" just north of Hill 70, although Foch felt that this would be difficult to co-ordinate and Haig told him that First Army was not in a position for further attacks at the moment. Charteris wrote that "Sir John French is played out. The show is too big for him and he is despondent."Holmes 2004, pp. 305–06 The Battle of Loos was a strategic and tactical failureKeegan 1998, p. 202 and has become one of the epitomes of a Great War battle in which generals showed complete disregard for the situations on the front lines the soldiers were facing. With only 533 guns and a shortage of shells to cover a wide 11,200 yard front with two German trench lines to bombard, the British would likely be attacking positions that had not been disrupted enough to allow a breakthrough. The British commanders at this time did not grasp that German tactical doctrine called for the second line of machine gun nests to be situated on the reverse slope of their hillside defenses; destroying them would need artillery with higher trajectories and shells with high explosives. By the time the Battle of Loos ended, around 8 October, the British suffered anywhere between 41,000 and 61,000 casualties, with most estimates for German casualties around 20,000.


Criticism after Loos

Criticism of French, especially for his slow release of the reserves on the first day (25 September), began to mount even while the battle was still under way. Haig wrote of French in his diary (2 October) "It seems impossible to discuss military problems with an unreasoning brain of this kind". Even French's trusted secretary Brinsley Fitzgerald recorded in his diary (5 October 1915) that French's "sudden moods are weird and marvellous but we never now even have explanations". Haig told Richard Haldane (9 October) that French's handling of the reserves had lost the battle. Kitchener demanded an explanation (11 October). Haig told Rawlinson (10 and 22 October 1915) he could no longer be loyal to French after Loos.Jeffery 2006, pp. 153–54 Haig also wrote to GHQ (21 October) claiming that fresh forces could have pushed through with little opposition between 9 am and 11 am on the first day. To French's annoyance the King arrived in France (21 October) to sample opinion for himself—French met him at Boulogne but was summoned to London for talks with Kitchener and the Dardanelles Committee. Gough and Haking visited the King after tea (24 October) and told him "everyone has lost confidence in the C-in-C" while over dinner that evening Haig told the King that French was "a source of great weakness to the Army, and no one had any confidence in him any more".Holmes 2004, pp. 307–309 Robertson, visiting London in early October, had discussed French's replacement with Murray (now CIGS) and the King. After he returned to France and conferred with Haig, Haig recorded (diary 24 October) "I ha ebeen more than loyal to French and did my best to stop all criticism of him or his methods ... I ha ecome to the conclusion that it not fair to the Empire to retain French in command. Moreover, none of my officers commanding corps had a high opinion of Sir John's military ability or military views; in fact ''they had no confidence in him''. Robertson quite agreed and left me saying he knew how to act, and would report to Stamfordham". Robertson thought (24 October) that French's "mind was never the same for two consecutive minutes" and that his ideas were "reckless and impossible" and that he had poor relations with Joffre.Woodward, 1998, p. 23


Resignation

GHQ suggested that according to Haking's own report the reserves had been held up by "avoidable delay". Haig denied that there had been any "avoidable delay" and Haking changed his mind and sent a new report blaming the slowness of his troops' march on their inexperience. French's despatch was published (2 November) claiming that the reserves had been released at 9.30 am. Haig demanded amendments and another interview between French and Haig ensued. Even though
Charteris Charteris is a Scottish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Archibald Charteris (1835–1908), Scottish theologian, founder of ''Life and Work'' magazine * Ann Fleming, (1913–1981), British socialite, wife of author Ian Fleming ...
doubted that the quicker arrival of the reserves would have made much difference, the dispute revolved around the deployment and release of the reserves. Robertson told the King (27 October) that Haig should replace French. French's policies were attacked in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
(9 November) and again on 16 November when John Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids complained of "the presence of ladies" at GHQ. Haig sent copies of the relevant orders and a critique of GHQ's conduct of the battle to his wife, who showed them to Stamfordham (10 November) for the King to see. Robertson was working against French, telling Haig (15 November) that "the first thing is to get you in command". The Prime Minister discussed the matter with the King and Kitchener (both of whom thought French not up to the job, although Kitchener thought the time not right for a change), and, on 23 November, Haig. Asquith then asked Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher to convey to French in person the news that he must resign, but that he was being offered a peerage and the newly created job of Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces. However, French insisted on seeing Asquith again (29 November) at which meeting Asquith told him that he must take the first step and that he was not being "recalled" (sacked). French's official critique of Haig's performance at Loos finally reached the
War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
on 1 December. He wrote to Asquith (2 December) suggesting that Kitchener be removed to be replaced by a civilian Secretary of State to avoid friction with the new job of Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, and writing that he would await Asquith's decision on this point. He returned to France (3 December), but Asquith had been exchanging further letters with Stamfordham and they agreed that French must now be pressed to quit. Walter Long telephoned French (4 December) passing on the Prime Minister's message that he ''must'' resign. Kitchener told Esher (4 December) that the government intended to appoint Robertson Commander-in-Chief of the BEF, but Haig was appointed instead. French's resignation, recommending Robertson as successor, reached Asquith on the morning of 6 December. It was announced in the press on 17 December and took effect at noon on 18 December. French was cheered onto the boat home by an escort of 19th Hussars.


Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces


Home Defence

French returned to England to be appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Forces in December 1915, and in January 1916, he was created Viscount French of Ypres and of High Lake in the County of Roscommon. Robertson prevented him having the same powers as the old Commander-in-Chief of the British Army or having a seat on the Army Council. Despite estimates that the Germans could land up to 170,000 men, French thought an invasion unlikely unless the Germans had first won on the Western Front. He was energetic about inspecting defences, and appealed to Asquith to obtain the services of Arthur Paget and Bruce Hamilton.Holmes 2004, pp. 314–317


Ireland and Easter Rising

French's term of office saw the suppression in 1916 of the
Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...
, which briefly coincided with a German invasion scare. An intelligence report on 21 April warned of collaboration between the Irish and the Germans. French received news of the insurrection at noon on 24 April 1916, and at once sent two infantry brigades to Ireland and put other formations on standby—the Admiralty warned that the German fleet was out. Woken at 4 am on 25 April with the news that the Germans were shelling
Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
, French ordered the commanders of the two Home Defence Armies to prepare for action and ordered two divisions in the Midlands to be prepared to move to the coast. Later that day he was informed that Nevil Macready had been deputed to handle the War Office's side of the Irish uprising. French rejected Kitchener's suggestion that he go to Ireland and take personal command, a decision with which the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
concurred. The military authorities reported from Dublin that they had the situation well in hand. On the evening of 26 April, told that the government had decided to send out a new general to Ireland, French selected John Maxwell. French had already told Asquith that he had ordered the 60th Division to be ready to move, but would not send it without the concurrence of the General Staff. On 27 April, French visited Robertson who agreed with him that to send more troops to Ireland would be "playing the German game". However, the next day after visits from St John Brodrick, 9th Viscount Midleton (on instructions from Asquith) and
Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...
French agreed to send three extra battalions, as well as the cavalry brigade from
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
which Maxwell now requested. The rebellion was crushed by 29 April. On 3 May Asquith recorded his concerns that the shooting of rebels might antagonise Irish opinion, but French, despite having been advised by
John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...
that
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
had little support outside Dublin and that the Army should not use more than minimal force, passed on these concerns with the caveat that he would not interfere with Maxwell's actions. In the opinion of one biographer French's views had not moved on since his hanging of the Cape Colony Boers, and he bears some responsibility for the shootings.


Animosity with Haig

French became increasingly critical of Haig's Western Front Offensives,Heathcote, p. 134 particularly the choice of Rawlinson to command the Somme. In August 1916 Robertson warned Haig that "Winston, French and various 'degommed people' are trying to make mischief". In October 1916, Lloyd George (then War Secretary) sought French's advice about recent press criticism of British artillery and discipline, then sent him to France to sound out the opinion of the French generals about why the French had gained ground with fewer losses on the Somme. Foch (C-in-C French Army Group North) confessed to Wilson that Haig's methods invited criticism, and Haig refused to meet him. Haig and Robertson were both concerned that Lloyd George might appoint French CIGS in Robertson's place. On 25 November 1916 the King summoned French to
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
and warned him to stop criticising Haig. In January 1917 French refused an invitation from Secretary of State for War
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled The Hon. Edward Stanley from 1886–93 and Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British peer, soldier, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politic ...
to dine with Haig, but on 22 June, after pressure from the King, a meeting was arranged for French and Haig to bury the hatchet, at which, by Haig's account, French confessed that in his bitterness at being removed from command he had "said things then which he was ashamed of now". Haig, according to his own diary, congratulated him for "speaking out like a man" and they shook hands as they parted, but their rapprochement was short-lived.


Air Defence

French took on responsibility for air defence and was frequently lobbied by local groups for better air defences. In January 1917 anti-aircraft guns were reallocated to anti-submarine warfare. After the Gotha raids in July 1917 a War cabinet sub-committee was set up and French urged that air be treated as a separate department going forward (which eventually became the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
). More guns and fighter squadrons were provided, and Brigadier E. B. Ashmore was appointed to command London's air defence, reporting to French.


Advice to War Cabinet

In July 1917, French asked to advise the War Cabinet, aware that this was breaking the monopoly of advice on which Robertson insisted. On 11 October 1917, French and Wilson were invited to the War Cabinet. French's paper criticised GHQ's inflated estimates of German casualties compared to War Office figures, pointed out that there was no firm evidence that German losses were commensurate with Allied, and that any further Western Front Offensive "has become more of a 'gamble' than anything else we have undertaken" and that any future plans and forecasts by Haig should be most carefully examined. He recommended the "Pétain solution" (i.e. standing mainly on the defensive on the Western Front until the Americans arrived in force) and urged the creation of an Allied Supreme War Council. Maurice Hankey met French and Wilson on 24 October and urged them to reconsider, concerned that if Robertson resigned the
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
might bring down the government. French refused, saying Haig was "always making the same mistake" and "we shall do no good until we break down the Haig-Robertson ring". Hankey thought that "there was envy, hatred and malice in the old boy's heart as he spoke". Haig regarded French's paper as "the outcome of a jealous and disappointed mind".


Manpower crisis

Although French was responsible for training, the demands of the Western Front left him very short of fit troops. At the start of 1917 French had a defensive force of 470,000 men, of whom 232,459 were "mobile" reserves and 237,894 on beach and anti-aircraft defence. By January 1918 the total had been reduced to 400,979, of whom 190,045 were "mobile". There were around 600,000 Category "A" men in Britain, of whom 372,000 were sent to France between January and November 1918 when the government were doing all they could to reinforce the BEF—by May 1918 even troops with medical grade of B1 were sent to France. French's reputation had recovered and he had come to be regarded as one of the government's leading advisers. French was pleased at the removal of Robertson and Derby early in 1918, and during the
German Spring Offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...
urged that Haig be sacked and replaced by Plumer. In May 1918 he again suggested to Wilson (now CIGS) that Haig be appointed his successor as Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces.


Lord Lieutenant of Ireland


1918

French noted that Irish divisions could no longer be kept up to strength by voluntary recruitment. In March 1918, when the Cabinet planned to extend conscription to Ireland, French claimed that "opinion was about evenly divided" on the issue, and thought it would cause opposition but not "bloodshed". In the event the threat of Irish conscription provoked great opposition and contributed to the growth in support for Sinn Féin. Lloyd George intended to replace the
Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...
—normally something of a figurehead position—with three "Justices": James Campbell, St John Brodrick, 9th Viscount Midleton and French himself. The three met on 30 April 1918 and jointly demanded immediate conscription and martial law in Ireland. When Lloyd George refused, Campbell declined any further involvement; Lloyd George also dropped Midleton when the latter demanded the right to "advise on policy". French eventually accepted appointment as sole Lord Lieutenant in May 1918 on condition it was as a "Military Viceroy at the Head of a Quasi-Military Government". French also arranged for Shaw, his chief of staff at Horse Guards, to replace Mahon as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland and that Irish Command should become a separate command, rather than under Home Forces. French also set up an Executive Council and a Military Council to which senior officers of the
Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...
(RIC) and
Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin in History of Ireland (1801–1923), British-controlled Ireland from 1836 to 1922 and then the Irish Free State until 1925, when it was absorbed into the new state's Garda Sío ...
(DMP) were sometimes invited. He also set up an Advisory Council, with the support of the King, Haldane and Carson, which he hoped might contain representatives of all strands of Irish opinion but in practice its members were all well-connected wealthy men. Sinn Féin were not involved despite Haldane's hopes and the proposal angered the existing administrators at Dublin Castle. The body provided useful advice on commercial and industrial questions, and advised that Home Rule could work as a federation of separate assemblies in Belfast and Dublin (also French's view), but ceased to meet regularly after April 1919. French was convinced that the Sinn Féin leaders had little support amongst the majority of the Irish people. He wanted Home Rule to be implemented, provided the violence was stopped first. In 1917 he had bought a country house at Drumdoe in
Frenchpark Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (), is a village in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on the N5 road (Ireland), N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French ...
,
County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
, but in practice was seldom able to visit the place as the situation in Ireland deteriorated. On the night of 17/18 May 1918 French had Sinn Féin leaders arrested and documents were seized, but even supporters like Repington and Macready were disappointed at the lack of clear evidence of collaboration with the Germans and the flimsy legal grounds for the arrests, which caused endless legal wrangles. Michael Collins and
Cathal Brugha Cathal Brugha (; born Charles William St John Burgess; 18 July 1874 – 7 July 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1919 to 1922, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann in January 1919, the first presid ...
escaped arrest and increased their own power in the vacuum created by the arrest of more moderate leaders. The
Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...
and Sinn Féin were proclaimed "dangerous organisations" in certain areas. French obtained a cash bonus for Irish policemen, and pressed for them to receive decorations. He also came down hard on senior Irish police officers whom he thought useless, threatening resignation unless the Inspector-General of the RIC, Brigadier-General Joseph Byrne, was removed. French, who like many generals of his generation believed that the government owed a moral duty to those who had served, urged that a " Comrades of the Great War (Ireland)" be set up to prevent returning Irish war veterans joining the Sinn Féin-dominated "Soldiers' Federation"; he also recommended that soldiers be given cash and land grants, perhaps in "Soldiers' Colonies". This plan was stymied by cash shortage and inter-departmental infighting.


1919

French clashed with the Chief Secretary Edward Shortt over his insistence that he exercise executive authority in Dublin, and when Lloyd George formed a new government in January 1919 Shortt was replaced by the more pliable Ian Macpherson. French was appointed to the
British Cabinet The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of the Government of the United Kingdom. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the Prime Minister and its members include Secretaries of State and senior Mini ...
. French secured the appointment of Sir James Macmahon as Under-Secretary at Dublin Castle. Macmahon was Catholic, which caused Walter Long and to some extent, French himself concerns that this would increase the power of the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
hierarchy over Irish government. In practice Macmahon was frozen out of decision-making by Macpherson while French was ill with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
between February and April 1919, and despite warnings from French of administrative chaos at
Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
it was not until 1920 that the highly able John Anderson was appointed as Joint Under-Secretary with Macmahon. The shooting deaths of two Catholic constables of the RIC in an ambush at Soloheadbeg,
County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
(21 January 1919) caused French to call off tentative talks between Haldane and the recently elected Irish Dáil. French and Macpherson wanted Sinn Féin declared illegal and pressed for a free hand to deal with the militants, although the issue received little priority while Lloyd George was at
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
in the first half of 1919. Sinn Féin was declared illegal on 5 July 1919 after District Inspector Hunt was killed in broad daylight, in
Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...
(23 June). By October 1919 French was urging martial law. By December he was furious at the government's lack of support and their insistence that the RIC buy army surplus vehicles on the open market instead of simply being given them. Shaw was sceptical about the legality of martial law and thought it might be impractical in cities like Dublin and Cork. French was advised that 15 army battalions and 24 cycle units (half a battalion in size) were needed to keep order, but British strength did not reach these levels until the summer of 1920. In November 1919, Irish Command listed its minimum requirement as 25,000 "bayonet strength"—at the time there were just over 37,000 troops in Ireland, many of them non-combatants. Even in January 1920 only 34 battalions were available, rather than the 36 required. British military strength in Ireland reached 51 battalions during the martial law period early in 1921. IRA intimidation caused traditional RIC sources of information to dry up. By late 1919, with French's approval, the RIC was recruiting in England: first the "
Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...
", then the
Auxiliary Division The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Majo ...
(ex-army officers with the powers of police sergeants) from July 1920. French had been receiving death threats since January 1919, which he believed were a sign that government measures were having an effect. On 19 December 1919 a group of eleven IRA men, including Seán Treacy, Seamus Robinson, Seán Hogan, Paddy Daly,
Joe Leonard Joseph Paul Leonard (August 4, 1932 – April 27, 2017) was an American professional motorcycle racer and racecar driver. Biography Motorcycle career Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Championship Series in 1954 and won it again in 19 ...
, Martin Savage and
Dan Breen Daniel Breen (11 August 1894 – 27 December 1969) was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. In later years he was a Fianna Fáil politician. Background Breen was born in Grange ...
, sought to ambush and kill French as he returned from
Ashtown railway station Ashtown is a commuter railway station in Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on the Dublin Connolly to Maynooth railway station, Maynooth and Docklands railway station, Docklands to M3 Parkway railway station, M3 Parkway commuter services. It ...
to the Vice-Regal Lodge in
Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park () is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since ...
, Dublin. Savage, Kehoe and Breen were interrupted by a RIC officer as they pushed a hay-cart halfway across the road blocking the path of French's car. He was dragged off the road after one of them lobbed a
grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
at him, which did not go off but knocked him unconscious.Wayne Sugg When French's car convoy appeared minutes later the IRA unit focused their attack upon the second car on the basis of incorrect intelligence: French was actually in the first car. In the ensuing crossfire, Breen was hit in the leg and Savage was killed by a bullet in the neck. French's bodyguard was wounded, and he was saved in part by the quick thinking of his driver. A grenade, which would almost certainly have killed him, exploded in the back seat of the second car. The Cabinet agreed that the Irish Government could impose martial law whenever it pleased, although in the event this did not happen for almost another year, by which time executive authority had been returned to London. Suspects could now be interned under Defence of the Realm Act 1914 s. 14B on warrants signed by the Chief Secretary and French pressed Macpherson, who had been shocked by the attempted assassination, to intern as many as possible, although he advised against interning politicians like
Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith (; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Trea ...
"simply for making seditious speeches".Holmes 2004, p. 354


Final period

Political support from London for internment wavered. French opposed the release of hunger strikers under the "Cat and Mouse" Act and wanted them simply left to die, but in April 1920, under pressure from London, they were paroled. French lost a good deal of executive power as substantial control over Irish affairs was given back to a new Chief Secretary, Hamar Greenwood, in April 1920. French again urged the introduction of martial law in Ireland and the use of
Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...
as peacekeepers in Southern Ireland. Wilson and Macready expected French to be sacked in the spring of 1920. Wilson wrote: "Poor little man he is so weak and pliable and then has such inconsequential gusts of illogical passion". French had supported the use of armoured cars and aircraft in Ireland. By June 1920 the military situation had escalated considerably and French suggested that they should be permitted to strafe and bomb freely into areas from which civilians had been removed. French resigned as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on 30 April 1921 and was replaced by Lord Edmund Talbot, a Catholic.


Honorary positions

French was president of The Ypres League, a veterans' society for those who had served at the Ypres Salient. He was also colonel of the 19th Hussars from 14 February 1902 (retaining this position when French persuaded Wilson to amalgamate them with the 15th to become the 15th/19th The King's Royal HussarsHolmes 2004, pp. 362–63), colonel of the 1st Battalion, the Cambridgeshire Regiment from 22 April 1909 and colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment from 26 March 1913, succeeding Wolseley. The Royal Irish Regiment was disbanded along with the four other Southern Irish regiments, in 1922. He was Colonel of the
Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...
from June 1916.


Memoirs

Stung by press attacks in February 1917, French published his memoirs ''1914'', ghosted by the journalist Lovat Fraser, in April and May 1919.Holmes 2004, pp. 359–361 The unauthorised publication of the book technically laid him open to prosecution as he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time. The King was angered, and
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...
warned French that the government could not defend him if the House of Commons demanded his resignation. Smith-Dorrien, as a serving officer, was not permitted to reply. Haig, Asquith and Bertie complained of inaccuracies and it was attacked by Sir John Fortescue as "one of the most unfortunate books ever written". Smith-Dorrien, in a private written statement, called ''1914'' "mostly a work of fiction and a foolish one too". French left an uncompleted autobiography, which was used by Gerald French in his 1931 life of his father. In 1972 the ownership of French's war diaries was disputed following the bankruptcy of the 3rd Earl of Ypres.


Retirement

French retired from the British Army in April 1921 and was elevated to the Earldom of Ypres in June 1922. Drumdoe was looted early in 1923, for which French received an apology and a promise of an armed guard for the place from
Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
Timothy Michael Healy Timothy Michael Healy, KC (17 May 1855 – 26 March 1931) was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and a controversial Irish Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...
. Despite a gift of £50,000 in 1916, and receiving field marshal's half pay, owning two properties in Ireland which he could not use left French again short of money, although he did not improve matters by staying often at the
Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel () is a historic luxury hotel in Paris which opened in 1909 in a building dating to 1758. Located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, the Crillon, along with the Hôtel de la Marine, is one of two identical s ...
in Paris. He left £8,450 (net total) in his will. French lived at 94
Lancaster Gate Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. History It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between t ...
, London, which provided a useful base for his amorous activities, on which he often embarked together with a wealthy American friend, George Moore. In August 1923 William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp offered him the honorary post of Captain of Deal Castle, which gave him a home in Britain once again.


Death

French died from
bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...
at Deal Castle on 22 May 1925. On 25 May, his body was taken by motor hearse to London for cremation at
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...
. The ashes remained overnight in the Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks, until the funeral service at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
in the evening of 26 May. After the service, the ashes were escorted by a military procession to Victoria Station. The procedure of burying ashes in an urn was still unfamiliar at the time, and it was transported in a coffin during the funeral ceremonies. An estimated 7,000 people filed past the coffin during the first two hours it lay in state. Haig, Robertson, Hamilton and Smith-Dorrien were pall bearers at the funeral at Westminster Abbey – the first of a major First World War leader. The ashes were buried in a private service in the graveyard of St. Mary the Virgin Church at Ripple, Kent, five days after his death.


Assessments


Contemporaries

French was "a man about whom there were extremes of opinion, ranging from loyalty and affection to disgust". He had a hot temper and swings of mood, would address friends effusively as "dear old boy", and was a womaniser and often short of money. He wore an unusually long tunic which emphasised his relatively short stature. He was—at least during the Boer War—idolised by the public and during the First World War was loved by his men in a way that Douglas Haig never was.Reid 2006, pp. 52–53 French was also an avid reader of
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...
, from whose works he was able to recite long passages from memory.Holmes 2004, p. 25 Opinions vary as to French's military abilities. Edward Spears, then a subaltern liaising between French and Lanrezac, later wrote of the former:
You only had to look at him to see that he was a brave, determined man ... I learnt to love and to admire the man who never lost his head, and on whom danger had the effect it has on the wild boar: he would become morose, furious for a time, harsh, but he would face up and never shirk. He knew only one way of dealing with a difficulty, and that was to tackle it ... If he had once lost confidence in a man, justly or unjustly, that man could do no right in his eyes. He was as bad an enemy as he was a good friend ... once he had lost confidence in (Lanrezac) he ignored him and acted as if he and his Army did not exist.
Spears also recorded that at a conference with Joffre on 30 August 1914 French, the back of his tunic wet with sweat from riding hard to reach the meeting, was "one of the coolest and calmest people at GHQ". This was at the time when he had decided that the BEF would have to retreat behind the Seine to refit. French was severely criticised by those close to Haig, including General Sir
Hubert Gough General (United Kingdom), General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( ; 12 August 1870 – 18 March 1963) was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A controversial figure, he was a favourite of the Commander-in-chief, Commande ...
, who thought him "an ignorant little fool" (in a letter of 29 January 1916; he was more charitable in his 1954 memoirs ''Soldiering On'' (p. 127)) and
Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian and writer. First elected to Parl ...
in Haig's official biography. The Official Historian
James Edward Edmonds Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier-General Sir James Edward Edmonds, (25 December 1861 – 2 August 1956) was an commissioned officer, officer of the Royal Engineers in the late-Victorian era British Army who worked in the Intelligence Corps ...
called him "only '' of the old fashioned sort—a vain, ignorant and vindictive old man with an unsavoury society backing" and claimed that French once borrowed Sir Edward Hamley's ''Operations of War'' from the War Office library but could not understand it.Reid 2006, p. 54 His admiring biographer Cecil Chisholm (1914) claimed that as a young officer French had had a reputation as a reader of military books (
Antoine-Henri Jomini Antoine-Henri Jomini (; 6 March 177922 March 1869) was a Swiss-French military officer who served as a General officer, general in First French Empire, French and later in Russian Empire, Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers o ...
, Karl von Schmidt), a claim treated with some scepticism by Holmes, although Beckett uses it to cast doubt on Edmonds' "magnificently malicious" story, pointing out that he remembered enough of Hamley's doctrines not to take shelter in Maubeuge after the Battle of Mons, although Spears later wrote that had Hamley not employed such a penetrating metaphor it might not have lodged in French's mind. During his time in command in France his subordinates recognized him as a poor worker with a constant stream of guests, while General Smith-Dorrien remarked that there were "Too many whores around your headquarters, Field-Marshal!" General Macready (in 1919) thought French "one of the most lovable men I have ever met ... one of the most loyal and true-hearted individuals you are ever likely to come across". Field Marshal Philip Chetwode, reflecting on the hostility between Haig and his former patron French, wrote that "French was a man who loved life, laughter and women ... a man who might have done big things in open warfare. He was a lucky general and inspired the greatest confidence in his troops" and that Haig was his opposite in most of these respects. Churchill (in '' Great Contemporaries'') wrote that French was "a natural soldier" who lacked Haig's attention to detail and endurance, but who had "deeper military insight" and "would never have run the British army into the same long drawn-out slaughters". Seely and
Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...
thought highly of him. Haldane thought he had "been a great Commander-in-Chief, a soldier of the first order, who held the Army as no other could". Lloyd George praised him as "a far bigger man" than Haig and regretted that he "had fallen by the daggers of his own colleagues", although perhaps as an ally against Haig in 1916–1918.


Modern historians

French was ridiculed as "weak-willed" by
Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...
in the widely read ''The Donkeys'' (1961). His modern biographer Richard Holmes wrote that "he remains ... a discredited man" with whom "history has dealt too harshly". He argues that French was an emotional man who was deeply moved by casualties and identified too closely with his soldiers, even in August 1914. Holmes quotes with approval John Terraine's verdict that French was the most distinguished English cavalry leader since
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
, and argues that although he did not achieve victory, his personality inspired the BEF in 1914. Holmes acknowledges that French's qualities were marred by his "undisciplined intellect and mercurial personality", but concludes by quoting Churchill's verdict that "French, in the sacred fire of leadership, was unsurpassed". Brian Bond described French as "a brave fighting general who proved out of his professional depths" in 1914–15. Ian Senior offers a critical view of French in 1914: although he was "essentially a generous and warm-hearted man" as seen in his pre-Marne meeting with Joffre, his
excitable temperament, uncertain judgement based on rumour and personal experience and his tendency to over-exaggerate problems did not suit him to be in command of the army. At best, his more questionable decisions led to a lack of support for his ally at critical moments in the campaign; at worst, they threatened to wreck Joffre's carefully laid plans for the counteroffensive.
Senior is critical of his vetoing – out of excessive concern to avoid BEF losses – of Haig's orders to attack on 29 August, his decision to pull the BEF out of the line on 30 August, only a few hours after promising to assist Fifth Army by delaying his retreat, and his countermanding of Haig's order to advance on 9 September. He also criticises him for his lack of any realistic appraisal of the state of II Corps after Le Cateau, and "lack of urgency" in advance at the Marne, and writes that French would not have cooperated without the "brutal" intervention of Lord Kitchener.
Max Hastings Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard''. ...
is even less kind, arguing that French used his instructions from Kitchener (to husband the strength of the BEF and to avoid major engagements without French participation unless given Cabinet authority) as an excuse for "pusillanimity". He criticises him for lack of "grip" and for "moral collapse" during the retreat after Le Cateau, and describes him as "a poltroon", although also pointing out that his failings were no worse than those of many French and German generals in that campaign. Richard Holmes argues that French had no consistency in his strategic ideas, as was shown at the War Council in August 1914 when he proposed deploying the BEF to Antwerp. Ian Beckett does not wholly agree with Holmes, arguing that French was consistent in December 1914 – January 1915 in wanting to promote what he saw as Britain's strategic interests by deploying Territorial and New Army Divisions in an offensive along the Belgian Coast to seize
Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...
, although he also remarks that such plans were not unique to French, as they continued to find favour with Haig in 1916–17, and that French's hopes for amphibious landings in the Baltic or North Sea had little practicality at this stage. In his memoirs ''1914'' French wrote "no previous experience ... had led me to anticipate a war of positions. All my thoughts ... were concentrated upon a
war of movement Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare, is a military strategy which emphasizes movement, initiative and surprise to achieve a position of advantage. Maneuver seeks to inflict losses indirectly by envelopment, encirclement and disruption, while ...
." Although French's memoirs are often unreliable this passage is confirmed by what he wrote to Lt-Gen Edward Hutton in December 1914 that the war had become "a
siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
... on a gigantic scale". Ian Beckett argues that in this respect, and in his recognition of the importance of artillery as early as the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914, French's tactical views were "marginally more flexible" than those of Haig, who continued to nurse hopes of breakthrough and decisive victory until several years later.


Personal life and family


First marriage

In 1875, French married Isabella Soundy, the daughter of a tradesman. Subalterns of that era were not expected to marry and French's first marriage may well have been kept secret from his regiment: his regiment is recorded incorrectly on the marriage certificate as "12th Hussars", which did not exist at the time. They divorced in 1878 with Isabella as a co-respondent and said to have been paid off by French's wealthy brother-in-law, John Lydall. The divorce could have ruined his career if widely known. Lydall had already paid off French's debts on a previous occasion, and later broke off relations with him when he attempted to borrow money again.


Second marriage

French married Eleanora Selby-Lowndes in 1880. His first son John Richard Lowndes was born in Northumberland in 1881. A daughter was accidentally suffocated by her nurse in 1882. His second son
Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...
was born in December 1883. Neither Eleanore, nor his daughter Essex (born late 1886, died 1979), were ever aware of his first marriage. French gave away his niece Georgina Whiteway (daughter of his sister Caroline) in 1903 when she married Fitzgerald Watt, French's stockbroker. Watt became, in uniform, his ADC as Inspector-General, then Private Secretary when CIGS, then trusted aide in the First World War.Holmes 2004, p. 16 As Inspector-General in the Edwardian period French appears to have been largely separated from his wife, but she appears to have still loved him. In 1905, French purchased 20 Park Mansions from Watt as a base in London. He met George Moore, a wealthy American, in about 1909 and in 1910 they took a large house together at 94 Lancaster Gate as a base for partying and womanising. Eleanore did not accompany him to Ireland (officially, as it was too dangerous).Holmes 2004, p. 364 From 1922, French re-established relations with his son Gerald, who began writing to defend his father's reputation in the 1930s, and his last publication was ''The French-Kitchener Dispute: A Last Word'' in 1960. Gerald French died in 1970.


Affair

Beginning in January 1915 French had an affair with Mrs Winifred Bennett, the wife of a British diplomat. French wrote to her almost daily, sometimes signing himself "Peter Pan" and on the eve of Neuve Chapelle he wrote to her, "Tomorrow I shall go forward with my war cry of 'Winifred. She was tall and elegant, and the disparity in their heights caused great amusement.


Siblings

French had six sisters. One sister, Katherine Harley, by then a widow, led a group of British nurses on the Salonika front and was killed by shellfire at Monastir in March 1917. Another sister was the
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
, anti-war campaigner and Irish nationalist
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
member Charlotte Despard, a Catholic convert.


Honours and arms


Honours

British * Viscountcy as Viscount French (1916) *
Earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...
as Earl of Ypres (1922) * Knight of the
Order of St Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, ...
(1917) * Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
(1909) * Member of the
Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...
(1914) * Knight Grand Cross of the
Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...
(1907) * Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
(1902) * Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (1918) *Honorary Freedom of the City of
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
– 26 August 1902 *Honorary Freedom of the borough of
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
– 9 October 1902 *Honorary Freedom of the City of
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
– 6 November 1902 *Honorary Freedom of the borough of
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
– 14 January 1903 *Honorary Freedom of the borough of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
– 20 January 1903 *Honorary Freedom and livery of the
Worshipful Company of Cutlers The Worshipful Company of Cutlers is one of the ancient Livery Companies of the City of London. It ranks 18th in the order of precedence of the Companies. The trade of knife-making and repairing was formed in the thirteenth century as a guil ...
, with a sword of honour – 28 July 1902 – "in recognition of his distinguished services in the War in South Africa". *Honorary Freedom and livery of the Worshipful Company of Salters – 13 November 1902 *Honorary Freedom and livery of the
Worshipful Company of Haberdashers The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company received its first ro ...
Others *Knight 1st class
Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...
of
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
– during his September 1902 visit to Germany to attend German Army manoeuvres. *
Croix de guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
of France – 22 February 1916 *Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold of Belgium – 24 February 1916 *
Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...
of
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, 3rd Class – 16 May 1916 *Grand Cross of the
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus () (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the world, tracing its lineage to AD 1098, a ...
of the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
– 26 May 1917 *First Class of the Order of the Star of Karađorđe with Swords of the
Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...
– 10 September 1918 *Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...
with Paulownia Flowers of the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
– 9 November 1918 *Commemorated by memorials in Ypres Cathedral and
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...
.


Arms


In popular culture

After the Colesberg Operations (early 1900) the following verse was published about him: During the Boer War, the press lionised him as "Uncle French" and "the shirt-sleeved general". Field Marshal French was played by
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...
in
Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...
's World War I satire film ''
Oh! What A Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British epic comedy historical musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth Mo ...
'' (1969). Ian Beckett writes that French and Wilson are portrayed almost as "a comic duo" in the film. By this time, although Terraine's ''Mons: Retreat to Victory'' (1960), Alan Clark's ''The Donkeys'' (1961), and A. J. Smithers' ''The Man Who Disobeyed'' (a 1970 biography of Smith-Dorrien) kept up some interest in French, he was already becoming a somewhat forgotten figure as popular interest from the 1960s onwards concentrated on the Battle of the Somme, inevitably focussing attention on Douglas Haig. In Russian the word '' french'' (), a type of four-pocketed military tunic, is named after John French.


See also

* Army Manoeuvres of 1913 *
Christmas truce The Christmas truce (; ; ) was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War around Christmas 1914. The truce occurred five months after hostilities had begun. Lulls occurred in the fighting a ...
* Gheluvelt Park – a public park in Worcester, which he opened on 17 June 1922 * Saint George's Memorial Church, Ypres * Mount French, a mountain in Canada named after him


Notes


References


Further reading


Books by French

* ''Report of General Sir John French upon his inspection of the Canadian Military Forces'' (Ottawa 1910). * ''The Despatches of Sir John French: I Mons, II the Marne, III The Aisne, IV Flanders'' (London: Chapman & Hall 1914). * ''The Despatches of Lord French...And a Complete List of the Officers and Men Mentioned'' (London: Chapman & Hall 1917). * ''The German and Small Nations: An Interview with Lord French'' (London: J.J. Keliher & Co 1917). * ''1914'' (London: Constable & Co 1919). * ''Some War Diaries, Addresses and Correspondence'' (ed.) Maj The Hon Edward Gerald French (son) (London: Herbert Jenkins 1937).


Older books

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


Modern books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


The grave of John French, 1st Earl of Ypres, in Ripple, Kent
* *
National Portrait Gallery
* * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:French, John 1852 births 1925 deaths Suffolk Militia officers 19th Royal Hussars officers 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers British Army cavalry generals of World War I British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British field marshals of World War I British military personnel of the Irish War of Independence Captains of Deal Castle Cavalry commanders Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff Deaths from bladder cancer in England Earls of Ypres
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Ypres, John French, 1st Earl of Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Members of the Order of Merit Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Northumberland Hussars officers People educated at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy People from Ripple, Kent People of the Easter Rising Military personnel from Kent Burials in Kent Royal Navy officers Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Viscounts created by George V Peers created by George V War scare People from Frenchpark Irish officers in the Royal Navy 19th-century Royal Navy personnel Irish officers in the British Army English people of Irish descent Irish people of English descent