GENERAL WHITE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 49

GENERAL WHITE.

THE COMMANDER OF LADYSMITH.

Lk-nleiianl-geneml Sir George "vS' iiits. V.C.. vho has &o salLimly withstood liio utmost eiioito oi the Boers, to capture L,.;cly!. until, is an oiheer of dUtinguishea .'.erace. Xc has' been w > ear- in tlic army, and v/ai much more than i-r.lt that time before he got the sr lightest ci.arcd of >-ho win g the <-viii: thai vs'as in him. Yqz (.-ny- a rece,.t biogiapher) he lived tee' =cc himsell preferred for the Indian command to one of the be; I toldicrs tho world contains, who was n major-general when he was only a very junior lieutenant-colonel, with not much provpect of ever .handling a larger body of men thau his own battalion. Sir George is a native of Balmo.ua. Courty Antrim. He suv/ the light in July, 1835, and went into the service at the age of 13 and four months* Naturally he found his way into ihe 27th Foot; or Inmskilling Regiment, in ample time to tr.ke part in the Crimean war, but hi-; regiment was nol in the Taurie CiiersjoneEe, nor did it hove- any great s'aaic either in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny. He became lieutenant in 16 mouths, a. captain in eight; and a-haK years, so that, as the ordinary run of promotion goes, he had not much to com~plain'about. 'Be had seen a bit of work in th£ last days of the Mutiny, but though it ge'-e 1 him a medal it did not procure him a clasp* As junior captain he migrated inlo the 92nd, now known as the 2i.0 Li^alion Gordon Highlanders. Et had done good york in the Mutiny long before he johic:>. bi>t he hi/1 to wait 16 years after he wore the kilt beloro it smelt powder again. Meanwhile, luninc had 10 years of company work, he i.>s.e to be a major, and it was in thai rank he first iwue himself known, "boldly and raj idlj'. He went with hio battalion into Afghanistan, and was with '" Tidhs " in the Kuram Valley, and in the swift descent on Cabul. Tt was; in the_,big fight of Gharasiah that I" did the deed which brought him fanio and luck. The Afghans had established a strong party on the top of a commanding l/.l 1 , from which they did mucl» oxecution ainoiii- oi'i men. It frll to the let of White and a mer* hurr!fv' of the " Ninetftwas " to, in the laiif." .-;£<■■• of or.c of the party, "put them oot o' IJiat,'" and right quickly were the IsmaeJi*e<>, if net Israelites (as they claim), sent flying. The hiinery was shared hy a dozen — one got t!io rc"*ft»"cl. And that reward w'a<s the fir?t of nia:.y, which havd landed the doe:- of ther.i wl.cve h". rose to m India — in tho next rr.o< coveted plpoo to those two other distinguished Irishmen, Lords Wolseley and Roberts. White male his mark also in the expediti'-.'i tc Maidan. mi the n'.imeroub affairs lound Cabul and Sherpuv, aiid in the capture of Takat-i-shah, as well as iii whatever was going on. He was ever "on the job," and, indeed, if all stories are true, 1 c waJ a bit over-sctivc for some of hi° conrade?. When the big march of August came off. White was not only in it, but at the battle of Catidahar he especially distinguished him--self, for he rushed in advance of his men, and cantured one of the enemy's field-pieces singled antled. Tf he had not already possessed the coveted l)it of bronze, he would have gained it then. Four times, was he mentioned in despatches published in the one year, 18S0. It was not until March of the following year, however, that lie got his brevet of lieutenant-colonel, and four months later he succeeded to the command of the battalion. Four years after he was mack full colonel, just as though he were the most undistinguished person possible, and owe.d everything to routine. A few days before he had been taken out of the battalion, and put on the staff in Egypt. He was much too Jate for any fighting, or even work, high up the Nile, but he went up a certain distance — as A.A.G. He remained in this position until the end of June, and when the force was withdrawn from the Nile he was unemployed, but not for long. In September of the same year he got a command in Madras, or, rather, of a Madras division of -Mandalay, and there or.cc inor« he got a chance and took it. While stiii only a colonel in army rank he commanded the forces in Buaenah, and became majorgeneral, and that supernumerary, not until July, 1877, for " distinguished service in the field." In 1889 lie was given the most ! anxious post in India that it was possible for him to hold — namely, the first clasp frontier district of Quotta. He there carried out to the letter what Lard Roberts- required -oi him, and he was soon spoken of ss the " coming man." When Lord Roberta's extended time was up there were really only two candidates in the field in the least likelj to command the suffrages of the authorities in India and at Home. And the scale turned in favour of Sir George White. His career as Commpnder-iE-Chief v;as marked by no special feature. He was put there to carry out the Roberts policy, of which he is understood to be a convinced adherent. Under another sreneral it might have been altered, or al least trodined. Lieutenantgeneral Sir George White, V.C., was loca* peneral in India.