2 March 1869: The death of General Sir Hugh Gough OTD. He fought in the wars against Napoleon as a junior officer but is most famous for his Generalship in the 1st China War and the 1st & 2nd Sikh Wars.

He was born 3 November 1779 at Woodstown, Co. Limerick and started his military career in 1793. He campaigned in the West Indies and was present at the attack on Porto Rico and the capture of Trinidad (1797). He was at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in September 1795 and also in the expedition to Dutch Guiana in 1799.

He went to Spain in January 1809 and commanded the 2nd Battalion of his regiment  [the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers] at the Battle of Talavera, during which he was wounded in July 1809. He also fought at the Battle of Barrosa, where his regiment  captured a French Imperial Eagle in March 1811. This battle had the most influence on his tactical thinking as he believed that immediate attack was the best method of breaking an enemy force. When Marshal Laval attacked Tarifa at the southern tip of Spain (October 1811), Gough and his men prevented the French exploiting a breach in the town's defences. 

He saw action at the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813 and the Battle of Nivelle, during which he was again badly wounded in November 1813. His wounds there precluded any further active service in the theatre of War. Knighted in June 1815, he was later given the freedom of the city of Dublin and presented with a commemorative sword.

In the 1820s he was back in Co. Tipperary where he led military forces in suppressing the ‘Whiteboy’ agrarian disturbances and was also a local magistrate. After many years at home in 1837 he decided to take up an offer to run the Mysore division of the Madras Army in India. It was a big move to make as he was already 58 years old and married with a family but he knew that his only chance of further advancement lay in active service. This he experienced in plenty in the years to come.

At the outset of the First Opium War in March 1839 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in China. He led the assault at the Battle of Canton in May 1841, he also led the assault at the Battle of Amoy in August 1841. He commanded the British forces at the Battle of Chapu in May 1842 and at the Battle of Chinkiang in July 1842. After the Treaty of Nanking, the British forces were withdrawn and he returned to India. The 1st China or Opium War was probably one of the most controversial campaigns ever undertaken by a British Force but the politics of it were beyond Gough’s remit and it really was a classic case of a General ‘only obeying orders’ and in fact the Chinese resistance was tepid with the local peasants showing more spirit than most of the troops sent to fight the British.

In August 1843 Gough became Commander-in-Chief, India, and in December 1843 he led the British forces in action against the Mahrattas defeating them decisively at the conclusion of the Gwalior Campaign at the battle of Maharajpore.

In the 1st Sikh War he commanded the troops at the Battle of Mudki in December 1845, at the Battle of Ferozeshah also in December 1845 and at the Battle of Sobraon in February 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh War. In all these battles he defeated the Sikhs after a series of bloody encounters. Gough was loyally supported by Lord Hardinge, the governor-general, who served under him during these actions.

The Second Anglo-Sikh War started in 1848, and again Gough took to the field commanding in person at the Battle of Ramnagar in November 1848 and at the Battle of Chillianwala in January 1849 which at best could be called a bloody stalemate. He was criticised for relying on frontal assault by infantry rather than using artillery and was replaced as commander-in-chief by Sir Charles Napier but, before news of his replacement had arrived, Gough achieved a decisive victory over the Sikhs in the Battle of Gujarat in February 1849. 

However the losses he suffered in fighting the Sikhs were very high and he was criticsized both within the Army and in the Indian Press for it. When news had filtered back to London it was decided to replace him but his Victory at Gujarat had concluded the campaign and he returned to Britain a Hero. And there was no doubt that he was one as he had shown amazing bravery leading from the front in battle and was a shining example to the men under his command. He never asked of his men on the field of battle what he would not do himself.

Gough returned to England in May 1849 and was created viscount in June and awarded a pension of £2,000 a year. Numerous other honours were showered on him, including an East India Company pension and the freedom of the city of London.

Gough also served as colonel of the 99th Regiment of Foot, as colonel of the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot and later as colonel of the Royal Horse Guards. In Dublin, he was a member of the Kildare Street Club. He was promoted to field marshal on 9 November 1862. He died at St. Helen's, his home in Booterstown, [now a Hotel] on 2 March 1869 and was buried in Stillorgan cemetery where his grave can still be seen.

An equestrian statue of Gough by John Foley was ultimately erected outside the city, in Dublin's Phoenix Park in 1880 but, after being repeatedly vandalised in the 1940s and 1950s, it was moved to Chillingham Castle in Northumberland in 1990. 

The inscription reads:

In honour of Field Marshal Hugh Viscount Gough, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., an illustrious Irishman, whose achievements in the Peninsular War, in China, and in India, have added lustre to the military glory of his country, which he faithfully served for seventy five years. This statue [cast from cannon taken by troops under his command and granted by Parliament for the purpose] is erected by friends and comrades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Gough,_1st_Viscount_Gough

https://www.dib.ie/biography/gough-sir-hugh-a3548