The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Beresford

I SEE THE FLEET I saw the Navy for the first time in the year 1858, when I was twelve years old. The Channel Squadron came into the Downs; the admiral, who was a friend of my fat...

THE BEGINNING OF SERVICE I was sent to sea for the somewhat vague reasons which so often determine a boy's future. There was a belief that I was of a delicate constitution, and a...

THE SHIP OF HAPPIEST MEMORY On the 25th of March, 1861, I was appointed naval cadet in the _Marlborough_. As I climbed up her side by the hand-rungs, while my chest was being hoi...

THE SHIP OF UNHAPPY MEMORY I did not like the _Defence_. I thought her a dreadful ship. After the immaculate decks, the glittering perfection, the spirit and fire and pride of t...

THE MIDSHIPMAN OF 1864 I wish I could convey to my readers something of the pride and delight which a sailor feels in his ship. But who that has never had the luck to be a deep-w...

STRICT SERVICE Captain Lord Gillford, afterwards Lord Clamwilliam, was one of the finest seamen, and his ship was one of the smartest ships, in the Service. The _Tribune_ was wha...

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_ I. TO THE ANTIPODES After a brief spell in the royal yacht, I was promoted out of her to lieutenant, and was appointed to the _Galatea_, Captain H....

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_ (_Continued_) II. MY TWO FAITHFUL SERVANTS They came to me first in the _Galatea_, so that their story may fitly be related in this place. Tom Fat...

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_ (_Continued_) III. TAHITI AND THE SANDWICH ISLANDS We arrived at Tahiti in June, 1869. Here is the most lovely climate in the world. The inhabita...

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_ IV. OLD JAPAN NOTE When Lord Charles Beresford visited Nippon (from the Chinese Jih Pun, the place or rising of the sun, changed by English pronun...

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_ (_Continued_) V. WITH THE DUKE IN JAPAN The _Galatea_ arrived at Yokohama on the 29th August 1869. The Duke with his suite, including myself, went...

THE CRUISE OF H.M.S. _GALATEA_ (_Continued_) VI. THE HOMEWARD VOYAGE From Japan we proceeded to China, touching at Chefoo, Shanghai and Hongkong. Nothing could exceed the prince...

FLAG-LIEUTENANT AT PLYMOUTH In 1871, I was appointed flag-lieutenant to Admiral (afterwards Admiral of the Fleet) the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel, commander-in-chief at Plymouth. His f...

POLITICAL EVENTS OF 1873-80 AND POSTSCRIPT NOTE The following brief summary of political and international affairs is introduced for convenience of reference. It may be skipped ...

AN IRISH ELECTION AND IRISH POLITICS The political situation in Ireland at the time when I entered politics was characteristically exemplified in the Kerry election of 1872, in wh...

MEMBER FOR WATERFORD, AND COMMANDER, ROYAL NAVY I shall never forget my first impressions, when, in 1874, I entered Parliament. There was a discussion upon a matter of Local Gove...

WITH THE PRINCE IN INDIA In September, 1875, I was appointed A.D.C. to the Prince of Wales (our late King) to accompany his Royal Highness upon his visit to India. The complete li...

THE EGYPTIAN WAR I. THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE NOTE The story of the Egyptian war may conveniently begin with an account of the affair of the 9th September, 1881, when Tewfik, Khe...

THE EGYPTIAN WAR (_Continued_) II. THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA My appointment to H.M.S. _Condor_ was dated 31st December, 1881. The _Condor_ was a single-screw composite sloop...

THE EGYPTIAN WAR (_Continued_) III. CHIEF OF POLICE The bombardment took place on the 11th July. On the 12th, as I have narrated, the Egyptian soldiery fired the city, looted it...

THE EGYPTIAN WAR (_Continued_) IV. GARRISON WORK When I was relieved, on 1st August (1882), of the post of provost-marshal and chief of police, the _Condor_ was ordered to keep t...

PASSING THROUGH EGYPT At the beginning of the year 1883 I was on my way out to India with Lady Charles in the P. and O. s.s. _Malwa_. Proceeding into Ismailia Lake, the _Malwa_ w...

THE SOUDAN WAR OF 1884-5 I. SUMMARY OF EVENTS NOTE A year before the British forces restored order in Egypt, trouble was beginning in the Soudan. One Mahomet Ahmed, who was the...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) II. HOW WE BROUGHT THE BOATS THROUGH THE GREAT GATE In January, 1884, General Gordon was entrusted by the British and Egyptian Governments with the i...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) III. UP THE CATARACTS AND ACROSS THE DESERT "To Assiout, in a cloud of dust We came, and it made us smile, To see each other's features, till...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) IV. THE FIRST MARCH OF THE DESERT COLUMN NOTE By the end of December, 1884, the whole of the expedition was in process of concentrating at Korti. A...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) V. THE DESERT MARCH OF THE FORLORN HOPE "When years ago I 'listed, lads, To serve our Gracious Queen, The sergeant made me understand I w...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) VI. THE FIGHT AT ABU KLEA "England well may speak with wonder Of the small heroic band, Fearlessly, though parched and weary, Toiling 'cr...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) VII. THE FIGHT TO REACH THE RIVER "We had beat the foe at Abu Klea, and now had marched all night, Parching with thirst, each longed to see the f...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) VIII. DISASTER "Comrades, who with us side by side, Did in the brunt of battle stand, Are absent now, their manly forms Lie mouldering in...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) IX. THE RESCUE "And while lying near Metemmeh He went--many a time you know-- Up the river in his steamer, Dealing havoc on the foe; An...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) X. THE EFFECT OF THE ACTION OF WAD HABESHI The proximate result of the fight of the _Safieh_ was of course the fulfilment of its immediate object, th...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) XI. THE RETREAT Upon the day after the rescue of Sir Charles Wilson's party, a court of inquiry, under my presidency, was held to investigate the con...

THE SOUDAN WAR (_Continued_) XII. SEQUEL AND CONCLUSION For the first few weeks after the return of the Desert Column to Korti, we all believed that there would be an autumn camp...

ORGANISATION FOR WAR There is nothing quite so dead as dead politics; therefore I do not intend to dwell upon my political experiences, except in so far as they relate to the purp...

THE TWENTY-ONE MILLION In January, 1887, my routine work at the Admiralty was varied by a trip in the new submarine _Nautilus_ to the bottom of Tilbury Dock, which was very nearly...

H.M.S. _UNDAUNTED_ I. WITH THE MEDITERRANEAN FLEET "Undaunteds be ready, Undaunteds be steady, Undaunteds stand by for a job!" Bugle call of H.M.S. _Undaunted_ I...

H.M.S. UNDAUNTED (_Continued_) II. THE SALVING OF THE SEIGNELAY The _Undaunted_, lying at Alexandria in 1891, was being rigged up for a ball; when a telegram arrived ordering her...

THE SECOND SHIPBUILDING PROGRAMME It is easier to take the helm than to be on the con. I have always been on the con. To drop the metaphor, I have looked ahead in matters of nav...

STEAM RESERVE In the days of the sailing Navy, when an accident occurred, the captain knew every method by which it could be repaired, and gave directions exactly how the work was...

VIEWS AND REVIEWS The three years succeeding the termination of my appointment at Chatham were mainly occupied with questions of naval reform. The task was of my own choosing; an...

COVETED CHINA NOTE As the significance of Lord Charles Beresford's doings in China cannot be appreciated save in the light of the knowledge of the international situation in 1898...

THE INTROMISSION OF THE ADMIRALS In August, 1898, I received from the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Great Britain, whose President was Sir Stafford Northcote, an invitation t...

TRAFFICS AND DISCOVERIES I. CHINA THE MISFORTUNES OF KANG YU WEI On my way up to Pekin, I visited Hong Kong, arriving there on 30th September. The island of Hong Kong, being Br...

TRAFFICS AND DISCOVERIES (_Continued_) II. JAPAN Having received invitations to visit Japan from the Chambers of Commerce and from prominent persons interested in the China trade...

TRAFFICS AND DISCOVERIES (_Continued_) III. THE UNITED STATES The many invitations sent to me while I was in China from the United States determined me to visit that country on t...

H.M.S. _RAMILLIES_ When the men who had gone out to South Africa to take part in the Jameson Raid were passing through the Suez Canal on their way back again, I saw and heard the ...

HER MAJESTY'S MIDSHIPMEN Having adopted the practice of asking the officers in the Fleet under my command to write essays upon subjects connected with the Service, I once received...

THE PARLIAMENTARY ANVIL Shortly after the expiration of my appointment as second in command in the Mediterranean, I was back again in the House of Commons, this time as member for...

THE CHANNEL FLEET H.M.S. _Majestic_, first-class battleship, completed in 1895, sister ship to the _Magnificent_ (which was built at Chatham during my time at that port as captain...

BOAT RACING The enthusiasm which I have always felt for the noble sport of rowing induced me, while in command of the _Undaunted_, to publish some notes on the subject of men-of-w...

THE MEDITERRANEAN STATION Forty-four years had elapsed since I was a midshipman in H.M.S. _Marlborough_, flagship in the Mediterranean, when I hoisted my flag in H.M.S. _Bulwark_ ...

SPORTING MEMORIES I. RIDING AND DRIVING I rode my first race in Corfu, as a midshipman. An old colonel of artillery, who knew my father, said to me: "You are a Beresford, an Ir...

SPORTING MEMORIES (_Continued_) II. SHOOTING There are few kinds of beasts which I have not shot; and among those few are lions and giraffes. When I was at Vancouver as a midshi...

SPORTING MEMORIES (_Continued_) III. FISHING When, as a youngster, I was sea-fishing at Ascension, my boat made fast to a buoy, I had used all my bait without getting a fish, whe...

HOME WATERS: THE LAST COMMAND Before taking over the command of the Channel Fleet, to which I was appointed on 4th March, 1907, on my return from the Mediterranean, I proceeded on...