Hugh Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn
Field Marshal Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn, GCB, GCSI, PC (6 April 1801 – 16 October 1885) was a senior British Army officer. He served as a military adviser to the Ottoman Army who were seeking to secure the expulsion of the forces of Mehemet Ali from Syria during the Egyptian–Ottoman War. He then fought with the French Army at the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Inkerman and at the Battle of Mamelon during the Crimean War. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Rose was given command of the Central Indian Field Force and was successful at the battle of Jhansi in April 1858, at Lahar in May 1858 and at Gwalior in June 1858. He went on to be Commander of the Bombay Army, Commander-in-Chief, India and then Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
The Lord Strathnairn
6 April 1801
Berlin, Germany
16 October 1885 (aged 84)
Paris, France
1820–1870
Early life[edit]
Born the third son of Sir George Rose of Sandhills in Christchurch (minister plenipotentiary at the Prussian court) and Frances Rose (née Duncombe),[1] Rose was educated by officers of the Prussian Army in Berlin.[2] He went up to St John's College, Cambridge in 1819[3] and was commissioned into the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders as an ensign on 8 June 1820.[2] He was sent to Ireland to help preserve order following the "Ribbon" outrages and joined the 19th Regiment of Foot there on 20 July 1820.[4] He was promoted to lieutenant on 24 October 1821,[5] to captain on 22 July 1824 and to major in an unattached company on 30 December 1826.[6] He joined the 92nd Highlanders as a company commander on 19 February 1829[7] and became equerry to the Duke of Cambridge in July 1830.[2] He returned to the 92nd Highlanders again in July 1832 and served with them in Tipperary, Gibraltar and Malta.[2] In Malta, he visited every one of his troops infected by cholera and enthused them with his cheerful manner.[8] He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 17 September 1839.[9]
Syria[edit]
In November 1840 Rose was sent, as one of a group of British military advisers, to Syria with the local rank of colonel[10] to assist General Omar Pasha, commander of the Ottoman Army, who was seeking to secure the expulsion of the forces of Mehemet Ali from Syria during the Egyptian–Ottoman War.[2] Rose served as deputy adjutant-general on Pasha's staff at the Battle of El Mesden in January 1841 and then became senior British officer on Pasha's staff later that year.[2] He became British consul-general for Syria and Lebanon in August 1841 and found himself preventing feuds between the Maronites and Druzes.[2] On one occasion in 1841, he rode between them at imminent risk to his life and by the sheer force of a stronger will stopped the conflict.[11][8] On another occasion he rescued 700 American missionaries from Mount Lebanon and took them to Beirut walking himself all the way so that his horse could be available to old women.[8] He transferred to the diplomatic service in January 1848 and Lord Palmerston appointed him secretary of the embassy at Constantinople in January 1851.[12] He became chargé d'affaires in the absence of Sir Stratford Canning during a diplomatic crisis over Russian demands that they be allowed to give protection over all Christians in Turkey. He so strengthened the hands of the Ottoman Porte that the Russian attempt to force a secret treaty upon Turkey was foiled.[11][8] He was promoted to brevet colonel on 11 November 1851.[13]
Crimean War[edit]
Promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 11 June 1852, Rose became the British commissioner at the headquarters of the French Army at the outset of the Crimean War in October 1853.[14] Promoted to the local rank of brigadier-general on 8 April 1854,[15] he succeeded in putting out a fire which threatened the French small-arm ammunition stores for which he was awarded the French Legion of Honour.[11][14] He fought with the 1st Zouaves at the Battle of Alma in September 1854, where he was wounded, at the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 and at the Battle of Mamelon in June 1855.[14] He was promoted to major-general on 12 December 1854.[14]
Family[edit]
Rose was brother to Sir William Rose and the Countess of Morton. He never married and never had any children.[23]