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GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK CHARLES

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 90 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GEORGE See also:WILLIAM See also:FREDERICK See also:CHARLES , See also:duke of See also:Cam-See also:bridge (1819-1904), was See also:born at See also:Hanover on the 26th of See also:March 1819. He was thus about two months older than his See also:cousin,. See also:Queen See also:Victoria, and was for that See also:period in the See also:line of See also:succession to the See also:British See also:throne. He was educated at Hanover by the Rev. J. R. See also:Wood, a See also:canon of See also:Worcester. In See also:November 1837, after he had served for a See also:short See also:time in the Hanoverian See also:army, the See also:rank of See also:colonel in the British army was conferred upon him, and he was attached to the See also:staff at See also:Gibraltar from See also:October 1838 to See also:April 1839. After serving in See also:Ireland with the 12th Royal Lancers, he was appointed in April 1842 colonel of the 17th See also:Light Dragoons (now Lancers). From 1843 to 1845 he was colonel on the staff in the Ionian Islands, and was then promoted See also:major-See also:general. In October 1846 he took command of the See also:Limerick See also:district, and shortly afterwards of the See also:Dublin district. In 185o his See also:father died, and he succeeded to the dukedom.

Being appointed inspector of See also:

cavalry in 1852, he held that See also:post until 1854, when, upon the outbreak of the See also:Crimean See also:War, he was placed in command of the rst See also:division (See also:Guards and Highland brigades) of the British army in the See also:East. In See also:June of the same See also:year he was promoted See also:lieutenant-general. He was See also:present at the battles of the See also:Alma, See also:Balaklava and See also:Inkerman, and at the See also:siege of See also:Sevastopol. On the 15th of See also:July 1856 he was appointed general commanding-in-See also:chief, on the 9th of November 1862 See also:field See also:marshal, and by letters patent, 1887, commanderin-chief. The See also:long period during which he held the command of the army was marked by many changes. The Crimean War brought to light See also:great administrative defects, and led to a re-grouping of the departments, which, with the whole personnel of the army, were brought under the authority of the secretary of See also:state for war. The constitutional changes involved did not, however, affect seriously the organization of the military forces. Only in 187o, after the successes of See also:Prussia had created a See also:pro-found impression, were drastic changes introduced by See also:Cardwell into the entire fabric of the army. The See also:objects of the reformers of 187o were undoubtedly See also:wise; but some of the methods adopted were open to question, and were strongly resented by the duke of See also:Cambridge, whose views were shared by the See also:majority of See also:officers. Further changes were inaugurated in 188o, and again the duke found much to criticize. His opinions stand recorded in the voluminous See also:evidence taken by the numerous bodies appointed to inquire into the See also:condition of the army. They show a See also:sound military See also:judgment, and, as against innovations as such, a strong See also:attachment to the old regimental See also:system.

That this judgment and this attachment were not so rigid as was generally supposed is proved by his published See also:

correspondence. Throughout the period of See also:change, while protesting, the duke invariably accepted and loyally endeavoured to carry out the See also:measures on which the See also:government decided. In a memorandum addressed to Mr See also:Childers in ,88o he defined his attitude as follows: " Should it appear, however, that for reasons of state policy it is necessary that the contemplated changes should be made, I am prepared to carry them out to the best of my ability." This attitude he consistently maintained in all cases in which his training and associations led him, rightly or wrongly, to deprecate changes the need for which was not apparent to him. His judgment was especially vindicated in the See also:case of an See also:ill-advised reduction of the See also:artillery carried out by Mr. See also:Stanhope. Under the See also:order in See also:council of See also:February 1888, the whole responsibility for military duties of every See also:kind was for the first time centred upon the See also:commander-in-chief. This, as pointed out by the Hartington See also:commission in 189o, involved " an excessive centralization " which " must necessarily tend to weaken the sense of responsibility of the other heads of departments, and thus to diminish their efficiency." The duke of Cambridge, whose position entailed many duties apart from those strictly appertaining to a commander-in-chief, could not give See also:personal See also:attention to the vast range of matters for which he was made nominally responsible. On the other See also:hand, the See also:adjutant-general could See also:act in his name, and the secretary of state could obtain military See also:advice from officials charged with no See also:direct responsibility. The effect was to See also:place the duke in a false position in the eyes of the army and of the See also:country. If the See also:administration of the army suffered after 1888, this was due to a system which violated principles. His active See also:control of its training during the whole period of his command was less hampered, and more directly productive of See also:good results. Throughout his long See also:term of See also:office the duke of Cambridge evinced a warm See also:interest in the welfare of the soldier, and great experience combined with a retentive memory made him a See also:master of detail.

He was famous for See also:

plain, and strong, See also:language; but while See also:quick to condemn deviations from the See also:letter of regulations, and accustomed to insist upon great precision in See also:drill, he was never a See also:martinet, and his natural kindliness made him ready to bestow praise. Belonging to the older See also:generation of soldiers, he could not easily adapt himself to the new conditions, and in dispensing patronage he was some-what distrustful of originality, while his position as a member ofthe royal See also:family tended to narrow his See also:scope for selection. He was ' thus inclined to be influenced by considerations of pure seniority, and to underrate the claims of See also:special ability. The army, however, always recognized that in the duke of Cambridge it had a commander-in-chief devoted to its interests, and keenly anxious amid many difficulties to promote its well-being. The duke resigned the commandership-in-chief on the 1st of November 1895, and was succeeded by See also:Lord See also:Wolseley, the duties of the office being considerably modified. He was at the same time gazetted honorary colonel-in-chief to the forces. He was made See also:ranger of See also:Hyde See also:Park and St See also:James's Park in 1852, and of See also:Richmond Park in 1857; See also:governor of the Royal Military See also:Academy in 1862, and its See also:president in 187o, and personal aide-de-See also:camp to Queen Victoria in 1882. He died on the 17th of March 1904 at See also:Gloucester See also:House, See also:London. The chief honours conferred upon him were: G.C.H., 1825; K.G., 1835; G.C.M.G., 1845; G.C.B., 1855; K.P., 1861; K.T., 1881. From 1854 he was president of See also:Christ's See also:hospital. The duke of Cambridge was married to Louisa Fairbrother, who took the name of FitzGeorge after her See also:marriage. She died in 189o.

See Rev. E. See also:

Sheppard, George, Duke of Cambridge; a Memoir of his Private See also:Life (London, 1906) ; and See also:Willoughby Verner, Military Life of the Duke of Cambridge (1905).

End of Article: GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK CHARLES

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