QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS. (Hansard, 1 July 1879)

§ LORD TRURO

asked Her Majesty's Government, Whether the statement made in an evening journal is true, that the late deeply lamented Prince Imperial was himself in command of the troops sent out to reconnoitre, with the view of seeking a fitting camping ground? The noble Lord said, he thought that their Lordships would not need from him any apology for calling their Lordships' attention, by way of a Question, to the very circumstantial account given of the lamentable death of the gallant Prince Imperial. The circumstances disclosed in the accounts published in the Press affected the management, discipline, honour, and sensitiveness of the British Army; and, indeed, the statements published manifested most clearly, he thought, the irresponsible manner in which the campaign in South Africa had been carried out. It seemed that the responsibility was anywhere and nowhere; and the confusion that arose would unquestionably lead to the opinion that there was a want of system and discipline, and an absence of prevision and of retrospection, and, above all, a want of ordinary precaution in carrying out the duties connected with that campaign. Before ho proceeded with the few remarks with which he should trouble their Lordships, he should like to call their attention to the unfortunate want of communication which rendered the Government altogether behindhand in their arrangements. It was strange that the public papers in this country should be provided not only with general information, but also with an amount of minuteness with regard to circumstances that had happened, whilst the Government appeared to be in a state of perfect ignorance in relation to them. In order to deal with the matter with strict impartiality, he thought that they should look for a moment to the occasion that led to the Prince Imperial leaving this country; and he begged, with all possible deference, to say that it seemed to him that either Her Majesty's Government, or His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief certainly, or both of them, had taken upon themselves a responsibility of the most grave character. It might be that the Government would be pleased to share the responsibility with the 1070 Commander-in-Chief; but, in any case, he thought that no Member of their Lordships' House would fail to take this view—that the responsibility which now rested upon the Government or the Commander-in-Chief, or upon both, was a very serious and grave one. The application of the Prince Imperial, in the first instance, was, he believed, that he should be allowed to take an active part in the campaign, and the Government having considered that request, came to the conclusion that it would be inexpedient that he should take an active military part in that campaign; but could it be said that the permission afterwards granted to that young Prince to go to South Africa at all was consistent in any way with the decision that he would take no active part in the campaign? His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief was kind enough to read to their Lordships two letters, and he (Lord Truro) begged their most earliest attention to those two letters. They were not satisfactory, inasmuch as they did not convey to his mind that earnest determination and decision that would be likely to impress upon the Commanders in South Africa the necessity of abstaining from, in any way whatever, giving to the gallant young Prince any active employment. It was perfectly true that that young Prince might of his own free will have gone to South Africa; but there was a great difference between giving him an acting command and forbidding him altogether to go. It was unreasonable to suppose that that active young Prince would remain quiet, or that he would not extract from the military authorities some opportunities of distinguishing himself before the eyes of Europe, and especially before the eyes of France. What, in fact, happened? The thing was done, and the young Prince obtained leave from the authorities here to go to South Africa—he (Lord Truro) would not even say that he had permission to join the Army there; but he had permission to go there. What was the first step taken? It was that Lord Chelmsford made him aide-de-camp, and attached him to his own Staff; and ho (Lord Truro) should be glad to hear whether that was a civil employment, or whether it was not an expressly military position? He confessed that, possibly in his ignorance, he laboured under the 1071 impression that the very fact of putting him into the position of aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief of an Army in the field would give him a certain military qualification which without it he could not have obtained. Then, where was he? He was in the camp of Lord Chelmsford. He was sent by Lord Chelmsford to the Quarter Master General. Did he go there simply with despatches, or did he go there ostensibly for the purpose of getting employment, and at the instigation, or, at all events, with the sanction, of Lord Chelmsford, and that notwithstanding what was written of him by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief? He (Lord Truro) would not wish to press hardly upon Lord Chelmsford, for he believed that his anxiety and his troubles were very great; and that the additional burdens which had fallen upon him were enough to bear him down even to the grave. This young Prince obtained leave from Colonel Harrison to prosecute this reconnaissance, in which he lost his life, in order to find a fitting camping ground. He (Lord Truro) asked whether, of all the duties, there was one that could be more dangerous than selecting such a ground? On a previous occasion what happened to Lord Chelmsford? He thought it fit to go with proper security to ascertain what would be a proper and convenient ground for having a camp. It was said by competent military men that a more unfortunate position could not have been selected, and of that opinion the confirmation they had in the result was overwhelming. Then, this was a young man with no previous experience in the field, who had lately come from a military College, and who had very recently landed in the country. It was most unfortunate, and hardly conceivable, that this young man should be selected out of the whole Army to fix upon a position where the British Army should encamp. In South Africa we were said to have no less than eight able Generals, and to have there an amount of experience never exceeded in the British Army; and could it be conceived that this young Prince should, of all men in the world, have been selected for this most important purpose? But there was more. It was cruel, he had almost said wicked and inhuman, for men in a responsible position, and men of experience, to allow this young man to go 1072 upon such an expedition with insufficient force and protection. He believed that at the outside there were sent with him only ten men, and that including a young officer, Lieutenant Carey. Whether that officer had greater age and more experience than the Prince, he (Lord Truro) could not say; but this he knew, that both Lieutenant Carey and the Prince had been upon that very ground a short time before—not, perhaps, attacked—but fired upon by Zulus; and with that knowledge, was it conceivable that Colonel Harrison should have sent them upon such an expedition with such an inadequate support as nine or ten troopers? These men also were armed with only three rifles, and they had two led horses. It was clear from the narratives that the Prince commanded the party. He ordered a halt, he ordered a renewed march of an hour's duration; then, after another halt, which he also ordered, he, unhappily too late, directed the horses to be saddled. How was it possible, after the letters of His Royal Highness, that so fatal an error could have been committed? A more unfortunate campaign than that had never been known; and when the country came to look at it, he believed that they would say to the Government—" Important and successful as may be your foreign policy, valuable as may be your domestic measures, you have placed the country in a state as regards its Army which is most unfortunate and most insecure; and as to the mode in which you have conducted the South African campaign you have brought on us eternal disgrace." God forbid that the campaign should end in the condition in which it was now, with disgrace to the Army, and disasters such as in the lifetime of their Lordships had never yet been known.

§ VISCOUNT BURY

said, he did not intend to follow the noble Lord in his speech on this subject—he would merely answer his Question. One word, however, he must say—and lie was sure that on both sides of the House he would be supported by the opinions of their Lordships when he said he could not but think that it was a pity that the noble Lord should take advantage of his privilege of free speech in that House, and of the deep sympathy which was universally felt for the fate of the late Prince Imperial, to throw broadcast— 1073 without proof, without waiting for reliable information—censures, as he had done, loud and long, and couched in almost violent language. This the noble Lord had done, having nothing before him but the irresponsible statements of journalists in this country, and without waiting for the result of the Court of Inquiry, which the noble Lord must well know was now sitting in South Africa to investigate this most unhappy event. In these circumstances, he (Viscount Bury) would only express his regret that the noble Lord had not reserved his words of censure until he had some proof before him that they were deserved. In reply to the noble Lord's Question, he had to say that Her Majesty's Government had no further information to impart than that which was already before their Lordships and the country. The noble Lord asked whether the statement made in an evening journal was true — that the late deeply-lamented Prince Imperial was himself in command of the troops sent out to reconnoitre with the view of seeking a fitting camping ground? He had only to state that the had not seen the words of the journal referred to—indeed, he did not know what journal was referred to; but he was quite sure that it must be misinformed, and that the statement was not true. The illustrious Duke the Commander-in-Chief informed their Lordships' House and the country the other day that the Prince Imperial did not bear Her Majesty's commission, and, therefore, that it was quite impossible he could have exercised any military command. It was quite true that Lord Chelmsford placed his Imperial Highness as extra aide-de-camp on his Staff; but he did that for the purpose of welcoming, as the guest of England, at his camp a distinguished stranger, and also for the purpose, in a country where he need not say there were no means of buying them, of obtaining forage and rations, and of giving him a home. It was for that purpose, and. that only, that the Prince Imperial was placed on Lord Chelmsford's Staff, and not in any military capacity. It was, therefore, not possible that he could have been in command. of the party in question—especially as, if the reason he had already given were insufficient, he was in the presence of an officer very much senior to himself.