Field MarshalThe Right Honourable The Lord Strathnairn GCB GCSI PC (Ire)
Portrait of a younger Henry Rose,c.1831
Born	6 April 1801 Berlin,Germany
Died	16 October 1885 (aged 84) Paris,France
Buried	Christchurch,Hampshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army Bombay Army
Years of service	1820–1870
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands	Royal Horse Guards Bombay Army India Ireland
Battles / wars	Egyptian–Ottoman War Crimean War •Battle of Inkerman •Battle of Alma • Battle ofMamelon Indian Rebellion
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of India

Field MarshalHugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn,GCB, GCSI, PC (Ire) (6 April 1801 – 16 October 1885) was a seniorBritish Army officer. He served as a military adviser to theOttoman Army who were seeking to secure the expulsion of the forces ofMehemet Ali from Syria during theEgyptian–Ottoman War. He then fought with theFrench Army at theBattle of Alma, theBattle of Inkerman and at the Battle ofMamelon during theCrimean War. During theIndian Rebellion of 1857 Rose was given command of the Central Indian Field Force and was successful at the battle ofJhansi in April 1858, atLahar in May 1858 and atGwalior in June 1858. He went on to be Commander of theBombay Army,Commander-in-Chief, India and thenCommander-in-Chief, Ireland.

Born the third son ofSir George Rose of Sandhills inChristchurch (minister plenipotentiary at thePrussian court) and Frances Rose (née Duncombe),^[1] Rose was educated by officers of thePrussian Army in Berlin.^[2] He went up toSt John's College, Cambridge in 1819^[3] and was commissioned into the93rd Sutherland Highlanders as anensign on 8 June 1820.^[2] He was sent toIreland to help preserve order following the "Ribbon" outrages and joined the19th Regiment of Foot there on 20 July 1820.^[4] He was promoted to lieutenant on 24 October 1821,^[5] tocaptain on 22 July 1824 and to major in an unattached company on 30 December 1826.^[6] He joined the92nd Highlanders as a company commander on 19 February 1829^[7] and becameequerry to theDuke of Cambridge in July 1830.^[2] He returned to the 92nd Highlanders again in July 1832 and served with them inTipperary,Gibraltar andMalta.^[2] In Malta, he visited every one of his troops infected bycholera and enthused them with his cheerful manner.^[8] He was promoted tolieutenant-colonel on 17 September 1839.^[9]

In November 1840 Rose was sent, as one of a group of British military advisers, toSyria with the local rank ofcolonel^[10] to assist GeneralOmar Pasha, commander of theOttoman Army, who was seeking to secure the expulsion of the forces ofMehemet Ali from Syria during theEgyptian–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 theMaronites andDruzes.^[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 fromMount Lebanon and took them toBeirut 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 andLord Palmerston appointed him secretary of the embassy atConstantinople in January 1851.^[12] He becamechargé d'affaires in the absence ofSir Stratford Canning during a diplomatic crisis overRussian demands that they be allowed to give protection over all Christians inTurkey. He so strengthened the hands of theOttoman 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]

Promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 11 June 1852, Rose became the British commissioner at the headquarters of theFrench Army at the outset of theCrimean War in October 1853.^[14] Promoted to the local rank ofbrigadier-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 FrenchLegion of Honour.^[11][14] He fought with the1st Zouaves at theBattle of Alma in September 1854, where he was wounded, at theBattle of Inkerman in November 1854 and at the Battle of Mamelon in June 1855.^[14] He was promoted tomajor-general on 12 December 1854.^[14]

Following the outbreak of theIndian Rebellion of 1857 Rose was given command of the Poona division.^[14] He arrived in September 1857, and shortly after took command of the newly created Central Indian Field Force made up mostly of sepoys and elements of the army maintained by theNizam of Hyderabad.^[16] He marched fromMhow in January 1858, capturedRahatgarh after a short siege, defeated the Raja of Banapur near Baroda, relieved the City ofSaugor, captured the fortress atGarhakota and then defeated the rebels in the Madanpur pass.^[11][1]

Rose arrived atJhansi on 21 March 1858 and during the siege defeated a relieving force underTatya Tope at theBetwa on 1 April 1858. Most of Rose's force was locked up in the siege and so he could only field 1,540 men against Tatya Tope's army of 20,000 troops and 28 guns.^[17] With the advantage of Punjabi-Afghan sepoys he was able to rout the enemy, inflicting a total loss of 1,500 men and all of their stores.^[18] Jhansi was stormed and the city taken on 4 April 1858.^[19] However the Queen,Rani Lakshmibai, who had defended the fort, made an escape toKalpi.^[19] Rose went on to captureLahar,Konch andKalpi in May 1858.^[14]

Rose then obtained sick leave andSir Robert Napier was appointed to succeed him. However, before Napier could arrive the forces of theMaharaja ofGwalior joined the rebellion. Rose at once resumed command and moved on Gwalior, capturing the city in June 1858.^[14] Rose was promoted tolieutenant-general for his "eminent services" on 28 February 1860 and the next month was appointed commander-in-chief of theBombay Army.^[14] He was promoted to the local rank of general on 18 May 1860^[20] and on the departure ofLord Clyde from India in November 1860 Rose succeeded him asCommander-in-Chief, India.^[11][14]

Rose was made an honoraryDCL of the University of Oxford in 1865.^[3] He becameCommander-in-Chief, Ireland with the local rank of general in July 1865,^[21] in which role he assisted the Irish government to deal with theFenian conspiracy, and was raised to the peerage asBaron Strathnairn, of Strathnairn in the County of Nairn and of Jhansi in the India on 28 July 1866.^[22] He was promoted to the substantive rank of full general on 4 February 1867^[23] and was made an honoraryLL.D. ofTrinity College, Dublin when he retired from the Irish Command in 1870.^[11][3] Back in England he lived in retirement atNewsells Park inHertfordshire.^[24] Rose was keen on horses and had anobelisk erected there in memory of his favouritecharger which he had ridden during theIndian Rebellion.^[25]

Rose also served as colonel of the45th Regiment of Foot (1858–66),^[26] of the 26th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps,^[27] of the92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot (1866–69)^[23] and then of theRoyal Horse Guards (1869–85).^[23]

He was promoted tofield marshal on 2 June 1877^[28] and died in Paris on 16 October 1885.^[23] He was buried in the graveyard of thePriory Church, Christchurch inHampshire.^[23] Anequestrian bronze statue, byE. Onslow Ford, RA, was erected to his memory atKnightsbridge, London;^[11] it was removed and put in storage in 1931. In 1964 it was privately purchased and is now located atGriggs Green in Hampshire.^[29] There is also a memorial to him inSt Paul's Cathedral.^[30]

Rose was brother toSir William Rose and theCountess of Morton. He never married and never had any children.^[23]

Rose's honours included:

1. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) – 6 July 1858^[31] (KCB – 16 October 1855;^[32] CB – 23 February 1842^[33])
2. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) (KSI – 25 June 1861^[34])
3. Prussian Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (Prussia) – 6 March 1849^[35]
4. Legion of Honour, 3rd Class (France) – 2 August 1856^[36]
5. Order of the Medjidie, 3rd Class (Ottoman Empire) – 2 March 1858^[37]

• David, Saul (2003).The Indian Mutiny: 1857. Penguin.ISBN 978-0141005546.
• Gilliat, Edward (1914).Heroes of the Indian Mutiny. Seeley, Service & Co.
• Heathcote, Tony (1999).The British Field Marshals, 1736–1997: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley: Leo Cooper.ISBN 0-85052-696-5.
• Jerosch, Rainer (2007).Rani of Jhansi: Rebel Against Will. Aakar Books.ISBN 978-8189833152.
• Robson, Brian, ed. (2000).Sir Hugh Rose and the Central India Campaign 1858.Army Records Society. Sutton.ISBN 978-0750925419.

• 1801 births
• 1885 deaths
• Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
• British field marshals
• British military personnel of the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841)
• British Army personnel of the Crimean War
• British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
• Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
• Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
• Royal Horse Guards officers
• British Commanders-in-Chief of India
• Commanders-in-Chief, Ireland
• 93rd Regiment of Foot officers
• Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
• Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria
• Members of the Council of the Governor General of India
• Clan Rose
• Commanders-in-chief of Bombay
• Military personnel from Berlin

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