KurtFaucett at 14:13, 10 October 2025

2025-10-10T14:13:31Z

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{{Short description|British Indian Army general (1844–1918)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| name = Sir Alfred Gaselee
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|GCIE}}
| image =Alfred Gaselee.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = 3 June 1844
| death_date ={{d-da|29 March 1918|3 June 1844}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place =
| death_place =
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| allegiance ={{flagcountry|UKGBI}} {{flag|British India}}
| branch ={{army|UK}} {{army|British India}}
| serviceyears =1863–1908
| rank = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| unit =
| commands =1st Bn [[5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)|5th Gurkha Rifles]] [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Army, India]]
| battles =[[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] [[Boxer Uprising]]
|awards =[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Alfred Gaselee''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GCIE}} (3 June 1844 – 29 March 1918) was a soldier who served in the [[British Indian Army]].

== Early life ==
Gaselee was born at [[Little Yeldham]], [[Essex]], the eldest son of the Reverend John Gaselee, [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of Little Yeldham, and his wife, Sarah Anne Mant. He entered [[Felsted School]] in 1853 and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], in 1861.{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}}{{Citation needed|date=November 2021|reason=Additional cite needed to support the dates}}

== Career ==
Gaselee was commissioned as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] into the 93rd regiment (later the [[Sutherland Highlanders]]) on 9 January 1863.<ref name=riddick>Riddick, p. 266</ref> He was involved in the campaign on the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North-West Frontier]] of [[India]] in that year. He was promoted lieutenant on 11 October 1866, transferred to the [[Bengal]] staff corps, and joined the 4th Punjab infantry on 27 September 1867.{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}}

Gaselee went with the Indian force to [[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]], where he acted as assistant to the director-general of transport{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}} and was present at the capture of [[Magdala]] (13 April 1868).<ref name=riddick/> He was promoted captain on 9 January 1875, and served with the Jowaki expedition of 1877–8.{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}}

In the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]], Gaselee was a deputy assistant quartermaster-general, and accompanied [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] on the march from [[Kabul]] to the relief of [[Kandahar]]. He was made a [[brevetted]] [[Major (rank)|major]] on 2 March 1881.{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}}

Gaselee was promoted to major on 9 January 1883, and [[lieutenant-colonel]] on 9 January 1889, and was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB) on 19 November 1891. On 27 September 1892, he was promoted to the command of the 1st battalion, [[5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)|5th Gurkha Rifles]]. On 1 February 1893, he was promoted to [[colonel]] and appointed [[aide-de-camp]] to [[Queen Victoria]]. He served in the Isazai expedition (1892), the [[Waziristan]] field force (1894–5), and the [[Tirah campaign]] (1897–8). For his services in Tirah, Gaselee was created a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] (KCB) on 20 May 1898. From 25 July 1898 to 3 June 1901, he served simultaneously as quartermaster-general of the Army in India and [[brigadier general (United Kingdom)|brigadier-general]] commanding [[Bundelkhand]] district.<ref name=riddick/>

==Boxer Uprising==
In the summer of 1900, when the [[Boxer Uprising]] in [[China]] was at its height, Gaselee was chosen to command the British element in the [[Eight-Nation Alliance|international expeditionary force]],{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}} and on 3 July 1900 promoted to [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|major-general]].<ref name=LG27337>{{London Gazette |issue=27337 |date=24 July 1901 |page=4916 |supp=y}}</ref> Gaselee was nominally put in charge of the [[Gaselee Expedition]] because the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] refused to the allow the Japanese general Yamaguchi Motomi to lead it, even though he was the highest-ranking officer present.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/warriorsofrising00edge|url-access=registration|quote=sir alfred gaselee indian army.|title= Warriors of the rising sun: a history of the Japanese military|author=Robert B. Edgerton|year=1997|publisher= W. W. Norton & Co | page= [https://archive.org/details/warriorsofrising00edge/page/87 87]|isbn= 0-393-04085-2}}</ref> As a reward for his services, he was created [[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (GCIE) on 24 July 1901.<ref name=LG27337/>

==Later career==
Gaselee was appointed to command the [[Lucknow]] district in [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] in April 1901, but was granted an extended leave of office after his return home from China and did not take up the position until late 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=4 October 1902 |page=10 |issue=36890}}</ref> He was promoted [[lieutenant-general]] on 30 June 1903 on appointment as Commander-in-Chief [[Bengal Army|Bengal Command]] and to full [[General officer|general]] on 30 June 1906. He became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the [[Northern Command (India)|Northern Army]] in India in 1907.<ref name=riddick/> He retired in November 1908 and, having been created a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] (GCB) on 25 June 1909,{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}} he died at his residence in Guildford on 29 March 1918. He was buried at [[Mount Cemetery]].

==Family==
[[File:Grave of Sir Alfred Gaselee.jpg|thumb|Grave at [[Mount Cemetery]] in Guildford]]
On 20 August 1895 he married secondly Alice Margaret, daughter of Gartside Gartside-Tipping of Rossferry, County Fermanagh, Ireland, who outlived him.{{sfn|Anonymous|1918}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite web|author=Anonymous |date=March 1918 |url=http://www.britishmedals.us/people/gaselee.html |title=Obituary: Death of Sir Alfred Gaselee}}
* {{cite book|last=Riddick|first=John|title=The history of British India: a chronology|publisher=Praeger Publishers|year=2006|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George Luck|Sir George Luck]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bengal Army|C-in-C, Bengal Command]]|years=1903–1907}}
{{s-aft|after=Command disbanded}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Sir Bindon Blood]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Northern Command (India)|GOC-in-C, Northern Army, India]]|years=1907–1908}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Josceline Wodehouse|Sir Josceline Wodehouse]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaselee, Alfred, Sir}}
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Braintree District]]
[[Category:People educated at Felsted School]]
[[Category:93rd Regiment of Foot officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Abyssinian War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Tirah campaign]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Cemetery]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Essex]]
[[Category:19th-century British Army personnel]]

Alfred Gaselee - Revision history

KurtFaucett at 14:13, 10 October 2025