Dr. D. Maheswari at 02:43, 4 May 2026

2026-05-04T02:43:55Z

New page

{{Short description|British Indian Army officer}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
|name= Sir Hugh Gough
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|VC|GCB}}
|image= Hugh Gough.jpg
|caption=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1833|11|14|df=yes}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1909|05|12|1833|11|14|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Calcutta]], [[British India]]
|death_place= St Thomas Tower, [[Tower of London]]
|burial_place= [[Kensal Green Cemetery]]
|nickname=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[Bengal Army]] [[British Indian Army]]
|service_years= 1853 - 1894
|rank= [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
|unit=
|commands=
|battles= [[Indian Mutiny]] [[Abyssinian War]] [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]] [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
|other_work= [[Master of the Jewel Office|Keeper of the Jewel House]]
|relations= [[Charles John Stanley Gough|Sir Charles Gough]] (brother) [[Hubert Gough|Sir Hubert Gough]] (nephew) [[John Gough (VC)|Sir John Gough]] (nephew)
}}
[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Hugh Henry Gough''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|VC|GCB}} ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|ɒ|f}} {{respell|GOF}}; 14 November 1833 – 12 May 1909) was a senior [[British Indian Army]] officer and a recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Early life==

Gough was born into a family of [[Anglo-Irish]] [[landed gentry|gentry]] in [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal]], India, on 14 November 1833. He was commissioned [[Ensign (rank)#United Kingdom|ensign]] in the [[3rd Bengal Light Cavalry]] in September 1853 aged 19, and was still serving with the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] on the outbreak of the [[First Indian War of Independence]] in 1857.<ref name=ODNB>{{cite book |last1=Vibart |first1=H. M. |last2=revised by Robson |first2=Brian |title=Gough, Sir Hugh Henry: [[Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=019861411X}}</ref>

==Victoria Cross==
Gough was 23 years old, and a [[lieutenant]] in the [[1st Bengal European Light Cavalry]] (later [[19th Hussars]]) during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|1857 Rebellion]], when the following deeds took place for which he was awarded the VC:
{{blockquote|1st Bengal European Light Cavalry, Lieutenant Hugh Henry Gough

Date of Acts of Bravery, 12th November, 1857, and 25th February, 1858

Lieutenant Gough, when in command of a party of [[4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)|Hodson's Horse]], near [[Alambagh|Alumbagh]], on the 12th of November, 1857, particularly distinguished himself by his forward bearing in charging across a swamp, and capturing two guns, although defended by a vastly superior body of the enemy. On this occasion he had his horse wounded in two places, and his turban cut through by sword cuts, whilst engaged in combat with three [[Sepoy]]s.

Lieutenant Gough also particularly distinguished himself, near [[Jalalabad, Shahjahanpur|Jellalabad]], Lucknow, on 25 February 1858, by showing a brilliant example to his Regiment, when ordered to charge the enemy's guns, and by his gallant and forward conduct, he enabled them to effect their object. On this occasion he engaged himself in a series of single combats, until at length he was disabled by a musketball through the leg, while charging two Sepoys with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Gough on this day had two horses killed under him, a shot through his helmet, and another through his scabbard, besides being severely wounded.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22212|page=5516|date=24 December 1858}}</ref>}}

==Later career==
Gough commanded the [[5th Horse|12th Bengal Cavalry]] in the 1868 [[Abyssinian War|Abyssinian expedition]], and was appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] in August 1868. He served under General [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Frederick Roberts]] during the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]], including the battles of [[Battle of Peiwar Kotal|Peiwar Kotal]] in December 1878 and [[battle of Charasiab|Charasia]] in October 1879. He also commanded the cavalry brigade on Roberts' march from Kabul to Kandahar in August 1880, and the [[Battle of Kandahar (1880)|Battle of Kandahar]] on 1 September 1880. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1881.<ref name=ODNB/>

After a number of senior military posts in India, Gough achieved the rank of [[General (United Kingdom)|general]] in 1894. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1896, before retiring a year later. He was then appointed [[Master of the Jewel Office|Keeper of the Jewel House]] at the [[Tower of London]], dying while still holding this office on 12 May 1909. He was buried at [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].<ref name=ODNB/>

==Family==
General Gough was the third son of Judge George Gough and Charlotte Margaret Becher. He was brother to General [[Charles John Stanley Gough|Sir Charles Gough]], and uncle of the senior First World War commanders General [[Hubert Gough|Sir Hubert Gough]] and Brigadier General [[John Gough (VC)|Sir John Gough]]. He was the grandnephew of Field Marshal [[Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough|The 1st Viscount Gough]].<ref>''Goughie: the Life of General Sir Hubert Gough'' (Anthony Farrar-Hockley, 1975)</ref>

Gough married Anne Margaret Hill on 8 September 1863 and they had five sons and four daughters.<ref name=ODNB/> These included Charlotte Elise Gough (died 17 August 1942), who married Lieutenant General [[Henry Fuller Maitland Wilson|Sir Henry Wilson]], by whom she had three children:<ref>''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage'' ('Wilson')</ref>
*Captain Arthur Henry Maitland Wilson, 12th Cavalry, b 22 January 1885, accidentally killed in Khaniken, Mesopotamia 29 January 1918.<ref>{{cite web|title=War Memorials Register|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/name/453856|accessdate= 23 January 2019 |website=Imperial War Museum}}</ref>
*Hugh Maitland Wilson, 6 April 1886.
*Muriel Maitland Wilson, died unmarried 25 June 1950.

==Works==
* ''Old Memories''. Cornell University Library (1 January 1897) {{ISBN|978-1-4297-4127-9}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*''[[Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross]]'' (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
*''[[Monuments to Courage]]'' (David Harvey, 1999)
*''[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]]'' (This England, 1997)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041028141011/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/kensalgr.htm Location of grave and VC medal] ''(Kensal Green Cemetery)''
*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indiancavalry/hodsonsgough.htm Biography]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gough, Hugh Henry}}
[[Category:1833 births]]
[[Category:1909 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Abyssinian War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:19th Royal Hussars officers]]
[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Masters of the Jewel Office]]
[[Category:Gough family|Hugh Henry]]

Hugh Gough Indian Army officer - Revision history

Dr. D. Maheswari at 02:43, 4 May 2026