56: General Sir Garnet Wolseley's Ashanti Ring

Send me a messageThe Ashanti Ring were a group of talented British army officers gathered together by general Sir Garnet Wolseley for the Anglo-Ashanti War in 1873.They were, in many ways, to be the fore runner of a General Staff in the Victorian British Army.Subscribe to my weekly newsletterGeneral Wolseley's Ashanti Ring of Officers (sometimes called the Africa Ring or the Wolseley Gang) was never a fixed group of officers. it's membership was fluid depending upon Wolseley's requirements.Nevertheless a core group of about a dozen officers tended to congregate around Wolseley in his different campaigns in Canada, Ghana, Egypt, South Africa and Sudan (the Nile Expedition to rescue General Gordon in Khartoum).That inner circle effectively consisted of:Redvers Buller VCSir Evelyn Wood VCSir William ButlerHenry BrackenburyGeneral John Carstairs mcNeilGeneral Sir Archibald AlisonGeneral George Colley (battle of Majuba)Sir Herbert Stewart (battle of Abu Klea)Eleven members of Wolseley's Ashanti Ring went on to become generals in the British army and 3 were recipients of the Victoria Cross.Support the show