A cavalry officer who feared the sea, John French rose to lead Britain's army.
In short: John French was a career soldier who initially joined the Royal Navy to escape home, only to resign after discovering he suffered from seasickness and acrophobia. He eventually became the professional head of the British Army and commanded the British Expeditionary Force during the opening stages of the First World War.
Born in 1852, John French transitioned from a brief naval career to the cavalry, where he gained a reputation for rapid promotion and initiative. His early service included the 1884 Sudan expedition, where he impressed superiors like Redvers Buller and Garnet Wolseley while managing horses across arid desert terrain. By 1899, his career was nearly derailed by financial instability and personal scandals, yet he secured a command in the Second Boer War. During this conflict, he gained fame for his tactical successes around Colesberg and his high-speed relief of Kimberley in 1900, despite significant logistical challenges and the loss of many horses to exhaustion.
French reached the pinnacle of his profession in 1912 when he became Chief of the Imperial General Staff. In this role, he prepared the army for potential European conflict, famously insisting that cavalry retain traditional skills like charging with lances and sabres. However, his tenure was marked by political friction, including his resignation during the 1914 Curragh incident. When the First World War began, he took charge of the British Expeditionary Force, but his leadership faced intense scrutiny following heavy casualties at Mons and Le Cateau. His relationship with Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener was deeply strained, leading to public leaks regarding shell shortages.
The end of his field command came in 1915 after the Battle of Loos, where critics blamed his delayed release of reserves for the failure to achieve a breakthrough. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith subsequently demanded his resignation. French later served as Commander-in-Chief of Home Forces and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland during the Irish War of Independence. His legacy remains complex; while he was a celebrated hero of the Boer War, his later military decisions and the publication of his controversial 1914 memoirs drew significant criticism from contemporaries and historians alike.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
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