THE LATE GENERAL CHESNEY.
IRELAND has lost another of her sons,—and one whose career has been marked by such untiring energy and steady perse- verance as do not usually characterize the children of her soil. Their brilliant genius and restless activity are not often tempered by that calm prescience, that presence of mind in difficulties, and that self-control which were the distinguishing qualities of the late General Chesney, Colonel Commandant of the 14th Brigade of Royal Artillery, explorer of the Mesopotamian rivers, and com- mander of the well-known Euphrates Expedition. He has gone to his rest at the mature age of eighty-three, closing a life devoted to the steady pursuit of any object which duty set before him, un- mindful of any labour or self-sacrifice which such duty might in- volve. Exposed for many years to hard work under tropical suns
and in unhealthy climates, his temperate, self-denying habits carried him through much that must have proved fatal to men of less simplicity of life, and preserved his powers of mind steady in singular vigour to a peaceful old age. Francis Rawdon Chesney was born on the 16th March, 1789, not far from the little fishing village of Annalong, on the north-east coast of Ireland, where his father, who had done good service in the American War of Inde- pendence, under Lords Rawdon and Cornwallis, had obtained as a recognition of his services the appointment of Revenue officer. Hardily reared, and spending his childhood amid the picturesque mountains and wild coast of Mourne, young Chesney early developed those tastes for manly sports and that love of adventure which clung to him through life. He was a born soldier, his first play- thing was a pistol, and it is recorded that at nine years old he actually held a commission in the Yeomanry, and used to drill with the men, equipped in uniform and wearing a shortened sword. Presented by his patron, Lord Rawdon, afterwards Marquis of Hastings, with a Woolwich cadetship, he passed through the Academy with honour, his love of study keeping pace with his military ardour. But his first distinction was won when on a visit to his home in January, 1814, when a storm, of not unfre- quent occurrence, swept along the coast, and a fleet of open fishing boats such as were then in use encountered the whole fury of the gale. Regardless of a blinding snow-storm, young Chesney dashed into the sea, and being an expert and fearless swimmer, succeeded in himself bringing one of the men safely to the shore. The same day he was foremost in rescuing the crew of the French barque Leda, by conveying a cable to her across the rocks at considerable risk, by which means all hands were safely landed. For these ex- ertions he obtained the medal of the Societ6 des Naufrage,s, as well as honourable mention from the Royal Humane Society.
During the Peninsular War, Lieutenant Chesney, burning with the desire to serve his country in the field, had been condemned by the chances of the service to garrison duty in Guernsey ! But no sooner was leave granted to him after the restoration of peace, than he made amends to himself for his forced inactivity by walking over the whole of Napoleon's battle-fields! Attended by two faithful companions, a pair of sporting dogs to whom he was much attached, he traversed the 3,030 miles at the rate of about thirty miles a day, attentively studying the strategy of the great commander and of those who successfully overcame him. Con- vinced of the importance to an officer of a thorough knowledge of his own profession and of the many subjects more or less connected with it, Mr. Chesney never failed to devote a number of hours in each day to study, and no inducements were allowed ta deter him from this duty. By this means he accumulated and methodically arranged those large stores of information which stood him in such good stead during the requirements of his later years.
His name first came before the public in 1829, when, having gone to Turkey with a view to offer his services to the Ottoman Empire during the war with Russia, the peace of Adrianople found him unemployed at Constantinople, and Sir Robert Gordon availed himself of the intelligence and enterprising spirit of the young artillery officer by sending him to Egypt with a series of questions admirably drawn up by the late Mr. Peacock, of the India House, in order to ascertain the relative advantages of the Egyptian and Syrian routes to India. Far-seeing enough to per- ceive the immense importance of these inquiries, Captain Chesney at once proposed to the British Government to make a personal survey of these routes, and commenced immediately with that through Egypt, communicating the result in a remarkable letter (afterwards published) to Sir Robert Gordon. In that letter, dated September 2, 1830, Captain Chesney bears testimony to the perfect feasibility of the Suez Canal, at once detecting the fallacy propounded by the French officers as to the difference of level between the two seas, and remarking that "it is in fact rather to be feared that such an inlet would not give sufficient body of water to open a noble passage for ships of moderate burthen, than that any prejudicial increase should be the consequence to the shores of the Mediterranean."
From Egypt he turned his attention to Syria, exploring the whole country by way of Damascus and Djerash, and Tiberias, until he struck the Euphrates at El Werdi, encountering during these journeyings perils and adventures quite unknown in these days of modern travel. His exploratory descent of the Euphrates on a raft supported on inflated skins has become matter of history. From the soundings and sketches taken during this descent he was enabled to lay down the admirable map of the river Euphrates, on a scale of two inches to the mile, which obtained the special appro- bation of King William IV.
The result of Captain Chesney's careful investigations and ex- !Iterations was a Committee of the House of Commons to consider the practicability of the steam navigation of the Euphrates, with a -View to expedite communications with India. Much interesting information was elicited by the Committee. A grant of /20,000 and the organization of the Euphrates Expedition under the com- mand of Colonel Chesney were its fruits. Difficulties of no com- mon order were encountered and overcome by the fertility of resource and firmness of will of the leader of this little band of pioneers, ably seconded as he was by a body of hard-working, in- telligent officers and men of his own selection. Much of their success was due to the unanimity which prevailed among them and to their perfect reliance on their chief, who, with great natural powers for command and quickness to distinguish and appreciate character, selected his man for the required work, and then trusted him thoroughly. He required from all the most implicit submis- sion to discipline, and the greatest possible amount of work, setting them an example of unflinching endurance and of ardour in the cause entrusted to him, which inspired officers and men alike with the most invigorating desire to deserve and to gain his approbation. The affection with which to his latest days he was regarded by those who served under him, is a proof that strictness of discipline accords with appreciative affection from those over whom it is judiciously exercised.
The systematic opposition of Ali and Ibrahim Pasha, under the secret instigation of Russia, threw almost insurmountable obstacles in the way of the expedition. But these were all gradually sur- mounted, and this without any material loss of life. The steamers were transported piecemeal—roads having been made as far as was practicable—from the mouth of the Orontes to Bir, on the Euphrates, were put together and launched, and successfully descended the stream. The only casualty of importance was the very serious one of the total loss of the Tigris steamer in a typhoon at El Werdi, the very spot where in Colonel Chesney's solitary exploration he had first sighted the noble river. Twenty valuable lives were lost in this catastrophe. Chesney himself was on board the ill-fated vessel. His great powers of diving and swimming were again the means of saving his life when many less expert than himself were sucked down with the Tigris steamer, as she turned keel upwards and went to the bottom. A few days before this misfortune, Colonel Chesney had received from the India Board the unwelcome order to break up the expedition, on the score of the expense exceeding the original grant of 120,000. In the full tide of his success this order was too hard. He kept it to himself. He wrote for supplies from public-spirited friends at home. He continued the descent of the river. After the cata- strophe, however, he no longer felt himself at liberty to conceal the orders of the Home Government from his officers. He called them around him, and with much emotion expressed himself ready to abide by their decision. To a man they one and all decided to re- linquish their pay to save expense, and urged him to go on. It was a proud moment for any commander, and the successful issue a the navigation of the river justified him in the course he had adopted. After reaching Basrah, Colonel Chesney proceeded to Bombay, leaving Major Estcourt in command. The Earl -of Auckland declined the responsibility of carrying on the -expedition, and notwithstanding the urgent remonstrances of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, orders were sent to break it up. Colonel Chesney himself returned to Bussorah, and thence rode across the desert on a light camel, carrying the mails, accom- panied by two Arabs, and not allowing himself even time to sleep. His sole provisions were rice-biscuit and tea, made in a battle by the heat of the sun, from the burning rays of which he sheltered himself by a burnouse held upon a stick. In this way he reached Beirut, and once on board the native boat which carriel him to Alexandria, made up for his past exertions by sleeping uninter- ruptedly for nine days, only waking to eat at intervals. He arrived in England only to learn the death of Ring William IV., whose personal interest in the expedition had never flagged. To this, and to a change of ministry, as well as to a too chivalrous delicacy where his own claims were concerned, must be attributed the absence of that recognition to which his eminent services had entitled him. His advocacy of the Euphrates line to India was strenuously urged to the last moment of his life. He went twice to Constantinople—in 1857, and again in 1863 —to negotiate concessions for the projected railway, revisit- ing Syria, and surveying again the line from the Orontes to the Euphrates. He was welcomed by large numbers of Arabs, who recognized their old friend of the expedition, and whose warlike demonstrations of joy caused considerable alarm to the peaceable staff of Engineers by whom he was accompanied. From 1844 to 1847, Colonel Chesney commanded the Artillery at
Hong Kong, and was present at the opening of the Chinese War. His literary labours consist of a voluminous account of the history and geography of the countries through which the Euphrates Ex- pedition passed, —replete with information, a standard book of refer- ence, and one which drew forth the warm congratulations of such men as Carl Better and Humboldt, but too heavy for the general reader. His work on " Firearms " and a volume on the Russo- Turkish campaign of 1829 had a well-merited success, and at the age of eighty he, at the desire of the Government, wrote and pub- lished the history of the Euphrates Expedition itself. Its diffi- culties and dangers may possibly now be rivalled by those which Sir Samuel Baker has already had to encounter, but in the former case these were triumphantly overcome, with a small force and most inadequate means of transport, mainly by the inspiriting influence of a trusted and efficient commander.
The last years of his life were spent in his native home, and his latest strength was given to the cause he had so warmly advocated, by attending the Euphrates Committee of the House of Commons in July last year. From that time he gradually sank, and full of years, has peacefully gone to his last home within sight of the mountains among which he was born.
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