O'Moore Creagh
Sir O'Moore Creagh | |
---|---|
![]() General Sir Garrett O'Moore Creagh | |
Nickname(s) | Garrett O'Moore Creagh |
Born | Cahirbane,County Clare,Ireland | 2 April 1848
Died | 9 August 1923 South Kensington,London,England | (aged 75)
Buried | East SheenCemetery |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army British Indian Army |
Years of service | 1866–1914 |
Rank | General |
Unit | 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot |
Commands | Commander-in-Chief, India 29th (DCO) Bombay Infantry (2nd Baluch Battalion) |
Battles/wars | Second Anglo-Afghan War Boxer Rebellion |
Awards | Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of India Venerable Order of Saint John Order of the Rising Sun(Japan) |
Relations | Major GeneralSir Michael Creagh(son) |
GeneralSir Garrett O'Moore Creagh,VC,GCB,GCSI(2 April 1848 – 9 August 1923), known asSir O'Moore Creagh,[1]was a seniorBritish Armyofficer and an Irish recipient of theVictoria Cross,the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British andCommonwealthforces.
Early life and family
[edit]Creagh was born in Cahirbane,County Clare,on 2 April 1848, the seventh[1]son ofCaptainJames Creagh, an officer of theRoyal Navy,and his wife, Grace O'Moore.
Creagh was married twice, firstly to Mary Longfield (or possibly Brereton) in 1874, who died in 1876, and then to Elizabeth Reade in 1891. He had three children, one of whom was Major GeneralSir Michael Creagh.
In 1866, after training at the§Royal Military College, Sandhurst,Creagh was commissioned into the95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Footand in 1869 was posted to India, being transferred to theBritish Indian Armythe next year.
Second Anglo-Afghan War
[edit]Creagh was 31 years old, and acaptainin theBombay Staff Corpsduring theSecond Anglo-Afghan War,when the following deed on 22 April 1879 at Kam Dakka, on the Kabul River,Afghanistan,took place for which he was awarded the VC:
On the 21st April Captain Creagh was detached from Dakka with two Companies of his Battalion to protect the village of Kam Dakka on the Cabul River, against a threatened incursion of the Mohmunds, and reached that place the same night. On the following morning the detachment, 150 men, was attacked by the Mohmunds in overwhelming numbers, about 1,500; and the inhabitants of Kam Dakka having themselves taken part with the enemy, Captain Creagh found himself under the necessity of retiring from the village. He took up a position in a cemetery not far off, which he made as defensible as circumstances would admit of, and this position he held against all the efforts of the enemy, repeatedly repulsing them with the bayonet until three o'clock in the afternoon, when he was relieved by a detachment sent for the purpose from Dakka. The enemy were then finally repulsed, and being charged by a troop of the 10th Bengal Lancers, under the command of Captain D. M. Strong, were routed and broken, and great numbers of them driven into the river. The Commander-in-Chief in India has expressed his opinion that but for the coolness, determination, and gallantry of the highest order, and the admirable conduct which Captain Creagh displayed on this occasion the detachment under his command would, in all probability, have been cut off and destroyed.[2]
Later career
[edit]In 1878 he becamecaptainof the Merwarabattalion,commanding them from 1882 until 1886. He assumed command of the29th (Duke of Connaught's Own) Bombay Infantry (2nd Baluch Battalion)in 1890, and was promoted to Assistant Quarter-master General in 1896. He commanded the Indian contingent during theBoxer Rebellionin China in 1900, and was in July 1901 appointed General Officer Commanding the British Force in China after the departure of GeneralAlfred Gaselee.[3]He stayed in China for several years, and a report on the field operations of the force during his first year in overall command was sent in a despatch published in theLondon Gazetteof 21 November 1902.[4]He was knighted as aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath(KCB) in 1904 and promoted togeneralon 11 December 1907. The same year he was appointedMilitary Secretary to the India Office.
Creagh succeededLord KitchenerasCommander-in-Chief, India,in 1909, retiring in 1914. During theFirst World Warhe served as the military advisor to the Central Association ofVolunteer Training Corps.[5]He died at 65 Albert Hall Mansions, London SW9, on 9 August 1923.
Creagh further followed Kitchener in becoming the District Grand Master of Freemasons in the Punjab.
His Victoria Cross is held by theNational Army MuseuminChelsea, London,England.[6]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^Despite appearances to the contrary, O'Moore was his middle name, not part of his surname
- ^"No. 24784".The London Gazette.18 November 1879. p. 6494.
- ^"No. 27357".The London Gazette.20 September 1901. p. 6172.
- ^"No. 27497".The London Gazette.21 November 1902. pp. 7530–7533.
- ^The Law Times, Volume 138 p. 346 (13 February 1915)
- ^"VC group, Captain O'Moore Creagh, Bombay Staff Corps, for his action at Kam Dakka, Afghanistan, on 21 April 1879 | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London".
External links
[edit]- Location of grave and VC medal(Surrey)
- O'Moore CreaghatFind a Grave
- Alexander Thom and Son Ltd.1923. pp. – viaWikisource. . .Dublin:
- 1848 births
- 1923 deaths
- Military personnel from County Clare
- 19th-century Irish people
- Irish officers in the British Army
- Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British Indian Army generals
- British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion
- British Commanders-in-Chief of India
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
- Second Anglo-Afghan War recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Knights of Grace of the Order of St John
- Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun
- Sherwood Foresters officers
- Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
- Bombay Staff Corps officers
- Irish Freemasons
- Irish knights
- British Army generals
- British Army personnel of World War I
- Members of the Council of the Governor General of India