Thomas Kelly-Kenny

General Sir Thomas Kelly-Kenny GCB GCVO (1840-1914) was a British Army general who served in the Second Boer War.

Kelly-Kenny was born on 27 February 1840 at Doolough Lodge, Treanmanagh near Mullagh in County Clare, Ireland. He was appointed Ensign without purchase in the 1st Battalion, 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot on 2 February 1858 and was ADC to the General Officer Commanding Cape of Good Hope from 15 November 1859 to January 1860. He was further appointed Lieutenant by purchase on 12 October 1860 and Captain by purchase on 20 July 1866. He was (acting) Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General (QMG) in Bombay from 25 May 1869 to April 1870.

Promoted Colonel on 22 September 1887 he was Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) and QMG from that date until 30 June 1889. Continuing in senior appointments, he was AAG and QMG, North-Eastern District from 1 July 1889–21 September 1892. Later he became AAG Aldershot Garrison from 28 December 1893–12 March 1896.

He gained successive and advancing appointments until becoming Adjutant-General to the Forces, HQ of the Army on 1 October 1901.

In the Second Anglo-Boer war of 1899–1901 he was Lieutenant-General in command of the 6th Division. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches and received the Queen’s South African Medal with four clasps. He was involved the relief of Kimberley and the battles of Paardeberg, Poplar Grove and Driefontein.

He was an Irish Catholic and in contrast to most of the aristocratic officer class who saw war as a sport he was professional soldier who had worked his way through the ranks.

At the battle of Paardeberg he had a conservative plan to besiege Cronje and bombard his force from a safe distance with superior artillery. When Roberts became ill he appointed Lieutenant General Herbert Kitchener as commander. Kitchener had become known as 'Kitchener of Khartoum' due to his success against the Dervishes in the Sudan. He overruled Kelly-Kenny and ordered an assault on the Boer trenches. The result was 'Bloody Sunday' — an unnecessary sacrifice of hundreds of lives on the British side. Kelly-Kenny was involved in the engagements at Poplar Grove and Driefontein and was well regarded by historians for his role. After that point the war became a series of guerilla skirmishes.

From 1901 to 1904, he was Adjutant-General to the Forces. There are references to his touring Japan as part of a mission to present the Order of the Garter to the Emperor and to the future King George V visiting his house in County Clare in 1906.He retired in 1907 and died in 1914.

Orders, Decorations & Medals

* Star of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (military division) [GCB cr. 1904] ; (ribbons)
* Order of The Bath
* Royal Victorian Order [GCVO cr. 1906]
* Queen Victoria Jubilee medal
* Coronation medal, 1902
* China War medal 1857-60
* Abyssinian War medal 1867-68
* Queen's South Africa medal 1899-1902
* Order of The Red Eagle (Knight Grand Cross) [Prussia]
* Order of The Rising Sun (Knight Grand Cross) [Japan]

References

* Houses of Clare, Hugh W.L. Weir, Ballinakella Press, Whitegate, Co. Clare, 1986
* The Boer War; Thomas Pakenham; Cardinal, 1979; ISBN 0-7474-0976-5
* The Great Boer War, Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1902
* Mitford's Japan: The Memoirs and Recollections, 1866-1906, of Algernon Bertram Mitford, the First Lord Redesdale by Mitford, Hugh Cortazzi, Algernon Bertram Mitford

External links

* [http://pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-20.htm Conan Doyle Chapter 20]
* [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/colonels/034.html General Sir Thomas Kelly-Kenny GCB GCVO 1902-1914 ] at www.queensroyalsurreys.org.ukWebsite of Surrey Regiment (British army)