General Sir Hugh Henry Gough, ( ; 14 November 1833 – 12 May 1909) was a senior British Indian Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life

Gough was born into a family of Anglo-Irish gentry in Calcutta, Bengal, India, on 14 November 1833. He was commissioned ensign in the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry in September 1853 aged 19, and was still serving with the Indian Army on the outbreak of the First Indian War of Independence in 1857.

Victoria Cross

Gough was 23 years old, and a lieutenant in the 1st Bengal European Light Cavalry (later 19th Hussars) during the 1857 Rebellion, when the following deeds took place for which he was awarded the VC:

Later career

Gough commanded the 12th Bengal Cavalry in the 1868 Abyssinian expedition, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in August 1868. He served under General Frederick Roberts during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, including the battles of Peiwar Kotal in December 1878 and Charasia in October 1879. He also commanded the cavalry brigade on Roberts' march from Kabul to Kandahar in August 1880, and the Battle of Kandahar on 1 September 1880. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1881.

Gough married Anne Margaret Hill on 8 September 1863 and they had five sons and four daughters.

  • Captain Arthur Henry Maitland Wilson, 12th Cavalry, b 22 January 1885, accidentally killed in Khaniken, Mesopotamia 29 January 1918.
  • Hugh Maitland Wilson, 6 April 1886.
  • Muriel Maitland Wilson, died unmarried 25 June 1950.

Works

  • Old Memories. Cornell University Library (1 January 1897)

Notes

References

  • Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
  • Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
  • The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
  • Location of grave and VC medal (Kensal Green Cemetery)
  • Biography