George Hamilton-Browne
{{Short description|British irregular soldier (1844–1916)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
File:Hamilton-browne sihayos kraal Valda.jpg (1879).]]
George Hamilton-Browne (22 December 1844 – 21 January 1916) was a British irregular soldier, adventurer, writer and impostor.{{Cite web|last=Gilling|first=Bryan D.|date=1993|title=Hamilton-Browne, George|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h10/hamilton-browne-george|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-19|website=teara.govt.nz|language=en}} He was on a reconnaissance on 22 January 1879, and was not present at the Battle of Isandlwana in the Zulu War of 1879.{{Cite journal |last=Tylden |first=G. |date=1959 |title=Commandant George Hamilton-Browne of the Colonial Forces |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44226963 |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=37 |issue=152 |pages=153–160 |issn=0037-9700 |jstor=44226963 |via=}} He wrote three books about his experiences, some details of which have been claimed to be of dubious authenticity.
Biography
He was born into a military family of Irish descent in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 22 December 1844.{{Cite web|last1=Knight|first1=Ian|last2=Greaves|first2=Adrian|date=|title=George Hamilton Browne|url=https://www.anglozuluwar.com/images/Journal%2040/George%20Hamilton%20Browne.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=19 January 2021|website=anglozuluwar.com}} He was the son of George Browne (Capt 44th Regiment) and Susanna Mary Hilton, who were married in Manchester 7 March 1844. He was twice married and died in Jamaica in January 1916.{{Cite web|last=Luscombe|first=Stephen|title=Zulu War|url=https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/africancampaigns/zuluwar/georgehamiltonbrowne.htm|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.britishempire.co.uk}}
Anglo-Zulu War
When Natal Native Contingent was formed in November 1879, Hamilton-Browne volunteered to become one of its officers. He first served as a captain, commanding one of the companies of the 1st Battalion/3rd Regiment of the NNC, but on 10 January 1879 was promoted to the commander the entire battalion, after the former commander fell of his horse and injured his head.{{Harvard citation|Thompson|Thompson|2006|pp=33–34}}{{Harvard citation|Castle|Ruggeri|2003|pp=8–9}} Each battalion of the NNC had 10 infantry companies of 110 soldiers (9 Europeans and 101 Africans) each, but only 20 men per company had rifles (3 European officers and 6 NCOs with modern Martini-Henrys, and 1 African officer and 10 NCOs with old muzzleloading Enfields), while other 90 had only spears and shields. As commander of the 1st battalion, Hamilton-Browne took part in the battle of Sihayo's Kraal on 12 January 1879, and was sent with most of his battalion on a reconnaissance in force east of the main British camp at Isandlwana on 21 January. His unit was the first to return to the camp in the afternoon of 22 January, and it came four miles from Isandlwana during the final stage of the battle. That way, Hamilton-Browne was able to inspect the final moments of the battle of Isandlwana through his binoculars.{{Harvard citation|Morris|1998|p=424}}
In popular culture
He was portrayed sympathetically in Zulu Dawn (1979), played by British actor Nigel Davenport.
References
{{Reflist}}
Literature
- {{cite book|last=Morris|first=Donald R. |title=The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of the Zulu Nation Under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIWjmKPLCoUC|year=1998|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=9780747401940}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/zulu-war-1879-9781841766126/|title=The Zulu War 1879|last=Knight|first=Ian|publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd.|year=2003|isbn=9781841766126|series=Essential Histories 56|location=Oxford}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/991077017|title=The Anglo-Zulu War-Isandlwana: the revelation of a disaster|last=Lock|first=Ron|date=2017|publisher=Pen & Sword Military|isbn=978-1-5267-0742-0|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire|oclc=991077017}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/british-infantryman-vs-zulu-warrior-9781782003656/|title=British infantryman versus Zulu warrior: Anglo-Zulu War, 1879|last=Knight|first=Ian|date=2013|publisher=Osprey Pub|isbn=978-1-78200-365-6|series=Combat 3|location=Oxford}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/zulu-war-9781841764849/|title=Zulu War - Volunteers, Irregulars & Auxiliaries|last=Castle|first=Ian|last2=Ruggeri|first2=Raffaele|publisher=Osperey Publishing Ltd.|year=2003|isbn=9781841764849|series=Men-at-Arms 388}}
- {{Cite book|title=Black soldiers of the queen: the Natal native contingent in the Anglo-Zulu War|last=Thompson|first=Paul Singer|last2=Thompson|first2=Paul|date=2006|publisher=Univ. of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-5368-1|edition=Rev.|location=Tuscaloosa, Ala}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lostlegionaryins00hamirich|title=A lost legionary in South Africa|last=Hamilton-Browne|first=G.|date=1912|publisher=London, Laurie|others=University of California Libraries}}
- {{Cite book |title=Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost Legion |last=Hamilton-Browne |first=George |publisher=Goodreads |year=2021 |location= |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42228}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=George Hamilton-Browne}}
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Category:New Zealand military personnel
Category:New Zealand criminals
Category:Irish emigrants to New Zealand
Category:British military personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War
Category:British colonial army officers
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