Alfred Horsford

General Sir Alfred Hastings Horsford GCB (1818 – 13 September 1885) was a senior British Army officer who went on to be Military Secretary.

Sir Alfred Horsford
"The Beau ideal" Horsford as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, February 1877
Born	1818 Bath, Somerset
Died	13 September 1885 Munlochy, Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1833–1880
Rank	General
Commands held	South-Eastern District
Battles/wars	Xhosa Wars Crimean War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Monument, Kensal Green Cemetery

Military career

Born in Bath and educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Horsford was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1833.[1]

He served in the Cape Frontier War in 1847 and was Commanding Officer of 1st Bn the Rifle Brigade during the 8th Xhosa War in 1852.[1]

He also served in the Crimean War and fought at the Battle of Alma, Battle of Inkerman, Battle of Balaklava and the early part of the Siege of Sevastopol.[1]

He served in the repression of the Indian Mutiny, having been made Commander of the 6th Brigade at the Capture of Lucknow.[2]

He was made Deputy Adjutant-General at Army Headquarters in 1860, a Brigade commander at Aldershot in 1866, Major-General on the General Staff at Malta in 1869 and General Officer Commanding South-Eastern District in January 1872.[3] He went on to be Military Secretary in 1874.[1]

In retirement he was involved in an accident when Frederick Gye, Manager of the Royal Italian Opera, was assisting Horsford over a fence. Horsford's gun went off and shot Gye in the eye.[4]

References

1. Sir Alfred Horsford at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Historical Records of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, Page 132
3. "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
4. General News Bruce Herald, 1879