MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE HENRY MARSHALL

Approximate Image Size: 7 1/2 X 10 inches Approximate Overall Size: 10 X 14 inches

SHORT BIO: MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE HENRY MARSHALL, commanding the Royal Artillery of the Forces in South Africa, is indebted to the Boers for the chance of acquiring in the Official Quarterly Army List-familiarly known as the "Birthday Book"-the crossed swords which indicate that an officer has seen war service. But, although he has had no previous experience of the tented field, General Marshall had a distinct reputation as an artilleryman, and, even if his duties in South Africa had been those of a battle-leader, would assuredly have distinguished himself, as Gunners have a knack of doing whenever half-a-chance presents itself. General Marshall was born in 1843, and entered the Royal Artillery in 1861. After a long and honourable career of regimental duty he became, in 1893, Chief Instructor at the School of Gunnery, at Shoeburyness, a post which he held until 1897. In October of the latter year he was transferred to Aldershot, in command of the Royal Artillery of the District, an appointment which, it is needless to say, is never given to any but Gunner officers possessing peculiar qualifications, among which up-to-dateness must necessarily be prominent. His up-to-date quality was displayed with sufficient clearness by General Marshall in connection with the Artillery training on Salisbury Plain in the early half of last year. With not far off a hundred guns under his command he was enabled to carry out some striking demonstrations of that concentration of fire from a number of massed batteries which is the essence of modern artillery tactics on a large scale. In South Africa, General Marshall occupies an extremely responsible position, but his responsibilities must not be unduly stretched to cover deficiencies in which he is not in any way concerned. With the original selection of the artillery despatched to South Africa, with the quality of the guns, with the nature of the ammunition, he had nothing to do. For the general working of the Artillery during the course of the war he is responsible, and, as that has been notably successful, it seems likely that Major-General Marshall's name in future Army Lists will have something else besides crossed swords affixed to it. For it is an important service to have controlled in such a campaign not only such a number of men and guns, but such a diversity of ordnance, ranging from the screw-gun of the mountain battery to the ponderous 8-inch howitzer, which can drop 18 Ibs. of compressed destruction into an enemy's position four or five miles distant.

VERY GOOD CONDITION. Printed on heavier textured-glossy type paper. The colors are very bright and clean It does have text on reverse side (doesn't show through the heavier textured type paper) which is a BIOGRAPHY relating to the portrait. A great Genealogy collectible item.

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