Woodgate, Major General Sir Edward Robert Prevost, KCMG, CB

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He was wounded at Spion Kop, January 24th, 1900, and died at Mooi River, March 23rd. He was the second son of the Reverend H A Woodgate, rector of Belbroughton, Worcestershire, was born in November 1845, and educated at Radley. He entered the 4th Foot in April 1865, being promoted Lieutenant July 1869, Captain March 1878, brevet Major November 1879, Major November 1881, Lieutenant Colonel June 1893, Colonel June 1897, and was given the local rank of Major General in November 1899. He served with the 4th regiment throughout the Abyssinian Campaign of 1868, and was present at the action of Arogee and capture of Magdala, receiving the medal. He accompanied Field Marshal Lord (then Sir Garnet) Wolseley to the Gold Coast in September 1873, on special service, and served throughout the Ashanti War 1873-74, including the actions of Essaman and Ainsa, repulse of the Ashanti army at Abrakrampa during the 5th and 6th of November 1873 (in command of the Kossoos), reconnaissance in force of the 8th and 27th of November and battle of Amoaful, and capture of Coomassie, being mentioned in despatches and receiving the medal with clasp. He served in the Zulu War 1879, and was present at the engagements at Kambula and Ulundi, was twice mentioned in despatches, and received the brevet of Major and the medal with clasp. He again saw service in West Africa in 1898, in command of the forces against the Sierra Leone insurgents, and organised the Protectorate Expedition, being mentioned in despatches and received the CMG. Sir E Woodgate was made a CB in May 1896, and a KCMG January 9th, 1900. He proceeded to South Africa in December 1899, in command of the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division, and was specially selected to command the troops detailed to capture Spion Kop. He was mortally wounded early in the action, and was mentioned in despatches, LG, February 8th, 1901, by General Sir R Buller, who referred to the great loss the country had sustained by the death of General Woodgate.

He served in Wood’s Column through the whole of its operations during the War, first as General Staff Officer, and, on the death of Captain Campbell, as principal Staff Officer; and subsequently as A. A. G. in the Flying Column. (Mentioned in Despatches; Brevet of Major.)

Captain E R P Woodgate, 4th Regiment, service in Abyssinian War, 1867 - 68; second Ashanti War, 1873 - 74. In Zululand served with No 4 Column as General Staff Officer and then as Principal Staff Officer. A A G to Wood’s Flying Column. Present at Kambula and Ulundi. Promoted Brevet Major.

Date of Birth - 1st November 1845
First Appointment - Ensign - 4th Foot - 7th April 1865
Lieutenant - 4th Foot - 7th July 1869
Captain - Royal Lancaster Regiment - 2nd March 1878
Brevet Major - Royal Lancaster Regiment - 29th November 1879
Major - Royal Lancaster Regiment - 19th November 1881
Special Service, Ashanti Expedition - 12th September 1873 to 20th March 1874
Special Service, South Africa - 1st June 1878 to 14th November 1879
Brigade-Major, West Indies (Jamaica) - 21st February 1880 to ?
In 1877 he passed the Senior Staff College Examination.
Abyssinian Expedition - 1868. Action at Arogee, capture of Magdala. Medal.
Ashanti War - 1873-4 - Actions of Essaman, Ainsah, Abrakrampa, and Faysoonah, battle of Amoaful, and capture of Coomassie. Despatches, London Gazette, 18th November 1873 and 7th March 1874. Medal with Clasp.
South African War - 1879 - Zulu Campaign - Action of Kambula and battle of Ulundi. Despatches, London Gazette, 7th May and 21st August 1879. Medal with Clasp. Brevet of Major.

See: Pictorial catalogue of AZW graves

Nice one 1879Graves.

Military career
Woodgate was born in November 1845 in Belbroughton Worcestershire, the son of Rev Henry Arthur Woodgate, the rector of Belbroughton Holy Trinity Church. He was educated at Radley College and entered the 4th Foot in April 1865. He served in the Abyssinian War, the Ashanti War, and the Anglo-Zulu War.

Woodgate served during the Second Boer War and fought at the Battle of Spion Kop. He commanded a large force sent to capture the strategic hill during a night assault on the 23 January. On the following morning he sustained a serious wound that was, in the end, to take his life; a shell splinter struck his head above the right eye. He suffered injury to the brain associated with a shattered orbit.It is documented that while being carried down the hill to hospital on a stretcher, he struggled to rejoin his men and had to be forcibly restrained. As a result of the trauma he lost all recent memory and had no recollection of the war.

Woodgate later fell into a coma and died at Mooi River Natal on 23 March 1900, aged 54. His grave is in the churchyard of St John's Anglican Church just outside Mooi River.

He left a fiancée, Gladys Newbolt.

In addition to a memorial on the Spioenkop battlefield there is also a memorial to him in the Belbroughton Holy Trinity Church yard.

Honours and awards
Abyssinian War Medal (1868), Ashanti War Medal (1873-4) and bar and Mentioned in Despatches, Zulu War Campaign Medal (1879) and bar and Mentioned in Despatches, Sierra Leone 1898 and Mentioned in Despatches, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) He was created a Companion in the Order of the Bath (CB) in May 1896 and Knight Commander in Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in January 1900.

Estate
His will was proved in the Principal Registry of the Probate Division of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice on 30 June 1900, by his two executors, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward De Barry Barnett of 32 Cambridge Square, Hyde Park, London and George Nicholas Hardinge of 17 Lower Berkeley Street, London. His home address was given as United Services Club, Pall Mall, London

Hi all.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1900-BOER-LATE-MAJ-GEN-SIR-E-WOODGATE-SPION-KOP-/160538534942?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item2560d7a41e

cheers 90th.