Army Lists

Sir Charles William Wilson was born in 1836, and entered the Royal Engineers in 1853. From 1869 to 1876 he was Assistant Quartermaster-General of the Intelligence Department at Army Headquarters. From 1879 to 1882 he was Consul-General in Asia Minor, and in the latter year he accompanied the Egyptian Expedition. From 1884-5 he served with the Nile Expedition, in which, before acting as Sir Herbert Stewart's alter ego and successor, he was originally Chief of the Intelligence Department.

"From Korti to Khartum: a Journal of the Desert March from Korti to Gubat, and the Ascent of the Nile in General Gordon's Steamers", is the title of a very stirring and admirably written little book which has passed through a good many editions and is a model of soldierly modesty and good taste. There have been critics of the Nile Expedition and the Desert March in particular, as possibly not the best steps which could in the circumstances have been taken. But none of these criticisms affect the reputation of Sir Charles WIlson as a man and a soldier, and it will be many a long day before the march of Stewart's force across Europe are forgotten by those to whom splendid endurance and magnificent courage, in the presence of almost certain death, bring a thrill of satisfaction and patriotic pride.