Sir George Tomkyns Chesney was a British Army general, politician, and writer of fiction. He is remembered as the author of the novella The Battle of Dorking, a founding work in the genre of invasion literature.
Chesney joined the Bengal Engineers as a second lieutenant in 1848. He was employed for some years in the public works department and, on the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857, joined the Ambala column and was field engineer at the battle of Badli-ki-Serai, brigade-major of engineers throughout the siege of Delhi and was severely wounded in the assault. In 1860, he was appointed head of a new department in connection with the public works accounts. His work on Indian Polity, dealing with the administration of the several departments of the Indian government, attracted wide attention and remains a permanent text-book. The originator of the Royal Indian Civil Engineering College at Coopers Hill, Englefield Green, Egham, he was also its first president. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1869, colonel in 1877, major general in 1886, lieutenant general in 1887, colonel-commandant of Royal Engineers in 1890, and general in 1892. From 1881, he was in the government of India, and he was made a Companion of Order of the Star of India and a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. From 1886 to 1892, as military member of the governor-generals council, he carried out many much-needed military reforms. He also championed Indianization, the admission of Indians into the higher officer corps of the Indian Army. However, he was unsuccessful mainly because of the implacable opposition of General Sir Frederick Roberts, the commander-in-chief of the Indian Army, who contended that the officer posts were "properly reserved for the governing race".
Literary career
Chesney was a frequent contributor to periodical literature. In 1871, he published, initially anonymously, a highly-influential short story, The Battle of Dorking in Blackwoods Magazine. This was a vivid account of a supposed invasion of England by the Germans after their victory over France: it was subsequently republished in many editions and translations, and is considered a founding piece of the invasion literature genre. He also published several novels, including A True ReformerThe Dilemma, The Private Secretary, and The Lesters although none achieved the popular success of The Battle of Dorking.
Chesney died suddenly of angina pectoris at his residence, 27 Inverness Terrace, London, on 31 March 1895, and was buried at Englefield Green, Surrey, on 5 April.
Family
Chesney married, in 1855, Annie Louisa, daughter of George Palmer of Purneah, Bengal, who, with four sons and three daughters, survived him.
