He was called “the Butcher of the Somme“ and seen as the embodiment of the “donkey”
that led the British “lions” to their death, but was also known as “the Good Soldier“
and the “Architect of Victory“. He was admired as a steadfast gentleman, but criticized
as being totally incompetent in the use of modern technology. Perhaps no general in British
history and perhaps the Great War itself had as much controversy attached to his name as
Sir Douglas Haig.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to a Great War bio special about Sir Douglas Haig.
Douglas Haig was born June 19th, 1861 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was a wealthy whisky
magnate.
Now, Haig grew up in a Victorian era when technology really began to create the modern
world; an age of imperialism where the glorification of the military stood in contrast to burgeoning
social reforms and more modern political attitudes. He was educated at Sandhurst Military Academy,
and the rich, confident, and well-educated young man joined the 7th Hussars in 1885 at
Aldershot. This unit was one of the oldest and most distinguished units in the British
army, but also one that followed aristocratic traditions, accepting only “gentlemen”.
In December 1886, they were sent to India, and a world not only wildly different from
anything Haig had seen before, but one where alcoholism, disease, and British brothels
were the ruin of many a young soldier. Not Haig, though, he was very strict in following
his gentleman’s code. Next stop was the Sudan in 1898. Now, in 1885, an Islamist cult
led by the Mahdi had dealt a blow to British pride at the siege of Khartoum, which had
resulted in the death of General Charles Gordon, and the Mahdi was still out there. But with
modern weapons, a British and Egyptian force of 25,000 defeated the Madist forces three
times their size. These desert battlefields were the proving grounds of several British
legends, like Herbert Kitchener and Winston Churchill, and Haig would have his baptism
by fire there in close combat. Kitchener and Haig were actually sort of cut from the same
cloth, and their paths would cross many times.
After the Sudan, though, Haig was sent to join General John French and fight the Boer
Wars.
French and Haig were quite different in character. Haig was rather reserved, unsocial, and introspective,
while French was anything but that, as we described in his own bio special. French fell
repeatedly into debt, which threatened both his career and his status as a gentleman.
Haig helped him out, and in return French boosted Haig’s reputation throughout the
wars. Those were anything but typical warfare, and were most often a series of guerrilla
actions. Still Haig was often mentioned in the dispatches and was promoted to Lieutenant
Colonel.
He then spent a couple of years as Inspector General of Cavalry for India, and in 1904
became the youngest Major General in the British army.
At this time there was debate over the role of cavalry in 20th century warfare. Should
they still be trained to charge with sword and lance? Haig believed the answer was an
emphatic yes. Just sayin’. In 1905, he married Dorothy Maud Vivian; they would have four children.
He then went to work for the war office in Britain as director of Military Training.
Together with Richard Haldane, Secretary of State for War, Haig created the modern professional
British army. Their reforms organized the Territorial Army in 1908. Haig actually wanted
a reserve of 900,000 men, but Haldane set it at 300,000. Haig’s skills, though, were
vital in setting up the British Expeditionary Force of 120,000 men. These were the men that
would be sent to France and Belgium when the war broke out. Haig stressed a high priority
for cavalry and a much lower one for artillery.
He then became Chief of Staff for India before returning to Aldershot, which is where he
was when the war began.
He had unusual foresight about the war, saying, “This war will last many months, possibly
years, so I venture to hope that our only bolt may not suddenly be shot on a project
on which the success seems to me quite doubtful - I mean the checking of the German advance
into France. Would it not be better to begin at once to enlarge our expeditionary force
by amalgamating less regular forces with it?” He was right that this would not be the war
that was over by Christmas, and he estimated around a million soldiers would be needed.
John French was chosen as Commander of the BEF, and Haig commanded the First Corps. The
British first met the Germans near the old mines at Mons. The larger German army tried
to steamroll the British, but the British regulars at that time were probably the best
soldiers on the continent, and they really surprised the Germans with their skill. Numbers
and artillery began to tell, though, as did one of Haig’s great weaknesses: hesitation.
He hesitated to send vital reserves to aid General Smith-Dorrien’s 2nd Corps, and when
retreat became inevitable he hesitated to cover the retreat of the 2nd Corps. Actually,
he marched his men away as quickly as possible, leaving 2nd Corps alone to fight a desperate
retreat. They only escaped by leaving their wounded behind.
Once in the town of Landrecies, and with panic setting in, Haig showed one of his strengths
- he stepped in front of the town, revolver in hand, and told the men they must sell their
lives dearly. He rode from defensive line to defensive line, exhorting his men to bravery,
though he himself did leave town with his staff in the middle of the night.
He remained on the defensive the rest of the year.
And indeed, by the year’s end was a hero, outshining French and his peers. In 1915,
the Entente went on the attack. Now, Haig seemed oblivious to the small-scale, step
by step approach favored by his peers, and was convinced a breakthrough must happen on
a large scale, but he only had so much infantry and artillery. At Aubers ridge, it proved
insufficient. At Loos, it was again insufficient. Actually, after Loos, Haig would replace French
as Commander in Chief of the BEF. He had had this to say about his tactics, “Our objective
is... not a local success and the capture of a few trenches or even a portion of the
hostile position on a more or less extended front, but to employ the entire force at our
disposal and fight a decisive battle.” He said that the army should be prepared to exploit
success along the lines of 1806.
But this was not 1806 and Haig was not Napoleon.
Then came the Battle of the Somme. And Haig planned for the breakthrough; the decisive
battle. And as the first waves of British soldiers swarmed over the bombed out land,
they discovered that in many places the barbed wire and the deep German defenses were still
intact. German machine guns mowed down thousands of the British in hours. However, some attacks
were successful in taking advance German positions, so Haig was encouraged to send in more and
more troops on a wider front, hoping for German collapse. You could see his major flaws in
play here; he did not reinforce and hold existing smaller breakthroughs, but instead sent soldiers
against entrenched positions to try and make the big one happen.
That big one did not come, and as the casualty lists began reaching London, the public was
shocked, though Haig remained confident that the casualties were worth the damage done,
and if Germany wasn’t brought to her knees in 1916, then it would happen in 1917.
I’m not going to talk about more battles here; we’ll cover all that in our regular
episodes. I will say that true criticism of Haig would come later, particularly starting
in the winter of 1917 when the whole British war effort was in crisis. But even after the
war’s end, Haig was a living legend, greatly admired by many, but also the man who - when
the cost of the war in men became more and more clear to the British public - would become
the symbol for all that was wrong and incompetent with the Great War.
Sir Douglas Haig, postwar, devoted his energies to the welfare of ex-servicemen, setting up
the Haig Fund and Haig Homes to care for them. He died January 29th, 1928.
Make sure to check out Cody’s channel Alternate History Hub and his video about the possible
success at the Somme right here.
Let us know what you think about Douglas Haig and his deeds in the comments below. And don’t
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