Francis Rawdon Chesney general and explorer, was a son of Captain Alexander Chesney, an Irishman of Scottish descent who, having emigrated to South Carolina in 1772, served under Lord Rawdon

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings

Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings KG PC , styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762 and as The Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783 and known as The Earl of Moira between 1793 and 1816, was an Irish-British politician and military officer who served as...

 (afterwards Marquess of Hastings) in the American War of Independence

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, and subsequently received an appointment as coast officer at Annalong

Annalong

Annalong is a seaside village in County Down, Northern Ireland at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. It had a population of 1,778 people at the 2001 Census and lies within the Newry and Mourne District Council area. The village was once engaged in exporting dressed granite and is now a fishing and...

, County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. There F. R. Chesney was born on 16 March 1789.

Lord Rawdon gave the boy a cadetship at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and he was gazetted to the Royal Artillery

Royal Artillery

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...

 in 1805. But though he rose to be lieutenant-general and colonel-commandant of the 14th brigade Royal Artillery (1864), and general in 1868, Chesney’s memory lives not for his military record, but for his connection with the Suez Canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

, and with the exploration of the Euphrates

Euphrates

The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...

 valley, which started with his being sent out to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 in the course of his military duties in 1829, and his making a tour of inspection in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 and Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

. In 1830, after taking command of 7th Company, 4th Battalion Royal Artillery in Malta, he submitted a report on the feasibility of making a Suez Canal. This was the original basis of Lesseps’

Ferdinand de Lesseps

Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps, GCSI was the French developer of the Suez Canal, which joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas in 1869, and substantially reduced sailing distances and times between the West and the East.He attempted to repeat this success with an effort to build a sea-level...

 great undertaking (in 1869 Lesseps greeted him in Paris as the “father “ of the canal); and in 1831 he introduced to the home government the idea of opening a new overland route to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, by a daring and adventurous journey along the Euphrates valley from Anah

Anah

Anah, or Ana, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates river, approximately mid-way between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf.-Etymology:...

 to the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

. Returning home, Acting Lt Colonel Chesney (as he then was) busied himself to get support for the latter project, to which the East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

’s board was favourable; and in 1835 he was sent out in command of a small expedition, on which he took a number of soldiers from 7th Company RA and for which Parliament voted £20,000, in order to test the navigability of the Euphrates.

After encountering immense difficulties, from the opposition of the Egyptian pasha, and from the need of transporting two steamers

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 (one of which, the Tigris, was subsequently lost) in sections from the Mediterranean over the hilly country to the river, they successfully arrived by water at Bushire in the summer of 1836, and proved Chesney’s view to be a practicable one. In the middle of 1837 he returned to England, and was given the Royal Geographical Society

Royal Geographical Society

The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

’s gold medal, having meanwhile been to India to consult the authorities there; but the preparation of his two volumes on the expedition (published in 1850) was interrupted by his being ordered out in 1843 to command the artillery at Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

In 1847 his period of service was completed, and he went home to Ireland, to a life of retirement; but both in 1856 and again in 1862 he went out to the East to take a part in further surveys and negotiations for the Euphrates valley railway scheme, which, however, the government would not take up, in spite of a favourable report from the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

committee in 1871. In 1868 he published a further volume of narrative on his Euphrates expedition.

Publications

REPORTS ON THE NAVIGATION OF THE EUPHRATES. Submitted to Government by Captain Chesney, of the Royal Artillery. Taylor, printer, 7, Little James Street, Gray's Inn. [1833]

THE EXPEDITION FOR THE SURVEY OF THE RIVERS EUPHRATES AND TIGRIS. Carried on by order of the British Government in the years 1835, 1836, 1837 ; preceded by Geographical and Historical Notices of the Regions situated between the Rivers Nile and Indus. In Four Volumes. With Fourteen Maps and Charts, and embellished with Ninety-seven Plates, besides numerous Woodcuts. By Lieut.-Colonel Chesney, R.A., .F.R.S., F.R.G.S., Colonel in Asia, Commander of the Expedition. By Authority. Vols. I. and II. London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1850. Presentation copies, 4to. Ordinary copies, Royal 8vo.

ON THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY. By Colonel Chesney, D.C.L. and F.R.S., Royal Artillery. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851. 8vo.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF FIREARMS, AND ON THE PROBABLE EFFECTS IN WAR OF THE NEW MUSKET. With a Proposition for Reorganizing the Royal Regiment of Artillery by a Subdivision into Battalions in each special arm of Garrison, Field, and Horse Artillery, with Suggestions for Promoting its Efficiency. By Colonel Chesney, D.C.L., F.R.S., Royal Artillery. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1852. 8vo.

THE RUSSO-TURKISH CAMPAIGNS OF 1828 AND 1829. With a View of the Present State of Affairs in the East. By Colonel Chesney, R.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., Author of "The Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris." With an Appendix containing the Diplomatic Correspondence between the Four Powers, and the Secret Correspondence between the Russian and English Governments. With Maps. London: Smith, Elder, and Go., 1854; and Redfield, New York, 1854. 8vo.

NARRATIVE OF THE EUPHRATES EXPEDITION. Carried on by Order of the British Government during the years 1835, 1836, and 1837. By General Francis Rawdon Chesney. Colonel Commandant 14th Brigade Royal Artillery, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.R.G.S., Commander of the Expedition. London: Longman, Green, and Co., 1868. 8vo.

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON STEAM NAVIGATION TO INDIA. July 14, 1834, p. 52, and Letter, pp. 88-91.

EVIDENCE ON STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH INDIA. PAPERS ORDERED TO BE PRINTED BY THE HOUSE OF LORDS. P. 7, February 23, 1838.

(EVIDENCE IN) REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EUPHRATES VALLEY RAILWAY. With the Proceedings of the Committee. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, July 22, 1872.

External links

• http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196902/wreck.of.the.tigris.htm gives a description of Chesney's remarkable expedition down the Euphrates.