Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Haines, Frederick Paul
HAINES, SIR FREDERICK PAUL (1819–1909), field-marshal, born on 10 Aug. 1819, at the Parsonage Farm, Kirdford, Sussex, was youngest child in the family of three sons and a daughter of Gregory Haines, C.B. (1778-1853), who was in Wellington's commissariat throughout the Peninsular war and at Waterloo, and ended his career as commissary-general in Ireland, by his wife Harriet, daughter of John Eldridge of Kirdford. The father was descended from prosperous Sussex yeomen, of whom the most remarkable was Richard Haines (1633-1685), author, among other works, of 'The Prevention of Poverty' (1674) and 'A Method of Government for Public Working Almshouses' (1679). Educated at Midhurst school and in Brussels and Dresden, Frederick, following the example of his two elder brothers, entered the army, being gazetted ensign in the 4th (the King's Own) regiment on 21 June 1839. He joined his regiment at Bangalore, where his eldest brother, Gregory, had just married a daughter of Sir Hugh (afterwards the first viscount) Gough [q. v.], who was in command of the Mysore division. This family connection led in 1844 to the appointment of Haines, who had been promoted lieutenant in 1840, as A.D.C. to Gough, then commander-in-chief in the East Indies. In the first Sikh war he was acting military secretary to the commander-in-chief, and fought at Moodkee and at Ferozeshah, where he was dangerously wounded. His services were rewarded by a captaincy, without payment, in the 10th foot (May 1846), whence he exchanged, in March 1847, into the 21st foot (the Scots fusiliers). From 23 May 1846 to 7 May 1849 he was military secretary to Lord Gough, and was present at the skirmish at Ramnuggur, the operations for the crossing of the Chenab, and the battles of Chillianwalla and Gujerat. For the services rendered in this capacity he was given a brevet majority in June 1849 and a brevet lieut.-colonelcy in August 1850.
In 1854 Haines accompanied the 21st foot to the Crimea, and was present at the actions of the Alma and Balaclava. His rank as a brevet lieut.-colonel placed him at the battle of Inkerman (5 Nov. 1854) in command of a small body of troops. The detachment held for six hours the barrier on the post road which guarded the approach to the second division camp, and the exploit in Kinglake's opinion 'augments the glory of the day as far as concerns the English, and gives much more simplicity, and consequently more grandeur, to the battle than would otherwise belong to it.' Haines was also responsible for sending troops to silence the Russian artillery on Shell Hill, and thus helped to bring the battle to its final crisis. After the battle of Inkerman he succeeded to a majority in the 21st foot, and he was promoted to a brevet colonelcy (28 Nov. 1854) in recognition of his conduct. In April 1856 he was gazetted lieut.-colonel, unattached, and from June 1855 to January 1856 he was assistant adjutant-general at Aldershot, where the camp was in course of construction. From June 1856 to June 1860 he was military secretary to the commander-in-chief at Madras, Sir Patrick Grant [q. v. Suppl. I], and accompanied him to Calcutta during the interval between the death of General Anson and the arrival of Sir Colin Campbell in the summer of 1857. In Oct. 1859 he was gazetted lieut.-colonel of the 8th foot, which he commanded from Sept. 1860 to Aug. 1861. After brief periods of service as an acting brigadier-general at Aldershot, as deputy adjutant-general at headquarters in Ireland, and as a brigadier-general in Ireland, he was promoted major-general (Nov. 1864) and held the command of the Mysore division from March 1865 to March 1870. On his return from India he became quartermaster-general at headquarters from Nov. 1870 to March 1871, and from May 1871 to Dec. 1875 was commander-in-chief at Madras, becoming a K.C.B. in 1871 and a lieutenant-general in 1873.
From April 1876 to April 1881 Haines was commander-in-chief in India. From the beginning of his term of office the attention of the Indian government was occupied by difficulties with Russia and with Afghanistan. When an Anglo-Russian war seemed imminent, in 1876, he strongly opposed a proposal of the viceroy, Lord Lytton [q. v.], for an invasion of central Asia by a small force ( Life, pp. 216-24). He did not oppose Lytton's 'forward policy,' and he regarded the Afghan war as inevitable; but he differed entirely from the viceroy's estimate of the forces required for the purpose, and he disapproved of such measures as Cavagnari's suggestion of a surprise attack on Ali Musjid. He believed that the Kuram valley, to the strategic value of which Lytton and his confidential adviser. Sir George Colley [q. v.], attached great importance, was a cul-de-sac and useless as a military rout© to Kabul. The reinforcements on which Haines insisted at the outset of the campaign of 1878-9 proved to be required, and for his general supervision of the war he received the thanks of both houses of parliament and was given the grand cross of the Star of India in July 1879. He was made G.C.B. in 1877, and on the institution of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1878 he became, ex officio, C.I.E.
In the Afghan campaign of 1879-80 Haines had again serious differences with Lord Lytton about the Kuram route, the number of troops required, and the relation of the commander-in-chief to commanders in the field. His relations with Lytton's successsor, Lord Ripon [q. v. Suppl. II], were more cordial, but his warnings of the danger of an attack on Kandahar by Ayub Khan were disregarded by the viceroy. He acquiesced unwillingly in General Burrows' advance on the Helmund river, and ordered Bombay troops to move up in support. After the defeat of Burrows at Maiwand (27 July 1880) Haines suggested the relief of Kandahar by a force from Kabul commanded by General Roberts. For his services in the conduct of operations in the war of 1879-80 Haines received again the thanks of both houses of parliament, and was offered a baronetcy, which he declined. The close of his term of command was occupied with discussions about the recommendations of the Indian Army Commission of 1879, from which he dissented, urging the continuance of separate presidential armies.
From 1881 until his death Haines lived in London. He represented the British army at the Russian manoeuvres of 1882 and at the German manoeuvres of 1884. He had become a general in 1877 and was raised to the rank of field- marshal in 1890. He was colonel of the royal Munster fusiliers from 1874 to 1890, when he became colonel of his old regiment, the royal Scots fusiliers. In his closing years he was much interested in foreign policy, especially in central Asian questions, in art, the drama, and in cricket. He died in London on 11 June 1909, and was buried in Brompton cemetery.
Haines married in 1856 Charlotte (d. 1881), daughter of Col. E. Miller of the Madras army, and had three sons. A portrait by the Hon. John Collier (1891) is at the United Service Club, Pall Mall, London. A caricature by J. T. C. appeared in 'Vanity Fair in 1876.
[Memoir of Richard Haines, 1633-85, by Charles Reginald Haines, privately printed, 1809; Army Lists; A. W. Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea, vol. vi. 1877; G. B. Malleson. Ambushes and Surprises, 1885; Report and Evidence of the Indian Army Commission of 1879; R. S. Rait, Life of' Hugh, First Viscount Gough, 1903. and Life of Sir Frederick Haines, 1911; Lady Betty Balfour's Lord Lytton's Indian Administration, 1899; H. B. Hanna, Second Afghan War, 3 vols. 1899-1910; The Times, 14 June 1909.]