Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol I (1901).djvu/81

 second-lieutenant in the royal artillery on 13 Dec, 1836. He became first-lieutenant on 7 July 1839; was sent to Malta in 1840, to Dublin (as adjutant) in 1843, and was posted to C troop of horse artillery in 1845. He was promoted second-captain on 29 July 1846, and captain on 1 April 1852. He was in command of the artillery detachment at the Tower of London in the spring of 1848 when attack by the Chartists was apprehended.

In May 1854, on the outbreak of the Crimean war, Adye went to Turkey as brigade-major of artillery. Lord Raglan obtained for him a brevet majority on 22 Sept., and made him assistant adjutant-general of artillery. He was present with the headquarter staff at Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman, where General Fox Strangways, who commanded the artillery, was killed close by him. He served throughout the siege of Sebastopol, and remained in the Crimea till June 1856. He was three times mentioned in despatches (London Gazette, 10 Oct. and 2 Dec. 1854, and 2 Nov. 1855), was made brevet lieutenant-colonel on 12 Dec. 1854, and C.B. on 6 July 1855. He received the Crimean medal with four clasps, the Turkish medal, the Medjidie (4th class), and the legion of honour (3rd class).

Adye was stationed at Cork Harbour when the Indian mutiny broke out, and in July 1857 he was sent to India as assistant adjutant-general of artillery. From Calcutta he went up to Cawnpore, and arrived there on 21 Nov. to find that Sir Colin Campbell had already left for the relief of Lucknow, and that the Gwalior contingent was advancing upon Cawnpore. He took part in the actions fought there by Windham [see ] on the 26th and following days, and brought in a 24-pounder which had been upset and abandoned in one of the streets of the town. He afterwards wrote an account of the defence of Cawnpore. He was present at the battle of 6 Dec, in which the Gwalior contingent was routed by Sir Colin Campbell after his return from Lucknow. His administrative duties then obliged Adye to return to Calcutta, and he saw no more fighting during the mutiny. He was mentioned in despatches (Lond. Gaz. 29 Jan. 1858), and received the medal. He became regimental lieutenant-colonel on 29 Aug. 1857, and was made brevet colonel on 19 May 1860.

In May 1859 he was appointed to command the artillery in the Madras presidency, and in March 1863 deputy adjutant-general of artillery in India. In this post, which he held for three years, it fell to him to carry out the amalgamation of the three Indian regiments of artillery with the royal artillery, a difficult task demanding patience and tact. In November 1863 he joined the commander-in-chief. Sir Hugh Rose, at Lahore, and was sent by him to the Umbeyla Valley, where General Chamberlain's expedition against the Sitana fanatics was at a deadlock. Adye, who was accompanied by Major (now Earl) Roberts, was to see Chamberlain, and to bring back a personal report of the situation. He was present at the action of 15 Dec. which finally dispersed the tribesmen, and at the burning of Mulka, the home of the fanatics, a week afterwards. He was mentioned in despatches (Lond. Gaz. 19 March 1864) and received the medal with Umbeyla clasp.

After nine years of Indian service Adye returned to England. He had formed strong views, to which he afterwards gave frequent expression, as to the importance of trusting the people of India, and admitting them to high office, civil and military. He had the fullest faith in a policy of conciliation and subsidies as the solvent for frontier difficulties. He became regimental colonel on 6 July 1867.

On 1 April 1870 he was appointed director of artillery and stores. To his administration has been attributed the failure of the British artillery to keep pace in improvements with that of other countries. Adye was undoubtedly a firm believer in the wrought-iron muzzle-loader. But the reversion to muzzle-loading had taken place in 1863 before he came into office, and it was only after he had left office that improvements in gunpowder furnished irresistible arguments in favour of breech-loading [see, Suppl.] Outside the duties of his own department he was a staunch supporter of Cardwell's army reforms; and when they were criticised by John Holmes, M.P. for Hackney, he wrote a pamphlet in reply, 'The British Army in 1876,' which was published in 1876.

In the autumn of 1872 he was sent to the Crimea, in company with Colonel Charles George Gordon, to report on the British cemeteries there. The report was sensible enough, involved no great expenditure, and was carried out. Adye was made K.C.B. on 24 May 1873, and promoted major-general on 17 Nov. 1875.

On 1 Aug. 1875 he succeeded Sir Lintorn Simmons as governor of the military academy at Woolwich. He took an active part in the discussion which followed soon afterwards about the advance of Russia towards 