Canadian Military Personnel of the Second Boer War - Sam Steele (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO (5 January 1849 30 January 1919) was a distinguished soldier and famous member of the North-West Mounted Police. Born in Medonte Township, Upper Canada, the son of Elmes and Anne Steele, Sam Steele received his education at the family home, Purbrooke, and later at the Royal Military School. His father had died when thirteen, leaving him orphaned. Samuel Steele's family had a strong military tradition, and in 1866 he joined the military during the Fenian Raids. Steele also participated in the Red River Expedition in 1870 to fight the Red River Rebellion of Louis Riel. Much to his disappointment, he arrived after the Mtis had surrendered. The following year he joined the Permanent Force artillery, Canada's first regular army unit. Steele had long been fascinated by the West, devouring the works of James Fenimore Cooper in his youth. He was especially interested in the First Nations, and spent his time in the West learning from them and the Mtis. However, he was assigned to Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario, for the next few years, as an instructor at the Artillery School. In 1874, Steele was initiated as a Freemason in the Lisgar Lodge No. 2, in Selkirk, Manitoba. In 1873, Steele was the third officer sworn in to the newly formed North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), entering as a staff constable. He was one of the officers to lead the new recruits of the NWMP on the 1874 March West, when he returned to Fort Garry, present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba. To him fell the rank of staff sergeant major and the responsibilityas an accomplished horseman and man-at-armsof drilling the new recruits. In 1878, Steele was given his own command at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. In 1877, he was assigned to meet wi... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=296353