Canadian Personallities
Lieutenant-Colonel Sam Hughes (1853-1921)
Member of Parliament and Militia Officer
Lieutenant-Colonel Sam Hughes in 1904.
Sam Hughes was a senior militia officer and an influential Member of
Parliament for the Conservative Party. An intensely patriotic,
strong-willed man, he disliked professional soldiers. An unauthorized
effort to raise his own brigade for service in South Africa, and a
public argument with the general officer commanding the Militia, ensured
he did not get a position in the first contingent. The Department of
Militia and Defence, however, allowed him to accompany the contingent
in an unofficial capacity.
Once in South Africa, Hughes managed to get an appointment with
Brigadier-General Herbert Settle's column in the Karroo expedition.
Hughes distinguished himself at the capture of Upington. In May and
June 1900, he served in Sir Charles Warren's column in Griqualand. Here
again, Hughes performed daringly, though perhaps not to the extent he
believed. He later claimed, but was never able to prove, that British
officials had promised him no fewer than two
Victoria Crosses, Britain's
highest decoration for valour in battle.
In the summer of 1900, the British high command dismissed Hughes and
sent him back to Canada. Letters in which Hughes charged the British
military with incompetence had been published in Canada and South
Africa. Hughes had also flagrantly disobeyed orders in a key operation
by granting favourable terms to an enemy force which surrendered to
him. Although Hughes had proved a competent, and sometimes exceptional,
front-line officer, boastfulness and impatience told strongly against
him.
When the Conservatives took power in Ottawa in 1911, Hughes became
Minister of Militia and Defence. Though his planning was often
haphazard, his energy and devotion largely accounted for the swift
mobilization of Canadian troops for service overseas during the First
World War. Once again, however, his abrasive character alienated many
people and caused administrative chaos. The Prime Minister dismissed
him from the Cabinet in 1916.