# O'Moore Creagh > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/O'Moore_Creagh > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/O'Moore_Creagh.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O'Moore_Creagh > Source revision: 1355449335 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Recipient of the Victoria Cross This article is about the Indian Army general. For his son, the British Army major-general, see [Michael O'Moore Creagh](/source/Michael_O'Moore_Creagh). General Sir O'Moore Creagh VC GCB GCSI Born Garrett O'Moore Creagh (1848-04-02)2 April 1848 Cahirbane, County Clare, Ireland Died 9 August 1923(1923-08-09) (aged 75) South Kensington, London, England Buried East Sheen Cemetery Allegiance United Kingdom Branch British Army British Indian Army Service years 1866–1914 Rank General Unit 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot Commands Commander-in-Chief, India 29th (DCO) Bombay Infantry (2nd Baluch Battalion) Conflicts Second Anglo-Afghan War Boxer Rebellion Awards Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of India Venerable Order of Saint John Order of the Rising Sun (Japan) Relations Major General Sir Michael Creagh (son) [General](/source/General_(United_Kingdom)) **Sir Garrett O'Moore Creagh** (2 April 1848 – 9 August 1923), known as **Sir O'Moore Creagh**,[a] was a senior [British Army](/source/British_Army) officer and an Irish recipient of the [Victoria Cross](/source/Victoria_Cross), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [Commonwealth](/source/Commonwealth_of_Nations) forces. ## Early life and family Creagh was born in Cahirbane, [County Clare](/source/County_Clare), on 2 April 1848, the seventh son of [Captain](/source/Captain_(Royal_Navy)) James Creagh, an officer of the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy), and his wife, Grace O'Moore.[1] Creagh was married twice, firstly to Mary Longfield (or possibly Brereton) in 1874, who died in 1876, and then to Elizabeth Reade in 1891. He had three children, one of whom was Major General [Sir Michael Creagh](/source/Michael_O'Moore_Creagh). In 1866, after training at the [Royal Military College, Sandhurst](/source/Royal_Military_College%2C_Sandhurst), Creagh was commissioned into the [95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot](/source/95th_(Derbyshire)_Regiment_of_Foot) and in 1869 was posted to India, being transferred to the [British Indian Army](/source/British_Indian_Army) the next year. ## Second Anglo-Afghan War Creagh was 31 years old, and a [captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)) in the [Bombay Staff Corps](/source/Bombay_Staff_Corps) during the [Second Anglo-Afghan War](/source/Second_Anglo-Afghan_War), when the following deed on 22 April 1879 at Kam Dakka, on the Kabul River, [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan), took place for which he was awarded the VC: On the 21st April Captain Creagh was detached from Dakka with two Companies of his Battalion to protect the village of Kam Dakka on the Cabul River, against a threatened incursion of the Mohmunds, and reached that place the same night. On the following morning the detachment, 150 men, was attacked by the Mohmunds in overwhelming numbers, about 1,500; and the inhabitants of Kam Dakka having themselves taken part with the enemy, Captain Creagh found himself under the necessity of retiring from the village. He took up a position in a cemetery not far off, which he made as defensible as circumstances would admit of, and this position he held against all the efforts of the enemy, repeatedly repulsing them with the bayonet until three o'clock in the afternoon, when he was relieved by a detachment sent for the purpose from Dakka. The enemy were then finally repulsed, and being charged by a troop of the 10th Bengal Lancers, under the command of Captain D. M. Strong, were routed and broken, and great numbers of them driven into the river. The Commander-in-Chief in India has expressed his opinion that but for the coolness, determination, and gallantry of the highest order, and the admirable conduct which Captain Creagh displayed on this occasion the detachment under his command would, in all probability, have been cut off and destroyed.[2] ## Later career In 1878 he became [captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)) of the Merwara [battalion](/source/Battalion), commanding them from 1882 until 1886. He assumed command of the [29th (Duke of Connaught's Own) Bombay Infantry (2nd Baluch Battalion)](/source/129th_Duke_of_Connaught's_Own_Baluchis) in 1890, and was promoted to Assistant Quarter-master General in 1896. He commanded the Indian contingent during the [Boxer Rebellion](/source/Boxer_Rebellion) in China in 1900, and was in July 1901 appointed General Officer Commanding the British Force in China after the departure of General [Alfred Gaselee](/source/Alfred_Gaselee).[3] He stayed in China for several years, and a report on the field operations of the force during his first year in overall command was sent in a despatch published in the *[London Gazette](/source/London_Gazette)* of 21 November 1902.[4] He was knighted as a [Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath](/source/Knight_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath) (KCB) in 1904 and promoted to [general](/source/General) on 11 December 1907.[5] The same year he was appointed [Military Secretary to the India Office](/source/Military_Secretary_to_the_India_Office). Grave in [East Sheen Cemetery](/source/East_Sheen_Cemetery) Creagh succeeded [Lord Kitchener](/source/Horatio_Kitchener%2C_1st_Earl_Kitchener) as [Commander-in-Chief, India](/source/Commander-in-Chief%2C_India), in 1909, retiring in 1914. During the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) he served as the military advisor to the Central Association of [Volunteer Training Corps](/source/Volunteer_Training_Corps_(World_War_I)).[6] He died at 65 [Albert Hall Mansions](/source/Albert_Hall_Mansions), London SW9, on 9 August 1923. Creagh further followed Kitchener in becoming the District Grand Master of Freemasons in the Punjab. His Victoria Cross is held by the [National Army Museum](/source/National_Army_Museum) in [Chelsea, London](/source/Chelsea%2C_London), England.[7] ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Despite appearances to the contrary, O'Moore was his middle name, not part of his surname. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [*Who's Who*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vjsJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA312&ci=473%2C454%2C450%2C216). Vol. 55. [A & C Black](/source/A_%26_C_Black). 1903. p. 312. Retrieved 18 March 2025 – via Google Books. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["No. 24784"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24784/page/6494). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)*. 18 November 1879. p. 6494. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["No. 27357"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27357/page/6172). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)*. 20 September 1901. p. 6172. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["No. 27497"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27497/page/7530). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)*. 21 November 1902. pp. 7530–7533. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["No. 28142"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28142/page/4070). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)*. 2 June 1908. p. 4070. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [*The Law Times*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KHIvAQAAMAAJ&dq=o%27moore+creagh+%22volunteer+training+corps%22&pg=PA346), Volume 138 p. 346 (13 February 1915). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["VC group, Captain O'Moore Creagh, Bombay Staff Corps, for his action at Kam Dakka, Afghanistan, on 21 April 1879 | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London"](https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1976-06-3-1). ## External links - [Location of grave and VC medal](https://web.archive.org/web/20041204085907/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/surrey.htm) (Surrey) - ["Creagh, Sir G. O'Moore"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Thom%27s_Irish_Who%27s_Who/Creagh,_Sir_G._O%27Moore). [*Thom's Irish Who's Who*](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Thom%27s_Irish_Who%27s_Who). Dublin: [Alexander Thom and Son Ltd.](/source/Alexander_Thom_(almanac_editor)) 1923. pp. [50–51](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Thom%27s_Irish_Who%27s_Who/Creagh,_Sir_G._O%27Moore#50%E2%80%9351) – via [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource). Military offices Preceded by Sir Edward Stedman Military Secretary to the India Office 1907–1909 Succeeded by Sir Beauchamp Duff Preceded by The Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum Commander-in-Chief, India 1909–1914 v t e Commander-in-Chief, India East India Company Lawrence Adlercron Clive Caillaud Carnac Coote Adams Carnac Munro Carnac Clive Smith Barker Chapman Champion Clavering Stibbert Sloper Cornwallis Abercromby Morgan Clarke Craig Lake Cornwallis Lake Simcoe Lake Hewett Champagné Nugent Moira Paget Cotton Dalhousie Barnes Bentinck Watson Fane Nicolls Gough Napier Gomm Anson Grant Clyde British India Clyde Rose Mansfield Napier Haines Stewart Roberts White Nairne Lockhart Palmer Kitchener Creagh Duff Monro Rawlinson Jacob Birdwood Chetwode Cassels Auchinleck Wavell Hartley Wavell Auchinleck Authority control databases International ISNI 2 VIAF 2 FAST WorldCat 2 National United States Netherlands Israel Other Open Library Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [O'Moore Creagh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O'Moore_Creagh) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O'Moore_Creagh?action=history)). 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