Wood, (Henry) Evelyn (1838–1919)

English soldier who became commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army in 1883 after the British had established a protectorate over the country.

Wood was born at Cressing, Essex, and educated at Marlborough College, Wiltshire. Joining the navy in 1852, he served in the Crimean War, but later transferred to the army. During the Indian Mutiny (1857–58) he won the Victoria Cross. In the 1870s, he went to Africa to fight in the Ashanti Wars, and then saw action in the first Anglo-Boer War of 1881. After raising the Egyptian army, Wood embarked on the Nile Expedition of 1894–95, and ended his army career with the rank of field-marshal.