Sam Hughes

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The Honourable Sir Sam Hughes

This article is about the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence. For the musician, see Sam Hughes (musician).

Sir Samuel Hughes, PC (January 8, 1853 – August 23, 1921) was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I.

1 Early life
2 MP and Boer War Service
3 World War I
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Samuel Hughes was born January 8, 1853, at Solina near Bowmanville in what was then Canada West. He was educated in Durham County and later attended the Toronto Normal School and the University of Toronto. In 1866 he joined the Canadian militia's 45th (West Durham) Battalion of Infantry and fought against the Fenian raids in the 1860s and 1870s. He was a teacher from 1875 to 1885 when he moved his family to Lindsay where he had bought The Victoria Warder, the local newspaper. He was the paper's publisher from 1885 to 1897.

[edit] MP and Boer War Service

He was elected to Parliament in 1892, and fought in the Second Boer War in 1899 after helping to convince Wilfrid Laurier to send Canadian troops. Hughes would continually campaign to be awarded a Victoria Cross for actions that he had supposedly taken in the fighting. It should be noted that Hughes published most of his own accounts of the war. Hughes would often say that when he left, the British commander was "sobbing like a child."

Hughes was appointed Minister of Militia after the election of Robert Laird Borden in 1911, with the aim of creating a distinct Canadian army within the British Empire, to be used in case of war. He would write a letter to the Governor General, Prince Arthur about his longtime demand for the Victoria Cross. Arthur would privately recommend that Borden get rid of him.

[edit] World War I

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He encouraged recruitment of volunteers when the First World War broke out in 1914, and he constructed a training camp in Valcartier, Quebec. He oversaw the training of the soldiers, and within three weeks they were ready to depart, Hughes delivering a lengthy, patriotic speech on horseback first.

Hughes was an Orangeman prone to anti-Catholic sentiments, who was not well liked among French Canadians. Hughes increased tensions by sending Anglocentrics to recruit French Canadians, and by forcing French volunteers to speak English in training. French Canadians, thinking that they wouldn't be respected if they joined the army or not, declined to volunteer. This would help bring about the Conscription Crisis of 1917. ^{[citation needed]}

His historical reputation was sullied further by poor decisions on procurements for the force. For instance, Hughes insisted on equipping Canadian soldiers with the Canadian-made Ross rifle, the rifle Hughes preferred for target shooting. The Ross proved to be an unsuitable weapon in trench warfare conditions because when fired rapidly it was prone to malfunction. The rifle also became easily jammed with mud and had its bayonet fall off easily. Canadians soldiers would often take British Lee-Enfield rifles off of fallen British soldiers. Hughes and Sir Charles Ross, the inventor of the rifle, remained loyal to their weapon, but Borden authorized its replacement by the Lee-Enfield rifle. 1452 Canadian soldiers promptly disposed of them.

This included General Arthur Currie, whom Hughes already disliked. Currie had been an old friend of Hughes's son Garnet, but felt Garnet was not a capable soldier. When Currie took command of the army he would not allow Garnet to serve under him. Currie was considered a war hero, however, and Hughes' calls for Currie's removal were ignored.

Hughes also erred in creating a committee in London to give orders to the Canadian army overseas, something that could legally be done only by the Cabinet in Ottawa. Borden created a London branch of the Cabinet to overcome this problem, but left Hughes out of it, prompting Hughes to voice his opposition in a highly publicized letter to the Prime Minister. Many of Hughes friends, (whom he would give military titles) became wealthy through the war effort: horses that had been refused for the Boer War, shoes with cardboard soles, and other shoddy equipment would be sent with Canadian soldiers. Borden dismissed him from his post on November 9, 1916. He was replaced by Albert Edward Kemp.

Hughes remained in government as a minor figure, and died in 1921. His cottage in Eagle Lake, Ontario (located in Haliburton County) has been made into a ski chalet, and the ski resort has been named Sir Sams.

Hughes was knighted on August 24, 1915.