Frederic Thesiger

Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford was a British Army officer best known for his commanding role during the Anglo-Zulu War. Wanting to join the army out of college, he tried and failed to join the Grenedier Guards, and not being detered, he went and bought himself a commission in the The Rifle Brigade (former 95th Rifles) before finally transferring to the Grenedier Guards. In the Crimean War he served two months with his battallion before becoming the aid-de-camp of General Marksham, and then finally as deputy assistant quartermaster general. in 1857 he was promoted to captain and then Lieutenant Colonel, serving near the end of the Indian Rebellions, were for a second time he was 'mentioned-in-dispatches' and then served as deputy adjustant general in the British Expedition to Abysinnia, receiving the Companion of the Order of Bath and being made the aid-de-camp of Queen Victoria in 1868. Then, form 1869-1874 as Adjustant-General, India.

Made a Major General in 1877, he brought the Ninth Cape Frontier war to an end, and it was his experience fighting the Xhosa that gave him the very low opinion of black africans not being capable fighters, something that would come to haunt him. After a friend of his 'engineered' a war against the Zulu, Thesiger and his forces marched towards Isandlwana in a Three Column formation. The Zulus went and overran the center column, rendering the British Army stunned and temporarily ineffective by dividing their forces in half, which allowed the Zulus to continuing rolling on and over the army camp. The Battle of Isandlwana resulted in the worst defeat defeat of a British Army by technologically inferior indigenous force.

Battle vs. George Custer (by LB&SCR)
Custer:

Thesiger:

Unkown place, a grassy plain.

George Custer sat atop his horse, surveying the area of which his next great bout with the Indian menace would take place. He is flanked by four members of his 7th Cavalry who are currently on thier horses also, watching the surrounding area for any signs of an Indian abmush. Thesiger, followed by four British Infantrymen, and advancing through some side brush, senses on full alert. Thesiger pushes some brush aside, and is spotted by a member of the 7th Cav, who points and yells, alerting Custer and the other three of the appearance of an enemy force.

Thesiger looks up as four of the five men on horses dismount and unsling Springfield Trapdoors from their backs, while a man in an officer's hat stays mounted, apparently keen on watching from a distance. Thesiger barks an order and the four infantrymen behind him quickly rush in and form a small line with Martini-Henry's aimed and cocked, waiting for the cavalrymen to walk into range. The four calvary stop, shocked upon the quick reactions of the enemy, and backtrack a few paces before spreading out and then advancing, hoping to split up the fire from the enemy. Thesiger barks another order and the four Martini-Henry's cough, spewing out their bullets in the direction of the cavalrymen. A calvary men takes a bullet to the chest, is spun around, and lands on the ground. .

The calvarymen seek out what little cover exists in the prairie, and take turns firing pot shots at the red-clad infantry with their Trapdoors, and man of the 7th getting lucky and striking an infantryman in the head. Interested, Cuser advances down the hill on his horse, his hand on his Peacemaker as he arrives behind a calvaryman behind a rock. He peers over at the men in red, ignorant of bullets tearing at the air around him, and calms his horse as it starts to panic.

Thesiger draws his Beaumont-Adams and motions his men forward, the four of them advancing under heavy fire from the calvarymen. An infantryman is struck by a bullet in the lower abdomen, and collapses on the ground in agony. Thesiger fires his revolver in the blue-clad men's direction, and succeeds in clipping one in the neck, his wound spurting blood as he collapses. Custer's horse panics upon all the blood, and then a bullet from a Martini-Henry clips the horse, making it buck Custer off and bolt. Custer get's up from his position on the ground and straightens his hat before pressing in on the rock where the member of his group had been, looking at the three of the red infantry vs three of his calvarymen. Custer draws his saber and waves it in the air as he rallies his two men towards the three infantry. Thesiger and his men duck as the two calvarymen fire off shots with their Trapdoors before advacing forward with Custer close behind. Another exchange of fire leaves one infantryman and one cavalryman wounded.

Thesiger, now down to only one man, urges his remaining infantryman to find place to take cover, as Thesiger does the same. Custer and his remaining man keep forward, the cavalryman putting another round into his trapdoor. Custer looks over as the infantryman rises and fires almost point-blank into his remaining man's chest. Custer, in his panic draws his saber and slashes at the man's Martini-Henry, knocking it from his hands and slashing his across the chest

Custer turns around to face Thesiger, who looks just as surprised as Custer had been. Thesiger's face then hardened as he mumbled something alongisde the lines of 'have to do somethings yourself.' as he drew his saber and stalked towards Custer. Custer waved his saber in defiance and let loose an upward slash that Thesiger barely manages to block, and stumbles backwards as the younger Custer's barrage of slashes leaves him unbalanced. Thesiger does see an opening and goes in for a sneaky stab. Custer moves to block, but when he does Thesiger moves his blade and strikes Custer in the lower left abdomen. Custer drops his saber and stumbles backwards. Thesiger moves forward to strike again, but Custer draws his Peacemaker and fires it into Thesiger, who was almost on top of him.

Deadliest Warrior: George Custer

Expert's Opinion
The Majority of voters said that Geoge Custer would have one this battle because in a comparison of Little Bighorn and  Isandlwana, they said that George Custer's defeat was more about erronious scout reports and the fact that the forces facing his were equivilently, or even armed better than his forces were. Thesiger's forces weilded superior weapons yet his tactical blunders enabled his entire center column to be overrun. So, voters said that his weapons were frankly superior, alongside him being a slightly better tactician than Thesiger. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.