[1] Smart was privately educated and then commissioned in the British Army as an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) in 1849, through the influence of the future Lord Raglan.
In line with practice at the time, many appeared first in instalments in periodicals, such as St James's Magazine,[4] or in weekly parts in newspapers.
[7] Henry Hawley Smart was listed in the "Novelist" category in a poll on "Who are the Greatest Living Englishmen?"
The things of which Captain Hawley Smith writes, seen as he describes them, are vivid and interesting – pleasant parts of his readers' daily life and thought.
For example, one cannot imagine a disciple of George Eliot reading a sporting column of a newspaper, or sympathizing with the good luck of a hero who is saved from ruin by winning a fortune at the expense of the other gamblers on a racecourse.
Nor can we imagine a disciple of Captain Hawley Smart subscribing to Mind, or recognizing any sense or importance in the scruples of the man who refuses to bet."