After the Crimean War Wolseley started to keep a note of the best officers he met, and began gathering a network of able military men loyal to him.
There were other circles around other military leaders; later these would dwindle as more formal selection and promotion procedures became established.
The 'ring' itself was rooted in Wolseley's appointments for the Ashanti Campaign of 1873-4, in which he led British troops to take control of the Gold Coast.
He chose officers he had got to know during his Red River Campaign in Canada in 1870: as well as other key figures: Men from this group accompanied Wolseley on his various projects for about a decade.
But during the Boer War, Roberts and then Kitchener replaced Buller of the Wolseley Ring.