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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41788 ***
+
+[Illustration: Cover]
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: Major-General Sir William Gatacre, K.C.B., D.S.O.]
+
+
+
+
+
+  GENERAL GATACRE
+
+  THE STORY OF THE LIFE AND SERVICES OF
+  SIR WILLIAM FORBES GATACRE, K.C.B., D.S.O.
+  1843-1906
+
+
+  BY BEATRIX GATACRE
+
+
+
+  WITH PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+  What I aspired to be
+  And was not, comforts me.
+                  R. B.
+
+
+
+
+LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.  1910
+
+
+
+
+  PRINTED BY
+  HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
+  LONDON AND AYLESBURY.
+
+
+
+
+  THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO
+  TWO FRIENDS
+  WITHOUT WHOSE SYMPATHY AND ASSISTANCE
+  IT WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
+
+
+
+
+{vii}
+
+  Assured of worthiness, we do not dread
+  Competitors; we rather give them hail
+  And greeting in the lists where we may fail:
+  Must, if we bear an aim beyond the head!
+  My betters are my masters; purely fed
+  By their sustainment I likewise shall scale
+  Some rocky steps between the mount and vale;
+  Meanwhile the mark I have, and I will wed.
+  So that I draw the breath of finer air,
+  Station is naught, nor footways laurel-strewn,
+  Nor rivals tightly belted for the race.
+  God-speed to them!  My place is here or there;
+  My pride is that among them I have place:
+  And thus I keep the instrument in tune.
+
+  GEORGE MEREDITH.
+
+
+
+
+{ix}
+
+PREFACE
+
+The main object in laying this book before the public is to provide an
+authentic narrative of Sir William Gatacre's work in South Africa.  At
+the time of his recall no despatch giving the reason for this step was
+published, but a letter dealing with this matter has since appeared as
+an Appendix in the _Official History_ of the war; it is with reluctance
+that I have been persuaded to reprint this letter at the end of this
+volume.  It seemed, however, that Sir William's previous career was
+such a large factor in determining any opinion regarding his later work
+that some account of the man and his surroundings from the beginning
+would not be without interest.
+
+In preparing the first half of this story I have been entirely
+dependent on the recollections of others, and have studiously avoided
+any attempt to eke out the material with an imaginary amplification; in
+the latter half my own personal knowledge of himself and his affairs
+has enabled {x} me to seek my information from numerous sources, and to
+draw the portrait in richer colours on a more suggestive background.
+
+I wish to acknowledge in full the loyal assistance afforded me by my
+husband's friends.  In every case I have received the most cordial
+response and co-operation.  I am sincerely grateful both to those who
+have asked me to refrain from naming them and to those who have given
+me the support of their names.  Through the courtesy of these officers
+and others, I am able to say that every word has been read by one who
+has personal knowledge of the incidents recorded.  In this way I trust
+that this narrative will have acquired an unimpeachable accuracy.
+
+I am also deeply indebted to the _Official History of the War in South
+Africa_.  Indeed, before the publication of this authoritative
+statement my task would have been impossible.
+
+To the facts therein recorded I have added extracts from officers'
+reports, and from Sir William's own letters, and also the words of
+certain important telegrams which I had found amongst his papers, and
+for the reproduction of which official permission has been graciously
+accorded.
+
+{xi}
+
+I beg the indulgence of the reader for faults of literary inexperience,
+and trust that he will recognise my honest endeavour to handle the
+facts fairly and dispassionately.
+
+BEATRIX GATACRE.
+
+_April_ 8, 1910.
+
+
+
+
+{xiii}
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+GATACRE . . . 1
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+TO INDIA AND BACK . . . 13
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+RANGOON . . . 38
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SECUNDERABAD . . . 52
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+BLACK MOUNTAIN EXPEDITION . . . 63
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+MANDALAY . . . 82
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+POONA . . . 98
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+BOMBAY . . . 110
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHITBAL . . . 127
+
+
+{xiv}
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+QUETTA . . . 145
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE PLAGUE . . . 161
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+FROM ALDERSHOT TO BERBER . . . 184
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ATBARA AND OMDURMAN . . . 198
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+COLCHESTER . . . 214
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+CAPE COLONY . . . 221
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ORANGE FREE STATE . . . 239
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+BACK TO COLCHESTER . . . 261
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+ABYSSINIA . . . 273
+
+
+DESPATCH, APRIL 16, 1900 . . . 286
+
+INDEX . . . 289
+
+
+
+
+{xv}
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM GATACRE, K.C.B., D.S.O.
+  (_Photogravure_) . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+
+COLONEL W. F. GATACRE, D.S.O., 1888 . . . 74
+
+KACHIN BRIDGE, OVER WHICH 500 MEN CROSSED IN ONE DAY . . . 90
+
+GOORKHAS CROSSING THE LOWARI PASS . . . 134
+
+ON THE ROAD TO CHITRAL . . . 138
+
+GENERAL GATACRE AND HIS FAVOURITE PONY . . . 142
+
+BELUCHI MURDERERS . . . 158
+
+HINDU BURNING-GHAT . . . 162
+
+HOUSE-TO-HOUSE VISITATION . . . 172
+
+INVASION OF CAPE COLONY: THE BOERS MARCHING SOUTH OVER
+  THE ORANGE RIVER AT ALIWAL NORTH . . . 224
+
+
+MAPS
+
+_At the end_
+
+
+MAP I. INDIA [Transcriber's note: this map was omitted, being too large
+to scan.]
+
+MAP II. EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN
+
+MAP III. EASTERN CAPE COLONY AND PART OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE
+
+MAP IV. ABYSSINIA
+
+
+
+
+{1}
+
+GENERAL GATACRE
+
+1843-1906
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+1843-1862
+
+GATACRE
+
+According to a venerable Shropshire antiquarian, that county "has ever
+been inhabited by a race of men characteristic for uniformity of
+principle and energy of action."[1]  Mr. Eyton goes on to tell of
+various places mentioned in the Domesday Book, and among these of the
+Manor of Claverley, which included a very large tract of country, and
+is described as an "ancient demesne of the Crown."  The Manor of
+Claverley was broken up into various townships, to three of which he
+accords special notice, "in regard that the King's Tenants thereof were
+of a rank superior to that of the average class of Freeholders in Royal
+Manors.  These Townships were Broughton, Beobridge, and Gatacre."[2]
+
+
+[1] _Antiquities of Shropshire_, by R. W. Eyton, 1854, preface.
+
+[2] _Ibid._, vol. iii. p. 77.
+
+
+{2}
+
+[Sidenote: Ancestors]
+
+There is a well-authenticated tradition that the family established at
+Gatacre at the time of the Conquest held their lands by tenure of
+military service, under a grant from Edward the Confessor.  Eyton
+speaks of them as "a family of knightly rank, which, having early
+feoffment in Gatacre, took its name from the place.  The period of such
+feoffment it is vain to conjecture, as being beyond all record of such
+matters."[3]
+
+
+[3] Eyton's _Antiquities of Shropshire_, vol. iii. p. 86.
+
+
+In the reign of Henry II., Sir William de Gatacre had a suit with one
+Walter, about half a hide of land in Great Lye: this was subject to a
+Wager of Battle, and apparently Gatacre proved himself the better man,
+for Great Lye is even now held by his descendant.  This same William
+appears in another record as one of the four "Visors," who in July 1194
+had to report to the Courts of Westminster on the validity of the
+"essoign of Cecilia de Cantreyn, a litigant.  Gatacre's associates in
+this duty--to which knights only were usually appointed--were Henry
+Christian, Philip Fitz Holegod, and William de Rudge, all his
+neighbours and of equal rank with himself."[4]
+
+
+[4] _Ibid._
+
+
+He was succeeded by Sir Robert, his son; who sat on a Jury of Grand
+Assizes in April 1200, to try a question of right in relation to lands
+at Nordley Regis, at the "Iter of the King's Justices."[5]
+
+
+[5] _Ibid._
+
+
+The tenure of the estates was in great jeopardy {3} in the life of
+Thomas de Gatacre; for it is told how a certain Philip de Lutley, the
+King's Escheator, did "seize the estates of Gatacre, Sutton, and Great
+Lye into the King's hand, on the ground that Thomas de Gatacre had
+entered upon these estates without doing homage and fealty to the
+Crown, and without paying his relief, so that he had occupied the same
+unjustly for twenty-two years and more."[6]  At this unfortunate moment
+Thomas died, leaving Alice, his widow, to fight for herself and their
+son Thomas.  She appealed to the King (Edward III.) in Chancery, in the
+Michaelmas Term 1368.  There was a trial by twenty-four jurors, being
+knights and others in the visnage of Sutton not being kin to Alice.
+She herself appeared in person at Westminster, and won her cause, for a
+"King's writ of the same year commits to the same Alice, widow of
+Thomas de Gatacre, custody of the Manor of Gatacre and the hamlet of
+Sutton with their appurtenances."
+
+
+[6] See Eyton's _Antiquities_, vol. iii. pp. 90, 91,
+
+
+The grandson of the younger Thomas was called John; he flourished in
+the reigns of Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI., and was High Sheriff
+of Shropshire in 1409.  In a contemporary stained-glass window now in
+the hall at Gatacre there is a portrait of the same John, who is
+described as "Groom of the body to Henry VIth."  He was succeeded by
+his son John, who was Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth in the
+twelfth year of Edward IV.
+
+{4}
+
+[Sidenote: The ancient house]
+
+The house at Gatacre stands in the parish of Claverley, and is about
+two miles distant from this village.  Inside the church--a red
+sandstone building full of interest to the archæologist--are many
+monuments, of which the most ancient are two incised marble slabs
+inlaid in the eastern wall; these are about six feet high.  On one is
+shown a man in armour, elaborate and perfect in all its detail,
+commemorating William Gatacre, who died in 1577, and his wife and
+eleven children; and on the other his successor Francis, 1599, is
+depicted in civilian dress with his wife at his side.
+
+Close by is a very fine alabaster tomb on which lie three full-length
+recumbent figures, being the effigies of Robert Brooke of Madeley
+Court, who is described as "Recorder of London, Speaker of P'lyament,
+and Chiefe Justice of Com'on Pleace," and his two wives, one of whom
+was a daughter of Gatacre.[7]
+
+
+[7] See _Shropshire_, by A. C. Hare, p. 319.
+
+
+Thomas, brother to Francis named above, was destined by his parents for
+the law; but he "diverted his mind from the most profitable to the most
+necessary study, from law to divinity," and, much to the grief of his
+parents, who were of the old persuasion, embraced the Reformed Faith,
+and became Rector of St. Edmond's, Lombard Street.  He died in 1593;
+but his son and grandson followed the same profession.  The former,
+Thomas (1574-1654), was a friend of Archbishop Ussher, and a member of
+the Westminster Assembly of Divines.  {5} He took part in preparing the
+annotations to the English Bible, and published a work on Marcus
+Aurelius; in 1648 he subscribed the Remonstrance against the trial of
+Charles I.  His son, Charles, was Chaplain to Lucius Gary, Viscount
+Falkland, and was also the author of many books.[8]  This younger
+branch of the family settled at Mildenhall, in Suffolk, and has always
+spelt the name Gataker.  Though there has never failed a male heir to
+the senior line, this is the only cadet branch that has survived.
+
+
+[8] See quotation by A. C. Hare, from Thomas Fuller, 1662.
+
+
+The house inhabited by this ancient family was a unique survival of
+very early times.[9] Where we should now use iron girders our ancestors
+used oak-trees; they erected them upside-down, so that the roots made
+arches on which to lay the roof.  Large stones were hewn to fill in the
+walls, and in this particular building the outer surface of the stones
+was incrusted with a transparent green glaze, very similar to what is
+now seen on rough pottery.  This curious specimen of domestic
+architecture survived in a habitable condition till the early part of
+the eighteenth century, when it was wantonly destroyed, and replaced by
+a brick mansion of the dark and uninteresting type of the early
+Georges.  Portions of the glazed stones are still preserved in the
+house amongst many other relics of more obvious value.
+
+
+[9] See _The Severn Valley_, by John Randall, 1882, and _Archæologia_,
+iii. 112, quoted by him.
+
+
+{6}
+
+Colonel Edward Gatacre and his only son, born in 1806 (who figures as
+the Squire in this narrative), were specimens of the best type of
+country gentleman of their day.  The former was twentieth in direct
+descent from Sir William de Gatacre of the twelfth century, and was
+grandfather to Sir William, the hero of this story.  The pedigree shows
+that through the centuries the family had maintained their status as
+gentle-folk, and had allied themselves with other families of the same
+standing in the neighbouring counties.  Both were men of remarkable
+activity and considerable cultivation.  With the advent of railways
+came the facility for travel, of which the younger man was quick to
+avail himself.  He visited London every year, and among other men of
+renown knew Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A., and persuaded him to come and
+paint the portrait of his father that still hangs at Gatacre--a
+beautiful picture.  He also went abroad, and made a pilgrimage to Rome
+in the old days when people travelled in their own carriages, making a
+long stay at many places of interest in Switzerland and Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: Forbes]
+
+At the age of eighty-one the Colonel died, sincerely mourned throughout
+the county; and thus in 1849 the young Squire came into his
+inheritance.  About ten years earlier he had married Jessie, second
+daughter of William Forbes of Callendar, in the county of Stirling.
+Mr. Forbes, who sprang from a cadet branch of the family of that name,
+started his career in a shipping office; by his enterprise and
+inventions {7} he built up a considerable fortune, with which he bought
+the Callendar estate.  His elder son, William Forbes, who succeeded
+him, represented Stirlingshire in Parliament for many years; and his
+younger son became Colonel John Forbes of the Coldstream Guards.  Their
+sister Jessie must always have been a beautiful woman, rather Scottish,
+perhaps, in the vigorous outline of her face, with a depth about her
+blue eyes and a symmetry of feature that reappeared in her third son; a
+look of "all-comprehensive tenderness" is the dominant note of the
+portrait.  Indeed, we are told that while Mrs. Gatacre was a very able
+woman, she had a singular gentleness of manner.
+
+The family already numbered two sons and a daughter when in 1843 Mrs.
+Gatacre went on a visit to her widowed mother, who was then living at
+Herbertshire Castle, near Stirling: and so it came about that when a
+little boy was born on December 3, he was given the names of his uncle
+and godfather, William Forbes.
+
+Perhaps it is to his Scottish descent that we may trace some of the
+qualities that became most marked when the child, grown to perfect
+manhood, had evolved that balance of innumerable strains that go to
+make the individual--had, as it were, tuned the manifold strings of his
+lineage to a chord of his own finding.  Did he draw his habit of
+concentration on the matter in hand, his painstaking attention to
+detail, from the inventor-engineer of Aberdeen?  Did he draw his
+fervent notions of duty {8} and his stern disregard of personal
+considerations from the blood of the Covenanters that ran in his veins?
+My own father was heard to say that this son-in-law of his was born out
+of due time, that his right place would have been at the head of
+Cromwell's Ironsides.
+
+In course of time another son, Stephen, completed the family.  The
+children were a great source of pride and pleasure to their parents,
+and had the benefit of all that loving early training could do for
+them.  In this wholesome atmosphere of parental affection and brotherly
+competition the four boys grew up straight and strong.  They vied with
+one another in childish feats and manly sports, but in all these Willie
+was the keenest and the most daring.
+
+Even in these latter days the house at Gatacre seems difficult of
+access, for the nearest railway station (unless you cross the Severn in
+a ferry) is at Bridgnorth, six miles away; but sixty years ago there
+was no railway nearer than Wolverhampton, a good ten miles' drive.  The
+eldest son well remembers his father driving his coach-and-four to and
+fro.  The Squire was a famous whip, and maintained this practice far
+into the sixties.  But as the boys grew older they thought nothing of
+doing this journey on foot at any hour of the day or night; perhaps it
+was the remoteness of the country in which they were nurtured that had
+endowed this family for generations back with powers of physical
+endurance and enterprise beyond the common.
+
+{9}
+
+[Sidenote: At school]
+
+The elder brothers Edward and John[10] were sent to Mr. Hopkirk's
+school at Eltham, in Kent; and both were still there when Willie joined
+them a year or two later.  Some of Willie's letters from school are
+still to be seen; and if handwriting is any sign of character, he must
+have been an exemplary boy at his lessons, for his letters are so
+exquisitely written that were it not for the dates duly recorded one
+could scarcely believe them to be the work of a high-spirited boy of
+thirteen.  Writing to his mother in March 1857, he says: "Did you see
+in the papers that peace had been made with Persia?"
+
+
+[10] Now Major-General Sir John Gatacre, K.C.B.
+
+
+The interest in Persia had been aroused by the approaching departure of
+his brother John to India, where he was to join a regiment that was at
+that moment fighting in Persia.  Though loth to part from one who was
+said to be his father's favourite son, the Squire had thought the offer
+of a commission in the East India Company's army too good an opening to
+refuse.  In May 1857 he accompanied the boy, who was then only sixteen
+and a half, as far as Marseilles, and did not see him again for nearly
+twelve years.
+
+At Gatacre there was a famous kennel of setters, and also some good
+retrievers.  A puppy of the latter breed was given to Willie for his
+own, and he broke and trained it so skilfully, when only fifteen, that
+the dog was sold for fifteen guineas, and eventually became celebrated
+in the canine world.
+
+{10}
+
+[Sidenote: In the holidays]
+
+There are many excellent fox-holding coverts in that part of the
+country; the Albrighton Hounds still draw them regularly.  Such visits
+were great events to the boys; and we can well believe that Willie
+would always be out, mounted on whatever he could get, big or small,
+old or young.  One day he was riding a mare who was known to be
+twenty-two years old, and had all her life been used for harness work;
+but nothing stopped Willie.  When a fox was found close to the house,
+away he went, and it is still told how Rushlight led the field for
+miles.  Willie seems to have shared more intimately than any of his
+brothers the Squire's love for horses.  He had a vivid recollection of
+journeys to Birmingham with his father, when he visited the big stables
+there to search for horses, either for himself or a friend; the elder
+man taught his son what points to look for and what to avoid.  Willie
+thus acquired a certain confident genius for judging a horse, and all
+his life took a pleasure in exercising this quality; like his father
+before him, he was never afraid to buy horses at their request for
+friends who had more confidence in his judgment than in their own.
+
+One summer holiday the boy found for himself a new recreation.  In a
+letter to Stephen, dated from Gatacre, July 20, 1860, we find the
+following passage:
+
+
+"Did you know that there was an Alderney bull come?  I have begun to
+work him every {11} day, but he does not like it, and he fights with me
+a great deal.  But I find a good stick the best remedy; sometimes I
+have to bate him a good deal."
+
+
+The brothers and sister clearly recall seeing Willie ride this animal
+day after day in the park.
+
+It is evident that Number Three must often have been a source of
+anxiety to his parents.  One evening in February he gave his mother a
+most horrible fright.  The boys had arranged to go out after
+wood-pigeons in the spinneys round the house; as there was snow on the
+ground they slipped a night-shirt over their clothes to make themselves
+less visible.  The three guns posted themselves in three coverts some
+distance apart, and then lay in wait for the birds as they came in to
+roost.  Willie, who was then sixteen or seventeen, was in a lucky
+corner: he shot so many that he was at a loss how to bring the birds
+in.  Slipping off his white covering, he made a bag of it and gathered
+up his spoils.  By the time he reached the house he presented such an
+alarming appearance that his mother naturally imagined him the victim
+of some terrible accident.  With great pride the boy counted out
+forty-two birds.
+
+In 1856 the Squire was pricked for High Sheriff.  There is an ancient
+custom by which all the sons of Gatacre are enrolled as Freemen of the
+Borough of Bridgnorth; and on June 25, 1860, William Forbes was duly
+sworn and inscribed on the rolls.
+
+{12}
+
+In the same year, on August 1, he was admitted to the Royal Military
+College; he was then only sixteen and a half, and measured five feet
+seven and a quarter inches in height.  Ultimately he reached five feet
+eleven inches in his socks.
+
+Except in the riding-school he does not seem to have made much mark at
+Sandhurst, but when he left in December 1861 he had earned the college
+"Recommendation," and on February 18 following was gazetted an ensign
+in the 77th Foot, now the 2nd Battalion (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
+Middlesex Regiment.
+
+
+
+
+{13}
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+1862-1880
+
+TO INDIA AND BACK
+
+[Sidenote: 1862]
+
+The 77th Regiment was raised in 1787, and for twenty years served in
+India, taking part in the fierce campaigns against Tippoo Sahib in
+1790-91, in the storming of Seringapatam in 1799, and in many minor
+operations.  On their colours are also recorded the suggestive names,
+Albuhera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive,
+Peninsula.  In the Crimea they had charged at the Alma and at Inkerman;
+they had shivered in the trenches before Sebastopol, and had taken part
+in the final assault of the Redan.  There were many officers and men
+still with the colours in 1862 who had three clasps to their medals,
+and also wore the French medal, and in the ranks there was an
+exceptional number of Gallant Conduct medals.
+
+Without doubt the fine record of the regiment and the fact that all the
+senior officers had been proved in actual warfare, as their medals so
+brilliantly testified, had a stimulating effect on the juniors.
+
+{14}
+
+Unfortunately the 77th sailed for Sydney, New South Wales, just before
+the news of the Indian Mutiny reached England; and being detained
+there, they did not reach India till June 1858, too late to take a
+share in any but the minor operations incident to the disturbed state
+of the country.
+
+[Sidenote: As subaltern]
+
+The regiment was at Hazaribagh, in Bengal, when Ensign William Gatacre
+joined on June 5, 1862, but was shortly afterwards moved to Allahabad.
+It was while Gatacre was doing duty with a detachment in the Fort that
+Major Henry Kent (now Colonel-in-Chief of the Middlesex Regiment) first
+saw the new subaltern; he describes him as good-looking, thin, smart,
+and gentlemanly, adding that he took an immediate fancy to him.
+
+It is to General Kent, who still speaks of Gatacre with great
+affection, that I am indebted for the following story.
+
+Sir Robert Napier, who at that time was Military Member of Council, was
+passing through Allahabad on tour that winter, and took a walk round
+the Fort one evening.  Seeing a smart young officer with the famous
+77th on his cap, he accosted him.
+
+"Ah," he said, "I see you belong to the 77th, which Lord Gough
+commanded at the battle of Barrosa."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And you captured a French Eagle there?"
+
+"Yes, sir, we did."
+
+"Well," said Napier, "what have you done {15} with the French Eagle?
+Have you got it out here?"
+
+"Not at present, sir," came the audacious reply: "we are putting up a
+memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral to all our poor fellows who fell in
+the Crimea, and we have sent the Eagle home to have a model taken of
+it."
+
+Now all this was an imaginary story invented to ease the situation, for
+Napier was wrong in his facts.  It was the 87th that Lord Gough had
+commanded, and the 87th who had captured the French Standard; but
+Gatacre's intuitive sense of discipline, even at nineteen, led him to
+try any way of escape before putting his senior in the wrong.
+
+Major-General Sir Harcourt Bengough, who was a few years senior to
+Gatacre in the regiment, writes thus:
+
+"The impression I retain of him as a young soldier is that of a strong
+will and a quick determination to succeed, combined with a very kindly
+disposition and a great charm of manner."
+
+Another officer tells us that in the hottest weather Gatacre was always
+cool, smiling, and good-tempered.  He was noticeably abstemious and
+frugal, and very careful of his appearance.  At one time he used to
+clean his own boots because he was too hard up to pay for this service.
+When he related this in after-life he added, with the pride of
+efficiency, "And they did shine!"
+
+An officer's wife who knew Gatacre in these early days, and saw him at
+intervals throughout {16} his career, tells us that there hung about
+him when he first joined a certain countrified simplicity of mind and
+manner, as opposed to the conventionality of a town-bred man.  Though
+he enjoyed society, social distractions got little hold on his
+self-contained nature, and it was rarely that any of his friendships
+developed into intimacy.  He had, however, a ready sympathy, was easily
+interested in whatever went on around him, and, being very unselfish,
+was always prepared to do any one a service.
+
+[Sidenote: 1865]
+
+Young Gatacre's letters to his mother from Allahabad disclose a
+reasoned industry inspired by ambition.  The reiteration of the
+recurring features of his life, cholera, rain, and work, is suggestive
+of the monotony of existence in the summer months.  But his experiences
+and his surroundings differ in nothing from that of every other
+subaltern in the Plains.  That he worked with assiduity at acquiring
+the language is shown by his having been placed first out of twenty-two
+in the Higher Standard, after only two years' study.  When the 77th
+moved to Bareilly, Gatacre was made secretary to the Mutton and Poultry
+Club, and kept a quailery, which was a venture of his own.  The
+following letter shows the real interest that he took in his charges:
+
+
+_July_ 31, 1865.
+
+"When the musketry instructor comes down from leave on September 30, I
+shall try for fifteen days' leave.  I cannot get more, as the {17}
+course begins on October 15, with all its hard work.  It is raining
+very hard here, and I am sitting in the verandah watching all my ducks
+and geese enjoying themselves.  I have both my horses in the field
+round the house: one of them has a peculiarly unpleasant temper with
+strangers.  The other day the doctor was breakfasting with us; when he
+went away and had got a short distance, he saw this animal coming at
+him open-mouthed, but he turned and ran for my room, and both the
+doctor and horse came into the room together.  He does not run at me,
+as he knows me so well, but I never trust him much; they are very
+uncertain in India."
+
+
+[Sidenote: On leave]
+
+In November 1866 the 77th was sent to Peshawur, and in the following
+May young Gatacre took six months' leave to Kashmir.  But he did not
+confine himself to shooting in the Happy Valley; he was filled with an
+adventurous curiosity to see the temples and wild scenery of the
+mountains beyond.  He felt that his pleasure in the trip would lie in
+his freedom to go where he chose, and when he chose, and as fast as he
+chose.  He knew that his mobility would outstrip that of any companion,
+and so decided to go alone.  In this decision, in which we see the
+first indication of originality, Gatacre showed a fearlessness, a
+confidence in his own resources, and a willingness to sever
+communications with all external support that are remarkable in a lad
+of only twenty-three.  These characteristics never faded; they may be
+traced throughout the record of his life {18} whenever occasion arose
+for his individuality to take action.  What other man would have
+attempted to explore the forests of Abyssinia unaccompanied at the age
+of sixty-one!  His fearlessness and his confidence were with him to the
+end, and to the end he preserved a mobility that preferred to be
+unhampered.
+
+[Sidenote: 1867]
+
+Young Gatacre's first objective was Leh.  He left Srinagar on May 2,
+and halting at Manasbal Lake one night, reached Kangan.  Here he learnt
+that the road over the Zoji-La between Sonamarg and Dras was still
+blocked with snow, and so made up his mind to halt for a time.  His
+diary during this fortnight's halt shows that he was more interested in
+what he saw than in what he shot.  This is the feature of his trip; he
+writes much more of the temples that he has sketched than of the game
+that he has killed.  One day when he had run across some friends he
+writes: "Saw a gerau deer that Troop had killed; would like to get one
+to make a sketch of."  He subsequently collected many of his sketches
+in a book; and these early water-colours are quite surprising in their
+freshness and finish.  They are not pictures, but most painstaking
+studies of what he saw--picturesque men and women, animals, temples,
+idols, and occasionally the detail of some designs from the temples.
+He records with the greatest interest the flowers and birds that he
+sees, and speaks of its physical features if the country he was passing
+through was of special interest.  It is clear that he had at some time
+studied the elements of geology, {19} for he writes of the Zoji-La:
+"Rocks very barren, and look very old--no sharp points."
+
+[Sidenote: Goes after bear]
+
+After ten days he moved one march up the road to Reval, and spent ten
+days there shooting, whenever the rain and the snow allowed.  On May 16
+he writes:
+
+
+"Fine morning at last; put everything in the sun to dry.  Went out
+shooting after breakfast, and had a good day; killed a black bear about
+200 yards from camp.  Had a shot at an ibex; saw nine, but did not hit
+one.  Slept under a tree for about an hour; on my way back killed a
+brown bear with a beautiful silvery skin, and hit a barrasingh buck in
+the chest; tracked him a long way, found some blood.  Night was coming
+on and it began to rain, so had to give up the search or should
+probably have got him--a magnificent beast, horns about a foot high,
+just beginning to grow.  In jumping across the stream I fell in and got
+wet through; water very strong, was carried down like an arrow; caught
+hold of a stone and came ashore, took off my things and stood in the
+sun to dry: sketch reserved."
+
+
+There is a pleasant vein of boyish humour in some of the entries.
+
+
+"Went after a huge black bear that we saw on the hill-side, but could
+not find him.  Climbed one of the stiffest and most slippery hills that
+I ever was on after the aforesaid bear, and found his cave.  Thought
+him a fool for selecting such a spot; going up there once was bad
+enough, but to have such an ascent to one's residence was absurd.
+Found some one of the name of {20} Thorpe had arrived at the
+camping-ground, asked him to dinner, but he refused as he was so tired;
+could not understand his reason--the very one why I should have
+accepted, as he could have gone to bed directly afterwards, my dinner
+being ready and his not.
+
+
+It was not till May 23 that he got really started, and even then the
+road was still deep in snow, or the melting snow was flooding over the
+road in many places.  Under date May 25 we read:
+
+
+"Passed some dead men in the pass; they were men going to Yarkand
+(eight men and a woman) several days ago, when they were overtaken with
+snow and smothered, all their bedding, clothes, etc., lying about."
+
+
+Next day, writing from Dras, he notices the great change that has come
+over the country; and here he spent three days, partly because his
+servant had fever, and partly because he finds so much to sketch that
+he cannot tear himself away.  The same motive kept him at Lama Guru, of
+which he gives an excellent description.  He reached Leh on June 9,
+having accomplished the 250 miles from Reval in seventeen days, or
+deducting four halts, thirteen days; which works out at an average of
+over nineteen miles every marching day.
+
+[Sidenote: At Hemis]
+
+The following day he started off for Hemis, where there was a great
+gathering for the visit of the Burra Lama: this involved a stony and
+arduous march of twenty-four miles, but he was {21} up early next
+morning and was very much interested in what was going on.
+
+
+_June_ 11, 1867.
+
+"Went all over the Monastery and gained a little information--not much,
+as the monks keep no records, only from year to year.  The place is
+about 1,300 years old, well built of stone with a whitening on it, on
+the side of a rock.  There are several halls of worship (Gompas) hung
+round with splendid silk flags and banners, all Chinese silk.  There
+are a few idols, but very small ones, magnificently woven pictures of
+gods on silk being the chief things.  About 10 o'clock the tamasha
+began, monks dressed in the most magnificent silk garments and quaint
+tall hats and masks dancing; the costumes were varied about every
+quarter of an hour and every one equally grand as the former.  They
+each held in their hands a drum like a warming-pan and either a bell or
+a rattle.  They danced a sort of war-dance in a circle, occasionally
+singing and drumming.  Under the verandah of the Quadrangle were seated
+about thirty monks dressed in red and yellow silk gowns, with
+fan-shaped hats on their heads; some with drums, some with cymbals, and
+some with long trumpets, silver and copper, formed the band; they
+played from music and it went very well with the wild dance.  One dance
+was performed with bears, another was supposed to be a wild man's
+dance: about ten monks--dressed in hideous masks, yellow embroidered
+silk jackets, on the shoulders of which tigers' heads were embroidered,
+and round whose waists were strings of bells, from which were suspended
+strips of tiger skins--danced in a circle, beating drums and ringing
+bells.  The figure of a man {22} bound hand and foot was placed in the
+centre.  After they had danced round the figure some time, one of them
+cut off his head with a sword.  One of the side walls of the
+Quadrangle, about 30 ft. high and 12 ft. broad, was covered with a
+single cloth or flag on which was most beautifully woven the figure of
+one of their gods and other subjects--worth about 5,000 or 6,000
+rupees.  This was at first covered with long silk streamers, which were
+removed; and when the large banner had been duly worshipped and
+admired, it was rolled up and replaced by another equally splendid, but
+not so large, by a third and by a fourth.  Each dress could not have
+cost less than £80 or £100--I never saw anything so magnificent; the
+whole Quadrangle was hung round with silk streamers too.  Round the
+Quadrangle, the prayer-books--viz. rollers of wood with the prayers
+written on them--are placed, one turn of which is equal to saying a
+prayer.  All the villagers have them at their doors; at one corner of
+the Quadrangle there is a room in which there is a huge prayer roller.
+They are called Marni-prayer."
+
+
+Gatacre was determined to make the most of his opportunities, and
+insisted on seeing the Burra Lama, whom he thus describes:
+
+
+"He is a short, stout, middle-aged man, clothed in fine scarlet cloth,
+sitting on a throne on which incense was burning; he is never seen by
+any one except on the occasion of the festival, when he comes and sits
+on a platform in the Quadrangle for about half an hour.  I could not
+wait till evening to see him, so as a special favour was allowed to see
+the mortal whom no vulgar European eye had seen before.  He {23}
+received me graciously, and asked me to be seated and how I was; asked
+me if I had anything to give him.  I had brought nothing from Ladak
+with me, but had some matches with me, which I gave him.  He comes from
+Lhassa; it is three months' journey from here, and he comes once in
+every five or six years.  It was great luck my seeing this festival, as
+occurring so early in the year it is seldom or never seen."
+
+
+[Sidenote: The Salt Lakes]
+
+On his return to Leh, Gatacre was horrified at getting letters telling
+him to hurry back to Peshawur, as cholera had broken out.  But he was
+too cunning to take this very literally, and at once got his friend the
+Wazeer to lend him ponies to ride to the Salt Lakes; he adds most
+sapiently: "If I don't see them now, probably never shall."
+
+It was, however, a very long way (ninety-eight miles) to the Salt Lakes
+at Rupshu; he did this journey in two days, and on the second day
+writes:
+
+
+"The distance I came to-day was fifty-eight miles; I was nearly dead
+with fever, and sun and cold, and walking, and riding in a wooden
+saddle all day."
+
+
+He spent one day in his tent with fever on the snow-covered plain, but
+was better next morning and able to get about, and on the following day
+he started on the return journey, which he accomplished in two marches
+as before.
+
+After four days spent at Leh with some friends who had turned up, he
+marched back by the same {24} route, covering 265 miles from Leh to
+Kangan in twelve days, one of which was a halt at Lama Yuru, where he
+"slept nearly all day."
+
+[Sidenote: Off again]
+
+Writing from Baltal on July 1, he comments on the change that has taken
+place in the Zoji-La in his absence:
+
+
+"The Pir is a very different-looking place from what it was when I came
+through it before.  Then it was a wilderness of snow, ice, and rocks;
+now it is the most beautiful pass, hills covered with grass and flowers
+and shrubs and trees that were before buried in the snow.  The snow
+rivers are very full and furious; nearly lost a pony in one of them;
+drove him through it and carried saddles, etc., over the snow some way
+higher up; the pony was rolled over and over and with difficulty came
+to land.  Now that the snow has disappeared, one sees what a quantity
+there must have been in the pass when I went through, at least 70 or 80
+ft. in some places.  The Pir is covered with sweet peas and flowers of
+all colours and shapes, excessively pretty.
+
+"The hills wear a quite different aspect to what they did when I came
+up.  The snow has melted except on a few of the highest peaks, and the
+grass has grown, likewise the shrubs.  The barley and all the corn is
+in the ear; it was hardly sown when I came, just a month ago.  There
+are waterfalls from nearly every rock, which looks very pretty and the
+water is such as 'only teetotallers desire or deserve.'  The wild
+roses, white, red, and yellow, are covered with blossoms, and their
+smell is delicious."
+
+
+But before he reached Srinagar the orders for his return were
+cancelled, and we find him shooting in his old haunts round Kangan.
+
+{25}
+
+It is clear that he was enjoying himself thoroughly, that he felt no
+impatience to return to civilisation, and that he considered his march
+to Leh and back very much worth doing, for at the end of July he
+started on another extended tour.  It is about 120 miles from Kangan to
+Skardo, about 200 thence to Leh, and about 250 from Leh to Srinagar, so
+that he added another 570 miles to his score in the fifty days between
+July 28 and September 15.  Leaving the Sind River by the tributary
+valley to the north called Wangat, he crossed into the valley of Tylel
+by a little-known route "said to have been a track made by a gang of
+horse dealers who came from Tylel into Kashmir years ago."  There were
+two very steep hills, of which the coolies only managed to accomplish
+the first.
+
+Turning north-east, he made his way across the plains of Deosai, but
+there was a difficult pass to negotiate before he descended into the
+valley of the Indus.  On August 7 he writes:
+
+
+"Got up early and started for Skardo.  Got to the top of the ridge in
+about an hour, all snow and ice, great trouble to get the ponies over
+the glacier, as it was a nearly perpendicular sheet of ice--they slid
+down most of the way.  From the bottom of the glacier there is a
+descent of about eight miles down the valley, which opens out into the
+plain of Skardo.  Skardo consists of a number of villages scattered
+over a stony plain covered with apricot-trees which yield great
+quantities of fruit.  The plain is surrounded with high rocky hills, no
+grass or trees on them.  The Wazeer is an old man with long {26} grey
+beard, uncle to the present Wazeer Labjar of Ladak, who was formerly
+Wazeer here.  His name is Myraram, he came to see me on my arrival,
+bringing a large basket of apricots as a present."
+
+
+[Sidenote: A snow pass]
+
+The last sentence is a sample of many entries, for wherever he went he
+made friends with the headmen of the village, and he seems nowhere to
+have been in difficulties about supplies.  As it is unlikely that the
+Hindustani of the plains of India would be understood in Thibet, he
+must either have mastered working fragments of the dialect, or he must
+have talked Persian with the more educated natives.  Later on he says:
+"Met some Tartars who had been to Simla, and had a long talk with
+them."  And in another place: "Had a long talk with a Sepoy who was in
+one of the four regiments sent by the Maharajah to assist in the
+capture of Delhi, and saw General Nicholson fall."
+
+Three officers of the 11th Hussars came in to Skardo the day after
+Gatacre's arrival, and fired him with the desire to see Shigar, a town
+a few miles higher up the Indus, where they had seen the original game
+of polo.
+
+After five days' halt at Skardo, Gatacre started on his return journey,
+via Leh.  Both Skardo and Leh are on the Indus: he did not, however,
+follow the course of this river, but chose to make his way up the
+valley of the Shyok.  This necessitated a passage over the Indus at the
+junction of the two streams on the second day's march, which he thus
+describes:
+
+
+{27}
+
+"Started at daybreak, and reached this at 6 o'clock.  Crossed the river
+at Kiris on twelve mussocks fastened together by eight bamboos or thin
+sticks--the luggage in the centre, I on one side, Collassie on the
+other, and two steerers at one end, who steered with long sticks.  When
+they got into the middle of the stream they began their tarnasha,
+namely, turning the raft round and round like a top by digging their
+sticks deeply into the water."
+
+
+Two days later he crossed the Shyok in the same manner, and found the
+stream "very fast and furious," although it was half a mile across.  It
+is difficult to picture these watercourses, which, with the manners and
+appearance of mountain-torrents, have the volume and grandeur of mighty
+rivers.  After following the Shyok for about fifty miles, he left it at
+Paxfain, and turned southwards along  the side-stream which leads up to
+the Chorbat-La, a pass 16,696 ft. above the sea.  Writing that evening,
+he says:
+
+
+"Marched at break of day and walked on steadily till the sun went
+down--a very long march; the first four or five hours were occupied in
+getting to the top of the pass--a terrible climb--after that it is all
+down-hill.  The Pir was covered with snow, with an immense glacier
+reaching right across it for about 200 yards."
+
+
+The next day he struck into the valley of the Indus once more, and
+reached Leh in six marches on August 26.  On the way "a very civil {28}
+Sepoy turned up," who was also on his way to Ladak.  While in his
+company Gatacre found that he met with unusual politeness and
+attention, which was accounted for later when "the Sepoy turned out to
+be the new Thanadar of these parts."
+
+On September 1 he started back on the direct route to Srinagar, which
+must have seemed quite familiar to him on this, his third journey.  On
+the Zoji-La he notes that "all the grass that was so beautifully green
+is now withered up."  At Sonamarg he found it "very cold," and writes
+of his blankets being frozen hard in the morning, and quite white.  On
+September 15 he reached Srinagar, having marched the 285 miles from Leh
+in sixteen days, making an average of eighteen miles a day.  He seems
+to have done most of his travelling on foot, though it is clear that he
+sometimes had ponies for his baggage, and that he sometimes rode them.
+When he was making long marches he had great sympathy for his beasts,
+and often notices that the ponies were very tired.  The rate at which
+he travelled would, of course, be nothing exceptional on made roads,
+but it must be remembered that in no case was there any road at all, as
+we understand the word, and that he habitually moved by double marches.
+
+He found several friends at Srinagar whom he had come across in his
+travels, and enjoyed an easy fortnight with them there before rejoining
+at Peshawur.
+
+[Sidenote: On sick leave]
+
+This season had proved itself a very trying {29} and unhealthy one for
+the 77th; the regiment had been attacked with cholera and Peshawur
+fever, and had lost five officers and forty-nine men.  Colonel Kent
+tells us that on his return Gatacre had a sharp attack of fever, and
+that he and another subaltern had been so very ill when they were sent
+off home that it was feared they would never again be able to serve in
+India.
+
+Even after his arrival in England Gatacre had severe recurrences of
+fever, but home nursing triumphed; and before long he was posted to a
+depot battalion then commanded by Colonel Browne of the 77th, and
+stationed at Pembroke Dock.  Writing on August 13, 1909, Colonel Browne
+says:
+
+
+"Gatacre's relations with his brother officers were always very smooth,
+and I cannot recall to mind his ever exchanging an angry word with any
+one of them, but as a rule he did not encourage intimacy.
+
+"Whatever Gatacre was asked or had to do he did well and thoroughly.
+Whilst he joined heartily in whatever socially was going on, he never
+in the days I speak of put himself prominently forward; but there was
+something about him which I at least recognised as showing a dormant
+power which only awaited opportunity to exert itself, and this view of
+him has been fully borne out by his later career."
+
+
+When Colonel Kent brought the battalion home in March 1870, Lieutenant
+Gatacre was on the quay to greet his regiment on its arrival at
+Portsmouth.
+
+{30}
+
+The Clarence Barracks in which the regiment was first quartered were at
+that time old and dilapidated, and have since vanished.  In those days
+every officer who took part in a route-march had to send in a report to
+the General Officer Commanding.  The opening sentence of one of
+Gatacre's reports amused his wing-commander so much that it survives:
+"Starting from the Clarence Barracks, long since condemned as unfit for
+habitation by the Royal Marines, etc."
+
+[Sidenote: 1870]
+
+The events of 1870 on the continent were of course followed with
+breathless interest by all intelligent Englishmen, and many soldiers
+must have longed to go and see the ground on which these sanguinary
+contests had been fought out.  This desire was anticipated by the War
+Office, and special regulations were issued forbidding such an attempt.
+But to Gatacre the call was irresistible.  Having taken first leave
+that autumn in order to see something of his brother John before his
+return to India, he slipped away via Harwich and Antwerp to Brussels,
+which he reached on November 6.  He seems afterwards to have followed
+the route taken by the First German Army under Steinmetz in early
+August--in fact, Saarbrucken was the scene of the first encounter.
+Gravelotte had been fought on August 18, but doubtless to a soldier's
+eye the ground occupied by the combatants could still be identified.
+Metz had capitulated on October 27, so that the state of a city in
+which 150,000 men had been blockaded {31} for three months was
+exhibited in all its horrors.
+
+[Sidenote: Continental battlefields]
+
+Writing from Luxembourg on Sunday, November 6, 1870, he says:
+
+
+"I started again at 6.30 this morning, and got here, without stopping,
+at 1 o'clock; nothing but soldiers, horses, and baggage, besides sick
+men by the hundreds, hospitals filled.  I never saw such a sight.
+To-night I am going to Treves, and then on to Metz, via Saarlouis and
+Saarbruck, as the road via Vionville is not open on account of the
+French holding it.  I will write from Metz and let you know my
+movements.  I mean to attach myself to the English Ambulance, if
+possible, for a while, if I can see anything more by doing so."
+
+
+And again on November 13, from Brussels:
+
+
+"From Luxembourg I went on to Treves, Saarbruck, Metz, and then round
+by Ottange, through Belgium to Brussels again.  I went to Gravelotte
+and several battlefields, and picked up heaps of things, most of which
+I have got with me; but as nothing is allowed to go over the French
+frontier, there was a difficulty about passing.  I met a man named
+Caldecott in the service, and he and I travelled together all the way;
+we drove across the frontier with our things, and so got them through.
+Metz is in a terrible state; nothing to eat or drink, or place to
+sleep.  I could not write, as all postal communication is stopped, and
+most of the country round Metz a desert.
+
+"I shall come by the coach Thursday night, so if you could send the
+cart to Shipley to fetch my things, I will just walk over."
+
+{32}
+
+[Sidenote: 1871-3]
+
+Writing on the day following his return, his sister gives Stephen a
+rchauffé of the traveller's tales:
+
+
+"Metz is not injured in the least, but is full of soldiers, and that is
+why there was no place to sleep in there.  When Willie left, the shops
+were open and provisions coming in.  Willie travelled with another
+Englishman in a waggon with a poor starved horse, and was going about
+in this way for four or five days.  The cold intense; deep snow.  He
+saw 25,000 prisoners going into Germany, packed in trucks, forty
+officers and men in a truck like cattle, and snow among them.  He slept
+in a hospital three nights, 1,700 men in it.
+
+"I do not think, from what he says, that travelling is over safe--that
+is, on the French side.  The sentries are very sharp; an Englishman who
+was foolishly travelling by himself, and at night, and could speak no
+language well, was shot a month ago.
+
+"Willie is glad he went; he met an old gentleman who knew grandpapa at
+Saarbruck."
+
+
+It is much to be regretted that the daily impressions of this tour were
+not recorded with the accuracy of the Kashmir trip, but 1867 seems to
+have been the only year in which he kept a journal.  We hear nothing of
+how he contrived to get anything to eat, or to get about at all, in a
+region stripped of supplies by the armies that had passed through; but
+the interesting fact remains that he did visit this ground, and
+reappeared at home on Thursday, November 17.
+
+Colonel Henry Kent was very popular in the 77th regiment, which he had
+first joined in 1845.  He held the command for twelve years, and {33}
+had brought the battalion into a very high state of efficiency when he
+resigned in 1880.  It is notified in General Orders of that year that
+for the third time in succession the 77th was the best shooting
+regiment, and that Private H. Morgan, of this corps, was the best shot
+in the army.
+
+[Sidenote: Staff College]
+
+In February 1873 Captain Gatacre was admitted to the Staff College.  He
+had worked hard to prepare himself for the entrance examination, had
+taken private lessons to rub up his mathematics, and had been abroad to
+polish his French; for not only had he to secure a vacancy in open
+competition, but he had to dispute the place with another officer in
+the same corps.
+
+It is clear that even in these early days Gatacre had acquired the art
+of making himself valued among his fellows.  Colonel Kent was dining
+with the Rifle Brigade at Aldershot one evening when he had the
+gratification of hearing the laments of some of his contemporaries at
+the Staff College at the prospect of losing Gatacre.  But the Colonel,
+highly delighted at the success and popularity of his young friend,
+reassured them, saying:
+
+"Never mind, I have another quite as good to send in his place.  I am
+sending Bengough next term."
+
+"Ah, yes," they said, "but we shall never have another like Gatacre; we
+shall miss him dreadfully.  Why, what can the 77th be made of!"
+
+"Gatacres and Bengoughs," was the proud reply.  General Kent affirms,
+moreover, that {34} His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught was
+present on this occasion.
+
+[Sidenote: 1873-4]
+
+During these two years Captain Leir[1] was Master of the Staff College
+Drag-hounds.  He speaks of Gatacre, who acted as his Whip, as "the best
+who ever turned them for me"; and tells us that he was quite the most
+accomplished horseman of his day--that he used to ride all sorts of
+horses, made and unmade, that he had wonderful patience and nerve, and
+was always in the front.
+
+
+[1] Now Major-General Leir-Carleton.
+
+
+Captain Leir writes that the only fuss he ever had with his colleague
+was over a hound, called Bellman, who had been given to him by the late
+Lord Cork when master of the Queen's Buckhounds.  Bellman was a great
+favourite, being very companionable, which is unusual with fox-hounds.
+Gatacre begged leave to take him home and summer him in Shropshire, but
+having got him there the Squire took such a fancy to Bellman that his
+return was delayed till the following January.  On another occasion,
+however, the Master had every reason to be grateful to his friend, as
+he tells us in the following story.
+
+[Sidenote: Indefatigable]
+
+For drag-hounds the scent is laid by a man who runs with aniseed half
+an hour before the hounds start; but as it is imperative that he should
+thoroughly know his line, he must walk it first, carefully selecting a
+track which avoids risk of damage to growing crops and affords suitable
+fences for the field.  On one occasion when {35} Captain Leir's runner
+(or fox as he was familiarly termed) was _hors de combat_ from a fall,
+he sent for a noted runner from Reading to take his place.  But when
+the Master had shown this man half the course, he suddenly threw up the
+job, and after that no bribe would induce him to go a yard farther.
+The meet was advertised for the following day, but there was no fox,
+and Leir, vexed and despairing, now turned to his Whip, who was noted
+for his resource in all difficulties.
+
+At 6 a.m. the next morning Gatacre started to walk the line by the aid
+of a map, drove back, did his morning's work on the heath with his
+class, and ran the line again in the afternoon.  The runs varied from
+four to six miles, according to the season and the condition of hounds
+and horses, with a ten minutes' check in the middle.  The fox on this
+occasion, however, was a long-winded one; he ran a bit farther than his
+instructions warranted, in order to enjoy the sight of half the field
+struggling on the banks of a big brook.
+
+At the final examination in December 1874 Gatacre passed out of the
+Staff College with special honours in military drawing and surveying,
+and was at once offered the post of Professor in these subjects at the
+Royal Military College; he took up this appointment early in 1875.
+
+In the following year, being then thirty-two, he was married to a
+charming and beautiful girl of Irish descent.  Early in the year 1878
+their {36} eldest son, William Edward, who is now a Captain in the
+Yorkshire Light Infantry, was born at Yorktown.
+
+[Sidenote: 1875-9]
+
+A few months later Gatacre was to know the first great grief of his
+life in the loss of his mother.  Willie had always proved intensely
+lovable, and had also his own graceful and attentive ways of returning
+the love which he received from his parents.  There was, moreover, a
+strong vein of sentiment in him which led him throughout his life to
+cling to souvenirs and relics of the past.
+
+[Sidenote: As professor]
+
+It is evidence of the strength and the simplicity of Gatacre's
+character that his charm of manner was felt equally by men older and
+younger than himself.  "Manners impress as they indicate real power.
+And you cannot rightly train one to an air and manner except by making
+him the kind of man of whom that manner is the natural expression.
+Nature ever puts a premium on reality."
+
+The cadets in his class were fascinated by this singular and brilliant
+personality, and loved him with a "schoolboy heat."  One of them tells
+how he seemed more one of themselves than the other professors; another
+remembers how he treated them as gentlemen, instead of regarding them
+as schoolboys; another that he was full of sympathy when anything
+needed explanation; another that if he found out and fell upon some
+little meanness with the weight of his own uprightness, he would gave
+the culprit from official correction {37} thus win him as a disciple;
+another, writing at the time of his death, speaks of Gatacre's
+influence for good throughout his career.  Another, who has afforded me
+very real assistance in this narrative, tells us that he felt such a
+genuine hero-worship for Captain Gatacre that he applied for the 77th
+Regiment in order to serve under him.  This cadet not only passed well,
+but, being a protégé of General William Napier, who was then Governor
+of the College, might have got himself gazetted into any regiment that
+he liked to name.
+
+After serving four years as a military instructor, Gatacre was
+appointed temporarily to the post of Deputy Assistant
+Quarter-Master-General on the Headquarters Staff at Aldershot.  This
+was his first experience of staff work.  The following winter a new
+field-service equipment was engaging much attention; this was, of
+course, worked out in the office in which Gatacre was employed.  He
+writes with some satisfaction of the "mess-tin invented by me" being
+approved and adopted.
+
+
+
+
+{38}
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+1880-1883
+
+RANGOON
+
+[Sidenote: 1880]
+
+At the expiration of his term of office at Aldershot, in May 1880,
+Captain Gatacre took short leave home, and then rejoined the 77th at
+Dover.  The regiment had been already warned for India in the next
+trooping season, but the news of our misfortune at Maiwand hastened
+their departure, and in August 1880 they were hurriedly embarked at
+only a fortnight's notice.  To Gatacre the hope of seeing active
+service must have more than compensated for a disappointment he had
+expressed at not getting another staff billet.  This hope, however,
+vanished on their arrival at Bombay, where the regiment learnt that the
+defeat of Ayub Khan outside Khandahar on September 2 had brought the
+campaign to a conclusion.  The battalion was landed at Bombay on
+September 10, and made its way by road to Madras.
+
+[Sidenote: On the staff]
+
+It is evident that Gatacre's reputation as a {39} zealous and efficient
+officer had preceded him, for within one month of his arrival in India
+he was seconded for service on the staff of the Hyderabad Subsidiary
+Force, which had its headquarters at Secunderabad.  All keen soldiers
+are pleased to be in India, for there is more chance of active service
+there than at home, and it was in the hope of getting this opportunity
+that Gatacre lived and worked.  In the meantime his selection for staff
+work, although the post was only "temporary," was sufficiently
+complimentary to satisfy all his aspirations.  His qualities and
+temperament had greater scope to expand in such a post than in the more
+rigid routine of a regiment; his previous experience of India added
+discernment to his enthusiasm in dealing with all the manifold
+interests with which he came in contact.
+
+But there was a cloud on the horizon which rapidly grew until the whole
+sky was for the moment overcast.  Early in the New Year his little son,
+born at Aldershot and aged only fifteen months, fell sick with cholera,
+and died on January 18.  Both parents felt the blow terribly: the
+mother took fright for the elder boy, and decided to carry him off
+home.  Several touching relics, in the way of a lock of hair, etc.,
+that Gatacre, in spite of his many changes of residence, never
+afterwards cared to destroy, show how deeply he was moved by this loss.
+He had a spontaneous fondness for children that led him all his life to
+accost them; and his attentions to them invariably met with that {40}
+quick response which is in itself a sign of grace in the recipient.
+
+  A manhood fused with female grace,
+    In such a sort, a child would twine
+    A trustful hand, unasked, in thine,
+  And find his comfort in thy face.
+
+
+He looked forward with pleasure to getting a change when he should be
+relieved in June by the officer whose post he was holding, and soon had
+the satisfaction of accepting an offer from General the Honourable
+Arthur Hardinge, Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army, to take the
+place of his Military Secretary, who was for the moment employed
+elsewhere.
+
+[Sidenote: 1881]
+
+This appointment was even more congenial than the last: for to be on
+the personal staff of the Commander-in-Chief of a province meant
+accompanying him on all his tours of inspection.  Like the former, this
+appointment was an eight months' business, for staff officers in India
+get sixty days' short leave every year, and eight months' long leave
+occasionally; for the latter period it was usual to appoint some
+officer to carry on, and it was Gatacre's good fortune throughout his
+career to be constantly selected for such temporary tenure of office.
+In this way he gained an acquaintance with all the provinces of India,
+and with all arms, British and Native, such as rarely falls to the lot
+of one man.  When he left India, seventeen years later, there was
+hardly a station in all the four provinces which he had not visited.
+
+[Sidenote: Military Secretary]
+
+In the course of the winter, 1881-2, General {41} Hardinge paid an
+official visit to Sir Robert Phayre, at Mhow.  One of his daughters
+well remembers Major Gatacre on this occasion.  His handsome bronzed
+face, his slight athletic figure, and keen but kindly blue eyes
+arrested the attention; and then on further acquaintance, his
+indefinable charm of manner, his courtly way of devoting himself to his
+companion for the moment, his curious mixture of modesty and power left
+an impression which later years exaggerated as his name became
+identified with all the soldierly qualities and achievements which
+built up his fame.
+
+Every moment of these inspection tours was full of interest for
+Gatacre; who, being a good son, writes fully and simply about
+everything to the Squire at home.
+
+
+CAMP HAMURGHURI,
+
+_December_ 18, 1881.
+
+"We are having a very pleasant march from Nusserabad to Neemuch; good
+shooting all the way--duck, snipe, and deer; also some capital
+pig-sticking.  The wild boars here are very difficult to get out of the
+jungle and grass, but when one does get them out across the open ground
+they run like greyhounds.  I have two ponies a little under fourteen
+hands, both fast, and I have sometimes galloped a mile and a half
+before I could catch one; this was allowing him about a quarter of a
+mile start, otherwise if pressed they turn into the jungle.  When you
+get up to them on the open ground, they turn round and run back a pace
+or two, and then come straight at you, rising on their hind legs to cut
+your horse if they get the chance, but {42} this of course they can't
+do if you use your spear properly.  I have got some capital tushes.
+The best run we have had as yet was at a place called Roopauli, two
+marches back; two boars broke covert together and went away over
+capital ground to another place two miles off.  The Commander-in-Chief
+and I took one and had a capital run after him.  I had the luck to get
+the first spear.  I was pleased, because I was riding a horse of the
+Chief's that could never be got up to a pig before.  To-morrow we are
+coming to a place celebrated for cheetul, a kind of spotted deer,
+antlers like a stag and skin like a fallow deer.  I am in hopes of
+getting one or two.  This is a beautiful country to march through, very
+long grass and jungle all round; nearly all the hills are of white
+marble; and spotted marbles of sorts, and an enormous number of old
+forts and temples beautifully ornamented with carvings in marble and
+stone.  Some of them are extraordinarily beautiful in form and design
+of carving, far superior to anything we see now--and these are
+thousands, not hundreds, of years old."
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1882]
+
+It is difficult to say when Gatacre "found" himself--to use an
+expression that Mr. Rudyard Kipling has for ever endowed with
+psychological meaning; but there can be no doubt that the shifting
+scenes in which he played his part from the time he landed in India, in
+August 1880, till he commanded his regiment in June 1884, must have
+widened his outlook on life, must have quickened his sense of the
+opportunities before him, and have enabled him to gauge his own powers.
+India encourages individuality to {43} a very high degree; men live in
+small groups in stations that are hundreds of miles apart; in any one
+place there is (in a sense) only one man of any one grade, so that the
+labourers do not jostle one another, but each has enough elbow-room to
+play freely with his tools.
+
+[Sidenote: To Burma]
+
+At the conclusion of his time with General Hardinge in February 1882,
+Gatacre was sent to act as Assistant Quarter-Master-General to the
+Burmese Division, with headquarters at Rangoon, then under the command
+of General H. Prendergast.  The British connection with this
+picturesque river-port dates from 1824, when Sir Archibald Campbell
+captured it after a feeble resistance.  In the following year, owing to
+continued outrages on British subjects and the refusal of the King of
+Ava to enter into any treaty obligations with us, a British force
+advanced up the Irrawaddy to Prome, and stayed there throughout the
+rainy season.  In October the Burmese Army made an organised attempt to
+recover the place; but the British forces repulsed the attack, and
+followed up the enemy to within four days' march of their capital at
+Ava.  At this point the Burmese sued for peace: their apologies were
+accepted, and the country was evacuated, except for the sea-board
+provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim.  The Province of Pegu was restored
+to the Burmese and remained in their hands till 1852, when fresh
+outrages and insolence on the part of another Burmese sovereign again
+gave rise to hostilities.  At the conclusion of peace Pegu {44} was
+formally annexed by Proclamation, while Lord Dalhousie was Viceroy,
+under the name of Lower Burma, and Rangoon was made the seat of
+government.
+
+Upper Burma was at that time in a deplorable condition; the excesses of
+the ruler, who was called Pagan-min, are described as recalling the
+worst years of the later Roman Empire.  With a change of dynasty in the
+person of Mindon-min, matters improved somewhat.  The new ruler
+realised the value of European enterprise and capital; he allowed
+strangers of all nations to settle in the country, and protected
+travellers and explorers.  A few years later a commercial treaty was
+negotiated with Great Britain, a Resident was received, and for his
+protection he was allowed a small guard and an armoured boat on the
+river.  To commemorate his flourishing reign Mindon founded a new
+capital at Mandalay, and in 1874 had himself crowned there to fulfil a
+prophecy.
+
+[Sidenote: King Theebaw]
+
+On his death, in September 1878, a terrible tragedy was enacted.
+Mindon, being an Oriental, had many wives and many sons; these latter
+he had dispersed as rulers of provinces with very good effect.  When
+the old king lay dying, one of his wives devised a scheme by which to
+secure the succession to Prince Theebaw, for the reason that he was her
+son-in-law by his marriage with Supya-lat, her daughter.  With the most
+fiendish designs Theebaw and the queen, in the king's name, summoned
+all the princes to Mandalay.  They arrived each with {45} his Oriental
+retinue of women of all ages.  The royal ladies were lodged in the
+prison, which had been cleared for their reception; the princes were
+received into the palace.  "Under instructions from the King," a
+massacre was perpetrated on the nights of February 15, 16, and 17,
+1879.  The queens and princesses and even royal children were done to
+death by the "ruffians released for the purpose from the jail which was
+now the scene of their cruelties, and their bodies were flung into a
+hole already dug in the jail."[1]  The princes were compelled to pass
+through a certain doorway in the palace, where each one was in turn cut
+down; it is even said that the queen-mother and Supya-lat with their
+own hands did the deed.  "Eight cartloads of the bodies of the Princes
+of the Blood were conveyed out of the city by the western or 'Funeral
+Gate,' and thrown into the river according to custom."
+
+
+[1] _Parliamentary Papers_ (Burma), 1886.  Quotations from the
+_Mandalay Confidential Diary_, by Mr. R. B. Shaw, Resident, of February
+19, 1879, and later dates.
+
+
+It was calculated that some eighty souls thus perished.  Even the
+people were horrified.  Our Resident, Mr. Shaw, could do no more than
+express with vigour the light in which his Government would regard
+these atrocities; but King Theebaw was inaccessible to argument, and
+reasserted his right to take "such measures to prevent disturbance as
+might be desirable," stating that such acts were in accordance with the
+custom of the State, and that he would {46} go his own way without
+regard to "censure or blame."[2]
+
+
+[2] _Parliamentary Papers_ (Burma), 1886.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1883]
+
+Owing to further gross outrages, the Resident was driven to fulfil his
+threat of breaking off friendly relations with such a ruler; the
+British flag was hauled down in August 1879, and the Residency
+evacuated.
+
+There were now no governors to keep order in the provinces: dacoits
+sprang up, traders were robbed and killed, the people were oppressed,
+and the land neglected.  English merchants, however, continued to carry
+on their business at their own risk; their boats plied up and down the
+broad stream, and it was in their hospitable company that Gatacre spent
+Christmas 1882 at Mandalay.
+
+
+RANGOON, _January_ 11, 1883.
+
+"MY DEAR FATHER,
+
+"I send you a line to tell you my doings up-country at Christmas time.
+I was sorry to leave Alice just then, but the opportunity of seeing
+Mandalay for nothing was a great temptation.
+
+"We went, a party of six, including myself, most of them merchants.  We
+had a steamer to ourselves, and the head of the Irrawaddy Flotilla
+Company, a Mr. Swan, who took us, did everything in first-rate style.
+The River Irrawaddy is a very difficult one to navigate at this dry
+season of the year, owing to the constantly shifting sands.  We did not
+get aground, luckily, but we passed several steamers fast on the sands;
+they sometimes remain there six months till the river fills and floats
+them off.  The steamers only drew 4 ft. 6 in. of water.
+
+{47}
+
+"We took four and a half days altogether to go up to Mandalay, but I
+did not join them till the steamer reached Prome, so I had only three
+days on board going up.  The country, as far as we could see from the
+banks, consists of large rich plains, covered with grass and scrub
+jungle; very little cultivation, owing to the poverty of the people,
+but if capital was forthcoming the soil would grow anything.  Where the
+crops were sown the yield was very large.  There are low ranges of
+hills on the right bank, and a highish range, called the Shan
+Mountains, on the left bank.
+
+"We were told there was but little game inland; we saw plenty of
+wild-fowl, geese, etc.  The poverty of the people is chiefly owing to
+the King having started lotteries, which bring him in 10,000 Rs., about
+£800, a day.  The people have gone gambling mad, and barter everything
+they have for tickets--property, children, everything.  The King ruins
+the country by his recklessness in squandering money; he presses the
+people to such an extent that an up-country Burman will hardly take the
+trouble to make money.
+
+"Mandalay is nothing but a collection of mud huts and a few masonry
+buildings, laid out in a beautiful style, all the houses in rows, with
+large streets running between each at right angles.  It was laid out by
+Italians.  None of the roads are made, so the bullock-carts passing
+along them in the rains have cut them up to a frightful extent; and in
+the rains they are impassable except quite at the edges, and then only
+to pedestrians.  Mandalay was only built twenty-five years ago;
+formerly the capital was Ameerapoora, about six miles off, but was
+changed to Mandalay by order of the King.  {48} Ameerapoora is a
+beautiful site--large trees, grass, and water everywhere.  Some of the
+carved pagodas are very beautiful, but going very much to decay.  The
+custom is, in Burma, that when a man builds a house or pagoda he only
+can repair it, or his relations; the consequence is that in course of
+time the building is forgotten and goes to pieces.
+
+"We saw the war-boats on the river; they are long dug-out canoes, a
+beautiful shape somewhat like this,[3] generally with a figure-head of
+a peacock (their sacred bird).  The canoes are gilt all over, and
+manned with eighty to one hundred men; each has a short paddle, and is
+armed with a 'dah,' the Burmese knife, a 2 ft. 6 in. blade, with handle
+of 8 in. or 12 in.  The canoes go like lightning, driven by the rowers,
+who shout all the time.  The Burmese are great boatmen, and their races
+on the water are well worth seeing.  They bet tremendously high on them.
+
+
+[3] See drawing in letter.  [Transcriber's note: this letter was
+missing from the source book.]
+
+
+"The second largest bell in the world is at Mendoon, near Mandalay;
+this we went to see.  It is 14 ft. high, and of a most enormous
+thickness--about 1 ft. 6 in. I should say.  It was originally suspended
+on three enormous teak trees laid on masonry supports, but these have
+given way, and now it rests in the ground.  There is also near the bell
+the commencement of a very large pagoda.  Some one (I forget who) made
+up his mind to build the largest pagoda in the world, so started upon
+one.  He got together an extraordinary amount of brick-work, but an
+earthquake unfortunately stopped the work by splitting it up in several
+places.  It is about 100 yards square and high, so you can imagine the
+size of it.  It is built with {49} large red bricks, 2 ft. long by 1
+ft. wide by 4 in. thick.
+
+"We stopped in Mandalay two and a half days.  I rode about all over the
+place, and found the people very civil, though they are very suspicious
+of Englishmen.
+
+"We came down in one and a half days to Prome, where I caught the night
+train down, as I had to be back on New Year's Day, my leave being up.
+The trip was a most enjoyable one."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Second-in-command]
+
+The temporary staff billet having run out at the end of 1882, Gatacre
+went home on three months' leave early in the following year, and when
+he returned in May took up the post of second-in-command of his
+regiment, which in those days meant taking command of one wing of the
+battalion.  This brought no change of residence, as the 77th were then
+quartered in Rangoon.
+
+He joined heartily in everything that was going on, and had, moreover,
+interests of his own which lay beyond the field of duty.  The spring
+and autumn race-meetings were a great event.  Though he does not seem
+to have owned any racing ponies, he was always in request as a jockey.
+Every morning he would hack down to the racecourse, and being a light
+weight was often asked to give a gallop to the ponies that were in
+training.  In a letter of June 1883 he says: "I rode in five races, and
+won two, the hurdle race and an open race--the best race of the
+meeting--which pleased me."
+
+{50}
+
+There was a steeplechase pony named Free Lance that he rode to victory
+many times.  The owner of Free Lance appeared as Mr. Darwood, a
+gentleman of Rangoon, of mixed nationality; but I am inclined to think
+that Free Lance was in reality the property of King Theebaw, for the
+General told me that at one time he had half shares with King Theebaw
+in a racing pony, which he rode, and there is no other period to which
+this incident could be attached.  I have now in my possession a gold
+scarf-pin that King Theebaw sent as a recognition of Gatacre's services
+in the matter of this pony.  Although this secret was kept so close
+that none of the regimental officers got wind of it, it is not
+considered improbable.[4]  It was well known that Gatacre had friends
+amongst the leading men of Rangoon, and it is entirely in accordance
+with his character that he should have been personally acquainted with
+his native neighbours.  Indeed it is not altogether impossible that he
+was engaged in some sort of secret intelligence duties for Government,
+for he told me that at one time he used to disguise himself and go and
+talk in the Native Bazaar, and it is certain that he acquired the
+Burmese language, and could even write it to some extent.
+
+
+[4] As King Theebaw was at that time an independent friendly sovereign,
+there is nothing contrary to any regulations in Gatacre's association
+with him in this matter.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Iolanthe]
+
+In the summer of 1882 the regimental officers and others in the station
+got up a performance of _Patience_, in which Gatacre {51} figured as
+one of the Dragoon Chorus.  In the following year _Iolanthe_ was
+produced.  Gatacre was anxious that the audience should include persons
+of all nationalities; and in order that those who could not understand
+the English words should have some key to the action, he made a précis
+of the play, and, having written it in Hindustani characters, had it
+lithographed, and distributed with the programmes.  A copy of this
+curious document, which covers three sides of foolscap, and is signed
+in full, is still to be seen in the scrap-book of the officer who
+joined the 77th Regiment for love of his tutor at Sandhurst.
+
+At the end of September Gatacre heard of the birth of his third son,
+John Kirwan, now in the 11th Bengal Lancers.
+
+In December 1883 the regiment left Rangoon for Secunderabad.
+
+
+
+
+{52}
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+1884-1885
+
+SECUNDERABAD
+
+[Sidenote: 1884]
+
+I have read in a recent biography of Alexander Hamilton that "the power
+of his intellect was hardly suspected under the ambush of his
+extraordinary charm."[1]  This was equally true of Gatacre.  Moreover,
+the high standard of his physical endowments was in itself a mask to
+his mental abilities; in reality, his physical force was but the
+evidence and the result of his intellectual energy.
+
+
+[1] Alexander Hamilton, by F. S. Oliver, p. 149.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Camp of exercise]
+
+He turned the whole of his power on to the work in hand; even when
+partly disabled, he would not allow himself to be cheated of the
+pleasure and opportunity that his work afforded.  Of course the
+opportunity that his soul yearned for was active service; he was daily
+discovering his own value, and longed to prove himself in the fierce
+furnace of war.
+
+The year 1884 opened with the nearest approach to these conditions that
+can be contrived without an enemy.  A camp of exercise on a very large
+scale was held near Bangalore, {53} at which 10,000 troops were
+assembled.  Sir Charles Keyes commanded the First Division, in which
+the 77th were included, and General H. Prendergast had command of the
+Second Division, with Colonel W. F. Gatacre as
+Assistant-Quarter-Master-General.
+
+In spite of the misfortune recorded in Gatacre's own letter given
+below, he more than satisfied his General, who writes on June 11, 1909:
+
+
+"I found him a remarkably clever, zealous, and efficient officer.
+During the operations his horse fell, and injured his ankle so that he
+could neither ride nor walk, but that did not prevent him from thinking
+out and arranging all our plans; though disabled and in great pain, he
+would write till two in the morning, and all went well with the
+Division, which he accompanied carried on a stretcher, owing to his
+devotion."
+
+
+Below is Gatacre's own account of it all:
+
+
+HEADQUARTERS 2ND DIVISION,
+  CAMP KRISTNARAJAHPUR,
+
+_January_ 27, 1884.
+
+"MY DEAR FATHER,
+
+"I send you a short letter by this mail, but will write at length by
+next one, and tell you all about the manoeuvres.  They are over now and
+have been most successful.  I have enjoyed them thoroughly, though I
+have been most unfortunate.  I told you one of my horses or charger
+ponies died of anthrax a few days before leaving Burma (I had just sold
+the brute for 600 rupees); and the other charger, which I had had for
+two years, and who {54} was a first-rate animal, died of colic the day
+after I arrived here.  Fortunately for me a friend of mine was kicked
+off his horse a few days after coming here, and hurt a good deal, so he
+asked me to ride him, which I have done all through the fortnight's
+work.  Though a very fine horse, he, like many walers, was very nervous
+and shy, and the last day of the manoeuvring he got nervous in jumping
+a nullah, and instead of jumping it he jumped into it, and rolled over
+me, giving me a regular flattening out; he has damaged my ankle and
+both my knees slightly, and I think it will be at least a month before
+I can do anything at all, though I am perfectly well in every way.  The
+doctor says that the small bones of the foot are crushed, but that in a
+month I shall be all right.  It was very annoying, just at the finish,
+wasn't it?  Sir Frederick Roberts came to see me, and said he was very
+sorry about it; so did General Hardinge, the C.-in-C. in Bombay; he
+came and had a long talk in my tent, and told me all about John and his
+regiment.  He thinks a great deal of John, and says his regiment is one
+of his best.  Your luminous match-box has furnished lights for all
+these big people; it is always on my table; I shall scratch their names
+on the back of it.  I wanted to see Sir Frederick Roberts about the
+command of the regiment; so I asked to see him in the usual way, and he
+sent word to say he would be glad to see me; so I got a litter and went
+across.  He was most kind, said he knew all about it, that he would
+give his support, and that I need have no doubts on the matter.  He
+asked me if I would like a staff appointment; I said I would, but that
+I wanted to command the regiment.
+
+"At present the camp has all broken up; {55} my regiment goes
+to-morrow, and I go with it.  I have not seen my own regiment since I
+came here scarcely; as they were in the 1st Division and I was A.Q.M.G.
+of the 2nd Division."
+
+
+[Sidenote: In command]
+
+On June 24, 1884, Gatacre realised his immediate desire, and succeeded
+to the command of the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment, as the old 77th
+had been renamed.
+
+Although nothing occurred during his period of command to distinguish
+him from many another equally efficient officer, still a recapitulation
+of the qualities which remain in the minds of those who served under
+him will give us some idea of what he then was.  I am mainly indebted
+for the material for the following sketch of Gatacre as a Commanding
+Officer to the kindness of Colonel N. W. Barnardiston, M.V.O., who
+writes in July 1909:
+
+
+"I was adjutant at the time, and never before or since have I served
+under a better or more efficient battalion commander, nor have I come
+across one during my experience on the staff."
+
+
+Gatacre was forty years old when he succeeded Colonel Colquhoun; he had
+served very little with the regiment, but the time spent on the staff
+had added to his professional value.  While his acute perceptions and
+easy receptiveness had ripened his judgment on many points, his
+simplicity of character and natural integrity remained unimpaired.  He
+had downright notions about right and wrong, but was influenced more by
+the spirit than by the letter of the {56} bond: he was very just, but
+never hard, always showing a lofty sympathy for those in trouble of any
+sort, and a tender consideration for their feelings.  There was about
+him a curious balance of moral austerity and physical
+tenderheartedness; these apparently contradictory qualities both came
+into fuller play when in the field.  He taught the regiment to work
+with the disinterested spirit that animated himself; to work for the
+work's sake: he insisted on every duty being done correctly and
+conscientiously and strictly according to regulations.  He never shrank
+from the disagreeable duty of rebuke, where the interests of the
+service were at stake; but at the same time he never unduly worried his
+subordinates, or interfered with their province, and in no way passed
+the frontier of his own department.  If he wanted more work, he looked
+beyond and not below his own sphere of influence.
+
+Even at this time Gatacre's willingness to accept responsibility and to
+undertake troublesome and unexpected tasks was remarkable.  Where some
+men might raise objections and fear obstructions when asked, or even
+ordered, to get something done that was new or out of the common, he
+would welcome the call on his resources, and do his utmost, by
+enlisting the goodwill and co-operation of those about him, to carry
+the business through.  Later on, one of his colleagues in Poona looked
+upon his trick of saying, "No difficulty about that," as evidence of a
+very valuable quality; and in {57} the Office in Bombay there was a
+joke that the word "impossible" was not allowed.
+
+It was a sign of the lack of vanity in his composition that Gatacre
+took so long to find out that there was anything exceptional about
+himself, but it is now admitted on all sides that his capacity for work
+was far in excess of the average.  According to Mr. G. W. Steevens in
+1898, "his body was all steel wire."  He was certainly lean and light;
+at sixty he discovered to his great satisfaction that his weight was
+the same, ten stone two, as it had been as a subaltern in Peshawur.  In
+appearance also he changed very little, looking always about ten years
+younger than his age.  His back was short in proportion to the length
+of his limbs, which gave the impression of a shorter man than he
+measured, but at the same time this was the secret of his graceful seat
+on a horse, and of his extraordinary walking powers.  Like the good
+horses that he loved to bestride, Gatacre was fast and free, and had
+the staying powers of the thorough-bred animal; it was inevitable that
+such a one should be sometimes difficult to "follow," and that other
+men should occasionally feel that he called upon them for exertions
+that were beyond their powers.
+
+His whole heart was in his profession; and with the material that was
+now under his hand he developed an aptitude for the practical training
+of both officers and men.  Acting on ideas suggested by the recent camp
+at Bangalore, {58} he initiated small field-days at Secunderabad, in
+which one major with one half-battalion was pitted against another with
+the remainder.  This was before the days of staff-rides and annual
+camps of exercise, and was so much of a novelty that his adjutant
+writes that many of his officers "learnt more of the art of organising
+manoeuvres, drawing up schemes, and issuing orders than it was then
+possible to do at the Staff College."  Moreover, to accompany Gatacre
+on a field-day was a lesson in horsemanship.  He had two capital Arab
+ponies, and would often lend the spare one to his adjutant or galloper.
+No obstacle stopped him, though sometimes these clever little animals
+were expected to move over the most impossible-looking country--craggy
+hills, big rocks and boulders, and the steep sides of deep nullahs.  If
+really pounded, he would slip off and lead or drive his pony, until at
+the earliest moment he would be on its back again.
+
+[Sidenote: 1885]
+
+His gift for administration was further exercised in perfecting the
+regulations for the rapid turn-out of the Movable Column which had its
+base at Secunderabad: every little detail was most carefully thought
+out on the lines of a far larger mobilisation, and every man knew
+exactly where he had to go, and what he had to do, whenever he should
+hear the "Alarm."
+
+If he was impatient of laziness or shirking, he was, on the other hand,
+generous in his appreciation of honest work.  He made it a practice to
+help good men to get forward.  There were at that time in India a large
+number of {59} extra-regimental appointments open to non-commissioned
+officers.  The natural training-ground for such aspirants was in the
+orderly room, but few commanding officers cared to part with a man who
+had just become really competent in his particular job and valuable to
+themselves; with the result that the more promising and ambitious young
+fellows were unwilling to serve.  But during Gatacre's reign the plan
+was reversed: if a good man, no matter what his duties were, or how
+difficult he would be to replace, applied for a suitable and desirable
+position outside the regiment, Gatacre would heartily support the
+application.  Very soon there were plenty of keen young soldiers eager
+to qualify for billets which were the sure road to advancement.  When
+as a General Officer he had the opportunity of pushing forward
+promising young officers, he acted on the same principle; he was always
+ready to train, but never hesitated to let others reap the harvest that
+he had sown.
+
+Thus in a hundred ways the Colonel built up a reputation for kindness,
+efficiency, originality, and power: and we are not surprised to read
+that "his period of command was a very happy one for the 77th."
+
+In April 1885 the far-reaching consequences of the Russian scare made
+themselves felt at Secunderabad, where the following telegram was
+received:
+
+
+"Warn for service the 2nd Middlesex Regiment and 24th Madras Native
+Infantry.  Detail hereafter."
+
+
+{60}
+
+The excitement was intense.  No officer was allowed to leave his
+bungalow for a walk without saying in which direction he was going.  To
+Gatacre the idea of leading his regiment into action must have
+presented visions of endless opportunities, and those who knew him must
+always regret that he had no chance to display as a regimental officer
+that personal valour and forwardness under fire for which, as a General
+Officer, he has been subjected to so much criticism.
+
+This state of expectant commotion lasted for six weeks, and then all
+hopes were quenched, for on May 26 official intimation reached the
+Commanding Officer that:
+
+
+"War with Russia having been averted, the regiment need no longer hold
+itself in readiness for active service."
+
+
+This was the second time that he had had to bury his disappointment,
+and again a third time was it to happen.
+
+[Sidenote: D.Q.M.G.]
+
+It was clear to all that before long there would be another Burmese
+War.  The grievances of Europeans against King Theebaw had gone on
+accumulating: diplomatic efforts had entirely failed to secure
+attention or redress, the patience of the Foreign Office was at an end,
+and the Government of India was directed to prepare an expeditionary
+force to march on Mandalay, and thereby to teach King Theebaw that he
+could not afford to flout the British Government.  This {61} mission
+was entrusted to General Prendergast.  Gatacre volunteered to come down
+and help his former Chief in the embarkation of the troops at Madras
+for Rangoon.  Having proved his value as a staff officer, and having
+heard of his previous journey to Mandalay, Prendergast was most anxious
+to take Gatacre with him; but all the posts had been filled, and to the
+General's "grievous disappointment and much to the disadvantage of the
+Government," the application to take him as Military Secretary or
+Special Transport Officer was refused, and Gatacre had to be content
+with the thanks of the Government of India for his services in the
+embarkation of troops which he was not permitted to accompany.[2]
+
+
+[2] _Proceedings of Government_, No. 6502, November 17, 1885.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Secunderabad]
+
+In a later chapter we shall follow the fortunes of the Expedition, but
+for the moment all thought of Burma was swept out of Gatacre's mind by
+the prospect of serving on the Headquarters Staff of the army.  On
+November 24, 1885, the following telegrams were exchanged:
+
+
+"If agreeable to you, Sir Frederick proposes to recommend you to
+Government as Deputy Quarter-Master-General; you will have to join at
+once if Government approve."
+
+
+To which this reply was sent:
+
+
+"I gratefully accept His Excellency's offer; am ready to go anywhere."
+
+
+On December 11 the following Farewell Order was issued:
+
+
+{62}
+
+"Lieutenant-Colonel Gatacre wishes the Battalion farewell.
+
+"He thanks the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men for the way
+in which they have zealously and loyally carried out his orders during
+the short eighteen months he has had the honour of commanding them, and
+will always take the deepest interest in their welfare.
+
+"He especially thanks his regimental staff, viz. Lieutenant and
+Adjutant N. W. Barnardiston, and Captain and Quarter-Master Hunt, for
+their good service as Adjutant and Quarter-Master respectively, and
+Lieutenant Savile and Lieutenant Burton, who have on many occasions
+officiated in their capacities.
+
+"He wishes the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment many happy New Years,
+and success wherever they go."
+
+
+
+
+{63}
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+1885-1889
+
+BLACK MOUNTAIN EXPEDITION
+
+Sir Frederick Roberts succeeded Sir Donald Stewart as
+Commander-in-Chief in India in 1885.  After short leave home the new
+Chief returned just in time to preside over a great concentration of
+troops near Delhi in December of that year.  It was the biggest thing
+of the sort that had yet been attempted; the manoeuvres occupied about
+three weeks, and concluded on January 8, 1886, with a Grand Review in
+which about 35,000 men took part.  It would have been a splendid sight,
+had it not been spoilt by a deluge of rain.  The Viceroy, Lord
+Dufferin, was on parade, and it was afterwards suggested that it was
+the firing of his salute that had brought down the rain.  Anyhow, just
+as his flag was run up, the storm burst and the rain pitilessly poured
+down on the columns of men as they carried out the unaltered programme
+of the day.  The march-past occupied six hours.  According to an
+eye-witness, the "trot-past of cavalry and artillery in spite of
+everything was magnificent, and could have been performed {64} by no
+other troops....  The Viceroy sat on his horse through the rain with
+exemplary patience, and we only hope that he will be none the worse."
+
+General Chapman[1] had just taken up the post of
+Quarter-Master-General, and first saw his Deputy at this camp.  Gatacre
+seems from the outset to have made a good impression on his Chief, who
+describes him in a letter from Delhi as "a man of active intelligence,
+quick and ready to do anything, a good rider, and a popular man."
+
+
+[1] Now General Sir Edward Chapman, K.C.B.
+
+
+[Sidenote: At Headquarters]
+
+It is the province of the Deputy to take charge of the office in which
+he is working--that is, to acquaint himself with all that is going on
+in the department and to know all the staff and the clerks personally.
+On his arrival at Headquarters Gatacre rapidly gathered up all the
+threads of his new work, and made himself more and more valuable to his
+Chief; while from his own point of view he used to say that it was at
+this time that he learnt how to put a finish to his work in the office,
+and to appreciate the scope and importance to the army at large of the
+individual work done at Headquarters.  As is often the case after a
+campaign, there was much important reorganisation worked out during the
+next few years; new schemes of training, housing and surveying, were
+initiated and carried out.  From the inside of the
+Quarter-Master-General's office Gatacre could in a short time get a
+comprehension of many points of {65} army administration such as a
+lifetime in the field would fail to give.
+
+[Sidenote: 1886]
+
+During the winter months the Commander-in-Chief goes on tour,
+accompanied by a few staff officers: sometimes the
+Quarter-Master-General would go himself and leave Gatacre in charge,
+sometimes it was the other way round.  One year when the Q.M.G. was
+making an extended tour, Mrs. Chapman was much pleased at getting a
+visit from Colonel Gatacre every morning as he went down to office.  In
+response to her appreciation of these attentions he averred that he
+looked upon her as part of the office, and must see that all was well.
+
+The two men were associated in this department for more than three
+years, and by the time that General Chapman had to resign (owing to bad
+health) a fast friendship had sprung up between them, one from which
+"the all-assuming months and years" have taken no part.  On hearing of
+his friend's death in 1906 General Chapman wrote:
+
+
+"A more loyally devoted assistant I could not have found, active,
+untiring, and self-sacrificing; the public service and the interests of
+others were always before him.  His gallantry and forwardness on
+service were acknowledged by all, but it was late in life that he so
+distinguished himself.  I recall chiefly the straight-forwardness and
+honesty of his help and advice, and remember his never-failing and
+cheery support whenever we had a difficulty to face."
+
+
+Owing to the illness of the Quarter-Master-General, {66} Gatacre
+accompanied the Commander-in-Chief on two long tours in the spring of
+1886.  On the first he saw many places of great historical interest,
+such as Cawnpore, Futtehghur, Lucknow; and in the second he was taken
+to Peshawur and Lundi Kotal, where many interesting problems of
+frontier defence were discussed on the ground.  For two months in 1886
+he officiated as Quarter-Master-General, pending the arrival of Sir
+William Lockhart, who was to act for General Chapman while away on long
+leave.
+
+[Sidenote: 1887]
+
+Christmas was spent at Calcutta, and early in 1887 Gatacre was again on
+the move.  During this year he was twice entrusted with an independent
+mission; in March he accompanied the Chief on his official visit to
+Peshawur, Kohat, Rawulpindi, and Quetta, and was afterwards sent to
+survey and report upon the proposed line for a military road from
+Loralai in Beluchistan to Dera Ghazi Khan on the Indus.  His abstract
+of daily work shows that he was out all day exploring and surveying.
+His report shows that he thoroughly investigated all questions relating
+to the water supply and the area of the camping-grounds on the road,
+and deals with many questions as to the safety and comfort of the
+working parties and their guards.  Although the country to be explored
+covered 183 miles, he worked with such celerity that the work was
+completed in thirteen days.
+
+[Sidenote: On tour]
+
+Writing from Bannu a week or two later he finds time to send a
+comprehensive account of his doings:
+
+{67}
+
+"I think I wrote you last from Loralai, beyond Quetta to the east:
+well, from there I explored a new road which is to run through Mekhtar,
+Kingri, Rukni, to Dera Ghazi Khan on the Indus.  It has been approved,
+and is to be carried out at once; as in the event of troops moving up
+towards Kandahar, it would be the route along which all our regiments
+and stores from the Punjab would move.  The country is a wild one at
+present, savage, with no cultivation or inhabitants, except a few
+robbers: but the lie of the road is good, and the gradients are easy.
+Of course a made road will draw the large Kafilas of camels with
+merchandise from one end to the other, and as the roads will be under
+our protection the native merchants will gladly use it, and this will
+gradually people the various halting-places, and so settle the country
+by degrees.  There was much game along the route; markhor, a large goat
+with splendid horns; gud, a large sheep with very large curly horns,
+wolves and small game, hares, partridges, wood-pigeons, etc.  I had
+very little time for shooting, but shot one markhor and much small game
+here and there as I came across it; but as I had a lot of surveying to
+do all day, I had no time to make excursions after game alone, though I
+should much have liked to have had a turn with Stephen in some of the
+hills through which I passed.  You would have been delighted with the
+country in some places, something like Scotland with fewer trees and
+more sun, but comparatively cool for India.  The only disagreeable
+thing about it is the general want of water and the number of poisonous
+snakes.  Water is found only in certain streams and in single springs,
+and is very valuable.  Of course, any good road which is {68} required
+has to follow the line of water, but the rivers commence to flow at any
+point in the river-bed, and after becoming a rushing torrent, disappear
+as suddenly as they arose, into the ground and are seen no more; where
+they go to no one knows, but you may seek in vain further down the bed
+of the river and not find water.  In some cases the water reappears in
+the stream ten miles lower down, and disappears again as before.  The
+snakes are everywhere, and it was a few days before I left Khur that a
+young engineer named Hackman was bitten.  I saw his death in
+yesterday's paper.  I killed several cobras while marching, I am glad
+to say."
+
+
+In November of the same year he was sent on a similar mission to
+Sikkim.  It was discovered that a private treaty had been signed by
+which the Rajah had declared that Sikkim was subject only to China and
+Tibet, thus repudiating the British suzerainty.  By way of preparation
+for an expedition to settle this question Gatacre was sent up to report
+upon the road over the Jelap-La along which troops would move on to
+Lingtu, the capital of Sikkim.  Though it was at that time held by a
+hostile force of Tibetans, he approached near enough to sketch the fort
+at Lingtu.  His report and his sketches were afterwards incorporated
+with other matter in a blue-book dealing with the affairs of Sikkim.
+Sir Thomas Graham asserts that the information set down was of great
+value to him when in the following spring he led a force into Lingtu
+and brought the incident to a satisfactory conclusion.
+
+{69}
+
+[Sidenote: At Simla]
+
+In a letter to his father from Simla of September 1887 Gatacre relates
+the following story:
+
+
+"Did I tell you I was nearly polished off by a madman with a revolver?
+He shot two men he came across, then got on to a rock and defied the
+crowd, but I got a stick and went for him, to prevent his doing more
+mischief.  He warned me not to come near him, but I spoke to him in his
+own language, and never took my eyes off him, and when he was going to
+have a shot at me he suddenly changed his mind and blew a hole in his
+breast about three or four inches in diameter.  The fact was he was not
+quite sure whether he had a spare round for himself, and these
+fanatical fellows always destroy themselves after doing as much
+mischief as they are able; when he shot himself I was just within reach
+of him, but too late to knock the pistol out of his hands."
+
+
+This incident attracted a good deal of attention at the time, as the
+murderer was the personal servant of a resident member of the United
+Service Club.  He had begun by shooting at another servant, and
+inflicted a mortal wound; the next shot struck the chowkidar, or
+caretaker, in the arm.  Gatacre then appeared on the scene and played
+the part he describes.
+
+
+There is another story told of him that belongs to this same year.
+
+On September 27 Lady Dufferin gave a ball at Government House; all the
+world was there and Gatacre among them.  As was his invariable habit,
+he stayed to the end, and early in the {70} morning told a friend that
+he was just starting for a ride to Umballa, but would be back in office
+the next day.  To accomplish this design he had arranged for ponies to
+be in readiness at the various stages along the Old Road from Simla to
+Umballa, which is a distance of ninety-seven miles, descending about
+6,000 ft. from the mountains to the plains.  As far as Kalka they were
+hired ponies, from there to Umballa he had borrowed mounts from a
+friend, using nine ponies each way.  Leaving Simla at 5.15 a.m., he
+reached Umballa at 2.30 that afternoon.  At 4 o'clock he started back
+and dismounted at Simla again at 3.5 a.m.  That is to say, after
+dancing till daybreak, he covered little short of two hundred miles in
+twenty-two hours, and turned up again at 10 o'clock ready and fit for
+his office work as usual.
+
+It is unnecessary to seek for any pretext for such exertion; the fun of
+the rapid ride, the desire to excel, were quite sufficient stimulus for
+him.  He told the newspapers at the time that he wanted to show what
+office men could do.
+
+But before very long he was to have an opportunity of putting these
+powers to more practical uses.  In September 1888 Gatacre and two of
+his colleagues on the Headquarter Staff were given posts on the Hazara
+Field Force, then concentrating near Abbottabad.
+
+[Sidenote: Hazara border]
+
+After the Mutiny the Hazara and Peshawur borders became "a
+rallying-point for mutinous Sepoys and traitors in arms who had to flee
+from British justice."  There was in particular {71} a sect known as
+the Sittana Fanatics, who continued to stir up coalitions against our
+power, as they had previously done against our Sikh predecessors in the
+Punjab.  An expedition under Sir Sydney Cotton in 1858 advanced into
+the mountains, drove the Hindustani fanatics from Sittana, destroyed
+their forts, razed their dwellings to the ground, and extorted an
+undertaking from the neighbouring tribes that the rebels should not be
+allowed a passage through their territory.
+
+[Sidenote: 1888]
+
+Although the centre of disturbance was thus forced back at the point of
+the sword to Malka, it was not long before numerous raids on unarmed
+traders, and other outrages, brought the peace of the frontier again
+into question.  Our allies were either unable or unwilling to carry out
+their pledges, and in 1863 Sir Neville Chamberlain led a force through
+the Ambeyla Defile.  This expedition differed from the others in that
+all the contiguous tribes were in a state of disaffection, and on this
+account there was more fighting than in the previous punitive
+expeditions.  The story of the repeated capture and loss of the Eagle's
+Nest and Crag Picquet still makes brave reading, and afforded moreover
+most satisfactory proof of the loyalty of our reorganised Native Army.
+It was noted with satisfaction in 1888 that very few of the Hindustani
+fanatics were to be found in the ranks of the enemy, showing that the
+lesson of 1863 was more lasting in its effect than the others had been.
+The policy of the Government {72} had never altered; in every case the
+tribe was informed--
+
+
+"That the British Government did not covet their possessions, nor those
+of other neighbouring tribes, with whom it desired to be at peace; but
+that it expected tribes would restrain individual members from
+committing unprovoked outrages on British subjects, and afford redress
+when they are committed; that when a whole tribe, instead of affording
+redress, seeks to screen the individual offenders, the British
+Government has no alternative but to hold the whole tribe
+responsible."[2]
+
+
+[2] _A Record of the Expeditions against the North-West Frontier
+Tribes_, by Paget and Mason (1884), p. 41.
+
+
+The enforcing of this principle has led to the numerous little wars
+that have afforded the opportunities for distinction to all ranks of
+which the personnel of an army is so quick to avail itself.  Each
+expedition has usually been of a few weeks' duration only; sometimes
+there was very little actual fighting; sometimes there was very little
+political gain; but always there has been a story of hardship and
+valour.
+
+The Hazara Field Force of 1888 was mobilised for the punishment of
+certain tribes inhabiting the slopes of the Black Mountain, a region
+lying on the left bank of the Indus, north of Abbottabad.  It was some
+years since we had had a reckoning with Hassanzais and Akazais in
+particular, and they had been showing increased insolence in their
+attitude and daring in their raids.
+
+{73}
+
+[Sidenote: Battye killed]
+
+A sufficient occasion was all that was needed to bring about open
+hostility, and this was afforded by the tribesmen themselves on June
+18, 1888.  On that day Colonel Battye and Captain Urmston conducted a
+route-march with some three score Goorkhas from the frontier post at
+Oghi; they had gone perhaps a little nearer to the frontier than was
+quite expedient, but it was afterwards shown that they had never
+actually left British territory.  When about ten miles from Oghi, they
+were fired at from two points simultaneously.  Colonel Battye ordered
+the Goorkhas to rush a ridge just ahead on which they could make a
+stand.  The ridge was secured, but, unfortunately, the two British
+officers turned back to help a wounded man, and, while they were thus
+separated from the troops, both were cut down with swords.  The Subadar
+(native officer) at once took command, though one arm had been disabled
+by a blow from a stone, and a bullet had gone through his thigh, and
+his head was streaming with blood.  He collected the party, and marched
+back to the spot where the two officers had fallen.  Keeping up a
+spirited fire to drive back the tribesmen, he succeeded in recovering
+both bodies, and brought the whole party back into camp at 8.30 that
+night.  This man, Subadar Kishnbir Nagar Koti, had already gained the
+Order of Merit three times in the Kabul Campaign.[3]
+
+
+[3] See _Civil and Military Gazette_, June 1888.
+
+
+As the Headman of the tribe refused to hand over the offenders, the
+Government was driven {74} to avenge this outrage by sending an armed
+force into the country of the Hassenzais and Akazais, who were held
+responsible.
+
+[Sidenote: Hazara Field Force]
+
+This force, which numbered about 8,000 men, was organised in four
+columns, each formed of one British and two native regiments.  A
+peculiar feature of this force was that no regiment was allowed to send
+more than six hundred men, which was a device to ensure the selection
+of a picked body of men.  The late Sir John McQueen, who was then
+commanding the Punjab Frontier Force, was given command of the
+expedition, and Colonel W. F. Gatacre was appointed his Chief Staff
+Officer.  This was naturally a moment of the liveliest satisfaction and
+anticipation for him.  At last he found himself on active service; at
+last he was to face the ordeal for which he had been training for
+twenty-six years.
+
+Three of the columns marched out of Oghi on October 2, twenty-four
+hours' grace having been allowed beyond the time named in the ultimatum
+sent to the Maliks of the tribes.  No. 4 Column, under
+Brigadier-General Galbraith,[4] had assembled at Derband on the River
+Indus, and was known throughout the campaign as the River Column; its
+function was to prevent any trans-Indus tribes moving eastwards across
+the river to join their neighbours, and it was hoped that the area of
+hostilities could thus be confined to those spurs of the Black Mountain
+where lay the heart of the disaffection.
+
+
+[4] The late Sir William Galbraith, K.C.B.]
+
+
+[Illustration: COLONEL W. F. GATACRE, D.S.O., 1888.]
+
+{75}
+
+The main mass of the Black Mountain lies in a curve of the River Indus
+between Thakot and Arab.  To the north and west its slopes are cut into
+ridges which descend precipitously into the deep gorge of the river; to
+the east the eye rests on a bewildering succession of pine-clad
+mountain ranges, till, stretching over the vale of Kashmir, it reaches
+the line of eternal snows.
+
+The three mountain columns met with little opposition as they made
+their way up the spurs overlooking the Agror Valley.  The Headquarter
+Camp was established at Khaim Gali, near the summit of the range, and
+from that point General McQueen directed the movements against the
+various villages.  After about a fortnight General Channer, commanding
+No. 1 Column, was able to open up communication with General Galbraith
+in the valley below, at Kunhar.  The latter at the outset had met with
+some slight opposition at Kotkai, resulting in the loss of two officers
+and five men, but had since made considerable progress up the river,
+and had moreover come to an understanding with the tribes in his
+immediate neighbourhood.  The mountainous nature of the country made it
+extremely difficult to secure unity of action in the two regions.  It
+became imperative that General McQueen should know what General
+Galbraith had done and had promised.  To effect this purpose Gatacre
+offered to make his way down on foot to Kunhar, where the River Column
+had its headquarters.
+
+{76}
+
+[Sidenote: Visits Galbraith]
+
+By this time he was fairly well acquainted with the lie of the country,
+for he had been out daily with the columns, and, according to his
+colleague, Major Elles,[5] "had worked harder than any man in the
+force."  He must have known that the direct descent from the ridge on
+which the Headquarter Camp at Khaim Gali was situated was a series of
+precipices.  Taking the figures given on a map compiled for the
+expedition of 1891, the elevation of Khaim Gali is 8,680 ft., while the
+camp at Kunhar in the Indus valley is 1,560 ft., which means a clear
+descent of 7,120 ft. in a horizontal distance of less than five miles,
+though the distance actually marched worked out at fourteen miles.
+Major Elles accompanied Colonel Gatacre, and they took an escort of
+fifty Khybari Rifles.  The party left camp at 6 a.m., and reached
+Kunhar at noon.  Although it was then October, the sun had great power
+in the middle of the day; the narrow valleys down which they crept were
+very stuffy, and as they approached the end of the journey the air
+became very close and oppressive.  Major Elles confesses that he felt
+the sun very much, was tired out, and "could not have attempted the
+climb back again that day.  But nothing," he says, "seemed to tire
+Gatacre, who was the hardest man I ever met.  He neither drank nor
+smoked, and ate very little."
+
+
+[5] Now Lieut.-General Sir Edmond Elles, G.C.I.E., K.C.B.
+
+
+After settling the business that was the motif of the journey, and
+partaking of the hospitality of the River Column headquarter mess,
+Gatacre {77} announced his intention of starting back at 2 o'clock.
+The men who acted as escort were dismayed at the Colonel Sahib's
+startling decision; indeed, only half of them were capable of setting
+off at once, but these insisted on being allowed to do so.  Half-way up
+the mountain they were dead-beat; and as a small party able to take
+their place had been accidentally met with, the services of the
+newcomers were impressed, and Gatacre proceeded.  It is a question for
+mountaineers whether the descent or the ascent was the more trying to a
+man's muscular system, and a question for Anglo-Indians whether the sun
+is hotter in the forenoon or the afternoon; anyhow, it must have been
+fairly fierce at 2 p.m. in the deep gorge of the Indus, and to have
+reached Khaim Gali again the same evening was an achievement worthy of
+mention in despatches.  We are told that the first part of the ascent
+was very precipitous for about 2,500 ft., and impracticable even for
+mule carriage; the next 1,500 ft. was nothing but a succession of
+steps.  Farther on, the line lay across terraced cultivation, which
+involved climbing up the walls supporting the fields, and walking
+across the soft plough which they enclosed, while throughout the march
+there were "passages which were impossible for anything but a goat."
+
+At 11 p.m. that same night Gatacre marched into the Headquarter Camp at
+Khaim Gali, the only man who had completed the double journey.  The two
+marches had occupied six hours and nine hours respectively, and two
+hours only had {78} been spent in the triple business of negotiation,
+refreshment, and repose.
+
+This feat did not pass unnoticed at the time.  The editor of the _Broad
+Arrow_ of October 20, 1888, says:
+
+
+"The story is suggestive of physical endurance and courage, and may be
+read with profit by fireside warriors and cynical philosophers upon the
+decline of the British officer."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Active service]
+
+Such an exchange of views between a confidential messenger from
+Headquarters and the officer commanding a column operating
+independently must always have great military value to the commander of
+an expedition, and it is evident that the consultation in this case was
+not without result, for in despatches we read that the first phase of
+the operations reached its conclusion on October 20.  The Akazais and
+Hassanzais made complete submission, and by the end of the month had
+paid their fines in full.  The object of the second phase was the
+coercion on similar lines of the Parari Saiads and Tikariwals.  In the
+same way this involved much marching and counter-marching over the same
+"exigeant" class of country.  Although there was scarcely any fighting,
+doubtless all those who took part in these operations learned many of
+the supplementary lessons of war which no manoeuvres can ever teach.  A
+British officer in a Goorkha regiment tells us how he learned one of
+these lessons from Gatacre himself.
+
+The Brigade had just reached its {79} camping-ground: there had been a
+very arduous and hot march, finishing with a stiff climb up-hill.  The
+Goorkha officer had flung himself on the ground, feeling dead-beat,
+when Gatacre rode up, and began making inquiry as to the water supply
+of the camp.
+
+"Who is the Quarter-Master of this regiment?" he asked.
+
+"I am, sir," said the officer, struggling to his feet.
+
+"What has been done to secure the water supply from contamination?"
+
+"Nothing, sir."
+
+"I must have a guard put over it at once.  Where is the spring?"
+
+The spring was a thousand feet below.  The commanding officer of the
+regiment, coming upon the scene, protested that his officer had only
+just come up.
+
+"Never mind," said Gatacre.  "It is of the utmost importance.  I order
+you as Quarter-Master to go down and see that a sufficient guard is put
+round the spring, and that the animals are kept at a proper distance."
+
+Much against his inclination the officer set about carrying out this
+injunction.  On his arrival at the spring he saw the urgency of the
+order he was sent down to execute, and confessed the justice of the
+call upon his further exertions.  Soldiers, bheesties, and animals were
+crowding round the pool, which, fed by a small spring, was the only
+water supply for the Brigade.  He quickly restored order, made
+arrangements for {80} the watering of the different units, and, by thus
+securing the purity of the head-water, eliminated the chance of fever
+to thousands of men.
+
+[Sidenote: 1888-9]
+
+On October 28 General Channer occupied Thakot without resistance; on
+November 7 a deputation from the Parari Saiads came in and made full
+submission, as the Tikariwals had done already.  On November 12 the
+Hazara Field Force began to disperse, having been under arms for six
+weeks.  The casualties to the whole force amounted to twenty-seven men
+killed, fifty-nine wounded, and eight who had died of disease, showing
+that, from a military point of view, it was essentially a minor
+campaign.  Moreover, politically, the results were inconclusive, but to
+Gatacre it was the field on which he had won his spurs: "the loyal
+support and valuable aid" that he had afforded his Chief were now for
+ever recorded; his initiative, energy, and physical powers had been
+proved in the field; his possession of military ability and soldierly
+qualities in a marked degree was now established.
+
+It is difficult to understand why he was awarded the Distinguished
+Service Order, which had been newly created as a recognition of the
+services of junior officers in the field, while his rank as substantive
+colonel in the army fully qualified him for a Companionship of the
+Bath; but so it was.  Seven years had yet to run before the latter
+decoration was awarded, after the Chitral Campaign.
+
+[Sidenote: Safe home]
+
+Colonel Gatacre and Major Elles did not return {81} direct to
+Headquarters on the disbanding of the force, but made an extended march
+down the Indus, and reached Calcutta early in December.  When writing
+his Christmas greeting to his father, Gatacre says:
+
+
+"We are all returned safely from the Black Mountain, and I must say I
+for one thoroughly enjoyed myself; it was rough going, of course, but
+the climate was good, and there was plenty of outdoor exercise--such a
+pleasant change after the office life."
+
+
+After another summer spent at Simla, Gatacre was sent in October 1889
+to act for Sir George Wolseley, who was then commanding the Mandalay
+Brigade.  Throughout the three and a half years that he had served with
+the Headquarter Staff, much of the work in the Quarter-Master-General's
+office had had reference to the welfare of the troops which since
+November 1885 had been operating in Upper Burma.  Gatacre had taken
+moreover a personal interest in the success and well-being of the Army
+of Occupation, for his brother John had been serving there in command
+of his regiment, the 23rd Bombay Infantry.
+
+The events which had occurred since Gatacre first visited Mandalay in
+1883 will be dealt with in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+{82}
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+1889-1890
+
+MANDALAY
+
+It was with difficulty that the British Government had lived so long at
+peace with Theebaw, King of Burma.  In 1883 he sent a mission to
+Europe, ostensibly to study western civilisation, but it was recognised
+that in reality he was making advances to the French Government, who
+were of course our neighbours on the east, in Siam.  There was also
+friction over the demarcation of the Manipur frontier on the west, but
+the actual ground for the outbreak of hostilities arose over a
+commercial question.  An English trading company found that King
+Theebaw had sold over again to the French the rights over some forest
+lands for which the company had paid seven years' tolls in advance.
+The High Court of Mandalay upheld their sovereign's proceedings, so
+that the corporation were driven to appeal to the British Government to
+vindicate their claims.  King Theebaw, however, flatly refused to
+discuss the matter with the Chief Commissioner of Lower Burma.  The
+British Government welcomed the occasion to {83} send an ultimatum to
+King Theebaw "which aimed at a settlement of all the main matters in
+dispute between the two Governments,"[1] and simultaneously instructed
+Sir Harry Prendergast to prepare a force to march on Mandalay.
+
+
+[1] _Parliamentary Papers_ (Burma), 1886.
+
+
+A defiant answer having been returned by the King, orders for the
+advance were issued.  A fleet of transports was escorted by a few
+vessels from the Royal Navy up the Irrawaddy.  On November 14, 1885, at
+a point about twenty-eight miles beyond our frontier post at Thayetmyo,
+the forts at Minhla barred the passage of the river.  Our naval guns
+then opened fire with good effect, and when the troops landed there was
+no resistance.
+
+[Sidenote: Theebaw surrenders]
+
+The advance continued, and ten days later a similar engagement took
+place about seven miles from Ava.  After the naval guns had silenced
+the enemy's artillery, the Hampshire Regiment was landed, and drove the
+defenders from their entrenchments.  At 4 p.m. on November 24 a royal
+state barge appeared bearing a flag of truce, and a message that the
+King "was well disposed in mind and heart."[2]  To this a reply was
+sent that nothing less than the unconditional surrender of the King and
+his capital would satisfy the British Government, and that the response
+must be received within twelve hours.
+
+
+[2] Despatch dated January 13, 1886.
+
+
+The picturesqueness of the scene was so irresistible that even the
+official despatch breaks into description of the "far-famed city of
+Ava, {84} with its mouldering monasteries and decaying walls.  On the
+banks are batteries bristling with guns, and parapets alive with
+scarlet-clad soldiers," etc., etc.
+
+King Theebaw's reply was received by the time specified, and when
+translated was found to express a frame of mind that was acceptable to
+the invaders.  The subsequent advance from Ava was therefore unopposed,
+and on November 28 British troops made their way peacefully through the
+streets of Mandalay.  In the afternoon of the next day the King and his
+Queens and a suitable retinue were conveyed on board a steamer and
+transported to Rangoon, _en route_ to India.  As a compliment to their
+former estate, the escort was detailed from the Royal Navy.  It is said
+that Supya-lat offered violent resistance to this deportation, saying
+that she would prefer death or any fate at the hands of the Englishmen
+to life as a state prisoner with her husband.  But she had to conform.
+
+By Proclamation on January 1, 1886, Upper Burma was declared a part of
+the British Empire, and the Chief Commissioner, Sir Charles Bernard,
+transferred his headquarters from Rangoon to Mandalay.
+
+[Sidenote: Dacoity]
+
+Sir Harry Prendergast had completed his task in the occupation of the
+capital, but the subjugation of the vast province of Upper Burma,
+covering about 100,000 square miles, was a very different matter.  The
+collapse of the Civil Government and the disbanding of the native army
+led to a state of anarchy.  Pretenders sprang {85} up who were
+exploited by enterprising ex-officers, and became leaders of the
+various bands of dacoits that infested the land.  These armed bands
+were a terror to the people, for they lived on the country and robbed
+and looted freely but it was not till we had won the confidence of the
+peaceable peasants that they would venture to give us information as to
+the whereabouts of their enemies.  The fact that there was no cohesion
+or community of interest between these marauders made them the more
+troublesome to suppress, as each one had to be dealt with separately.
+The pacification of the country was entrusted to Sir George White with
+a force of three infantry brigades.  But as there was no national party
+in arms against him, so there was no organised resistance; the enemy
+were not soldiers, but a lawless rabble led by brigands.
+
+In his report of this work in a country which he describes as "one vast
+military obstacle," he says:
+
+
+"The actual resistance offered to our troops was not very trying to
+disciplined well-armed soldiers, but small bodies of these soldiers
+have often had to stand up against bands whose numbers were estimated
+in thousands.  Between April 1 and July 31 over one hundred affairs
+took place, and few days elapsed without the occurrence of fighting in
+some part of the newly acquired province."[3]
+
+
+[3] See _Despatch_, July 17, 1886.
+
+
+After a time it was found possible partially {86} to replace the
+soldiers by specially recruited armed military police, who were thickly
+distributed in all the disturbed districts; and gradually the more
+peaceable inhabitants realised that every time a military raid was
+organised there would be a smaller number of thieves and robbers left
+in the land.
+
+When the bulk of Sir George White's expeditionary force was withdrawn,
+Brigadier-General George Wolseley, who had been commanding the Mandalay
+Brigade, assumed the command of the permanent garrison.  It was as his
+substitute that Gatacre held the post from October 1889 to October
+1890, with a few weeks' interval in the spring.  Gatacre had been
+nearly four years in the same office on the Headquarter Staff, and his
+letters show that after the departure of General Chapman in April 1889
+he was anxiously watching for some new opening for himself.  The change
+to an independent command was very welcome, and not less so was the
+change from the social life of Headquarters to the wild simplicity of
+Upper Burma.  The military direction of such a vast and unsettled
+province would provide scope for administration and opportunity for
+personal exertion--would, in short, afford all the arduous duties in
+which Gatacre found his delight.
+
+[Sidenote: Fort Dufferin]
+
+The ancient citadel of Mandalay is now called Fort Dufferin.  It
+consists of a vast quadrilateral enclosure, in the centre of which
+stands the palace, surrounded by gardens and a high teak-wood stockade.
+The walls are 10 ft. thick {87} and 29 ft. high; each side of the
+square is a mile and a quarter in length; at regular intervals there
+are gates leading to bridges over a moat that is more than 200 ft.
+wide.  Along the walls are numerous picturesque watch-houses with
+little seven-roofed pagodas over each gate.  These buildings provided
+quarters and offices for both the civil and military departments.
+
+Sir Charles Crosthwaite, who was Chief Commissioner of Burma when
+Gatacre took up the command, writes:
+
+
+"I lived in one of the pagoda erections over a gate in the Mandalay
+wall, and there was a long flight of steps leading up to my rooms.  I
+can see Sir William now flying up the steps and rushing down them,
+after he had seen me, and vaulting on to his horse.  He was
+indefatigable."[4]
+
+
+[4] August 18, 1909.
+
+
+The reception rooms in the palace itself were fitted up as a club for
+the officers of the garrison.  Some men were playing whist there one
+evening in November 1889, when Gatacre came in, and going up to one of
+the players asked him if he knew anything about transport.  The
+officer, busy with his cards, replied "Not a damn!" which elicited the
+unexpected response:
+
+"Will you be my transport officer?"
+
+When the hand was finished the subaltern turned round, and for the
+first time perceived who was speaking to him.
+
+"I am afraid you are chaffing me, sir."
+
+{88}
+
+"Not at all.  The last two transport officers I have had knew
+everything--one could not teach them anything.  Are you willing to
+learn?"
+
+That officer did his best to learn, and remained Gatacre's transport
+officer till his regiment left the station.  He remembers especially
+his General's friendly manner, tells us how the dignity and power of
+his personality enabled him to dispense with the formalities of his
+position, and to do things which in other men might have resulted in
+undue familiarity.  There was an arrangement by which the other staff
+officer carried on the work in the office, while the transport officer
+accompanied the General on all his tours.  It is to this officer that
+we are indebted for the following story.
+
+[Sidenote: Maymyo]
+
+About forty miles from Mandalay there is a little hill-station called
+Maymyo, at an elevation of 3,500 ft.  It is now full of red-brick
+buildings, and is the headquarters of the Lieutenant-General commanding
+the Burma Division, and there is a railway up from Mandalay which runs
+on to Lashio.  But in 1889 Maymyo was but a collection of huts and
+tents, and the road that led thither was not only execrable to travel
+on, but infested with robbers.  However, it served as a sanatorium, and
+the sick folk from Mandalay had to brave the dangers of the road.  The
+transport officer had been spending a month at Maymyo with his wife,
+and, having met with exceptional difficulties in making his journey
+down, was very much alive to its discomforts.  Only two days before
+another party had been {89} attacked, their native driver killed, and
+their kit dacoited.
+
+When they met next morning the General told the officer to lay a dak to
+Maymyo, as he intended going there next day.  The thought of doing that
+journey again so soon was most distasteful, but the officer only asked:
+
+"What time do we start?"
+
+"There is no 'we' in it.  You don't go.  I am going alone."
+
+"That's ridiculous!" followed on, with such simplicity and directness
+that both broke into laughter.
+
+The idea was ridiculous, but it was carried out.  The subaltern's pride
+of office was wounded by his being thus set on one side, but when he
+realised that it was done out of consideration to himself, and that no
+one else was taken, he could not but be satisfied.  Risk and exertion
+were like magnets to draw Gatacre; he went alone, dispensing even with
+an orderly.  The fastest and most active ponies were always sent out
+for the General's use, and it would have been difficult to find man and
+beast to keep up with him when on such an excursion.  He must have made
+a very early start, for he rode forty miles up into the mountains,
+inspected the detachment of the Madras Native Infantry quartered there,
+and returned in time to dine with the Chief Commissioner.  There he met
+Sir Frederick Fryer, to whom he related his day's work.  It afterwards
+transpired that two of the ponies were broken down by the journey, but
+{90} even for such a mishap the General found a cheerful use.  When
+rallied by one of his commanding officers on this point, he replied:
+
+"Hard on the ponies!  Not at all.  Why, my dear fellow, it is really a
+good thing, for the useless ones get weeded out."
+
+In 1886 Sir George White wrote that it would be a "long time before
+dacoity died of inanition."[5]  But British methods, worked with
+British perseverance, had triumphed over Burmese institutions.  In 1889
+Sir Charles Crosthwaite could write that "disorder and lawlessness had
+been put down, and the power of the Government firmly established and
+fully acknowledged."[6]  It was, however, reserved for Gatacre to equip
+a little expedition which was to penetrate into the Kachin Hills, where
+a leader known as Kan Hlaing was harassing the country.  The General
+sent the following telegram to Calcutta on November 25, 1889:
+
+
+[5] _Despatch_, August 18, 1886.
+
+[6] _Report of Administration_, August 1887 to August 1889.
+
+
+"Chief Commissioner has applied for services of troops to operate from
+Bhamo against Lwe Saing Tonhon Kachins, in Meteilaing, to effect
+capture or surrender of Kan Hlaing and reduction of Tonhon, the chief
+town.  After effecting this, to march southwards in Binhong and attack
+pretender Sairyawuiniz.  A column to co-operate from Ruby Mines
+district, marching on Momeit.  Bhamo Column to consist of 75 rifles
+Hants, two guns No. 2 Bombay, 100 rifles 17th Bengal Infantry, and 250
+rifles Mogoung Levy.  Momeit {91} Column to consist of 50 rifles Hants,
+150 Bengal Native Infantry from Mandalay.  Have complied with his
+wishes, made all necessary arrangements.  Column will start from Bhamo
+Dec. 1.  The Momeit Column will reach Momeit about Dec. 10.  Solicits
+Army's approval."
+
+[Illustration: Kachin Bridge over which five hundred men crossed in one
+day]
+
+The Bhamo Column was under Major Blundell's command, and the Momeit
+Column under Major Greenway.  Lwe Saing was captured on December 23,
+and Tonhon on the 24th, after sharp fighting.  Early in January the
+force crossed the Shweli River, which was a fierce mountain torrent, so
+strong that the rafts were swept away, and a man drowned.  The passage
+over the various rocky streams was a great difficulty; in one place a
+swinging bridge was rigged up with transport ropes and timber; on
+another occasion the whole column of five to six hundred men with their
+stores were passed over the Kachin Bridge shown in the picture.  A
+report arrived that the rebel Prince Sawanai and the dacoit leader, Kan
+Hlaing, were strongly stockaded at Manton, three marches farther on,
+and that he had a following of 2,000 men.  The two columns met as
+arranged, and captured the village, though it was fiercely defended.
+Before the force left Manton, Brigadier-General Gatacre and Colonel
+Strover, the Commissioner, joined the column.
+
+The following letters give the General's own impressions of the country.
+
+
+{92}
+
+[Sidenote: 1890]
+
+IN THE DEFILE JUST BELOW BHAMO,
+
+_February_ 8, 1890.
+
+"We expect a first-class trip, and should be away about six weeks.  We
+take a month's provisions with us, and a fortnight's follow us.  There
+is a great charm to me in going into quite an unknown country, full of
+wild beasts and savages; there is nearly every animal under the sun
+said to be in these jungles, and the place has every appearance of it:
+tracks of all sorts along the river-banks.  But we shall soon see for
+ourselves.  I fancy the scenery will be grand, and we shall probably
+get many beautiful orchids."
+
+
+BERNARDMYO, _March_ 20, 1890.
+
+"I have only a moment for a line to say I've 'come out alive' at this
+end of the country, which is fortunate.  It is one of the roughest
+journeys I have ever done, and we have been wet through for days, with
+no change possible; great mountains, with only goat tracks to move by,
+had to be climbed two or three times in the day, which made going most
+tedious.  By marching from 5 a.m. to 6 and sometimes 7 p.m. we could
+only do thirty miles a day; this was for a ten days' movement, so you
+may imagine the country is rough.  It's a magnificent land,
+however--wild elephants, lots of tigers, and beasts of every
+description everywhere, and the inhabitants perfect savages, but clever
+beyond measure at agriculture in their valleys, and on the hill-sides
+at weaving, knitting, basket-work, etc., of all kinds.  I went to find
+the column I sent out some three months ago, and found it about 150
+miles off; they had had a good deal of fighting, and lost a matter of
+thirty men, which was unfortunate, but it might have been {93} more.  I
+have ordered them all back, except 100 men to hold a post at Mantone,
+for if the rains commence I should never get them back at all, owing to
+the impossibility of the roads.  I never saw such a desperate country
+for roads, as they call them; a goat would be puzzled with some of them.
+
+"I hope the Squire and all of you are well.  How I should like to see
+you all, and have a dinner at Gatacre!  I have not had any real good
+food for about two months, but, though rough, we enjoy what we do get."
+
+
+[Sidenote: A rough journey]
+
+Though the leader Kan Hlaing succeeded in effecting his escape, the
+expedition had good effect, for his following was dispersed and his
+prestige broken.  To all those who had taken part in this "rough
+journey" it brought another clasp to their medal.
+
+On March 27 Brigadier-General Wolseley reached Mandalay on his return
+from leave, and took over the command next day.  But before two months
+were out, he was wanted to officiate elsewhere, and Gatacre was sent
+back to Mandalay.  He had been very sorry to "give up charge," and was
+proportionately pleased to resume the command.  In his letters he
+speaks of having initiated many experiments which interested him very
+much.  Writing to his sister in July 1890, he says:
+
+
+"I have commenced a Government farm here on a large scale, about eight
+hundred acres at present, but will run up to four or five thousand
+acres.  I have started elephant ploughs, as the ground is so hard owing
+to want of rain that the {94} ordinary bullock plough is not strong
+enough, and if we do not plough now the season will be too far gone to
+enable us to get a crop off the ground this year.  The elephant plough
+has to be specially made, or the brute will pull it to pieces;
+sometimes they get frightened, and then it is best to clear out, for
+though the plough weighs half a ton, it is nothing to a frightened
+elephant, who goes straight home with it through everything.  I hope to
+send you a report on the working of the farm just now; the Squire would
+like to read it.  I wish I had that big plough here that we used to
+have at Coton; it would be just the thing for this land.  I forget how
+many horses it took, but I should put a couple of elephants in."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Down with fever]
+
+During these summer months he suffered repeatedly from fever.
+
+
+THE PALACE, MANDALAY,
+
+_July_ 22, 1890.
+
+"I have got influenza, which is a great nuisance, as it keeps me from
+my work, and the doctor warns me solemnly not to go in draughts and to
+keep out of the sun; but as my present abode is merely a large gilt
+shed, about thirty yards square, with looking-glass panels open to the
+four winds of heaven, it is rather difficult to follow his advice.
+Fortunately the open air always agreed with me, and I feel better
+to-day, so I hope I may soon be all right again.  The rain keeps off,
+and I am afraid we shall have a famine if we do not get heavy rain
+soon, for the rice will fail.  I wish I could hear somewhat of my
+future; it is a nuisance being left in doubt as to what I am going to
+do.
+
+{95}
+
+"I wish I had the services of Payne for a bit in the palace gardens; I
+would make them so pretty.  We have rocks, grass, water, everything
+that one could wish to work upon, but have no artistic people who
+understand gardening.  I am working at it, and getting seeds, and hope
+to make it a pretty place by-and-by."
+
+
+MYINGYAN, IRRAWADDY,
+
+_August_ 30, 1890.
+
+"When I last wrote I was in full steam down the Irrawaddy with the
+Chief Commissioner, but I got a bad go of fever, and the doctor put me
+ashore, as he thought I would have a better chance.  I was rather bad,
+but the cool breeze on the bank has made a wonderful change, and has
+quite pulled me round.  I've had no fever since I came, and am
+beginning to feel all right again.  Of course, I haven't much walk in
+me, but that soon comes back with food--that's of course the difficulty
+in a place like this, but I've managed to get hold of a few chickens
+and cook them with my servant.  Some of them have turned out a success,
+others smell of kerosine oil, but they all have to be eaten, so it
+doesn't much matter.  I mean to go back to Mandalay in three or four
+days, and shall be glad to get on my horse again, for it doesn't suit
+me to be on my back.  I have lots to do, and have a man to write from
+dictation, which saves me writing out long official letters, but still
+I'm anxious about many things which are being carried out at Mandalay.
+This place is just opposite Pakoko, where John commanded for a long
+time, and is very pretty, especially now the river is in full flood,
+miles across (five or six at least)."
+
+
+{96}
+
+S.S. "GEORGE," ON THE IRRAWADDY ABOVE MANDALAY,
+
+_September_ 22, 1890.
+
+"I'm off on my travels again, you see.  We started this morning on
+inspection duty at Bhamo and Shwebo.  We should arrive at the former
+place on 26th.  We stay there two days, and then come down to Shwebo on
+right bank of river; the trip will do me good, I think, and will give
+me some relaxation while on board.  I'm better, but not up to much yet.
+
+"I heard from the C.-in-C. Bombay, Sir George Greaves, to the effect
+that he was applying for my services as A.G. of Bombay Army.  If I get
+this it will be nice, and I should see a good deal of John.  It's a
+long time since I've seen him now.
+
+"The quail here have been abundant, and the snipe are coming in, but no
+bags have been made yet.  I only speak from hearsay, as I have been
+unable to go out myself, as you will understand.
+
+"I wish you could all run up the river with me on this steamer; you
+would enjoy the voyage--such beautiful scenery, and such a river."
+
+[Sidenote: A new post]
+
+In October the "rightful owner" returned to the command at Mandalay,
+and Gatacre handed over finally.  He brought away many specimens of
+Burmese art and handicraft.  His own artistic faculties enabled him to
+appreciate all that was quaint or interesting in every locality that he
+visited.  In later life he took great pleasure in showing his friends
+the objects of value or beauty that he had collected, and {97}
+evidently looked back on these years of strenuous service with real
+delight.
+
+From Mandalay he brought away a teak-wood drum that had belonged to
+King Theebaw.  It is cut out of a solid trunk, and stands about three
+feet from the ground, weighs about a ton, and is covered with the most
+exquisite carving.  He took special pleasure in this piece of
+furniture, and in a beautiful silver plate from the Shan States.
+
+In November 1890 Gatacre relinquished his substantive post at
+Headquarters, on his appointment as Adjutant-General to the Bombay
+Army, with the temporary and local rank of Brigadier-General.
+
+
+
+
+{98}
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+1890-1894
+
+POONA
+
+Brigadier-General Gatacre took over the duties of Adjutant-General to
+the Bombay Army on November 25, 1890, under Sir George Greaves as
+Commander-in-Chief.
+
+His deputy in the office was surprised to find that Gatacre was not so
+regular in his attendance as might have been expected, and noticed
+other signs that suggested that he was unhappy and had something on his
+mind.  His colleague was quite right.  Gatacre was indeed passing
+through a severe and prolonged trial, one about which he could take no
+one into his confidence.  To his highly strung nature, in which the
+loftiest integrity was allied to the tenderest human feelings, a blow
+such as had fallen upon him must have wrung every fibre, and there is
+no doubt that he writhed under it.
+
+[Sidenote: In adversity]
+
+It was about this time that the General was bitten in the hand by a
+jackal that was said to be mad.  His nerves being already unduly
+strained, the poison (or the thought of it) got such a hold on him that
+the howling of the {99} jackals kept him awake at night, and a terror
+even possessed him of their coming in through the open windows.  So
+real was this obsession that he ordered iron railings to be fixed
+outside, and by thus convincing himself of the impossibility of such a
+thing, he gradually conquered the fantasies of his sick brain,
+triumphed over his sleeplessness, and reaped the benefit to his general
+health.
+
+What was really preying on his mind was not generally known till his
+friends read of the dissolution of his marriage.  Gatacre was the
+petitioner, and there was no defence.  This news gave rise to a strong
+feeling of sympathy with a man whose probity was unquestioned, and
+whose attractive appearance and genial manners had already made him a
+favourite in Poona.  There was in Gatacre a depth of faithful affection
+which nothing could kill; the generosity and kindliness of his judgment
+forbad his harbouring any thought of blame, and he clung with unaltered
+loyalty to memories of the past.
+
+            Love is not love
+  Which alters when it alteration finds,
+  Or bends with the remover to remove.
+
+
+It is from this time that we find him working with an _acharnement_,
+with a restless and passionate self-obliteration that became an
+unconquerable habit.  Ambition stepped in to revive his interest in his
+profession, and the service of his neighbour provided occupation for
+his leisure hours.
+
+{100}
+
+[Sidenote: 1890-4]
+
+Poona is not only the Headquarters of the Bombay Army, but for a good
+part of the year it is the residence of the Governor of the Bombay
+Presidency.  In the hot weather both civil and military officials
+retire to the country life of Mahabuleshwar, and in the cold weather
+spend a few weeks in Bombay City.  Thus all the year round there was a
+succession of official and social engagements; every one had rather
+more to do than there was time for in office hours, and every one
+wanted to put in an appearance at such social functions as appealed to
+his particular tastes.  Gatacre not only took part in all these events,
+but was the prime mover and organiser of everything that went on--no
+committee of management, no horse-show, gymkhana, or display was
+complete without his name.  Amongst other details the programmes
+engaged his particular attention.  He had a special chalk which, when
+used on prepared paper, could be reproduced as a lithograph by a very
+simple process.  He rapidly gained great facility in the use of this
+medium, and there is now quite a remarkable series of exquisite
+drawings that were thus reproduced.  A lively sense of humour animates
+some of these efforts, more especially those that did duty as
+hunt-cards.  The card was the size of foolscap paper; each season had a
+new drawing, but all were variations of the study of foxes, while words
+were put into their mouths expressing the sentiments of the quarry
+towards Doctor Bull's hounds.
+
+[Sidenote: A.G.]
+
+The position of Adjutant-General is one of great {101} influence, and
+this influence Gatacre invariably used to promote the cause of
+uprightness and true benevolence.  There was no red-tape about him; he
+was always accessible to all ranks, and instantly ready to deal with
+any emergency.
+
+On one occasion the friends of a young officer wanted to get him out of
+the way of temptation--the Adjutant-General detailed him to some
+outlying station.  On the other hand, a young cavalry officer from
+Mhow, who was engaged to a lady in Poona, found himself unexpectedly
+detained at Headquarters by the A.G.  If an officer and his family on
+their arrival were unable to find quarters, the A.G. would take the
+whole party in, regardless of any previous acquaintance.  In the club
+one day Gatacre noticed the name of a young officer on the Headquarter
+Staff posted up as having failed to pay his club account.  He sent for
+the officer and paid his bill, choosing to come himself to the rescue
+rather than that a young fellow in an honourable post should suffer
+disgrace.  Thus many an unrecorded kindness, many a deed of silent
+sacrifice, showed the natural generosity of his heart, showed his
+freedom from any taint of bitterness.  Instinctively and deliberately
+he endeavoured to obliterate his own sorrow by adding to the happiness
+of others, and in this way surrounded himself with an atmosphere of
+esteem and gratitude which reacted powerfully for his own benefit.  The
+officer who succeeded him as Adjutant-General had worked in his office
+for some time, and he {102} now writes that the thought of him revives
+the "deep impression of what a dear, good fellow he was, and how
+hospitable and kind."
+
+[Sidenote: 1891]
+
+Gatacre's efforts at hospitality once gave rise to much amusement on
+the one part and dismay on the other.  He usually kept but a small
+staff of servants, and dined at the club of Western India; but when
+there was some special gaiety going on, he would fill his house with
+guests from the outlying stations, and instruct his bearer to engage a
+good cook and other servants for the necessary period.  At the Poona
+Race Week one year Gatacre's friends were complimenting him on the
+excellence of his arrangements, and stories were related as to the
+enormities of which native cooks are sometimes guilty in the
+preparation of the Sahib's food, and of their troublesome ways in
+general.  One lady was particularly eloquent on the annoyance of having
+had to part with her khansama only a few days before in order that he
+might go and nurse his wife, who was dying.  Some one suggested a tour
+of inspection round Gatacre's house, which he had held up as a model
+establishment.  When the party reached the cook-house, I leave you to
+imagine the lady's surprise and amusement at finding her own truant
+cook installed for the nonce in her host's kitchen!
+
+His easy camaraderie of manner was so remarkable that a friend once
+asked Gatacre whether he had ever found that people took advantage of
+it, and treated him with undue familiarity, to which he replied that he
+had {103} never known them try.  He defended himself with a dry and
+subtle humour.  Assuming an impenetrable blandness of manner, he would
+on occasion utter sarcasms so veiled that some men could scarcely tell
+whether he was in earnest or not.  He was never angry, but he had a
+command of quiet language that made his remarks as stinging as they
+were humorous.  The man on the pillory would feel the sting, and the
+onlooker would see the humour.
+
+When another friend asked him why he was taking so much trouble over a
+matter that appeared outside the sphere of his interests, and scarcely
+worthy of the attention that he was lavishing on it, his reply seemed
+weighted with reproof as he said: "I don't think I ever knew what the
+meaning of the word trouble was."
+
+[Sidenote: Goes on tour]
+
+In the province of Bombay the inspections take place in the cold
+weather between November and March; a spell of hot weather then
+precedes the break of the monsoon early in June.  The rains last till
+September, and are followed by another spell of hot weather, till the
+air cools down again to quite a pleasant temperature in November.  The
+first inspection tour arranged for the end of 1891 included a visit to
+the regiments quartered at Kamptee in the Central Provinces.  Kamptee
+was the Headquarters of the Nagpur District, to the command of which
+Brigadier-General John Gatacre, C.B., had been recently gazetted.  To
+those who have heard of "inspection fever" (and even the best officers
+{104} are not always immune), it will be obvious that the station must
+have been in rather a commotion at the idea of a visit from the
+Commander-in-chief only four days after the arrival of a new General
+Officer Commanding.  But the new General was well known and trusted in
+Kamptee, for he had already been in the station for three years while
+in command of his regiment.
+
+[Sidenote: A railway accident]
+
+Between 6 and 7 a.m. on November 5 the General was on the platform of
+Nagpur Station awaiting the arrival of the train, when a telegraphic
+message came in, saying that there had been a serious railway accident
+to the Chief's train about nine miles away.  A message was sent back
+for medical assistance, and as soon as possible a break-down gang was
+got together, but it was nearly 11 o'clock before the relief train
+reached the spot.  General John tells us that the sight that greeted
+him was more shocking than any battlefield.  Eight men of the North
+Lancashire Regiment were killed outright, twenty-four were severely
+injured; a European guard, both drivers and both firemen were killed;
+five native passengers were also killed and eight wounded.  Beyond this
+total of eighteen deaths, four soldiers died within the next few days
+in hospital.  The framework of the carriages, the iron rails, and the
+men's rifles--everything was amazingly crumpled up and distorted.
+
+The permanent way at this spot runs along a thirty-foot embankment.
+The whole train was derailed, both engines with their tenders, a
+horse-box, and five or six coaches had rolled {105} to the bottom of
+the slope; the next carriage, in which Sir George Greaves had been
+travelling, was suspended half-way down the bank at an angle of 45°,
+the body having been completely wrenched away from the platform; and
+the last coach, which had been occupied by the staff officers--Gatacre,
+Hogg, and Leach--was hanging in the most precarious position over the
+edge.
+
+It turned out that the train was unusually long and heavy that day, as
+it was bringing some fifty men of the North Lancashire Regiment back
+from Chi-Kulda, a civil hill-station in the Berars, where a few sickly
+men had been sent as an experiment.  When the railway officials at
+Budnari Junction found that the three coaches set aside for the use of
+the Headquarter Staff had also to be attached, they feared that the
+engine would not be powerful enough to pull the train up a certain
+incline, and gave directions that a spare engine (which was meant only
+for local shunting work) should be put on in front.  This supplementary
+engine was the cause of the misfortune, for the tyres of its wheels,
+having been mended, gave way under the unusual strain of a long
+journey.  The front engine left the metals, and, rolling over, pulled
+the whole train along with it.
+
+The great majority of the fatal cases were of course in the first two
+coaches, in which the soldiers were unfortunately travelling.  Some (of
+the poor fellows suffered fearfully from scalding, over and above
+terrible fractures and injuries; some were so inextricably wedged in
+amongst {106} the wreckage that it was not till the relief train came
+up with jacks and crowbars that anything could be done to relieve their
+excruciating sufferings.  None of the staff officers were hurt, but
+Colonel Hogg had a narrow escape, for the end compartment, in which he
+had been shaving a few minutes earlier, was completely staved in by
+impact with the Chief's coach in front.
+
+In the official report forwarded by Sir George Greaves we read:
+
+
+"I desire to record with pleasure that the officers of the Headquarter
+Staff were conspicuous in their efforts to release the injured from the
+wreck of the train, especially Brigadier-General Gatacre, A.G.,
+Lieutenant-Colonel Leach, Military Secretary, and Captain Peyton,
+A.D.C., all of whom, at considerable personal risk, worked in under the
+overturned engines and carriages to get at the wounded."
+
+
+There were also miraculous escapes.  A gymnastic sergeant was
+travelling in the first coach with two small dogs on his knees.  Owing
+apparently to his trained activity, he was able to leap through the
+window, and thus escaped without injury from a compartment where all
+his companions were killed.
+
+As soon as possible the wounded were sent on into Kamptee under the
+charge of their companions, and it was three o'clock before the train
+got back again to pick up the staff officers.
+
+[Sidenote: "Such good sons"]
+
+On his arrival in Kamptee a telegram was handed to Gatacre, informing
+him of his father's {107} death.  This was not unexpected, but for both
+brothers it must have added a more profound and personal sadness to the
+horrors with which the day had begun; and as next day they listened to
+the Service read over the poor young fellows who had been so suddenly
+struck down, their hearts must have been at Gatacre, where the same
+words would soon be read over the old man of eighty-six whom they had
+so sincerely loved and reverenced.  Only a few days earlier they had
+sent a telegram of farewell in their joint names; and in due course had
+the satisfaction of hearing that it had arrived just in time to please
+the dying man, who murmured in response, "I thank God for such good
+sons."
+
+On April 1, 1893, Lieutenant-General Sir John Hudson took over command
+of the Bombay Army; only two months later he was killed by a fall from
+his horse.  The Commander-in-Chief was taking his usual ride with
+Colonel Leach, his Military Secretary, before breakfast on the morning
+of June 9, when his horse stumbled heavily, throwing Sir John forward
+on his head.  Six weeks earlier Sir James Dormer, Commander-in-Chief in
+Madras, had met with his death while out tiger-shooting, so that this
+further catastrophe came with added force to the sister Presidency.
+
+Gatacre had written home a few days before, saying how genial and
+kindly he found his new chief, with whom he was already on intimate
+terms.  It was always a great satisfaction to him to think that the
+horse which had made {108} the blunder was not one of his choosing, for
+Sir John had already sought his advice in the matter of getting himself
+provided with chargers.  As chief staff officer it fell to him to make
+all the arrangements for the imposing ceremony that took place at 8.30
+a.m. on the day following the tragedy.  Lord Harris, the Governor, came
+down from Panchguni for the occasion.  By special instructions he
+placed a wreath on the coffin in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, and
+numberless similar tributes showed the respectful sympathy of the whole
+army.  The Guard of Honour was furnished by the 2nd Battalion
+Lancashire Fusiliers; all the troops in garrison, both in Poona and
+Kirkee, accompanied by massed bands, took part in the solemn
+procession.  It is said that five thousand men attended the funeral,
+and that the whole was so admirably thought out and arranged in the
+short space of time that no confusion or difficulty arose at any point.
+
+[Sidenote: Hands over]
+
+In due course Sir Charles Nairne, R.A., became Commander-in-Chief of
+the Bombay Army.  He was the last of the race, for during his tenure of
+the office its name was changed, and he handed over as
+Lieutenant-General Commanding the Bombay Army Corps.  The office of
+Adjutant-General was also renamed, but that was not until after Gatacre
+had been succeeded by General Reginald Curteis.  Sir Charles was the
+third Chief under whom Gatacre had served in this capacity in less than
+three years.  But as these changes made no difference to Gatacre's
+{109} loyal service, so there seems to have been no difference in the
+high esteem in which his seniors held him.  When he relinquished his
+post, some eighteen months later, the same cordial regard had grown up
+which he always contrived to win from all those with whom he was
+associated either officially or socially.  When I came to live in the
+command, about two years later, there was no household from whom I
+received a more genuine welcome than from Sir Charles and Lady Nairne
+and their personal staff.
+
+Early in 1894 the Adjutant-General was appointed to the command of the
+military district that had its headquarters at Bombay.
+
+
+
+
+{110}
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+1894-1895
+
+BOMBAY
+
+[Sidenote: Colara]
+
+Although the climate of Bombay, which is situated on the nineteenth
+parallel, did not offer the attractions of Poona, and although the
+appointment brought no promotion in army rank, still Gatacre welcomed
+the change of work, and the accession of dignity and opportunity
+afforded by an independent command.  On January 30, 1894, his selection
+for the command of the Bombay District was gazetted, and shortly
+afterwards he moved into the bungalow in the Marine Lines, which then
+formed the official residence.  Of this quaint building he was the last
+tenant, for three years later this relic of Old Bombay and its naval
+neighbour disappeared under the consuming flame of the Plague
+Commission.
+
+This house and the adjacent one which sheltered the Admiral were
+historic erections, being survivals of the days when the Englishman
+first pitched his moving tent in these regions.  For the original
+canvas covering of the tent, "jaffray-work," or plaited palm-leaves,
+had {111} been substituted, which had to be renewed each year just
+before the monsoon broke; this roof was supported on wooden columns
+that were the successors of the original tent-poles, and made a quaint
+feature in all the rooms.  The canvas walls of the tent had been
+replaced by Venetian shutters; the doors were made of cotton stuff
+stretched on a frame, which left a large space above and below the
+eye-line.  The deep verandah, on which greenhouse creepers sprawled
+luxuriantly, covered a space wide enough to allow of dining and
+sleeping out-of-doors.
+
+The weather is warm all the year round, and becomes exceedingly damp
+and oppressive in the spring and autumn, while in the summer the
+monsoon winds bring a rainfall of nearly 300 inches in three months.
+White uniform is worn throughout the year, even on full-dress
+occasions.  At the extreme point of the island, in the breeziest and
+healthiest situation, there are barracks for one British regiment, and
+hard by is the beautiful chapel raised as a memorial to those who fell
+in the Afghan Campaign of 1849.  It was an exceedingly pretty sight to
+see a regiment of men all clad in spotless white file into their places
+on a Sunday morning.  The rifle regiments wear their black buttons and
+ornaments, and one would say that nothing could be smarter, until the
+reliefs bring another corps, who with their gold buttons and belts
+produce a more brilliant effect.
+
+According to the military classification, {112} Bombay is a
+Second-class District, held by a Brigadier-General, who is not really a
+General Officer, but a full colonel with temporary rank.  A First-class
+District is held by a Major-General, whose importance is further marked
+by the presence of an A.D.C.  There is, however, so much ceremonial
+work peculiar to Bombay that the General often wished that he had been
+granted the services of such a young officer, as a way of saving his
+regular staff.
+
+[Sidenote: Transports]
+
+Gatacre held this command for more than three years--from January 1894
+to July 1897--but for eight months in the summer of the second year,
+1895, he was on active service in Chitral, and for the same period in
+1896 he was officiating at Quetta.  Owing to the difference in climate
+he thus served for five drill seasons in succession.  Although these
+two short episodes will be dealt with separately, the fact that he did
+duty through the cold weather for three seasons in Bombay seems to
+justify also a study of the conditions peculiar to that command.
+
+So far as the passenger traffic is concerned, Bombay is the port of
+India.  It is the quickest route to all the provinces, even as far east
+as Calcutta.  All the transports between England and India call at
+Bombay, and the vast majority of troops are there embarked and
+disembarked.  In consideration of the work entailed in arranging the
+transport service, an extra Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General was
+allowed on the staff; practically this department of the staff office
+was the shipping agency for all the reliefs {113} throughout India.
+Not only had the transhipping and railway arrangements to be made for
+every regiment on its arrival and departure, and for drafts of men from
+every branch of the service, but privilege passages had to be allotted
+to the innumerable officers and their families who, when going home on
+leave, hoped to avail themselves of the chance of a vacancy on a
+transport.  The rule in allotting these passages was that the junior
+officer should take precedence, Government having apparently in mind
+that their scale of pay gave them the first title to consideration.  At
+the same time, senior officers were often needed to take command of a
+ship full of details, and sometimes had to be searched for, Army
+nursing sisters, too, had special claims.
+
+All these conflicting interests gave rise to almost as many private
+letters as there were official applications.  Ladies and children would
+come and live in Bombay in the hope of securing a vacancy at the
+eleventh hour--a device which was often successful.  There were
+numberless hard cases and jealousies over these passages, and many
+funny stories were told.  It was whispered that if an applicant called
+in person on the General, her chances would be in direct proportion to
+her personal attractions.  The amount of baggage allowed was also a
+source of infinite vexation.  Once a nursing sister, who had recently
+married an army surgeon, asked to be allowed to send her effects under
+her maiden name, as the scale of baggage allowed in her professional
+capacity {114} was slightly higher than that considered sufficient for
+a captain's wife.
+
+During the loading and unloading of these transports an officer of the
+General's staff had to be continuously on duty to attend to any matter
+that might arise, and to check the freight, live and dead.  This was a
+tedious and very irksome duty, and, considering the amount of work
+going on in the office during the winter months, the time thus spent
+could be ill spared.  The General made a practice of calling in person
+on all transports immediately before their departure, at whatever hour
+it might be, and soon after their arrival.  If a homeward-bound vessel
+was starting on a midnight tide, he would dine in his picturesque white
+mess-dress, and thus be ready to go and pay his official visit of
+farewell.  The house was a long way from the Bunder, so that this duty
+involved a drive of more than a mile, and a run across the harbour in
+the Government launch, which was always at his disposal.  In that
+intensely Oriental setting the thrill of living (as it were) in the
+exchange, and seeing the great ships that go down to the sea carrying
+their load of joyful anticipations, was irresistibly moving.  Gatacre
+was thus on terms of personal friendship with all the captains, and
+used to ask them to his own house.  As a Christmas recognition of such
+attentions, the captain of the _Victoria_ sent up a specially selected
+sirloin of English beef one year on the morning of December 25.  All
+who have tasted Indian beef will know that this was a rare delicacy.
+
+{115}
+
+[Sidenote: The Navy]
+
+But transports were not the only vessels in Bombay Harbour.  There were
+ships from the Royal Navy, ships from the foreign navies, and
+Peninsular and Oriental weekly mails, outward and homeward bound.
+
+Between the navy and the army there was a strict etiquette regarding
+the exchange of visits.  Writing from Bombay on November 3, 1909,
+General Swann tells us that--
+
+
+"The procedure in the matter of ceremonial calling was for a staff
+officer to go on board within twenty-four hours of a ship's arrival and
+arrange for the exchange of visits between the captain and the general;
+the first visit was made by whichever was the junior of the two, and
+both visits were supposed to be over within the twenty-four hours."
+
+
+Such official visiting had also to be attended to with great
+punctuality in the case of foreign warships, and on these occasions a
+bottle of champagne would be produced at any hour, and the health of
+the respective sovereigns ceremoniously toasted.  The General
+particularly exerted himself to entertain these foreign guests.  When a
+Russian vessel was in the harbour he asked the captain and three or
+four officers to breakfast at his house, inviting some ladies who could
+talk French to come and entertain them.  On another occasion, when an
+Italian vessel lay at anchor, the General writes:
+
+
+"I got up in the middle of the night last night to take the Duke of
+Savoy and his staff out {116} hunting to-day.  He thoroughly enjoyed
+himself, galloped to his heart's content, made himself very sore at the
+knees, and came home perfectly happy.  I got back just in time to dress
+for parade service, but could not get time for breakfast.  Went to
+church, and got back to luncheon at 2.30."
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1894-7]
+
+The hunting days in Bombay were Thursday and Sunday mornings; horses
+were sent on overnight.  The meet was at daybreak at a place reached
+after about forty minutes in a train that left the station at 4.30 a.m.
+Hounds moved off as soon as the light allowed.  It was a sporting
+country, for there were plenty of jackals, and the ground varied from
+soft ricefields, enclosed by Irish banks, to hard rock and heavy sand
+in which prickly-pear hedges were disagreeably abundant.  The hunt
+usually returned to the Jackal Club Camp in time for the 8.30 train,
+and all the men got back in time to be at their offices by 10 o'clock.
+Every one in Bombay has an office of some sort, for no one would live
+there unless forced thereto by the necessity of fulfilling their
+vocation.
+
+Another feature of the Bombay command was the constant semi-official
+attendances at the railway station and elsewhere.  Whenever His
+Excellency the Governor, or His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, or
+His Excellency the Admiral Commanding the East Indian Squadron passed
+through the station, the General Officer Commanding was there to
+receive him, or to see him off as the occasion demanded.
+
+{117}
+
+[Sidenote: Guests]
+
+It was also his pleasure to meet any friends, official or private, who
+might be arriving or departing by the mail.  There was hardly a week
+when his launch was not in attendance on the mail-boats.  These usually
+arrived at daybreak, but for Gatacre no hour was too early.  One
+morning the mail was to bring a general officer who was on his way to
+take over a command up-country.  His son, already appointed as A.D.C.,
+had come down to Bombay to meet his father, and had called at the Staff
+Office on the previous day.  The General offered to take him on board
+in his launch, as he was himself going to fetch his guest home to
+breakfast, and named the hour.  But when the General stepped into the
+launch next morning the A.D.C. was nowhere visible on the Bunder.
+Afterwards the young man turned up, and his father said with a
+carelessnesss of speech which Gatacre was quick to detect: "May I
+introduce you to my son?"  To which Gatacre replied: "You may bring him
+up to me if you like."
+
+It was one of the paradoxes of Gatacre's character that he was
+sometimes as punctilious about fine shades of etiquette as he was on
+other occasions kindly when such subtleties interfered with his mood or
+his purpose.
+
+All through the cold weather the General's house was full.  There were
+the friends going by the mail to whom an invitation would be of the
+greatest convenience; there were the friends arriving by the mail who
+must stay one night to clear their baggage before starting up-country;
+{118} there were the friends who had entertained him when inspecting at
+their station, and whose daughters would enjoy the gaiety of the city.
+He was very fond of ladies, and minutely thoughtful for every detail
+which might contribute to their comfort or pleasure while in his house.
+
+Over and above all these calls on his time there was still the
+soldiering.  The district covered a considerable area, extending
+northward as far as Cutch-Bhuj in Kathywarj and including many inland
+stations such as Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, and Khandalla.  There was
+also a detachment of the Marine Battalion in the Persian Gulf.  All the
+arrangements had been made for an official visit to Bushire in the
+spring of 1896, and it was with great reluctance that the General gave
+up this trip when he found himself under orders for Quetta.
+
+It was the soldiering that he loved, and it was for this love of the
+soldiering that he deliberately overworked himself.  No personal
+considerations had any weight.  Having no one at home to watch over
+him, he became recklessly irregular at his meals, and would sit up to
+all hours of the night writing--endlessly writing.  What kept him going
+were the trips up-country to inspect the outlying regiments and
+detachments; for in the train he would make up his arrears of sleep,
+and the rules of politeness secured his punctual attendance at
+meal-time.  The uncertainty of his hours was a matter of some comment
+at the office, where no doubt it {119} gave rise to considerable
+inconvenience, and probably not less troublesome was his habit of
+utterly disregarding the usual luncheon interval.  The General was
+playfully conscious of all these misdemeanours, for on bidding good-bye
+to his chief staff officer on his departure for Quetta, he said:
+
+[Sidenote: Office hours]
+
+"Now you will be all right--with a brand-new General whom you can
+educate to attend the office regularly at eleven, and go home to tiffin
+at two."
+
+This officer, however, bore him no grudge for his vagaries, and now
+writes with great affection of his old Chief.
+
+
+POONA, _September_ 17, 1909.
+
+"As his staff officer there were two points he used to impress on
+me--'No difficulty' and 'No finality.'  Difficulties, like hills, were
+useful for the exercise they give in surmounting them.  There is no
+difficulty that cannot be overcome somehow.  No finality is the
+watch-word of progress.  What may seem best to-day can be improved upon
+to-morrow, but that is no reason for deferring action indefinitely:
+'The best is the enemy of the good.'  Act on what seems good at the
+moment, and trust to time and opportunity to find something better to
+act on later.  But act, and act promptly.  This, I think, sums up the
+principles he tried to instil into me, and his example illustrates his
+teaching.
+
+"I never served under a chief who thought more quickly, decided more
+readily, or acted more promptly."
+
+
+During the last week of November 1894 the {120} Viceroy, Lord Elgin,
+arranged to hold a Durbar at Lahore.  There was to be a great gathering
+of the native princes of the Punjab, and a concentration of British,
+Native, and Imperial Service troops.  The Viceroy and the
+Commander-in-Chief both had large camps, to which they invited guests
+from all parts of India.  Having received the offer of a tent and the
+hospitality of his camp from Sir George White, Gatacre selected the two
+best-looking chargers in his stable and repaired to Lahore in the
+highest spirits.
+
+[Sidenote: 1894]
+
+In a letter written a little later, however, he confesses that it was
+not the attractions of the Durbar that took him so far out of his
+command at such a busy time of the year, but the expectation of seeing
+some one again whom he had recently met as she passed through Bombay.
+For the guests a Durbar week is a holiday; the General was a free
+man--he had only to look on and enjoy himself.  There were many
+official functions where every one was gloriously apparelled, but he
+looked as splendid as any in that brilliant company; and there were
+many social festivities which afforded opportunity for daily
+intercourse.  It was during the picturesque pageants of the Lahore Week
+that I came under the spell of the General's charm.  To know him was to
+love him, as many another has since said to me.  During that week we
+learnt to know one another, and at the end of it he wrote a frank manly
+letter to my father, Lord Davey, begging him to sanction the idea of
+our marriage.  {121} I regret that the kindly reply to his honest
+exposition of the whole matter has not been preserved; its purport
+being in accordance with our hopes, the engagement was made known, and
+I had the gratification of hearing my General's praises on all sides.
+
+In some letters of December 1894 he intentionally writes about himself,
+and supplies us with the incentives which inspired him.
+
+
+"I am always thinking of how I can get on, not for the sake of the
+money it brings, but for soldiering itself."
+
+
+And again:
+
+[Sidenote: Soldiering first]
+
+"I hope you will not mind my love of soldiering and work; it has such a
+fascination for me, I am inclined to put it first always.  But my love
+for you will stand out first, and your love for me will enable me to
+carry out my work at personal inconvenience to ourselves, won't it?
+You see I am cunningly trying to get you to overlook my endeavours to
+think of soldiering as the first thing, but, dear, you will always be
+in my heart all the time."
+
+
+Perhaps it was by contrast with the slackness natural to the soft
+climate of Bombay that Gatacre's indomitable spirit attracted so much
+attention.  Colonel James Arnott writes:
+
+
+"Working, as I did, in the Civil Department, I had no official
+association with your husband, and it was only when he commanded the
+Bombay District that I got to know him at all well.  I was much
+impressed by his keen interest in his {122} profession, his strong
+_esprit de corps_, his enthusiasm for work, and the activity and
+strength which enabled him to carry it on in a way to stimulate others.
+I have a clear recollection of his active figure and his first-rate
+horsemanship, riding, as he often used to do, bare-backed, an
+indication of character and of those qualities so necessary in a
+soldier.
+
+"General Gatacre took his share in everything of public interest in
+Bombay, but I shall only refer to the very successful Assault-at-Arms
+which he organised--the first and best thing of the kind that I saw in
+my long residence in Bombay."[1]
+
+
+[1] September 13, 1909.
+
+
+[Sidenote: The first tournament]
+
+This tournament was a great event.  The large grass-covered enclosure
+known as the Oval was borrowed from the Municipality for the purpose of
+a Grand Naval and Military Display and Assault-at-Arms.  This space,
+flanked on one side by the Town Hall, and on the other open to the sea,
+offered every facility for such an undertaking.  Admiral Kennedy, who
+was in residence for Christmas, willingly co-operated; his handy men
+rendered most valuable assistance, the naval element lending a
+distinction of which only a Bombay Assault-at-Arms could boast.  An
+attractive programme was made out and entries were invited from all the
+stations in India.
+
+It was of course necessary to get subscriptions and guarantees; but the
+General was already personally acquainted with all the leading men in
+Bombay, and had no difficulty in {123} getting what he wanted.  The
+Governor and the resident native princes gave their support and
+patronage, and many wealthy merchants, realising the great local
+expenditure that such a tamasha must involve, contributed generously.
+In the friendly relations established with the citizens of Bombay over
+the multifarious business of this tournament lay the secret of the
+facility with which Gatacre two years later won them to accept his
+views about segregation.
+
+Every detail of the entertainment had the General's personal attention;
+his fertile brain organised and perfected the whole and every part, his
+hands painted the scenery of the Soudan Village, his horse carried the
+officer's daughter who, in the gay uniform of the Royal Horse
+Artillery, opened the proceedings by presenting His Excellency the
+Governor with a programme in a silver case.  The incessant labour
+entailed by this vast undertaking, and the strain necessary to honour
+all its calls upon him while carrying on simultaneously the routine of
+his official life, can be best expressed in his own words.
+
+Writing on the Thursday before the tournament, which was to open on
+Monday, December 17, he says:
+
+
+"Before I met you I thought there was only one thing in the world, and
+that was soldiering; now I think there are two, but the soldiering is
+at present the only one I have got.  I have been busy to-day, and in a
+fever about the whole thing.  I have been calling on the Italian ship,
+drinking 'The King and Italy,' again very bad {124} when one has fever,
+I should say; but no matter, the champagne was very good.  The levee is
+just over, the whole world pouring before Lord Harris, and now I am
+going to paint till about 3 a.m. to-morrow.  I have half a town to do,
+and no one seems able to originate anything."
+
+
+On the 18th, after the first day's performance, he writes:
+
+
+"What will you say to me, not writing to you yesterday?  But if you
+only knew the sort of day I have had!  First I was busy in the office,
+could not move from my chair till 4 o'clock p.m.; then I had to dress
+and meet H.E. the C.-in-C. at the station at 4.45, then to meet the
+Admiral at the Apollo Bunder a mile away at 5 o'clock--all official
+receptions; then to go to the Tournament to see all was right, finish
+painting scenery, entertain the Governor's party at dinner, go to the
+Tournament, watch it till 1 a.m., then drink 'the King and Italy' with
+the Italian officers, who remained till the last.  Finally, at 2 a.m.,
+commence to count with an enormous staff of clerks 10,000 tickets, to
+see if the money was right.  You see, I am responsible, and I like to
+be sure what we are doing.  Well, dearest, the thing was a tremendous
+success.  We sold 10,000 Rs. worth of tickets last night, shall sell
+probably 11,000 Rs. to-night, and so on.
+
+[Sidenote: Tent-pegging]
+
+"Everything went well.  The light was not as good as I should wish, but
+it was fair.  We had no accident in the ring, but got a horse killed
+afterwards, his leg being broken by a kick....  Well, I finished these
+beastly tickets at 4 a.m., and at 7 had to go tent-pegging for an hour,
+and since then have never sat down, so you see why I did not write.
+Now it is 5.30 {125} p.m., and I am so tired--or at least my eyes are;
+and I shall not have a chance to rest till 5 a.m. to-morrow; it will
+take us all that time to check the takings."
+
+
+On the 21st, when it was all over except for the prize-giving and the
+congratulations, he writes:
+
+
+"I have fever this morning; have not had any sleep for days, and had to
+run in the Open Competition for Officers' Tent-pegging, which I won
+easily, taking both pegs and then touching two more turned on edge.  I
+was rather pleased, as no one else touched one sideways at all, and all
+were about twenty years younger than I!  My team ran fourth for the
+Duke of Savoy's Cup; my men could not ride well enough; I got both mine.
+
+"To-day is the final ceremony.  You have never seen such an
+extraordinary multitude; tens of thousands of children, who pay one
+anna each, crowding round the place endeavouring to get an entrance.  I
+do wish you were here to see the unusual activity reigning in the town
+and the excitement we have caused."
+
+
+It was the novelty of the thing that gave importance to this
+tournament; the idea has since been carried out in many stations with
+marked success.  It is interesting to note that such a gathering has
+also an indirect value; it promotes camaraderie between different
+branches of the service, and shows how much pleasure may be provided to
+both competitors and on-lookers by what was essentially "soldiering" in
+its inception.
+
+{126}
+
+In _The Times of India_ we read:
+
+
+"At the close of the Commander-in-Chief's speech three ringing cheers
+were given for His Excellency and a similar number for
+Brigadier-General Gatacre.  The Commander-in-Chief having then left the
+arena, the troops left the ground with bands playing, the men-of-war's
+men as a special and well-deserved honour being escorted to the Apollo
+Bunder by a regimental band, and followed by a large crowd of
+civilians.  Several of the troops in camp on the Oval visited the
+flagship H.M.S. _Bonaventure_, and the turret-ship _Magdala_ yesterday
+morning, while others were taken for a cruise in the harbour, a number
+of the up-country native troops being taken on a visit to inspect the
+local cotton mills.
+
+"The work of demolishing the enclosure and removing the plant has
+already begun, and to-day the majority of the troops will be _en route_
+for their up-country stations, many of them taking back prizes and
+other mementoes of the well-organised, well-managed, and finest
+military display and gathering of its kind ever held in the East."
+
+
+As soon as it was all over Gatacre took ten days' leave to Calcutta,
+where he was welcomed with surprise and pleasure by his friends of the
+other side.
+
+
+
+
+{127}
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+1895
+
+CHITRAL
+
+The annual inspections in the Bombay District for the season 1894-5 had
+all been carried out, confidential reports were rapidly being filled
+in, and got ready to forward to Headquarters, the arrangements for the
+sailing of the last transport were all settled, and all work was
+beginning to slacken in Bombay with the approach of the hot weather.
+Gatacre was making a push to conclude the season's work with a view to
+taking eight months' leave to England.  In theory this long leave can
+be secured once in every five-year command; but Gatacre had now
+completed two such appointments without availing himself of this
+privilege, having been content with the sixty days' leave allowed each
+year.
+
+But whatever might be the special reasons which drew him homewards in
+1895, a better thing still was in prospect for him: in whole-hearted
+joy he writes on March 15:
+
+
+"I am so pleased: have got a telegram from {128} Sir George White
+saying, 'Have nominated you to command Third Brigade in Division to be
+mobilised for possible service Chitral.'  This is a first-class
+business, for though it will prevent my coming home so soon, still it
+is a step onwards, and that is what we want, isn't it, dear?  I am so
+pleased at getting this chance, and will do my best for your sake and
+my own."
+
+
+[Sidenote: The Third Brigade]
+
+The Chitral Relief Force was under the command of Sir Robert Low; the
+expedition was organised to effect the relief of Surgeon-Major
+Robertson, I.C.S., and some half-dozen officers who were shut up with a
+small garrison in the fort at Chitral.  We are not concerned here with
+the internal events which had culminated in the siege of the fort by a
+hostile faction; suffice it to say that the Government of India
+regarded the matter as very urgent, and were sending a strong division
+of both British and Native troops to their assistance.
+
+Sir Robert Low's force was to approach from the south over the Malakand
+Pass, and to make its way up the valley of the Chitral River.  This was
+a route which had not hitherto been used by the Indian Government, and
+covered about 185 miles.  Communications with Chitral had previously
+been maintained from the north-east, via Gilgit.  During the winter
+months this latter route was closed, as the road lay over snow-covered
+passes; the distance was about 160 miles from Gilgit, and this was the
+recognised access and the base of supplies for the little garrison.
+And so it came about that, {129} in response to messages from Major
+Robertson, Colonel Kelly was endeavouring to reach him from Gilgit,
+undismayed by almost impassable winter snows, at the same time that the
+Indian Relief Force was advancing with similar intention from Peshawur.
+
+In a letter from Mian Mir, March 24, 1895, Gatacre writes:
+
+
+"I leave to-morrow to take command of my Brigade at Hoti Mardan, about
+twenty-five miles north-east of Peshawur, and we shall march from there
+on April 1, right away for Chitral; but without doubt we shall have
+some rough work and some fighting.  Umra Khan knows he will have no
+mercy after destroying Captain Ross's detachment, and will do his best
+to raise the whole border against us.
+
+"I have four first-class regiments--the Seaforth Highlanders, the
+Buffs, the 25th Punjab Infantry, the Second 4th Ghoorkas, and we are
+all sound and prepared to go anywhere, so I hope we shall all come well
+out of it.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"I think myself we shall have to drop our tents, small as they are, and
+march without them.  Our difficulty will be crossing deep rivers; we
+shall have no boats, and must trust to making rafts of skins and
+floating the men across; but it is always a shaky business when there
+are bullets flying about."
+
+
+On March 30, in drenching rain, the first troops marched out of Hoti
+Mardan; on April 2 they met the enemy, who were lying in wait for them
+on the slopes of the Malakand Pass.  But {130} in this and the
+subsequent engagements on the banks of the Swat and the Panjkora
+Rivers, the Third Brigade took no part, being held in reserve.  A
+stirring account of the fighting is given by Colonel Younghusband in
+his _Story of the Guides_.
+
+A bridge of rafts was thrown across the Panjkora River; the Guides
+Cavalry and Infantry were passed over on the afternoon of April 15,
+with orders to reconnoitre certain villages early the next morning.
+But in the night a flood arose, huge trees crashed down on the swollen
+stream, completely wrecking the bridge.  Two miles below this point,
+the Sappers were rigging up a suspension bridge; and in the meantime an
+attempt was made to float the men across on rafts supported by
+mussocks, or inflated goat-skins, and navigated by native boatmen.
+
+[Sidenote: A rescue]
+
+Gatacre, whose brigade was still in the rear, had pushed forward to see
+what was going on, and stood by the river's edge watching this "shaky
+business."  Suddenly a raft on which four men were seated got out of
+control, broke away from the guiding rope, and was immediately caught
+by the current, and swirled down the turbulent stream.  In an instant
+Gatacre jumped on his pony, and dashed at full gallop over the rocky
+ground in the wild hope of reaching the spot where the bridge was being
+made in time to warn the Sappers, and attempt a rescue.  The bend of
+the river gave him time; with equal promptitude Major Aylmer got into a
+sling-cradle, and was lowered in mid-stream {131} just as the raft came
+in sight.  Two men only were still on it, one of whom saw his chance
+and grasped the extended hand.  As the river had narrowed from 200
+yards to ninety feet, the raft was travelling at a tremendous pace.
+There was a moment of thrilling strain on the ropes; the cradle was
+submerged by the sudden pull; but all held on heroically, and Aylmer
+had the satisfaction of bringing Private Hall safely to land.  The
+other man, together with the two comrades who had been thrown off in
+the wild descent, were hopelessly lost.[1]
+
+
+[1] See Sir Robert Low's _Despatch_, April 18, 1895, par. 18.
+
+
+Early on April 17, the bridge being completed, the advance was resumed.
+It was here that the Third Brigade got its chance.  An officer writes:
+
+
+"I can well recall our intense joy when we found ourselves going over
+the Panjkora Bridge in front of the Second Brigade, which had been
+leading since we left the Malakand.  With feverish haste we packed our
+mules, having moved our camp the night before, so as to be as close as
+possible to the bridge."
+
+
+By 10.45 the Third Brigade, accompanied by the Guides Cavalry and the
+11th Bengal Lancers, were all across, and orders were received for a
+general advance on Miankalai, which was being held against us.  Sir
+Robert Low's despatch runs:
+
+
+"I pushed on to Ghobani with the Third Brigade, arriving there soon
+after noon.  The enemy had then collected on a bluff in two villages
+west of Mamugai.  The battery came into action {132} about 12.30 p.m.,
+and the enemy soon fell back under cover.  The Seaforth Highlanders and
+4th Goorkhas moved up to the south side of the valley, and then
+advanced against the enemy in a westerly direction, driving them back
+from spur to spur, and eventually arrived at the bluff mentioned about
+4 p.m., which they occupied for the night.
+
+"The enemy on this occasion did not show the bold front of previous
+days, but retired as the infantry advanced; and though the guns were
+sent forward about 1,000 yards to hasten their retreat, the loss of the
+enemy was not great.  Throughout the action the troops were well
+handled by Brigadier-General Gatacre, D.S.O.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"The same afternoon Brigadier-General Gatacre with the Buffs, the 4th
+Goorkhas, half of No. 4 Company Bengal Sappers and Miners, No. 2
+Derajat Mountain Battery, and the Maxim guns of the Devonshire Regiment
+pushed on to Barwa, _en route_ for Dir and Chitral, with twenty days'
+supplies.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"On the afternoon of April 20 Brigadier-General Gatacre sent a message
+back to me that Major Deane, chief political officer, had received news
+that the garrison of Chitral was reduced to great straits, and that the
+mines of the enemy had reached to within ten yards of the fort, and he
+suggested that he should advance rapidly with a small body of five
+hundred men.
+
+"To this I consented, as being the only way of passing quickly through
+the intricate country we were now traversing, and the only chance of
+rescuing the garrison."[2]
+
+
+[2] See Sir Robert Low's _Despatch_, April 19, 1895.
+
+
+{133}
+
+[Sidenote: The Flying Column]
+
+The excitement and joyful anticipation amongst those who were to
+compose the Flying Column were intense.  One of them writes:
+
+
+"We had intended pushing on over the Lowari Pass without baggage
+animals, the paths being unfit for even mules without much tedious and
+lengthy preparation.  Every officer and man was to have carried ten
+days' supplies on his back, and I had already broken up the General's
+mess stores into suitable 40-lb. loads for hillmen to carry for us.  In
+order to do this I only got to bed at our Janbatai camp at 1 a.m. and
+had to be up at 3 a.m.; so you can imagine it was impressed on my mind.
+
+"The dear General was, I fancy, awake all night, partly on account of
+the painful abscess that had been lanced that evening; but in spite of
+this he marched with us all next day, standing in his stirrups, because
+of the pain of sitting; and indefatigably urged on our bridging and
+road-making parties.  After our arrival at Dir, having marched twenty
+miles and made the road and bridged the streams _en route_, the General
+would not rest or dine till the last of the transport mules had been
+piloted with lamps over a very difficult and rocky part of the path,
+just outside Dir.  I fancy we dined at about 9.30 p.m.; but this was no
+unusual thing, for the General always insisted on seeing to the comfort
+of his brigade before his own, and I hardly ever managed to induce him
+to sit down to dinner till some time between 9 and 10 p.m."
+
+But much to the chagrin of the five hundred they were a flying column
+for twenty-four hours only, for on the 22nd news was received that the
+siege, which had lasted forty-six days, had {134} been raised.  It was
+afterwards ascertained that Colonel Kelly had reached the fort at 2
+p.m. on the 20th, and that Sher Afzul and his supporters had fled the
+previous day.  The General says nothing of his personal disappointment
+in the letters of this date, but when he was in the fort a month later,
+he writes:
+
+
+"I wish they had let me loose as I wished, when we reached the Swat
+River.  I should have been in Chitral before Kelly, though he had only
+half the distance to go that I had.  But G.O.C. wanted to move with a
+united force.  Of course we all hold different views regarding the best
+way of doing these things, but had I had the doing of it, I would have
+moved by separate lines, one brigade in advance; one would have got on
+quicker, and more effectively.  But this is only between you and me."
+
+
+[Illustration: Goorkhas crossing the Lowari Pass]
+
+The campaign now entered into the second phase; the fighting was over,
+but not so the work.  The Government decided that the Third Brigade
+should proceed to Chitral.  Having already reached Dir, they had
+covered nearly two-thirds of the distance according to the map, but the
+most difficult part of the journey was ahead of them.  The Lowari Pass,
+10,450 ft. high, was covered with deep snow, and the valleys leading up
+to it on both sides were known to present almost insurmountable
+obstacles to the passage of a large body of men and animals.
+
+The following extract from _Trans-frontier Wars_ (vol. i. p. 544) gives
+a good idea of the physical features of the country to be traversed.
+
+
+{135}
+
+"Throughout its entire length from Dir to Ashreth, the road was a mere
+goat-track, offering extraordinary difficulties to the passage of
+troops, and requiring extensive improvements before laden animals could
+follow it.
+
+"The route to Gujar, at the foot of the pass, lay for eleven miles up
+the Dir Valley beside the tumbling snow-fed torrent that streams from
+the south side of the pass.  The track was in general extremely
+difficult, frequently losing itself among the boulders that choked the
+bed of the stream, and rising steeply to traverse the face of a rocky
+bluff, only to fall again with equal abruptness on the other side.
+This portion of the road had to be realigned and reconstructed
+throughout, the river had to be bridged in three or four places, and
+stone staircase ramps had to be built in the water at more than one
+point, to enable laden animals to pass where the stream washed the foot
+of a precipitous cliff.  From Gujar, 8,450 ft., to the summit of the
+pass, a distance of three miles, the track lay over frozen and often
+treacherous snow, at first at a fairly easy gradient, but growing
+steeper and more slippery as the pass was approached.  Beyond the crest
+a great snow cornice, 15 ft. in height, overhung the head of the glen,
+down which the track descended for about 1,000 yards at a gradient of
+one in three or four, over vast drifts of avalanche snow, in which
+great rocks and the uprooted trunks of gigantic trees lay deeply
+embedded.  From the foot of this descent the route lay down a steep and
+rocky gorge, now following the tangled bed of the torrent, now winding
+through fine forests of pine and cedar, or traversing open grassy
+glades clogged with the drainage of melting snows."
+
+
+{136}
+
+[Sidenote: The advance]
+
+In such a struggle with the forces of nature Gatacre was at his best.
+No difficulty dismayed him; his own passionate belief in the power of
+goodwill and hard work to overcome every obstacle inspired the whole
+force.  The men learnt to work hard because he expected it of them and
+seemed always present to appreciate their efforts.  They learnt to
+endure every hardship because he endured physical discomforts as great
+as theirs.  Some few men were attacked with frost-bite, and the General
+was amongst the number; it caught him across the knuckles, and put him
+to great inconvenience.  They saw him daily riding up and down the
+road, ministering to their comfort and their safety; and they realised
+that as a master he was one whom all good workmen delight to serve,
+because he made himself their servant.
+
+An officer who is now a Brevet-Colonel and has since served in Egypt,
+in East Africa, and in Natal, writes thus:
+
+
+"I have seen a good deal of active service, but nowhere have I met any
+officer, either of high or low rank, who more completely gave himself
+up to ensure the comfort of the troops under his command than the dear
+General.  Nothing escaped his eagle eye: at one moment we were
+arranging that some picket should protect itself better against the
+wind and rain; at the next the General was showing how a shelter should
+be run up over the tent of some sick officer, to protect him from the
+heat of the or describing how better troughs could be for watering
+horses or mules.
+
+{137}
+
+"As to road-making, the General was unsurpassed.  From the very
+commencement of the expedition he realised that good communications
+must be ensured; and made our brigade work as I have never seen any
+troops work, except Egyptian troops on the railway in the Soudan.
+Morning, noon, and night did every available man slave away at
+bettering the wild mountain paths which were our only link with our
+supplies and civilisation.  The country supplied absolutely nothing but
+a little hill grass obtainable in some districts, which meant that
+every grain of food had to be laboriously carried up."
+
+
+It is evident that the care of 3,000 men in such a country was no light
+work; and Gatacre, who never took his work lightly even at home,
+certainly did not spare himself on service.  His own letters give such
+a good idea of the routine of camp life, and of the spirit of genuine
+pleasure in it all that was so characteristic of him, that they shall
+tell their own tale.
+
+
+"We are marching all day over the most impossible ground.  Our food
+comes up at about 10 o'clock at night.  Last night, owing to the
+badness of the track, it never came in at all, and this morning I hear
+it is still four miles off, the other side of the pass: this means
+another eight hours!  Talk about roads, you never saw such a country!
+You approach a range of hills 10,000 ft. high, you have to cut a road
+for the animals before you attempt to bring them up, and this means
+time.  Every now and then they have to stop and clear away these
+creatures who stalk us and shoot from behind rocks.  We have {138} been
+very fortunate in losing no men, though we have knocked over a good
+many of them."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"Yesterday we were soaked with rain twice, had difficulty about wood
+for cooking, all green and soaked with wet; but everybody got in by 10
+p.m. except about fifty mules and a company of Goorkhas who were
+stopped by the road falling away and some mules falling through about
+300 yards down the khud.  This of course stopped the remainder there
+for the night, but we got them some food, and they had to bivouac the
+night there without fire or blankets.  We got them on this morning.
+
+"Is it not marvellous?  Out of my whole force of four regiments, a
+battery, and a company of Sappers, I have no sick men; they march all
+day, making roads, constantly get wet through, often have to sleep at
+great elevations.  We were 8,700 ft. the night before last, without
+blankets, and yet they are all quite fit: no sick officer or man.  Of
+course we take all the care we can of them.
+
+"Yesterday after passing over the pass we found on the hills along
+which the road ran all English flowers--narcissus, iris, lilies (they
+plant them on their graves), may, hawthorn, hyacinths, tulips, in great
+profusion.  The country is magnificent, soil very rich, would grow
+anything; we must take the country and improve it.  It is another
+Kashmir."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"We had a thunderstorm with lightning last night, a grand sight.  I was
+coming back from Ashreth after nightfall, and stopped several times to
+watch the lightning light the snow peaks--quite beautiful!
+
+[Illustration: On the road to Chitral.]
+
+"I had a hard day the day before yesterday.  {139} My orderly officer
+and I had to go from Dir to Janbatai and back, about fifty-six miles
+over a difficult road; we started at 5 a.m. and did not get back till 1
+a.m. yesterday.  For we were delayed on the road so long inspecting
+that night overtook us, and we had to walk along a most impossible
+track leading our ponies; we literally had to feel our way with our
+feet.  We all got falls over rocks and stones, but beyond breaking our
+skin and clothes we were none the worse.  The river was running under
+us nearly all the way about 300 ft. straight down, so you may imagine
+we had to be careful.  I lost my helmet, but fortunately it rolled down
+the track instead of over the khudside."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"Though I get up at daybreak and go to bed at 11 p.m. daily, I assure
+you that I never have a moment; it seems strange, but if you saw the
+country you would understand it.  I have a long line of troops
+scattered over some forty miles of country connected by a single road
+along which only one man and one animal can pass at a time; sixteen
+bridges which may be washed away at any moment, causing many hours'
+delay in replacement; a snow pass, in the centre exactly, over which
+every ounce of food has to come; a terrific road along river-beds at
+one moment, running nearly up to the sky the next; 4,000 mules and
+donkeys working in stages from place to place, with supplies, guards,
+escorts, regiments, all of which have to be carefully watched to see
+that they have food and that nothing goes wrong.  All this takes time,
+for it is a country one cannot gallop in, hardly go off a walk, but we
+are improving the roads and cutting new ones."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+{140}
+
+"Then the snow pass stops us; we have to carry all our loads and
+supplies over the pass by hand.  This makes us slow, but it is very
+sure; now the snow is melting and avalanches falling in every
+direction.  Such an interesting country, and so beautiful!  I have
+never seen such scenery, such mountains, trees, and rivers--simply
+magnificent!  The spot I am now encamped in is about 2,000 ft. below
+the top of the pass, covered with gigantic cedars and pine-trees, eight
+and nine feet in diameter; I have never seen such trees.  It is
+impossible to imagine anything more beautiful.  There are high snow
+mountains all around us, a snow torrent from the avalanches rushing
+some hundreds of feet below us, carrying trees, rocks, etc., along with
+it; one can hardly hear oneself speak.  Below in the valley one finds
+every English flower almost, chiefly in blossom, white peonies,
+honeysuckle--all sorts.
+
+"Well, we are getting on all right.  I have been halted here for seven
+days owing to want of supplies; one of our bridges broke and stopped
+them.  But we are moving on to-day; this refers to the troops only--of
+course I move up and down the line every day.
+
+"One of my officers was shot at yesterday, but up to date I have been
+unable to discover the man.  I always have a duffedar (Native Cavalry
+N.C.O.) with a carbine behind me whenever I ride, and two Goorkhas
+whenever I walk; but I am out all day and most of the night, and I
+wonder they have not had a shot at me yet, for it is a wild country,
+full of trees, stones, and jungle.
+
+"Yesterday I caught thirty drivers stealing stores from their loads.
+There has been a great deal of this all along the road, causing us much
+{141} loss; so I had them all thrashed.  There was much howling, but I
+do not think there will be any more thieving; we have to be summary
+here."
+
+
+[Sidenote: The fort]
+
+On May 15 the Third Brigade marched into Chitral.  Sir Robert Low and
+the Headquarter Staff followed a few days later; their arrival was made
+the occasion for a political durbar, and a grand review of all the
+troops, including the garrison of the fort, and Colonel Kelly's
+triumphant little band.  Sir Robert Low made a speech in which he
+complimented all ranks on the good work that each contingent had
+performed, and more particularly thanked the Third Brigade and their
+Brigadier for their share in the success of his expedition.
+
+At the first opportunity Gatacre himself read the Funeral Service over
+the grave where Captain Baird, who fell in the sortie of March 3, had
+been hastily buried during the siege.  He gave orders for the erection
+of a wooden cross, and had photographs taken of this and the country
+round, which he sent with a sympathetic letter to the young officer's
+mother.  On his arrival in England in the autumn he regarded it as one
+of his first duties to fulfil his promise to call on Mrs. Baird, a
+widow lamenting her only son.
+
+On the approach of the hot weather, the troops were withdrawn from the
+fort, and disposed in suitable camps along the road, pending the
+decision of Government on the question of {142} occupation.  The long
+line of communications was divided into sections, the most advanced,
+from Dir northwards to Chitral, being held by the Third Brigade, the
+section from Dir southwards to Janbatai by the Second, and the Swat
+Valley by the First.  Road-making and mending was still the principal
+occupation, for the General was never satisfied with his roads; and all
+through the summer months the men were kept, happy, and well by
+improving the roadway which is still used by the column of troops which
+every two years relieves the garrison of Chitral.
+
+It was probably at this time that the following incident took place.
+The General one day passed a supply convoy on the road, in charge of a
+transport officer with whose appearance he was dissatisfied, though he
+said nothing at the time.  Next day he sent for the senior officer, and
+after a short talk with him told him to smarten up his subaltern.
+
+"Certainly, sir, certainly," said the officer, and a look of pride and
+relief stole over his face that he had himself escaped unfriendly
+criticism.  The General, reading the man's expression, added, "And
+smarten yourself up, too."
+
+The officer who supplies this tale concludes: "I can see and hear the
+General's chuckle after administering this little pill."
+
+[Sidenote: Snipers]
+
+Colonel Ronald Brooke,[3] who proved himself an orderly officer after
+his General's own heart, tells us how the Ashreth Valley became
+infested by a band of hillmen who cut up stragglers from {143} the
+convoys, and finally one night attacked a band of Chitrali traders
+(under the impression that they were our transport followers) who had
+incautiously spent the night at the foot of the pass.  Twelve out of
+thirteen were killed; one only escaped, badly wounded, to carry the
+news to the nearest military post.  The story goes on:
+
+
+[3] Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. Brooke, D.S.O.
+
+
+"The General and I at once hurried to the spot, which looked just like
+a shambles, and he immediately ordered a beat on a huge scale.  Troops
+silently surrounded the Ashreth Valley from every side; and on August
+12, instead of a grouse drive, we indulged in the far more exciting
+experience of a Kafristan robber drive.  A band of fifteen were flushed
+on the hillside, of whom five were captured, the others escaping, never
+to return to so dangerous a spot.  Of the five prisoners, three were
+sentenced to death, and the other two were set free on account of their
+youth."
+
+
+[Illustration: General Gatacre and his favourite pony.]
+
+Having thus cleared his own valley of snipers, Gatacre longed to do the
+same on the Dir-Janbatai section, where the troops on escort-duty had
+been constantly fired on, several soldiers having been mortally
+wounded.  At last he secured from the Major-General Commanding
+permission to take over this dangerous section as well as his own.  A
+picked lot of Pathan Sepoys were sent down under an excellent native
+non-commissioned officer, with instructions to patrol the hillsides far
+above the position that snipers might take up, just when convoys {144}
+were on the move, and thus literally to stalk the stalkers.  This idea
+was crowned with success.  In a few days' time the Pathans spotted a
+party of three hillmen lying up for the convoy.  With extraordinary
+skill they succeeded in capturing two of the party; the third man
+escaped, although so severely wounded that he was tracked by his
+blood-marks for nine miles.  The two prisoners turned out to be Afghans
+who had come over the frontier bent on doing as much harm as possible.
+Both were hanged, and thenceforward there was no more sniping on that
+section.
+
+The General's interest in the scenery and flowers was very genuine.
+During the three months that the troops were scattered in various camps
+in these beautiful valleys, he found time to make a large collection of
+flowers and ferns, and himself attended to the drying and packing of
+the specimens.  When these were eventually handed over to the Forest
+Department at Calcutta, the botanists found one fern which was
+pronounced a new variety, and named it after the General in the records
+of the Department.
+
+In due course orders arrived for the withdrawal of the Relief Force.
+Early in September Gatacre conducted his Brigade over the frontier, and
+bade them farewell amidst the heartiest expressions of affection and
+goodwill on the part of all ranks, British and Native.
+
+
+
+
+{145}
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+1896
+
+QUETTA
+
+On November 10, 1895, a few familiar words were read once more in a
+village church in Sussex, the old-world troth was given and plighted,
+and the face of the earth was changed thereby for the two persons most
+concerned.
+
+The General had been unable to take more than ninety days' privilege
+leave, and therefore had to be back in Bombay early in January.  The
+drill season was already far advanced, the programme for the inspection
+of the various regiments in the outlying stations included in the
+Bombay Command was already laid out, and trips to Baroda, Ahmedabad,
+Surat, and Cutch-Bhuj followed one another in close succession.
+
+These trips, which made a welcome respite from the heavy office-work
+and town-life at Headquarters, sometimes included a day's sport and
+recreation.
+
+On Friday, February 21, the General, his staff officer, and the writer
+disembarked from the S.S. _Kola_ at Mandvi, in the Gulf of Cutch.  This
+coast is so shallow that the steamers have to lie a long way out, and
+the process of {146} disembarkation includes transfer from the
+mail-boat to a steam-launch, thence to a rowing-boat, which runs
+aground alongside some bullock-drawn waggons.  Across the highest
+timbers of these carts nets are stretched, on which the passengers seat
+themselves, while the final stage is a chair borne by four natives who
+are waist-deep in water as they cross the pools in the interminable
+stretch of sea and sand.  A forty-mile drive in a carriage provided by
+the Rao Saheb of Cutch brought us to the capital where the 17th Bombay
+Infantry were then quartered.  The Resident, whose guests we were, the
+Commandant of the regiment, four other officers, the doctor, and four
+ladies made up the whole British contingent.
+
+The inspection went off without memorable incident.  The real interest
+of the trip lay in the native races and the pig-sticking camp, which
+the Rao Saheb had arranged to fill in the blank days while waiting for
+the weekly mail-boat.
+
+The Rao Saheb was a man of about thirty, who, together with his younger
+brother, Karloba, had taken kindly to English ways; they played
+lawn-tennis on even terms with the officers and their wives, and when
+on horseback their costume was entirely English except for the
+brilliant puggri.  The camp and all its accessories were furnished by
+the hospitality of the Rao Saheb; he was our companion throughout the
+day, dinner alone excepted, and nothing was omitted for the comfort of
+his guests.
+
+[Sidenote: Pig-sticking]
+
+We reached Wanoti Camp early in the {147} morning, and the seven men
+who were carrying spears were soon on horseback.  The country was flat
+and sandy, and bare except where patches of low scrub provided
+excellent cover.  A few beaters were sent forward to drive out the
+game, and before long you could see some very solid-looking bodies,
+very low on the ground, moving amongst the bushes at a surprising pace:
+these were a "sounder" of pigs.  The Rao Saheb selected one, the
+General another, and, being mounted on a capital white pony, I was
+close at his heels.  This boar, which was scored to the General's
+spear, turned out to be the biggest of the seven which was the total
+for the day.  But he was no sooner dispatched than we were off after
+another.  Again the same spear was the first to touch him; then we lost
+sight of him as he crashed through a thick hedge.  When we emerged
+through the nearest gap we found that the Resident had picked up his
+line, but while taking a thrust at him the pig jinked and tripped up
+the horse, so that both he and his rider rolled in the sand, while the
+pig went off with the eight-foot spear stuck in his body like a pin in
+a pin-cushion.  If we had not been close at hand the savage creature
+would have turned and rent the fallen man, who, though unhurt, would
+have been defenceless.
+
+In the afternoon the beaters started on the other side of the camp, and
+a most thrilling incident occurred.  After a chase of about two miles
+our pig disappeared over the edge of a forty-foot precipice, which was
+the cliff-like side of a dry nullah; we had to look for a chine, and
+{148} after a scrambling descent found him again, rather winded, hiding
+in a ditch about five feet deep and six to eight feet wide.  The
+General had broken his spear in a previous conflict, and was therefore
+unarmed.  There were two officers only with us, one of whom cried out,
+"If you do not know how to tackle him yourself, give your spear to the
+General, and let him try."
+
+He took the proffered spear, and, handing over his pony, stepped down
+into the nullah, just opposite the boar, and with the lance under his
+elbow stood facing the fierce creature for some four or five minutes,
+till the latter suddenly rose up and plunged forward; but the spear was
+in readiness, the charge was stayed, and the animal fell back, run
+right through the throat.
+
+While at Bhuj the following telegram reached the General:
+
+
+"From Military Secretary, Chief, Calcutta: Chief proposes to select you
+to officiate in command Quetta District during absence of General
+Galbraith proceeding on leave to England.  Please wire if agreeable to
+you."
+
+
+It was followed two days later by another, from Sir Charles Nairne,
+Commander-in-Chief Bombay Army:
+
+
+"I congratulate you both on going to Quetta.  You will have a wide
+enough field there."
+
+
+Throughout the month of March the General was kept busy with the
+preparation and execution of some extensive manoeuvres which took place
+on the hills near Khandalla.  There was {149} also a Horse Show in
+Bombay to attend to; this was on a bigger scale than had hitherto been
+attempted.  The General rode in several classes, and won the first
+prize for Arab chargers, and also for the best turn-out in the driving
+classes.  The cheers that greeted him as he appeared in the
+prize-winners' parade were significant of the public appreciation of
+the energy that, as chairman of the committee, he had thrown into the
+undertaking.
+
+[Sidenote: Leaves Bombay]
+
+On the evening of April 7, as the General Officer Commanding sailed in
+the transport _Warren Hastings_ for Karachi, _en route_ for Quetta, the
+nine-gun salute boomed out its farewell greeting in the summer night.
+
+This First-class District, with its headquarters on the lofty plateau
+known as Quetta, about 6,000 ft. high, was a command wholly congenial
+to Gatacre's temperament.  The office-work was very light; there was a
+garrison of two battalions of British infantry, one regiment of Native
+cavalry, and two of Native infantry, besides a complement of artillery,
+equipped both with oxen and mules, a splendid transport train, and
+other details.  The outposts are on the actual frontier of the British
+Empire; their very distance and inaccessibility exercised a great
+attraction for him, so that the official visit to each station became a
+picnic pleasure-party in a very literal sense.  Nothing was wanting,
+not even battle, murder, and sudden death, to create that sense of
+danger and adventure that casts its fascinating shadow over this wild
+frontier land.
+
+{150}
+
+As the season in which marching could be accomplished in comfort was
+already advanced, and the days were fast growing hot and long, it was
+decided to start very soon after our arrival on a tour of inspection to
+Fort Sandeman, Lorelai, and other outlying posts.  Fort Sandeman lies
+to the north-east of Quetta, and is in the Lower Zhob Valley; it is 180
+miles from Khanai station on the Quetta Railway.  A squadron of the 5th
+Sind Horse, under Captain Sherard, furnished the escort.  No supplies
+could be reckoned on by the way, so that transport had to be drawn to
+carry six weeks' food for five mounted officers, their servants and
+horses, and also for the hundred Sowars and their horses, and for the
+transport animals themselves.  This made quite a long line of horses,
+camels, and mules on the march, and one of the duties of our daily
+routine was a walk down the transport lines at sunset.
+
+There is not space here to do justice to this delightful ride.  We
+covered between six and seven hundred miles in the six weeks we were
+out.  The early starts while the moon shone brilliantly, the long
+leisurely days in camp, the evening scramble over the nearest hills,
+and the nights passed under the clear stars, with no sound but the
+steady tramp of the sentries; the puzzling alternation of sandy desert
+and rocky rift, dry nullahs and roaring torrents,--all make up memories
+of strange and delightful doings never to be spoilt, even by the
+counter recollections of sun and dust.
+
+In the autumn of the same year Fort Sandeman {151} was the scene of a
+shocking tragedy.  A Sepoy of the 40th Pathans ran amok while on sentry
+duty one evening outside the officers' mess.  According to his
+deposition later, he had been waiting to get all the five officers into
+line as they wandered round the billiard-table, so that he might strike
+them all with one bullet.  But the finesse of his idea was defeated by
+his own impatience; he fired his shot when only three men were covered.
+Two young officers were so seriously wounded that they fell
+immediately, and died a few hours later.  With great presence of mind
+and courage, and undismayed by a severe wound in the arm, Mr.
+Maclachlan gave chase to the murderer, and by raising the alarm and
+calling out the guard contributed to his capture, though unfortunately
+this was not effected till the tehsildar and two native clerks had been
+shot dead.
+
+It was the custom to make the last afternoon of an inspection visit the
+occasion for a social gathering; sports and trials of skill would be
+arranged, the native regiments would perform feats of horsemanship, and
+organize a display of national dancing and wrestling.  One peculiarly
+striking effect was worked out by an officer in the 15th Bengal Lancers
+at Lorelai.  Thirty-two Sowars in their white undress uniform, mounted
+on white or grey horses, cantered past doing sword-practice, their
+curved blades flashing in the sun; but the ghostly effect of these
+white horsemen was enhanced when they were followed by another group
+mounted entirely on chestnuts, doing {152} lance-practice, the red and
+white pennons and scarlet cummerbunds adding to the colour scheme.
+
+Lorelai also contributed its note of tragedy, for very shortly after
+our departure from Beluchistan, Colonel Gaisford (soldier and civilian)
+was treacherously assassinated in the very dak-bungalow in which we had
+resided.
+
+The object of a short tour planned for September was formally to take
+over a strip of land known as the Toba Plateau, which had been recently
+ceded to the Government of India under an arrangement effected by a
+Frontier Delimitation Commission.  As this was a desolate land with few
+inhabitants, the General planned to combine this political object with
+military training in the way of practice in field-firing.  He arranged
+that detachments of the 1st Bombay Grenadiers and of the 26th Beluchis
+should take part in the manoeuvres, and that the 25th Bombay Rifles
+should meet him at the camping-ground.  It was the first time a white
+man had been seen in the country.  The march abounded with picturesque
+and amusing incidents.  For instance, there was the day when the camel
+transport lost their way.  Their pace being a little slower than that
+of the mules, and the country that day with its low round sandhills
+being peculiarly puzzling, they lost touch with the tail of the column.
+A transport duffedar was sent back to look for the string of camels,
+but came not again; a corporal was sent on a mule to look for the
+duffedar, and he came not again.  It was now getting late, and darkness
+would soon fall, so the {153} General himself started on a pony to look
+for the corporal.  It was six o'clock before the camels, who were
+carrying our tents, mess kit, and clothing, reached the camp, from a
+point exactly opposite to the direction whence they were expected.
+
+[Sidenote: Field-firing]
+
+When the rendezvous on Toba Plateau was reached, after about three
+days' march from Chaman, we settled down for a week, and field-firing
+in the miniature valleys took place daily.  The day before the proposed
+attack newspapers are spread out with the help of stones in the
+positions where tribesmen defending their homes would be likely to
+erect sangars and make a stand.  The attacking column, being supplied
+with ball cartridges, shoot at these targets till they disappear, and
+then advance till a bend of the valley discloses another imaginary
+concentration of the enemy.  This device presents a very realistic
+counterfeit of hill warfare.
+
+It seems to me now that all our time at Quetta was spent in such mimic
+fighting.  The wild and desolate country, in which the cantonments lay
+like an oasis, lent itself admirably to military training; the
+garrison, complete in all its units, provided the necessary troops of
+all arms, so that a succession of field-officers were sent up for
+tactical examination, the practical side of which meant a series of
+field-days.  The General's A.D.C., when called upon for reminiscences,
+sends the following anecdote:
+
+
+"His good temper and quiet way of rebuking people was, I have always
+thought, remarkable.  {154} I remember a field-day when an officer had
+got a company in a very badly chosen spot.  The General, in his usual
+innocent sort of way, went up to him to gather, as it were,
+information.  He always did that: he looked as if he was dying to
+learn, while really he was leading on the man to talk and show what he
+knew, or else to convict him out of his own mouth.  The Major had no
+good reason for his dispositions, and when cornered began to quote the
+drill-book.  The General quietly said: 'It's not very good form to
+throw the drill-book at your General.'"
+
+
+On a similar occasion, at an outpost parade, the captain in charge of
+the picquet was unaccountably nervous, and had great difficulty in
+explaining the "idea."  With two words the General put him out of his
+pain and signalised his incompetence: "You're shot," he said.  "Who is
+next in command?"
+
+On the Sind-Pishin Railway, as the branch line is called that runs from
+Ruk Junction on the Indus through Quetta and on to Chaman, there is
+only one train in each direction in the twenty-four hours.  The
+railroad runs for miles over the wildest and most desolate tracts.  It
+is 150 miles from Quetta to Sibi, and Sibi is 100 miles north of
+Jacobabad.  The roadside stations consist merely of a few planks as
+platform, a hut for the station-master, who is commonly an Eurasian,
+and a standpipe; sometimes there is a second hut, in which a bunnia
+does business in food-stuffs and other simple trading.
+
+[Sidenote: A massacre]
+
+Sunari Station, lying about 100 miles east of Quetta, must have been a
+place of slightly more {155} importance, for when the Marris fell upon
+it they found fifteen persons to murder.  Unfortunately for him, a
+European youth, named Canning, a sub-inspector of the line, and son of
+the station-master at Sibi, happened to be there that fatal morning.
+As the daily train approached the station between 9 and 10 a.m., the
+engine-driver was puzzled at not receiving the customary greeting on
+the signals, but decided to crawl on carefully into the station.  It
+was only too clear that a wholesale slaughter with swords had been
+perpetrated; the place was strewn with dead bodies, terribly slashed
+about, and the bunnia's shop had been set on fire.  The terrified
+driver and guard found the station-master with his arm cut off, but
+still breathing, and carefully laid him on the train, but even this
+sole survivor of this unparalleled outrage died before the next station
+was reached.  In the meantime the pointsman had fled on foot to the
+next station, and telegraphed the startling news from there to Quetta.
+
+Very shortly after the arrival of the news the telegraph wires were
+found to be cut; to imaginative minds a rising of the whole powerful
+tribe of Marris was imminent.  The railroad, which ran for miles
+through the Marris' country, might be destroyed, the telegraph lines
+were already severed, all communication with India would thus be cut
+off, and Quetta isolated might have added another picturesque story to
+the romantic series of frontier annals.
+
+Very naturally a panic took place at the {156} adjoining
+railway-stations, some of the station-masters actually constructing
+amateur wire entanglements with the telegraph stores.  A new staff was
+established at Sunari with a strong guard, and detachments of the 25th
+Bombay Rifles were posted all along the line.  The Political Department
+offered the very handsome reward of 2,500 rupees for the capture of the
+three ringleaders, and Gatacre, who had been on short leave at Simla,
+hurried back to take a hand in the search.
+
+Early in the morning of October 23 the following letter was sent back
+to Quetta:
+
+
+"To-day I am going out with some of the Pathans to look over the ground
+where we hear some of these men have been, possibly are now.  I do not
+think we shall get back to-night, as the ground is said to be very bad,
+but we have taken our blankets and some food.  I should much like to
+catch these Ghazis; it would be highly satisfactory.  The Marris
+promise Gaisford much, but I think they are humbugging him."
+
+
+The party left Dalujal Station at 5.30 a.m.  The troops were drawn from
+the 24th Beluchistan Regiment.  At nightfall they bivouacked near Dirgi
+Springs; and next morning, with a view to scouring the hills, the party
+was divided into four groups.  Besides the General there were two
+British officers, two Native officers, and forty-four Pathans.  One
+British officer was allotted to each party, and a subadar took charge
+of the fourth; the rendezvous was to be a well-marked peak in the range
+in front of them.  {157} The General, with five Sepoys and a Marri whom
+he had impressed as guide, took a middle line and made straight for the
+summit, instructing the other parties to take a wider sweep.  He had
+regarded this peak as a likely place, because he had heard that there
+was a musjid or small shrine built there, to which the murderers might
+have resorted for purification after contact with the Feringhi.
+
+As the handful of men crept up the rocky slope a sangar came into view,
+which was suggestive.  The leading Pathan signalled with his hand that
+all should go silently, and crouch; a few more yards were covered in
+this way, and then the sangar was rushed.  The Sepoys flung themselves
+upon the two men who were found sleeping behind the rocks with such
+splendid dash that they all rolled together as the enemy made frantic
+efforts to get at their knives.  But no one was hurt, and in an instant
+the prisoners were securely bound with the puggris of their captors.
+
+The other search-parties now appeared on the scene, and very soon
+discovered the third Ghazi, who, being also asleep in fancied security,
+had no chance to get away.  Three others, who had been sent away to
+draw water, were now seen approaching, but they turned and fled.  The
+nature of the ground made it impossible to follow them on their own
+mountains with any chance of success.
+
+At noon the little force started back.  On this return journey the
+General shifted his position from leading to bringing up the rear;
+{158} for he anticipated that a stampede might be made on the part of
+the prisoners with the intention of knocking him down the khud, while
+in the scuffle and panic they would hope to effect their escape.  This
+reasoned caution in protecting his life against obvious and purposeless
+dangers was as habitual and spontaneous with the General as was his
+forwardness in disregarding the risks when occasion demanded.  He was
+punctilious in protecting himself against sunstroke, and wore a pad
+down his spine as well as the universal topee, and by such personal
+heedfulness safeguarded his life and general health.
+
+However, on this particular occasion his precaution nearly proved
+disastrous.  As the string of men crept down the mountain-side a
+jemadar noticed that one of the Sepoys had failed to uncock his rifle,
+and gave the necessary order.  A shot rang out.  The General's helmet
+was blown off his head, and was picked up blackened with the smoke of
+the charge.  He is said to have smiled, as he rescued the Sepoy from
+the jemadar's wrath and secured the empty cartridge as a memento.
+
+[Illustration: Beluchi murderers.]
+
+When the party reached Sunari Station, after a march of seventeen
+miles, the General discovered that there was no political officer there
+to whom he could hand over the prisoners, so that there was no choice
+but to march another six miles to Dalujal.  Here the murderers were
+taken over by the Civil Department.  The irons with which they were
+immediately loaded seemed fantastically medieval in their weight {159}
+and simplicity.  But on the other hand, nothing could have been more
+fantastic than the proceedings of the Englishman who had effected their
+capture.  This was the view taken by Sir George White, the
+Commander-in-Chief, though he little guessed when he wrote how very
+nearly his words had come true.
+
+
+"I congratulate you on the way in which you managed and executed the
+capture.  I am also very glad to know we have General Officers
+commanding first-class districts who take to the hills for amusement,
+but I must also say that I don't think the job was quite one for the
+G.O.C. to conduct personally.  If they had managed to get a bullet into
+you it would have made the affair one of very sinister importance.
+However, from that point of view, 'all is well that ends well.'"
+
+
+[Sidenote: A death sentence]
+
+A few days later the headmen of the Marri tribe handed over the other
+three men implicated, and at Sibi, on November 2, the three Ghazis,
+Fakir Kala Khan, Jalamb, and Rahim Ali, atoned for their misdeeds.  The
+sentence was death by hanging followed by public cremation.[1]
+
+
+[1] Compare _Beluchistan Gazette_, October 29, November 5, 1896, and
+_Civil and Military Gazette_, November 12, 1896.
+
+
+On the return of the troops to Quetta great excitement prevailed when,
+through the presence of a strong guard at the station, it became known
+that the promised treasure was on the same train.  Of course this was
+divided amongst the Sepoys only; all those who went to the mountain had
+a share, with extra money to those {160} who actually took a hand in
+the fray.  It was evening when the train came in, so that it was not
+till we reached the house that I noticed the blackened helmet, and saw
+the rent cut by the bullet.  When called upon for an explanation, the
+emotion of that moment took possession of him again: it was the only
+time that I heard his voice break.
+
+Throughout that summer Mr. Curry and the railway engineers had been
+busy over the new railroad that was to connect Sibi and Quetta via the
+Bolan Pass.  This line is shorter than the Hurnai route by fifty miles,
+but it had hitherto presented insuperable difficulties to the engineer.
+Two previous attempts had been made; but the floods rise so high in the
+gorges and had twice so completely wrecked the permanent way, that this
+route had been discarded by Sir James Browne, who preferred to tackle
+the Chupper Rift with his magnificent suspension bridge.  But owing to
+the unreliability of the shifting sands at Mud Gorge it was imperative
+for military purposes to have an alternative line.  The new
+Bolan-Mushkaf railroad was completed in November 1896.  To give the
+General an opportunity of seeing this triumph of construction, Mr.
+Curry decided to initiate the new service on the day of our departure
+from Quetta.  The eight months' acting appointment reached its
+conclusion on November 30, 1896, and the first mail train left Quetta
+for Sibi on that day at 10 a.m., carrying Gatacre back to resume his
+substantive appointment at Bombay.
+
+
+
+
+{161}
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+1897
+
+THE PLAGUE
+
+In the Report issued by the Bombay Plague Committee of 1897 it is shown
+that 27,597 persons died of that disease between August 8, 1896, and
+June 30, 1897; while the total mortality from all causes for the same
+period was 45,886.  This is more than one-twentieth of the normal
+average population given as 850,000.[1]
+
+
+[1] See Chart 3, issued with the _Report on the Bubonic Plague_, by
+Brigadier-General W. F. Gatacre, C.B., D.S.O., 1897.
+
+
+When the disease first declared itself, the Press and its volunteer
+correspondents showed extraordinary ingenuity in denying its existence,
+in attempting to discount the seriousness of the situation and
+inventing euphemisms by which to describe the "glandular fever."  But
+the authorities responsible for the health of the city appreciated the
+gravity of the prospect.  The Municipality appointed a special
+sub-committee to investigate the causes of the epidemic and to carry
+out measures for its suppression; and Mr. Haffkine, the bacteriologist,
+was requisitioned from Calcutta to identify the bacillus.  By the {162}
+end of October the accommodation available in the Municipal Hospital
+for infectious diseases was lamentably inadequate.  Customs officers in
+foreign ports took alarm and imposed quarantine on all vessels from
+Bombay Port.  Natives of all classes were terror-stricken, and many
+families fled up-country.  Thousands daily streamed over the two
+causeways that connect the Island of Bombay with the mainland; vast
+crowds assembled at the Bunders and the railway-stations in their haste
+to get away by sea and rail.  Before January was out, half the
+inhabitants had escaped, for it has been shown that the population fell
+from 797,000 on December 8 to 437,000 on February 8.  At the same time
+the mortality reached alarming figures, showing 4,559 in December and
+6,189 in January in excess of the normal death-rate duly corrected.
+Although January is the coolest and pleasantest month of the year, it
+proved the most disastrous; the outbreak reached its climax on the 15th
+and 16th, on which days 344 and 345 fatal attacks were recorded.
+
+The fires that burn inside the high walls that bound the Charni Road
+sent up a thicker smoke and a more suggestive stench than ever before.
+The price of wood for funeral pyres went up; in some cases Hindus
+consented to bury their dead, because they could not afford to buy the
+necessary timber.  On January 18, 1897, an article appeared in _The
+Times of India_ seriously discussing the supply of vultures then
+inhabiting the Towers of Silence.  The writer concludes {163} with the
+quaint phrase: "There are now nearly 400, the number being ample, even
+with the high death-rate now existing in the Parsee Community."
+
+[Illustration: Hindu burning-ghat]
+
+
+The General Officer Commanding was fully alive to the dangerous and
+insanitary condition of some of the older parts of the town.  For the
+greater security of his household he took an airy house on Malabar
+Hill, instead of inhabiting the official residence in the Marine Lines.
+He further arranged for the Marine Battalion, which forms the permanent
+garrison of Bombay, to leave their antiquated huts in the same road and
+go out under canvas.  Two English ladies living in the Marine Lines
+caught the plague, but fortunately both recovered.
+
+[Sidenote: A white man dies]
+
+The European colony were profoundly distressed on hearing of the death
+of Surgeon-Major Robert Manser on January 6, 1897.  He was First
+Physician of the Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Hospital, and Professor at the
+Grant Medical College.  It was said at first that pneumonia was the
+cause; but when Nurse Joyce, who had been attending him, died on the
+following day, suspicions were aroused, and the bacteriological
+examination established the connection between plague and pneumonia.
+
+Early in February, under a pseudonym, the General published two
+carefully reasoned and suggestive articles in _The Times of India_.  In
+the first he pointed put that the existence of the plague and the
+consequent exodus of the {164} population afforded an excellent
+opportunity of carrying out extensive improvements in the housing and
+sanitation of the worst parts of the city, and in acquiring official
+control over the disposal of the dead.  In the second he called
+attention to the inadequacy of the hospital accommodation to meet even
+the present demand, and boldly handles the question of finance, saying:
+
+
+"What is a lakh or ten lakhs of rupees where the prosperity of Bombay
+is concerned?  The question is not one for Bombay to haggle over.  The
+plague has become a thing of Imperial importance, Her Majesty takes a
+deep interest in it, and the necessary funds must be found.  But the
+Government of India will want to see some exhaustive efforts on our
+part; they will expect an amount of thoroughness in combating the
+disease which up to the present we have not shown."
+
+
+After this appeal the writer goes on to suggest that a hospital should
+be established in Government House, Parel, a large mansion which had
+been the Governor's residence in the time of Sir James Fergusson, and
+had since been discarded in favour of a more breezy site on Malabar
+Point.
+
+[Sidenote: Official thanks]
+
+The municipality took the hint and voted funds.  Lord Sandhurst
+responded readily and offered his "country seat" for the purposes of a
+Special Plague Hospital, and the General came forward officially, and
+promised to see to the equipment of the wards, and to provide doctors,
+orderlies, attendants, etc., from the troops under his command.  His
+call for volunteers met with {165} the same ready response; for nurses
+he applied to the various Roman Catholic Convents in the neighbourhood;
+and expended a special donation from Lady Sandhurst in making the
+Sisters' quarters as comfortable as possible, and in fitting up a
+little Oratory for them.  In ten days 150 beds were ready, and by the
+erection of matting huts in the large compound accommodation could be
+quickly provided for several hundred more.
+
+The following paragraphs, taken from a letter from the Government of
+Bombay to the Government of India, dated February 23, 1897, foreshadow
+the policy which was adopted a few days later:
+
+"3.  To General Gatacre the thanks of His Excellency the Governor in
+Council are in a special degree due, both for the offer of assistance
+and for the energy he has thrown into the undertaking.  He has spared
+himself no trouble, and the result will be an unquestionable benefit to
+the city.
+
+"5.  I may add that His Excellency the Governor in Council anticipates
+great indirect benefit from a measure which brings the Military in
+touch with the Civil authorities in organising measures for preventing
+the spread of the plague, for it is not improbable that the Civil
+authorities may before long be driven to seek considerable assistance
+at the hands of the Military."[2]
+
+
+[2] Government Orders: General Department No. 1481/934 P. Bombay
+Castle, March 16, 1897.
+
+
+It was evident that the Governor regarded the situation as one which
+called for combined effort and extraordinary measures.  He also {166}
+realised that if such an undertaking as stamping out the plague before
+the monsoon broke was to have any chance of success, there must be
+central control and central responsibility.  He wanted a man endowed
+equally with the administrative capacity to conceive a comprehensive
+plan of action, and the executive sagacity to carry it out with success.
+
+[Sidenote: The Gatacre Committee]
+
+Lord Sandhurst, having decided to execute what amounted to a "coup" in
+its startling supersession of all the traditions of the civil,
+municipal, and military services, sent for Gatacre as the strongest man
+whose services he could command, asked him to name his own committee,
+and to frame in his own words the instructions under which he was to
+act, and the powers with which he was to be invested.  There can be no
+doubt that the Governor himself contributed enormously to the good
+results achieved by the Plague Committee by the splendid freedom from
+control which he allowed its Chairman, and the manner in which he put
+every department of Government--civil and municipal--at his disposal,
+and then let him work out his own system unhampered by any question of
+custom or finance.
+
+Gatacre realised to the full that he was making himself personally
+responsible for the success of the undertaking.  In a confidential
+letter he writes:
+
+
+"The Government of Bombay has given me its thanks, and I have been
+appointed chairman {167} of the committee to stamp out the plague.
+Lord Sandhurst sent for me, and asked me whom I would like to assist
+me, and I took Snow, Municipal Commissioner--he is the head of an
+enormous department and controls the municipality, which thus falls
+under me--James, an executive engineer of the municipality, an
+energetic man with an enormous staff of engineers and workmen--Dr.
+Dimmock, who is a sound man and has energy.  I have made Cahusac
+secretary.  I have been told that money is no object, but that I am to
+stamp out the plague.  They have passed an Act directing all to carry
+out _any order_ I like to issue, so if I fail it will be my own fault;
+but I do not intend to fail.  We shall have much opposition, as this
+gives me powers over all except the Governor and his Councillors.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"I wish they had handed me over this business in December, when I first
+came down; it would never have got out of Bombay.  It has now become a
+most serious question, and has extended to the whole of India."
+
+
+We have to thank Dr. Dimmock[3] for an account of the first meeting of
+the Committee.
+
+
+[3] Lieut.-Colonel H. P. Dimmock, M.D., I.M.S.
+
+
+"We began at once to decide on sites for plague hospitals.  One
+question that was asked was, What sort of disease was plague?  In those
+days one knew very little about it, for the bacillus had not been
+discovered.  I tried to explain as much as was known, and finished my
+remarks with words to the effect that whatever the special infection
+might be, it seemed to be deadly and certainly contagious, and that we
+need none of us expect 'to come out alive.'  'Well,' said the {168}
+General, with a smile, 'we can't think about that; we've only got to
+stop it, so let's get to work.'
+
+"One must consider that at the time plague was such an appalling and
+mysterious disease that even the doctors feared for their lives each
+day, though it was their business to face it.  How much more awful the
+invisible foe must have seemed to a layman, and still more to one who
+had to lead the attack on it as he did most cheerfully and
+energetically without experience of the ways of infectious diseases!"
+
+
+The first step was to surround the city with a cordon to put a stop to
+the spread of the infection up-country.  This could be the more easily
+and effectually carried out because Bombay City is built on an island.
+A police guard was posted on the Sion and the Mahim Causeways, where
+the road is carried over the water by long bridges, and at a ford
+available at low water; a foot-track along the main water-supply was
+boarded up; and the two railway-stations and all the Bunders were
+watched by inspection parties.
+
+[Sidenote: Special hospitals]
+
+Within the city the principle was laid down that all persons suffering
+from the plague must be brought into hospital.  This involved two
+departments of labour; the first was to provide hospital accommodation,
+the second to enforce the handing over of the patients.
+
+To meet one of the manifold objections put forward by the population to
+the use of hospitals, a system was started by which each community
+should have its own building or camp.  This disposed of many
+insuperable difficulties as to {169} the attendance on the sick, the
+preparation of food, etc.; and so much did this concession to their
+peculiar prejudices please the more enlightened communities, that their
+leaders came in person to the General and offered to run hospitals for
+their respective brotherhoods at their own expense.  Such offers were
+willingly accepted, but control over these locations was rigidly
+maintained in the hands of the Committee.  Indeed, so rapid was this
+demand for special accommodation for each sect, that--
+
+
+"A scheme of hospital organisation was designed, a special equipment of
+staff, stores, furniture, and appliances being drawn on a ready basis,
+suitable to any pressing demands....  So that on an order being issued
+by the Committee for the institution of a hospital of any proportion,
+the District Medical Officer had merely to follow the orders laid down
+for a hospital of the size indicated....  Copies of the plan and
+equipment of a one-section hospital (twenty beds) was accordingly
+issued to the various executive departments of the Committee, and to
+all contractors, with directions to regulate the constructions of
+buildings and the supply of stores, medicines, and furniture
+accordingly."[4]
+
+
+[4] _Report_, p. 22.
+
+
+Within one month of its creation the Committee were running forty-three
+hospitals, of which fifteen were Government and twenty-eight were
+special private institutions such as have been described.  In every
+detail of the internal management of these private {170} institutions
+the will of the Dictator prevailed.  He was always a welcome visitor;
+he took the keenest interest in the symptoms as they developed in any
+exceptional cases, and he made sure that those peculiarly Christian
+principles should be upheld which decree that there should be no
+distinction of caste in any one "jamat," no difference made between
+high and low, rich and poor, and that all the sick should receive equal
+attention.
+
+But it was one thing to provide model buildings and the best of
+attendance, and another to persuade the relatives of the sick to bring
+in the patients.  At the same time the segregation of the sick was the
+basis of the whole policy, and it was to secure this end that the
+house-to-house visitation was instituted.
+
+While the mere idea of such a thing inflamed the minds of the writers
+in the Native Press, in practice the people soon found out that every
+consideration was shown.  An appeal was made to the native gentlemen
+who were Justices of the Peace to attend at such visitations, and this
+had an excellent effect.  White men did not enter the houses unless
+opposition was made; in the street a small body of troops was employed
+as a show of authority, but these were mostly drawn from the Native
+regiments.  In no case was violence needed; the only pressure used was
+the personal presence of the General, the force of his will and
+character, the persuasion of his words uttered in their own tongue; the
+people grew to have faith in his promises, to {171} appreciate his
+devotion to their interests, and to respect his methods.
+
+[Sidenote: Drives the brake]
+
+The Fire Brigade brake was commandeered to carry the search-parties.
+The rendezvous was at daybreak; every one had to be punctual, for the
+General waited for no one.  The Committee was accompanied by officials
+with special knowledge of the quarter to be visited, and there were
+always a few lady-doctors present.
+
+Supplies were taken in tiffin-baskets, but, says Dr. Dimmock, "the
+General's spare diet was a subject of wondering comment; some bread and
+dried fruit and a bottle of soda water was his usual breakfast, and his
+untiring energy on such diet was marvellous."
+
+The General himself drove the brake, and one or other of the Plague
+Committee staff would sit on the box in order to give him an
+opportunity of discussing urgent matters.
+
+On one occasion in April such a search-party was organised for an
+essentially Mahommedan quarter, where some opposition might be
+expected.  The locality was occupied by Memons, Sunni Mahommedans, and
+opulent merchants hailing from Cutch.  The usual military precautions
+were taken, and house-to-house visitation was in full swing.  In a
+five-storied building in Kambekar Street occupied by rich Memons a
+plague case was discovered on the third floor.  The patient was a Memon
+boy aged twenty, belonging to the rich family of Noorani, who were also
+the "Patels of the Moholla," _i.e._ leaders of the neighbourhood.  The
+usual {172} certificate was made out, in the name of the patient, Haji
+Ayub Haji Abdul Rahim Noorani, by the sub-divisional medical officer,
+and the family were informed that the young man would be removed to the
+hospital.  To this they objected, and already a sullen crowd had
+assembled outside.  In Mahommedan quarters the crowd is essentially
+male, with an admixture of children; the women, being "Purdah Nashins,"
+do not show themselves.
+
+On being informed of the trouble, the General, who was a little farther
+up the street, immediately repaired to the spot, speaking conciliatory
+words to the crowd as he made his way to the third floor and entered
+the room.  Here he selected the oldest member of the family and "very
+courteously" discussed with him the necessity for the removal of the
+youth to hospital.  In the meantime the new hand ambulance (which was a
+litter on a pair of bicycle wheels, worked out on an idea of the
+General's) reached the door; but the sight of it upset the parents so
+much that they withdrew their reluctant consent to Haji's removal.
+Recollecting that he was dealing with a wealthy family, the General
+suggested that they should send for one of their own carriages.
+Impervious to any notions of infection, but highly conscious of their
+local standing, the family readily consented to this compromise.
+Having won his point, the General made his way down to the street,
+where the crowd was now very dense: he whispered to a native inspector,
+slipping a few rupees into his {173} hand.  In a few minutes there was
+a vast scramble for sweets which were flying in every direction; under
+cover of this bombardment the patient was successfully carried off in
+an English brougham drawn by richly caparisoned white horses.[5]
+
+
+[5] Recollections furnished by Mr. Louis Godniho, Deputy Officer; see
+also _Advocate of India_, April 3, 1897.
+
+
+[Sidenote: The Seedee king]
+
+On another occasion the quarter known as Kazipura was selected for the
+morning's search work.  Kazipura is inhabited by all classes of
+Mahommedans, including the African Negroes or Seedees.  On the arrival
+of the brake the party broke up and entered various dwellings.  One
+party, consisting of two members of the Committee and Dr. Sorab
+Hormusjee (to whom I am indebted for this story, and who held the
+appointment of Lady Assistant to the Health Officer), came across a
+Seedee boy aged eighteen years, whom they declared to be suffering from
+the plague.  The mother denied this, saying her son was only tired,
+having been dancing all night, and, supported by some male relatives,
+angrily asserted that she would not allow his removal.
+
+[Illustration: House-to=house visitation.]
+
+Within a few minutes the streets and alleys were swarming with Seedees
+armed with sticks, and a serious riot seemed inevitable.  But
+fortunately the Chairman was on the spot; he instructed Mr. Vincent,
+the Police Commissioner, to send for the Seedee King Makanda.  The
+arrival of the Great Man and his Queen Sophie had a magic effect; a few
+words of explanation {174} from the Chairman, a few words from the King
+to the sick man's mother, won the day for the cause of law and order.
+
+The third story that I have selected is told by Miss Remy, a nursing
+sister of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.  As her contribution
+describes the horrible dens that were daily visited I give her
+recollections in her own words:
+
+
+"When plague broke out in Bombay I gave up my post for a time (as
+Matron of a Maternity Hospital attached to a College School) and was
+selected by the Plague Committee to organise and take charge of the
+Grant Road Hospital till such time as the Roman Catholic Sisters of the
+Order of Jesus and Mary were able to take up the work as they had
+promised.  From this hospital--the Police Hospital, where I afterwards
+worked--I was taken out on several occasions by the Plague Committee in
+their house-to-house visitation.  The people have strong prejudices
+against natives of another caste, and especially Europeans, approaching
+too near their places, so that in examining the houses it was necessary
+to respect the feelings of the owners in this regard.  The rooms are
+usually 10 ft. by 10 ft.; the floor sometimes is of clay beaten down
+till it is firm and smooth and covered with a layer of liquid cow-dung,
+which quickly dries, forming a clean and neat surface; this is renewed
+at short intervals of a week or so.  The internal arrangements are very
+simple; the cooking-place, usually surrounded by shining brass and
+copper pots, occupies a corner of the room, a low charpoy or cot in
+another, bundles of firewood, cow-dung cakes used as fuel, are stocked
+in odd recesses with a collection of dried fish and grain.  General
+{175} Gatacre, always courteous and tactful, was most careful in
+observing their prejudices.  He always asked me to go in first and
+report if any of the occupants were suffering from plague or other
+causes, and also as to the condition of their room.  The General would
+follow closely, and as the door opened to admit me he would look into
+the room.  If it was particularly clean and cared-for, he invariably
+rewarded the occupants with a rupee or so as encouragement.  He was
+quick to see things, patient with details, and possessed of a tact and
+eloquence which smoothed over many difficulties that came in the way of
+our work.  He was particularly fond of little children, and I have
+often seen him pat their heads and slip some coppers into their hands
+as we went along visiting the different tenements.  One incident I
+remember very well.  On leaving the neighbourhood of Ripon Road, after
+visiting a long row of _chawls_, we were followed by a crowd of
+children, about fifty or more.  Suddenly on turning a corner we came
+upon a sweet shop.  The General went up to the stall and, to the utter
+amazement and indignation of the owner, seized several trays of the
+sweets and scattered them on the pavement, when there was a general
+scramble and loud hurrahs.  Before the man could remonstrate Sir
+William took a handful of loose silver from his pocket and placed it on
+the counter.  This more than compensated the man for the sweets, and he
+smiled and salaamed."
+
+
+During this systematic visitation hovels were discovered where white
+men had never before penetrated; scores of houses were boarded up and
+labelled "U.H.H.," which stood for "Unfit for human habitation."
+
+{176}
+
+In _The Times of India_ of March 31, 1897, we have a graphic but, alas!
+lengthy account of the visit of the Committee to a Mahommedan quarter
+to sanction buildings selected for use as hospitals.  We read: "When
+the General's brake was sighted they lustily cheered him."  On this
+occasion a feast and a vote of thanks was part of the programme.
+
+
+"Tea and coffee were provided by the members of the party.  When all
+were seated, Khan Bahadur Cassum Mitha rose and said in Hindustani:
+
+"'General Gatacre,--We have been much honoured by your visit to this
+place to-day.  Since you have assumed the command of affairs relating
+to this dire pestilence, we have learnt to assure ourselves of our
+safety.  We are convinced that you honour our religious feelings, and
+we believe that what you do is for our own good.  You have perhaps no
+idea of the esteem and respect you command among us.  You have won over
+our hearts by your noble demeanour, and on the altar of your popularity
+we are ready to sacrifice everything....  In you, General, we find a
+saviour, and we thank Lord Sandhurst for sending you among us.  You may
+count on our assistance at any and every moment.  Our lives and our
+money will be always at your command.'"[6]
+
+
+[6] See _Bombay Gazette_, March 31, 1897.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Opposition]
+
+As if in protest against the compliance of the great majority to the
+wishes of Government, one sect of Mahommedans, the Sunnis, showed
+themselves very refractory.  After much elaborate {177} letter-writing
+the Headmen sent a Mr. Raikes to lay before the Plague Committee the
+objections to their proceedings.  At the conference that was arranged
+the delegate was heckled into expressing himself clearly: "'It really
+comes to this,' he said; 'they ask you to minimise as far as you
+possibly can the great objections they have to the removal of the sick
+by not doing it at all.'"[7]  To which the Chairman seems to have
+rapped out: "That is absolute nonsense!"--to the great amusement of his
+supporters.  But though his words were pointed, his conduct was
+deliberate, and his patience faultless, for in a leading article we
+read:
+
+
+[7] See _Advocate of India_, March 31, 1897.
+
+
+"The correspondence between General Gatacre and the representatives of
+the Sunni Mahommedans will satisfy every one that the community has
+been treated with extraordinary patience.  The Chairman of the
+Committee has given two long interviews to the Sunni leaders, who have
+had professional assistance in placing their views before him.  He has
+listened patiently and respectfully to every argument and objection
+that has been put before him; they have gone to the Governor with a
+letter which put their case at its strongest; and once again they have
+gone back to General Gatacre, who once more, in replying to their
+solicitors, treats them with a kindness and a consideration which sheer
+stubbornness seldom meets with in this world."[8]
+
+
+[8] See _Times of India_, April 7, 1897.
+
+
+The show of troops was slightly increased {178} when the recalcitrant
+quarter was visited, but this precaution had due effect, and no
+violence took place.
+
+After about six weeks of unsparing toil and incredible devotion, it was
+becoming clear that the labours of all those concerned were not in
+vain: the returns were showing a steady and unmistakable decline.  But
+this had not been accomplished without very great persistence on every
+side.  The General writes:
+
+
+"I hope I shall hold out all right, but the strain is pretty severe;
+some of my Committee are feeling it, but have not broken down yet.  We
+are working from fourteen to eighteen hours in the day, which does not
+give me much time for writing."
+
+
+That he won the loyal support of all his colleagues is clear from the
+following letter:
+
+
+"... The General is keeping very well; the amount of work he gets
+through is tremendous.  There is one thing about him that has struck me
+very much, and that is the extraordinary personal influence he quite
+unconsciously exerts over the men working under him.  A Surgeon-Colonel
+H---- has been sent down from Chitral for plague duty here, and he
+dislikes the whole thing.  He had congenial work up there, a lovely
+climate, snow and frost, a nice house with a lovely garden; and he has
+come down to work in the slums of Bombay at the hottest time of the
+year, with no friends in the place, and a most enervating climate.  He
+says that if any one else but General Gatacre was at the head of
+affairs, he would resign to-morrow.  {179} Major B---- is the same.
+His staff appointment will be up in October; he has eight months' leave
+due to him, and would have taken it if there had been any other General
+here.  But he knows how busy General Gatacre is with the plague, and
+feels that it would be hard on him to get a new A.A.G. just now.  And
+Major B---- is a hard-headed man, with, one would think, little
+sentiment about him.  But I could give you many instances.  Captain
+C---- of the Bombay Infantry, who is working as a secretary in the
+office, is only staying because General Gatacre is the Chief....  The
+General had a great dinner last month for all the medical men in
+Bombay, and as they refrained from discussing the plague, or their
+methods of treating it, it went off very well.  Last week we had
+another dinner of twenty-four, to which all the Russian, German, and
+Austrian scientists and all the foreign consuls were invited; it was a
+decidedly interesting evening."
+
+
+On April 30 the General writes:
+
+
+"... We are still struggling with the plague, and though it is milder
+in Bombay it is still dreadfully severe in the provinces all around.
+We have now been put on to take up the provinces, and it is like paying
+the labourers of an enormous town when our pay-day comes on....  The
+work and worry here is unceasing, and I really don't know when we shall
+be out of the wood."
+
+
+And again a fortnight later:
+
+
+"The climate, though good for Bombay, is beastly, and there is still
+much sickness about.  {180} We lost a nurse, Miss Horne, ten days ago,
+of plague.  In Bombay the mortality has come down to nearly normal, but
+in Cutch-Mandvi it is still very bad; at the latter place, with a
+population of 10,000 actually present, they have lost 2,000 in the last
+fortnight!  I am just beginning to write the Report; it will take about
+two months, I think.  We trust the disease will not break out again
+during the rains, but people know so little about it that it is
+impossible to say."
+
+
+Writing on May 21, 1897, he says:
+
+
+"... Our work has not lightened much here yet, although the disease is
+under control.  You see the same organisation must exist to prevent the
+plague breaking out again as up to date has existed for controlling it.
+There is much plague in the districts, and people are trying to get
+back to Bombay.  Many come in with the disease on them, but we catch
+them all at the stations and Bunders, and put them in hospital.  Now we
+are stopping every one coming in and detaining them eight days, to make
+sure they have not got the disease."
+
+
+In India that year the Queen's birthday was to be celebrated on June
+22.  Lord Sandhurst invited the General to his official dinner on the
+occasion, and urged him to come to Poona for a few days' change; but
+the latter declined the kind invitation, being fearful lest
+disturbances should occur in Bombay owing to the general holiday.
+
+[Sidenote: A murderous assault]
+
+That very night, at Poona, as the guests were returning after the
+dinner, a horrible outrage was {181} perpetrated.  In the darkness
+armed men climbed on to the back of two open carriages and shot the
+officers riding in them.  Mr. Ayerst, who with his wife was in the
+first carriage attacked, died on the spot, being shot through the head.
+It was afterwards shown that there was no ill-feeling against this
+young officer, and that he was the victim of a mistake.  In the
+carriage immediately following, Mr. Rand, a political officer who had
+been acting as Chairman of the Poona Plague Committee, was driving
+alone; he was shot through the lungs, and though at one time there
+seemed some hope of his recovery, he succumbed about ten days later.
+
+It was well known that Gatacre had been receiving threatening
+letters[9]; violent language of this sort had even appeared in the
+papers.  It was therefore natural that a very strong wave of sympathy
+and resentment at such an outrage should have been felt in Bombay,
+where the measures likely to provoke such personal retribution had
+necessarily been more drastic.
+
+
+[9] See _Advocate of India_, April 13, 1897.
+
+
+The General writes on June 25:
+
+
+"... Our dinner was a success, but the affair at Poona has rather upset
+people; it appears that the people there have been determined to have
+the blood of the Plague Committee, and accordingly arranged to
+assassinate them.  Rand I fear must die; Ayerst, who was shot by
+mistake, was killed at once; L----, who was on the Committee as
+segregation officer, was wanted, but the assassin mistook Ayerst for
+{182} him.  I trust the man will be discovered; we know who the
+instigator is, but it will be difficult to prove it.  I wish I was on
+the job.  I went to Poona yesterday, and saw the place, and had a long
+talk with Brewin, head detective; he seems fairly confident he will
+trace the murderers and bring the crime home to the suspected
+instigators."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Farewell]
+
+Though telegrams conveying the welcome news had reached him a fortnight
+earlier, it was not till the end of June that Bombay learnt that its
+General Officer Commanding had been appointed to the command of a
+Brigade at Aldershot, and would shortly be leaving the scene of his
+labours.  The city had now been pronounced free from plague, hospitals
+were being closed on all sides, and employés of all ranks were daily
+dismissed.  The Gatacre Committee had succeeded in stamping out the
+plague, and a chorus of gratitude arose towards the man to whose
+courage and determination the success of the attempt was mainly
+attributed.  Every community wished to present him with a token of its
+recognition, while all combined to entertain him "on a very grand
+scale."[10]  Leave was obtained from the Government of India to accept
+five testimonials, which, being cased in the silver cylinders familiar
+to the Anglo-Indian, are as beautiful as their contents are unique.
+Two of these offerings were a source of special pride and pleasure to
+their recipient.  The casket {183} presented by "The Citizens of
+Bombay" contains a scroll of parchment on which sixty signatures
+testify that all the representative men in the city, Christian,
+Mussulman, and Hindu, all merged their differences in their unanimous
+appreciation of the brilliant qualities and self-sacrificing devotion
+of the Chairman of the Bombay Plague Committee.  A silver box presented
+by the seven officers who had so loyally served on the Committee
+throughout those four arduous months was also specially prized.  But I
+am very sure that he would wish me not to omit a record of the offering
+of the Plague Staff, native clerks, engineers, and workmen of all
+classes; or of the touching farewell accorded him by the Sisters of the
+Cross at the Bandora Convent.
+
+
+[10] See _Bombay Gazette_, July 6, 1897, and _Times of India_, July 22,
+1807.
+
+
+On July 2, one week before he sailed for home, he writes:
+
+
+"I am looking forward to getting back to life again; I have been buried
+in a plague-pit for the last few months."
+
+
+
+
+{184}
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+1897-1898
+
+FROM ALDERSHOT TO BERBER
+
+[Sidenote: 1897]
+
+When Gatacre reached Aldershot on Sunday, August 11, 1897, he found
+that his Brigade was already engaged in manoeuvres.  The training was
+so arranged that year that though a continuous scheme was carried on
+from day to day, the troops returned each evening to their barracks.
+His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught, who commanded the Aldershot
+District, sent a kind message of welcome to the new Brigadier, saying
+that he would not expect to see him out for the first few days, but
+hoped that he would soon be able to take up the command of his troops
+in the field.
+
+[Sidenote: Route-marching]
+
+As the field-days all took place within easy reach of Aldershot, many
+ladies used at first to ride out on their bicycles to see what was
+going on.  This practice was, however, suddenly dropped after we learnt
+that two of our friends had been taken prisoners one day.  They were
+detained, and entertained, at the Headquarter Camp during the day's
+operations, and were not liberated until the troops were on the march
+{185} homewards.  It was thought that ladies thus prowling round until
+they got in touch with their husbands' corps would quite innocently
+carry information that would materially affect the execution of the
+military scheme.
+
+It was a great pleasure to Gatacre to find himself in England again.
+His sociable and friendly instincts all came into play.  I remember his
+getting hold of a list of the cadets at Sandhurst, and seeking out the
+sons of his friends, and asking them over to such events as would
+interest them.  He set about getting horses, and looked forward to a
+hunting season at home.  The Brigade route-marching was positively an
+enjoyment to him; he took so much interest in his new regiments that he
+would get up early on the route-marching days and be on the barrack
+square to see the first battalion march out, and sit there on his horse
+until the last man of the last battalion had passed him.  Then
+cantering on, he would work his way up to the head of the column and
+see the first and the last company march in.  He found the most genuine
+and unaffected pleasure in every phase of his work.  The conditions
+under which it was carried out were much easier and less exacting than
+they had been in India.  Indeed, the light work that goes on after
+October 1 was so much of a holiday to him that all thought of long
+leave was postponed till later in the season.
+
+At Christmas he took ten days' leave, which we spent at my father's
+house in Sussex.  The distance being only twenty-four miles, and the
+{186} weather being open, we did the journey on horseback, and had a
+few days' hunting with Lord Leconfield's hounds during our visit.  On
+Monday, January 3, we rode back, and, arriving late, had just sat down
+to luncheon when the A.D.C. suddenly turned up, bringing a telegram in
+his hand.
+
+[Sidenote: 1898]
+
+"This seemed so important, sir," he said, "that I thought I ought to
+bring it myself."
+
+The telegram was from the War Office in London to the Aldershot
+Divisional Office, and ran:
+
+
+"Please send General Gatacre and Major Snow, Brigade-Major, here as
+soon as possible; may be wanted for foreign service."
+
+
+There had been a paragraph in the morning papers announcing the
+movement of troops from Cairo up the Nile, and this news supplied us
+with the true interpretation.  The General got away by the next train,
+and in the afternoon sent back this telegram:
+
+
+"Arrive 9.15; sail Wednesday next."
+
+
+Having returned so recently from India, the General had all that he
+wanted in the way of field-service uniform and camp kit.  Though
+twenty-four hours seemed a short time in which to make preparations for
+such a momentous journey, still he got away more comfortably than the
+other men who had received the same short summons.  On Tuesday morning
+he cleared up work in the office, and handed over {187} his Brigade; he
+left Aldershot in the evening, and started from Charing Cross at 8.30
+a.m. on Wednesday, January 5, 1898, for Egypt, via Marseilles.
+
+There is no need to tell over again the long story of the gradual loss
+of the Soudan to Egypt, with the encroachment of the Dervish Empire,
+nor of the fall of Khartoum with the death of General Gordon ("my
+brother dreamer in an iron race") on January 26, 1885, nor of the
+patient preparation that had been going on in the thirteen years that
+had passed.  This book is concerned only with the final act of the
+drama, the defeat of the forces of the Khalifa Abdullahi, and the
+recovery of the capital.
+
+In 1898 Sir Herbert Kitchener was Sirdar of the Egyptian Army.  He had
+organised his force for the purpose it was to fulfil, and had gradually
+crept onwards up the Nile, until, on September 3, 1897, he reached and
+occupied Berber.  At that point he was, as it were, within striking
+distance of Khartoum.  This view seems also to have been held by the
+enemy, for in December the Intelligence Department heard of warlike
+preparations on his part.  This report precipitated the massing of the
+forces on our side.  The Sirdar knew that he could call for the
+assistance of British troops when the real struggle was to take place,
+and he made his call in December.
+
+Orders were immediately issued for the concentration of three
+battalions at Wady Halfa.  The 1st Lincolnshire and the 1st Cameron
+{188} Highlanders were already at Cairo, the 1st Warwickshire were
+moved from Alexandria, while the 1st Seaforth Highlanders at Malta were
+warned and shipped to Cairo in a very short space of time.  This
+regiment was also pushed forward, as soon as others had been brought
+from Crete and Gibraltar and Burma, to maintain the usual garrison in
+Lower Egypt.  The command of this service Brigade was given to
+Major-General W. F. Gatacre, C.B., D.S.O.  Major d'Oyly Snow
+accompanied him as Brigade-Major, and Captain R. G. Brooke as A.D.C.
+
+The General proceeded by train to Assouan, and by boat to Wady Halfa,
+which he reached on Thursday, January 25.  It was here that he first
+met the Sirdar.  But the troops had already passed on in front to
+Railhead, which was then the other side of Abu Hamed.  From Wady Halfa
+the new Desert Railway, which was still under construction, leaves the
+Nile and strikes out to the south-east across the open country towards
+Abu Hamed, a journey of about 250 miles.
+
+Writing from Camp Guheish, about seventeen miles south of Abu Hamed, on
+February 2, the General says:
+
+
+"We arrived here last night about eight o'clock, after a long journey
+across the desert from Halfa.  Such a desert--not a thing to be seen
+but sand and a few low black rocks jutting out of the plain.  A few
+straw-coloured birds, like stonechats, and a wagtail I saw at one
+place; goodness knows what they live on.  At {189} one o'clock we were
+within one mile of Abu Hamed, and were steaming steadily along, when,
+in ploughing through a sand-drift, we went off the line, and had to
+turn to and clear the line with the few shovels on the train and our
+hands.  Fortunately we were only a mile from Abu Hamed, so I sent on a
+messenger, and in fifty minutes a relief train came up, and, with the
+help of jacks, the engine was got on to the line again in four hours.
+It was fortunate we did not run off the line in the middle of the
+Desert, or we should have been delayed at least a day, and would have
+been put to inconvenience for food, though of course we had some.
+Well, I found Snow waiting for us, and we detrained our horses safely,
+and then, after going on another mile, we came to our camp, placed
+between the Nile and the railway--a howling desert, with a tremendous
+wind blowing night and day.  The dust fills everything, but the climate
+up to date is magnificent, and I hope will continue so for a long time;
+quite cold at night and in the morning, sufficient to make me put on my
+great-coat, and at night, though of course I sleep in my clothes, I am
+glad of all the blankets I can put on....  The Maxim guns I left at
+Halfa temporarily, as we haven't got sufficient food for the mules yet,
+but as soon as the train is running through we shall have them up."
+
+
+A fortnight later the railway had grown longer, and as Railhead
+advanced, so the British Brigade moved southwards and finally camped at
+Abu Dis.
+
+Gatacre used the three weeks that the troops were encamped by the
+railway to get in touch with his Brigade--to feel and to improve their
+{190} marching powers.  His methods excited some comment at the time,
+but afterwards, when there was a real call for exceptional exertions,
+it was frankly admitted that the previous training had been of great
+value.  "It is impossible to deny that, while discipline and health
+were successfully maintained, the general efficiency was greatly
+increased."[1]
+
+
+[1] _The River War_, by Winston Spencer Churchill, vol. i. p. 366.
+
+
+There were, however, two directions in which efficiency was seriously
+hampered--boots and bullets.  The General writes on February 2:
+
+
+"The present-shaped bullet .303 Lee-Metford rifle has little stopping
+power.  Well, we have only this class of ammunition, so I am altering
+the shape of the bullet to that of the Dum-Dum bullet, which has a
+rounded point.  I do this by filing the point off.  Before I left Cairo
+I provided four hundred files and small gauges to test the length of
+the altered bullet, and daily here we have 2,800 men engaged on this
+work.  I borrowed fifty railway rails and mounted them flat side
+uppermost, to form anvils on which to file.  We have a portion of men
+unpacking, and another portion packing, so that the same men are always
+at the same work.  The men are getting very sharp at it; it would make
+a capital picture.  This is a terrible place for boots, and many of the
+men whose boots were not new at starting have mere apologies for boots
+on their feet.  Fortunately, we have time to rectify this, and I have
+taken the necessary steps."
+
+
+And again a week later:
+
+
+"The men are working very well; we have {191} no drink, and therefore
+no crime or sickness.  I am getting on well with altering our
+ammunition.  We have 3,000,000 rounds to alter, but are making good
+progress, altering about 80,000 rounds per day."
+
+
+In the same letter we read:
+
+
+"There are crocodiles in the river here, but not many.  A fisherman
+caught one about three feet long, a most vicious little brute, who
+snaps at everyone and everything; he is tied by the middle with a piece
+of string, and swims about in a bath; he will probably be eaten when
+his master gets hungry.  Three days ago a gazelle was trapped and sent
+in to us by a native.  He was uninjured, and a beautiful little brute,
+with large eyes like Lorna's.  We all decided to keep him as a pet, and
+he got quite tame in a few hours.  But alas! we got hungry, and some
+one suggested that he might escape--so we ate him.  Perhaps it was the
+wisest course."
+
+In a letter dated Abu Dis, February 24, we get the first word of the
+forced march that was ordered on the following day:
+
+
+"I am so frightfully busy that I cannot find time for anything, so I
+think I may as well sit down and write to you for relaxation.
+Yesterday we had a seventy-mile ride to a place called Bastinab and
+back, looking out for future camping-grounds, for I have got a hint to
+be ready to move on at once, as Mahmoud at Metemma has crossed over to
+the east side of the Nile, and threatens to attack Atbara and
+Berber....  We may have to move and stack our camp baggage, etc., by
+the side of the line {192} in the desert, and march on in light order,
+the same sort of thing as in Chitral--a most exciting business this
+would be, wouldn't it?
+
+"My Maxim Battery came in to-day; I am quite pleased to get it.  The
+men are looking splendid, and we have only thirty or so sick out of a
+total strength of nearly 3,000.  I have now got my camel transport,
+something like 800 animals; this makes me more independent, and if I am
+required to move I can do so."
+
+
+Between February 22 and 25 a series of telegrams had been flying
+between the Sirdar at Berber and the Brigadier at Abu Dis.  All the
+details of the march which would be necessary to bring the British
+troops forward were proposed on the one side and sanctioned on the
+other, so that when on Friday, February 25, the following telegram was
+received at midday, orders were immediately issued and the start was
+made that evening.
+
+
+"News has come in that enemy in ten rubs advancing.  You can therefore
+move Brigade as arranged.--SIRDAR."
+
+
+(A rub means any number between 500 and 1,500 men.)
+
+To which this message was sent in reply:
+
+
+"I shall arrive at Atbara Camp nine or ten o'clock on Wednesday second
+with Maxims and 2,000 men; guns and cavalry will arrive on
+first.--GATACRE."
+
+
+I have found a rough draft of the official {193} report of the forced
+march made by the British Brigade on Berber in accordance with the
+order received, and have decided to print this narrative almost as it
+stands.
+
+
+"The 1st Lincolnshire and detachment 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment,
+with the six guns Maxim Battery, Royal Engineer detachment, Army
+Hospital Corps, and Army Service Corps, moved to Railhead, sixteen
+miles, by an empty ballast train, thence by route march seven and a
+half miles to camp at El Sherreik, which they reached at daylight on
+the morning of Saturday, February 26, all well.  Remainder of Warwicks
+moved at midnight, arriving at Sherreik 7.30 a.m.  The 1st Cameron
+Highlanders bivouacked by the side of the railway, and on the arrival
+of a train at 5 a.m. were railed to Railhead.  They reached camp at
+9.30 a.m. all well.
+
+"At El Sherreik the Brigade halted for the day, and at 10 p.m. started
+on their march for Diveryah.  Tea was made at Nedi, and the troops left
+again, after resting, at 2.30 a.m. on Sunday.  Bastinab was reached
+shortly after daybreak.  Captain Bainbridge, Egyptian Army, supplied
+firewood, and fires were lit, it being very cold.  Here sixty pairs of
+fantasses were taken, as no water was available _en route_.  The road
+onward proved rocky and sandy in places, and was very heavy going for
+tired men, but Diveryah was reached at 3 p.m.  The stony nature of the
+country completely wore out many of the boots.  The last three miles
+were very trying, as the sun was hot; there was no shade, and the men
+felt the weight of their equipment.  The bivouac was laid in a small
+nullah, running at right angles to the Nile, and the men made
+themselves very comfortable.  Finding that a {194} great number of men
+had worn through the soles of their boots, I arranged with Captain
+Strickland, Egyptian Army, to convey about 400 men, under the command
+of Major Napier, Cameron Highlanders, by an Egyptian steamer to Berber.
+They left Diveryah on Monday morning, February 28, and reached Berber
+the same day, where they were refitted from the boot store of the
+Egyptian Army, and rejoined the Brigade on arrival.
+
+"At 2.30 a.m. on Monday, February 28, the Brigade moved from its
+bivouac _en route_ to Um Hosheyo by the desert track, which, almost
+immediately after leaving the bivouac, lay through brushwood and broken
+ground.  Owing to touch being lost by the rear battalion, a delay of
+three-quarters of an hour ensued, when the march was resumed over a
+rough and stony piece of country.  After about five miles the track
+improved, and at 6.15 a.m. the first man of the Brigade marched into Um
+Hosheyo.  Continuing its march the advanced guard reached a grove of
+Dom palms at Wady Hamar at 8.30 a.m., where a halt was made till 4.30
+p.m. to enable the troops to cook and sleep.  At 4.30 p.m. the troops
+again moved forward over a good level track, and continued marching
+until 10.45 p.m., at which hour Genenetti was reached.  Total distance
+from El Sherreik to Genenetti forty-five miles.  Here we dropped
+another 122 men whose boots had completely gone.
+
+"At 3 a.m. on Tuesday, March 1, the Brigade paraded and moved off along
+a fairly good track, heavy in places, for Aboudyeh, twelve miles.
+After a trying hot march the Brigade reached a point two miles north of
+Aboudyeh at 9 a.m., where they rested till 4.30 p.m.  Three men were
+reported missing, but it was subsequently {195} ascertained that they
+had proceeded with other men who had worn out their boots from
+Genenetti, under command of Major Snow, Brigade-Major, with spare
+ammunition and commissariat supplies.  At 4.30 p.m. the troops left
+Aboudyeh for El Hassa, thirteen miles, a very hot evening, over (at
+first) a good hard plain, crossed here and there by heavy sandy khors;
+there was little wind, and the column marched till 11 p.m. through
+dense clouds of dust.  After marching about two miles the Brigade
+halted to give the men water at Aboudyeh, where a certain number of
+wells containing brackish water were found.  The inhabitants turned out
+and provided _dilus_ (buckets) and ropes, willingly giving the men
+water.  Company after company filed past, each man getting half a
+canteen full of water.  After this halt no more water was obtainable,
+as the route lay inland, and the men had to rely on their water-bottles.
+
+"At 11 p.m. on Tuesday the Brigade filed on to the El Hassa
+camping-ground, about three miles north of Berber, and bivouacked by
+the side of the Nile.  Two miles before reaching El Hassa, the General
+Officer Commanding received a letter by camel messenger from His
+Excellency the Sirdar, directing that the column should halt for
+twenty-four hours, and pass through Berber at 5.30 a.m. on the morning
+of March 3.  The Brigade, therefore, remained halted till 3.30 a.m. on
+the morning of Thursday the 3rd, when it marched for Berber.
+
+"On arriving at the north end of the town of Berber, the column was
+reinforced by the 400 men who had been refitted with boots from the
+Egyptian Army stores.  The Sirdar met the column at about 5.30 a.m. on
+the outskirts of the town, and was heartily cheered by the troops {196}
+as they passed him.  The bands of the Soudanese battalions played in
+the three regiments, and the men met with a great reception from all
+ranks of the battalions in garrison, who turned out to a man, and
+afterwards provided tea and cigarettes for the men, and breakfasts for
+the officers, at the camping-ground.  The officers likewise received
+much hospitality at the hands of the Sirdar and the various messes in
+garrison.  At 4.30 p.m. the troops moved on again to Camp Dabeika,
+eleven miles from Berber, along an excellent desert track, about a mile
+from, and parallel to, the Nile.  The Brigade arrived with no sick man.
+The conduct of the troops during the whole march was excellent; there
+were no cases of difficulty between them and the natives of the
+country, and there was no crime, which may be considered as highly
+satisfactory and showing the state of discipline in which the
+commanding officers hold their regiments."
+
+
+The General marched the greater part of the way on foot, and made use
+of his spare horses to mount footsore men.  When questioned on this
+point, he gave the following reply in a letter:
+
+
+"With regard to my doing our long march on foot, it was nothing to me;
+troops necessarily march slowly, and it is pleasanter and less
+fatiguing (not to speak of its being a better example) for me to walk
+all the way.  I always had my horse with me, and I constantly had to
+get on to go to the head of the column, or the tail, to see if all was
+going right, and this made a nice change."
+
+
+The distance from Railhead to El Hassa, just {197} short of Berber, was
+sixty-five to seventy miles, and this journey was accomplished between
+10 p.m. on Saturday and 11 p.m. on Tuesday--seventy-three hours.
+Another fifteen miles on Thursday completed the march to Dabeika.
+
+This concentration had its effect on the enemy, who gave up any idea of
+attacking the Sirdar on the Nile, and the camp was unmolested for the
+next three weeks.  Some critics have on this account made out that
+Gatacre overtaxed his troops in bringing them along at an unnecessary
+pace in such a climate; but surely the measure of the necessity for
+rapidity lies in the danger which this junction averted rather than in
+the security which it brought about.  Moreover, it was the Sirdar on
+the spot who decided and gave orders: the General carried them out.  At
+the time he wrote of it as a race between himself and Mahmoud.
+
+
+
+
+{198}
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+1898
+
+ATBARA AND OMDURMAN
+
+[Sidenote: Combined force]
+
+All through the winter every movement on the part of the Dervish
+leaders was carefully watched by the gun-boats on the Nile and the
+Egyptian cavalry on its banks.  The Intelligence Department had a
+system of espionage by which the feeling inside Omdurman was made known
+to them.  The Sirdar knew that the Khalifa was unwilling to turn out
+his main army, but that a large force was preparing to move out of
+Metemma under the combined command of the Emir Mahmoud and the cavalry
+leader Osman Digna.  Before long the Sirdar knew that this force had
+crossed to Shendy on the right bank of the Nile on February 28, and
+that on March 13 they had reached Aliab, which is only twenty miles
+south of Dakila, the Egyptian outpost.  But their subsequent designs
+were not known.  It was doubtful whether their scheme was to attack the
+Sirdar at Dakila, a fort which had recently been built on the right
+bank of the Nile, where the large tributary stream of the Atbara flows
+in from the south-east, or to make a dash {199} on Berber and sever the
+railway communication lower down.  Eventually the Dervish leader found
+himself unable to carry out either of these schemes, the fortress
+appearing too formidable after the arrival of the British contingent,
+and Berber proving too remote.  He decided therefore to threaten both
+points, and took up a strong position on the banks of the Atbara, about
+thirty miles above Dakila, which he fortified and entrenched
+elaborately, and waited for his foes to take the initiative.
+
+The force with which the Sirdar could meet the enemy was composed of
+the British Brigade, which had now been completed to four battalions by
+the arrival of the Seaforth Highlanders, and three Brigades of the
+Egyptian Army, commanded respectively by Colonel Maxwell, Colonel
+Macdonald, and Colonel Lewis.  There were also eight squadrons of
+cavalry, and two Maxim guns under Colonel Broadwood, six companies of
+the Camel Corps under Major Tudway, and some artillery, both heavy and
+light, under Colonel Long.  The total ran up to nearly 14,000 men of
+all arms.  This force was concentrated at Kenur on the Nile, and all
+the officers seem genuinely to have held the opinion that contact with
+the enemy might occur at any moment.  But as it turned out, it was not
+till seventeen days after the Sirdar's force started on their march to
+meet the enemy that the two armies met.
+
+On Sunday, March 20, the whole force marched across the angle of the
+desert to Da {200} Hudi, a camp on the Atbara River about twelve miles
+south-east of Kenur.  They started as if only for a reconnaissance in
+force, for we read: "We are taking only one day's supplies and what we
+stand up in, one blanket being carried for us on camels."  The hospital
+staff and transport was cut down to such narrow dimensions that it was
+hardly adequate for the work when the big fight really took place.
+Through all the next seventeen days the force lived on tinned beef and
+biscuits, in daily anticipation of closing with the enemy.  But what
+was privation, discomfort, and hardship to every man in the force was
+vexation of spirit also to Gatacre.  Writing on March 30, he says:
+
+
+"We may move to-morrow against Mahmoud, who is still in his entrenched
+jungle position at Hilgi on the east bank of the Atbara, eighteen miles
+south of this.  I have been urging the Sirdar to move forward and
+attack him, as we have been inactive for some days, while Mahmoud is
+merely sitting and waiting for us.  The inaction has a bad effect, both
+on our men and on the enemy."
+
+
+And again on April 3:
+
+
+"We are leaving the camp to-morrow, and going on to one three and a
+half to four miles south of Abadar.  I was in great hopes that the
+Sirdar would attack Mahmoud at once.  I thought I had persuaded him,
+but he wired my recommendation to Lord Cromer, and gave his own opinion
+and that of General Hunter, which were for waiting.  To-day he got a
+wire from Lord Cromer, deciding not to attack--a great {201} pity, I
+think.  At present the situation is as under: Mahmoud is in a zariba
+about ten miles from here, with about 20,000 men, very much crushed up
+for space, exceedingly hard up for food, and so placed that they
+cannot, in the event of a reverse, get away at all as an organised
+force.  There never was such a chance, and we are missing it."
+
+
+Continuing his letter on the following day, he says:
+
+
+"Yesterday, after writing so far, I got a bad go of colic, or malaria,
+or something, which made me feel very bad; but I am better to-day, and
+hope to be all right to-morrow.  I hear that another telegram has come
+from Lord Cromer, saying, on consideration he leaves the matter to the
+Sirdar, so I presume he will now attack as soon as possible.  I hope
+so.  We have moved to-day to Abadar, and are encamped in a shady belt
+of trees, near the river, but it is getting very hot."
+
+
+[Sidenote: A forward policy]
+
+During this time there had been frequent reconnaissances in the
+direction of the enemy's camp by the cavalry and Camel Corps and
+artillery.  Three small actions had been fought; and with the help of
+the information thus obtained, and from the tales of deserters, the
+position, size, and strength of Mahmoud's camp were known with
+considerable accuracy.
+
+It was the responsibility which Gatacre had incurred by advocating an
+early attack on this fortified position, against the advice of others
+better acquainted with Soudan warfare, that {202} coloured all his
+dispositions when the day arrived.  He did not, however, let his
+natural forwardness of character deceive him as to the resistance to be
+overcome.  The author of _The River War_ has already made this point,
+although he did not know the true interpretation of the situation.
+
+
+"It is impossible not to sympathise with General Gatacre's obvious
+determination that, whatever happened to the other parts of the
+assault, the British Brigade should burst into the enclosure at all
+costs.[1]
+
+
+[1] _The River War_, vol. i. p. 457.
+
+
+This feeling of exaggerated personal responsibility led the General to
+take up his position at the head of his Brigade.  In his letter written
+four days later he anticipates the criticism that would be levelled
+against him on this account, and shows that he had weighed the point,
+and had deliberately forsaken the traditional place.  Scientific
+soldiers may criticise his action, but, according to Mr. Churchill,
+there was to a civilian a certain grim splendour in the spectacle.[2]
+
+
+[2] _Ibid._, vol. i. p. 468.
+
+
+In the General's last letter before the fight we find the following
+words:
+
+
+"My men are ready.  I have taught them all I know.  We shall do our
+best, and I think my regiments will do all I expect of them; God bless
+you."
+
+
+[Sidenote: The assault]
+
+The battle of the Atbara was fought on Good Friday, April 8, 1898.  It
+was a brilliant victory, and resulted in the capture of Mahmoud and the
+{203} total defeat of his army.  The enemy's losses were estimated at
+40 Emirs and 3,000 Dervishes killed.  On our side the losses were 24
+killed and 101 wounded in the British Brigade, and 56 killed and 371
+wounded in the Egyptian Army.  It is interesting to note that the
+casualties in the two Egyptian Brigades, which took part in the assault
+on the zariba simultaneously with the British regiments, amount to 381,
+which gives a higher ratio per Brigade than the figure for the British
+troops, which is 125.  So that it is scarcely possible to maintain that
+the formation adopted in Gatacre's brigade was peculiarly destructive.
+
+The General's own letter of April 14 from Darmali furnishes a very
+graphic account of the engagement and the return march:
+
+
+"They all did very well, but I had to get a bit forward to watch that
+all went well.  Between you and me, a General Officer should not get up
+into the firing line of his Brigade without good reason; this I know,
+but I had good reasons for going there.  When your whole Brigade only
+covers a space of 200 yards by 200 yards, it is immaterial where you
+are, so far as the penetration of bullets is concerned, but what is
+important is that the G.O.C. should be where he can watch any important
+point....  Well, our men started the ball, and we pushed straight on
+over the stockade.  It was pretty hot when we were pulling away the
+zariba fence; the ground was flying up as if it was being harrowed all
+round me, with the fire of the riflemen, and I lost a terrible bunch of
+men at that {204} spot.  Of course I saw the sooner we got to the
+stockade the sooner we should stop the rifle fire, so we rushed it, and
+as soon as we were in we soon killed all the riflemen and the spearmen
+there, but we had a real good fight.  The general operations of the
+day, however, were as follows: On evening of the 7th (Thursday) the
+British Brigade and three Egyptian Brigades moved out from Abadar at 6
+p.m., my Brigade leading; we moved in square about three miles, sat
+down in the Desert, had some food and water, and slept in square till 1
+o'clock a.m.  Of course we took no blankets or anything with us, merely
+one day's food, ammunition, and water.  At one o'clock we moved on in
+square, the other brigades following; it was moonlight, and a curious
+sight to see these three enormous hollow squares moving solemnly on
+with not a note or a whisper even--no smoking.  We went on till just
+before dawn, then halted and deployed into line; a fine line it
+was--the Camerons, Seaforths, and Lincolnshires, with the Warwicks in
+column on the left flank at right angles.
+
+"We then advanced a bit, till we could see the Dem (zariba), pulled up,
+and commenced firing with our artillery, in hopes of drawing Mahmoud
+out to fight, and secondly of pounding his army well before we
+assaulted the position.  Our cavalry was on my left, watching the left
+flank; the Dervishes made several attempts to get their cavalry out,
+but failed.  Well, after hammering away for an hour, the order for
+assault was given, and away we went, the, Camerons covering the front
+of the assaulting column, and firing as they went; directly we got on
+to the crest of the hill men began to tumble about, and I gave the
+order to rush the zariba and stockade.
+
+{205}
+
+[Sidenote: The return march]
+
+"We lost some very good officers and men killed, but that must always
+be; we lost fewer than I expected.  Captain Findlay, Camerons, a nice
+fellow, was killed getting over the zariba.  Captain Urquhart, of the
+Camerons, too, was killed.  He had just come back from the Staff
+College on purpose to take part in the expedition.  Gore was quite a
+boy.  I was with Captain Findlay most of the march to the zariba, as
+his was the company of direction, and as we were marching principally
+by the stars, I had to be there or thereabouts.  After they were dead I
+cut off a bit of hair from Findlay and Urquhart to send home; Gore had
+had his hair cut so short that none was procurable.  We buried them all
+in one grave, immediately after the fight.  A curious sight: the Pipers
+and Buglers of a Soudanese battalion played the Dead March in Saul,
+then the Pipers of the Camerons and Seaforths played a Lament, then we
+filled in the grave.  We had amongst the four Brigades about 600 killed
+and wounded, and we had, immediately we had buried the dead and dressed
+the wounded, to carry all these men back about eight miles across the
+desert.  We told off eight men to each stretcher, and moved slowly
+homewards, leaving at 6 p.m.  The fight was over about 8.45 a.m. I
+think, but it took us all day to dress the wounded and build sheds for
+them (of bushes).  The sun, of course, is very hot, and we had all to
+sit in the desert, as the bush and the river-bank was so full of dead
+and dying Dervishes as to make it inadvisable for our men to lie there.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"Now I suppose we shall be here for three months, to refit and prepare
+for the next go-in at Khartoum, which will require careful doing."
+
+
+{206}
+
+The Sirdar was naturally very much gratified at the decisive nature of
+his victory, and was overwhelmed with telegrams of congratulation.  The
+following quotation from an article in _Blackwood's Magazine_ of
+December 1902 tells us how the Sirdar expressed himself to his
+colleague:
+
+
+"Kitchener was dictating his dispatch to the Queen when there passed in
+front of us a pony led by a syce, and laden with spoils selected from
+that field of plenty with the praiseworthy discrimination of an art
+connoisseur.  Kitchener hailed the man, and selecting the finest coat
+of mail and the most beautifully finished spear, bade me take them to
+General Gatacre with his warmest thanks for the splendid gallantry and
+good judgment with which he had led his fine Brigade.  I seem now to
+see the pleasant light that shone in that brave soldier's eyes as I
+gave him the message word for word.  What a splendid fellow, and how
+willingly any of us would have given our right hands to save him from
+the fate that befell him--at the hands of his own chiefs--in South
+Africa."[3]
+
+
+[3] _Ex_ article, "Campaigning with Kitchener," December 1902, p. 738.
+
+
+In the official dispatch the Sirdar wrote:
+
+
+"The high state of efficiency to which the British Brigade was brought
+is, I consider, in a large measure due to the untiring energy and
+devotion to duty of Major-General Gatacre and the loyal support
+rendered him by the commanding officers of his battalions, all of whom
+he has brought to favourable notice.  During the engagement on the 8th
+inst. General Gatacre showed a fine example of gallant leading.  The
+{207} cordiality and good feeling existing between the British and
+Egyptian troops, who have fought shoulder to shoulder, is to a great
+extent due to the hearty co-operation of General Gatacre, and I cannot
+speak too highly of the services rendered by him and the troops under
+his command in the recent operations."[4]
+
+
+[4] _The Times_, Wednesday, May 25, 1898.
+
+
+All through May, June, and July the time hung heavily for the British
+Brigade.  They were quartered in the villages of Darmali and El Sillem,
+the General's headquarters being at the former.  The temperature ran up
+to 106° and 108° in the shade, but he makes light of the heat and says,
+"One does not feel it as one does in India."
+
+One little incident of these weary days has survived, and is recorded
+by an officer in his recollections.
+
+
+"When the General was inspecting the Ordnance workshops at our camp on
+the Nile, a non-commissioned officer was brought to his notice as
+having done very good work.  Gatacre complimented him highly, and said:
+
+"'Now, what can I do for you?  I'll tell you what, you shall carry my
+flag when we advance to Omdurman.'
+
+"I believe the man's face was a picture, and he did not see it at all
+in the same light."[5]
+
+
+[5] _With the 72nd Highlanders in the Sudan Campaign_, by Colonel
+Granville Egerton.
+
+
+
+For, as all the Brigade knew, the General's flag had been carried at
+the battle of the Atbara by Staff-Sergeant Wyeth, who had been shot
+through the knee and had subsequently died of his {208} wound, so that
+the non-commissioned officer had good cause to look on it as an
+undesirable honour.
+
+This matter of carrying a flag into action has also aroused comment,
+but it is recorded that the Sirdar was always accompanied by the red
+Egyptian Flag, and it is probable that, in flying a little Union Jack
+behind him, the General had merely adopted this practice to flatter the
+nationality of his troops.
+
+At the end of May he made a trip in a gunboat to Shendy and Metemma,
+which he much enjoyed.  In June he took a fortnight's leave to
+Alexandria and Cairo.  It was while staying there that he received
+official intimation of his having been advanced to Major-General's
+rank, for hitherto his name had appeared in the Army List as a Colonel
+with the temporary and local rank of Major-General.  According to
+regulations, a medical examination was necessary before this promotion
+could be confirmed.  The idea that there could be any question about
+his health amused Gatacre greatly, and he offered, as a test, to run a
+hundred yards' race with the Principal Medical Officer.  The challenge
+was politely declined, and an appointment made for the formal
+examination.
+
+[Sidenote: Promotion]
+
+In August Gatacre had the great satisfaction of finding himself in
+command of a Division in the field.  A second Brigade of British troops
+was being sent up, and Colonel Wauchope[6] and Colonel Lyttelton[7]
+arrived from England to take {209} over the First and Second Brigades
+respectively.  But however gratifying this promotion might be, it
+lifted him farther from the soldiers and the fighting, and it is owing
+to this circumstance that his name was so little mentioned in the story
+of the fight before Omdurman.  This elevation, however, made no
+difference to his work or his activity.  On August 17 he writes from
+Dakila:
+
+
+[6] The late Major-General Andrew Wauchope, C.B.
+
+[7] General the Hon. Sir Neville Lyttelton, G.C.B.
+
+
+"We are very busy now with embarkations and detrainments of troops
+arriving from the north; we are up nearly every night, as trains arrive
+at most unearthly hours; this of course is unavoidable.  My first
+Brigade has gone on, and the embarkation of the second commences at
+daybreak to-morrow morning....  We move by steamers towing barges to
+Wad Bishara, about 145 miles, and thence by route march."
+
+
+Wad Bishara is just below the Sixth Cataract, and lies on the western
+bank about fifty-five miles north of Omdurman.
+
+The defeat of the Dervish army at the battle of Omdurman took place on
+Sunday, September 2, 1898.  The story was told with much detail in the
+newspapers at the time, and has since been elaborately set out in _The
+River War_, but, notwithstanding the existence of many records, this
+book would not be complete without some account of such an important
+event.  Though far from being a comprehensive narrative, the General's
+letter is interesting in itself:
+
+
+"_September_ 7, 1898.
+
+"On the morning of September 1 we marched twelve miles through jungle,
+finding everywhere {210} traces of the flight of the Dervish
+outposts--dead animals, men, etc., who had been killed by them,
+probably people attempting to desert.
+
+"We arrived at Kerreri about 12 noon, and found a village on the river
+with much open ground to our front and south-west, with a conical hill
+standing up in the plain about two miles to the south.  We settled down
+to eat in the village, and in about an hour our cavalry sent in to say
+that the Khalifa's army was on the march from Omdurman towards us in
+three bodies, a centre and two wings.  As soon as we had had our food,
+we set to work to get our troops into position in a kind of semicircle
+round the village, and strengthened ourselves with a zariba and trench,
+where zariba thorns were unprocurable; this we finished by dark, and
+then sat down to eat and sleep.  The night passed quietly.  The Khalifa
+missed a chance of doing us much damage by not attacking at night, but
+luckily he did not disturb us.
+
+"At 3.30 a.m. we stood to our arms, ready for an attack at dawn.  It
+was a beautiful moonlight night, and I had been up most of the time,
+watching my line and inspecting the patrols, etc.  About six in the
+morning of the 2nd we got intelligence that the Khalifa's army was
+coming on, and presently they began to pour across the open ground
+about two miles off, yelling like demons, apparently an endless stream
+of men and horses.  I have never seen anything like it--banners flying
+all along the line, guns firing, etc.  For an hour they kept pouring
+along in thousands, and suddenly the centre of the mass turned, and
+came straight for us.  I made all my men lie down, so that nothing
+could be seen of us except our zariba fence.  As soon as they got
+within range, about 2,300 yds., we opened {211} fire with all our guns,
+rifles, and Maxims, and a hail of lead fell on the army; but they were
+impervious to any influences of this kind, and kept pressing on and on
+till we literally mowed them down by hundreds.  After about
+three-quarters of an hour, the ground was strewn with dead and dying,
+and then, as our fire did not slacken, they began to turn and go, but
+only at a walk, no running about it.
+
+[Sidenote: The great fight]
+
+"Then we advanced, and after we had moved on about one mile the centre
+of the Dervish force returned to the charge and fell upon a Soudanese
+Brigade, to whose assistance I sent a British Brigade (General
+Wauchope's); this stayed the Dervish attack, which was driven back and
+followed up.  The whole force advanced and poured a heavy fire into the
+retreating Dervishes, who slowly withdrew, fighting.  We had now been
+at work fighting and moving from 3.30 a.m. under a heavy sun without
+water, and had still four miles to march over a very sandy country, so
+we started in fighting formation, keeping ourselves ready at any moment
+to face west again.  Well, they finally drew off to the hills, and we
+moved slowly on-towards the water, which one Brigade reached at 2 p.m.
+and the other at 3.30 p.m.; halted there till 4.30 p.m., and then
+marched on again into Omdurman, about three and a half miles; this we
+did not reach till dark, as we had to go carefully.  There were still a
+lot of Dervishes in the town, and our gun-boats were shelling them, up
+the river and in the town.  We had to bivouac out in the desert, as we
+could not find a suitable place.  We could get no water that night, as
+the river was too far to send to, and it was not safe to allow small
+parties to go out.
+
+{212}
+
+"Next morning we marched down to the river and bivouacked on the
+water's edge, and there we are now.
+
+"The total dead counted were 10,324 as near as could be; the wounded it
+would be impossible to count, as they all crowded away on to the
+river-bank and into the town, but there were thousands of them,
+possibly another 10,000 or more, some with the most fearful wounds.  I
+went out the next afternoon and also the day following with water for
+the wounded.  I sent out many mules laden entirely with water, and we
+relieved many of these unfortunates, but no doubt many died from want
+of water.
+
+"Now the whole thing is over, except an excursion to Fashoda, which the
+Sirdar is arranging; I think he goes up to-morrow with 100 men of the
+Northumberland Fusiliers in a steamer.
+
+"We had a nice day at Khartoum; we (800 men from various battalions),
+two or three bands, nearly all the officers, and an equal number of
+Egyptians steamed up on gun-boats to Khartoum, landed opposite Gordon's
+Palace, hoisted the Union Jack and Egyptian flag simultaneously,
+saluted them, and then held a Memorial Service for Gordon.  All our
+clergymen were present; the Sirdar made me stand on his right hand,
+thus paying a compliment to the British troops.  Afterwards we wandered
+about and hunted among the ruins to find traces of Gordon."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Friendly words]
+
+There is no doubt that the General enhanced his reputation enormously
+in this campaign.  Not only was his work done in the sight of Europe,
+but it was done under the eyes of a very exacting master.  _The World_
+wrote at the time: {213} "Perhaps the highest compliment that can be
+paid him is that he has satisfied the Sirdar."  Another paper said:
+"General Gatacre is a keen soldier--a workman 's'il y en a.'  His idea
+of practising troops in the field during a campaign was an inspiration.
+The conventional idea has been that in the field the only alternatives
+were fighting and taking it easy.  Result when campaigning in a bad
+climate, laziness in camp, rum, fever, and loss of condition generally."
+
+In a letter of congratulation from a Civil Service friend in India, we
+find the following generous appreciation:
+
+
+"You yourself are becoming more famous every day, to the great delight
+of your friends and well-wishers; and I was proud to see that at the
+Atbara you gave them a touch of the same bravery and indifference to
+danger that you delighted us with at the old club at Simla, when you
+rushed across the open and disarmed that Pathan servant who, after
+murdering the cook's mate, was firing 'promiscuous,' while we all
+huddled in the next block.  Do you remember?"
+
+
+One of his former Chiefs on the Bombay side wrote:
+
+
+You ought to have been a K.C.B. long ago, but you are all right now,
+and nothing can keep you back."
+
+
+
+
+{214}
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+1898-1899
+
+COLCHESTER
+
+[Sidenote: Festivities]
+
+On November 15, 1898, the Honours Gazette for the recent campaign was
+published, and Gatacre found himself a Knight Commander of the Bath.
+Having also been awarded the Second Class of the Imperial Order of the
+Medjidieh by His Highness the Khedive, he was now in possession of two
+stars as well as two additional war medals.  He had the honour of
+receiving his knighthood at the hands of Her Majesty Queen Victoria at
+Windsor on December 10, 1898.  Not long afterwards he received an
+invitation to stay at Windsor Castle, and had the honour of dining with
+Her Majesty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1899]
+
+In the following February it was notified that Her Majesty the Queen
+had been graciously pleased to nominate Sir William as one of the
+officers to receive a Reward for Distinguished and Meritorious Service.
+
+The whole nation was delighted with the success of its representatives
+in Egypt, and as all hearts had been wrung by the tragedy of 1885, so
+now all rejoiced with the victors of 1898.  A {215} unanimous vote of
+thanks was passed in both Houses of Parliament.  A large copy of these
+gratifying words printed on vellum and bound in red and green covers
+respectively was presented to each of the senior officers named
+therein.  These were forwarded through Lord Kitchener, who added a few
+words endorsing the appreciation of Sir William's good work.
+
+The Lord Mayor of London gave a dinner at the Guildhall in the Sirdar's
+honour.  The Lord Provost of Edinburgh invited Lord Dufferin and Lord
+Kitchener to accept the Freedom of that ancient city.  Edinburgh had
+reason to feel a special interest in the campaign, for one of the
+brigadiers was a Midlothian man and there had been two Highland
+regiments in his command.  Lord Dufferin was especially pleased to see
+Gatacre again, for as Viceroy of India he remembered him well while
+serving on the Headquarters Staff.
+
+There were also two gala days when the General was the central figure;
+for his native county of Shropshire was very proud of her son.  On
+December 15 Sir William was enrolled a Freeman of the City of
+Shrewsbury with much acclamation and many kindly speeches.  The county
+town of Bridgnorth also entertained him handsomely, and reminded him
+that he had signed their roll in the year 1860.  Sir William was not a
+pretentious speaker, but when called upon for a speech on such
+occasions his ideas were simple and his words fluent and appropriate.
+
+The appointment he had held at Aldershot {216} having been cancelled on
+his departure for Egypt, the General found himself unemployed for a
+time after his return, but at the end of October he was informally
+invited to say whether the Poona First-class District in India or the
+command of the Eastern District with Headquarters at Colchester would
+be the more agreeable to him.  It was without hesitation that he chose
+the latter.  From August 1880, when he left Dover with his regiment, to
+August 1897, when he had returned to take over his brigade at
+Aldershot, he had served continuously in India, while (with a short
+interval of five months) he had been working in the tropics for a
+further ten months.  He had now nearly completed thirty-seven years'
+service, of which twenty-three had been spent in India.  There was
+therefore to him a most attractive novelty about serving at home, and
+the independent provincial command that was offered to him would, he
+knew, in many ways prove most congenial.  He took over the command from
+General Burnett on December 8, 1898, and went into residence at
+Colchester the next day.
+
+The Eastern District at that time included the nine counties which lie
+between Norfolk and London, and between Nottingham and the sea.  The
+General Officer Commanding was directly responsible to the War Office
+for the troops of all arms, regular, militia, and volunteers, within
+this area.  During the training season the work was very heavy and
+necessitated a great deal of touring.  His previous experience in
+Bombay {217} had given the General a special interest in coast defence,
+and it was therefore with pleasure that he again found himself in
+command of a long sea-board.
+
+In the last year of his command, 1903, the Army Reorganisation scheme
+slightly changed his official position, but this was purely technical,
+and only affected his last six months there.
+
+[Sidenote: In Sussex]
+
+Occasionally Sir William was called upon to take part in the training
+outside his own district.  Early in the year 1899 he was detailed to
+conduct one side of a staff-ride that took place in Sussex.  An
+imaginary Blue Force was supposed to be concentrated at Eastbourne,
+while the Defence held the heights to the north of Ashdown Forest.  The
+wild and picturesque district over which the operations were conducted
+added immensely to Gatacre's pleasure in the trip; he wrote with
+enthusiasm of the miles of heather-land, and had in the end the further
+satisfaction of finding that, as the Blue Invader, he had defeated his
+Red Opponent by a night-march on Dorking.
+
+Among other events of the London season Sir William was present at the
+Royal Academy Dinner.  Invitations to all sorts of public functions and
+city dinners followed throughout the summer.  As the journey from
+Colchester only occupies one hour, it was possible for him to enjoy all
+such London diversions without in any way neglecting his professional
+duties.
+
+Further evidence of his enhanced reputation was afforded by his
+selection to command a Division on Salisbury Plain in the forthcoming
+{218} manoeuvres.  Two Divisions were organised, under the general
+direction of Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke.  One had its headquarters at
+Perham Down and was commanded by Sir Leslie Rundle, the other by
+Gatacre with headquarters on the Downs above Bulford.  This latter
+Division consisted of two brigades under Colonel Ian Hamilton and
+Colonel Clements; the staff remained in camp throughout the ten weeks'
+training, but the troops (which included units from the militia and
+volunteers as well as the regular army) took part in the training for
+two or three weeks only.  This was the first occasion on which khaki
+uniform was worn in England; a certain battalion having recently
+returned from abroad, came into camp as it was, before refitting with
+home clothing.  The camp lasted from June 25 to September 3; at the end
+Sir William wrote that his stay had been most instructive, and that Sir
+Charles Mansfield Clarke had expressed himself as much pleased with all
+that had been done.
+
+Throughout this summer the situation in South Africa, so far as it
+could be known through the daily papers, was giving rise to great
+anxiety, and the probability of an outbreak of hostilities before very
+long became more and more apparent.  Early in October Gatacre was
+warned that in the event of an Army Corps proceeding to South Africa he
+had been selected for the post of Lieutenant-General commanding the
+Third Division.  Sir George White had only a week before started to
+take command of the forces in {219} Natal, and had borrowed Gatacre's
+A.D.C.; and at the same time the 6th Company Army Service Corps had
+been sent off from Colchester to the Cape.
+
+Before the middle of the month Sir William's appointment and the
+details of his command were gazetted, and he received orders to sail on
+the Union-Castle Line mail steamer _Moor_ on Saturday, October 21, from
+Southampton.  His departure from Colchester was fixed for Friday the
+20th.  Although it was scarcely ten months since he had been resident
+in the district, the General had, as usual, become very popular with
+all classes.  The Mayor and Corporation insisted on being given an
+opportunity of expressing their congratulations and good wishes.
+
+"The Council," they said, "felt that they were parting not only with a
+distinguished officer and an ornament to Her Majesty's service, but
+with a brother citizen."
+
+[Sidenote: Off to the Cape]
+
+Crowds of friends were assembled on the platform that Friday afternoon,
+every officer of the garrison was there in uniform, and there were many
+persons who had come in by train to cry "God-speed," for not a few had
+husbands, sons, and brothers already at the front.  Many people at that
+time thought that the war would be a very short affair after the
+arrival of the reinforcements, and it was in this spirit that a lady in
+her farewell greeting said: "Good-bye, General--good luck to you; but I
+fear it will all be over before you get out."  To which the General
+replied so gravely that she felt reproved: {220} "Make no mistake.  We
+have a long tough job before us."
+
+
+In the evening papers that same day the news of the battle of Talana
+Hill was published.  This was the first conflict of the three years'
+war, and very naturally the account of it added fervour to the public
+interest in the official departures.  Two troopships were leaving
+Southampton that Saturday as well as the Union-Castle liner which was
+to carry Sir Redvers Buller and his three divisional commanders.  The
+public knew by what train the officers would travel, and both at
+Waterloo and at Southampton the popular enthusiasm was expressed with
+extraordinary vehemence.
+
+
+
+
+{221}
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+1899
+
+CAPE COLONY
+
+It was with great reluctance that Sir Redvers Buller had been persuaded
+to give any forecast to the War Office in London of the disposition of
+troops he intended to make on reaching Capetown.  But whatever these
+may have been, he found on his arrival that the situation had so
+materially changed that he had to rearrange his plans to suit the
+emergency.
+
+The Boers were bringing so much pressure to bear on Ladysmith, where
+Sir George White had established his headquarters, and on Kimberley,
+that he decided to send the First Division under Lord Methuen to the
+relief of the latter place, and to employ in Natal the Second Division
+and the two brigades of which the Third Division had been originally
+composed.  It seemed at the same time so important to reassure the
+loyal colonists in Eastern Cape Colony that he sent Gatacre there with
+one battalion of infantry and a promise of speedy reinforcements.
+
+Writing on board ship between Capetown and {222} East London, on
+November 16, Sir William says:
+
+
+"I am ordered to go to East London, and take command of the district up
+to Bethulie Bridge.  Now, what does this mean?  Why, that with the
+Royal Irish Rifles, which has never been on service before, together
+with half-battalion Berkshire Regiment, and a few Volunteers, I become
+responsible for the railway line and adjacent country up to the Orange
+River, about 200 miles long--but the last 100 miles are much
+disaffected.  I have no definite orders, except that I am to hold
+Queenstown if possible, but East London at any rate, and am to raise as
+many Volunteers as possible."
+
+
+When the General reached East London he found that it could be left
+under the care of a local Volunteer Corps, and so he proceeded by train
+to Queenstown the same day.  Here he found the half-battalion named
+above, a small detachment of Royal Garrison Artillery, and half a
+company of Royal Engineers.  Besides these regular troops there were
+229 men of the Frontier Mounted Rifles, and 285 of the Queenstown Rifle
+Volunteers.
+
+Sir Redvers Buller, who was the General Commanding-in-Chief, chose
+Natal for his headquarters.  Sir F. Forestier-Walker was in command of
+the Lines of Communication, with headquarters at Capetown.  Sometimes
+Sir Redvers sent his messages direct to Gatacre, and sometimes they
+came through Capetown.  There was no friction and no contradiction,
+{223} but it may well have been that this duplication of important
+telegrams created an atmosphere of unrest and added poignancy to
+Gatacre's feeling of helplessness.
+
+On November 18 a telegram was received from Sir Redvers Buller,
+pointing out that "the great thing in this sort of warfare is to be
+pretty certain that one position is safe before you advance to another,
+and that we are not yet strong enough to play tricks."[1]
+
+
+[1] See _Official History of the War in South Africa_, 1899-1902, vol.
+i. pp. 286, 287.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Conflicting messages]
+
+Three days, later, however, the General Commanding-in-Chief strikes a
+different note:
+
+
+"I calculate it will be at least five days and probably a week before I
+have a second battalion to send you, or a battery of field artillery,
+but I am anxious to get into a position to protect the Indwe mines
+better than we do.  Do you think it would be safe for you to advance
+your force or part of it to Stormberg, and hold that instead of
+Queenstown?  I am told it is a good position for a force the size of
+yours.  Of course you will have no support."[2]
+
+
+[2] From contemporary copy of telegram in W. F. G.'s own handwriting.
+
+
+To this Sir William replied that he had not sufficient men as yet to
+advance on Stormberg, but as soon as more troops arrived he intended to
+occupy that junction and clear the country round it.
+
+At the time this message was sent the Boers had not yet crossed the
+Orange River {224} in strength, but by November 5 they had occupied
+Aliwal North and Stormberg, and were advancing on Dordrecht.  The first
+is an important town on the Orange River, near which there are good
+bridges, both for the road and the railway; the second is a railway
+junction fifty-five miles north-west of Queenstown, and Dordrecht is a
+small town only thirty-five miles from Queenstown to the north-east.
+
+[Illustration: Invasion of Cape Colony: the Boers marching south over
+the Orange River at Aliwal North.]
+
+On hearing of the occupation of Dordrecht, Sir Redvers grew anxious
+lest his former suggestion should be taken too seriously, and
+telegraphed to Sir F. Forestier-Walker:
+
+
+"Caution Gatacre to be careful.  I think he is hardly strong enough to
+advance beyond Putters Kraal before Methuen's return."[3]
+
+
+[3] See _Official History_, vol. i. p. 288.
+
+
+And on the following day he added instructions to reinforce Gatacre by
+one, or if possible two battalions, and "any mounted men that can be
+spared."[4]
+
+
+[4] _Ibid._
+
+
+Writing on November 24, Sir William says:
+
+
+"I have not yet got any more troops, but am hoping for some directly.
+Fancy what a predicament for a General Officer to be in--no troops, no
+transport, no horses for his Mounted Infantry; but I trust all are
+coming.  The only unfortunate thing is that our people in front,
+police, civilian officers, etc., are obliged to fall back for want of
+support.  I have been over a good deal of country the last few days,
+round our outposts, and am delighted with it.  It is fine and open, and
+the farmers are a nice set of people.  The sun is hot, but nothing like
+India: {225} one can ride in it all day without inconvenience, and it
+hardly ever gives you sunstroke."
+
+
+[Sidenote: An anxious time]
+
+And again on the 28th:
+
+
+"I have had a terribly anxious time the last two days, the Boers
+wrecking everything in my front, and no troops to drive them out.  I am
+thankful to say that I hear to-day that a regiment, the 2nd
+Northumberland Fusiliers, is arriving here to-morrow, ... and so I
+shall be able to make some kind of show--but I am still badly off for
+everything.  I am still praying for artillery, hospitals, etc.  The
+whole country is seething with rebellion, and to put it down we require
+a lot of men."
+
+
+Immediately after the arrival of this reinforcement, Gatacre advanced
+his Headquarters to Putters Kraal, twenty-five miles up the railway,
+and placed outposts at Sterkstroom, Bushman's Hoek, and Penhoek.  The
+cross railway line running from Stormberg westwards through Rosmead to
+Naauwpoort was soon afterwards destroyed by the enemy, thus putting a
+stop to any combined action between Sir William and Sir John French,
+who was defending a parallel railway which runs up from Port Elizabeth
+through Naauwpoort and Colesberg to Bloemfontein.
+
+On November 30 Sir William writes:
+
+
+"I fear this is a grumbling letter, but I am in a miserable state of
+inefficiency.  I have only two regiments (one joined yesterday).  We
+have waggons but no harness, and only {226} half the mules to draw
+them--and are within a few miles of the enemy.  I have orders to raise
+Mounted Volunteers, but have no saddlery, no equipment, no clothing to
+supply them with: it would be laughable if it were not lamentable and
+serious....
+
+"The worst point about the whole thing is that I can hear nothing of
+any more troops coming to me, that the Boers are eating up the country
+in our front, and forcing the farmers to join them, because I cannot
+move: and consequently they are getting stronger every day.  I assure
+you that I am perfectly sick at such a display of inefficiency,
+unpreparedness, and apathy.
+
+"Yesterday I made a dash out to Molteno, some sixteen miles ahead of my
+present position, and seized some 7,000 bags of food, meal, etc., and
+brought it in on some trains which I took out."
+
+
+On Saturday, December 2, Sir William sent the following message to Sir
+Redvers Buller:
+
+
+"Military situation here requires dealing with extreme carefulness.
+Boers have occupied Dordrecht, and enemy is advancing in a southerly
+direction, evidently pointing for Queenstown.  I have two British
+regiments only, and I am thirty-three miles to the north of Queenstown.
+I am holding Bushman's Hoek range, to endeavour to prevent descent into
+Queenstown district, which would mean general state of rebellion of
+Dutch.  Force will be strengthened at Queenstown by next British
+regiment, which should arrive at Queenstown December 5, but Queenstown
+is indefensible position.  Are there any orders, especially as regards
+my movements?"[5]
+
+
+[5] See _Official History_, vol. i. p. 288.
+
+
+{227} To which this reply was returned:
+
+
+"We have to make the best of the situation, and if the enemy is
+advancing by Dordrecht, the importance of Bushman's Hoek is diminished.
+You have a force which altogether is considerably stronger than the
+enemy can now bring against you.  Cannot you close with him, or else
+occupy a defensible position which will obstruct his advance?  You have
+an absolutely free hand to do what you think best."[6]
+
+
+[6] See _Official History_, vol. i. p. 288.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Night attack suggested]
+
+On the following day the message given below reached Gatacre through
+Sir F. Forestier-Walker:
+
+
+"General Buller inquires whether you can safely leave your present
+position and advance to Henning's Station, or somewhere near where you
+can get a safe position, and also institute a policy of worry.  He
+thinks if you could occupy Henning's Station Boers would fall back on
+Burghersdorp, or if you could get near enough to Burghersdorp to make
+night attack, it would be the thing to stop anxiety (_sic_).  He adds
+Hildyard with a battalion and half sent a column of seven thousand
+Boers under Joubert himself flying.  The above was probably wired
+before Buller read notification of the enemy's occupation of Dordrecht.
+He wired last night as follows: tell Gatacre he will have to take care
+of himself till 5th Division arrives.  A telegram just received says he
+has given you a free hand."[7]
+
+
+[7] From copy of telegram in A.D.C.'s handwriting.
+
+
+Burghersdorp is about twenty-three miles north of Stormberg, and
+Henning is a station about ten miles west of Stormberg on the cross
+{228} line.  This telegram, therefore, sketched a far more arduous and
+hazardous enterprise than that which Gatacre afterwards attempted.
+
+Within the next few days the Third Division was strengthened by the
+arrival of the 74th and 77th Batteries Royal Field Artillery, the First
+Battalion Royal Scots, the 33rd Company Army Service Corps, and the
+16th Field Hospital.  All these units were only just arrived from
+England, so that, although the additional battalion of infantry was
+very valuable, Gatacre was unable to employ the men on the raid that he
+had been planning for some time past.  They would serve, however, to
+protect the camp, and would thus set the other two battalions free for
+use as a striking force.  Even these had only been two and three weeks
+in the country respectively, and the General had had no opportunity of
+getting them into the hard condition and fighting form that was reached
+by his Brigade on the Nile.
+
+On December 8 he writes:
+
+
+"I am frightfully busy and worried.  The whole of this country is
+seething with rebels, and as they are all mounted, and I have only a
+few mounted infantry on half-fed ponies, it is very difficult to cope
+with them.
+
+"I have now three regiments of infantry, but have a long railway line
+to guard, and every culvert has a couple of armed men in it.  Fancy
+what an anxiety this is--their safety, their food, their overworked
+condition.  If I had my Division I could really strike somewhere....
+
+"I am hoping to move on a bit to-morrow or next day to recover some of
+the country given {229} up prior to my arrival, as I think occupation
+of a position in advance of this may tend to awe the Dutch behind me."
+
+
+In the _Official History_ we read that--
+
+
+"The General Officer Commanding considered that, in the existing
+strategic situation, any further prolongation of the defensive attitude
+he had hitherto been obliged to maintain would be injurious.  He
+determined, therefore, to take advantage of the free hand left to him
+by Sir Redvers Buller, and to follow the further suggestion that he
+should close with the enemy."[8]
+
+
+[8] See _Official History_, vol. i. p. 289.
+
+
+The first week in December was spent in reconnoitring the Stormberg
+position so far as wandering parties of Boers would permit.  The
+general himself prepared a sketch of the hills surrounding it and the
+roads leading thereto, which he carried with him on the march.  The
+only map available was on too small a scale (twelve and a half miles to
+the inch) to be useful for tactical purposes, but all possible
+information was extracted from every man acquainted with the locality.
+Their accounts of the features and the distances were often inexact,
+and did not always agree, but eventually five local men, belonging to
+the Cape Mounted Police, under Sergeant Morgan of the same corps, were
+selected as guides.
+
+The General's scheme was to attack the Boer laager on the Stormberg
+Nek; by a night march of nine miles from Molteno he hoped to reach a
+{230} position from which the enemy's camp could be assaulted at
+daybreak.
+
+The concentration was made at Molteno, on the afternoon of December 9,
+the troops being brought from Putters Kraal by train, about sixteen
+miles, and some from Bushman's Hoet, which was half the distance.  The
+force consisted of the two field batteries, with an escort of Mounted
+Infantry and two Infantry Battalions.  It should have been further
+augmented by the detachment from Penhoek of 235 Cape Mounted Rifles,
+but, owing to the miscarriage of a telegram, these men failed to appear.
+
+Another circumstance that modified the original plan was a report that
+was brought in at the last minute that the enemy had fortified and
+entrenched the pass between the Kissieberg and Rooi Kop, over which
+runs the main road and the railway to the junction.  The informant
+affirmed that the Boer main laager was placed on the heights of the
+Kissieberg, which could be easily ascended from the western side, where
+there were no artificial defences.  The General was assured by all
+those who should have known that to reach this hill on its western
+flank would only add two miles to the projected march, and that they
+could lead him to a favourable spot for such an attempt.
+
+[Sidenote: The start]
+
+A council was held in the station-master's room at Molteno, and all the
+commanding officers were consulted as to their men's condition and
+fitness for the expedition.  Although the train service had been most
+carefully timed, a {231} delay of two hours had somehow crept in; the
+railway was but a single line and the siding accommodation very
+limited.  However, no one foresaw any difficulty, and so the start was
+made at nine o'clock that evening by moonlight.  Indeed, so eager were
+the men that they set out at an unusually brisk pace.
+
+In the General's official report we read:
+
+
+"The force marched, with the usual halts, for about eight miles by
+moonlight, and halted near Roberts's farm at 12.30.  The chief guide
+now reported that we were within one and a half miles of the enemy's
+position, and, after a rest of about three-quarters of an hour, we
+marched off again in the dark."[9]
+
+
+[9] See _Despatches_ published March 17, 1900.
+
+
+It was soon after this halt that the General realised that the guides
+had not brought him along the road that he had indicated, but, as he
+wrote, to turn back in consequence of this discovery did not commend
+itself to him.  So the men tramped on, and at 4.20 a.m. found
+themselves under a face of the Kissieberg.  A single shot from a Boer
+picket precipitated the attack, and before long the enemy had located
+the British column.
+
+
+"Three companies of the Royal Irish Rifles formed to the left, and
+occupied a kopje; the remainder of this battalion and the
+Northumberland Fusiliers advanced up a steep hill against the enemy's
+position."[10]
+
+
+[10] _Ibid._
+
+
+"There was no good position for the British {232} guns, except the
+ridge 2,000 yards to the west of the Kissieberg.  But the infantry's
+need of immediate support was too pressing to allow time for that
+ridge's occupation.  Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffreys, by direction of
+General Gatacre, caused the 77th Battery to come into action near the
+kopje, the 74th unlimbering in the open veldt to the westward.  The
+Mounted Infantry continued to escort the batteries....
+
+[Sidenote: A fatal mischance]
+
+"The Boers from the main laager had now manned the hill, but the
+British artillery was bursting shells on the threatened crest, and a
+Boer gun, which had come into action, was for a time silenced.
+
+"The attack had lasted half an hour, and progress up the hill was being
+slowly made by the British infantry, when five companies of the
+Northumberlands, on the right of the line, were ordered to retire by
+their commanding officer.  He considered that his battalion must leave
+the hill.  The three foremost companies, who were nearly on the summit,
+did not hear this order, and, under the command of Captain Wilmott,
+remained with the Irish Rifles, clinging on as they were.  The fire of
+the enemy appeared to be slackening, and for the moment the groups of
+British officers were convinced that, if they were supported, they
+could gain the crest.  But the withdrawal of a portion of the attacking
+line had made further success impossible.  Nor was that all.  Seeing
+the five companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers falling back to the
+west, the batteries conceived that all the assailants were retreating,
+and exerted themselves to the utmost to cover the movement by their
+fire.  The sun was now rising behind the western face of the
+Kissieberg, so that all the upper part presented to the British guns a
+black target, on {233} which neither friend nor foe could be
+distinguished.  Thus a fatal mischance came about.  A shell fused for
+explosion just short of the Boer defensive line burst over the foremost
+group of the Irish Rifles, and struck down Lieutenant-Colonel Eager,
+Major H. J. Seton, the second-in-command, Major Welman, Captain Bell,
+and three men.  A conference had a few moments before been held between
+Colonel Eager and Captain Wilmott, as to the steps which should be
+taken to protect the men from the shells of their own gunners.  The
+former officer had stated that as the situation of the infantry was
+evidently unknown to the batteries, and was masking their fire, it was
+necessary to fall back.  Captain Wilmott, on the other hand, urged that
+if the men were once ordered to withdraw, it would be very difficult to
+get them up the hill again.  Colonel Eager replied that there was no
+help for it.  Therefore a general retirement now began."[11]
+
+
+[11] See _Official History_, vol. i. pp. 297-8.
+
+
+An officer of the Royal Irish Rifles writes in his official report:
+
+
+"At this time I did not think there was more than a piquet in front,
+and a rush at the end of the kopje would have taken that part of the
+position and the Boer gun.  Colonel Eager, Major Seton, Major Welman,
+and Captain Bell were knocked over at this point by one of our shells,
+otherwise I think they would have taken this portion of the Boer
+position.  From subsequent conversation with one Voss, Secretary to
+Swanepoel, Commandant Smithfield Laager there is no doubt that many of
+the Boers were leaving the position."
+
+
+{234}
+
+It seems, therefore, clear that the day was almost won, for had our
+shells fallen a little farther forward, so that the infantry could have
+held on a quarter of an hour longer, they would doubtless have found
+the defences evacuated.  If our victorious troops had been able to eat
+the enemy's breakfast, we should have heard nothing of the fatigues of
+the night march, nor of the missing telegram.
+
+But, unfortunately, the morning ended differently.  We will close the
+account with a quotation from a letter written by one of the
+aides-de-camp:
+
+
+"The General, as soon as he realised the state of things, arranged for
+the retirement, quite cool under the hottest fire, encouraging the men
+and moving over the position in every direction, not recklessly, but
+with a fine courage, which did us all good to watch.  The retirement
+was carried out in wonderful order, and, weary though the men were,
+they hastened to join their units, and marched home in fair order....
+Throughout the retirement he was the last man of the column, beating up
+tired stragglers, and bringing in abandoned transport."
+
+
+In all the accounts something is said about a secondary force of Boers
+that came on to the scene soon after the general retirement had begun,
+but according to the following extract from another officer's report,
+they refrained from doing us as much damage as might have been effected
+by a more experienced enemy.
+
+{235}
+
+"Just as we were moving off about 400 Boers appeared on the high
+plateau on our right flank from the Steynsburg direction, but were at
+once checked by the fire of our guns, and gave the infantry no further
+trouble."
+
+
+The advanced troops got back to Molteno at 11 a.m., and all were in by
+12.30.  The casualties were officially returned as eight officers
+wounded (one died of wounds) and thirteen missing; in other ranks there
+were 25 killed, 102 wounded, and 548 missing.  The whole force employed
+amounted to 3,035 of all ranks.
+
+The main facts of this account are taken from the _History of the War
+in South Africa_ recently published.  So little is said in the
+General's despatch of the part played by the infantry that this
+omission is a subject of comment in Lord Roberts's covering letter of
+February 1900.[12]  It may therefore be concluded that the
+Field-Marshal (who was commanding the forces in Ireland at the time
+that the engagement was fought) was at the time of writing ignorant of
+many incidents that have since been brought to light.
+
+
+[12] See _Despatches_ published March 17, 1900.
+
+
+[Sidenote: With an ace]
+
+In Sir William's letter three days later he speaks of the action as "a
+most lamentable failure, and yet within an ace of being the success I
+anticipated," and goes on:
+
+
+"The fault was mine, as I was responsible of course.  I went rather
+against my better judgment in not resting the night at Molteno, but I
+{236} was tempted by the shortness of the distance and the certainty of
+success.  It was so near being a brilliant success."
+
+
+Both in the articles published at the time, and in the _Official
+History_ referred to above, the circumstances in which Sir William was
+placed are held to have made some demonstration imperative.
+
+
+"Sir William Gatacre's decision to advance on Stormberg was fully
+justified by the strategical situation.  General Buller's telegram,
+although it left him a free hand as to time and opportunity, had
+suggested that operation.  The plan, though bold, was sound in its
+design, and would have succeeded had not exceptional misfortune
+attended its execution."[13]
+
+
+[13] See _Official History_, vol. i. pp. 301, 302.
+
+
+On the following day, Monday, the battle of Magersfontein was fought on
+the north-west, and on Friday of the same week Sir Redvers Buller
+delivered his unsuccessful attack on Colenso.  Owing to the proximity
+of dates, the attempt to retake Stormberg is associated in the public
+mind with the other engagements of that week; but in the numbers
+employed, in the losses suffered, and in political importance it
+shrinks into insignificance compared with them.  At Magersfontein, on
+December 11, 14,964 troops of all ranks were engaged, the total killed
+and wounded was returned as 885, with 63 missing; at Colenso, out of
+19,378 men, the losses were 899, with 240 missing; while at Stormberg,
+out {237} of 3,035 engaged, 135 were killed and wounded, and 571 taken
+prisoners.[14]  From a political point of view, though no ground was
+gained, still none was lost, and Sir William was actually able, the day
+after, to establish his headquarters at Sterkstroom, which was five
+miles farther up the railway than he had been at Putters Kraal.
+
+
+[14] See _Official History_, vol. i. app. vi. pp. 468, 469, 470.
+
+
+From the General Commanding-in-Chief Sir William received the following
+telegram:
+
+
+"Your telegram respecting your action and dispositions, I think you
+were quite right to try the night attack and hope better luck next
+time.  I don't think you will find them attack you when in position,
+but it would be better to retire than run the risk of being surrounded;
+as to this you must judge for yourself, but military considerations
+should be held paramount.--BULLER."[15]
+
+
+[15] See original text.  From Frere Camp, 2.17 p.m.; reached
+Sterkstroom 4.4 p.m., December 11, 1899.
+
+
+Writing on December 18, Sir William says:
+
+
+"I have now three regiments--the Derbyshire, Royal Scots, and Royal
+Irish Rifles.  I have been obliged to send the Northumberland Fusiliers
+to East London to look after the base, as Sir Redvers Buller wished
+this done.  My Howitzer Battery he has been obliged to send to Natal to
+assist Clery.
+
+"I have up here (Sterkstroom) a large camp with supplies, stores, etc.,
+and have been ordered by Buller to entrench and endeavour with my
+mounted troops to harry the district round me, but I have so few
+trained troops, and these Boers {238} are so mobile (all mounted) that
+it is a very difficult matter to catch them.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"You must not expect to see much movement from my force: I have no
+strength--cannot leave my line of communications, which are long.  All
+the districts behind me are ready to rise, and I cannot separate my
+regiments.  I have received orders to entrench my camp, and this I am
+about to do.  This will, of course, free my mounted men a bit, as the
+post, with provisions, will be safe for them to come back to.  As I am
+writing I hear of a threatened rising in Alice and Seymour, two
+districts south-west of Stutterheim, right away behind me, which makes
+it difficult for me to retain my communications with the coast.  These
+may be exaggerated reports, but I have had so many warnings that one
+cannot afford to disregard them.  You may rest assured we shall fight
+to the end anyhow, and my thoughts will be with you."
+
+
+
+
+{239}
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+1900
+
+ORANGE FREE STATE
+
+The anxiety felt by the commanders of the three detached forces in
+South Africa was shared by the nation at home.  The telegrams sent to
+England by Sir Redvers Buller showed that the state of affairs in Natal
+after the battle of Colenso was very critical, and that only prompt and
+ample reinforcements would be of any avail.  Troops of all arms were
+despatched to Capetown as fast as ships could be got ready to carry
+them, and Field-Marshal Lord Roberts was appointed Commander-in-Chief,
+with Lord Kitchener as his chief staff officer.
+
+The Field-Marshal reached Capetown on January 10.  Four weeks were
+necessary for the organisation of his new army, which amounted to
+35,000 men when concentrated at Modder River on February 8.  A week
+later General French at the head of a Cavalry Division rode into
+Kimberley, and on the same day the Sixth Division got in touch with
+General Cronje, and commenced the series of operations which led to his
+surrender with all his army.  There {240} were yet, however, two
+serious engagements to be fought, at Poplar Grove and Driefontein,
+before the Commander-in-Chief entered Bloemfontein on Thursday, March
+15, 1900.  By that time this advance in force into the enemy's country
+had had its effect in the east and south.  The pressure in Natal was
+relaxed, and on March 1 Sir Redvers Buller rode into Ladysmith and
+greeted Sir George White and his gallant garrison.  In the meantime
+Gatacre and Clements had been holding on to the railways, impatient to
+move forward as soon as it was safe to do so.  Both these columns,
+which had been marking time in the face of the enemy, had had
+occasional conflicts, but these were, for the most part, outpost
+affairs, or the result of reconnaissance.
+
+Writing from Sterkstroom on February 24, Sir William says:
+
+
+"Yesterday we had a fight just north of Molteno, and unfortunately lost
+about seventy men, but we gained the information we required.
+Montmorency is missing, and I fear he has been wounded or shot.  His
+party got too far ahead of us, and it was with difficulty I extricated
+them.  I was very nearly shot twice, once by a rifleman (Boer), once by
+a shell--very near.  I have had marvellous luck on more than one
+occasion.  The men all behaved very well.  I do not think that people
+realise quite the extent of the country I am covering.  From Karn Nek
+to Bird's River is thirty-five miles, and I have three and a half
+regiments only to do it with.  I think I told you that Brabant, a
+Colonial, {241} had been given a command under me of mounted troops.
+He has a very mixed lot, and their procedure is sketchy, but Lord
+Roberts wishes him to have a free hand.  He is to start to-day towards
+Dordrecht, and I have told him what I want him to do, _i.e._ to cut in
+between Dordrecht and Jamestown, which I think should have the effect
+of making them fall back from Stormberg, in which case I could occupy
+it, but, as you see, I cannot occupy it without evacuating some place
+behind me."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Across the river]
+
+On March 5 the Third Division reoccupied Stormberg; on the 6th they
+reached Burghersdorp; on the 9th the scouts chased the Boers to the
+bridge over the Orange River at Bethulie, and entrenched themselves on
+the southern bank.  The little band arrived just in time to see the
+railway bridge blown up, but their advance saved the roadway.
+Lieutenant Popham, of the Derbyshire Regiment, promptly cut the
+electric wire that would have fused the dynamite, and at night Sir
+William, accompanied by Lieutenant Grant, R.E., crept along the
+parapet, and dropped the parcels of explosives into the river.  The
+scouts of the Third Division were rather proud of having saved this
+bridge, as at Norvals Pont both were destroyed.  The next day the
+column occupied Bethulie in the enemy's country, and on the 15th took
+possession of the railway junction at Springfontein.  Colonel Clements
+had also crossed the Orange River, and made his way on to the junction
+shortly after the Third Division had captured the place.
+
+{242}
+
+"The deliberation of Gatacre's movements surprised his younger
+officers, who did not know that the Divisional General had received
+orders from the Commander-in-Chief not to commit himself seriously
+until reinforcements had reached him, and, if possible, to repair the
+railway which connects Stormberg with Naauwpoort Junction."[1]
+
+
+[1] See _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 247.
+
+
+Colonel Clements had received orders in the same strain:
+
+
+"Do not attempt to force passage of river until you hear from me, or
+are certain that the enemy have considerably loosened their hold over
+the heights on the north bank.  This they are sure to do when we reach
+Bloemfontein, and it is better that the repair of the bridge be delayed
+a few days than that lives be lost unnecessarily."[2]
+
+
+[2] _Ibid._, vol. ii. p. 256.
+
+
+On March 16 General Pole-Carew was sent down the line from Bloemfontein
+to meet Gatacre and Clements.
+
+
+"He found at Edenburg that he had just missed Grobler's contingent
+proceeding north-east.  This was only the first of two parties escaping
+from Colesberg, the second being under Lemmer, while Du Plessis and
+Olivier were leading a third party in the same direction from Bethulie
+and Aliwal North.  When the three parties united in the neighbourhood
+of Ladybrand, they formed the imposing total of 5,500 Boers, 1,000
+Kaffirs, 10,000 oxen and 800 waggons, covering a total extent of
+twenty-four miles on the march.
+
+{243}
+
+"As soon as Pole-Carew heard of Grobler's movements on the 16th, he
+urged upon the Commander-in-Chief the advisability of sending out a
+strong force east of Bloemfontein, to intercept the Boer commandoes as
+they came up from the south, and of bringing Brabant from Aliwal North
+and Gatacre from Springfontein to close in upon their rear."[3]
+
+
+[3] See _Times History_, vol. iv. p. 7.
+
+
+[Sidenote: A pacific policy]
+
+The Field-Marshal was not, however, ready to undertake such an
+extensive movement; his force had only reached its goal the day before,
+and neither his men nor his horses would have been equal to such a
+chase.  Moreover the situation presented itself to him in quite a
+different light.  The ready submission of the Boer farmers in the
+vicinity of the main army led him to exaggerate the effect on the
+nation at large of the capture of General Cronje and his four thousand
+fighting men.  He was led to believe by reports from various outlying
+districts that there was no fight left in the Boers, and in his desire
+to win them without unnecessary blood-shed he decided to try a policy
+of pacification.
+
+On his arrival at Bloemfontein Lord Roberts issued a Proclamation by
+which, in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, he offered pardon and
+protection to all such burghers as would lay down their arms and swear
+an oath of allegiance.[4]  A week later he telegraphed to the War
+Office:
+
+
+[4] For words of Proclamation see _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 260.
+
+
+"So many burghers have expressed their {244} desire to surrender under
+the terms of the last proclamation that I have sent small columns in
+various directions to register the names and to take over arms."[5]
+
+
+[5] See _Times History_, vol. iv. p. 8.
+
+
+In pursuance of this policy the Field-Marshal on March 19 telegraphed
+the following order to Sir William Gatacre, whose headquarters were at
+Springfontein:
+
+
+"Could you manage to take a small force, say two battalions, one
+battery, and some mounted infantry, as far as Smithfield?  It is very
+desirable British troops should be seen all over the country and
+opportunity given to burghers to surrender and deliver up their arms
+under the conditions of the Proclamation of March 15."[6]
+
+
+[6] See _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 301.
+
+
+Gatacre's command at this time had increased to four battalions of
+infantry, with such mounted infantry as he had been able to raise from
+their ranks, and this Brigade was now employed as line-of-communication
+troops.  Two battalions were needed at Bethulie Bridge, where the men's
+assistance was required in passing stores, etc., over the road-bridge
+until the railway should be repaired; from the other two he had to
+supply guards for 115 miles of railway from Bethulie to Bloemfontein.
+The Colonial section of his force was acting more or less independently
+under General Brabant, who had established his headquarters at Aliwal
+North.
+
+{245}
+
+To the telegram given above Gatacre replied that he could not spare
+more than one battalion (the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles), a field battery,
+a company of the mounted infantry of the Royal Scots and a section of
+that of the Royal Irish Rifles.  His suggested reduction was approved,
+and the column started on its fifty-mile march to Smithfield on the
+20th.
+
+On the 21st Sir William rode about twenty miles west of the railway to
+Philipolis, where he took over the keys from the Landrost without
+opposition, returning the same evening to Springfontein.
+
+In order to understand Sir William's part in the affairs of the next
+ten days, it will be necessary to follow in detail the messages that
+passed daily between the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief and the
+Divisional General.
+
+[Sidenote: Troops sent to Wepener]
+
+On Monday, March 26, instructions were received directing that two
+squadrons of Brabant's Mounted Colonials from Aliwal North, together
+with the mounted infantry company of the Royal Scots already at
+Smithfield, should push on to Wepener, which lies fifty miles to the
+north-east of Smithfield.
+
+On Tuesday, the 27th, the 1st Derbyshire Regiment and the 11th Brigade
+Division of the Royal Field Artillery were called up to complete a
+Division at headquarters, thus reducing Gatacre's small force by about
+1,000 men.
+
+On the same day Sir William telegraphed to Headquarters reporting a
+rumoured concentration of the enemy at Modder Poort, expressing {246}
+his anxiety for the detachment that was marching on Wepener, and
+suggesting that he should reinforce the column.  In reply he was
+informed that the Field-Marshal did not anticipate danger at Wepener,
+but that he concurred in the strengthening of the party there.
+
+On March 28 the following telegram was received from Headquarters:
+
+
+"If you have enough troops at your disposal, I should wish you to
+occupy Dewetsdorp will make road from here to Maseru safe preventing
+enemy's forces from using telegraph lines to the south let me know what
+you can do to this ends."[7]
+
+
+[7] From _True Copy_, furnished by D.A.A.G. in 1900.
+
+
+Now there are two versions of this telegram.  The above is the version
+as it was received by General Gatacre at 9.40 a.m. on March 28.
+Between the words "_Dewetsdorp_" and "will" he mentally supplied the
+word "_I_" to fill in the sense.  When, however, this important
+telegram was quoted by Lord Roberts in a despatch to the War Office
+(dated April 16, 1900), the following verbal variations occur.  We find
+"_I should like_" for "_I should wish_"; the words "_it would_" take
+the place of "_will_"; "_and prevent enemy_" stands for "_preventing
+enemy's forces_"; and the last word "_ends_" appears in the singular,
+thus bringing it into the body of the message.[8]  These differences
+will seem trifling to the reader, but the meaning of this telegram has
+since been questioned.  Gatacre {247} read it as an order to send a
+detachment to Dewetsdorp similar to the one already ordered to Wepener,
+and the writer of the _Official History_ so reads it, even in the
+secondary form.[9]
+
+
+[8] See _Official History_, vol. ii. app. vii. p. 614.
+
+[9] See marginal note, _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 302.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Detachments]
+
+Dewetsdorp lies on the main road that runs from Bloemfontein south-east
+through Wepener into Basutoland; the distance from the capital to
+Dewetsdorp is forty miles, and it is twenty-five miles on to Wepener.
+A detachment sent there was therefore in far less danger than the post
+at Wepener, and was a source of strength to the latter.  It was also
+known to Gatacre that General French was operating with a mounted force
+at Thaba'Nchu, so that he naturally concluded that the road
+Bloemfontein--Thaba'Nchu--Ladybrand, or Maseru, was strongly held.  As
+he himself said in evidence before the Royal Commission, he "never sent
+them [the troops] there as an outpost, nor expected them to act as
+such, but merely to hold a post on an interior road."[10]
+
+
+[10] See _Report South African War Commission_, vol. iii. p. 276.
+
+
+On the same day, March 28, Gatacre sent this reply to the disputed
+telegram:
+
+
+"Following moves are in progress, in view to covering whole country
+east of railway.
+
+"Three squadrons Brabant's Horse moving Rouxville to Wepener; two will
+reach Wepener Sunday next (April 1), the third on Tuesday.
+
+"One squadron Brabant's is moving to Bushman's Kop half-way between
+Rouxville and Wepener.
+
+{248}
+
+"One company Royal Scots Mounted Infantry reaches Wepener Sunday.
+
+"Two companies 2nd Royal Irish, Rifles reach Dewetsdorp Sunday.
+
+"One company Royal Irish Rifles and one section Mounted Infantry Royal
+Irish Rifles reach Helvetia to-morrow.
+
+"Three companies Royal Irish Rifles at Smithfield with squadron
+Brabant's Horse."[11]
+
+
+[11] See Official History, vol. ii. p. 303.
+
+
+As Gatacre received no reply to the above message he assumed that his
+dispositions were approved.  In furtherance of Lord Roberts's wishes he
+slightly strengthened the post at Dewetsdorp next day by sending there
+some mounted infantry of the Northumberland Fusiliers.  These changes
+were also telegraphed to Headquarters.
+
+Although such detachment duty naturally fell to the Third Division as
+line-of-communication troops, still it would seem that the Headquarters
+Staff, in calling upon Gatacre to furnish these remote garrisons, had
+overlooked the fact that his _Division_ had never numbered more than
+four infantry battalions, and had not at any time ever possessed any
+cavalry.  By thus scattering the few men at Gatacre's disposal, the
+Commander-in-Chief reduced the numbers available for guarding the
+hundred miles of railway.
+
+
+"The railway was necessarily the first care; if that was seriously
+broken, the army at Bloemfontein, if it did not actually starve, must
+be injuriously affected."[12]
+
+
+[12] _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 306
+
+
+That this question of the adequate protection {249} of the railway line
+became a week later a great anxiety to Lord Roberts we know from his
+urgent telegram of April 5, in which he tells Gatacre to satisfy
+himself that the guards are properly placed, sufficiently entrenched,
+and on the alert.
+
+[Sidenote: Great distances]
+
+There were at Headquarters in March 1900 three brigades of Cavalry, and
+three divisions of Infantry, with their complement of Horse and Field
+Artillery, which with other units made up a fighting force of 34,000
+men.  As has been said, Dewetsdorp and Wepener were both nearer to
+Bloemfontein than to Springfontein, the headquarters of the Third
+Division.  From this place Gatacre had to arrange for the supplies for
+posts which were eighty and ninety miles away, and that this could not
+be done without difficulty we see in his letter to me, dated March 31,
+1900:
+
+
+"After reaching this we have been occupied in covering the whole
+country from Wepener to Philipolis, and all the country between them
+and the Orange River, with patrols and small parties, and it is such a
+business getting supplies to all these scattered detachments.  We find
+we can make them somewhat self-supporting by making the farmers supply
+sheep, and they can get the farmers' wives to bake bread on payment.
+The roads generally speaking are good, not metalled, of course, but
+hard clay, which in dry weather are perfect to move upon; in wet
+weather they become slippery."
+
+
+[Illustration: Map of India and Burma]  (Transcriber's note: map
+omitted from this etext because too large to scan)]
+
+The same day the following telegram reached Gatacre from Bloemfontein:
+
+
+{250}
+
+"(With) Reference (to) telegram from Brabant to your Assistant
+Adjutant-General Springfontein repeated to Intelligence here, what
+reinforcement do you propose to send him?  Boers are active on that
+side and have strong force between Ladybrand and Thabanchu.  Brabant
+should be reinforced and supported."[13]
+
+
+[13] From _True Copy_, furnished by D.A.A.G., 1900.
+
+
+In response to this Gatacre ordered up troops from the Colonial Corps
+at Aliwal North, and pushed forward the support at Bushman's Kop.
+
+On that same Saturday, March 31, he was directed to arrange for a
+battalion of infantry and a battery to be at Leeuwberg Kopje, eight
+miles from Bloemfontein, at daybreak of April 1.  Three companies of
+the Northumberland Fusiliers and five companies of the Royal Scots were
+accordingly sent.  When replying to this order he adds that he has no
+infantry left, and only one battalion from which to find guards for the
+railway line.
+
+A third message from Headquarters reached Gatacre at 10.47 that night
+(the 31st), which informed him of the engagement near the Waterworks,
+told him to exercise special caution on the railway, and to draw in all
+outlying forces, adding that "it would appear that Dewetsdorp is too
+far advanced for security."[14]
+
+
+[14] _Ibid._
+
+
+In response, Gatacre immediately sent off various telegrams by which he
+hoped to get in touch with his detachments, and also started off a
+despatch-rider; but the distance was eighty miles, as has been said.
+
+{251}
+
+[Sidenote: At Dewetsdorp]
+
+It will be remembered that the troops from Smithfield and Helvetia that
+were assembling at Dewetsdorp were due to reach their destination on
+Sunday, April 1.  On his arrival the Officer Commanding the three
+companies Royal Irish Fusiliers--
+
+"was greeted with information from local sources that a Boer commando
+was expected soon to appear before the village, and, selecting ground
+which commanded the place, he began to strengthen his position, which
+he covered by outposts.  In the evening a patrol to the north of
+Dewetsdorp was fired upon.  He informed the Headquarters Third Division
+of this by telegram, and also of the rumoured approach of the commando,
+which, however, was not credited by the Intelligence Officer who
+accompanied his detachment."[15]
+
+
+[15] See _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 306.
+
+
+At midnight Gatacre's telegram arrived directing him "that he should
+immediately move his troops to Reddersburg," and closing with the words
+"matter urgent."  At 3.30 a.m. next morning (April 2) the
+despatch-rider appeared with the same instructions.
+
+In the meantime the engagement known as Sannah's Post had taken place
+on Saturday, March 31, only thirty miles away.  As this unfortunate
+affair directly affected the Proclamation detachments, I hope it will
+not seem out of place if I give a brief sketch of what had been taking
+place a little farther north.
+
+The main water-supply for the city of Bloemfontein was drawn from a
+point on the Modder {252} River, where it is crossed by the high road
+running due east to Thaba'Nchu.  This point, which is about twenty-one
+miles from the capital, is known as Sannah's Post.  On March 15 the
+"somewhat inadequate force of 300 mounted infantry" was sent out to
+hold the Waterworks, and two days later a mounted column, 1,500 strong,
+under General French, was pushed on to Thaba'Nchu, twenty-one miles
+farther east.  From this force Colonel Pilcher was detached, and
+through his operations definite news of the enemy's whereabouts was
+obtained and duly forwarded to Bloemfontein.  General French was soon
+after called back to Headquarters, and left Colonel Broadwood in
+command of the column.  It is clear that--
+
+
+"Broadwood, with his 1,500 men, had never been intended to fight
+battles where he was, forty miles from any supporting force, but only
+to publish Lord Roberts's proclamations, and to collect arms from any
+Boers that might surrender."[16]
+
+
+[16] See _Times History_, vol. iv. p. 33.
+
+
+So that when he discovered that General Olivier was behind him with
+5,000 men, he had no choice but to retire on the Waterworks.
+
+After the death of Joubert the control of the Boer forces fell into the
+hands of younger men, the most conspicuous amongst whom was Christian
+de Wet.  Having conceived a plan for capturing the Waterworks guard, he
+placed {253} his forces astride of the road, and hid them in the bed of
+a stream about five miles west of the Modder River.  When the day
+arrived for the execution of his plan, he found that the mounted column
+was also delivered into his hand.
+
+[Sidenote: Sannah's Post]
+
+A messenger got through who carried news of Broadwood's plight between
+Olivier and De Wet to Lord Roberts, and he sent out an infantry
+division under General Colvile.  But the two forces failed to work
+together, and the enemy triumphed.  This was on Saturday, March 31.
+
+
+"The material result of De Wet's achievements at Sannah's Post was the
+acquisition of seven guns, much ammunition, many horses and waggons,
+and a large number of prisoners.  By occupying the Waterworks, which
+did not again pass into Lord Roberts's hands until April 23, he
+inflicted great injury on the health of the troops in Bloemfontein.
+The moral effect of his success was enormous.  It confirmed the
+resolution of those of the Free State burghers who still remained in
+arms; it encouraged the waverers; it afforded De Wet the occasion for
+putting strong pressure upon the considerable numbers of his fellow
+countrymen who, declaring themselves tired of the war, had given in
+their rifles to the British troops, and had been allowed to return to
+their farms as peaceful non-combatants; and it gave those who followed
+him good heart for his next stroke."[17]
+
+
+[17] See _Official History_, vol. ii. pp. 298, 299.
+
+
+On the Sunday following Gatacre was summoned to Headquarters, and had
+interviews {254} with the Commander-in-Chief, of which he has left the
+following memorandum:
+
+
+"On Sunday, April 1, I proceeded to Bloemfontein by order to see Lord
+Roberts, arriving late at night.  Early next morning (April 2) I saw
+the Field-Marshal, and he told me he was placing me in command of the
+Orange Free State territory held by us, and was giving me ten other
+battalions, which were to be used as under, _i.e._ six Militia
+battalions to be distributed along the railway south of Bloemfontein,
+and in the country east and west of it; the four battalions were, with
+the four I had already (the 2nd wing of the Berkshire was to be called
+up from Cape Colony), to make up a Division with which I was to proceed
+at once to Dewetsdorp and operate along the Basuto border through
+Ladybrand, Clocolan, Ficksburg country, to clear Lord Roberts's right
+flank, to enable him to advance northwards.  He directed me to draw up
+for his approval a scheme of distribution for the six Militia
+battalions through the country.  This I did, and submitted it on the
+spot.  The Field-Marshal was anxious to know by what date I considered
+I could concentrate my troops at Reddersburg, ready to move, after
+relief by the Militia battalions.  I replied that, on the assumption
+that I received the Militia battalions on the 6th, I could move on
+April 17 (reliefs had to be effected, transport collected, supplies,
+etc., etc.).  This date was considered satisfactory by Lord Roberts.
+The same evening (April 2) about 9.30 p.m. Lord Roberts again explained
+to me carefully what he wished, that he was anxious for me to move as
+soon as possible, and that I was to proceed to Springfontein
+immediately, and commence {255} preparations.  This I did, morning of
+April 3, by first train."
+
+
+It would appear that nothing was said during the Monday spent at
+Bloemfontein about the detachment that was moving that very day from
+Dewetsdorp through Reddersburg back to the railway at Bethanie.  No
+anxiety seems to have been felt at Headquarters as to what De Wet would
+do next.
+
+[Sidenote: A relief column]
+
+At about 7 o'clock on Tuesday evening, April 3, information was brought
+into Edenburg that the Dewetsdorp detachment was surrounded at
+Mostert's Hoek, a ridge three or four miles east of Reddersburg.  This
+disquieting news was telegraphed to Lord Roberts, who sent an urgent
+message to Gatacre directing him to prepare to move on Reddersburg, and
+asking what troops he had available.  The reply stated that there were
+forty scouts and about twenty-five mounted infantry at Springfontein, a
+Brigade Division Field Artillery at Bethanie, and about two companies
+mounted infantry at or near Edenburg.  A return message informed
+Gatacre that the Field-Marshal was sending five companies of the
+Cameron Highlanders by train to Bethanie, and told the General that he
+was on no account to go without them.
+
+The order to turn out reached the regiment just before midnight; they
+had three miles to march to the station, and were entrained at 3.30 a.m.
+
+{256}
+
+That same morning, April 4, at about 6 o'clock, the scouts and some
+mounted infantry started from Bethanie to reconnoitre towards
+Reddersburg, which was about twelve miles distant, and an hour later
+they sent in a message that they could hear the firing.
+
+When the five companies of the Camerons and the mounted infantry from
+Edenburg had joined him at Bethanie, Gatacre started at the head of the
+column.  At 9.30 a.m. another message was sent back by the Officer
+Commanding the scouts to say that firing had ceased for half an hour.
+Gatacre pushed on till he reached a ridge west of the village, but he
+was still five or six miles from the scene of the fight when he learnt
+through a loyal colonial that two hours earlier the British had
+surrendered to a force of Boers between two and three thousand strong.
+
+[Sidenote: Too late]
+
+It was then 11 o'clock, and the relief column was at least five miles
+from the scene of the misfortune.
+
+The General called a halt, and eventually decided that his troops,
+being mainly infantry, could do nothing in the way of pursuit of a
+mounted enemy.  After resting for an hour or so, Gatacre came to the
+conclusion that the safer course would be to retire on the railway, for
+it must be remembered that he had received the most precise orders "not
+to move against the Boers until he had satisfied himself that their
+strength and position warranted his doing so with success."[18]
+
+
+[18] See _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 311.
+
+
+{257}
+
+About four miles had been accomplished on the return journey, when a
+messenger arrived from the Chief Staff Officer ordering the column to
+return and occupy Reddersburg.  Accordingly the men retraced their
+steps and settled down for the night as best they could; but at
+midnight a telegram reached the General containing very urgent
+counter-orders:
+
+
+"The C.-in-C. directs that you retire to Bethanie during this night so
+as to reach Bethanie to-morrow morning, as our information leads us to
+believe that the enemy are moving down in the Reddersburg direction and
+you are not strong enough to oppose a large force."[19]
+
+
+[19] From original text.
+
+
+The column started off again at 2 a.m. April 5.[20]
+
+
+[20] The movements of the Relief Column are taken from _The 79th News_,
+special issue entitled "South African War Record," p. 17.  The hours
+differ slightly from those given in the _Official History_.
+
+
+We are not concerned here with the fatigues of the march from
+Dewetsdorp, nor with the particular stress which led to capitulation.
+It is enough to know that although a messenger had succeeded in getting
+through the enemy's lines, and although the casualties numbered only
+ten killed and thirty-five wounded out of 591 men of the regular army,
+some one betrayed his comrades' honour, and the whole party was
+captured.[21]  If this column had been able to hold on an hour or so
+longer, there would have been no Reddersburg incident.  In the same
+way, {258} if more prompt and more energetic measures had been taken
+from Headquarters to rescue the column from the perilous situation
+created by the defeat at Sannah's Post, the little force could easily
+have been brought into Bloemfontein with the help of cavalry.  As a
+matter of fact there were on April 2 three cavalry brigades camped at
+Springfield, Rustfontein, and Bloemspruit respectively, all of which
+lie just outside the capital to the south and east.
+
+
+[21] NOTE.--The Officer Commanding was exonerated from all blame in
+this matter.
+
+
+In the meantime, what had become of the other detachments?  At Wepener,
+four days later, a force of 1,898 men, composed almost entirely of
+Colonial Corps, under the command of Colonel Dalgety of the Cape
+Mounted Rifles, was attacked by De Wet and blockaded for fourteen days;
+but so skilfully, under the guidance of Major Ronald Maxwell, R.E., did
+the men entrench themselves, that the total casualties at the end of
+the siege were only 169.
+
+The other columns, at Smithfield, Helvetia, and Rouxville, were only
+saved by the skilful handling of Major Allen of the Royal Irish Rifles,
+who collected them all and withdrew on Aliwal North, and by the heroic
+spirit of the men themselves.  The detachment from Helvetia marched
+seventy-three miles in fifty-two hours, and that from Smithfield
+forty-five miles in thirty-six hours.  General Brabant sent out some
+empty waggons to meet the exhausted infantry, but, though almost
+barefoot and reeling with fatigue, they refused to accept the lift,
+saying that if they did so the good name of the regiment would suffer.
+
+{259}
+
+The story of all these detachments must be looked at as a whole, as a
+policy.  It was the defeat at Sannah's Post which, coming "like a bolt
+from the blue," changed the whole situation; "the dispositions of the
+troops, designed to restore peace, were (now) not merely inadequate,
+they were wholly inappropriate."[22]  It is difficult to see how the
+position of the Dewetsdorp detachment differs from that of the others,
+all of which were but the execution of the policy sketched in the
+telegram from the Field-Marshal to the War Office of March 21, given on
+page 243.
+
+
+[22] See _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 305.
+
+
+On April 9 Sir Herbert Chermside arrived at Springfontein to take over
+the command of the Third Division, and the next day the following
+letter reached Sir William Gatacre:
+
+
+"_From Chief of the Staff, S.A.F.F._
+
+"SIR,
+
+"I am directed by the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief in South Africa
+to inform you that his lordship has decided, though with much regret,
+to relieve you of your present command.  You will therefore be good
+enough to make over the command of the 3rd Division to Major-General
+Sir Herbert Chermside, G.C.M.G., C.B., and proceed to England at an
+early date.
+
+"I have the honour to be, Sir, "Your obedient servant, "B. DUFF,
+_Colonel, for Major-General,_ "_Chief of the Staff, S.A.F. Force._"
+
+
+When the camp woke up on the morning of the 11th their ex-commander was
+gone.  The {260} following letter reflects the spirit in which his
+staff officers looked at the matter.
+
+
+"REDDERSBURG, _April_ 12, 1900.
+
+"It is with a heavy heart indeed that I write this.  Why, oh why did
+they treat our General so hardly, so unfairly?  We know nothing except
+the bare facts.  All are sorry and grieved, and many question the
+fairness, the justice of the action taken.  No one worked harder than
+he did.  I may say it would have been impossible to do so.  He never
+spared himself.  Luck, cursed luck, has been all against him.  I heard
+two days ago from England that they believed that he had attacked at
+Stormberg with two battalions when he had eight at his command,--such a
+gross mistake!  Now the luck having turned, as it appeared, the
+unfortunate Royal Irish Rifles get caught again, although no possible
+blame could be attached to him by reasonable men.  I worked out the
+orders and telegrams he had given and received myself, and I know what
+was done.  They seem to have attributed the blame of it to him--most
+unfairly.  He was so good about it and so plucky, blaming no one and
+taking the blow so courageously,--man could not be braver under any
+circumstances.  All the interest of the campaign has gone for me, and
+---- feels for him as much as I do.
+
+"We shall never have a chief whom we can serve more loyally, who was
+always considerate and even-tempered, and spared himself so little.
+His faults, if I may use the expression, are his virtues, devotion and
+loyalty and energy--to use all in the service of his country.  It has
+been a great blow to us all.
+
+"Believe me, we feel it as the loss of a personal and dear friend."
+
+
+
+
+{261}
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+1900-1903
+
+BACK TO COLCHESTER
+
+Since the Book of Job was written steadfastness in adversity has ever
+been considered as a virtue of high order.  Indeed, what need is there
+in a Christian country to insist that want of success in the affairs of
+this world is not incompatible with an unsullied conscience and a
+stainless shield?
+
+From Capetown Gatacre sent a telegram begging Lord Roberts to give some
+reason for his action, and in reply received a letter which (while
+declining to discuss the main issue) closes with the following sentence:
+
+
+"This action, which Lord Roberts has felt it his duty to take, casts no
+slur whatever upon your honour, your personal courage, your energy and
+zeal, which are beyond all question."[1]
+
+
+[1] For the reasons given by Lord Roberts to the War Office, see the
+dispatch printed at the end of this volume, p. 286; reprinted from the
+_Official History_, vol. ii. p. 614.
+
+
+This was the spirit that welcomed Sir William on his arrival in
+England; for he came straight home and calmly awaited the verdict of
+the War Office in London.
+
+The first to pour balm on her servant's {262} wounded spirit was Her
+Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.  Gatacre reached London on May 12, and
+on the 24th, in the _Birthday Gazette_, his name appeared as a
+recipient of the Gold Medal of a new Order, the Kaiser-i-Hind, which
+the Queen had just created for the recognition of Public Service in
+India.  This first distribution of the decoration had regard more
+especially to services rendered in dealing with the plague and the
+famine of 1897 and the following years.
+
+Only five days after Gatacre's arrival the relief of Mafeking, after
+217 days' siege, was celebrated in London with much popular rejoicing.
+This uproarious joy jarred mercilessly on Sir William's mood, but the
+whole country exulted, and there was no way of escape.  The daily
+papers too were full of South African news, so that even this source of
+idle distraction carried its sting.  And so it happened that when an
+old friend came to call on the morning of May 24, and to inquire after
+the General's health (which to most men seemed to provide an obvious
+explanation of his return), he had the pleasure of informing us of the
+new decoration.
+
+On the following day Gatacre received instructions to resume command of
+the Eastern District.
+
+[Sidenote: A welcome home]
+
+British hearts, ever loyal to brave men in distress, did not stop to
+quibble over professional responsibilities; they remembered the years
+of devoted service, they knew of his personal gallantry, and they
+trusted time to prove their faith.  Colchester struck the first {263}
+note: the townspeople turned out in their thousands to cheer one whom
+they knew and loved.  During the drive from the station to the camp the
+crowd massed in the streets was so great and so vociferous that the
+wave of feeling was overwhelming, and it was with a sense of relief
+that we reached our destination.
+
+In the following June the Prince and Princess of Wales (as we then
+spoke of Their present Majesties) honoured Norwich with a visit to open
+the new buildings of the Jenny Lind Hospital.  The whole population of
+the royal borough was in the streets that lovely summer day, and made
+their loyalty known in the usual way; but they did not forget to keep a
+sharp lookout for the man who had come from the war, for the man who
+had so lately fought in their battles; and as the cheers died away
+after the royal carriage had passed out of sight, they were renewed
+with deafening insistence as each voice strained to make its message of
+love and esteem reach the ears of one who with his own eyes had seen
+the enemy.  For I believe that in those days of popular excitement over
+the occupation of Pretoria, Gatacre was, to the man in the street, the
+personification of a successful war that had just reached its
+conclusion.
+
+This burst of feeling, howsoever prompted, was very touching, but what
+did more to encourage Sir William than any other single event was the
+gracious and cordial greeting accorded to him by His Royal Highness
+when, as in duty bound, the General had the honour of receiving {264}
+him at Norwich Station.  Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales also
+sent for me in the course of the afternoon and was pleased to use very
+kindly and appreciative words about my husband's services to his
+country, and her sympathy with his immediate trouble.
+
+When in the round of annual inspections the General visited the Cadet
+Corps of Bedford Grammar School, he had further evidence of his
+personal popularity in the attentions showered upon him by all the boys
+in the school, who insisted on dispensing with the usual mode of
+traction and harnessing themselves to his carriage.  It was the same
+thing at Clacton, when the Lord Mayor of London opened the Essex
+Agricultural Show.  Sir William had been detained in his office, and
+only reached the show-ground just before the luncheon assembly broke
+up; the speaker within the tent was at a loss to account for an
+untimely uproar.  It was the crowd outside who had recognised "General
+Gatacre," and, as he entered, those inside the tent took up the strain.
+
+However gratifying such popular outbursts may be in their spontaneity,
+it is the reasoned judgment of his peers that a man ultimately values.
+The following telegram was received by the senior officer in the
+station on the day after our return to Colchester.
+
+
+"The members of the Aldershot Conservative Club are delighted to read
+of the deservedly enthusiastic welcome accorded to General Gatacre
+yesterday, and wish to convey through you {265} to the General their
+hearty greetings upon his safe return from the seat of war.  We do not
+forget his services to the Empire, and we loyally reciprocate
+Colchester's sentiment."
+
+
+[Sidenote: Sympathy]
+
+It was in the summer of 1900 that the call arose for more troops for
+South Africa, which brought several new county Yeomanry Corps and the
+Volunteer Service Companies into existence; it was Sir William's
+business to promote the formation of all such corps within the nine
+counties that made up the Eastern District, and to contribute in every
+way to their efficiency.  This brought him into personal contact with
+the leading men of all parts of his command, for it will be remembered
+how much public spirit was shown in the revival of interest in the
+Auxiliary Forces that marked the years 1900 and 1901.  I should like
+here to record how helpful were the loyalty, the confidence, and I may
+say the sympathy (if that word can stand for an unexpressed sentiment
+where silence alone befitted the dignity of the personnel on both
+sides) that he received on all sides; and how the cordial relations
+established between the General and the county society of his district
+encouraged him to tread patiently and hopefully the path he had traced
+for himself.  In many cases the official visit to some great man's
+house to inspect the corps encamped in his park led to shooting visits
+in the following autumn--a delightful testimony to the undiminished
+power of his personal charm.
+
+{266}
+
+On the other hand, those in daily converse with Sir William, both in
+his office and outside, were not blind to the sustained effort on his
+part that was necessary to carry him through those trying days of
+eclipse.  One under whom he had served in India wrote, with the insight
+of true affection, for the guidance and inspiration of another:
+
+
+"I feel that it is very difficult for Gatacre to face all that he has
+to bear; but I feel certain that through it all he has exhibited
+soldierly qualities of a high order, that must be appreciated; but his
+return home will be very difficult for him to accept, and I fear he
+will have no opportunity of justifying himself.  You must, you know, be
+in very good heart, and feel very brave for his coming."
+
+
+It was very difficult for Gatacre to bear, and he never forgot
+
+  The hopes by weakness foiled, or evil fate,
+  The slander, the dumb heart-break, and the pain.
+
+It was incontrovertibly the fiercest trial to which he could have been
+subjected.
+
+Those who have only known suffering when it comes shrouded in the
+simple majesty of death can have no measure of the additional
+bitterness of blows dealt by the hand of man, nor the torture endured
+by a righteous man when his honour is affected.
+
+Gatacre had known what it was to suffer in his private life, but then
+his profession had come {267} to his assistance, and by flinging
+himself with all his natural vigour into its arms for shelter and
+comfort he had triumphed over his pain.  In this case he had been given
+a second chance, he had been allowed to be happy again.  The laurels
+that he had reaped doubled their value in his eyes in that there was
+another to share them.  But his profession at all times had a far
+larger share of his heart than anything that contributed to his
+pleasure.  That was the way he was made; his profession was identified
+with his duty, and for him there was nothing so enjoyable as those
+duties which taxed his endurance and his energy.  His soldiering was
+all in all to him; it was his record; all he had to show; the building
+that he had built with the bricks that had been served out to him.  In
+his own estimation he was nothing if not a soldier.
+
+Now, recalled, rejected, the worldly hope on which he had set his heart
+had turned to ashes in his hand: the ambition which had been his saving
+grace in the days of tribulation was lost to him now.  Was this the
+guerdon for all the years of loving toil?  Was this "the reward of it
+all"?
+
+Who shall say whence a man draws his reserves of strength?  It seemed
+to some of us that in his own dauntless character Gatacre found
+unquenchable inspiration: his independence of the opinion of men, his
+own intimate knowledge of the facts of the case, his untarnished record
+of loyal service, and his own "triumphant endurance and conquering
+moral {268} energy"--these were things of which no one could deprive
+him.
+
+  I will be patient and proud, and soberly acquiesce.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Hopes]
+
+With a supreme effort of steadfastness and a resolute courage he forced
+his faith in disinterested work to come to his rescue, but henceforth
+he was working not to deaden the pain of outraged sensibilities, not
+for his own advancement, but for the work's own sake--to forward the
+cause of the army in South Africa, for the simple service of the
+country.  Nothing but his accumulated powers of silent endurance, his
+proud indifference to his own feelings, aided by the response that his
+speechless loyalty won from his daily companions, could have sustained
+him through those three and a half long years while he silently and
+quietly did his duty.  Borrowing the words of another we may say that
+"his military experience had intensified his natural horror of schism
+and lukewarm co-operation, and magnanimity was a stronger force than
+any personal consideration."
+
+Now I contend that in achieving this triumph of discipline Gatacre
+reached a loftier level in the sight of God and man than any to which
+high appointments could have raised him; and I believe that his example
+and his memory in this respect alone will outlive the story of many
+battlefields, and that he will thus have transformed a story of
+momentary defeat into an everlasting victory.
+
+This attitude implied a rare simplicity and a {269} profound knowledge
+of the world.  He preferred to accept misconstruction and
+misrepresentation rather than betray the lofty promptings of his own
+soul; and he was at the same time perfectly conscious that any attempt
+(even though successful in the main) to set himself right in the eyes
+of the world would alienate his friends and make enemies.  These words
+are something more than a speculative analysis of what might have been
+his frame of mind; for the latter argument was the ground of his
+refusal to accept any of the several offers he received from writers
+who asked his sanction for the preparation of articles throwing light
+on the events in which he had taken part.
+
+As the General recovered his balance and settled down to the routine of
+his work, his natural buoyancy returned, and he once more took a
+pleasure in all that went on around him.  Hopes that things might work
+out all right in the end arose to cheer him, and there was much to
+foster such an idea.
+
+When the South African War Commission was initiated, he hoped that this
+would give him a chance to explain matters, imagined that it would be a
+confidential court of inquiry, a sort of hearing in camera, where,
+without insubordination or disloyalty, he would be encouraged to speak.
+In May 1903 he was summoned to give evidence.  On their arrival all the
+witnesses are taken aside by one of the Commissioners and formally
+cautioned not to say anything that might be used against them.  To
+Gatacre these words carried a personal meaning, though the phraseology
+completely puzzled {270} him.  He failed to see how anything that was
+true could be so used, and could find no purpose in the warning.  The
+Commissioners, however, confined their attention to questions of
+efficiency and other generalities, and no interest was shown in his
+personal affairs.  And thus this hope of salvation vanished.  One touch
+of character showed itself: he tells the Commissioners how he raised
+companies of mounted infantry from the battalions in his command, and
+goes on to say that as soon as the men had learnt to ride and to
+perform their special duties, he was ordered to send them forward to
+Army Headquarters, so that his own force was constantly denuded of
+mounted troops.  In the proof submitted for correction his reply to an
+obvious question appeared as "I never complained."  He struck out the
+past tense, and it stands as his motto: "I never complain."[2]
+
+
+[2] _South African War Commission_, vol. iii. p. 277.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Departure]
+
+Another circumstance in the last year of his command revived his hopes
+of re-employment.  This was a visit by the Commander-in-Chief to
+Colchester and other places in the Eastern District.  Everything had
+gone very well, the Commander-in-Chief had expressed himself highly
+satisfied with all that he had seen, and on the last day, at a garden
+party at Chelmsford, the Chief Staff Officer handed on the encouraging
+message that Lord Roberts had been much pleased with his visit, and
+that he had remarked a higher tone amongst officers and men at
+Colchester than at any other camp.  This was, of {271} course, said in
+private conversation, but it was taken as "inspired."
+
+In August of the same year, 1903, when preparations were being made for
+extensive manoeuvres to be held on Salisbury Plain, Gatacre was
+appointed as Umpire-in-Chief of the Blue Army.  This was a good omen,
+for it seemed incredible that a post of such importance in the training
+of the troops engaged should be given to an officer who was likely soon
+to be struck off the active list, who was, so to speak, already cast.
+
+That he had a genuine belief that his services might yet be utilised by
+the State in some capacity is shown by his decision to go on half pay.
+In the summer of 1903 he called on the Secretary of State for the
+Colonies and asked him to consider his name for any suitable post in
+that Department.  I believe that he would have taken the Governorship
+of any island, regardless of its size or climate, just for the love of
+the service of the State--just for the pleasure of using powers that he
+knew himself still to possess unimpaired.
+
+The term of the command ran out on December 8, 1903.  That he should
+vacate the post without immediate prospect of re-employment was in
+itself a bitterness to him, and chilled the expectations that had
+contributed to the harmony of his days.
+
+His memory hung about Colchester for many years.  It was not merely
+that his portrait hung in the Soldiers' Institute that he had opened,
+{272} nor that he had won many extra comforts for both officers and men
+in the new barracks that were built under his direction.  It was more
+than this; it was the weight of his name, the tradition of love and
+esteem that the name revived.  When the men were decorating their rooms
+for Christmas 1906 they made a banner which carried these words: "To
+the memory of Major-General Sir William Forbes Gatacre--one of the
+best."  This spontaneous tribute was set up nearly a year after his
+death, and four years after he had left Colchester, a time long enough
+for the reliefs to have removed all the battalions that had known him
+there; but there was scarcely a regiment in the service that had not
+known him somewhere in his thirteen years' service as General Officer.
+
+
+
+
+{273}
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+1904-1906
+
+ABYSSINIA
+
+Although Gatacre undoubtedly indulged hopes of further employment, he
+had not much confidence in such expectations.  While prepared to move
+onwards should his desires be fulfilled, he was simultaneously
+safeguarding his retreat.
+
+During the manoeuvres he had made inquiries about the working of the
+Remount Department in the counties, and had discovered that there was a
+post open to him which would provide both congenial occupation and
+reasonable remuneration, namely £500 a year in addition to pension.
+
+He bought a little house in the Cotswold Hills, and for the first few
+weeks enjoyed the leisure, as he had always enjoyed the leisure of his
+sixty days' leave.
+
+Although the post he coveted was vacant, and although similar posts
+were being worked by retired officers of his rank, unaccountable
+difficulties arose in securing it.  In the hope of wearing down these
+obstacles, whatever might be their origin, Gatacre got permission to
+hold the post for eight months, but the pay attached was withheld, the
+arrangement being that he was to draw allowances only, {274} on the
+scale fixed by Government for all such duty, which is calculated to
+cover actual travelling expenses.  The work consisted mainly of
+overhauling and replenishing the list of registered horses, over an
+area of twenty-two counties.  These included Wales and Cornwall to the
+west, while on the east a line drawn from Cheshire to Hampshire
+inclusive of these two counties would form a rough boundary.  He very
+soon got profoundly interested in his task.
+
+He invented a new system of tabulating all sorts of information useful
+to the Department.  He found that to complete what was properly a
+year's work in eight months involved working under more pressure than
+could justly be expected, more especially as his services were
+voluntary; but the old incentive of reaching his own self-imposed
+standard would not let him leave his work unfinished.  The facts he had
+collected were useless, his labour would be in vain, unless he could
+record them in a form that would be handy for reference.  His reports
+were to be the _vade mecum_ of the Remount and Yeomanry Officer in each
+county; there was one little volume for each county, and a General
+Directory for use at Headquarters.  Permission was obtained from Sir
+Evelyn Wood, commanding the Second Army Corps, to employ an army clerk
+and two typewriting clerks (women) in an office in Salisbury, and there
+Gatacre worked for six weeks in July and August 1904.  In order to
+complete his task in the allotted time, he had to stick so closely to
+his desk that he {275} grudged the loss of working hours which would be
+the consequence of a Sunday at home.  But it occurred to him that as
+the nights were short and cool he could save the time that would be
+wasted in the train by doing the journey by night on his bicycle.  The
+distance was sixty-four miles; the first time it worked very well and
+he met with no mishap, but on the return journey he punctured at 2
+a.m., and as it was too dark to do his own repairs, he had to complete
+the last twenty-four miles on foot.
+
+[Sidenote: On the road]
+
+A fortnight later he was on the road again, but decided to come by day.
+He telegraphed to me that he was leaving Salisbury at noon on Saturday.
+Having remonstrated with him about making this journey in one stretch,
+as he had done previously, I wired that I would meet him at Malmesbury
+at 5 p.m., reckoning that he could not complete his forty-eight miles
+in less than five hours, and that my presence would ensure a break in
+the long spin.  He arrived five minutes before time, but we did not
+start off again till six.  On another occasion he started at daybreak,
+and we met at nine o'clock for breakfast at Malmesbury.  His age was
+then sixty; the story is told in order to show not only that he still
+possessed staying powers above the average, but that he still found the
+highest delight in using such powers.
+
+In September he was informed that the Remount Department had no longer
+any use for his services.  Across the letter to this effect I find
+written in his own hand "Disappointing, {276} very!"  Once more it
+seemed to him that his devotion and exertion counted for naught; he had
+done good work, but he had mysteriously failed to make it of any
+account.
+
+[Sidenote: 1905]
+
+There was, however, an interpretation of the situation which, though
+hidden from his eyes, can be read between the lines of the file of
+correspondence.  He could see and could gauge the usefulness of his
+services and ideas, but his humble-mindedness hid from him the fact
+that it was his own value that stood in his way.  His highly trained
+administrative faculties immediately grasped all the bearings and
+possibilities of the problem before him, and he could not resist the
+desire to improve upon existing methods.  This was not what the
+Department wanted.  Although willing to admit the intrinsic merits of
+his scheme, the authorities were not prepared to put in force such a
+comprehensive measure of reorganisation; so that while they could
+honestly say that his "work would serve as a model," they had no option
+but to discontinue using a tool that was too powerful, too keen, for
+their purpose.  His military rank and his administrative ability made
+it impossible to employ him in the subordinate position that he coveted.
+
+[Sidenote: Retired]
+
+Yet another blow was hanging over him.  On March 22,1905, he went to
+London to attend the Memorial Service to His Royal Highness the Duke of
+Cambridge in Westminster Abbey.  At such a gathering he naturally found
+many friends (more especially as the Duke had been Colonel-in-Chief of
+the Middlesex Regiment), {277} and, according to one who was amongst
+the number, it was a pleasure to see how many distinguished men came to
+greet him, civilians as well as soldiers, and among them men of
+political standing who knew him more by reputation than in person.
+This was the last flicker of his public life, for when he returned to
+the country that evening the intimation of his immediate retirement lay
+among his correspondence.  By contrast to his mood when a few hours
+earlier he had stood honoured among his peers, this letter seemed a
+stinging blow, and I can confidently say that he did not expect it.
+There were still eight months to run before he reached the age of
+sixty-two, at which point he would (in the event of his not having been
+promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General) have had to "retire" under
+the regulations.
+
+The one thing that we had vaguely dreaded had come to pass.  The thing
+was unthinkable, but it was true--the words in his friend's letter had
+become prophecy: he was to "have no opportunity of justifying himself,"
+no chance of obliterating the slur that had been cast on his name.  His
+career was at an end, and it had closed a dishonoured career, when to
+have held one more appointment, however insignificant, would have
+implied recognition of the facts of the case and compensation for the
+hasty judgment.
+
+It was some time in the summer of 1905 that the late Sir Lepel Griffin
+invited Gatacre to sit on the board of the Kordofan Trading Company.
+{278} We welcomed the new interest.  I thought that the pretext for
+regular visits to London was a desirable thing; I liked to think of his
+moving amongst busy men, and having something to occupy his mind.
+There was no idea of making a fortune; we had very little spare
+capital, and he only invested the small amount necessary to qualify as
+a Director.
+
+From the first he foresaw the opportunity that might arise of visiting
+the territory specified in the concession.  The prospect attracted him
+wildly.  As the season approached when such a proposition could be
+seriously entertained, his spirits rose, and he revelled in the idea of
+starting off for the desert; he took the keenest pleasure in preparing
+every contrivance for his comfort that his experience of camp-life
+could suggest; he set about getting books and pamphlets in which he
+could learn the history of the trade in rubber and the chemical
+processes of its manufacture.
+
+A telegram which reached us on November 10, asking whether he could be
+ready to start by the Peninsular and Oriental night mail of the 17th,
+lifted him into the highest spirits: from that moment he talked of
+nothing but tents, rifles, and such-like necessities, and thought of
+nothing but the valuable report that he would prepare for his
+co-Directors.
+
+To those who have been inclined to blame me for letting him go, I would
+reply that it still appears to me that any attempt to stop him would
+have been dictated by selfish motives.  He was offered a delightful
+trip, one that would {279} afford him all those arduous pleasures that
+his soul loved.  Why should I stand in his way?  I did desire greatly
+to accompany him, but in such a short space it would have been
+impossible to wind up his affairs and so set me free to go.
+
+[Sidenote: Up the Nile]
+
+The rubber forests that were the objective of the trip lay in
+Abyssinia, east and south of Addis Abeba.  The party consisted of the
+General, in command; an experienced Syrian trader named Idlibi, who had
+acted as his interpreter during the Egyptian Campaign of 1898; one or
+two men of a similar class, and a suitable number of servants and
+porters.  Amongst Sir William's three personal servants, one was a
+Mahommedan bearer from India, with whom he could talk freely in
+Hindustani, and who could therefore act as interpreter to the Arab
+servants.  The route selected involved a trip in steamers of about 500
+miles up the White Nile to Taufikia, and then, turning eastward, a
+further 250 miles up the tributary river Sobat, which in its upper
+reaches is called the Baro, to Gambela, from which it is 300 miles by a
+good caravan track to Addis Abeba.
+
+At Fashoda, which is now officially called Kodok, the party came across
+an English missionary boat.  Gatacre went on board and had tea with the
+five missionaries a few days before Christmas.
+
+It was hoped that there would have been enough water in the river to
+float the shallow craft right on to Gambela, but first one boat and
+then the two smaller craft ran aground.  {280} It was therefore
+necessary to open communications from Keg, where the last barge
+stranded, to Gambela by road, a distance of about thirty-eight miles.
+Leaving Idlibi in charge of the caravan, Sir William accomplished this
+march on foot in three days, accompanied by his servants and a few
+porters.
+
+[Sidenote: 1906]
+
+Gambela is an important trading centre, and was the first objective of
+the journey.  Politically it is known as an Enclave--that is, a tract
+of country leased by the King of Abyssinia to the Soudan Government.
+It thus becomes a frontier post of the Soudan, and has a small
+Soudanese garrison, which in January 1906 was under the command of the
+Memour Mehined Riad Effendi.
+
+The Memour was exceedingly hospitable to Sir William, receiving him as
+a guest in his house, and doing everything in his power to facilitate
+his journey.  Gatacre's letters speak most gratefully of the kindness
+he received at this officer's hands.  At Gambela he discovered the
+Company's agent, and arranged with him to procure three hundred
+coolies, who should march to Keg, and then carry the merchandise from
+the boats along the track by which Sir William himself had just
+travelled.
+
+[Sidenote: His death in the desert]
+
+Having completed his business, Gatacre started back to join Idlibi, and
+report progress.  On this return journey he was unfortunate in his
+camping-grounds.  Tents being superfluous in such a climate, the party
+just bivouacked where they halted when the sudden darkness of {281} the
+tropics fell upon them.  In a small notebook of daily jottings, which
+at his leisure Gatacre worked up into a more formal journal, I find the
+following entry on January 11, 1906: "Camped in a swamp--horrible
+water."  He reached Keg next day, and was pleased to find that Idlibi
+had disembarked all the stuff and divided it into suitable loads for
+the men to carry.  A few days later, being impatient at the non-arrival
+of the coolies, Gatacre decided again to make his way to Gambela, but
+was attacked with fever on the road, and died at a place known as
+Iddeni.
+
+His body was conveyed in a canoe to Gambela, where Mehined Riad Effendi
+saw to its burial in the Abyssinian Christian Cemetery, with due
+formality.
+
+On Idlibi's arrival with the merchandise a court of inquiry was held,
+at which the Memour presided.  The depositions of all the servants were
+formally taken, and a translation of their words was forwarded through
+the British Consul at Addis Abeba to the Foreign Office in London.  It
+appears therein that there was another Englishman moving to and fro
+during that week, and that he passed the General on the Tuesday
+previous to his death, which took place on Thursday, January 18, 1906.
+I mention this to show that the locality was not unknown to
+civilisation, and that Gatacre was not the only one to brave the
+climate.
+
+It is clear that darkness overtook him on the 11th while on swampy
+ground, so that he was {282} compelled to pass the night exposed to
+dangerous miasmas.  I am convinced that had it not been for this
+misfortune, or some similar accidental misadventure, he would have
+returned with the rest of the mission on June 10 as young and
+high-spirited as he was on his departure.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+  Lofty designs must close in like effects:
+      Loftily lying,
+  Leave him--still loftier than the world suspects,
+      Living and dying.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+The key-note to Gatacre's character may be said to be willingness--an
+eager and fearless willingness to follow the right, the best, an
+unconditional spending of himself in carrying out the lofty conceptions
+of duty and service with which he was gifted.  Everything he undertook,
+everything he accomplished, was done with an eager gallantry and a
+joyful zeal.  The effect of these qualities was enhanced by a proud
+indifference to the cost to himself.
+
+His soldierly heedlessness in risking his life had its moral
+counterpart in his willingness to accept to the full all responsibility
+for his actions.  How should one who feared not the Hand of God--"the
+arrow that flieth by day, nor the pestilence that walketh in
+darkness"--how should such a one fear the judgment of man?
+
+It is to the remarkable association of an exalted sense of duty with
+exceptional physical powers that Gatacre owes much of his distinction.
+His {283} standard of efficiency and discipline was as far above the
+average as were his powers of bodily endurance.  His lowliness of mind,
+however, hid from him the true measure of his endowments, and led him
+to try to inspire all men with his own lofty ideals.  During his long
+services as staff officer he was always ready to show to his Chief the
+enthusiastic co-operation that he expected from those who were serving
+under him.  Though some officers may have smarted under his sarcasms,
+though they may have thought that he overtaxed his troops, it is
+admitted on all sides that his exactions were prompted solely by the
+interests of the service, and that his life was the expression of the
+precepts that he instilled.  In the final act of his military career
+Gatacre proved that he was ready to do as he would be done by--to
+submit himself without question to the word of authority.  Many a time
+had he been face to face with death; when something more precious than
+life itself was demanded he laid aside his reputation without a murmur.
+
+[Sidenote: The broken arcs]
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+  Therefore to whom do I turn but to Thee, the ineffable Name?
+    Builder and Maker, Thou, of houses not made with hands!
+  What, have fear of change from Thee who art ever the same?
+    Doubt that Thy power can fill the heart that Thy power expands?
+  There shall never be one lost good!  What was, shall live as before;
+    The evil is null, is nought, is silence implying sound;
+  What was good, shall be good, with, for evil, so much good more;
+    On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven a perfect round.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+{284}
+
+[Sidenote: Finis]
+
+In a sense Gatacre was but the fulfilment of an everlasting type.  It
+is this quality in him, this spark of the eternal Quixotic, of the
+eternal Heroic, of the eternal Tragic, that redeems his life from the
+commonplace, that has made him an example to some of his own
+generation, and may yet make him an example to some that are to come.
+Death has put an end to controversy.  His fair fame remains; he is
+crowned with the halo of the departed, and his name is written on the
+long roll of true knights, _sans peur et sans reproche_.
+
+
+
+
+{285}
+
+In Memoriam
+
+On Saturday, May 26, 1906, an alabaster tablet bearing the inscription
+given below was dedicated by the Rev. H. Hensley Henson, Canon of
+Westminster, in Claverley Church, Shropshire.
+
+IN LOVING MEMORY OF
+
+SIR WILLIAM FORBES GATACRE
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE BATH A MEMBER OF THE
+DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER HOLDING THE KAISER-I-HIND GOLD MEDAL AND OF
+THE ORDER OF THE MEDJIDIEH AND KNIGHT OF GRACE OF THE ORDER OF SAINT
+JOHN OF JERUSALEM
+
+THIRD SON OF EDWARD LLOYD GATACRE ESQ OF GATACRE IN THIS PARISH BORN AT
+HERBERTSHIRE CASTLE 3 DECEMBER 1843 DIED NEAR GAMBELLA ABYSSINIA 18
+JANUARY 1906
+
+HE SERVED WITH DISTINCTION IN THE HAZARA CAMPAIGN 1888 IN THE TON-HON
+EXPEDITION 1889-90 IN THE CHITRAL RELIEF FORCE 1895 HE COMMANDED THE
+BRITISH DIVISION IN THE ADVANCE ON KHARTOUM 1898 AND THE THIRD DIVISION
+OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN FIELD FORCE 1899-1900 NOT LESS MEMORABLE WAS HIS
+SERVICE AS PRESIDENT OF THE BOMBAY PLAGUE COMMITTEE 1897
+
+STRENUOUS IN ACTION AND GIFTED WITH AN EXALTED SENSE OF EFFICIENCY AND
+DISCIPLINE HE TROD HIS PATH IN LIFE WITH AN UNSWERVING DEVOTION TO DUTY
+HIS SIMPLICITY OF CHARACTER HIS GREAT COURAGE AND POWERS OF ENDURANCE
+HIS MANLY TENDERNESS OF HEART WON HIM THE ADMIRATION AND AFFECTION OF
+ALL WHO KNEW HIM
+
+"WHOM GOD LOVETH HE CHASTENETH"
+
+
+
+
+{286}
+
+REASONS FOR THE REMOVAL OF LIEUT.-GENERAL GATACRE[1]
+
+
+[1] See _Official History_, vol. ii. p. 614.
+
+
+In a memorandum to the Secretary of State for War, dated April 16,
+1900, Lord Roberts set forth his reasons for the step he had taken in
+removing Lieut.-General Sir William Gatacre from the command of the 3rd
+Division.
+
+With reference to the defeat at Stormberg, Lord Roberts explained the
+view he had taken as follows:
+
+
+"In my opinion, Lieut.-General Gatacre on this occasion showed a want
+of care, judgment, and even of ordinary military precautions, which
+rendered it impossible for me, in justice to those who might be called
+on to serve under him, to employ him in any position where serious
+fighting might be looked for.  I was, however, most anxious to avoid,
+if it were possible, the infliction on him of the slur which
+necessarily attaches itself to a General who is removed from his
+command while on active service.  I, therefore, refused to supersede
+him at the time when I assumed the chief command in South Africa,
+believing that I might safely employ him on the lines of communication
+or in any position not actually in the front.
+
+{287}
+
+"On March 28 I telegraphed to Lieut.-General Gatacre as follows:
+
+
+"'No. C. 696.  If you have enough troops at your disposal I should like
+you to occupy Dewetsdorp.  It would make the road to Maseru safe, and
+prevent the enemy from using the telegraph line to the south.  _Let me
+know what you can do to this end._'
+
+
+"To the question italicised above, Lieut.-General Gatacre gave me no
+reply.  In answer to my telegram he sent a list of movements then in
+progress in the southern part of the Orange Free State, east of the
+railway, which included a movement of two companies Royal Irish Rifles
+towards Dewetsdorp, where they were due to arrive on Sunday (April 1).
+
+"On March 30 he wired that two companies mounted infantry and three
+companies Royal Irish Rifles were moving on Dewetsdorp.
+
+"On March 31 I wired to Lieut.-General Gatacre that I considered
+Dewetsdorp too far advanced for security, and on April 1 he informed me
+that he had sent a despatch rider to Dewetsdorp with orders for the
+troops there to fall back on Reddersburg.
+
+"The result of these movements was that in falling back these companies
+were surrounded east of Reddersburg and, being without food or water,
+were eventually compelled to surrender.  For this result I must hold
+Lieut.-General Gatacre responsible.  Dewetsdorp is some forty-five
+miles by road east of the railway on which the mass of the troops were
+stationed, and is {288} therefore a position in which a small force is
+much isolated and might be in great danger if attacked.  It appears,
+however, that Lieut.-General Gatacre ordered two companies mounted
+infantry and three companies Royal Irish Rifles to Dewetsdorp on his
+own responsibility, and failed to give me the information I asked for
+as to what he could do with the troops at his disposal as regards
+holding the place, which, if supplied, would have enabled me to judge
+of its adequacy or otherwise, and therefore whether Dewetsdorp should
+or should not be occupied.  The small force he actually sent was
+entirely incapable of holding its own so far from sufficient force, and
+being partly composed of infantry was unable to move rapidly when a
+retirement became necessary.  I consider that in thus isolating a small
+detachment, Lieut.-General Gatacre has shown a grave want of judgment
+which must necessarily shake the confidence of those under his orders
+and have a bad effect on the _moral_ of his troops.  I am therefore
+unable to retain him in command of his division and have given orders
+for his relief and return to England.
+
+"ROBERTS, Field-Marshal"
+
+"BLOEMFONTEIN, "_April_ 16, 1900."
+
+
+
+
+{289}
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Addis Abeba, Abyssinia: W. F. G. starts for, Nov. 1905, 278
+
+Adjutant-General Bombay Army.  See Staff Services.
+
+Aldershot: W. F. G. serves there as D.A.Q.M.G. in 1879-80, 37
+  serves as G.O.C. Third Infantry Brigade, 1897-8, 184
+
+Aldershot Conservative Club: telegram of welcome from, 1900, 264
+
+Allahabad: W. F. G. quartered there, 1862-4, 14
+
+Allen, Colonel E., R.I.R., withdraws detachments to Aliwal North, 258
+
+Aliwal North, O.F.S.: headquarters of Colonial Corps, 1900, 244
+
+Appointments held by W. F. G.  See Staff Services and War Services.
+
+Arnott, Colonel James: recollections of 1894, 121
+
+Assault-at-Arms, Bombay, 1894, 122-5
+
+Atbara: events leading to engagement on banks of, 1898, 199-202
+  battle of, April 8, 1898, 203-6
+
+Aylmer, Maj.-Gen. F. J., V.C., C.B.: served with Royal
+    Engineers on Chitral Relief Force, 1895, 131
+
+
+Baird, Captain A. McD.: killed during siege of Chitral, 1895, 141
+
+Bannu: letter written from, by W.F.G. while on tour, 1887, 67
+
+Barnardiston, Col. N. W., M.V.O., adjutant to 77th Regt.:
+      recollections of, 55-9
+
+Battye, Col. L. R., 5th Goorkhas, killed near Oghi, 1888, 73
+
+Beluohistan.  See Quetta, Fort Sandeman, etc.
+
+Bengough, Maj.-Gen. Sir  Harcourt, K.C.B., late Middlesex Regt.:
+      recollections of, 15
+
+Bethulie Bridge: saved by scouts of Third Division, 241
+  removal of explosives by W. F. G. and Lieut. Grant, R. E., March,
+    1900, 241
+
+Black Mountain Expedition, or Hazara Field Force, 1888, 72-81
+  Tribes: historical sketch of, 71-2
+
+Bloemfontein, O.F.S.: occupied by F.-M. Lord Roberts, March, 1900, 240
+  garrison of, April 1900, 249
+  W. F. G. proceeds to, for interview of, April 2, 1900, 254
+
+Bolan-Mushkaf Railroad: first mail train Nov. 30, 1896, 160
+
+Bombay: W. F. G. commands mil. district, 1894-7, 110-26
+  testimonials by citizens of, 182
+
+Boots: unsatisfactory nature of, Egypt, 1898, 190
+
+Brabant, Maj.-Gen. Sir E. Y., K.C.B., commanding Colonial Corps,
+      South Africa, 1899-1900, 240
+  headquarters of, at Aliwal North, 244
+  his detachment at Wepener to be reinforced, March 1900, 250
+  sends waggons to meet infantry detachments, 258
+
+Broadwood, Maj.-Gen. R. G., C.B., A.D.C.: operations near
+      Thaba' Nchu, 252
+  at Sannah's Post, 253
+
+Brooke, Bt.-Lieut.-Col. R. G., D.S.O.: Orderly Officer
+      Third Brigade, Chitral Relief Force, 1895, 142
+  A.D.C. to W. F. G. in Egypt, 1898, 188
+
+Brooke, Robert, of Madeley Court: effigy of, in Claverley Church, 4
+
+Browne, Col. H. L., late 77th Regt, : recollections of, 29
+
+Buffs, the, 1st Batt. East Kent Regt.: form part of Third
+      Brigade Chitral Relief Force, 1895, 129
+
+Buller, Gen. Sir Redvers, V.C., G.C.B., etc: sent to the Cape
+      in command of Army Corps, Oct. 1899, 220
+  dispositions made on arrival, 221
+  telegrams sent for W. F. G.'s guidance, 223
+    suggests night attack, 227
+    approves unsuccessful attempt on Stormberg, 237
+  anxious position of, Dec. 1899, 239
+  relieves Ladysmith, March 1900, 240
+
+Bullets: unsatisfactory nature of, Egypt 1898, 191
+
+Burma, Lower: historical sketch of, 43-4
+  Upper: under Mindon-min and King Theebaw, 44
+  annexed by Proclamation, Jan. 1, 1886, 84
+
+
+Cambridge, H.R.H. the Duke of, K.G., G.C.B., etc.: Memorial
+      Service to, March 22, 1905, 276
+
+Cameron Highlanders: 1st batt. in Egypt, 1898, 187
+  march on Reddersburg, April 1900, 255
+
+Camp of Exercise, at Bangalore, 1884, 53
+  at Delhi, 1885-6, 63-4
+
+Cape Colony: W. F. G. sent to reassure eastern portion of, Oct. 1899,
+221
+  invasion by Boers, Nov. 1899, 224
+
+Channer, Lt.-Gen., V.C., C.B.; commanding No. 1 Column, Hazara Field
+      Force, 1888, 75
+  occupies Thakot, 80
+
+Chapman, Gen. Sir Edward, K.C.B.: Q.M.G. India, 1885-9, 64
+
+Chermside, Hon. Lt.-Gen. Sir H. C., G.C.M.G., K.C.B., takes over
+      command, of Third Division, South Africa Field Force, 1900, 259
+
+Chitral Relief Force: See Chapter IX., 127-44
+  W. F. G. to command Third Brigade, March 1895, 128
+  advance over the Lowari Pass, 134-40
+  reaches Chitral Fort, 141
+
+Churchill, the Right Hon. Winston Spencer, author of _The
+      River War_, cited, 202, 209
+
+Clarke, Gen. Sir Charles Mansfield, G.C.B., G.C.V.O.: Director
+      of manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain, 1899, 218
+
+Claverley: church of, ancient tombs therein, 4
+  Manor of, mentioned in Domesday Book, 1
+
+Clements, Maj.-Gen. R. A. P., C.B., D.S.O.: commanding brigade
+      on Salisbury Plain, 1899, 218
+  orders given to, _re_ Norval's Pont Bridge, 242
+
+Colchester: headquarters of Eastern District; W. F. G. takes up
+      command, Dec. 1898, 216
+  departs for South Africa, Oct. 1899, 219
+  resumes command, May 1900, 262
+  hands over, Dec. 1903, 271
+
+Colenso: battle of, Dec. 1899, compared with attempt on Stormberg, 236
+
+Colville, Maj.-Gen. Sir Henry, K.C.B., 253
+
+Connaught, H.R.H. the Duke of, K.G., G.C.B., etc.; at Aldershot, 1874,
+34
+
+Crosthwaite, Sir Charles, K.C.S.I.: Chief Commissioner,
+      Burma, 1887-90, 87
+  report on administration by, cited, 90
+
+
+Dacoity: difficulties of suppression, 85
+
+Decorations worn by W. F. G.:
+  D.S.O., 1889
+  C.B., 1895
+  Jubilee, 1897
+  K.C.B., 1898
+  Order of the Medjidieh, 2nd class, 1898
+  Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal, 1900
+  Coronation Medal, 1902
+  War Medals:
+    Indian Frontier, 2 clasps.
+    Chitral 1895, 1 clasp.
+    British Soudan.
+    South Africa, Queen's medal, 2 clasps.
+    Egyptian Soudan, 2 clasps.
+
+Delhi: Camp of Exercise at, 1884-5, 63-4
+
+Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General, Aldershot, 1879-80.  See
+      Staff Services.
+
+Deputy Quartermaster-General, India, 1885-9.  See Staff Services
+
+Derbyshire Regt.: with Third Division in South Africa, 1900, 237
+  called up to headquarters, 245
+
+Dewetsdorp: telegram regarding occupation of, March 1900, 246
+  geographical position of, 247
+  party of occupation strengthened, 248
+  arrival of detachment, 251
+  anxiety about safety of detachment, 255
+
+Dimmock, Col. H. P., M.D., I.M.S.: recollections of, 1897, 167
+
+Dufferin and Ava, First Marquess of, Viceroy of India, 1885, 63
+  receives Freedom of the City of Edinburgh, 1898, 215
+
+
+Eager, Lieut.-Col., R.I.R.; mortally wounded at Stormberg, 1899, 233
+
+East London, C.C.: W. F. G. disembarks at, Nov. 1899, 222
+
+Elles, Lieut.-Gen. Sir Edmond, G.C.I.E., K.C.B.: serves with Hazara
+      Field Force, 1888, 76
+
+Egypt: campaign of 1898.  See Chapters XII., XIII., 186-213
+
+Eyton, R. W.: author of _Antiquities of Shropshire_, cited, 1-3
+
+
+Forbes, William, Esq., of Callendar: maternal grandfather to W. F. G., 7
+  William, son of above, M.P. for Stirlingshire, 7
+  Jessie, sister to above: married Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq.;
+      mother of W. F. G., 7
+
+Forced march on Berber, Feb. 1898, 191-7
+
+Forestier-Walker, Gen. Sir Frederick, G.C.M.G., K.C.B.: commanded
+      Lines of Communication, South Africa, 1899, 222
+
+Fort Sandeman: official visit to, 1896, 150
+  murderous outrage at, 1896, 151
+
+Franco-Prussian War: W. F. G. visits battlefields, 1870, 30
+
+Free Lance, steeplechase pony, Rangoon, 1882-3, 50
+
+French, Gen. Sir John, G.C.V.O., K.C.B., etc.: operations
+      round Colesberg, C.C., 1899, 225
+  operations round Thaba 'Nchu, O.F.S., 1900, 252
+
+Fryer, Sir Frederick, K.C.S.I.; Financial Commissioner,
+      Burma, 1888-92, 89
+
+
+Galbraith, Maj.-Gen. Sir William, K.C.B.: commanding the River
+      Column, Hazara Field Force, 1888, 74
+  hands over Quetta District to W. F. G., while on leave for
+      eight months, 1896, 148
+
+Gambela, Abyssinia: visited by W. F. G., 1906, 280
+  W. F. G. buried at, 1906, 281
+
+Gatacre, feoffment held by royal grant, 2
+  house at, curious specimen of domestic architecture, 5
+  township of, 1
+
+Gatacre, ancestors and others, as named in text, in chronological order:
+  Sir William de, suit subject to Wager of Battle, 2
+  Sir Robert de, sat on jury, Grand Assizes, 1200, 2
+  Sir Thomas de, estate escheated unjustly, 1368, 3
+  Alice, his wife, appeals to King in Chancery, 3
+  John, Groom of the Body to Henry VI.: High Sheriff
+      of Shropshire, 1409, 3
+  John, son of above, M.P. for Bridgnorth, 12th year of Edward IV., 3
+  William, died 1577, interesting monument in Claverley Church, 4
+  Francis, died 1599, his son, similar tablet, 4
+  Thomas, brother to above, died 1593, distinguished divine, 4
+  Thomas, his son (1574-1654), member of Westminster Assembly, 4
+  Colonel Edward (1768-1849), grandfather to W. F. G., 6
+  Edward Lloyd, Esq., the Squire (1806-1891), father of W. F. G., 6
+  he died, Nov. 1891, 107
+
+Gatacre, Maj.-Gen. Sir John, K.C.B., late Indian Army: leaves home for
+      India, 1867, 9
+  serves in Burma, 1885-9, 81
+  G.O.C. Nagpur District, 1891-6, 103
+
+Gatacre, William Forbes: For career of, see Promotions, Staff Services,
+      War Services, and Decorations
+
+Ghazis: Marri outrage at Sunari Station, Beluchistan, 1896, 155
+  W. F. G. conducts search-party, 156
+
+Goorkhas, 2nd batt. 4th Goorkha Rifles, part of Third Brigade Chitral
+      Relief Force, 1895, 129
+
+Gordon, Gen. Charles, C.B.: fall of Khartoum, 1885, 187
+  Memorial Service to, Sept. 1898, 212
+
+Graham, Maj.-Gen. Sir Thomas, K.C.B.: _re_ Sikkim, 1888-9, 68
+
+Grant, Major P. G., R.E.: removes explosives from Bethulie Bridge,
+      1900, 241
+
+Grant, Sir Francis, P.R.A., portrait by, 6
+
+Greaves, Gen. Sir George, G.C.B., K.C.M.G.: C.-in-C. Bombay Army,
+      1890-3, 96
+  in railway accident, 1891, 105
+
+
+Hamilton, Gen Sir Ian, K.C.B., D.S.O.: commanding a Brigade on
+      Salisbury Plain, 1899, 218
+
+Hardinge, Gen. the Hon. Sir Arthur, K.C.B.: C.-in-C. Bombay
+      Army, 1881, 40
+  visits W. F. G. in camp, 1884, 54
+
+Harris, Lord, G.C.S.I., etc.; Governor of Bombay, 1890-5, 108
+
+Hazara Field Force, 1888: W. F. G. as A.A. and Q.M.G., 70-81
+
+Hazaribagh, Bengal: W. F. G. joins 77th Regt. at, 1862, 14
+
+Hemis, monastery at.  See Kashmir
+
+Herbertshire Castle, Stirlingshire: W. F. G. born at, Dec. 3, 1843, 7
+
+Hudson, Gen. Sir John D., K.C.B.: his death while C.-in-C. Bombay
+      Army, 107
+
+
+Idlibi, Syrian trader and interpreter, with W. F. G. in Abyssinia,
+      1905, 279
+  gives evidence, 1906, 281
+  returns to England, June 1906, 282
+
+_Iolanthe_: performed by officers, 77th Regt., 1883, 51
+
+
+Kamptee, headquarters of Nagpur District: railway accident
+      near, 1891, 103
+
+Kashmir: W. F. G. takes trip to, 1867, 17
+  crosses the Zoji-La to Leh, 19
+  visits Hemis, 20
+  sees Burra Lama, 22
+  visits Skardo, 25
+
+Kelly, Col. J. G., C.B.: advances from Gilgit, 1895, 129
+  raises the siege of Chitral, 1895, 134
+  on parade at Chitral, 141
+
+Kent, Gen. Henry, C.B., late 77th Regt.: at Allahabad, 1862, 14
+  at Aldershot, 1874, 34
+
+Keyes, Gen. Sir Charles, K.C.B.: commanding First Division,
+      Bangalore Camp of Exercise, 1884, 53
+
+Khaim Gali: headquarter camp on Black Mountain, 1888: W. F. G. marched
+      from Khaim Gali to Indus and back, 75-8
+
+Kitchener, Gen. Viscount, G.C.B., etc.: Sirdar of Egyptian
+      Army, 1898, 187
+  orders advance of British Brigade, 192
+  sends trophies to W. F. G., 206
+  receives Freedom of City of Edinburgh, 1898, 215
+  appointed C.S.O. to F.-M. Lord Roberts, 1899, 239
+
+Kunhar: headquarters of River Column, Hazara Field Force, 1888, 75
+
+
+Ladak, Leh.  See Kashmir.
+
+Lahore: Durbar at, 1894, 120
+
+Leach, Col. H. P., C.B., D.S.O.: Mil. Sec. to C.-in-C., Bombay;
+      in railway accident, 1891, 106
+  with Sir John Hudson, 1893, 107
+
+Leeuwberg Kopje, O.F.S.: batt. of infantry called up to, 1900, 250
+
+Leir-Carleton, Maj.-Gen. R. L.: Master of Staff College Draghounds,
+      1873-4, 35
+
+Lincolnshire Regt., 1st Batt.: in Egypt, 1898, 193
+
+Lorelai, Beluchistan: official visit to, 150
+  display by 15th Bengal Lancers, 1896, 151
+  assassination of Col. Gaisford, 152
+
+Low, Gen. Sir Robert, G.C.B.: commanding Chitral Relief Force, 1895, 128
+  dispatches quoted, 131-2
+  parade at Chitral, 141
+
+Lowari Pass: description of, 135
+
+Lyttelton, Gen. Sir Neville, G.C.B., in Egypt, 1898, 208
+
+
+Magersfontein, battle of: compared with attack on Stormberg, 1899, 236
+
+Mahmoud, Dervish Emir: advance of, 1898, 197
+  defeat and capture of, 202
+
+Malakand Pass: action during advance on Chitral, 1895, 128
+
+Mamugai: action during advance on Chitral, 1896, 131
+
+Mandalay: visited by W. F. G. in 1882, 46
+  W. F. G. officiates in command of brigade, 1889-90, 86-97
+
+Manser, Surgeon-Major Robert: died of plague, 1897, 163
+
+Marris: outrage at Sunari Station, 1896, 155
+
+Maymyo, Upper Burma: W. F. G. makes flying visit to, 1890, 89-90
+
+McQueen, Lieut.-Gen. Sir John, G.C.B.: commanding Hazara Field Force,
+      1888, 74
+
+Memour Mehined Riad Effendi: Egyptian officer at Gambela, 1906, 280
+  holds court of inquiry there, 281
+
+Methuen, Gen. Lord, G.C.B., etc.: marches to the relief of
+      Kimberley, 221
+
+Middlesex Regt.  See Seventy-seventh.
+
+Military Secretary: W.F.G. as.  See Staff Services
+
+
+Nairne, Gen. Sir Charles, G.C.B.: C.-in-C. Bombay Army, 1893-7, 109
+  telegram of congratulation from, 1896, 148
+
+Napier, Gen. Sir Robert, G.C.B., etc.: Mil. Member of Council, 1862:
+      story of French Eagle, 14
+
+Northumberland Fusiliers: at Stormberg, 1899, 232
+  M.I. Company sent to Dewetsdorp, 1900, 248
+
+Norval's Pont Bridge: telegram regarding tenure of, 1900, 242
+
+Norwich: Royal visit to, 1900, 265
+
+
+_Official History of the War in South Africa_, 1899-1902:
+      quoted as under:
+  account of attack on Stormberg, Dec. 1899, 231-3
+  justification for ditto, 236
+  _re_ deliberation of Gatacre's movements, 242
+  telegram ordering occupation of Smithfield, 244
+  telegram regarding occupation of Dewetsdorp, 246
+  marginal note _re_ above cited, 247
+  telegram _re_ movements of units of the Third Division, 248
+  arrival of detachment at Dewetsdorp, 251
+  results of action at Sannah's Post, March 31, 1900, 253
+  cautionary telegram to W. F. G., 256
+  situation subsequent to Sannah's Post, 259
+
+Omdurman: capture of, Sept. 2, 1898, 209
+  letter describing same, 209-12
+
+
+Panjkora River: rescue of Private Hall, 1895, 131
+
+Pembroke Dock: W. F. G. with Depot Batt. there, 1868, 29
+
+Pig-sticking: while Mil. Sec., 1881, 41-2
+  near Cutch-Bhuj, 1896, 146-8
+
+Pilcher, Maj.-Gen. T. D., C.B.: operations round Ladybrand, 1900, 252
+
+Plague, bubonic, at Bombay, 1897: See Chapter XI., 161-83
+  total mortality from, 161
+  cause of Surgeon-Major Manser's death, 163
+  subject of two anonymous articles by W. F. G., 164
+  appointment of Plague Committee, 166
+  policy instituted by above, 168
+  incidents of house-to-house visitation, 171-5
+  opposition of Sunni Mahommedans, 177
+  President of Poona Committee shot, 181
+
+Pole-Carew, Lt.-Gen. Sir Reginald, K.C.B., C.V.O.: movements and
+      recommendations of, March 1900, 242
+
+Poona: W. F. G. as Adjutant-General there, 1890-4.  See
+      Chapter VII., 98-109
+  outrage after Queen's birthday dinner, 1897, 181-3
+
+Prendergast, Gen. Sir H. N. D., V.C., G.C.B.: commanding Burmese
+      Division, 1882, 43
+  commanding Second Division Bangalore Camp of Exercise, 1884, 53
+  asks for W. F. G. as Special Service Officer, 1885, 61
+  account of his expedition to Mandalay, 1885, 82-4
+
+Promotions: William Forbes Gatacre:
+  gazetted Ensign 77th Foot, Feb. 18, 1862
+  Lieutenant 77th Foot, Dec. 23, 1864
+  Captain 77th Foot, Dec. 7, 1870
+  Major Middlesex Regt., March 23, 1881
+  Lieut.-Col. Middlesex Regt., April 23, 1884
+  Colonel, April 29, 1886
+  Colonel substantive, Nov. 25, 1890
+  Major-General, June 25, 1898
+  retired March, 1904
+
+Punjab Infantry, 25th Regt.: part of Third Brigade Chitral
+      Relief Force, 1895, 129
+
+Putter's Kraal, C.C.: W. F. G. advances to, Nov. 1899, 225
+
+
+Quetta: visits while on tour as D.Q.M.G., 1887, 66
+  W. F. G. officiates in command of District, 1896, 145-60
+
+
+Rangoon: history of occupation of, 43-4
+  W. F. G. quartered there as A.Q.M.G., 1882, 43
+
+Reddersburg, O.F.S.: surrender near, April 1900, 257
+
+Remount Department: W. F. G. temporarily works for, 1903-4, 273-6
+
+_River War, The_: by the Right Hon. W. S. Churchill, quoted as under:
+  _re_ efficiency of British Brigade Egypt, 1898, 190
+  _re_ assault of zariba by above, 202
+  _re_ position of G. O. C., cited, 202
+
+Roberts, Field-Marshal Earl, V.C., K.P., G.C.B., etc.;
+  visits W. F. G. in camp at Bangalore, 54
+  becomes C.-in-C. India, 1885, 63
+  his covering letter to Dispatches (pubd. March 1900), cited, 235
+  reaches Capetown as C.-in-C. South African Field Force, 239
+  telegram to W.O. _re_ Proclamation, 243
+  orders occupation of Smithfield, 244
+  orders occupation of Wepener, 245
+  telegram _re_ occupation of Dewetsdorp, 246
+  summons W. F. G. to Bloemfontein, and forecasts his plans for
+      the advance, 254
+  expresses anxiety about the detachment at Dewetsdorp, 255
+  sends 5 cos. Cameron Highlanders to Bethanie, 255
+  orders the return of the Relief Column from Reddersburg, 257
+  sends official letter instructing W. F. G. to proceed to
+      England, April 1900, 259
+  quotation from private letter _re_ recall, 263
+  his official visit to the Eastern District, 1903, 270
+
+Robertson, Sir George Scott, K.C.S.I., M.P.: defended the Fort at
+      Chitral, 129
+
+Royal Irish Rifles, 2nd Batt.: reaches Queenstown, C.C., 222
+  quotation from officers' reports _re_ Stormberg, 233, 235
+  sent to Smithfield, O.F.S., 245
+  2 cos. pushed on to Dewetsdorp, 248
+  the O.C. directed to retire on Reddersburg, 251
+  column surrenders at Mostert's Hoek, 257
+  splendid marching by detachments from Smithfield, Helvetia, and
+      Rouxville, 258
+
+Royal Military College, Sandhurst: W. F. G. there as cadet, 1860-1, 12
+  W. F. G. there as professor, 1875-9, 36-7
+
+"Run amok": W. F. G. attempts to disarm man with pistol at Simla,
+      1887, 69
+  letter _re_ above, 213
+
+Rundle, Lieut.-Gen. Sir Leslie, K.C.B., K.C.M.G.: commanding a Division
+      on Salisbury Plain, 1899, 218
+
+
+Salisbury: W. F. G. works there on remount duty, 1904, 275
+  bicycles to and fro, 275
+
+Salisbury Plain: W. F. G. commands a Division, 1899, 217-18
+  Chief Umpire, Blue Army, 1903, 271
+
+Salt Lakes, Bupshu.  See Kashmir
+
+Sandhurst.  See Royal Military College
+
+Sandhurst, Lord, G.C.I.E. etc.: Governor of Bombay, 1895-9, 164, 166,
+180
+
+Sannah's Post, O.F.S.; engagement at, 1900, 251
+  material results of engagement at, 253
+  change brought about by engagement at, 259
+
+Seaforth Highlanders: 1st Batt. in Egypt, 1898, 188
+  2nd Batt. in Chitral, 1895, 129
+
+Seton, Col. H. J.: wounded at Stormberg, 1899, 233
+
+Seventy-seventh Regt., afterwards 2nd Batt. (D.C.O.) Middlesex Regt.:
+  raised 1787, 13
+  services and movements of, 14
+  at Hazaribagh, Allahabad, Barreilly, and Peshawur, 14-17
+  reaches Portsmouth, 1870, 29
+  leaves Dover for Rangoon, 1880, 38
+  moves to Secunderabad, 1883, 51
+  W. F. G. in command, June 1884 to Dec. 1885, 55-61
+
+Shaw, F. B., Esq.: Resident at Mandalay, 1879, 46
+
+Sikkim: W. F. G. sketches Fort at Lingtu, 1887, 68
+
+Simla: W. F. G. and the servant "run amok, " 1887, 69
+  rapid ride to Umballa and back, 1887, 70
+
+Sirdar, the: See Kitchener
+
+Sniping: during advance on Chitral, 1895, 143-4
+
+Snow, Brig.-Gen. T. D'O., C.B.: Brigade-Major, Egypt, 1898, 186
+
+South African War Commission, Report of, quoted, 247
+  and again, 270
+
+Springfontein, O.F.S.: occupied by Third Division troops, 241
+  troops at, April 3, 1900, 40
+    scouts and 25 M.I., 255
+
+Staff College, Camberley: W. F. G. admitted, 1873, 33
+  Drag-hounds, W. F. G. as First Whip, 34
+
+Staff Services, W. F. G.: Instructor in Surveying, B.M.C., 1875-9, 36
+  D.A.A. and Q.M.G. Aldershot, 1879-80, 37
+  A.A.G. (officiating) Secunderabad, 1880-1, 39
+  Mil. Sec. (officiating) to C.-in-C. Bombay, 1881-82, 40
+  A.Q.M.G. (officiating) Rangoon, 1882, 43
+  D.Q.M.G., Bengal, 1885-90, 61-97
+  G.O.C. (officiating), Mandalay, 81-96
+  A.-G. Bombay, 1890-4, 98-109
+  G.O.C. Bombay, 1894-97, 110-82
+  G.O.C. (officiating), Quetta, 1896, 148-60
+  G.O.C. Third Infantry Brigade, Aldershot, 1897-98, 184-6
+  G.O.C. Eastern District, 1898-1903, 216-71
+
+Stormberg, C.C.: Sir R. Buller suggests advance to, 223
+  occupied by Boers, Nov. 1899, 224
+  W. F. G. makes arrangements for the attack, 229
+  description of the advance and assault, Dec. 10, 1899, 231-5
+  casualties, 235
+  compared with Magersfontein and Colenso, 236
+
+Sunari Station, Beluchistan: outrage at, 1896, 155
+
+Supya-lat, wife to King Theebaw, 45
+  deported, 1885, 84
+
+Swann, Brig.-Gen. J. C., C.B.: A.A.G. to W. F. G. while commanding
+      Bombay district; letter _re_ procedure quoted, 115
+  recollections of, 119
+
+
+Thaba 'Nchu, O.F.S.: Sir John French's operations near, 247
+  movements of troops preceding Sannah's Post, 251
+
+Theebaw, King of Burma: succeeds Mindon-Min, 1879, 44
+  as owner of "Free Lance" (?), 50
+  surrender of Mandalay, 1885, 83
+
+"_Times_" _History of the War_, quoted, as under:
+  _re_ Col. Pole-Carew's movements, 1900, 243
+  _re_ telegram about spreading proclamations, 244
+  _re_ Col. Broadwood's position at Thaba 'Nchu, 252
+
+Transport officer, the: at Mandalay, 88-89
+
+Transport Service, the: P. and O. vessels, 122-5
+
+Toba Plateau, Beluchistan: Camp of Exercise at, 1896, 153
+
+Ton-Hon Expedition, 1889-90, 90-92
+
+Tournament at Bombay, 1894, 122-5
+
+
+Umballa: rapid ride from Simla, and back, 1887, 70
+
+
+War Services, W. F. G.: Hazara Field Force, 1888, as A.A. and
+      Q.M.G., 70-81
+  Ton-Hon Expedition, 1889-90 as Brig.-Gen., 90-92
+  Chitral Relief Force, 1895, G.O.C. Third Brigade, 128-44
+  Egypt, advance on Khartoum, 1898, G.O.C. commanding British
+      Brigade and (subsequently) Division, 186-213!
+  South African Field Force 1899-1900, G.O.C. Third Division, 219-60
+
+Warwickshire Regt. (Royal): 1st Batt. in Egypt, 1898
+
+Wauchope, Maj.-Gen. Andrew. C.B., C.M.G.; commanding First Brigade,
+      Egypt, 1898, 208
+  his brigade sent forward, 211
+
+Wepener, O.F.S.: telegram ordering occupation of, March 1900, 245
+  W. F. G.'s anxiety as to safety of detachment, 246
+  besieged by Boers, 258
+
+de Wet, Christian, Boer General; lays his plans for capture of
+      Waterworks guard, March 1900, 252
+  value of his victory at Sannah's Post, 253
+
+White, F.-M. Sir George, V.C., G.C.B., etc.: in Burma, 1885, 85
+  entertains W. F. G. at Lahore, 1894, 120
+  appoints W. F. G. to command Third Brigade, Chitral Relief Force,
+      1894, 128
+  letter from, _re_ Marri Raid, 1896, 159
+  starts for Natal, Sept. 1899, 219
+  at Ladysmith, 221
+  relief of Ladysmith, 240
+
+Wolseley, Gen. Sir George, G.C.B.: commanding Mandalay Brigade, 86
+  returns to his command, 96
+
+
+
+
+_Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Map of the UPPER NILE]
+
+[Illustration: Part of CAPE COLONY and the ORANGE FREE STATE]
+
+[Illustration: Map of THE SOUDAN & ABYSSINIA]
+
+
+
+
+THE MILITARY MEMOIRS OF LIEUT.-GEN.  SIR JOSEPH THACKWELL, G.C.B.,
+K.H., Colonel 16th Lancers.  Arranged from Diaries and Correspondence
+by Colonel H. C. Wylly, C.B.  With Portraits, Maps, and other
+Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  15s. net.
+
+"The Memoirs of this fine old soldier, whose lot it was to see a vast
+amount of very hard fighting in many notable campaigns, are of quite
+exceptional interest....  Not only well worth reading on account of its
+general interest, but from which there is a very great deal to be
+learned."--United Service Magazine.
+
+
+A MARINER OF ENGLAND.  An Account of the Career of William Richardson
+from Cabin-Boy in the Merchant Service to Warrant Officer in the Royal
+Navy (1780 to 1817), told in his own words.  Edited by Colonel Spencer
+Childers, R.B., C.B.  Demy 8vo.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+"Worth a dozen of the ordinary memoirs with which the market is
+flooded.  For it is a genuine human document, a revelation of the
+thoughts and doings of a typical English sailorman during the most
+stirring years in our naval history....  We have found the book
+delightful reading."--Spectator.
+
+"... Such excellent stuff, and in such racy, straightforward English
+... uncommonly good reading.  It makes us think of some of Captain
+Marryat's pictures of what they did at sea in the brave days of
+old."--Standard.
+
+
+TWO ADMIRALS: SIR FAIRFAX MORESBY, G.C.B.  (1786 to 1877), and his son,
+JOHN MORESBY.  A Record of Life and Service in the British Navy for a
+hundred years.  By Admiral John Moresby.  Illustrated.  Demy 8vo.  14s.
+net.
+
+"This deeply interesting and delightfully entertaining volume."--Daily
+Telegraph.
+
+"One of the most entertaining and instructive books in modern naval
+literature....  In every line the book smacks of the sea and of the
+breezy nature of the British sailor."--The Globe.
+
+
+THE LIFE OF ADMIRAL SIR LEOPOLD MCCLINTOCK.  By Sir Clements Markham,
+K.C.B., F.R.S With Maps and Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  15s. net.
+
+"No living sailor was so worthy to be the biographer of Sir Leopold
+McClintock as Sir Clements Markham....  Sir Clements Markham has
+written with much of the simplicity and reserve of the great explorer
+himself.  Never for a moment does he diverge from quiet narrative ...
+it is an inspiring record of one who did his duty as he saw it, and
+found the path to fame by his own fine qualities of
+character."--Westminster Gazette.
+
+
+THE LIFE OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR CHARLES W. WILSON, Royal Engineers.  By
+Colonel Sir Charles M. Watson, K.C.M.G., C.B., R.E., M.A.  With
+Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  15s. net.
+
+"There is a most interesting account of the circumstances of the time
+in this admirable biography, and those who would know the true story of
+the failure to relieve Gordon should by all means read it.   He was a
+good soldier and a good man, and we are glad to commend this biography
+to soldiers who know how to appreciate the service that men like Sir
+Charles Wilson render to their country."--Army and Navy Gasette.
+
+
+THE LIFE OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN ARDAGH.  By His Wife, Susan,
+Countess of Malmesbury (Lady Ardagh).  With Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.
+15s. net.
+
+"... Lady Malmesbury has written her husband's life with rare
+discrimination and reticence ... exhilarating record of a splendidly
+strenuous life ...  an admirable record of the work of a great servant
+of the State and it should be in the hands of every young
+soldier."--Athenaum.
+
+
+THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF SIR JAMES GRAHAM, 1792-1861.  First Lord of the
+Admiralty in the Ministries of Lord Grey and Lord Aberdeen, and Home
+Secretary in the Administration of Sir Robert Peel.  By Charles Stuart
+Parker, Editor of "Life of Sir Robert Peel." With Portraits and other
+Illustrations.  Two Vols.  Demy 8vo.  24s. net.
+
+
+LORD DUNRAVEN'S THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.  The Case for Devolution and
+Conciliation.  Demy 8vo.  7s. 6d. net.
+
+
+LORD MILNER'S WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA.  From its Commencement in 1897 to
+the Peace of Vereeniging in 1902.  Containing hitherto Unpublished
+Information.  By W. Basil Worsfold.  With Portraits and a Map.  Demy
+8vo.  15s. net.
+
+
+FURTHER MEMOIRS OF THE WHIG PARTY, 1807-21.  By Henry Richard Vassall,
+3rd Lord Holland (1773-1840).  With which is Incorporated a Chapter
+termed "Miscellaneous Reminiscences."  Edited by Lord Stavordale,
+Editor of "The Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox."  With Portraits.  Demy
+8vo.  18s. net.
+
+
+LENNOX, LADY SARAH, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF.  1745-1826.  Edited by the
+Countess of Ilchester and Lord Stavordale.  With Photogravure
+Frontispiece and other Illustrations.  One Vol.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+
+THE HATZFELDT LETTERS.  Letters of Count Paul Hatzfeldt to his Wife,
+written from the Headquarters of the King of Prussia, 1870-71.
+Translated from the French by J. L. Bashford, M.A.  With Illustrations.
+Demy 8vo.  15s. net.
+
+
+CHARLES JAMES FOX.  A Commentary on his Life and Character.  By Walter
+Savage Landor.  Edited by Stephen Wheeler.  With Photogravure Portrait.
+Demy 8vo.  9s. net.
+
+
+THE FIRST BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO CHINA.
+
+THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF GEORGE FIRST EARL MACARTNEY, 1737-1806.
+From hitherto Unpublished Correspondence and Documents.  By Mrs. A. G.
+Robbins.  With Portraits and other Illutrations.  Demy 8vo.  16s. net.
+
+
+MOLTKE IN HIS HOME.  By Friedrich August Dressier.  Authorised
+Translation by Mrs. C. E. Barrett-Lennard.  With an Introduction by
+Lieut.-General Lord Methuen.  With Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  6s. net.
+
+This does not attempt to give a biography of the great Field-Marshal,
+but contains a series of sketches and incidents of his life, and of the
+characteristics and surroundings of one of the greatest soldiers of the
+nineteenth century.
+
+
+NELSON'S HARDY.  His Life, Letters, and Friends.  By A. M. Broadley and
+the Rev. R. G. Bartelot.  Many Illustrations and Portraits, 10s. 6d.
+net.
+
+"A record of the beautiful human friendship which existed between the
+two men, and should be read by everybody interested in one of England's
+greatest heroes and in the historical incidents of his time."--The
+Tatler.
+
+"The importance of this Life and Letters of Hardy is undeniable....
+That Hardy is worthy of a complete biography is undoubted, and this
+book is a desirable possession to all who care for England's naval
+glories."--Daily Chronicle.
+
+
+LETTERS FROM THE PENINSULA (1808-1812).  Written by Lieut.-General Sir
+William Warre, C.B., K.T.S.  Edited by the Rev. Edmond Warre, D.D.,
+C.B.  With Portrait and Map.  Demy 8vo.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+"If we wanted to choose the sort of testimony that would make the
+circumstances of a well-known campaign more real to us than ever
+before, we should undoubtedly choose the private letters of an officer
+to his friends....  We advise the general reader to try William Warre's
+letters.  They will find revealed in them a stout and loyal heart, and
+a careful and intelligent mind which had a singular ability for
+discerning the drift and significance of things."--Spectator.
+
+
+A WEEK AT WATERLOO IN 1815.  Lady De Lancey's Narrative.  Being an
+account of how she nursed her husband, Colonel Sir William H. De
+Lancey, mortally wounded in the great battle.  With Photogravure
+Portraits and other Illustrations.  Square crown 8vo.  6s. net.
+
+"A vastly interesting human document....  We need not trouble to praise
+where Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens have so fervently
+belauded."--Daily Telegraph.
+
+"Pages of writing of terrible beauty, subtlety, delicacy, and power
+describe her nursing of him and his death.  It is not a jagged series
+of poignant notes....  There is no heroine in English history or
+literature more worshipful than Lady De Lancey."--World.
+
+
+THE BOOK OF WAR.  Translated into English by Captain E. F. Calthrop,
+R.A.  Crown 8vo.  2s. 6d. net.
+
+This work, the writings of Suntzu and Wutzu, Chinese Strategists of
+about the 5th century B.C., is the most famous work on the art of war
+in the Far East.  It deals with operations of war, statecraft, moral
+and training of troops, stratagem, the use of spies, etc., and for 25
+centuries it has been the Bible of the Chinese or Japanese ruler.  The
+book is distinguished alike by the poetry and grandeur of its language
+and the modernity of its spirit.
+
+
+THE LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA.  A Selection from Her Majesty's
+Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861.  Published by Authority
+of His Majesty the King.  Edited by Arthur Christopher Benson, MLA.,
+C.V.O., and Viscount Esher, G.C.V.O., K.C.B.  With numerous
+Photogravures.  Medium 8vo.  Three Vols.  £3 3s. net.  Also Crown 8vo.
+Three Vols.  6s. net.
+
+
+FOURTEEN YEARS IN PARLIAMENT, 1892 TO 1906.  By A. S. T.
+Griffith-Boscawen, formerly M.P. for the Tonbridge Division of Kent.
+Demy 8vo.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+
+LIFE OF THE MARQUIS OF DUFFERIN AND AVA.  By Sir Alfred Lyall, P.C.
+Third Impression.  With Portraits, etc.  Demy 8vo.  Two Vols.  36s. net.
+
+
+THE DUKE OF ARGYLL, 1823-1900.  Comprising his Autobiography down to
+1857, and his Life from that Date onwards, based on his Correspondence
+and Diaries.  Edited by the Dowager Duchess of Argyll.  With Portraits
+and other Illustrations.  Two Vols.  Medium 8vo.  36s. net.
+
+
+LIFE OF SIR ROBERT PEEL.  Based on his Correspondence and Private
+Documents.  Edited by Charles Stuart Parker.  With a Summary of Peel's
+Life by his Grandson, the Hon. George Peel.  With Portraits.  Three
+Vols.  Demy 8vo.
+
+VOL. I.  FROM HIS BIRTH TO 1827.  16s.  VOLS. II. AND III.  FROM 1827
+TO HIS DEATH IN 1852.  32s.
+
+
+THE CREEVEY PAPERS.  A Selection from the Diaries and Correspondence of
+Thomas Creevey (1768-1838) from Family Papers hitherto unpublished.
+Edited by the Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P.  With
+Portraits.  One Vol.  Demy 8vo.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+
+SIDNEY HERBERT (LORD HERBERT OF LEA).  A Memoir.  By Lord Stanmore.
+With Portraits and other Illustrations.  Two Vols.  Demy 8vo.  24s.
+net.  No Life of Sidney Herbert has hitherto been published.
+
+
+THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF GEORG JOACHIM GOSCHEN, 1752-1829.  By Viscount
+Goschen.  With Portraits and Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  36s. net.
+
+
+NELSON AND OTHER NAVAL STUDIES.  By James R. Thursfield.  With
+Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  12s.  net.
+
+"Few other writers except Mahan possess Mr. Thursfield's faculty of
+combining the romance of the sea with the science of naval warfare, and
+in both alike the cult of Nelson gives life and warmth to their
+studies....  The merit of Mr. Thursfield's writing is the firm hold
+which he has of the central principles of a maritime defensive policy.
+His writing is effective, and at times even brilliant; but this it is
+which gives it force and lucidity."--Westminster Gazette.
+
+
+A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CHIEF CAMPAIGNS IN EUROPE SINCE 1792.  By
+General A. von Horsetzky, G.O.C. the 1st Austro-Hungarian Army Corps
+and the Troops in Cracow.  Translated by Lieutenant K. B. Ferguson,
+R.G.A.  With numerous Maps and Plans.  Demy Svo.  18s. net.
+
+"We have nothing but praise for Gen. von Horsetzky's book.  It is a
+valuable addition to military literature, for we do not know where
+else, in such form, records of so many campaigns can be studied.  The
+work of translation and condensation has been admirably done.  The
+merit of the book is its extreme clearness and known accuracy ... those
+who desire to gain a correct idea of modern military history will find
+the book invaluable."--Army and Navy Gazette.
+
+
+RASPLATA (The Reckoning).  By Commander Wladimir Semenoff.  His Diary
+during the Blockade of Port Arthur and the Voyage of the Fleets under
+Admiral Rojdestvensky.  With Maps.  Demy Svo.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+"Commander Semenoff writes only of what he knows and has seen.  His
+simple candour and cool intrepidity enable him to record his
+experiences at the moment in the most appalling scenes of naval
+conflict that modern times have known."--Times.
+
+"An authentic record of the highest value, which is likely to become a
+classic among naval annals."--Westminster Gazette.
+
+
+THE RUSSIAN ARMY AND THE JAPANESE WAR.  Being Historical and Critical
+Comments on the Military Policy and Power of Russia and on the Campaign
+in the Far East.  By General Kuropatkin.  Translated by Captain A. B.
+Lindsay.  Edited by Major E. D. Swinton, D.S.O., R.E.  With Maps and
+Illustrations.  2 Vols.  Demy 8vo.  28s. net.
+
+"... We doubt if a more virile or sincere document was ever put before
+the public, and it says little for the official wisdom of General
+Kuropatkin's fellow-countrymen that such a record should have been
+suppressed in the land of its origin.  In England, at any rate, the
+patent honesty and abundant good feeling of these measured criticisms
+will be valued at their proper worth."--Daily Telegraph.
+
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT PORT ARTHUR.  By Monsieur E. K. Nojine, accredited
+Russian War Correspondent during the Siege.  Translated and Abridged by
+Captain A. B. Lindsay.  Edited by Major E. D. Swinton, D.S.O.  With Map
+and Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  15s. net.
+
+"M. Nojine is unusually well qualified to offer testimony on the long
+beleaguerment.  He writes with vivacity and force, and the translation
+is competent and spirited, both on account of its vivid narrative and
+by reason of the extraordinary revelations it contains....  It is the
+most remarkable book about the war yet issued."--Times.
+
+
+OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE SECOND AFGHAN WAR, 1878-1880.  Produced in the
+Intelligence Branch, Army Headquarters, India.  Abridged Official
+Account.  With numerous Maps and Illustrations.  Medium 8vo.  21s. net.
+
+"An excellent compendium of the whole war, clearly written and amply
+illustrated by photographs, maps, and diagrams....  It is a narrative
+that will fascinate the many who love to read about war-like
+movements....  It is a story of wise and patient preparation, carefully
+arranged generalship, supreme daring, amazing tenacity.  Undoubtedly
+the right thing has been done in giving to the world a stiring story,
+which has remained too long, many will think, a secret record."--The
+Sheffield Independent.
+
+
+CAVALRY IN FUTURE WARS.  By His Excellency Lt.-General Frederick von
+Bernhardi, Commander of the 7th Division of the German Army.
+Translated by Charles Sydney Goldman, Editor of "The Empire and the
+Century." With an Introduction by General Sir John French, K.C.M.G.,
+K.C.B., G.C.V.O.  Demy 8vo.  10s. 6d. net.
+
+"Here at last, in the English language, we have a really important work
+on the German cavalry at first hand."--Broad Arrow.
+
+"General Von Bernhardi most certainly knows what he is talking about,
+and is equally at home when discussing matters of the highest import or
+others of comparatively trifling details; he displays a sound knowledge
+and judgment concerning all things of organization, strategy, tactics,
+and training; and moreover, he thoroughly understands horses, so that
+he is enabled to offer very valuable service on every subject connected
+with them, from training of the remount to the economical use of
+horseflesh in war."--Westminster Gazette.
+
+
+THE GERMAN OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.  Prepared in
+the Historical Section of the Great General Staff, Berlin.  Translated
+by Colonel W. H. H. Waters, R.A., C.V.O., and Colonel Hubert Du Cane,
+R.A., M.V.O.  2 Vols.  With Maps and Plans.  Demy 8vo.  15s. net each.
+
+"The most valuable work in which, since its close, the war has been
+discussed.  It stands alone, because it is the only work in which the
+war has been surveyed by trained and competent students of war, the
+only one of which the judgments are based on a familiarity with the
+modern theory of war.  The best book that has yet appeared on the South
+African War."--The Morning Post.
+
+
+FROM LIBAU TO TSU-SHIMA.  A Narrative of the Voyage of Admiral
+Rojdestvensky's Squadron to the East, including a detailed Account of
+the Dogger Bank Incident.  By the late Eugene Politovsky, Chief
+Engineer of the Squadron.  Translated by Major F. R. Godfrey, R.M.L.I.
+Crown 8vo.  6s.
+
+"A painful book, but a deeply interesting and a really valuable one,
+which will have a place of permanent value among the documents of the
+Russo-Japanese war."--Daily Telegraph.
+
+
+BEFORE PORT ARTHUR IN A DESTROYER.  The Personal Diary of a Japanese
+Naval Officer.  Translated from the Spanish Edition by Captain R.
+Grant, D.S.O., Rifle Brigade.  With Maps and Illustrations.  Cheap
+Edition.  Square 8vo.  3s. 6d. net.
+
+"It is pre-eminently a book to be read for enjoyment as well as
+instruction; but it will fall short of its more immediate value if
+measures are not devised for bringing it before the attention of those
+responsible for the education of 'youngsters' in training for a sea
+life."--Pall Mall Gazette.
+
+
+THE BATTLE OF TSU-SHIMA.  Between the Japanese and Russian Fleets,
+fought on the 27th May, 1905.  By Captain Vladimir Semenoff (one of the
+survivors).  Translated by Captain A. B. Lindsay.  With a Preface by
+Sir George Sydenham Clarke.  Crown 8vo.  3s. 6d. net.
+
+"It is one of the most thrilling and touching records of naval warfare
+that we have ever read."--The Westminster Gazette.
+
+
+FORTIFICATION: Its Past Achievements, Recent Developments, Future
+Progress.  By Colonel Sir George S. Clarke, R.E., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.  New
+Edition Enlarged.  With numerous Illustrations.  Medium 8vo.  18s. net.
+
+
+ARTILLERY AND EXPLOSIVES.  Essays and Lectures written and delivered at
+various times.  By Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., D.C.L., F.R.S.  With
+numerous diagrams and Illustrations.  Medium 8vo.  21s. net.
+
+"No one can speak on the subject of modern artillery and explosives
+with greater authority than Sir Andrew Noble."--Engineering.
+
+
+THE ARMY IN 1906.  A Policy and a Vindication.  By the Rt. Hon. H. O.
+Arnold-Forster, M.P.  Demy 8vo.  15s. net.
+
+"Mr. Arnold-Forster's remarkable work will be read with the deepest
+attention and respect by all who have the interest of the Army at
+heart; and though many may differ from him, now as formerly, in
+reference to matters of detail, few will be found to deny that the
+principles he enunciates are in themselves absolutely sound....
+However much any may disagree with Mr. Arnold-Forster's proposals, few
+will deny that he has given very strong reasons in support of them
+all."--Westminster Gazette.
+
+
+IMPERIAL OUTPOSTS.  From a Strategical and Commercial Aspect.  With
+Special Reference to the Japanese Alliance.  By Colonel A. M. Murray.
+With a Preface by Field-Marshal The Earl Roberts, V.C., K.G.  With Maps
+and Illustrations.  Demy 8vo.  12s. net.
+
+"We should like to see every officer in the British Army with the wide
+vision and interest in the strategical and commercial organization of
+the Empire which Colonel Murray displays."--Spectator.
+
+"Colonel Murray deals with subjects of the highest interest.  If we
+note those opinions from which we differ, it must be with the
+preliminary remarks that there is still more in the book with which we
+thoroughly agree, and that the whole of it is suggestive and worthy of
+the most careful consideration."--Athenaum.
+
+
+THE ART OF RECONNAISSANCE.  By Colonel David Henderson, D.S.O.  With
+Diagrams.  Small crown 8vo.  5s. net.
+
+PRINCIPLES AND METHODS--PROTECTION AND SECURITY--CONTACT--INDEPENDENT
+RECONNAISSANCE--THE SCOUT--THE PATROL--RECONNAISSANCE OF
+GROUND--TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION.
+
+This work is a guide to the study of reconnaissance in the field under
+modern conditions of war, and deals with the practical details as well
+as with the theoretical principles of the subject.  It has been printed
+in clear type on special paper and so bound that it can be conveniently
+carried in the pocket by military students.
+
+
+IMPERIAL STRATEGY.  By the Military Correspondent of "The Times."  With
+Maps.  Medium 8vo.  21s. net.
+
+"The book is a most valuable and timely aid to the cause of national
+security, and should be read by all those who are in a position to
+influence the destinies of the Empire."--Morning Post.
+
+
+A NATION IN ARMS.  Speeches on the Maintenance of the British Army.
+Delivered by Field-Marshal The Earl Roberts, V.C., K.G.  Crown 8vo.
+Cloth, 2s. 6d. net; paper, 1s. net.
+
+The Spectator says:--"It is with no small satisfaction that we note the
+republication, under the title of 'A Nation in Arms,' of the speeches
+on the question of National Service delivered by Lord Roberts....  It
+is not the creation of a military caste for which he pleads, but the
+building up of the highest type of citizen--the citizen who is able to
+protect his native land and his rights and liberties himself and
+without external aid, and who believes that national safety is not to
+be hired, but to be achieved by self-sacrifice....  It is hardly
+necessary to say that Lord Roberts and those who agree with him ask for
+national training such as is willingly and cheerfully undergone by the
+citizens of Switzerland, not for that which is imposed on the German
+population.  We have one more word to say--that is, to ask our readers
+to study carefully Lord Roberts' book.  We would specially ask this of
+those who dread, and, as we hold, are right in dreading, militarism,
+and who look forward to universal peace as the ultimate goal for
+mankind.  They will find that Lord Roberts has not a word to say in
+praise of war....  What he does desire is that as long as war
+continues--and no sane man can, unfortunately, doubt its continuance in
+our generation--the British people shall, when it comes, be prepared to
+meet it."
+
+
+THE RISE AND EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH DOMINION IN INDIA.  By Sir Alfred
+Lyall.  Fourth Edition, with a new Chapter bringing the History down to
+1907.  With Maps.  Demy 8vo.  5s. net.
+
+
+OVER-SEA BRITAIN.  A Descriptive Record of the Geography, the
+Historical, Ethnological, and Political Development, and the Economic
+Resources of the Empire.
+
+THE NEARER EMPIRE.--The Mediterranean, British Africa, and British
+America.  By E. F. Knight.  Author of "Where Three Empires Meet,"
+"Small Boat Sailing," etc.  With 9 Coloured Maps.  Crown 8vo.  6s.
+
+Mr. E. F. Knight, the well-known traveller and war correspondent, in
+this volume gives a description of what he calls the Nearer
+Empire--_i.e._, the British possessions in the Mediterranean, Africa,
+and America.  The book is no mere collection of geographical facts.  It
+seeks to show what the Empire is, how it came to be, and what is the
+history of its growth.  It deals also with the political development
+and the economic resources of the Colonies.  The descriptive parts have
+an additional charm through being to a large extent a record of
+personal observation.  To quote from the Preface:--"The author has
+travelled in most of the countries over which the British flag flies.
+He has witnessed, and on some occasions taken part in the making of
+several portions of that Empire in times both of peace and war, and has
+therefore been able to draw on his own personal experiences and
+observations when writing this short account of Britain beyond the
+seas."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of General Gatacre, by Beatrix Gatacre
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41788 ***