CHAPTER XIV
1898-1899
COLCHESTER
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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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."
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: "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.