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.
Safe home
Colonel Gatacre and Major Elles did not return 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.