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AT the age of 43 B.-P. was the youngest Major-General in the Army. Wolseley had written to congratulate him.
You did splendidly, and it was indeed one of the pleasantest things I had to do in the war when I recommended ... that the Queen should promote you. You have now the ball at your feet, and barring accidents greatness is in front of you. That you may win the goal is earnestly wished for you by yours very sincerely,
WOLSELEY.
Roberts too expressed his admiration in his dispatch of the 21st June 1900.
I feel sure that Her Majesty's Government will agree with me in thinking that the utmost credit is due to Major-General Baden-Powell for his promptness in raising two regiments of Mounted Infantry in Rhodesia, and for the resolution, judgement, and resource which he displayed, through the long and trying investment of Mafeking by the Boer forces. The distinction which Major-General Baden-Powell has earned must be shared by his gallant soldiers. No episode in the present war seems more praiseworthy than the prolonged defence of this town by a British Garrison, consisting almost entirely of Her Majesty's Colonial forces, inferior in numbers and greatly inferior in artillery to the enemy, cut off from communication with Cape Colony and with the hope of relief repeatedly deferred until the supplies of food were almost exhausted.
Inspired by their Commander's example the defenders of Mafeking maintained a never fading confidence and cheerfulness which conduced most materially to the successful issue: they made light of the hardships to which they were exposed, and they withstood the enemy's attacks with an audacity which so disheartened their opponents that, except at on one occasion, namely the 12th May, no serious attempt was made to capture the place by assault. This attempt was repulsed in a manner which showed that the determination and fighting qualities of the garrison remained unimpaired to the last.
In those days an officer was either a Wolseley's man or a Roberts's man; but B.-P. gained the regard of both probably because he was not by nature a lover of cliques.
As soon as the news of the Relief was brought to Queen Victoria, she wrote the following telegram to be sent to B.-P.:
'I and my whole Empire greatly rejoice at the relief of Mafeking after the splendid defence made by you through all these months. 1 heartily congratulate you and all under you, military and civil, British and native, for the heroism and devotion you have shown.
V. R. and I.
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A curious legend persists that B.-P. was out of the Queen's favour; its most absurd form states that she was offended at the stamp incident. It is difficult to trace such a statement to its source, but the Queen's actions --- the quick promotion, the messages sent during and after the siege --- do not bear such an interpretation. Moreover, it should be remembered that B.-P. did not return to England until after her death, so that he did not have the satisfaction of hearing her approval from her own lips. Some support the legend by pointing out that the honour granted him, the C.B., was inadequate; the promotion at such an early age to Major-General was an honour which meant far more to a soldier than a decoration, and in those days decorations were given with a sparing hand.
Not only did he receive messages from those of the highest rank and position, from Governments and Councils, but they poured in from people of every pursuit in life. Most significant were the letters he now began to receive---they were to continue for the rest of his life--- from boys, not only expressions of their hero-worship, but asking him for advice in all manner of problems. The boys felt that here was a man who would understand them, for he had done just those things they themselves dreamed of doing. To these letters he gave of his best in reply; he treated the writers seriously and was not content with a formal acknowledgement, but gave such advice as he felt might be of real help and encouragement. Thus the answer to a letter from a Boys' Club included the following suggestion:
You should not be content with sitting down to defend yourselves against evil habits, but should also be active in doing good. By 'doing good' 1 mean making yourselves useful and doing small kindnesses to other people --whether they are friends or strangers.
It is not a difficult matter, and the best way to set about it is to make up your mind to do at least one 'good turn to somebody every day, and you will soon get into the habit of doing good turns always.
It does not matter how small the 'good turn' may be --- even if it is only to help an old woman across the street, or to say a good word for somebody who is being badly spoken of, The great thing is to do something.
Here was another link in the chain which was to end with a world movement.
Meantime the necessities of war gave him no leisure. Within a. few weeks of the Relief, he was in command of a force helping to clear the north-westerly districts of the Transvaal, and with Plumer he moved eastwards to Zeerust, Ottoshoop, Lichtenburg and Rustenburg, which he reached on the 10th June. Here he halted and for a time was actually in danger of being besieged again!
The war was now entering its third phase. Mafeking had seen the first---the period of setbacks, and part of the second---the turn of the tide under Roberts. The third was that long-drawn-out guerrilla warfare so well described by Denys Reitz in Commando. The immediate problem was the capture of De Wet. That elusive Commander was making for the Magaliesberg range and it was hoped that if the several passes were guarded he would be trapped. This is not the place to recount the story of that amazing chase, but at one stage De Wet and B.-P. had word with each other.
B.-P. was watching one of the passes, Commando Nek, when De Wet managed to slip through at Oliphants' Nek by using a track higher up the mountain. As he moved out of range, he sent an officer to B.-P. demanding the surrender of the British force. B-P. replied that he thought the Boer officer must have made a mistake in delivering the message; surely, De Wet was offering to surrender; if so the British would be only too glad to meet his wishes.
Neither commander could have taken these exchanges seriously; rather they were salutes from one soldier of fortune to another, each of whom admired the other's skill.
B.-P. was not to be kept long at this cat-and-mouse game. The High Commissioner, Milner, was already looking ahead and planning how the country could be best pacified when victory was assured; neither he nor anyone else at that stage thought that such a long period would have to elapse before peace came. Milner saw the necessity for a strong force of constabulary, composed of men who could be trusted to use their common sense in difficult and unusual circumstances. He asked Lord Roberts to suggest a suitable organizer of such a force. Roberts in a letter dated the 4th July 1900 suggested B.-P. as the right man.
He is far and away the best man I know. He possesses in quite an unusual degree the qualities you specify, viz., energy, organization, knowledge of the country, and a power of getting on with its people ... as a member of the Government you will find Baden-Powell immensely useful.
Milner approved this recommendation, so at the end of August B.-P. received instructions to hand over his command to Plumer, and to report to Roberts at Belfast (Transvaal). One of the tasks which B.-P. had been engaged upon was the reconstruction of the railway to Pretoria; this had been achieved the day before he left, but for want of locomotives the trains had to be hauled by teams of oxen; his brother Baden, who was Railway Staff Officer, used a trolley on which, when the wind was favourable, he erected a mast and sail: resourcefulness was a family characteristic.
After Roberts had discussed the general scheme, B.-P. went south to the Cape to confer with Milner. On the long and broken journey he worked out all the details for the new force --- to be known as the South African Constabulary. It was a task well suited to his abilities. 'I was really glad to have the job,' he wrote, 'since, long before the war, I had served in South Africa and had formed friendships with the South African Dutch. It was therefore distressing to find myself in the field against them. Now it was going to be my duty to help in pacifying the country and to be once more in friendly touch with them.'
On the way to the Cape, B.-P. experienced something of the hero-worship which he had to face wherever he went as long as Mafeking was a vivid memory. He had had one taste of it at Pretoria; Lord Roberts had sent for him as soon as practicable after the relief; Pretoria lionized B.-P., and on his return to duty, Roberts himself rode out of the town with him a compliment which must have meant much to a soldier who could recall the time, twenty-four years back, when Sir Frederick Roberts had advised a raw subaltern to learn Hindustani.
But the brief experience at Pretoria was repeated at every stopping place; crowds gathered to cheer him; they swarmed into his carriage and lavished gifts on him; it seemed that nothing could be too extravagant to mark their esteem for the hero of Mafeking. He was warned that great preparations were being made for a civic reception at Cape Town; he tried to evade this by telegraphing that he would be two days late, but this fiction was not allowed to defeat his admirers. The station and all the approaches were massed with people; an attempt to give the Mayor and Corporation their due rights soon broke down, and B.-P. was seized by the crowd and carried to Government House. He gratefully recorded that 'two excellent fellows seized hold of my breeches pockets on either side to prevent my money from falling out'.
Such scenes were to be repeated many times, and indeed throughout the remainder of his life --- for forty more years --- he was to be acclaimed as few men have been acclaimed in public. But he never sought for such occasions; he avoided them if possible, but when they came he played the part expected of him with a smile and a quip; few men could pass through such experiences unaffected, but it is difficult to see how they affected him; he remained the same friendly man without any exalted opinion of his own importance. When honours were showered upon him he did not assume a pretence of dislike, but accepted them as recognition of the value of the causes to which he was devoted; he knew that, in this imperfect world, such recognition was of importance. But he was too interested in life, too active in mind and body, to set an exaggerated value on such decorations --- he just took such matters as they came as part of the day's work.
Near Cape Town he found a welcome retreat at 'Groote Schuur', Cecil Rhodes's house, where he had Dr. Jameson as a fellow-guest. He needed such a place of quiet, for the task he had in hand was no easy one; there were no precedents --- that at least pleased him --- and once Milner had accepted the plan in outline, he had a free hand in devising details. These included such matters as methods of recruiting and staffing, terms of engagement, equipment, transport, supplies, horses, disposition of the two colonies, training, finance, duties and medical service. His instructions were to have the force trained and ready for the field by June 1901---some eight months.
Lavish promises had been made of help from the Army authorities, but as he later wrote to Milner, 'In the early days of the S.A.C. we had difficulties when all the promises of assistance from the Army fell to the ground, and we were practically left to work out our own salvation as best we could'.
He was unable to get the staff officers he would have liked; naturally his thoughts turned to the men who had proved their worth in Ashanti and Matabeleland, but the Army had already found them too valuable to release them while the war lasted. As one source of officers he tried the camp at Stellenbosch. 'This', he wrote, 'was a sort of purgatory in which officers were placed who had been responsible for any "regrettable incident" in the campaign, and there were a good many of them corralled there. But I reckoned that every man makes a mistake some time or other in his career. These men had made their mistakes and were therefore all the more likely not to do so in future, so I took them. I don't remember having to regret taking them in any single instance.' The senior officers of H.Q. Staff were all Regular officers of the British Army, as were the Division Commanders, with the exception of Colonel Steele of the Canadian Mounted Police.
He had a very clear idea of what kind of men he wanted --- young if possible, and of a type which would settle down in South Africa after the expiration of their service and become useful citizens. The net was thrown wide and he got into touch with friends and officials in the Dominions and Colonies. There was no lack of recruits --- his name was sufficient to ensure that, and cowboys, stockriders, farmers' sons, constables and planters from all over the Empire clamoured to join.
As many cases of impersonation had come to light in recruitment for the army, B.-P. introduced the finger-print method, and when a recruit went before the doctor, or was tested for his riding skill, or shooting ability, he signed the test card with his finger-print. It was not easy to bluff B.-P. Of the first two thousand recruits accepted, some five hundred were friendly Boers of the Cape and the rest mostly came from Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The designing of a uniform was a congenial task. He based it on his own experiments in Ashanti and Matabeleland and it was strictly utilitarian, but with its touches of colour. The hat was the flat brimmed cowboy kind he himself had found so serviceable; a feather plume, dyed green and known as 'Jay's Wings' was worn at the side. America was the only source of immediate supply for such hats and there they were known as 'Boss of the Plains' or 'B.P.' pattern: inevitably it was assumed that the 'B.P.' stood for the commander and was another bit of self-advertisement. This assumption might just as truly have been applied to the old carronade dug up at Mafeking bearing the initials 'B.P.'!
Khaki was naturally the colour of the uniform; the tunic had a roll collar, and the shirts were worn with collar and tie ---a far more comfortable style than the stiff, stand-up collar of the Army tunic. The facings were green with yellow piping--- thus combining the colours of the two colonies, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, which the constabulary was to control.
He also designed a uniform for the nurses; the same hat for outdoor wear, brown holland dress with a green shoulder cape having yellow piping.
As a cavalry man he took the greatest pains to secure the horses most suitable for constabulary purposes. He got them from Australia and asked for a type just below the Army standard --- this was not merely to avoid having them taken over by the Army, though that doubtless was part of his reason --- but he thought that sturdy cobs would prove more serviceable than war horses. Then he paid the ships' captains a pound for every horse landed in good condition --- this ensured careful transport. Finally he acclimatized the horses by first training them for several months at a height of two thousand feet before putting them to work at the three to four thousand feet of the two colonies.
A letter written at this period to A. M. S. Methuen, the publisher, is of interest. It may be noted that Mr. Methuen had from the first been a strong critic of the conduct of the war; he was indeed almost a Pro-Boer, but that did not affect B.-P.'s relationship with him. Possibly here we have the first suggestion of a motto which was to become famous; we have already seen how the initials B.P. kept cropping up.
South African Constabulary
Transvaal
20 Jan. 1901DEAR MR. METHUEN,
It is curious in the midst of this war, and we are yet in the midst of it, for as I sit writing I can hear the guns and 'pom-poms' firing away in the distance --- it is curious to receive your invitation to me to carry my thoughts back to the Matabele Campaign of 1896, with a view to bringing out a new edition of my diary of that episode.
Is there any comparison to be made between the two wars?
Without any reflection the very first idea that seems to me is this---Good Scouting was found to be essential for success in that campaign: it has been proved to be more than ever vitally essential under the new conditions of modern weapons and large forces. But that you will say is only my fad.
Let us take another point which at once suggests itself, and which has a more general application.
I have not a copy by me of the Matabele Campaign but I remember saying therein that we Britons are too apt to neglect to think out and really to prepare in peace-time points which will be of value in War. We are apt to think 'Oh we shall pick them up fast enough on Service when the time comes'---which is true enough to a certain extent --- but it is just in that first gaining our experience that we lose the valuable lives and prestige which then have to be made up again before we can go ahead.
We begin our prize-fight as it were by receiving a preliminary bang in the eye, which we might, with previous practice, have learned to parry and perhaps even to deliver.
How many times this fault has again been exemplified in this war I should be sorry to say.
However I hope that the lessons now learnt will not be forgotten and that we shall not in the future leave so much to chance, and --- as we do in preparing our Amateur Theatricals --- evade systematic preparation with the comforting reflection that 'It will all come right on the night!'
'Alles soll recht komen' was the motto of the late Orange Free State, and, practically; of the Transvaal.
Sarel Eloff, when a prisoner in our hands at Mafeking, told me that in remonstrating with the then President Kruger on the Boer half-measures in preparing for war, he was told 'All will come right --- God will help us:' he (Eloff) thereupon was moved to reply to his august relative, 'Yes: and God has given you an inside such as enables you to enjoy roast goose: but you must do your share and prepare and roast the goose first yourself'.
'Si vis pacem, para bellum' --- if you want to ensure peace let them see you are prepared for war.
Now is an unique opportunity in the annals of the Empire.
Now is the time while enthusiasm is still warm and before we sink back into our English easy chair, for us to prepare a wise and practical organization of the splendid material lying ready to our hand.
I have before me a guiding 'banner with its strange device' in the shape of an envelope, which some little lady addressed to me, with nothing more on it than the letters 'B.P.' But for me it has a hidden meaning.
Would that everybody had such a reminder before them, applicable as it is to all circumstances, whether of Peace or of War, of Life or of Death:
BE PREPARED.
Yours very truly,
R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL.
The training depot for the S.A.C. was at Maddersfontein (between Pretoria and Johannesburg). Here a system of quick training was devised to meet the unusual conditions, for Kitchener was soon asking for the use of the men in his drive across the colonies to bring the war to a conclusion. This training was based on the methods B.-P. had used in training scouts: the small unit was the basis; six men in a squad were placed under a corporal who was responsible for the training of his men; by means of intersquad competitions the keenness of the men was sharpened, and each individual felt the importance of his own personal efficiency, which was as much his concern as that of his officers. B.-P. was criticized because he invariably refused to accept old soldiers as recruits. 'I wanted', he wrote, 'intelligent young fellows who could use their wits and who had not been drilled into being soulless machines only able to act under direct orders.' There were some people on the watch to criticize any new development in South Africa; sometimes they had good cause, but when the S.A.C., before it had even been fully organized, came in for attack, B.-P. wrote the following letter to the Editor of one London paper:
South African Constabulary
Dynamite Factory
Zuurfontein, Transvaal
22.3.1901Dear Sir,
Forgive my troubling you with a private note but I have had my attention drawn to a recent number of your paper in which appears an article on the South African Constabulary giving us a good deal of new information about ourselves but of a kind that is neither true nor likely to raise us in the estimation of the public.
May I state that our terms of service, etc., have remained the same from the first originating of the force; and we have not been in any kind of difficulty in getting recruits: on the contrary we have been overwhelmed with applications and have been taking about one in six of the candidates who offered themselves. I expect to have 10,000 men equipped, trained, and mounted in the field by the end of May.
The men are of an excellent class and specially selected as likely to make good colonists hereafter.
As regards officers we have had over 5,000 applications for commissions, and more continue to pour in, for the odd 200 appointments (which are already filled up).
I am afraid that among the rejected we have naturally many who are not now well-wishers of the Corps, and are therefore ready to listen to and to spread mischievous reports against us.
Especially I find that misunderstandings which have occurred in some of the various local and temporary police-forces are quoted as having regard to the S.A.C. As a matter or fact all has so far run most smoothly since our first commencement, and our men have already made a name for themselves for gallantry in the field in each one of our respective divisions.
The Corps will, I fully hope, not only be a good one for men to serve in, but will also serve as an efficient means of pacifying the country, and as a nucleus of young blood for its future colonization.
But its attempts to go ahead and to carry out these duties will not be helped by anonymous attacks made through the medium of the leading journals.
I hope for these reasons you will not mind my writing thus in confidence to you.
Yours very truly,
R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL.
By June 1901 he could report that 9,000 men were ready; it was a considerable achievement, but it was at a price, for his health broke down. At the beginning of 1901 his mother and sister had come out to the Cape, but he had only been able to snatch odd days to entertain them --- the pressure of his work was too great.
When he was ordered home on sick-leave, the doctor wrote to B.-P.'s mother:
I venture to write and tell you that I have long hoped that he would not work so hard. He would get fever of a severe enough type to lay most men up in hospital but he would go on working. What our General went through at Mafeking was again enough to lay most men up for a considerable time: and all this on the top of the organization of such a corps as this, 10,000 strong, was more than human endurance could stand. About a month ago an undoubted attack of influenza came on. It was followed by bronchitis: so I would not take the responsibility, and was only too glad to have a medical board and recommend the General for six months' leave. Of course he didn't think he required so long, but though his brain power is phenomenal, his body cannot go on at full tension for ever.
That diagnosis could have been written time and time again throughout B.-P.'s life. He was always to carry with him the ill-effects of the strenuous life he had led in such an unhealthy country as Ashanti, or in Matabeleland and in South Africa, when he allowed himself no relaxation from duties he saw needed urgent attention. As the years went by, he learned some discretion and after his marriage he had someone who, as far as anyone could, imposed on him a certain measure of care for his own health. But he was frequently to be laid low by the legacy of past fevers and over-exertion, though in actual physique he kept himself fitter than most men. A temperate way of living was a constant source of strength, and the fact that his mental activity overrode any physical weakness prevented him from ever brooding over relapses in general health. Going home might well have proved an additional strain; people were wild with expectation at seeing him and of being given the opportunity of showing their admiration. As far as possible he avoided demonstrations. At Southampton he could not escape local enthusiasm, but when he heard that all London was waiting for him, he arranged. with the railway officials to travel ahead of the boat-train with the mails and to be dropped at Woking where he sought refuge with an old officer friend. He was soon making his way discreetly to see his relatives. One gathering must have appealed very strongly to his sense of family. The Powell clan entertained him at die Mercers' Hall; 170 Powells from the age of 7 upwards descended from common ancestors met to do him honour.
Charterhouse, of course, was early visited.
There he laid the foundation stone of the War Memorial Cloister. The inscription reads:
Edward VII summoned him to Balmoral to be presented with the C.B. and to give the King first-hand knowledge of Mafeking, the war and the Constabulary.
On the 21st January 1941, speaking in the House of Lords, the Earl of Midleton (St. John Brodrick) recalled the circumstances of that visit.
When Lord Baden-Powell achieved the first success which made his name in South Africa I was Secretary of State for War and I remember well one point which I think might be properly mentioned on this occasion. Colonel [sic] Baden-Powell, as he then was, was summoned to Balmoral by King Edward in order that he should receive a special decoration. In the excitement which prevailed at that time about our earliest success in the South African War a great reception had been prepared for him, not merely in London at the starting point of his journey, but at Aberdeen and at various places on route. I remember well King Edward expressing the satisfaction he felt that, by some ingenuity, a change of route was devised so that Colonel Baden-Powell eluded all those who wished to make a great offering to him of national respect. That modesty showed the real temper of the man and relieved us to some degree from the exaggerated emphasis which had been given to his particular work in South Africa. I hope your Lordships will not think I am doing amiss in reminding you of an episode which showed that Lord Baden-Powell was not only a brave man but, as was proved for many years, a very modest person in all that pertained to his own personal achievements.
The relationship between King Edward and B.-P. was of a most friendly character. B.-P. greatly admired the King's good sense and his wide knowledge of affairs, gained not from books but by conversation with the principal actors. When leaving Balmoral after this first audience B.-P. received a walking-stick as a memento, and a haunch of venison to give practical expression to the King's opinion, 'I have watched you at meals and I notice that you don't eat enough. When working as you are doing you must keep up your system.... Don't forget --- eat more'.
In the autumn of 1901 he was able to accept a number of invitations from cities and towns that wished to express their pride in his achievements. His portrait was also painted by two famous artists, George Frederick Watts and Sir Hubert Herkomer. Both invited him to sit to them. Herkomer had written soon after the Relief of Mafeking but it was not until October 1901 that an opportunity occurred, when B.-P. wrote:
I have delayed answering your kind letter in order to see more clearly what my prospective arrangements are.... What dress would you like me in? Khaki uniform? Khaki shirt and hat? General's red tunic? General's black tunic? Plain clothes? 'The Altogether'? or what?
Watts wished to present a portrait of B.-P. to Charterhouse, and the sittings were done during a twenty-four hours' visit. B.-P. later recalled how, in order to pass the time, he told Watts anecdotes of his experiences, but unfortunately the artist was rather deaf, so did not always hear what his subject said, and was constantly putting down his brushes and coming across to have the words repeated. As this delayed the work, B.-P. stopped talking, and presently fell asleep. At last Mrs. Watts came in and said, 'Aren't you going to have tea?' Her husband exclaimed, 'Tea! why, we haven't had our lunch yet!' He had forgotten all about it.
Mrs. Watts recorded that 'our delightful visitor seemed perfectly happy among paints, gesso and clay', and that her husband was greatly impressed with B.-P.'s 'earnestness and the direction of his aims'.
For both artists, B.-P. sat in his S.A.C. uniform, and his visits to their studios seemed to have revived his interest in modelling as the following letters reveal.
To Mrs. Watts he wrote on his return to South Africa:
Mr. Watts is indeed wonderful to have made so effective a likeness in so short a sitting. I feel most guilty of having failed to help him as I ought to have done. I had so fully intended coming again to Limnerslease to sit before leaving England; but my release from sick-leave was unexpectedly ante-dated, and I rushed off by the first available ship the same week that I got the permission; and now here I am back at my work, which takes up every minute of my time, but at the same time is of absorbing interest, and shows progress every day. In the intervals between difficult questions or extra hard work, I relieve my mind by modelling in clay; it is a delightful relaxation. And then my mind often and often wanders back to the delightful peep I had of a beautiful home life, which 1 enjoyed at your house.
Two letters were written to Sir Hubert Herkomer from Johannesburg. The first is dated the 16th January 1902.
I am back at my work. The voyage slipped by at a great pace thanks to the lump of modelling clay you were so kind as to send me. I have it now in my office and when I get tired of office work my system is to knock off for a few minutes and do a little modelling --- and it is a splendid relaxation. My only tools at present are two old penholders sharpened and my thumbs and fingers. By the way, could your excellent studio man instruct some shop to send me a few of the more useful tools for the work? I don't know the names or shapes of them, but if you would tell him what to order I should he most grateful and glad to get them.
On the 11th February he wrote:
I enclose for your amusement some photos of some of my efforts with your modelling clay in my voyage out from England. (Portraits of fellow passengers!) I made many others but the photos were failures. The Camera was not able to do justice to such high-class works of Art!
I have just returned from a very interesting trek out on the veldt. My only wish is that you could see me now, in order to get my proper flesh-colour ... My khaki coat is of a much lighter shade than the copper-red of my neck, face and hands.
The Herkomer portrait is now at the Cavalry Club.
All had gone well with the S.A.C. during his absence and his training had been fully justified. The main work of the force had been to help in the rounding-up of the commandos by the system Kitchener had worked out of establishing lines of block-houses. B.-P. had, before going on sick-leave, devised several improvements in methods; thus he used a new type of trench, S-shaped in plan, with horizontal instead of vertical loopholes; he also trained his men when moving across country to use a triangular formation, so that from whichever direction the enemy came there would be one party to take the attack, a second ready to support, and a third in reserve.
These and other experiments proved their value in the many skirmishes in which the force was engaged. Its record for gallantry was high, and it fully justified its organizer's care.
Peace was signed on the 7th June 1902, and brought to a dose a war on which it is here appropriate to quote the opinion of that distinguished French historian, Elie Halévy.
The entire contest was confined to the two armies and waged according to the accepted laws of war, with considerable obstinacy, no doubt, but with very little savagery. The Boers fought like hunters, the British like sportsmen. The lion hunter does not strike an heroic attitude. He kills his lion or takes to flight. A man who wages war as a form of sport is well aware that he is engaged in the most dangerous of sports. He is therefore, quite legitimately, anxious to restrict the danger by rules, arranged between the opponents. On both sides, officers and men, the moment they saw themselves defeated put up their hands and the firing ceased. The British soldiers knew that, if taken prisoner, they would be disarmed and set at liberty, and the surrenders became so numerous that the imperial Parliament was alarmed for the reputation of British courage. Hence this insignificant guerrilla war became a tournament, almost a child's game, and it is remarkable that the Boer War has in fact bequeathed to England and modern Europe an institution for children. Colonel Baden-Powell had become a popular hero on account of the courage and resource he had displayed for months in his defence of the little town of Mafeking on the Transvaal border against the Boers who beleaguered it. Already known before the war by a little treatise on the art of scouting, he conceived the idea of employing the methods which he advocated for the moral education of children. To-day his Boy Scouts are known and copied throughout the world.
On the 16th June the S.A.C. was relieved of army duties and took over its new responsibilities in pacifying the country. These were considerable and varied. B.-P. set before his men the famous words of Lincoln, 'With malice toward none, with charity for all....'
He even went so far as to suggest to Milner that it would be wise to offer Commissions in the S.A.C. to some of the Boer commandants, but the idea was not well received.
At the end of the month he was able to report that:
The various units were despatched with all possible speed to take up their distribution over the whole face of the country for the work of policing it. The organization of the force enabled this distribution to be carried out without any difficulty or delay; a troop --- a complete self-contained unit of 100 men --- being sent to occupy each sub-district of the two Colonies, its headquarters acting as support and supply depot to its several small out-stations, which were then dotted about the surrounding country. in this way a network of posts and patrols was established over the Transvaal and Orange River Colony in a very short space of time, and in such a manner as to ensure every farm in the land being visited once a week.
A former officer of the S.A.C. writes:
It can easily be imagined how many were the problems which had to be faced and settled on the spot by the far-flung detachments.... But B.-P. had organized and trained us for just such conditions. He expected a great deal, and had no use for any Officer or Trooper who would not face up to any proposition that came his way, or who tried to get out of a difficulty by deciding that it was not a constabulary duty. At the same time everybody knew that, provided he did his best in the circumstances, he was sure of B.-P.'s backing.
B.-P. rode and travelled thousands of miles on tours of inspection. He had his own railway coach, which was detached at points from which he started on tours of inspection. On relays of ponies found by the posts, he often covered a hundred miles during the day. Twice he rode over 350 miles in five days --- the first time in the Eastern Transvaal and the second in the Northern. For several months he rarely slept for more than two consecutive nights under the same roof. He accompanied Milner when he was supervising the work of repatriation, and he acted as cicerone to Joseph Chamberlain when the Colonial Secretary toured the two colonies. Early in 1903 B.-P. was offered the position of Inspector-General of Cavalry; he consulted Milner who urged him to accept although it meant leaving the S.A.C. He had, however, accomplished his task, and he always regarded the organization of that force as his most considerable achievement --- an opinion which was valid for his life as a soldier, but not for the years to come.
Many tributes were paid to the work of the S.A.C.
When Lord Kitchener left South Africa, he said, 'Officers and men have endured their hardships, isolation and danger with cheerful alacrity and have earned the affection and respect of the rest of the forces. The S.A.C. have now the great and noble task of acting as exponents to the inhabitants of the British character, and Lord Kitchener could not leave the good name of our nation in better hands.'
Joseph Chamberlain on his return from his South African tour said in the House of Commons:
I attach the utmost importance to the South African Constabulary as a great civilizing and uniting influence. It may have been regarded in the past exclusively from its military capacity, and indeed during the war it distinguished itself under military command, and some of the most gallant little actions of the war conferred the greatest credit on this force. Again and again I found by entering into conversation with the men, and with the farmers also, that the former, learning the language of the country, were becoming the friends of the people, were welcomed at every farmhouse, were doing little jobs for the inhabitants, carrying their letters and parcels, giving information and settling their disputes. So much was that the case that I have had a serious complaint from one Resident Magistrate that his duty was becoming almost a sinecure in consequence of the action of a sergeant of the S.A.C. who was settling all the difficulties without bringing them to him. I can sympathize with the Resident Magistrate, but 1 am bound to say that I cannot help expressing my entire approval of the action of the sergeant of the Constabulary.
Perhaps Lord Milner's brief eulogy is the most impressive.
So complete has been its success in preventing trouble that people, who do not know what I know, have quite forgotten the ever-present sources of possible trouble in a country peopled as this is.
To have gained such an important position as that of Inspector-General of Cavalry at the age of 46 was no mean achievement. But he had some misgivings about his qualifications; he had missed Sandhurst, and he had not passed through the Staff College. On the credit side was the fact that during the twenty-seven years of his army life he had seen varied service in India, at home and in Africa. He came, therefore, to his new task with a knowledge of practical rather than of theoretical needs, and he was not likely to be hidebound by traditional methods of training.
On his return to England, he had an opportunity of stating his general views on the subject of army training before the Royal Commission which was studying the lessons of the South African War. He summed up his outlook in the following words:
Junior officers should be given responsibility from their first entry into the service. They should be made to really command their unit, however small, and be answerable for its efficiency and success. They will thus be able to command in any isolated position, or in crises.
The large majority of officers are keen enough and intelligent enough, but want to be given a real job in which to make their name, and develop their professional interest. The so-called chain of responsibility is too often one of irresponsibility. Resource and cunning in the field should be encouraged, especially at manoeuvres. Barrack-square drill, and deadening routine should be reduced as much as possible, and competition introduced to a greater extent into practices tending to perfect men.... An increased individual intelligence is essential to work in the field. With officers accustomed to work on their own responsibility, and with men using their own intelligence working under them, senior officers will be able with confidence to give their subordinates a free hand in carrying out their orders for co-operative movements, or for special ventures, unhampered by the usual (and so often fatal) tugs on the check strings.
He gave one amusing example of a 'tug on the check strings'. When he took over command of the 5th Dragoon Guards, he decided that as swords were part of each man's equipment, they should he sharp enough for use. 'I had one squadron,' he said, 'which I always kept ready for service at two hours' notice in India, who sharpened their swords . . . but the Ordnance came down and said that I should have to blunt them again at my own expense.'
It was typical of his methods of work that, as soon as possible after taking up his new appointment, he went to see for himself what was being done in cavalry training in other countries; doubtless this also appealed to his recurrent travel-fever, but he always preferred to learn by observation rather than from reports or from books. During 1903 he visited for this purpose the German Cavalry School at Hanover, the United States --- with a glance at Canada --- and the Cavalry Schools at Vienna and Saumur. The last impressed him most of all for the training was not confined to horsemanship, but included such subjects as reconnaissance, field engineering, military history, strategy and tactics.
On his return he discussed his conclusions with cavalry officers of experience, and, to quote his own words, the following developments were the result:
One. Responsibility for junior officers, desirable under the new conditions of service.
Two. Permanent small groups within the troop for devolution of responsibility and efficiency.
Three. Single rank formation.
Four. Triangle formation of double echelon, as a usual principle but not a binding rule.
Five. Cavalry College to train officers in equitation, reconnaissance, etc.
Six. Hand signals in addition to trumpet calls and words of command for directing movement.
Seven. Trained Scouts to be a regular establishment under Scout officer.
His methods of inspection were unorthodox; he had little use for formal parades long prepared and window-dressed. He would go to stay for a few days with a regiment and see the officers and men at their usual work, and any officer, especially one of junior rank, who had devised some new way of increasing efficiency or of stimulating interest was sure of being singled out for praise.
The living conditions of the men were a matter of special attention, and his reports to the War Office drew attention to deficiencies in buildings and amenities. Thus on one occasion he reported from Norwich, 'Barracks in the same unsatisfactory condition as before, except that one kitchen has since fallen down'. As an example of what conditions could be like, he used to recall the complaint made to him by one trooper at Edinburgh.
I used to sleep in a bed at the far end of the barrack-room and now I have been ordered to sleep ere. I don't want to move, 'cos at that far end I was able to look down through a nice 'ole in the floor and see my 'orse in his stall below.
In 1904 B.-P. started the Cavalry School at Netheravon, and in the following year with some difficulty he got permission to found The Cavalry Journal. His letter to the Army Council (22nd January 1905) stated the case with his usual thoroughness.
The development in the efficiency of cavalry on the Continent has been very marked during the past few years.
The general standard of training of our cavalry is in many different ways behind theirs; it has not kept pace with the times. Moreover, our standard is not uniform nor even consistent; it varies considerably in the different parts of our Empire.
The present is rather a critical moment as regards the officering of our cavalry at home, and if we profit by the occasion I believe that we have the chance of making it the turning point for gaining permanently a more professional spirit among the officers. The Cavalry School is a valuable step towards that end, but its effects (until it is on a larger scale) must necessarily be slow --- and I feel confident that a journal such as proposed would have a fairly far-reaching and a rapid effect in the same direction.. . . There is a widespread desire among the officers to improve, but it is almost an impossibility for them --- even when serving at home --- to keep themselves posted in the numerous important developments and ideas which are monthly disseminated abroad; while those serving in India and the Colonies are practically in absolute ignorance of what is going on either on the Continent or in England, or other parts of our own Empire. Suggestions have from time to time reached me from various quarters that a journal should be published which should collect and lay before its readers all the best of the British and foreign ideas as they come out. And I feel confident that if this were done it would conduce to promoting efficiency throughout the mounted forces of the Empire.
In 1906 he accompanied the Duke of Connaught on an official tour of South Africa. At Mafeking the Duke wanted to see everything connected with the siege, and amongst other places they visited the Convent. He noticed a number of patches on the walls each marked with an 'S' and asked what this meant. The Mother Superior replied, 'Shell, your Highness, and if you'd been here yourself, you'd have spelt it without the S'. After this tour, B.-P. made his way back to England through Mashonaland, Portuguese East Africa, then by sea to Zanzibar, from whence he made trips into German East Africa, Uganda, and British East Africa. From Zanzibar he sailed to Aden and up the Red Sea. In Egypt he inspected the Cavalry.
One result of this trip was his book Sketches in Mafeking and East Africa, published in 1907. This contains a delightful collection of his sketches in black and white, and in water-colour. They show his skill in seizing on the main features of landscape, and his quickness in catching movement whether in man or beast. There are many humorous touches. The letterpress reveals a wide reading of books connected with the countries through which he travelled, and a keen interest in the possibilities of future development. This problem of the future of British territories overseas was often in his thoughts. Few men have travelled so widely in the Empire, or so frequently visited the Dominions. Wherever he went he was eager to learn all the facts; he liked to know the history of places, and their natural resources. When young men wrote to him for advice, as they did in increasing numbers as the years passed, he urged them to look for their futures in those younger parts of the Empire where a man has a chance of winning his independence and of living an open-air life. Sketches in Mafeking and East Africa was the first of several books of travel in which he encouraged the rising generation to look overseas for opportunities which the mother-country no longer offered.
The originals of the drawings for this book were exhibited at the Bruton Gallery in 1907, and the Royal Academy that year included a bust of John Smith modelled by B.-P., one result of the interest roused by contact with Watts and Herkomer five years previously.
His appointment as Inspector-General of Cavalry ended on the 7th May 1907; the farewell dinner given to him was attended by many men whose names in a few years' time were to become familiar, such as Haig, Byng and Allenby.
B.-P. was now placed on half-pay with the rank of Lieut.-General (10th June 1907), but already a new interest --the adaptation of scouting to the use of boys --- was occupying his mind, and in August he held his experimental camp at Brownsea Island; of this more must be said in the next chapter. His military career was, however, not quite ended.
R. B. Haldane, the Secretary of State for War, had been planning since 1905 a scheme for reorganizing the volunteer forces in the country, and in 1907 the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act became law. As Inspector-General of Cavalry, B.-P. had also been responsible for the Yeomanry; this volunteer force, about 25,000 strong, was transferred to the Territorials as the Cavalry branch. Meanwhile Lord Roberts had been agitating for some kind of obligatory training in arms for the youth of Britain. The conscription controversy was hard fought, and Sir Ian Hamilton entered the lists against the former Commander-in-Chief in favour of Haldane's voluntary scheme. Germany was already looming up as a menace, and though B.-P took no part in the conscription argument, he recognized the coming danger.
As soon as B.-P. was free from regular army employment, Haldane invited him to Cloan to discuss the training of the Territorials, and then asked him to take command of the Northumbrian Division. His rank was above that of such a command, but he accepted the appointment, and set to work vigorously in his own characteristic manner. He had a motor-caravan built so that he could tour the area and be independent of hotels and private hospitality, and the kind of training he devised was not unlike that used by the Home Guard more than thirty years later.
He had his difficulties about equipment, and in his own way succeeded on one occasion in getting what he wanted. Each battalion had been issued with two machine guns and the necessary horses, but without the equally necessary harness. Correspondence on the matter dragged on for some time, until B.-P sent to the officials concerned a sketch of a horse backing a gun into action, and said he assumed that this was the explanation of the lack of harness. The deficiency was at once remedied. A former N.C.O. supplies the following note:
I was a Sergeant in the 5th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, T.A., during the whole period of his command, and every Officer and non-Commissioned Officer will agree that no C.O. ever before, or after, took such a personal interest in the welfare of the troops under him. To use the phrase 'personal contact' appears at first sight to be almost an impossibility but I can assure you such contact was made by B.-P My Company 'B' of the above Battalion paraded at 8.00 a.m. one fine Sunday morning and proceeded to the pit heaps at Earsdon. Every N.C.O. was personally introduced to B.-P., and each of us was questioned as to what our ideas were for the defence of the Northumbrian Coast.
The training he favoured was what we in those days called skirmishing; i.e., Spread, Advance, Cover, in spasmodic moves. Camouflage was his speciality, and he insisted that the soldier equally with the officer should be fully aware of the object of any and every move.
It was at this period that B.-P.'s portrait was painted by Mr. Harold Speed who recalls that, 'I was very much struck with the simplicity of his life when once I called on him at his mother's house (where he then lived) at Prince's Gate. He was ill, and I was shown up to his bedroom and found him in a plain room lying on an ordinary camp bed of the simplest description --- so different from the other appointments of the house'. Later the same artist visited B.-P. 'while he was stationed at Richmond Castle, Yorkshire, and living in the Norman Tower --- again in stark simplicity'.
A speech he made to his officers in May 1908 caused a controversy. B.-P. had taken some pains to ascertain how much truth there was in the German menace, and he was convinced that all the signs indicated the seriousness of the danger. He asserted that the German policy was, 'See clearly what you want; prepare armed force for getting it, and when you are ready strike. You can always find an excuse for doing so when the time comes', a truth which was even less well recognized in 1908 than in 1939. As part of his scheme for giving point to the training, he speculated on when an invasion might come, and suggested an August Bank Holiday on account of weather and also of everyone's preoccupation with holidays. This speech was reported in the local Press, although it was not given at a public meeting.
On the 14th May a Member of Parliament drew the attention of the Secretary for War to a speech made by B.-P. 'of an alarmist character, couched in language likely to be offensive to a friendly Power'. Haldane replied that the speech was made to uniformed members of the unit only and not intended for the general public. He pointed out that the German Army was a natural object of attention on the part of all keen soldiers in view of its special standard of efficiency; the remarks made 'could not be construed as in any way offensive to the German nation'.
When B.-P. saw Haldane and expressed regret at the fuss he had caused the Secretary for War assured him that there was nothing to regret as it was well for people's eyes to be opened to the danger.
So far indeed was Haldane from reprimanding B.-P. that in the following October he took the Chair at a lecture on 'The Training of the Territorials' which B.-P. gave at the Royal United Service Institution. The lecture followed a familiar pattern: first a clear statement of objects, and then a discussion of the means. B.-P. stated that the object of the Territorials was to have a self-contained force of all arms, organized and trained in a state of efficiency and readiness (1) to check locally sudden raids on our coasts; (2) to support the Regulars in repelling invasion; (3) to take the place of the Regulars for general defence of Great Britain in the event of these being required overseas.
It was a busy year. The first months had been occupied with seeing Scouting for Boys through the press; then, when the full edition appeared in May, the floodgates were opened, and B.-P. was faced with the problem of increased demands being made on his time and energy. Another camp was to be held.
In August he wrote to a friend:
My days, and often nights, have of late mostly been spent manoeuvring with my 'Terriers'. Things are going very well both with the Territorials, and, especially, with the Boy Scouts: this fad really is going ahead to an unexpected extent. 1 signed an agreement last night granting copyright in Germany, and it is already being translated into Russian and Norwegian. Two days ago I had a very appreciative letter from [Theodore] Roosevelt upon it; and my correspondence on it grows daily bigger. In the last four weeks 5,000 copies of the book were sold! I only wish I had more time to devote to it so that I could meet the development half way and 'make it hum'.
I do wish we were having our camp at Brownsea again but I am obliged to have it up in my own district this year so as to be available for my own work as well. So we go into camp next Saturday near Hexham on the Roman Wall, in a wild country teeming with romance --- in fact our theme for two days and nights is 'The Quest of King Arthur' who lies asleep in some hidden cave in that neighbourhood. This will I hope make the story and chivalry very real to the boys.
The Rally of more than 10,000 Boy Scouts at the Crystal Palace in 1909 proved to the public that a new movement had established itself; this brought to a head a problem which had to be faced --- the future of its founder. As a soldier he was intensely devoted to his profession, and the fact that at the age of fifty he was a Lieut.-General meant that the highest ranks were open to him. But it was impossible to serve both the Army and the Boy Scouts. Which should he choose?
At this crisis he was summoned to Balmoral to receive the K.C.V.O. which King Edward conferred upon him for his work as founder of the Boy Scouts. The ceremony was performed in unusual circumstances. While B.-P. was dressing for dinner, the King's Equerry came in to say that the King wanted to confer the knighthood at once. Hurriedly the arrangements were made and B.-P. was duly knighted. The explanation was that at the last moment it was discovered that the dinner card bore the tide 'Sir Robert', and to avoid a breach of etiquette, the King decided to carry out the ceremony before dinner!
King Edward discussed the question of the future of the Boy Scouts, and at length he agreed that B.-P. should devote all his time to this new organization. He resigned from his Territorial Command on the 31st May 1910. Haldane wrote to express his regret at his resignation, but added, 'I feel that the organization of the Boy Scouts has so important a bearing on the future that probably the greatest service you can render to the country is to devote yourself to it'. B.-P.'s own typical comment. was, 'I was not built for a General. I liked being a regimental officer in personal touch with my men'.
Hard as the decision had been, it did not mean complete severance from the Army, for in November 1911 B.-P. became Hon. Colonel of the 13th Hussars in succession to his old Commander, Sir Baker Creed Russell. The K.C.B. was conferred upon him on this occasion. It was indeed a happy reunion with his regiment, and the close attention he gave to its welfare, and the pride the regiment took in him, brought much happiness. During the 1914-1918 War, the Commanding Officer wrote him long letters describing the fortunes of the regiment --- letters far more detailed than formality alone necessitated, and his visits to the front were greatly appreciated.
In 1937 he had the joy of spending his 80th birthday with the regiment at Risalpur, and soon afterwards he resigned after more than sixty years' association. By then the 13th Hussars had been mechanized, and he felt that it was difficult for an old dog to learn new tricks. Much as he regretted the passing of the horse he was too good a soldier not to recognize the necessity. And the following scheme which he drew up in October 1938 for 'motor cavalry' shows that the old dog could in fact learn new tricks.
Present campaigns both in Spain and Palestine have shown that armoured cars, tanks, etc., are very vulnerable when opposed by a few resolute individual skirmishers and mine-layers.
Our forces at present lack an organization of such men.
They could easily be supplied by motor cyclists trained to the work and armed with magazine rifles and hand-mines.
Scouting and covering duties could be carried out by these fifty miles ahead of a force.
Mine-laying in front of advancing tanks with high explosive hand-mines.
Rapid seizure of advanced tactical points, taking additional rifle man on each carrier.
Rear-guard action with quick get-away.
Ambush at unsuspected distances.
Pursuit of retreating tanks.
Despatch running, etc.Their speed, radius of action, small target, powers of concealment, and ability to traverse broken country, foot-bridges, alleys, etc., give, them advantages over armoured cars with radius limited by petrol capacity, or over cavalry (Germany still retains some cavalry).
Training. The men would necessarily be trained to exercise personal, initiative and enterprise and all the details of scouting, as is already done in the cavalry.
Within the next two years events were to prove in tragic fashion the need for just the training advocated by this youthful-minded veteran of eighty-one.