Johnny: The Legend and Tragedy of General Sir Ian Hamilton by Jones John Philip

Author:Jones, John Philip
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783408924
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Published: 2013-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

The British were getting the upper hand when Ian Hamilton returned to Pretoria in October 1901, as Kitchener’s Chief of Staff. Ninety columns were now roaming the country, and the blockhouse network was confining the commandos to narrower and narrower areas in which they could operate. The numbers of fighting Boers were dwindling although their spirit remained as strong as ever, something that made them such formidable opponents. As Chief of Staff, Hamilton was a square peg in a round hole, although Kitchener welcomed him ‘as a hero-worshipping friend, whose sensitiveness, refinement and charm satisfied a craving in his nature’.23 But Kitchener had no use for a Chief of Staff. He carried everything in his head. This had potentially dangerous consequences, as had been apparent at Paardeberg, and was later to be during the First World War.

At Pretoria, the military command system seemed to be working on its own; everything was determined on the spot without informed and thoughtful discussions of alternative courses of action. At 0530 hours every morning, some junior staff officers marked a large map with information on the movements of the various columns, and others would arrange the telegrams that had come in, to be scrutinized and acted on by the Commander-in-Chief. Then the Military Secretary would write down brief instructions to the various columns and departments, at Kitchener’s dictation.24 In this way Kitchener carried out both jobs of developing and executing his plans, an unusual and rather dangerous way of conducting a war.

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