Amid a certain dearth of materials of a private kind, I do congratulate myself on having been able to use the packet of letters docketed by Sir Harry, “John Bell’s and Charlie Beckwith’s Letters.” General Beckwith was an earlier General Gordon, and his letters are so interesting in matter and so brilliant in expression that one is tempted to wish to see them printed in full. Perhaps some readers of this book may be able to tell me of other letters by the same remarkable man which have been preserved.
The latter part of this book would have been balder than it is, if it had not been for the help I have received from various friends, known and unknown. I must express my thanks in particular to the Misses Payne of Chester, who lent me letters addressed to their father, Major C. W. Meadows Payne; to Mrs. Thorne of Chippenham, who lent me letters addressed to her father, Major George Simmons; to Mrs. Fasson, daughter of Mr. Justice Menzies of the Cape, and Mr. W. F. Collier of Horrabridge, who gave me their reminiscences; to Colonel L. G. Fawkes, R.A., Stephen A. Aveling, Esq., of Rochester, Major J. F. Anderson of Faringdon, R. Morton Middleton, Esq., of Ealing, Captain C. V. Ibbetson of Preston, Mrs. Henry Fawcett, my aunt Mrs. John A. Smith, Mrs. Farebrother of Oxford, Mr. B. Genn of Ely, Mr. Charles Sayle of Cambridge, Mr. G. J. Turner of Lincoln’s Inn, Mr. A. E. Barnes of the Local Government Board, the Military Secretary of the War Office, and others, for kind assistance of various kinds. I am indebted to my cousins, Mrs. Lambert of 1, Sloane Gardens, S.W., and C. W. Ford, Esq., for permission to reproduce pictures in their possession, and to General Sir Edward Holdich for much aid and interest in my work in addition to the permission to use his diary of the Boomplaats expedition. Lastly, my thanks are due to my brothers and sisters who assisted in transcribing the Autobiography, and in particular to my sister, Miss M. A. Smith, who did most of the work of preparing the Index.
I shall feel that any labour which I have bestowed on the preparation of this book will be richly repaid if through it Harry and Juana Smith cease to be mere names and become living figures, held in honour and affection by the sons and daughters of the Empire which they served.
G. C. MOORE SMITH.
Sheffield, September, 1901.
For some of the corrections now introduced I am indebted to Lieut.-Col. Willoughby Verner, Rifle Brigade, and to the Rev. Canon C. Evans, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
G. C. M. S.
University College, Sheffield, April, 1902.
DATES OF LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR HARRY SMITH’S COMMISSIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
REGIMENTAL RANK.
Second Lieutenant, 1st Battalion 95th Regiment 8 May, 1805 Lieutenant 15 Aug. 1805 Captain 28 Feb. 1812 Major, unattached 29 Dec. 1826 Lieut.-Colonel, unattached 22 July, 1830 Lieut.-Colonel, 3rd Foot 13 May, 1842 Lieut.-Colonel, unattached 25 Aug. 1843 Colonel, 47th Foot 18 Jan. 1847 Colonel, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade 16 April, 1847 Colonel, 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade 18 Jan. 1855
ARMY RANK.
Major 29 Sept. 1814 Lieut.-Colonel 18 June, 1815 Colonel 10 Jan. 1837 Local rank of Major-General in the East Indies 21 Aug. 1840 Major-General 9 Nov. 1846 Local rank of Lieut.-General in South Africa 1847-1852 Lieut.-General 20 June, 1854
STAFF APPOINTMENTS.
Peninsular War.
A.D.C. to Colonel T. S. Beckwith Oct. 1810 Brigade Major, 2nd Brigade, Light Division under } Mar. 1811 to Major-General Drummond, Major-General Vandeleur, } the end of Major-General Skerrett, and Colonel Colborne } the war, Mar. successively } 1814
Washington Expedition.
D.A.G. to Major-General R. Ross 1814
New Orleans Expedition.
A.A.G. to Major-General Sir E. Pakenham 1814
Military Secretary to Major-General Sir J. Lambert 1815
Waterloo Campaign.
Brigade-Major, afterwards A.Q.M.G. to 6th Division (Major-General Sir J. Lambert and Major-General Sir Lowry Cole successively) 1815
[Returns to his regiment.]
Occupation of France.
Major de Place of Cambray 1815-1818
[Returns to his regiment.]
Glasgow.
Major of Brigade to Major-General Sir T. Reynell (commanding Western District) and Lieut-General Sir T. Bradford (Commander-in-Chief in Scotland) successively 1819-1825
[Returns to his regiment.]
Nova Scotia.
A.D.C. to Lieut.-General Sir James Kempt, Governor 1826
Jamaica.
D.Q.M.G. under Lieut.-General Sir John Keane, Governor 1827
Cape of Good Hope.
D.Q.M.G. under Lieut.-General Sir Lowry Cole, Lieut.-General Sir B. D’Urban, Major-General Sir G. T. Napier, Governors, successively 1828-1840
Chief of the Staff under Sir Benjamin D’Urban in the Kafir War 1835
India.
A.G. to Her Majesty’s Forces, under Lieut.-General Sir Jasper Nicolls and Lieut.-General Sir Hugh Gough, Commanders-in-Chief, successively 1840-1845
Sikh War.
In Command of the 1st Division Infantry 1845-1846
Cape of Good Hope.
Governor and Commander-in-Chief 1847-1852
Home Staff.
In Command of the Western Military District 1853-1854
In Command of the Northern and Midland Military Districts 1854-1859
STEPS IN THE ORDER OF THE BATH.
C.B. for Waterloo 1815 K.C.B. for Maharajpore 1844 G.C.B. for Aliwal and Sobraon 1846
BOOKS USEFUL FOR REFERENCE IN CONNEXION WITH SIR HARRY SMITH’S LIFE.
An Authentic Narrative of the Proceedings of the Expedition under ... Craufurd until its Arrival at Monte Video, with an Account of the Operations against Buenos Ayres.... By an Officer of the Expedition (1808).
Sir William F. P. Napier: History of the War in the Peninsula.
Sir H. E. Maxwell: Life of Wellington.
Sir William H. Cope: History of the Rifle Brigade (1877).
Edward Costello: Adventures of a Soldier (1852).
A British Rifleman (Major George Simmons’ Diary), edited by Lt.-Colonel Willoughby Verner (1899).
Sir John Kincaid: Random Shots by a Rifleman.
Sir John Kincaid: Adventures in the Rifle Brigade.
Recollections of Rifleman Harris (1848).
Surtees: Twenty-five Years in the Rifle Brigade (1833).
Colonel Jonathan Leach: Rough Sketches in the Life of an Old Soldier (1831).
A Narrative of the Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans. By an Officer (1821).
Charles Dalton: The Waterloo Roll Call (1890).
George McC. Theal: History of South Africa, vol. iv. (1893).
R. Godlonton: _A Narrative of the Irruption of the Kafir Hordes into the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope, 1834-5_ (1836).
Sir J. E. Alexander: Narrative of a Voyage, etc. (1837). This work contains in vol. ii. a history of the Kafir War of 1835, with illustrations.
H. Cloete: The Great Boer Trek.
The War in India. Despatches of Viscount Hardinge, Lord Gough, Major-General Sir Harry Smith, Bart., etc. (1846).
J. D. Cunningham: History of the Sikhs.
McGregor: History of the Sikhs.
General Sir Chas. Gough and A. D. Innes: The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars (1897).
J. W. Clark and T. McK. Hughes: Life of Adam Sedgwick.
Harriet Ward: Five Years in Kaffirland.
A. Wilmot and J. C. Chase: Annals of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope (1869).
Alfred W. Cole: The Cape and the Kaffirs (1852).
W. R. King: Campaigning in Kaffirland (with illustrations), (1853).
W. A. Newman: Memoir of John Montagu (1855).
Correspondence of General Sir G. Cathcart (1856).
Earl Grey: The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell’s Administration (1853).
Blue-Books: Cape of Good Hope (1830-1852).
M. Meille: Memoir of General Beckwith, C.B. (1873).
CONTENTS.