Lady Beatrix Wickens Davey Gatacre

“ One must consider that at the time plague was such an appalling and mysterious disease that even the doctors feared for their lives each day, though it was their business to face it. How much more awful the invisible foe must have seemed to a layman, and still more to one who had to lead the attack on it as he did most cheerfully and energetically without experience of the ways of infectious diseases! ”

“ Who shall say whence a man draws his reserves of strength? It seemed to some of us that in his own dauntless character Gatacre found unquenchable inspiration: his independence of the opinion of men, his own intimate knowledge of the facts of the case, his untarnished record of loyal service, and his own "triumphant endurance and conquering moral {268} energy"—these were things of which no one could deprive him. ”

“ It is not the creation of a military caste for which he pleads, but the building up of the highest type of citizen—the citizen who is able to protect his native land and his rights and liberties himself and without external aid, and who believes that national safety is not to be hired, but to be achieved by self-sacrifice.... It is hardly necessary to say that Lord Roberts and those who agree with him ask for national training such as is willingly and cheerfully undergone by the citizens of Switzerland, not for that which is imposed on the German population. ”

“ Risk and exertion were like magnets to draw Gatacre; he went alone, dispensing even with an orderly. The fastest and most active ponies were always sent out for the General's use, and it would have been difficult to find man and beast to keep up with him when on such an excursion. He must have made a very early start, for he rode forty miles up into the mountains, inspected the detachment of the Madras Native Infantry quartered there, and returned in time to dine with the Chief Commissioner. ”

“ From the very commencement of the expedition he realised that good communications must be ensured; and made our brigade work as I have never seen any troops work, except Egyptian troops on the railway in the Soudan. Morning, noon, and night did every available man slave away at bettering the wild mountain paths which were our only link with our supplies and civilisation. The country supplied absolutely nothing but a little hill grass obtainable in some districts, which meant that every grain of food had to be laboriously carried up. ”

“ But during Gatacre's reign the plan was reversed: if a good man, no matter what his duties were, or how difficult he would be to replace, applied for a suitable and desirable position outside the regiment, Gatacre would heartily support the application. Very soon there were plenty of keen young soldiers eager to qualify for billets which were the sure road to advancement. When as a General Officer he had the opportunity of pushing forward promising young officers, he acted on the same principle; he was always ready to train, but never hesitated to let others reap the harvest that he had sown. ”

“ Poona is not only the Headquarters of the Bombay Army, but for a good part of the year it is the residence of the Governor of the Bombay Presidency. In the hot weather both civil and military officials retire to the country life of Mahabuleshwar, and in the cold weather spend a few weeks in Bombay City. Thus all the year round there was a succession of official and social engagements; every one had rather more to do than there was time for in office hours, and every one wanted to put in an appearance at such social functions as appealed to his particular tastes. ”

“ It is evidence of the strength and the simplicity of Gatacre's character that his charm of manner was felt equally by men older and younger than himself. "Manners impress as they indicate real power. And you cannot rightly train one to an air and manner except by making him the kind of man of whom that manner is the natural expression. Nature ever puts a premium on reality." ”

“ Those who have only known suffering when it comes shrouded in the simple majesty of death can have no measure of the additional bitterness of blows dealt by the hand of man, nor the torture endured by a righteous man when his honour is affected.
Gatacre had known what it was to suffer in his private life, but then his profession had come {267} to his assistance, and by flinging himself with all his natural vigour into its arms for shelter and comfort he had triumphed over his pain. ”

“ Fancy what a predicament for a General Officer to be in—no troops, no transport, no horses for his Mounted Infantry; but I trust all are coming. The only unfortunate thing is that our people in front, police, civilian officers, etc., are obliged to fall back for want of support. I have been over a good deal of country the last few days, round our outposts, and am delighted with it. It is fine and open, and the farmers are a nice set of people. The sun is hot, but nothing like India: {225} one can ride in it all day without inconvenience, and it hardly ever gives you sunstroke. ”

“ Gatacre was the petitioner, and there was no defence. This news gave rise to a strong feeling of sympathy with a man whose probity was unquestioned, and whose attractive appearance and genial manners had already made him a favourite in Poona. There was in Gatacre a depth of faithful affection which nothing could kill; the generosity and kindliness of his judgment forbad his harbouring any thought of blame, and he clung with unaltered loyalty to memories of the past.
Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove. ”

“ All are sorry and grieved, and many question the fairness, the justice of the action taken. No one worked harder than he did. I may say it would have been impossible to do so. He never spared himself. Luck, cursed luck, has been all against him. I heard two days ago from England that they believed that he had attacked at Stormberg with two battalions when he had eight at his command,—such a gross mistake! Now the luck having turned, as it appeared, the unfortunate Royal Irish Rifles get caught again, although no possible blame could be attached to him by reasonable men. ”

“ This made quite a long line of horses, camels, and mules on the march, and one of the duties of our daily routine was a walk down the transport lines at sunset.
There is not space here to do justice to this delightful ride. We covered between six and seven hundred miles in the six weeks we were out. The early starts while the moon shone brilliantly, the long leisurely days in camp, the evening scramble over the nearest hills, and the nights passed under the clear stars, with no sound but the steady tramp of the sentries ”

“ The anxiety felt by the commanders of the three detached forces in South Africa was shared by the nation at home. The telegrams sent to England by Sir Redvers Buller showed that the state of affairs in Natal after the battle of Colenso was very critical, and that only prompt and ample reinforcements would be of any avail. Troops of all arms were despatched to Capetown as fast as ships could be got ready to carry them, and Field-Marshal Lord Roberts was appointed Commander-in-Chief, with Lord Kitchener as his chief staff officer. ”

“ About forty miles from Mandalay there is a little hill-station called Maymyo, at an elevation of 3,500 ft. It is now full of red-brick buildings, and is the headquarters of the Lieutenant-General commanding the Burma Division, and there is a railway up from Mandalay which runs on to Lashio. But in 1889 Maymyo was but a collection of huts and tents, and the road that led thither was not only execrable to travel on, but infested with robbers. However, it served as a sanatorium, and the sick folk from Mandalay had to brave the dangers of the road. ”

“ Gatacre was anxious that the audience should include persons of all nationalities; and in order that those who could not understand the English words should have some key to the action, he made a précis of the play, and, having written it in Hindustani characters, had it lithographed, and distributed with the programmes. A copy of this curious document, which covers three sides of foolscap, and is signed in full, is still to be seen in the scrap-book of the officer who joined the 77th Regiment for love of his tutor at Sandhurst. ”

“ To Gatacre the idea of leading his regiment into action must have presented visions of endless opportunities, and those who knew him must always regret that he had no chance to display as a regimental officer that personal valour and forwardness under fire for which, as a General Officer, he has been subjected to so much criticism. ”

“ I think I wrote you last from Loralai, beyond Quetta to the east: well, from there I explored a new road which is to run through Mekhtar, Kingri, Rukni, to Dera Ghazi Khan on the Indus. It has been approved, and is to be carried out at once; as in the event of troops moving up towards Kandahar, it would be the route along which all our regiments and stores from the Punjab would move. The country is a wild one at present, savage, with no cultivation or inhabitants, except a few robbers: but the lie of the road is good, and the gradients are easy. ”

“ The route to Gujar, at the foot of the pass, lay for eleven miles up the Dir Valley beside the tumbling snow-fed torrent that streams from the south side of the pass. The track was in general extremely difficult, frequently losing itself among the boulders that choked the bed of the stream, and rising steeply to traverse the face of a rocky bluff, only to fall again with equal abruptness on the other side. ”

“ His soldierly heedlessness in risking his life had its moral counterpart in his willingness to accept to the full all responsibility for his actions. How should one who feared not the Hand of God—"the arrow that flieth by day, nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness"—how should such a one fear the judgment of man? ”

“ Like the good horses that he loved to bestride, Gatacre was fast and free, and had the staying powers of the thorough-bred animal; it was inevitable that such a one should be sometimes difficult to "follow," and that other men should occasionally feel that he called upon them for exertions that were beyond their powers.
His whole heart was in his profession; and with the material that was now under his hand he developed an aptitude for the practical training of both officers and men. ”

“ When all were seated, Khan Bahadur Cassum Mitha rose and said in Hindustani:
"'General Gatacre,—We have been much honoured by your visit to this place to-day. Since you have assumed the command of affairs relating to this dire pestilence, we have learnt to assure ourselves of our safety. We are convinced that you honour our religious feelings, and we believe that what you do is for our own good. You have perhaps no idea of the esteem and respect you command among us. ”

“ An officer's wife who knew Gatacre in these early days, and saw him at intervals throughout {16} his career, tells us that there hung about him when he first joined a certain countrified simplicity of mind and manner, as opposed to the conventionality of a town-bred man. Though he enjoyed society, social distractions got little hold on his self-contained nature, and it was rarely that any of his friendships developed into intimacy. He had, however, a ready sympathy, was easily interested in whatever went on around him, and, being very unselfish, was always prepared to do any one a service. ”