| Hamilton | Ian Standish Monteith | | Colonel | HAMILTON, IAN STANDISH MONTEITH, General, was born at Corfu, 16 January 1853, son of Captain Christian Monteith Hamilton, who later commanded the Gordon Highlanders, and was himself the son of John George Hamilton and of Chistina Cameron Monteith, daughter of Henry Monteith, of Carstairs, some time Member of Parliament for Lanarkshire. Ian Hamilton's mother was the Honourable Maria Corinna Vereker, daughter of John, third Viscount Gort, by Maria O'Grady, daughter of Viscount Guillamore. The family was one of the elder branches of the Scottish Hamiltons, and Sir Ian represents the male line of the Hamiltons of Westport. He was educated first at Cheam, and later at Wellington College; studied in Germany, and then went to Sandhurst: was gazetted to the 12th Foot as Second Lieutenant 24 April 1872, and was transferred to his father's old regiment, the 92nd, 24 April 1873, becoming Lieutenant 24 September 1873. In the Afghan War of 1878-80, Ian Hamilton was first brought to the notice of Sir Frederick Roberts, on account of his having made his way with one brother subaltern into a signalling post which had been rushed by the Afghans. The two subalterns recovered the arms and accoutrements left therein, and held the post until a relief party arrived upon the scene. They then organized a pursuit and killed the leader of the Afghan raiders, whose body they brought back into camp. As a result of this adventure, Ian Hamilton was made Aide-de-Camp to the Commander of the British Cavalry Brigade, and was present at the engagement of Charasieh, 6 October 1870, including the subsequent pursuit of the Afghans (mentioned in Despatches). He also took part in the operations round Kabul in December 1879 (mentioned in Despatches; Medal with two clasps). Lieutenant Hamilton served in the Boer War in 1881, and was severely wounded at the action of Majuba Hill, where he was subaltern in charge of a weak picket of Gordon Highlanders. He was wounded in the wrist, knee and hand, and taken prisoner; but the Boer commander (probably Joubert) let him keep his sword, which had been his father's before him. Hamilton thanked the Boer General, and remarked: "This has been a bad day for us". "What can you expect", retorted the Boer, "from fighting on a Sunday?" A Dutch hospital assistant inspected the prisoners, and thought Hamilton was too badly wounded to take. He was dismissed with the remark: "You will probably die. You may go". All night he lay in a marsh at the foot of the mountain, and next morning he was found lying there by his own little dog, which had come out with a search party from camp. He was mentioned in Despatches; became Captain, Gordon Highlanders, 25 February 1882. In 1884 and 1885 he saw service in the Nile Expedition, for he was on his way home from India on leave, and when the steamer reached Suez he ran across the sands to a train just leaving for Cairo, caught it by the skin of his teeth, and again, by a margin of only a few hours, caught the headquarters of his own regiment as it was leaving Cairo for the front. At Wady Haifa, with great difficulty, he got himself definitely posted to a vacancy in the Gordon Highlanders, and was given a company and a boat in the River Column. Toiling up the river, Hamilton's company gradually pulled away from the rest of the regiment, until at last they came up with the fighting front in the middle of the only action fought by the River Column. He and his company alone of the Gordon Highlanders fought in the action of Kirbekan and wear the clasp for that engagement. For his services in this campaign he was mentioned in Despatches: given the Brevet of Major 7 November 1885; received the Medal with two clasps and the Khedive's Star. On his return to India he became an Aide-de-Camp on the Staff of Lord Roberts, then commanding the Madras Army. Lord Roberts was doing his best to improve the shooting of the Army, and he and his Staff formed themselves into teams, and had rifle matches with the regiments in the Madras Command. "In these competitions Hamilton's skill with the rifle and his keen interest in musketry stood him in good stead". He was ADC and afterwards Persian Interpreter to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief in India, from 9 March 1886 to 30 June 1890, and in 1886 and 1887 he took part in the Burma Campaign (Despatches; Brevet of Lieutenant Colonel, 1 July 1887; Medal with clasp). About this time he wrote a book inculcating the supreme importance of musketry in the Army, and insisting on the necessity for a more practical course than bull's-eye shooting. Moving targets and celerity and precision practices were therein advocated for the first time as a part of a regular military curriculum. The book was called 'The Fighting of the Future'. During the same period was published, 'Jaunt in a Junk'; a volume of verses, 'The Ballad of Hadji and the Boar', and one or two other things. After the Burma Expedition, Lord Roberts, who, it was said, was greatly taken with Ian Hamilton's book on musketry, ‘The Fighting of the Future', made him Assistant Adjutant-General for Musketry at Army Headquarters in India. As AAG for Musketry Ian Hamilton was strongly backed by Lord Roberts in his assiduous work for the improvement of musketry in the Indian Army. The Army at home was still tied to the pure bull's-eye system, but Lord Roberts encouraged his AAG to break away from the old tradition with the shooting course of the native army, which until then had followed closely on the lines of the British Musketry Regulations. So encouraged, Ian Hamilton wrote out the native musketry regulations afresh on original principles, the British Army Regulations being similarly remodelled some years later. He was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 30 May 1891]. He was Military Secretary to General Sir George White, Commander-in-Chief in India, 8 April 1893 to 10 October 1895, and then became Deputy Quartermaster-General for India; but from this appointment he was sent to take part in the operations of the Chitral Relief Force, with which he served under Sir Robert Low in 1895 as AAG and QMG, Lines of Communication (Despatches; created a CB; Medal and clasp). In 1896 he was given command of a brigade in the Tirah Expedition. After marching through the Kohat Pass, his horse fell with him and broke his leg, so that he was obliged to resign his command. When his leg had mended after a fashion, Sir William Lockhart again gave Hamilton command of a brigade (the 3rd Brigade), but the fighting was practically over, though for his services in holding the advanced posts in the Bara Valley General Lockhart mentioned him in Despatches, and he received the Medal with clasp. Whilst holding the outlet of the Bara Valley with his brigade, he received a letter from General Sir William Lockhart offering him the officiating appointment of Quartermaster-General in India, and a cable from Sir Evelyn Wood, Adjutant-General to the Home Forces, offering him the Commandantship of the School of Musketry, Hythe, "in consideration of good services rendered in that branch of military instruction". The Indian post was the more important and much the more highly paid; but Ian Hamilton was a musketry fanatic, and he accepted the Home appointment, thus from 11 May 1898 to 15 September 1899, being Commandant, School of Musketry, Hythe. When Sir George White was sent to Natal in September 1899, he selected Ian Hamilton as his Assistant Adjutant-General (16 September 1899 to 11 October 1899). He became Major General (supernumerary) commanding an infantry brigade 12 October 1899, and thus had command of a brigade practically from the beginning of the fighting in the South African War. He took part in the operations in Natal in 1899, and was recommended by Sir John French—who was himself eye-witness to the personal action of Ian Hamilton—for the Victoria Cross. It was, however, held that a Brigadier General was too senior to be eligible for that distinction, as it was undesirable that officers of that rank should be encouraged to run too many personal risks. The following letter was given to Sir Ian Hamilton by Lord Ro | Gordon Highlanders |
