1890-1894
POONA
Brigadier-General Gatacre took over the duties of Adjutant-General to
the Bombay Army on November 25, 1890, under Sir George Greaves as
Commander-in-Chief.
His deputy in the office was surprised to find that Gatacre was not so
regular in his attendance as might have been expected, and noticed
other signs that suggested that he was unhappy and had something on his
mind. His colleague was quite right. Gatacre was indeed passing
through a severe and prolonged trial, one about which he could take no
one into his confidence. To his highly strung nature, in which the
loftiest integrity was allied to the tenderest human feelings, a blow
such as had fallen upon him must have wrung every fibre, and there is
no doubt that he writhed under it.
[Sidenote: In adversity]
It was about this time that the General was bitten in the hand by a
jackal that was said to be mad. His nerves being already unduly
strained, the poison (or the thought of it) got such a hold on him that
the howling of the {99} jackals kept him awake at night, and a terror
even possessed him of their coming in through the open windows. So
real was this obsession that he ordered iron railings to be fixed
outside, and by thus convincing himself of the impossibility of such a
thing, he gradually conquered the fantasies of his sick brain,
triumphed over his sleeplessness, and reaped the benefit to his general
health.
What was really preying on his mind was not generally known till his
friends read of the dissolution of his marriage. 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.
It is from this time that we find him working with an _acharnement_,
with a restless and passionate self-obliteration that became an
unconquerable habit. Ambition stepped in to revive his interest in his
profession, and the service of his neighbour provided occupation for
his leisure hours.
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[Sidenote: 1890-4]
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. Gatacre not only took part in all these events,
but was the prime mover and organiser of everything that went on--no
committee of management, no horse-show, gymkhana, or display was
complete without his name. Amongst other details the programmes
engaged his particular attention. He had a special chalk which, when
used on prepared paper, could be reproduced as a lithograph by a very
simple process. He rapidly gained great facility in the use of this
medium, and there is now quite a remarkable series of exquisite
drawings that were thus reproduced. A lively sense of humour animates
some of these efforts, more especially those that did duty as
hunt-cards. The card was the size of foolscap paper; each season had a
new drawing, but all were variations of the study of foxes, while words
were put into their mouths expressing the sentiments of the quarry
towards Doctor Bull's hounds.
[Sidenote: A.G.]
The position of Adjutant-General is one of great {101} influence, and
this influence Gatacre invariably used to promote the cause of
uprightness and true benevolence. There was no red-tape about him; he
was always accessible to all ranks, and instantly ready to deal with
any emergency.
On one occasion the friends of a young officer wanted to get him out of
the way of temptation--the Adjutant-General detailed him to some
outlying station. On the other hand, a young cavalry officer from
Mhow, who was engaged to a lady in Poona, found himself unexpectedly
detained at Headquarters by the A.G. If an officer and his family on
their arrival were unable to find quarters, the A.G. would take the
whole party in, regardless of any previous acquaintance. In the club
one day Gatacre noticed the name of a young officer on the Headquarter
Staff posted up as having failed to pay his club account. He sent for
the officer and paid his bill, choosing to come himself to the rescue
rather than that a young fellow in an honourable post should suffer
disgrace. Thus many an unrecorded kindness, many a deed of silent
sacrifice, showed the natural generosity of his heart, showed his
freedom from any taint of bitterness. Instinctively and deliberately
he endeavoured to obliterate his own sorrow by adding to the happiness
of others, and in this way surrounded himself with an atmosphere of
esteem and gratitude which reacted powerfully for his own benefit. The
officer who succeeded him as Adjutant-General had worked in his office
for some time, and he {102} now writes that the thought of him revives
the "deep impression of what a dear, good fellow he was, and how
hospitable and kind."
[Sidenote: 1891]
Gatacre's efforts at hospitality once gave rise to much amusement on
the one part and dismay on the other. He usually kept but a small
staff of servants, and dined at the club of Western India; but when
there was some special gaiety going on, he would fill his house with
guests from the outlying stations, and instruct his bearer to engage a
good cook and other servants for the necessary period. At the Poona
Race Week one year Gatacre's friends were complimenting him on the
excellence of his arrangements, and stories were related as to the
enormities of which native cooks are sometimes guilty in the
preparation of the Sahib's food, and of their troublesome ways in
general. One lady was particularly eloquent on the annoyance of having
had to part with her khansama only a few days before in order that he
might go and nurse his wife, who was dying. Some one suggested a tour
of inspection round Gatacre's house, which he had held up as a model
establishment. When the party reached the cook-house, I leave you to
imagine the lady's surprise and amusement at finding her own truant
cook installed for the nonce in her host's kitchen!
His easy camaraderie of manner was so remarkable that a friend once
asked Gatacre whether he had ever found that people took advantage of
it, and treated him with undue familiarity, to which he replied that he
had {103} never known them try. He defended himself with a dry and
subtle humour. Assuming an impenetrable blandness of manner, he would
on occasion utter sarcasms so veiled that some men could scarcely tell
whether he was in earnest or not. He was never angry, but he had a
command of quiet language that made his remarks as stinging as they
were humorous. The man on the pillory would feel the sting, and the
onlooker would see the humour.
When another friend asked him why he was taking so much trouble over a
matter that appeared outside the sphere of his interests, and scarcely
worthy of the attention that he was lavishing on it, his reply seemed
weighted with reproof as he said: "I don't think I ever knew what the
meaning of the word trouble was."
[Sidenote: Goes on tour]
In the province of Bombay the inspections take place in the cold
weather between November and March; a spell of hot weather then
precedes the break of the monsoon early in June. The rains last till
September, and are followed by another spell of hot weather, till the
air cools down again to quite a pleasant temperature in November. The
first inspection tour arranged for the end of 1891 included a visit to
the regiments quartered at Kamptee in the Central Provinces. Kamptee
was the Headquarters of the Nagpur District, to the command of which
Brigadier-General John Gatacre, C.B., had been recently gazetted. To
those who have heard of "inspection fever" (and even the best officers
{104} are not always immune), it will be obvious that the station must
have been in rather a commotion at the idea of a visit from the
Commander-in-chief only four days after the arrival of a new General
Officer Commanding. But the new General was well known and trusted in
Kamptee, for he had already been in the station for three years while
in command of his regiment.
[Sidenote: A railway accident]
Between 6 and 7 a.m. on November 5 the General was on the platform of
Nagpur Station awaiting the arrival of the train, when a telegraphic
message came in, saying that there had been a serious railway accident
to the Chief's train about nine miles away. A message was sent back
for medical assistance, and as soon as possible a break-down gang was
got together, but it was nearly 11 o'clock before the relief train
reached the spot. General John tells us that the sight that greeted
him was more shocking than any battlefield. Eight men of the North
Lancashire Regiment were killed outright, twenty-four were severely
injured; a European guard, both drivers and both firemen were killed;
five native passengers were also killed and eight wounded. Beyond this
total of eighteen deaths, four soldiers died within the next few days
in hospital. The framework of the carriages, the iron rails, and the
men's rifles--everything was amazingly crumpled up and distorted.
The permanent way at this spot runs along a thirty-foot embankment.
The whole train was derailed, both engines with their tenders, a
horse-box, and five or six coaches had rolled {105} to the bottom of
the slope; the next carriage, in which Sir George Greaves had been
travelling, was suspended half-way down the bank at an angle of 45°,
the body having been completely wrenched away from the platform; and
the last coach, which had been occupied by the staff officers--Gatacre,
Hogg, and Leach--was hanging in the most precarious position over the
edge.
It turned out that the train was unusually long and heavy that day, as
it was bringing some fifty men of the North Lancashire Regiment back
from Chi-Kulda, a civil hill-station in the Berars, where a few sickly
men had been sent as an experiment. When the railway officials at
Budnari Junction found that the three coaches set aside for the use of
the Headquarter Staff had also to be attached, they feared that the
engine would not be powerful enough to pull the train up a certain
incline, and gave directions that a spare engine (which was meant only
for local shunting work) should be put on in front. This supplementary
engine was the cause of the misfortune, for the tyres of its wheels,
having been mended, gave way under the unusual strain of a long
journey. The front engine left the metals, and, rolling over, pulled
the whole train along with it.
The great majority of the fatal cases were of course in the first two
coaches, in which the soldiers were unfortunately travelling. Some (of
the poor fellows suffered fearfully from scalding, over and above
terrible fractures and injuries; some were so inextricably wedged in
amongst {106} the wreckage that it was not till the relief train came
up with jacks and crowbars that anything could be done to relieve their
excruciating sufferings. None of the staff officers were hurt, but
Colonel Hogg had a narrow escape, for the end compartment, in which he
had been shaving a few minutes earlier, was completely staved in by
impact with the Chief's coach in front.
In the official report forwarded by Sir George Greaves we read:
"I desire to record with pleasure that the officers of the Headquarter
Staff were conspicuous in their efforts to release the injured from the
wreck of the train, especially Brigadier-General Gatacre, A.G.,
Lieutenant-Colonel Leach, Military Secretary, and Captain Peyton,
A.D.C., all of whom, at considerable personal risk, worked in under the
overturned engines and carriages to get at the wounded."
There were also miraculous escapes. A gymnastic sergeant was
travelling in the first coach with two small dogs on his knees. Owing
apparently to his trained activity, he was able to leap through the
window, and thus escaped without injury from a compartment where all
his companions were killed.
As soon as possible the wounded were sent on into Kamptee under the
charge of their companions, and it was three o'clock before the train
got back again to pick up the staff officers.
[Sidenote: "Such good sons"]
On his arrival in Kamptee a telegram was handed to Gatacre, informing
him of his father's {107} death. This was not unexpected, but for both
brothers it must have added a more profound and personal sadness to the
horrors with which the day had begun; and as next day they listened to
the Service read over the poor young fellows who had been so suddenly
struck down, their hearts must have been at Gatacre, where the same
words would soon be read over the old man of eighty-six whom they had
so sincerely loved and reverenced. Only a few days earlier they had
sent a telegram of farewell in their joint names; and in due course had
the satisfaction of hearing that it had arrived just in time to please
the dying man, who murmured in response, "I thank God for such good
sons."
On April 1, 1893, Lieutenant-General Sir John Hudson took over command
of the Bombay Army; only two months later he was killed by a fall from
his horse. The Commander-in-Chief was taking his usual ride with
Colonel Leach, his Military Secretary, before breakfast on the morning
of June 9, when his horse stumbled heavily, throwing Sir John forward
on his head. Six weeks earlier Sir James Dormer, Commander-in-Chief in
Madras, had met with his death while out tiger-shooting, so that this
further catastrophe came with added force to the sister Presidency.
Gatacre had written home a few days before, saying how genial and
kindly he found his new chief, with whom he was already on intimate
terms. It was always a great satisfaction to him to think that the
horse which had made {108} the blunder was not one of his choosing, for
Sir John had already sought his advice in the matter of getting himself
provided with chargers. As chief staff officer it fell to him to make
all the arrangements for the imposing ceremony that took place at 8.30
a.m. on the day following the tragedy. Lord Harris, the Governor, came
down from Panchguni for the occasion. By special instructions he
placed a wreath on the coffin in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, and
numberless similar tributes showed the respectful sympathy of the whole
army. The Guard of Honour was furnished by the 2nd Battalion
Lancashire Fusiliers; all the troops in garrison, both in Poona and
Kirkee, accompanied by massed bands, took part in the solemn
procession. It is said that five thousand men attended the funeral,
and that the whole was so admirably thought out and arranged in the
short space of time that no confusion or difficulty arose at any point.
[Sidenote: Hands over]
In due course Sir Charles Nairne, R.A., became Commander-in-Chief of
the Bombay Army. He was the last of the race, for during his tenure of
the office its name was changed, and he handed over as
Lieutenant-General Commanding the Bombay Army Corps. The office of
Adjutant-General was also renamed, but that was not until after Gatacre
had been succeeded by General Reginald Curteis. Sir Charles was the
third Chief under whom Gatacre had served in this capacity in less than
three years. But as these changes made no difference to Gatacre's
{109} loyal service, so there seems to have been no difference in the
high esteem in which his seniors held him. When he relinquished his
post, some eighteen months later, the same cordial regard had grown up
which he always contrived to win from all those with whom he was
associated either officially or socially. When I came to live in the
command, about two years later, there was no household from whom I
received a more genuine welcome than from Sir Charles and Lady Nairne
and their personal staff.
Early in 1894 the Adjutant-General was appointed to the command of the
military district that had its headquarters at Bombay.
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