Operational correspondence of Hamilton's Force, South African Field Force, Jun 1900-Oct 1900

References on this page: HAMILTON: 2/6/1-16

HAMILTON: 2/6/1

1900 Jun 14-1900 Oct 26

Orders issued by Hamilton as General Officer Commanding Hamilton's Force, South African Field Force, including list of names of his staff, undated; composition and organization of his force, 30 Aug and 1 Sep; dispersal of his staff on the disbanding of his force, 25 Oct; return of numbers of personnel, vehicles and animals to embark for Cape Colony, undated. 18pp

HAMILTON: 2/6/2

1900 Jul 1-1900 Jul 31

Telegrams received by staff of Lt Gen Sir Archibald Hunter, 10 Div South African Field Force [1-6 Jul only], and of Hamilton's Force, including from FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, ordering Hunter to retain Hamilton's staff and Hamilton to retain Hunter's staff, 6 Jul; details of men serving under Col Thomas Edgecomb Hickman recommended to serve in Capt Noel Nesbitt's Transvaal Constabulary ('Nesbitt's Horse'), 18 Jul; from Roberts, ordering Hamilton to send mounted troops to Eerste Fabriken, Transvaal, to counter patrols led by Boer Gen Johann N H Grobler and Boer Commandant H P J Pretorius attempting to cut lines of communication, 28 Jul. With details of composition of Hamilton's Force, their distribution and his ammunition column, 8-16 Jul. With daily indexes. 1 file

HAMILTON: 2/6/3

1900 Jul 2-1900 Jul 19

Carbon copies of telegrams, nos 824-874, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to Director of Military Intelligence and Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, reporting estimates and disposition of Boer forces around Hamanskraal, Eastern Transvaal, 17 Jul; to Kitchener, seeking permission to order the support of forces commanded by Brig Gen Bryan Thomas Mahon in an attack on Boekenhoutskloof, Eastern Transvaal, 18 Jul; to FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, reporting Boer horse commandos at Boekenhoutskloof and wagon laager at Dewagendrift and expressing concern at quality of officers in the force of Col Thomas Edgecomb Hickman, 19 Jul. 1 notebook

HAMILTON: 2/6/4

1900 Jul 4-1900 Jul 30

Correspondence of Hamilton as General Officer Commanding Hamilton's Force, mainly comprising incoming telegrams and heliograms relating to operations in Eastern Transvaal, 16-30 Jul, including typescript memorandum issued by Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, showing constitution and command structure of Hamilton's Force at Pretoria, 14 Jul, telegram orders from FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, for Hamilton to advance from Watervaal to Bronkhorstspruit station, 16 Jul. 1 file

HAMILTON: 2/6/5

1900 Jul 10-1900 Oct 26,1902 Mar 1-4

Correspondence of Hamilton as General Officer Commanding Hamilton's Force, including papers relating to Courts Martial of Trooper G Read, Imperial Light Horse, Pte William Nicoll, 38 Company, Army Service Corps, Sgt R Haughey, 1 Bn Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and Pte William Crosby, 2 Bn Royal Berkshire Rgt, Jul 1900; reports of Lt Col John Cotter Dorman, Royal Army Medical Corps, divisional Principal Medical Officer, on physical state of Hamilton's Force, 29 Aug 1900; lists of casualties incurred in action near Pretoria, 2 Aug 1900, and at Lydenberg, Transvaal, 8 Sep 1900. With papers relating to granting of permission for Capt W Greer, Acting Quartermaster, 8 Div Mounted Infantry, to return to England, 1-4 Mar 1902. 1 file

HAMILTON: 2/6/6

1900 Jul 20-1900 Jul 28

Volume of carbon copies of telegrams, nos 876-907, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, reporting his engagement with Boer forces at Doomkraal Drift, Eastern Transvaal, 21 Jul; to Kitchener, reporting strength of his Force units, 21 Jul; to Kitchener, on his advance to Bronkhorstspruit, Eastern Transvaal, and the proposed return of his Force to Pretoria, 26 Jul. 1 notebook

HAMILTON: 2/6/7

1900 Jul 28-1900 Jul 31

Carbon copies of six telegrams, nos 908-913, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, on the securing of rolling stock by Brig Gen Bryan Thomas Mahon, and pursuit of Boer scouts by squadron of 18th Hussars at Kaalfontein, Eastern Transvaal, 28 Jul. 1 unfinished notebook

HAMILTON: 2/6/8

1900 Jul 30-1900 Aug 25

Correspondence of Hamilton as General Officer Commanding, Hamilton's Force, mainly comprising incoming telegrams and heliograms relating to operations in Western Transvaal, including telegram from Maj Gen Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, with diagram, on positions of Boer forces around Rustenburg, 30 Jul; report of Brig Gen George Glencairn Cunningham, commading infantry bde, Hamilton's Force, on advance against Boer forces at Zilikat's Nek, 2 Aug; telegram from FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, requesting Hamilton to evacuate Rustenburg and return to Pretoria, 5 Aug; telegram from Roberts, ordering Hamilton to advance to Hekpoort to engage Boer forces at Commando Nek or Olifant's Nek and prevent Boer Gen Christiaan Rudolph De Wet passing north of the Magaliesberg Range, 8 Aug; manuscript letter of Baden-Powell, informing Hamilton of his occupation of Uitval and Commando Nek, 11 Aug; telegram from Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff South Africa, on the escape of De Wet through Olifant's Nek, 15 Aug; report of Lt Col John Cotter Dorman, Royal Army Medical Corps, divisional Principal Medical Officer, urging that Hamilton's Force be allowed to rest at Pretoria, 25 Aug. 1 file

HAMILTON: 2/6/9

1900 Jul 31-1900 Sep 12

Volume of carbon copies of twelve telegrams, nos N1-N12, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, mainly relating to requests for stationery, mail and field dressings. 1 vol

HAMILTON: 2/6/10

1900 Aug 1-1900 Aug 9

Volume of carbon copies of telegrams, nos 914-991, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, with casualty list after engagement at Zilikat's Nek, 2 Aug; to FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, reporting on Boer prisoners taken at Zilikat's Nek, the use of soft nosed bullets by Boers, and estimates of Boer forces around Rustenburg, Transvaal, 3 Aug; to Roberts, on disposition of Boer forces at Elands River, Transvaal, and the deployment of the Rustenburg garrison, 5 Aug. 1 vol

HAMILTON: 2/6/11

1900 Aug 1-1900 Oct 14

File of telegrams received by staff of Hamilton's Force, including from Brig Gen Bryan Thomas Mahon, on his advance towards Boer laager at Zilikat's Nek, Transvaal, 1 Aug; from Military Secretary, HQ, reporting status of Boer artillery around Komati Poort, Eastern Transvaal, 21 Sep; from FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, reminding all commanding officers that armed Boer burghers taken prisoner were to be deported to St Helena or Ceylon, 24 Sep; from Roberts, recalling Hamilton and giving him command of columns under Maj Gen Ralph Arthur Penrhyn Clements, Col George Glencairn Cunningham and Brig Gen Robert George Broadwood, Western Transvaal, 30 Sep. With daily indexes (telegrams 11-25 Aug are missing). 1 file

HAMILTON: 2/6/12

1900 Aug 9-1900 Aug 25

Volume of carbon copies of telegrams, nos 993-1067, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, with casualty report, 9 Aug; to FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, on retreat of Boer Gen Christiaan Rudolph De Wet at Olifant's Nek, 18 Aug; to Roberts, with estimates of forces and location of De Wet and Martinus Theunis Steyn, President of Orange Free State, 22 Aug. 1 vol

HAMILTON: 2/6/13

1900 Aug 25-1900 Sep 28

Correspondence of Hamilton as General Officer Commanding, Hamilton's Force, comprising mainly incoming telegrams and heliograms relating to operations in Eastern Transvaal, including telegram from Gen Sir Redvers Henry Buller, General Officer Commanding Natal Army, reporting his engagement with Boer forces at Badfontein, 5 Sep; telegram from FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, ordering Hamilton to assist Buller occupy the Machberg Pass and Spitzkop, 7 Sep; telegram from Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, ordering Hamilton to prevent railway communication between Delagoa Bay and the Transvaal and to ensure the non violation of Portugese territory beyond Komati Poort, 23 Sep. With typescript orders, 25 Aug, of Kitchener, allocating districts in Transvaal and Orange River Colony to mobile columns to suppress rebellion, with details of composition of columns and divisions of main army, and enclosing proclamations of Roberts to inhabitants, 31 May-14 Aug 1900. 1 file

HAMILTON: 2/6/14

1900 Aug 25-1900 Sep 12

Volume of carbon copies of telegrams, nos 1068-1142, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Baron Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall, Chief of Staff, South Africa, with strength of his Force units, 25 Aug; to Casualty Offices, Pretoria and Capetown, 8 Sep, with casualty report following engagement with Boer forces at Lydenburg, Eastern Transvaal (7 Sep); to FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, 9 Sep, with account of engagement of Gen Sir Redvers Henry Buller, General Officer Commanding Natal Army, with forces of Boer Gen Louis Botha at Spitzkop (8 Sep). 1 vol

HAMILTON: 2/6/15

1900 Sep 13-1900 Sep 29

Volume of carbon copies of telegrams, nos 1143-1217, dispatched by staff of Hamilton's Force, including to FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander in Chief South Africa, on his advance with Maj Gen Reginald Pole-Carew, General Officer Commanding 11 Div, from Godwaan to Kaapsche Hoop, Eastern Transvaal, 17 Sep; to Military Secretary, Pretoria HQ, with his views on a proposed 5 inch field gun, 25 Sep; to Roberts with opinion on size of garrison to be maintained at Koomati Poort, 26 Sep. 1 vol

HAMILTON: 2/6/16

1900 Sep 14-1900 Sep 15

Letters from FM Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander-in-Chief South Africa, agreeing to Hamilton's requests for pack animals, informing Hamilton to serve under Maj Gen Reginald Pole-Carew, General Officer Commanding 11 Div, should their columns join, and of Roberts' request to the British Government to prevent Boer communications with the Transvaal by landing British sailors at Lourenço Marques, Portugese East Africa, 14 Sep; requesting Hamilton's column to support the Guards' Brigade under Pole-Carew, with 18 Bde guarding lines of communication, and of Lt Gen John Denton Pinkstone French's efforts to engage forces under Boer Gen Louis Botha, 15 Sep. 1 file, 2 letters