General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, (26 May 1858 – 12 August 1930) was a British Army General. One of the few British survivors of the Battle of Isandlwana as a young officer, he also distinguished himself in the Second Boer War.
Smith-Dorrien held senior commands in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the First World War. He commanded II Corps at the Battle of Mons, the first major action fought by the BEF, and the Battle of Le Cateau, where he fought a vigorous and successful defensive action contrary to the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief Sir John French, with whom he had had a personality clash dating back some years. In the spring of 1915 he commanded the Second Army at the Second Battle of Ypres. He was relieved of command by French for requesting permission to retreat from the Ypres Salient to a more defensible position.
Early life Horace Smith-DorrienNote: The surname is properly hyphenated though the form "Smith Dorrien" is sometimes seen. The first syllable of Dorrien is pronounced like the word "door". was born at Haresfoot, a house near Berkhamsted, in the county of Hertfordshire to Colonel Robert Algernon Smith-Dorrien and Mary Ann Drever. He was the twelfth child of sixteen; his eldest brother was Thomas Smith-Dorrien-Smith, the Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly from 1872 until 1918.Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th ed., London 1965–1972, vol. 1, p. 87.Robert A Smith-Dorrien, Col. Herts Militia = Mary Ann, daughter of Dr Drever, by Mary A, daughter of Thos. Dorrien. By her he had (1) Thos. A, 10th Hussars; (2) Frances A L; (3) Frederick (1846–48), (5) Marian, (6) Henry T, (7) Walter M., (8) Amy, (9) Edith, (10) Alena P., (11) Arthur H, (12) Horace L, (13) Mary B., (14) Maud C, (15) Laura M., (16) Helen D. The Smith family, being a popular account of most branches of the name – however spelt – from the fourteenth century downwards, with numerous pedigrees now published for the first time Another elder brother was Rear-Admiral Arthur Hale Smith-Dorrien. He was educated at Harrow School and on 26 February 1876 entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Career On graduation from the Royal Military College in 1877 he had hoped to receive an infantry commission with the 95th Rifle Brigade,Beckett & Corvi 2006, p. 183. but instead received one with the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot, later to become the Sherwood Foresters.Travers 1987, p. 291.
Zulu War On 1 November 1878, he was posted to South Africa where he was employed as a Transport Officer. He was present at the Battle of Isandlwana during the Anglo-Zulu War on 22 January 1879, serving with the British invasion force as a transport officer for a detachment of Royal Artillery. As the Zulu impis overwhelmed the British lines, destroying it in hand-to-hand fighting, Smith-Dorrien narrowly escaped on his transport pony over 20 miles of rough terrain with twenty Zulu warriors in running pursuit, crossing the Buffalo River, 80 yards wide and with a strong current, by holding the tail of a loose horse. Smith-Dorrien was one of fewer than fifty British survivors from the battle (many more native African troops on the British side also survived), and one of only five Imperial officers to escape it with his life.Beckett & Corvi 2006, p. 185. Because of his conduct in trying to help other soldiers escape from the battlefield, including a colonial commissariat officer named Hamer whose life he saved, he was recommended for the Victoria Cross, but it was not awarded. He took part in the rest of that war. His observations on the difficulty of opening ammunition boxes led to changes in British Army practice for the rest of the war (though modern commentators argue that this was not as important a factor in the defeat as was thought at the time).
Egypt, India and Sudan Smith-Dorrien served in Egypt under Evelyn Wood. He was promoted captain on 1 April 1882, appointed assistant chief of police in Alexandria on 22 August 1882, then given command of Mounted Infantry in Egypt on 3 September 1882, and was seconded to the Egyptian Army (1 February 1884).Beckett & Corvi 2006, pp. 184, 185. During this time, he forged a lifelong friendship with the then Major Herbert Kitchener. He met Charles George Gordon more than once, but his bad knee kept him off the expedition to relieve Khartoum. He served on the Suakin Expedition. On 30 December 1885, he witnessed the Battle of Gennis, where the British Army fought in red coats for the last time. The next day (31 December 1885) he was given his first independent command, 150 men (a mixture of hussars, mounted infantry and Egyptians) with fifty infantry in reserve. His task was to capture nine Arab river supply boats (nuggars), to achieve which he had to exceed his orders by going beyond the village of Surda, making a 60-mile journey on horseback in 24 hours. For this, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1886.
Smith-Dorrien then left active command to go to the Staff College, Camberley (1887–89). Staff College was not yet much respected, and he later recorded that he devoted much time to sport while there.Beckett & Corvi 2006, p. 186.
He was posted to India, and promoted major on 11 May 1892. He became Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, Bengal, on 1 April 1893 and then Assistant Adjutant General, Bengal, on 27 October 1894.Beckett & Corvi 2006, p. 184.The biographical summary given by Tim Travers does not appear to reconcile exactly with that presented by Ian Beckett. Travers has him as DAAG Punjab 1894–96, then DAAG Chitral 1895 (Travers 1987, p. 291). He returned to his regiment where he commanded troops during the Tirah Campaign of 1897–98.
In 1898, he transferred back to Egypt. He was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel on 20 May 1898 and appointed Commanding Officer of the 13th Sudanese Battalion (16 July 1898). He fought at the Battle of Omdurman (2 September 1898), where his infantry fired at Devishes from entrenched positions. He commanded the British troops during the Fashoda incident. He was promoted brevet colonel 16 November 1898 and Commanding Officer of the Sherwood Foresters and substantive lieutenant-colonel (1 January 1899).
South Africa On 31 October 1899, he shipped to South Africa for the Second Boer War, arriving at Durban 13 December 1899, in the middle of "Black Week". On 2 February 1900, Lord Roberts put him in command of the 19th Brigade and, on 11 February, he was promoted to major general, making him one of the youngest generals in the British Army at the time.Beckett & Corvi 2006, pp. 184, 187. He later commanded a division in South Africa.
He provided covering fire for French's Cavalry Division at Klipsdrift, and played an important role at the Battle of Paardeberg (18 to 27 February 1900), where he was summoned by Lord Roberts and asked for his views in the presence of Lord Kitchener, French and Henry Colvile. He argued for the use of sapping and fire support, rather than attacking the entrenched enemy over open ground. Kitchener followed him to his horse to remonstrate that he would be "a made man" if he attacked as Kitchener wished, to which he replied he had given his views and would only attack if ordered to do so. A week later he took the laager after careful assault.Beckett & Corvi 2006, pp. 187–188.
At Sanna's Post (31 March 1900), Smith-Dorrien ignored inept orders from Colvile to leave wounded largely unprotected and managed an orderly retreat without further casualties. He took part in the Battle of Leliefontein (7 November 1900). On 6 February 1901, Smith-Dorrien's troops were attacked in the Battle of Chrissiesmeer.
Smith-Dorrien's qualities as a commander meant he was one of few British commanders to enhance his reputation during this war. Smith-Dorrien was mentioned three times in despatches in The London Gazette (including by Lord Kitchener dated 23 June 1902), and Ian Hamilton later wrote highly of his performance and his grasp of the men's morale, while Roberts also thought highly of his South Africa performance. He was at the top of a list (21 September 1901) of eighteen successful commanders of columns or groups of columns, including Douglas Haig and Edmund Allenby, whom French commended to Lord Roberts.Holmes 2004, p114-5
India
On 22 April 1901, he received orders to return to India where he was made Adjutant-General (6 November 1901) under Kitchener (who returned to India after the end of the Second Boer War, in late 1902). He was placed in command of the 4th (Quetta) Division in Baluchistan, a post he held from 30 June 1903 until 1907. He was raised to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1904, made colonel of the Sherwood Foresters in July 1905, and promoted lieutenant general on 9 April 1906. He introduced the staff ride, erroneously attributed by John Terraine to Haig.Beckett & Corvi 2006, pp. 184, 188. He also helped found the Staff College at Quetta in 1907.
Smith-Dorrien remained neutral in the dispute between Kitchener (Commander-in-Chief, India) and the Viceroy Lord Curzon. Kitchener's predecessor, Sir Arthur Power Palmer, was his wife's uncle.
Aldershot Smith-Dorrien returned to England and, on 1 December 1907, became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Aldershot Command. Unlike many senior generals of the era, Smith-Dorrien could speak to troops with ease and was greatly admired by regimental officers.Robbins 2005, p. 17. In prewar training he wanted "individual initiative and intelligence" in British soldiers.Travers 1987, p. 47. He later wrote: "one could never become an up-to-date soldier in the prehistoric warfare to be met with against the Dervishes".Robbins 2005, p. 13. Smith-Dorrien improved the frequency and methods of training in marksmanship of all soldiers (including cavalry, and including shooting at moving targets). During this period, the higher ranks of the army were divided on the best use of cavalry. Smith-Dorrien, along with Lord Roberts, Sir Ian Hamilton and others, doubted that cavalry could often be used as cavalry, i.e. that they should still be trained to charge with sword and lance, instead thinking they would be more often deployed as mounted infantry, i.e. using horses for mobility but dismounting to fight. To this end, he took steps to improve the marksmanship of the cavalry. This did not endear him to the arme blanche ('pro-cavalry') faction, which included French and Sir Douglas Haig, and whose views prevailed after the retirement of Lord Roberts.
At Aldershot, Smith-Dorrien instituted a number of reforms designed to improve the lot of the ordinary soldier. He abandoned the practice of posting pickets to trawl the streets for drunk soldiers outside the base, more than doubled the number of playing fields available to the men, cut down trees, and built new and better barracks. His reforms earned many plaudits but were treated as an implied criticism by his predecessor, Sir John French, with whom he had still been on relatively cordial terms at the end of the South African War.Beckett & Corvi 2006, p. 189.Holmes 2004, pp. 131–133 Aylmer Haldane recorded that at the 1909 manoeuvres French was "unfair" in summing up for Arthur Paget against Smith-Dorrien.Travers 1987, pp. 15–16. On 21 August 1909 he lectured all his cavalry officers – in the 16th Lancers’ mess – about the importance of improving their men's musketry. He also tried to get the army to replace the old Maxim gun with the new Vickers machine gun, which weighed less than half as much and had a better water-cooling system but the War Office did not approve the expenditure.Beckett & Corvi 2006, p. 190.