The Life of King Edward VII
veterans of the war, in conferring medals and in helping the many
charities, hospital interests and military organizations which the
situation evoked. As soon as the war broke out the Princess of Wales had
commenced to organize a hospital ship for the care of the wounded at
Cape Town and, on November 22d, 1899, Her Royal Highness visited the
vessel prior to its departure. She was accompanied by the Prince with
Princess Victoria, the Duchess of York and the Duke and Duchess of Fife.
Badges and gifts were presented to the nursing sisters and the men of
the Royal Army Medical Corps and St. John Ambulance Brigade and a brief
speech delivered by the Prince. To this object, it may be added, the
Princess had given L1000, and a Committee formed by her and composed of
Lady Lansdowne, Lady Wolseley, Lady Wantage, Sir Donald Currie and
others, had raised the large additional sum required. At Windsor, on
December 15th, the Prince of Wales, accompanied by his wife, the Duke of
Cambridge and Prince Christian, presented to the Grenadier Guards the
medals they had won in the Soudan. On January 26th, 1900, he reviewed
six hundred officers and men of the Imperial Yeomanry under command of
Colonel, Lord Chesham. He thanked them for making him their Hon.
Colonel, and then added: "You have all, like true men, volunteered for
active service to do your duty to your Sovereign and your country. I
feel sure that when you leave your homes and country you will feel that
a great duty devolves on you--to maintain the honour of the British
flag--and that you will ably assist the Regular forces of Her Majesty
abroad and do credit to your country and your corps."
A little later, on February 9th, another contingent of Yeomanry, under
Colonel Mitford, were inspected by the Prince ere they departed for
South Africa. "Most heartily" he said to them, "do I hope that the
services you intend to render your Sovereign and your country will bring
credit upon yourselves. I feel sure that, under your commanders, you
will know that one of the first principles is good discipline. Then, I
hope you are good shots and good riders." In the afternoon, at
Devonshire House, His Royal Highness received the one hundred and fifty
nurses and men connected with the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital. When the
Princess of Wales' Hospital Ship returned with its sorrowful burdens of
wounded men the Prince and Princess were the first to visit it and do
what was possible by kind thought and word and action to soothe the
suffering of the soldiers. Netley Hospital they visited again and
again, and more than one Canadian or Australian, or other Colonial
soldier of the Queen, will always speak of the gracious personal
kindness of the Royal couple.
When the Naval Brigade returned in triumph from its achievements at
Ladysmith there was added to the seething, cheering, enthusiastic
popular welcome the formal reception and inspection by the Heir
Apparent, accompanied by the Princess and other members of the Royal
family and the Lords of the Admiralty. After brief speeches from Mr.
Goschen and His Royal Highness the former, as First Lord of the
Admiralty, entertained the officers of the Brigade and the Prince of
Wales at luncheon. On November 2nd, following, the Prince presided at a
great banquet given in London to the officers and men of the Honourable
Artillery Company and the City Imperial Volunteers. Colonel Mackinnon of
the latter force sat on the right of the Royal chairman and the Lord
Mayor on the left. In his speeches the Prince gave a brief history of
the origin and the war achievements of the Artillery and the City
Imperial Volunteers, congratulated many of the officers by name, spoke
of the opportunity they had been given of taking part in "a great and
important war and of maintaining the honour of the British flag," and
referred in pathetic terms to the death of Prince Christian Victor--who
had been through five campaigns and was under thirty-four years of age.
When the Composite Regiment of the Household Cavalry went to war in
November 1899 they had been inspected by the Heir Apparent. Upon their
return, December 3rd 1900, he paid them the same compliment, accompanied
by various members of the Royal family and leading officers of the Army.
He expressed pride at being Colonel-in-Chief of a corps which had so
greatly distinguished itself--in the distant past as well as the near
present. Following them came the Royal Canadian Regiment, commanded by
Colonel W. D. Otter. To them the Prince made a neat and patriotic
speech. "I am well aware of what you have gone through and the splendid
way in which you have served in South Africa and I deeply regret and
mourn with you the loss of so many brave men." Ever anxious, like the
Queen and her own husband, to promote the well-being of the soldiers and
sailors the Princess of Wales had acted since the beginning of the war
as President of the Soldiers and Sailors' Families Association and, on
December 31st, 1900, reported through the press that L500,000 had been
directly subscribed to their purposes, L190,000 given through the
Mansion House subscription, and L50,000 through a special Lord Mayor's
Fund. The whole of this sum had now been expended in caring for the
wives and families of those at the front and distributed through the
voluntary services of eleven hundred ladies and gentlemen throughout the
United Kingdom. At least L50,000 was still being expended monthly and
Her Royal Highness made and personally signed an earnest appeal for the
further funds required.
When Lord Roberts left to take command in South Africa, the Prince of
Wales personally saw him off at the station--accompanied by the Duke of
Connaught, who had been again praying the Military authorities to allow
him to go to the front in the new crisis which had arisen and who had
even obtained Lord Roberts' approval to his taking a place upon his
Staff. But the War Office would only say that with so many general
officers out of the country His Royal Highness could do better service
by remaining with the Army at home.
There were many reasons for the Prince of Wales taking a keen interest
in the war apart altogether from the natural and patriotic reason. A
peculiarly large number of the sons of personal friends were at the
front and many of them were fated to fall from time to time. The
reputation of the officers engaged in the struggle was necessarily very
dear to him. He knew them all and had many associations with their
regiments and themselves. A blow to Sir George White, a disaster to Sir
Redvers Buller, a danger to Col. Baden Powell, a threatened illness in
the case of Lord Roberts, were all matters of personal concern to him as
well as of national or patriotic interest. The central figure in the
beginning of the war--the great personality of Mr. Cecil Rhodes--had
long been a friend and had been received by the Prince upon a kindly
social footing. Through the Duke of Fife's connection with the South
African Chartered Company, the Prince must have been closely interested
in all the earlier developments of the struggle and it could only have
been by special permission that his son-in-law held a Director's place
up to the actual outbreak of the war. Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Milner
were both men who had been closely associated with his own Imperialistic
projects and ideals and there can be little doubt--though it was never
publicly expressed--that the Prince of Wales sympathised with the policy
which has since made South African expansion and empire possible.
The Prince of Wales had seen Lord Roberts off upon his career of
successful action; on January 3rd, 1901, accompanied by the Princess,
the Duke and Duchess of York and the Duke of Connaught, he welcomed him
home and on behalf of the Queen received him as a Royal guest at
Buckingham Palace. A magnificent banquet followed, given by the Prince,
in honour of the Field Marshal--who had just been created an Earl and a
Knight of the Garter--and six months later as King of Great Britain, he
was able to send a special message to Parliament recommending a grant to
Earl Roberts of L100,000. Shortly after this reception came the
much-mourned death of the Queen and the accession of His Royal Highness
to the Throne. It was not long before the King was showing his
appreciation of South African soldiers by inspecting or addressing them
before their departure, or upon their return. On February 15th,
accompanied by Queen Alexandra, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, the
Duke of Cambridge, Princess Louise, the Duchess of Argyll, the Duke of
Argyll, Lord Roberts, Sir Redvers Buller, Lord Strathcona and Mr.
Chamberlain, he inspected Lord Strathcona's Regiment of Horse and
presented a King's colour to Colonel Steele. His Majesty's speech to the
officers and men was tactful and gracious: "I welcome you here on our
shores on your return from active service in South Africa. I know it
would have been the urgent wish of my beloved mother, our revered Queen,
to have welcomed you also. That was not to be; but be assured she deeply
appreciated the services you rendered as I do. It has given me great
satisfaction to inspect you to-day, to have presented you with your
war-medals and also with the King's colour. I feel sure that in
entrusting this colour to you, Colonel Steele, and to those under you,
you will always defend it and will do your duty as you have done in the
past year in South Africa and will do it on all future occasions. I am
glad that Lord Strathcona is here to-day, as it is owing to him that
this magnificent force has been equipped and sent out." The King then
presented Colonel Steele, personally with the M.V.O. decoration.
PERSONAL INTEREST IN THE WAR
Following this and other similar events came the re-organization of the
Army, in which the King no doubt took a great deal of interest though it
would only be shown the form of advice or expressions of opinion. By Mr.
St. John Brodrick's scheme, as outlined on March 9th, and ultimately
accepted in the main, it was decided to have the military forces so
organized that three Army corps could be sent abroad at any time; that
the artillery and mounted troops should be increased and the medical and
transport service reformed; that officers should be better trained, with
less barrack-square drill and more musketry, scouting and
individuality. It was proposed also to "decentralize administration,
centralize responsibility;" to increase the Militia from 100,000 to
115,000, to increase the pay of the soldiers, to utilize the Yeomanry
and to affiliate, if possible, the Colonial forces. The new arrangements
would provide, it was hoped, a home force of 155,000 Regulars, 90,000
Reserves, 150,000 Militia, 35,000 Yeomanry and 250,000 Volunteers--a
total of 680,000 men.
Meanwhile, peace negotiations had been progressing. On February 28th a
long interview took place between Lord Kitchener and General Louis Botha
who, according to the British general's despatch, "showed very good
feeling and seemed anxious to bring about peace." The question of
government, grading from a Crown Colony system up to full
self-government, was discussed; the licensing of rifles for protection
and hunting; the use of English and Dutch languages; the enfranchising
of Kaffirs; the protection of Church and trust funds and the guarantee
of legal debts and notes of the late Republics; the question of a
war-tax on the farms and the time of return of prisoners of war;
pecuniary assistance to the burghers, so as to enable them to start
afresh; the question of amnesty and the proposal to disfranchise Cape
rebels; were all freely discussed. After considerable interchange
between Lord Kitchener and Mr. Brodrick and Lord Milner and Mr.
Chamberlain, a definite statement of terms was offered General Botha and