Lord Methuen and the British Army: Failure and Redemption in South AfricaThis study analyzes the readiness of the British military establishment for war in 1899 and its performance in the South African War (1899-1902). It focuses on the career of Field Marshal Paul Sanford, 3rd Baron Methuen, whose traditional military training, used so effectively in Queen Victoria's small wars, was put to the test by the modern challenges of the South African War. A subsidiary aim of this work is to correct and refine the historical consensus that Methuen's campaing in the South African War was plagued by practical errors and poor judgement. The South African War was a crucial transitional episode in the history of the British army. Unlike Great Britain's other expeditions, it required the concentrated resources of the entire empire. It was a modern war in the sense that it employed the technology, the weaponry, the communications, and the transportation of the second industrial revolution. |
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Lord Methuen and the British Army: Failure and Redemption in South Africa Stephen M. Miller No preview available - 1999 |
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1st Division 9th Brigade advance artillery Ashanti attack Battalion Battery Battle of Magersfontein Battle of Modder battlefield Bechuanaland Belfield Belmont Bloemfontein Boer force Boer position British army Cape Colony casualties cavalry Colonel column Colvile command decision defence enemy expedition F. H. P. Methuen failure fight fire flank garrison Gatacre German Guards Brigade guns Highland Brigade History Ibid Imperial Yeomanry Kimberley Kitchener kopjes Ladysmith Leo Amery Lieutenant-Colonel London Lord Methuen Mafeking Majesty's Commissioners appointed Major-General Maurice and Grant Methuen believed Methuen Papers Methuen to F. H. P. Methuen to GOC Methuen to M. E. Methuen wrote Milner Modder River mounted infantry mounted troops Natal National Army Museum night march Orange Free ordered P. S. Methuen Public Records Office railway reconnaissance regiment reinforcements relieve Kimberley retreat Rhodes Roberts South Africa South African War tactics Transvaal trenches volunteers Wauchope Western Transvaal Wiltshire Records Office Wolseley Wolseley's Zeerust