CHAPTER I EARLY DAYS

A Kentish Celt—­A Rebellious Boy—­Four Years in the
Navy—­With the 19th Hussars—­“Captain X Trees”—­A
Studious Subaltern—­Chafing at Home—­The First
Opportunity 1

Chapter II
with the Nile expedition

  A Forlorn Hope—­Scouting in the Desert—­The Battle of
    Abu Klea—­Metammeh—­The Death of Gordon—­A Dangerous
    Retreat—­“Major French and His Thirteen Troopers” 10

Chapter iii
years of waiting

  Second in Command—­Maintaining the Barrow
    tradition—­The Persistent Student—­Service in
    India—­Retires on Half-pay—­Renewed
    Activities—­Rehearsing for South Africa 23

Chapter IV
Elandslaagte and RIETFONTEIN

  The Unknown Commander of Cavalry—­Who is General
    French?—­Advancing without Reinforcements—­“This is
    your Show, French”—­The White Flag—­The
    Chess-Player—­The Victor in Anecdote 32

Chapter V
the tide Turns

  White’s Dash from Ladysmith—­Nicholson’s Nek—­The
    Reverse at Lombard’s Kop—­A Cavalry Exploit—­French’s
    Dramatic Escape from Ladysmith 45

Chapter VI
the campaign round Colesberg

  The Fog of War—­A Perilous Situation—­Damming “The
    Flowing Tide”—­Shows His Genius as a Commander—­A
    Campaign in Miniature—­Hoisting Guns on Hilltops—­The
    Fifty-mile Front—­Saving the Situation 52

Chapter VII
the dash to Kimberley

  French’s Pledge—­The Task—­The First Shell—­“Hemmed
    in”—­“We must break through”—­The Lancers’ Charge—­In
    and Out of Kimberley—­The Surrender of Cronje 67

Chapter VIII
rounding up the Boers

  French in the Modder—­At Bloemfontein—­French and the
    Artist—­An Ambush—­Doing the Impossible Again—­Short
    Shrift with Barberton Snipers—–­Some French Stories 82

Chapter IX
work at home and resignation

  At Aldershot—­Driving Training at High Pressure—­
    General French is “fairly well pleased”—­Strenuous
    Manoeuvres—­Chief of the Imperial General
    Staff—­Ulster and Resignation 97

Chapter X
his belief in cavalry

  The Lessons of the Boer War—­Cavalry v.  Mounted
    Infantry—­A Plea for the Lance—­The Cavalry
    Spirit—­Shock Tactics still Useful 106