Archibald Hunter

General Sir Archibald Hunter GCB GCVO DSO (6 September 1856 – 28 June 1936) was a General in the British Army who distinguished himself during the Boer War. He was Governor of Omdurman, in Sudan, and later of Gibraltar.

Early life
Archibald Hunter, born a twin, was the son of an Archibald Hunter (1805, Lanarkshire, Scotland - 1868, London, England), a London businessman and Mary Jane Graham (1833, Renfrewshire, Scotland - 1905, West Kilbride, Aryshire, Scotland). Having chosen not to follow his father's business routes, Hunter began military education in Glasgow, and then at the Royal Military College Sandhurst. In 1875, the nineteen-year-old Sub Lieutenant joined the King's Own 4th Lancashire Regiment.

The Mahdi Uprising
Between 1884 and 1885, Hunter joined the Gordon Relief Expedition which sought to rescue Charles George Gordon (or Chinese Gordon) from his Mahdi captives. The Expedition was, however, too late; Gordon had been killed two days before their arrival.

During the time in which the Mahdi's were being suppressed, Hunter saw much front line action. He led a brigade under the command of Major-General Grenfell in Sawakin. He was wounded on this mission.

He was appointed Governor of Dongola Province in the Sudan and Commandant of the Frontier Field Force in 1895. In 1896, he joined the Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force under Lord Kitchener and the Sirdar (commander of the Egyptian Army). Sudan was recaptured, and Hunter was put in charge of the Egyptian division. He was made Governor of Omdurman in Sudan in 1899.

The Second Boer War
At the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899 Major General Hunter (although actually Chief of Staff to General Sir Redvers Buller's 1st Army Corps) was on the staff of Sir George White's Natal Field Force during the Battle of Ladysmith in Natal and the subsequent 118 day siege. On 8 December he successfully led a small raid against one of the Boers Creusot "Long Tom" guns and an Howitzer which they disabled with cotton charges.

The town was relieved on 1 March 1900 and Hunter was promoted to Lieutenant general on 6 March and posted as General Officer Commanding 10th Division.

The 10th Division were sent to join Lord Roberts army on the western front of South Africa which was now camped at the captured Orange Free State capital Bloemfontein. Hunter led them in the march on Pretoria, crossing into the Transvaal Republic on 3 May. Once Pretoria was captured though Robert's army had to deal with Guerrilla warfare and General Hunter was sent south again as overall commander of five columns that converged on the Free State army camped at Brandwater Basin, forcing the surrender of 4,314 Boers led by Marthinus Prinsloo. It was the largest number of Boers captured in the war so far and cost very little in British casualties; only 33 dead and 242 wounded.

Later life
In early 1901 he was asked by King Edward to take part in a special diplomatic mission to announce the King´s accession to the governments of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Russia, Germany, and Saxony.

He became General Officer Commanding Scottish District in May 1901, Commander-in-Chief Bombay Command in 1903 (renamed Western Army Corps in 1905) and General Officer Commanding Southern Army in India from 1907.

From 1910 until 1913 he was Governor of Gibraltar. In 1914 he became GOC 13th (Western) Division.

He served in World War I as Commander of the 3rd Army. He was then went to Aldershot first as GOC Aldershot Training Centre and then as GOC Aldershot Command. He retired in 1918.

He was elected at the 1918 general election as a Coalition Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Lancaster, but stood down at the 1922 general election.

Honours and awards
Hunter received the honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the University of Glasgow in June 1901.

He received the following decorations:
 * GCB : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
 * GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
 * DSO : Distinguished Service Order

Family
Archibald Hunter married, in 1910, Mary, Dowager Baroness Inverclyde (1866–1924), former wife of George Burns, 2nd Baron Inverclyde (1861–1905) and daughter of Hickson Fergusson. There was no issue of the marriage.

Legacy
His archive of over one hundred letters and documents was recently sold. A highlight of the £15,000 collection included twenty six Autograph Letters from Kitchener.