Dundee Talana Museum Memorial cairn to Gen Sir William Penn Symons

Dundee Talana Museum Memorial tablet to Gen Sir William Penn Symons

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir William Penn Symons KCB (17 July 1843 – 23 October 1899) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

officer who was mortally wounded as he commanded his forces at the

Battle of Talana Hill The Battle of Talana Hill, also known as the Battle of Glencoe, was the first major clash of the Second Boer War. A frontal attack by British infantry supported by artillery drove Boers from a hilltop position, but the British suffered heavy casu ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

. While his forces won the battle, they had to abandon their position and fall back to

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

. Symons and the more severely wounded were left to the Boers; he died three days later as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

. A monument to his valour was raised in Victoria Park, Saltash, Cornwall, UK.

Early life and family

William Penn Symons was born on 17 July 1843 at Hatt, Cornwall, the eldest son of William Symons and Caroline Anne (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Southwell). He was educated privately and commissioned as an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

of the

24th Foot The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. I ...

(later the South Wales Borderers) on 6 March 1863. He married Jane Caroline (née Hawkins) of

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family ...

on 13 February 1877 but the couple was childless.

Military career

Symons was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 11 December 1866 and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 16 February 1878. His first combat experience was in South Africa during the Ninth Xhosa War (1877–78) where as a captain of the 2nd Battalion of the 24th Foot faced the native

Gcaleka The Gcaleka House is the Great house of the Xhosa Kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape. Its royal palace is in the former Transkei and its counterpart in the former Ciskei is the Rharhabe, which is the right hand house of Phalo. The Gcaleka H ...

and

Ngqika The Ngqika people are a Xhosa monarchy who lived west of the Great Kei River in what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. They were first ruled by Rarabe kaPhalo who died with his son Mlawu, who was destined for chieftaincy. The clan would be ...

tribes led by Chief Mgolombane Sandile. In 1879 he took part in the Zulu war and on 1 July 1881 he obtained his

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterBurmese Expedition (1885–89) being breveted as

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

on 26 November 1886 and appointed as Assistant

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

for Musketry in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(with the brevet rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

) on 25 November 1887. In 1889 he commanded one of the two columns of the Burma Field Force in the Chin-Lushai Expedition for which he received the

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregiv ...

(CB). On 31 September 1891 Symons was promoted to regimental lieutenant colonel where he would command the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, until being made A.A.G Musketry in Bengal in April 1883. Then in 1894-5 he commanded a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

during the Waziristan Expedition being promoted to local (brevet)

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

on 25 March 1895. In 1898 he was in command of the 2nd Brigade, Tochi Field Force during the Tochi Valley Expedition 1897-98, after which he led the 1st Division in the Tirah Campaign and was awarded the

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) on 20 May 1898.

Second Boer War

Colonel Symons was given the staff rank of

and was to be General Officer Commanding of Natal with temporary rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

on 15 May 1899; later that year on 20 September his staff rank would be raised to major general and on 9 October to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

. When Symons arrived in South Africa there were around ten thousand troops spread between Cape Colony and Natal.Pakenham 1979, p.76-77 & p.82. He was asked by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

to advise on the number of troops required to safely garrison the Natal from the threat of invasion from the Boer Republics of the Transvaal and

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

. His initial estimate was for an extra two thousand troops but he later raised that to five thousand. In the end the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

decided to send ten thousand extra troops but they also appointed Lieutenant General Sir George White to supersede Symons as GOC in Natal.Pakenham 1979, p.93 & p.96 However, before White arrived at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Penn Symons (who was known as a "fire eater"), had on his own authority deployed one of his brigades seventy miles north of

at a town called

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

.Pakenham 1979, p.98-99 The position of both Ladysmith and Dundee was precarious as they stand in a triangle of Natal north of the

Tugela River The Tugela River ( zu, Thukela; af, Tugelarivier) is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of , it is one of the most important rivers of the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the ...

with the Orange Free State to the west and the Transvaal to the east. White wanted to recall the Dundee garrison to Ladysmith but because of political pressures from Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, the Governor of Natal, he agreed to leave them there.Pakenham 1979, p.108-109 The Boers declared war on 11 October and began crossing the Natal borders the following day.

Battle of Talana Hill

On 20 October 1899 as dawn broke, men of the Dundee garrison spotted Boer troops on the nearby Talana hill (at ) who proceeded to open fire on the town with their Creusot 75mm guns. Symons was annoyed by the "impudence" of the Boers to attack before breakfast.Burnett 1905, p.13 The British guns moved to return fire as the general surveyed the Boer positions and gave orders to his commanding officers.Pakenham 1979, p.125-130 Symons believed in old-fashioned military tactics of close order, where by concentrating troops on the attack he hoped to smash the Boer defences. The reality was that these formations were not designed to be used against long-range

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-actio ...

rifles, and Symons' brigades would be the first of many in this war to pay the heavy cost of the mistake, as many generals would repeat it. However, his orders for the cavalry commander, Colonel Möller, were less conventional, telling him to act on his own initiative; it would be another costly mistake. At 7:30 am the infantry battalions set off from the east of the town; first the 2nd Battalion

Royal Dublin Fusiliers The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two Brit ...

, then the 1st

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United ...

and lastly the 1st

Royal Irish Fusiliers The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in ...

(the 1st

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

were left to guard the camp). The first part of the advance went well and they reached a small wood at the foot of the hill where they found some shelter but beyond the wood there was a wall with a small gap and then open ground. Some of the Dublins were pinned down in a ditch ahead and the Fusiliers were lining the wall to the left. Shortly after 9am Symons rode up to the wood being followed by an aide-de-camp holding up a red pennant, to find out why the attack had stalled. He ordered the men to proceed, rode through the wood and dismounted, then walked through the gap in the wall still being followed by his pennant. After a few moments he returned and was helped to remount his horse. He then rode back from the front lines until he was out of sight from his troops before he asked for assistance from the Indian stretcher bearers as he had been shot in the stomach.

Death

In excruciating pain from a severe wound to his stomach, Symons was taken to the 20th Field Hospital at Dundee. Despite this, all that he wanted to know was, "have they got the hill?" While the battle was won, their position at Dundee quickly became untenable. After a few wasted days, Symons' replacement, Brigadier General

James Yule Brigadier-General James Herbert Yule (26 April 1847 – 7 May 1920) was a senior British Army officer who briefly acted as General Officer Commanding the 4th Division during the Second Boer War. Military career Yule was commissioned as an en ...

, decided to abandon the town along with the most severely wounded to the Boers, stealing away at night to Ladysmith. The next day, the town surrendered and thus Symons became a prisoner of war along with many others. He clearly felt betrayed by Yule and just before he died on 23 October he implored the medical officer, Major Donegan, to "tell everyone I died facing the enemy, tell everyone I died facing the enemy".Pakenham 1979, p.142-147 Victoria Gardens, Saltash - geograph

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

wrote in his telegrams to

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

Memorials

The

Durban Light Infantry The Durban Light Infantry is a Motorised Infantry regiment of the South African Army. It lost its status as a Mechanised infantry regiment in 2010 in line with the rationalisation of resources. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equival ...

erected a memorial stone over his grave at Dundee. Another monument to his valour was raised in Victoria Park, Saltash, Cornwall. A memorial was erected in December 1902 in

Umballa Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

, from funds raised by the local population. He had been in command there until he left for South Africa.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Symons, Penn British Army generals 1843 births 1899 deaths British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War British military personnel of the Tirah campaign British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Burmese War British military personnel killed in the Second Boer War British prisoners of war of the Second Boer War Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Saltash South Wales Borderers officers Military personnel from Cornwall