| Settle | Henry Hamilton | | Major | SETTLE, HENRY HAMILTON, Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, son of Captain H T Settle, of Southover, Lewes; born 27 January 1847; was educated at Heidelberg and Cheltenham: entered the RE 10 July 1867; became Captain 1879; passed Staff College 1883; Major 1886; Lieutenant Colonel 1893; Colonel 1893; Major General 1902; Lieutenant General 1908: retired 1911. Served in Nile Expedition, 1884-5, as DAAG and DAQMG (Despatches, Medal with clasp, Bronze Star, Brevet Major); in Anglo-Egyptian Expeditions as Chief Staff Officer at action of Gemaizah, Suakin, 1888 (Despatches, clasp. Brevet of Lieutenant Colonel), and at action of Toski, 1889 (Despatches, clasp, 2nd Class Medjidie); Chief Staff Officer in expedition to retake Tokar Delta at action of Afafit, 1891 (Despatches, clasp); created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 30 May 1891]: "Henry Hamilton Settle, Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, RE, attached Egyptian Army". Served in the South African War, 1899-1902, as Brigadier General on the Staff, Inspector-General, Lines of Communication, also commanded Columns (Despatches twice, two Medals with clasps; KCB (Military); promoted Major General for distinguished service in the field); Surveyor-General and QMG Egyptian Army, 1886-92; Inspector-General, Egyptian Police, 1892-4; Assistant Inspector-General of Fortifications, War Office, 1895-9; Commanding RE Malta, 1899; GOC Cape Colony District, S of Orange River, 1901-2, and Cape Colony, 1903; GOC Portsmouth Defences, 1905-8; had rank of Pasha, 2nd Class Osmanieh and Grand Cordon Medjidie; created DSO 1891; CB (Military) 1898; KCB (Military) 1900. He married, in 1875, Edith, only daughter of Jonathan Rigg, of Wrotham Hill Park, Kent.
In the 'Official History of the Boer War' (Vol I, page 182), we read how "Lord Kitchener, leaving Naauwpoort, had spent a day at De Aar, and there arranged with Brigadier General H H Settle, commanding the section of the line of communications to the south of the Orange River, for the despatch westward of three small flying columns ... to deal with the hostile bands assembling n the direction of Prieska and Van Wyk's Vlei". On page 212 Sir F Maurice says that except for these three columns under Settle, Adye and Parsons, and the immobile troops guarding the railway, the whole of Cape Colony, west of a line drawn from Cape Town to Kimberley, was for a time without military protection. In Vol III, pages 11-16 is given an account of the suppression of the rebellion in the North-West of Cape Colony, in which he took part. When the western area of the Transvaal (see Vol III, page 228) was divided into military districts, in order to carry out the pacification, the command of the south-west area, with Headquarters at Vryburg, was given to Sir H H Settle. He took part in the operations in the Western Transvaal. He fought through the operations in the Orange River Colony, and on page 496 of Vol III we are told how Settle, who had been skirmishing and foraging for some time in the south-west of the Colony, ... arrived at Edenburg laden with booty of every description". On page 513: "Since the middle of October, Major General Settle, with a force of 600 mounted men, ten guns and 1,350 infantry, had been operating between Christiana and Bothaville."
When De Wet invaded Cape Colony, sixteen bodies of troops were within the border and organized for the field (Vol IV, page 65). All these were placed under the general command of Major General Sir H H Settle, and in the ensuing pages we read about the movements of these troops. For a time Lieutenant General Sir N G Lyttelton took command, and Sir H H Settle resumed command after his departure. The record of services given above shows how for the South African War Sir H Settle received two Medals with clasps; was twice mentioned in Despatches; received a KCB, and was promoted Major General for distinguished service in the field. Settle raised and commanded Settle's Scouts.
The Times Obituary of 24 Apr 1923. Lieutenant General Sir H H Settle, RE KCB DSO, whose death at the age of 76 is announced elsewhere, will be chiefly remembered for his services during the Soulth African War. From that test he came out with credit. He had retired some three years before the European War. The second son of Captain H T Settle, of Southover, Lewes, he was born on January 27, 1847. He was sent to Cheltenham and gained his commission as Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1867. He first saw active service in the Sudan Expedition of 1884 5, when he took part in operations on the Nile as DAA and QMG at Gemai and on the lines of communications, being MID and promoted brevet major. From 1886 92 Major Settle filled the post of Surveyor General and QMG Egyptian Army. In the meanwhile he was engaged as SSO in the operations at Suakim, being present at the actions of Gemaizah and Toski, and at the capture of Tokar. For his services he received two mentions and was promoted brevet Lieutenant Colonel and awarded the DSO. In 1892 he was appointed Inspector General of Egyptian Police, and three years later came home to take up the appointment of Assistant Inspector General of Fortifications at the WO. In 1898 he was created CB.
For a few months in 1899 he commanded the REs at Malta, whence he was called in October to take part in the African War. Before Paardeberg, Roberts had already ordered three small columns to be formed by Settle, the commander at Orange River Station, to check the course of the rebellion in Cape Colony. Settle himself took the right column to cut of Liebenberg. One of the other two columns however was repulsed, and Kitchener was sent to take command of the operations with strong reinforcements. His plan was the same as Settle's, who joined him in Prieska on March 21, and was given the task of bringing to order the rebels left in the outlying districts south of the Orange River. In this he was successful, and when he reached Upington, on April 3, there was nothing to do but to arrange for the policing of the disaffected districts. Settle then returned to Cape Town to resume his work as IG of Lines of Communication.
In September, 1900, Settle, in cooperation with Methuen, was ordered from Vryburg to relieve Schweizer Reneke. He entered the town unopposed, and then in October he was ordered to the Free State. It is no dispragement to Settle, who worked hard and well in relieving garrisons and destroying supplies, that his column was humorously dubbed “Settle's Imperial Circus”, a description equally applicable to nearly all the unwieldy columns of that period. In the Boer invasion of Cape Colony and the great hunt for De Wet, from December, 1900, to March, 1901, Settle played his part. Kitchener adopted his recommendation that martial law should be at once proclaimed in Cape Colony, and ordered his to take command on the line of communications between De Aar and Naauwpoort, and to organise all available troops to prevent the passage of this railway. At the end of December, Settle, in command of four columns, pursued Hertzog, who was forced back to the north east. In Kitchener's plan of the following February against Hetzog and De Wet, Settle, who became, for the purposes of the operations, Littleton's Chief of Staff, was entrusted with the duty of giving all orders for moves to the fifteen columns engaged. The plan was so far successful but the fear of an immediate rising in Cape Colony was removed, and In March Settle resumed the direction of operations against Kritzinger and his comrades. In April, he was transferred to the western part of the Colony to organise resistance to some rebel bands under Maritz and Conroy. In May, he left South Africa on temporary leave of absence and the huge territory he had controlled was split into four. At the end of October, Settle returned and, after an enquiry into the administration of martial law and a short term of command at De Aar, succeeded in December to the administrative command of Cape Colony in succession to Major General Wynne. For his services in the war, he was twice mentioned in despatched, promoted to the rank of major general for distinguished serv | Royal Engineers |
