Biography

British Army officer who commanded the Chitral Relief Expedition (1895), where he also collected plants which were later described by J.F. Duthrie. An aggressive and fearless leader, he was nicknamed 'General Back-Acher' for marching his men long distances, often driving them until they literally dropped. His leadership at the Battle of Atbara (1898), where Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated 6,000 Mahdist Sudanese, was later commemorated in a poem by W.T. McGonagall, though the author has been widely hailed as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language. Gatacre led an unsuccessful attack at the Battle of Stormberg (1899) during the Boer War and his defeat was compounded by being summarily dismissed without explanation. Lanjouw & Stafleu refer to a Brig. Gen. 'Gatere' collecting in N.W. India at the same time, though this is almost certainly W.F. Gatacre.