View source for Ian Hamilton (British Army officer)

{{Short description|British Army general (1853–1947)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| name          = Sir Ian Hamilton
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|GCMG|DSO|TD}}
| image         = Sir Ian Hamilton (cropped).jpg
| image_size    = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = Sir Ian Hamilton in {{circa|1910}}
| nickname      = 
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1853|01|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Corfu]], [[United States of the Ionian Islands]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1947|10|12|1853|1|16|df=yes}}
| death_place   = [[London]], England
| placeofburial = 
| allegiance    = United Kingdom
| branch        = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1869–1915
| rank          = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| servicenumber = 
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]]<br/>[[Southern Command (United Kingdom)|Southern Command]]<br/>[[3rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|3rd Brigade]]<br/>1st [[Gordon Highlanders]]
| battles       = [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]]<br/>[[First Boer War]]<br/>[[Mahdist War]]<br/>[[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier]]<br/>[[Second Boer War]]<br/>[[Russo-Japanese War]]<br/>[[First World War]]
* [[Gallipoli campaign]]
| awards        = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Territorial Decoration]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]]<br/>[[Order of the Red Eagle]] (Prussia)<br/>[[Order of the Crown (Prussia)|Order of the Crown]] (Prussia)<br/>[[Order of Merit (Spain)|Order of Merit]] (Spain)<br/>[[Order of the Sacred Treasure]] (Japan)
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = [[Lieutenant of the Tower of London]] (1918–20)<br/>[[Rector of the University of Edinburgh]] (1932–35)
}}
[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|GCB|GCMG|DSO|TD}} (16 January 1853 – 12 October 1947) was a senior [[British Army]] officer who had an extensive [[British Empire|British Imperial]] military career in the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era]]s. Hamilton was twice recommended for the [[Victoria Cross]], but on the first occasion was considered too young, and on the second too senior.{{sfnp|Carlyon|2002|p=17}} He was wounded in action at the [[Battle of Majuba]] during the [[First Boer War]], which rendered his left hand permanently injured. Near the end of his career, he commanded the [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]] in the [[Gallipoli campaign]] of the [[First World War]].

==Early life==
Hamilton was born in Corfu, [[United States of the Ionian Islands]] on 16 January 1853.<ref name="1914-1918">{{cite web |title=Biography of Sir Ian Hamilton |url=http://www.1914-1918.net/hamilton-bio.htm |website=The Long, Long Trail |access-date=17 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517184453/http://www.1914-1918.net/hamilton-bio.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref> His father was Colonel Christian Monteith Hamilton, former commanding officer of the [[92nd Highlanders]]. His mother Corinna was the daughter of [[John Vereker, 3rd Viscount Gort]]. His mother died giving birth to his brother, [[Vereker Monteith Hamilton|Vereker]], who became a well-known artist. Hamilton received his early formal education at [[Wellington College, Berkshire]]. His father then sent him to stay with General Drammers, a [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanoverian]] who had [[Austro-Prussian War|fought against Prussia]].

==Military career==
Hamilton attended the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] in 1869, the first year that entrance to the British Army as an officer was regulated by academic examination rather than by the monetary [[Purchase of commissions in the British Army|purchasing of a commission]]. In 1871 he received a commission as an [[infantry]] officer with the [[Suffolk Regiment]], but shortly afterwards transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the [[Gordon Highlanders]], who at that time were on Imperial garrison service in [[British Raj|India]]. On arrival in India Hamilton took part in the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]].

During the [[First Boer War]] he was present at the [[Battle of Majuba]], where he was wounded and taken prisoner of war by the [[Boers]]. He later returned to England to recover, where he was treated as a war hero and introduced to [[Queen Victoria]]. In 1882 he was made [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] and took part in the [[Nile Expedition]] of 1884–1885, being promoted to [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]]. In [[Third Anglo-Burmese War|Burma 1886–1887]] he became brevet [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]]. In Bengal from 1890 to 1893 held the rank of [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] and was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] in 1891. He took part in the [[Chitral Expedition]] as military secretary to Sir [[George White (British Army officer)|George White]], [[Commander-in-Chief, India]], a role he assumed in April 1893.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26416|page=3642|date=27 June 1893}}</ref> From 1895 to 1898 he held the post of Deputy Quartermaster General in India. In 1897–1898 he commanded the third brigade in the [[Tirah Campaign]], where his left arm was wounded by a shell.

He returned to England in April 1898 and was appointed Commandant of the [[School of Musketry]] at Hythe.

===Second Boer War===
[[File:Colonel Ian Hamilton.jpg|thumb|Colonel Ian Hamilton, [[John Singer Sargent]], 1898]]

Amidst mounting tensions between the United Kingdom and the [[Boer republics]] in South Africa Lieutenant General White was dispatched to take command in Natal in September 1899, with Hamilton accompanying him as Chief Staff Officer (Assistant Adjutant General). The [[Second Boer War]] broke out shortly after their arrival and Hamilton commanded the infantry at the [[Battle of Elandslaagte]]. At the [[Battle of Ladysmith]] Hamilton continued to lead his brigade-sized column, but played no role in the fighting. Defeated in the field, White's [[Natal Field Force]] was [[Siege of Ladysmith|besieged in Ladysmith]] from the beginning of November. Hamilton was given command of the southern sector of the town's defences and successfully fought off the only major assault on the garrison at the [[Battle of Wagon Hill]] in January. For his part in the siege, he was frequently mentioned in despatches.

After the relief of Ladysmith in February Hamilton took command of a brigade of [[Mounted Infantry]], and from April the Mounted Infantry Division. He was promoted to [[Major general (United Kingdom)|major general]], and knighted as a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] (KCB).<ref name=LG27306>{{London Gazette |issue=27306 |date=19 April 1901 |page=2695}}</ref> The war correspondent [[Winston Churchill]] told of his campaign from [[Bloemfontein]] to [[Pretoria]] in ''[[Ian Hamilton's March]]'' (London, 1900, reprinted as the second half of ''The Boer War''), having first met Hamilton in 1897 when they sailed on the same ship. Hamilton travelled 400 miles from Bloemfontein to Pretoria fighting 10 major battles with Boer forces (including the [[Battle of Rooiwal]]) and fourteen minor ones, and was recommended twice for the [[Victoria Cross]] (which was considered inappropriate because of his rank).

In May 1901 Hamilton was appointed [[Military Secretary (United Kingdom)|Military Secretary]] at the [[War Office]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27311 |date=7 May 1901 |page=3124}}</ref> but the following November he was again asked to return to South Africa as Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The War – Lord Kitchener's staff |date=8 November 1901 |page=6 |issue=36607}}</ref> He arrived in South Africa in late November 1901, and received the local rank of [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|lieutenant general]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27376 |date=12 November 1901 |page=7293}}</ref> In April 1902 he took command of the military columns operating in the Western [[South African Republic|Transvaal]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence – The War – The Transvaal|date=11 April 1902 |page=3 |issue=36739}}</ref> Following the end of hostilities in June 1902, he returned to the UK together with Lord Kitchener on board the ''SS Orotava'',<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home |date=26 June 1902 |page=10 |issue=36804}}</ref> which arrived in [[Southampton]] on 12 July. They received an enthusiastic welcome on their arrival to London, with thousands of people lining the streets to watch their procession.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Lord Kitchener's return |date=14 July 1902 |page=6 |issue=36819}}</ref>

In a despatch dated 23 June 1902, Lord Kitchener wrote the following about his work in South Africa:
{{blockquote|At much personal convenience, [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] lent me his Military Secretary, Sir Ian Hamilton, as my Chief of Staff. His high soldierly qualities are already well known, and his reputation does not require to be established now. I am much indebted to him for his able and constant support to me as Chief of Staff, also for the marked skill and self-reliance he showed later, when directing operations in the Western Transvaal.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27459 |date=29 July 1902 |page=4835 }}</ref>}}

Hamilton was promoted to lieutenant general for distinguished service in the field on 22 August 1902.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27490|date=31 October 1902 |page=6897}}</ref> He returned to his post as Military Secretary at the War Office in September 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=27481 |page=6413 |date=10 October 1902}}</ref> and the same month accompanied Lord Roberts, [[Commander-in-Chief of the Forces]], and [[St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton|St John Brodrick]], [[Secretary of State for War]], on a visit to [[German Empire|Germany]] to attend the [[Imperial German Army]] maneuvers as guest of the Emperor [[Wilhelm II]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The German Manoeuvres |date=5 September 1902 |page=6 |issue=36865}}</ref> From 1903 to 1904 he was [[Quartermaster-General to the Forces]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/British_Front/Hamilton_01.htm |title=General Sir Ian Hamilton, G.C.B |journal=[[The War Illustrated]] |volume=IV |page=1290 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213175025/http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/British_Front/Hamilton_01.htm |archive-date=13 February 2009}}</ref>

===Japan===
[[File:Foreign Officers and Correspondents after the Battle of Shaho.jpg|thumb|Western military attachés and war correspondents with the Japanese forces after the [[Battle of Shaho]] (1904)]]

From 1904 to 1905, Hamilton was the [[military attaché]] of the [[British Indian Army]] serving with the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] in [[Manchuria]] during the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. Amongst the several military attachés from Western countries, he was the first to arrive in Japan after the start of the war.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chapman |first1=John |first2=Ian |last2=Nish |author-link2=Ian Nish  |url=http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/is/IS475.pdf |title=On the Periphery of the Russo-Japanese War, Part I (Note 42) |page=53 |date=April 2004 |journal=Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines |publisher=[[London School of Economics and Political Science]] (LSE)}}</ref> He published ''A Staff Officer's Scrap-Book during the Russo–Japanese War'' on his experiences and observations during that conflict.{{sfnp|Kowner|2006|p=140}}
[[File:Japanese General Kuroki Tamemoto and British Officier Sir Ian Hamilton.jpg|thumb|left|Gen. Sir Ian Hamilton (facing front) with Japanese General [[Kuroki Tamemoto]] after the Japanese victory in [[Battle of Shaho]] (1904).]]
This military confrontation between a well-known European army and a less-familiar Asian army was the first time that the tactics of entrenched positions for infantry were defended with machine guns and artillery. This was the first twentieth-century war in which the technology of warfare became increasingly important, factors which came to dominate the evolution of warfare during the [[First World War]]. Hamilton wrote that cavalry was obsolete in such a conflict, regarding their role as better accomplished by mounted infantry. He became a supporter of non-traditional tactics such as night attacks and the use of aircraft. Conversely, the successful Japanese infantry assaults convinced him that superior morale would allow an attacker to overcome prepared defensive positions.

==Return to England and Inspector-General of Overseas Forces==
[[File:Ian Hamilton.jpg|thumb|General Hamilton in a formal pose (1910).]]

Hamilton went on to serve as [[General Officer Commanding]] (GOC) [[Southern Command (United Kingdom)|Southern Command]] between 1905 and 1909 and as [[Adjutant-General to the Forces]] between 1909 and 1910.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma/collection/h/ha30-001/ |title=Hamilton, Gen. Sir Ian Standish Monteith (1853–1947) |work=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives |publisher=King's College London}}, and [[The London Gazette]], 1 June 1909, Issue 28256, [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28256/page/4160 p.4160].</ref> In October 1907, while GOC-in-C Southern Command, he was promoted to [[General (United Kingdom)|general]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28072|page=7126|date=25 October 1907}}</ref>

By 1911 Hamilton had been appointed, in August 1910, [[Inspector-General of Overseas Forces]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28403|page=5583|date=2 August 1910}}</ref> and by 1913 also, additionally, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief [[Mediterranean Command]], with major-generals in Gibraltar, [[Colony of Malta|Malta]], and [[History of Egypt under the British|Egypt]], plus the forces in the [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]] and [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]] seemingly reporting to him.{{sfn|Rinaldi| 2008|p=14}} In July 1914 he was returning to the United Kingdom with his appointment about to expire.{{sfn|Rinaldi| 2008|p=25}} In June 1914 he succeeded General [[Horace Smith-Dorrien]] as [[aide-de-camp general]] to King [[George V]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28845|page=5070|date=30 June 1914}}</ref>

==First World War==
On 5 August 1914, with the [[British declaration of war upon Germany (1914)|declaration of hostilities]] between Britain and Germany, Hamilton was appointed as the [[Commander-in-Chief, Home Army]]. He also became commander of "[[Central Force]]", the predominantly [[Territorial Force]] military formation which was charged with repelling any seaborne German invasion of the east coast of England in the early part of the war.

In November 1914 he took over the position of colonel of the Gordon Highlanders from General Sir [[Charles W. H. Douglas]], who had died suddenly.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28986|page=9972|date=24 November 1914|supp=y}}</ref>

===Gallipoli campaign===
{{Main|Gallipoli campaign}}
{{Expand section|date=May 2019}}

[[File:Sir Ian Hamilton inspects Royal Naval Division.jpg|thumb|right|General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, inspecting the [[63rd (Royal Naval) Division|Royal Naval Division]] at Gallipoli, 1915.]]

In March 1915, [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] appointed Hamilton, aged 62, to the command of the Allied [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]], with orders to gain control of the [[Dardanelles]] straits from the [[Ottoman Empire]] and to capture [[Constantinople]]. While a senior and respected officer, perhaps more experienced in different campaigns than most, Hamilton was considered too unconventional, too intellectual, and too friendly with politicians to be given a command on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].{{sfnp|Carlyon|2002|pp=16–17}} Hamilton was not given a chance to take part in planning the campaign. Intelligence reports on the [[Ottoman Empire]]'s military defensive capacity were poor and underestimated its strength. While the high command of the [[Greek Army]], which possessed far more detailed knowledge of the Ottoman Empire's military capacity, warned Kitchener that a British Expeditionary Force entering the Eastern Mediterranean theatre would require 150,000 troops to capture Gallipoli, Kitchener concluded that a force of 70,000 men would be adequate to overpower any defensive garrison there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWgallipoli.htm |title=Gallipoli Campaign |website=[[Spartacus Educational]]}}</ref>

The plan to take control of the Dardanelles and open a new front in the war had been considered in various forms since 1914. In November of that year, ships from the [[Royal Navy]] had shelled its outer forts, causing the magazine at Seddülbahir castle to explode. In December 1914, a Royal Navy submarine entered the channel and sank the Turkish warship [[Ottoman ironclad Mesudiye|''Mesudiye'']] at [[Çanakkale]]. These early experiences raised in Kitchener's mind the prospect of an easy victory for a more ambitious operation, but as a consequence of them, the Turks had set about laying [[Naval mine|sea-mines]] in the straits to interdict Allied ships approaching again and strengthened the forts guarding its approaches. On 3 January 1915, the British [[First Sea Lord]], Admiral Sir [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|John Fisher]], presented a plan to the British Government for a joint naval and army attack, utilizing 75,000 troops, but only on the proviso that it could be launched with little delay. By 21 January 1915, Fisher wrote privately to Admiral Sir [[John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe|John Jellicoe]] that he could not approve the plan unless 200,000 men were available to carry it through. [[Winston Churchill]], as [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], had initially suggested in September 1914 that the operation would need the support of only 50,000 men, a strength of just over two British Army [[Division (military)|divisions]].

[[File:Keyes Robeck Hamilton Braithwaite.jpg|thumb|left|From left to right: Admiral Sir [[Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes|Roger Keyes]], Vice-Admiral [[John de Robeck]], General Sir Ian Hamilton (his disabled left hand clearly visible), Major General [[Walter Braithwaite]], Hamilton’s chief of staff, on board [[HMS Triad (N88)|HMS ''Triad'']].]]

Starting on 19 February 1915, British and French warships attempted to take the strait using naval power alone but failed after an abortive attack foundered upon sea mines. Lord Kitchener then decided that an invasion by troops of the [[Gallipoli]] peninsula would be required to support the naval operation with a land campaign, led by Hamilton,{{sfnp|Carlyon|2002|pp=65–72}} who became responsible for organising landings there. Hamilton had no specialised landing craft, the disparate troops he had been given had no training for seaborne operations,{{sfn|Meyer|2006|pp=484–485}} and supplies for the army had been packed in ways which made them difficult to access for landings. Hamilton believed that the Royal Navy would make further attacks during his campaign; realising its likely losses, however, and fundamentally opposing the idea that tactical losses of its ships in the operation was an acceptable price to pay, the Royal Naval high command declined to mount another attack.{{sfnp|Carlyon|2002|pp=79–83}}

With the Gallipoli campaign stalled, Hamilton was recalled to London on 16 October 1915, effectively ending his military career.

==Later life==
In retirement, Hamilton was a leading figure in the [[ex-service]]men organization, the [[British Legion]], holding the position of Scottish President. He was also a founding member and vice-president of the [[Germany–United Kingdom relations#Interwar|Anglo-German Association]] in 1928, which worked to promote rapprochement between Britain and Germany. He maintained a relationship with the Association after [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power, described himself as "an admirer of the great Adolph Hitler", and dismissed ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' as a "youthful excess". (In the historian [[Ian Kershaw]]'s view, however, Hamilton was a pillar of the British Imperial power establishment and not a Nazi supporter, despite his early apparent approval for much of what the early manifestation of [[Nazi Germany]] proclaimed).{{sfnp|Kershaw|2004}} In 1934, at the age of 81, Hamilton was filmed as part of a war documentary film called ''Forgotten Men''.<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123678880|title=Forgotten Men (1934)}}</ref>

==Gordon drums==
In October 1914, during [[WWI]], the 2nd [[Battalion]] [[Gordon Highlanders]] landed in [[Ostend]], [[Belgium]], and was transported to the front. They took with them their pipes but the bulky drums were left in Ostend, under the care of the police, because the transport wagons were "overloaded." After [[German occupation of Belgium during World War I|Ostend fell to the Germans]], the drums were taken to the [[Armoury Museum]] in [[Berlin]] as a "war trophy." Twenty years later, in 1934, Hamilton, the Regiment's colonel, wrote to Germany's president [[Paul von Hindenburg]] requesting the return of the seven drums and von Hindenburg "immediately" agreed. Hamilton traveled personally to the German capital and received the Gordon drums in a ceremony in which he spoke of his wish that there will be "no more war" between the "old allies of [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]]."<ref name=swap>{{cite news |date=1 February 1934|title=British War Drums Returned by Germans; Hindenburg and Hamilton, Both Octogenarians, Swap Tales of Many Campaigns|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/01/archives/british-war-drums-returned-by-germans-hindenburg-and-hamilton-both.html|work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=12 May 2023|page=6}}</ref><ref name=waterloo>{{cite book |last=Mitchell  |first= Stewart |date= 2013|title=Scattered Under the Rising Sun: The Gordon Highlanders in the Far East 1941-1945 |publisher= Pen and Sword Military|chapter=Chapter 2: Prelude The Road to Singapore 1934-1937|isbn= 9781781590256}}</ref>

==Death==
Hamilton died on 12 October 1947, aged 94, at his home at [[Hyde Park Gardens]] in London.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201314006 |title=Sir Ian Hamilton Dies in His Sleep |newspaper=[[Telegraph (Brisbane)|The Telegraph]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=13 October 1947 |access-date=5 March 2017 |page=6|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> His body was buried at Kilmadock Cemetery, in [[Doune]], [[Stirlingshire]], [[Scotland]]. In 2013, his grave was found to have fallen into a semi-derelict condition, and it was refurbished by [[Stirling Council]].<ref>{{cite web|date= July 2013|url= https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/196496-general-sir-ian-hamilton-grave/|website=greatwarforum.org|title=General Sir Ian Hamilton Grave}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2023}}

==Personal life==
[[File:Jean, Wife of Colonel Ian Hamilton.jpg|thumb|Jean, Wife of Colonel Ian Hamilton, [[John Singer Sargent]], 1896]]
Hamilton spoke [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]] and [[Hindi language|Hindi]], and was considered charming, courtly and kind. He appeared frail yet was full of energy.{{sfnp|Carlyon|2002|p=17}}

In 1887 he married Jean Muir, the daughter of a [[Glasgow]] businessman. They originally had no intention of starting a family, but adopted two children after the First World War. His adopted son, Captain Harry Knight, was killed in action in 1941 with the [[Scots Guards]].<ref name = "ODNBHamilton">{{Cite ODNB|id=33668|title=Hamilton, Sir Ian Standish Monteith|last = Cassar | first = George H. | year = 2011}}</ref> His adopted daughter, Phyllis James, moved to Austria in the late 1930s, aiming to become an actress. In the following years, she invented an Irish background for herself - as Nora O'Mara, then Rosaleen O'Mara - and became involved with German wartime propaganda and intelligence operations against Ireland. Following the war, she became a writer on Irish culture, under the name Róisín Ni Mhéara, and published a controversial memoir in 1991 defending herself and denying the Holocaust. She died in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hull |first1=Mark M. |title=Holocaust denial, treason and Irish identity |url=https://historyireland.com/holocaust-denial-treason-irish-identity/ |website=History Ireland |access-date=5 May 2025 |date=30 October 2017}}</ref>

Along with his professional career, Hamilton was a prolific writer. He published a volume of poetry and a novel contemporarily described as risqué. Examples of his written works include: ''The Fighting of the Future'', ''Icarus'', ''A Jaunt on a Junk'', ''A Ballad of Hadji'', and ''A Staff Officer's Scrapbook''. In the introduction to his ''Gallipoli Diary'', he stated: "There is nothing certain about war, except that one side won't win".{{sfn|Hamilton|1920|p=v.}}

He was a cousin of the diarist [[James Lees-Milne]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancestral Voices|author=  Lees-Milne, James|publisher=Faber and Faber|year= 1975|page= 124}}</ref>

==Selected works==
Hamilton's known published writings encompass 184 works in 568 publications, in six languages, and 4,455 library holdings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n80-86468 |title=Hamilton, Ian, Sir 1853–1947 |website=[[WorldCat Identities]]}}</ref>
{{dynamic list}}
* {{cite book |title=The Ballad of Hádji, and Other Poems |url= https://archive.org/details/balladofhadjioth00hami|first=Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|year=1887|ref=no}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/astaffofficerss00hamigoog |title=A Staff officer's Scrap-book during the Russo-Japanese War|volume= I.|location=London |publisher=E. Arnold|first=Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|year=1905|ref=no}} <!-- NOTE: For some reason [[Internet Archive]] lists this as Vol. II but it is actually Volume I -->
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/staffofficersscr009262mbp |title=A Staff officer's Scrap-book during the Russo-Japanese War|volume=  II. |location=London & New York |publisher=E. Arnold & Longmans, Green |oclc=10080215|first=Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|year=1907|ref=no}}
* {{cite book |title=Compulsory Service; a Study of the Question in the Light of Experience |url=https://archive.org/details/compulsoryservic00hami|first=Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|year=1910|ref=no}}
* {{cite book |title=National life and national training |url=https://archive.org/details/nationallifenati00hamirich|first=Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|year=1913|ref=no}}
* 1915 — ''Sir Ian Hamilton's Despatches from the Dardanelles, etc.''
* 1919 — ''The Millennium''
* {{cite book |title=Gallipoli Diary |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924088057215 |year=1920 |location=New York |publisher=George H. Doran |oclc=580456|first=Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|ref=no}}
* {{cite book |title=The Soul and Body of an Army |url = https://archive.org/details/soulbodyofarmy00hamiiala|first =Ian|last=Hamilton|author-mask=1|year=1921|ref=no}}
* 1923 — ''The Friends of England; Lectures to Members of the British Legion''
* 1926 — ''Now and Then''
* 1939 — ''When I was a Boy''
* 1944 — ''Listening for the Drums''
* 1957 — ''The Commander''

==Assessments==
British Prime Minister [[H. H. Asquith]] remarked that he thought that Hamilton had "too much feather in his brain",{{sfn |Cassar|1994|p=78}} whereas [[Charles Bean]], a [[war correspondent]] who had reported from the scene of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 and who went on to write Australia's Official History of the 1914–1918 War, considered that Hamilton possessed "a breadth of mind which the army in general does not possess".{{sfnp|Carlyon|2002|p=18}} Writing in his 'Gallipoli Memories', Sir [[Compton Mackenzie]] makes it clear that his view was aligned with that of Charles Bean.

== Honours, awards and decorations ==
Hamilton received the honorary [[Legum Doctor|Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D) from the [[University of Glasgow]] in June 1901.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-glasgow-university-jubilee/131294008/ |date=14 June 1901 |title=Glasgow University Jubilee |page=10 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |publication-place=London |issue=36481 |access-date=2024-01-05 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

A statue of the then Lt.-Gen Hamilton stands on the Boer War memorial in [[Cheltenham]].

===Decorations===
*'''DSO''' : [[Distinguished Service Order]] – ''1891''

'''Most Honourable [[Order of the Bath]]'''

* '''CB''' : Companion – ''1896'' – [[Chitral Expedition|Chitral relief force]]
* '''KCB''' : Knight Commander – ''29 November 1900'' – in recognition of services in connection with the Campaign in South Africa 1899–1900<ref name=LG27306 />
* '''GCB''' : Knight Grand Cross – ''1910''

'''Most Distinguished [[Order of St Michael and St George]]'''
* '''GCMG''' : Knight Grand Cross – ''1919''

;Foreign
*Knight 1st class of the [[Order of the Crown (Prussia)|Order of the Crown]] ([[Prussia]]) – during his September 1902 visit to Germany to attend German Army manoeuvres.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest Intelligence – The German Army Maneuvres |date=16 October 1902 |page=4 |issue=36900}}</ref>

==Legacy==
* Hamilton Preparatory School, in [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal]], is named after Hamilton.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.hamiltonprep.co.za/about_us.htm |website=Hamilton Preparatory School |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814074424/http://hamiltonprep.co.za/about_us.htm |archive-date=14 August 2013}}</ref>
*His medals are currently held by [[National Museums Scotland]], with the miniatures being held by The [[Gordon Highlanders Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-180-000-177-C|title=National Museums of Scotland – Orders and medals, awarded to General Sir Ian Hamilton|website=nms.scran.ac.uk|access-date=2020-04-13}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War]]
{{Clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last=Carlyon |first=Les |author-link=Les Carlyon |title=Gallipoli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilU_AAAACAAJ&q=Gallipoli+Carlyon |year=2002 |location=New York |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-0-7329-1128-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Cassar |first=George H. |title=Asquith As War Leader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suv6Rrc-OeQC&pg=PA78 |year=1994 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-117-0 }}
* [[Winston Churchill]]: [https://archive.org/details/ianhamiltonsmar00frangoog/page/n10/mode/2up ''Ian Hamilton's march''] (1900) <!--- Longmans, Green, and Co.--->
* {{cite book |title=Gallipoli Diary |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924088057215 |year=1920 |location=New York |publisher=George H. Doran |oclc=580456|first=Ian|last=Hamilton}}
* {{cite book |last=Kershaw |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Kershaw |title=Making friends with Hitler: Lord Londonderry and Britain's road to war |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5wOAAAACAAJ&q=Making+Friends+with+Hitler:+Lord+Londonderry+and+the+British+Road+to+War |year=2004 |publisher=Allen Lane |location=London |isbn=978-0-7139-9717-0}} 
* {{cite book |last=Kowner |first=Rotem |author-link=Rotem Kowner |year=2006 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |location=[[Lanham, Maryland]] |isbn=0-8108-4927-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Meyer |first=G.J. |year=2006 |title=A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=978-0553803549}}
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzUZ-26KYQ4C&pg=PA383|title=Order of Battle of the British Army 1914|last=Rinaldi|first=Richard A.|year=2008|publisher=Ravi Rikhye|isbn=9780977607280}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Kornicki |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Kornicki |year=2010 |chapter=General Sir Ian Hamilton and the Russo-Japanese War |editor-first=Hugh |editor-last=Cortazzi |editor-link=Hugh Cortazzi |title=Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits |volume=7 |location=Folkestone |publisher=Global Oriental |pages=162–78}}
* {{cite book|title=A Soldier's Life: General Sir Ian Hamilton, 1853–1947'|first= John|last= Lee|publisher= Macmillan|year= 2000}}
*{{Cite book|last=McGilvray|first=Evan|title=Hamilton and Gallipoli: British Command in the Age of Military Transformation|publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]]|year=2015|isbn=978-1781590768}}
*{{cite book|last=Jones|first=John Philip|title=Johnny: The Legend and Tragedy of General Sir Ian Hamilton|publisher=ReadHowYouWant
|year=2014|isbn=978-1848847880}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=8595}}
* {{cite web |first=Chris |last=Baker |url=http://www.1914-1918.net/hamilton-bio.htm |title=Ian Hamilton |work=The Long, Long Trail |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517184453/http://www.1914-1918.net/hamilton-bio.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/007024}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Coleridge Grove|Sir Coleridge Grove]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Military Secretary (United Kingdom)|Military Secretary]]|years=1901–1903}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ronald Lane|Sir Ronald Lane]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Sir Charles Clarke, 3rd Baronet|Sir Charles Clarke]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Quartermaster-General to the Forces]]|years=1903–1904}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer|Sir Herbert Plumer]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Evelyn Wood (British Army officer)|Sir Evelyn Wood]]<br /><small>(as Commander [[II Corps (United Kingdom)|II Army Corps]])</small>}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Southern Command (United Kingdom)|GOC-in-C Southern Command]]|years=1905–1909}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles W. H. Douglas|Sir Charles Douglas]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles W. H. Douglas|Sir Charles Douglas]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Adjutant-General to the Forces|Adjutant General]]|years=1909–1910}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Spencer Ewart|Sir Spencer Ewart]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[Central Force|Commander-in-Chief, Home Army]]|years=1914–1915|before=[[Charles Whittingham Horsley Douglas|Sir Charles Douglas]]<br /><small>(as Inspector-General Home Forces)</small>|after=[[Leslie Rundle|Sir Leslie Rundle]]}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box | before=[[Winston Churchill]]| title=[[Rector of the University of Edinburgh]] | years=1932–1935 | after=[[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|The Viscount Allenby]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Edinburgh Rectors}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Ian Standish Monteith}}
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