Lieutenant-General Archibald Hunter was born on 6 September 1856 and began his military education in Glasgow before enrolling at the Military College at Sandhurst.
At the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902) he was on the staff of Sir George White’s Natal Field Force and was in Ladysmith during the siege. After the siege Hunter joined Lord Roberts’ army on the march on Pretoria, following the capture of Bloemfontein.
During the guerrilla phase of the war he was in overall command of the British force that converged on the Free State Boers camped in the Brandwater Basin. The surrender of the Boers (over 4 000) was the largest number of Boers captured in the war and cost very little in British casualties – 33 dead and 242 wounded.
