page_title: John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
section_title: Transvaal
hierarchical_section_title: John French, 1st Earl of Ypres / Boer War / Under Roberts / Transvaal
caption_attribution_description: English: Caricature of General John French. Caption read "The Cavalry Division".
context_page_description: Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC, known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to an Anglo-Irish family, he saw brief service as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, before becoming a cavalry officer. He achieved rapid promotion and distinguished himself on the Gordon Relief Expedition. French had a considerable reputation as a womaniser throughout his life, and his career nearly ended when he was cited in the divorce of a brother officer whilst in India in the early 1890s.
  French became a national hero during the Second Boer War. He won the Battle of Elandslaagte near Ladysmith, escaping under fire on the last train as the siege began. He then commanded the Cavalry Division, winning the Battle of Klip Drift during a march to relieve Kimberley. He later conducted counter-insurgency operations in Cape Colony.
  During the Edwardian period he commanded I Corps at Aldershot, then served as Inspector-General of the Army, before becoming Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1912.
context_section_description: Roberts halted in Kroonstad to repair the railway and refit between 12 and 22 May.  New horses arrived for French, but a third of them were unfit for action, and French and Hutton were only able to muster 2,330 effectives.  French and Hamilton were now sent to threaten Johannesburg from the left.
  Roberts entered Johannesburg (31 May) and Pretoria (5 June), although without pressing Botha to a decisive battle in either case.  French correctly dismissed talk of victory as premature, and continued to spend much of his time inspecting remounts—the job of Director of Remounts at Stellenbosch had been given to an incompetent and manic depressive officer, who eventually shot himself. French played a key role at the victory over Louis Botha at Diamond Hill (11–12 June) in the north-east Transvaal.  French, leading one of his own brigades in the usual encircling movement, came under heavy fire—a medical major was shot at his side—but held his position despite Roberts' permission to withdraw.
  In mid-July French operated against de Wet's guerrilla force around Pretoria, although he did not understand that this was an autonomous force, and advised Roberts that the best defence would be to continue to attack Botha's main army. French was then recalled to take part in another attack on Botha's army, but once again Roberts vetoed French's proposal of a deeper encirclement (on the British right this time), allowing Botha's army to escape.
  In late July 1900 Pole-Carew, commander of 11th Division, refused to accept French's orders.  French at first asked to be relieved of responsibility for Pole-Carew's sector, but matters were patched up after what French described as a "somewhat stormy" meeting.
caption: French caricatured by GDG for Vanity Fair, July 1900
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