ARTICLES

his real or perceived role in these events, Hutton has been accused, over time, of “every kind
of Machiavellian plot” to draw Canada into the conflict, often as part of a wider imperial
defence conspiracy involving Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and
Minto. 7 Desmond Morton, among others, was convinced Hutton masterminded “an effective
campaign to push the government into sending a contingent.” 8 It was a line of thinking that
was not only applicable to Canada. In Australia during the 1970s, for example, an academic
orthodoxy of interpretation arose thanks to the work of C. Connolly and L. Field that
Australians went to war unenthusiastically and under the coercive effect of British scheming.
As in Canada, this was patently untrue. As Craig Wilcox argued, “Australians were more
partners in the imperial cause than victims of it.” 9 The central purpose of this article is to
provide a fresh interpretation of events surrounding the Canadian decision to send an official
detachment to South Africa, and Hutton’s role within it. There is more to this tale than has
been traditionally portrayed.
Source: Library and Archives Canada
Major-General Edward Thomas Henry “Curley” Hutton and wife Eleanor, November 1898, Ottawa
The sharp decline in Hutton’s fortunes in Canada and a commensurate increase in interest in
military affairs across the empire corresponded with, and was dramatically hastened by, the
crisis surrounding the outbreak of the Boer War. As the diplomatic situation deteriorated in
South Africa, Chamberlain sought to harness the imperial sentiment that he had been
shepherding so assiduously. A few hundred militiamen around the empire had already offered
service, including a detachment of New South Wales Lancers training at Aldershot.
Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, noted as preparations for an
expeditionary force preceded that: “It would create an excellent feeling if each of the Australian
32 THE CANADIAN ARMY JOURNAL VOLUME 16.2 2016