William Forbes Gatacre

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Lieutenant-General Sir William Forbes Gatacre KCB, DSO (1843-1906) was an British soldier, born near Stirling, and educated at Royal Military College Sandhurst. He entered the army in 1862 and retired in 1904, after serving in various conflicts.

In the Second Boer War he was placed at the head of a division with the rank of lieutenant general. Gatacre was the commanding general of the Commonwealth forces at the Battle of Stormberg in which 135 men were killed and 696 captured during an ambush.

Though he worked them hard, Gatacre's men loved him and called him "General Backacher." Lady Gatacre wrote his Life, (London, 1910).