Canadian Personallities
Major Arthur L. (“Gat”) Howard (1846-1901)
Commanding Officer, Canadian Scouts
Major Arthur L. (“Gat”) Howard, machine gun officer with the
Royal Canadian Dragoons in South Africa, February — December 1900;
founder and Commanding Officer of the Canadian Scouts, December 1900 —
February 1901.
An American by birth, and an officer in the Connecticut National
Guard, Howard was sent north by the Colt Firearms Company to operate a
Gatling gun that the company had loaned to the Canadian militia for use
in the Northwest Campaign of 1885. A colourful and charismatic
character, he soon became something of a hero of that campaign, and was
given his nickname "Gat" by the popular press. He stayed in Canada, and
became quite wealthy as a major shareholder in the Dominion Cartridge
Factory. Howard offered to provide a battery of four machine guns at
his own expense for service in the South African War. The Department of
Militia and Defence refused his offer, although Howard accepted the
position of machine gun officer in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles
(later called the
Royal Canadian Dragoons).
Howard, in his mid-fifties, was an aggressive, fearless leader who
fought the Boers at close quarters. On one occasion he only escaped
capture at the last moment by detaching the machine gun from its
carriage and carrying it away.
Instead of returning home with his unit in December 1900, Howard
organized the
Canadian Scouts and took command of
the unit. He was killed in action on 17 February 1901. Major Howard's
impressive military exploits were among the most dramatic in the history
of Canada's participation in the South African War.