 He participated in the Bechuanaland campaign in 1897 and was deployed with the Colonial Division in the Cape Colony and Orange Free State in 1899 at the start of the Second Boer War.On 13 October 1900 he was appointed as commanding officer of the CMR with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and on 1 June 1901 he was made Second-in-Command of Colonel H. Scobell's column.A couple of days later he was mentioned by Lord Kitchener for gallantry in attack on laager in Cape Colony 8 June 1901, and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).