 He was appointed in command of the Meerut district, in the Bengal Command, on 22 September 1898.Lord Kitchener succeeded as chief of command during the Second Boer War in late 1900, and requested Blood for service in South Africa, where he arrived in early March 1901.He spent six months in command of a division fighting in the Eastern Transvaal with the local rank of lieutenant-general on the Staff from 1 April 1901.