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                          Transcriber’s Note:

This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.

Errors, when reasonably attributable to the printer, have been
corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for
details. Corrections made to the text are summarized there.

Footnotes have been resequenced to be unique across the book, and have
been gathered at the end of each chapter.

The illustrations have been moved to avoid falling within a paragraph.
The captions will appear here as [Illustration: <caption>]. A large map
and accompanying legend was bound as a fold-out inside the end cover.
The Reference, included in that image is presented here, and contains a
daily location of the unit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            LUMSDEN’S HORSE

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: D.M. Lumsden.]

                              THE HISTORY
                                   OF
                            LUMSDEN’S HORSE

                A COMPLETE RECORD OF THE CORPS FROM ITS
                      FORMATION TO ITS DISBANDMENT

                               EDITED BY

                           HENRY H.S. PEARSE
                          (WAR CORRESPONDENT)

      AUTHOR OF ‘FOUR MONTHS BESIEGED—THE STORY OF LADYSMITH’ ETC.

              WITH MANY PORTRAITS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
                               AND A MAP




                        LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
                       39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
                          NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
                                  1903


                         [All rights reserved]

                                PREFACE


Although this History of Lumsden’s Horse embraces a period in the South
African campaign that was crowded with great issues, it makes no
pretence to rank among the many able and comprehensive works dealing
with those events. Elaborate descriptions and criticisms of operations
as a whole have been purposely avoided, except so far as they serve to
explain and emphasise actions in which the corps took part.

First of all, the book is intended to be no more than a regimental
record, enlivened by the personal experiences of men who helped to make
history at a time when the whole British Empire was moved by one
impulse. India’s part in that movement is the inspiring theme, and one
object has been to show how the idea of organising an Indian Volunteer
Contingent for service in South Africa passed from inception to
accomplishment, through the efforts of a Committee in Calcutta which
made itself responsible for every financial liability in connection with
the corps from its formation to its disbandment.

The cost of publication is being defrayed out of a balance of funds
remaining in the hands of the Committee, and each member of the corps
will receive a copy as a souvenir of his interesting experiences and a
proof that his services are still remembered. Publication, however, is
not restricted to members of the corps, and the Editor ventures to think
that this book will suggest to general readers many points worthy of
consideration. It illustrates the facility with which British subjects
in India are able to band themselves together, and affords yet another
instance of many in which the Indian Government has shown itself capable
of utilising instantly its resources for the Empire’s benefit. And, more
than this, it will stand as a proof of the cordiality with which the
Indian public—British and Native—came forward at a time of Imperial need
with offers of personal service or liberal subscriptions, which enabled
the Committee to raise and despatch a Mounted Contingent completely
equipped in every detail.

Among those who have assisted the Editor with information that has
enabled him to produce this History, he has especially to thank the
Committee, the Adjutant of the Regiment (Major NEVILLE TAYLOR, 14th
Bengal Lancers), whose sketch-map of the positions at Houtnek was made
from personal reconnaissance, and Messrs. D.S. FRASER, GRAVES,
BURN-MURDOCH, KIRWAN, and PRESTON. He is also indebted to Major Ross,
C.B., Durham Light Infantry, for interesting material. Acknowledgment is
due to Messrs. JOHNSTON & HOFFMANN, Messrs. F. KAPP & CO., Messrs.
BOURNE & SHEPHERD, and Messrs. HARRINGTON & CO., of Calcutta, and
others, who have kindly placed photographs at the Editor’s disposal; and
to the proprietors of the ‘Englishman,’ ‘Pioneer,’ ‘Indian Daily News,’
‘Statesman,’ ‘Times of India,’ and ‘Madras Daily Mail,’ for permission
to reproduce from their columns the personal narratives that brighten
many pages of this book.

                                                              H.H.S.P.

ARTS CLUB, LONDON: _January 1903_.

                                CONTENTS


    CHAPTER                                                      PAGE

            INTRODUCTION                                            1

         I. HOW THE CORPS WAS RAISED AND EQUIPPED                   7

        II. PREPARING FOR THE FRONT—DEPARTURE FROM CALCUTTA        40

       III. OUTWARD BOUND                                          68

        IV. NEARING THE GOAL—DISEMBARKATION AT CAPE TOWN AND
              EAST LONDON                                          85

         V. AN INTERLUDE—THE RESULTS OF SANNA’S POST               96

        VI. BY RAIL AND ROUTE MARCH TO BLOEMFONTEIN               109

       VII. IMPRESSIONS OF BLOEMFONTEIN—JOIN THE 8TH MOUNTED
              INFANTRY REGIMENT ON OUTPOST                        127

      VIII. THE BAPTISM OF FIRE—LUMSDEN’S HORSE AT OSPRUIT
              (HOUTNEK)                                           144

        IX. AFTER OSPRUIT—SOME TRIBUTES TO MAJOR SHOWERS AND
              OTHER HEROES                                        175

         X. PRISONERS OF WAR                                      191

        XI. TOWARDS PRETORIA—LUMSDEN’S HORSE SCOUTING AHEAD OF
              THE ARMY FROM BLOEMFONTEIN TO THE VAAL RIVER        208

       XII. JOHANNESBURG AND PRETORIA IN OUR HANDS                230

      XIII. ON LINES OF COMMUNICATION AT IRENE, KALFONTEIN,
              ZURFONTEIN, AND SPRINGS—THE PRETORIA PAPER-CHASE    248

       XIV. ALARMS AND EXCURSIONS—BOER SCOUTING—A
              RECONNAISSANCE TO CROCODILE RIVER—FAREWELL TO
              COLONEL ROSS                                        270

        XV. A MARCH UNDER MAHON OF MAFEKING TO RUSTENBURG AND
              WARMBATHS—IN PURSUIT OF DE WET                      286

       XVI. EASTWARD TO BELFAST AND BARBERTON UNDER GENERALS
              FRENCH AND MAHON                                    313

      XVII. MARCHING AND FIGHTING—FROM MACHADODORP TO
              HEIDELBERG AND PRETORIA UNDER GENERALS FRENCH
              AND DICKSON                                         340

     XVIII. HOMEWARD BOUND—APPROBATION FROM LORD ROBERTS—CAPE
              TOWN’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—FAREWELL TO SOUTH AFRICA     359

       XIX. THE RETURN TO INDIA—WELCOME HOME—HONOURS AND
              ORATIONS—DISBANDMENT                                377

        XX. A STIRRING SEQUEL—THE STORY OF THOSE WHO
              STAYED—MEMORIAL TRIBUTES TO THOSE WHO HAVE GONE     409

                           ------------------

                              _APPENDICES_

       I. ROLL OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE, INCLUDING TRANSPORT          427

      II. MOBILISATION SCHEME FOR LUMSDEN’S HORSE               437

     III. THE ADJUTANT’S NOTE-BOOK                              446

      IV. LIST OF OFFICERS, N.C.O.S, AND MEN WHO HAVE BEEN
            AWARDED DECORATIONS, COMMISSIONS, OR CIVIL
            APPOINTMENTS                                        454

       V. HONOURS AND PROMOTIONS                                456

      VI. HONORARY RANK IN THE ARMY                             461

     VII. LUMSDEN’S HORSE EQUIPMENT FUND                        462

    VIII. FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE CORPS                   476

      IX. LUMSDEN’S HORSE RECEPTION COMMITTEE                   480

       X. THE FINAL ACCOUNTS                                    483

      XI. REPORT OF TRANSPORT SERGEANT                          485

     XII. TOPICAL SONG BY A TROOPER                             490

          INDEX                                                 491

                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                _PLATES_

_From Drawings, and from Photographs by Messrs._ JOHNSTON & HOFFMANN,
    KAPP & CO., BOURNE & SHEPHERD, _and_ HARRINGTON & CO., _Calcutta_;
    _Messrs._ ELLIOTT & FRY, _London_, _and others_.

 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL D.M. LUMSDEN, C.B.                   _Frontispiece_
   (_Photogravure_)

 SIR PATRICK PLAYFAIR, C.I.E.                         _facing         1
                                                       page_

 HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON, VICEROY OF INDIA            ”            8

 BEHAR CONTINGENT OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE                     ”           14

 MYSORE AND COORG CONTINGENT                             ”           18

 THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE                                 ”           26

 COLONEL LUMSDEN, C.B., SIR PATRICK PLAYFAIR,
   C.I.E., COLONEL MONEY, MAJOR EDDIS, MR. HARRY
   STUART

 OFFICERS OF THE CORPS                                   ”           30

 COLONEL LUMSDEN, MAJOR SHOWERS, CAPTAINS TAYLOR,
   BERESFORD, NOBLETT, RUTHERFOORD, CHAMNEY,
   CLIFFORD, AND STEVENSON, LIEUTENANTS CRANE,
   NEVILLE, SIDEY, AND PUGH

 MESSING AT CALCUTTA                                     ”           34

 HORSES IN CAMP AT CALCUTTA                              ”           40

 ON PARADE, CALCUTTA                                     ”           44

 TAKING HORSES ON BOARD TRANSPORT 28                     ”           52

 EMBARKATION AT CALCUTTA                                 ”           56

 H.E. THE VICEROY ADDRESSING THE CORPS                   ”           60

 B COMPANY LUMSDEN’S HORSE LEAVING CALCUTTA              ”           64

 THE REGIMENT IN CALCUTTA                                ”           72

 MAXIM-GUN CONTINGENT                                    ”           76

 CAPTAIN HOLMES, SERGEANT DALE, C.V.S. DICKENS,
   N.J. BOLST, P.T. CORBETT

 SURMA VALLEY LIGHT HORSE. CONTINGENT OF                 ”           80
   LUMSDEN’S B COMPANY


 MAJOR (LOCAL COLONEL) W.C. ROSS, C.B.                   ”          117

 TRANSPORT AND WATER CARTS                               ”          132

 OUTLYING PICKET TAKING UP POSITION                      ”          136

 HOUTNEK, SHOWING POSITIONS OF BRITISH AND BOER          ”          144
   TROOPS

 N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS                                    ”          156

 SERGEANT F.S. McNAMARA, LANCE-SERGEANT J.S.
   ELLIOTT, CORPORAL A. MACGILLIVRAY, R.U. CASE,
   C.A. WALTON, A.F. FRANKS, J.S. SAUNDERS, R.N.
   MACDONALD, L. GWATKIN WILLIAMS

 BRINGING HALF-RATIONS UP TO NORMAL                      ”          213

 N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS                                    ”          214

 H.J. MOORHOUSE, A.K. MEARES, W.K. MEARES, H.W.
   PUCKRIDGE, R.G. DAGGE, R.P. WILLIAMS, R.C.
   NOLAN, T.G. PETERSEN, S. DUCAT

 N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS                                    ”          230

 CORPORAL L.E. KIRWAN, J.S. CAMPBELL, C.E. TURNER,
   E.S. CHAPMAN, G. INNES WATSON, C.E. STUART, C.
   CARY-BARNARD, E.S. CLIFFORD, H. GOUGH

 INVALIDED HOME AFTER THE SURRENDER OF PRETORIA          ”          248

 J. SKELTON, R.P. HAINES, H.W. THELWALL, C.K.
   MARTIN, H.S. CHESHIRE, H.B. OLDHAM, M.H. LOGAN,
   J.V. JAMESON, H. HOWES

 NIGHT IN CAMP                                           ”          296

 PHILIP STANLEY                                          ”          306

 TRANSPORT DRIVERS                                       ”          320

 T. HARE SCOTT, H.G. PHILLIPS, R.P. ESTABROOKE, J.
   BRAINE, R. PRINGLE, W. BURNAND

 TRANSPORT DRIVERS                                       ”          324

 L. DAVIS, LEO H. BRADFORD, C.W. LOVEGROVE, S.W.
   CULLEN, F.C. MANVILLE, F.C. THOMPSON

 THE LAUNDRY                                             ”          328

 H.P. BROWN, A TYPICAL TROOPER                           ”          340

 N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS                                    ”          346

 SERGEANT A.H. LUARD, CORPORAL G. LAWRIE, F.G.
   BATEMAN, L. KINGCHURCH, IAN SINCLAIR, PERCY
   COBB, HARVEY DAVIES, C.E. CONSTERDINE, D.
   ROBERTSON

 N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS                                    ”          360

 SERGEANT G.E. THESIGER, CORPORAL W.T. SMITH, E.B.
   MOIR-BYRES, J.A. BROWN, H. EVETTS, J.L. STEWART,
   H.N. SHAW, E.S. CLARKE, B.E. JONES


 GAZETTED TO THE REGULAR ARMY                            ”          366

 CORPORAL F.S. MONTAGU BATES, H.S.N. WRIGHT, J.D.L.
   ARATHOON, S.L. INNES, F.W. WRIGHT, R.G. COLLINS,
   A.E. NORTON, W. DOUGLAS-JONES, T.B. NICHOLSON

 RECEIVING THE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN’S FAREWELL             ”          372
   ADDRESS ON THE SOUTH ARM

 CHEERING IN RESPONSE                                    ”          372

 HOME FROM SOUTH AFRICA—N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS             ”          378

 SERGEANTS STOWELL, DONALD, RUTHERFOORD, FOX,
   FARRIER-SERGEANT EDWARDS, LANCE-CORPORAL GODDEN,
   S.C. GORDON, E.A. THELWALL, A.P. COURTENAY

 HOME FROM SOUTH AFRICA—N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS             ”          384

 SERGEANT J. BRENNAN, H. NICOLAY, A. ATKINSON, C.H.
   JOHNSTONE, G. SMITH, N.V. REID, W.R. WINDER,
   R.M. CRUX, L.K. ZORAB

 MEMBERS OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE WHO JOINED THE               ”          410
   JOHANNESBURG POLICE, DECEMBER 1900

 SILVER STATUETTE, PRESENTED TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL       ”          418
   LUMSDEN

 TABLET IN ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, CALCUTTA                ”          424


                         _OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS_

                                                              PAGE

     CAPTAIN NOBLETT (MAJOR ROYAL IRISH RIFLES), COMMANDING    142
       B COMPANY LUMSDEN’S HORSE

     CAPTAIN H. CHAMNEY                                        152

     CAPTAIN NEVILLE C. TAYLOR                                 156

     H.C. LUMSDEN (KILLED IN ACTION, HOUTNEK, APRIL 30,        159
       1900)

     LIEUTENANT C.E. CRANE                                     162

     J.H. BURN-MURDOCH                                         163

     HERBERT N. BETTS, D.C.M.                                  167

     MAJOR EDEN C. SHOWERS (KILLED AT HOUTNEK)                 175

     BUGLER R.H. MACKENZIE                                     187

     E.B. PARKES                                               187

     DAVID STEWART FRASER                                      193

     WATERVAL PRISON, PRETORIA                                 206


     PERCY JONES, D.C.M.                                       228

     LIEUTENANT G.A. NEVILLE                                   234

     LIEUTENANT H.O. PUGH, D.S.O.                              242

     WALTER DEXTER, D.C.M., CUTTING THE TELEGRAPH WIRES AT     243
       ELANDSFONTEIN

     P.C. PRESTON, D.C.M.                                      244

     CAPTAIN RUTHERFOORD, D.S.O.                               263

     CAPTAIN W. STEVENSON, VETERINARY SURGEON                  268

     SERGEANT ERNEST DAWSON                                    269

     A TYPICAL BOER                                            275

     CAPTAIN CLIFFORD                                          277

     J.A. GRAHAM, D.C.M.                                       278

     BERNARD CAYLEY                                            279

     L.C. BEARNE                                               280

     A HALT ON THE MARCH TO BARBERTON: GENERAL MAHON AND       339
       COLONEL WOOLLS-SAMPSON

     SERGEANT STEPHENS                                         346

     CAPTAIN C. LYON SIDEY                                     352

     D. MORISON                                                354

     CORPORAL J. GRAVES                                        355

     LANCE-CORPORAL JOHN CHARLES                               376

     J.S. COWEN                                                382

     SWORD OF HONOUR PRESENTED TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL           407
       LUMSDEN

     A. NICHOLSON                                              414

     G.D. NICOLAY                                              416

     H. KELLY                                                  417

     K. BOILEAU                                                418


                                 _MAP_

 PART OF SOUTH AFRICA, SHOWING THE ROUTES TAKEN    _facing page_    490
   BY LUMSDEN’S HORSE

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Elliott & Fry_
  SIR PATRICK PLAYFAIR, C.I.E.
]




                                  THE

                       HISTORY OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE

                              INTRODUCTION




To Lumsden’s Horse belongs the high honour of having represented all
India in a movement the magnitude and far-reaching effects of which we
are only beginning to appreciate. While the stubborn struggle for
supremacy in South Africa lasted, no true sons of the Empire allowed
themselves to count the cost. Some were prepared to pay it in blood,
others in treasure, to make success certain, and none allowed himself to
harbour even the shadow of a thought that failure, with all its
inevitable disasters, could befall us so long as the Mother Country and
her offshoots held together. At the outset only those blessed with
exceptional foresight could have believed in the completeness of a
federation the elements of which were bound together by no other ties
than sentiment. Selfish interests were merged in combined efforts for
the common weal, and, while the necessity for action lasted, few cared
to reckon the price they were paying for an idea.

Even the long-looked-for advent of Peace has hardly brought home to us a
knowledge of all that War in South Africa meant, not only in a military
sense, but also in its greater imperial significance. The men who fought
and bled for the noble sentiment of British brotherhood never dreamed
that they were doing more than duty demanded, though they had perhaps
given up every chance of success in life to answer the call of
patriotism; and among those who stayed at home there are millions
untouched by the bitterness of personal bereavement who can have no
conception of the sacrifices that were made to keep our Empire whole.
Casualty lists, with all their details of killed and wounded, do not
tell half the story. To know it all we must dip deep into the private
records of every contingent, British and Colonial, that volunteered for
active service, and deeper still to fathom the motives of men who, when
their country seemed to need them, threw aside all other considerations
and rallied to her standard.

Continental critics may sneer at us for making much of this idea, but
none know better than they do the difference between loyalty expressed
in such a noble form and the mere instinct of self-preservation that too
often passes current for patriotism. They tell us that it is every
citizen’s duty to be a soldier and every soldier’s duty to die, if
necessary, for his country; but when they see self-governing nations
from every quarter of the world coming into line by their own free will
and all welded together by one sentiment, they have no better name for
it than lust of empire. Nevertheless, they know it for what it is, a
thing of which they had previously no conception, and they recognise in
the impulses that led to this mighty manifestation the secret of Great
Britain’s world-wide power. Let envious rivals say what they will. Let
them magnify our reverses and minimise our triumphs, if the process
pleases them. In spite of everything, the South African War stands a
great epoch of an age that will some day come to be reckoned among the
greatest in British History, and all who have helped towards the shaping
of events at this memorable time can at least claim to have earned the
gratitude of posterity.

And India may well be proud of her share in the work. Measured by the
mere number of men whom she sent to the war, her contribution seems
perhaps comparatively small; but when we remember the sources from which
that contingent was drawn, the munificence of gifts from Europeans and
natives alike for its equipment and maintenance, and all the sacrifices
that war-service involved for every member of the little force, we
cannot but admire the spirit that called it into being. A great crisis
was not necessary to convince us that British residents in India would
fight, if called upon, with all the valour that distinguished Outram’s
Volunteers of old. Few, however, would have been bold enough to predict
that for any conceivable cause hundreds of men would readily relinquish
all that they had struggled for, give up the fruits of half a life’s
labour, and calmly face the certainty of irreparable losses, without
asking for anything in return, except the opportunity of serving their
country on a soldier’s meagre pay. Still less could anybody have
imagined that a time might come when Indian natives, debarred from the
chance of proving their loyalty by personal service, would give without
stint towards a fund for equipping a force to fight in a distant land
against the enemies of the British Raj. If Indian princes had been
permitted to raise troops for the war in South Africa, our Eastern
contingent would have numbered thousands instead of hundreds. What
natives were not allowed to give in men they gave in cash and in
substance, according to their means, thereby showing that they were with
us in a desire to defend the Empire against any assailant. In reality
this meant more than an offer of armed forces, and to that extent it was
worthy to rank with the self-sacrifice of Anglo-Indians who gave
personal service, and thereby took upon themselves a burden the weight
of which cannot be readily estimated. It must not be forgotten that
raising a corps of Volunteers in India is a very different matter from
the enrolment of a similar force at home, or wherever there are dense
populations and ‘leisured classes’ to be drawn upon. There are no idle
men in India, everyone having gone there to fill an appointment and earn
his livelihood. When the call came, therefore, it could only be answered
by sacrifices or not at all, and nobody is more conscious of this fact
than the man whose laconic appeal for Volunteers brought three or four
times more offers than he could possibly accept. In his opinion ‘the men
who vacated appointments worth from 300 to 500 rupees a month and went
to fight for their country on 1_s._ 2_d._ a day have given a much larger
contribution to the War Fund than they could afford.’ As an instance he
mentions three members of the medical profession, Doctors Charteris,
Moorhouse, and Woollright, each of whom threw up a lucrative practice
and joined the ranks as a trooper. These are not exceptional but simply
typical cases. Scores of other men gave up equally remunerative
appointments with the same noble unselfishness to enrol themselves in
Lumsden’s Horse.

To Colonel Lumsden alone belongs the honour of having evoked this
splendid manifestation of patriotic feeling. The idea of forming a corps
of Indian Volunteers was his; and though similar thoughts may have been
in many minds at the same moment, nobody had given a practical turn to
them until his message—electric in every sense—startled all
Anglo-Indians into active and cordial co-operation. How all that came
about will be told with fuller circumstances in its proper place, but
some reference must be made here to the man whose firm faith in the
patriotism and soldierly qualities of Indian Volunteers led him to the
inception of a scheme which events have so abundantly justified.

Lieutenant-Colonel Dugald McTavish Lumsden, C.B., needs no introduction
to the East, where the best, and perhaps the happiest, years of his life
have been spent. Without some details concerning him, however,
completeness could not be claimed for any record of the corps which is
now identified with his name. The eldest son of the late Mr. James
Lumsden, of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, he was born in 1851. At the age of
twenty-two he obtained an appointment on the Borelli Tea Estate, in the
Tezpur District of Assam, and sailed for India. Consciously or
unconsciously, he must have taken with him some military ambitions
imbibed through intimate association with leaders of the Volunteer
movement in Scotland. At any rate, he soon became known as a keen
Volunteer in the land of his adoption, and when in 1887 the Durrung
Mounted Rifles was formed, he was given a captaincy. A year later that
corps lost its identity, as other local units did, in the territorial
title of Assam Valley Light Horse, with Colonel Buckingham, C.I.E., as
commandant, while Captain Lumsden got his majority and took command of F
Squadron in the Durrung District. Subsequently he commanded the regiment
for a time, and, though he left India in 1893, he did not lose touch
with his old comrades. Every year he returned to spend the cold weather
among his friends in Assam, showing always undiminished interest in the
welfare of his old regiment. Thus, when the time came for a call to
active service, he had no sort of doubt what the response would be from
the hardy, sport-loving planters of Northern Bengal. Himself an
enthusiastic _shikari_ and first-rate shot, he knew how to value the
qualities that are developed in hunting and stalking wild game. And his
experience of Indian Volunteers was not confined to his own district. He
knew every corps in Bengal by reputation, and could thus gauge with an
approach to accuracy the numbers on which he would be able to draw for
the formation of an Indian contingent. Much travel in many lands had
also made him a good judge of men, as evidenced by the first thing he
did when the idea of calling upon India to take up her share of the
Imperial burden came to him.

At that time he was travelling in Australia, and had no means of knowing
how deeply the feelings of British residents and natives of the East had
been stirred by news of the reverses to our arms in South Africa. The
dark days of Stormberg and Magersfontein had thrown their shadow over
Australia as over England, chilling the hearts of people who until then
had refused to believe that British troops could be baulked by any foes,
notwithstanding the stern lesson of Ladysmith’s investment. Through that
darkness they were groping sullenly towards the light, and wondering
what national sacrifices would have to be made before the humiliation
could be wiped out. It is in such moments of emergency that natural
leaders come to the front. Among the few in England or the Colonies who
realised the military value of Volunteers was Colonel Lumsden. Though
thousands of miles away from the scenes of early associations, his
thoughts turned at once to the bold riders and skilful marksmen with
whom he had so often shared the exciting incidents of the chase. He made
up his mind at once that the planters, on whose spirit he could rely,
were the very men wanted for South African fighting. On the parade
ground they might not be all that soldiers whose minds are fettered by
rules and traditions would desire, but he knew how long days of exercise
in the open air at their ordinary avocations, varied by polo,
pig-sticking, and big-game hunting, had toughened their fibre and
hardened their nerves. He could count on every one of them also for keen
intelligence, which he rightly regarded as more important than mere
obedience to orders, where every man might be called upon to think and
act for himself. Colonel Lumsden would be the last to depreciate Regular
soldiers, or undervalue their discipline, but experience had taught him
that men who can exercise self-restraint and develop powers of endurance
for the mere pleasure of excelling in manly sports, adapt themselves
readily enough to military duties. To them, at any rate, the prospect of
hardships or privations would be no deterrent, the imminence of danger
only an additional incentive. On December 15, 1899—a day to be
afterwards borne in mournful memory—Colonel Lumsden made up his mind
that the time for action had come to every Briton who could see his way
to giving the Mother Country a helpful hand. He cabled at once to his
friend Sir Patrick Playfair in Calcutta his proposal to raise a corps of
European Mounted Infantry for service in South Africa, and backed it
with an offer, not only to take the field himself, but to contribute a
princely sum in aid of a fund for equipping any force the Government
might sanction. Then, without waiting to know whether his services had
been accepted, he took passage by the next steamer for India.




                               CHAPTER I
                _HOW THE CORPS WAS RAISED AND EQUIPPED_


  Offer Government fifty thousand rupees and my services any capacity
  towards raising European Mounted Infantry Contingent, India, service
  Cape. Wire Melbourne Club, Melbourne.—Leaving nineteenth, due Calcutta
  January 9. Do not divulge name until my arrival.—LUMSDEN.

These were the stirring words of Colonel Lumsden’s laconic message
flashed by cable from Australia to Calcutta at a time when all India was
ripe for any movement in aid of the Empire, and only waiting for a lead
in the course it should take. No wonder that the spirit of a man whose
enthusiastic confidence was expressed in an offer so munificent
communicated itself to all whom Sir Patrick Playfair consulted on the
subject. Still, official susceptibilities, ever prone to look askance at
anything that seems like civilian interference with military
prerogatives, had to be considered. Tact was necessary at the very
outset to avoid all possibility of friction. Colonel Lumsden had
evidently foreseen this when he selected as the recipient of his cable
message an Anglo-Indian of diplomatic temperament, great social
influence, and varied experience. Few men, if any, could have been
better qualified for the delicate negotiations, or could have appealed
to the Indian public, Native and European, with more certainty of
success than Sir Patrick Playfair, whose services then and for months
afterwards entitle him to a niche in India’s Walhalla beside the founder
of Lumsden’s Horse. Even at the sacrifice of continuity, it is
appropriate to quote here an appreciative comment by one who knew how
much Sir Patrick Playfair did towards the formation and equipment of a
thoroughly representative force. From the moment of receiving Colonel
Lumsden’s telegram he displayed the keenest interest in its object, and
endeavoured to ensure a successful issue with all the energy that has
characterised him in his advocacy and support of many public enterprises
during a brilliant career. He was the prime mover in every social
function organised in honour of Lumsden’s Horse, and in everything done
for their benefit apart from military details while they remained in
India. After their departure for the front he never lost an opportunity
of identifying himself with them in every way, and none would have been
keener than he to share their dangers and hardships if his position had
enabled him to accompany them. In this connection Sir Patrick had an
entertaining dialogue one day with General Patterson, of the United
States army, who said, ‘What I have been wondering about is why you did
not go yourself, Sir Patrick.’ To this the knight replied, ‘Well, you
know, I am a busy man. Of course I should have liked to go above all
things, but with my engagements it was impossible.’ ‘Ah, yes!’ said the
General; ‘I guess you’re like Artemus Ward’s friend, the Baldinsville
editor, who would “delight to wade in gore,” but whose country bade him
stay at home and announce week by week the measures taken by Government,
or, like Artemus himself, who, having given two cousins to the war, was
ready to sacrifice his wife’s brother and shed the blood of all his
able-bodied relations “rather’n not see the rebellyin krusht.”’ As it
was, Sir Patrick took the pains to publish every item of interest sent
to him by the officer commanding throughout the campaign. When, after
twelve months of honourable service, the corps turned homewards again,
he took the initiative in preparing a welcome worthy of them, and after
Lumsden’s Horse had been disbanded he showed a kindly interest in the
men by endeavouring to procure appointments for all who needed
assistance of that kind, and thereby won their gratitude as he had long
before gained their esteem. This is anticipating events, but, like the
prologue to a play, it may help to give some idea of a character whose
influence on the whole story is potent though not often in evidence.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Elliott & Fry_
  CURZON
]

Sir Patrick Playfair’s first step was to approach General P.J. Maitland,
C.B., Military Secretary to the Government of India, to whom he made
known Colonel Lumsden’s offer and explained something of its probable
scope. General Maitland, who warmly supported the proposal, said he
would place it before His Excellency the Viceroy, but intimated that the
matter would then have to be referred to the War Office, without whose
consent the Government of India could do nothing in connection with the
war. At that time Colonel Lumsden was on his way to Calcutta, and had
telegraphed again from Albany to find out what progress was being made,
but got no answer. Sir Patrick, knowing his man, had no misgivings that
he might turn back discouraged by the prospect of an official cold
shoulder. Lord Curzon was still absent from Calcutta on tour, and the
Commander-in-Chief, the late Sir William Lockhart, had not returned from
his official round of inspection in Burma, so that no immediate
opportunity occurred for placing the proposal before either of them at a
personal interview. General Maitland, however, did more than he had
promised by so urging the case in a communication to the Viceroy that
His Excellency took it up, and immediately on his arrival in Calcutta
telegraphed to the Commander-in-Chief, who thereupon gave his approval
promptly. The headquarters authorities asked how many men were to go,
and Sir Patrick said he thought from two hundred and fifty to three
hundred. That suggestion was embodied in a telegram to the War Office,
which, as usual, took time to consider it. Again Colonel Lumsden, who
had then reached Colombo, cabled for information as to the state of
affairs, but again no reply was vouchsafed. So he came on, fully
prepared to meet disappointment at the end of his journey. When he got
within sight of land, however, all India knew of his splendid offer and
its acceptance by the Home Government. The whole story had been
published in every newspaper two days before Colonel Lumsden steamed up
the Hooghly to find himself a hero. Crowds of his friends and admirers
were there to welcome him as chief of a corps that had neither a local
habitation nor a name, nor even a substantial existence at the moment.
With characteristic abnegation of self, he had offered his services in
any capacity, but nobody doubted from the hour of his arrival in
Calcutta that whatever force India might send to the front would have
Lumsden for its leader. The newspapers even began to give his name to
the contingent before it had assumed bodily shape or anybody knew
exactly how it was to be raised. Some days later the popular choice was
confirmed by publication of a War Office order couched in the following
words:

  ‘Her Majesty’s Government having accepted the offer of the Government
  of India to provide a force of Mounted Volunteers for service in South
  Africa, two companies of Mounted Infantry, to be called the Indian
  Mounted Infantry Corps (Lumsden’s Horse), will be raised immediately
  at Calcutta under the command of Lieut.-Colonel D. McT. Lumsden, of
  the Volunteer Force of India, Supernumerary List, Assam Valley Light
  Horse.’

With this order, giving unqualified approval of the project, came a
mobilisation scheme in which the Government undertook to provide the
necessary sea-kit for use on board ship only, the transport, the daily
rations as for other soldiers, the weapons, the munitions of war, and
pay at the rate of 1_s._ 2_d._ a day, but nothing else. The rest was
left to private enterprise working on popular enthusiasm and the loyal
sentiments of a great community. Towards the sum requisite for the
complete equipment and maintenance of a mounted force in the field, even
half a lakh of rupees would not go very far. The spirit that had
prompted one man to offer that sum and his own services to boot proved
contagious, however, and Colonel Lumsden had so little doubt what the
result would be that he immediately announced his readiness to receive
applications from men who might be willing to serve in South Africa for
a year, or ‘for not less than the period of the war.’ That call was
published by Indian newspapers on January 10, 1900, and in response
Volunteers sent their names from every district far and near, until
Colonel Lumsden might have enrolled a thousand as easily as the two or
three hundred sanctioned by Government. His one difficulty, indeed, was
that of selection, and there the experience he had gained from studying
character closely under many different conditions came in. He was
assisted by suggestions from officers commanding the Calcutta Light
Horse, the Assam Valley Light Horse, the Surma Valley Light Horse, the
Behar Light Horse, the Punjab, the Mysore, and the Rangoon Volunteer
Corps. Authorities at home had by that time learned a very important
lesson, the outcome of which was expressed in a phrase very different
from the unlucky telegram that gave so much offence to Australians a few
weeks earlier. Colonel Lumsden was told ‘preference will be given to
Volunteers from mounted Volunteer Corps, but Volunteers belonging to
Infantry corps who may possess the requisite qualifications will also be
eligible.’ One of the qualifications laid down was that they should be
‘good riders’ before joining Lumsden’s Horse. Here the value of previous
training in military duties and of something more than haphazard
horsemanship was recognised; and happily Colonel Lumsden knew exactly
the sort of men who would meet both requirements, especially as the
limits of age (between twenty and forty) brought the best of those who
had the riding and shooting experiences incidental to a planter’s life
into the category. It is not surprising if he showed a partiality for
them when rival claims had to be decided upon. The fact that many of
them offered to bring their own horses weighed nothing with him, though
he knew that the companies would have to be mounted somehow and that the
Government had explicitly declined to provide horses for that purpose.
Either by private contributions in kind or by public subscription toward
the necessary funds for purchasing, a horse for each trooper had to be
furnished; but this consideration did not weigh for a moment against the
chances of a man who could only give himself to the Empire’s service, so
long as he had in essential points better qualifications than other
candidates could boast. The wife of a prominent and popular soldier—now
a general—asked, as a great favour, that her brother might be allowed to
serve as a trooper in the corps. To such a pleader Sir Patrick could not
say ‘no,’ so he arranged a little dinner at which the fascinating lady
was to sit beside Colonel Lumsden. Whether her gentle persuasions
prevailed or the brother’s merits were too obvious to be disregarded, it
is certain that he joined the ranks of Lumsden’s Horse, and so
completely justified the choice that he is now an officer of the Regular
army and a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. Naturally, the
selection of two hundred and fifty men to represent all India from among
a thousand who were anxious for the opportunity of seeing active service
gave rise to much jealousy and heart-burning on the part of the
rejected. Reading some of their vituperations, one might imagine that
they had been aspirants to posts of high distinction, or at least to
lucrative sinecures, rather than candidates for the khaki jackets of
privates in a regiment about to share the hardships of a perilous
campaign. One disappointed applicant, whose martial ardour was not to be
quenched by rejection, wrote angrily to the ‘Englishman,’ suggesting
that there was gross favouritism in the preference shown for planters
over townsmen. His letter is worth quoting at length as typical of the
fighting spirit that had been aroused everywhere by Colonel Lumsden’s
patriotic manifesto. Thus he wrote:

                   _To the Editor of the ‘Englishman.’_

  SIR,—I hope I am in time to draw the attention of the Government to
  the _Bahadur_[1] style in which the selection to the ‘Indian Yeomanry
  Corps’ of Volunteers is being conducted. Because a man is the son of
  his father, and owns a few ponies and a few hundred rupees, is he to
  be given the preference as a fighting unit?

  There are to-day in India, even in the city of Calcutta, men of
  unquestionable merit, men who are sons and the recipients of a
  heritage of blood shed in England’s and her Most Gracious Majesty’s
  cause from fathers who had bled and died for England and England’s
  prestige, and I beg to ask you, Sir, are these men to be shelved to
  suit the convenience of a few planters? I am not a planter, and, as an
  outsider, I put my claims forward as a test of merit. I am willing to
  shoot a match up the range with the best man selected from Behar, run
  him a given distance, ride him on strange nags (catch weights), and in
  the end with my weight and other recommendations beat him.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd_
  BEHAR CONTINGENT OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE
]

There is quite a ring of mediaeval chivalry about that challenge to
‘shoot up the range.’ One cannot mistake its blood-thirsty significance,
and perhaps it is lucky for the Champion of Behar that he did not take
up the gauntlet thus ruthlessly thrown down. It will be noticed that
this duel, after the manner suggested by one of Bret Harte’s heroes, was
to precede all other events in the prolonged ordeal; and imagination
shudders at the picture of awful slaughter that would have been wrought,
as the picked marksmen of Behar and Hyderabad and Oudh and Assam went
down one by one, if they had dared to face the deadly rifle of that
truculent citizen of Calcutta, without getting a chance to prove whether
he could run or ride. Happily, the selected two hundred and fifty kept
their heads, so that the trial by single combat never came off; but one
must hope that a place was found in Lumsden’s Horse for the
self-confident challenger, and that he proved as formidable on the field
as in a printed column. Readers may scan the names of troopers, whose
occupations before enlistment are all given in the Appendix, and yet be
left speculating whether or not the writer of that letter was among the
chosen after all. He will not be found in the first or second section of
Company A, composed almost to a man of indigo-planters, or in the third
section, whose tea-planters, mainly from Assam, have not a townsman
among them; and the planters who make up an overwhelming majority of
three sections in Company B would equally disclaim all knowledge of the
fire-eating citizen. Can it be that he figures in the more casual fourth
section of either company, under the vague designation of a ‘gentleman’
or a ‘journalist’? A little levity may be pardoned now in reference to a
matter which, at the time, aroused some acrimony. All that, however, was
swept away by the wave of enthusiasm, leaving no bitterness behind it,
even in the minds of those who at first thought themselves humiliated by
rejection. If Lumsden’s Horse were almost entirely a corps of planters,
few questioned the care and discretion with which Colonel Lumsden had
chosen his men, and none could deny that they made a goodly show at
manœuvres on the Maidan, where their camp was pitched within easy
reach of the city. Though quartered there for six weeks in circumstances
that exposed them to many temptations, those troopers behaved in a
manner that would have been considered exemplary for the best regiment
of disciplined Regulars. This is not surprising when we consider that in
civil life they had been accustomed to exercise, command, and to exact
obedience from others, even at the risk of their own lives. At the
outset Colonel Lumsden made it a condition that he would have none but
unmarried men in the ranks, and to this rule there were few known
exceptions, though some Benedicts crept in undeclared. As a regiment,
Lumsden’s Horse had an _esprit de corps_ to maintain from the day of its
birth under auspices that made the occasion imperial, and every man of
it was tacitly pledged to prove himself a worthy recipient of the honour
conferred upon him as one of India’s chosen representatives. How that
feeling prevailed over all other considerations in the moment when
Lumsden’s Horse played their manful part in battle for the first time,
and how it held them together in a comradeship that was akin to
brotherhood through after-months of hard campaigning, will appear as the
narrative unfolds itself. It began to have an influence while the corps
was as yet but an invertebrate skeleton, and it helps to explain the
anxiety of Indian Volunteers to join the ranks of a force that was
destined by the nature of things to become historical. One can
understand, therefore, the alternations of hope and depression that
passed over certain districts where men who had offered their services
waited anxiously for the decision on which their chances of distinction
hung. Some glimpses of this may be got through the letters received by
Colonel Lumsden from all parts of India at that time, and from the
diaries in which thoughts as well as actions are recorded by the men
themselves. One begins his notes—two days after Colonel Lumsden’s call
for Volunteers had been published—with the entry: ‘An express came from
—— to say he had sent in the names of twenty men from C Company.’ After
waiting impatiently several days for news that did not come, the diarist
got his friend to send two telegrams, one to Colonel Lumsden, the other
direct to the Adjutant-General at Calcutta, offering a complete company.
The next day somebody turned up with news that they had been accepted.
Jubilation on this score, however, lasted no longer than twenty-four
hours, when it gave place to dejection caused by rumours that they ‘were
not accepted after all.’ This wave of depression passed away as speedily
in its turn, dispelled by the rays of hope that burst out radiantly on
receipt of a chit from —— ‘asking me to come in at once.’ Under the next
day’s date comes the crowning triumph of that anxious time, told very
simply but in a way that makes one feel the nerves of those men
throbbing through every word. ‘Started for Chick,’ runs the entry; ‘met
——, who told me we really were accepted. Then we met —— dashing along on
his bike. He had already upset a woman.’ A week later, after many
festive farewells, that contingent was on its way to Calcutta and
foregathering with other contingents, whose experiences had all been the
same, for every man of them was buoyant at the prospect of seeing active
service, and would have regarded it as a personal slight, if not an
indelible stigma on his reputation for courage, if he had been left
behind.

[Illustration: MYSORE AND COORG CONTINGENT]

So day by day the ranks of Lumsden’s Horse gained strength until their
numbers were complete and recruiting had to be stopped; while many
candidates whom the Colonel would gladly have taken tried in vain for
admission. It was a regiment of which any commanding officer might be
proud, whether judged by physical or mental standards. A corps of
planters it might have been justly called, for they outnumbered all of
other occupations; but it represented many classes, and nearly every
district in India where sport-loving Britishers are to be found. In its
ranks were fifty-five indigo-planters, sixty-one tea-planters,
thirty-one coffee-planters, and five of similar occupation not
specifically designated. Beside these, the sixteen Civil Service men of
various grades, three bank assistants, twelve railway officials,
including civil engineers, three medical men from the planting
districts, one inspector of mounted police, a brewer, a tutor, a
journalist, and a few others whose peaceful days until then had been
devoted to commerce, form a comparatively small proportion. Thus
considerably more than half the fighting strength were planters. Among
the remainder, townsmen must have been fairly represented, to say
nothing of artificers who formed the Maxim Gun detachment under command
of Captain Bernard Willoughby Holmes, whose services had been placed at
Colonel Lumsden’s disposal by consent of the East India Railway Company.
The Mercantile Marine also furnished its quota in the persons of a
captain, a chief officer, a second officer, and two engineers of the
British India Steam Navigation Company’s fleet, and a chief officer of
the Hajee Cassim Line. A veterinary surgeon, police inspectors,
policemen, clerks in the Military Accounts Department, travelling
agents, hotel assistants, a photographer, a theatrical agent, and a
superintendent of the Rangoon Boating Club joined the Transport, from
which two very smart fellows were drawn into the ranks as troopers
during the campaign, and one of them was subsequently gazetted to the
West India Regiment as second lieutenant. Counting all these, the
enrolled strength was just 300.

Then came the difficult and delicate task of appointing company officers
and section commanders—a difficulty enhanced by the fact that many
Volunteer officers had enlisted as troopers. I have said that the
Government had given its unqualified approval to Colonel Lumsden’s
project. This statement, however, applies only to the general scheme. It
must be remembered that he had made no stipulation as to his own rank,
or the right of selecting officers, and it was not in the nature of a
British War Office to let the prerogative of veto slip entirely out of
its hands. Colonel Lumsden’s own appointment as commanding officer came
directly from headquarters, on the suggestion probably of Lord Curzon.
Two other conditions, not very irksome, the military authorities made at
Colonel Lumsden’s urgent request. These were that captains commanding
companies should be Regular officers on active service, and that the
adjutant, who would also act as quartermaster, should be appointed from
the Staff Corps or have graduated in it. These nominations were left to
the Commander-in-Chief in India, and in the ordinary course of things
they involved the appointment of Regular non-commissioned officers as
quartermaster-sergeants and company sergeant-majors. Other subordinate
posts for which military experience or special training is necessary
were also filled by Regulars, who thus relieved the Volunteer troopers
of some laborious duties. An officer second in command, four captains
acting as senior subalterns, four lieutenants, a medical officer, and a
veterinary surgeon had still to be selected, and the choice must have
involved many anxious moments, seeing how much depended on the unknown
qualities that are hidden in all men and may lie dormant for years, only
to be developed for good or ill in the crisis of an emergency. How
Colonel Lumsden succeeded in this, as in every other preliminary task
that he imposed upon himself, is now a matter of history to be dealt
with in proper sequence. The wisdom of his selections could only be
proved by events, and to these, as narrated by men who were best able to
judge, appeal may be confidently made. Naturally, some who had held
commissioned rank previously, and thought their claims to consideration
indisputable, felt sore at being passed over in favour of others who
were junior to them in the Volunteer service. But this irritation was
not allowed to show itself or interfere with loyal subordination in all
military duties.

To the inviolable pages of his diary one, whose merits were not at the
time so well known as they ought to have been, confides the pregnant
sentence: ‘Heard to-day that —— was to be a _captain_, I a _corporal_.’
There the entry ends, leaving a blank more eloquent than any scathing
comment could have been. For all that, the captain and the corporal
remained on the best of terms, and, though they ceased for discipline’s
sake to call each other by their Christian names, there is reason to
believe that both soon came to the conclusion that no very serious
mistake had been made in estimating their relative fitness for command.
At any rate, after a little friction they shaped themselves like round
pegs to round holes. But that is the habit of Britishers, who, however
unaccustomed to discipline, are not slow in recognising its inevitable
necessity and its inestimable value. They come to see that without it no
concerted movement, whether big or small, is certain of success. You
cannot conduct military operations to a definite end, any more than you
can navigate a ship or rule a family, if individuality is allowed to
take the form of insubordination. These lessons Colonel Lumsden began to
inculcate in his peculiarly persuasive way directly he had got his men
together and placed officers in authority over them.

Men and officers, however, are not the only things necessary to keep a
fighting unit going when once it has been formed and organised. Sir
Patrick Playfair found the full equipment of such a force no less costly
than he had estimated. Fortunately, however, he had foreseen all
difficulties in this connection and provided for them. After
consultation with General Maitland, General Wace (Director-General of
Ordnance), Sir Alfred Gaselee (then Quartermaster-General), Sir E.R.
Elles (Adjutant-General), and the late Surgeon-General Harvey, it was
decided that nearly a thousand rupees per man would be necessary for
equipping the force, buying horses in addition to those brought in by
troopers themselves, and establishing a reserve fund sufficient for all
emergencies that might arise while the men remained on active service.
This meant that a sum amounting to two and a half lakhs of rupees, or
about sixteen thousand five hundred pounds sterling, would have to be
got together by public subscription. Until this campaign proved the
depth and sincerity of Imperial sentiments among nearly all classes of
the community, few people, even in England, believed that such a sum
would be given to send a mere handful of Volunteers on active service
far from their home. And most people, having but a superficial knowledge
of Indian affairs, would have ridiculed the suggestion that native
princes or merchants would contribute in proportion little less than
Johannesburg millionaires to uphold British supremacy in South Africa.

Sir Patrick Playfair, however, knowing by experience how liberal had
been the response of those people to all calls on their generosity, and
gauging with remarkable insight the genuineness of their loyal devotion
in a time of possible peril to the Empire, had no doubt what the result
would be. But even he was not prepared for anything like the unanimity
of enthusiasm that his appeal evoked. It took simply the form of a
general invitation to subscribe. The marvellous rapidity with which the
subscription list filled may therefore be taken as a voluntary
expression by Europeans and natives alike of staunch fidelity to the
cause for which Lumsden’s Horse were being enrolled as a fighting unit.
The contributors included His Excellency the Viceroy (Lord Curzon of
Kedleston), His Excellency the Governor of Bombay (Lord Sandhurst), His
Excellency the Commander-in-Chief in India (the late Sir William
Lockhart), their Honours the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (Sir John
Woodburn), the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab (Sir W. Mackworth
Young), the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces and Oudh
(the Bight Honourable Sir A.P. MacDonnell, P.C.), and the
Lieutenant-Governor of Burma (Sir F.W.R. Fryer). Princes, rajahs,
landowners, mercantile firms, and European residents almost without
exception, came forward, subscribing munificently, until the sum of
227,000 rupees had been promised and received in cash, besides
contributions from tradesmen in kind amounting to another 100,000
rupees.

No single subscription rivalled Colonel Lumsden’s splendid offer, or
came anywhere near it in amount; but Sir Seymour King, K.C.I.E., M.P.,
on account of Messrs. Henry S. King & Co., London, and two allied firms
in Bombay and Calcutta, gave a lump sum of 10,000 rupees, while
Maharajah Sir Jotendro Mohun Tagore, K.C.S.I., Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun
Tagore, Knt., C.I.E., Nawab Sir Sidi Ahmed Khan, K.C.S.I., Mr. F.
Verner, Messrs. Apcar & Co., and Kumar Rada Prosad Roy sent 5,000 rupees
each. The last named, a zemindar, or landed proprietor, was quite
diffident and doubtful whether he ought to subscribe without being asked
directly, but he expressed a hope that his contribution would be
accepted. A great many merchants and others who were only known to Sir
Patrick Playfair by name sent cheques for amounts varying from fifty to
2,500 rupees. No fewer than twenty-eight mercantile firms in Calcutta
subscribed 1,000 rupees each, and among the most liberal donors were
native princes of nearly every State in the three Presidencies.

His Highness the Maharajah of Bhownagar, whose palace is 2,500 miles
distant from Calcutta, sent fifty Arab chargers and saddlery; the
Maharani Regent of Mysore, twenty-two country-bred and Arab horses; and
other potentates, like the Maharajah Bahadur of Soubarsa and the Rajah
of Mearsa, gave handsome presents of a similar kind according to the
resources of their studs. The natives of Aligarh, clubbing together,
sent twenty-seven horses and one mule; while one, Mohammed Mazamullah
Khan, gave two horses, a mule, a donkey, and two small sleeping tents,
accompanied by a touchingly simple letter saying, ‘They are all I have
to help to conquer the enemies of the Great White Queen.’ Other
contributions in kind ranged from tents sufficient for the whole force
presented by the Elgin cotton mills of Cawnpore, rough serge cloth for
all coats requisite from the Egerton woollen mills at Cawnpore, puttees
from Kashmir and Cawnpore, gaiters, Cardigan jackets, hats, horseshoes
and nails, forage, tea, coffee, beer, whisky, and cigars, down to
matches, of which no fewer than 7,000 boxes were sent by one thoughtful
gentleman. The India General Steam Navigation Company, the River Steam
Navigation Company, the East India Railway, and the Eastern Bengal State
Railway combined to carry men and horses free of charge from all parts
of India to Calcutta.

A small executive committee was formed by Colonel Lumsden to carry out
the arrangements for the equipment and despatch of the corps. Its
members were:

          Colonel LUMSDEN, _President_.
          Sir PATRICK PLAYFAIR, C.I.E.
          Colonel GEORGE MONEY.
          The Hon. Colonel BUCKINGHAM, C.I.E.
          Major EDDIS.
          Mr. HARRY STUART.

The work of organising naturally fell to Colonel Lumsden, who was also
busily engaged in selecting officers and enrolling men; while Sir
Patrick Playfair undertook the entire management of the collection of
subscriptions in cash and in kind, assisted by Mr. Shirley Tremearne,
Editor of ‘Capital,’ whose local knowledge enabled him to render
valuable aid in appealing to the mercantile community where personal
appeals were necessary, and in collecting the promised subscriptions for
which personal application had to be made in accordance with traditional
etiquette. Mr. Harry Stuart, formerly executive manager of the Bengal
State Railway, took charge of all arrangements for receiving and messing
the different detachments on their arrival in Calcutta from distant
districts until a camp could be formed.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd_

    MR. HARRY STUART      SIR PATRICK PLAYFAIR, C.I.E.
  COL. MONEY      COL. LUMSDEN, C.B.      MAJOR EDDIS

  THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
]

Though the mobilisation scheme—drawn up by the Indian Headquarters Staff
and sent to Colonel Lumsden after approval by the War Office in
London—promised no more substantial assistance than the provision of
arms, ammunition, rations, and transport to South Africa, it furnished
many suggestions of the greatest importance, and, as a model for use on
any similar occasion hereafter, it is reproduced at length in the
Appendix. This document will be found of interest also as giving a
comprehensive idea of the many requirements for which provision had to
be made by Colonel Lumsden and his colleagues. Their labours were
lightened by the cordial co-operation of military officials, who went
out of their way to render every possible assistance. Without the advice
and practical aid thus given by heads of departments of the Government
of India, it would have been impossible for Colonel Lumsden, or any
other commanding officer in his position, to have carried out all the
War Office conditions economically. Major-General Wace, C.B., as head of
the Ordnance Department, gave every facility for Colonel Lumsden to
indent on Government stores for clothing and accoutrements at regulation
prices, and not only so, but he and Colonel Buckland, the Superintendent
of Army Clothing, with Major-General T.F. Hobday, Commissary-General,
and Surgeon-General Robert Harvey, C.B., were ready to place the fruits
of their long experience and special knowledge of various details at the
service of Colonel Lumsden whenever he felt the need of advice in such
matters; and Captain A.L. Phillips, an officer on the Staff of Sir
Alfred Gaselee, Q.M.G., was untiring in his efforts to make the movement
a success so far as his personal efforts and influence could avail. So
everything went well from the beginning, thanks in great measure to the
lively interest taken in the corps by Lord Curzon, who was pleased to
become its Honorary Colonel, and by all officers of his personal Staff.
Her Excellency Lady Curzon was equally zealous and lent her influence to
every good work by which the ladies of Calcutta sought to express their
admiration, and perhaps their tender regard, for the heroes who were
going forth to fight. What form that expression should take was a
subject much debated and long in doubt. Of course Sir Patrick Playfair
had to be consulted by a deputation of charming damsels. He thought a
bazaar might give them the opportunity they wanted. Yes! that was just
the thing; but then—and then came a string of fatal objections. A
smoking-concert was next suggested, and the young ladies thought that
idea splendid, only—well, in short, it wouldn’t do. Then, as if it were
the last resource to be thought of—a sort of forlorn hope—Sir Patrick
hinted that a dance might meet the case. To that his fair interviewers
demurred most effusively; but then and without any hypnotic suggestion,
so Sir Patrick avers, they began to see that something might be urged in
favour of it, and at last, with a unanimity that was wonderful, they
decided that a dance was the only means of fitly celebrating the
occasion. Having come to that conclusion, all their coy objections
vanished in a moment. Sir Patrick saw his opportunity and seized it to
persuade them that, as it was to be a ladies’ enterprise, they must
manage it entirely themselves. Thereupon they formed a committee, of
which Miss Pugh was elected Honorary Secretary, invited Lady Curzon of
Kedleston to become patroness, and set to work with an energy which no
mere man could hope to rival. They had of course to enlist masculine
services for subordinate duties. This they did with a sweet despotism
that made revolt impossible. The men had to accept without a murmur the
positions assigned to them as stewards, and obeyed every mandate like
the willing slaves we all should be in similar circumstances. The
committee of ladies showed a business-like promptitude in settling every
detail and a faculty for organisation which won from a military admirer
the approving comment that they could conduct a campaign if they would
only give their minds to it. This or some other feminine attribute had
such an effect on the wine merchants of Calcutta that they sent
champagne for the ball-supper and gallantly refused to accept payment.
So the Calcutta Ball in honour of Lumsden’s Horse became an assured
success almost from the moment of its happy inception. Brilliant beyond
the dreams of a _débutante_, it left on many a susceptible heart
impressions which neither time nor the changing scenes of warfare could
dim, as the secret archives, to which an editor alone has access,
attest; and in a less romantic way it proved the unselfish devotion of
those ladies, who, after paying all expenses, handed over a balance of
6,000 rupees to the war-chest of Lumsden’s Horse.

    LIEUT. SIDEY  LIEUT. PUGH  CAPT. CLIFFORD  LIEUT. CRANE  LIEUT.
                       NEVILLE  CAPT. RUTHERFOORD

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Harrington & Co._
]

    CAPT. CHAMNEY  MAJOR SHOWERS  COL. LUMSDEN  CAPT. TAYLOR  CAPT.
                               BERESFORD
                  CAPT. NOBLETT  VET.-CAPT. STEVENSON
                         OFFICERS OF THE CORPS

Such financial aids came not amiss at the moment. Government transports
chartered by the Royal Indian Marine for taking troops to Natal were
delayed on the return, and, one vessel having broken down, Colonel
Lumsden found that he would have to encamp his men on the Maidan for two
or three weeks longer than he had anticipated, and this entailed an
additional expenditure of nearly 1,000_l._ for extra rations and
comforts. To soldiers of Spartan mould, who pride themselves on
discarding luxuries at the first call to arms, this might have seemed
like pampering the Volunteer troopers; but it must be remembered that in
India men cannot give up the habits of a lifetime all at once and come
down to bare soldier’s rations without danger to their health. And
Colonel Lumsden’s first object after getting his men was to keep them
fit. His care in this respect was justified by events no less than his
judgment in the selection of men for mental and physical attributes. At
the end of a year’s campaigning he was able to boast that his losses
from sickness were proportionately less than in any other regiment. This
delay had its advantages in so far as it gave Colonel Lumsden and his
officers a chance of training the troopers for their duties and
accustoming them to their horses before the day of embarkation. The
postponement, we may be sure, was no disappointment to the people of
Calcutta, who felt that the Maidan would be a cheerless blank without
Lumsden’s Horse. It will be well to give here a few details of
organisation. By War Office order the corps was to consist of two
companies, each commanded by a Regular officer, and the Government also
appointed a Regular adjutant to assist Colonel Lumsden in executive
work; while Colonel Eden C. Showers, Commandant of the Surma Valley
Light Horse, offered to serve as Major, and was gazetted with that rank
as second in command. When other officers had been selected, chiefly on
the recommendation of commandants under whom they had served in
Volunteer Corps, they were posted in the following order:

  STAFF.—Lieutenant-Colonel Dugald McTavish Lumsden, Commandant.

  Major Eden C. Showers, Second in Command.

  Captain Neville C. Taylor, 14th Bengal Lancers, Adjutant and
  Quartermaster.

  Captain Samuel Arthur Powell, Medical Officer.

  Veterinary Captain William Stevenson, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary Surgeon.

  A COMPANY.—Captain James Hugh Brownlow Beresford, 3rd Sikhs
  (commanding), Captain John Brownley Rutherfoord, Lieutenants Charles
  Edward Crane and George Augustus Neville.

  B COMPANY.—Captain Louis Hemington Noblett, Royal Irish Rifles
  (commanding), Captain Henry Chamney, Captain Frank Clifford,
  Lieutenants Charles Lyon Sidey and Herbert Owain Pugh.

  MAXIM GUN DETACHMENT.—Captain Bernard Willoughby Holmes (commanding).

Each company had a Regular non-commissioned officer as Company
Sergeant-Major and another Regular as Company Quartermaster-Sergeant for
office duties under the Regimental Quartermaster-Sergeant. Regulars from
the Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry were also attached as
Farrier-Sergeants, Saddlers, and Signallers, and from the Indian
Commissariat as Transport Sergeant. The Maxim Gun Contingent, under
Captain Holmes was raised and equipped by the East India Railway
Company, who offered its services to Colonel Lumsden. The Calcutta
Committee had decided, with the sanction of the Government, that
Lumsden’s Horse should not want for adequate regimental transport in the
field, but, on the contrary, should leave India as a thoroughly
organised unit in that respect, with a complete train of transport
carts, ponies, and pack mules, all properly equipped. It is hardly
necessary to say that the grant of transport, saddlery, and draught
harness, for which provision was made in the mobilisation order, did not
comprise all that the committee desired; but the inexhaustible Ordnance
Stores were again open to be requisitioned ‘on payment,’ and carts of
the Indian Army Transport pattern were drawn in a similar way from the
Commissariat Department. The ponies and mules, however, had to be
collected by agents in the hill districts of Assam and Thibet, a
distance of 1,000 miles from Calcutta. When all this was done, the corps
could justly be considered fit for active service, and it is certain
that no contingent, Volunteer or Regular, landed in South Africa with a
more efficient transport than Lumsden’s Horse. It came near being upset,
however, by a War Office decision. Almost at the last minute Colonel
Lumsden was told that the native drivers would not be permitted to
accompany the corps, and that no natives could go except one personal
servant for each officer and a limited number of syces, or grooms, in
the proportion of one to each charger, as laid down in the mobilisation
scheme. This allowance of three native attendants to every officer was
on a sufficiently liberal scale, but it did not meet the requirements
for transport purposes. Therefore Colonel Lumsden had to enlist European
drivers, of whom twenty-six were needed for each company. In ordinary
circumstances Anglo-Indian prejudices would have combined to make this
an insuperable difficulty; but so keen was the anxiety of men to see war
service in South Africa that they volunteered to go in any capacity not
necessarily menial, and so Colonel Lumsden got the full complement of
drivers together just as readily as lie had filled the ranks with
fighting men. War Office conditions stipulated that officers and
troopers of the corps must provide their own horses and saddlery, though
nearly all of the latter might be drawn from Ordnance Stores at cost
price. Naturally the supply of suitable animals for Mounted Infantry
work had to be made a corps affair from the outset. Very few of the
enlisted troopers owned horses of a class that they would have cared to
ride through the rough work of a campaign, even if they could be always
sure of having their own; and Colonel Lumsden was not likely to
countenance any claims of private ownership when once horses were
numbered as of the troop. He therefore informed every man who brought a
horse with him that it must be considered corps property, and might not
be appropriated by its owner without the commanding officer’s sanction.
No other arrangement could have worked satisfactorily. In consideration
of this understanding Colonel Lumsden promised that he would endeavour
to obtain from Government a scale of compensation for horses thus
appropriated, and in the event of being successful the sums obtained
under this head would be returned _pro rata_ to the owners of horses. It
may be mentioned in passing that Colonel Lumsden’s efforts to this end
were ultimately successful, the Government consenting to allow an
average of 30_l._ per horse to the corps, so that every man who brought
his own charger was compensated at last.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  MESSING AT CALCUTTA
  _Under the Shamiana_
]

The men having drawn their Lee-Metford rifles with short bayonets and an
abundant supply of ·303 ball cartridges, both for practice and the
sterner work to come, were duly clothed and equipped, much to their
satisfaction.

Not many of these things, in addition to rifles and ammunition, were
free gifts from Government, whose contributions in kind had to be
supplemented by purchases out of store at the cost of corps funds and by
gifts from the appreciative public to whom no appeals were made in vain.
The troopers, at any rate, were troubled not a whit about these things,
being quite satisfied with the completeness of their personal outfit,
even before Mrs. Pugh and the ladies of Calcutta bethought them to work
woollen comforters for presentation to every man of Lumsden’s Horse on
the day of embarkation. They did not, however, take so kindly at first
to the Lee-Metford rifle. It was a new weapon to most of the men, who
had never handled anything more complicated than the old Martini
carbine. So batches of men went to the ranges every morning to practise
and accustom themselves to the peculiarities of a firearm that made no
more noise than the crack of a whip and ‘had no kick in it.’ This was a
time of gradual but sometimes painful initiation to the hardships and
discomforts inseparable from camp life. Lessons, however distasteful,
had to be learned, and it must be said that Lumsden’s Horse took the
rough with the smooth cheerily enough, enlivening their daily routine
with many pleasantries. They were always ready to laugh at a comrade or
with him in a merry jest at their own expense. Some literary
contributions from the ranks to local papers were amusing in their
fanciful exaggerations, which nobody enjoyed more than did the troopers
whose foibles were thus humorously railed at. For sanitary reasons they
were one day ordered, by medical authority, to strike their camp and
pitch it on fresh ground, whereupon one of them wrote:

  Like a bolt from the blue has fallen upon this camp the Æsculapian
  decree that we must go hence! It happened to-day that the medical eye
  of Lumsden’s Horse opened wide, and beheld strange sights. What the
  vision was has not been recorded owing to no ink being found in camp
  capable of expressing its blackness, but it is no secret that microbes
  as big as mastodons were observed freely gambolling in the immediate
  vicinity of the commissariat tent. The marvel is that a number of men
  can have lived on such a spot for ten days without coming to more
  serious harm.

  The green sward on the banks of the Tolly’s Nullah has presented an
  animated appearance within the last few days, for every train arriving
  in Calcutta has brought its quota to swell the corps. A number of men
  from the Assam Valley Light Horse are now in camp. The Mysore
  contingent is also established, while the Behar lads are expected
  to-morrow by 10 o’clock. These will number a few over fifty, and will
  prove no doubt the _crème de la crème_ of the corps. In a day or two
  the Maxim gun will come into quarters, and Oakley, of Kooch Behar and
  Tirah fame, has gone to some up-country sequestered spot whence comes
  a particularly quiet _jat_ of pony, where he will choose animals of
  gentle temperament and so small that falling off them won’t hurt—for
  Maxim gun men scorn to ride.

  This question of riding is no small one, and many gallant sportsmen
  may be seen tearing down the lines trying to get there before their
  horses. One like this was advised by a real Tommy Atkins to sit
  further back and so enjoy a longer ride. Not the least pleasurable
  sight in the camp is when bold Volunteers begin grooming their own
  horses. Some never do more than the neck, because of the risk attached
  to venturing within range of hind feet, with which country-bred horses
  are notoriously handy—if it may be so said of feet. Then saddling
  troubles others, because of the difficulty in distinguishing between
  cantle and pommel when a saddle hasn’t a horse inside to illustrate
  the difference.

There is a touch of boyish imagination about that sketch, but it is not
altogether fanciful. Some of the Volunteers who joined first were by no
means experienced horse-masters, and, to nearly all, the equipments for
Mounted Infantry in full campaigning kit were not less strange than
military technicalities. There was a rich fund of amusement for
Lumsden’s Horse in the unauthorised version of ordinary commands as one
trooper construed them. When sections in line were crowding too much
upon him he would say, ‘Fall off, man! Fall off to the left.’ The
comrade thus admonished would murmur, ‘Hang it all, man, that is just
what I am trying not to do.’ Still, young Malaprop would repeat, in
defiance of the Sergeant-Major’s peremptory request for silence in the
ranks, ‘Fall off! fall off!’ meaning all the time ‘Ease off.’ These
simple incidents of every day gave a piquancy to camp ‘gup,’ and were
the cause of more mirth than the elaborate jokes concocted by literary
troopers could arouse. One civilian, in a playfully prophetic mood,
devised a new coat of arms for Lumsden’s Horse, which was published in
the ‘Indian Daily News’ as a clever play upon the cant of Heraldry;
though the Earl Marshal and all the Kings-at-Arms and all the learned
pursuivants of Heralds’ College might have been puzzled if called upon
to emblazon the quaint conceit with its complicated quarterings, its
proper shield of pretence, and its lurid crest of augmentation.

-----

Footnote 1:

    Hindustani for ‘cavalier.’—ED.

-----




                               CHAPTER II
           _PREPARING FOR THE FRONT—DEPARTURE FROM CALCUTTA_


Life in camp on the Maidan was becoming somewhat monotonous to men whose
ardent spirits panted for opportunities of distinction in the Empire’s
service, and for freer movement on the vast South African veldt. For
traces of this yearning one may search in vain through pages of diaries,
to which men do not commit all their secret thoughts. Perhaps they
regarded a parade of warlike sentiments as bad form even in the written
impressions that were intended only for private perusal. So they
contented themselves with noting briefly the minor events of listless
days and the mild excitements of evenings that passed swiftly enough in
such social pleasures as dining, theatre-going, or listening to the
latest London melodies at a smoking-concert organised in aid of the war
fund. Even a flower-show was regarded by some as an amusement. We come
across frequent references to baths at the Swimming Club, tiffin at
Pelité’s, and luxurious little dinners at the Bristol, the Continental,
or the Grand; but only by inference, from the sudden importance given to
these everyday incidents of civilian life, can we gather what a contrast
they were to the coarser fare and rougher surroundings of meals in camp.
There is not a hint of discontent at being reduced for the first time in
their lives to soldiers’ rations or at the hard fatigue work they were
put to as a necessary part of the daily routine. These manly young
troopers were beginning to learn the soldier’s lessons of subjection to
discipline and endurance of discomforts that must have seemed
sufficiently like hardships to most of them, but they had not acquired
the habit of grumbling which is Tommy’s cherished privilege. The visits
of crowds to that camp on the Maidan every Sunday were evidence enough
of the great interest taken by all classes of citizens in Lumsden’s
Horse, who were properly appreciative of those attentions, and not quite
insensible to the sweet flattery of admiring glances from pretty eyes.
The motto that ‘None but the brave deserve the fair’ is one in which
gallant soldiers from all time have found encouragement, and Lumsden’s
Horse were beginning to appropriate it with other soldierly attributes,
for were they not all brave and resolved to prove it? Their only fear
was that the chance of doing knightly deeds might not come to them, and
that they would land in South Africa only in time to learn that the war
had been finished before the tardy transports could get there.
Nevertheless, we know that they relaxed no efforts to make themselves
fit for the fray. From contributions by troopers to the Indian papers we
may learn how zealous they were to master the least attractive duties of
military life, and Staff officers bear witness to the sincerity and
success of these endeavours. Mere forms of discipline might have been
lacking, and one cannot wonder that men who had lived similar lives,
sharing the same sports and social pleasures, found it difficult at
first to fall into their relative positions, some as officers, others as
troopers, and to keep each his own proper groove, ignoring old
associations. But the right spirit of subordination was there, and a
commander of Irregulars does not ask for more if he has the true
capacity for leadership. The daily routine of duties in camp on the
Maidan was designed to foster this spirit without making the yoke of
essential discipline too galling. A description of it as given by one in
the ranks will show that Lumsden’s Horse were by no means pampered
Sybarites even at that early stage of their soldiering:

  At 6 the ‘rouse’ sounds, and, some minutes later, men clad in khaki
  breeches, putti gaiters, and flannel shirts issue from the little bell
  tents into the clammy mist of early morning, and after obtaining a cup
  of tea at the mess, remove the jhools—which are a most necessary
  protection against the heavy dew—from their horses, and give them a
  rub down. At 7 we hear the bugle call ‘Saddle up,’ and at 7.30 the men
  are all fallen in on the Maidan in column of sections, and go through
  the various evolutions, special attention being given to mounting and
  dismounting on saddles packed with full kit, and the leading of
  horses, the correct and rapid performance of which is so important in
  Mounted Infantry work. The regiment is divided into two companies,
  each company consisting of 120 men formed into four sections, and
  these again divided into permanent sub-sections of four men each. As a
  rule the sections work independently, each under its own commander.
  Blank ammunition is liberally expended in order to accustom the horses
  to the rattle of musketry. Most of the men are mounted on
  country-breds; but several ride shapely walers averaging 14.2.
  Considering that 50 per cent. of the horses are quite untrained as
  chargers, they are astonishingly quiet and well-behaved; the
  C.B.s—with the exception of an occasional kicker, which plays havoc in
  the ranks, and is a source of some danger to his unfortunate
  companions, both men and horses—are quick, handy little brutes, and
  already they have learnt to lead steadily and well. There are, of
  course, a good number of trained horses in the ranks; the Mysore men,
  for instance, being almost without exception mounted on Silidar
  horses, which are proving most satisfactory chargers and are expected
  to do well in Africa. After parade the horses are watered, fed, and
  groomed by their respective owners, and then, as Mr. Pepys would have
  said, ‘to breakfast,’ under a large _shamiana_ placed at one end of
  the camp in the shade of sycamore-fig trees. The morning passes
  quickly while men are drawing and marking kit, cleaning rifles, or
  doing fatigue duty at pitching tents and other healthy exercises. At
  noon we water and feed the horses, and 1 o’clock is the tiffin hour.
  At 4.30 there is an afternoon parade, sometimes by companies, and
  sometimes the whole regiment parading under the Colonel or Major,
  after which water, feed and bed-down, and then dinner, and an early
  retirement to bed. But not for all is this happy rest. There are two
  guard tents, at opposite ends of the camp, each company providing a
  sergeant and three men for guard every twenty-four hours, while a man
  from each company is on sentry throughout the night, his duty being to
  see that the horses are properly secured—head and heel—and be on hand
  in case of sickness.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  HORSES IN CAMP AT CALCUTTA
]

They were not all tyros in war. Burma ribbons on the breasts of some
Surma Valley Volunteers who were at Manipur told of previous service in
the field, though against enemies very different from the ‘slim,’
evasive Boer. Others who wore no badges of distinction were believed to
have fought in more than one campaign; at least, the fair visitors
declared that such a martial mien as some men bore could only have been
acquired on active service: it bespoke a consciousness of great deeds
gallantly done. The heroes of these flattering tributes lived up to
their reputations by putting on an air of mystery, which the Colonel
alone could have dispelled, for none but he knew the history of every
man in the regiment. Still, nobody would have thought of looking for
suspected Boers or Boer spies in the ranks of Lumsden’s Horse. A good
story, however, is told in this connection at the expense of an officer
who overheard two men in the uniform of Lumsden’s Horse talking, in a
tongue that was not English, at one of the hotel bars. The officer, not
recognising either of them, listened curiously, and caught a few phrases
which he declared to be German by the sound (and he claimed familiarity
with that, though he did not know enough of the language to repeat the
words he had heard). ‘It was German, and no mistake,’ he said, ‘and
those two men in our uniform were talking it fluently. What could they
be but Boer spies?’ One had a distinctly Boer face, he thought, and,
deciding that something ought to be done at once, he assumed his most
nonchalant air and asked the two men politely for their names. In reply
they gave names so common in England that he could only regard them as
aliases. His suspicions being thus seemingly confirmed, he took into his
confidence two brother-officers, who, when the two ‘spies’ were pointed
out to them, saw the possibility of playing off a joke on the amateur
detective, for they recognised in the one with a ‘distinctly Boer face’
a young planter from Behar whose fresh, boyish appearance had won for
him the nickname of ‘Baby.’ He looked innocent enough to be capable of
anything. Admitting that both these men had come with them from up
country, the two mischievous friends added, ‘But we don’t know much
about them.’ That was enough for the investigator, who rose at dawn next
morning to prepare a circumstantial report for submission to the
Colonel. He declared this to be ‘his duty,’ and announced a stern
determination to go through with it in spite of pretended protestations
from many comrades who had somehow got wind of the story. Their
pleadings and wily persuasions only served to goad him on. The
responsibility of silence, which they sought to impose upon him, was too
much for one in his position to bear, so he hurried off towards the
Colonel’s tent, eager to make his startling disclosures. On the way,
however, he met a trooper, who unwittingly ‘gave the whole show away’;
and the crestfallen officer learned that the men whom he was going to
denounce as Boer spies had been coffee-planting for several years in
Coorg, and that the language they talked when exchanging confidences in
a public place was not German but Canarese. Such incidents as these
helped to while away the tedium of life in camp when the iron hand of
discipline was beginning to make itself felt lightly but firmly. A very
little humour provokes much mirth when other entertainments are scarce.
By that time even the sing-songs in camp were being cut short, and the
only note of revolt that Lumsden’s Horse were ever known to have sounded
arose on that account. It did not grow loud enough to reach the
commanding officer’s ears, but is recorded in the diary of a trooper
who, after describing a very pleasant little camp-fire concert, says:
‘We were all packed off to bed at 9.30 by the Sergeant-Major, to our
indignation.’

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd._
  ON PARADE, CALCUTTA
]

Public efforts for their amusement, however, did not flag, nor were camp
regulations always enforced so strictly. These facts we may gather from
an entry that would have delighted the methodical Samuel Pepys. ‘After
dinner drove to the Grand. Played snookers and won. Afterwards to the
Biograph, to which we were invited for nothing. Rather a noise cheering
for the Queen, Colonel Lumsden, &c. Marched back singing, though someone
tried to stop us. The Colonel came too and bade us sing. Had supper and
more songs, and three cheers for the Colonel, and to bed at two.’ These
frank revelations are worth whole columns of detailed description as
giving an insight into the character of the men who formed Lumsden’s
Horse and their adaptability to circumstances that marked the later days
of their camp life on the Maidan. The time for such festivities was
drawing rapidly to a close, and none but Puritanical moralists would
blame them for making the most of it after the manner of light-hearted
youth. They had serious thoughts on occasion, however, and all their
letters show how deeply impressed they were by one ceremony. The date of
embarkation was still uncertain when on Wednesday, February 14, some two
hundred officers and men under Colonel Lumsden’s command, headed by the
band of the Royal Irish Rifles, marched from their camp to the Cathedral
in Calcutta, where a special evening service of farewell was to be
celebrated. The Viceroy and Lady Curzon, Sir John Woodburn,
Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, nearly every officer of the Viceregal and
District Staffs, with regimental commandants and representatives of
other Presidencies, attended, and a sympathetic congregation filled
every part of the building. Soldiers and civilians joined in singing the
Processional hymn, ‘Onward, Christian soldiers,’ their voices mingling
with an effect never to be forgotten by anybody who took part in that
devotional service. The Lieutenant-Governor read the First Lesson and
Colonel Lumsden the Second. The choir sang ‘Fight the good fight,’ and a
deep silence fell on the congregation when Bishop Welldon began his
address to the contingent that numbered in its ranks many men whose
course in life had been guided by the high principles instilled by him
when he was master and they schoolboys at Tonbridge and Harrow. In a
clear strong voice, the ring of which they knew so well, he spoke to
them and their comrades, saying:

  This is a service of unique interest in the history of our city, and
  of our cathedral. It is one of those occasions which make us realise,
  amid many differences, the essential fact of our national spiritual
  unity. All who are loyal, all who are patriotic in Calcutta, are
  gathered or would have gladly gathered within this cathedral to-night.
  There is not in all this congregation—there is not, I think, in all
  Calcutta—a British heart that is not moved with sympathy and
  admiration for you, my brethren, who are going forth to the war in
  South Africa. And surely there is not a British heart but feels how
  just it is, how wise and how truly consonant with the best traditions
  of our race, that it should be your wish on the eve of your departure
  to seek the protection of, invite the benediction of, and to
  consecrate yourselves to the name and service of the Most High God.
  For if it has been possible at other times and in other places within
  the last few weeks to strike a note of felicity and festivity—I do not
  say that they have been unduly prominent, but who has not heard
  them?—if there has been excitement, merriment, and applause on your
  behalf, it is a note that I would not sound this evening. You are
  going, I know, with deep solemnity and resolution, and you are going
  as men who have undertaken a noble duty from which you might have held
  aloof without reproach, in the full consciousness of its cost and
  peril, and in the sure conviction that the part you are playing is not
  unworthy, as indeed it is not, of the British race and the British
  Empire. You are proud, then, of your self-chosen mission, but it may
  well be that someone who looks forward with eager anticipation to the
  future is yet, in his heart, possessed with the not ignoble anxiety
  that warfare is no child’s play. It is stern and awful. He who enters
  upon it with a light heart is no true soldier of God or man. You are
  assembled now within the sanctuary of religion. In a few hours or days
  you will set sail for a distant land. It is certain that you all will
  be exposed to the strain and danger of the battlefield, and it is by
  no means certain that all will return to their homes in safety. Some
  who hear me now will probably yield their lives for the Empire. Can I
  forget how, on the 24th day of last September, I shook hands at the
  Kidderpore Docks with the gallant officer commanding the
  Gloucestershire Regiment, and how within a few weeks from that day he
  had fallen—shot dead at the head of his regiment? As his fate was, so
  may be yours. That is the nobility and dignity of your service. The
  people of Calcutta would not throng into this cathedral to pray for
  you, with you, if it were not impressed upon their minds that you are
  inspired with the brave ambition that makes great Empires great. When
  they shall bid you farewell, as the troopship slowly passes into the
  distance, it will be with full hearts, and believing that you will be
  true even to death, that they will one and all say, ‘God bless you.’
  You go for the conservation of the Empire. I look upon the British
  Empire as the highest of human institutions, and realise that the
  Empire appeals to the spirit of chivalry, magnanimity, unselfishness,
  and devotion in all its members. Nobly, indeed, has India, European
  and Native, responded of late to that inspiring appeal. Who is there
  that has not felt his pride of Empire to be quickened by the generous
  loyalty not of Englishmen only but of the princes and nobles of India
  to her Majesty the Queen-Empress? For that loyalty, unexampled as it
  is in the history of other peoples, is itself a witness to the
  beneficence of British rule. May I venture, if only in passing, to
  express the hope that such an exhibition of loyalty may bring comfort
  to the sick-bed of that illustrious soldier, the Commander-in-Chief,
  who in a retrospect of his life can recall many a battle in which
  Europeans and Indians have fought side by side for the Empire? But if
  to the princes and nobles—may I not add to the people of India?—the
  thought of the Empire makes a paramount appeal, how much more to every
  man and woman of us.

  The Imperial spirit is in the air, it has passed from the chamber of
  philosophical thinkers to the common life of the nation. We are all
  Imperialists now, and it may be said in the sacred language, of our
  country in relation to her colonies and dependencies, that ‘her
  children have risen up and called her blessed.’ So in the hour of her
  stress and suffering there is not one colony that has failed to render
  her aid with the resources of its wealth, strength, and its armed men.
  Well is it, then, that Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Irishmen resident in
  India should take their stand with the colonists, not of South Africa
  only, but of Australia and Canada, in a cause which makes them one,
  for the Empire means not conquest alone. It means the principles upon
  which the modern Christian world is broadly based—justice, equality,
  freedom of thought and speech, intellectual progress, pure religion,
  and the sense of personal responsibility to God. You go forth, and by
  your going you assert that all the constituent members of the Empire
  are one. As the Apostle said of old, ‘We are members one of another’;
  and again, ‘If one member suffer all the members suffer with it.’ It
  is not nothing to you, and it is a matter which vitally and personally
  touches your interest, that to your fellow-subjects in South Africa
  should have been denied the elementary rights of citizenship and the
  common privileges of humanity. The injury that has been done to them
  is done to you. That you should go forth in a right and reverent
  spirit is the prayer of all who worship with you in this cathedral. Is
  it possible—I hardly like to suggest the reflection—but is it possible
  that we have lately thought too little of Almighty God? Is it possible
  that we have entered upon the war with something like levity in, the
  reliance upon our army and upon our pecuniary military resources
  rather than upon Him who has made and sanctified our Empire? Is it
  possible that we have forgotten that even if the ‘horse is prepared
  against the day of battle’ yet victory is of the Lord? If so, let us
  return to Him in penitence and prayer.

  Let us, confess our many failings and shortcomings, our imperfect
  sense of responsibility to Providence, and our disloyalty, if such
  there has been, to His commands. May you go forth, brethren, as
  trusting in Him, for you believe that your cause is just. If it were
  not just, if it were the cause of oppression or aggrandisement, may He
  Himself forbid that it should prosper; but if it be His will to use
  you in His service, to make you the instrument of His providence in
  the subjugation and pacification of the country which has flouted the
  majesty of the British Empire, if He has called you, and you have
  responded to His call, then His blessing will abide with you always.
  It is in this spirit that we bid you an honourable farewell. It may be
  that when you are severed by thousands of miles of ocean from the
  country of your birth or of your adoption, the memory of this service
  shall not wholly fade from your hearts. Here, in India, where the
  majesty of the Empire was most fiercely assailed and most successfully
  vindicated—here in this cathedral, where many monuments eloquently
  remind you of the courage, faith, and heroism of your race down to the
  memorial of those young Englishmen who laid their lives down for their
  country saying that they were not the last English—here, in the
  presence of the Power which controls the destinies of nations, we
  invoke the Divine blessing upon your arms. One last word, one
  inspiring motto, we will offer you. It is the watchword of our race:
  it is ‘Duty.’ ‘I thank God,’ said Nelson to Captain Blackwood, on the
  morning of Trafalgar, ‘for this great opportunity of doing my duty.’
  ‘Whatever happens, Uxbridge,’ said the Duke of Wellington on the
  morning of Waterloo, ‘you and I will do our duty.’ That the thought of
  ‘duty,’ inspired and sanctified by Heaven, may dwell in your hearts is
  our prayer for you all—the highest prayer that man may offer for man.
  May the God of our fathers be with you always, and help you to be
  brave, generous, and merciful, and vouchsafe to you safety; and if it
  be His will may victory and peace restore you to those who love you so
  well at home or in India, and grant you in life or in death to prove
  yourselves worthy citizens of the Empire, faithful servants and fellow
  soldiers of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

The choir next sang

                      ‘Soldiers of Christ, arise,
                        And put your armour on,’

and this was followed by two special prayers. Then came the National
Anthem, in the singing of which the whole congregation joined, and then
the Recessional hymn, ‘For all the saints who from their labours rest.’
The service over, Lumsden’s Horse marched back to camp through roads
that were thronged with enthusiastic spectators.

The next ten days were crowded with necessary preparations that left the
men little leisure for enjoyment of social entertainments arranged in
their honour, yet they found time for a pleasant gathering as spectators
at an amateur performance in the Calcutta Theatre, and possibly for some
tender leave-takings of which no note was made. They were not, at any
rate, allowed to go away without many manifestations of good-will from
all classes and abundant proofs of appreciation and care for their
welfare by the Government of India. It has already been said that his
Excellency Lord Curzon accepted readily the rank of Honorary Colonel of
the corps, while both he and Lady Curzon took every possible opportunity
of identifying themselves with a force in which they continued to show
the liveliest personal interest throughout its career of active service.
Sir William Lockhart, then Commander-in-Chief, was lying in Fort
William, Calcutta, dangerously ill of the malady from which he died not
long afterwards, and was therefore unable to see the corps, but he sent
to Colonel Lumsden and the executive committee several messages of
kindly encouragement. The contingent was inspected on its parade-ground
by General Leach, C.B., commanding the troops in the Presidency
District. Sir John Woodburn, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal and Honorary
Colonel of the Behar Light Horse, also paid an official visit to Colonel
Lumsden and made a farewell speech to the corps on parade the Sunday
before its first company embarked.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  TAKING HORSES ON BOARD TRANSPORT 28
  _A Company_
]

Orders for the front had come at last, but one of the transports had
not. So it was necessary for Lumsden’s Horse to go off in detachments.
The ‘Lindula’ was alongside the wharves in Kidderpore Docks, but she had
no room to spare for more than a hundred and fifty troopers, with their
officers and the necessary number of horses. Colonel Lumsden and the
headquarters were to go in her with A Company and the Maxim Gun
detachment, leaving B Company still camped on the Maidan, where Major
Showers would take over the command. Delays and alterations of dates
with regard to troopships, for which nobody in India was responsible,
would have been still more serious but for the resourceful energy of
Captain Goodridge, R.N., Director-General of Marine to the Government of
India, and Captain Gwynne, R.N., the executive transport officer at
Calcutta, who did all in their power to expedite matters and to meet the
wishes of Colonel Lumsden, whose one anxiety was for the comfort and
well-being of his men on the voyage.

Before daybreak on Monday, January 26, 1900, bugles were sounding the
reveillé for A Company, and from that moment its camp was a scene of
liveliest activity. Though the men whose turn to embark might not come
for a week or two longer went about their ordinary duties with assumed
unconcern, they cast many wistful glances at the busy preparations of
their envied comrades. Life in Calcutta had been pleasant enough to make
parting ‘such sweet sorrow’ for many that they would fain have prolonged
it at the last, but none gave a thought to such things in the dawn of
the day so long desired. For them all, South Africa was then the goal of
hope, and naturally the troops to go first were deemed most fortunate.
An old campaigner might have told them of the days to come, when, in the
weariness of a realisation more hollow than their dreams, they would be
haunted by the music of that last waltz in Calcutta, and longing to hear
once more the rustle of palm fronds under soft Indian skies, to breathe
the sweet fragrance of oleanders and roses. These thoughts, however,
were unspoken, and if anybody had ventured to hint at them he would have
been rightly scouted as a sickly sentimentalist by Lumsden’s Horse, who
were going forth to do the work of men. Yes; but somehow they were not
all adamant when they heard the cheers of thousands greeting them as
they marched through streets crowded with Europeans and natives. The
service company, in full campaigning kit, took the lead, proudly
conscious that all this was meant as an enthusiastic farewell to them
and for the gallant Colonel at their head; and B Company followed,
wearing simple drill order, with becoming modesty. An escort of ladies
and gentlemen on horseback accompanied the marching contingent. So
uncontrollable did the excitement of spectators become that they broke
in upon and mingled with the ranks, a confused mass from which it was
difficult for Lumsden’s Horse to disentangle themselves and pass in any
semblance of military formation through the dock gates, within which
they dismounted. Embarkation of their horses would in ordinary
circumstances have occupied a whole day if the slow system of hoisting
by slings had been adhered to. Major Taylor, however, suggested the use
of zig-zag gangways, ascending by easy inclines stage above stage. To
this arrangement the broad wharves of Kidderpore Docks were admirably
adapted. Captain Gwynne, with a seaman’s ready appreciation of
common-sense proposals, consented to this departure from former methods.
The gangways were rigged accordingly, and so the horses walked quietly
up the slopes to their berths on different decks instead of being slung
on board in the barbarous old fashion. The whole operation thus took an
hour instead of a day, and not a single horse was injured or had its
temper upset. While horses were being got on board the companies drew up
to await the Viceroy’s coming, where burning sunlight fell full on the
white helmets that were not to be worn again for many a day. All their
march from the Maidan had been like a triumphal procession, to the
accompaniment of cheers and waving handkerchiefs; but a scene even more
inspiring awaited them at the docks, where a great crowd had assembled,
making the grimy wharves bright with the colours of dainty costumes.
People lined the parapets of surrounding houses in masses uncomfortably
dense, and a multitude thronged the jetty, alongside which the transport
‘Lindula’ lay waiting to receive her full complement of troops.
Enclosures reserved for favoured spectators were filled to overflowing,
and at least 2,000 of the number assembled there had to stand, the 3,000
chairs being mostly occupied by ladies.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  EMBARKATION AT CALCUTTA
  _Kidderpore Docks, February 26, 1900_
]

Judges of the High Courts and senior officials of all departments were
present. Lumsden’s Horse lined one side of a great quadrangle facing the
flower-fringed daïs from which Lord Curzon was to deliver his farewell
speech. Behind them, stretching from end to end of the line, were gay
streamers bearing the time-honoured mottoes that served to inspire Roman
legions when they set out in galleys to conquer the world. ‘Dulce et
decorum est pro patria mori’ and ‘Fortes fortuna juvat’ are sentiments
that have happily not lost their meaning or their power to influence the
actions of men even in our unromantic age. The crowds had gathered there
to bid ‘God speed’ to the first contingent of Volunteers that had ever
left India to fight for their Queen and country. And each unit of that
assemblage seemed eager to do or say something that might emphasise the
heartiness of the farewell. So general and earnest was this desire that
the police had great difficulty to keep the pressing spectators within
bounds.

On arrival at the dock gates, their Excellencies the Viceroy and Lady
Curzon were met by his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor and officers in
attendance, who conducted them to the Viceregal platform, above which
the royal standard was hoisted. Lord Curzon then inspected the ranks of
Lumsden’s Horse, chatting with their Colonel the while. This inspection
over, his Excellency returned to the daïs, and, in a voice that carried
far among the silently attentive spectators, addressed the corps in
these words:

  Colonel Lumsden, Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and men of
  Lumsden’s Light Horse: In bidding you good-bye this afternoon, I feel
  that I may claim to speak for others besides myself. I do not appear
  here merely as the Honorary Colonel of your corps, proud as I am to
  fill that position. Nor am I merely the spokesman of the citizens of
  Calcutta, European and Native, among whom you have spent the past few
  weeks, and who desire to wish you all success in your patriotic
  enterprise. I feel that I am more than that, and that I may consider
  myself the mouthpiece of public opinion throughout India, which has
  watched the formation of this corps with admiration, which has
  contributed to its equipment and comfort with no illiberal hand, and
  which now sends you forth with an almost parental interest in your
  fortunes. At a time when the stress of a common anxiety has revealed
  to the British Empire its almost unsuspected unity, and its
  illimitable resources in loyalty and men, it would have been
  disappointing to all of us if India had lagged behind—India which,
  even if it is only peopled by a small minority of our own race, is yet
  the noblest field of British activity and energy and devotion that the
  world can show. Already the British regiments that we have sent from
  this country have helped to save Natal, and many a brave native
  follower has borne his part in the struggle. But as soon as the
  electric call for volunteer help to the mother land ran round, India
  responded to the summons. She has given us from the small civil
  population of British birth the 250 gallant men whom I am now
  addressing, and she would have given us as many more as Government
  would have been prepared to accept. I doubt not that had we been
  willing to enrol 1,000 instead of 250, they would have been
  forthcoming; and that had not one thousand but many thousand
  volunteers been called for from the native races, who vie with us in
  fervent loyalty to the same Sovereign, they would have sprung joyfully
  to arms, from the Hindu or Mussulman chief of ancient lineage and
  great possessions to the martial Sikh or the fighting Pathan.

  You, however, are the 250 who have been chosen, the first body of
  Volunteers from India that have ever had the chance of fighting for
  the Queen outside their shores; and you, Colonel Lumsden, to whose
  patriotic initiative this corps owes its being, and from whom it most
  befittingly takes its name, are the officer who is privileged to
  command this pioneer body of Indian soldiers of the Empire. Officers
  and men, you carry a great responsibility with you; for it will fall
  to you in the face of great danger, perhaps even in the face of death,
  to sustain the honour of the country that is now sending you forth and
  of the race from which you are sprung. But you will have this
  consolation. You are engaged on a glorious, and as I believe a
  righteous, mission, not to aggrandise an Empire, not merely to repel
  an unscrupulous invasion of the Queen’s territories, but to plant
  liberty and justice and equal rights upon the soil of a South Africa
  henceforward to be united under the British and no other flag. You go
  out at a dramatic moment in the contest, when, owing to the skilful
  generalship of an old Indian soldier and Commander-in-Chief, and to
  the indomitable gallantry of our men, the tide of fortune, which has
  too long flowed against us, seems at last to have turned in our
  favour. May it carry you on its forward crest to Pretoria itself! All
  India applauds your bravery in going. We shall watch your deeds on the
  battlefield and on the march. We wish you God speed in your
  undertaking; and may Providence in His mercy protect you through the
  perils and vicissitudes of your first contact with the dread realities
  of war, and bring you safely back again to this country and to your
  homes.

  Colonel Lumsden and men, on behalf of your fellow-countrymen and your
  fellow-subjects throughout India, I bid you farewell.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  H.E. THE VICEROY ADDRESSING THE CORPS
  _February 26, 1900_
]

There is ample evidence from the letters of troopers themselves to prove
that Lord Curzon’s eloquent words inspired them with an ideal which they
determined at all hazards to live up to, and perhaps it is not too much
to say that the conspicuous gallantry everywhere and at all times
displayed by all ranks of Lumsden’s Horse is directly traceable to the
high conception of their duty breathed in every sentence of the
Viceroy’s speech, though they paraphrased it in more homely language,
taking for their regimental motto ‘Play the game.’ For a while after
Lord Curzon had finished speaking the troops were silent. Then they
raised lusty cheers for his Excellency and Lady Curzon and the people of
Calcutta, who in their turn cheered Lumsden’s Horse again and again. The
Viceroy and his suite, accompanied by Colonel Lumsden, Sir Patrick
Playfair, and other members of the executive committee, then went on
board the ‘Lindula’ for a final inspection of the arrangements made for
the comfort of the corps, whose horses had already been shipped.
Meanwhile Mrs. Pugh had presented each officer and trooper with a
Prayer-book, and in giving it she said a few simple words that touched
all hearts. Some tender scenes of leave-taking had been enacted, and men
came back to their places in the ranks with faces not quite so hard as
they thought. There may have been sobs in the sweet voices that
whispered ‘Good-bye!’ but if so they were lost in the loud chorus that
rang out from comrades cheering each other. Then the band struck up ‘The
Girl I Left Behind Me,’ and the troopers of A Company marched on board
the ‘Lindula.’ As she cast off from her moorings amid many touching
demonstrations and more enthusiastic cheers, the strains of music
changed to ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ The sun had set then, but crowds lingered,
cheering still and waving handkerchiefs until the transport disappeared
in the gathering darkness. She dropped down to her anchorage in Garden
Reach that night, and when Calcutta awoke next morning she had gone,
bearing the first contingent of Lumsden’s Horse towards South Africa.
Colonel Lumsden’s appreciation of all that had been done for the corps
was expressed in the following letter:

  _To the Editor of the ‘Englishman.’_

  SIR,—On the eve of leaving India for South Africa with the corps which
  I have the honour to command there is one pleasant duty which I have
  to fulfil. This is to convey, in the most public manner, to all who
  have helped me in raising ‘Lumsden’s Horse,’ my grateful thanks for
  their sympathy and support. To the Viceroy, who has accepted the
  Honorary Colonelcy of the corps, I owe more than can be stated in this
  letter, for his Excellency removed all difficulties which lay in the
  way of sending an Indian Volunteer Contingent to the seat of war. To
  his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal and his Excellency the
  Commander-in-Chief I am indebted for their support and sympathy. Sir
  Edwin Collen, Military Member; Sir Edmund Elles, Adjutant-General;
  Major-Generals Maitland and Wace; Surgeon-General Harvey;
  Brigadier-General Leach; Colonel Money and Captain Drake-Brockman;
  Colonels Buckland and Spenser, Army Clothing Department; Captain Gwyn,
  Royal Indian Marine; Captain Philipps; Colonel Mansfield, Commissariat
  Transport Department; the Commissariat Staff in the Presidency
  District; one and all gave me the benefit of their experience in
  military matters in addition to official assistance which was of the
  highest value. There were many occasions when their personal influence
  smoothed over difficulties connected with organisation and equipment,
  and made my task much easier than it would otherwise have been. I wish
  gratefully to acknowledge the special kindness of Major Pilgrim,
  I.M.S., who medically examined the members of the corps. To the
  executive committee—Sir Patrick Playfair, Colonel Buckingham, Colonel
  Money, Major Eddis, Major Dolby, and Mr. Harry Stuart—I am most deeply
  indebted, for they have all worked hard from first to last; to the
  general public who responded so handsomely to the appeal for
  subscriptions; to the Press, who gave full publication to the
  movement; to the donors of camp equipment, kit, and things in kind; to
  the railways for their assistance; and to the India General and River
  Steam Navigation Companies, who carried the Assam Volunteers free of
  cost; to these I must express the warmest thanks, not merely on my own
  part, but on behalf of every officer and man of the corps. They,
  indeed, rendered it possible for my scheme as a whole to be carried
  out. To Mrs. Pugh and the ladies of Calcutta we can only say that
  their labour of love will never be forgotten by ‘Lumsden’s Horse.’

                                                       D.M. LUMSDEN.

  February 26.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  B COMPANY LUMSDEN’S HORSE LEAVING CALCUTTA
  _March 3, 1900_
]

Four days later welcome orders came for B Company to be ready for
embarkation, and, early in the morning of March 3, Major Showers, in
command of all that remained of Lumsden’s Horse on the Maidan, marched
out of camp, escorted by Europeans and natives principally on horseback.
For them the enthusiasm that had marked the departure of their comrades
was revived with even greater fervour, and though this second
leave-taking was less ceremonious than the first, it lacked nothing of
the heart-stirring eloquence that rings through the voices of people
when they are moved by great impulses. The Viceroy, when he addressed
Colonel Lumsden and A Company, had spoken his farewell to the whole
regiment. This second demonstration, though accompanied by many signs of
official interest, was in all essential characteristics a popular
movement in which all classes joined with the more impressive warmth
because it was the last tribute they could pay to Lumsden’s Horse before
the corps might be called upon to take its place in the fighting line.
The Lieutenant-Governor (Sir John Woodburn) and the Bishop of Calcutta
made eloquent speeches that were emphasised by repeated cheering; and
with many cordial words of farewell ringing in their ears, to the
musical accompaniment of ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ Major Showers and his hundred
troopers embarked on board the ‘Ujina.’ After she had steamed down the
Hugli there was no more work to be done by the committee, whose members
had laboured with patriotic self-sacrifice to raise and equip Lumsden’s
Horse and send the contingent forth a perfectly organised force in all
respects. The executive committee then practically handed over all its
authority to Sir Patrick Playfair, who never ceased for a moment to
watch over the interests of the Contingent, for which he had already
done so much. The following letter shows how greatly Lumsden’s Horse
were indebted for their rapid and complete organisation to the business
capacity and indefatigable industry of Sir Patrick Playfair:

            S.S. ‘Lindula,’ _en route_ for South Africa: March 12, 1900.

  My dear Playfair,—I have felt ever since leaving Calcutta that I never
  half thanked you for what you did for Lumsden’s Horse, and no one
  knows so well as myself, or appreciates more to the full, the work you
  did on its behalf. Now, when I have time to think calmly over the
  events of the past two months, I can see plainly that the successful
  issue things were brought to, financially and otherwise, was entirely
  due to your energy and guidance; and this without in the slightest
  degree depreciating the valuable services of your fellow-workers on
  the committee, as I feel confident one and all of them would coincide
  heartily with my sentiments....

                                               Yours always,

                                                       D.M. LUMSDEN.




                              CHAPTER III
                            _OUTWARD BOUND_


Life on board a troopship does not offer much material for graphic
description, and none but a Kipling could give to its ordinary incidents
an absorbing interest for general readers. Nevertheless, it has charms
for those who look at it with eyes fresh to such scenes, and for
Lumsden’s Horse, at any rate, there was a novelty in the situation not
wholly unpleasant in spite of the many discomforts they had to endure
and the distasteful duties necessarily imposed upon them. They were
learning there a harder lesson than any of which their experiences in
camp on the Maidan could have given the slightest conception. It is one
thing to go a long voyage on board a liner as first-, second-, or even
third-class passenger, but quite another to be penned up between decks
in a crowded transport with native servants and Lascars, eating coarse
Government rations served in the roughest fashion, doing the work of
grooms and lackeys, and sleeping on bare planks in an atmosphere odorous
with exhalations from stables and galleys. They had enlisted for a
soldier’s life, however, prepared to take the rough with the smooth,
and, being in for it, they made the best of their circumstances after
the first rude shock of feeling what military service really means had
worn off. Discipline may become a property of easiness anywhere else,
but on board ship the line that separates rank from rank must be sharply
drawn even in the case of a Volunteer company. Comradeship and
interchange of friendly greetings between officers and men may still go
on as of old; but they cannot make a trooper forget for a moment that
certain privileges follow rank, and disabilities cling to those who have
it not, while these facts are thrust upon him insistently at every turn
and dinned into his ears by every bugle call to duty or to meals. It is
well that we also should remember these things in estimating the
sacrifices that Volunteers make when they give up the comforts, if not
luxuries, of home life and go forth to fight for country and for empire
as private soldiers. The privations, the rough fare, the hard marches in
all weather, exposure to rapid alternations of heat and cold, fierce
sunshine where there is no shelter by day, and pitiless rain from which
there is no escape at night, hunger, wounds, and sickness—all these may
be cheerfully borne because they are the lot of all ranks alike. Not so,
however, with the petty humiliations and drudgery inseparable from many
duties on board a transport, where the mere trooper finds that a
soldier’s uniform is a badge of distinction truly, but the distinction
at times brings with it something closely akin to a sense of
humiliation. The company or regimental officers may do all they can to
take the keen point off this goading sentiment, but it will wound where
there is the least protection against it and rankle too. One must say to
the credit of Lumsden’s Horse that they did not allow such
considerations to trouble. There is no trace of discontent in their
published contributions to Indian papers, of which some extracts from
the ‘Englishman’ may be made by way of giving a picture of the voyage as
troopers looked at it. We left the ‘Lindula’ steaming down the Hugli
apparently well on her way towards South Africa. Though lost to the view
of interested crowds who looked for her soon after dawn on the morning
of February 27, she did not pursue an uninterrupted course. At this
point a trooper of A Company takes up the story in a lively narrative,
writing thus:

  The absurd antics which the river Hugli thinks it necessary to go
  through ere flowing to rest in the bosom of its old mammy Ocean compel
  mariners to sail on it by day alone, and then to go as cannily as a
  cat on hot bricks. On Tuesday morning we dashed off letters and
  telegrams, and with a sigh of relief despatched them by the post boat,
  thinking we were fairly off for Afric’s sandy shores. But no! We had
  not reckoned with the lead line, which recorded much the same number
  of feet and inches that the good ship ‘Lindula’ drew, so with a Heave!
  Ho! Holly! the anchor fell overboard, and then we were stuck for a
  whole day.

  Fancy getting up at 4.30 in the pitch dark! And no chance of shirking
  either, for the decks are swabbed down and clean as a child’s plate
  after a penny dinner by 5 A.M. of the clock. Five-thirty heralds a cup
  of tea, and 6 o’clock sets every nag aboard neighing and whinnying,
  for do they not know it to be feeding time, better even than the
  Sergeant-Major, who marches about with a little stick marking time?
  Then stables—a pleasant job for the deaf and dumb, but trying to a man
  who wishes to retain the lily-white unstained purity of his mind. Nine
  o’clock is the signal for the bugler to tootle ‘Mary! come to the
  cook-house door,’ and before he gets to the ‘y’ in Mary, A Company is
  tumbling head over heels down the fore companion.

  Spinning down the river with the banks gradually receding from sight
  raises everybody’s spirits, and a merry lot we are when from the
  Sandheads comes a telegram announcing the capitulation of Cronjé—news
  greeted by loud and continuous cheers. A little way more and the pilot
  brig heaves in sight, and soon we lie to in her neighbourhood,
  listening to round after round of hoarse cheering from the
  white-hatted figures aboard. Our pilot drops over the side,
  accompanied by a great sheaf of our last messages to friends, and we
  get up steam, waving good-bye to India, and begin our voyage, never a
  man of us for whom the future does not loom big with adventurous
  hopes; never a man of us reckoning of the toil or peril. Young British
  blood, hot and eager, keen to flow more swiftly, keen to taste of the
  life that has given the world so many great names, so many great
  deeds. India, _au revoir_!

  The gentle reader must not imagine that we have nothing to do.
  Breakfast finished at 10 o’clock, the bugles wax busy, and call after
  call resounds through the ship, summoning sections to various tasks.
  One of the earliest parades of the voyage was that to practise the
  fire alarm and ‘boats.’ Every man has his appointed place, and lest
  any should hurry unduly for the boats, sentries have been told off to
  guard these, having their rifles loaded with ball cartridges, and
  orders to shoot the first man who may attempt a rush. This extremely
  important matter has been thoroughly impressed on our minds by
  practice, and should the alarm be given in stern reality we all know
  where to make for.

  Needless to say, rifle exercise is one of the chief things to which we
  must pay attention, and morning and afternoon the words of command
  ring through the ship as squad after squad is put through its facings.
  Fatigues are innumerable. Bringing forage and stores on deck is a
  daily task; oiling and packing away saddlery; cleaning spare arms;
  painting side arms; marking equipment and a dozen other things. Then a
  signalling class is terribly busy, and a row of otherwise
  intelligent-looking lads wave their arms wildly to the accompaniment
  of strange sounds bellowed by the signalling instructor.

  When the rifle exercises have sunk into the minds of men, they are
  allowed to practise shooting. Every day, at 12 and 2, parties assemble
  on the quarter-deck and shoot at wine cases, biscuit boxes, bits of
  paper, anything that affords a mark. In spite of the rolling and
  pitching of the ship, and, what is worse, the vibration caused by the
  screw, wonderful practice is made. A bit of paper a few inches square
  is hit several times at 200 yards, and as the larger obstacles recede
  they are repeatedly struck. Men firing have to judge their own
  distances, and the practice on the whole has been marvellously good.
  The Maxim gun has had a turn, too, and a very terrible weapon it is.
  In spite of the extreme disadvantage under which it labours when
  placed on a moving platform, excellent shooting has been made with it.
  An ordinary beer barrel at 800 and 1,000 yards was douched with spray,
  and then struck after three or four shots had been fired. The noise is
  atrocious, but it is grand to see the bullets striking the water, one!
  two! three! four! ever nearing the mark, and then, five! Plump in.

  Though we have lots of work to do we don’t forget to play, and many
  are the tasks indulged in. One of the favourite amusements is boxing,
  and morning and evening a ring is formed wherein all may enter for a
  round or two. A few matches have been got up, and desperate battles
  have been fought betwixt champions of the various sections. Naturally
  party feeling runs high on these occasions, and everybody in the ship,
  from the Colonel and the Captain down to Carpenter Chinaman John,
  takes up a place outside the ring, watching the fray with bated
  breath. The end is usually a black eye or blood drawn, neither of
  which temporary inconveniences prevents furious and friendly
  handshakings at the finish. Singlestick has supporters, but none so
  many as the gentle art of boxing. Cockfighting has many votaries, and
  wrestling a few, for both of these elegant diversions may be partaken
  of in the comparative dark. Duty and pleasure are combined in tubbing.
  A sail bath four feet deep and some six square is slung and filled
  with sea water. The bather, dressed ‘altogether,’ stands well back and
  runs at the bath, rolling in head over heels. Number one is followed
  quickly by more, one on top of the other, until the bath is nothing
  but a struggling mass of arms and legs. Then the hose is turned on,
  and every man must take his turn or pay the penalty of being thrust
  underneath.

  On our first Saturday night at sea the skipper—Captain Steuart—was
  kind enough to permit a smoking-concert to be held on the
  quarter-deck, where the saloon piano had been comfortably ensconced on
  a raised stage ornamented with flags. Corporal Blair took the public
  fancy tremendously with some of the comic songs that soldiers delight
  in. Corporal Skelton’s recitation about the Volunteer Instructor who
  complains of his squad that ‘They Largifies,’ fairly brought the house
  down. Among others who gave us pleasure were the brothers Wright and
  Private Woods, who, _à trois_, drew much melody from the banjo. The
  following morning (Sunday) we had service on deck, the Colonel and the
  Captain reading the Lessons. The little book so thoughtfully presented
  to every man by Mrs. Pugh was used.

  Crossing the line was a most unexciting experience, for no Father
  Neptune came on board, nor did any of the other time-honoured things
  befall us. Alas! for the merchant navy! We did not see Ceylon at all,
  but during the night we passed, in the distance, a light which shone
  out from somewhere on its coast. That was our last sight of the
  outside world until we had crossed the great Indian Ocean.

  On the whole, the horses have had a good time, very different from
  that endured by shiploads coming over from Australia. Most of them get
  a grooming of sorts every day, and many get an hour’s walking exercise
  round a small circle once or twice in the week. It is wonderful to
  behold an animal with legs puffed out like tea cosies begin his little
  tour and finish up with extremities clean cut as those of a racehorse.

  Still, there is a good deal of sickness among them in various forms of
  fever and colic. First, Private Case, from Behar, lost a very clever
  little horse. Since then two more have died, one a valuable mare, the
  property of Lieutenant Crane, of Behar, and the other the charger of
  Private Atkinson, from Mussoorie.

  The fifth officer of the ship, a braw lad frae Glescae, finds it very
  trying to hear us miscall the different parts—‘pairts,’ he says—of his
  beloved she. ‘A ship’s no like a house, wi’ upstairs an’ doonstairs,’
  he plaintively remonstrates. And when any of us join him in a cigar
  and throw the stump out of the ‘window’ instead of the ‘scuttle,’ the
  poor man almost cries. One continually finds him gravely pointing out
  to little knots of men the absurdity of referring to the back or the
  front of a ship. He explains how it ought to be ‘forrard’ and ‘aft,’
  and ‘above’ and ‘below.’ Then someone will mildly query where ‘astarn’
  comes in, and how it is possible to distinguish between port and
  starboard. And he tells. But, all the same, we continue to search for
  each other upstairs and down; we lie on the floor, forgetting it is
  deck, and it still passes our comprehension how ‘loo’ard’ can be at
  one side of the ship one day and the opposite to-morrow. This fifth
  officer is a bit of a humourist, too, and, finding an appreciative
  audience, plays off a rich fund of nautical yarns that have gathered
  raciness in the course of long centuries since they were translated
  from the Portuguese of Vasco da Gama. The narrator evidently thinks
  that Lumsden’s Horse are as credulous as ‘the Marines.’ Perhaps he
  takes them to be a mounted variety of that species, and, being a
  naturalist among other things, he has a scientific motive for studying
  their peculiarities.

  Colonel Lumsden confirmed the following non-commissioned appointments
  in A Company, some of which were provisionally made before leaving
  Calcutta:

  Regimental Sergeant-Major: C.M. Marsham (Behar L.H.); Company
  Sergeant-Major E.N. Mansfield (Punjaub L.H.); Sergeants: H. Fox (Behar
  L.H.), E.M.S. McNamara (Behar L.H.), R.S. Stowell (Poona V.R.), and W.
  Walker (Assam V.L.H.); Lance-Sergeants: F.L. Elliott (Assam V.L.H.),
  D.S. Fraser (Oudh L.H.), J. Lee Stewart (Coorg and Mysore R.), and
  R.E. Dale (E.I.R.V.C.); Corporals: Percy Jones (Behar L.H.), G. Lawrie
  (Oudh L.H.), E. Llewhellin (Behar L.H.), and H. Marsham (Behar L.H.);
  Lance-Corporals: A.M. Firth (Behar L.H.), A.C. Walker (Assam Valley
  L.H.), E.J. Ballard (Punjaub L.H.), H.F. Blair (Behar L.H.), D.J.
  Keating (Calcutta Port Defence), W.S. Lemon (Calcutta V.R.), A.
  Macgillivray (Behar L.H.), and J.W.A. Skelton (Assam V.L.H.).

  Transport Establishment: Lance-Corporals R.P. Estabrook, C.T. Power,
  J. Charles, S.W. Cullen, and G.W. Palmer.

  It could not be expected that 150 men would be together on board ship
  for three weeks without a certain proportion going sick.
  Lance-Sergeant Lee Stewart, of the Coorg and Mysore Rifles, was struck
  down with pneumonia. Shortly afterwards Private H.H.J. Hickley, of the
  Behar Light Horse, was attacked by the same illness aggravated by
  pleurisy. About this time a large number were bowled over. Blame was
  laid on the tinned provisions, but, probably, if men had worn the
  mufflers, so tenderly knitted for us by Calcutta ladies, about their
  waists instead of round their necks much pain and trouble would have
  been avoided. The decks at night were covered with sleeping figures,
  clad and unclad in every degree. At turning in, a gentle zephyr that
  wouldn’t disturb the ringlets on a fair lady’s neck might be blowing,
  and in an hour a sharp breeze laden with heavy rain would sweep down
  and drench the unconscious sleepers. Then one of the immediate results
  of an order for men to go about barefooted was that Private
  Clayton-Daubney, of the Behar Light Horse, took a fall when turning a
  slippery corner and broke his collar-bone.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd._
  THE REGIMENT IN CALCUTTA
  _Part of A Company_
]

To Sir Patrick Playfair Colonel Lumsden wrote while at sea a letter that
is interesting as a proof of his interest in and care for the men under
his command. They paid many glowing tributes to him afterwards, but none
that gives a better key to the hold he had on their respect than his own
simple words as they appear in the following extract:

  I regret to say Hickley, from Behar, is in a very bad way. He had
  fever and pneumonia to start with, and has now gone clean ‘pāgāl,’[2]
  and, though quite quiet and harmless, has to have two men in close
  attendance day and night. I had him taken into the saloon yesterday,
  in a cabin near my own. I am intensely sorry for the poor chap, as,
  unless a sudden recovery takes place, we shall have to make
  arrangement for the authorities to look after him when we land. We
  have one more case on board, which I was in hopes it might not be
  necessary to mention. Stewart, the planter from Mysore, had an attack
  of pneumonia which has taken a chronic form, and I fear there is small
  chance of immediate recovery. He may have to go into hospital at
  Durban—whether we land there or not—and I much doubt his ever being
  able to join us again. You will remember my telling you about him, a
  man of independent means (married, with a family), who came for the
  love of the game. He was a most useful man, knowing a lot about
  horses, and was made an acting sergeant almost as soon as he arrived,
  and put on to help Veterinary-Captain Stevenson. He did excellent work
  on board until he got ill, and I shall miss him much. It is his own
  wish to land if he is not better.

  Beyond this we have had a most delightful voyage, simply perfect
  weather, and a sea like glass. The men act up to our corps motto
  ‘_Play the game_’ like the good chaps they are. You should see them at
  stable work in the morning, with nothing on but trousers rolled up to
  their thighs, or pyjamas ditto, and later in the day, washing their
  kit or making up puddings and cakes of sorts—some of the latter are
  works of art! We have a lot of musical talent on board, and have had a
  couple of excellent concerts. Captain Steuart added to the enjoyment
  of the last by giving a magic-lantern show. He is a very good sort,
  and has done everything in his power to ensure the comfort of the men.
  After finishing our daily inspection to-day he confided to me that he
  had never seen a troopship better kept, as regards order and
  cleanliness. The men are being practised daily in the use of the
  rifle, dropping boxes and wisps of straw overboard for targets, and I
  am more than pleased with the way they are shooting, at a moving
  target from a moving ship. You might also mention to my friend General
  Wace that Holmes is making excellent practice with his Maxim gun.

[Illustration: C.V.S. DICKINS]

[Illustration: N.J. BOLST]

[Illustration: CAPT. HOLMES]

[Illustration: P.T. CORBETT]

[Illustration: SERGT. DALE]

                          MAXIM-GUN CONTINGENT

This is one picture of life in a troopship under the happiest
conditions. There is another side to the picture, of which we may get
glimpses in the experiences of men in Company B, to whom Calcutta’s
citizens gave a hearty ‘God speed’ when they embarked in the ‘Ujina’
at Kidderpore Docks on March 3. Before she had cast off from her
moorings the troopers had been called to dinner, and that feast was a
revelation to them of all they were leaving behind. One corporal
described it as ‘a sort of stew in stable-buckets, too filthy for
anything’; but that may have been merely a little ebullition of
aristocratic prejudice. Nevertheless, he and two comrades hurried on
shore, and drove as fast as they could to Madan’s in the town, where
they invested 200 rupees in sundry things which they regarded as
necessaries for their sustenance during the voyage. They were back in
time to hear the Lieutenant-Governor’s and Bishop Welldon’s speeches,
and then to join in a parting cheer for their old adjutant, Captain
Martin, who only left them to go on shore as the ‘Ujina’ cast off. The
subsequent proceedings of that day are not recorded in the corporal’s
diary, who contents himself with noting that he ‘had some tea—no milk,
and awfully sweet.’ When he awoke next morning, after a restless night
on bare planks between decks, the thought of creature-comforts must
have been uppermost still, for he was aware of ‘gnawing pains—result
of nothing to eat,’ and his morning reflections begin with the
disjointed phrases: ‘No knives and forks. No salt. Those who had
penknives were lucky. Fortunately we all had fingers.’ Was there in
those last words a prophetic suggestion that some of them might not
even have fingers for such uses after a while? If so, the gloomy
foreboding passed without record, giving place to action, for at 6
o’clock that morning the corporal whose notes throw a glimmer of light
on much of the darker side that is too often ignored, found himself in
charge of a stable fatigue, wading at the heels of the horses in a
foul, dark, unventilated drain about thirty inches wide, from which
nothing ran off. He mentions incidentally that the four unfortunate
men who had to clear away this accumulated filth were ‘very
indignant’; and from this we may gather that they used adjectives to
express their opinion of that first stable fatigue on board ship. It
does not read like the best possible means of promoting a healthy
appetite, but when called to breakfast three hours later they looked
with dismay at a loaf that was to last each of them the whole day, and
when one small tin of brawn was put before them for division among
sixteen men at a table, they came to the conclusion that it ‘seemed
very short commons indeed.’ Some of the men found that their
carefully-arranged kits had been thrown aside in a confused heap to
make room for native followers, and they ventured on a mild
remonstrance, but were told, ‘You must look after your own things; you
don’t have your bearers here.’ That obvious truth had impressed itself
upon them very forcibly some hours earlier, while they were doing
stable fatigue, and it needed no rubbing in. Other trials followed, as
we gather from a brief but expressive note: ‘Dinner at 1.0. Soup and a
messy stew in buckets, as before. Tried to get some salt
unsuccessfully, and, returning, found the stew all gone. Beer was
served out, which I didn’t drink. Gave my bottle away and drank water,
hot and cloudy, out of a bath-tin. No knives or forks yet. Through our
mess-room, while we feed, files a long procession of syces, transport
wallahs, servants, Candaharis; sometimes a herd of goats, and always
Lascars, carrying ropes, hoses, or buckets. Now they have kicked us
out from where we were making ourselves comfortable below, and I miss
much a corner, even such as my horse has, where I could put my things
in safety. At night we throw our straw mattresses wherever we can find
a vacant space, and scramble in confusion for our kits out of a heap
of exactly similar ones. We would gladly have paid our own expenses
for a little more comfort. The last straw came at 7.30, when the
“cook-house” bugle went again, but the _chef_ said, “No orders to cook
anything more,” and shut the door in the faces of orderlies. The
N.C.O.s then went in a body and complained. Result—bread and beer were
served out. It was bread and water for me. Lay my mattress down among
the horses, and was comfortable in spite of the stuffy smell and
stamping about all night.’ Still, his thoughts seem to have dwelt on
the idea that there was much to complain of—the coarse tin pots, the
tea extremely sweet and without milk, the hot and dirty water—not even
a dry canteen from which to supplement the scanty fare, and so on
until he dropped into sweet sleep. That sleep must have been very
refreshing, or a considerable change had come upon the ship by the
next morning, when the food had improved greatly, and at supper the
‘men were merry enough, with great singing of songs.’ Later entries in
this diary show that the first highly-coloured outbursts of discontent
were due mainly, if not wholly, to a sudden change from the luxury and
plenty of a planter’s _ménage_ to the comparative coarseness of a
simple soldier’s fare—otherwise Government rations—in necessarily
rough circumstances. The additional comforts thoughtfully provided by
the Calcutta Committee for consumption on the voyage were by mistake
stowed away with baggage and other stores below. Thenceforward matters
mended day by day, and, though there were still some discomforts to be
endured, they seem to have been relieved by more amusements than
appear in the letters sent for publication to the Indian newspapers.
On the whole, however, a fairly comprehensive idea of the way in which
B Company passed its days on board the ‘Ujina’ may be formed from the
following letter, parts of which were published in the ‘Indian Daily
News’:

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd._
  SURMA VALLEY LIGHT HORSE. CONTINGENT OF LUMSDEN’S B COMPANY
]

  Hard work and plenty of it has been the order of the day ever since we
  came on board. The greater part of this is in connection with the
  horses. It is, of course, of very great importance that we should be
  in a position to move forward as soon as possible after landing, and,
  bearing this in mind, Major Showers and his officers are doing their
  utmost to keep the animals fit. For the first day or two bran mashes
  were given the horses, with as much hay as they could eat. This has
  been gradually augmented, until they are now getting a mixture of bran
  and gram or linseed three times a day. The watering and feeding are
  carried out with the greatest regularity, each section officer
  personally superintending the work. Our daily routine may prove
  interesting to the uninitiated in these matters. Awakened by reveillé
  at 4.30, we have time to put our kits in order before getting a cup of
  tea at 5.30. Half an hour later the bugle sounds ‘stables,’ and the
  men immediately assemble on the lower deck, each section separately,
  to answer the roll. Absentees who are not on the sick-list, or engaged
  in fatigue or other duties, have their names noted down, and are dealt
  with afterwards. Each horse is taken out of his stall and thoroughly
  groomed, and the stall itself cleaned and disinfected daily. The
  horses are then watered, a certain number of men being told off for
  this duty; the rest are occupied in drawing and mixing the feeds,
  which they place in tin troughs, one in front of each horse. As soon
  as word is passed that watering is completed, the command ‘Feed’ is
  given, and the troughs are immediately lifted and fixed on the
  breast-boards attached to each stall. The hay is then served out in
  bundles, each horse getting six. These are opened and put in the bags
  hung over the horses’ heads.

  The stable picket, consisting of three men from each section, is
  posted at 7 o’clock in the evening, and is on duty for twenty-four
  hours—till seven the following evening. Each man takes his turn as
  stable sentry for eight hours altogether out of the twenty-four—two
  hours on and four hours off. A non-commissioned officer is in charge
  of all four section pickets, and he also is on duty for twenty-four
  hours until relieved when the guard is changed next evening. He is
  expected to go round the pickets two or three times during the night,
  and see that the sentries are at their posts all right. The orderly
  officer also visits the pickets twice during the night. The duties of
  each sentry are to see that the horses do not get loose, or injure
  themselves, or ‘savage’ each other, and that they are fed properly.

  After breakfast, at 8 o’clock, the men’s time is generally taken up in
  cleaning rifles and accoutrements, and washing and dressing themselves
  for a general parade at half-past 10.

  The men are then kept busy at the manual and firing exercise for about
  an hour, and also bayonet exercise occasionally. The inspection of the
  steamer by the Captain, accompanied by Major Showers and officers,
  including the doctor and veterinary officer, also takes place at this
  hour, and Major Showers afterwards inspects the company. For the next
  hour or two we have little to do bar fatigues until the time comes for
  watering and feeding horses at midday stables.

  During the afternoon the men usually employ themselves in playing
  cricket, boxing, wrestling, football, and tugs-of-war, until the
  bugles sound for evening stables at 5.30. Sunday is a day of rest, as
  far as possible, only necessary work, such as ‘stables,’ being done,
  and church parade is held at 10.30, the service lasting about half an
  hour. There are almost daily calls for fatigue parties, a few men
  being taken from each section to bring up stores or forage from the
  hold, and this is pretty hot and dirty work. At 9 o’clock every night
  the ‘last post’ sounds, and half an hour later ‘lights out.’ After
  that ‘there is naught but the sound of the lone sentry’s tread’ or the
  squeal of an angry horse to disturb the peaceful slumbers of snoring
  troopers on board the ‘Ujina,’ until the notes of reveillé, shrill if
  not always clear, wake them at dawn to another day of similar routine.

-----

Footnote 2:

    Hindustani for ‘off his head.’

-----




                               CHAPTER IV
           _NEARING THE GOAL—DISEMBARKATION AT CAPE TOWN AND
                              EAST LONDON_


Though something went wrong with the ‘Ujina’s’ engines, which had to be
stopped twice for repairs in the Bay of Bengal, she covered the
remaining fifteen hundred leagues or so in very good time, and, passing
Madagascar during the misty night of March 18, was within sight of the
South African coast by daybreak of the 24th, and at midday she anchored
off Durban, being unable to get nearer that port than the troubled
roadstead two miles from shore. Thus her time from the Hugli to Port
Natal was just three weeks, and those on board had the satisfaction of
hearing that the ‘Lindula,’ with A Company, must be still at sea, having
left Durban for Cape Town only three days before the ‘Ujina’s’ arrival.
The man who brought that good news had evidently acquired a Kaffir or
Oriental habit of saying the things that are pleasant whether true or
not. In sober fact, the ‘Lindula’ had gone a week earlier, and was by
that time landing her troops at Cape Town. As nobody was allowed to
land, Lumsden’s Horse did not get the exciting experience of being
lowered in a cage from the troopship’s gangway to a tug plunging and
tossing and wriggling among the ‘rollers’ twenty feet below. But they
had an opportunity of seeing how the thing was done when a Transport
officer came on board that way with an order for the troops under Major
Showers’s command to disembark at East London. This officer was
accompanied by three of the Natal Carbineers, who had been with Sir
Redvers Buller’s force to the relief of Ladysmith, and whose thrilling
tales of adventure were as welcome as a newly-discovered series of
Arabian Nights’ stories might have been to men who had heard no news for
twenty-one days. The general situation was not quite as those Carbineers
described it, but their account of Boer resistance in Natal did not by
any means convey the idea that war was nearly at an end, although rumour
magnified Lord Roberts’s successes to the extent of placing him within a
march or so of Kroonstadt at a time when his troops were still hung up
at Bloemfontein waiting for food and transport. As B Company had heard
of Cronjé’s surrender and the relief of Ladysmith before leaving
Calcutta, it would hardly have surprised them to learn that the Union
Jack was floating over Pretoria. To them the mere occupation of
Bloemfontein seemed a comparatively small matter, so they at once turned
and began to rend with keen sarcasm the croakers who had predicted that
B Company at least would be too late for anything. Too late! Why, their
orders were to disembark at East London, and did not that mean an
immediate start for the front? One sanguine trooper in the gladness of
his heart wrote, ‘We go on shore at 11.30 to-day, leaving for
Bloemfontein by train about the same hour to-night, and expect to arrive
in forty-eight hours. We shall probably train to Bethulie and march from
there to Bloemfontein, about 120 miles.’ His faith in the marching
powers of Lumsden’s Horse must have been great indeed if he thought they
could trek 120 miles across unknown veldt after travelling from East
London to Bethulie by rail, and all in the space of forty-eight hours.
There is something very fascinating about that picture of troopers so
eager to be at the taking of Kroonstadt (‘which, it would seem, will be
a big affair’) that they would perform superhuman feats to be there in
time. No admirer of Lumsden’s Horse would venture to suggest that a
march of forty leagues in less than two days was beyond the compass of
their powers, but the man must be brimful of hope who could believe that
there would be any time left for marching, or any inclination to march
left in the men, after a South African railway, working under war
pressure, had done with them. But in fact there was no such need for
haste. B Company was quite in time for the ‘big affair’ at Kroonstadt,
though it took more than twenty times forty-eight hours in the getting
there. Colonel Lumsden, going ahead with A Company to land in Cape Town,
had still more reason for entertaining sanguine views, though in his
case they were modified by a fuller knowledge of events. When in sight
of Table Mountain he added a postscript to his letter: ‘Off Cape. Just
got orders. May be in for Pretoria. Hope so.’ The two companies,
however, were not fortunate enough to come together under one command
until nearly a month later. Their fortunes as separated units must
therefore be dealt with in somewhat disjointed form still. How A Company
fared after casting anchor off Durban may be told in the words of a
special correspondent pf the ‘Englishman’ who had joined the corps for
active service:

  As we came in sight of Durban everybody was expecting that some
  official would dash on board directly he knew it was Lumsden’s Horse,
  to order us off down the coast, and that in a minute we should be
  steaming hard for our destination. But it happened otherwise. When
  fairly close in we signalled to the Coastguard station what ship we
  were and what she contained. Then a deep silence settled over things.
  Lots of shipping lay at anchor there, and every ship except ours had a
  steam launch calling upon it. But we, waiting with beating hearts, had
  no one to pay us a visit until a great puffing, rolling,
  important-looking tug bore alongside, churned up the blue water into
  white foam, dropped a tiny boat, and in a jiffy a blue-suited,
  gold-braided gentleman was on board and the tug had gone away over the
  waters. So we thought that meant orders to bring us ashore. But, alas!
  it was only a pilot come aboard to have a buck with the captain. Then,
  while we waited and waited, our signalling class set to work, and an
  energetic waving of arms and little flags elicited the reply from
  neighbouring ships that Ladysmith had been relieved. They also
  confirmed the news, which we had received at the Sandheads, of
  Cronjé’s surrender. Close by lay H.M.S. ‘Terrible,’ from which a naval
  contingent had been sent with her big guns to reinforce Sir Redvers
  Buller on the Tugela, and our first sight of one of the consequences
  of war was a launch full of wounded Bluejackets returning to their
  ship after relieving Ladysmith. While we lay peacefully swinging at
  anchor a great white ship flying the Stars and Stripes and Union Jack
  steamed slowly out of the harbour, and swung off to the left. As she
  passed a big transport the troops on board broke into ringing cheers,
  and when she neared us those with glasses read her name. It was the
  ‘Maine’ full of wounded soldiers from Sir George White’s gallant
  garrison. She went right round the harbour, visiting all the ships
  with troops. Last of all she came to us, and as she passed by, and we
  could see the white-aproned nurses and the bandaged figures with pale
  faces we gave them three times three, and still cheered again for the
  plucky ladies who had come all the way from America to care for our
  wounded. The poor chaps aboard did their best to answer our cheers,
  and then the ‘Maine’ steamed away down the coast on her way home to
  England.

  However, the long-delayed _hookum_[3] came at last, and a great shout
  broke forth when it was announced that we were ordered to proceed to
  Cape Town. We sat down to dinner at 7.30, and as we toasted Ould
  Oireland because ’twas St. Patrick’s Day, the ‘Lindula’s’ anchor
  heaved, and the screw that for twenty days had toiled without ceasing
  began its unremitting task again. When morning broke we had steamed
  well down the coast, passing the lights of East London in the night.
  Ten miles away was the seashore, bare, and uninteresting, but still
  the Africa that we had come some six thousand miles to argue about
  with the redoubtable Boers. And now we had to reckon with a foe that
  used no weapons nor fought with hands. This was Mother Ocean, who must
  have been troubled in her mind, for her breast heaved and tossed, and
  our good ship rolled until—well, better change the subject. The coast
  slipped by, and on the forenoon of the 20th we sighted afar off the
  flat top of Table Mountain. Steaming across the wide mouth of Simon’s
  Bay we saw hundreds of sharks—brown brutes that scooted away, showing
  a black fin, as the steamer ploughed her way through the waves. Then
  rounding the Point we sailed into Table Bay, and dropped anchor with a
  grand feeling of satisfaction that the voyage had ended. Journeying by
  sea is pleasant enough when you do it first class by P. and O., but
  when you go no class at all, and sleep on the deck, and get turned out
  before 5, and spend a big part of the day clearing out horse stalls or
  cooking your own food, and enduring lots of other discomforts, it’s no
  catch at all; and it was with intense relief we took our place among
  the lines of troopships in Cape Town harbour. And what a sight it was!
  Ships! ships! ships! And everywhere more ships! And most of them
  transports. From great 10,000-ton White Star Atlantic liners down to
  little coasters like our own ‘Lindula.’ All around us were vessels
  full of troops. Every hour or two a new one came in, or one weighed
  her anchor and steamed slowly by into the dock to disembark her living
  freight. Other ships were crammed from stem to stern with cattle,
  sheep, horses, leaving barely enough room on deck to turn the wheel.
  Vessels were packed like herrings in the harbour: so thick did they
  lie in places you could hardly see the water for ships. There we
  waited, and next morning the Health Officer came on board and gave us
  _pratique_, which meant a clean bill of health and freedom to land.
  Another day of waiting for the pilot. Then after a great rush and
  scurry collecting kit we slowly slid into harbour. And, lo and behold!
  it was Cape Town—Africa at last.

  Disembarking is not a pleasant pastime, especially when 150 men have
  had three weeks in a ship during which to lose and mix up their
  belongings. But the order to clear out and make room for another ship
  was given, and had to be obeyed in a hurry. So we said good-bye to the
  ‘Lindula.’ Poor thing, she had done her best for us, though in her we
  lost four of our chargers and two transport ponies, a big proportion
  of our total of 180 animals, but nothing like the number that died on
  some other ships. A transport lying near us with Imperial Yeomanry
  lost 39 out of 450 in a three weeks’ voyage—nearly all from pneumonia.

  Our orders were to proceed to Maitland Camp, some four miles to the
  north of Cape Town, and thither we marched, leading the horses, which
  of course were hardly in a fit state to ride. However, the walk seemed
  to do them good, and after a week in camp, with good feeding and
  gentle exercise, they picked up condition rapidly.

  The men have little that is good to say of Maitland Camp. It is a
  place stale, flat, unprofitable, and altogether accursed. When we
  arrived the wind blew a hurricane, and setting up the tents was a task
  to try a Stoic. Once they were up the sand crept in at every crevice
  and lay thickly on everything, especially butter and food of every
  sort. Men went to sleep, or tried to, with the feeling that the bit of
  the earth on which they lay must surely be swept into the next world
  ere morning broke. But day dawned and we were still in Maitland Camp,
  with the rain pouring in torrents and turning the sand and earth into
  mud puddings, which clogged and wetted and dirtied every scrap that
  belonged to us. However, the third day recompensed us, for the sun
  shone hot and bright, and a gentle breeze wafted delicious scents from
  the woods of eucalyptus and fir trees all around. Boys came to us with
  delicious grapes, great bunches weighing one to two pounds apiece,
  each grape being as large as a pigeon’s egg and as full of juice and
  flavour as fruit can be.

  Of Cape Town we saw very little, but liked that little much; only the
  price of things is terrible, and it seems much more serious parting
  with shillings than with rupees. Lumsden’s Horse had many eyes for the
  beautiful, and while declining to play the part of Paris in deciding
  on rival charms, they wax eloquent when their theme is the sex which,
  as one gallant trooper says, has done much to make this world the
  habitable place it is. In Cape Town the ladies are charming to look
  at. They dress just as they do at home in summer, and their cheeks are
  rosy, and they are altogether delightful to look upon. But still it
  matters little whether the cheeks be pale or rosy, we are all ready to
  back our ladies of India against any in the wide world for kindness
  and every other feminine attribute.

  Having inspected our transport, the Army Service Corps officers at
  Cape Town approved of our carts, and reported favourably on them to
  Lord Roberts; but at the same time stated that they considered a team
  of two ponies inadequate to draw the load we had designed through
  sandy tracts, and suggested two leaders to each cart, an increase of
  200 lb. in the load, and a decrease in the number of carts. The Chief
  of the Staff having approved of this suggestion, we handed over to the
  military authorities twenty ponies (not our best) and ten carts, and
  harness complete, receiving in exchange seventy-six mules, with
  harness, and twelve Cape boys to assist as drivers, so that when B
  Company arrives our united transport establishment will consist of
  thirty-six carts and two water-carts, with two mules as wheelers and
  two ponies as leaders to each cart, and there is little doubt that we
  are as well provided with transport as any troops in the field—indeed,
  much better than most. The Remount Department in Cape Town were very
  good to us, and replaced not only our losses on the voyage, but a
  number of horses which on landing appeared unfit for service, giving
  us in all twenty-four chargers. The animals cast in Cape Town were old
  and unlikely to get into condition for a long time, if ever they did
  so. Our Calcutta purchases and horses brought by troopers themselves
  are nearly all doing well. In place of those we had lost on the
  voyage—six or seven altogether—Government gave us thirteen fine
  Australian cobs, which were told off as remounts for the Ceylon
  Contingent. But, the latter having been mounted in the meantime by the
  military authorities and sent to the front, their horses were very
  properly handed over to us. In Cape Town we found it necessary to make
  several purchases to supplement equipment and replace losses. These
  consisted of grass nets and picketing pegs for the horses, and
  _vel-schoen_ and canvas water-bags for the men; besides stores
  amounting in all to about 150_l._ worth.

  Unfortunately, we have to leave four men in hospital. Sergeant Lee
  Stewart, whose illness was mentioned in the last letter, is much
  better, but greatly debilitated from the trying time he has had. He
  has hopes of joining us later. Another bad case is that of K. Boileau,
  from Behar, who was attacked with pneumonia and was very ill indeed at
  one time. However, we have good reports of him, and hope to hear in a
  few days that he is all right again. Shaw, of the Assam Contingent,
  and Doyle, of the Transport, are also in hospital from trifling
  ailments, and they ought soon to be able to join us. Many of the men
  are suffering from cuts and sores on hands and feet, which do not seem
  to heal up as fast as they ought. Hickley, who was pretty bad when the
  last letter went, is now all right again, but Daubney has still to be
  careful of his broken collar-bone. When we arrived at Cape Town we at
  once heard we were to proceed to Bloemfontein, to join Lord Roberts,
  as speedily as possible. But the movement of large bodies of troops
  with supplies caused a block on the railway, and we were delayed eight
  days. The wait, however, did the horses good, and they picked up hand
  over fist at Maitland Camp.

All these details, when looked at in the long perspective where more
recent events show up sharply and perhaps a little out of focus, may
seem insignificant as objects seen through the wrong end of a telescope.
At the time of occurrence, however, they had an importance that
impressed itself on the minds of men to whom nearly every incident of
active service was then a novelty. And the historian’s duty in such a
case is rather to reproduce impressions than to preserve an exact
proportion. Moreover, some incidents that may appear trivial by
comparison with great episodes, or with decisive actions on which the
fate of an army hung, were potent in shaping the fortunes of Lumsden’s
Horse as one small unit of a mighty whole, and in this respect, if for
no other reason, they are worthy to be chronicled. It is the story of
Voltaire’s miller and the King of Prussia. What a division is to the
general in chief of an army corps a company is to the regimental
commander, and, for Lumsden’s Horse, the smallest adventures of their
own comrades had an interest which the civilian reader may perhaps begin
to share when he comes to know more of them.

  At Cape Town Colonel Lumsden got the first news of B Company since
  leaving Calcutta. They had been ordered to East London to disembark
  there, and entrain at once for Bethulie, ‘right in the Orange Free
  State,’ as Colonel Lumsden remarked, adding, ‘So they bade fair to get
  there before us, despite our week’s start. But our latest news of them
  is that they have stopped at Queen’s Town, and we know no more of them
  except that they had a most successful voyage.’

A corporal of the Surma Valley Light Horse, however, supplies the
necessary information. He tells how he went with an ambulance fatigue
party, to which, among others, Dr. Woollright had been told off as an
orderly, in charge of Trooper Seymour Sladden, who was very bad and had
to be taken on shore at East London before the company knew its probable
destination. From a little jetty that juts out from the wooded banks of
the Buffalo River they drove in an ambulance with the sick man up those
steep winding roads past the luxuriant Queen’s Park, with its odorous
gum-tree groves, to the hill top. There they carried Sladden ‘into a
nice clean hospital and left him in charge of kindly nurses, where
everything looked very comfortable.’ Then, somehow, they managed to miss
their officer and made inquiries for him in vain at Deel’s Hotel, with
the result that when the corporal and his comrades reached the
landing-stage they found to their ‘extreme joy the crew gone and no way
of getting off to the ship, so returned to the hotel and had dinner.
Afterwards very sleepy and went straight to bed, and slept like a hog.
First time in bed for many weeks, and found it comfortable indeed.’
Other non-commissioned officers and troopers of B Company carry on the
narrative in notes that diverge frequently and wander off to alien
topics, so that for the sake of coherence they must be dovetailed
together here in proper order, each chronicler in turn taking up the
story. When those troopers who had not begun to realise the enormity of
breaking leave returned to their ship early in the morning of March 27,
they met with quite an ovation, which does not seem to have been
disinterested, seeing that they were supposed to have brought off with
them fruit, cigarettes, and other delicacies much in request. What they
had would not have gone far to satisfy the cravings of a whole company
for some change from bare rations. News that orders had come for
Lumsden’s Horse to disembark, however, put everybody in high spirits at
the prospect of being allowed to go on shore with freedom to forage for
himself. But they reckoned without their host—the military
commander—whose instructions brooked no delay. Kits had to be packed in
a hurry while the ‘Ujina’ was being towed on a flowing tide across the
troubled bar into port, where she moored alongside the railway wharf.
Horses were then got on shore, but only to exchange cramped stalls for
cattle-trucks, where they had still less room for movement. At this task
the troopers toiled and sweated all through the fiercest heat of a
summer noon, learning another lesson and not liking it much.
Unaccustomed to such work, many got their toes trodden on by horses
rushing down the steep gangway or narrowly escaped more serious injury
before every fretful animal could be coaxed or lifted into the crowded
trucks. Then there were saddles, kits, heavy baggage, and ammunition to
be landed, and so without leisure for a single meal the troopers worked
on far into the night. It was nearly 11 o’clock before the last section
took its place in the train. ‘Something attempted, something done, had
earned a night’s repose’; but there was little chance of getting that,
packed together as they were nine or ten in a carriage. Time must have
softened the impressions of these discomforts on the mind of one
trooper, who, some days later, wrote:

  We left East London on March 28 by rail _en route_ for Bethulie, where
  it was intended we should quit the railway, mount our horses, and trek
  to Bloemfontein.

  East London turned out in force to see us off. Little boys and girls
  (some of the latter not so very little, after all) were very keen to
  get hold of our shoulder badges as mementoes, and, needless to say,
  the susceptible ones of our corps were unable to resist the entreaties
  of the fair ones, and daylight showed a vacant place on many a
  shoulder-strap. This badge-collecting seems to be a great hobby out
  here just now; one boy showed me a belt simply covered with badges,
  which he had secured from the men of the different regiments that had
  passed through. We travelled in second- and third-class carriages, ten
  men in each, but it being quite cool we were not uncomfortable.

Another correspondent, whose experiences were evidently not so pleasant,
takes a less roseate view. He says hard words about the South African
war method of standing men, some forty-five or so in a cattle-truck,
encumbered with heavy coats, rifles, and other baggage—a leaky roof, and
no sides.

  This may be economical, as the Major said, but on a wet blustry night,
  when buckets of rain, mixed with soot from the engine, are falling, it
  is not a style of travelling that conduces to comfort. Then there is
  still another African style—namely, ten men with rifles, &c., in a
  third-class carriage meant to hold eight only. Both of these methods
  we sampled on our way up to Bloemfontein. And right glad I was when we
  had done with it, and took to the saddle. Some, however, confessed to
  having slept very well that first night in such strange circumstances,
  tired out as they were by hours of previous toil, though they woke
  next morning very cold, with nothing to eat but one loaf, which ten
  men divided between them.

They had eyes for the picturesque as well as for the agricultural
possibilities of a country where Nature does much and man apparently
very little, except to stroll about watching the cattle graze and the
crops grow, unless he happens to be a Kaffir, which makes all the
difference. Chiefly, however, Lumsden’s Horse must have been struck by
the barren, rocky kopjes that seemed to spring suddenly in the midst of
fertility and rise range behind range, stretching away to the mountains,
which looked so near that it was impossible for imagination to measure
the breadth of intervening plains. As one of them wrote, acquaintance
with this country for the first time ‘made us realise the fearful odds
that Buller had to tackle’; and no doubt many other troopers went on
fighting fanciful battles against a wily enemy who, driven from one
position, would gallop off to occupy another kopje still more
formidable, and so prolong that imaginary fight, while the train, like a
British column, wound its slow way through tortuous defiles. Lumsden’s
Horse, however, had eyes for other things also, as a candid chronicler
admits in his simple narrative, which may now be allowed to run its
uninterrupted course:

  At several stations on our way there was the usual crowd of ‘loyal’
  ladies of mature age, and the still larger crowd of schoolgirls. The
  people seemed very glad to see us. There was a lot of cheering and
  waving of handkerchiefs and pleasant greetings at every station. They
  gave us cigarettes and cheroots, and some men were seen to be sporting
  bows of red, white, and blue when we left—little attentions from some
  fair hands in return perhaps for Lumsden’s badges, of which many
  shoulder-straps were by that time bereft.

  Early next morning saw us at Cathcart, where we stopped about two
  hours, and took the opportunity to water and feed our horses. There is
  a nice little inn here, and we went down in a body and indulged in
  delicious bread, butter, and milk. Oh, such a contrast to the same
  articles of diet in India! The weather at this time of the year is
  nearly perfect, the air being fine, dry, and invigorating; to the eye
  wearied by the flatness of the plains of India the undulating country,
  small hills and green valleys between, is very refreshing; but what
  strikes one, more especially in the Free State, which we marched
  through later, is the desolateness of the country, miles and miles of
  veldt dotted here and there with small houses. Cattle-farming seems to
  be the principal thing they go in for here, but the farmers say that,
  what with rinderpest and drought, it is very disheartening work. The
  cattle are very fine, and strike us especially coming from India,
  where one sees such miserable specimens. About midday we arrived at
  Queen’s Town, and were very much disgusted to hear that Lord Roberts
  had wired down that we were to detrain and go into camp, as he needed
  all the horse-waggons and cattle-trucks for carrying remounts (several
  thousands of which were collected at Queen’s Town) to troops at the
  front. The camp is situated about two miles from the railway station,
  but they have run a siding into it, so that the carriages containing
  ourselves and our horses were simply detached from the rest of the
  train and we were run into the camp. We did not take long in
  detraining and picketing our horses; the poor brutes were simply
  delighted to get on firm ground again, and when let loose indulged in
  all sorts of antics—rolling on the grass, kicking up their heels, and
  larking like colts, to show appreciation of their freedom. As our
  tents had not arrived yet, we were obliged to sleep out in the open;
  but, knowing this would be a matter of course sooner or later, we made
  no bones about it. Unfortunately it came on to rain at night, and this
  made things generally uncomfortable. The mufflers so kindly knitted
  for us by the ladies of Calcutta proved simply invaluable; with these,
  Balaclava caps, and greatcoats on, we made ourselves perfectly
  comfortable. There were about twelve men of the Army Service Corps
  stationed here, and, with the proverbial hospitality of Tommy Atkins,
  they very kindly supplied us with hot cocoa and coffee, and offered to
  put up as many as possible of us in their tents. We found several of
  the Queensland Mounted Volunteers encamped here, also a part of the
  Militia Battalion of the Cheshires awaiting marching orders like
  ourselves. Next day our tents arrived, and we were soon quite settled
  down, ten men in a tent—a bit of a squash, but all right when one gets
  accustomed to it.

There they may be left for a time chuckling over the good story of a
Militia regiment whose officers complained to Major Showers that they
could not stand the language of which Lumsden’s Horse made such free and
frequent use at ‘stables’ and other daily duties. Of course that
language was only the mildest of mild Hindustani put into terms of
endearment with certain genealogical references that sounded mysterious
to the uninitiated.

-----

Footnote 3:

    Hindustani for ‘order.’

-----




                               CHAPTER V
               _AN INTERLUDE—THE RESULTS OF SANNA’S POST_


At Maitland Camp and Queen’s Town the two companies of Lumsden’s Horse
would probably have remained many weary weeks, eating their hearts out
with the fever of impatience, but for circumstances which must
necessarily be explained at some length in order to give a clear view of
the general situation. With events leading up to that situation
Lumsden’s Horse had nothing to do, but incidentally the crisis had a
great deal to do with them as influencing their movements immediately
afterwards. It will be remembered that Lord Roberts had found it
necessary to halt at Bloemfontein a fortnight earlier, his victorious
advance beyond that point being checked by the loss of a very valuable
convoy which had fallen into the hands of the Boers at Waterval Drift.
With characteristic cheerfulness he made light of a mishap that would
have been regarded by many generals as almost disastrous in the
circumstances, seeing that the convoy contained supplies without which
no forward movement of troops beyond Bloemfontein would be possible
pending the repair of railways and the opening up of communications with
a secure base. In his despatches Lord Roberts makes but a passing
reference to the Waterval Drift affair, as if it were of comparatively
little importance, yet he knew perfectly well that its consequences
would be a temporary paralysis of his whole force and heart-breaking
delay at a time when energetic action might have brought the campaign to
a decisive issue.

The relief of Ladysmith, far from improving matters in this respect, had
simply set free a number of Boer commandos, whose leaders, baulked in
their ambitious schemes for the conquest of Natal, were burning with
desire to achieve successes in the Orange Free State. From their point
of view it was still possible to retrieve the disaster of Paardeberg,
and they knew that a severe blow struck at the British lines of
communication would bring them many adherents from Cape Colony who were
only waiting for such an opportunity. It would also inevitably prolong
the campaign by cutting off sources of supply, on which Lord Roberts was
dependent; and it might even turn the scale in their favour by bringing
about European intervention. To that hope they clung always, as their
State documents and correspondence prove abundantly. Therefore it was of
the first importance that they should assume the offensive before Lord
Roberts could strengthen his lines of communication and bring up ample
supplies to form an advanced base at Bloemfontein. If circumstances had
permitted him to push on at once, the moral effect on enemies already
disorganised and disheartened would have been enormous. As it was, his
inaction revived the drooping Spirits of Boers who were previously on
the point of accepting defeat as inevitable. They saw the inherent
weakness of a force that could not move far in any direction until the
means of feeding itself had been secured, and their thoughts turned at
once to the possibility of frustrating that object by vigorous raids at
every vulnerable point. In such an emergency the presence of men like
Louis Botha and Christian De Wet was worth more than a thousand rifles.
They had the brain to plan and the intrepidity to attempt any enterprise
that might bring them an advantage by embarrassing their adversaries,
and every day’s delay on our side was an opportunity given to them for
more complete concentration. This last word must not be misunderstood.
When applied to Boer strategy or tactics it does not necessarily mean,a
gathering of units into one great force, but rather a concentration of
efforts on one object which they often secure while seeming to aim at
something entirely different by a distribution of their commandos in
many directions. Necessarily such distracting operations can never bring
about decisive results, but they served the Boer purpose admirably then,
and De Wet got the opportunity he wanted to prove himself an ideal
leader for work of that kind.

From some points of view this may be regarded as the most important
phase of the whole campaign; it taught the Boers how to harass our
forces with the greatest effect while exposing themselves to
comparatively little danger. First of all, however, they set themselves
to the task of showing that there was life and power for mischief in
them yet, their object evidently being to effect surprises that might
create panic among our troops and so render raids less difficult of
accomplishment. In the development of that idea we recognise the
peculiar craft of Christian De Wet, who at that time had less respect
for the courage of ‘rooineks’ than he began to entertain soon
afterwards. Sanna’s Post was a lesson to him not less than to us. With
the exaggeration which characterised a great deal that was written in
those days some critics at home described this affair as a ‘black
disaster,’ thereby meaning apparently that it was something rather
disgraceful and a stain on our military reputation. A disaster it was in
the literal sense, for the stars in their courses seemed to be turned
against us; but they were certainly not blotted out, and they never
shone on soldiers whose deeds could better bear the light. The story of
Sanna’s Post or Koorn Spruit is worth telling again, not only because it
marks emphatically the revival of Boer hopes, after Ladysmith and
Paardeberg and Kimberley had done much to shatter their self-confidence,
but because it furnishes a splendid example of British valour, defiant
in the moment of defeat, and all the brighter by contrast with the gloom
through which it shines. In details the following version of what
happened may not be more accurate than others, and it lacks the
completeness that subsequent access to official documents might have
given; but at least it has the merit of having been written at the time,
and of showing what was the impression conveyed to the minds of people
who were in the midst of those stirring events and could gauge their
significance without exaggeration. This description by the Editor, who,
as War Correspondent of ‘The Daily News,’ was then at Bloemfontein, may
be given almost in its original form.

We knew that Colonel Pilcher, in attacking Ladybrand, had roused a
hornet’s nest, and that Brigadier-General Broadwood, in command of a
small mixed column, was retiring along that road from Thaba ’Nchu, hard
pressed by Boers, whom he could only keep at a distance by the skilful
disposition of his forces in successive rearguard actions. His movements
were hampered by the slow progress of a convoy. He was falling back on a
post at Sauna’s near the waterworks from which Bloemfontein draws its
main supply, and expected to be there some time during the night of
Friday. He had made application for reinforcements when the Boers,
gathering strength as they came, began to overlap him on each flank, in
spite of anything that his men could do to check every move of that
kind. Thereupon Lord Roberts sent General Colvile’s Division, with
artillery, and Colonel Martyr’s brigade of Mounted Infantry and
Irregular Horse eastward by a forced march. They left Bloemfontein hours
before daybreak on Friday, but even then it was too late. Colonel
Martyr, pushing on as fast as the condition of over-worked horses would
permit, only reached Boesman’s (or Bushman’s) Kop with his leading
troops about 7 o’clock. There was still six miles of veldt between him
and the scene of disaster. Before he could cross that in force
sufficient to be of any use, the worst had happened, and nothing
remained for him but to cover the retreat of detachments that had
already got through the Boer lines before going to help those who were
still beset.

What were the causes leading to disaster we did not know then—we do not
know with absolute certainty even now. No special correspondents were
with General Broadwood’s column when sudden misfortune fell upon it. All
details had to be gathered at second hand, and many of the combatants
who were best qualified to give an impartial account of the trap in
which our troops were caught were either dead or prisoners in the hands
of the enemy. In the excitement following that swift surprise those who
had to fight hard for their lives could not see much on either side of
their immediate front. They were mainly concerned with the necessity for
shooting quick and straight. It is therefore not surprising that stories
of the fight, as seen from many different points of view, should vary so
that it becomes a little difficult to follow the exact sequence of
events.

Two or three points, however, seem tolerably clear. When
Brigadier-General Broadwood halted his troops to bivouac at 4 o’clock on
Saturday morning, March 31, after crossing the Modder River, they were
worn out by a long night march that had entailed incessant watchfulness.
He was then in touch with the small force of Mounted Infantry holding
the waterworks, and, naturally supposing that their commander had taken
all precautions to safeguard the drift across Koorn Spruit, he did not
call upon his weary column to furnish additional patrols for duty in
that direction, but formed a chain of outposts along ridges in rear
towards the known enemy, who had been harassing his march all the way
from Thaba ’Nchu.

It is known that the officer who was in command at Sanna’s Post did take
more than ordinary precautions before dawn that morning by sending a
company of Mounted Infantry westward across the drift near Pretorius’s
Farm, and, if a Boer prisoner may be trusted, that very precaution
contributed to the disaster. According to his story, a party of three
hundred Boers, who had been cut off from the main Brandfort body by
General French’s Cavalry, on Thursday, were making their way across
country to join Grobelaar’s (or, rather, as it had then become, De
Wet’s) command on the Ladybrand side. Hearing Koorn Spruit, this party
saw the Mounted Infantry patrol, and, the first principle of Boers in
warfare being to hide themselves from the enemy, they at once took
shelter between the high banks of a water-course which is, in places,
nearly as dry as a khor in the Soudan. Then they began to plan an
ambush, with the object of cutting off that isolated Mounted Infantry
company. Until that moment they had not thought of laying a trap for the
convoy, about which, indeed, they knew nothing. Such is the story told
by a Boer prisoner. If true, it proves that the capture of Broadwood’s
convoy was by a force entirely independent of the one against which he
had been fighting his rearguard actions, and therefore unpremeditated,
or, at any rate, not the calculated result of skilful tactics.

At first it was hastily assumed that one of the ablest scouts in the
British Army had been out-manœuvred, and allowed himself to be
surrounded by Boers. That the officer who gained distinction for
boldness, dash, and caution when reconnoitring successive Dervish
positions in the Soudan, should allow himself to be caught in a trap by
Boer farmers was almost inconceivable. It now seems as if the enemy had
merely stumbled on an opportunity, of which they took advantage, not
quite realising what it meant.

Against this, however, was the evidence of a civilian refugee who
declared that there were many more than three hundred Boers concealed in
Koorn Spruit, and believed that secret information must have been given
to them of the fact that no force had been posted to guard the drift by
which Broadwood’s column must cross. On Pretorius’s Farm he met a
burgher who had given up his arms, and received a pass from our military
authorities permitting him to return to his home and settle down in
peace, secure from all fear of molestation at the hands of British
troops. This disarmed burgher, who had been fighting against us up to
the occupation of Bloemfontein by Lord Roberts, showed such an accurate
knowledge of the Boer movements that he must have watched them very
closely. He could tell the exact position from which every gun would
open fire on the English, column before it came into action. This
knowledge he imparted without reserve, and yet, apparently, he had no
apprehensions of ill-treatment from his former comrades as the penalty
for deserting them. The incident, whatever interpretation may be put
upon it, is curious, and will, perhaps, help to explain many things that
happened when submissions were accepted and passes granted with too
lavish leniency.

It is more than probable that a Boer attack on the waterworks in order
to destroy the pumping machinery there was part of a plan conceived
directly after the occupation of Bloemfontein by our troops, but it
could not be carried out before the column holding Thaba ’Nchu had been
forced to retire. The artillery positions may therefore have been
selected some time previously for the purpose of shelling out any force
that might make a stand at the waterworks, and it is all consistent with
the Boer prisoner’s statement that no deliberate attempt was made by
General Broadwood’s pursuers to surround him until they found that his
convoy had been accidentally headed off and partly destroyed at the
drift across Koorn Spruit by a comparatively small body lying in ambush
there for another purpose. Such a combination of accidents seems
improbable, but certainly not more so than the assumption that a Boer
commander, calculating all the chances to a nicety, had ventured to
detach such a small force and send it round by a wide _détour_ across
some miles of open plain with the object of intercepting, by an ambush,
a column that had been able to hold its own against odds for some time.
If so, he gave more hostages to fortune than the Boers have risked
elsewhere.

Whatever may be the truth in this respect, it is clear that neither the
officer in charge of communications, whose Mounted Infantry held Sanna’s
Post, nor Brigadier-General Broadwood, had reason to suspect the
presence of any hostile force in that immediate neighbourhood.

When the retiring column got touch of its friends near the waterworks,
bivouac was immediately formed, and tired men no sooner lay down, with
saddles for pillows, and rifles by their sides, than they were sound
asleep, leaving the duty of watchfulness to their rearguard, which, in
outpost line, occupied a range of rough hills southward, overlooking the
road by which they had retired from Thaba ’Nchu. It was then 4 o’clock.
Little time could be given to rest, for the column had to start again in
two hours. Just before 6 o’clock the convoy of a hundred waggons with
mule-teams began to move off towards Koorn Spruit Drift. Such was the
false sense of security that no armed body went ahead. Some dismounted
men, whose horses had been shot or otherwise used up, marched as a
baggage-guard, but most of them had stowed their rifles on the waggons
while helping to get the column in marching order. Nothing warned them
that danger was near as they approached the drift. Not a movement was to
be seen across the broad veldt but dark shadows of hills creeping
backwards as the sun rose.

At that moment, from a distant hill in rear, overtopping the outpost
ridge, darted the flash of a Boer gun, then another and another from
different positions, followed by the shriek of shells and the crash of
bursting charges. Every shot, well aimed, struck with a dull thud, and
threw up columns of earth among or near the masses of men who were
saddling up or inspanning teams for the march, but did no damage beyond
frightening mules and increasing the confusion, where Cape boys, in
their haste to obey a peremptory order, got harness entangled and
themselves bewildered. Our Horse Artillery, being in a hollow, and
masked by the movement of troops about them, did not reply, but limbered
up and followed the transport waggons, which by that time had begun to
cross the drift. Nearly half of them had cleared it, when from behind
steep banks in the winding spruit on each side Boers galloped forward in
dense troops, and, halting with rifles at the present, summoned
everybody to surrender.

Some men of the baggage guard got to their arms, and, lying between
waggon wheels, opened fire, but they were few, and the Boers many. The
others, unarmed, could do nothing but obey the stern mandate: ‘Hold up
your hands; come this way and give us your bandoliers.’

Then U Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery, following close upon the
waggons, was surrounded before a gun could be wheeled about for ‘Action
front,’ and the drivers were ordered to dismount and outspan. Gunners,
however, do not yield without a struggle, even when their eyes look into
the barrel of an enemy’s levelled rifle. Hands were on revolvers in an
instant, but before these could be drawn shooting had begun, and many a
gallant fellow fell. Horses, too, were shot down, or, being wounded,
plunged madly over the traces. One team, startled by the din about it,
stampeded, and galloped off with gun and limber, but no drivers. Thus
one gun was saved. The other five fell into Boer hands, their gunners
being either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners.

Sergeant-Major Martin escaped and ran back to warn Major Hornby, who, in
command of Q Battery, was then scarcely a hundred yards from the scene
of disaster. That officer gave the order to unlimber and come into
action, but could not open fire while our men and the enemy were mixed
up together among baggage-waggons, and at the same time his own gunners
were being shot down. A small body of Remington’s Scouts made one plucky
effort to get near the captured battery, but suffered heavily. Then two
troops of Roberts’s Horse, acting as escort for the convoy, dashed
forward to cross the spruit and take the Boers in flank, but they were
confronted by enemies from another ambush, who, at a distance of only a
few yards, had them covered and called upon them to surrender. Their
only answer was ‘Fours about—gallop’; but it came too late, and before
they could get out of range nearly every saddle was emptied. Only five
men got away, and of these four were wounded. Among the missing, nine
officers had either been killed or fallen into the enemy’s hands.

Emboldened by success, the Boers came into the open, as they had never
done before. They galloped up to groups of men who were fighting
shoulder to shoulder, reined in, and shot as they sat in the saddle,
reckless of the bullets that whistled about them. One body charged close
up to a Maxim gun that was pouring out a deadly torrent of bullets, and
silenced it for a time by shooting down the detachment, but whether they
got away or fell victims to their own bravery could not be seen as the
struggle surged round them. Three New Zealanders whom I met coming out
of the fight told the story, and spoke with admiration of the daring
displayed by many of their foes, but still more enthusiastically of the
splendid courage of our Horse Artillery. Of these three, one was a fine
type of the half-caste Maori, the others hardy Colonists, who looked as
if they had faced death more than once—cold-eyed and calm. They had
evidently taken mental note of all that passed within sight of them,
while they with others held a group of buildings, keeping the enemy in
check by steady shooting.

Major Hornby, finding that he could not bring his guns to bear at short
range without shooting down friend as well as foe, limbered up to get
clear of the close _mêlée_. In wheeling round on rough ground one gun
capsized, bringing all the team down with it—horses and drivers together
in a confused mass. The Boers saw their chance, and brought a withering
rifle fire to bear, so that every attempt to right the gun failed. Under
this fire the two wheelers of another team fell. The leaders struggled
on for a time, dragging their maimed comrades, then came to a
standstill, and that gun also had to be left behind. Marksmen of the
Durham Light Infantry did their best to keep down the enemy’s fire,
while volunteers ran out to help the distressed gunners, who, managing
to escape, went off for fresh horses.

Captain Gore Anley, commanding the Essex Regiment’s Mounted Infantry,
aided by two of his men, brought a wounded gunner from under that
terrific fire to safety, and then went out with a brother-officer to
help at the guns. Time after time the artillerymen brought up fresh
teams, which were shot down before they could be hooked to the limbers.
One driver had nine horses killed or wounded before he gave up the
attempt as hopeless.

Meanwhile Major Hornby, with four guns of his own command, and the only
one remaining of U Battery, which had been recaptured after stampeding,
moved southward to a position twelve hundred yards from Koorn Spruit
Drift. There he brought them into action with a cool audacity and effect
that paralysed the enemy. Though he could not save the guns that had
been left behind, he could cover the retirement of Cavalry and Mounted
Infantry of the rearguard, who, unable longer to hold the low ridge
against heavy odds, were being forced back from the waterworks, fighting
stubbornly, though threatened in flank by the force that had captured
our convoy. Shelled at from right and left, smitten by storms of rifle
bullets, the gunners of Q Battery never budged. Coolly, as if at target
practice, they loaded and aimed. The shells burst among the Boers,
checking more than one attempt at a rush, and then the remnants of a
shattered brigade were enabled to retire upon their supports, who had
rallied for a stand at the station buildings.

All the time officers and men of the Army Medical Corps were covering
themselves with honour by brilliant services rendered to stricken
soldiers, who lay helpless where the ground was torn by bullets. The
coolest deed of all, however, was done by an American named Todd, a
trooper in Roberts’s Horse. With a comrade he had first volunteered to
go out and bring in some stray horses for the disabled guns. Before they
had ridden fifty yards the second trooper was shot dead, but Todd
galloped on straight towards the Boers, rounded up both horses, and had
nearly brought them back when one was killed. When he rejoined his
detachment Todd heard an officer asking for volunteers to go out in
search of their doctor, who was lying wounded in a donga. Without
waiting to hear more the trooper turned his horse’s head towards the
Boer lines again and galloped off. Twenty minutes later he rode back
slowly, bearing a heavy burden on his arms. ‘I couldn’t see the doctor
anywhere,’ he said, ‘but I have brought back the only wounded man that I
found alive there.’ If ever a man earned the right to wear the grim
badge of Roberts’s Horse it is Trooper Todd. Deeds of heroism, however,
were not rare that day. They could not avert disaster, but they shed a
light upon it that dispels the shadow of humiliation.

Our men had still hard fighting to do before they could hope to
extricate themselves. Brigadier-General Broadwood’s retirement upon the
station buildings was not effected without difficulty, and it is
wonderful that he should have been able to keep the remnants of so many
broken squadrons in hand, while they were weakened by further losses
every minute, and the on-coming enemy gathered strength. Several
horsemen, escaping, got away across the veldt, and then, forming groups,
headed towards Boesman’s Kop, Boers pursuing for some distance. But the
main body made a stand at the station buildings, and fought it out for
two weary hours, so fiercely that the enemy did not dare to come to
closer quarters. The company of Burmese Mounted Infantry that had been
on outpost duty west of Koorn Spruit, when they found themselves cut off
by Boers in ambush, made an attempt to rejoin the main body, but were in
turn surrounded. Having some advantage of ground, though outnumbered,
they were enabled to hold their assailants off until 7 o’clock.

Then the scene changed. Troops appeared on Boesman’s Kop. They were the
advanced guard of Colonel Martyr’s Mounted Infantry brigade, which had
made a forced march to relieve the beleaguered column. Their commander
halted only long enough to let the main body close up, and then
‘Queenslanders to the rescue’ came sweeping across the veldt as fast as
their jaded horses could move. But the Boers were at their old tactics
again, and the Queensland Mounted Infantry fell into a trap skilfully
laid for them. Before the enemy could reap much advantage, however,
Colonel Henry was at them with all his companies of Regular Mounted
Infantry, which the astute Brigadier had ordered forward when he saw the
Queensland men in difficulties. The young officer, who has spent many
years with Egyptian Camel Corps, chasing Dervish raiders and scouting
about their strongholds, was not to be caught by a Boer ambush. He
advanced upon them in a formation too flexible even for their mobility,
and gradually drove them before him until the Burmese and Queensland
Mounted Infantry were enabled to fight their way through the weakened
cordon.

This timely diversion gave General Broadwood his opportunity, Major
Hornby’s battery fell back to another position, covering the retirement,
and then the column, leaving its wounded under care of our own surgeons,
retired slowly to join the welcome reinforcements. They had to turn
again and again to face the foe, who still hung on their heels, and all
the way they were shelled by Boer guns, until a final stand was made
near the waterworks, where the enemy dared not attack, though the
artillery fire continued for nearly two hours longer.

Late that afternoon the Highland Brigade, under General Hector
MacDonald, passed Boesman’s Kop, and advanced to get touch of the enemy,
near Modder River; but except for a few shells and sputtering rifle
fire, no attempt was made by the Boers to resist this advance. When
General Smith-Dorrien’s brigade, and other troops of the Ninth Division,
joined MacDonald, the column that had fought so well after disaster fell
upon it, dispersed into scattered remnants once more, each unit making
for the appointed bivouac in any want of formation best adapted to the
needs of weary men who had to walk because their horses were more tired
than themselves.

What a roll-call it would have been if the Brigadier had not in mercy
spared them that melancholy ordeal! When the losses came to be counted,
they numbered, in dead, wounded, and prisoners, nearly a third of the
force that had marched out of Thaba ’Nchu forty hours earlier. Of U
Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, only a mere handful remained, and Q
Battery had suffered heavily too. Seven out of twelve guns had been left
in the enemy’s hands, with some eighty baggage waggons full of stores.
Household Cavalry, 10th Hussars, and Mounted Infantry had losses to
mourn, and Roberts’s Horse the most of all. Unhappily, it was too late
to hope that either guns or convoy could be recaptured. They had all
been taken off during the afternoon towards Thaba ’Nchu, and Boers were
in possession of the waterworks, with artillery on heights behind,
covering the road.

Next day a demonstration of the whole force under General Colvile’s
command was made, as if to drive every Boer from the waterworks, where
mischief had been done by the destruction of pumping engines; but it
ended in nothing, and then we gradually drew in our forces. The Boers
assumed the offensive again, and began to threaten our line of
communications at several points.

These were the conditions that made Lord Roberts anxious to secure the
services of every mounted corps on which he could rely for meeting the
new Boer tactics by swift counter-strokes. Most of them he had foreseen
when orders were sent for Lumsden’s Horse to be supplied with all the
remounts necessary for repairing losses and pushed on to the front.
Sanna’s Post with all its consequences had not been counted on; but it
made the need for mounted troops all the more urgent in order that
pressure round about Wepener might be relieved and lines of
communication cleared. That action, lamentable because of the sacrifices
it entailed, but glorious in its heroic incidents, gave to Lumsden’s
Horse not only an opportunity, but an example; and we may be sure that,
when the news reached them at Maitland Camp and at Queen’s Town, every
trooper made up his mind to be a worthy comrade of the men who had
risked their lives so nobly and fought with such stubborn valour in vain
attempts to save the guns at Sanna’s Post.




[Illustration]




                               CHAPTER VI
               _BY RAIL AND ROUTE MARCH TO BLOEMFONTEIN_


A week was more than enough in which to exhaust all the charms that A
Company could find round about its dusty camp at Maitland. The fragrance
from woodland belts of pine and eucalyptus trees soon began to pall;
there was little to refresh the eye in that changeless view across
unbroken flats, where a grey haze hung morning, noon, and eve, veiling
the distant mountains northward; the beauty of Table Mountain, as seen
from there, with kloof-fretted steeps towering up to the clouds, is not
a joy for ever; and Cape Town shows its least attractive side towards
Maitland, which in itself is the embodiment of suburban dreariness,
having but two places of entertainment—a swimming bath and an
observatory. As admission to the latter can only be gained by a special
permit from the Astronomer Royal, Lumsden’s Horse had few opportunities
to appreciate the wild dissipation of ascending its quaint old tower,
which, indeed, most of them mistook for a dismantled windmill. And the
amusements that Cape Town offers to soldiers of less than commissioned
rank had few temptations for troopers of Lumsden’s Horse. Mount Nelson,
with its gay crowd of fair women and maimed heroes, was to them but a
vision of the life that had been. How those dainty damsels would have
been shocked to see a trooper in weather-stained khaki and ammunition
boots treading the glades and terraced heights of that South African
Olympus! But not more shocked than a man of Lumsden’s Horse would have
felt at finding himself in such a situation. Ridiculous prejudice, of
course, and to be condemned by all right-thinking people in whose
opinion the soldier’s uniform is a badge of honour. Yes! but like many
other badges it has to be worn with a difference; and nobody knows
better than those who have tried the experiment of putting it on that a
private soldier’s service kit is not the garb in which one would choose
to appear where fashion and beauty congregate. A man may have served
through a whole campaign in the lowest ranks, obedient to every command,
however humiliating or distasteful, and not have felt the yoke gall him
half so sorely as it does when he first realises the social inferiority
that it implies. Let us have done with cant and confess at once that a
man who puts on the common soldier’s uniform for active service, whether
he be Volunteer or Regular, thereby renounces all claims to the rights
and privileges of a gentleman. The gay haunts of a city are not for him
then, if he cherishes his self-respect, and the troopers of Lumsden’s
Horse had that truth impressed upon them long before their week of rest
at Cape Town came to an end. They were no more squeamish than others,
and their experiences in this direction have been shared by every
Yeomanry corps and Volunteer detachment, after the first burst of
enthusiasm on their account exhausted itself. Cheerful endurance of
these things may be counted not least among the merits of men who gave
up much to serve their country in her hour of need, and to ignore them
would be to misunderstand the nature of many sacrifices made by the
rank-and-file of a regiment like Lumsden’s Horse. In times more
propitious they would have appreciated fully all the charms that Cape
Town can offer; but, as it was, the parting had no great pang for them,
and A Company hailed with unalloyed delight the order for an advance
northward into the land of infinite possibilities. There was to be no
route marching for that detachment, the Cape Colony lines being
comparatively clear of troop traffic; so that the prospect of reaching
Bloemfontein by rail without serious interruption seemed almost a
certainty. It was on Friday, March 30, that Colonel Lumsden received,
direct from headquarters, the welcome intimation that he and his two
companies were wanted at the front. Colonel Lumsden naturally felt
himself very fortunate in receiving orders by which his corps was chosen
for active service while Regular regiments and Yeomanry companies waited
impatiently at the base in Cape Town; but Lord Roberts needed mounted
troops more than infantry just then. Everybody accepted this as the
first real step of the great march on which their hearts were set, and
its crowning triumph at Pretoria. They were not to be out of it after
all. And we may be sure that they wanted no second call when the warning
came for them to get their kits packed and be ready for a start by train
the next morning. This was glad news for all except four unfortunate
troopers who, much to their sorrow, had to be left in hospital at Cape
Town. These were James Lee-Stewart, of whose case Colonel Lumsden wrote
a week or so earlier; Knyvitt Boileau, of Tyrhoot; Hubert Noel Shaw, of
Palumpur; and John Canute Doyle, of the Transport Detachment. Of others,
who were invalids on the voyage, Howard Hickley had quite recovered, and
Clayton-Daubeny, pleading hard that he was quite fit to ride and shoot,
in spite of a broken collar-bone, got permission to rejoin his section
for duty. So keen were the men to be near the fighting line that they
have hardly recorded their impressions of the strange country through
which they passed; and but for an incidental note here and there, like
the opening paragraph of the following letter, we might almost imagine
that profound peace reigned throughout the country. Yet the letter was
dated only three days after our troops had suffered so heavily at
Sanna’s Post. Writing on the morning of April 3, a trooper whose letters
were sent to the ‘Englishman’ said:—

  It is wonderful to think that this very afternoon we shall be in
  Bloemfontein, and may see the great old man whose masterly tactics
  have so completely turned the tide of war.

  On Friday we heard the line was clear, and this news was quickly
  followed by a warning to hold ourselves in readiness. Immediately on
  top came the order to be at the railway station the following day by 1
  o’clock. A mighty packing up of kit and piling up of supplies resulted
  in a successful transference of our goods and chattels to the station
  by the appointed time, and at 6 o’clock we steamed out of Cape Town in
  two trains, one following the other. When we left camp ammunition was
  served out, fifty rounds a man, and the weight of it has not added to
  our comfort.

  The railway journey has proved very pleasant so far. However, some
  slight description of how we are packed aboard may be interesting. We
  heard, with no little misgiving, that we were to be eight in a
  compartment, for we expected nothing but the ordinary straight-backed
  wooden carriage, and no chance of lying down at all during the three
  days to be occupied in journeying to the Free State capital. So it was
  a pleasant surprise to find first-class corridor carriages comfortably
  upholstered in leather, with sleeping accommodation in each
  compartment for four men at a time. There were one or two second-class
  carriages equally comfortable, with the additional advantage of an
  extra tier of berths, accommodating six sleepers, one on the floor and
  one in the passage, and the whole boiling of us slept the sleep of the
  just the whole night through. Rations consisted of tinned corned beef
  and biscuits, suspiciously like dog biscuits, but good to eat
  nevertheless—for people with sharks’ teeth and stomachs of brass. But
  nearly everywhere we stopped there were coffee-shops, where you paid
  sixpence for everything, and an ordinary chota hazri sort of meal ran
  up to about half-a-crown. As we travel up country we find everything
  very dear, and we wonder Government does not make some effort to
  arrange that the troops should be supplied with tinned goods at
  reasonable prices. If private contractors can get stuff up, certainly
  Government, which has first call on the railways, can too.

  The horses—poor devils!—are packed ten, eleven, and twelve in a
  cattle-truck, and the way they kick at times is a caution. All along
  the train the trucks are broken and splintered. Oh! for the luxury of
  our Indian horseboxes. However, three times a day we manage to feed
  and water the poor brutes, and though their meals are somewhat scratch
  they don’t do so badly. Forage is of the best—splendid compressed hay,
  and English oats and bran.

  De Aar was the first place of real interest we came to, and there we
  beheld a battered armoured train, covered with bullet marks. Then we
  touched at Naauwpoort, which was crowded with soldiers. The train
  stopped just opposite Rensburg, so we got out and had a game of
  football, with an empty tin for ball and broken saddles for
  goal-posts, right on the place where the battle of Rensburg had been
  fought a few months previously. From there we could see the
  flat-topped broken cone of Cole’s Kop rising from a rock-roughened
  plain like a huge step-pyramid, with sheer escarpments, up which the
  Naval Brigade hauled two fifteen-pounders by means of a wire rope, and
  struck terror into the Boers at Colesberg when those guns opened fire
  from that apparently inaccessible height. Afterwards came Norval’s
  Pont, where we prepared to cross the Orange River. Unluckily, we
  crossed at 1 in the morning, when very little could be seen. It is
  wonderful how the Sappers have repaired the bridge. We spun across in
  pontoons with the water swirling within two feet of us. Shortly after
  crossing the river we were halted and ordered to draw another fifty
  rounds of ammunition per man, and to post two sentries to each
  carriage; every man to wear his bandolier, have his rifle handy, and
  be ready to turn out at a moment’s notice. Firing had been heard that
  evening, and there was no doubt Boers were in the vicinity. Later,
  some thirty miles south of Bloemfontein, we heard that the troops
  stationed to protect the railway line had been out in the surrounding
  kopjes during the night, and that a Boer commando, 600 strong, had
  been seen travelling south. So we are bang in the thick of it now, and
  ere many more hours have passed we shall be within sound of the
  firing, for we hear fighting is going on steadily to the north of
  Bloemfontein. The men are in splendid spirits and health, and wild to
  get a turn at the enemy. Altogether we have every reason to
  congratulate ourselves on the comfortable and speedy journey we have
  made to the front.

The man who could regard De Aar—sun-scorched, arid, dust-stifled De
Aar—as the first place of interest on that long railway journey, simply
because an armoured train ‘covered with bullet marks’ was standing in
the station, must have been in a very warlike frame of mind indeed. But
perhaps the comfortable railway travelling, so conducive to the ‘sleep
of the just,’ may account for much. Probably the slumberous heat of
afternoon had caused him to doze before the train slowed down at
Stellenbosch, which was a place of much notoriety at the time; and
picturesque, too, with its great oak avenues, dating from a day when
Commandant Van der Stel, the planter of them, was there with his young
wife in the very foreposts of Dutch civilisation, not much more than
thirty miles from Cape Town; and more picturesque still because of its
quaint thatched houses as old as the oaks. Stellenbosch is a great
centre of education, and, according to the guide-books, it has a home
for the training of a limited number of poor whites. We know the ‘poor
whites’ for whose training a home was provided at Stellenbosch about the
time when A Company of Lumsden’s Horse passed that way and afterwards.
They were mostly officers of high rank who had not distinguished
themselves, and for whom a refuge had to be found where they could do no
greater mischief than send useless remounts from that depôt to the
front. So Stellenbosch grew in repute, and visits to it (without return
tickets) were so frequent, that an expressive verb had to be coined for
use in everyday conversation. The phrase ‘I’ll be Stellenbosched if I
do,’ became quite familiar, and many a gallant officer knew to his cost
what it meant. Rustication in that old Dutch settlement under leafy
arcades, where, in ordinary times, ‘the stillness of the cloisters
reigns,’ was not the only penalty. These, however, were things not known
to recent arrivals like Lumsden’s Horse, who might have met and
hobnobbed with the latest candidate for Stellenbosch and have been none
the wiser. So they went on their way thinking nothing of the old Dutch
town and its new notoriety, and in the darkness of night, when the new
moon showed no more than a crescent thread of silver, were winding by
sharp curves and steep gradients up the kloofs of Hex River Mountains
towards the Great Karroo. Lumsden’s troopers saw little of the glorious
landscape that is opened up at that height. Those who were not asleep
had no light to see it by but the cold light of the stars, and that
seemed to be swallowed up in the depths of impenetrable shadow, except
where the lamps of Worcester Town, in the plains 2,500 feet below,
twinkled like feeble reflections on a wine-dark sea. Then the swift dawn
came, and when the sun rose they were crossing the Great Karroo, which
at that time of year—the true winter of Cape Colony—wore its least
attractive garb. Bare patches of sandy soil gaped between scattered
clumps of blue-green scrub, where a month or so later it would be
glowing with the purple and gold and scarlet flowers of lilies and
asters innumerable, and the gorgeous crowns of mesembryanthemums of
every conceivable shade, from white through primrose and orange to the
deepest crimson. In its winter state the Great Karroo brings back to
travellers of wide African experience clear memories of the Northern
Soudan. In all chief physical features the two regions, so widely
separated, are curiously alike. Here are pyramidal mountains with
flat-topped crowns rising wall-like above the conical base exactly
resembling the ‘Jebels’ on which one has looked with weary eyes, day
after day, through the rippling heat of the Soudan deserts. In some
parts of the Karroo these mountains close upon narrow gorges, along
which the railway winds, and its sudden turns round rocky buttresses
seem so familiar to one who knows the old military line above Wady Halfa
that he can imagine himself travelling once more through the desolate
Batn el Hagar towards Khartoum. To men for whom the rugged Karroo had no
such associations with the land of mysterious fascination, there may
well have been a wearisome monotony in the unvarying repetition of
similar forms—the vast plains whereon no tree bigger than the _Acacia
horrida_ grows, and where the houses, if any, are so widely separated
that they only serve to deepen the impression of melancholy solitude;
the waterless rivers, the bare brown kops. For full appreciation of the
Karroo one must have breathed its invigorating air from childhood, and
seen it in seasons of beauty with all the glory of its summer raiment
on. De Aar Junction is no more than a huge collection of railway sheds
and equally hideous houses set in the most barren plain of the Great
Karroo; but Lumsden’s Horse saw it busy with many signs of military
preparation for a forward movement, and so it seemed to them the very
gateway of the fateful future, in the shaping of which they were to have
a hand. That night they crossed the Orange River at Norval’s Pont, where
Railway Pioneers, mostly skilled artificers from the Johannesburg mines,
under Major Seymour—‘the greatest of mechanical engineers,’ as Colonel
Girouard styled him—were hard at work, night and day, repairing the
broken bridge, while baggage was being transferred by the wire trolly
high overhead. Lumsden’s Horse crossed the pontoon ‘deviation’ to a
train on the farther side, and when morning dawned they were journeying
slowly—with many precautions against possible surprises by marauding
Boers—to the goal of their hopes. Bloemfontein was reached by A Company
in the afternoon of April 3, when they went into camp at Rustfontein,
two miles from the town, and became part of the 8th M.I. Regiment, under
the command of that very able leader, Colonel ‘Watty’ Ross, whose
portrait appears on the opposite page. Of him Colonel Lumsden writes:
‘No better man could have been chosen to command a body of Irregular
Horse. Capable, tactful, with a keen eye for a country, and a man hard
to beat in the saddle, he was in fact an ideal leader at the game he had
to play. We were under his command from the time the 8th M.I. was formed
at Bloemfontein, early in April 1900, taking part in every action of
that eventful march to Pretoria, and the 8th M.I. had the honour of
scouting in front of headquarters throughout.’ After the memorable June
5, when the capital of the South African Republic fell into our hands,
Lumsden’s Horse were placed for some time on communications at Irene and
Kalfontein, but their Colonel, tiring of this inaction, applied to
General Smith-Dorrien for more congenial employment. His wish was
shortly afterwards gratified, and Lumsden’s Horse, with mutual regrets
on both sides, were transferred to another column, thus severing their
connection with the 8th M.I. and the leader whose soldierly qualities
had endeared him to all ranks. Their respect for him found appropriate
expression long afterwards, when every man of the corps, from Colonel
Lumsden downwards, subscribed for a badge, the regimental ‘LH’ in
diamonds, and this they presented to Mrs. Ross in token of their
admiration for her husband as a commander and in appreciation of the
considerate kindness he had shown to all ranks while they served under
him. That the admiration was not all on one side may be gathered from an
incident that occurred some time after Lumsden’s Horse were embodied
with the 8th Mounted Infantry Corps, and Colonel Lumsden thinks justly
that no better proof could be given of the able and smart class of men
he had in his command than the following remark from Colonel Ross:
‘Lumsden, whenever I ask you to send me an A.D.C. or galloper, never
mind sending me one of your officers; your troopers are just the class I
want.’

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Dickinson_
  MAJOR (LOCAL COLONEL) W.C. ROSS, C.B.
]

Some months after the severance of associations that had been so
pleasant for commander and commanded, when Lumsden’s Horse had seen
their last of South African fighting, Colonel Ross had the lower part of
his face shattered by a bullet while attacking a Boer position at
Bothaville with the gallant dash which his old comrades remember so
well. In that fight De Wet’s forces were completely routed, and lost
nearly all their artillery; but the victory was not achieved without
heavy sacrifices on our side. Colonel Le Gallais, who commanded the
Mounted Infantry, and also Captain Williams, formerly Staff-Officer of
the 8th M.I. Corps under Colonel Ross, were killed, while going to the
assistance of their brother-officer; and, in the same fight, Lieutenant
Percy Smith, who had gained honours as a trooper of Lumsden’s Horse at
Ospruit when he went out with his Colonel to bring in a helpless
comrade, was wounded in the performance of a gallant action by which he
won the D.S.O.

For the sake of finishing a story events have been somewhat anticipated,
and B Company may resent the interpolation, at this stage, of a
flattering comment that belongs properly to a later period. In the
actions from which Colonel Ross formed his high opinion of Lumsden’s
troopers, B Company had taken its full share. Before resuming touch with
the movements of that body, however, reference must be made to another
incident in which A Company had the proud distinction of representing
the whole corps. The occasion was a visit on April 4 by Lord Roberts,
who, after inspecting the company, called out and shook hands with
Trooper Hugh Blair, whose brother, an officer of the Royal Engineers,
had been badly wounded in the Candahar campaign. The Commander-in-Chief
then made a brief speech to Colonel Lumsden and his troopers. Of this no
shorthand note or transcription from mental tablets seems to have been
made, but its meaning is probably expressed in the following letter
which Lord Roberts wrote to Sir P. Playfair, C.I.E., Chairman of the
Executive Committee of Lumsden’s Horse: ‘Dear Sir Patrick,—Many thanks
for your letter of February 26. A few evenings ago I had great pleasure
in inspecting Lumsden’s Horse immediately after their arrival here. I
sent a telegram to the Viceroy to inform him that I had done so. They
are a workmanlike, useful lot. I am sure they will do splendidly in
whatever position they may be placed. It is most gratifying to hear the
way in which the corps was raised. The sum subscribed by the public
generally is the proof of the patriotism of the subscribers, especially
Colonel Lumsden himself. You will have seen in the papers that we are
detained here for a while until we can refit, but when this is done we
shall move northward. I am confident that during our advance Lumsden’s
Horse will do credit to themselves and to India. Believe me, yours very
truly, (Signed) ROBERTS.’

A few days after that inspection the Commander-in-Chief sent to Colonel
Lumsden a telegram he had received from the Viceroy. Lord Roberts’s
secretary wrote as follows: ‘Dear Colonel Lumsden,—The Field-Marshal
asks me to send you the enclosed telegram from the Viceroy, and to say
that he fully agrees with the last sentence of it.—Yours sincerely, H.V.
Cowan, Colonel, Military Secretary.’ Lord Curzon’s telegram said: ‘Lord
Roberts, Bloemfontein.—We are delighted to hear of your kind reception
of our Indian Volunteer contingent, and hope that they may have a chance
of going to the front, where we are confident of their ability to
distinguish themselves.—VICEROY.’

Carrying on the narrative from this point, but leaving the lighter
incidents of life in Bloemfontein for other pens to chronicle, Colonel
Lumsden deals briefly in his diary with the remaining period of A
Company’s isolation, and brings it down to the day when the corps was to
be reunited under his command. With natural gratification at the
position assigned to him, he says:

  General Ian Hamilton is to command a division of 10,000 Mounted
  Infantry, of which Colonel Ridley’s brigade forms nearly a half,
  consisting of four corps of about 1,200 strong each. We are embodied
  with the 8th Mounted Infantry Corps, consisting of Loch’s Horse,
  ourselves, and various companies of Mounted Infantry from Regular
  battalions, under the command of Colonel Ross. Both Colonels Ridley
  and Ross are well known in India, and we are fortunate in being under
  their command and in having such a dashing divisional commander as
  General Ian Hamilton. Our first camp in Bloemfontein proved a sickly
  one, water being scarce owing to the Boers having blown up the
  waterworks and cut off the main supply. This, no doubt, has been the
  cause of numerous cases of dysentery, and our camp was shifted
  yesterday to a healthier locality, with a more plentiful water supply.
  Strange to say, we have had an attack of mumps among the men,
  emanating, we believe, from a native servant who developed that
  disease on board ship. I regret to say that Captain Beresford had to
  be taken to hospital yesterday, suffering from an acute attack of
  dysentery; but a few days of careful dieting will enable him to rejoin
  us, I hope. B Company, owing to the congested state of the railway
  traffic from Cape Town to Bloemfontein, was landed at East London, to
  proceed thence by rail to join us. Transport, however, was found to be
  equally difficult by that route, and in consequence the company had to
  march the greater part of the way.

What meanwhile had befallen that force under the command of Major
Showers may be told in the words of a trooper whose lively contributions
to the ‘Indian Daily News’ do not seem to have been regarded as an
infringement of a rule laid down in the mobilisation scheme by which
volunteers for Lumsden’s Horse were warned that they would on no account
be allowed to act as special correspondents for newspapers. This
regulation, like many others, seems to have been more honoured in the
breach than the observance. Taking up the broken thread where it was
dropped some pages back, he writes:

  At Queen’s Town we had a fairly pleasant time, except on nights when
  it simply rained cats and dogs and hailed as well. Most of our tents
  leaked badly, so we were rendered thoroughly uncomfortable. The horses
  and the unfortunate stable pickets (I was one, and speak from personal
  experience) were in a wretched plight, without shelter of any kind.
  When the storms were at their worst, and picketing pegs would not hold
  in the soft ground, we may have used words that were not endearing to
  horses that got loose. On April 2 we were told that the company would
  start on the 4th, marching to Bethulie, waggons for our horses not
  being available then, but that we should probably entrain a few
  stations further up. We were informed that all superfluous clothing,
  &c., would have to be packed up and returned to East London, and each
  man would only be allowed to take one kit bag, weight not to exceed
  thirty pounds. We therefore set to work, and cudgelled our brains
  trying to decide what to take and what to leave behind—no easy task, I
  can tell you. However, the die was cast at last, and we were ready for
  kit-bag weighing next morning. Several of the men had evidently rather
  vague ideas on this point, and, after filling their bags to a weight
  of forty or fifty pounds each, had to repack them, much to their
  disgust. We left next day, our destination being Baileytown, a small
  place about thirteen miles distant. We were all, of course, in full
  marching order—supplied with water-bottles, haversacks, bandoliers,
  rifles, and corn-bag. The first three were hung round our shoulders,
  the rifles in the bucket on the off side of the saddle, and the
  corn-bag slung to the saddle. I was not accustomed to it; the strain
  on the shoulders is pretty severe; and we were all glad when
  Baileytown drew in sight. This march gave us a very good opportunity
  of examining the country, and as we passed kopje after kopje it was
  very easy to realise how difficult a task it is to dislodge the Boers
  from their veritable strongholds. Arriving at Baileytown about 5 p.m.,
  and finding no tents there, we bivouacked, and found the bare veldt no
  such uncomfortable bed after all. We spent the whole of the next day
  there, and as very good grass was plentiful on the slope of the hills
  the opportunity was taken of knee-haltering and grazing the horses.
  Resumed our march next day; did about twenty-two miles by 3 o’clock in
  the afternoon, when a halt was made at a place called Sterkstroom.
  Here, to our delight, orders came for us to be sent off at once by
  train. We spent a very busy afternoon unloading kits from the
  transport carts and reloading them into railway waggons, and
  entraining horses. The animals seem to be getting reconciled to this
  constant training and detraining, and behaved very well indeed. By
  8.30 we were all ready to board the train. No more luxurious second-
  and third-class carriages for us poor privates now. We were packed
  like sardines in a box into three covered trucks, about forty or fifty
  men in each. It was quite dark, and no lanterns were given us, or,
  rather, there was an apology for a lantern in our truck, but it hardly
  made darkness visible; kits and men all over the place, and little, if
  any, room to sleep—a very weary night indeed for most of us. We
  arrived at Burghersdorp at 11 A.M. next day, and stayed there about
  two hours. All sorts of rumours were current about the close proximity
  of the Boers. We were informed that fighting was expected at a station
  north of Bethulie. At this latter place the troops had slept in the
  trenches all night in momentary expectation of an attack. There were
  said to be three or four thousand Boers hovering round in the hills
  adjacent to these places, having been cut off in an attempt to retreat
  beyond Bloemfontein. We did not reach Bethulie till 8 o’clock that
  evening, having to wait at various sidings for down trains, of which
  there were a good many. Not expecting to detrain till the following
  morning, we had made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances
  permitted for the night when orders were issued to get out and encamp
  close by at once. In a moment all was excitement, orders ringing out
  constantly, and men hurriedly getting their kit together—an almost
  hopeless task in the darkness.

  However, it was not long before all the men, horses, and kit were out
  and on their way to camp. Arrived there, we picketed the animals, and
  by 2 A.M. had quite settled down for the night. No peace for us,
  however, as orders went round that we must be ready saddled by 4.30,
  in case our services should be required. It turned out to be a false
  alarm, however, so after waiting till 8 o’clock we took the horses out
  to exercise. Bethulie, straggling along the northern bank of Orange
  River, is just on the borders of the Free State. The railway bridge,
  an eight-span one, has been completely destroyed by Boers, and I must
  say they have done their work very cleanly; five out of the eight
  spans have been cut right through by charges of dynamite. Fortunately,
  however, there is a waggon bridge here also, which reinforcements,
  coming up in time, were enabled to save from destruction, and, lines
  having been placed across this, one truck at a time is taken over.
  This important point of communication is now very strongly guarded by
  regiments of Infantry on each side of the river. Nearly all of us took
  the opportunity of having a glorious bath in the river, and did a
  little amateur clothes-washing. Practice will make perfect, no doubt,
  but at present we don’t take very kindly to it. At 3 in the afternoon
  we got orders to saddle up in readiness to march as an escort to 600
  transport mules for Bloemfontein. The rearguard came on with our own
  transport, and, as the latter only move very slowly, they marched all
  night and did not arrive at Spytfontein—the halting-place, nineteen
  miles distant—till about 3 A.M. Fortunately, there was brilliant light
  from the new moon; otherwise the slow progress with refractory mules
  would have been dreary indeed. As it was, we marched along as silently
  as possible, and had the feeling that we might be attacked at any
  moment. The Kaffir drivers, however, could not be restrained from
  shouting in shrillest notes and cracking their long rhinoceros-hide
  thongs with sounds like rifle-shots as they ran to head off wayward
  stragglers. All night long the red dust rose from the hoofs of those
  600 mules in stifling clouds.

  This is a most desolate-looking country, miles beyond miles without
  passing a single human habitation. Towards the end of the march,
  whether through sheer exhaustion or from the effects of the moonbeams
  (one of our sages started this theory next day), half the men went to
  sleep in their saddles. I was one of the somnolent ones, and my horse
  took me several yards in front of the main body, and I awoke with a
  start to hear my companions silently chuckling at the situation. The
  only remedy was to get off and march alongside our horses, and several
  of us did this. Natives told us afterwards that Boers had been hanging
  on our flanks all through that march, and the only thing that saved us
  was our water-cart, which they mistook for a gun-carriage. The Boers
  must have changed a good deal since then if they could be so easily
  deceived.

  We left Spytfontein about 7 o’clock that morning and arrived at
  Springfontein at 3 in the afternoon. Here the orders were for us to
  start again next morning, escorting a Maxim battery of four guns to
  Bloemfontein, in addition to the 600 mules we already had under
  convoy. I may mention that one section of our company always acted as
  advance guard, throwing out scouts in front and on the flanks; the
  duty of these scouts being to search the kopjes on either side of the
  road, and communicate with the main body by hand signals should any
  enemy appear in sight. Starting from Springfontein early on April 10,
  we did a march of fifteen miles to Jagersfontein. Here Jim, having
  pity for my lameness, took my horse to water while I, in return,
  prowled round and found a little house where the womenfolk agreed to
  let us have tea. I was shown into the drawing-room, which looked very
  cosy by comparison with the dreary veldt. Ordered tea for six and went
  to gather my pals for the feast. After I had groomed my horse, fed
  him, and put his _jhool_ on, we went off to the small house. But,
  alas! the tea was all gone. Six other men had been there and declared
  that I had ordered it for them. This is the first example of
  ‘slimness’ recorded to the credit or otherwise of Lumsden’s Horse. At
  4 o’clock next morning a party of us went out on patrol duty among the
  surrounding hills. We had our magazines loaded and in the dim morning
  light it was rather exciting work marching silently along with the
  chance of meeting the enemy at any moment. We stayed out till about 7
  o’clock, having thoroughly examined the surrounding country from the
  top of a high kopje, without discovering any traces of Boers. After
  half an hour for breakfast, we started on the day’s march, which it
  was intended would be a short one of fifteen miles; but it rained so
  heavily about noon, and for an hour or two afterwards, that on arrival
  at the camping-place we found it to be a mass of liquid mud and grass,
  and the Major decided to keep marching on for Edenburg, about eight
  miles distant, in the hope that it would be drier there. But it
  continued to pour steadily all the afternoon, and we arrived to find
  our camping ground at Edenburg inches deep in water. We had no tents,
  so simply wrapped ourselves in our blankets and slept where we could.
  Many of us woke an hour or two afterwards, and found ourselves wet to
  the bone, and in preference to trying to sleep again we made a good
  fire and sat round this all night. There were a few men of one of the
  New Zealand Volunteer regiments encamped here also, in charge of sick
  horses, and they very kindly supplied us with hot cocoa—a most
  grateful and comforting drink on such a night. They gave us very
  graphic descriptions of hard times in the field. They had seen lots of
  fighting, being used mainly, if not entirely, as scouts. They told us
  how difficult it was to find the enemy, who kept hidden among rocks on
  the kopjes and never fired till our men were within about a hundred
  yards. As soon as the first shot was fired, the scouts turned and
  galloped for their lives, and the artillery then began to shell the
  kopjes. Next morning we saw several Boer prisoners, among them being a
  lad of about eighteen, who had killed a Major in one of our regiments
  while coming towards him with a flag of truce in his hand. Near the
  place where we had bivouacked quantities of buried Boer ammunition and
  guns were discovered. We continued our march at about 1 A.M., and
  encamped in the afternoon at a small place called Bethany. Here a
  night attack was expected, a Boer commando of several thousand men
  being reported in the vicinity. The men of the Maxim battery stood to
  their guns all night on a kopje close by, and about thirty of us
  accompanied them as an extra precaution. Cossack posts were also
  thrown out. Locusts, of which we had already met several swarms on our
  march up, literally covered the hill-sides here, and, getting down our
  backs and up our sleeves, took some dislodging. No alarm was given, so
  we passed the night in peace. We resumed our march on Good Friday,
  and, reaching Kaffir River in the afternoon, encamped there for the
  night with Regular regiments—Guards, Highlanders, and several others.
  Camps were fairly far apart, and after picketing horses, drawing
  forage, and eating our frugal meals, we had no time for exchanging
  visits or getting any news from the various regiments we met at our
  stopping-places. However, there was consolation for us when we
  received our first budget of home and Indian letters, one of the men
  from A Company, then at Bloemfontein, having been sent down with them.

  Up to this point the march had been across monotonous veldt, mostly
  flat, treeless, and uninteresting. Here and there, where the ground
  held moisture, little pink flowers of a wood sorrel showed, and nearly
  every mile one came across some fresh variety of aster or daisy-like
  flower with composite crown shining brightly in the coarse grass.
  Occasionally the ridges were rich with clumps of heath, scarlet,
  yellow, and white, but not enough to relieve the general dreariness of
  distances across which one often looked in vain for any sign of
  cultivation. Ant-hills and the burrows of ant-bears were on all the
  veldt, and we had to wind our way among them, following no
  well-defined road, but only a track, the general direction of which
  was marked by a browner thread running across the tawny veldt. Several
  horses blundered into the bear-holes and brought their riders to
  grief, much to the general amusement. One trooper who rode ahead
  waving his hand and warning those who followed by frequent cries of
  ‘’Ware hole! ’Ware hole!’ suddenly disappeared, and we heard him groan
  as his horse rolled over on top of him, ‘Here’s one, and I’m into it.’
  It was nearly dark then; but dead horses, mules, and dying oxen marked
  the track by which other convoys had gone. We felt glad that our
  transport ponies were not to share their fate. They had proved quite
  useless for drawing the heavy loads in this country, so we left them
  behind at Sterkstroom, sending all our baggage-carts on by train,
  while we marched and bivouacked with only the blankets and supplies
  that could be carried on our own horses. It was at Edenburg, I think,
  that after a wet march we got leave to go into the town, hoping it
  might be possible to get something better than the perpetual ‘bully
  beef’ and biscuits, but the only room we could find in the only decent
  hotel was wanted for officers. However, a little man of the Derby
  Militia came and showed us a small Boer ‘Winkel,’ where we got
  excellent tea, bread, and jam. The Derby man said he knew where he
  could buy some butter, which was all we wanted to make us happy. C——
  gave him 2_s._ to go and get it. We finished our meal without that
  butter, and the Derby man didn’t return. So we went back to find
  everything in camp wet, muddy, and beastly. To add to our misery, a
  thunderstorm came on, and while we wallowed in slush there were empty
  houses with roofs to them not half a mile off. From Kaffir River we
  might easily have done the distance to Bloemfontein in one march, as
  it was only nineteen miles; but there was apparently no reason for
  hurrying, so we spent one more night in bivouac at Kaalspruit, and on
  Easter Sunday, in the afternoon, marched through Bloemfontein to our
  camp, which was three miles beyond. We only got a glimpse of the town
  in passing through its central square and along the main street, but,
  considering it was the capital of the Free State, I don’t think any of
  us were very much struck with it at first sight. Colonel Lumsden and A
  Company welcomed us very warmly. Our tents were already pitched and
  food prepared, so we soon settled down in our new quarters, A
  Company’s men receiving us as their guests and treating us most
  hospitably.

There the trooper’s narrative ends, and Colonel Lumsden follows with a
well-deserved tribute to Major Showers and the men of B Company, saying:

  They made a very plucky march up, the officers and men carrying
  nothing but their greatcoats and blankets, and sleeping out every
  night in the rain. It was too much of a trial for the ponies to pull
  their carts over the hilly and heavy going; and, as I said before,
  this method of transport had to be abandoned, and their carts and
  baggage railed up.

  Considering the long and trying marches they had undergone, I consider
  both men and horses looking wonderfully fit. A certain proportion of
  them, however, were not in condition to resume immediate work.
  Therefore, to replace these and in lieu of thirteen casualties on
  board ship and _en route_, I have procured from Prince Francis of
  Teck, the remount officer, twenty-six Argentine cobs, which, although
  not up to the standard of our Indian mounts, are nevertheless a boon
  to us in the circumstances, in a situation where horseflesh is at a
  premium. A certain amount of kit and necessaries had been lost by both
  companies during our journey here; but, it being our first demand on
  the military authorities for such, we had no difficulty in getting our
  requirements satisfied.

  We are now (April 18) under orders to move to-morrow for Spytfontein,
  five miles to the east of Karree Siding station, halting for the night
  at Glen. There has been heavy rain for the past four days, and it will
  be bad travelling, especially crossing the drift at Modder River. I
  have been fortunate in being able to retain the whole of our
  transport, which privilege has not been granted to any other unit, and
  shall to-morrow be complete in every respect. The men are in keen
  spirits, as our post is to be an advanced one and within range of the
  Boer outposts.

  I regret to say that Captain Beresford is no better, and will, I fear,
  have to be invalided home.




                              CHAPTER VII
           _IMPRESSIONS OF BLOEMFONTEIN—JOIN THE 8TH MOUNTED
                     INFANTRY REGIMENT ON OUTPOST_


Long streets, ill-paved and deep in mud or dust; a low stoep-shaded
cottage with vines trailing about its posts here and there between long
rows of featureless shops; a large market square where no farm produce
is displayed; a club frequented by British officers who have little time
to lounge; several churches of the primmest Dutch type, with tall
steeples that cut sharply against the clear sky in lines
uncompromisingly straight; some public buildings, pretentious without
grace or beauty; on one side a steep hill terraced with houses of which
little but the corrugated iron roofs can be seen; on the other, roads
that straggle off to level outskirts, where villas painfully new stand
in the midst of flowerless gardens surrounded by barbed wire. These were
the first impressions of Bloemfontein gathered by Lumsden’s Horse, and
few troopers had any opportunity to modify these impressions in more
favourable circumstances afterwards. The camp to which A Company went
originally at Rietfontein was within two miles of the town, and might
have been pleasant enough if thousands of hoofs had not cut up its turf,
and the ground had not been used as a dumping-place for rubbish which
Boer commandos could not turn to any use. Some of them had been there
before Lumsden’s Horse, and several British regiments also. So many tens
of thousands of soldiers were camped round about the town that they may
have interrupted the currents of salubrious air which made Bloemfontein
famous in other days as a resort for invalids. There were plenty of
invalids to be seen there in the early weeks of April 1900, but they did
not regard it as the best type of sanatorium, and men who had to sleep
in small tents on the reeking ground of Rietfontein would not willingly
go there again in search of health. They had hardly begun to realise how
serious was the stoppage of a fresh water supply which the Boers had cut
off from the main at Modder River. Hundreds of old wells existed in the
town and its outskirts, and by opening these enough water could be drawn
for immediate wants. But, alas! the water had been undisturbed since
Bloemfontein began to draw its supply from the distant waterworks some
six or seven years earlier. What impurities had drained into the wells
during all that time nobody knew until hospitals filled rapidly with
patients suffering from enteric and dysentery. Rietfontein was showing
symptoms of an outbreak, and so, after a week under canvas there,
Lumsden’s Horse got the welcome order to strike camp and form a new one
some three miles farther north, by Deel’s Farm, where a clear spruit
flows over its bed of white gravel between banks that are shaded by tall
eucalyptus trees and drooping sallows.

After days on duty, in which they were not allowed to be slack, troopers
felt little inclination for walking the four or five miles to
Bloemfontein, which did not become more cheerful as the number of troops
increased, except for the traders, who were rapidly getting back all
they had lost by the war and a great deal more. Officers had always the
chance, whenever they could get away from camp for an hour or two, of
pleasant social meetings at the Bloemfontein Club, where generals,
regimental commanders, and company officers from other brigades came
together for a little while at lunch or afternoon tea and exchanged all
the rumours that could be told in a few minutes—and they were many. It
was a place of strange meetings. Men from the uttermost corners of the
earth, who had perhaps not seen each other for years, foregathered
there, only to separate a little later and go on their ways with
different columns, none knew whither. Troopers had similar experiences
in the streets and inns of Bloemfontein, where nearly every regimental
badge of the British Army and every distinguishing plume adopted by
Irregulars who had come to fight as ‘soldiers of the Queen’ were to be
seen in a variety that seemed endless. Brothers whose paths in life had
parted when they left school, one going east, another west or south,
came face to face in the streets of that little Free State town or
rubbed shoulders in a motley crowd of khaki-clad soldiers, sometimes
without recognising each other, until accident gave them some clue. A
rough word or two of careless greeting, a tight hand-grip, a steadfast
look into eyes that remind the boys of father or mother, a light laugh
on lips that might otherwise betray too much feeling, a drink together
(if it is to be had), for ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ and then with a jaunty ‘So
long, old chap,’ they part again. It is a superstition, or at any rate a
recognised custom, not to say ‘Good-bye’ in such circumstances. But if
men only thought of its literal meaning, what better wish could there
be? Yet, for all its stir and bustle and dramatic incidents,
Bloemfontein was a dull place in those days for any man who entered it
and found no intimate friends there to greet him. Comrades they all
were, but in a rough-and-ready sort of comradeship that needed the fire
of the battlefield to try it and perchance anneal it into something
stronger than the ties of mere kinship. But this is a thing which only
soldiers understand, and seldom even they. Lumsden’s Horse knew it not
then, but for some of them the secret was to be disclosed before many
days had passed, and in a form that will never fade from their memory.
Meanwhile, they went about their duties methodically enough in camp or
took their pleasures sadly in streets where thousands of soldiers
wandered daily, finding no entertainment, no place of resort except
dingy bars, where liquors of more than alcoholic potency were sold, and
very little change from campaign fare except at a price that made even
the necessaries of life prohibited luxuries for a man who had no more
than his shilling a day to spend. One of Lumsden’s Horse who was sent
into Bloemfontein on orderly duty gives a vivid sketch of all this in a
few touches that are the more graphic because they only pretend to note
passing impressions. Writing a day after B Company’s arrival at Deel’s
Farm, he shows how the men had to rub their horses down while standing
inches deep in mud. So much rain was out of season, but South Africa is,
like other places, occasionally fickle in this respect. To troopers it
did not seem an ideal way of spending Easter Monday, and the whistle, of
which officers made free use, must have been irritating to nerves
already overstrained, for it is never mentioned without a forcible
prefix. However, when rain ceased and sunshine appeared for an hour in
the afternoon, these men were merry enough at a game of cricket, which,
by violating all the higher rules, must have reminded them of similar
sports in England when they were boys and welcomed Easter Monday as the
day of all others appropriate to cricket. The next morning a great cheer
rolled from camp to camp, and Lumsden’s Horse, responding lustily,
passed it on to the next without asking what the unusual excitement
meant. When they heard afterwards that troops were cheering because
‘Kruger had surrendered,’ a strange depression took hold of them. At
that moment all the discomforts and drudgery of a soldier’s life were
forgotten in the humiliating thought that the corps would have to go
back to India without a chance of proving itself in battle. It turned
out, however, to be all mere rumour, though not so baseless as some of
which Lumsden’s Horse had after-experience. The Transvaal President’s
offer to negotiate for peace on terms all in his own favour must have
been known in England then, and in some mysterious way a reflex of it
came to camps on the veldt, where troops, who had seen plenty of the
fighting that Lumsden’s Horse were eager for, welcomed the illusive
tidings with a cheer. In its train, however, came something nearly as
good—a post bringing letters from ‘England, home, and beauty,’ and for
one non-commissioned officer at least ‘a parcel full of excellent
things.’ Before he had time to enjoy these he was under orders for
Bloemfontein, and after a ride through pouring rain he got there in time
to hear another disconcerting rumour, and to find some of his comrades
selling their kit because ‘they had been ordered back.’ Wisely resolving
not to act on anything but definite orders, and, taking the advice of a
corporal in the City Imperial Volunteers, who persuaded him ‘to sit
tight,’ he waited, making the best of circumstances that were by no
means bright according to his own brief record, which runs, ‘No dinner
to be had at the station. Got tea sixpence a cup, bread and jam
sixpence.’ Hungry and dispirited, he turned in and went to bed at the
station, which means something very different from the untravelled
civilian’s idea of a bed. Then next morning ‘bought a bob’s worth of oat
straw for horse—groomed and fed him. Put my wet things out to dry, and
sallied forth to the station. Had an excellent breakfast: porridge,
haddock, chops, and two cups of coffee, for three shillings. Went to the
hospital to try and get my leg dressed, but couldn’t find anybody to
speak to. Thence to a most pleasant chemist—a Dutchman. Went to the
station for lunch—another three bob.’ Not a profitable day’s work for a
corporal on Cavalry pay without ‘colonial allowances.’ After that came
tea and dinner, so that he was evidently doing his best to prove the
wisdom of Mark Tapley’s philosophy. Having found circumstances in which
it was a credit to be jolly, he made the most of them. It is not every
soldier, however, who, having indulged in a little extravagance of that
kind, could write, ‘Afterwards to the bank, and had an agreeable
interview with the manager’; nor every man, with a balance to his
credit, who would have turned cheerfully again towards the rough life of
a camp and the unknown hardships that were to follow. When orders came
next day for all Lumsden’s Horse to rejoin their corps in readiness for
an immediate advance, this non-commissioned officer paid another visit
to his friend the chemist and asked how much he owed. ‘The chemist
refused to take anything. Pretty good that for a Dutchman and evidently
a pro-Boer.’ With that pleasant experience blotting out all unfavourable
impressions of Bloemfontein, the corporal rode back to camp at Deel’s
Farm to find all the tents being struck.

So they had to spend a miserable night by the bivouac fire and get
what amusement they could out of good stories. One, suggested perhaps
by talk of chemists and surgical operations, is worthy to be
preserved. To appreciate the point of the joke you must know that a
lieutenant-general’s badges of rank are a sword and bâton crossed,
with the crown above them. A man of the —— Yeomanry, then quartered in
Bloemfontein, was suffering agonies from toothache, and, like our
friend the corporal, had searched every hospital in vain for a surgeon
who might have leisure to extract it. As he crossed the Market Square,
a general of division whose kindness of heart is as notorious as his
strength of language, was coming out of the Club. To him the yeoman
advanced, and, after a hesitating preface, asked the General whether
he would mind drawing a tooth. For a moment the General was
dumbfounded, but then his powers of expression came back to him. ‘What
the devil do you mean?’ he roared, thinking the yeoman was
unpardonably familiar. The man’s face fell. ‘I’m very sorry, sir,’ he
said, ‘but our doctor’s on leave, and——’ ‘But,’ said the officer,
smiling at the man’s mistake, ‘I’m not a doctor; I’m General ——’ The
yeoman stammered, ‘But—but—your badge, sir!’ The General
good-humouredly turned his shoulder to the abashed trooper. ‘Here you
are, my lad; what’s the matter with the badge? “Crossed swords, bâton,
and crown.”’ ‘Good heavens!’ said the man, ‘I hope you’ll forgive me,
sir. I thought it was the skull and cross-bones!’

[Illustration:

  _Photo: F. Kapp & Co._
  TRANSPORT AND WATER CARTS
]

Before daybreak in the morning of April 21, Lumsden’s Horse were roused
to pack kits and saddle up for their march. Impartial observers said
they were very smart about it, but a story went round that the Colonel
had expressed himself as much disappointed with B Company, saying that
the others would have saddled up and walked round them three times. This
was apparently only a playful invention, but it so angered one trooper
that he could only express his feelings in choice Hindustani. He was
mollified afterwards on learning that A Company had really admired the
soldierly way in which B Company got ready, and then he excused his
strong language by writing, ‘I understand now the expression “Swear like
a trooper.” We hear and do more of it every day.‘ It was a painful
confession for one of Lumsden’s Horse to make, but the incident,
apparently trivial, shows that a wholesome spirit of emulation in deeds
was animating the men, and that would always be regarded by soldiers as
ample atonement for unnecessary rivalry in linguistic attainments. The
time was close at hand, too, when Lumsden’s Horse would have more
serious things to think about than these. Yet nobody knows better than
old campaigners how little things occupy the thoughts of men even when
they are doing great deeds. No opportunity for achieving greatness came
to the corps during its first day’s march through a country where the
enemy’s appearance might be looked for at any moment, but in another way
the men showed their fitness for a soldier’s work—by helping the
transport out of difficulties. It was in crossing a drift at the Little
Modder River that carts stuck with wheels jammed tightly in deep holes
between slippery boulders, and teams floundered in fruitless attempts to
recover their footing. The Editor, having been in one of those holes,
horse and all, has reason to remember the place and the swirl of water
where it rashes over rocky ledges into a deeper pool. By dint of manful
work, Lumsden’s Horse got their carts clear of the drift, only to find
them axle deep in the treacherous soil of a neighbouring vlei some
minutes later. Then ammunition had to be taken out and carried to firm
ground and carts lifted bodily out of the mire. It was an experience by
which the transport drivers learned not to trust appearances and to
beware of grass that looked unusually green. Still, as Sergeant
Stephens, of the Transport, wrote in relating his experiences, ‘If
anything ever frightened our drivers it was the word “drift”; you should
have seen the worried looks when they heard there was a drift ahead.’
That night the corps bivouacked beyond Glen, where General Tucker’s
division had been in touch with the enemy for nearly a month and warding
off frequent attempts to interfere with Engineers who were hard at work
on a ‘deviation’ near the ruined railway bridge. There they had to
bivouac with nothing but blankets to protect them from the bitterly cold
wind, and they went to sleep supperless because the transport, delayed
by many causes, had not come up. No alarms or excursions disturbed their
rest that night, but their march next morning was to the accompaniment
of distant pom-poms and heavier guns and the sounds of fighting not far
off. They did not know the meaning of it all then. It seemed to them but
a local skirmish, and not the penultimate phase of a great movement in
which Ian Hamilton, French, and Rundle had been sweeping the Boers
before them from Wepener to Thaba ’Nchu and thence eastward and
northward, clearing the country for a still greater movement. No shots
came near the marching column. The screen of outposts holding
inquisitive Boers in check was miles away from the drift where Lumsden’s
Horse crossed the main Modder River, and, for all they could see, it
might have been still miles off when they marched up a steep track and
bivouacked on the pleasant hillside, relieving some New South Wales
Mounted Rifles, whose horses had been used up by incessant patrolling.
They were, however, in the outpost line there as part of the 8th Mounted
Infantry, commanded by Colonel Ross, to whom Colonel Lumsden reported
himself that afternoon. Some officers of Regular regiments whose pickets
were near at hand came to have a look at these Indian Volunteers, who
were quite gratified afterwards to hear that the Colonel of the Norfolks
thought them ‘a very fine set of men, but undisciplined.’ It was true
enough they had not much discipline of the parade-ground type, but they
were held together by bonds stronger than any rules or regulations can
weld, and inspired by a sentiment that would have made them ‘play the
game’ wherever fortune might place them. And part of that game was for
them to be soldiers in deed as well as in spirit, though they might lack
the mere outward show of subordination. Spytfontein, which formed the
centre of a position held by Lumsden’s Horse, is an outwork of the
rugged range that sweeps from east to west in an irregular curve just
north of Karree Siding, and from which General Tucker’s division, aided
by a turning movement of Cavalry and Mounted Infantry under General
French, dislodged the Boers a month earlier. Though they had made
several attempts to reoccupy that range in the hope of being able to
shell us out of Glen, they lost ground each time, and finally retired to
an entrenched position in front of Brandfort, to which Spytfontein was
our nearest approach. Trooper Burn-Murdoch in one of his clever letters
to the ‘Englishman’ gave an admirable sketch of outpost work when it was
a new experience to Lumsden’s Horse:

  Spytfontein consists of several kopjes with rocks between and, so far
  as I could see, only one farmhouse, so you will not find it marked on
  the map. We took the place of some Australians, as they had been
  pretty busy and their horses were all knocked up. To the north of us
  were Loch’s Horse about 500 yards off, and quite close to our southern
  flank were some companies of East Lancashire Mounted Infantry. What
  with outlying pickets, guards, horse pickets, and such like, we did
  not find time hang heavy on our hands. And, as our nearest neighbours
  over the kopjes were large bodies of Boers with heavy guns and other
  arms, we had, as the saying is, to sleep with one eye open, and that
  one well skinned. I have many a time steered my way by Old Crux away
  down south. But I found that gazing at it over the icy-cold muzzle of
  a Lee-Metford was, though possibly just as profitable and useful a
  job, very much less romantic.

  One reads in Olive Schreiner and in other African authors’ books of
  the never-to-be-forgotten pleasure of sleeping out on the great South
  African veldt, the pale calm moon overhead, and only the shade of the
  waggon for covering, around which the trek oxen rest after their day’s
  toil, the monotonous crunch, crunch of their jaws as they chew the cud
  being the only sound that breaks the awe-inspiring silence. My
  personal experience was vile—cold winds, little or no moon, wet grass
  and rocks to lie upon, soaking wet feet and clothes, one wet blanket
  and ditto coat, the only change to this being two hours’ sentry-go
  every four hours.

[Illustration:

  OUTLYING PICKET TAKING UP POSITION
  (_From a sketch by J.S. Cowen_)
]

  We were not allowed to walk about as on ordinary sentry-go, but had to
  keep quiet and sit or lie down for the most of the time, with our eyes
  straining out into the dark north, where every piece of scrub or large
  stone rapidly grew into a slouch-hatted Boer, as our brains became
  hypnotised with ceaseless gazing. And on our keen sense of hearing and
  sight depended the lives of all the corps!

  One afternoon the alarm was given, and we promptly ‘stood to arms’ in
  excited expectation of an attack. But it proved to be a false alarm;
  and I was not surprised that it was so, as our valiant signaller
  standing on the sky-line of a neighbouring kopje flagged the news down
  to us, and of course all the Boers between our pickets and Kroonstad
  at once knew that Lumsden’s Horse were awake _and there_—so they
  thought better of it. Some few days afterwards we got orders to parade
  at 2.30 A.M. to take part in an attack on a Boer force which had been
  ‘located’ on some hills to the south-west of us and skirting the
  Modder River. I was horse sentry that night, so got practically no
  sleep. At 2.30, however, amid a thundercloud of English and
  Hindustani, Lumsden’s Horse awoke and managed to saddle up in the
  darkness; and then, by dint of shouting out each other’s names, we
  managed to wriggle into our proper subsections. As one man put it,
  ‘the bundabust was shocking.’

  From the midst of this noisy dark chaos emerging, away we marched.
  Bitterly cold and cheerless was that morning, every second man’s teeth
  chattering like so many castanets, while one’s feet felt _en masse_
  with the stirrup irons. In a short time we were joined by Loch’s
  Horse, the Victorian Mounted Rifles, the Artillery, and Lancashire
  Mounted Infantry, and silence was the strict order of the march; and
  silence it was pretty well, until one of Loch’s Horse, with his
  cut-off open, let bang two shots—phew! phew! went the two nickels over
  the lot of us, and half of us ‘bowed our heads’ reverently. I believe
  Mr. Loch got fourteen days’ for that, and served him jolly well right.

  The sun coming out, our spirits rose somewhat, and our fingers became
  warm enough to pull out bits of biscuit from our haversacks and so
  have a sumptuous breakfast on horseback. An hour and a half’s march
  brought us to a deep creek with a good drift over it, and this we
  crossed in safety. On the other side we found a long and broad expanse
  of plain gradually sloping up to a ridge of high kopjes some four
  miles in front of us. On these kopjes our friends the Boers were
  supposed to be waiting for us, so we spread out into extended single
  ranks with about eleven yards interval. A kind friend having given me
  a cheroot, I lit up and enjoyed a peaceful smoke, while at the same
  time I could not help wondering how many more smokes the Boers would
  allow me to have. Shortly afterwards we got the order to advance at
  the canter, which we did; as our scouts were barely 1,500 yards ahead
  and had not had time to ‘search’ the kopjes properly, this was, in my
  opinion, a risky order. However, we got there.

  Firing had meanwhile commenced on our left, and two of our Victorian
  scouts were bagged. Our pom-poms and guns then tuned up; boom!
  pom-pom-pom, pom-pom! boom—and after a little of this double-bass tune
  the Boers bolted and left us in possession. Skirting along the
  scrub-covered banks of the Modder River, we at length reached Waggon
  Bridge, over which my subsection took the lead as scouts; and about
  midday arrived at a Boer farm some two and a half miles further on.
  Here we stayed the night, camping out on some commanding kopjes. A
  strict watch was, of course, kept up all night. Next day we duly
  received some nice compliments from the General in command on our
  rapid march and successful capture of Waggon Bridge; and then, like
  the celebrated Duke of York’s Army, we marched back again to our camp.

An officer of the corps, writing to friends at Calcutta, adds some
interesting details:

  We are right up at the front now holding a line of kopjes overlooking
  a large plain all round. There is nothing in the plain except one or
  two small kopjes occupied by the Boers between here and Brandfort.
  They come close in every night, and often do a little sniping at our
  outposts, but they disappear at daybreak. The other morning four
  Australians went out to a farm about three miles off; there were
  supposed to be only women there, and they had a couple of white flags
  up; but as soon as the first man got into the yard several Boers
  jumped out of the pigsty, shot his horse, wounded him and took him
  prisoner—the others had to clear. They say about a dozen Boers come
  there every night. The Australians have a picket a mile off, but they
  have not succeeded in catching anybody. The General won’t allow firing
  into the farm, because he says the women can’t help the Boers coming
  for supplies and things. The farm where we get our milk and stuff is
  owned by a Boer who has given up his arms; he fought against us, and
  bucks that he shot a Gordon Highlander officer at ten paces at
  Magersfontein. This Boer was in an awful funk lest his old friends
  should reach his farm and shoot him; at least, he said so. The night
  before last our sentries on one of the pickets were quite certain they
  saw our Boer friend lamp-signalling, and our signallers on the kopje
  noticed it also. Twenty Boers were seen in the distance in the
  afternoon, and he was evidently signalling to them. To-day there was a
  quantity of ammunition found in one of his kraals, so he will probably
  find himself in chokee. The day before I rejoined from hospital we
  attacked, or, rather, the Boers attacked us, but were shelled out of
  their position. Two of our officers who were left in camp saw from one
  kopje a shell burst in the middle of five men, and saw them all go
  down.

  On the 23rd, when our men were sent away to the right with some other
  M.I. and the Cheshires to seize a bridge and to drive Boer raiders
  from some kopjes, they did not apparently wait to be turned out, but
  cleared and trekked across the plain to Brandfort. Our men never fired
  a shot, though Loch’s Horse on their left had a little shooting and
  lost one man, an advance scout. The Boers let him walk right into
  their midst, and as he turned round to bolt his horse came down and
  they took him prisoner. Our position is about, as far as I can make
  out, the centre of a half circle from Karree Siding to the Glen. One
  quarter circle is held by the 7th Division, two batteries, and various
  M.I. The other afternoon some Boers started sniping at our
  signal-post, but came nowhere near hitting; we all stood to arms, and
  when thirty men were sent out they cleared. They generally amuse
  themselves sniping at our outposts at something like 2,000 yards with
  no effect. We have to furnish three night pickets—three officers, five
  non-commissioned, and sixty men every night; it falls rather hard on
  the section officers, as one is sick, and the company commanders and
  the staff, of course, don’t do it, so it means three of the seven are
  out every night. There is not very much to do on picket except post
  the sentries, visit them two or three times in the night, and get them
  in again a little before sunrise, when they return to camp. There is
  also a day outpost of twenty men and two non-commissioned officers,
  and generally a convoy of similar size into Karree Siding; so the men,
  too, have enough to do.

  There was a fight expected to-day (29th), but it has not come off,
  only a few shots on our left. The order has just come for us to go out
  to-morrow, leaving a sufficient guard to strike our tents and bring
  them on if necessary. We hope it is the real advance this time.

  Douglas Jones proved himself such an excellent Assistant-Quartermaster
  that, as B Company’s appointments were all probationary, he has been
  made Company Quartermaster-Sergeant. We lost poor old Roger at Kruger
  Siding on the way up. He had quite turned into a regimental dog, and
  on the march used generally to come along with the rearguard. We
  halted to feed there one march, and he may have stopped with the Royal
  Scots. It is quite possible he went back to Jagersfontein, and made up
  to the Gloucester Yeomanry. They are bringing in two of our lame
  horses, so if he did we may get him again.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd_
  CAPTAIN NOBLETT (MAJOR ROYAL IRISH RIFLES)
  (Commanding B Company Lumsden’s Horse)
]

Another correspondent who was kept in camp by a slight ailment while his
comrades were away on patrol or some more exciting expedition records
how he got out kits and collected firewood, ‘a thing I never did
before,’ and how when others of his section came back they lay by the
dying embers to keep themselves warm and occasionally made the fire
flicker up by throwing more wood on it, reckless of danger from snipers,
who were always on the prowl. While the main body of Lumsden’s Horse
were away on that dash for Waggon Bridge the Boers made a counter
demonstration from Brandfort, supported by pom-poms, and got within a
thousand yards of the Red House Farm, but did no damage beyond
interfering with the domestic arrangements of a Regular regiment, whose
officers, being too far from the point of attack to see what really
happened, thought their position was being seriously threatened and
wanted 28,000 rounds of ammunition brought up from Karree Siding for
emergencies. The orderly corporal who sent that request on got jeered at
as an alarmist, when nothing happened except a retirement of the Boers.
The next day Lee Stewart, who had been left behind in hospital at Cape
Town, rejoined, and got a cordial welcome from all his comrades when
they marched back from their first little expedition. The section mess
was enabled to regale him at dinner that night on ‘chicken cooked by N——
and beefsteaks,’ so that one hardly wonders to find in the next day’s
record the melancholy note, ‘There little was to eat; sat round the
cook-house—two tins on the open veldt—and talked.’

In his official report Colonel Lumsden sums up all this in a few brief
sentences, having matters of more serious weight on his mind at the
moment:

  Our departure for Spytfontein was delayed from 19th to 21st ult.—on
  which date we left Bloemfontein, halting at the Glen _en route_,
  arriving at Spytfontein midday on the 22nd ult. There I reported to
  Colonel Ross, who commands our corps, consisting of the following
  units, of which the approximate strength is given:[4]

            Lumsden’s Horse                             240

            Loch’s Horse (a squadron)                   220

            West Riding and Oxford L.I. Companies of    220
            M.I.

            8th Battalion M.I.                          420

                                                       ____

            Total                                     1,100

  Late that evening I received orders to hold myself in readiness at
  4.30 A.M. for Kranz Kraal, whither we marched in company with the 14th
  Brigade, our object being to protect a bridge about eight miles
  distant on the main road to Bloemfontein, which the Boers intended to
  destroy. We were only just in time to prevent them carrying out their
  object, by getting there before them, with only a couple of casualties
  among the Australian contingent. We spent the night at the bridge,
  returning the next day to Spytfontein. While at the latter place we
  were fortunate in securing a few more Government remounts to replace
  several unfit horses. I may mention that at Spytfontein we were in
  easy sight of the Boer outposts, being only eight miles distant from
  Brandfort. A long flat plain separated the Boer boundary from our own,
  and their scouts were distinctly visible to us every morning. Nothing
  eventful occurred during the next few days, but on the 30th we
  received our baptism of fire as far as we are personally concerned.

[Illustration]

-----

Footnote 4:

    The Suffolk Company M.I., numbering 120, joined later.—ED.

-----




                              CHAPTER VIII
                _THE BAPTISM OF FIRE—LUMSDEN’S HORSE AT
                           OSPRUIT (HOUTNEK)_


How often ignorant critics have sneered at that phrase ‘the baptism of
fire,’ which expresses finely, with literary completeness and force, a
truth of which men who have never been in the front line of battle can
know nothing! However much the phrase may have been degraded by
melodramatic application, it is a gem in its clearness of thought and
perfection of finish. The soldier’s first fight is a plunge from which
he emerges a new being. Whether the change may be for better or worse
depends probably on temperament and previous associations. The fire of
battle does not purify a sinner or sear the soul of a saint, but neither
is quite the same after as he was before passing through it. He has seen
things which, in some subtle way, unfelt, perhaps, and certainly
unacknowledged, will influence the remaining years of his life. It is
not only because he has looked death in the face—that is a common enough
experience elsewhere and leaves no perceptible trace—but he has stood
where dear comrades fell beside him in the midst of scenes that at other
times would be heartrending, and, as if in a state of complete
detachment from himself, he has passed callous through it all. The
braver a man is, the more surely some consciousness of that strange
state clings to him. To call it selfish indifference or the numbness of
fear, as some insolent ignoramus might, would be to falsify the history
of war. Selfish men and cowards do not walk with eyes open into the very
jaws of death to help a wounded comrade, nor would dazed brains be
capable of the swift thought that characterises soldiers in the direst
danger. Yet men who at such times have done deeds worthy of the Cross
for Valour will [Blank Page] not be able to tell you what sensations
possessed them, simply because feeling in the ordinary sense was for a
moment, or for an hour it may be, dead. The mental faculties were clear
enough—so clear, indeed, that they took impressions, photographic in
sharpness and detail, of every immediate surrounding, yet with no power
of communicating those impressions in any sentient form. They knew, but
did not feel. There are people who will tell you gravely that the
Victoria Cross is an evil because it inspires men to do reckless things
out of sheer desire for the glory of that decoration. It is all
nonsense. I have known a great many Victoria Cross heroes, but not one
who gained that high distinction because he tried to or was conscious at
the moment of deserving it. There are soldiers of some countries in the
world to whom glory and the lust of fame are incentives to valorous
deeds. They love to think that the eyes of the world, and especially of
its fairer half, are on them as they march to battle, and for the sake
of these things they will volunteer to lead forlorn hopes; but once in
the fight they behave as Nature or Fate decrees. The mere outward
trappings of gallantry avail nothing then.

[Illustration:

  MAP OF
  HOUTNEK
  shewing positions of
  British and Boer troops
  on 30th. April.

  Drawn by Major Neville C. Taylor,
  14th. Bengal Lancers.

  _Contours shewn at intervals of 10 feet._
]

Of the curious duality that can only be described as detachment of mind
from body, memory recalls two conspicuous examples which occurred within
my knowledge, if not both within my actual range of vision, on the
battlefield of Elandslaagte. One was when the Imperial Light Horse were
rushing up the last slope to that wonderful rallying cry of theirs in an
onslaught that rolled like a resistless wave across the shot-torn crest
and crowned the day with victory. One trooper dropped out of the ranks
as if a bullet had struck him, yet he knew that only his legs had given
way, suddenly refusing to carry him any further. Speaking frankly of
this incident afterwards, he said that at the moment no thought in his
mind was so strong as the desire to be with those who were charging up
the stony heights, waved on by their intrepid Colonel, Chisholm. He had
no sensation that could be akin to fear, and yet he was powerless to
move a limb. Then suddenly a strange thing happened. A Mauser bullet
ploughed along his cheek and stung him. In another moment mind and body
were leaping together up that hill, each striving to be first in the
race, and behaving with a gallantry at which even brave men wondered.
But for that accidental shot the trooper might have stopped where he
fell and been branded as a coward. The other illustration occurred
almost simultaneously, but in a different way. Some wounded men of the
same dauntless corps were lying on an opposite slope exposed to a heavy
fire from some Boers who had crept back to a rocky ledge from which they
were raking the whole of that ground with a shower of nickel. John
Stuart, of the ‘Morning Post,’ and I went to help two or three who were
too badly hit to move, and succeeded in getting them from the bare veldt
to comparative safety behind small boulders. One of them told me
afterwards that his mind was full of nothing but profound gratitude and
admiration when he saw us tucking a comrade into one little sheltered
nook, and yet the words that his tongue all the while hurled at us for
our folly in not taking cover were quite unfit for publication. No man
can pass through experiences of that kind and be in all things the same
again. The ‘baptism of fire’ has changed him, though he may never admit
it to himself or betray it to his friends.

And the time was at hand when Lumsden’s Horse were to take their plunge
and emerge from it with the reputation of soldiers in whom trust could
be placed from that day forward. The share they had in operations that
extended over a front of nearly thirty miles, from Thaba ’Nchu to
Ospruit, was comparatively small. But for them it was the most eventful
episode of the campaign—their first fight, their passing of the
threshold beyond which was the secret of more of human life than they
had ever known. In that one day they were to look death in the face, to
see comrades, the friends of their youth, fall beside them, to have
thoughts of sorrow in their minds but no pang in their hearts. Grief was
to come days, perhaps months afterwards, when a chance word or the touch
of a hand might set the pent-up currents flowing in channels that war
had closed. Above all, they were to know the British soldier as he is in
fight—a creature of strange impulses, of wonderful tenderness, when he
might be expected to show the roughest qualities with which habit has
endowed him, and of sublime endurance. Writing after the plunge, one of
Lumsden’s Horse thanks God that he had seen it all:

  For such is the British Tommy—taken from the lowest classes, so our
  sixth-class paper editors take care to blazen forth. Drunken louts in
  the streets, not allowed into a decent theatre, knocked about if a bit
  drunk by an officious policeman—everything that is bad, in fact.
  Change the scene, and what do we see? Mile after mile of ‘the thin red
  line,’ now changed to ‘the dirty khaki rag’; the battered khaki
  helmet, Tommy’s only pillow at night; the coarse, hard ammunition
  boots. Dirt and vermin cover him from head to foot—no water to drink,
  much less to wash with—a heavy marching kit, rifle, and cartridges,
  and as for food, why, not enough to feed a dog. Ay! Many and many are
  the dogs that would have refused Tommy’s South African _menu_ with
  turned-up noses. Overhead at times a scorching sun; at others a
  blinding, cold, blustering rain; and at night always the bleak, cold,
  north-west wind. March! March! March! On they go, bravely, truly,
  sturdily, hardly a grumble, while safely at home you have your
  collar-and-tie renegade telling us of the atrocities these brave men
  are committing. Lies! all lies, I say. I’ve met some of those people
  since I came back, and my one wish has been to have them out against a
  brick wall with six good brave Tommies to fire a volley. Yes. I am
  glad, ay, more than glad, spite of wounds and hardships, that I have
  seen our good brothers of the khaki as they ought to be seen—no swell
  uniforms there, no pipeclay, no shining cuirasses and polished helmets
  to ‘catch on’ with a non-military public. Ye gods, no! all khaki,
  khaki; all one great army, be it a Colonial, be it a London slum, or a
  Highland bracken born lot of men. They are all brothers in arms, one
  in object, one in deeds of bravery and devotion to an Empire.

That eloquent passage, written by Trooper Burn-Murdoch, gentleman and
tea-planter, should be enough to silence the tongue of calumny and
convince any unprejudiced mind that whatever war may do it does not
brutalise. In illustration of that truth many other instances will have
to be given before this narrative runs its course to an end.

Now, however, it is necessary to describe briefly the general scope of
operations whereby Lumsden’s Horse were drawn, much sooner than they had
any hope of, into their first fight. Attempts had been made by Generals
Rundle, Ian Hamilton, and French to surround Boer forces that were
retiring sullenly from their futile siege of Wepener. But De Wet was in
command there, and his mobile ‘slimness,’ aided by secret information
from Free State burghers, who, having taken the oath of neutrality, were
allowed to live on their farms or to move about freely without any watch
being kept on them, frustrated every attempt to hem in the commandos.
General Brabant’s Colonial division, following Sir Leslie Rundle’s, was
still some distance off, and General Pole-Carew’s retirement to
Bloemfontein for fresh orders at this juncture unfortunately left a gap
open between General French’s left and the force under Sir Ian Hamilton,
which was by that time extended along the Modder valley near Sanna’s
Post, facing north-east. Through this opening the Boers slipped back to
the high ground round about Thaba ’Nchu. Pressed hard by French, they
were driven from the southern and western spurs of these hills, but
still clung to the commanding mountain itself, where they gathered
reinforcements day by day. Then French ceased to press, and the turn
came for Ian Hamilton to strike, in the hope that he might drive a wedge
across the lower ridges between Thaba ’Nchu and Brandfort, which would
not only tear the chain of Boer positions asunder, but also open the way
for a combined movement by which their left wing, under De Wet, should
be enveloped if he attempted to prolong his stand in the Thaba ’Nchu
range. It was cleverly designed; but we all know what often happens with
the best-laid plans, especially when there are spies free to move about
without danger to themselves. It was at this phase of the extended
operations that Sir Ian Hamilton began to advance towards Houtnek, where
he found himself confronted by a formidable gathering of commandos under
General Louis Botha, and they were being reinforced from all directions,
the Boers having regained hope and courage from the presence of a leader
whose reputation then stood incomparably high among them. Though the
numerical strength and boldness of his enemies were something of a
surprise to General Hamilton, he had in some measure prepared for the
unforeseen by calling upon General Tucker to make a diversion by which
the Boers under De la Rey’s command in Brandfort might be discouraged
from sending reinforcements to Houtnek. With the Seventh Division, or
rather in advance of it as a covering screen, the Mounted Infantry
brigade under Colonel Henry was ordered to co-operate, supported by
General Maxwell’s brigade of Infantry. Of the Mounted Infantry, to which
a post of honour was thus assigned, the 8th Battalion, commanded by
Colonel Ross, was to form the advance guard. Thus Lumsden’s Horse were
destined in their first fight to bear the brunt of the attack if it
should come; and, in high spirits at the prospect, they looked with an
interest they had never felt before towards the rugged line of low
kopjes far away across the broad plain with light from the setting sun
full upon them. That the orders were thus made known to all ranks twelve
hours before they could be acted on is a proof that they had not been
drawn up on the spur of sudden emergency, and, indeed, Sir Ian Hamilton
was only then feeling for his enemy in the direction of Houtnek. At this
point the picturesque pen of the ‘Englishman’s’ correspondent goes on
with the narrative:

  On April 29 we got warning to be ready to take part in a general
  attack early the next morning. So we bustled round and got everything
  ready. At 5 P.M. I and two other men of my sub-section were ordered
  out on outlying picket, leaving Trooper Thelwall to saddle our three
  horses before daybreak as well as his own, when we were to march into
  camp again and get mounted and ready to start with the rest. So, just
  having time to get half a pint of tea and some dry bread, we hurried
  out on picket for the night. And that was, practically speaking, the
  last food I tasted until 8 o’clock the next night. Not what you could
  call ‘’igh livin’,’ is it? It was bitterly cold, and, what with the
  everlasting night wind and only one blanket, we pickets were not much
  troubled with sleep that night. However, at 5 o’clock in the morning
  of the 30th we rolled up our blankets and marched into camp, and at
  once set to work at tightening up girths, adjusting saddles and kits.
  I had just time to put some bread into my haversack, and half fill my
  horse’s nosebag with cartridges and also two or three priceless
  ‘smokes,’ when we had to mount. So away went all chances of breakfast
  that morning. Alas! some of us had no need for food and drink in the
  evening. Just as old Sol began to rise up over the kopjes we marched
  out of camp, up over the ridge, and down the other side towards the
  open veldt. Here we paused for a while to allow the other troops to
  join us. Taking advantage of this short halt, we got into our proper
  sub-sections, dismounted, and had a last look at our girths, and
  tightened up curbs, &c. Poor old mokes! How many of them, my own
  included, were fated never to see another day dawn! Colonel Lumsden
  now rode up to us and gave us a rough idea of what we were to do, and
  informed us that our B Troop was to have the place of honour, and that
  we were to take the lead. And, knowing us as he did, he had not the
  slightest doubt that we would not fail to distinguish ourselves, &c.
  To which our gallant ‘Oirish’ Captain Chamney began to reply in his
  usual Indian after-dinner style, that he felt proud of his troop, and
  fully conscious of the great honour that was bestowed upon us in being
  allowed to take the lead; and he sincerely hoped that we would do
  justice to the confidence bestowed on us. He would no doubt have
  continued in this style for some time had not our good old Major
  chipped in with his usual ‘down-in-his-boots’ aside: ‘Oh, that’s all
  right, Chamney; damn it, man, of course you will.’ And these were the
  last words I ever heard the good old man utter in this life.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN H. CHAMNEY]

  Good old Showers, gruff as they make ’em, but a true white man’s heart
  inside for all that. Never afraid to jump on an officer for all you
  were worth if you thought he deserved it; and after those long hot
  Indian parades, how many times have we heard your hearty laugh at the
  head of the camp mess-table! For seven years our Colonel, and the man
  who made the Surma Valley Light Horse second to none in India.

  All the attacking forces being now mustered, we made a start and away
  we marched. For some part of the time our route lay alongside a pretty
  little lagoon, and then the road gradually lost itself in the great
  open veldt. How peaceful it all seemed that morning! The few cattle
  and sheep that were quietly grazing here and there on the scanty
  tussocks would casually lift up their heads and gaze at us, and,
  seeing that there were no strange dogs with us, would go on cropping
  the grass, though possibly a sheep or two would scuttle out of the way
  with a contemptuous wriggle of their tails. Time of war! one
  says—humbug! one could not believe it on that quiet morning. The fresh
  ozonised air, the soft, steady breeze, now pleasantly tempered by the
  bright morning sun; and there, by the doorway of the quiet little
  farmhouse, the farmer’s wife standing with her milk-pails all ready,
  while she laughingly makes passing remarks to her departing ‘guests.’

  The only signs of war, maybe, are those few fences with their wires
  cut down; and these you would suppose had been broken down by some
  restless calves or light-hearted foal. From our ranks could be seen
  and smelt the little clouds of tobacco-smoke which rose up in the
  clear air like so many stray wandering bits of cumulus clouds, while
  back in the rear could be heard the quaintly sad airs of ‘Bearer Ganga
  Dīn’ and ‘Who’s dat a-callin’?’ as some of our musically inclined
  troopers gave vent unconsciously to their feelings. What a lovely,
  jolly morning that was! All those dire hardships, cold, hunger, and
  wet, we had known only too well; but to-day—light, warmth, and the
  indescribable freshness of the open veldt, while under us were our
  plucky Indians, Arabs, and Walers, fresh as English daisies and keen
  as the air we breathed.

  Some miles ahead of us—though seemingly quite close, owing to the
  intensely clear atmosphere—lay a long range of low-lying hills all
  lighted up with various shades of colouring, the hues of which kept
  ever changing from moment to moment as the sun rose higher in the
  heavens. Still further on, and filling up the whole background of this
  typically African landscape, lay the razor-backs and table-topped
  peaks of the Basuto hills, from the tops of which soft filmy wisps of
  cloud drifted silently away into that great blue ‘nothingness.’ All
  peace! Peace on earth, it seemed to us that fair morn. Nor could we
  poor troopers realise that ere God’s life-giving sun should set that
  night great Mars would look down on many of us poor mortals writhing
  in the agonies of cruel death-dealing wounds and the tortures of the
  surgeon’s knife and probe, while some poor souls, like these vanishing
  vapoury clouds, would have left this little world for the infinite
  beyond. Nor could the mind of our well-loved Major, as he rode at the
  head of those men he had known for long, long years, have realised
  that in a few short hours his true British heart would have ceased to
  beat, and his life’s blood would be mingled with the dust of that
  great continent where so many good men and true had already given up
  their lives for an Empire’s cause. Thank God for the impenetrable veil
  that He casts over our future! One scene especially struck me by its
  beauty, and that was when a battery of Artillery toiled over a
  tussocky ridge right into the blazing disc of the sun. As gun after
  gun topped the ridge the whole team, horses and men, were shut out
  from our sight by the powerful blaze of light in a most curious way;
  while here and there a khaki-clad helmeted Artilleryman stood
  silhouetted against the sky-line, over which the khaki gun-carriages
  disappeared into a glaring sea of gold.

  As we were now approaching some suspicious-looking kopjes, we opened
  out into extended order as usual, and Lumsden’s Horse were told off to
  take, and _hold_, a certain line of kopjes some two miles off. So we
  promptly set to work, approaching them very ‘cannily,’ with scouts
  well out in advance.

  Arriving at the base of the kopjes without opposition, we dismounted
  and skirmished up to the tops, but found that the Boers had cleared
  out, though, judging by the several ‘sangars’ built of rocks, these
  must have been held in force. Our scouts in the meantime had advanced
  along the plain on the other side of the kopjes, and just as we
  arrived on top the enemy opened on them with a continuous rattle of
  rifle fire, and I saw several of the poor beggars limping back over
  the plain pulling their wounded horses after them, while all around
  them, to use whaler’s language, the sandy plain kept ‘spouting’ as the
  deadly bullets struck and ricocheted. From where we were it was
  utterly impossible to tell from what direction the bullets were
  coming, so we could do little in the way of keeping down the Boer
  fire. However, we did our best. But as the enemy soon ceased firing we
  reserved our ammunition for later use.

  Away to our left the Artillery were now having a great duel, while the
  pom-poms on both sides were making things generally cruel for the
  Mounted Infantry, and also for those who were holding their horses.
  Pom-pom-pom! pom-pom! and immediately whack, whack, whack! would echo
  the vile bursting shells. Then boo-m-m came the big hidden Creusot—and
  oh, the sound of its messenger, wo-o-o-o-ough! It would come soaring
  up with a dreadfully mournful sound, while the whole atmosphere seemed
  to vibrate with its spinning. Wugh! it would sound, as it burst far
  out of harm’s way, and then one could stand up in the ‘Who’s afraid?’
  style, to lie down again promptly as No. 2 came along. How did I feel?
  you ask. Well, to be strictly honest, I didn’t like it. I don’t
  believe any man really does, if it comes to that. Afterwards a wounded
  man described his feelings very well to me; he said, ‘Do you know, I
  just felt as if I were outside the headmaster’s room, in for a dashed
  good caning.’ And I think that hits off the sensation exactly.

But now the picturesquely vague must give place to the explicit, and it
would be impossible to summarise the position at this stage more clearly
than in the terse words of Colonel Lumsden’s official despatch:

  On the evening of the 29th Colonel Ross received orders that the corps
  was to make a demonstration next morning at daylight on the right
  flank of the Boer lines for the purpose of drawing them from their
  position and enabling the 14th Brigade, under General Maxwell, which
  was to have come up on our right, to get behind and cut them off.

  The Mounted Infantry portion of General Tucker’s division, under
  Colonel Henry, joined hands with us at 5 A.M., half a mile from our
  camp. A portion of my corps was ordered to occupy Gun Kopje, a
  position believed to be held by the Boers, about four miles distant on
  our right front, the remainder extending and taking up positions on
  our left. I went forward with the right flank, Major Showers
  accompanying me. This portion consisted of the Adjutant, Captain
  Taylor, Captains Rutherfoord, Clifford, and Chamney, Lieutenants Sidey
  and Pugh, and four sections, the others having been detached by order
  of Colonel Ross to hold various points. Mr. Pugh was sent out in
  advance with the scouts, and it was when on this duty that Private
  Franks was shot. Mr. Pugh very pluckily assisted him in getting on his
  horse and endeavoured to take him out of the fire; but Franks was
  unable to stay on his horse, and, dropping to the ground, had to be
  left. Mr. Pugh and the remaining scouts were only just able to save
  themselves by galloping up and joining us on the kopje at the extreme
  right, to which we had just advanced, and which we held from 7 A.M.
  until ordered to retire at about 1 o’clock.

  Early in the morning I ordered Corporal Chartres with eight men to
  occupy a kopje about 800 yards to our right and prevent the Boers
  turning our flank. There they held their ground until ordered to fall
  back. It was a small party for this important position, but in the
  circumstances no more could be spared, I having only about sixty men
  with me, twenty of whom, under Lieutenant Sidey, were detached by
  Colonel Ross to protect the Vickers-Maxim (commonly styled ‘pom-pom’)
  in the centre of the position.

  The following was then the general disposition:

  There were four ridges diverging northerly towards the enemy. The
  extreme spur of the right ridge was held by myself with four sections
  Lumsden’s Horse as described; the second held by Lieutenant Crane and
  one section, he being directed there at the outset by Colonel Ross;
  the third and fourth by the rest of the brigade, the two pom-poms and
  our Maxim being at the head of the re-entrant between the second and
  third ridges, with Captain Noblett and three sections on its left.

  Shortly after our arrival the Boers took up a position on a kopje
  about 1,500 yards directly in front, and quickly opened rifle fire on
  our position. Fortunately the men had time to ensconce themselves
  behind rocks, and, consequently, though bullets fell fast about them,
  they were able to maintain a steady fire on the enemy without exposing
  themselves. It was here, I deeply regret to say, that Major Showers
  met his death. He was at the extreme right of the firing line and
  under a hot flanking fire from the Boers, who had moved a party into a
  donga some 300 or 400 yards to their left.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN NEVILLE C. TAYLOR]

  I personally begged him not to expose himself, as also did Captains
  Chamney and Rutherfoord; but he would stand erect, using his field
  glasses and presenting a most conspicuous mark for the enemy’s fire,
  which resulted fatally to him shortly after noon, a Mauser bullet
  entering his right side half way down and coming out through his left
  arm above the elbow. In risking his own life he had drawn a heavy fire
  on the spot where he fell, and it was with much danger and difficulty
  that Captain Powell, with Captain Chamney and others, succeeded in
  removing him from the summit of the hill to a place of safety about
  thirty yards down. I should like to take this opportunity of adding a
  few words by way of tribute to the memory of Major Showers. When he
  heard of the corps being raised, he was in command of the Surma Valley
  Light Horse in Cachar, with the rank of Colonel, and was looked upon
  as one of the smartest commanders of Volunteer Cavalry in India. He
  wrote me and said, ‘If you will take me as your second in command, I
  will gladly forfeit my rank and come as Major.’ I may have made many
  fortunate selections in choosing my officers, but I never made a wiser
  one than in selecting Colonel Showers. A better or a braver man never
  breathed, and his loss to me so early in the campaign was irreparable.

  Shortly after the commencement of the Boer attack the whole of the
  left were forced to retire owing to their flank being turned, taking
  one pom-pom and our Maxim with them. Captain Noblett was consequently
  obliged, at about 11 A.M., to conform to this movement, having no
  support, and took his men out of the shell fire with great difficulty
  but had only a few casualties.

  Lieutenant Crane, receiving no orders to retire, and being detached
  from me and unable to communicate with me or I with him, deemed it his
  duty to retain his position as long as possible, which resulted in
  close fighting and the loss of nearly half his section.

[Illustration: L.-SERGT. J.S. ELLIOTT]

[Illustration: R.U. CASE (KILLED)]

[Illustration: SERGT. F.S. McNAMARA]

[Illustration: C.A. WALTON]

[Illustration:

  A.F. FRANKS
  (KILLED AT HOUTNEK)
]

[Illustration: J.S. SAUNDERS]

[Illustration: R.N. MACDONALD]

[Illustration: L. GWATKIN WILLIAMS]

[Illustration: CORPL. A. McGILLIVRAY]

                           N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS

  One pom-pom and Lieutenant Sidey had been sent to the neck of the
  right ridge to support us, we having been instructed to hold our
  position until further orders. This pom-pom retired at about 12.30,
  and at 1 o’clock Lieutenant Sidey and I both received our orders to
  retire. This was carried out very deliberately, and the last of our
  men got out of a most trying position within twenty minutes of having
  received our orders, by moving away under cover of the ridge.

  As we had kept up a decreasing fire until the men got mounted, the
  Boers, fortunately for us, did not discover our retirement before we
  were out of range, otherwise we should have suffered heavily. While
  retiring, Private Burn-Murdoch’s horse was brought down by a stray
  bullet, causing him a heavy fall and a nasty wound in his head.
  Captain Chamney, who was near by at the time, with some assistance got
  Murdoch on to his own horse and pluckily rode with him off the field.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Hughes & Mullins_
  H.C. LUMSDEN (KILLED IN ACTION,
  HOUTNEK, APRIL 30, 1900)
]

  Captain Taylor, with much gallantry and coolness, remained with the
  led horses, and saw the last of the men mounted and clear away before
  he himself left, bringing up the rear with Captain Clifford and some
  late stragglers, including one man who would stay for a last shot.

  The whole brigade rendezvoused at 2 P.M. behind a kopje about three
  miles in rear and waited till 3, when we returned to our various
  camps.

  For some reason the main attack on our right under General Maxwell had
  not been delivered, and the object of the day was not achieved. My
  corps alone had the regrettable number of eighteen casualties out of
  about 180 engaged. This was mainly accounted for by the position we
  held. The Maxim under Captain Holmes did good service, coming into
  action at 1,000 yards at a critical moment and checking the Boer
  advance for some time. The enemy’s ‘Long Tom,’ however, soon found the
  Maxim out, and, as the shells were bursting among the men with the gun
  horses, they were ordered to retire only just in time, all the team
  being more or less wounded.

  I cannot speak too highly of the gallant behaviour of my officers and
  men throughout the day. Individual instances of heroism were numerous,
  and I much fear that, especially in Mr. Crane’s section, many of the
  casualties were caused by men endeavouring to assist their wounded
  comrades. Mr. Crane himself was wounded in the groin, and I understand
  Private Daubney’s and Private Case’s deaths were due to their
  declining to leave their wounded officer. Judging from the number of
  empty cartridge cases found beside them, they must have kept up a fire
  on the advancing Boers to the last. Here Corporal Angus McGillivray,
  Privates Leslie Gwatkin Williams, Firth, and R.N. Macdonald were taken
  prisoners, along with Lieutenant Crane. Here fell Private H.C.
  Lumsden.

  The same evening about 4 o’clock Dr. Powell, with the ambulance
  tonga, and Private Godden went out under the Red Cross flag to
  search for the wounded, but in the gathering darkness were only able
  to reach the body of Major Showers, who died previous to the
  retirement from our position on the right where he fell. Captain
  Powell, in endeavouring to return to camp, lost his way and had to
  remain during the night on the veldt, reaching camp soon after
  daylight next morning. Shortly after his arrival he returned with
  another search party, but found that the Boers had already buried
  the bodies of Privates Case, Daubney, and Lumsden, after having read
  the burial service over them. A stone had been put over the head of
  Private Lumsden with his name scratched on it. The reason for this,
  as narrated by Transport-Sergeant Stephens, is interesting. When
  drivers were sent out with carts the following day, they met several
  English-speaking Boers, ‘who would not talk much about the fight,
  but said they were sorry our Colonel was killed. They had found some
  papers in the pockets of young Lumsden, whom they took to be the
  Colonel.’ The remains of Major Showers, being found still unburied,
  were brought back and interred with military honours at the foot of
  the kopje behind our camp. Private Franks, whose wounds had been
  dressed by Captain Powell, had to be left on the hill near the body
  of Major Showers, where he was found by the Boers shortly afterwards
  and received every attention, but died during the night and was
  buried by them in the morning. The Boers, subsequent to the fight,
  were most courteous in their attentions, and returned papers, rings,
  watches, money, &c., found on the bodies.

  I wish specially to mention a very plucky action done by Private C.A.
  Walton, who is wounded and a prisoner in Pretoria. He was one of the
  men in charge of the led horses in the No. 3 Section of A Company when
  Sergeant Walker took temporary command of the section in Lieutenant
  Neville’s absence on sick leave. On the order to retire Sergeant
  Walker had to run some distance to his horse, and came back much
  exhausted. The enemy being quite close on them, and Sergeant Walker’s
  horse having been lost, Private Walton insisted on giving up his own
  horse to the Sergeant, saying that he could run. While doing so he was
  shot twice, and had to be left on the ground, although Sergeant Walker
  did his utmost to take him along with him.

  After our return to camp I was much gratified to receive from Colonel
  Ross, the Corps Commander, and Colonel Henry, the Brigade Commander,
  congratulations on the behaviour of my officers and men throughout the
  day, and on the morning following General Tucker, the Divisional
  Commander, came over in person for a similar purpose; but at the same
  time read me a lecture on the inadvisability of allowing my men to
  attempt to bring off their wounded comrades when under fire. He
  pointed out that it only drew fire on the wounded men and endangered
  their own lives for no adequate result, as the Boers were a very
  humane foe, who treated the wounded carefully. The troopers, he said,
  must remember that their first duty as soldiers was to their Queen and
  country.

  With deep regret I append a list of the casualties:

  Killed: Major Eden C. Showers—buried at Spytfontein; Privates R.J.
  Clayton Daubeny, H.C. Lumsden, R.N. Case, Alfred F. Franks—buried by
  the Boers.

  Wounded: Lieutenant Crane; Paymaster David S. Fraser; Sergeant-Major
  Cyril M.C. Marsham, bullet wounds through shoulders and thigh;
  Lance-Sergeant J.S. Elliott, shell wound of right foot; Sergeant F.S.
  McNamara, bullet wound in thigh; Private J.H. Burn-Murdoch, fracture
  of frontal bone by fall from his horse, which was shot under him
  during retirement.

  Of these Sergeant-Major Marsham, Lance-Sergeant Elliott, and Private
  Burn-Murdoch are in hospital at Karree Siding, and Sergeant McNamara
  rejoined for duty at Kroonstad.

Though General Tucker was constrained, by the wisest military
considerations, to rebuke men who, while displaying magnificent
qualities of courage and self-sacrifice in attempts to save their
wounded comrades, might have endangered the lives of others, we may be
sure that he made a mental reservation and wished in his heart that he
might have regiments of such men to lead. If the records of his own
gallant career have been truthfully kept, he won promotion in the
Bhootan expedition of 1866 and in fights against the Zulus twelve years
later, and paved the way to a Knight Commandership of the Bath, not so
much by obeying the dictates of caution as by brilliant leadership and
by conspicuous valour that was almost reckless in its disregard of
personal danger. But he knew, with the intuition of a soldier’s quick
sympathies, that the corps to whose Colonel his words were addressed
wanted no incentive to boldness, but rather a lesson in self-restraint.
He had seen a great deal of their gallantry in that action for himself,
and his brigadiers had told him more. Lumsden’s Horse, at any rate, had
no reason to be ashamed of the way in which they had taken their
‘baptism of fire.’

The devotion of Corporal Firth in sticking to his wounded officer,
Lieutenant Crane, under a withering fire was a deed of valour that
should be famous throughout the Empire.

[Illustration: LIEUTENANT C.E. CRANE]

All the men with Lieutenant Crane behaved very well. Two
non-commissioned officers and eleven troopers went with him to hold the
isolated kopje on the right flank. Of this gallant party of fourteen,
three were killed, four were wounded and taken prisoners, four escaped
with their clothes riddled with bullet-holes but otherwise unhurt; one,
Corporal Firth, could have escaped, but preferred to remain with his
wounded officer, to bind up his wounds if possible, to go with him into
captivity perhaps, to share death with him if need be. Troopers Reginald
Macdonald and Leslie Gwatkin Williams also performed deeds of splendid
self-sacrifice. Of those who escaped, Sergeant-Major Marsham (wounded),
Bugler McKenzie, Sergeant Walker, Lance-Sergeant J.S. Elliott (wounded),
and Trooper Radford, whose parting shot while he sat in the saddle
brought a Boer down, are deserving of the highest praise for the way in
which they stuck to the led horses and rode off with them under heavy
fire.

These men were not tried veterans; they were taking their parts in the
first battle of their first campaign. But several of them had been
friends from their youth up, and all of them were Anglo-Indians—men
whose exile from the land of their birth serves but to intensify their
love for England and her greatness. Loyalty to friend and country! This
is the magic touchstone of the soldier’s discipline and heroism.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: J. Charlesworth_
  J.H. BURN-MURDOCH
]

Should any cynic dare to say that the men who did these deeds were
thirsting for glory, or inspired by a hope of winning the Cross for
Valour, or even conscious of doing more than a common soldier’s duty
demanded, let him read the narrative of their actions, as told by
themselves or their comrades, and be answered! In the whole literature
of war I know nothing more realistic than Trooper Burn-Murdoch’s
description of the incident in which he was a half-unconscious
participator; when lying wounded he was taken from under fire by Captain
Chamney, and finally carried out of action on horseback in that
officer’s arms. The story is too characteristic of the battlefield to
bear mutilation. For the sake of space, though with reluctance, some
picturesque passages must be sacrificed; but, for the rest, as Trooper
Burn-Murdoch told it originally in his letters to the ‘Englishman,’ he
shall tell it again here:

  The kopje which we had to hold looked down on a sloping plain, and at
  a distance varying from 700 to 1,100 yards off, and running nearly
  parallel with our kopjes, was a deep dry river bed or donga. This
  donga ran right up towards the Boer position. In my humble opinion we
  should have done better to have placed some dismounted men in this
  donga, and so prevented the enemy using it as a zigzag trench or
  covered way towards our position. Instead of this, we literally stuck
  to the kopje. And in the early part of the fight I noticed, and drew
  my mates’ attention to the fact, that a lot of Boers were riding
  towards this river bed, but never seemed to cross it.

  As the day wore on our position on these kopjes became somewhat too
  warm to be pleasant. And, judging by the whistle of the bullets, we
  seemed to have the enemy on our left flank as well as in front. It was
  about this time that our gallant Major, who scorned to take cover, got
  two mortal bullet wounds through his lungs; our doctor very pluckily
  set to and cut off his tunic and plugged the bullet-holes, quite
  regardless of the heavy fire he was subjected to. But it was of no
  use; in a few moments the brave old soldier breathed his last. All he
  said was, ‘Ah, well, I’m done for ... it’s not so bad as I should have
  expected.’ But there was no time now to think of him or any other poor
  wounded comrade.

  On we went, blazing away for dear life at the well-hidden enemy. Flat
  on our empty stomachs, wriggling from one stone to another, never
  daring to raise one’s head above a few inches from the ground. Whish!
  whish! phew! phew! came those deadly nickels, then ping-r-r-r would
  sound the ricocheting shots as they struck the stones and rocks a few
  inches from our faces, and shot up into the clear blue sky behind us
  with a shriek of unquenched bloodthirstiness. Thicker and thicker they
  came—and now we saw that the enemy were straight in front of us,
  having, as I had expected, ridden up under the cover of the river bed.
  Orders now came for us to retreat slowly from the right. So as soon as
  my turn came I let blaze a few rapid parting shots, and then ‘sniped’
  back over the ridge to where Trooper Ducat was holding my
  sub-section’s horses. I can tell you that was an exciting little bit
  of a sprint, and the bullets striking all around me did not tend to
  retard my movements. However, I got back all right, and a few seconds
  later Trooper Stevenson turned up. As Trooper Thelwall had not joined
  us, I waited a few minutes with his horse. And rather an anxious wait
  that was. As he did not, however, arrive, I presumed that some Boer
  bullet had found him out. But I tied his horse to a stump in case he
  did come, and then, mounting, I galloped after the rest. It was
  uncommonly lucky that I did tie up his horse, as he afterwards, during
  a slight lull in the firing, managed to make a bolt over the kopje and
  down to his horse. One often hears it said that Mounted Infantry do
  not need to be much of riders so long as they can shoot straight. All
  I can say is, let a bad rider try to mount a fresh horse, with a large
  kit on the saddle and a heavy rifle in his left hand, and bullets and
  pom-pom shells whistling and cracking around, and he will agree with
  me in saying that every Mounted Infantryman ought to be a very fair
  rider before he can be of much use in a fight.

  Gathering up my reins, I kept up a good gallop towards our next kopje,
  and was just congratulating myself that I was too skinny a target for
  any Boer bullets when poor old Demon came down with a fearful crash,
  shot by a Mauser bullet. I suppose I must have been stunned by the
  fall, as I have no recollection of seeing him again. When I came to, I
  found that my neck was fearfully stiff and sore, likewise all the left
  side of my head. And pain—by Jove! pain was no word for it. I lay
  there cursing and crawling about for some time, and was momentarily
  expecting to have a ‘sighting shot’ into me, when, bang! and I
  remembered no more. I have since heard that after this two of our
  chaps came along and, dismounting, turned me over and left me as a
  ‘green ’un.’ I remember dimly wondering what time of day it was, as
  all things seemingly were so dim and dark that I could not see. I then
  thought of tying up my head with my field dressing; but whether I did
  so or not I could not swear, as I was more or less ‘silly.’ It must
  have been a pom-pom or some other kind of shell bursting near me that
  did the damage. Recovering a certain amount of sensibility, I was
  endeavouring to get under some cover when Captain Chamney rode up. He
  shouted out to me apparently from a long distance off, as I could just
  hear him, ‘Hello, Mud’ook, what the tivil are you doing here? Badly
  hurt are ye? Come on, then, get a hold of my stirrup an’ I’ll take ye
  along wi’ me; ye’r far and away too good a man to leave behind.’ I
  told him, of course, to go on, as I was all right and would get behind
  a rock and have a rest; but the good old ‘Oirishman’ told me to get up
  at once as he ordered. And a good job it was, too, he did _order_ me
  to do so, or I’d have been resting there now. Just then Trooper Ducat
  came galloping up, and the two of them got me between them and trotted
  me along some hundreds of yards—it seemed miles to me. At last I got
  nearly unconscious, merely rolling along in a sort of mechanical
  style. But, try as much as I could, what with loss of blood and
  giddiness I could go no further, and as I was a mere dead weight on my
  two companions they halted, and I next remember myself sitting behind
  Captain Chamney with my blood sopping down his neck and khaki tunic,
  my head resting on his shoulder, and my hands locked round his body.
  How I got there I don’t know. I suppose they lifted me up somehow.
  Anyhow, there I was, and the good old commandeered Free Stater carried
  us well. I don’t remember much of that ride. Somebody else rode up
  alongside of me—I think it was Trooper Stevenson—and he, being Scotch,
  and therefore ‘economical,’ had pluckily picked up my rifle. So, with
  Ducat on one side and Stevenson on the other, alternately digging me
  in the ribs, I managed to hold on until we got to cover; and here
  Ducat, who, luckily for me, was a doctor, bound me up and gave me a
  drink. Gad! I was thirsty. Shortly afterwards one of Danjeboy’s
  Nepaulese ambulance tongas, which we had brought over from India with
  us, galloped up, and I was put inside. I don’t think that worthy
  Ghoorka driver liked the sound of Mausers any better than I did, for
  he simply galloped the whole way. Over stones, over scrub, over ruts.
  I shall never forget that ride. However, I got to the camp all right,
  and willing hands carried me to my tent, where I lay till dark with
  only a greatcoat for a pillow and a good solid piece of natural veldt
  for a bed. Towards evening Ducat came in, and with great kindness went
  and made me some cornflour, which I was able to eat. This was the
  first food I had had, barring three or four mouthfuls of stale bread,
  since 5 o’clock the night before.

  Dr. Powell came back from the fight later. He had been tending the
  wounded and dying there. Tired and weary as he was, he at once set to
  and tied my head up, first shaving off some of my hair. I don’t
  remember much after this. I remember Sergeant Elliott (of Edinburgh)
  was brought into the tent with his foot shattered by a pom-pom, and we
  groaned out a duet throughout that night. In the fight Elliott was
  holding some horses when a pom-pom shell burst in their midst,
  shattering Elliott’s foot and finishing off several horses, including
  his own. Managing to get hold of another mount, he rode up and
  reported himself to Captain Noblett, by whom he was of course ordered
  to the rear. So, badly wounded as he was, Elliott rode those five
  miles back to camp unaided. Next day or the day after—I do not
  remember exactly, as I was unconscious for two or three days, off and
  on—the ambulance waggons drove up, and into them we were shoved.
  Colonel Lumsden, Captain Noblett, Captain Chamney, and Sergeant
  Hewitt, I think, all were there, seeing us off and helping us to ‘keep
  our peckers up.’ My one complaint was that Captain Chamney wanted to
  shave off my moustache when he was doing the V.C. trick on the veldt.
  I asked him why he wanted to. He was much surprised at the question,
  and told me in answer that ‘there were too many Boers doing the
  shaving for him to think of it himself.’ I must have imagined the
  whole thing, I suppose, when I was lying ‘silly.’

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Harrington_
  HERBERT N. BETTS, D.C.M.
]

Another incident which was referred to briefly by Colonel Lumsden, who
for obvious reasons did not make much of it, is thus described in detail
by Trooper Preston:

  Lumsden’s Horse was to do the work of advance guard and scouts. No. 2
  Section, B Company, was chosen for the scouting, and immediately sent
  out, and very soon the whole of the 8th Mounted Infantry was spread
  over the plain. One sub-section (Troopers Franks, Were, Powis, and
  myself) were scouting ahead of everyone else. For the first three or
  four miles the ground was fairly level, with a few small kopjes with
  trees on them. Then there was a ridge of kopjes with a steep valley
  behind, and then another ridge. The scouts got to the first ridge of
  kopjes before seeing anyone, then two shots were heard in the
  distance, and a man on a big roan horse was seen galloping away. As
  the scouts rode between two kopjes on the first ridge, about sixteen
  men were seen to come out from the top of the ridge; immediately the
  scouts halted, looked at them through their field-glasses, and saw
  they were dressed in khaki. Before the scouts started they had been
  told to look out for some of General French’s men on their right. One
  of the officers coming up then (Lieutenant H.O. Pugh) looked at them,
  and saw the same as the others—that they were dressed in khaki. The
  scouts then rode round the kopje, intending to meet them. By this time
  the sixteen men had got down into the valley, and were making up the
  steep hill on the other side to the top of the kopje. Trooper Franks
  and I then went down the valley, intending to see who they were, while
  the other two went on to the right. The men had by this time got on to
  the sky-line, some dismounting and others sitting still. We rode half
  way down the valley (which was about two hundred yards across), and
  then halted and looked through our glasses. The men on the top then
  shouted out something and began to fire at us, so we turned and
  galloped for our lives. Trooper Franks, after riding about three
  hundred yards, began reeling in his saddle and tumbled off. Lieutenant
  Pugh and a few men then galloped up to him and found he was shot
  through the back and stomach. The bullets meanwhile were raining about
  them. Franks begged us to leave him, saying that as soon as we were
  gone the Boers would stop firing; so Lieutenant Pugh gave the order to
  leave him and return to the others, who by this time were lining the
  ridge behind, Lumsden’s Horse having the highest kopje to hold. As
  soon as our Colonel heard Franks was wounded he started off on foot,
  with Troopers Betts, Percy Smith, and Chapman, to fetch him. The Boers
  immediately advanced down their side of the valley, and began firing
  at the Colonel and his party. However, they were prepared for this,
  and after a few shots the Boers retired, the Colonel bringing Franks
  in on his own horse and walking beside.[5] Then we got the word passed
  to retire from the right. Perfect order was maintained, the men
  retiring one by one, the others keeping up a continuous fire until
  their turn came. At last everyone had got away except Lieutenant Crane
  and three or four more, whom the order to retire never reached. The
  Colonel and Adjutant were among the last to go away. The behaviour of
  the men was just as if they had been accustomed to that kind of thing
  all their lives, smoking, and firing at the same time, others lying
  behind rocks and writing letters to their relations and sweethearts.
  The Boers did not follow us up, and we reached camp safely, but very
  sad for the losses we had sustained.

Another version of these incidents, with such minor differences as help
to give a clear conception of the whole scene, is furnished by the
Special Correspondent of the ‘Indian Daily News,’ who, after describing
the lucky escape of one scout, writes:

  Trooper A.F. Franks, of the same sub-section, the very best of fellows
  and liked by everyone, was not so lucky, poor fellow. He accompanied
  Lieutenant H.O. Pugh in advance, but, seeing nothing, Franks suggested
  that he should go forward to the top of the donga or nullah in which
  they were standing; but on reaching the top he was confronted by
  thirty or forty of the enemy about three hundred yards away. They
  beckoned to him and spoke to him in Dutch, presumably inquiring who he
  was; without waiting for a reply, however, they opened fire, and
  Franks then turned and retired. He had not gone far before he was
  struck, the bullet going through his back and coming out just below
  the heart. He managed to stick on his saddle till he reached
  Lieutenant Pugh, who caught his horse by the head and led him towards
  the kopje above mentioned as occupied by us. Franks was in such pain
  that he was unable to bear the jolting of the horse, and so he had to
  be laid down on the plain for the time being. Lieutenant Pugh and
  other men who had come up in the meantime then retired to the kopje to
  report the state of affairs to Colonel Lumsden. All this time, of
  course, the bullets were whistling about, and the wonder is that not
  more of us were shot. Two men were then sent in search of our doctor,
  and Colonel Lumsden, as soon as he heard what had happened,
  immediately ordered his horse and, accompanied by his orderly, Percy
  Smith, of A Company, and Private H.N. Betts, of B Company, on
  horseback—Private Chapman, of B Company, having previously gone down
  on foot on the same errand of mercy—rode forward to the spot. On
  reaching it our gallant Colonel insisted on dismounting and placing
  Franks on his horse, saying the animal was a quiet one, and,
  notwithstanding the urgent requests of the others that he would allow
  them to give up one of their horses to him, he insisted on walking the
  whole distance, quite regardless of the hail of bullets round him.
  Progress was naturally slow, as Franks complained of severe pain, but
  at last the kopje was reached, none of the party getting a scratch.
  They had a narrow escape; the Boers had evidently got the range to a
  nicety. They then started a brisk rifle fire on the kopje we were on,
  which we returned at every opportunity, but they kept themselves so
  well under cover that we had very poor chances of doing them any
  serious damage from our side. They gradually crept up closer and
  closer, coming down by twos and threes from a kopje about two thousand
  yards away, and taking up their position eventually behind a slope
  eight to nine hundred yards distant. A regular artillery duel, several
  of their shells bursting among the pom-poms and our own Maxim, but not
  doing much damage. I fancy our guns did a bit of killing, though the
  Boers afterwards acknowledged to four wounded only; our Maxim gave a
  very good account of itself. I understand our only casualties in this
  direction were two or three wounded horses. We were told afterwards
  that the day’s operations were only intended to be a reconnaissance in
  force to find out the enemy’s strength and position, after which large
  forces from the left and right would attempt to surround them. This
  being the case, at about 12 (we had been under fire for about four
  hours) a general retirement was ordered from the right. The Boers,
  seeing us retiring, were evidently emboldened to throw aside their
  usual cautious tactics, and advanced on us rapidly, very nearly
  rushing the kopje on which we were before we could get away. The
  writer’s horse, which had been tied to a tree, got away, and he would
  have been badly left, as in the hasty retreat we were obliged to make
  it was impossible to say who had gone on and who was left behind, but
  fortunately ‘Molly Riley,’ Mrs. Barrow’s well-known paper-chaser, was
  standing near a bush close by, and Private Were, who was just going
  off, stopped behind and helped to get hold of ‘Molly Riley.’ We then
  started to gallop off, but just then another man came running towards
  us much exhausted with scrambling down the kopje, and Were, saying he
  was quite fresh, pluckily got off and lent him his horse. Fortunately
  at that moment Captain Taylor, our Adjutant, galloped up with a spare
  horse, and, Were getting mounted, we all made away for our lives. We
  halted at a place some distance off, and it was only then we heard of
  our long tale of casualties. A Company suffered very heavily on the
  left flank, where part of them were lying in an exposed position.
  Besides this, there were several men missing, and it was not till we
  got into camp in the evening after roll-call was taken that the exact
  extent of our loss was known. Franks was left on the kopje with an
  orderly, as it was impossible to move him, and we heard next day that
  he was taken to the Boer hospital, and died there at 12 o’clock the
  same night. Among the wounded was Paymaster-Sergeant D.S. Fraser, well
  known in sporting circles in Calcutta. He had his horse shot under
  him, and was himself wounded in the thigh and captured by the Boers.
  Our ambulance went out next day and found that the Boers had buried
  all the dead, except Major Showers, whose body was brought back to
  camp and buried there. The service was a very impressive one, and was
  conducted by the Military Chaplain attached to the regiment camped
  close by. It was calculated to bring home to us all the stern
  realities of war.

Yet in a trooper’s diary immediately after the most pathetic entry we
find it recorded that when rations were to be distributed by a process
of division and subdivision ‘B—— argued at great length that one-fourth
of two-thirds could not be the same as two-thirds of one-fourth,’ and
the discussion took a heated turn. Such are the trifles that seem
important to men who have just come out of a battle in which perhaps
they were more than once close to the jaws of death. ‘Linesman,’ in
those brilliant impressions of the war in Natal—always truthful in fact,
but not invariably just in deduction—has recorded a very similar
incident at Vaal Krantz, when, from a fire that was deafening,
bewildering in its intensity of concentration on the British front,

  some died, some were carried away on dripping stretchers before they
  could learn the full gamut. And the survivors? The few within the
  writer’s ken—quarrelled! During a lucid interval in the shelling, the
  regimental cooks had contrived to make and distribute tea to the men
  lying prone in their shelters. The distribution was not perhaps
  impartial. The menace of a 94-lb. shrapnel would make a liquor-measure
  uncertain with the eyes of a hundred Government inspectors glued upon
  it! So there arose a bickering. Tom down below must obviously have
  taken more than his share, else how came it that Mick above had to
  content himself with less? ‘Peace!’ yelled the monstrous shrapnel at
  the height of the argument; ‘Shut up!’ snapped the pom-pom shells;
  ‘Silence!’ boomed the far-off 40-pounder. Not a bit of it. No
  foreign-made projectile ever fired shall stop a Briton well under way
  with a grievance. That argument flourished amazingly under the shower,
  and only died away when the glaring sun overhead began to induce an
  unforgiving slumber.

Ridiculous, of course, such a scene must seem to civilians who have been
fed on the heroics of a melodramatic school, or on the still falser
‘revelations’ of writers who, having never seen a battle, mix their own
pusillanimous imaginings with so-called ‘psychological’ studies and
ironically brand that mixture with the ‘red badge of courage’; but it is
true to the nature of soldiers who are not always thinking great things
while they do them, and who have often a laugh or an oath on their lips
when their thoughts take a flight too serious for words. Burn-Murdoch
has told us how, in the midst of a duel that was practically for life or
death between some Boers and Lumsden’s Horse in this fight at Ospruit,
men laughed outright at something that seemed to them ‘tearfully funny,
coming as it did like the comedian’s joke in the middle of a tragedy.’ A
soldier should make the best of valets because he is never a hero to
himself. Yet he has a firm and never-to-be-shaken faith in the heroism
of others. Lumsden’s Horse, many of them in imminent peril at the
moment, watched their Colonel’s action in going out to bring the wounded
Trooper Franks from a shot-withered slope to some place of comparative
safety, and they afterwards declared it to be a valorous deed well
worthy of the Victoria Cross. To that conclusion Sir Patrick Playfair
also came when the story was told to him, and he said so. Thereupon
Colonel Lumsden was much upset lest somebody might say that he, too, had
been trying to win the coveted distinction. So he hastened to write a
‘disclaimer’ in these words:

  What Sir Patrick really means, and heard about from some of my men,
  referred to the death of poor Franks, who was lying wounded on the
  veldt about 800 yards from the point we held on the extreme right of
  the fighting line. We could see him plainly through our glasses
  writhing evidently in great pain; and, as I asked for some volunteers
  to ride down and bring him in, I did not care to request them to do a
  thing I would not do myself, so rode down with my galloper, Trooper
  Percy Smith, now a captain in the Middlesex Regiment and a D.S.O., and
  Trooper Betts and Trooper Chapman, the latter of whom afterwards
  obtained a commission in the Johannesburg Police.

  On reaching the spot we found Franks lying in great danger and pain.
  Having a quiet pony, ‘Harry Stuart,’ I dismounted, and we placed the
  wounded man on my horse, and while he was held by two of his comrades
  we walked back to camp under a pretty heavy fire from some Boers who
  were galloping on our left rear and firing at us. It was a foolish
  thing on my part to have done, but, as I said, we were all new to the
  game together, and I did not care to ask my men to risk their lives in
  an action in which I would not chance my own. That is all. There was
  nothing in it.

Yes, that is all! But let England, mother of nations, thank God for the
sons who, doing such a deed, can say and think ‘there was nothing in
it’!

Cold reason may bid us approve General Charles Tucker’s words of wise
caution, but all the time our hearts will be beating time to a noble
refrain, the notes of which have thrilled the nerves of British soldiers
in all ages, urging them to risk their own lives rather than forsake a
stricken comrade, and to die like gentlemen before they would let the
stain of dishonour rest on them or their regiment. People who talk
glibly of the necessity for encouraging initiative among junior officers
may hold that Lieutenant Crane should have conformed to the general
retirement, instead of holding his isolated post with untimely
resolution, waiting for the orders that could not reach him, when the
Boers began to close in on his front and flanks. Apparently no blame
attaches to anybody for neglecting to recall Lieutenant Crane and his
party at a time when they might have extricated themselves without
serious loss. Colonel Ross says that the orderly whom he sent with the
message was either killed or wounded, and so the recall never reached
Lieutenant Crane. That it was sent both Colonel Ross and his Staff
officer, Captain Williams (who has since been killed), were quite
positive. In justice to Lieutenant Crane, it must be remembered that a
company officer can know very little of what is going on at other points
of a fighting line beyond the immediate limits assigned to him, and the
privilege of initiative might be strained to a dangerous extent if every
section-leader should consider it discreet to retire directly he found
himself pressed sorely or somebody else giving way on either flank. In
Colonel Lumsden’s words—so eloquent because of their undemonstrative
simplicity—Lieutenant Crane ‘deemed it his duty to hold his position as
long as possible.’ How many thousands of times in the course of our
‘rough island story’ has the Empire had cause to be thankful to the men
who could thus interpret duty as a thing above all personal
considerations, calling for self-sacrifice to the end! It was part of
the white man’s burden which Lieutenant Crane and his comrades of No. 2
Section had taken upon them long ago, when they settled as
indigo-planters in the wilds of Behar, Mozufferpore, and Saran, where
Europeans are few and natives many. In such districts the Sahib’s lot
may be to face a riotous multitude of frenzied fanatics at any moment,
and he must fight it out single-handed, dying if need be under cruel
torture, but never showing fear. That was the training-school from which
No. 2 Section of A Company came. They were indigo-planters to a man,
self-reliant and imbued with a high sense of the Sahib’s responsibility
to the race from which he springs. Knowing this, we cannot wonder that
the leader deemed it his duty to fight for the ground he had been
ordered to hold rather than give way an inch, no matter what odds were
against him; or that, when he fell wounded, with Clayton Daubney, Henry
Lumsden, and Upton Case dead beside him, others chose to share his fate
instead of leaving him to the tender mercies of their enemies. To such
men no thought of surrender could have come. Corporal Firth had a chance
of getting away, but he went back to where his wounded officer and some
old comrades from Mozufferpore were lying under heavy fire, and elected
to stay with them as they held the Boers in check until nearly every
cartridge was expended. Not before Daubney, Case, and Lumsden had been
killed, Cyril Marsham, Stewart McNamara, Helme Firth, Gwatkin Williams,
McGillivray, and Macdonald wounded did the Boers succeed in making any
prisoners among the little band of indigo-planters, whom they had by
that time practically surrounded within point-blank range. No white flag
was hoisted and there were no ‘hands up,’ but rifles dropped from the
nerveless grip of men who had fought till they were faint with loss of
blood and there was no power in the numb fingers to press a trigger.
Others laid down the weapons that were useless when their last cartridge
had been fired; and then the Boers, closing in upon them, made prisoners
of all who survived. If anybody blundered, the mistake was nobly atoned
for. It is a story of which Lumsden’s Horse and the whole Empire may be
proud.

An early version of this incident, not quite accurate in some details,
furnished a noble theme for the pen of Sir A. Conan Doyle, who, in his
history of ‘The Great Boer War,’ writes, with a patriot’s enthusiasm and
an enthusiast’s glorious disregard of fettering figures, as follows:

  Before entering upon a description of that great and decisive movement
  (the advance on Pretoria), one small action calls for comment. This
  was the cutting off of twenty[6] men of Lumsden’s Horse in a
  reconnaissance at Karree. The small post under Lieutenant Crane found
  themselves by some misunderstanding isolated in the midst of the
  enemy. Refusing to hoist the flag of shame, they fought their way out,
  losing half[7] their number, while of the other half it is said that
  there was not one who could not show bullet marks upon his clothes or
  person. The men of this corps, Volunteer Anglo-Indians, had abandoned
  the ease and even luxury of Eastern life for the hard fare and rough
  fighting of this most trying campaign. In coming they had set the
  whole Empire an object-lesson in spirit, and now on their first field
  they set the Army an example of military virtue. The proud traditions
  of Outram’s Volunteers have been upheld by the men of Lumsden’s Horse.




                               CHAPTER IX
             _AFTER OSPRUIT—SOME TRIBUTES TO MAJOR SHOWERS
                           AND OTHER HEROES_

[Illustration:

  MAJOR EDEN C. SHOWERS
  (KILLED AT HOUTNEK)]
]


Unsympathetic critics may discover a lack of due proportion in the space
that has been devoted to this affair at Ospruit, seeing that it was but
an episode in a long chain of operations, the whole of which are dealt
with in a single paragraph of the Commander-in-Chief’s despatches. But
the same argument might be urged against any enlargement in monograph on
the official version of Brigadier-General Mahon’s brilliant march for
relieving Mafeking, to which no writer has done full justice yet, though
there is evidence that the Boers regarded it as the first ‘slim thing’
achieved by a British commander, and as a stroke of daring leadership by
which they were completely outwitted. Many similar examples, not so
conspicuous perhaps, but all material in their bearing on the greater
issues of a campaign, and therefore worthy of elaborate treatment in
detail, might be quoted. The Editor can at any rate plead that this is a
history of Lumsden’s Horse, and not an essay in perspective. For that
reason he has chosen to reproduce impressions of the different
incidents, not as they might have presented themselves to the mind of a
divisional general or an unemotional spectator, but as they burnt
themselves in upon the brains of men actually fighting for their lives,
and to use as nearly as possible each writer’s own words. It may seem
strange that through all these narratives, from the Colonel’s purposely
restrained and undemonstrative summary to the details that are told with
most convincing force, we can trace no signs of depression resulting
from the fact that Lumsden’s Horse in their first fight were forced to
retire instead of taking part in a victorious advance. This is a touch
happily characteristic of British soldiers. Conscious of having done
their duty manfully, they were content to let the issue be what it
might, so long as they had not lost confidence in themselves or in their
leaders. There was nothing of the beaten soldier about them; no
demoralisation, no sullen discontent, no sham heroics covering a sense
of discomfiture. Whether they had to come back from their sacrifices
because the enemy was in superior force, or simply because the object of
a reconnaissance ‘had been achieved,’ mattered little to them. As Tommy
would have phrased it in his expressive way, ‘it was all in the day’s
work.’ Victory is sweet, no doubt, and men from whose lips that cup has
been dashed cannot but feel a little bitterness in their hearts, but it
is only the bitterness of a wholesome tonic. For soldiers who have
suffered so there is always consolation in the knowledge that their
sacrifices were not borne in vain. And Lumsden’s Horse may take
satisfaction from the thought that their first fight, with all its sad
and glorious consequence, was not brought about by any useless
demonstration without plan or purpose. Though none of them could know it
at the time, they had been engaged with De la Rey’s force, by which
General Ian Hamilton’s left flank was being seriously threatened along
the Brandfort ridges, and their action, which seemed to them indecisive,
had so far relieved the pressure that Sir Ian was able the next day to
deliver his attack on Houtnek and drive the Boers from it in some
confusion. The apparent failure of General Maxwell’s brigade to carry
out the mission assigned to it in the flanking movement mentioned by
Colonel Lumsden may be accounted for by the fact that some of the
Brandfort commandos, finding themselves in danger of being cut off, had
drawn back from the contemplated movement against Ian Hamilton and
thrown themselves into the fight that was then raging about the spurs
and kopjes of the range from which Ospruit springs. Thus they
outnumbered many times the mounted troops under Colonel Henry, who,
having achieved his object, wisely retired from the left, leaving the
Boers in occupation of the ground they had won, but leaving them also
held firmly in check there by Infantry brigades, whose presence
prevented any further demonstration from Brandfort against Ian
Hamilton’s left. When Lumsden’s Horse marched back to their camp that
night, therefore, they might have congratulated themselves—though they
didn’t—on having done remarkably good service by something more than a
reconnaissance in force. The immediate result may be summed up in a few
words. General Hamilton, reinforced by another Infantry brigade and by
General Broadwood’s Cavalry, who rejoined him from Thaba ’Nchu way
during the night, was enabled to advance early on May 1 and strike a
strong blow by which, as Lord Roberts said in his despatch, ‘the enemy
was signally defeated at Houtnek with comparatively small loss on our
side, thanks to the admirable dispositions made by Major-General Ian
Hamilton.’ To this comment Lord Roberts adds an expression of regret
that the troops employed at Dewetsdorp and Wepener had been unable to
cut off the enemy’s retreat and capture his guns; but during these
operations the Boers, being evidently prepared for retreat whenever
their safety might be threatened, moved with very little baggage, each
fighting man carrying his blankets and food on a led horse. It followed,
therefore, that they could escape without suffering any loss beyond that
inflicted by our troops in dislodging them from their positions. This
was practically the official explanation, to which one may add that
Cavalry alone could not follow up effectively the retreat of Mounted
Infantry every man of which knew the country and how to utilise its
peculiarities for checking pursuit. By his masterly stroke at Houtnek,
however, General Hamilton had achieved something more than the capture
of a Boer stronghold. At the end of that action his troops were astride
of the most formidable defensive position between Bloemfontein and Vaal
River, and an unopposed advance two days later to Isabellafontein not
only took the enemy’s entrenchments on that side of Brandfort completely
in reverse, but also effectually prevented De Wet from co-operating with
De la Rey or Botha, and thus opened a way for the general movement
towards Pretoria. Thus the fight at Ospruit, though it ended in a
retirement against which some of the more adventurous spirits chafed,
was a demonstration that helped materially towards the development of
more important schemes; and to Lumsden’s Horse belongs the honour of
having given to this affair an imperishable distinction by sacrifices
that may have been unnecessary but were certainly not inglorious. The
men who risked their lives and liberty, as Firth, Macdonald, and
Williams did, in gallant efforts to rescue their wounded officer from a
position which he had attempted to hold too long, are as worthy to be
remembered as those who met their deaths in the fighting line. To the
fallen, monuments have already been raised. Above the grave of young
Harry Lumsden, who was buried beside Daubney and Case on the
battlefield, a cross was put up by the Boers themselves, who, finding
letters in his pocket, mistook him for the Colonel commanding Lumsden’s
Horse, and buried him with the respect that they considered due to a
brave enemy and leader of men. In the old camp at Spytfontein, to which
the body of Major Showers was borne the next day, another simple
memorial, pathetically distinguished by its loneliness, was raised by
the comrades who paid their sorrowing tribute to him there, but brought
away memories of his soldierly qualities, which they have honoured since
by a more sumptuous monument in Bengal. The old soldier would probably
have wished for no higher honour than the esteem of comrades whom he had
trained in times of peace, and among whom he fell in their first fight.
How sincere that esteem was may be gathered from simple narratives sent
home by officers and men of Lumsden’s Horse, whose letters give
incidental glimpses of heroic actions that might otherwise have passed
into oblivion.

Lieutenant-Colonel W.R. Walker, officiating commandant, issued the
following regimental order from the headquarters of the Surma Valley
Light Horse, Silchar, dated July 10, 1900:

  As everybody connected with the corps will no doubt wish to hear
  details of the death in action of our late Commandant,
  Lieutenant-Colonel Eden C. Showers, I publish for information below
  particulars from a letter received by the Adjutant from Captain
  Chamney, of Lumsden’s Horse, written the day after the action in which
  Colonel Showers lost his life.

  Captain Chamney says: Our corps were given the honour of the advance,
  the S.V.L.H. the honour of the first of that, and with Lumsden and old
  Showers at our head we occupied the kopje that was said to be the key
  of the whole position, but were instantly subjected to a heavy
  musketry fire. We lost one man and horse scouting, and then got
  settled down among some sangars, but the old Major scorned all cover,
  watching, absolutely regardless of the bullets, the enemy’s advance up
  a spruit on our right flank. Everyone had asked him to get down, but
  he always said, ‘Oh, I’m all right,’ and walked from one end of the
  line to the other. When all the rest had begun to retire, and we got
  no word, the Boers worked up closer and closer. I had only just said
  to him (he was but three or four yards behind me), ‘For God’s sake,
  Major, get under cover,’ when I heard the sing of bullets over my head
  and ‘plint,’ and, looking round, I saw he was hit. I said, ‘Are you
  hit, Major?’ and he replied, ‘Oh, nothing much, only my arm; send back
  for Dr. Powell.’ I crawled back on my belly to him and got his belts
  and things opened, and found also a big hole, just above the heart,
  which was bleeding copiously. Then Dr. Powell and two assistants came
  up, and we bandaged him as well as we could for bullets flying around,
  and, still on our bellies, pulled and lifted the old chap out of the
  range of fire. He was suffering evidently a good deal from
  suffocation; blood in his lungs, I suppose. I stayed with him as long
  as he was conscious—not many minutes—and had then to return to the
  men. I found him as we retired a little later there under the tree
  where we had laid him, and where we had to leave him and another man
  to the Boers. The ‘Retire’ came before he died, and Dr. Powell, making
  up his mind to stay with him, fixed his handkerchief to a stick to get
  what protection he could from it. However, the old chap dropped off,
  and, covering him with a blanket and closing his eyes, the Doctor left
  him to his rest and bolted, but, looking back, he saw the white flag,
  and saying, ‘What would the old man say if he knew he was taken, even
  dead, with a white flag over him?’ returned and took it down, and so
  we left him. The Boers took nothing but his spurs and badges. Dr.
  Powell returned at night under a Red Cross and got permission to
  remove the body to-day and we bury the old man this afternoon. It is a
  terrible loss to the corps, and all so utterly sad.

There is something almost Homeric in that incident of the white flag
being taken from beside the dead warrior’s body under fire.

The ‘Times of India’ of May 9, 1900, contains the following appreciation
of the gallant Major Showers:

  Among those of Lumsden’s Horse killed in the fighting in the Orange
  Free State on the 30th ult. was Major Eden Showers. He was until
  recently the Commandant of the Surma Valley Light Horse, and by his
  example exercised a wonderful influence over all ranks. He was a son
  of General Showers, who did splendid work in the Mutiny days, and made
  his name famous by his courageous leading of the assault at Delhi on
  September 13, 1857. Major Showers was educated at Wellington College,
  and entered the Army through Sandhurst in 1865. He served in the
  Dublin Fusiliers, the two battalions of which are now in Natal, one
  having been in Ladysmith and the other with the relieving force under
  General Buller. After serving with the regiment for nearly seven years
  the deceased officer left it with the rank of Adjutant, and joined the
  2nd Life Guards, with which he remained for three years. After ten
  years’ service he left the army to take up tea-planting. He worked for
  some years at Katalguri under Messrs. Macniell & Co., but at the close
  of the season 1881-82 joined Messrs. Octavius Steel & Co., and was
  Superintendent of their Cherra Gardens up to the time he resigned to
  join Lumsden’s Horse. He was elected by his brother planters to
  command the Surma Valley Light Horse in March 1895, in succession to
  Colonel Milne, C.I.E., and his nomination was ratified by the
  Government. The selection proved that the Government had put the right
  man in the right place. While in command he worked the Light Horse up
  to a high degree of efficiency, as was shown by the approval of
  General Sir George Luck, who at the inspection in December last gave
  them unstinted praise. Among other things, the General stated that he
  could honestly say that the regiment could hold its own with the best
  Yeomanry corps at home, which was saying a great deal. Shortly after
  his resignation of the command of the Surma Valley Light Horse,
  Colonel Showers joined Lumsden’s Horse as Second-in-Command, with the
  rank of Major, serving under his old friend and former subordinate,
  Colonel Lumsden. His death is a severe loss to the corps, and is
  deeply deplored by a very large circle of friends, who found in him a
  man of sterling merit, splendid character, and a credit to the
  military profession he was so keen in following.

The following appears in the ‘Assam Gazette’:

  The Officiating Chief Commissioner expresses the general feeling of
  the Province in deploring the death in action of Major E.C. Showers,
  Second-in-Command of the Indian Mounted Infantry Corps (Lumsden’s
  Horse) now serving in South Africa. As Commandant of the Surma Valley
  Light Horse for nearly five years he brought that body to a high state
  of efficiency by his soldierly qualities, his untiring devotion to the
  interests of the corps, and by his personal popularity among its
  members. His untimely death is a serious loss to Assam, and will be
  mourned by the officers and men of the corps. He was loved by all who
  knew him.

The Hon. H.J.S. Cotton, Chief Commissioner of Assam (now Sir Henry
Cotton, K.C.S.I.), presiding at the Assam Dinner in London in June 1900,
paid the following tribute to Major Showers:

  Another gentleman had been pathetically alluded to both by Colonel
  Kirwan and Colonel MacLaughlin, and the mention of his name recalled a
  recent public dinner at Cachar, given as a send-off to Colonel Showers
  and other Volunteers. The admiration which all the Volunteers of Assam
  had for Colonel Showers was, indeed, a thing to have witnessed. When
  he rose to propose Colonel Showers’s health the cheering was
  vociferous and so continuous that it was at least ten minutes before
  he could get any hearing. He had never been present at a scene of such
  extraordinary enthusiasm, and he believed it was thoroughly well
  deserved. Colonel Showers was an exceptional man; thoroughly
  straightforward and practical, and a born leader of men. What was said
  of Jim Bludso might with equal truth be said of Colonel Showers:

                  ‘A keerless man in his talk was Jim,
                    And an awkward hand in a row;
                  But he never funked and he never lied:
                    I reckon he never know’d how.’

  That was the type of man that Colonel Showers was—a simple-minded
  Englishman, true and staunch as steel, and courageous to the backbone.
  As Colonel Kirwan had told them, he died, as he would have wished to
  die, a soldier’s death. He was a soldier in his youth and became a
  soldier in his prime, and died for Queen and country. They were all
  proud of Lumsden’s Horse and of Colonel Showers, who died at the head
  of his men in the first battle in which they were engaged.

From these extracts, and especially from the episode in which Dr. Powell
played such a gallant part, we may know that the Surma Valley Light
Horse were worthy of the Colonel who had volunteered to serve in a
subordinate capacity that he might be with them in their first campaign
and whose memory they still revere. That all Assam may bear in mind how
he had endeared himself to those who served with him, the men of that
corps have caused a handsome monument to be wrought in red Aberdeen
granite for erection in the country where they first enlisted as
Volunteers under his command. Its gabled base forms a Gothic cross
surmounted by an octagonal spire, and in one panel under a cusped arch
is the following inscription:

                             TO THE MEMORY

                                   OF

                LIEUTENANT-COLONEL EDEN CURRIE SHOWERS,

          LATE COMMANDANT SURMA VALLEY LIGHT HORSE; KILLED AT
                HOUTNEK, SOUTH AFRICA, 30TH APRIL, 1900.

                  Erected by the Members of his Corps.

Before this monument was shipped from Glasgow to Calcutta in September
1902 a sketch of it was sent by Mr. Peters, who had taken charge of all
arrangements, to Lord Roberts. In acknowledgment the Commander-in-Chief
wrote:

  I have received with much pleasure your letter of the 16th instant,
  enclosing a drawing of the obelisk that is being erected by the
  members of the Surma Valley Light Horse in memory of their late
  gallant commandant, Lieutenant-Colonel Showers, and I am much obliged
  to you for sending it to me. I am glad the memorial is being erected,
  as I feel sure it will go far towards preserving and promoting that
  _esprit de corps_ which is so important a factor in all units of the
  forces of the British Empire.

It was _esprit de corps_, as Colonel Lumsden expressed it in the
regimental motto, ‘Play the Game,’ that brought officers and troopers
with distinction through their first fight, and the firmness with which
it had taken hold of all ranks may be traced in tributes that show the
finest spirit of comradeship.

The following letter, received by Colonel A.W. Rendell, commanding the
East Indian Railway Volunteer Rifles, from Captain B.W. Holmes, who went
with the Maxim gun of the E.I.R.V. Rifles attached to Lumsden’s Horse,
is full of the sentiment from which mutual confidence springs:

                                                 Spytfontein, May 1.

  DEAR COLONEL RENDELL,—I am writing to give you an account of the first
  action the gun has been in, and to tell you how admirably the men
  behaved in what were really very trying circumstances. When we left
  Calcutta I had the gun arranged to go on pack saddles on horses; but
  when we arrived here we found this would not do, as our animals were
  not properly trained, and in jumping about they were always knocking
  pieces of skin off and otherwise damaging themselves. We therefore
  fitted up one of our transport carts as a carriage, and with two mules
  as wheelers and four horses in front we get along pretty well. The
  first day we went out to fight we saw nothing, although there was a
  little firing about two miles from us. On the way we came to a very
  nasty piece of ground, and we succeeded in turning the gun head over
  heels down the side of a kopje. By a miracle it was not injured in the
  least, and I felt sure it must be going to do some work. Yesterday we
  went out again, and had only gone about four miles when firing began
  all along the line. We were on the right, next to a pom-pom; the Boer
  guns very soon found out the latter, and it had to be moved out of
  action. In the meanwhile I had been having a go at the Boer gunners at
  about 3,000 yards. No sooner had the pom-pom gone than a shell missed
  my head by about a foot, fell twenty yards behind me and burst,
  wounding four of my horses slightly. This wasn’t quite good enough and
  I got out of action as soon as I could, but not before they had sent
  two more shells right among us, or too close to be pleasant; the last
  one killed two horses and blew a trooper’s foot to pieces.

  The Boers outnumbered us by about four to one, and shortly after this
  we received an order to retire with the rest, which we did. We had
  gone about half a mile, with rifle bullets sprinkling around us, when
  I was ordered to come into action behind a few stones that were lying
  on the plain. There wasn’t an atom of cover for my horses or the men
  holding them, although the gun was partly protected. I opened fire on
  the Boers at 1,000 yards, had fired about 250 rounds of rapid
  traversing fire when they began to retire. I fired about another 230,
  when the gun jammed, and at the same moment an officer came dashing up
  to tell me to retire immediately. We did so under a perfect hail of
  bullets, and although I had six horses wounded out of ten, not one of
  them was so badly injured as to be unable to go on, and not a single
  man of us was touched. After going about half a mile I gave my horse
  to Corbett to lead, and got into the cart and managed to get the gun
  into action again. We lost three belts and boxes in our hasty
  retirement, but that of course could not be helped. The men with me
  were Sergeant Bale, of Jubbulpur; Private Booth, of Howrah; Privates
  Dowd, Dickens, Corbett, and Burnand, of Jamalpur; and Private Bolst,
  of Asonsole; Private Burnand is my driver. There was one other man of
  Lumsden’s Horse with me, named Mercer, who was helping to hold horses.
  Sergeant Dale, Privates Booth, Corbett, and Bolst, and myself were on
  the gun. Colonel Ross, who was in charge of our brigade, expressed
  pleasure at the work done by the gun, and said that we knocked over
  several of the enemy, which was distinctly satisfactory. Our
  casualties were heavy. We lost our Second-in-Command (Major Showers)
  killed, Lieutenant Crane missing and wounded, and one private known to
  be killed, and probably one or two others of the wounded have since
  died, our killed, wounded, and missing being seventeen in all.

  How our team escaped injury is to me little short of a miracle. The
  men behaved splendidly, and if ever we get into as tight a place again
  I have perfect confidence in their standing by me and the gun. Our
  ambulance is out now looking for wounded, but the Boers have probably
  attended to them long ago—at any rate, I hope so. Our men have
  certainly had their baptism of fire, and I for one should not object
  if we never got it as hot again.

  You would hardly recognise the gun now, I fancy; it is a dirty khaki
  colour, with the paint knocked off it in, places and smothered with
  dirt and stuff outside. But the inside is, I think, quite as clean as
  when at Jamalpur; anyhow, it still knows how to work.

                                       Yours very sincerely,

                                                         B.W. HOLMES

From the personal experiences of a non-commissioned officer who was
wounded and captured by the Boers we get side-lights that help more than
anything else towards a clear understanding of the temper and actions of
men on the battlefield. To some extent this story touches on ground that
has already been covered by previous descriptions. Partly for that
reason, but mainly because it is a complete picture of one incident the
nobility of which would have been lost if woven into the continuous
narrative, it has been kept distinct, so that the writer’s impressions
may be reproduced here with all the minor touches and bits of local
colour that made them vivid at the time of occurrence. He begins with
the march out of camp at 3 o’clock that memorable morning:

  We fell in punctually and moved off to the rendezvous, the moon
  shining brightly and making wonderful black shadows among the
  surrounding kopjes-pronounced ‘koppies,’ by the way. The cold was
  intense, and numbed our fingers so that our reins could scarce be
  felt; The order to trot was received with satisfaction, for we were
  all shivering, men and horses alike. A few minutes later we joined
  company with a pom-pom battery of two guns, and a body of Mounted
  Infantry composed of Australians and details from various regiments.
  Our strength in all was, we have since heard, some 800, while the
  opposing Boers numbered three or four thousand, with several big guns.
  When our little band was complete, the order was given to trot, and we
  proceeded at a sharp pace for about a mile. Daylight was then breaking
  and a halt was called, the order being given to dismount and charge
  magazines—a sign of business received with much satisfaction.
  Thereafter we moved forward in extended order, with scouts in advance
  for three or four miles, when stray shots in front showed us that we
  were coming into touch with the enemy.

  Before us the country lay in ridges running parallel with each other,
  and at right angles to our line of advance. As we surmounted each
  rising we expected to view the enemy, but the order to dismount came
  without our being vouchsafed any visible sign of their presence.
  Before us lay some 800 yards of rising ground, and we swarmed up in a
  long open line, fully expecting a volley ere we reached the top.
  However, our hour of trial had not yet come, though the scattered
  shots heard to our front as we advanced had increased to a sharp
  fusillade on our left front. The order then came to extend away into a
  narrow valley running at right angles and crossing the ends of the
  succession of ridges we had covered. Thus, lying on the slope, we
  could see behind for a mile or so, and in the opposite direction, up
  the valley, right into the country which the enemy were known to
  occupy.

  Shortly afterwards the music began in earnest. A mile up the valley a
  Boer big gun appeared and opened fire on troops advancing on the hill
  from our left rear. Then out came one of our pom-poms and, galloping
  into position, replied from the opposite end of the valley at a range
  of some 3,000 yards. The duel between the two lasted for about ten
  minutes, the pom-pom firing briskly as is its wont, the more ponderous
  Boer gun replying every two minutes. Lying on the slope as we were, in
  full view of the valley and within a hundred yards of the line of fire
  of the opposing guns, we had a splendid, not to say realistic,
  illustration of artillery fire. The singing of the big shells as they
  tore through the air was magnificent to our unaccustomed ears. It was
  curious, too, to observe the sequence in which indications of
  discharge and report reached us. The first sign that the Boer big gun
  had been fired was the little cloud of smoke floating near the muzzle.
  Next we heard the singing of the shell passing up the valley. This was
  followed by the dust raised by the explosion of the shell in bursting,
  and not until these evidences of a shot having been fired did we hear
  the actual report, which was closely followed by that of the bursting
  shell itself.

  For some five minutes the duel proceeded, no evidence of the effect of
  the pom-pom fire being visible to our eyes, though it became evident
  that the Boers were finding the range, for each shell seemed to land
  nearer, until, as it seemed to us, one burst right in the middle of
  our gun. At that moment those of us on the slope heard rifle fire
  immediately behind. It proved to be our own regiment’s Maxim taking
  sighting shots at the Boer gun. This certainly made things livelier,
  but there was no comfort in realising that we lay right in the line of
  fire, and that replies from the enemy would probably land among us.
  However, the Boers took no notice of the Maxim, though it spat out
  bullets at a tremendous rate, but continued to devote their attention
  to the pom-pom. The greater weight of the Boer metal soon made matters
  too hot for Captain Rotton’s[8] little gun, and it shortly afterwards
  retired behind the hill, having lost several horses. Then our turn
  came, and the officious little Maxim, which had been kicking up a
  great shindy in our rear, drew the Boer fire. The first shot whizzed
  unpleasantly close to our heads and burst between us and the Maxim,
  which, undismayed, continued to pour out a hot fire. Number two was
  aimed slightly higher and travelled beyond the gun, killing two horses
  and wounding one man. The Maxim stuck it out pluckily for one more
  shell, but that fell so close that to have delayed any longer would
  have only been folly. On the retreat of our machine gun the Boer gun
  retired behind a kopje, and we were left in peace for a time, though
  the firing on our left had now greatly increased, and showed that a
  brisk fight was going on.

  About 10 o’clock orders were received for part of my section to extend
  to the right, and six of us, in command of Sergeant Walter Walker,
  went right down into the valley. In our new position we were sheltered
  by a low rocky ridge on the left, but the ground was open in every
  other direction. The ridge referred to cut us off entirely from what
  was going on on our left, and this accounts for the misfortunes which
  followed.

  Meanwhile the firing that had begun on our left earlier in the morning
  had increased tremendously. Bullets began to come our way very
  frequently, but as we were under the lee of a ridge they passed over
  our heads, evidently nearly spent, for the sharp ping of a newly-sped
  shot had changed with them into the melancholy wail of spirits that
  had lived and lived in vain. So great had the noise become that
  shouting to each other was ineffectual, not a word reaching even one’s
  next neighbour. So we lay and waited.

  Suddenly it struck us that the chain of fire extending in a line to
  our left seemed to be swinging towards our left rear, and a few
  minutes’ attention confirmed an idea that the position of the opposing
  forces must have altered considerably. As we listened the firing
  seemed to increase in fierceness and sounded still further to the
  rear. The position had become uncomfortable, for our horses were 800
  yards in our direct rear. To lose them would be fatal to our safety;
  the six of us, therefore, got up and began to retire slowly, wondering
  that no orders had reached us.

[Illustration: BUGLER R.H. MACKENZIE]

  A shower of bullets swept past, singing in our ears with spiteful
  distinctness. Looking round I saw, barely fifty yards away, two-score
  Boers kneeling and firing away for all they were worth. A second look
  was unnecessary, and we ran like deer, the bullets whizzing by thick
  as hail. It was amazing that none of us was hit. Bullets seemed to me
  to be pouring between my legs and under my feet. A little rising gave
  us momentary protection, but the Boers came on again until within
  fifty yards, and poured a hot fire into us. Two hundred yards away we
  could see our horses and near them the rest of the section, which had
  got earlier notice of the repulse of our troops, galloping away. Each
  man got to his horse, but they shouted to me that mine had been killed
  by a shell. It was not a pleasant predicament, but before I had time
  to realise that the Boers must either shoot or capture me, Bugler
  Mackenzie galloped up and offered me a lift behind him. I was dead
  beat with running and quite unequal to violent effort. I put my foot
  in the stirrup he released, and tried to climb up. But my bandolier,
  haversack, and water-bottle all bunched in front and caught the
  blanket tied on at the pommel of the high military saddle. Back I
  flopped on to the ground. Another effort, and I nearly pulled
  Mackenzie, who was a light boy, out of the saddle. The firing all the
  time was very hot, and, fearing to bring disaster on all of us, I
  ordered Mackenzie off. But he would not budge until Saunders and
  Parkes between them helped me up behind the first-named. What a relief
  it was to feel the ground slipping past and to know we were getting
  out of such a desperate scrape! The Boer fire had slackened for a
  little, but the reason was that they had mounted and galloped up to
  within close range. Again they opened, and once more the ground all
  around was dusted up and the air alive with singing bullets. It was
  too much to hope for escape a second time, and sure enough, before we
  had gone a hundred yards, the gallant gee with his double load fell
  heavily to earth, a bullet having struck him. Being perched high up, I
  reached the ground first with a thud I hope never to experience again.
  Saunders then fell on top of me, and the horse crashed heavily across
  both of us, kicking me on the shoulder as he rolled over.

[Illustration: E.B. PARKES]

  I must have been stunned for a moment, but soon recovered my senses
  and realised that I had broken nothing nor been hit by a bullet.
  Saunders lay very still within ten feet of me, and I feared he was
  dead. But cautious inquiry elicited a reply. He was all right, but
  complained of being unable to move one arm, and we assumed it was
  broken. All this time the firing continued, evidently directed at our
  retreating section. Judge of my astonishment, on looking up to see why
  it should suddenly have increased in our immediate neighbourhood, to
  observe Parkes riding back to us. He had pulled up as quickly as he
  could when he noticed our disaster. Seeing Saunders lying quiet, he
  offered to take me on his horse, but I shouted to him to clear off, as
  he was endangering his own life as well as drawing the fire on us. I
  could not have left Saunders after his having stopped to take me up,
  and for Parkes and myself to have helped him away in the midst of such
  a murderous fire would have been folly. Very reluctantly Parkes
  galloped off. His horse shortly afterwards was shot under him, but he
  managed to get away by running. As for myself, I was so shaken I could
  not have gone far on foot, besides which I was already exhausted by
  running. In any case, to have got up and attempted escape with the
  enemy in such force and at such close range would have been madness. I
  accordingly lay very still and called to Saunders to do likewise.
  Immediately afterwards a party of Boers some 300 strong swept past us
  on horseback, evidently in pursuit of our retiring troops, and then
  began a very trying part of our experience. The Boers were some
  hundreds of yards in front lying on the face of a slope, and we got
  the full benefit of a very hot fire directed against them. Three
  shells from our own guns burst all around, and the fire of a pom-pom
  sighted a little too high tore up the ground close on our left.
  Bullets fell all around us and between us; so embarrassing was the
  situation that I began to look about for cover. But turning round I
  saw a Boer some hundred yards away steadily looking at us from under
  the lee of a rock. Whenever he saw me turn he dropped on to his knee
  and levelled his rifle. Quickly I lay like one dead, and whispered
  hoarsely to Saunders not to move for his life. It was an anxious wait.
  No bullet came, and the Boer, seeing us remain still, stole cautiously
  up to where he could see our faces. Realising we were helpless, he
  dropped his rifle and came up, assuring us he would not harm us. He
  rolled Saunders round, took a valuable set of glasses from him, as
  well as belt, purse, knife, water-bottle, and everything worth having.
  He was about to commence operations on me, and I was wondering if it
  would be worth while to make a dash for his rifle, when he got up and
  cleared off. The cause was the approach of a Boer doctor, who came up
  and most kindly inquired if we were wounded. Finding nothing seriously
  the matter with us, he explained that he must move on to more
  dangerous cases, but promised to come back and attend to us later on.
  Then a large party of Boers suddenly surrounded us. They stripped me
  of my belt, to which was attached a fine knife and a good compass;
  also bandolier, ammunition, and water-bottle, the latter evidently a
  much appreciated prize. I begged to have my knife back, as it was a
  present from a dear friend. To my astonishment, it was handed back to
  me. Then one offered to buy it, but was quashed by the others, who
  said it was a shame to want from me what I valued so much. Then we
  were helped up and marched off towards the ambulance, Saunders
  suffering considerably from his arm, I feeling sound enough but very
  sick and giddy. Round the ambulance cart was a large crowd of Boers,
  evidently enjoying the shelter of the Red Cross. They looked curiously
  at us, and the bolder asked for our spurs and badges. We parted with
  these, but protested at a request to give up our leathern gaiters. A
  doctor bound up Saunders’s arm, and we were sent off in charge of
  three guards to the Boer laager which lay over the hill to the north.
  After a bit one of the Boers, observing me to move very groggily, put
  me on his horse. But Saunders, though his arm pained him a good deal,
  had to walk.

In their first fight, and on many occasions afterwards, Lumsden’s Horse
bore testimony to the sportsmanlike qualities and humanity of their
enemies, especially towards men who were lying wounded and helpless on
the field. Writing many months afterwards, Colonel Lumsden gave some
affecting instances by way of illustration, and several of these were
connected with the affair at Houtnek, though their interesting sequels
were not known in some cases until near the close of the campaign. These
may be given in Colonel Lumsden’s words. He writes:

  ‘One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin.’ Many kindly actions
  on the part of the Boers have gone unrecorded in the present campaign.
  I cannot, however, allow one or two which came under my special notice
  to pass without mention.

  On April 30, 1900, when we were engaged with that clever General De la
  Rey, my scouts, while reconnoitring under Lieutenant Pugh, far in
  advance of the main body, came suddenly upon a well-concealed Boer
  outpost, who opened fire on them, wounding poor Franks severely. Pugh
  stuck to him gallantly, making for where he considered our leading
  column would be. Franks, however, got so weak that Lieutenant Pugh and
  the other two scouts had to dismount him and leave him on the veldt.
  Later in the day, when the enemy’s fire slackened, some friends of
  Franks were able to go out and carry him in and place him in the hands
  of Dr. Powell, who did all that was possible for him in the
  circumstances. We were holding an untenable position, and when the
  order came to retire early in the afternoon, poor Franks had to be
  left until an ambulance might be got to carry him back to our
  headquarters camp at Spytfontein. Shortly after our retirement from
  the spot where he lay the Boers occupied the ground we had left, and,
  finding Franks, treated him with every kindness and attention. It was
  the last we saw of him. Some five days later, at the fight near
  Brandfort, a Boer ambulance containing several wounded Boers and with
  Doctor Everard in charge fell into our hands. On my riding up to
  interview the latter, he asked if we were not Lumsden’s Horse, and on
  my replying in the affirmative he said, ‘One of your men, named
  Franks, fell into our hands on April 30, and was under my care. I did
  all I could for him, but the poor fellow died.’ Then producing a small
  note-book from his pocket he said, ‘In this I have noted when and
  where he was buried. I also found on his person two sovereigns and two
  rings.’ These the doctor handed to me with a request that I would be
  good enough to forward them to the boy’s mother. I thanked him most
  gratefully for what he had done on behalf of my late comrade, and in
  due course was able to forward, through Trooper Preston, the relics
  handed to me to Mrs. Franks, of The Chase, Clapham Common, London.

  On the same day (April 30), Lieutenant Crane, with a small detachment
  of my corps, was sent by Colonel Ross, our commanding officer, to
  occupy a low-lying kopje on our left front. They were attacked by an
  overwhelming number of the enemy, and nearly the whole of the little
  lot were either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, as they
  maintained their position to the last. Lieutenant Crane himself, being
  badly shot in the groin, was lying in an exposed position unseen by
  us, and under fire of our own Maxim gun, which was playing on the
  kopje now occupied by the Boers, and in imminent risk of being killed
  by our own fire. Suddenly one of the Boers came forward amidst a hail
  of bullets, lifted up Lieutenant Crane, and carried him to a place of
  safety. Many a V.C. has been gained by doing a similar action. This
  story was subsequently corroborated by Lieutenant Crane, who told me
  that the man who behaved so gallantly towards him was named Meyers.

  Strange to relate, in the following September when that ideal Cavalry
  leader, General French, made his brilliant dash on Barberton—a feature
  of the campaign on which I think too little has been said, and not
  sufficient credit given to the leadership and pluck of the gallant
  General—Lumsden’s Horse comprised his rearguard, under the command of
  General Mahon, of Mafeking fame. As we rode up the heights prior to
  following General French’s force into the Barberton Valley, we came
  across several Boer families living in tents and grazing their cattle
  on the veldt. I rode up to one of the tents and was chatting with a
  stalwart Boer and his family. He immediately spotted what corps we
  were and said, ‘Oh, we fought against you at Houtnek.’ I asked his
  name, and he said Meyers. I then shook hands with him gratefully and
  said, ‘You are the man who carried my subaltern, Crane, at the risk of
  your life into a place of safety on that day.’ He brought me a cup of
  coffee, and while I was chatting pleasantly with his wife and family
  he said, ‘Have you got a man with you of the name of McGillivray? I
  remember him well, a big Scotchman. We took him prisoner that day, and
  on our way to Pretoria I had the pleasure of dividing a couple of
  bottles of whisky between him and one or two of his comrades also in
  our hands.’ As this Boer was living quietly on the veldt, and not in
  the fighting line, I had the pleasure of getting a pass for himself
  and his family by way of showing some practical gratitude for his kind
  and plucky treatment of my comrades.

-----

Footnote 5:

  Franks was left afterwards on the kopje, where he had been placed by
  Colonel Lumsden, and the Boers took him to hospital, where he died at
  midnight.—ED.

Footnote 6:

  Really fourteen.—ED.

Footnote 7:

  More than two-thirds.—ED.

Footnote 8:

    Now Brevet-Major.-ED.

-----




                               CHAPTER X
                           _PRISONERS OF WAR_


To be carried off captive after the first hot skirmish into which one
has gone full of confidence and hope is a trying experience for any
soldier, and especially for those who are conscious of having done
manful deeds deserving a better fate. In these circumstances, however,
it implies no humiliation, but only a feeling of rebellious resentment
against the fortunes of war that have, at one fell stroke, swept away
all hopes of further distinction, dashed every ambitious plan, and
severed for a time at least all pleasant associations with comrades
whose friendship is never so truly appreciated under other conditions as
it is amid the rough campaigning experiences that try the temper and the
mettle of all men. The full sense of everything that has been lost comes
upon war-prisoners in the first hours of their captivity with the
crushing force of a hopeless defeat, so that they cannot even find it in
their hearts to be thankful for the lives that have been spared to them.
If this is so in the case of men to whom loss of liberty means no
reproach and who have the proud consciousness that they did not purchase
safety by unfaithfulness to their trust, how much sharper must the sting
be to those who by pusillanimous surrender have brought the dark shadow
of dishonour on themselves and stained the proud blazonry of regimental
distinctions! Happily, British soldiers have not often gone into
captivity with that stigma resting on them; and, though critics at home
were ungenerously prone to assume that the ‘flag of shame’ had been
hoisted too readily in some fights against the Boers, they would have
told a different story if it had been their lot to lie on the bare veldt
within rifle-range of hidden enemies under whose deadly fire it is even
more dangerous to go back than to go forward. The idea of wresting
victory by a rush or wriggling up to it through zone after zone of
hailing bullets across four or five hundred yards of open ground could
only have commended itself to tacticians comfortably ensconced in
arm-chairs far from the buzz and boom of war. Hemmed in by a girdle of
fire that cannot possibly be broken by a charge across such distances,
men must either lie down like sheep to be slaughtered, or walk to their
deaths with eyes open, making useless sacrifices, or surrender; and none
but a braggart who had never been under fire would dare to hurl the
poisoned arrows of reproach at brave men upon whom the last alternative
has been forced. Every soldier knows how unjust is that journalistic
phrase ‘an easy surrender.’ Nobody could have written it if he had
thought for a moment of the bitterness that is in the hearts of men who
have to yield under the white flag; yet it is not necessarily an emblem
of shame for all that. Lumsden’s Horse did not hoist it in their direst
extremity, but they would be the last to jeer at men who have passed
through such an ordeal. If ever captives had the right to hold up their
heads in the presence of triumphant enemies, those men were the troopers
of Lumsden’s Horse who had sacrificed themselves rather than abandon a
wounded comrade. One of them, Corporal Firth, a prisoner in the hands of
the Boers, wrote to his parents from Waterval on May 7, 1900:

  You will by this time have seen that I am now a prisoner of war from
  the published lists in the papers. I will just give you an outline of
  what happened on the 30th ult. An officer, two non-commissioned
  officers, and eleven men were told off to hold a hill as a guard
  against an attack on the right of a body advancing from our centre;
  this centre body had to retire, and we, receiving no orders, held on
  as long as possible until forced to retire, which we did, having five
  killed, our officer wounded, and four taken prisoners, leaving only
  four who escaped to tell the tale. I could have got away, only went
  back to the assistance of our officer, who was wounded about ten yards
  behind me. I bound him up under a heavy fire, and Providence must have
  watched over me that day, as bullets in hundreds were flying all round
  me. I am in good health and received very kind treatment from the
  hands of my captors, of which I will write more on another occasion,
  as I am not yet settled down in my new surroundings.

How he and his fellow-prisoners fared after they had fallen into the
power of their enemies is a story told with graphic picturesqueness in
the following letters from Sergeant Fraser, who was surrounded by Boers
when he lay bruised by a heavy fall in company with Trooper Saunders,
who had gallantly risked his own life in an attempt to bring Fraser out
from under fire:

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Johnston and Hoffmann._
  SERGEANT DAVID S. FRASER
]

  We had imagined that our destination was comparatively close, but we
  covered mile after mile without any more satisfaction from our guards
  than that it was over the next kopje. The column wound in and out
  among many hills ere a halt was called. Though we had started about 11
  in the morning, it was not until 4 o’clock in the afternoon that our
  escort stopped at an ambulance tent, which was in charge of a
  hospitable Swiss doctor. We had had nothing to eat all day. In the
  hurry of getting ready so early in the morning neither of us had time
  to think of food, and our day’s rations were in our saddles, now in
  the hands of the Boers. So the good Swiss fed us plentifully with
  soup, meat, and coffee. He examined me and found only bruises.
  Saunders’s arm was much swollen, and the surgeon could not ascertain
  what the damage was. It afterwards turned out that the muscles were
  lacerated and one of the bones in the forearm cracked.

  In the doctor’s tent was a wounded officer, Lieutenant and Adjutant
  Lilley, of the Victorian Mounted Rifles. He, poor chap, had been shot
  through the head during the same engagement, and had been brought in a
  waggon from the field. He recognised us in so far as to repeat the
  name of our regiment, but seemed woefully wounded and repeatedly broke
  out in delirium. The doctor who had been so kind to us seemed
  assiduous in his attentions, and I am sure everything possible was
  done for the poor Australian. We heard afterwards that he had been
  left in hospital at Brandfort by the Boers, and found by our troops a
  few days afterwards, when they took possession of that place. He
  subsequently died from the wound, which was caused by a bullet passing
  through his brain. Marching for another mile we came to the Boer
  laager at dusk. Those in camp met us kindly, more particularly as the
  news given by our guards was that their own commando had apparently
  scored a victory. They gave us coffee at once, and a place to lie down
  and rest. And thus began our captivity.

  While Saunders and myself were recovering from our exertions,
  discussing the events of the day, and generally commiserating each
  other upon our misfortunes, we were much cheered to perceive the
  approach of two men attired in khaki and helmets. These proved to be
  Sergeant-Major Healy, of the Victorian Rifles, and Private Simmons, of
  the Duke of Cornwall’s Regiment’s Mounted Infantry. Both had fearful
  things to relate of the morning’s action. They had been through all
  the heavy fighting preceding the occupation of Bloemfontein, and
  agreed that never had they experienced such hot fire as on this
  particular morning. About 8 o’clock our guards supplied us with bread
  and coffee, and pieces of biltong, stuck on a wire, that had been
  thrust into a fire. They then accommodated us with a tent, a blanket
  apiece, and an empty sack or two—for we had no coats, and the cold was
  intense. In such comfort as we could make for ourselves with these
  limited resources we lay down, and soon slept the sleep of the weary.
  It seemed but a few minutes since we had turned in when we were
  awakened with rough kindliness, and turned out of our tent. The bulk
  of the commando had returned to camp after a successful but wearisome
  day, and the owners of the tent wanted their own. So out we got into
  the bitter cold. They placed us between two tents, and we arranged
  ourselves a second time as best we could. Despite the lack of warmth
  and comfort, we slept heavily, and the sun was high in the heavens
  next morning ere we awoke.

  Bread and coffee formed our breakfast, and this meagre meal was
  welcome enough. Our guards themselves had no more, so we could not
  complain. As the morning wore on, the sun became rather trying, and
  once again we were accommodated with a tent, wherein we discussed at
  length the events of yesterday. As this conversation turned inevitably
  to our own capture, needless to say we gradually began to despond. But
  we were shortly to have our hearts lightened by the discovery of
  fellow sufferers—how company in trouble eases one! In marched Firth,
  McGillivray, Macdonald, Petersen, and Williams, of our own corps,
  followed by Coghlan, of Sergeant-Major Healy’s regiment. Coghlan had a
  broken leg, done up in plaster of Paris, and lay on an ambulance
  pallet. Needless to say, we had much to tell each other, and Saunders
  and myself then heard how Franks, Case, Daubney, and H.C. Lumsden had
  been killed, and Lieutenant Crane wounded and a prisoner. It was not
  until afterwards we heard that Major Showers had been killed and
  several others wounded on the same day.

  The frugal fare of the morning was repeated in the afternoon, except
  in the case of the bread. Of it the Boers had none, but they furnished
  us with a plentiful supply of a kind of rusk. This appeared to be
  simply broken bread dried in an oven. It made a very good meal, but
  tried those of us whose teeth had been somewhat worn down by eating
  _moorghis_[9] in India.

  To march forth in the morning with a gun in your hand to fight your
  country’s battles; to endanger your life that you may return to your
  female relatives, decorated and a hero; to hear the vicious ping of
  bullets, the shrieking of shells, and know yourself alarmed but
  undismayed, are fine things. But to sit at night in the enemy’s laager
  with wings clipped, no gun, and a sinking stomach is so untoward a
  thing that a man who suffers it may well question the reason of his
  birth and entertain hopes that the world is about to end.

  Six of us sat in the dusky light of a tent in a Boer laager near
  Brandfort, and our own mothers could not have comforted us. It wasn’t
  as if we had had a bellyful of fighting, like others who had begun the
  campaign in Cape Colony, or as if after a tremendous struggle we had
  been overpowered. Without practically a chance to retaliate, we had
  been deluged with bullets that went by in such numbers you could hear
  them rattle against each other in their flight. Then instead of the
  bullets came the Boers, and we were prisoners—hands up, pockets empty,
  hopes vanished!—this in our first fight!

  When night had fallen, the sentries—there were two of them, with
  loaded rifles and revolvers—passed us in a big kettle in which had
  been boiled water and, they said, coffee.

  One of us sadly asked if they had put in sugar as well, and on
  receiving a reply in the affirmative, murmured, ‘What good hot water!’
  Then we munched away at rusks, of which light and tasteless provender
  they chucked us in a quantity in the bottom of a sack, and I wondered
  if the nourishment contained therein would compensate for the energy
  expended in chewing them. I know I registered a mental vow never to
  feed my horses on bran alone if ever I got back to India. A few of us
  had pipes, and there was no difficulty about Boer tobacco; but here,
  again, one was reminded of bran, for although the colour was not quite
  the same the taste was nearly identical with what I imagine bran would
  give if smoked. As it grew late the cold increased, and by 9 o’clock
  we were shivering. Those of us who had managed to retain their
  greatcoats were not so badly off, but others, who had nothing but thin
  khaki tunics, suffered considerably. On representing matters to the
  sentries, they procured for us a few blankets and empty sacks, and,
  huddled together, each man endeavoured to sleep to the chatter of his
  neighbour’s teeth.

  The laager next morning showed signs of great activity. A large patrol
  was about to start in the direction of the British lines, and the two
  hundred or so composing this body shook hands, every man of them, with
  half a dozen of their comrades, who, it afterwards turned out, were to
  form our escort to Pretoria. According to our preconceived ideas of
  how troops should move out of camp the behaviour of the Boers seemed
  absurd. No word of command appeared to be given, but in a moment the
  aspect of the camp that had been full of men lolling about, talking
  and skylarking, was changed. Horses were saddled, bridled, and mounted
  in a matter of seconds, the ceremony of hand-shaking gone through, and
  in less than five minutes from the first impulse which set them
  getting ready the patrol had disappeared over the skyline. Some were
  trotting, some cantering, and there was no attempt at formation; but
  none the less their method, or want of it, was effective, and one
  could not help being impressed with the individual independence of
  each man, combined, as it was, with complete unanimity of object in
  the whole body.

  Our turn came next, and we made our little preparations to start.
  These consisted mostly of buttoning up, and, indeed, there was a
  charming sense of irresponsibility in having no arrangements to make,
  no packing to do, no _hookums_[10] to give. For our conveyance was
  prepared a buck-waggon, with the appearance of which the illustrated
  papers have made all the world familiar. Twelve mules were stuck in
  front, the driver cracked his whip, and the caravan was ready. Down
  the centre of the waggon, on a mattress, and propped about with
  rolled-up blankets, was placed the wounded Victorian. The rest of us
  sat round, with our legs dangling over the side. A Kaffir held the
  reins from a raised seat in front, and two Boers sat alongside of him
  with loaded rifles on their knees. But they had their backs to the
  mules and the points of their guns towards poor us. At the tail end of
  the waggon sat two more Boers, also armed. A fifth Boer, unarmed,
  barring a whip as long as Chowringhi, marched alongside to curse the
  mules and pick holes in their hides when the cursing failed.

  As we stood ready the Boers near shook hands all round with us, hoped
  the war would soon be over and we be back in our ain countrees and
  themselves restored to the bosoms of their families. We moved off with
  a jolt that made the poor Victorian groan, and they shouted good-byes
  after us and congratulations that we were going to that wonderful
  place Pretoria. Soon a rising hid the laager, and around we could see
  nothing but veldt—not a tree, not a house, not a Boer. And now, we
  thought, is our chance. We only had to lay hold of our guards by the
  throats, wrest their rifles away, and so turn the tables completely—a
  poor return for their hearty kindness, but then we did not cherish the
  same feelings for Pretoria that they did. These ideas of escape were
  rippling round cheerfully but guardedly, when our hopes flopped to the
  ground, for over the skyline came cantering a couple of Boers, and we
  soon found their business was to trot behind. We might easily
  overpower the guards in the waggon; but what profit would there be in
  that if one mounted man galloped for assistance while the other kept
  watch on our movements? Without the mounted men we might have bagged
  our guards and got clear away, as no warning of our escape could then
  have reached the Boer lines for at least twenty-four hours. But it was
  not to be, and we resigned ourselves to the inevitable.

  When there’s nothing to see, almost as much to eat, and the Devil’s
  own pother to think about, travelling is wearisome. Add to these
  conditions a place to sit upon as hard as the heart of Pharaoh and the
  ever-present gun to keep you on it, and travelling becomes well-nigh
  unendurable.

  If it wasn’t for the antics of Brother Boer we should have succumbed
  to jaundice, occasioned by nausea of the situation, or some other fell
  disease. But the Boer brother, to beguile the tedium of the way,
  showed us a thing or two in bullying, in quarrelling, and in
  shooting—the last named, to our disappointment, not being a
  consequence of the first two. Hanging on to a projection of our waggon
  was an attendant to look after the mules, a Kaffir boy about fifteen
  years old. His face was unadorned with beard, whisker, or moustache.
  One of the Boers snatched the boy’s cap from him, held him tight by
  the scruff of the neck, and then chucked the cap into the road.
  Meanwhile the waggon proceeded, and soon the cap was a dim speck half
  a mile behind. Then the owner of the cap was loosed off, and away he
  sped back to his lost property. When he reached it we were a clear
  mile away. Thereupon the Boers waxed mighty cheerful, and the
  waggoner, loudly chuckling, whipped up his mules into a fast trot, the
  little nigger running like a good ’un far in the rear. The going was
  too bad for continuous trotting, so in two or three miles the boy had
  overhauled us, and, though very blown, he showed his teeth with
  pleasure at catching us, apparently bearing no malice for the trick
  that had been played on him. But his troubles were not over. As he
  laid hold of the waggon to jump on, a great Boer hand was sprawled in
  his face and he went down on the road like a thousand of bricks at the
  unexpected assault. Loud guffaws from the brethren greeted this
  performance. It was repeated again and again till the poor devil was
  hopelessly beaten, and unable to continue the game. Then, when allowed
  to hang on again, he had to put up with brutal horseplay. His ears
  were pulled, his face contorted into extraordinary shapes, and tufts
  of wool, bleeding, jerked out of his head. At this point we deemed it
  our business to interfere, and, appealing to the man who appeared to
  be in command of our guard, and who spoke English well, we asked if it
  was usual for the Boers to treat Kaffirs in this way. And if so, we
  told him, it was high time every Boer in South Africa was shut up in
  St. Helena. This touched him up, and he ordered the two bullies to
  drop it. Then ensued a pretty quarrel. Some of us felt sure there were
  Hindustani words used—and dreadful they sounded in Dutch mouths. We
  fondly hoped there would be shooting, or at least fisticuffs. But the
  Boer is like the Bengali—a leviathan in words and a mouse in deeds.
  Behind a stone his heart is like that which protects him, and in the
  open his heart becomes just like the atmosphere which affords him no
  protection.

  When cheerfulness was more or less restored somebody espied a herd of
  buck about a mile away. The keen sight of the Boers is astonishing,
  and the way they detected the movements of the buck at that distance
  was a revelation. Some of us could see nothing at all, but the keenest
  thought they could spot a little bit of colour which the Boers said
  was a herd of about twenty buck. In a minute three of them were
  blazing away with their Mausers, but the herd cleared without
  casualty. Throughout the rest of the way the Boers blazed away without
  intermission at anything and everything that suggested itself as a
  target. There certainly was no idea among them then that it would be
  well to husband ammunition. I see by the papers that their commandants
  are said to be exhorting the Boers now in the field to save their
  cartridges for officers, and not to waste any on the Tommies, but at
  the date of which I am writing they behaved as if their supply of
  ammunition was inexhaustible.

  About midday a halt was called, the niggers did something to the
  harness, which dropped on the ground, and the mules, freed, were
  quickly up to their knees in an adjacent dam, and soon after that
  busily engaged with the veldt grass. Only once a day were they
  supposed to get a feed of corn, and from all we could hear that day
  only came round about once a week. In the meantime the Boers had
  fished out an empty wine case, smashed it up, lighted a fire, and
  placed a great kettle on top. While that was boiling the carcass of a
  sheep was produced from a sack, and all and sundry hacked a piece off.
  When the kettle had boiled and the coffee was made, the fire was
  heaped up afresh with wood, and every man had his bit of meat on the
  end of a stick, held it in the flames, where it fizzled and cracked
  and spurted as merrily as any steak on a grill in London town. There
  was a dish of salt to dip into when you judged the cooking complete.
  Our rusk sack was still partially filled, and wasn’t the dam full of
  water within a few yards of us? ‘What more could the —— Englishman
  want?’ said Brother Boer, as he lapped up all the coffee! In the
  newspapers the Boer is made to speak of the _verdomde rooinek_, but my
  experience of the Boer is that he prefers Tommy’s pet adjective before
  all others.

  Our rustic repast over, the Kaffirs began to collect the mules. This
  they did not by running round them, but by sitting still and emitting
  sounds into the tenor of which God forbid that any civilised human
  being should inquire. Sufficient to say that they were weird enough to
  ‘kid’ the mules into leaving their feed and travelling half a mile to
  the waggon, there to be yoked again in slavery. Thereafter our journey
  was uneventful until we struck the railway, where we fondly hoped to
  find a train. But the advance of the British from Bloemfontein had
  begun, and the Boers, to prevent a sudden descent on the railway
  within their own lines, had taken the precaution of blowing up every
  bridge and culvert for many miles inside their own outposts. So we had
  to traverse six more weary miles, witnessing for diversion the
  destruction that dynamite can bring upon the handiwork of man. Great
  iron bridges broken and tossed aside, huge embankments shattered,
  railway stations annihilated. Cruel signs, but the inevitable
  consequences of war. At dark we reached Smaldeel, a little station
  sixty miles north of Bloemfontein, and at that time the southernmost
  depôt of the Boer forces on the railway. Three days later the British
  were in possession of Smaldeel and fired on the last Boer train
  steaming out of the station. But knowing that afterwards did not
  comfort us a bit when they locked us up that night.

  Smaldeel is not an attractive place. We were dumped down in the most
  unattractive part of it! Imagine a four-roomed house built of wood and
  corrugated iron, one window per room and each one of them nailed down,
  as it had been for a long time. Imagine in one of these rooms Boer
  lumber—old clothes, empties, forgotten bedding; remember the boarded
  window, call for a glass of brandy, and think with sympathy of us poor
  sinners condemned to such a place for a livelong night.

  What a ghastly night it was! They passed us in a small kettleful of
  coffee that ran to about half a mug per man. We were dreadfully
  thirsty, but the only water was a single water-bottleful between the
  crowd of us—they said there was no more available. For solids we had
  the remains of the rusks. On this slender nourishment we had to recoup
  our jaded bodies and revive our flagging spirits. Needless to say, in
  the morning we looked and felt but sorry representatives of Queen and
  country. At daylight we were cleared out of that room, the taste of
  which will remain with me until the day I die. The effect on us of the
  cold clean air outside was indescribable. We blew ourselves out with
  it like pouter pigeons, and nearly dropped down from shock to the
  system. We breathed the good air till we forgot to be hungry, thirsty,
  or even ashamed of our lamentable plight. The surging of it through
  our corrupted lungs was better than—but that would be departing from
  the plain unvarnished style with which the soldier man is allowed to
  embellish his narrative in lieu of literary grace.

  We were popped into a waiting train the carriages of which for
  narrowness and hardness were like coffins without the compensating
  immunity from pain and trouble so characteristic of the ordinary
  coffin. That we might fit in easily they gave us nothing to eat or
  drink, and when the train started we rattled about our compartment
  like dried peas in a drum. To see us off the station was crowded with
  all sorts and conditions of the human race. It was astonishing to
  realise that the throat of man was so constituted that it could be
  used to emit sounds which were nothing like anything we had ever heard
  before. I heard a hundred High Court chaprassies hold the concert in
  which their champion sang a solo in so raucous a voice that it caused
  the great crack which now ornaments the Calcutta High Court building.
  But it was nothing to Smaldeel station! Take a Boer who has lived on
  the high veldt of the Transvaal with his next-door neighbour four
  miles off, and bring him into a space where his conversation has to
  carry for feet instead of miles, and you are overwhelmed by his voice.

  Three hundred of that sort endeavoured to hold converse with us,
  wanting to know where we had come from, why we had come, and what we
  thought of our chances in the hereafter—no Boer thinks anybody who has
  taken up arms against the Lord’s anointed people has a million-to-one
  chance of salvation. We told them as much as we could, some of it with
  regard to the truth, but mostly without. They plainly said we were
  liars when we informed them we came from India. They knew all about
  Indian coolies, so weren’t to be taken in. They were of opinion that
  several of us who were clean-shaven were mere children, and deplored
  the sinfulness of a Government that could send such lambs to the
  slaughter. The clean-shaven ones cordially concurred, and ventured to
  hope the Boer Government would do the right thing and ship the little
  pets straight away to their mammas. That was another story, said
  they—one that Oom Paul would know how to deal equitably with.
  Pretoria! Pretoria! It was always Pretoria, as if that ghastly little
  village was the hub of the universe.

  I may be allowed here to point out that the Dutch pronunciation of the
  name of the late President of the Transvaal differs slightly from that
  commonly used in India. Of course, our Indian way is the soundest, but
  it may give this feeble narrative a touch of realism to have included
  the fact that in South Africa ‘Kruger’ is pronounced ‘Cree-yer,’ with
  the accent on the ‘Cree.’ ‘Paul’ is pronounced like ‘towel,’ with a
  ‘p’ instead of a ‘t.’ The Burgher General Botha, in his native land,
  is called ‘Beau-ta,’ both syllables of equal value and spoken rather
  quickly—like our Indian word ‘lotah,’ with which word, in fact,
  ‘Botha’ rhymes. Many other words appertaining to South Africa are
  pronounced not at all in the way that we have accepted as fit and
  proper. Swears, however, find Boer and Briton unanimous both in
  pronunciation and frequency of use.

  When we had left the babel of Smaldeel far behind we settled down to a
  critical examination of the country we were spinning through. We had
  to occupy ourselves with a subject of absorbing interest so as to
  divert our minds from dwelling on the vacuity of that part of our
  anatomies which it is not considered polite to mention out of a church
  or a nursery. But in the matter of country—we found it consoling to
  see nothing but rolling downs with never a kopje in sight, right or
  left, nearly all the way through the northern part of the Free State.
  Surely Bobs and his army would waltz along such easy going and
  speedily rescue us from the clutches of the wicked Boer! So far as
  Kroonstad there was nothing to stop the British. There a river forming
  a deep spruit meandered by, and would certainly give trouble were our
  troops to confine themselves to a frontal attack. But by this time the
  uses of flanking movements had been thoroughly grasped by our army,
  and it could only be a question of a day or two for our fellows to
  slip up on either side and squeeze the enemy out.

  Steaming into Kroonstad it was comforting to think what a favourable
  country the British army would have to operate in, but the feeling was
  as naught compared with that aroused in us when we heard we were to be
  fed at Kroonstad. Psychologists evolve wonderful things from the mind
  of the intellectual man. But let them starve him. Then see how his
  inner consciousness changes its base of operations. Thoughts emanating
  from the brain lack the vigour and inventiveness of those prompted by
  the working of the more humble organ. The war in South Africa proves
  this conclusively. Wherever our troops and Generals have been well fed
  the tendency has been to make a mull of things. But they have never
  been starved without doing grand work: _vide_ the defence of
  Ladysmith, the relief of Kimberley, the brilliant marches of Lord
  Roberts’s army, where for days on end whole divisions had nothing but
  a biscuit or two to crunch per man.

  We rushed into Kroonstad station with the familiar feeling of dashing
  importance that everybody knows about who travels by rail. We pulled
  up with the old jerk, only more so, that we so joyously used to
  anticipate when children. We sniffed the refreshment-room, caught a
  glimpse of the coloured papers in the bookstall, and everything seemed
  just the same as in old England—as if we were only waking up to
  pleasant reality after a horrid dream. But when we tried to get out
  the grimness of the truth was brought home to us: loaded rifles barred
  our way.

  However, the grub came, and our sorrows were forgotten in the pleasure
  of exercising our fast stiffening jaws. It was great sandwiches of
  bully beef, no butter, no trimmings, but mighty good, and bowls of
  steaming coffee. There was a fair whack for each man, and none of us
  thought of giving half to the poor or saving up any for a rainy day.
  Every man ate up all he got and never emitted a sound, other than that
  of mastication, until the grunt of interrogation which denoted
  finished, and was there any more? There wasn’t, and we got no more
  that day, barring what we bought and paid for at extortionate rates.

  At any game in the world the Briton can beat the Boer if the
  conditions are such that the Briton has any chance at all. This may
  seem a reckless statement in view of the fact that 16,000 Boers are
  still holding the field against ten times their number. But I make it
  with a knowledge of the circumstances, and am willing to demonstrate
  the truth of my statement to any unbeliever who has the pluck to call
  on me expressing his doubt. At any rate, by night time, when we
  crossed the Vaal River and had reached Vereeniging, the first station
  in the Transvaal, we had so ‘kidded’ our guards into a belief in our
  desire to reach Pretoria that they trusted us on to the platform, from
  which we gravitated into the refreshment-bar with a celerity that
  would have astonished Sir Isaac Newton. We found it crowded with
  people who didn’t seem to think we were particularly remarkable—at any
  rate, they did not offer us drinks: these we had to pay for at the
  rate of 2_s._ a peg—cheap enough, considering everything. Hard-boiled
  eggs 6_d._ each, sandwiches 1_s._, cigars none under 1_s._ The
  last-named we could not run to, so set about looking for pipes and
  ’bacca. Boer tobacco is sold in glazed paper bags, about the size of
  14 lb. of sugar, for 1_s._ a time. You can use it either for smoking
  or as bedding for horses and cattle—they won’t eat it. Pipes like
  those you get at home for 4½_d._ were half a crown, so there is no
  need to dissert on the fiscal methods of the Boer: there’s no free
  trade about him. He represents McKinley at about two stone in the
  matter of Protection. I coveted a pipe for 3_s._ 6_d._ and told the
  barman I was very sorry I only had 2_s._ 6_d._, and wouldn’t he give
  it to a poor broken-hearted prisoner at a reduction? It was true about
  the 2_s._ 6_d._, for I was afraid to produce a sovereign lest some of
  them should take a fancy to it, as they had done to so many of our
  little valuables. The beast said he’d see me damned first, and I
  called him something in Hindustani which attracted more attention than
  I liked, when I felt a hand twitching my tunic and saw a little Jew
  man winking portentously. I put my hand down, and he slipped a coin
  into it—a shilling it was, to enable me buy the pipe. This is one of
  the few sporting things I have seen done in the Transvaal, and it was
  not a Boer who did it. I don’t think Boers understand sport. They
  never do anything until they have got six to four the best of their
  neighbour. Every Boer who plays billiards carries a bit of soap, and
  the few that are not afraid to play football are adepts at tripping.
  They have stopped playing cards entirely, for they invariably found
  after a few hands were dealt in a game that nothing but the rags of
  the pack remained to be played with, all the good cards having gone up
  the sleeves of the players.

  However, I bought the pipe, and refunded the kindly little Jew his
  bob. Leaving the bar, I passed a little bunch of Boers who had rather
  enjoyed my rebuff at the hands of the barman.

  I gravely congratulated the Boers on their brother behind the bar, and
  asked if they had many other Boers as good looking. Discretion may
  sometimes be a branch of valour, but there was very little valour
  about the discretion I exercised when I left that refreshment-bar.

  The rest of the night in the train was tedious and uncomfortable to a
  degree, and cold beyond words. At 3 or 4 in the morning we landed at
  Pretoria, and our guards, all South African Republic Police—the hated
  Z.A.R.P.—belonging to Pretoria, instead of leaving us in the train
  until daylight, hauled us out and marched us off. After a mile or so
  we came to a building. We entered by a gate, and found ourselves in a
  courtyard with high walls. We were there delivered over to another lot
  of ruffians, the first lot clearing off to their homes in high
  jubilation at the prospect of rejoining wives and families after many
  months in the field. They had not been unkind to us on the whole, and
  we found them simple enough, but imbued with considerable contempt of
  the Britisher and an unchangeable belief in the ultimate success of
  their own cause.

  Sitting on the cold stone pavement of the courtyard, chewing the cud
  of our misfortunes, we waited for the only friend we’d got—the sun.
  Meanwhile strange sounds came from the high walls surrounding us—heavy
  sighs, deep gruntings, weird moanings, harsh cries, and loud beatings.
  We wondered what manner of place we were in. Daylight revealed the
  truth. We were in the Pretoria Gaol, and all around us were the drunks
  and incapables, the vagrants and vagabonds, black and white, that had
  been scraped out of the gutter the night before. Mostly they were
  Kaffir women—huge, unwieldy, hideously ugly creatures, reminding one
  of those depicted by Hogarth in his scenes of low life in London
  nearly two centuries ago. When the sun rose the doors of the cells
  were opened and we saw strange sights. The gaoler prodded the sulky
  ones with a long stick and made them come out.

  Standing about in the fresh morning light, dirty, frowzled, altogether
  abominable to look at, they seemed a blot on creation, and the
  knowledge of their mere existence hung heavily on one’s mind. It was
  not a pleasant awakening to the splendours of the Boer capital.

  For about the tenth time we gave in our full names, and all we could
  think of in the way of description, down to red hair, for which the
  Boer has a peculiar regard. A Boer with red hair can be a Mormon a
  dozen times. Nearly all their clergymen have red hair. In among the
  drunks and incapables we found one cell containing representatives of
  the British Army, lately free fighting men, but now confined against
  their own wishes. One of these, to my astonishment—for his appearance
  did not suggest the soldier in the very least—addressed me by name,
  and I recognised in him a saddler sergeant who had built me a very
  excellent saddle some years before, when his regiment, the 18th
  Hussars, was in India. He and a pal had been taken prisoners at the
  very beginning of the war in Natal, and so had done six months in
  durance vile. They had been so bored with their experiences that they
  had escaped and endeavoured to get to Portuguese territory, but
  unluckily the ubiquitous Boer had been too many for them, and they
  were now being restored to their _status quo ante_, as political
  paragraphists describe it. Another was a Yeoman lad from county Notts,
  with a very much worn pair of boots to his feet, and it showed fine
  public spirit in him that he seemed to deplore this fact more than his
  being made prisoner.

  In the corner of the courtyard was a tap, and we all did a bit of
  washing. The absence of silver-topped scent-bottles, ebony
  hair-brushes, Pears’ soap, &c., was rather a drawback, but it did not
  prevent us creating at least a zone of cleanliness. We were then
  paraded, and in as martial array as was possible, without guns or
  swords and incommoded with blankets and empty sacks, we marched forth
  with a loud cheer. To be a prisoner of war was a fate that might
  overcome the best soldier that ever stepped, but to be herded with
  police mud-scrapings injured the dignity of every one of us.

  Half-an-hour’s walk past cottages, bakers’ shops, where smiling
  lassies stood at doorways, and all the signs of a little country town
  at home, we came to a great enclosed space at one corner of which was
  inscribed the legend ‘Polo Ground.’ We immediately began arguing about
  who was to play in the first chukker, and whether we’d have a
  ten-minute chukker, with a change of pony half-time, or chukkers of
  six minutes straight away. Two known cracks were agreed upon, and
  they, to save unseemly fighting, picked up sides. Then each side began
  backing itself for large sums (on the nod), while the unselected ones
  scoffed and offered 5 to 4 against either team. Needless to say, while
  diverting ourselves in this manner we were girt about by armed
  horsemen, who conducted themselves with much dignity and secret
  spurrings, especially when passing where comely lassies stood at the
  doors. In this respect I have observed the Boer does not differ from
  the Briton, nor has he any scruples about endeavouring to attract the
  admiration of another Boer’s girl as well as his own. Marching along
  one side of the enclosure, we came to a great entrance, and realised
  of a sudden that we had arrived at the racecourse, rendered classic by
  the experiences of our imprisoned troops within its gates. We entered
  and found all the offices so familiar to racegoers—grand stand,
  paddock, weighing-room, jockeys’ room, horse-boxes—but no equine
  wonders. It filled our hearts with sorrow to see such waste—not even a
  booky to trill forth the odds.

  But there was a desolation over the scene very different from the stir
  and bustle of a racecourse. Our troops had been penned up in a
  barbed-wire enclosure that included the paddock, stands, and a bit of
  the course itself. Most of the buildings had been utilised as
  hospitals, and where or how the poor devils who hadn’t enteric or
  dysentery or pleurisy or rheumatic fever existed, Heaven alone knows.
  The N.C.O.s had the privilege of sleeping on the steps of the grand
  stand, and I suppose the others had to be content with the ground.
  Very quickly the accommodation at the racecourse had become
  inadequate, and the camp at Waterval was established, leaving only a
  hospital and a staff of orderlies. The result was a most woebegone
  place, littered with empty tins, rags, paper, and refuse of all sorts.
  We elected to occupy a row of horse-boxes facing the paddock. I’m sure
  no owner of racehorses would have allowed any of his string to enter
  these boxes, but we were only too glad to find a place wherein to lay
  our heads. After a long delay they brought us rations of sorts—the
  potatoes, I remember well, being little round things about the size of
  marbles and everyone gaily sprouting. For the rest we had ½ lb. of
  meat and a loaf of bread apiece, plenty of cold water, and the
  consolation of being told we had a great deal to be thankful for.
  While our troops had been confined at the racecourse some of the
  residents of Pretoria had been exceedingly kind in supplying them with
  what, to them, were great luxuries to help out the meagre fare allowed
  by the Boer Government. A much-appreciated but sticky delicacy was a
  considerable supply of golden syrup. In one little hut occupied by a
  mess of sergeants, twelve men used to sleep every night, packed as
  close as herrings. The morning following the day on which they had
  received their share of the golden syrup they found themselves all
  stuck together, and had to rise up in one piece like a row of toy
  soldiers.

Lieutenant Crane was taken off to the newly formed camp for prisoners on
a barren hillside north of Pretoria, where nearly all officers had been
confined within triple fences of barbed wire since their removal from
the Model School. Non-commissioned officers and troopers of Lumsden’s
Horse had to share the fate of other captive soldiers at Waterval on the
high veldt outside the Magaliesberg, but luckily they were not among the
number hurried away by retreating Boer commandos to distant Nooitgedacht
when our troops entered Pretoria. At Waterval the daily rations were
scanty enough, though luxurious by comparison with the meagre fare
served out at a later date to prisoners in that place away eastwards
with a name that bespeaks desolation. And by the kindness of the
American Consul, Sergeant D.S. Fraser was able to obtain funds from
India for himself and his fellow-sufferers. This enabled them to
supplement the rough rations issued to them during their imprisonment at
Waterval. To cover the advances made for this purpose Colonel Lumsden
authorised a grant of 5_l._ each to the prisoners, being at the rate of
1_l._ per man per week for the period of their captivity. Thus the value
of such a fund as had been raised in Calcutta before the corps left was
demonstrated in an unforeseen way. By means of it Colonel Lumsden had
been able to start with a treasure-chest of 1,000_l._ and a sufficient
credit in the Standard Bank of South Africa to meet all emergencies.

[Illustration: WATERVAL PRISON, NEAR PRETORIA]

Of the uneventful dulness of their life in the prisoners’ camp, where
few visitors ever came, and none whose presence could be considered very
cheerful, we may judge by the fact that hardly anything has been written
about it. The poor fellows who had neither money nor friends to procure
it for them must have fared ill indeed on nothing but Government rations
issued according to the following scale, which cannot be impugned,
seeing that the Editor found it written in choicest official Dutch among
other documents at Pretoria bearing the seal of the Z.A.R. On this scale
the officers were to receive 1 lb. of meat and an undefined ration of
meal, rice, or peas, per head per day, with a weekly allowance of
groceries amounting to 2 oz. of coffee, 2 oz. of tea, and one candle per
head. In practice the meat ration dwindled down at times to as little as
1½ lb. a week for each officer, and the meal, rice, or peas being _à
discrétion_, not of the consumer but of the burgher in charge, were
occasionally off the bill of fare altogether. The rank-and-file were
each to receive 7 lb. of flour, 3 lb. of meal, 3 lb. of rice, 3 lb. of
dried French beans, 21 oz. of sugar, 2 oz. of salt, 3½ oz. of raw coffee
beans, and 2 lbs. of meat _per week_, and had to see that they got it,
as the Boers, being rather short of luxuries themselves, claimed the
right to make reductions frequently on the plea that there had been an
excessive issue for some previous day. Actually at one time the
prisoners at Nooitgedacht, to whom the same scale applied, did not
receive more than an average of 3 lb. of flour and ½ lb. of meat per
head per week, and the beans, which formed their only vegetable diet,
were useless. The captives among whom a few of Lumsden’s Horse found
their lot cast at Waterval were not so badly off as that, but still
there was so much monotony, both in food and in the featureless routine
of daily life, that they must have been very glad to hear the booming of
British guns outside Pretoria and to know that the hour of their
deliverance from bondage was at hand. A few days after the entry of our
troops into the capital, Colonel Lumsden had the gratification of
writing:

  Lieutenant Crane’s many friends in India will be pleased to hear that
  he is once more with us and in command of his section, looking stout
  and well, none the worse for his wound or his enforced stay in
  Pretoria.

  Sergeant Fraser, Corporal Angus McGillivray, Privates R.N. Macdonald,
  Peterson and Leslie Williams are also back with us, all looking fit
  and strong.

  Lance-Corporal Firth is at present employed in the Financial Adviser’s
  office in Pretoria, and has made himself so useful that I cannot
  persuade General Maxwell, the Military Governor, to dispense with his
  services.




                               CHAPTER XI
            _TOWARDS PRETORIA—LUMSDEN’S HORSE SCOUTING AHEAD
            OF THE ARMY FROM BLOEMFONTEIN TO THE VAAL RIVER_


Lord Roberts was so well satisfied with the results achieved by General
Ian Hamilton’s division and the other columns operating south of Thaba
’Nchu on May 1 that he regarded all the strategical points in that
direction as being securely held, and was therefore no longer anxious
for the safety of the railway, on which future supplies for his army
might be dependent after the exhaustion of those already collected at
Bloemfontein. In these circumstances he determined on an immediate
advance the day after Hamilton had cut the Boer chain in two at Houtnek.
He accordingly sent General Pole-Carew’s division from Bloemfontein to
Karree Siding, where their arrival was hailed by Lumsden’s Horse as
significant of great things to follow, seeing that General Tucker’s
brigade had been pushed forward to occupy the ground over which Mounted
Infantry corps fought two days earlier. General Hutton’s brigade of
mounted troops was ten miles west of the railway at Brakpan by Doorn
Spruit, and General Ian Hamilton’s division had advanced from Houtnek to
Isabellafontein, out-flanking the Brandfort range of kopjes. Thus, on
the morning of May 3 De la Rey found his position seriously menaced, and
after-events proved that he had no intention of making a stand there
longer than was necessary for a rearguard action, by which he might
delay the British advance and give his own main body time to withdraw
all heavy artillery and stores. Threatened on the left by Ian Hamilton,
and finding his right flank in danger of being turned by Hutton’s
Mounted Infantry, De la Rey retired, and our troops entered Brandfort
that afternoon. The Boers, however, had fallen back to a second
position, being neither disorganised nor beaten, but only disinclined
for close fighting, and until dusk they continued to show such a firm
front that the mounted troops could do little against them. Colonel
Lumsden sums up the situation briefly by the following entry in his
official diary:

  On the morning of the 3rd we left Spytfontein at daybreak with Colonel
  Henry’s brigade, and joined General Maxwell’s brigade (14th) at the
  foot of Gun Kopje, the place where Major Showers was killed. The
  Mounted Infantry, covering a front of some three miles, swept the
  country towards Brandfort, Infantry and guns following. A little
  desultory fighting occurred, driving in the enemy’s advance parties on
  to their first position, which we found at about 11 A.M. The guns and
  Infantry then came up and cleared the position in about an hour.
  During the action we were exposed to a good deal of shell fire, which
  fortunately did no harm, owing to the ground being soft and the shells
  burying themselves before bursting, if they burst at all.

  At 12 the advance was made on their second and main position, about
  two miles off, and lying some five miles north-east of Brandfort. The
  enemy offered little resistance, confining themselves chiefly to
  long-range artillery fire. When the position was practically taken the
  Mounted Infantry were sent away to the right flank to make a wide
  turning movement with a view to cutting off the retreat of ‘Long Tom,’
  who, however, catching them on a wide open plain, forced them to
  dismount for the attack. The dismounted men advanced some two miles in
  his direction, but dusk setting in it became evident that it was
  impossible to reach that position with daylight, and we were ordered
  to rejoin our horses and return to camp. This we reached about 8 P.M.,
  having been in the saddle fifteen hours and covered quite forty miles.
  There had been no time during the day to feed the horses, which
  consequently felt the work very much. Our casualties were nil; but ten
  horses died from exhaustion.

To troopers in the ranks, however, it seemed a much more serious affair,
as well it might, for on them fell the burden of an advance that tried
their powers of endurance if it did not put a very severe strain on
their nerves. One of them, writing rather for his own gratification than
with the idea of helping to make history, gives a graphic picture of the
movement out of camp in the darkest hour before dawn to join other
troops, and then trot on through the ‘pitch blackness’ over ground on
which stones seemed to have cropped up suddenly where no stones had been
before, so that horses stumbled at every stride. Then, as it grew
lighter, they saw that a whole army was with them, extending along a
front that stretched for miles. Lumsden’s Horse halted under a hill near
Ospruit, and British guns opened fire from its crest. At this point the
trooper’s hasty notes become ruggedly picturesque as he describes the
sequence of events:

  The Boer artillery replied, and it became rather a hot corner. Shells
  burst all round us and over our heads. We were retired and lay down.
  Then moved to the right, gave over our horses to the even numbers, and
  moved forward on foot, extending to some ten paces apart. So we
  advanced, sometimes mounted, sometimes on foot—always extended. Then
  lay down, then advanced again, and lay down—all in long parallel
  lines, Lumsden’s Horse being on the extreme right, or nearly so. The
  Infantry marched in beautifully regular and even straight lines,
  apparently quite indifferent to the Boer guns that now opened on them
  and made good shooting too. The shell fell all amongst those Infantry,
  but when the dust cleared nobody seemed to be down, and the line went
  on unmoved. Then some shells came in our direction, but either fell
  short or whistled over our heads doing no harm; yet we were retired a
  bit. Then a pom-pom of ours came into action and silenced the Boer
  guns. This was all straight ahead. Meanwhile a gun opened across our
  front at some Boers, whom we could see plainly retreating on the
  right. They replied until the pom-poms behind us opened on them. Then
  they bolted and were chased by some Mounted Infantry who came up on
  our flank. Again we advanced on foot and got near the big kopje. Then
  Colonel Lumsden rode up, called for the horses, and ordered us to
  advance and join other corps of the 8th Mounted Infantry in a flank
  attack. Off we went at a trot, and then, extending to intervals of ten
  paces, advanced towards the kopje in front of us at a walk, but still
  mounted. Suddenly there was a bang, and a few seconds later a shell
  burst dead on for our centre, but some 200 yards short. After a brief
  pause a second shell burst 100 yards nearer, and then another, the
  fragments of which kicked up the dust all round us. This we discovered
  was what Cavalry called ‘being out to draw fire.’ Still we advanced.
  Bang went the gun again, and there was a cloud of dust followed by a
  tremendous report not twenty yards from Clifford, Cayley, and me. Iron
  whizzed over our heads, but nobody was hit. Our horses plunged and
  wheeled round, and, seeing everyone was off, we did not stop either.
  Halted and dismounted at a farmhouse lower down near a stream, where
  the company assembled. Then handed over our horses, and, advancing
  again, with lots of others on foot, trudged a weary two miles, when a
  Boer Maxim opened on us; but though the bullets swept ground between
  the front line and ourselves, they did no harm. When darkness began to
  fall the order came for us to retire, and, our horses being brought
  up, we rode back over dykes and sluits and boggy places in the pitch
  black. Nobody knew the way, but, seeing lights on our right, we made
  for them, and got into camp about 7 o’clock. Not a bad day’s work,
  having started at 3 A.M. with nothing whatever in the way of food to
  start on. Tied our nags up. Everybody too tired to boil a kettle, or
  even light a fire. Ate half a biscuit and some bully-beef and turned
  in. The left half-company having come back to camp comparatively
  early, got into a hen-roost and made great store of fowls, turkeys,
  and ducks. Heard that two foreign officers had been taken—one German
  and one Russian—who said it was useless going on, as the Boers would
  not stand and would not fight. So ended the Battle of Brandfort.

[Illustration:

  BRINGING HALF RATIONS UP TO NORMAL
  (_From a sketch by J.S. Cowen_)
]

Colonel Lumsden takes up the narrative at this point in an official
report to the executive committee, and without attempting to describe
the general operations he gives a clear outline of events in which his
corps took a prominent part, leaving details to be filled in by troopers
according to their various views, and they give some realistic sketches,
not only of the actions but also of the men under fire. In Colonel
Lumsden’s epitome of a day when the troops were supposed to rest and
gain fresh vigour for a forward movement, there is a meaning that could
not have been better expressed than it is in this short sentence:

  On the 4th we halted, with no food for horses and only biscuit for the
  men.

  On the 5th, when the enemy were driven from a strong position on the
  banks of Vet River, we had a long dragging day, most of the march
  being done on foot to ease our tired horses, and with little hope of
  finding any enemy in front of us, though away on our flank the
  artillery on both sides were hotly engaged. At about 2 P.M. we
  suddenly got the order to change direction to the left and head for
  Vet railway station, which the enemy held in force. We crossed the Vet
  river, where Boer commandos had been making a stubborn stand, and soon
  found ourselves among our Infantry. Shortly afterwards our guns opened
  fire and our Infantry came into action, while the Mounted Infantry
  were sent round by our right—northwards—to intercept, if possible, the
  retreating enemy. It was a race for the same drift again among the
  Mounted Infantry, and we got there first. Crossing the river, we were
  told to push forward as fast as possible and seize a kopje two miles
  off which commanded a somewhat deep valley on the left, up which the
  enemy were retiring. As it was supposed to be a race between us and
  the enemy for the kopje, we had not the time to make a thorough
  reconnaissance before approaching, with the result that our scouts
  arrived at the kopje only some 600 to 700 yards before us, and the
  enemy had a charge at us at 800 yards. We immediately opened out and
  took cover behind the bund of a tank fifty yards in rear, and,
  dismounting, opened fire on the kopje and silenced it. We were unable
  to stay there, as the enemy from the valley were galloping up on our
  left under the cover of the kopje, so I gave the order to my sixty men
  to mount and retire on our supports, who were now coming up a
  quarter-mile in rear. We were only just in time, for, as we were
  mounting, the Boer pom-pom treated us to a ‘belt’ the shells of which
  came fair into the middle of us.

  The supports now opened fire with two pom-poms and 200 men, and the
  enemy retired, leaving us free to return to camp, which we reached at
  7 P.M.—another long day of quite thirty miles. Our casualties were
  only one scout killed when reconnoitring this kopje. This was Private
  A.K. Meares, who was shot through the heart, and whom we buried the
  following morning.

One of the scouts who was with young Meares when they reconnoitred the
kopje describes that episode with convincing directness, and
incidentally records a very gallant action on the part of Lieutenant
Pugh, as if it were the most commonplace occurrence. Following is his
version of the affair given in extracts from a private letter:

  By 2 in the afternoon we were fairly in touch with the enemy, and an
  artillery duel commenced. After some time our fire grew too hot for
  the Boers, and they retired with their guns. We had been sent forward
  to try to turn the Boer flank, and our section, No. 4 B, was ordered
  to seize a kopje which was supposed to be unoccupied. We, of the
  advanced party, cantered up to within 250 yards of the enemy’s sangar,
  and then they opened on us, but I must say they made very bad
  shooting; we had got within 200 yards of them before turning to
  retire, and yet only one man was hit. We were all in line, about
  twelve of us, in skirmishing order, when the Boers opened fire, and
  when the order to retire reached us we went back as fast as we could.
  Meares—the man who was killed—and I were going in the same direction,
  and as his horse was dead done, and had already fallen once during the
  day, I reined up so as to get near him in case of need. I was just a
  little ahead of him and kept glancing round to see how he was doing.
  In looking after him I quite forgot my own horse, and then I don’t
  know what happened. All I know is that half an hour afterwards I found
  myself breathless, holding one of our officer’s stirrup-leathers and
  running for dear life. My horse, it seems, got into a hole and came
  down an awful crash on top of me. The others thought both the horse
  and I had been shot. Almost immediately after this Meares went down,
  shot through the heart from the back. Both our horses righted
  themselves, and galloped back to the section. I lay stunned for half
  an hour, and then, as I have told you, I staggered up to No. 2
  section, who were covering our retreat. I believe I was making
  straight for the Boer line of fire, when one of our officers shouted
  out to me and gave me his stirrup-leather to hold as I came up to him.
  I was so completely done after a short run that he got off his horse
  and gave me a lift on it. Lieutenant Pugh was the man. It was dark by
  this time, and as we had driven the Boers off we retired to our camp.
  I picked up my section again, and found my horse, who was badly cut
  about the head. My face was in a lovely condition—one eye closed, and
  my cheek, forehead, and nose one big bruise, and my head was splitting
  with pain. It was a providential escape, and if I had not fallen I
  should surely have shared Meares’s fate.

[Illustration: H.J. MOORHOUSE]

[Illustration:

  A.K. MEARES
  (KILLED IN ACTION)
]

[Illustration: W.K. MEARES]

[Illustration: H.W. PUCKRIDGE]

[Illustration: R.G. DAGGE]

[Illustration: R.P. WILLIAMS]

[Illustration: R.C. NOLAN]

[Illustration: T.G. PETERSEN]

[Illustration: S. DUCAT]

                          N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS

In the simple phrases of another trooper who relates with more fulness
the circumstances in which Trooper A.K. Meares met his death there are
some pathetic touches:

  We had several severe engagements, in one of which I am sorry to say
  young Meares was shot dead while his company (B) were retiring from a
  very large force of Boers with a few guns. It was altogether a sad
  affair, as his brother Willie was riding next him. Being in extended
  order, however, they were fifty yards or so apart, and Willie knew
  nothing about his brother being hit till he got into camp and found
  who was missing. It was then some men said they had seen him fall off
  his nag, but could tell no more. Willie went with a party next morning
  and found his brother dead. The bullet-wound was right over his heart.
  He was buried there. What makes it all the more pathetic is that young
  Meares was the only man hit that day, no one else getting a scratch.

Though the Boers made a brave show up to the last, disputing every
position a hold of which gave them any advantage, the resistance offered
by them to Lumsden’s Horse was only an expiring effort. Their right
flank had by that time been turned by other corps of Mounted Infantry,
among whom the Colonials vied with each other for distinction, and at
nightfall, when Australians with a machine gun had come up to relieve
Lumsden’s Horse, the enemy retired, leaving a Maxim gun and twenty-six
prisoners in our hands. Again, however, they had carried off all their
heavy artillery and equipage, although General Ian Hamilton had that
afternoon got possession of Winburg and was threatening their rear. The
events of following days are summarised briefly by Colonel Lumsden in
his official report:

  Next morning, the 6th, saw us away at daybreak back for the
  yesterday’s battlefield and towards the rising sun. We could see
  clearly how clever had been the Boer plan of attack and how nearly
  they had caught some of us. We followed up their tracks for many
  miles, halted at noon for an hour, continued scouring the country—this
  time north—and eventually headed west, arriving at dusk at our new
  camp near Smaldeel, having advanced only three and a half miles after
  marching thirty.

  Away at dawn on the 7th, and, heading north, tramped many a mile on
  foot, striking the railway between Vet and Winburg a few miles from
  Vet, and continuing north some distance. We halted for two or three
  hours, and then retraced our steps to a camp near the railway,
  reaching it after dusk.

  On the 8th our regiment did flank guard for the Infantry during a
  march of twenty miles, saw innumerable buck, and commandeered twenty
  remounts on payment.

With the incident thus delicately touched upon by Colonel Lumsden an
irresponsible trooper deals more at large in a way that enables us to
understand the troubles by which some commanding officers were beset
when their men, unlike Lumsden’s Horse, did not think it necessary to go
through the formality of paying for what they took. Writing from
Smaldeel, the trooper says:

  Yesterday we went fairly straight, but about two or three miles too
  far, and had to come back; but we caught a young Boer leaving his farm
  with a rifle and ammunition, and we got another at the farm. The farm
  was looted of all its live-stock. The Colonel stopped it when he came
  up, but all the poultry was taken. Our men paid for everything. Kruger
  has told all these people that their farms will be burned and all the
  women taken prisoners. I think they were rather relieved when we left.
  One woman said her husband had come back three weeks ago and died of
  wounds, and they said the Free-Staters had lost terribly. They never
  hear officially, as they keep the deaths dark, but almost every farm
  has lost at least one man. In one we passed there were three widows.
  They are rather nice people and can nearly all speak English, and are
  rather nice-looking. We have fifty-one horses sick—about half with
  pink-eye and the other half sore backs and lame—but we make it up by
  degrees. Yesterday we collected eleven and the day before about the
  same, but in the night they got away. We also brought along 200 sheep
  and some cows; the sheep we have given over to the brigade, except
  about twenty for our own use. We carry with us to-morrow two days’
  rations and four on the carts in case the transport don’t come up.
  McMinn and Francis, of my section, got lost leading sick horses.
  McMinn has attached himself to another brigade, but nothing has been
  heard of Francis.

The self-restraint exercised by soldiers who left untouched the stores
and paid for all the live-stock they took at every farm where women and
children had been left by the retreating Boers will be appreciated by
all who know what it is to march and fight day after day on short
rations. Though Lumsden’s Horse laid in that store of supplies, it did
not last them many days, as we gather from a continuation of the
Colonel’s diary:

  On the 9th the usual daybreak start, our men with two days’ biscuits
  and one day’s feed for horses, but the officers with only some
  chocolate, as we relied on our mess cart being up. We were with the
  main body this day, till we neared the crossing of the Zand River at
  the Virginia Siding railway bridge, which had been blown up the day
  before, and at this point our companies were detached on each side of
  the drift to prevent a surprise. We heard General Hamilton having an
  artillery duel with the foe some miles off on our right, while on the
  left we saw the Mounted Infantry dislodging the enemy’s advance
  parties, the war balloon with Lord Roberts and Staff being near the
  drift itself. We received orders to concentrate and move away to the
  left, and on the far side of the river to join our corps—the 8th
  Mounted Infantry—on doing which we were immediately sent into action
  dismounted, firing at 1,500 yards, while the enemy’s pom-pom shells
  flew whistling over our heads as they aimed at our guns behind us. Our
  corps here got its first definite order, and that was, ‘Keep touch
  with the enemy at any cost.’ As this came from Lord Roberts direct, we
  proceeded to obey it to the letter, with the result that we were under
  shell and rifle fire for the remainder of the day. Having got well
  ahead of the rest of our brigade, in following up ‘Long Tom,’ which
  halted and fired on us at intervals, we kept running into the enemy’s
  supporting Infantry, whom we only managed to discomfit thoroughly when
  we got at them with our Maxim on the open hillside. Our losses were
  only two horses wounded. We were severely shelled several times, but
  we escaped casualties through being widely extended and also through
  the faulty bursting of the enemy’s shells. On one occasion ten shells
  burst among us within five minutes. About 3 P.M., in company with
  Colonel Ross, I went to endeavour to get some support, and brought up
  one company of Loch’s Horse, one company Tasmanians, and one company
  South Australian Rifles, afterwards meeting General Hutton with a
  battery Field Artillery, which promptly went into action on our left
  flank and shelled the Boers, who were then retiring. Unfortunately,
  our force was much too weak to attempt to follow them in the open. Had
  it not been so it was the opinion of General Hutton and Colonel Ross
  that we might have captured the whole of them—some 1,500, with a
  couple of guns. Dusk had then drawn on, and, having lost touch with
  our brigade, we marched under General Hutton’s orders to a camping
  ground seven miles off in the direction of Kroonstad, arriving about 9
  P.M., without food for men or horses, and there was no firewood within
  miles.

  The troopers had each little else but dry biscuit, the officers faring
  hardly any better.

Another correspondent writes of this affair:

  We had a very pretty fight at the Zand River, and were within an ace
  of taking two of the enemy’s big guns. To begin at the beginning. We
  had marched the previous day from our camp near Smaldeel to within
  about five miles of the Zand River. On our arrival there we heard that
  the Australians and Oxfords had been having a skirmish with some Boers
  at the bridge, and had seized a train of stores, but were forced to
  retire. Starting at daybreak in the second line of Mounted Infantry,
  we got across the drift all right, and drove the Boer outposts back.
  We sat on the further side of the river for about an hour, watching
  them bring up two big guns on to a kopje about three miles off, and
  wondering when we should be shelled. Presently we were ordered off on
  a flank movement, and after trotting some miles came in touch with the
  enemy. We dismounted, and moved up a valley with good cover, the
  pom-poms following. They drove back the Boer riflemen and presently
  silenced a gun, which had been amusing itself by shelling our led
  horses, but luckily without effect. We mounted again and started for a
  two-mile gallop to get up with their gun, but it had disappeared.
  Making a flank movement round the shoulder of the position they had
  occupied, and pushing on some distance, we found them again, or rather
  they found us first. Their gun got our range beautifully, but every
  shell seemed to fall and burst between the horses. Of course we were
  widely extended. Retiring, we dismounted and then advanced on foot,
  but their rifle fire and shell fire was too hot; so again we tried to
  out-flank their position. A Company and half of B Company advanced,
  and we climbed a small kopje with a deserted Kaffir kraal on top;
  Loch’s Horse, some of the Australians, and the West Riding Mounted
  Infantry went round and took up a position further along the ridge. We
  sat there for nearly two hours under a terrific shell fire, till it
  dawned on us to move below the brow. For the first half-hour they
  landed shell after shell (40-pounders) right into the middle of us;
  luckily, very few burst properly. If they had fired shrapnel, which
  bursts in the air, or lyddite, we should all have been blown off the
  top. They then let our horses have a few shots, and killed two and
  wounded three. In the meantime urgent messages were being sent for our
  artillery, or at least the pom-poms that generally come with us, but
  unfortunately they could get nothing but a walk out of their horses,
  and the Boers quietly trekked away. We ought to have had them with the
  greatest of ease, as we were well round them on two sides and a
  brigade was moving somewhere on the third. If the Artillery had got up
  in time we could easily have moved round the fourth side. We tried to
  keep in touch with the Boers when they retired, but it soon got dark
  and we had to stop.

No stirring episodes or dramatic incidents marked the army’s farther
advance towards a stronghold which the Free State Boers had declared
that they would defend to the last. Colonel Lumsden deals with this part
of the operations briefly in the following notes:

  Dawn on the 10th saw us in the saddle again on the move for Kroonstad.
  The leading sections were constantly in touch with the enemy, and
  sometimes under heavy shell fire, from which Corporal Kirwan received
  a scalp wound not very serious. After a long and weary march we halted
  at nightfall near a farm, where we were lucky enough to get some
  Indian corn for the horses and a few sheep for the men.

  We made an early start on the 11th for the expected big fight at
  Kroonstad, it having been reported on the previous evening that the
  enemy were strongly posted five miles on our side of the town.

  We advanced for ten miles with the utmost military precaution, only to
  find that the enemy had vacated the position, leaving Kroonstad
  undefended. Lord Roberts marched in at 3 P.M., followed by the Guards
  and the rest of the Infantry, the mounted troops flanking both sides
  of the town. We occupied heights on the left, and halted there for the
  night, changing ground next morning to our present camping ground, a
  mile distant, where, with the rest of the army, we are waiting for
  supplies for horses and men, before a forward movement towards
  Pretoria can be made.

  The halt has been a welcome one, as our horses are fairly done, and I
  doubt if I could mount 150 men to-morrow, and a few more weeks’ work
  like that of the last would reduce the numbers to 100. We are leaving
  a dozen horses to-day as unfit to march, and shot six yesterday. Cast
  horses wander about all over the veldt and lie dead in the river or
  any other quiet place, and fatigue parties are ceaselessly at work
  burying the bodies.

  You can form no idea of the condition of our horses, and, but for the
  fact that we have been able to commandeer and get remounts _en route_,
  we should have half our corps dismounted. We have lost quite
  seventy-five horses already. I have stated officially that we require
  immediately seventy-five remounts more, and these we expect to get
  this afternoon. Mrs. Barrow’s ‘Molly Riley’ looks like a
  bathing-machine horse, and I fear is on her last march.

  The men are all very well and in good spirits, are most efficient
  cooks, and if allowed would rank high as looters; but orders against
  this are very strict, and our men pay liberally for anything in the
  shape of foodstuffs wherever procurable.

  The office department has been rather upset by the loss of Sergeant
  Fraser, of the Bank of Bengal, who was Paymaster and Secretary, but I
  have replaced him by Graves, of the same bank, who is working up
  arrears as quickly as possible. He is a very willing and intelligent
  young fellow, and will soon have things straight again when he gets a
  few days’ halt, but it is impossible to do much on the line of march.

The troops were not all so punctilious as Lumsden’s Horse in the matter
of prompt payment for things commandeered, and a good story was told of
one brigade at Kroonstad, whose commander, in despair of being able to
check irregularities, issued an order that loot was ‘not to be carried
openly on the saddle.’ Our soldiers, however, had not then been reduced
by hardships and scant fare to the necessity of providing for themselves
at all costs. Some pitiful cases of unauthorised commandeering were
reported in connection with later operations, when columns moving
rapidly through several districts had to draw supplies from Boer farms
and give receipts for them in lieu of cash payments. Detached parties
driven to straits for want of food did not hesitate to adopt the means
they had seen employed by responsible officers, but took care to leave
no trace by which they could be identified. An officer who had to
investigate these cases told me of one receipt given to a Boer widow. It
ran thus: ‘Being without rations and hungry, we have taken all this poor
woman had of live-stock and food. She asks for a receipt. I give it. God
help her!—ALLY SLOPER.’ To the credit of British military
administration, it must be said that this document, though irregular,
was accepted as genuine, and duly honoured by payment in full.

Lumsden’s Horse had their share of the privations that made
commandeering a necessity, and even looting pardonable; and it is not to
be wondered at if some among them regarded campaigning in anything but
the roseate light that imagination had shed upon it before they left
India. Yet, even at this time, their conduct in circumstances that tried
the character of men individually and collectively won approval from
such a soldier as Colonel Ward, C.B. (now Sir Edward Ward, K.C.B.,
Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War). Singling them out on the
line of march, he asked what regiment they were, and seemed astonished
to learn that they were Volunteers. In a letter to the Editor he says:
‘I was much struck with Lumsden’s Horse. They were very keen and
excellent soldiers.’ After an exceptionally hard day one of them wrote:

  We were in the saddle at 5 A.M., and did not bivouac till 8 P.M., and
  were under shell fire the greater portion of the day. We had two men
  and several horses wounded; and two or three horses killed. It seemed
  to me that our task always was to find where the enemy’s guns were
  posted, as we invariably drew their fire on us. It was a fearfully
  long day, and after fighting for ten hours we had to march for five,
  and when we bivouacked we had nothing but a few dry biscuits and a
  little jam to eat, but we were making coffee till midnight. We were up
  again at 6 A.M., and did an easy march to Kroonstad, where we
  commandeered two fowls, and, having been served out with fresh mutton,
  we did ourselves very well indeed. Some potatoes had been left in the
  farmhouse garden, and these fried in dripping made a feast for
  epicures. Next day we marched again, and, after skirmishing about the
  hills above Kroonstad, camped outside the town. It had been evacuated
  by Boer commandos the day before, and surrendered without a shot being
  fired.

  Lord Roberts received quite an ovation as he marched in, but we only
  heard the cheers, as our corps was not in the town, but above it. We
  have now marched right across the Orange State from Bethulie to
  Kroonstad, and are wondering how much farther we shall go. There are
  all sorts of rumours about camp—some say Lumsden’s Horse are to
  garrison Kroonstad, others that we go on east to Harrismith, and
  others, again, that we accompany Lord Roberts to Pretoria. There have
  been days when but two men were left in the lines; all the rest have
  been on fatigue or duty of some sort. Our horses, it is true, have
  been overworked and underfed, but you will be able to form some idea
  of the effects of ‘pink-eye’ and other African diseases when I tell
  you that of the thirty men in our section alone who were well mounted
  when we started from India there are about five of us riding our own
  horses now, all the others have remounts; and our section is not the
  worst in this respect. My horse is doing me splendidly; except for a
  sore back for a few days, he has never been sick or sorry.

  We have learnt to cook now, and can serve up chops, steaks, stews, and
  curries as well as any cook—when we can get the meat. We have been
  lucky lately in bivouacking near farmhouses, as we can commandeer
  chickens and sheep, paying for them when we are caught! We have, for
  the last few days, been getting to our camps after sundown, and by the
  time the fires are lighted and the meat ready to cook it is quite 9
  o’clock. It takes an hour or so to cook, and the eating lasts longer,
  as the meat stands a deal of masticating. We seldom get to bed before
  12, and are always ready by 5 o’clock, so you can imagine how
  invigorating the climate of this place is. It is bitterly cold at
  night and hot in the day, yet very few of our men are down with fever.
  It is a fine climate, but a fearful country. For miles and miles you
  see nothing but immense, undulating, treeless, waterless tracts of
  poor pasture-land. Here and there you find small ponds of dirty water,
  but whether it is rain-water dammed up or whether these are springs I
  have not yet been able to ascertain. The farmers here make their
  living by breeding cattle, and not by cultivation at all. We have
  marched from one end of the Orange State to the other, and I don’t
  suppose all the cultivation I have seen would cover ten acres. A year
  of drought or disease, I should think, would tell very heavily on
  farmers here.

  Queen’s Town is the only town in Africa that I can really say I have
  seen; we either camped outside the other towns or merely passed
  through without having time to see them. We rode through Bloemfontein,
  and from what I could see of it it seems to be a large town built on
  the slopes of two or three converging hills, and fairly dirty.

  Several of the towns we have passed consisted of half-a-dozen zinc
  houses, two at least of which are bound to be churches; of the
  remaining four, one will be a store and the rest dwelling-houses. But
  each dwelling-house is a township in itself. Even the ‘mild Hindu’
  marvels at the number of people who live in one house, no matter how
  small it may be. There was a farmhouse near our camp at Bloemfontein,
  where we used to go sometimes to get a cup of coffee. This house had
  two rooms, each one about twenty-five feet square. It contained the
  following permanent residents—they said, they had visitors sometimes
  too—one old woman and three young ones and three young men and six
  children of sorts and sizes. One of the rooms was used as a kitchen
  and larder, so there was only one for general use. Needless to say,
  these people were Boers!

One trooper of A Company, writing to friends in Calcutta, has nothing
but expressions of admiration for the behaviour of British Bluejackets,
to whom he pays appreciative tribute in the following extract:

  At Zand River, on the 10th, I was with the naval guns in action. It
  was simply grand to see the sailors work them. They were drawn up a
  drift in the Zand River by teams of thirty bullocks per gun, and
  opened fire from the top of the left bank on the enemy’s position at
  7,200 yards range, and in five shots had blown up one Boer gun and
  knocked the whole shoot down about their ears. When the first gun was
  fired I happened to be quite near, although at one side of it, and the
  force of the explosion made me stagger as if a man were in a strong
  north-wester trying to make headway.

Even the novelty of such things, however, soon began to wear off, and
under the depressing influences of life in a rest camp outside Kroonstad
the trooper took a more gloomy view of things military, writing:

  This place is like most of the so-called towns in South Africa, a mere
  cluster of tin huts with hardly a stone building in the lot. We, as
  usual, are not within a mile and a half of the town, and only one man
  per section of twenty-eight is allowed into it at a time. When you do
  get there, there is nothing much to buy or see, and prices are
  extremely high. Thank goodness, the climate at this time of year is
  just grand; at night it is very cold, and in the day warm, but never
  too warm unless one happens to be very hard at work. We seldom have
  any time to ourselves; even now, though I am writing letters, I am on
  duty with forty other men grazing the horses, about a couple of miles
  from camp. We are in a bad way for nags now, and very few of the
  Calcutta horses are left. It’s fun going out to commandeer things from
  the Boer farms, and it would make a person roar to see the different
  things different people choose to take. We are generally in a bad way
  for firewood, as this is practically a treeless country; so we break
  up chairs, beds, floors, doors, posts, rafters, and every blessed
  piece of wood to be got. Here as I sit on the side of a kopje I have a
  loaded rifle and cartridge bandolier on, and we are warned to stand to
  arms at any moment, as there are some wandering Boers about on the
  war-path who have cut the wires and played Old Nick with the railway
  and Bridges. It’s wonderful what good health men keep, considering the
  hardships they go through; we have not got a tent among the lot of us,
  barring those small servants’ tents used by the officers. Many among
  us have not even a change of clothes, on account of a _golmal_[11]
  made in regard to our kit bags, which got left behind at a camp near
  Bloemfontein. Goodness knows if we shall ever see those bags again. At
  present I have only the clothes on my back and one extra pair of socks
  to my name. Many of us have started growing long beards, and I have a
  beauty, but it wants a little trimming. I had a bath about four days
  ago, the first for weeks, and please goodness I will have a swim
  before leaving this place, as there is a river here which, though
  rather full of dead mules and horses, is better than nothing at all.
  Yesterday three horses got stuck in the river and were drowned, and
  this morning when watering horses I saw three mules and another nag
  which belonged to our Maxim gun team _panklagged_, and I fear that
  they also have been lost. There is most awful ‘pank’ in some of the
  rivers and ponds, and on more than one occasion we have all but lost
  men when crossing or watering. I have had about enough of it, and so
  has everyone else. It does make a man feel creepy when he has shells
  bursting about all round, and Boer shells do burst, for all that is
  said otherwise. They make a noise in the air like a huge flock of
  ducks when they take a dive downwards in their flight; and the rifle
  bullets going past sound like a breeze playing in the branches of a
  tree. I have now been in three engagements, and I’m perfectly
  satisfied! I don’t mind it where there is some cover, and you can see
  your enemy; but when the bullets come from Lord knows where, it’s real
  tough bread and butter to chew. The day we lost so heavily the Boers
  were rifle firing at over 2,000 yards, and as they use smokeless
  powder it was impossible to see them.

In those closing sentences there is a realistic touch that tells of the
weariness and heart-sickness from which soldiers invariably suffer in
days of rest following a succession of hard marches and heavy fighting.
When there is stern work to be done, or a foe to be faced, these men may
succumb to sheer exhaustion without a word of complaint. It is only
after a day or two of comparative inaction, when supposed, by a pleasant
fiction, to be resting in camp, that they will confess to being tired of
the whole thing, or, as Tommy expresses it, ‘fair fed up.’ A total
change comes with the order for a fresh advance, and everybody welcomes
it except, perhaps, the regimental commanding officer, who knows that
his horses would be all the better if given more time to regain
condition, and his men more happy if there were a chance of re-clothing
them. But what do rags and tatters matter when days have to be spent in
marching through clouds of red dust and night blots out all distinction
between weather-stained khaki and the soil on which it is laid? Colonel
Lumsden must have felt the care for such things heavy on him, but he
gave no sign of it in the notes by which he summarised the renewal of
operations and of hard work that was in inverse ratio to the number of
words employed in describing it:

  We halted at Kroonstad till the 22nd, and then moved out some four and
  a half miles to a fresh camp clear of the town ready to join Colonel
  Henry’s brigade, and to start marching early next morning. Nothing of
  interest occurred at Kroonstad, except that we were able to leave
  behind a number of worn-out horses. These were replaced by fifty-six
  Argentines, which arrived the day before we left in a sorry condition,
  suffering from the effects of forced marches made without food, except
  what they could pick up on the veldt.

  The next three days were spent in long weary marches, reconnoitring
  the country in front of the main advance, for we had been transferred
  at Kroonstad from General Hamilton’s column to the troops selected to
  march with Lord Roberts. Just after the men had settled down in camp
  at sunset on the 24th, bugles sounded a single G, and, on hearing this
  signal, all troops joined in singing ‘God Save the Queen.’

  We were expecting to be in action every day, but nothing was seen of
  the enemy till the 26th, when we came upon him at about 9 A.M. in the
  railway station near Viljoen’s Drift, half a mile from the Vaal River.
  There some time was spent in reconnoitring to find out the enemy’s
  strength, and when a few shells had been put into the station, turning
  out only a hundred Boers, we were too late to stop the train which had
  apparently been loading up there. It steamed unhurt over the Vaal
  bridge, which was immediately blown up.

  A general advance of the 8th Corps was made dismounted, and the enemy
  driven back, so that at noon the whole brigade was over the Vaal, much
  to the delight of the manager of the mines, who had been in a state of
  great anxiety. He treated all officers to breakfast, and told us that
  the Boers had not expected our force for two days, and that the party
  just ejected by us had arrived that very morning with the intention of
  blowing up his mines. He estimated that one million sterling had been
  saved by our unexpected arrival.

  Our only casualty during the day was Sergeant H.A. Campbell, slightly
  wounded.

  At 5 P.M. we moved off to our new camp, guarding the Vaal bridge, with
  the promise of a sorely-needed halt next day.

From this brief chronicle nobody would suppose that the honour of
reconnoitring and drawing Boers out from their hiding-places among the
sheds and shanties of corrugated iron at Viljoen’s Drift Station had
fallen to Lumsden’s Horse. Lieutenant Pugh, however, supplies the
missing links in a private letter:

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bassano_
  SERGEANT PERCY JONES, D.C.M.
]

  It was my section’s turn to do the scouting, and they did very well,
  getting information that there was a train and fifty men in the
  station this side of the Vaal. Two other regiments of Mounted Infantry
  each sent out an officer’s patrol of about fifty men, and each came
  back full split. One of their officers told my scouts that if they did
  not wish to be shot they had better clear, but Peddie thought this was
  not business; he, being in charge of the advanced scouts, went on till
  they were fired on and then halted. We had to wait for orders to
  advance for about half an hour, and saw the train steam out of the
  station and over the bridge and presently blow up one span. With a
  dash we could have caught the men and train, and probably saved the
  bridge, as we had two Maxims, and we could easily have driven the
  Boers off. We then crossed the river and drove their rearguard out of
  Vereeniging. They took the opportunity of burning a large store of
  mealies at the station. Our guns got into them well as they bolted
  across the plain. We had a very nice fight, and everyone is much
  pleased, even the Chief of the Staff.

Through all this advance, in which Lumsden’s Horse, with other corps of
the 8th Mounted Infantry, reconnoitred ahead of the army, troopers who
had been trained to field sports proved invaluable, and sometimes at
least a match for the wily Boer. Nobody distinguished himself more by
skill at this work than Corporal Percy Jones, whom Colonel Lumsden
regarded as one of his best scouts, a man of great self-reliance,
unfailing in resources, and with a very keen eye for a country, so that
he never allowed the section of which he was leader to be entrapped or
surprised. For repeated acts of daring enterprise he was promoted to the
rank of sergeant and given the ‘Distinguished Conduct’ Medal. Others
who, being selected for some specially difficult or dangerous duty, had
on occasion distinguished themselves as scouts, or who, by actions of
individual gallantry, won mention in despatches, with subsequent
honours, were Trooper Preston (D.C.M.), Trooper H.N. Betts (D.C.M.),
Trooper W.B. Dexter (D.C.M.), and Corporal G. Peddie. Trooper H.R.
Parks, Sergeant Dale, Sergeant Llewhellin, and Corporal C.E. Turner also
performed meritorious actions, for which they were mentioned in
despatches.[12]

Though little has been said of the privations endured by our soldiers
during their forced marches from Kroonstad to reach the Vaal River
before its steep sandy banks could be made formidable by entrenchments,
as the Modder was, some troops suffered severely from want of sufficient
food, and nearly all were on short rations. It is certain, however, that
not many could have been so near the ravenous stage of starvation as a
private in one colonial corps, of whose act a trooper of Lumsden’s Horse
writes:

  The day we crossed the Vaal River a very interesting thing happened;
  we were very hungry, and when we got to Vereeniging a dog was seen
  running away with half a loaf of bread in his mouth. Immediately a
  private darted out of the ranks and rode the dog down, took the bread
  out of his mouth, and ate it.

At last Lumsden’s Horse were on Transvaal territory. Another vaunted
stronghold, which the Boers had declared they would defend to the last
extremity, was in our hands, without even the semblance of a struggle
for it. Generals French and Hutton had crossed the Vaal at important
strategic points west of Vereeniging. All the most important drifts were
thus held by us, and the ways open for British columns to enter the
Transvaal without opposition. On the following day Lord Roberts, with
his headquarters, moved across Viljoen’s Drift and issued a proclamation
declaring that the Orange Free State had ceased to exist, and had become
from that moment an integral part of the British Empire, to be known
henceforth as Orange River Colony.

[Illustration: J.S. CAMPBELL]

[Illustration: C.E. TURNER]

[Illustration: E.S. CHAPMAN]

[Illustration: G. INNES WATSON]

[Illustration: C.E. STUART]

[Illustration: C. CARY-BARNARD]

[Illustration: E.S. CLIFFORD]

[Illustration: CORPORAL KIRWAN]

[Illustration: H. GOUGH]

                          N.C.O. AND TROOPERS




                              CHAPTER XII
                _JOHANNESBURG AND PRETORIA IN OUR HANDS_


In all operations up to this point Lumsden’s Horse, with Loch’s Horse
and companies of the West Riding and Oxfordshire Light Infantry, forming
the 8th Mounted Infantry Regiment, under Colonel Ross, had, with other
corps of Colonel Henry’s brigade, been so actively engaged scouting
ahead of the main column with which Lord Roberts moved, that they had
neither time nor opportunity to know what was being done by other
divisions of the army. It is necessary, therefore, to explain briefly
here the general dispositions for an advance on Pretoria at the moment
when Lord Roberts crossed Vaal River into Transvaal territory. Since
they marched out of Kroonstad the troops, whose advance was most
direct—following the line of railway with slight divergences—had covered
just a hundred miles in four days. Mounted troops, being employed to
reconnoitre on each flank and keep up communications along their front,
almost doubled that distance. In face of such a rapid advance the Boer
commandos which had dispersed after their evacuation of Kroonstad found
a difficulty in concentrating for the defence of any strategic points.
They were evidently puzzled by the sudden mobility of British forces,
and, what with Methuen marching for the west, French’s Cavalry making a
dash for the drifts at Parys and Reitzburg, as if Potchefstroom were
their objective, the main column pushing along beside the railway for
Viljoen’s Drift, and Ian Hamilton marching as if for Engelbrecht’s Drift
on the Heilbron-Heidelberg road, the Boer commandants could not agree as
to which point would most likely be threatened first or at which they
might make a stand with the greatest chance of success. Hasty
preparations were made by them with a view to checking General Ian
Hamilton, whom they credited with a design on Heidelberg and the Eastern
railways. Possibly that, combined with a great movement in force upon
the junctions outside Johannesburg, might have been the shortest way to
end the war, because, as we know now, the Boer Generals attached very
little importance to the defence of their big towns, while they realised
fully all the strategical advantages of free communication between
Pretoria and the eastern districts; and President Kruger especially was
anxious to keep open a line by which prominent members of his
Administration might be able to get away with a sufficient store of
bullion for private and political uses at the last moment. The defenders
of Engelbrecht’s Drift, however, waited in vain watching the trap they
had laid for General Ian Hamilton. His line of march had been suddenly
changed by orders from Lord Roberts, and, instead of crossing the Vaal
where he was expected, east of Vereeniging, he had made a rapid march
westward to strike the river between General French’s Cavalry and the
main body, leaving our right flank to be guarded by General Gordon with
the 3rd Cavalry Brigade. With regard to all this and the ceremony at
Viljoen’s Drift, when Lord Roberts proclaimed the annexation of Orange
Free State to the British Crown, Lumsden’s Horse knew nothing at the
time. Content with their own share of the good work that had been
accomplished, they were consoling themselves by the prospect of at least
one day’s well-earned rest for men and horses. But that good fortune was
not to be theirs after all. Colonel Lumsden, continuing his official
record, explains how these pleasant hopes were dashed:

  The 27th dawned, the horses were turned out to graze, leave was given
  for men to go into town, and general cleaning up began, when suddenly
  at 10.30 A.M. we had an order to move at once to help the 3rd Cavalry
  Brigade under General Gordon, who was reported to be in a tight corner
  to the north-east. Horses were caught, saddles put on, and we were
  away by 11, with no rations for man or horse. The rest of the brigade
  joined in four miles further on. All proceeded with every precaution
  through a difficult bit of trappy country, arriving about 4.30 P.M. at
  the drift where General Gordon was supposed to be stuck up. There no
  signs of him could be seen, so we made tracks back to a point four
  miles north of Vereeniging, where we were to have joined our column,
  when it camped there that night. We struggled on until, our horses
  giving out, the whole brigade bivouacked at 8 P.M., having put behind
  us some seven miles of our return journey, and having done quite
  twenty-five miles. Lieutenant Neville, with a guide, was sent in to
  headquarters for instructions, and returned at 3 A.M. with the order
  that our brigade was to come on at once and resume its position in
  front of the headquarters, leading the army. By 4 A.M. we were away
  again in the bitter frosty cold, leading our starved horses, the sun
  rising as we waded a nasty drift over the Klip. We reached our place
  in the advance guard at 7, in the nick of time, just as all had begun
  to move off, and were at once pushed on three miles at a trot ahead of
  everything, fighting being expected at the notorious Klip River
  position. No Boers, however, were seen. The country was ablaze with
  the burning veldt, which the Boers had set fire to systematically as
  they went, and the Klip River was gained without a shot. There were
  sounds of heavy fighting, however, in the hills on our left, where
  French and Hamilton were forcing back the enemy on Johannesburg.

[Illustration: LIEUTENANT G.A. NEVILLE.]

With an editorial desire to link the separate operations into one chain,
I may here describe from personal experience what happened away on that
left flank where French and Hamilton were hotly engaged with the
outposts of a Boer force, whose object in holding the high kopjes
between Gatsrand and Klipriviersberg was obviously to force upon us a
wider flanking movement, by which the western columns would be further
separated from the main body and thus unable to co-operate with it
effectively. It is improbable that Louis Botha had any hope of being
able to defeat the British forces in detail by delivering a
counter-stroke on each column in turn. It is far more likely that his
idea even at that period was to lengthen out the British line of
communications as far as possible, thus weakening it by attenuation and
making it more vulnerable to attacks by small raiding parties.
Co-operating with him was Christian De Wet, to whom such a plan would
have been sure to commend itself as offering a chance for numbers of
Free-Staters to slip through the girdle that was gradually closing about
them, re-cross the Vaal, and harass their enemies on ground where local
knowledge would give them every advantage.

On this supposition the resistance offered to General French some
twenty-five miles north-west of Vereeniging had peculiar interest for
me, because I watched the operations there with some foreknowledge of
the probable Boer tactics gained in a curious way. Four days earlier I
had breakfasted at a farm next to Christian De Wet’s, not far from
Rodewal station. The farmer invited myself and a companion into his
house, above which a white flag was flying, and when told that this was
our Queen’s birthday he produced a bottle of whisky with which to drink
to Her Majesty’s health, which we did readily enough, although he
declined to join us. There was no unfriendliness or want of hospitality
in that, and, indeed, we should have mistrusted the man if he had put on
a pretence of loyalty because he had been induced to hoist the white
flag as an emblem of neutrality. There were no troops at that moment
nearer than Lumsden’s Horse, who could be seen on the sky-line about
four miles westward, moving towards Vredefort Road Station.

From that direction presently came a young Boer well mounted but
unarmed. His wary movements at first seemed to indicate that he had no
desire to be seen by our troops, but our host explained that the road
took many turns and twists which might puzzle a stranger. The horseman
was evidently not well pleased to find Englishmen at the farm, but this
we, being somewhat vain, attributed to jealousy, seeing that the youth
and our host’s comely daughter were exchanging glances in which there
might have been a world of other meaning, though we suspected it not. We
knew instinctively that they were not quite strangers, but there were no
signs of friendly recognition in our presence. After a brief
conversation, carried on between the young man and the farmer aside,
though neither of us could have understood the taal they talked, our
host came forward and explained that his neighbour was simply riding
from one farm to another, where the family had all surrendered and
obtained their permits to live in peace. There was nothing to be done
then except shake hands and part, but the next day my Basuto servant,
who, having lived in Johannesburg, had a wholesome dread of Boer
sjamboks, gave me a full interpretation of what he had overheard the
young man say in that neighbourly talk with our burgher friend. The
burden of it was that this guileless youth, Ferreira by name, had been
sent by Christian De Wet to let everybody know why the Free State
commandos were retiring with Botha’s Transvaalers instead of defending
their own homesteads. It was only to lure the English on to destruction,
and Christian De Wet promised that he would slip back again in a day or
two to Rodewal and play Old Harry with the invaders.

Up to the time of joining General French’s force in the afternoon of May
28 I had regarded this as a vain boast. A closer study of Boer tactics,
however, was enough to show what they were playing for, and I watched
with some apprehension our Cavalry moving westward in vain attempts to
outflank the mobile Boers, who were galloping from kopje to kopje on one
side of a vast dam fringed by treacherous mires which French’s squadrons
could not cross. Ian Hamilton meanwhile conformed to this movement
without getting touch of the enemy or drawing near to their stronghold,
which was obviously on the frowning crest of Klipriviersberg (shortened
by the Boers colloquially to Riviersberg).

Being alone, and far from my supplies, I slept supperless that night in
a deserted Boer store, for the sake of such shelter as a wall and roof
might give from a keen icy wind that swept in gusts through the broken
windows. I had neither overcoat nor blanket, and saw nothing to lie on
but a filthy floor or the bare laths of a rickety iron bedstead. I chose
the latter. Having been in the saddle from 5 in the morning until 10 at
night, with the exception of necessary halts for my horse to graze, I
was soon oblivious to the discomfort of that rude couch, and, for all I
knew, my pillow might have been softest down instead of hard
saddle-flaps. But long before daybreak the cravings of a hunger that had
only been tantalised by coffee and biscuit twenty-four hours earlier
awoke me to a consciousness that my limbs were aching with cold and sore
from the chafing of those sharp-edged laths. Striking a light, I looked
at the little thermometer attached to my wallet, and found that it
registered ten degrees of frost. More sleep was not to be thought of, so
I groped through the darkness to a stall only less draughty than the
store I had slept in, found my horse shivering there, rubbed him down
with a wisp of straw, by way of restoring his circulation and my own,
and waited for the dawn. Then I found my way across vleis and spruits to
where General Ian Hamilton’s force was moving off through dense mists
from Cyferfontein to attack the Boer position on Riviersberg. When the
rising sun dispelled those mists the Gordons and City Imperial
Volunteers were spread out in thin lines stretching fan-like across a
segment of the veldt, and so they went on hour after hour without
finding any sign of Boers. The pangs of hunger being all-potent, I rode
off in search of a farm, hoping also to come across another British
column within a few miles. After an hour or more I was gladdened by the
sight of Haartebeestefontein Farm standing in the midst of green
mealie-patches and belted about by eucalyptus trees—the very picture of
peace. At that moment four Boers drove out from the farm-yard in a
well-horsed Cape cart, but made no sign at sight of me except by driving
the faster. They needn’t have been in such a hurry to get away from an
unarmed and famished Englishman, who had not one comrade within miles.
But luckily they didn’t know.

Though French’s Cavalry had been at the farm a day before me and
ransacked the Veldt-Cornet’s deserted house, in search of any documents
that might have been left there, ducks were swimming in a pond close by
and fowls cackling about the sheds from which some Kaffirs presently
appeared. To my request, for bread or eggs or milk they had but one
answer, ‘Ikona.’ The sight of a loaded revolver might have produced some
effect, but, having none, I dismounted and made a systematic search. If
food in any shape was there it must have been very cleverly hidden.
Finding not so much as a bundle of oat-hay for my horse to nibble at, I
rode on across ridge and hollow another five miles or so, and then came
upon a little dorp or hamlet, from which all the inhabitants except a
Dutch schoolmaster and his wife had disappeared. They declared that not
a scrap of food had been left behind. But the good vrau gave me a cup of
excellent coffee, and with thanks for the best of hospitality, which
gives all it can, I jogged along another league or two, following the
straight road towards Johannesburg and expecting every minute to fall in
with the rearguard of a column going that way. All the while I had not
seen a single soldier or the trace of an iron-shod hoof that was not at
least a day old. The unmistakable marks of ‘ammunition’ boots were not
there, and neither horse nor man had left footprints on tracks where the
morning’s thaw had softened them. At last from a rugged ridge I saw
smoke curling up from houses among the trees that marked the course of a
river some two miles ahead. Not caring much by that time whether Britons
or Boers might be in those houses, I rode straight for the nearest of
them, which turned out to be a farm in the barn of which I saw much
forage.

Evidently none of our mounted troops had been there, but it was too late
to think of turning back. That, in all probability, would have brought a
Mauser bullet whistling about my ears. ‘Bluff’ was the only game to play
in such circumstances, so I called to a Kaffir servant, told him to
fetch forage for my horse, and then swaggered towards the house as if I
had been a Staff officer with a whole regiment at my back. On the stoep
a bearded Boer met me. He had been lying prone on ground where rhenoster
bushes grew. Their burrs were still sticking to his serge jacket, the
left elbow of which was stained by the red earth on which it had rested,
and his right thumb was black with a coating of burnt melinite. I saw it
all as he raised one hand in a sort of half-military salute, and
extended the other to welcome me, and in that moment I knew he had just
come down from Riviersberg heights for lunch in the intervals of
fighting. So, still playing an assumed part, I asked what weapons he
had, and he brought me a well-worn Martini-Henry; but that was not what
I wanted. After some show of misunderstanding the Boer brought his wife,
who talked English fluently enough, and when I had explained to her the
awful consequences of concealing arms or ammunition from a British
officer, holding plenary powers of punishment, there was no necessity
for saying any more. Without even waiting for my words to be
interpreted, her husband went out and came back with a Mauser rifle, the
fouling of which was still moist round its breech-chamber, and a
bandolier half full of cartridges. These I took charge of, not knowing
what I should do with them if a Boer commando happened to come that way.
As to British troops—well, at any rate, I had no hesitation in assuring
the Boer that his household would be safe from them. I did not think it
necessary to add that none would be likely to come anywhere near him. In
return for my leniency (save the mark!) he suggested something that had
been in my mind all the while, and thereupon his good wife brought a
deliciously white loaf and milk that was fragrant in its freshness. She
was sorry that they ‘had nothing better to offer.’ Nothing better!
Heavens, how sweet it tasted! Yet I was restrained from eating or
drinking much by the thought that any show of my famished state would
give me away. It was difficult to parry all questions concerning the
number of troops I had with me, so I said that my men must have found a
lot of arms to collect or they would have been there sooner. Upon that
the Boer volunteered information as to the number of rifles which could
possibly be in farms or cottages round about. All this information I
noted down ostentatiously, wondering as I did so how on earth I should
get out of the hole into which circumstances were thrusting me deeper
and deeper.

At that moment, as luck would have it, two West Australians of the 4th
Regiment M.I. turned up, and, leaving them to collect the arms of which
such careful note had been made, and to eat the remnants of my
unfinished meal I mounted to ride off in quest of their main body,
taking care, however, to command proper protection for the house in
which I had been so hospitably entertained. ‘Well played,’ said one,
with much outward show of respect, as he produced a bottle of brandy
from the ample pocket of his ‘coat British warm,’ and offered me a nip.
I saw that he, at any rate, understood the game. At Eikenhof Drift I
found the main body which turned out to be no more than a patrol. Its
appearance drew fire from the Boers, who were apparently holding that
road into Johannesburg strongly. They began to show in groups of twenty
and thirty on kopjes where no sign of them had been seen before, and
were evidently meditating a movement by which the drift might have been
outflanked. To prevent this Major Pilkington, who was in command,
detached some men from his scanty force to hold two smaller fords, and
in a short time there were several casualties from rifle fire at short
range. Just then we could hear the roar of guns where General Ian
Hamilton was attacking miles away on the left. Hard pressed, yet
determined to hold on where he was, Major Pilkington had not a galloper
whom he could send with a message to his divisional General, Pole-Carew.
I volunteered to carry it, and started for a ride of twenty miles across
unknown country, making sure that I should hit off some column within
that distance. But all the troops under the immediate command of Lord
Roberts had been following the line of railway—where their front was
cleared by the 8th Mounted Infantry, with which were Lumsden’s Horse and
other regiments of Colonel Henry’s brigade—in a turning movement, the
extent of which will be appreciated after perusal of the preceding
narrative. I had ridden a distance that would have measured nearly
thirty miles from point to point without seeing more than a small patrol
of British troops. That night, or early the next morning, when Major
Pilkington had withdrawn his small force, a thousand Free State Boers
crossed Eikenhof Drift and got in rear of the British columns to rejoin
De Wet. Meanwhile, with French or Hamilton on the west, and in advance
of the main body on the east, deeds were being done that sealed the fate
of Johannesburg and Pretoria. Lumsden’s Horse took a full share of
honours that day, though their Colonel does not descant upon these at
great length in his official report, but contents himself with the
following record:

  On the 29th we marched at 5.30, expecting to arrive after ten miles at
  Natal Spruit, where fighting was certain. Our maps and information
  were, however, wrong, for we found ourselves most unexpectedly in
  sight of the place with the smoke of the train leaving the station.

  We were sent to endeavour to cut it off as it wound about the kopjes,
  and had a very exciting gallop of three miles, blowing up the railway
  behind the train. Again we pushed on to try and cut her off at the
  next big bend, but again were too late, and ran into the fire of a
  party covering the retreat of the train.

  We then took up a position commanding the railroad, while under
  Colonel Ross’s orders a party of five men was sent to block the line
  at any cost. This very dangerous task was given to Lieutenant Pugh and
  the undermentioned men, who carried it out with great determination
  and coolness: Privates Turner, Were, Dagge, and Parks.

An officer of high rank, whose opportunities of knowing what happened
give especial value to his testimony, says:

  On May 29 the 8th Mounted Infantry were ordered to move from Klip
  Drift to cut the Natal Railway line, the Springs line (the main line
  north of Elandsfontein), and the telegraph wires at important points.
  When near the junction of Natal and Free State lines we saw a
  train-load of burghers from Natal passing northwards to where, beyond
  the junction, the railway runs from a broad valley into one of several
  converging kopjes through a deep cutting in the steep and rugged
  hillside. With the object of heading off that train as it slackened
  speed on a stiff gradient, Lumsden’s Horse made a great gallop up the
  valley towards a point where it narrows to a neck, from which the
  hills rise abruptly on each side. Their course for two or three miles
  was over rough ground parallel to the railway and nearly midway
  between it and a branch of Natal Spruit. They were unable, however, to
  arrive in time, and the Boers, detraining, occupied a kopje just above
  the railway cutting, the gorge and banks of which they could command
  from the ridge above and from a ganger’s hut, which they also held in
  force. Thus they had the railway between them and Lumsden’s Horse, and
  seemed in a good position for sweeping all approaches to it by an
  effective rifle fire. Lumsden’s Horse dismounted in the hollow and
  advanced against that kopje.

  It was, however, necessary to destroy the line, and the Engineer
  officer who accompanied the force for the purpose of blowing up the
  line was not handy. Lieutenant Pugh, with four men, then volunteered
  to get into the cutting at its deepest point and either block or break
  it. As the Boers were holding the ganger’s hut close to this point, it
  was a warm corner! However, Pugh and his party reached the line. The
  four men covered his further advance from the edge of the embankment
  whilst he descended into the cutting. Having nothing wherewith to
  break the line, he effectually blocked it with a number of huge
  boulders—quite sufficient to stop any train passing through. This
  occupied some time, and his covering party were pretty busy with the
  Boers at the hut, who were at first inclined to run in on him. But as
  one or two of them paid dearly for their temerity, their efforts
  ceased, so that Pugh and his party were enabled to retreat from their
  little picnic without loss. Pugh is now a D.S.O.

  It was a long and hard day that 29th of May; the 8th Mounted Infantry
  were under fire from 7 A.M. till 9 P.M. Lumsden’s Horse were among the
  _few_ troops in at the finish on the hill north of Elandsfontein,
  where the parting duel was fought with the Boers as they retreated.
  All the lines were cut. The consequent bag was fourteen engines and
  over 400 waggons—not a bad day’s work. Even Lord Kitchener is reported
  to have ‘smiled’ when he heard the news.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Harrington & Co._
  LIEUTENANT H.O. PUGH, D.S.O.
]

This incident is described with further detail in a private letter by
Lieutenant Pugh, who, modestly minimising his own share in a very
hazardous enterprise, writes:

  Yesterday our orders were to take Elandsfontein, cut the wires and
  blow up the railway, and to do the same at Germiston. The first
  excitement began at Elsburg, where we saw a train going out of the
  station. Seeing it was on the move, we sent some men to try to cut it
  off, but it went back up an angle like the Darjiling train. There was
  another angle, and we galloped about three miles to that part, but the
  train was too fast and went round a kopje, where its occupants
  evidently got out and opened fire on us. If we had known the line we
  would have got that train easily by going to the left instead of to
  the right. While we were dismounted and firing an order came for six
  men to rush for the line and try to block it. The Colonel passed on
  for the six men at the end to go. It happened to be partly my section
  and partly No. 4. One man could not find his horse, so I went off with
  four men and galloped right up to the railway and under the
  embankment. It was held by a fairly strong picket, who luckily did not
  fire till we were under cover. I put two men on to fire at that
  picket, of which three were hit—the range was only about fifty
  yards—and the other two on to about 100 on our left front 200 or 300
  yards off. We were also fired at from a kopje on our right. The picket
  presently cleared, and I made a rush for the line: it was in a cutting
  and out of the fire. I rolled some boulders on the lines, and on
  getting back found a pretty hot fire had opened on us from behind: it
  turned out to be one of our own Maxims. We mounted and galloped back
  without a scratch.

  Colonel Ross’s orders then were to push on and support the 4th Mounted
  Infantry, who held a kopje on our right. Here we lay for two hours,
  our position overlooking the Boksburg railway station, supported by
  two Colt guns from Ross’s Battery, which kept up a steady fire in
  answer to the enemy’s shells and bullets until their retirement. We
  then continued the turning movement to the right and took possession
  of the station, halting there for a few minutes to re-form, while the
  Royal Engineer Company attached to us for the purpose blew up the line
  at this point. One of our sailors, Private Dexter, swarming up the
  telegraph post, cut all communication with Springs. At the time we and
  a company of Compton’s Horse were the only troops up, and, being
  reinforced by two companies of the 4th Mounted Infantry, which were
  placed under my orders, we were told to proceed with all speed due
  west to blow up the Pretoria line, which we should find four miles on.
  We succeeded in doing this, but too late to cut off one train, which
  just evaded us, our horses being too done to go faster than a modest
  trot. We again halted a few minutes, facing a long kopje in front of
  us.

[Illustration:

  WALTER DEXTER, D.C.M., B Company,
  cutting the telegraph wires at Elandsfontein
  (_From a sketch by J.S. Cowen_)
]

Colonel Lumsden adds:

  While the Royal Engineer Company were busy blowing up the railway at
  this point, Captain Rutherfoord on the left, with our scouts, with his
  usual keenness soon came in touch with those of the enemy, and a brisk
  fire ensued on both sides, Captain Rutherfoord holding his position
  until I was able to reinforce him on his right flank. Colonel Ross
  soon hurried up further reinforcements on his left, which enabled us
  to hold the kopje and forced the enemy to fall back on the convoy they
  were covering. As night was approaching, pursuit with our tired horses
  was utterly hopeless, and we were ordered to move to our left and
  encamp at Germiston, which lay in the hollow behind us. This, being
  the junction of railway lines that branch off in several directions,
  was the key of the Boer position. Our day’s movements had, however,
  been very successful, and Colonel Henry issued a brigade order next
  morning saying he had been congratulated by the Commander-in-Chief on
  the day’s work; while Colonel Ross was also congratulated on the
  prominent part taken by his corps, which resulted in the capture of
  fourteen engines and a large quantity of rolling-stock. This was very
  pleasant news to us, but the work was telling its tale on the horses,
  who were dead beat and fast tumbling to pieces from overwork and want
  of food. Our casualty was fortunately only one during the day—namely,
  Private J.D. Bewsher, who was shot through the knee while we were
  engaging the enemy opposite Boksburg.

  Owing to the pace we had travelled and the hilly nature of the
  country, our Maxim gun under Captain Holmes, with its escort, had not
  come into camp when we retired to bed. The men, as on many previous
  occasions, had to turn in without food, and their horses were in the
  same plight.

In another action, on the 30th, north of Germiston, Trooper Elwes, son
of the Archdeacon of Madras, was wounded by a bullet through the ankle
and Trooper Radford had his horse shot in two places.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: D. Brownsworth_
  P.C. PRESTON, D.C.M.
]

Describing Trooper Preston’s adventurous ride with despatches and his
readiness of resource in a difficult situation, another correspondent
writes:

  Eight men of Lumsden’s Horse in charge of Sergeant Macnamara were sent
  out in a big patrol under Captain Harris, 1st West Riding M.I., with
  orders to take the Johannesburg Waterworks. Captain Harris paraded his
  sixty men, and chose two of Lumsden’s Horse as his orderlies. We then
  rode down the kopjes to the plain below, Compton’s Horse firing over
  our heads at the Boers all the time. As we went down we met Trooper
  Elwes, No. 2 Section, B Company, being brought in wounded through the
  ankle when on patrol with Lieutenant Pugh. About a mile away there was
  a farmhouse under the kopje which was held by the Boers; some
  Australians with us rushed the place, and captured three Boers and a
  waggon of ammunition. After marching about an hour, firing every now
  and then and being fired at, we got to the Waterworks on a hill
  towering above Johannesburg. The fort is on another hill half a mile
  away. It seemed as if trenches had been dug for us round the
  Waterworks, high banks of gravel perfectly protecting us. Trooper
  Preston, of Lumsden’s Horse, was sent back to Germiston with a
  despatch saying the Waterworks were occupied; he was to make the
  shortest possible cut, and gallop all the way. This orderly had a very
  exciting adventure. His shortest road lay through the outskirts of
  Johannesburg. When riding through these streets he saw several Boers
  peeping out of their houses, and at one place they actually tried to
  stop him. He galloped through them, however; they then shouted out to
  know if the English were in Johannesburg yet, and he answered that
  they were, knowing that if he said no he would as likely as not be
  shot at. They then asked where he was going to, and he said Pretoria.
  Thus it was that a man of Lumsden’s Horse was the first, or one of the
  first, to enter Johannesburg. A little further the orderly met two
  Kaffirs who could talk English, and who told him that among the rocks
  on a small kopje on the left of the road was an armed Boer waiting to
  shoot him. The orderly was puzzled what to do, as he could see no Boer
  behind the rocks; however, he dismounted and advanced on foot towards
  the kopje, leading his horse behind him. Having got within speaking
  distance of the rocks and still seeing no Boer, he put his rifle to
  his shoulder and pointed it at the biggest rock, shouting out, ‘Hands
  up, or I fire!’ Immediately two arms were seen above the rock, the
  order ‘Hold up your rifle’ was obeyed at once, and the orderly found
  he had captured the Boer. About a mile further on he met some
  Australians, and having to gallop with the despatch he handed the
  prisoner over to them, taking with him the rifle and ammunition. Alas!
  at the door of the Colonel’s tent whom should he meet but Lord
  Kitchener himself, who, seeing the orderly had two rifles,
  commandeered one. Meanwhile the Boers kept up a continuous fire at the
  Waterworks. However, several Englishmen and young ladies had climbed
  up the hill at the back and brought food and drink for the first of
  their countrymen whom they had seen—several of them, while Tommy ate
  and drank, firing away with the soldiers’ rifles at the fort. In the
  evening Preston brought the message to retire to camp, which was done
  in a very orderly fashion, the patrol arriving back soon after dark
  with the total casualties of three men wounded, having spent the most
  or one of the most exciting and agreeable days in the whole campaign.

Colonel Lumsden describes other incidents in the following passage:

  A party of West Riding Regiment’s Mounted Infantry scouting on our
  left did not get off so easily, for seeing some men in khaki and
  helmets to their front they mistook them for friends, and, getting
  within speaking distance, were much surprised to find their morning’s
  greetings met with a summons to surrender. Their immediate attempt at
  flight resulted in two casualties—one wounded and taken prisoner, the
  other, although wounded, getting back to camp. Firing then became
  general on our right, where the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was on outpost
  duty, and we were hastily summoned to saddle up and reinforce them. We
  arrived in time to witness an artillery duel, the Boers retiring
  slowly under the fire of the Cavalry pom-poms. The morning’s work,
  however, resulted badly for them, they having had sixteen casualties,
  which were attended to by our medical officer, Captain Powell, who was
  luckily on the spot.

  We then returned to camp, and shortly afterwards Captain Holmes came
  in with his Maxim gun, reporting that he had lost two of his scouting
  party, Privates Cary-Barnard and G.I. Watson, whom he had sent out in
  advance while journeying to rejoin us in the early morning. A few
  hours afterwards the missing men came into camp, stating that having
  been informed that our men were in front they had ridden confidingly
  into a body of about fifty men dressed like our own troops in khaki,
  thinking they were friends, but were suddenly disillusioned by being
  ordered to surrender. Under the conditions attempting to escape on
  their worn-out horses was out of the question, and they had no option
  but to deliver up their arms. They were cross-questioned as to our
  strength and the likely duration of the war. Private Watson, in reply
  to the latter question, told the General that he considered fighting
  would be over in a few days, a reply that seemed to cause much
  amusement. They were then offered the choice of remaining as prisoners
  or giving their word of honour that they would fight no more during
  this war. They chose the latter, thinking the end was very near.

  Next morning, June 1, our orders were to march on Johannesburg, six
  miles distant, which we reached unopposed in time to see the Union
  Jack hoisted over the Fort, which had been divested of all its guns
  except a few rendered useless. We then marched some five miles north
  of the city, and camped for two days. On the morning of the 3rd we
  marched twelve miles towards Pretoria, meeting no resistance, but
  again losing touch with our Maxim, which, being unable to follow us
  across country, had to stick to the road, and which we were destined
  not to see for several days.

So Lumsden’s Horse had gratified one desire on which their hearts were
set for many months. Their brigade had led the fighting line practically
into Johannesburg, and when the Union Jack was hoisted over its public
buildings they cared nothing for the ceremonial parades, but were only
anxious to take the lead again in a march on Pretoria. With soldier-like
brevity Colonel Lumsden’s chronicle sums up the operations of an
eventful day:

  On June 4 we advanced to Six Mile Spruit, again being the foremost
  corps of the leading brigade, all anticipating a heavy fight in front
  of us, as the spruit was said to be our enemy’s last position and
  likely therefore to be desperately contested. These prognostications
  were not, however, realised. Careful reconnaissance showed that there
  were no Boers at the spruit. We then proceeded leisurely up the chain
  of hills beyond it, concluding they were not held, but with every
  precaution against the unexpected. It was not until midday that we
  came in touch with the enemy, who opened on the 4th Mounted Infantry
  on our right with shell fire. We were then pushed forward to take a
  commanding kopje, and got a smart peppering from a few snipers hidden
  in the rocks on our left flank, but had no casualties, though the
  bullets were falling thickly among us as we crossed the open.

  It now became evident that the enemy’s main position was on our left,
  and I was ordered to occupy a ridge about one mile distant in that
  direction, opposite a steep kopje about 1,000 yards off held by the
  Boers. Here they were beautifully entrenched and kept up a steady fire
  on our line, which we returned with interest, until aid arrived in the
  shape of three fifteen-pounders on the right, two pom-poms on our
  left, and three Colt guns in the centre. These searched the ridge for
  some hours without dislodging the Boers, whose trenches must have been
  admirably constructed, as a move on our part from one rock to another
  was sufficient to draw a hail of bullets, while we were unable to spot
  a single Boer.

  Here Private Charles E. Stuart was wounded by a bullet through the
  ankle, but was unable to be removed from the firing line until the
  fire slackened late in the afternoon, when a kind friend carried him
  down on his back to the ambulance tonga at the foot of the hill.

  At about 4 P.M. the enemy’s fire began to dwindle, and eventually
  ceased altogether, and just as we meditated leaving our ridge to cross
  over to theirs our Infantry became visible, advancing from westward
  along the ridge which the enemy had occupied, while to our right
  front, some two miles off, more British Infantry appeared on the sky
  line, showing that the Boer position had been quitted. At this period
  our Brigadier’s orders came for us to retire from the kopje and make
  our bivouac for the night somewhere on the plain below.

  June 5 was the day on which we reached the goal we had been struggling
  for. Pretoria at last, not fighting our way in, as anticipated by
  everybody, but forming a peaceful procession, with our baggage behind
  us, news having arrived that the Governor had surrendered the town
  late the previous night.

  We were not allowed to halt, but just passed through the city and out
  to Irene, a station ten miles south of Pretoria and on the
  Johannesburg line, which we at present occupy, the whole corps
  protecting the rail from Pretoria to Johannesburg.

-----

Footnote 9:

    Hindustani for ‘fowls.’—ED.

Footnote 10:

    Hindustani for ‘orders.’—ED.

Footnote 11:

  Hindustani for ‘blunder.’—ED.

Footnote 12:

  See Appendix IV.—ED.

-----




                              CHAPTER XIII
            _ON LINES OF COMMUNICATION AT IRENE, KALFONTEIN,
           ZURFONTEIN, AND SPRINGS—THE PRETORIA PAPER-CHASE_


That march through Pretoria, marked by none of the pomp and pageantry
which imagination conjures up as essential features of a great triumph,
must have seemed a lame and impotent conclusion to the stirring drama of
real life in which Lumsden’s Horse had played their manful part, cheered
always by the prospect of a glorious reward for all their struggles,
hardships, and sacrifices in the final downfall of Boer power when the
Transvaal capital should be in our hands. They were not the only people
who entertained such sanguine hopes and felt proportionally disappointed
at the inadequate realisation. For nearly every soldier at that time in
South Africa, from Lord Roberts downwards, Pretoria had been the goal,
and its conquest the climax beyond which no operations of serious
importance could possibly be called for. Few people, if any, realised
then how little value Boers attach to great towns as strategical bases.
With the capture of Johannesburg and Pretoria we had theoretically all
their arsenals and main lines of communication in our hands, and
according to all hard-and-fast rules of warfare the campaign should have
ended then. That impression was certainly strong on the
Commander-in-Chief’s mind shortly before dusk of June 4, when Colonel De
Lisle, whose Mounted Infantry had followed the enemy to within 2,000
yards of Pretoria, sent an officer under a flag of truce to demand the
surrender of the town. The end might possibly have come then, if,
instead of waiting five hours for a reply to that summons and seven
hours longer for the unconditional surrender which Lord Roberts insisted
upon when Commandant-General Botha’s tardy message reached him, we had
risked everything in a night attack on the town. But at dawn the next
morning Botha sent a simple message to say that he was not prepared to
defend Pretoria further, and therefore he entrusted the women, children,
and property to his enemy’s protection. In other words, we were quite at
liberty to march into a town from which every fighting commando, all
treasure, and nearly every munition of war had by that time been safely
removed. One big gun was still in the station on a train that waited to
take British prisoners away, but they had risen in mutiny at the last
moment and refused to go, wherefore the train went without them, its
movements being hastened by the sight of British troops coming over the
hills. To Colonel Henry’s Mounted Infantry, of which Lumsden’s Horse
formed a part, was given the honour of being first to enter Pretoria by
the Rustenburg Road, as the Guards Brigade of General Pole-Carew’s
division marched in on another side, without firing a shot. So the goal
was reached; but we found it to all intents and purposes a hollow
triumph. There had been no surrender of the Boer army or of anything
that could weaken its power for further resistance. The cage was in our
hands, but the hawk had gone with wings unpinioned. Every soldier
probably felt, as Lumsden’s Horse did, that any show of triumph would
have been out of place in the circumstances. They took no part even in
the ceremonial parade when Lord Roberts made his formal entry and the
Union Jack was hoisted on the Raadzaal that afternoon, but had at least
the satisfaction of knowing that their services of the previous day were
appreciated by the Commander-in-Chief, who, in his despatches, wrote:

  I marched with Henry’s Mounted Infantry, four companies Imperial
  Yeomanry, Pole-Carew’s division, Maxwell’s brigade, and the naval and
  siege guns, to Six-mile Spruit, both banks of which were occupied by
  the enemy. The Boers were quickly dislodged from the south bank by the
  Mounted Infantry and Imperial Yeomanry, and pursued for nearly a mile,
  when our troops came under artillery fire. The enemy then moved along
  a series of ridges parallel to our main line of advance, with the
  object of turning our left flank; but in this they were checked by the
  Mounted Infantry and Imperial Yeomanry, supported by Maxwell’s
  brigade.

[Illustration: J. SKELTON]

[Illustration: R.P. HAINES]

[Illustration: H.W. THELWALL]

[Illustration: C.K. MARTIN]

[Illustration: H.S. CHESHIRE]

[Illustration: H.B. OLDHAM]

[Illustration: M.H. LOGAN]

[Illustration: J.V. JAMESON]

[Illustration: H. HOWES]

            INVALIDED HOME AFTER THE SURRENDER OF PRETORIA.

Seeing that Louis Botha, with all the main body of Boers, had retired
eastward, Lord Roberts realised the importance of making his line of
communications secure in that direction, and he therefore paid a high
compliment to the troops under Colonel Ross in selecting them for that
duty. A few days after taking up the positions assigned to him, Colonel
Lumsden wrote from Irene a letter in which he expressed his opinion of
the work that had been done by all ranks in the corps under his command:

  We have been told off to hold the line of communications from Pretoria
  to Johannesburg, A Company and Headquarters taking the first ten
  miles, B Company the second, and the remainder of the 8th Corps in
  detachments all down the line. We are here for an indefinite time,
  awaiting events.

  Our Maxim gun under Captain Holmes has rejoined us here, having been
  with General French’s columns.

  This is a much needed rest for all, and especially for our horses, as
  they are utterly unfit to do more than a couple of days’ hard
  marching, and I can only put ninety mounted men, including officers,
  into the field.

  This, considering the corps landed with a full complement of 250
  horses and has since received nearly 150 remounts, will give you an
  idea of what we have gone through, and the wear and tear our horses
  have had through hard marching and short feeding.

  Taking it as a whole, officers and men have kept excellent health, the
  only prevalent disease being dysentery. The days are bright and sunny,
  without being hot; at times it is even cold. The nights, however, are
  always bitterly cold, and it is quite a usual occurrence, on awaking,
  to find the grass covered with frost and the water in the hand-basin
  frozen over. This will give you some idea of the pleasure of sleeping
  out with only the sky for a roof.

  Our total casualties have amounted to twenty-five—just ten per cent.
  of the force we landed with, and a very large proportion of our
  ordinary fighting strength, considering that the most we have ever put
  in the field was 186, and we are now reduced to under a hundred
  mounted men.

  We have heard of the release of our prisoners, and expect them to join
  us in a few days. Our only casualties in this shape were the seven
  taken on April 30 at Ospruit.

  I cannot say too much in praise of the conduct of my officers and men
  from first to last, under many hardships and in very trying
  circumstances, and I feel sure they have gained a name for themselves
  which their many friends both in England and in India have just cause
  to be proud of.

  I am confident that my meed of praise will be fully endorsed by those
  under whom I and my corps have had the honour to serve.

  It is considered that the war is virtually over, and, at any rate, I
  fancy all Volunteer corps will be disbanded within a short time.

  I have kept our accounts as nearly as possible up to date, but we are
  unaware if any pay already claimed has yet been placed to our credit
  in Cape Town, and in the meantime troopers are receiving advances
  through this office out of the funds brought by me from India.
  Fortunately, I have been able to cash cheques in the towns we have
  passed through, and I hope I may succeed in doing so at Pretoria
  to-morrow, as our cash in the box is reduced to four sovereigns.

  We have received no mails, either from England or India, for the past
  six weeks, and we are all anxiously awaiting news.

The Special Correspondent of the ‘Englishman,’ whose close association
with the corps in all circumstances can be traced through every letter,
does not take his banishment to lines of communication with the Stoical
philosophy that characterises Colonel Lumsden. After the freshness of it
has gone he writes:

  Irene—that’s where Lumsden’s Horse have been putting in time since
  Lord Roberts supplanted Paul Kruger in the jurisdiction of the town
  and in the hearts of the people of Pretoria. Irene is not so called
  because of any resemblance it bears to the Irene of the classics. For
  of all the forsaken places which it has pleased Providence to dot down
  on this earth of ours Irene is the most forsaken. Perhaps the Boers,
  in their cunning, calculated that by giving it a name like music its
  reproach in the land might be less. The predominating feature of the
  scenery in Irene is the railway. That, with rare persistence for a
  Transvaal railway, runs right through the place in a straight line.
  The late Government of this country knew a lot about railways. A crow
  might have done the distance between, say, Bloemfontein and Pretoria
  in 250 miles, but it takes the railway 500 miles. And each mile cost
  as many hundred pounds to build. The Government fell in with the
  contractor’s miscalculation. The railway is full of curves, elegant
  but unnecessary, and the Government—_garib admi, sahib! Huzoor,
  bucksheesh!_

  Near the station stood a culvert so big that it deserved to be called
  a bridge. There the Boers had placed a charge of dynamite. The
  dynamite went off pop, and the bridge, the embankment, a section of
  the river, and a large slice of the scenery became as naught. Then as
  Lord Roberts swept north he dropped a Sapper or two—no orders, no need
  of any. But in three days trains as long as Chowringhee skipped over
  where the bridge had been, and only the two Sappers trembled for the
  safety of their bag o’ tricks. No Tommy ever doubts the inventions of
  a Sapper. And, despite the absent-mindedness attributed to him, Tommy
  is a man ever suspicious of the doings of his neighbour. But everybody
  knows about Sappers and their wonderful works.

  Hence it was that Lumsden’s Horse went to Irene. The powers that had
  newly begun to be in Pretoria said we were to do steady Horatio,
  without any theatrical business, to that bridge, while the Sappers
  slung things about and made it _pucca_. After three weeks of guarding
  this babe of the Royal Engineers the truth dawned upon Lumsden’s Horse
  that they were on lines of communication. ’Twas no place for them,
  thought they, but the authorities had their own designs, and Lumsden’s
  Horse were spread out to such places as Zurfontein, Kalfontein,
  Oliphantfontein, Springs, &c., where the railway had been foolish
  enough to risk itself in the air and endanger its existence thereby,
  for the Boers are death and dynamite on everything in the shape of a
  bridge. However, while Lumsden’s Horse took care of those places no
  Boers ventured to disturb the peace, though they played the devil with
  them when we had gone.

Troopers who had not been spoilt by luxurious idleness as prisoners of
war in Pretoria took a less cynical view of their situation at Irene
until the monotony of it began to depress them. Notwithstanding their
disappointment at having to leave Pretoria behind them before they had a
chance of discovering how illusive was its outward show of plenty, they
soon became reconciled to the fate that deprived them of a share in the
garrison duties which would have seemed but a dull substitute for the
festivities and celebrations that imagination had conjured up as a
natural sequence of a triumphal entry into the Boer capital. On
discovering that the surrender of Pretoria had not brought peace
appreciably nearer, the correspondent of the ‘Indian Daily News’ wrote
quite cheerfully:

  We saw very little of the town, as, after waiting near the racecourse
  for about two hours, we were, much to our disgust, marched off to a
  station called Irene, about ten miles down the line, where we were to
  be put on lines of communication. Our hopes of a bit of a spin in the
  town after the toilsome march up were therefore blasted, and growling
  was more or less general, naturally enough. I think our tempers were
  not improved by the fact that the road out was a mass of dust, which
  kept going down our throats and into our eyes till one could hardly
  speak or see. Once in camp and settled down, things wore a very
  different appearance, however. Irene is a nicely wooded place, with a
  beautiful stream of water running just handy—in fact, a perfect
  camping ground; just close by is situated the model farm of the
  Transvaal. The grounds are very extensive, and fruit and vegetables of
  all sorts are grown. There is also a large fenced-in enclosure, where
  deer, hartebeeste, and other animals run wild. We stayed at Irene two
  days, and then the 8th Mounted Infantry, accompanied by three sections
  of B Company, went on to Kalfontein, a station about ten miles further
  south, leaving A Company and No. 3 Section B Company to garrison
  Irene. Arriving at Kalfontein late in the evening, we camped about a
  couple of miles from the railway station till next day, when our
  company moved into the station compound. We parted with the 8th
  Mounted Infantry here, they being sent to various stations down the
  line, and sorry we were to lose our old friends. Kaalfontein railway
  station is surrounded by nice trees, under which we kept our horses
  and made ourselves at home. Knowing that this would be our station for
  some time, we laid in a stock of pots and pans collected from the
  empty farmhouses, of which there were several in the vicinity, and did
  our cooking in _pucca_ style. Ducks, geese, and turkeys, to say
  nothing of cocks and hens, besides our rations of mutton and beef,
  kept us going merrily, and groceries, &c., were obtainable from a few
  storekeepers, who paid us visits once a week. It was not surprising,
  therefore, that after a month of this sort of thing, with
  comparatively light work, after the rough time we had been having on
  the march up, the appearance of the men all round improved
  considerably, chubby rosy cheeks and well-filled-out bodies taking the
  place of hollow sunken-in features and more or less meagre frames. The
  weather, though bitterly cold in the nights and early mornings, and
  very warm as a rule during the days, was thoroughly enjoyable, and
  accounted in a great measure, no doubt, for the improved state of most
  of the men’s health. Our work consists in patrolling the line south of
  Irene, and also the country round on every side, and we also supply
  men daily for observation posts in various directions.

  The life we lead is, for the most part, a peaceful one, though in
  examining farms and scouring the country round, which we do in parties
  of six, under an officer as a rule, there is always the chance of
  being potted by the wily Boer. This has happened on three occasions
  during our stay, our men being fired upon at close range, and having
  to flee for their lives. None of us was touched, but the bullets came
  pretty close most times. These small patrols, by the way, are, I
  think, the most unsatisfactory part of one’s work, looked at from a
  personal point of view. One stands every chance of being shot, and
  knows that immediately one is fired at it is a case of turning and
  riding for dear life, without a chance of retaliation, or at any rate
  immediate retaliation, as the Boers always outnumber us and hold the
  positions on these occasions.

  Most of the farms round about Kalfontein are unoccupied, the farmers
  and their families evidently having left in haste, only carrying away
  a few necessaries with them; but some of their houses have been left
  in charge of the Boer Memsahibs, the Sahibs having gone on a
  man-shooting expedition with the nearest commando, or, perhaps, being
  Commandants themselves. A case in point is that of Commandant Erasmus,
  who has a large farm about seven miles from here, where he has left
  his wife and five or six comely daughters. Needless to say, this is a
  favourite patrol, though the girls are shy and retiring, and the old
  lady waxes very wroth when approached with a view to doing a deal in
  sheep, saying she has only enough to keep herself and family going,
  doubtless including papa when he pays them his periodical visit by
  stealth during the night.

Another trooper takes up the narrative with a sigh of regret for the
things that cannot be got at Boer farms for love or money:

  We are all languishing for an iced whisky peg and a decent meal, and
  often wonder whether we shall enjoy either again. Our work has been no
  picnic, and, though we are all as enthusiastic over it as ever, I must
  admit our experiences have been many and hard. We have dwindled down
  in numbers, too, through casualties and sickness, and our clothing is
  showing signs of wear and tear. The spick-and-span stage has long
  since vanished, and a wash once a week is a luxury. Some had grown
  quite respectable—disrespectable I might say—beards, but the Colonel
  has a rooted antipathy to hirsute growth on the chin. We have also had
  some changes. Trooper Percy Smith has obtained a commission in the
  Berkshires, but _pro tem._ is doing duty with the 8th Mounted
  Infantry; Trooper Huddleston (a cousin of Lady Roberts and brother to
  the E.I.R. Traffic Manager) has been appointed Assistant-Commissioner
  of Police in Kroonstad, while Lieutenant Pugh fills a similar office
  at Heilbron.

  We have been cut off from our mails for more than a month, and are
  very anxious to see the letters that have accumulated somewhere for
  us. Our doings, I expect, have been telegraphed to India as they
  occurred, for there is a plethora of newspaper correspondents
  following in the wake of the army and with Headquarters—Lionel James
  represents the ‘Times,’ and has been to see his Indian friends.

  The Kaffir we have come in contact with here is a bad lot, and he has
  harassed the Boer farmers terribly during the war, being a perfect
  Pindaree in his depredations. He loots anything and everything he can
  lay hands on, and shifts his allegiance from Boer to British directly
  our troops enter his province. In this respect the excuse he makes is
  that since the outbreak of the war the Boers have not troubled to pay
  their native servants any wages, while keeping them at work as usual.

  All the Volunteers (Colonial and Imperial) receive 5_s._ and as much
  as 7_s._ 6_d._ per day, while Kaffirs earn on an average 4_l._ 10_s._
  per mensem in our employ. It comes a bit rough on us to find our
  remuneration fixed at 1_s._ 2_d._ _plus_ 3_d._ for rations per diem.
  Considering that we mainly exist on private purchases of stores, the
  want of ready money is a great hardship. Some of our troopers have
  spent from 10_l._ to 20_l._ a month on groceries and smokes since our
  arrival in Africa. Ten shillings for a packet of cigarettes has often
  been willingly given, while nobody would think two shillings for a
  loaf of bread exorbitant. The reason for these prices is always that
  the Boers have commandeered all they could lay hands on in their
  retreat. Since our departure from Bloemfontein we have not seen our
  tents. Our nightly shelter has been the frosty canopy of heaven, and
  our couch the African veldt (pronounced ‘felt’).

A letter to the ‘Indian Daily News’ gives some interesting personal
details:

  At Irene and Kaalfontein several of our men who had been prisoners at
  Pretoria and Waterval, and others who had been left behind at various
  places sick, rejoined, and we were very glad to have them back among
  us again. Some of our number have had their services requisitioned by
  Government, among them being Lieutenant H.O. Pugh, who has been
  appointed Assistant Commissioner at Heilbron; Sergeant P.P. Warburton,
  Secretary to the Irish Hospital at Pretoria; Sergeant W.C. Conduit to
  the Engineering Department of the railway near Johannesburg; Private
  J.E. Cubitt, Assistant Traffic Manager on the railway at Johannesburg;
  Private F.M. Clifford, Mounted Orderly to General Ian Hamilton;
  Private Huddleston, Assistant Commissioner at Kroonstad; and Private
  Firth, to the Financial Department at Pretoria. Sergeant D.S. Fraser
  was also appointed to the Financial Department at Pretoria, and worked
  there for about a month, but has now rejoined the regiment and resumed
  his duties as Paymaster; and Sergeant Thesiger and Privates
  Moir-Byres, Lytle, Thelwall, and Thornton worked in the Remount
  Department at Johannesburg until the Depôt there was closed.

Among those who had been prisoners from April 30 until our entry into
Pretoria, and about whose fate some doubt existed for a time, was
Trooper Clarence Walton. His gallantry in sacrificing himself while
attempting to save a wounded comrade was mentioned by Colonel Lumsden as
an act of conspicuous devotion on a day when the corps gained high
credit and a reluctant rebuke for many brave deeds. Like others who fell
into the hands of enemies that day, he experienced nothing but kindness
from his captors. To this he bears willing testimony in the following
letter:

  Starting from the time of our first action of April 30, when I had the
  misfortune to be slightly wounded and taken prisoner, it might be
  interesting to add my experience of the treatment I received to that
  of the other prisoners. After our fighting line retired from my
  direction a Boer came down to me and asked if I was wounded. I told
  him I was hit in the foot, and he offered to take my boot and gaiter
  off for me, which I accepted. He then got a small pony and helped me
  on, and took me to a farm about half a mile distant, where an English
  doctor (on the Boer side) attended to my case immediately, and then
  gave me a jolly good meal, better than I had had for some time. The
  following night I was taken to Brandfort Hospital, where I received
  every kindness possible, the nurses being exceedingly attentive, and
  the Boers themselves, far from showing any ill-feeling, came and
  talked and gave me tobacco. One lady cycled to her home with the
  object of getting some books for me to read; but unfortunately she
  arrived back just too late, as we were being placed in the waggon to
  go to Smaldeel and entrain there for Pretoria. Lieutenant Crane, who
  was also a prisoner, travelled most of the way in the same waggons and
  train as myself. He was kind enough to allow me to share the little
  tobacco he had got, for which I was exceedingly grateful. After
  reaching Pretoria I was handed over to our own people at the hospital
  on the racecourse, where, although I did not have quite such a
  comfortable time as I had had with the Boer ambulances, I had nothing
  to complain of, as the British residents at Pretoria did everything
  they could for us, and we have to thank them for all the little
  luxuries they gave us. The food we received from the Boers was
  sufficient to keep one alive, and that is about all.

  After Pretoria was taken I found myself a prisoner of the R.A.M.C.,
  which I found to be very irksome, although at Pretoria the Major in
  charge allowed us our liberty to a great extent. When I got to
  Bloemfontein I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Roe, late doctor in
  Assam, who treated Saunders and myself with great kindness, and did
  everything he could to make us comfortable.

Life at Irene was not all unpleasant. Several lively incidents
brightened existence there, and some reflex of them comes to us through
the cheery words of Captain Neville Taylor, whose arduous duties as
Adjutant did not prevent him from garnering a fund of merry anecdotes.
Here is one:

  After Pretoria had been taken A Company and Headquarters remained at
  Irene, and B Company went to Kalfontein, ten miles south on the line.
  The duties at both places were similar, in that they had to patrol the
  line and the neighbourhood. One of the Irene regular patrols was to
  Pretoria and back daily.

  On one of the usual patrols into that town Captain Rutherfoord passed
  a German ambulance proceeding south, who explained that they had been
  allowed to do so, but carried no pass. Arriving at Pretoria, he
  reported the fact to the authorities, and also that he had stopped the
  ambulance until he could get orders concerning it. On inquiry, having
  ascertained that nothing was known about it, he obtained a letter to
  the Commandant at Irene, who was told to ascertain that the ambulance
  people were carrying no papers for the use of the enemy, and, if
  satisfied, to allow them to proceed. The Commandant, being a man of
  high ideals, did not see his way to thoroughly searching the
  ambulance, which contained four German nurses, in addition to the four
  doctors, and he therefore allowed them to pass on having taken the
  senior doctor’s word of honour that they had with them nothing of any
  use to the enemy in the way of papers. The ambulance then went on its
  way, but stopped the night at Kalfontein, ten miles beyond Irene. In
  the evening a wire came to us for an officer’s patrol to bring all
  those people back to Pretoria. Captain Rutherfoord was accordingly
  sent to Kalfontein for the purpose, and returned in the evening with
  the party.

  Colonel Lumsden and all of us felt so sorry for the prisoners that we
  decided to ask them to dinner, which invitation being accepted, in due
  course we all sat down together in our little mess-house.

  During our stay at Irene, as it was bitterly cold, we had run up a
  small hut: walls of piled-up stones, a tin roof, and a most cunningly
  contrived fireplace which did not smoke. We decorated the place with
  flowers, had a tip-top dinner, and drank _crème de menthe_ as our only
  beverage. The dinner went off in the wonderful way dinners do. None of
  us could talk German, and none of them English, and yet we conversed
  freely and had the greatest fun. The show concluded with songs, and
  the last remembrance I have of it was that the Colonel and the
  prettiest ‘sister’ were taking down one another’s addresses and
  betting gloves about something in the quietest corner. Rutherfoord had
  been hiding as much as possible, as he felt himself to blame for being
  the cause of all their trouble, but we gave him away at the end, and
  though they all pretended to be very angry with him, we unanimously
  allowed that he had beaten all but the Colonel in winning the favours
  of the fair sex.

  At about 2 A.M. we escorted them back to their caravan and said
  good-night, first of all pointing out that a sentry was posted over
  them, with orders to shoot at sight if anyone left the waggons during
  the night. They started for Pretoria at daybreak, but most of the
  officers were there to see them off, while one met them a few miles up
  the road. The Colonel was late for breakfast that morning. We heard
  afterwards that on arrival at Pretoria they were searched, and the
  result was that the doctors went to gaol, and the dear ladies were
  sent under supervision out of the country. We all, however, are quite
  certain that they were innocent victims of Boer duplicity.

Another story is very characteristic of Tommy’s smartness:

  At one of the camps—I think Elandsfontein—a party of us got leave to
  go into the town for dinner. We had come in late, and either had not
  been given or had forgotten the countersign. Near the town we came
  upon a sentry, who challenged in the usual way, and who let us through
  after making certain that we were officers of Lumsden’s Horse. After
  going a few yards we heard him say to his pal that it was all right,
  as we were only ‘some of those d——d Volunteers,’ this being meant in
  all politeness and only Tommy’s _patois_. One officer of ours,
  however, half-jokingly threatened to report him if he talked like that
  again. After a good dinner we were returning to camp and came upon the
  same sentry. ‘Halt! Who goes there?’ ‘Friend.’ ‘Advance one and give
  the countersign.’ One officer, advancing, said, ‘D——d Volunteer.’
  Tommy shouldered with a slap and roared out, ‘Pass, D——d Volunteer,
  and all’s well!’ He had the best of us, and we laughed as much as the
  guard.

About this time the Boers in Pretoria were also making merry over an
incident associated with countersigns in which one who played a sentry’s
part had the laugh on his side at the expense of British officers. It
happened at a crisis when Botha was known to have secret emissaries in
the capital warning him of every preparation for a fresh movement, and
it illustrates perfectly the aptitude of Boers as spies, and the
easy-going inefficiency of our own precaution against traitors. A young
Boer, speaking English fluently, came from Botha’s force just after Lord
Roberts was supposed to have dispersed it in the neighbourhood of
Diamond Hill. He reached our outposts not far from the limits patrolled
by Lumsden’s Horse, and, being armed with one of the passes that have
been lavishly distributed and frequently abused, he had no difficulty in
getting through the British lines. Once inside them, he was free to move
about anywhere and ascertain that nearly all available troops, except
one division, had been withdrawn from Pretoria for concentration
elsewhere. He even loitered about to hear the talk at a club frequented
by officers and by ‘friendly’ civilians, whose privileges of membership
nobody assumed the right to question. There and in hotel halls or
billiard-rooms, where officers, regardless of attentive listeners,
incautiously spoke of their own probable movements, this young Boer
picked up much entertaining gossip and useful information. But he also
learned, to his dismay, that nobody could move about the town or leave
it after nightfall without the countersign. His idea was to get out
again under cover of darkness, with all the news that he could gather
for General Botha, but he heard that provisional police would by that
time be patrolling all the streets, alert and zealous in the performance
of their new duties, and also that every outlet by which a horseman
could pass would have double sentries posted after sunset. A wary Boer
never tries rash experiments if he can avoid them, and this young man,
having no unpatriotic wish to run his head into a noose, adopted other
measures.

Going to a friend’s house, in which some British uniforms were kept as
trophies until the police discovered and appropriated them, he dressed
in khaki, donned a greatcoat, and armed himself with a Mauser carbine.
All this may seem impossible in a town under martial law, but arms and
ammunition were found in private houses long after the date of this
incident, and nobody ever heard of exemplary punishment being meted out
to offenders, who generally got off scot free on a plea of ignorance. At
any rate, the young Boer, thus equipped to counterfeit a provisional
policeman, sallied forth at night, when a high collar, turned well up
for protection against the icy north wind, and a hat slouched over the
eyes, would not have attracted any attention. Making use of mental notes
previously taken, he placed himself near the corner of a street so much
frequented by officers on their way to or from the club that special
police seldom troubled to look after it. There he had not long to wait
for a chance of challenging, and in response the countersign was given
as a matter of course without the least suspicion. Safe in the
possession of this password, the ingenious young Boer mounted his horse,
and, claiming to be the bearer of despatches, rode past our outlying
pickets and off into the darkness on his way to the nearest Boer
commando. Some officers of Lumsden’s Horse were in the Pretoria Club
that night, but it was not they who gave away the countersign.
Occasional visits to Pretoria in the vain hope of finding that some
articles of luxury or much-needed outfit could be bought there became
great events in the lives of both officers and men during their
banishment to lines of communication. Somehow a goodly number of them,
for whom sport was an irresistible attraction, managed to assemble on
ground a mile outside the racecourse when three score of competitors
started for the first military steeplechase ever ridden near Pretoria.
After this event Colonel Lumsden wrote with pardonable pride:

  Beharis will be pleased to hear that Captain Rutherfoord, of ours, won
  the first paper-chase in Pretoria. There were sixty starters over a
  stiff country, with the result that grief was plentiful.

But that view of the result, though entertained by nearly every
spectator who was near enough to watch an exciting finish, did not
commend itself to the official whose decision none could question. How
it all came about may be told by an eye-witness, who was also a
competitor until, finding himself hopelessly out of the race, he took to
‘skirting,’ and finally joined a crowd of onlookers at the winning-post.

The German Staff officer who said that English soldiers went into a
fight as if it were sport and took their sport seriously as training for
battle, must have been thinking of some scene like that in which British
officers and Volunteers of all ranks figured on Pretoria Racecourse that
last Saturday in June 1900. There we were in the midst of war with an
active enemy not many miles off, yet nobody seemed to concern himself
much about what the Boers might be doing at that moment. All were intent
upon the important business in hand. A paper-chase had to be run, and
every man meant to do his best, whether mounted on a Basuto pony that
had never jumped any obstacle more formidable than a boggy spruit
before, or on a raking Waler or clever English hunter. Lord Roberts had
given permission for a paper-chase and theoretically the sport took that
form. There were no prizes for winners, no clerk of the scales, no
weighing-in, no penalties for infringement of Hunt Club rules. All who
cared to start might enjoy that privilege. But practically the thing
resolved itself into a steeple-chase under regulations that forbade
riding from point to point at discretion; a course being marked by flags
round which every starter was compelled to go or lose his chance of
distinction. Paper-hunting would have been child’s play in a country
like this unless it had led us over rough kopjes and away across the
veldt, where there might have been a chance of Boer patrols chipping in.
So to add some touch of excitement, and the spice of danger, without
which no British sport is worthy of that name, artificial fences were
made more difficult to negotiate than torrent-filled spruits or boggy
water-courses. Two stone walls enclosing a mealie patch came handy, and
suggested themselves as most appropriate for a start where spectators
might see some fun at the outset if veldt ponies tried to tumble over,
as they generally do, without jumping. A run without hound-music as an
accompaniment did not commend itself to the immortal Jorrocks, whose
eulogy of ‘’unting, the image of war without its guilt and only 25 per
cent. of its danger,’ would have been considerably modified in
application to such sport as ours of that day, if that genial M.F.H.
could have seen the horses some men chose to risk their necks on. They
were of all sizes, shapes, and breeds. As for the fences, an Irish
hunter would have larked over every one in his stride; but it is quite
another thing with horses that have never been trained to leap.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd_
  CAPTAIN RUTHERFOORD, D.S.O.
]

Pretoria did not give itself away all at once to the temptations of a
novel spectacle; but there were ladies in carriages among the little
crowd of sightseers, and some stolid burghers looked on with approval,
while others took part in the chase, for Boers have a bond of sympathy
with us in love of horse-racing and field sports. The Commander-in-Chief
came, sitting his shapely chestnut with a firmer and more workmanlike
ease than half the horsemen present could boast of, and looking as if he
could still show them all the way over a stiff hunting country. His
appearance at the starting-point was a signal for marshalling the forces
into line.

Then a Staff officer gave the word to go, and away went the motley
field, more than half a hundred strong, spurring, hustling, charging
like a Cavalry squadron for all they were worth. A light-weight, who
served with distinction in Her Majesty’s Navy years ago, was quickest
off, and led them over the two stone walls, closely followed by Captain
Cox, of the New South Wales Lancers. Then came the second flight, riding
for the walls knee to knee. Thanks to bold hearts and resolute riding,
they all got over. A fall in that dense formation with another rank
rushing close behind would have brought more than one rider to
unutterable grief. But the ranks began to thin where a spruit had to be
crossed, with steep banks into and out of the drift. There the
‘Skipper’s’ pony, with speed unchecked, gained a good lead, but he came
down at the next made-up fence and gave his rider a nasty fall. The
active light-weight, however, nipped into the saddle and went on cheery
as ever. Then in clouds of dust, through which the fences could scarcely
be seen, leggy horses and diminutive ponies rushed onward, jostling for
a lead as before. Captain McNeil, of Montmorency’s Scouts, came down and
broke his collar-bone, and Gibbs, of the Somerset Yeomanry, falling with
his horse on top of him, had two ribs broken. But still ‘the chase went
sweeping heedless by’ over a wide dug-out, with a hurdle to screen it
and a trappy ditch where the road had to be crossed. Then they spread
out to gallop over stony ground for the spruit, into which many
floundered. The pace was beginning to tell on horses out of condition as
they struggled up hill to go for a formidable bank of sandbags topped
with loose earth that had been dug out of the ditch in front. Down-hill
again to a hollow, where the little stream meandering between boggy
ground had to be crossed three times. There several jaded steeds came to
a standstill, having shot their bolts, and only a select few went up the
next hill to the trappiest fence of all, where water flowed between deep
banks. There the ‘Skipper’ got his third fall, but he mounted again and
followed the leaders as they rounded the flag and rode for home. Captain
Cox had also been left behind, and the running was taken up by Captain
Rutherfoord, of Lumsden’s Horse, with Major Kenna, V.C., of the 21st
Lancers, in close attendance. Flanks were heaving and pipes wheezing
before the next boulder-strewn ridge had been crossed. ‘A run is nothing
without music,’ said a subaltern as he roused his panting steed for
another effort. He nearly blundered, as many others did, over the next
little fence, and they were being left hopelessly behind. Kenna and
Rutherfoord charged the last stone wall side by side, and rose together
at it. Rutherfoord landed first, and had the race in hand, but,
mistaking the post, eased his horse too soon. So Kenna, V.C., got a neck
ahead in the straight run home, and thus won his right to claim the
brush or whatever may be a substitute for it in paper-chasing. That was
the official verdict, but Lumsden’s Horse still hold that their champion
was first past the post.

One day a pleasant incident enlivened Colonel Lumsden’s ordinarily
uneventful round of inspections. He had been visiting posts south of
Irene, and was hurrying back to headquarters on an affair of urgent
importance, when a train stopped at one of the sidings. Before he had
time to realise that it was a special, or to make any inquiries, the
train began to move again. So he jumped on to the nearest platform, and
presently found himself in a corridor, cleaner and more carefully looked
after than any he had seen on a Transvaal railway up to that time. Not
knowing what to make of it, and half-expecting to meet an angry Chief of
the Staff face to face, he refrained from exploring further. Presently a
lady passed and said, ‘Won’t you come in?’ Colonel Lumsden was smoking
at the time, and declined for that reason. ‘But mother wishes you to
come,’ was the reply. So the gallant Colonel yielded with ready grace,
and found himself in the presence of Lady Roberts, who, with her
daughters, was on the way to Pretoria. They were just then nearing
Irene, and Colonel Lumsden drew attention to the camp of his Indian
Volunteers, in whom he thought Lady Roberts would naturally be much
interested. To his surprise he saw a huge bonfire burning, and in
silhouette against it were the words, ‘Welcome to Lady Roberts!’
Sergeant-Major Stephens had hit upon this happy idea, and put it into
execution just at the right moment. One of the daughters, seeing it,
said, ‘Oh, mother, there is a warm welcome for you, at any rate!’ Lady
Roberts frequently referred to this impromptu welcome in conversation
with Colonel Lumsden afterwards, and spoke appreciatively of the
pleasure it had given her.

For nearly two months—from the fall of Pretoria on June 5 to July
29—Lumsden’s Horse were scattered up and down the railway lines between
Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Colonel Lumsden gives the following official account of this period in a
letter to the executive committee of his corps:

  My headquarters are still at Irene, while my corps is stationed in
  detachments along the railway from here to Springs. I am daily
  expecting an order to concentrate either here or at the latter point,
  having received official information that we are to be relieved by
  Mounted Infantry from the Regulars.

  Beyond living in a constant state of alarm, standing to arms at all
  hours of the night, and our patrols shooting and being shot at, there
  is little or nothing of interest to record.

  Scouting parties have had several narrow escapes, but nothing of a
  serious nature occurred until yesterday (July 13), when I heard by
  wire from Captain Beresford at Springs that Private Claude F. Walton,
  of the Mysore detachment, had been wounded rather severely while out
  on patrol with Captain Clifford, but without, I understand,
  endangering his life. The shot was fired from a farmhouse, which has
  since, I am glad to say, been burnt to the ground. Two days
  previously, when I was on a visit to Springs, Captain Chamney and his
  patrol had rather a narrow squeak, but got safely away under a pelting
  fire.

  The Boer outposts are within four to five miles of our position at
  Springs, where Colonel Ross and part of his corps are stationed, but
  they are too weak to take the initiative.

  The weather is still bitterly cold at night, but the men have now had
  time to rig up temporary shelters of sorts, while the detachments at
  Zurfontein and Springs have been fortunate in obtaining iron-roofed
  shelters to live in.

  I much regret to have to inform you of the death of Private M.B.
  Follett, of the Mysore detachment, from enteric fever in hospital at
  Johannesburg on the 7th inst., and that the undernamed have been left
  at various hospitals on the march up sick, or sent down from here.

  Some may return to headquarters, but I anticipate that most of them
  will proceed to England or to India, invalided or convalescent.

  Young Follett’s brother was fortunately with him at the last, and it
  is gratifying to note that the rites usually accorded to an officer
  were observed at his interment.

  The men in the attached list have mostly received their regimental pay
  up to date, and I have done my best to see that any balance due to
  them in this respect will be paid before they leave Cape Town.

  I have also given in such cases five pounds to each man for
  necessaries on the voyage. This responsibility I have taken on myself,
  having ample funds in hand, and I feel sure the committee will approve
  my action, more especially as many men are utterly unable to get into
  communication with their friends and are entirely without money.

  I understand Government intends to grant this amount to each soldier
  as a war gratuity at the close of the campaign; the sums thus given
  will therefore be recoverable.

                       _List of Men in Hospital_
       Private D.O. Allardice      │  ”    J.H.A. Burn-Murdoch

         ”    E. Adlam             │  ”    R.G.H. Muskett

       Lance-Corporal Hugh Blair   │  ”    C. McMinn

       Private E.N. Bankes         │  ”    A. Martin

         ”    H.C. Bennett         │Sergeant-Major E.H.
                                   │Mansfield

         ”    C.J.D. Bewsher       │Private R.C. Nolan

         ”    W.R. Birch           │  ”    H.B. Oldham

       Lance-Corporal Butler (A.D.)│  ”    H.W. Puckridge

       Private W.B. Brown          │  ”    E.B. Parkes

         ”    Baldwin              │  ”    P.W. Pryce

         ”    J.S. Campbell        │  ”    N.J.V. Reid

         ”    Cheshire             │  ”    J.W.A. Skelton

         ”    H. Cooper            │  ”    J.S. Saunders

       Sergeant E. Dawson          │  ”    S. Sladden

       Lance-Sergeant J.S. Elliott │  ”    B.C.A.A. Steuart

       Private A.H. Francis        │  ”    H.W. Thelwall

         ”    E.H. Gough           │  ”    W. Turnbull

         ”    G.A. Gowenlock       │  ”    T. Thompson

         ”    R.P. Haines          │  ”    A.N. Woods

         ”    C.C. Harvey          │  ”    C.A. Walton

         ”    W.H. Holme           │  ”    F.W. Wright

         ”    J.V. Jameson         │  ”    C.F. Walton

         ”    R. Tait Innes        │  ”    L.H. Zorab

         ”    Jackman              │  ”    W.S. Lemon

         ”    G.E.                 │  ”    C.E. Stuart

         ”    D.J. Keating         │  ”    A.C. Walker

         ”    H.M. Logan           │

  Regimental Sergeant-Major Marsham’s friends in Behar will regret to
  hear that bad luck has again overtaken him. On the way up to rejoin
  after recovering from his wounds, he was so unfortunate as to be in
  company with the Derbyshire Militia when they met with their disaster,
  and is believed to have been taken prisoner with them. So far I have
  no official communication as to this, but, not having heard from or of
  him, conclude it is only too true.

  Private Percy Smith and Lance-Corporal Hugh Blair have received
  commissions in the Regular forces and are no longer with the corps,
  although the former is for a time attached to the Oxford M.I.—part of
  our own regiment under Colonel Ross. Blair is among the sick men
  mentioned and at present in Cape Town.

  Lord Roberts has also been good enough to grant commissions to Private
  Douglas Jones—in the Army Service Corps—Privates J.A. Fraser, Collins,
  T.B. Nicholson, J.S. Biscoe, and Corporal Bates. Several of the latter
  are for the West India Regiments. All these remain with me for the
  present.

  Lieutenant Pugh and Private Huddleston have been appointed Assistant
  Commissioners at Heilbron and Kroonstad respectively.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: P. Klier_
  CAPTAIN W. STEVENSON, VET. SURG.
]

  The names of several other applicants are still before His Excellency,
  and I hope to advise you soon of their having received commissions
  also. At the same time I do not expect any of these will leave the
  corps until its disbandment. Young Maurice Clifford has been taken on
  by General Ian Hamilton as orderly, and is also likely to receive a
  commission, as well as Leslie Williams, son of the late popular
  Gwatkin Williams.

  Captain Rutherfoord, Lieutenant Crane, and Sergeant Macnamara have
  been offered commissions in the Transvaal Mounted Police, and will
  probably remain in this country, as I believe will a good many others.

  Captain Stevenson is likely to obtain an important veterinary
  appointment out here, and Dr. (Captain) Powell is also in the running
  for a high medical post should he prefer this to returning to India.

  All the above, added to the continued requisitions for men of my corps
  for various offices, point to the esteem in which they are held by the
  authorities apart from their fighting qualities. In fact, were it not
  for strong remonstrances on my part to official requests, I should be
  in a fair way to lose a big percentage of my men before the work for
  which they came out has been completed.

  In my previous letter I mentioned the sad plight to which our horses
  had been reduced, and that at the time of writing I doubted my ability
  to place ninety mounted men in the field fit for a two-days’ march.
  You will now be pleased to hear that in this respect things have
  improved, and that I can now mount 180 officers and men on fairly
  serviceable animals, few, however, remaining of our original Indian
  chargers. In this connection I may also mention that out of sixty
  Argentine remounts received at Kroonstad, only one is alive.

  Now comes the important question of finance.

  I have been spending various sums on comforts for the men, the largest
  item being 50_l._ for a much-needed supply of tobacco.

  The men are very badly in want of clothes, especially breeches,
  tunics, and boots. I have indented on the Government Stores at
  Bloemfontein for a complete outfit, and hope to receive it shortly.
  This, of course, will be issued to us gratis. Nothing in the shape of
  clothing can be got for money.

  I am enclosing a statement showing roughly the financial position of
  the corps. From this you will see that, provided the war is not
  prolonged beyond our present anticipations, there will be an ample
  balance left to admit of the payments estimated for in Calcutta.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Johnston & Hoffmann_
  SERGEANT ERNEST DAWSON
]




                              CHAPTER XIV
_ALARMS AND EXCURSIONS—BOER SCOUTING—A RECONNAISSANCE TO CROCODILE RIVER—FAREWELL TO COLONEL ROSS_


Lumsden’s Horse found their duties on lines of communication not all
uneventful, and had on occasions some adventures more exciting than the
incidents of a patrol to Pretoria or Elandsfontein or Johannesburg,
though that had to be conducted with proper precautions against possible
surprises from Boer raiders who were always on the prowl within a few
miles of our outpost lines, but rarely to be seen. Emboldened by the
inaction of British troops in Pretoria and by some successes which
Christian De Wet had achieved down Rodewal way, where he captured and
burnt a train containing mail-bags with precious letters for Lumsden’s
Horse, the enemy began to press on every weak point they could find.
They evinced especially a desire to get possession of the mines near
Springs, being not only bent on wanton destruction, but also impelled
thereto by the fact that Supply officers there had been gathering stores
of forage from the country round about. Apart from its position in the
centre of a district richly mineralised, Springs was of considerable
strategic importance as a stronghold for the protection of the railway
junction at Elandsfontein, to which its commanding kopjes, if strongly
held, were a formidable flanking defence. Nothing but the belief that
Botha’s forces had been so scattered and demoralised by defeat at
Diamond Hill as to be incapable of great offensive movements could have
induced the military authorities to neglect an adequate defence of
Springs. The Boers seemed to realise its importance more than we did,
and if they had brought artillery to bear upon it the safety of
Johannesburg might have been seriously threatened. Fortunately, however,
either Botha’s irresolution or divided counsels among his colleagues led
to the abandonment of such enterprises after one or two attempts which
were frustrated by General Hutton and Colonel Henry, whose Mounted
Infantry reconnaissances at this juncture were characterised by great
skill. Nevertheless, some strong Boer commandos were persistent in their
attempts to get a footing at Springs, so that Lumsden’s Horse had to
reinforce other corps of the 8th Mounted Infantry and take their full
share of outpost work, in which they were frequently harassed by the
enemy. Some interesting details of this phase are furnished by troopers
whose letters were published in the Indian newspapers. One correspondent
writes to the ‘Indian Daily News,’ dating from Springs, July 14:

  You will see from the above that we have been moved again, and I fancy
  we shall be kept on the go now for some time to come, as both we and
  our horses have had a long rest and are quite fit again.

  It was rather a bore getting shifted out of our comfortable quarters
  at Kalfontein, but now that the wrench is over I fancy most of us are
  glad to be on the march once more, as life there was beginning to get
  just a trifle monotonous and humdrum.

  About a week previous to our leaving Kalfontein No. 3 Section B
  Company, who had been left at Irene with A Company, were sent to
  garrison Zurfontein, a few miles down the line, and we joined them
  there, the whole of us then marching to this place, which is the
  terminus of a branch of the main line running eastward, and is
  situated about twenty-five miles from Johannesburg. I should have
  mentioned that we left a few of our men at Kalfontein to help to
  garrison the place until further orders. We stayed at Elandsfontein
  and Boksburg on the way here, and the men who had been through such
  exciting scenes so recently in these places naturally took a great
  interest in them and ‘fought their battles o’er again.’

  We have had rather an exciting time of it on two occasions since being
  quartered here. On the 11th inst. we sent out a patrol of six men
  under Captain Chamney, and just as they got to the top of a bit of
  rising ground they found themselves within a few hundred yards of an
  approaching body of the enemy, who no sooner saw our men than they let
  ’em have it with their Mausers. There was nothing for it but to turn
  and get away as quickly as possible, and this the patrol did, managing
  once again to elude the bullets. The Boers followed, but soon gave up
  the game, as it was only a few miles from the town, and they evidently
  did not consider it good enough to venture too close. On getting out
  of range and up to the next rise our patrol halted and sent a man back
  to report matters to Colonel Ross, and, after staying out about an
  hour to see if there were any more signs of the enemy, they returned
  to camp. A larger patrol was sent out during the day, but saw no signs
  of Boers, these gentry evidently having returned to the adjacent
  hills. A small farmhouse, from behind which our men were shot at, was
  burnt down; but this did not have much effect, as another of our
  patrols was fired on two days afterwards near the same place, and this
  time we were not so fortunate, as Private Walton, of No. 3 Section B
  Company, was shot through the right thigh and got another bullet
  through his hat, just shaving his skull. He managed to ride into camp
  with the others, but will have a long spell in hospital, I fancy. His
  wound was dressed as soon as he got into camp, and next day he was
  sent on to Johannesburg.

  This is one of the coldest places we have struck so far, and early
  morning patrols and night pickets are consequently more unpopular than
  ever. There is one great consolation, however, and that is we can get
  good and cheap draught beer here; this is a luxury we have not
  indulged in for ages, so, needless to say, the thirsty ones are having
  a great time.

The special correspondent of the ‘Englishman’ treats one of the
incidents above referred to in a lighter vein:

  In the middle of July our detachment at Springs, where there had been
  a good deal of desultory fighting, had some fun for their money. They
  went out patrolling one day, a dozen or so strong. A farmhouse loomed
  in the distance, and as the magnetic pole draws the needle so did this
  innocent, nestling farm draw the patrol. If you live on biscuits for a
  month you develop a craving for bread. Same with everybody, from
  General down to mule-drivers. It would be side on the part of
  Lumsden’s Horse to hold aloof from any popular taste, and as one
  leary-nosed tea planter said he smelt dough, the patrol rode for that
  farmhouse, animated by the noble sentiment that the devil might take
  the hindmost. But this time the devil nearly copped the leader, for
  the Boers opened at short range from stone walls near the farmhouse. A
  patrol’s duty being to locate the enemy, and not to die valorously or
  otherwise, our men turned tail, thought of their misdeeds, and
  streaked for home. Unluckily C.F. Walton, of B Company, bestrode an
  Argentine which feared neither Boer nor bullet. The brute wouldn’t
  budge under the fire, and Walton received a hail of lead all to
  himself. One bullet struck his hat, cutting the bottom of the
  crack—our squashed Cashmere ones—clean away, shedding his hair in a
  way that no brushing will alter, for it shaved a line clean along his
  scalp. Just as he got his horse on the move he was struck again, in
  the thigh, but managed to gallop away without further mishap.
  Examination proved that the bullet had gone right through the upper
  part of his leg, inflicting a severe but not dangerous wound. Walton
  is now in hospital and doing well.

Fuller details and a more consecutive narrative of other events are
given by a correspondent of the ‘Madras Daily Mail,’ who writes:

  Our duties are not only to guard the station and railway line and
  patrol the country, but also to furnish observation posts, whose duty
  it is to report the movements of any bodies of men they may see; the
  patrols also demanding the production of passes from anyone—native or
  white man—whom they may meet. The Boers are not far off, and life is
  not without its excitement; for on two occasions our patrols have been
  fired on, once getting a particularly hot reception and being chased
  for a considerable distance. One man in particular had a narrow escape
  when the enemy—who were lying in wait for the patrol—suddenly charged
  down over the top of a neighbouring ridge. He was in the middle of a
  small copse ahead of his companions and did not see the Boers, who
  galloped round on each flank of the wood, and, dismounting just this
  side of it, commenced firing at the rest of the patrol. Hearing the
  rifles so close, he attempted to return, and found, on getting to the
  edge of the wood, that he was cut off by a line of men along a wire
  fence, who fortunately were so busy firing that they did not see him.
  He eventually made a dash for it from the upper end of the wood,
  coming out behind the Boers and making a long detour. Of course,
  directly he got clear of the wood he was seen and became a target for
  all their rifles, but he got safely away.

  During a prolonged stay in a place like this we manage to make
  ourselves very comfortable. In the vicinity of Kaalfontein the
  farmhouses were for the most part deserted and had been left just as
  they stood. From these farmhouses we are always allowed to help
  ourselves to useful and non-valuable articles, such as cooking
  utensils and eatables; so what with chickens, ducks, &c., while the
  live-stock held out, and most excellent mutton issued as rations, not
  to mention an occasional porker (bought from the Kaffirs) or haunch of
  venison (shot by one of the officers), our larder was well stocked,
  while extras in the way of groceries could be obtained from an
  enterprising Jew storekeeper, who would drive round with his stores.
  Then, too, bivouacs and shelters of all sorts can be rigged up, and
  very welcome they were at the time, as during June and the beginning
  of July the cold was intense.

  At Springs, the terminus of a branch line from Elandsfontein Junction
  through Boksburg, together with four companies of the 8th Mounted
  Infantry and the Canadians, we remained six days. Here the Boers were
  rather closer than they had been at Kaalfontein, and it was the rule
  rather than the exception for the patrols to be fired on. One morning
  our patrol was shot at from a farmhouse flying a white flag, the
  advance scouts being only 150 yards distant; one of them, Trooper
  Walton (Mysore and Coorg Rifles), received a bullet through his thigh
  and another right through the crown of his hat, actually cutting the
  hair along the top of his head, but he managed to get away without
  further injury. On receiving the news Colonel Ross immediately sent
  out a strong patrol with a pom-pom and burnt the house to the ground,
  but saw nothing of the enemy, who are always careful not to interfere
  with a strong patrol, their plan being to allow a small party to
  approach their ambush and then suddenly open fire, hoping to empty a
  few saddles. Fortunately, however, it is not easy to hit a man on
  horseback at an unknown range or else the Boers are uncommonly bad
  shots, for our patrols have now been fired upon on seven or eight
  different occasions at comparatively close range and only one man has
  been hit. One afternoon a party of Boers, about thirty in number, were
  seen by the look-out man coming down to a Kaffir kraal, about three
  miles out. Lumsden’s Horse were ordered to saddle up immediately and
  give chase. The Boers, however, did not wait. They had evidently come
  down to get mealies from the Kaffirs, as we found some bags they had
  dropped in their haste.

[Illustration:

  A TYPICAL BOER
  (_From a sketch by J.S. Cowen_)
]

In these operations Lumsden’s Horse learned a great deal about the
tricks and methods of Boer scouts, and soon began to realise that these
could best be met by bringing all a shikarri’s varied experiences into
play. In reality the wily Boers do not send out patrols, according to
our interpretation of that word. When any considerable number of them
are seen together, it may be taken for granted that their scouts have
previously done all the work expected of them, or that they are off
somewhere in another direction, acting as a screen for some more
important movement. When watching a hostile force, with a view to
aggressive tactics or defensive measures, the Boers hardly ever show
themselves. If caught by chance on the move, they either halt where they
are and lie down or steal away one by one to the nearest cover, knowing
perfectly well that any large body moving can be seen a long distance
off, while separate figures become almost invisible dots on the vast
plain and attract no attention from people whose eyesight is less keen
than a Kaffir’s. Once concealed from view, they are careful not to show
themselves again on the sky-line, or on a sunlit slope, where their
shadows would betray them. From hunting wild game they have learned to
pursue the tactics of an antelope or a haartebeeste in eluding a
vigilant enemy. As a herd of deer, browsing peacefully in some hollow,
leaves a trusty sentinel on the nearest hill to keep watch, so Boers
tell off one of their number for a similar duty, and he, like the
sentinel buck, remains motionless beside a tree or stone, invisible
himself, but allowing no movement on the plain to escape his watchful
eye. The man on whom this task falls is generally a veteran trained by
long experience to a knowledge of the veldt and the habits of every
being, man or beast, frequenting it. By the actions of horses or cattle
on the pastures, not less than by the hurried movement of more timid
wild animals or birds, he knows whether they have been disturbed by
anything unusual. Then he stoops down to listen, and his ears are so
sensitive by long practice that he can distinguish the rumble of wheels
or tread of marching men miles off, though the sound comes to him no
louder than the whisper of wind among dry grass. And a bird on the wing,
or animal scuttling through the undergrowth, will warn him at once of
approaching foes.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN CLIFFORD]

If the Boers want to lay an ambush they do not set about it in a clumsy
fashion, but with due foresight, calculating all the chances. Far in
advance of the trap thus prepared they will probably have posted some
men among the rocks of a kopje, or preferably in a dry donga between
high banks that effectually conceal any movement. These advanced scouts
never show themselves or fire a shot when the prey for which their
comrades are waiting approaches. They simply allow it to pass, and then
perhaps will be heard a whistle like that of some wild bird, the lowing
of cattle that cannot be seen, or other sound familiar enough but
conveying no particular meaning at the moment. Yet in all probability it
is a preconcerted signal from the foremost scouts to others within
hearing, who pass on the message, so that every movement of the coming
patrol or column is known to the Boers waiting in ambush for it. Thus
many mishaps have occurred in a way that nobody could account for, and
by practising similar methods Lumsden’s Horse at length became a match
for their enemy at the same game. Other lessons than those learned at
Springs were, however, needed to perfect them in the craft on which the
safety of an army may sometimes depend. One such experience fell to
their share in a reconnaissance towards Crocodile River, which Colonel
Lumsden describes in a letter to the executive committee of Lumsden’s
Horse:

  A few days after the despatch of my previous letter, Colonel Ross,
  with a detachment of my own corps and the greater part of the 8th
  Mounted Infantry, collected at Irene under instructions to proceed to
  Pretoria. While we were still in camp there orders came from
  headquarters to patrol the country to the west and north-west as far
  as the Crocodile River. On receiving the above orders, Colonel Ross,
  accompanied by myself, Captain Taylor, and a small patrol of the
  Oxfords under Lieut. Percy Smith, went out to reconnoitre the country.
  Captain Clifford, of ours, had already proceeded early in the day
  (July 20) with a patrol of fifteen men in the same direction.
  Overtaking this party about noon, Colonel Ross ordered Captain
  Clifford to push on and ascertain that the ground was clear of the
  enemy as far as the river. Colonel Ross’s party then returned to
  Irene. Late in the evening Captain Clifford’s patrol came back and
  reported that his party had been ambuscaded before reaching the river,
  and had had to make the best of their way out of a tight place on
  jaded horses at the best speed they could, leaving two of their
  number, Privates Bearne and Cayley, in the hands of the enemy. Captain
  Clifford estimated the enemy’s strength at 300, and reported that as
  far as he could ascertain they were laagered in a strong natural
  position near Six Mile Spruit, commanding a perfect view of its
  valley. Not being quite satisfied with the information, Colonel Ross
  ordered him to proceed again next day with a patrol of thirty. Captain
  Sidey accompanied him. The task was a difficult and dangerous one,
  for, although the first twelve miles were clear of the enemy and
  comparatively open, the last eight miles of the journey led down the
  valley of Six Mile Spruit, with high hills to the right and lower ones
  to the left, the enemy’s laager being situated about half-way down on
  the right. The Boers had thus the option of stopping the patrol on the
  way down, or cutting it off on the return journey. The reconnoitring
  party could reach the Crocodile River in comparative safety by
  advancing along the higher ground to the left of the valley and
  holding the commanding posts as far as numbers permitted. But as this
  course failed to draw out the Boers, it was useless as a method of
  discovering their strength and whereabouts. Captain Clifford therefore
  effected a compromise, reached the river as above described, and when
  about half-way through the valley on the return journey turned off in
  the direction of the Boer laager, leaving Sergeant Mitchell and four
  men in observation on high ground to cover his advance. As soon as he
  and his party were well down to the Spruit, the Boers rushed out in
  large numbers, forcing them to retreat in haste towards the covering
  party, who were unable to fire, as they could not distinguish friend
  from foe. The whole patrol, being outnumbered by ten to one, with
  their line of retreat threatened, had no choice but to escape as best
  they could in an easterly direction. Three men were taken prisoners
  through their horses being exhausted. Sergeant Mitchell’s party,
  finding itself cut off, escaped in a southerly direction, and reached
  Johannesburg in safety next day. The patrol that night came back nine
  short. It turned out that three had been taken prisoners, and the
  remaining six arrived in camp from various directions the following
  day. The three prisoners returned three days later, having been
  treated with great kindness by the Boers, who only took their horses,
  rifles, and accoutrements, and were evidently much amused by the way
  in which our patrols were sent out every day to face almost certain
  capture or death in accordance with orders. They considered this
  patrol as very useful to supply them with the necessaries of warfare,
  and treated the whole thing as a huge joke. During the retreat on the
  first of these two patrols Private Graham did very good work. When
  Cayley’s horse had fallen and then run away, Graham made him hold his
  stirrup to expedite his flight on foot, and offered to take turn and
  turn about riding and running with him. It became evident that they
  could not both get away, so Graham, taking Cayley’s rifle and catching
  his horse afterwards, brought both animals and rifles out of action,
  saving them from the hands of the enemy and earning the commendation
  of the Colonel on his arrival in camp. On the 22nd Colonel Ross’s
  Irene command was ordered to start at two hours’ notice for Pretoria
  viâ Swartzkop. He complied, camping at Swartzkop for the night, and
  reaching the camp by the Pretoria Racecourse next day.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Elliott & Fry_
  J.A. GRAHAM, D.C.M.
]

Captain Clifford, in an official report of the incident to Colonel
Lumsden, does full justice to Trooper Graham’s conduct in the following
words:

  When about two miles from Crocodile River, while I was questioning a
  farmer, the enemy suddenly opened fire on us from a ridge in front,
  between 300 and 400 yards distant. I was with the scouts when this
  happened. We galloped back to the rest of the patrol, which only
  consisted of a total of nine troopers, and before we could take up any
  position the fire began to come from three sides, so I gave the order
  to retire as fast as possible to avoid being surrounded. In the
  retreat, under a heavy fire, Trooper Cayley, one of the scouts, was
  thrown from his horse, whereupon Trooper Graham, with great gallantry,
  stayed behind and gave Cayley a ride on his own horse, running by his
  side, and then mounting and Cayley running. The rest of the patrol
  being scattered, and the ground much broken, these two were not missed
  for some time. After some distance had been traversed, the Boers were
  getting so close, and the fire so hot, that it would have been
  impossible for both to escape. Trooper Cayley thereupon flung himself
  into a small ditch and Trooper Graham made off, not, however, without
  bringing Cayley’s rifle. On the way to rejoin the patrol, and still
  under fire, he came across a riderless horse of another of the party,
  and brought it safely back with Cayley’s rifle. The patrol then,
  observing him coming, turned to his support, and the Boers
  discontinued the pursuit.

For his gallant behaviour on this occasion Trooper Graham was
recommended by Colonel Lumsden for the Victoria Cross; but instead of
that coveted decoration he subsequently received the Distinguished
Conduct Medal.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: C.G. Brown_
  BERNARD CAYLEY.
]

The talented correspondent of the ‘Englishman’ writes as follows of the
same affair:

  One morning a patrol set forth to spy the land, an officer and eleven
  men. They rode west for fifteen miles and entered the hills aforesaid,
  their object being to reach the junction of Six Mile Spruit with the
  Crocodile River. The way being purely cross-country it was a difficult
  matter to locate their destination, and seeing a farmhouse at the top
  of a valley the patrol made for it with the object of being directed.
  The valley traversed was some thousand yards wide from ridge to ridge.
  At the far end was the farmhouse, and beyond a low hill. Down the
  middle of the valley ran a spruit between high banks, forming a donga
  deep and wide enough to cover mounted men. The path running up the
  valley crossed the donga 600 yards from the farmhouse. Our fellows
  trotted up to the farmhouse, some tackling the lady of the house, and
  the others the Boer himself, who was spotted on the road a little way
  off. The good lady was a bit nervous, and rather hastily volunteered
  the information that the Boers had all gone away. Though never
  dreaming of their presence so near, this aroused the suspicions of the
  man to whom the remark was made, and he went up to the farmer, and
  roughly demanded where the Boers were. The question rather startled
  him, and from his manner it became evident that Boers were about,
  though he swore they had left the night before.

  Thereupon the patrol, in open order, advanced across the rising to the
  right, with Bearne, Graham, and Cayley in front. A wire fence
  obstructed the way, and it was a moot point whether to go round by a
  gate to the left or to use the wire-cutters. This fence was eighty
  yards from the top of the ridge, to which it ran parallel. The cutting
  of the fence saved the lives of the men mentioned. Hardly were they
  through the opening than a heavy fire was opened on them at a range of
  fifty yards. The rest of the party being a hundred yards behind, not
  yet up to the fence, Cayley, Bearne, and Graham whipped round, and
  made for the cutting, which was luckily immediately behind them. If
  they had gone round by the gate to the left they would have had to
  stand fire getting to the gate, and then run the gauntlet all the way
  back. As it was they got safely through the cutting and legged it
  after the rest, the party making straight down the valley for the
  donga already described. As the distance between the Boers and the
  donga was only 800 yards, it can be imagined how hot the fire was.
  Extraordinary to relate, not a man was touched during the brief but
  dangerous interval which elapsed between leaving the wire fence and
  reaching the donga. Arrived there a new foe sprang upon the unlucky
  patrol.

[Illustration: L.C. BEARNE]

  From the left of the hill behind the farmhouse, and at the point where
  the left ridge forming the valley joined this hill, another lot of
  Boers opened a heavy enfilade fire at a thousand yards’ range. Their
  sanctuary was a sanctuary no longer, and again the patrol fled, this
  time straight for the opening in the hills by which they had entered.
  Meantime the second lot of Boers kept up a brisk fusillade, many of
  them mounting horses and galloping along the ridge parallel with the
  flying patrol. As our men had travelled some twenty miles, their
  horses were pretty beaten, so that the Boers, in light order, had no
  difficulty in catching up and taking pot shots at short range. Shortly
  after leaving the donga, Cayley’s horse fell heavily, and got away
  from his fallen rider. Thereupon Graham pulled up, gave Cayley his
  stirrup, and the latter ran until exhausted. Graham then very
  gallantly insisted upon Cayley riding while Graham ran. When beaten,
  Graham mounted again and Cayley ran. At this point the Boers had got
  close up and were pouring in a hot fire, and, the situation
  endangering both men, Cayley, who was much exhausted, let go,
  insisting on Graham leaving him, hoping himself to escape the Boers by
  hiding among the rocks. Near the same place Bearne’s horse stopped,
  dead beat. Bearne got off and ran until done, when he, too, took cover
  from the Boers, who were close at his heels peppering for all they
  were worth.

  By this time the remainder of the patrol, headed by Captain Clifford,
  who was in charge, had got well away, and they eventually returned to
  camp late at night, having had to walk most of the way back, as their
  horses were too done to carry them. But Cayley and Bearne never had a
  chance, for the Boers had never lost sight of them. They were quickly
  routed out of their cover, and having dropped their arms when running,
  defenceless, they had to surrender to overwhelming numbers. The Boers
  explained to them what had happened on their side, and it would seem
  to be only by a bit of luck that the whole patrol was not captured.
  Right behind the low hill at the back of the farmhouse was a laager,
  where a number of Boers were encamped. Five, _they_ said, though there
  must have been quadruple the number, Boers had gone over to the
  farmhouse already mentioned half an hour before the patrol appeared.
  Failing to find forage there, they had proceeded up the hill with the
  intention of crossing into the next valley to visit another farmhouse.
  When on the sky line they spotted our patrol advancing. The Boers
  immediately lay low to watch what happened. Realising that the patrol
  was riding into the lion’s mouth, they meant to keep doggo until the
  party was close up, and consequently far away from the only point of
  escape—viz., the road by which it had come. When close up they would
  open fire, warning at the same time their own camp over the hill
  scarce a mile away. Luckily for us, their camp proved slow to hear,
  else the main body of Boers would have rushed for the donga and
  regularly trapped the crowd. As it was our men had reached the donga
  before the laager had awakened to the situation.

  Cayley and Bearne were kindly treated but marched about unmercifully,
  eventually reaching the main Boer laager at Commando Nek, where a
  short time previously the Lincolns and Scots Greys had come to such
  terrible grief. There the unhappy pair were released to struggle
  twenty miles into Pretoria as best they might.

  Shortly after the adventurous descent on the Crocodile River
  fastnesses, which I have already described, a second and larger
  patrol, with Captain Clifford again in command, set forth to avenge
  the disasters of the first. As I have a particular regard for my
  personal safety, and believing the neighbourhood accursed, I found it
  convenient to be otherwise occupied at the moment when patrol No. 2
  started. And subsequent events proved me wiser than my generation. Not
  being present at what happened, I cannot, of course, tell exactly how
  it came about. Nor could I piece the twenty different accounts given
  me into a satisfactory whole, for the very good reason that no two of
  the stories afterwards told me would fit in. However, it would appear
  that it happened somewhat thus.

  The party started out at daybreak, and reached the scene of the
  previous disaster in good time in the morning. Needless to say, the
  Boers were on the look-out this time, and so soon as the patrol hove
  in sight made their dispositions. With a wariness born of experience
  there was no venturing into the valley. The party spread over the
  ridge along which the Boers had followed them on the first occasion,
  and advanced in skirmishing order with scouts in front smelling out
  every nook and cranny. And so they came, as they say in racing
  parlance, right along the ridge until close up to the farmhouse. All
  the time the Boers in force were happily contemplating these
  operations from the opposite ridge, which they had selected as being
  the one not likely to be scouted. As the ridge ran into the hill
  behind the farmhouse it became necessary, if any act of retribution
  was to be performed on the farmer, to diverge from that line of
  advance and make for the farmhouse. This was done, and of course
  brought the patrol into closer order. At the farmhouse one of its
  occupants handed a note to Captain Clifford. It was from the farmer,
  and ran, ‘Am going down the road to kill a pig for a neighbour. Will
  be back in a few minutes.’ And then the band began to play. From the
  hill in front and the ridge on the right the Mausers spoke out their
  unwelcome messages in a continuous stream, till it seemed as if the
  blue sky above must crack for the noise. Round whipped the patrol and
  in went the spurs, Captain Clifford leading his men down the valley
  that seemed as if it must spell death for the whole party. There were
  200 Boers in all firing at an average range of 800 yards for a
  distance of two miles. Several horses were shot, several fell, some
  stopped from exhaustion; but there was no way of getting out except
  along the road which ran parallel to the ridge occupied by the enemy.
  The rocky going on the other ridge precluded a retreat over its
  inhospitable sides, besides which it was commanded on both slopes from
  the hill behind the farmhouse.

  That night at Irene the return of the patrol was anxiously awaited. It
  seemed a strange thing, to many marvellous, that no man had a mark on
  him, and this shows again what extraordinarily bad shooting the Boers
  are capable of at moving bodies, and particularly when they are not
  certain if another and concealed movement is not being conducted on
  their rear. Of the party sent on the expedition one by one continued
  to arrive back, some late the same night, some during the next day,
  some even the day after, until at last the lot were accounted for.
  Three of the unlucky patrol had trekked for Johannesburg, and advised
  us by telegraph of their safety. Another struck the railway at
  Kaalfontein. And so they straggled in, weary, hungry, and dirty.
  Several were taken prisoners, but treated kindly enough, one attention
  in particular being much appreciated. That was a stomach warmer of
  peach brandy before they were set free for their march back to Irene.
  Rather an insulting message given the released ones was to the effect
  that the Boers would have coffee ready next time we came.

After these events Colonel Lumsden’s request for more active employment
than his corps could find on lines of communication was granted, and the
sequel is described by a correspondent of the ‘Madras Mail’:

  We left Springs on July 16th, expecting to join General Hutton, who,
  we heard, had had a severe engagement with heavy casualties, and was
  in want of more mounted troops. However, after a night at Kaalfontein
  we moved on to Irene, which place is the headquarters of the 8th
  Mounted Infantry, now on communications between Johannesburg and
  Pretoria. We remained at Irene a week, during which time we had some
  half-dozen men taken prisoners owing to their horses giving out when
  being pursued by the Boers, who were always lying in wait for our
  patrols. We were exceedingly fortunate in having nobody hit on these
  occasions. The prisoners were in every case released, their rifles and
  horses, of course, being taken from them. Apparently the Boers now
  find prisoners an encumbrance.

  On the 22nd we moved to Pretoria, camping three miles outside the
  town. Pretoria is prettily situated in a hollow surrounded by hills.
  These hills to the south-west, and about ten miles out, sheltered a
  number of Boers, and on the 27th we set out on a reconnaissance to
  find out something about them. The force, under Brigadier-General
  Hickman, consisted of the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th Mounted Infantry
  Regiments, a battery of Field Artillery, and a battalion of Infantry
  (the Cornwalls). We saw nothing of the enemy until evening, when the
  advance guard came into touch and exchanged shots with the enemy’s
  scouts, who retired. The next morning we had scarcely started when we
  heard the now familiar double thud of the Mauser, and found that the
  Oxford Company of the 8th Mounted Infantry were engaged. It was a very
  different country from what we had been used to, and it did not suit
  us nearly so well. We were in a valley with steep hills on either
  side, the slopes of which were covered with loose stones and rocks of
  every size and shape, which made the going almost impossible for
  horses and very trying for the men. The pom-poms came into action
  close on our left and shelled a steep kopje opposite for some time;
  meanwhile, a brisk rifle fire was being kept up by the Mounted
  Infantry on our left. At the end of about an hour the General had
  apparently found out all he wanted to know, for the order to retire
  came, the 8th Mounted Infantry to act as rearguard. Lumsden’s were
  deputed to guard the left flank, which we did, retiring by alternate
  companies along the top of the range of kopjes, while the Infantry and
  guns moved along the valley. The enemy followed in a half-hearted way,
  but were easily kept in check by the pom-poms, which dropped shells
  into them whenever they showed themselves in any numbers. Beyond
  firing at a few of their scouts, we (_i.e._, Lumsden’s) saw nothing of
  them. The casualties had been slight, the Oxford Company 8th Mounted
  Infantry having one man killed and one wounded. An officer’s charger
  hit was all the damage done to Lumsden’s Horse.

  On the 27th General Ian Hamilton’s division, consisting of General
  Bruce Hamilton’s, General Mahon’s, and General Hickman’s brigades,
  marched into Pretoria. Lord Roberts and his Staff, with General Ian
  Hamilton on his right and Lord Kitchener on his left, took up his
  position in the market square while the troops marched past, cheering
  him as they went. The same day we heard the good news that 5,000 of
  the enemy had surrendered to General Hunter.

More active service, however, meant for Lumsden’s Horse a transfer to
some other column, and the time had thus come when they were to bid
farewell to Colonel Ross, under whom they had served for four months,
and from their comrades of the 8th Mounted Infantry, with whom they had
marched and fought in many actions. Colonel Lumsden expressed the
feeling of all ranks in his parting words to Colonel Ross, which were
full of appreciation for the many kindnesses shown by that gallant
commander towards Lumsden’s Horse. What Colonel Ross thought of the
corps and its officers may be gathered from the regimental order
acknowledging their services, and from a letter in which Colonel Ross
writes as follows:

  Lumsden’s Horse joined the 8th Corps M.I. about the middle of April
  1900, and served with the corps till the end of July, when they were
  transferred to General Mahon’s command. This was probably the most
  completely equipped ‘unit’ that joined the forces in South Africa
  during the war—a well-organised regimental transport, of Indian
  pattern, a complete regimental hospital and veterinary establishment,
  and every ‘necessary’ of life for man and beast for a campaign in
  almost any country.

  The _personnel_ of the corps was in keeping with everything else.
  Colonel Lumsden, though not an experienced campaigner when he first
  arrived on active service, was a capable organiser, and had the
  natural gift of commanding the respect and cheerful obedience of all
  who served under him, and he soon qualified as a competent leader
  under fire. He was ably supported by a well-selected body of officers
  and non-commissioned officers; and there was an evident determination
  among all ranks that the representatives of the Indian Auxiliary
  Forces should justify their selection by the Indian public. The
  ‘rank-and-file’ was composed of gentlemen who had been used to the
  comparative luxury of an Indian planter’s life, and who were untrained
  in cooking for themselves and attending to their horses. But they soon
  adapted themselves to the situation, and cheerfully took their share
  of all the work of Regular soldiers, and with such success that an
  experienced officer like General Hutton expressed his admiration of
  the manner in which they did it.

  The ‘fighting’ capacity of Lumsden’s Horse cannot be entirely
  estimated from the gaps in their ranks. They were, as a result of
  their training in civil life, more ‘self-reliant’ than the
  rank-and-file of our Regular Army, and the looser formations they were
  consequently able to adopt account in a great measure for their
  comparatively small losses. The opinion formed of the corps by the
  Commander-in-Chief can be gathered from the great number of
  distinctions, promotions, and commissions in the Regular Army which
  were conferred on those who remained. The time-honoured maxim, ‘Blood
  will tell,’ was never better exemplified than in this corps, and,
  should it be my lot ever again to command troops in the field, I ask
  for no better fortune than to have a similar body to Lumsden’s Horse.

                                                    W. Ross,

                       Late Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding 8th Corps M.I.




                               CHAPTER XV
_A MARCH UNDER MAHON OF MAFEKING TO RUSTENBURG AND WARMBATHS—IN PURSUIT OF DE WET_


To have served under two leaders of high reputation for ability in
handling Irregular troops was a stroke of good fortune that did not fall
to the lot of many Volunteer Corps in South Africa. Lumsden’s Horse had
every reason to be thankful that the lot was theirs, and they
appreciated it fully. In exchanging from the 8th Mounted Infantry
Regiment to another column, of which Colonel Bryan Mahon was Brigadier,
they did not forget the commander under whom they had served so long;
but affection for him was happily consistent with out-and-out admiration
for the officer to whose force they were transferred after leaving
Irene. Both were thorough soldiers, having strong sympathies with
Volunteers and a complete understanding of the peculiarities that
distinguish them from Regulars. In other words, both were born leaders
of men. Colonel Mahon, or General as he then was by local rank, had
proved himself to be a commander of great dash and resourcefulness in
his conduct of operations by which he won not only the affectionate
confidence of his own troops, but also the respect of enemies who still
speak with admiration of the young Cavalry officer who beat them at
their own game by rapid flank movements on the way to Mafeking, and
effected the relief of that beleaguered garrison in spite of all De la
Rey could do to prevent him. In ten days he marched a distance of 230
miles through country destitute of supplies, where no other forces had
disputed possession with the Boers since war began. He outwitted the
cleverest of De la Rey’s lieutenants at Kraaipan by a night march which
won his adversary’s admiration, and he took a great convoy of Cape carts
and heavier transport full of provisions into Mafeking without having
lost a single waggon. Describing that surprise at Kraaipan, when, after
waiting in expectation of an attack by which Mahon should fall into the
trap laid for him, the Boers suddenly realised that the British column
had disappeared, one of their scouts said, ‘We did not get much rest, as
somebody had to be on the look-out all night. Your laager was quite near
to us, but we did not see or hear anything move. In the morning,
however, the whole had vanished, and when it was too late to stop them
we heard they were trekking away north-west towards a desert where
nobody but Boers or natives would expect to find water. Your General
must have had somebody with him who knew that country well or he would
never have ventured there.’ The ‘somebody’ in this case may have been
Colonel Frank Rhodes, the bearer of a name which is one to conjure with
still among the native tribes of Bechuanaland. He was Mahon’s
Intelligence officer, and information gleaned by him made the night
march possible; but it was the young Brigadier who planned and carried
it into execution at a time when his enemies thought they had him surely
trapped. When a complete history of the campaign comes to be written,
that march of Mahon’s for the relief of Mafeking will rank high among
the most daring and successful operations. All this story was known
weeks before the General himself arrived at Pretoria with the Imperial
Light Horse, who had won fresh honours in that enterprise under a leader
whose praises they never tired of singing. No expectation of being
brigaded with such a famous corps under such a brigadier had occurred to
Lumsden’s Horse when they left Irene. Indeed, they seem to have regarded
themselves as an integral unit of the 8th Mounted Infantry up to the day
when Colonel Ross, receiving orders for a movement southwards, went off
with other corps of his command, leaving Lumsden’s Horse behind.
Meanwhile, however, they had been placed for a time at the disposal of
Colonel Hickman, under whom they took part in the brief operations
already described towards Crocodile River, which were merely a
reconnaissance for the more important enterprise to follow.

It will be remembered that Lord Roberts, about this time, had both hands
fully occupied in keeping Botha at arm’s length in the east and
stretching out his left with considerable force westward to ward off
attacks by De la Rey and others who were causing General Baden-Powell
much anxiety for the safety of Rustenburg, which he held with a very
small number of troops. It would never have done to let the newly
emancipated hero of Mafeking be subjected to another siege. Therefore,
when he reported that a strong force was again threatening Rustenburg
Lord Roberts determined to withdraw that garrison to Commando Nek, while
the small force holding Lichtenburg was to retire upon Zeerust.
Accordingly, General Ian Hamilton received orders to march to Rustenburg
and bring Baden-Powell’s force back with him. At the same time Sir
Frederick Carrington was directed to advance from Mafeking with his
mounted troops to the assistance of Colonel Hore, who, with 140 Bushmen,
80 men of the Rhodesian Regiment, and 80 Rhodesian Volunteers, was at
Eland’s River with a convoy of supplies for the Rustenburg garrison, and
held up there by an intercepting body of Boers. This brief summary of
the general situation is necessary to a clear understanding of the
exigencies that necessitated General Ian Hamilton’s movement eastward
along the Magaliesberg, and the reconnaissance immediately preceding it,
in all of which important operations Lumsden’s Horse were actively
engaged from start to finish. The force marched in three columns,
Colonel Hickman’s being on the left, General Ian Hamilton’s in the
centre, and Brigadier-General Mahon’s on the right, each being separated
from the other by a rough range of hills which in places became quite
mountainous.

All this range, sweeping round the hollow in which Pretoria lies, and
then stretching away westward by irregular curves past Rustenburg to
Eland’s River, is known as the Magaliesberg, and famed for the fertility
of valleys that broaden out at its feet from many rugged kloofs. In
peace-time it is the great tobacco-producing district of the Transvaal—a
veritable garden, where orange groves, flourishing in wild luxuriance,
sweeten the air with their fragrance, and brighten the landscape with
the richness of their golden fruit. In war-time its commanding crests
and narrow defiles formed a series of strongholds for the commandos that
rallied round General De la Rey and by their daring raids gained a
reputation as the best fighters of all Boers then in the field. Every
Kaffir path by which scouts could move unseen was familiar to them. They
knew every point from which wide views could be obtained in all
directions, and every nook in which men might hide secure from
observation, ready for a sudden attack if occasion should serve, yet
having more than one way open for escape from any danger that might
threaten them. General Baden-Powell with the relieved garrison from
Mafeking had marched through a mountainous country and crossed the
Magaliesberg to Rustenburg, meeting no opposition. The Boer forces
belonging to that district had then more serious affairs to occupy them
elsewhere. But after the fight at Diamond Hill, when General Botha
retired to the Eastern Transvaal, De la Rey came back to his old haunts
on the Magaliesberg, surprised a British post near Zilikat’s Nek, and
began a series of operations by which he threatened to cut off all
supplies from Rustenburg.

Colonel Lumsden continues his diary:

  Two days after our return to Pretoria from the reconnaissance under
  Colonel Hickman the 8th Mounted Infantry received orders to entrain at
  4 A.M. for Wolve Hoek, the station next south of Vereeniging; but at
  the station the order as far as we were concerned was countermanded,
  and we were told to return and report to General Mahon. His
  instructions were that we should remain in our present camp and fall
  in as rearguard when his column marched off for Rustenburg on August
  1. The morning of that day, therefore, found us in rear of the baggage
  of his column, which was moving to Rustenburg, north of the
  Magaliesberg Range, to the relief of Baden-Powell, while General
  Hamilton proceeded up the valley south of the Magaliesberg. Mahon’s
  brigade was unique in its composition, consisting almost entirely of
  Volunteer Mounted Infantry—viz., Imperial Light Horse, Lumsden’s
  Horse, New Zealand Mounted Infantry, Queensland Mounted Infantry, a
  regiment of Yeomanry, two squadrons 18th Hussars (the squadrons that
  were captured after the battle of Talana), and the M Battery R.H.A.—in
  all about 1,500 strong.

  Firing began two miles out of Pretoria, and pom-poms and guns played
  merrily all day, clearing the range which divided the two columns. We
  camped twelve miles out. The plan for next day subsequently transpired
  to have been that General Hamilton should make a frontal attack and
  drive the enemy off the high ground, where they had taken up a
  position, near Zilikat’s Nek, while our brigade, making a wide
  movement, to the right, was to cut off the retiring foe from the
  Schwartz and Roode Kopjes, to which they were expected to retreat.
  Apparently something went wrong with the arrangements, for Hamilton,
  attacking before we got into position, lost some twenty men and the
  Boers escaped.

The point at which General Hamilton made his attack was from the south
side of the Magaliesberg range near Uitval Nek, which the enemy held
strongly. As General Mahon’s brigade was moving along the north side of
those precipitous ridges through a country thick with scrub, no
communication could be kept up between the two forces, and Hamilton,
whose march was unimpeded by natural difficulties, had not allowed
sufficient time for his colleague to cover the treacherous ground
through which many tributaries of the Crocodile River run their devious
courses. On getting touch with the enemy, whose position he had located,
Ian Hamilton went for them at once, a portion of Cunningham’s brigade
making as if for a frontal attack, while two companies of the Berkshire
Regiment, led by Major Elmhirst Rhodes, gallantly escaladed the steep
cliff overlooking the pass from its eastern side. Hamilton’s losses in
this fight amounted to forty killed and wounded before the Boers could
be dislodged; but as soon as they found that their position was under
fire from above, where the Berkshires had gained a footing, the enemy
fled, abandoning their waggons and horses. Unfortunately, delayed by the
obstacles already mentioned, Mahon’s mounted troops did not come up in
time to take any part, otherwise but few of the enemy could have
escaped. A correspondent of the ‘Times of India,’ taking up the story a
day after this fight, when General Mahon’s force had got through the
denser bush country into a more smiling region only to find that the
enemy had disappeared, writes:

  The valley we were passing through was well watered and cultivated,
  and in some places fairly thickly wooded; much pleasanter country for
  travelling through than the bare monotonous veldt of which we had seen
  so much in the Free State. We passed many snug farmhouses, also
  several flourishing orange groves. At one place there were acres of
  orange trees simply laden with fruit, and as they were going to waste
  we were allowed to help ourselves. The oranges were very fine and
  beautifully ripe; one man from each sub-section was allowed to go and
  gather them, and in a few minutes came back literally bulging with
  them—haversacks, nosebags, pockets, &c., overflowing, the little
  tangerines being especially appreciated. Some of the Australians were
  so enchanted by this valley that they doubted whether there could be
  another such in all the world. That night we were all aroused to
  assist in putting out a veldt fire, which had approached uncomfortably
  close to the camp; owing to a high wind and the fact that the grass
  was particularly long and dry, it was much fiercer than is usually the
  case. However, we set to work with blankets and beat it out where it
  was too threatening, and then burnt a ring round the camp, effectually
  stopping its progress. A Boer spy was caught in camp that night. He
  had a pass on him showing that he had taken the oath of neutrality,
  and he had expansive bullets in his bandolier. He was shot next
  morning.

  Progress was naturally very slow, owing to the difficult nature of the
  country and the fact that the hills had to be very carefully scouted.
  We were rearguard that day and saw no fighting ourselves, but the
  scouts in front evidently soon put up the Boers, as we heard rifle
  shots being exchanged constantly, and every now and then our guns
  shelled the retreating enemy.

  I may mention here that the Imperial Light Horse formed part of the
  Mounted Infantry in General Mahon’s brigade. This was the first time
  we had come across this famous corps, which had done such splendid
  work during the war, and a very fine body of men we thought them.
  Possessing a knowledge of the language and in many cases of the
  country, they are most useful as scouts, and General Mahon fully
  recognised that fact during the whole march, as he gave them plenty of
  work to do. Besides this, they were old friends of his, having been
  under his command with the Mafeking Relief Column, and they have been
  with him ever since. Ian Hamilton, we heard afterwards, had met with a
  pretty stubborn resistance from the Boers in his valley, where, as had
  been anticipated, their main body was opposed to him, and he had
  several casualties. We only advanced about twelve miles that day. Next
  day the driving process recommenced, Lumsden’s Horse during the
  greater part of the time occupying a very high kopje, from which we
  were ordered to keep a bright look-out and to hold it if attacked. It
  was a devil of a climb (the horses were kept below), but the view from
  the top almost compensated us for our trouble. This part of the
  country was certainly the best we had been through so far; beautifully
  wooded in many places, and dotted all over with farms and orange
  groves. The oranges were simply delicious, especially the tangerine
  variety, and we took full advantage of the opportunity afforded us of
  having our fill of them, each man eating as many as he could on the
  spot, and carrying away a nosebagful with him.

  Evidently the Generals had orders to adopt strong measures in cases of
  farms harbouring Boers, or from which any sniping might be done, or in
  which ammunition might be stored, as it was a daily occurrence for two
  or three of them to be fired and rased to the ground. Looking into the
  next valley from our high perch we saw a huge camp below which we at
  first took to be a Boer laager, but we found out afterwards it was Ian
  Hamilton’s force, which had advanced quicker than we had, and had
  encamped for the day.

  We had got to Commando Nek that night, and heard that the Boers from
  the centre valley had already slipped through. This was unfortunate,
  but could not be helped, as we could not push on farther than we did
  without risking the sacrifice of many valuable lives. I think we were
  informed that the enemy numbered about 600, and that their main body
  had got away some time before, leaving behind a few snipers to keep us
  in check. This is their usual method of proceeding, and a very sound
  one it is.

  One has to see the country oneself to realise what an easy thing it is
  for a few men well placed to keep a large body back. We send out our
  scouts, and immediately they are fired on. We shell the places from
  which they have been shot at. After this has gone on for some little
  time we advance again, and so on. Progress is very slow, and meantime
  the bird has flown. As I say, one has to be out in the country to
  understand properly what difficulties the attacking party has to
  contend against. With the numberless examples before them of our men
  blundering into traps and being slaughtered and having to surrender
  through going at things baldheaded, as they say, our Generals have
  learned caution. Then, on the other hand, the slow progress enables
  the enemy to get away. ‘What can do?’ ‘Horns of dilemma!’ as our Babu
  friends would say.

  Then, again, the Boers know the country thoroughly, and when hard
  pressed the Commandant simply tells his men to scatter and appoints
  some meeting place further on. His convoy scatters likewise, and all,
  travelling by three or four different routes, arrive at the rendezvous
  in due course. We, on the other hand, have to follow the beaten path,
  and are always being hung up for hours by our convoys getting stuck in
  drifts, &c. It is not to be wondered at that the Boers, possessing
  these advantages, so often elude us.

  General Ian Hamilton’s column came through the Nek next day, and,
  joining hands with General Mahon, proceeded towards Rustenburg, in
  which direction the Boers had fled, and where Baden-Powell was said to
  be surrounded and unable to get away. Horses and men fared very well
  just then, the former getting plenty of oat-hay commandeered from the
  hostile farms we passed, and green barley and oat-grass in the fields
  at the midday halts; and the latter securing fowls, geese,
  sucking-pigs, &c., which were very plentiful in Kaffir kraals and
  farmhouses. During the two days it took us to reach Rustenburg we
  expected to get in touch with the enemy at any moment, but they did
  not come up to the scratch, and we entered the town unopposed on
  August 5.

  It appears that, hearing of Ian Hamilton’s approach, the Boers
  abandoned the kopjes surrounding Rustenburg and relieved the pressure
  on Baden-Powell, who, having heard in the meantime that General
  Carrington, working with a small force in the country between
  Rustenburg and Mafeking, was in danger of losing his convoy, had moved
  out to his assistance.

The actual position was that Colonel Hore, marching with a convoy of
supplies from Zeerust to Rustenburg, and, finding his way barred by a
greater force than he could hope to cope with, and his retreat also cut
off, had entrenched himself at Eland’s River. There he waited for the
relieving force under General Carrington, which never came nearer than
within sound of the Boer guns, and unfortunately the Rustenburg column
also stopped short in its attempt to relieve Colonel Hore, who had to
fight it out for a week or so longer against enormous odds that might
have overwhelmed his force but for the magnificent determination
displayed by Australian Bushmen and Rhodesian Volunteers. The failure of
that attempt at relief is briefly described by Colonel Lumsden, whose
diary also summarises subsequent operations in pursuit of De Wet in the
following passages:

  Next day we expected a well-earned rest, but Mahon’s brigade was lent
  to strengthen General Baden-Powell’s force, which was to move at
  daybreak next morning to assist Colonel Hore, who was known to be in
  difficulties in the direction of or beyond Eland’s River (one of the
  many streams bearing that name in the colony). This entailed a sharp
  ride of fifteen miles, which brought us to Eland’s River and within
  hearing of the cannonading, but no further. On the bank of the river
  was a small group of officers, prominent among them being General
  Baden-Powell, and by his side were Colonel Plumer and Major
  Baden-Powell. We found the great man seated on a rock, surrounded by
  his Staff, and sketching hard with both hands! Most of us had not seen
  him before, so it can be imagined how glad we were to have the
  opportunity of getting a good look at England’s popular hero at the
  moment. We were also delighted at the idea of being under his command,
  if only for a short time. We had a better view of him on the way back,
  and he appeared to be very fit and none the worse for his Mafeking
  experiences.

  While waiting here to rest and water the horses we heard big guns
  firing in the direction in which Carrington’s force was situated, and
  expected momentarily to be ordered to advance; but after some time we
  were told that Baden-Powell had tapped the telegraph wire and learned
  from Carrington that he had repulsed the Boers and had got his convoy
  away safely, and that he did not require our assistance. I am afraid,
  however, that the wrong source must have been tapped, and that a false
  message, intended to deceive, must then have come, not from
  Carrington, but from the wily Boers. After two hours’ rest we returned
  to Rustenburg for the night, having apparently accomplished nothing in
  particular, except a march of thirty miles all told. Rustenburg was
  then evacuated, and the whole of General Hamilton’s division
  concentrated near Commando Nek, resting there one day. We then went to
  join the De Wet hunt with Mahon’s brigade in front, and in spite of
  only a little skirmishing advanced somewhat slowly. On the 15th we
  came into touch with the eight Generals who were pursuing De Wet on an
  organised plan from the south towards Oliphant’s Nek. We were supposed
  to have been in time to cut off De Wet and prevent him going north to
  Oliphant’s Nek, but were unfortunately too late, and all we could do
  was to join the others and follow him up. The next evening we were in
  touch with the rearguard and in sight of the Nek.

  The following morning we escorted the big guns to within range of the
  Nek, took our position on the hills on the right, and watched the
  Infantry make the attack. It was a very pretty sight from our
  position, but the resistance was slight, so, going through the Nek, we
  reached Rustenburg for the third time and spent the night there, our
  laager being well supplied by way of a change with turkeys and fowls
  poached from local preserves. Away again next morning Pretoria-wards,
  reaching Sterkstroom at 4 P.M. the next day. Hardly had we
  off-saddled, with visions of a raid on a field of sweet potatoes in
  view, before we received orders to again saddle up and march at 5 P.M.
  after De Wet, who was reported just in front of us. From 5 till 11 our
  weary horses struggled on through the darkness. We bivouacked for the
  night within three miles of Commando Nek, hoping, as we had often
  hoped before, to get De Wet next morning. Long ere day broke we were
  up and away again, only to find that De Wet’s force had gone north
  along the river towards Roode Kopjes, which we reached at daybreak
  with still no signs of the enemy. On the right bank of the river and a
  mile off were some low rocky kopjes covered with scrub, on the left a
  series of high but broken hills. We, as advance guard, took up our
  position on the latter as the Boer convoy was trekking away in full
  view across the open from the shelter of the former, and just out of
  range of the twelve pom-poms. The temptation was great to push on in
  pursuit, but our General was luckily wiser and preferred to
  reconnoitre across the river before implicating the guns and main body
  in what turned out to be a most difficult drift. We from our position
  looked on while the New Zealanders on the right crossed the drift and,
  spreading out, advanced to the broken ground. We had just made up our
  mind that all was clear, and that the General had been culpably slow,
  when a frightful fusillade burst out on the unfortunate reconnoitrers
  from a range of fifty yards. There was nothing for it but to race back
  as hard as they could, leaving six casualties behind, two of which
  resulted fatally. The _coup_ having failed, and horse and man being
  incapable of more, we all returned to the previous night’s camp. At 6
  A.M. on the 20th we reoccupied the same kopjes, forced the passage of
  the river, and with little further resistance got into the open
  country five miles beyond. We then marched through bushveldt to
  Zoutpans, Warmbaths, and Waterval, back to Pretoria, with very little
  to record in the ten days so occupied, the only interesting feature
  being the peculiar country known as bushveldt, best described as a sea
  of stunted thorn trees (familiarly known as toothpick trees), with an
  undergrowth of coarse grass, no roads, but tracks of heavy sand which
  delayed the Transport very much. Scouting was practically impossible,
  as it was very difficult to get horses through the formidable thorny
  scrub, while vision was limited to thirty yards.

The operations are described in fuller detail by correspondents of
Indian papers, whose interesting records of events in which they took
part need to be dovetailed together for the sake of a connected
narrative. It is necessary, however, to say here by way of introduction
that after accomplishing its mission in the relief of Rustenburg and the
withdrawal of that garrison General Ian Hamilton’s column became
involved by force of circumstances in a series of intricate operations
with other columns moving from east, west, and south with the object of
catching the wily De Wet between them. One correspondent thus describes
the march out of Rustenburg:

  It having been decided to abandon the town, the night was spent in
  destroying a lot of Boer ammunition and rifles of every description
  which had been stored in the gaol. There was a constant succession of
  reports as the cartridges exploded, and it sounded exactly as if a
  smart general engagement was taking place. The next day, the 7th,
  Rustenburg was completely evacuated, and the four brigades marched
  back on their way towards the Crocodile River. Those of the
  inhabitants who had claimed British protection also moved out with our
  convoy, in addition to whom were forty Boer prisoners, including Piet
  Kruger, Oom Paul’s son, under escort. As our progress was considerably
  retarded by the large convoy it was despatched at night on the 8th to
  a situation of safety. Each brigade was then operating separately,
  though supporting each other, with Mahon’s as a flying column. The
  next morning the Australians had a brush with some sixty Boer snipers,
  but the main body made a dash for Uitval Nek, only to find that the
  enemy had again anticipated our arrival and had bolted. Getting
  through Commando Nek on August 9, we rejoined Ian Hamilton, who was
  encamped on the other side. This was the largest camp we had been in
  so far. There must have been quite 15,000 men there, including troops
  from many parts of the world. All General Baden-Powell’s as well as
  General Mahon’s column were Irregulars, so that with General Ian
  Hamilton’s Regulars we were perhaps as representative a gathering as
  has ever camped together. Englishmen, Highlanders, Welshmen, and
  Irishmen, Australians (of all sorts), Canadians, New Zealanders,
  Tasmanians, Imperial Yeomanry, ‘Lumsden’s’ from India, and Colonials
  from all parts of South Africa, the Imperial Light Horse, the
  Rhodesian Regiment, some of Montmorency’s Scouts, &c., were present.

  The New Zealanders gave a sing-song that night, the visitors sitting
  or standing round a huge log fire and the performers occupying the
  centre. It was an excellent show, several very good men taking the
  boards, or rather the veldt. The _finale_ was a march round by some of
  the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders with pipes and drums playing.
  Our entertainers, I must not forget to mention, supplied the crowd
  liberally with rum, a much-appreciated drink among Tommies and
  Volunteers alike. Mixed with sugar and water and taken hot it is hard
  to beat, and has kept off many a fever, I am sure, in wet weather. I
  may mention that rum was only rationed out very occasionally, except
  in extremely bad weather, when we generally got it daily. Rum nights,
  needless to say, were hailed with delight, and shouts of ‘Roll up for
  your rum’ would be heard all round the camp.

[Illustration:

  NIGHT IN CAMP
  (_From a sketch by J.S. Cowen_)
]

Here the sequence of events may be appropriately interrupted for the
sake of some amusing incidents and anecdotes told by another
correspondent, who, in connection with this great gathering of troops in
our camp near Commando Nek, writes:

  After considerable practice the amateur cooks could make a savoury
  repast out of very little. If there was a garden about we grubbed up
  some vegetables, with which even the trek-ox served out in Government
  rations made an excellent stew. It was our fortune this night,
  however, to be better provided for by a lucky chance. While engaged in
  drawing the meagre rations and arguing with the Quartermaster-Sergeant
  over details of ounces and pennyweights, that had come to be regarded
  by us as very important matters, we suddenly espied a great scurry
  going on about a mile away, crowds of men rushing after what we at
  last made out to be a small deer. In and out it went among patrol
  tents, horses, saddles, carts, and guns. Frantic efforts were made in
  vain to catch it; men left whatever they were doing to join in the
  chase, rolling over in their endeavours to be first. Everybody threw
  something, and many dangerous missiles came hurtling through the air.
  But the deer ran on and suddenly turned our way. We also missed it by
  yards, and the shouting crowd swept by, losing sight of their quarry
  presently, and not knowing whither it had gone. A man of ours happened
  to be lying rolled up in his blanket asleep. The din roused him, and
  just as he was beginning to move the buck rose for a leap over his
  body. He caught it in the outspread blanket and kept it there. So the
  game came to our mess after all by sheer luck. On the strength of it
  we invited our very good friends and next-door neighbours, the Bushmen
  (Queensland Mounted Infantry) to dine with us that night, and soon
  after sunset they came round to our fire. Very good fellows they were,
  and a very genial dinner we had. Our guests brought their own stew,
  which was excellent, and their coffee too, with which to eke out our
  supplies. One of our men produced some good cheroots afterwards, and
  we sat on into the night, smoking, sipping coffee, and telling
  stories, the hills all around being lighted up with lines of veldt
  fires and the sky illuminated by a glorious full moon. Some of the
  Bushmen’s stories against themselves were most amusing. They had as
  good a name as anybody for horse-stealing and cattle-lifting. One of
  them told us gravely that when he was walking one day through another
  regiment’s lines a sergeant spotted him and gave the order ‘Stand to
  your horses.’ He said he was so overcome by the ‘compliment,’ that he
  could hardly acknowledge it. On another occasion, at a midday halt,
  when the ‘cow-gun’ teams were brought back from watering, the
  distracted officer in charge found one of the fattest and best oxen
  was missing. He only just discovered it in time to save its life and
  deprive the Bushmen of a feast. They told us many tricks for changing
  a horse’s marks, brands, colour, and general appearance, so that no
  man might know his own horse thus transformed, and I looked anxiously
  towards my own chestnut quite expecting to find that he had either
  been taken away to the camp of our neighbours or ‘faked’ practically
  before my own eyes. Others joined our circle as the moon rose higher.
  The whole camp seemed in excellent spirits. Sounds of revelry, wafted
  on the still night air, reached us from many a camp-fire; snatches of
  song, broken anon by outbursts of cheering; elsewhere uprose the
  strains of the Highland pipes. Rumour is busy that we are to join in
  the chase after De Wet, who is breaking away north. We wonder as we
  roll into our blankets when will be our next day of rest.

And the rumours were true for once. Not many hours elapsed before
Mahon’s brigade, with the remainder of Hamilton’s force, was on the move
southward and westward through Commando Nek into Rustenburg again, and
then away north-east, still pursuing into the bushveldt the elusive
force which they took to be De Wet’s. As a matter of fact, De Wet had
already left this force. He, personally, did not quit the Magaliesberg
range, but, doubling back with a small band of trusty followers the day
after his passage of Oliphant’s Nek, he slipped through a neighbouring
poort, and so got at once in rear of his pursuers. They were thenceforth
on the heels of a fresh force, which De la Rey had detached to serve as
a will-o’-the-wisp. All these facts the Editor has learned from the lips
of General De la Rey himself recently. The next rest did not come for
several weary days, owing to circumstances that are described by other
correspondents in the following letters:

  After a day’s rest (General Baden-Powell being left behind with a
  small force to guard Commando Nek) the division advanced again in a
  south-westerly direction to try to cut off De Wet, who was being
  driven north by Kitchener, Methuen, Smith-Dorrien, Hart, and
  Broadwood. We encountered a small body of fifty Boers, but a few
  shells sent among these soon dislodged them from the kopje on which
  they had taken up a position, and we did not see them again.

  We got to a place called Hekpoort the next day, and here it was
  decided to convert Mahon’s brigade into a flying column, which meant
  that we were to travel without any Transport, each man being served
  out with three days’ rations, which he carried with him. This column
  was to work independently of the rest of the division and be ready to
  start in pursuit of De Wet at a moment’s notice, should we get news of
  him.

  Leaving Ian Hamilton to follow on slowly by another route, Mahon’s
  brigade marched at daybreak on the 12th, we acting as advance scouts.
  The country hereabouts is very hilly, and affords excellent cover for
  the wily sniper, so scouting was not all ‘beer and skittles.’ Visions
  of grouse moors at home were naturally strong upon some of us that
  day, and one’s thoughts ran irresistibly to parallels between the
  driving of grouse and our attempts to round up De Wet. One was
  constantly on the qui vive, expecting to be shot at any moment, as the
  enemy were known to be about. Nothing happened, however, and the next
  few days were spent in loafing along, doing about ten miles or so, in
  momentary expectation of getting in touch with De Wet. But this
  gentleman’s movements were as erratic as usual, and it was evidently
  impossible to get any reliable information as to his exact
  whereabouts. It was known that he was being driven towards Oliphant’s
  Nek by Lord Methuen and the others mentioned above, and it would
  appear that the proper course to have pursued was to have held this
  pass, which was the only possible avenue of escape left to De Wet, and
  wait for him there, instead of wandering about more or less aimlessly,
  as we were doing. This could very easily have been done, one imagines,
  with a small portion of the large force at General Hamilton’s
  disposal, and why it was not tried is an unsolved mystery to a great
  many of us up to the present. As far as an outsider can see, a very
  serious blunder was committed here, and we apparently lost a chance of
  bringing the war to a speedy conclusion. Had De Wet been caught, Botha
  would probably have surrendered, and the other commandants would have
  followed suit.

  As it was, however, we moved along slowly, the monotony being broken
  now and again by an exchange of shots between our scouts and scattered
  parties of Boers on the adjacent hills. About midday on August 13
  Lumsden’s Horse were detached from the main body and sent off to the
  flank to reconnoitre, and on our way met a party of the Imperial Light
  Horse who had been sent out to burn a farm situated in a hollow among
  some hills from which the Boers had been sniping. The officer in
  charge of the Imperial Light Horse party requested Captain Noblett,
  under whose command we were, to keep us on the top of the hill to
  prevent surprise while he and his men went and destroyed the farm.
  This was done, but for some reason or another the Imperial Light Horse
  officer changed his mind and did not burn the farm. While on the hill
  we were told by some Kaffirs that the enemy (about eighty in number)
  had left a few moments before; seeing our scouts coming over the hill,
  they had fled precipitately. We went down to the farm after the
  Imperial Light Horse party had gone on, and had hardly left it to
  return to the main body again when we saw a small party of Boers on
  the hill on our right, and these were doubtless the men referred to by
  the Kaffirs we had spoken to. Instead of going by the road we took a
  short cut across the veldt, as it was rather late and we wanted to get
  back to the main body before nightfall. It turned out afterwards that
  it was as well we did so, as on the way we heard firing on our right,
  and on approaching to see what it was all about saw that the road led
  through a deep hollow among some low hills in which the Boers had
  taken up their position. Had we taken the road we should have walked
  right into the trap which they had evidently laid for us, and should
  have got slaughtered. The firing we heard was an exchange of
  compliments between these Boers and some dozen Australians who had
  also been sent out on reconnaissance duty, and who had posted
  themselves on a hill opposite. Finding that they did not want any
  assistance, we pushed on and joined the brigade again at about 5
  o’clock, camping shortly afterwards. It is interesting to note that
  the spot we camped at was the one that heard the first shots fired
  during the Jameson Raid. The Boer _sangars_ still exist, and were
  occupied that night by Lumsden’s ‘outlying picket.’ Having no
  Transport, we had to depend on whatever we had in our saddle-bags, and
  were consequently on rather short commons; and the horses, too, fared
  badly, poor beasts, having to subsist mostly on what grass they could
  pick up on the veldt and on such oat-hay and mealies as we could get
  out of the farmhouses we passed. The latter were very few and far
  between in that part of the country. Next day we continued our march
  in the same direction, and both flanking parties engaged the enemy’s
  snipers on several occasions. The Imperial Light Horse reported having
  killed one Boer and wounded four others. On the 15th we acted as
  advance guard, and had not proceeded far when we found ourselves wound
  up with five brigades—viz., Lord Kitchener’s, Lord Methuen’s, General
  Hart’s, Smith-Dorrien’s, and a column under Colonel Pilcher—that had
  all been co-operating with us, bent on surrounding De Wet. But the
  Boer leader of a lost cause proved as slippery as ever, and had again
  escaped _viâ_ Oliphant’s Nek towards Rustenburg. The valley we had
  passed through was mainly occupied by English and German farmers, who
  complained bitterly at the constant visits of English and Boer troops,
  as sympathy of any kind with either cause got them into hot water with
  the other side, and the Boers are past masters as looters. The good
  people of Rustenburg were in a like predicament, hence its evacuation.
  We heard at a store here that De Wet had passed through the previous
  day with our men in close pursuit. Later we were informed that he had
  got through Oliphant’s Nek, which he had found unoccupied, and that
  now the place was strongly held by the Boers.

  In the evening I understand the various Generals got into
  consultation, and it was decided that General Ian Hamilton should
  advance with his division to attack the Nek and continue the chase
  after De Wet, while Lord Kitchener and the others were, I believe, to
  proceed to the west of Rustenburg, where the Boers under De la Rey
  were again giving trouble.[13]

  We joined General Ian Hamilton that evening, and next day the whole
  force marched in the direction of Oliphant’s Nek and got within a few
  miles of it by about 4 that afternoon. As it was so late, and the
  place was said to be so strongly held, General Ian Hamilton decided on
  deferring his attack till next day. Before we camped for the night the
  advance scouts got into touch with the enemy, and we heard several
  exchanges of shots going on in front. Shortly afterwards we were moved
  up in support, and stayed till dark, after which we went back to camp,
  which had been pitched about two miles off, leaving a strong mounted
  picket behind. Lumsden’s Horse alone supplied forty men. Writing about
  picket duty reminds me that it was particularly trying during this
  march. Since leaving Pretoria we had been supplying forty or fifty men
  nearly every night—_i.e._, about 50 per cent. of our number. This duty
  we hated more than any other. One did not mind hard work all day if
  one’s nights in camp were undisturbed; but to come in at dark and
  hardly have time to off-saddle before being ordered to fall in for
  outlying picket was simply ghastly. On some occasions we went out
  without any food or drink, and if, as often happens, the post was a
  long way off and difficult to find in the dark, one’s fellow messmen
  were unable to take anything out. Whenever possible, however,
  bully-beef or Army rations and biscuits were served out to the picket
  before it marched off, and when this was done things were not so bad.

  The Boer camp fires were seen quite distinctly on the hills close to
  where our pickets were, and from the number of these we judged that
  the report that the Nek was strongly held was not an exaggerated one.
  It is naturally a grand place to defend, and could be made almost
  impregnable, I should think, with its high commanding kopjes on either
  side. Besides which, it was said to have been strongly fortified by
  Colonel Kekewich some time before. We naturally thought, therefore,
  that we should have a hard nut to crack next day. Just before dawn,
  however, a spy who had been sent into the Boer camp returned with the
  news that they had been on the move all night getting away their
  baggage, &c., and that they would not offer any very great resistance
  to our passage—probably just enough to allow their convoy ample time
  to get away. This man, by the way, while returning from the Boer camp
  ran into our outlying picket, and, not being prompt in replying to the
  sentry’s challenge ‘Who comes there?’ he very nearly got shot.

  The report that most of the Boers had stolen away turned out to be
  correct, as after a few hours’ shelling to clear the way for our
  Infantry the latter advanced practically unopposed, the casualties on
  either side being very few, and we got through the Nek about 11 A.M.
  We saw some very pretty artillery practice, two 5-inch guns coming
  into action at a range of three or four miles quite close to where we
  stood.

  As De Wet was said to have gone off in the direction of Rustenburg we
  pressed forward, got outside that town in the afternoon, and camped
  there for the night once more.

  Evidently fresh news of the ‘wily’ one was received, as next day
  (August 18) we started back the way we had come and halted in the
  afternoon, as if for a long rest, at Sterkstroom, some miles west of
  Commando Nek. We had hardly been in camp an hour when the order came
  for Mahon’s brigade to saddle up and march at once, the object being
  to intercept De Wet, who was reported to have taken up a position near
  the Crocodile River. We did a long weary march, the weariness being
  accentuated by the fact that we were not allowed to smoke or speak
  above a whisper. We halted about 10.30 and camped at a place called
  Bokfontein, about five miles west of the Crocodile. I presume it was
  not thought advisable to advance any closer for fear of blundering
  into the enemy unawares, and thus giving them the chance of getting
  away under cover of darkness. With all these precautions and
  preparations we naturally thought we were really there or thereabouts
  this time. Once again, however, we were baffled of our prey, which we
  heard next evening had got away in a north-easterly direction.

  We arrived at Commando Nek at 6 A.M. on the 19th, and it was then
  decided that Mahon’s brigade should reconnoitre the kopjes north of
  and directly opposite to the Nek, and this we proceeded to do. General
  Ian Hamilton had not come up then. On approaching the position we
  found that there were two ranges of kopjes lying east and west (each
  range being divided again into several little groups of hills), and
  through these there was a passage leading to the open country beyond.

  A squadron of the Imperial Light Horse was sent out to scout, and they
  presently put up some Boers, but a few shells sent among these soon
  drove them back again. Lumsden’s Horse were then ordered to gallop
  forward and occupy the first group of kopjes on the western ranges. We
  had hardly got into position when we saw a large convoy of Boer
  waggons making its way, as fast as the oxen could be goaded to travel,
  from the kopje on the east to the plains beyond, and towards another
  range of kopjes further north. We immediately sent back word to
  General Mahon, and he at once ordered the guns to be brought up, and a
  few shells were sent after the convoy. Unfortunately, however, we only
  had a battery of 12-pounders with us, and by the time they got into
  position the convoy had a long start and our shells fell short.
  General Mahon reluctantly decided that it would be unsafe to follow
  the convoy with the small force at his disposal, as the Boers had no
  doubt left a sufficient number of men behind on the eastern and
  western ranges of kopjes to cover its retreat. These kopjes completely
  commanded the plains beyond, and had we gone on we should have been
  absolutely at their mercy and should have been very roughly handled
  indeed.

  Besides which, I fancy General Mahon’s orders were merely to
  reconnoitre the position and not to run his neck into any kind of
  noose. Abandoning all idea of pursuit, therefore, General Mahon then
  proceeded to examine the eastern range of kopjes from which the convoy
  had started, and where he suspected there might be a Boer laager. To
  effect this purpose he sent out the New Zealanders as scouts. They
  were allowed to approach within fifty yards without molestation, when
  all of a sudden the klik-klok of Mausers was heard all along the
  ridge, and an officer and three men were seen to fall. The former died
  next day, poor fellow. After this the scouts returned. From our
  position on the kopjes on the left we saw the whole thing distinctly.
  A party of New Zealanders, before this happened, were examining a
  farmhouse, and while they were inside one of their horses got away.
  The farmhouse was quite close to the hill from which the Boers were
  firing, and when the retirement took place the unfortunate man who had
  lost his horse would have been left had not one of his comrades very
  pluckily ridden forward and caught the animal, which was grazing close
  by, and thus enabled its owner to get away. The plucky scout, however,
  stayed to take up, behind his saddle, another man, whose horse had
  been killed, and they also managed to get clear off, notwithstanding
  that they were being shot at all the while. Captain Taylor, our
  Adjutant, who was looking through his telescope at the time, said it
  was the neatest and coolest thing he had ever seen. It was now getting
  on in the afternoon, and, the purpose for which, as I presume, we were
  sent out being complete, the order to retire was given, Lumsden’s
  Horse being instructed to act as rearguard, and occupy the kopjes
  where they were posted, till the guns and the rest of the troops had
  got away. This we did, and we heard afterwards from the men in charge
  of the ambulance which was left behind to bring in the wounded that we
  had hardly left the kopjes we had been on all day when the Boers
  occupied them. We got back to our camp at Commando Nek late in the
  afternoon, and stayed there for the night. This was the most
  irritating action we have yet been in, for the Boer convoy was at our
  mercy, but we were not numerically strong enough to attack it. It thus
  slipped away under our very noses. Baden-Powell was at Commando Nek
  and Ian Hamilton a day’s march in rear.

  It was arranged that next day General Mahon’s brigade should make an
  attack on the position reconnoitred that morning, supported by Ian
  Hamilton, who was to join us again with the rest of his division.
  Lumsden’s Horse were to take up the same position as they had done the
  day before. The brigade marched out at 6.30 A.M. and were soon on the
  scene of the previous action. As instructed, we posted ourselves on
  the kopjes occupied by us the day before, and in the meantime scouts
  were sent out to discover whether or not the Boers were still about.
  The crack of Mausers soon decided this question, and the kopjes in
  front and on both flanks were then shelled for several hours. We were
  then ordered to leave our rocky perches and advance in skirmishing
  order to the attack. We soon arrived on the kopjes previously held by
  the Boers, but found no trace of these gentry, who had evidently
  played their usual game of leaving a few snipers behind to hinder our
  advance while their main body got away in safety. This effected, the
  snipers themselves vanished into space. There were no casualties on
  our side that morning, and I do not fancy our shells did much damage,
  as I did not hear of any dead or wounded Boers being found. It was
  about here that De Wet was supposed to have broken up his commando,
  leaving some 1,500 dismounted men to take refuge in the bushveldt,
  while he went off south with only 200 men. Meantime General Ian
  Hamilton came up with his troops, and the whole of us then advanced
  north, the direction taken by the fleeing Boers into the bushveldt,
  expecting a fight at any time, which did not come off. The going was
  extremely difficult, the soil being impalpable sand with thorny bushes
  growing so close together that at twenty yards objects could not be
  discerned. Water was only encountered at one spot, a farm in a valley.
  The occupants of the farm were a Boer woman and two little children;
  she weepingly informed us that the Boers had commandeered her husband
  the day before, and, as he had objected, they had taken him away in
  handcuffs. We made Zoutpans by sundown, completely jaded and worn out.
  At Zoutpans are the salt-mines, now at a standstill, as the company
  owning them have gone into liquidation, and the only house is that in
  which the manager, an Englishman, lives. A pool highly impregnated
  with salt was the only water near at hand, and on this men and horses
  had to do. The salt itself from these mines is only fit for cattle, as
  soda predominates in it. We had marched more or less in a circle. Next
  day we heard that De Wet had doubled back with 200 picked men to the
  Free State, leaving the rest of his force to join Grobler, who was
  then operating north of Pretoria. We were told that General Paget was
  coming up with a small force along the line of rail, and Baden-Powell,
  who had left Commando Nek, would advance parallel with and ten miles
  west of Paget, and that Ian Hamilton’s Division, then about twelve
  miles further west, was to co-operate with these two columns and keep
  Grobler from breaking back if possible.

  We were now in what is called the bushveldt—_i.e._, country covered
  with low scrubby bushes. These bushes form excellent screens for the
  enemy, and scouting, therefore, is ticklish work. ‘You dunno where you
  are,’ as they say. Water was a scarce article, too—in fact, it was
  about the driest country we had been in so far. Passing a place called
  Stinkwater, we reached Swartzkop late in the evening, and camped there
  for the night near a large settlement of the Barotse tribe. The
  Germans have a mission in these parts; their church is only a large
  mud hut, but the missionary in charge has a following of no fewer than
  2,000. We were told that night that General Ian Hamilton was going
  with his Staff to Haaman’s Kraal, a railway station about fifteen
  miles east, coming back the same evening, and that Lumsden’s Horse
  were to act as his escort. This promised a nice break in the monotony
  of the everlasting march, march, march we had been having lately, so
  those of us who had fit horses were much elated, the unfortunate ones,
  who had not, being correspondingly downcast. As arranged, we started
  for Haaman’s Kraal at daybreak next day, and our advance scouts had
  got quite six miles out when we were ordered to turn back and return
  to camp. Trooper Philip Stanley writes of an incident that occurred at
  a farm near the German mission, and which may help to explain how some
  of the wonderful yarns we so often heard about De Wet’s capture
  commenced.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Bourne & Shepherd_
  PHILIP STANLEY
]

  We were catching the fowls in the houses round the church, and one
  particular black-and-white cock evaded all our endeavours. So somebody
  called him De Wet, and presently yelled out, as the poor cock was hurt
  by a stick or stone, ‘_De Wet’s captured at last_.’ Curiously enough,
  just at that moment a mounted man, a Hussar I think, was riding close
  past us on the road and heard the shout ‘De Wet’s captured at last,’
  and I think must have spread the report, as when we got into camp,
  four miles on, about an hour and a half afterwards, we were at once
  told De Wet was captured at last, and I think they might that evening
  have added, ‘and eaten.’ Fresh instructions had evidently come from
  headquarters, and General Ian Hamilton was not going to Haaman’s Kraal
  after all. When we got back to our place we found the division moving
  off in a northerly direction, and so, after a few minutes’ halt to
  water our horses, we had to follow on as quickly as possible to regain
  our place in the column—_i.e._, on the flank of the guns. It was a
  very hot and dirty march, and towards the afternoon our position was
  changed to rearguard, which meant that we had to wait behind till all
  the stragglers and the whole of the Transport got into camp. In
  consequence we did not get in till 8.30 that night, and even then our
  troubles were not ended, as several of us were immediately ordered out
  on outlying picket. The different corps take it in turn to do
  rearguard as a rule, and, needless to say, it is not a popular duty at
  all. Generally the rearguard gets off supplying outlying pickets, but
  when short-handed, or when there are more posts than usual, they too
  have to bear their share of the burden.

  The next day’s march (August 24) brought us to Warmbaths. As its name
  indicates, there are natural springs here. Some of the enterprising
  ones of the earth, taking advantage of this, have erected long rows of
  bathing houses supplied with every convenience, hot and cold water
  taps, &c., &c., and before the war broke out I understand they were
  making a good thing out of it. It was a great resort for invalids, I
  was told, and, being on the line of rail from Pretoria, it was quite
  the thing to spend a few days out there and take the waters. When we
  came in we found the baths entirely deserted, no one being left in
  charge of them.

  There were any number of troops in the place when we arrived, Paget’s
  and Baden-Powell’s lot having come in the day before. They had had
  several brushes with the enemy under Grobler, and had driven them on
  to the hills beyond the town. As can easily be imagined, there was a
  regular rush on the baths, each room being in most cases engaged six
  deep. Many of us, in consequence, had to defer tubbing till next day,
  which we spent resting in camp. I was one of these. Oh! I shall never
  forget the luxury of that bath. I think I spent a whole hour lying
  full length in a tub of hot water, with just my chin above the
  surface. When one only gets the opportunity of bathing on rare
  occasions it is perhaps not surprising that one should wax
  enthusiastic over one such as this was. That we hadn’t been used to
  luxuries was fully demonstrated by the number of men who were
  suffering with colds the next day. We started again with Ian Hamilton
  on the evening of the 26th, leaving Generals Paget and Baden-Powell
  behind to settle with Grobler and his merry band, whom, as I have
  written above, they had already harried considerably. Our march was in
  the direction of Pretoria, and everybody in the column then heard for
  the first time that we were merely going there to refit and get
  remounts, after which we should be sent out in the direction of
  Middelburg. Alas! for our hopes that this was to have been our last
  trek.

  Twenty-five miles of bushveldt had to be traversed to reach the next
  camp, at Pienaar’s River—an eccentric stream, the meandering of which
  caused us considerable inconvenience in crossing and re-crossing it a
  dozen times during the march. We reached Pienaar’s River station that
  night and camped there. Starting again next day, we got to Haaman’s
  Kraal about midday, and halted there for two or three hours. We heard
  here that our mails (we hadn’t had any since leaving Pretoria at the
  beginning of the month, so expected a good pile) had been sent on from
  Pretoria to meet us, and they were a mile or two ahead. About a dozen
  of us were accordingly sent to get them. There were eight or ten bags
  for us, and we immediately ‘buckled to’ the pleasant task of sorting.
  It took us a good two hours’ hard work, and this will give some idea
  of the number of letters and parcels received.

  Continuing our march, we reached Waterval station late in the
  afternoon and halted for the night. This, it will be remembered, was
  where the Boers kept our men whom they had taken prisoners, after they
  removed them from the racecourse at Pretoria. They were confined in
  long tin sheds placed in the middle of a large barbed wire enclosure,
  and this was lighted up by electric light all night, thus reducing the
  chances of escape to a minimum.

  We marched at 4.30 next morning and at 10 o’clock arrived in Pretoria,
  where we camped on the racecourse. Shortly afterwards we were joined
  by Captain Clifford and the men (about twenty) who had been left
  behind at Irene owing to their having no horses, and also by several
  others who had been in hospital and were now convalescent. Among the
  latter was Regimental Sergeant-Major ‘Lump’ Marsham, who was looking
  remarkably well after all he had gone through. He had had some
  remarkable experiences; shot in two places (through the chest and
  right thigh), besides having a bullet through his haversack in our
  first fight at Houtnek, then being taken prisoner at Rhenoster River
  station, where he was on his way up to rejoin the regiment after
  leaving hospital, then having the pleasure of being present at the
  surrender of Prinsloo and three or four thousand of his men, and
  forming one of the guard which escorted them afterwards. We were all
  greatly pleased to have him back among us again.

  We had had a trying time of it, and Veterinary-Captain Stevenson cast
  our horses wholesale, nearly two-thirds being cast in all. The men
  seem made of sterner stuff, and campaigning has only tended to make
  the majority fitter than ever, and only a very few are ill—a matter of
  the survival of the fittest. We have been working in co-operation with
  Baden-Powell’s brigade a good deal, and our desire to hear about him
  and to see him has been surfeited. The only hardship experienced on
  the march was want of good tobacco. Though the Magaliesberg tobacco is
  considered the best of Transvaal tobacco, and we could have obtained
  plenty of it, yet few among us have acquired a taste for it. It is
  positively vile, and an Indian cigar when smoked in a pipe is probably
  the nearest approach to it. Some more changes have taken place among
  us. Trooper Arathoon (Oudh Light Horse) has been granted a commission
  in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Corporal Montagu-Bates one in the East
  Surrey Regiment, Trooper Partridge one in the Northumberland
  Fusiliers, and Trooper Douglas-Jones one in the Army Service Corps.
  Corporal Chartres has for some months been doing duty as
  Surgeon-Captain at one of our many hospitals. Trooper Follett died of
  enteric at Johannesburg, while quite twenty or twenty-five men have
  been invalided home. There is little doubt that a famine in the
  Transvaal will result from this war; foodstuffs are at a premium,
  while the expected crops have been all destroyed. In the large towns
  like Pretoria, Johannesburg, &c., bread is only baked from flour
  supplied by Government, and even then the prevailing price is a
  shilling for a pound loaf. Every-day necessities, such as tea, coffee,
  and sugar, are now hard to procure, while beet has risen to two
  shillings a pound; mealies (Indian-corn) for horses cannot be bought
  under threepence the pound. The beginning of a famine would thus be
  the precursor of the end of the war. Glancing at a map, one would be
  inclined to think places indicated in capitals and small capitals to
  be important towns; as a matter of fact each is but a cluster of
  houses, a store or two, the inevitable church, and an hotel. This is
  typical of places like Rustenburg, Heilbron, Middelburg, Carolina, &c.
  Kroonstad, Brandfort and Pretoria are but larger clusters, more
  hotels, and more churches. The latter certainly possess some really
  excellent public buildings; the private villas are charming, and
  suggest the _otium cum dignitate_, while the State artillery barracks
  are reputed to be the finest in the world. Johannesburg is the one
  town of the Transvaal, and can hold its own against the world. But it
  must not be forgotten that the Uitlander alone has made it what it is.
  As a sink of iniquity it has the unenviable distinction of ranking
  second only to San Francisco. Gambling saloons abut on to the streets,
  and at some gambling is restricted to gold alone. One can imagine what
  Johannesburg must have been under a corrupt Government, such as the
  one we have just displaced—the Rand, a succession of gold-mines, being
  practically suburban. Johannesburg sports a public-house at every
  fifty yards, and it is the refuse of the Rand that forms the nucleus
  of the band of outlaws and desperadoes known as the Irish Brigade
  _alias_ Blake’s Ruffians. The very antithesis of this contingent are
  known as the Imperial Light Horse, who have been so highly
  complimented by Sir George White as constituting the finest fighting
  men in the world.

Very characteristic of the dashing and humorous leader under whom
Lumsden’s Horse served in this march is the following story told by
Captain Beresford:

  I remember one very wet cold day when we were attached to Mahon’s
  column. While on the march a sergeant and two men were told off to go
  and forage for some provisions. Coming across a Boer farm, they helped
  themselves to a turkey or two and some poultry. Now, it happened that
  General Ian Hamilton the day previous had paid for what his men took,
  so the Boer was loud in his protestation, but all the satisfaction he
  could get from our men was, ‘The General will pay.’ General Mahon
  passing shortly after, the man presented his bill, which amounted to
  fifteen shillings. On seeing it the General made inquiries as to which
  corps the foraging party belonged to, and being told, sent for an
  officer of the corps and requested _him_ to pay the bill; but as the
  officer had not fifteen shillings about him, the General very kindly
  lent him the money till he could obtain it from his brother-officers
  and men, who found out then that the General would not be universal
  provider.

-----

Footnote 13:

    Lord Kitchener’s force went to relieve Colonel Hore at Eland’s
    River.—ED.

-----




                              CHAPTER XVI
  _EASTWARD TO BELFAST AND BARBERTON UNDER GENERALS FRENCH AND MAHON_


After such a march, in which horses had become so emaciated by want of
sufficient food to sustain them, and so leg-weary from incessant work
under heavy burdens, that more than two-thirds of them were temporarily
unfit for service, the corps naturally expected to get a long rest at
Pretoria. Nearly every man needed it too, and welcomed the prospect of a
little town life in touch with civilisation, where some luxuries might
be enjoyed and experiences exchanged with comrades from other columns.
Ragged and out at heels from being having marched long distances through
tangled growth of rhenoster bushes and ‘wait-a-bit’ thorns to relieve
their exhausted steeds, these troopers naturally looked forward to the
chance of clothing themselves in comfort if the stores of Pretoria
should be equal to that demand, or at any rate of waiting until articles
of much-needed kit could be got up from the bases where these things had
been left. Such expectations were natural enough in the case of men who
began to think there would be no more need of their services, since Lord
Roberts had expressed an opinion that regular warfare was nearly at an
end. Circumstances seemed then to justify that view. Though De Wet was
still at large, he did not count for much while his followers were
scattered in all directions with little chance of coming together again.
Botha’s forces, offering but a feeble resistance at any point, had been
pushed further and further eastward by Generals French and Pole-Carew,
operating in their front, and the army of Natal on their flank. Buller
had fought his brilliant action at Bergendal, where Lord Roberts
considered the success decisive, saying: ‘It was carried out in view of
the main Boer position, and the effect of it was such that the enemy
gave way at all points, flying in confusion to the north and east. Next
morning Buller was able to occupy Machadodorp without opposition.’
Dundonald’s brigade of Irregular Cavalry had pushed on in pursuit of the
Boers through mountainous country, where they made no stand against him.
Buller, continuing his march, occupied Waterval Boven, where the
prisoners released from Nooitgedacht joined him. President Kruger and
other members of the late Transvaal Government were at Nelspruit
preparing for flight across the Portuguese frontier; and General French
was at Carolina, waiting only for reinforcements to make his swoop on
Barberton by way of the last stronghold that remained in the enemy’s
hands south of the Delagoa Bay Railway. It looked, indeed, as if Boer
resistance on any organised scale must be near its final stage, and the
thoughts of Lumsden’s Horse naturally turned towards home rather than to
opportunities for gaining fresh distinction. Their hopes of immediate
peace with honour were, however, doomed to disappointment. Before they
had been in Pretoria many hours orders for a fresh move had reached
them, and, instead of having leisure for relaxation or even a taste of
civilisation’s comforts, they had to spend the next day in drawing from
stores the outfit of which they were sorely in need and making other
preparations for their march. Their Brigadier-General (Mahon) was to go
in command of reinforcements for General French, and the troops placed
at his disposal were M Battery Royal Horse Artillery, the 3rd Corps of
Mounted Infantry, Queensland Mounted Infantry, New Zealand Mounted
Rifles, 79th Company Imperial Yeomanry, the Imperial Light Horse, and
Lumsden’s Horse. The order came to them in a form which left no doubt in
any mind that there was still a man’s work to be done, and that they
were about to take part in another important phase of the great Boer
war. Therefore they put aside all vain regrets for the things that were
just then out of reach. Disappointment gave place quickly to
gratification at the thought that they were to see service under such a
dashing leader as General French, who had never up to that time met the
Boers without bringing them to action, and whose reputation rose higher
after every enterprise undertaken by him, though he was not always
allowed to take full advantage of a success by following up his beaten
enemies. The Boers, who attributed every British success in the Free
State and Transvaal to luck or to overwhelming numbers, had given to
French the title of the ‘lucky General.’ They said it was by luck alone
that he beat Commandant Koch at Elandslaagte before their reinforcements
could come up. Luck, according to them, served him again in the hour of
his secret withdrawal from Colesberg just before De la Rey’s plans for
annihilation were complete, and yet again when he made his dash at
interposing forces north of Modder River, and, striking at the very
point where they were weakest, got through just in the nick of time,
took their positions in reverse, and thus cleared a way for the relief
of Kimberley. If all this can be called luck, then it is something to be
a lucky general and goes a long way in justification of the faith that
Napoleon placed in men who had that reputation. At any rate, no Boer
commandos were very eager to get in the way of ‘lucky French,’ and
whenever he was known to be operating on their flank they always thought
it time to summon thither one of their own Generals most trusted for his
ability to conduct a retreat. That luck fell more than once to De la
Rey’s lot. In a recent conversation that redoubtable leader, the best
fighting man of all on the Boer side, told the Editor of this History
that it was he who opposed French at Driefontein after Cronjé’s
surrender. He also had to fight all the rearguard actions up to the time
of our crossing the Vaal, when he went off in hot haste for the purpose
of intercepting Mahon’s column before it could reach Mafeking. Having
been out-manœuvred there, he was called back to aid Botha outside
Johannesburg, and entrusted again with the task of delaying French’s
flanking movement by the defence of Klipriviersberg until the Boer guns
and convoys could make good their retreat. Obviously they did not think
it safe to trust anything to chance when our ‘lucky General’ was
pressing them, but sent their wiliest tactician and most stubborn
fighter to hold him in play while they cleared off. If any of them
really believed in their capacity to beat French on equal terms—the
advantage of ground being with them to counterbalance British
superiority in numbers—an admirable opportunity offered in the
mountainous ranges of the Devil’s Kantoor, where, Boer leaders had
frequently declared, they would crush any force attempting to reach
Barberton that way. If properly held, the positions there would have
been almost impregnable. Few people to this day know the difficulties
that French had before him when he concentrated his force at Carolina.
The Boers knew all about these things. Every zig-zag track like a
winding stair up the precipitous mountain-side was familiar to them.
They knew also the object with which he was waiting to gather strength
at Carolina, and they brought forces against him that were little
inferior numerically to his own. Yet when at last he struck straight for
almost inaccessible mountain passes, instead of making a wide detour to
get round them, they were so paralysed by the ‘lucky General’s’ audacity
that they let him have his way, which led by the nearest track to
Barberton. This slight digression, however, anticipates events which may
now be dealt with more fully in the narratives by Colonel Lumsden, his
officers and troopers, whose experiences and observations are woven
together in the following description of events in something like proper
sequence:

  We were by this time reduced to forty fit horses.

  Our stay in Pretoria, as we had heard it would be, was only a short
  one. The day after arriving in camp we were served out with new kit,
  of which we were sadly in need, most of the men being in a very ragged
  condition indeed. General Mahon was to proceed to Carolina and join
  General French’s division there, leaving General Ian Hamilton’s
  division, to which we were no longer attached. It rained heavily the
  night before we started, and as we marched at daybreak there was no
  time to dry our blankets, which were simply sopping wet.

  Our total muster on parade was—A Company 17, B Company 24; in all, 41
  rank-and-file. The balance of nearly 100 men, under Captain Beresford,
  were to follow on receipt of remounts, and overtake us if possible.
  This hope was soon knocked on the head, for while headquarters started
  with General Mahon for Barberton, the remainder were sent to
  Machadodorp, which they reached without much adventure a fortnight
  later. Notwithstanding their repeated attempts to join us, their
  wishes were not acceded to, the country being considered too dangerous
  for a small party to move alone. On the 31st we reached Bronkhurst
  Spruit, memorable in the Transvaal as the spot where British troops,
  under Colonel Anstruther, were badly cut up in the last war, while
  marching, all unconscious that war had been declared against the
  Transvaal. On September 1 we passed Balmoral and camped at
  Elandsfontein. On the 2nd, near the Transvaal and Delagoa Bay
  coal-mines, a French gentleman was good enough to communicate the
  latest Boer lie. It was that China was sending a million of troops to
  invade England. The country about here is very treacherous, with many
  swamps which unwary troopers may not see until they are floundering in
  mire, where their horses sink to the girths. Our camp that night was
  at Reitspruit, six miles from Middelburg.

  The next day we passed Middelburg, which proved a grievous
  disappointment, for there was absolutely nothing in the way of
  provisions procurable, and camped at Reitpan. The weather was very
  hot, the sun striking down with great force during the middle of the
  day. General Mahon had adopted the plan of off-saddling and halting
  for two or three hours during the heat of the day, instead of marching
  steadily from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. with short halts of ten minutes every
  now and then. This gave man and beast a thorough rest, and the
  opportunity was always taken of making tea and coffee, and partaking
  of this with the inevitable jam and biscuits. The horses, too, had a
  good feed of oats, which were served out in the morning and carried in
  our nosebags. Captain Noblett got a nasty touch of the sun two or
  three days before arriving at Middelburg, and the doctors decided that
  he ought to go into hospital there, being quite unfit to continue on
  the march. We were very sorry to lose him, as he was one of our most
  popular officers. Speaking for No. 2 Section B Company, anyhow, I know
  they swore by him to a man. We heard afterwards that he had gone to
  Durban for a change, and it is to be hoped he will soon be back again
  with us. The fourth day’s march brought us in contact with General
  Hutton’s line of communications, and we were apprised of the
  annexation of the Transvaal. With this good news we buoyed ourselves
  up, and brought a dreary march to a close at Wonderfontein. The Boers
  are whimsical at names, but have surpassed themselves with
  Wonderfontein, for the wonder of it is where to find the fountain?
  Speculation was rife, as the pools of water we saw were so putrid that
  the horses, though they had done thirteen miles from the last
  halting-place, would not drink till accident disclosed a tiny spring
  in a bed of sand, just deep enough to fill a coffee cup at a time.
  Here was the wonder, and, _eureka_! we had struck it. The 5th was an
  eventful day, for when we had marched eastward three miles a heliogram
  from a contingent of 90 Canadians on the line of communications
  solicited help, as they were hard pressed by 300 Boers near Pan
  station, where they had been fighting since daybreak. Files about and
  canter was the order, and we went back some six miles to their aid,
  but the enemy had beaten a retreat after capturing a small post, where
  they crept up through a dense fog and surprised the helpless picket.
  We returned to Wonderfontein, and General Mahon, in consideration of
  the call made on us, very generously ordered an issue of a quarter of
  a pound of bully-beef and a biscuit. ’Twas lunch _à la South Africa_,
  and much appreciated. Thus refreshed we continued on our march for
  some five or six miles, and camped for the night. Such a night we have
  never had. The wind blew a perfect hurricane, and it was bitterly
  cold. On the 6th the brigade reached Carolina, and we were in
  expectation of seeing a town where we could renew our diminished stock
  of provisions, but, alas! Carolina in Africa is very different from
  the Carolina of the song—

                South Carolina is a sultry clime,
                Where the niggers work in the summer time,
                Massa in the shade would lay,
                While we poor niggers work all day.

  With us it was not summer time, but Massa had to lie on the bleak
  veldt and pretty hungry too. We found General French in camp near by
  us, with two brigades. A foreign commando of Austrians and Italians
  was said to be in the neighbourhood, and we hoped to become better
  acquainted with it later on.

  Carolina is a small uninteresting sort of place, more a village than
  anything else, the houses being small and built of corrugated iron. It
  is about the windiest place I have ever been in. We were there nearly
  a week, and it blew a hurricane almost all the time. One day it rained
  as well, and this made it horribly cold—the chilly blast cutting into
  one like a knife. Even the hardy Cape ponies, who had never before in
  their lives known what it was to be blanketed, had to be covered up
  that day.

  Another of the charms of this delightful place is that it is most
  dangerous to send horses out grazing on the surrounding veldt, as
  there is a low poisonous bush which grows pretty plentifully on it, to
  eat which is almost certain death. We found this out by bitter
  experience, losing four or five horses before we left.

  The first march from Carolina took us over a ridge by Nelspruit, where
  we witnessed a very pretty engagement. The enemy had taken up a
  position on top of a hill crossed by three deep ravines at right
  angles to our line of advance. This was stormed by the Suffolk
  Infantry while we acted as escort to the guns, which shelled the enemy
  severely as they left the shelter of the last ridge. When turned out
  of their last stronghold they retired by ones and twos under severe
  shrapnel fire at 1,500 yards’ range, which gave us an object-lesson in
  Mounted Infantry tactics. At Carolina, with General French and his
  Cavalry, we halted two days, and resumed our advance on Sunday the
  9th. We had heard that the Boers were in the vicinity, and it was not
  long before we met them. For about six miles we marched across the
  absolutely flat veldt, and then with extraordinary suddenness the
  scene changed, and we found ourselves among steep and rugged hills.
  Here was ideal country for the Boers to fight in, and they speedily
  let us know of their presence. They had taken up a strong position
  among rocks and piled-up boulders on the further side of a hollow some
  3,000 yards across. ‘Lumsden’s,’ together with a part of a squadron of
  the 18th Hussars who, like ourselves, had been unable to get remounts
  in Pretoria, so that their numbers were reduced about 60 per cent.,
  were escorting the guns. M Battery R.H.A. swung ‘action front’ and had
  opened fire in next to no time, the whole battery and also two
  15-pounders being placed in line along the ridge and all pounding away
  at the rocky kopje, or rather series of kopjes, from which the Boers
  were firing at our Infantry (the Suffolk Regiment), who now opened
  out, and, advancing to within good rifle range, took what cover they
  could find and engaged the enemy. It was a grand sight watching the
  play of the guns, and cheer after cheer rang through the lines as each
  shot fell in rapid succession right in among the Boers, scattering
  them like startled sheep. The guns did splendid work; the range was
  accurate, and the shells perfect. But a grander sight still was to
  watch Tommy advancing: he does it in a most casual way, with his rifle
  slung at ease over his shoulder. You see individuals in khaki
  stumbling over rocks and boulders, then a thin line of khaki in the
  distance, then nothing, for Tommy is resting; the thin khaki line
  again becomes visible as he proceeds in the coolest manner in the
  world, till the order to fire is given. Nothing is then visible, but
  the sounds of volley after volley and independent firing tell you the
  Infantry are in the thick of a fight. As the Mounted Infantry advance
  through the gaps in their lines, Tommy cheerily calls out, ‘Let ’em
  have it ’ot, mate.’ Having placed our horses in a nullah out of the
  way of stray bullets—one or two of which came whistling overhead—we
  had nothing to do but watch the progress of the fight, and a capital
  view we had, especially of our artillery in action; the enemy had no
  guns in position here, so our guns could devote themselves to shelling
  the rocks among which the Boers were lying; the boulders afforded them
  excellent cover, and they stuck to it exceedingly well. The weak point
  in their position lay in the fact that the cover of which they had
  taken advantage was half-way down the near side of the slope, so in
  the event of their being forced to retire they would have to ride (or
  run) up three or four hundred yards of bare hillside before they
  topped the ridge. For about five hours the fight continued. By this
  time our Infantry had got comparatively close, and the Boers decided
  not to wait for them. Suddenly they were seen issuing from the dip
  where their horses had been hidden in twos and threes and batches of
  various sizes, and scattering up the hillside. With the naked eye one
  could see little black dots streaming away in all directions; it
  looked for all the world like a disturbed ants’ nest. The guns now
  redoubled their exertions, loading and firing all they knew, the
  shells dropping in every direction among the retreating Boers. In
  retiring they had to go down to the bottom of the dip, where they had
  left their horses, and up the slope on the other side—a distance of
  about 300 yards, I should say. When once they got to the top of this
  slope they were more or less safe, as they could take cover among the
  rocks there and get away to the hilly country beyond. But while going
  up the slope they were quite exposed to the fire from our batteries.
  General Mahon was there in person, giving instructions to the officer
  in charge of the guns, which were kept playing on the spot as fast as
  the gunners could load and fire. Watching through glasses we could see
  three or four bowled over; they must have had an uncomfortable ride
  until they topped the ridge, though probably not many were hit, as we
  know from our own experience how ineffective even a well-directed
  shell fire often is. However, on crossing over we found where one dead
  Boer had been hastily buried, also a dead horse and other signs that
  our shell fire had not been without results. A long-range 15-pounder
  of the Boers now came into action, and for about an hour before
  sundown shelled our convoy at extreme range without doing any damage.
  Throughout the day the Cavalry had been engaged on our right and had
  suffered some casualties. Our brigade had had half-a-dozen or so; one
  of the Imperial Yeomanry was killed and two were wounded, and three of
  the Imperial Light Horse were wounded.

  In the afternoon we advanced and occupied the position previously held
  by the Boers, who had retreated some distance. They had a long-range
  15-pounder with them, and they treated us to a few shells; but these
  went high over our heads, and burst a long way behind without doing
  any damage. Shortly after this, as it was getting dark, we camped for
  the night. As we were preparing to camp the Boers shelled our convoy
  with a Long Tom they still possess, but their shells fell wide and
  were harmless. We camped for the night at Buffalo Spruit. The
  casualties were nine wounded Scots Greys, one wounded Imperial Horse;
  Boers about fifteen killed, wounded unknown. The 10th was an
  uneventful day, but on the 11th Lumsden’s Horse supplied an outlying
  picket consisting of our entire strength. Through some error the
  picket manned the wrong kopje, and as they could not be found next
  morning were reported as captured. We turned up, however, late in the
  day at the camp on the Komati River, and followed rapidly in the track
  of the advancing troops. We were now on half-rations, with De Kaap
  Mountains looming before us, the roadway being in places as steep as
  one in eight, and the enemy strongly posted along the summit. On the
  12th the advance was made at 5.30 A.M., and by 9 A.M. M Battery was
  again pounding away.

[Illustration: T. HARE SCOTT]

[Illustration: H.G. PHILLIPS]

[Illustration: R.P. ESTABROOKE]

[Illustration: J. BRAINE]

[Illustration: R. PRINGLE]

[Illustration: W. BURNAND]

                            TRANSPORT DRIVERS

  The road to Barberton slopes gradually up from the plains round
  Carolina for about 3,000 feet, if I remember right, when it takes a
  sudden upward turn for about a couple of miles before reaching the top
  of De Kaap Mountains, over which it winds, and then descends again
  about 2,000 to 3,000 feet, the town being situated in a hollow
  surrounded by hills on all sides. The last bit of a couple of miles or
  so is what is called the Devil’s Kantoor. The gradient is about one in
  four, as far as I could judge, and this will give some idea of the job
  our Generals had to tackle if the Boers elected to hold this place, as
  it was reported they were going to do. It was simply an ideal place to
  defend, and they were said to have a Long Tom in position—so things
  generally looked uncomfortable, to say the least of it. Scouting that
  day looked like being an even poorer game than usual. Anything but a
  demoralised force would have made a strong stand in such a position.
  The main advance was against its front, while the Cavalry executed a
  turning movement to the right, with such effect that the position was
  gained almost without a shot. The climb was terrific. So bad was it
  that 12-pounders only just managed to get up with double teams, and
  all the baggage had to be left at the foot of the hill. The troops,
  however, pushed on to the top, only to witness a heart-rending sight.
  On the range opposite, at about 8,000 yards, was a high laager half a
  mile square, a dense mass of cattle and waggons, out of which the
  latter were seen streaming away towards Swaziland. Between us and them
  lay a deep valley, while the road curving round to the left was
  commanded by three guns, rendering serious attack in that direction
  inadvisable. The Imperial Light Horse made a gallant attempt to get
  round, but were not strong enough. We all looked to see the 6-inch gun
  come up and play havoc with the laager, but the naval officer in
  command declared his oxen unable to bring the gun up the precipitous
  ascent, leaving us the mortification of seeing the enemy escape under
  our very eyes. It was some gratification, however, to eventually
  capture twenty-five of their ‘buck waggons,’ many thousand sheep, and
  some oxen.

  By the time we had dragged up our guns and got them into position the
  fugitives were out of range, as a few shells sent in their direction
  proved; but the captured waggons contained stores of various kinds,
  sugar, flour, &c., and this made a welcome addition to our
  commissariat, which was running very short of supplies. It took four
  days to get the whole of the Transport up the Devil’s Kantoor. During
  this time the bulk of the division halted, as they could not move
  without supplies.

  To form some estimate of the difficulties of transport up these
  mountains, I would mention that the Boers were confident that we could
  never get our convoy and guns up, for among them the steepest part is
  described as a place where, if a leading team of oxen come to a stop
  they are hurled back on to the waggon. To clear these mountains in
  four days reflects the greatest credit on that much-abused department,
  the Transport. Sergeant Power, of Lumsden’s Horse, excelled on the
  occasion, for, fearing he could not possibly get the troopers’
  blanket-carts up that night, he unloaded the carts and used the mules
  with pack saddles, thus enabling Lumsden’s Horse to sleep with
  blankets when the rest of the brigade were blanketless, poor fellows!
  In such circumstances it needs no telling that we went to sleep
  supperless, as our rations were at the foot of the mountain and the
  troops on its summit. Directly the road was clear General French with
  two Cavalry brigades advanced rapidly, and, leaving the Boers, who
  were retreating southwards, alone, he pushed on to Barberton, some
  fifteen miles distant. Guided by one of the Imperial Light Horsemen,
  he avoided the road down into the plain in which Barberton is situated
  (which road—so it is said—the enemy were quite prepared to defend),
  and using a bridle-path across the hills, supposed to be impracticable
  for horses, he descended suddenly on the town and captured it without
  opposition. The enemy were completely surprised and fled, leaving
  fifty-seven engines with rolling-stock standing in the station, a
  large quantity of stores, and 10,000_l._ in specie. The day following
  General French’s occupation of the town a Boer convoy consisting of
  fifty waggons walked in under the impression that it was still in
  their hands! General Mahon’s brigade, with the Infantry, were left to
  guard Homolomo while the convoy came up. The gradient was something
  like one in four, so you can imagine what a business it was getting
  the heavy waggons up. Twelve and fourteen horses were required to get
  the lighter guns up, while the naval gun had eighty oxen harnessed to
  it, and many a poor beast fell out and died under the strain. On the
  third day we continued our march; all day we were descending,
  gradually leaving the hills behind, until we eventually came out into
  an enormous plain, the Kaap Valley. Here we halted and waited for the
  Transport, who had had another trying day. We had descended 3,000 feet
  during the day, and the difference in temperature was most noticeable.
  In this part of the country the hot weather is just beginning; the
  nights are quite mild and the sun at midday is scorching. On Sunday
  the 16th we marched to within a couple of miles of the town and
  camped. It is a straggling little place built close under and partly
  on the lower slopes of a spur of the Kaapsche Berg. This is a well
  watered part of the country, and fruit growing appears to be a paying
  industry, Pretoria and Johannesburg being markets where—in normal
  times—any quantity of fruit is easily disposed of. On the fruit farms
  here we noticed several old Indian friends—viz., plantains,
  pineapples, and papiya. When we got into Barberton we found that
  General French had gone on towards Komati Poort, on the Portuguese
  border, in which direction the Boers had fled, and we heard shortly
  afterwards that about 3,000 of them had taken refuge in Lourenço
  Marques, having given up their arms and destroyed a number of their
  big guns before crossing the border.

[Illustration: L. DAVIS]

[Illustration: LEO H. BRADFORD]

[Illustration: C.W. LOVEGROVE]

[Illustration: S.W. CULLEN]

[Illustration: F.C. MANVILLE]

[Illustration: F.C. THOMPSON]

                            TRANSPORT DRIVERS

  Barberton is quite an Indian town in many respects. Not only is the
  Madrassi native common, but mango, banana, loquat, fig, and other
  Indian fruit trees abound. East Africa seems to my mind to be the
  Indian coolie’s Eldorado, for not only does he wax fat and opulent,
  but he abandons his Indian garb and struts about in that of Western
  civilisation. He does not get on well with the Kaffir, but has pushed
  himself forward, and now occupies a higher position among white men
  than he would presume to in India.

  In all other respects, however, Barberton is a very English town, and
  owes its origin to the De Kaap Goldfields. It was here that the Boers
  housed the women and children who were sent to them from Johannesburg
  and Pretoria, and in consequence every house in the town is packed
  full of these refugees. It was also at Barberton that the Dorset
  Yeomanry and the remaining British prisoners were confined after their
  removal from Nooitgedacht; at present the improvised place of
  confinement is being used as a prison for the Boers themselves. The
  latest official bulletin announces the complete demoralisation of the
  Boer army, which is termed a rabble, and speculation is rife as to the
  probable date of our disbandment. Last night (22nd) it was announced
  in orders that anyone desirous of joining the Pretoria Police at
  10_s._ a day could do so at once; the chances of a commission at the
  end of three months were held out, but only four names were given in.
  The majority intend going to England. A very few have decided to
  remain in Africa, while some twenty or thirty, chiefly coffee planters
  from Southern India, are returning to India. The summer is on us, and
  the days are very hot—102° in the shade. We have no tents, but the
  ingenious ones erect a bivouac of blankets supported on posts and
  rifles as a shelter from the sun. Yesterday a cricket match was played
  between French’s and Mahon’s brigades, resulting in an easy win for
  the latter. Sergeant Pratt represented Lumsden’s Horse in Mahon’s
  team.

Another correspondent writes:

  Besides the usual camp duties, we had to supply outlying pickets and
  patrols turn about with the other Volunteers and Regular regiments.
  Twenty or thirty of us used to be sent out to a post five or six miles
  out in the morning. From these posts we sent out patrols, forage
  parties, &c., during the day, and outlying pickets at night. One of
  these posts was situated right on the top of one of the hills beyond
  the town. It was a tremendous climb, and took most of us at least an
  hour to get to it. Lugging blankets, coats, and rations up there was
  no joke, and I am glad to say we only had to do it once during our
  stay.

  There was a beautiful wood, with a nice mountain stream running
  through it, about a mile and a half from camp, where we used to send
  our horses down to graze and water, and we always took the opportunity
  of having a delightful bathe or of washing clothes, at which we were
  by this time becoming experts. A daily bath was a luxury we had not
  been accustomed to before for months, so we appreciated it
  accordingly. After our bath we lounged under the shade of the trees
  till it was time to take the horses back to camp again. Grazing guard
  in these circumstances was rather a favourite duty, as up in camp it
  was fearfully hot, our only protection from the sun being small
  blanket shelter tents, which were not really much good. These tents
  were made out of two blankets, or a blanket and a waterproof sheet.
  The blankets and waterproof sheets served out to the Army have
  eyelet-holes on both sides and at the ends, so one can put up a tent
  very easily and quickly, all the materials required being a few pegs
  (easily cut from an old biscuit-box or from any other wood which may
  be obtainable), a little string, and a couple of rifles, these last
  forming the supports at either end.

  Owing to the great heat, we move the position of our camps once a
  week. What with dead horses and cattle the air is absolutely putrid,
  and ’tis a precaution most imperative. On the march the foul smells
  encountered are terrible, owing to the number of dead horses and
  cattle lying on the highway. From Pretoria to Balmoral we passed as
  many as two or three hundred carcases in different stages of
  decomposition. The very water is often polluted, and considerable
  inconvenience is the consequence. In a previous letter I incidentally
  mentioned veldt fires, but at the Crocodile River camp it was our luck
  to be in the thick of one, and that at midnight. We had made the camp
  at sundown, and as darkness set in we were enraptured with the
  pyrotechnic display of the surrounding kopjes on fire. It was a
  magnificent sight, though awful. By 10 P.M. the camp was hushed in
  slumber except for stable pickets, when the wind shifted and blew the
  flames towards the camp. Gradually the veldt near us took fire, till
  at midnight we were completely surrounded. The roar was appalling,
  while myriads of insects filled the air. The situation was one needing
  immediate action, as every moment was precious. ‘Stand to your horses
  and saddle up,’ were the orders anxiously given. All was confusion—men
  hurriedly folding up blankets, &c., Kaffir boys running about
  conducting oxen to inspan, bodies of men running towards the fast
  approaching flames carrying blankets to beat them down. In the midst
  of all a patrol of the 18th Hussars were seen completely cut off from
  the camp and surrounded with flaming veldt. A rush was made, and
  hundreds of blankets soon cleared a space, and the patrol emerged, the
  horses showing every sign of terror. It was an anxious time, but in
  half an hour all was safe, and the flames had been successfully
  diverted from their course of destruction. Such a fire in the back
  veldt it would have been impossible to cope with. On the western veldt
  these fires destroy complete herds of cattle annually, and are much
  dreaded.

[Illustration:

  THE LAUNDRY
  (_From a sketch by J.S. Cowen_)
]

  One day at Barberton four of us were on observation post when four
  Boers came along the road; they were immediately challenged and told
  to show their passes, which they did; they then sat down to rest
  alongside us. One of them, named Meyers, could talk English perfectly,
  and when he found we were of Lumsden’s Horse he said he had escorted
  one of our fellows from Ospruit to Pretoria a prisoner, and shared two
  bottles of whisky. He then told us the Boers knew exactly, when we
  were at Spytfontein, how many men went on picket every night, and how
  many we were all told. He also said on April 30 the brigade adjutant
  rode up within twenty yards of him. He shouted to Williams to
  surrender, and he shouted back, ‘I am damned if I do,’ and galloped
  off; Meyers fired all his magazine at the English officer, but missed
  him. Lieutenant Williams has since been killed at Bothaville.

  Barberton was simply crammed with stores of all sorts, the Boers
  having used it as a supply depôt for some time past. It was a great
  treat being able to get luxuries in the shape of extra sugar, tea,
  coffee, sweets, &c., again after such an age, and at reasonable rates
  too. Pretoria was entirely denuded of these things, and I remember
  hunting without success round the whole town for sugar the day before
  we left on our last march. Matches were not to be had there at any
  price, whereas here we could buy them at sixpence a dozen boxes. I
  think we appreciated these more than anything else. We had felt the
  want of them tremendously during the past two or three months. English
  tobacco, unfortunately, was unobtainable, so we had to content
  ourselves with the Boer variety—a very poor substitute, I think most
  of us agreed, though I dare say when one got accustomed to it one
  would prefer it. Personally I never want to see or smell the beastly
  stuff again.

  Barberton itself is a small gold-mining town situated at the bottom of
  De Kaap Mountains, and more or less surrounded by hills. On the hills
  forming its background are the various mines which were opened out
  when gold was first discovered here. Then came the rush of the Rand
  mines, and Barberton was left standing. The roads leading to these
  mines wind up and round the hillsides, and must have taken months and
  months of hard work to complete, I should think. The houses are built
  of wood and roofed with corrugated iron for the most part, and are
  very small. One wonders how people manage to exist in them in the
  summer months, when the temperature is almost if not quite as high as
  it is in India, and damp to boot.

  It was getting very hot before we left early in October, and the old
  familiar limp feeling which began to pervade all ranks brought back
  memories of hot weather in India. Barberton is essentially a British
  town, and until lately, when the Boers used it as a city of refuge for
  their wives and families, the inhabitants were practically all British
  by blood if not by birth. The community must have been a fairly rough
  one in the old days, and one can imagine many wild orgies taking place
  among the miners, more or less cut off, as they were, from
  civilisation. Fruits of all sorts grow here, Indian as well as
  English—plantains, gooseberries, oranges, lemons, strawberries—and
  vegetables too. Beautiful oat-hay for our horses was obtainable in the
  fields for the first week or so that we were in Barberton.

  You will be sorry to hear of the death from enteric fever at
  Johannesburg Hospital of Private M. Follett, the elder of the two
  brothers—planters—who joined with the Mysore contingent. Since then, I
  regret to say, we have had another death from disease—that of Private
  J.H. Maclaine (Surma Valley Light Horse), who died of acute pneumonia
  in Pretoria Hospital. Transport Driver Martyn some months ago was run
  over and badly injured. We are sorry to hear that he has since died of
  the injuries he then received. One way and another a good many have
  left the regiment. A certain number of those left behind, sick and
  wounded, have been unable to rejoin the regiment and have been
  invalided home, among them Privates Cooper and Butler, from Madras,
  both of whom were taken ill at Kroonstad, the former suffering from
  pneumonia and the latter from pleurisy; also Private Bewsher, from
  Mysore, who was wounded in the knee at Elandsfontein station two days
  before the surrender of Johannesburg.

  Our ten days at Barberton gave a welcome rest after many weary
  marches. The time was enlivened with dances and hunting with
  buckhounds for the officers and cricket for whoever could be spared.
  It was here that Colonel Lumsden had his unfortunate accident. He was
  riding back in the dark from afternoon tea at a neighbouring camp,
  and, being deceived by the light of a picket fire, rode straight into
  a nullah. The picket, luckily for him, heard the noise of the fall,
  and by the light of a candle went in search, finding horse and man
  prostrate. The horse was dead and Colonel Lumsden insensible. The good
  fellows, however, did their best, and, taking him up to the fire,
  discovered by his badges that he belonged to Lumsden’s Horse. One of
  them came into our camp to report, bringing us the information about
  11 P.M. The doctor and ambulance immediately proceeded to the scene of
  the accident, and, patching him up temporarily, took him away to the
  Boer hospital in Barberton. By the light of day it appeared wonderful
  that anyone could have escaped death from such an accident. The nullah
  may almost be described as a fissure in the ground some 15 feet wide
  and 29½(measured) deep. The only thing that saved our Colonel’s life
  was that the horse evidently alighted on his feet, taking the brunt of
  the fall himself and paying the penalty with his life; this was shown
  by the fact that the saddle was not injured in any way.

Colonel Lumsden writes of this incident in a letter from Barberton
Hospital dated October 1, 1900:

  Well, eight days ago I visited town, and was riding back to my camp at
  dusk when my charger, a splendid paced and mannered Cape horse, simply
  cantered right into a donga 30 feet deep, breaking his neck in the
  fall, while I lay by his side bruised and insensible.

  Luckily for me, some pickets were close by and heard the smash.
  Recognising me by my badge, they went to my camp and brought our
  doctor and adjutant to the spot. They took me to our camp for
  treatment, and in a few hours’ time our doctor, with the assistance of
  troopers who volunteered to carry the stretcher, conveyed me into the
  Barberton Club, the temporary Boer hospital, ours being both full up.
  The Boer doctor and nurses have been kindness itself to me, and have
  done everything in their power to make me comfortable. How I escaped
  with my life my usual good luck only knows. I was bashed, cut, and
  bruised, but not a limb or a bone broken. Four days ago I nearly
  snuffed out from a flow of blood from my nose and mouth, but
  fortunately it was stopped in time, and I really believe did me good,
  as I had too much blood in my system. Now, more than enough about
  myself. I am on the right track, and hope to be with my men in a few
  days more. I follow on with the hospital train the day after
  to-morrow, and pick them up at Machadodorp, for which place they leave
  to-day. There we pick up Captain Beresford with 100 of my men. They
  stayed at Pretoria a day beyond us to get remounts, came on with my
  friend General Cunningham’s Infantry Division, and were never able to
  rejoin us, we being in advance with General Mahon’s Mounted Brigade.

Months afterwards, Colonel Lumsden, by the following tribute, showed
that he had not forgotten those who had tended him with so much care:

  To incidents which I have already related of kindly treatment at the
  hands of Boer doctors and nurses I may add another of which I was on
  this occasion the recipient. I awoke the morning after my serious
  accident feeling very stiff and sore, and found myself lying in the
  general ward amid wounded Tommies and Boers. I must have been
  insensible for nearly twelve hours. Next day Dr. Powell, our
  regimental doctor, wished to remove me to one of our own hospitals,
  but Dr. Bidenhamp, the Boer doctor, offered to give me a small room to
  myself if I remained, which I gratefully accepted, and could not have
  wished for better care or attention than I received at his hands and
  those of his assistant, Mr. E.E. Haumann. I have also to thank very
  gratefully Sister Alma Meyer, of Grosvenor House, Stellenbosch, for
  the kindly treatment she accorded me, as well as two Dutch sisters
  from Holland who were assisting her in the hospital and acting nobly
  to Briton and Boer alike; and I take this opportunity of acknowledging
  with sincere thanks their careful treatment and kindness to me during
  the ten days I was their patient.

  Ruling passions are strong even when one is at death’s door, and I
  cannot help recalling a sporting bet I had with my kind friend Sister
  Alma. It took the usual shape of a bet with a woman—gloves—and I laid
  her a dozen pairs to nothing that the war would be over by Christmas,
  which not only I but many high in authority fully believed it would.
  We were passing Durban on our way back to India during the second week
  in December, and, taking the then situation, I looked upon my bet as
  lost and bailed up. One of my subalterns, who was landing there to
  return to the seat of war, kindly carried out my commission, and
  forwarded the gloves to the winner, from whom I received a prompt
  acknowledgment, with the usual remark that women are always right, and
  I believe they are! At least, I never attempt to contradict them, and
  yet I am a bachelor.

Colonel Lumsden being in hospital, and debarred, therefore, to his
regret, from leading the corps in a march for which it had already been
detailed, Major Chamney took temporary command, and a few days later
received orders to hand over horses and proceed by train to rejoin the
other detachment under Captain Beresford at Machadodorp. This uneventful
stage of the campaign is thus described by the correspondent of an
Indian paper serving with Lumsden’s Horse:

  Prior to this the Imperial Light Horse had left Mahon’s brigade, and
  we heard that they too expected to be disbanded shortly. General Mahon
  made them a speech before they left, praising them highly for the good
  work they had done while with him, and saying how sorry he was to part
  with them.

  On October 1 we handed over nearly all our horses to the New
  Zealanders, keeping only such of them—four or five, if I remember
  right—as had been brought from India and come right through the whole
  show. Four others also were kept for the doctor’s cart, the horses he
  had before being played out. But the experiment did not turn out a
  success, as the first time they were put into harness they bolted and
  there was a general smash-up. The leaders broke away and vanished into
  space, and were never seen by us again; and the wheelers got mixed up
  in the traces and upset the cart, damaging it hopelessly in their
  struggles to get free. The doctor was thenceforth cartless, I think,
  and the implements of his trade had to be carried in one of the
  Transport carts.

  After giving over our horses we were marched into town, and camped
  close to the station for the night. The Transport, with the heavy
  luggage and led horses, were to leave next day by road for
  Machadodorp, for which place we too were bound. The rest of the
  regiment, under Captain Beresford, had been stationed there for some
  time. Next morning we proceeded to the station and loaded our saddle,
  baggage, and a few of our small Transport carts into open trucks, into
  which we ourselves afterwards scrambled, the train moving off
  immediately. There was not overmuch room, but we were not particular,
  and this did not very greatly bother us. After proceeding about
  sixteen miles we had to get out and walk to Avoca, a railway station
  about three miles further on, as, owing to the Boers having smashed up
  a bridge here, the train was unable to get across. Waggons were
  awaiting us, into which we loaded the baggage, &c., also making use of
  the Transport carts we had brought with us.

  On arriving at Avoca we heard that an accident had occurred further up
  the line, and we should not therefore be able to go on till next day.
  We camped in the open, and spent a wretched night, as it rained
  incessantly, and by daybreak everything was sopping wet. Hearing next
  morning that we would not be leaving for some hours, several of us
  foraged round and found an empty hut, in which we took shelter, as the
  rain still continued, and made ourselves very fairly comfortable.
  There was any amount of firewood about, so we were able to semi-dry
  our blankets, &c. When the train came in at midday it was found that
  there was not room for more than about fifteen of us, besides the
  saddles, baggage, and Transport carts.

  At Kaapmuiden we got on to the main line from Komati Poort to
  Pretoria. This junction presented a really woeful sight. The Boers had
  evacuated the place in great haste, throwing away stores, &c., galore,
  principally large quantities of flour, which had been rendered useless
  by sprinkling it with kerosine, making it smell horribly and totally
  unfitting it for consumption. Whole trains had been burned as they
  stood on the lines, and an idea of the terrible conflagration may be
  gathered from the fact that the rails under the wheels were buckled
  down by the terrific heat.

Captain Taylor, in one of his amusing reminiscences, pays a tribute to
the work done by Infantry soldiers:

  Tommy certainly is the most wonderful all-round man, and quite
  prepared to do anything he’s asked. A whole company of Infantry being
  converted into mounted troops by such an order as ‘A company of ——
  Regiment will be Mounted Infantry’ was at one time quite usual, but
  they were fair troops in a month. One saw him making bridges and
  diversions for the same with the old jokes and quaint oaths; or doing
  butcher, baker, slaughterer, tailor, bootmaker, farrier, and all the
  thousand-and-one things he is taught. But he fairly surprised me at
  Barberton.

  There we had suddenly arrived with a division of Cavalry ‘in the air.’
  Within a week we had sent our Cavalry as far as Kaapmuiden—the point
  where the Barberton branch line meets the main one from Pretoria to
  Komati Poort. Our Infantry had repaired the numerous bridges and
  culverts, and we were entrained and taken back to Machadodorp by
  train. Every station-master was a junior British officer, the
  pointsman Tommy, engine-driver Tommy, who also worked the telegraphs,
  was stoker, bridgemaker, platelayer, wheelgreaser, &c. There were a
  few accidents, but not many, and a smash was only a joke. No wonder we
  are hard to beat.

The trooper correspondent did not look at things quite in that light,
but perhaps he was travelling less luxuriously, and the humorous side of
the situation did not strike him so forcibly:

  It was raining all the time, so things generally were not at all
  cheerful, and the prospect of travelling for several hours in open
  trucks under these conditions did not help to raise our spirits.
  However, it was not so bad after all, as we stretched a huge tarpaulin
  propped up with sticks, rifles, and boxes, over the truck we were in,
  which was piled up to the top with the baggage, and managed to keep
  the rain out in this way. The rest of us were to follow on by the next
  train. We even managed to get up a game of whist, and this, with the
  perusal of such literature as we had with us and occasional snoozes
  helped to pass the time. We stayed that night at Crocodile Poort
  station, it not being considered safe to travel after dark. It stopped
  raining at 10 P.M., so, getting out of the truck, we built a huge fire
  and dried our blankets and boiled the inevitable coffee. We slept in
  the open, as it was quite fine then; but the dew was so heavy during
  the night that everything got sopping wet again by the morning. We
  started again at 9, but made very slow progress, as we had long waits
  at various stations on the way.

  From there to Machadodorp is a most interesting and beautiful country.
  The line runs between two precipitous ranges quite Swiss in their
  magnificence, with a river running between the hills. Then to Waterval
  Onder, where the ordinary rails gave place to a cogwheel line up a
  steep climb.

  We left again at 8 A.M. the following day, and passed through very
  fair scenery between that place and the next station, Waterval Boven.
  High overhanging kopjes on one side, along the bases of which the line
  ran, with a deep sort of cañon between, the Crocodile River flowing
  along its bottom, and a large square turret-like rock looking
  commandingly from the other. In one place the train ran quite close to
  the ‘cliff,’ as in the Darjiling Himalayan Railway in India, and
  almost under a huge mass of overhanging rocks. There are deep fissures
  in these rocks in many places, and they look as if they might get
  loosened and overwhelm us at any moment. We were told that in the
  rains sentries are posted at this place night and day to give timely
  warning should there be any signs of the rocks shifting. The incline,
  too, is very steep here, and only a few trucks at a time can be taken
  up. In our case eleven trucks were sent up at first, two engines being
  put on, one in front and the other behind. To prevent slipping, the
  hindermost engine had the usual cog-wheel arrangement working on a
  centre rail. Shortly after leaving Waterval Onder you get into a
  tunnel about a hundred yards long, I think. It is absolutely
  unventilated, so it can be imagined that the smoke from the engines,
  which, seated as we were in open trucks, simply poured down our
  throats and up our noses, very nearly suffocated us.

  We stayed at Waterval Boven till 5 P.M., and then went on to
  Machadodorp, where we found the rest of the regiment, which was
  encamped there, under Captain Beresford. They had marched to this
  place from Belfast, where Lord Roberts inspected them. Here we were
  greatly undeceived. Instead of going on down country for home, as we
  expected, we received orders to equip, and furthermore to leave the
  old brigade we were so fond of under General Mahon, and join General
  French’s column in General Dickson’s brigade.

  The men of Lumsden’s Horse arrived in the midst of a very heavy
  hailstorm. Like all true soldiers, they were ready to make a jest of
  discomfort, and seeing the company commander, whose name happened to
  be Jim, as he crawled under the shelter of his _tente d’abri_, they
  struck up the then popular music-hall chorus:

                             O lucky Jim,
                             How I envy him!

Colonel Lumsden was at this time speculating on the chances that his
corps might soon be ordered home, and in a letter to Sir Patrick
Playfair, written while still in hospital, he says:

  Ever since we entered Pretoria on June 5 and marched through it to
  Irene it has been even betting that the war might end any day or keep
  on with this kind of guerilla fighting till Christmas. It looks very
  like the latter now. I have discussed the matter frequently, while
  lying in my bed here, with Colonel Wools-Sampson, commanding the
  Imperial Light Horse, and Colonel Craddock, commanding the Australian
  contingent, both in Mahon’s brigade with myself. They fully hold my
  opinion that, although this unexpected delay comes harder on the
  Volunteer personally than was anticipated when he joined, yet it was
  all in the bargain. I also assure the men that Government looks upon
  the Colonial Volunteer movement as much too big a factor in this
  crisis to be ignored or undervalued, and that not one day beyond what
  is actually necessary shall we be kept in harness in this country.
  There is no doubt that the complete pacification or subjugation of
  this huge Colony is a much bigger question than we soundly tackled at
  the start, or were prepared to face. De Wet and Botha are harder nuts
  to crack than we imagined. I am extremely proud of and pleased with
  the doings of the corps, and I feel sure it has been worthy of its
  Honorary Colonel and its many friends and supporters in the land we
  hail from. How kind Lord Roberts has been to us and to me personally I
  can hardly state here.

  Our good fortune in the way of obtaining commissions in the Regular
  forces speaks volumes on this point, besides other civil appointments
  already granted, to say nothing, I hope, of others in store when we
  disband. As regards the Transvaal Police, which a number of my men
  were keen to join when it started in June, I distinctly said, ‘_No_,
  until we are disbanded. If Government would say “Disband,” then I’ll
  do my best for you with commissions, &c.; but until then, _No_.’ The
  terms were 10_s._ per diem, horse allowance, and rations. Of course
  these were tempting to men playing a hard game on 1_s._ 2_d._ per day,
  but Government soon stopped enrolment, the New Zealand Government
  having declined to let their Volunteers join. I hear it is being
  opened again to a small extent, mostly for mechanics, but these are
  not the class I’ve got. What they mean really to do is to make the
  Transvaal and Orange River Police the soldiers of the immediate
  future, and take all the suitable Volunteers they can to back it up. A
  right good plan too, and I fancy they are only waiting for the
  opportune moment to do so.

  As regards funds, I feel sure we shall end up well. I never lose a
  chance of buying little extras for the men in the way of Boer tobacco
  and tinned milk.

  Any quantity of the stores for officers went astray, and heaps were
  given away to the men, &c. I can truly assure you the officers will
  not make much out of the hunt!

  I don’t know what my movements will be—Calcutta or London, depending
  on that of the corps. At one period our orders were the latter, to be
  in the Colonial Volunteer Inspection by the Queen, but I fear it is
  too late in the day for that to come off, and that it will now be
  Calcutta direct for all that remain of us. Well, as you know, it is
  hard to beat in the cold season, and always enjoyable to me, so I
  don’t mind.

So ended the experiences of Lumsden’s Horse under Brigadier-General
Mahon’s command. They had been with him two months in circumstances that
try the mettle of men, whether officers or privates, and their devotion
to him had increased day by day. In camp or in action he was always the
same, never worrying himself or harassing his men. On the contrary, he
more than once gave up his own rough shelter in a deserted house or hut
so that his troops might have firewood for cooking their scant rations
of tough mutton or horseflesh. Their confidence in him was unbounded
because they said he never got them into a tight place without knowing
how to get them out again; and they would have followed him anywhere.
That was the feeling of all ranks in the brigade for their General. His
confidence in them was equally firm. In a letter which the Editor has
permission to quote, that distinguished leader writes: ‘Lumsden’s Horse
served with me for some months, and a better lot of men and officers
could not be found.’

[Illustration:

  A HALT ON THE MARCH TO BARBERTON:
  GENERAL MAHON AND COLONEL WOOLS-SAMPSON
  (_A Snapshot by the Editor_)
]




                              CHAPTER XVII
         _MARCHING AND FIGHTING—FROM MACHADODORP TO HEIDELBERG
                 AND PRETORIA UNDER GENERALS FRENCH AND
                                DICKSON_


Before presenting as a connected whole the separate descriptions dealing
with a movement which had for its object the disintegration of Boer
forces that still held the high veldt and thus threatened both railway
lines east of Johannesburg, it will be well to summarise briefly the
experience of troopers under Captain Beresford’s command while separated
from the headquarters of their corps. It will be remembered that when
General Mahon set out from Pretoria to join General French in his dash
on Barberton more than two-thirds of Lumsden’s Horse were left behind
waiting for remounts, with instructions to follow as fast as possible,
or as soon as General Cunningham, under whose orders they were placed
for a time, might permit. What happened then is especially interesting
as evidence of the class of horse that was being issued to mounted
troops at that stage for operations against an exceedingly mobile enemy.
The Boers were then practically nomads, having no fixed bases from which
supplies were drawn, and therefore no lines of communication to be cut.
Pursuit of them was therefore very much like hunting a fox that has been
driven out of his own familiar country. If he runs the pack ‘out of
scent,’ there is nothing to serve as a guide for the casts that may be
made in hope of hitting off the line again, for nobody can say what the
probable ‘point’ is; and unless he can be brought to hand by a pursuit
that never tires and never goes wrong, we may be sure that there is no
chance of running him to ground. Most of the Boer leaders at that time
had their wives and families with them. Mrs. De la Rey had been living
in an ox-waggon, without fixed abode, since the beginning of war, and
accompanying her husband on every trek from Magersfontein to Colesberg,
and thence in succession to Driefontein, Brandfort, Kroonstad, the Vaal
River, then on to meet Mahon’s column south of Mafeking, back in haste
for the defence of Johannesburg and Pretoria, from there to Diamond Hill
(or Rietfontein as the Boers call it), then back northward through the
bushveldt, and so to the Magaliesberg Range again. Against an enemy thus
independent of railways or beaten tracks none but well-mounted troops
with horses in the best of condition could hope to achieve much. For
corps in the same plight as Lumsden’s Horse, however, nothing better
could be found than under-bred Argentines or weedy Hungarians, gross
from the combined effects of idleness and injudicious feeding, and soft
from want of exercise, badly broken, and therefore ill-mannered. One
trooper, whose comments are based on actual experience, as he was among
the men to whom horses were issued for trial, only on the morning of the
day when they marched from Pretoria, writes of the ‘strange exhibitions’
with this lot of remounts which, to put it mildly, had not been ridden
much before. ‘They were just off the ship, fat and very soft, and full
of beans. One fellow was bucked off, another dragged, and several very
uncomfortable. The horses had no mouths; they wouldn’t answer to bit,
rein, or spur, and it was impossible to get one away from the rest.’
When the corps returned from its long trek nearly everybody was in rags,
and very unlike the ‘typical trooper’ of ten months earlier, whose smart
turn-out had been a source of pride to the corps. Clothing, however, ran
short, and many men had difficulty in replacing their tattered garments
by new of any kind.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Johnston & Hoffmann_
  H.P. BROWN, A TYPICAL TROOPER
]

However, this detachment, under Captain Beresford, having cleared up its
camp, marched out a day after the corps headquarters had gone and
bivouacked that night ten or twelve miles east of Pretoria, near the
pass known as Donker Hoek. Colonel Lumsden, having remained behind to
see them off, went on a stage or two by train, hoping that they would
overtake the leading company before it joined General French. The two
detachments were, in fact, though they did not know it, within cannon
sound of each other on September 5, when Mahon had turned back from
Belfast to help the Canadians at Pan station; but, after that, every
march took them further apart, the Colonel pushing on with what remained
to him of A Company as part of Mahon’s brigade, while Captain
Beresford’s hundred could make but slow progress on their leg-weary,
spiritless horses. The latter troops, on arrival at Belfast, were
inspected by Lord Roberts, who rode through their lines but made no
speech to them. General Hutton, who was with the Headquarters Staff,
cast longing eyes on Lumsden’s Horse, looked them over, and told Captain
Clifford that he meant to take them on with him. Against such wholesale
appropriation, however, Captain Beresford protested, saying that the men
wanted to join their own corps and the horses were not fit yet. After
appeal to Lord Roberts, Captain Beresford got his way. While at Belfast
the detachment had unpleasant experience of winter temperature at an
altitude of more than 6,500 feet above sea level. They tried to supply
artificial fuel to the system by additional rations, but were not very
successful, as the resources of Belfast at that time were low indeed,
and certain restrictions had to be placed on traffic with the Dutch
inhabitants, one of whom sold bread from the eating of which twelve or
fourteen men of an Infantry regiment had been poisoned. So sentries were
posted to warn all soldiers against buying provisions. To keep out the
icy wind some men built themselves little huts of corrugated iron, in
the construction of which we learn that Kingchurch and Cobb and the
brothers Allardice distinguished themselves among one section of B
Company. Captain Beresford came to have a look at them, and in notes of
that time is the appreciative entry: ‘He is a very pleasant man and
always polite to every one of us. He said our tin house was much better
than the officers’ tents. He told us also that Lord Roberts had
expressed himself very much pleased with the appearance of the men and
horses.’ At Belfast also Lumsden’s Horse were visited by their former
comrade Chartres—once a corporal in the corps, ‘who looked very smart as
an Army doctor.’ Their last day at Belfast was devoted to the mild
excitement of watching races, in one of which Captain Clifford came in
about sixth on ‘The Mate,’ and a note is made of the fact that the Duke
of Westminster, who won the long-distance steeplechase, ‘rode like a
workman.’ On the whole, this brief stay at Belfast was more pleasant
than first impressions of it promised, except for nightly excursions
after loose Argentines, one of which drew his picket peg so persistently
and got away on the open veldt so often that Robertson dubbed him
Ulysses because he was such a wanderer! The next day (November 11)
Captain Beresford’s detachment struck its camp on that breezy high veldt
and marched across the battlefield of Bergendal on its way to Dalmanutha
and Machadodorp as advance guard of General Cunningham’s brigade. No
sooner had it got into camp once more than B Company was selected to
furnish an escort the next morning for Lord Kitchener. The
non-commissioned officer who was to be in command had no other uniform
than the weather-stained and saddle-worn suit that had done service
throughout most of the campaign. Luckily, however, one of the Hussars
offered to sell sundry things. He was a Reservist, and knew his way
about a military camp. From him a complete outfit was obtained, and the
purchaser then discovered, much to his amusement, that he had been
dealing with one who was a pushing commercial traveller in private life.
So the non-commissioned officer was able to turn out a credit to the
escort. But some mistake had been made about the rendezvous, which,
however, the escort found at last by the lucky accident of meeting Major
J.K. Watson, Lord Kitchener’s A.D.C. By that time the General had gone
on. ‘So had to follow at a tremendous pace, galloped up every steep hill
and down the other side over terrible ground, a mass of stones and such
clouds of dust that you could not see the ground or whither you were
going. Then caught up Lord Kitchener, who was riding with General
Hamilton towards a big camp on the top of a hill, where they told us
General Smith-Dorrien was in command. Very soon started back again. This
time Lord Kitchener by himself, and a nice pace he led us, up hill and
down, in clouds of dust. Got back before 1, having started at 10 and
covered twelve miles altogether.’ During a month at Machadodorp, outpost
duty and patrols towards Lydenburg or Helvetia, where Boers were often
seen but never showed fight except by sniping at long range, formed the
ordinary routine. This, however, was varied by football matches, for
which Lumsden’s Horse furnished a strong team with Hickley in goal,
Kirwan and Winder as backs, Courtenay, Brown, and G. Lawrie halves,
Robertson, Luard, Holme, Tancred, and Lloyd-Jones forwards.
Unfortunately, Robertson injured his knee in one of these matches and
had to go into hospital. It was at Machadodorp that Sergeant Stephens,
of the Indian Commissariat, who was attached to the Transport Staff of
Lumsden’s Horse, distinguished himself by several solitary expeditions
into the unexplored country round about. From one of these he came back
with a pom-pom carriage which he had found at a farm and several ‘poor
orphans,’ as he described pigs whose owners had deserted them. Once,
however, he got caught himself, as narrated in Captain Taylor’s private
collection of reminiscences:

[Illustration: SERGEANT STEPHENS]

  We had an Indian Transport sergeant lent to us, and a very good useful
  man he was; but he always had a desire to kill a Boer with his own
  hand and to be able to swear to it. One day when he was out getting
  supplies he saw an armed Boer riding over an adjacent ridge, so he
  left his carts and cantered away to cut him off. On nearing the ridge
  he slipped off his horse and proceeded on foot. Topping the ridge, he
  saw the Boer coming towards him and had him dead practically. Suddenly
  something touched him. Looking up, he saw three rifle muzzles, and he
  was a prisoner with a party of Boers. They took his rifle and horse
  and told him to come along with them. He walked between them for a
  bit, and, being a very amusing Irishman, proceeded to explain that in
  his opinion it wasn’t entertaining him like a guest to make him tramp
  while they rode. They treated the subject at first as a joke, but he
  was so persistent that they at last grew angry, and threatened to
  shoot him if he didn’t be quiet. On this point also he was found to be
  so argumentative that at last in despair they told him to make himself
  scarce, which he did with alacrity, arriving in camp by evening none
  the worse for his adventure, and quite pleased, as he had only
  suffered to the extent of a walk, a Government rifle, and a
  comparatively useless pony.

[Illustration: CORPORAL G. LAWRIE]

[Illustration: F.G. BATEMAN]

[Illustration: L. KINGCHURCH]

[Illustration: IAN SINCLAIR]

[Illustration: SERGT. A.H. LUARD]

[Illustration: PERCY COBB]

[Illustration: HARVEY DAVIES]

[Illustration: A.E. CONSTERDINE]

[Illustration: D. ROBERTSON]

                          N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS

While Lord Roberts remained at Machadodorp, B Company was often called
upon to furnish an escort of the smartest men, and for this duty Cobb,
Kingchurch, David and Hugh Allardice, Ian Sinclair, Robertson, and
Biscoe, or at least two or three of them, were generally selected. But
the time for more active service had come again, and with the return of
A Company from Barberton to Machadodorp Captain Beresford’s command
ceased to have an independent existence.

It was on October 6 that Major Chamney’s force marched into camp without
horses, and on the following day Colonel Lumsden passed through
Machadodorp in the Princess Christian’s hospital train bound for
Pretoria. Having received a sufficient number of remounts from among
horses that had been left behind by the Imperial Light Horse and 18th
Hussars, the corps was ready to take its place in General Dickson’s
brigade for the sweeping movement by which it was hoped that General
French would clear the country between De Kaap Mountains and Pretoria.
Nobody at the time thought that it would be rather more like a rearguard
action, continued from day to day, than a triumphal progress. We know
that from morning to night the Boers followed every movement of French’s
columns, potting at them almost incessantly. No matter at what hour the
British troops began their march or halted in bivouac, or how often they
changed direction, the enemy was always with them, and always close
enough to see, though not often seen. A more harassing march has
probably never been endured by any force of similar strength in that
country. All these things we know, but men kept for the privacy of their
own diaries a record of the physical sufferings that came to them
through hunger and thirst where food, if not scarce, could seldom be
cooked because of the thunderstorms night after night and the absence of
firewood. Notwithstanding all these discomforts, we find a cheery strain
running through the unprinted records of Lumsden’s Horse, and quite a
joyful note when by chance the means of making a fire falls in their
way. Then somebody is sure to be provided with meat to cook, and we are
told how Kingchurch unexpectedly produced ‘chops done to a turn,’ or
Cobb’s stew ‘was a triumph,’ or how ‘the indefatigable Hugh cooked chops
while it still rained, and after dark he cooked mutton for to-morrow.’
The chronicler, in his gratitude, says: ‘Such men deserve to be
remembered, and to have their honoured names handed down to posterity,’
and so they find a place in this History. One night, when rain was being
driven in sheets by a howling wind across the bare hillside, some of
Lumsden’s Horse could find no better shelter than an ant-heap, round the
lee side of which they grouped themselves, huddling together for warmth.
Kingchurch, finding them there, said in his whimsical way that they had
selected the ‘most epithetally uncomfortable ant-heap in all South
Africa.’

It is almost impossible to follow consecutively the movements of General
French’s columns, which consisted of a nominal brigade under General
Mahon (the 8th and 14th Hussars and M Battery R.H.A.), a second under
General Gordon (7th Dragoon Guards, Scots Greys, and guns), and a third,
which included Lumsden’s Horse, a half-battalion Suffolk Regiment, O
Battery R.H.A., and pom-pom section, under General Dickson. Two Cavalry
regiments, the Scots Greys and Carabiniers, with a battery of Artillery,
were kept under General French’s personal direction on at least one
occasion, and used by him with great effect when by marching out of
Bethel he induced the Boers to come in, and then pounced on them. This,
however, is general history. The operations in which Lumsden’s Horse
took part are described by several correspondents in the following
narrative:

  At the beginning the original idea was to move on a wide front through
  Carolina, Ermelo, Bethel to Heidelberg, and in consequence we started
  in the afternoon of October 11 with Dickson’s brigade in the centre,
  its main duty being to escort and protect the reserve convoys of all
  three columns, Mahon being eight to nine miles off on our right and
  Gordon a similar distance on our left, these two columns taking with
  them only necessary supplies for a few days.

  The very first day Mahon got a severe check, losing some five officers
  and fifty men, while the next day Gordon on the left was in turn hotly
  engaged. After this General French deemed it politic to bring in the
  flank columns closer, and thenceforth we proceeded with only half our
  former front, thus rendering mutual assistance more easy. Although the
  division consisted of three brigades, so called, Mahon’s was only
  about 500 strong, Gordon’s 600, and Dickson’s 700, amounting in all to
  only three regiments on full strength.

  Our task was an extremely arduous and difficult one, for the first few
  marches were through hilly country, and the convoy advancing in a
  single string covered seven miles. To protect it from surprise we had
  but 400 mounted troops, the Infantry being kept more or less
  concentrated near the waggons. You can imagine, therefore, that our
  sphere of operations was a very extended one, much being evidently
  left to the initiative of individuals, as personal control by officers
  was well-nigh impossible. This was the kind of fighting that brought
  into prominence the good points of Irregular troops, of which every
  man is used to act on his own responsibility as occasion demands,
  wherein he differs from the trained soldier, who is educated to act on
  orders only. The nature of the convoy added greatly to the fatigue men
  had to endure. Oxen formed part of the convoy and, as they are unable
  apparently at this season of the year to march except in the cool of
  the morning and evening, the working day comprised twenty-four hours.
  The usual marching hour for ‘ox’ was 4 A.M., necessitating _réveille_
  at 2.15 often in the rain, the ‘mule’ following an hour later. The
  convoy commenced packing at 8 o’clock, and a halt was observed till 2
  or 3 in the afternoon. In the afternoon ‘mule’ led off, the ‘ox’
  following. By this arrangement the ‘ox’ avoided all heat, but never
  got into camp till 9 P.M. or thereabouts. Mounted troops had far the
  worst of this, for while the Infantry could put in a long sleep and
  have a good meal, the mounted troops, broken up into small parties,
  were posted on hills all round, and the need to keep a sharp look-out
  left them few opportunities for sleeping or getting meals. This bit of
  country was particularly hard on the men, as it was with the greatest
  difficulty that one could obtain firewood and water by day; and as we
  often arrived in camp long after dark, it was still more difficult to
  get an evening camp fire. To add to the trials, half of the available
  men were on picket over night, and during the day we were surprised
  incessantly. Our picket duties brought us into constant little
  engagements in which the corps had the opportunity of acting on its
  own, and, being ably handled by Major Chamney, quite distinguished
  itself in a small way.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Vandyk_
  CAPTAIN C. LYON SIDEY
]

  When General Dickson’s brigade, or rather huge convoy, to which we
  were attached as the only mounted troops, began its march _en route_
  for Carolina, the Brigadier’s method was to make an early start, halt
  at 10 or 11 o’clock for three or four hours, and then make easy
  progress on to camp for the day. The veldt was changing into its
  spring coat of green, so that the cattle could graze during halts; in
  consequence, their condition was not so bad. On the morning of the
  12th the camp was aroused by the sound of big guns booming to our
  right front, and though the brigade was booked to start at 6 A.M. it
  was not till 7.30 that the convoy got on the way. Later in the day the
  news was heliographed that the Boers had made a determined attack on
  General Mahon’s camp, had driven in the outposts, and had only been
  beaten back after severe fighting, Mahon’s casualties being as high as
  fifty. On the 13th the music of big guns was again heard at dawn, but
  to our left front, and the news came through that the Boers had
  attacked Gordon, but this time received a reception they were totally
  unprepared for, while Dickson with the convoy had camped by 1.30 P.M.
  outside Carolina. As Carolina had been in Boer occupation since the
  time General Mahon touched there on his way to Barberton, every
  precaution was taken against any surprise. Rumour said the Boers had
  sworn to trap French or take the convoy, and therefore our escort was
  augmented by the 7th Dragoon Guards, Scots Greys, and O Battery R.H.A.
  Our experience for the second time of Carolina was a bitter one; not
  only was the weather intensely cold, but the whole regiment was sent
  out on outlying picket for twenty-four hours. On the 15th a five-mile
  march was made, but on the 16th at 2.30 A.M. _réveille_ was whistled,
  and at 3.45 Lumsden’s had started at a gallop as advance guard, a
  dense fog prevailing. A midday halt of three hours was made at
  Krantzpan, but camp was pitched at Klipsteple after dark. Klipsteple
  is the highest point in the Transvaal, and a huge smooth-faced boulder
  stands on the highway. On this boulder visitors have engraved their
  names, so that it is almost covered with letters and dates, though the
  names, so familiar to all, of the leaders of the Boer cause are
  conspicuously absent. On the 17th we formed the rearguard, and were
  engaged in destroying a farm when a party of about 200 Boers
  reconnoitred our vicinity. We looked at one another, and they
  evidently decided against a fight, for Mahon had that morning beaten
  this same lot rather badly. They retired on Carolina, and we proceeded
  onward to camp. From this point our further progress was slow, as the
  Boers hugged the flanks and persistently attacked the rearguard. It
  was a new light to view the enemy in, and it came somewhat as a
  surprise. Hitherto the Boer had adopted the running game. It was very
  gratifying to hear that the enemy possessed neither guns nor big-gun
  ammunition. On the 18th A Company were doing advance guard, supported
  by B Company, when they suddenly encountered the fire of thirty Boers
  strongly entrenched at point-blank range. They fell back, and No. 4
  Section, B Company, advanced and, opening volley fire under Captain
  Sidey’s orders, soon cleared the front, while O Battery sent shell
  after shell into the fleeing horsemen. Captain Kenna—well known in
  India—Dickson’s Brigade Major, was good enough to speak favourably of
  us. It was the first ‘scrap’ we had had under his leadership. During
  the cannonade a funny incident occurred. A rifle and bandolier were
  found in a farm where only women were to be seen. As this meant
  burning the farm and seizing all stock, the Boer’s wife, riding on a
  man’s saddle, sought out the General, who chivalrously acceded to her
  request, and the burning was countermanded. The next day passed
  quietly as far as we were concerned, though Mahon’s guns could be
  heard in rear from time to time. Hitherto the enemy had employed guns,
  but to-day the welcome intelligence was passed along that they were
  completely out of gun ammunition. The camp was pitched at Bethel, a
  town containing only some six families, three of them English. On the
  20th (morning) the regiment paraded for inspection by General French,
  who took advantage of the day’s halt at Bethel to say a few words of
  encouragement to each regiment. Addressing Lumsden’s Horse, he said
  ‘that the reputation of the corps stood very high; their behaviour and
  gallantry were spoken of by everyone, and, though he had no personal
  knowledge of the corps, he had heard of their splendid work and the
  good service they had done. There was no doubt that everyone of all
  ranks was anxious for a rest, which was well deserved. There was no
  saying, however, what might happen, but he hoped the onward march to
  Heidelberg would be an easy one, and he trusted to Lumsden’s Horse
  maintaining to the end that reputation for gallantry they had worthily
  earned.’ At the conclusion of the address, Major Chamney called for
  three cheers for General French. As the Boers were hovering all round
  us, the entire regiment spent the night on outlying picket; and it was
  a night!—wet, cold, and miserable. At 3 A.M. on the 22nd the brigade
  stood to arms, and by 4.30 Bethel had been left behind. The Boers were
  most persistent, and tenaciously hung round us, losing no opportunity
  of sniping. About 2 P.M. we were caught in a terrific hailstorm, the
  hail lying an inch thick upon the veldt, when it ceased, leaving us
  shivering and drenched, though cheerful enough as we resumed our
  onward course at the gallop to restore circulation in men and horses.
  Before camping we did some distant shooting at the enemy, but gave it
  up as too long a range. The water at this camp was inky black, but in
  the absence of better had to be used for tea and coffee, though many
  decided to defer a wash till next day. The whole regiment were again
  put on duty as pickets, and in their exposed positions had a bitter
  experience of a typical South African hailstorm during that afternoon.
  The next day the _réveille_ whistle sounded at 2.30 A.M., and the
  different brigades were on the move by 4.15. The enemy kept up sniping
  systematically on the flanks, while the guns in rear were in action
  some half-a-dozen times during the day. During the afternoon a
  terrific hailstorm burst over us, saturating our garments and making
  everybody very miserable. The hail lay inches deep on the veldt.
  Prisoners were taken daily, and a few refugee women were under our
  protection. A singular incident occurred on this day. One of the
  prisoners who had surrendered handed in a Lee-Metford rifle belonging
  to Lumsden’s Horse, which has since been identified as belonging to
  Corporal Macgillivray, of A Company, who had been taken prisoner at
  Ospruit, our first fight. The 25th, however, was a great day. No. 4
  Section B Company was rearguard left flank, the 7th Dragoon Guards in
  the centre-rear, and A Company right flank. Immediately we had taken
  up positions the Boers pressed home an attack on the left, and No. 3
  Section B Company, acting as support, was engaged. The Carabiniers had
  retired some ten minutes when the left flankers rose from cover and
  moved towards their led horses. As they mounted, the Boers reached a
  ridge commanding our position and within range; they peppered us very
  smartly as we galloped out of range without a single casualty. In the
  meantime O Battery had come into action, doing excellent practice.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Hana, Ltd._
  D. MORISON
]

  Startled by the firing, Captain Clifford’s horse took fright, and,
  galloping away, was lost in the distance, Clifford being then on foot
  controlling the firing. ‘General’ Parks gallantly offered to ride out
  and catch the beast, and was allowed to do so. He quickly vanished
  from sight, and nobody knew whither he had gone. As the convoy had
  moved on, orders came for the rearguard to do likewise, and our corps,
  together with the 7th Dragoon Guards, retired in extended line to the
  next ridge, an observation post, to endeavour to show Parks the way
  in. As there was no sign of him for a considerable time, Captain
  Taylor, the Adjutant, who had been indefatigable all the morning,
  exposing himself to encourage us while we were in a really tight
  corner, took out a subsection and scoured the country round searching
  for Parks, but without success. The sections (Nos. 4 and 2 of B
  Company) had to move on, but Corporal Graves and Troopers Morison,
  Maxwell, and Betts, on their own responsibility and in a Quixotic
  spirit of chivalry, resolving not to abandon Parks, stayed behind to
  assist him. There was danger in that decision, as it exposed those men
  to the risk of getting mixed up with, or, at any rate, mistaken, for
  the enemy. Captain Sidey noticed their absence, and, being certain
  they were in danger from our own guns, sent Trooper Behan to order the
  adventurous troopers back. In a sporting spirit, however, the men who
  had made up their minds to see Parks through refused to come in and
  remained on the observation post. Shortly after, another messenger was
  sent, with threats of instant arrest if orders were not obeyed. Just
  as this man arrived, Parks was seen through a glass leading the
  Captain’s horse about two miles away to the left rear and close to the
  flanks of the former position from which the Boers had been firing. He
  was making a very bad line to rejoin us, so Morison offered to gallop
  down and endeavour to show him the way, despite the half-company
  officer’s orders. This he did and succeeded in bringing in Parks, but
  directly our small party, retiring, crowned the rise, O Battery, from
  a distance of 4,600 yards, being informed that we were most certainly
  Boers, plumped a shell into the middle of us, the wind of the shell
  knocking off Graves’s hat and bursting a horse’s length behind the
  party, and, needless to say, we galloped in for all we were worth.
  Luckily for us, the gunner was informed who we were before sending a
  second shot along. He remarked, however, that he thought it was a
  jolly good shot.

Captain Taylor gives a slightly different version of the incident:

  We were acting as rearguard to Dickson’s column, when Captain
  Clifford’s horse took fright and ran away while his master was
  dismounted. One of our sailors, Parks, went after it, and followed it
  for two miles at right angles to our line of advance. We saw him catch
  the horse and begin leading it back, and then saw him no more, though
  we waited half an hour. As messages were coming from the rearguard
  commander to us to follow more quickly, we had to leave, all fully
  convinced that our poor Parks had been ambushed.

[Illustration: CORPORAL J. GRAVES]

  After a mile or so, our widely extended line came down a long, fairly
  steep incline, on the top of the opposite slope of which we saw our
  Battery O in position. As we neared the bottom of the intervening
  valley the battery opened fire with one round, which burst on the top
  of the slope we had just left, and looking round we saw a party of six
  men riding down at a gallop, waving a handkerchief. They turned out to
  be some of our own men, who, having at the last moment seen Parks
  coming in, waited for him. The battery had seen the heads of mounted
  men in slouch hats advance quickly, and, mistaking them for Boers
  following us, had ‘laid’ for them. The shot was such a good one that
  it knocked off the hat of Sergeant Graves, and the Adjutant’s office
  went near to losing its clerk, and the Bank of Bengal one of its
  rising staff.

Another correspondent continues the narrative:

  On the 26th the united brigades reached Heidelberg by sundown, but
  sustained two casualties in the rearguard. The safe escort of the
  convoy is locally reported as a creditable performance, and there were
  no fewer than 150 casualties in the united brigades since leaving
  Machadodorp. It was a very trying march, as rain fell nearly every day
  in torrents. Sleep was out of the question in deep pools of water, and
  _réveille_ daily at 2.30 A.M. gave us little rest. We had taken 109
  prisoners and brought on some twenty refugee families. Heidelberg is
  the prettiest town we have yet seen in the Transvaal, nestling as it
  does at the base of a rugged kopje in a perfect tope of eucalyptus,
  willow, peach, and oak trees. The majority of the houses are above the
  ordinary type—flowers abound in the gardens, and the surrounding veldt
  has donned its spring coat of green; the fruit trees are loaded with
  fruit, which in another month should sweeten our rations of dry
  biscuits. But—there is a ‘but’—the stores are absolutely barren.
  Foodstuffs and provisions of every kind are badly needed by the
  residents themselves. A Wesleyan clergyman informed the writer that he
  hadn’t tasted meat for a week.

  Roses abounded in the gardens attached to the picturesque villas, and
  altogether a feeling of peace and security seemed to prevail. Our stay
  was a limited one, and on the 30th (morning) the trek was resumed
  through Nigel to Springs. The country we had to traverse is rich in
  mineral wealth, gold and coal mines being already in existence, while
  hundreds of claims are pegged out against the setting-in of peace and
  the advance of the capitalist. At Springs, on the return journey to
  Pretoria, we were saluted by Colt guns, which were repeatedly fired at
  us as we approached the trenches, manned by British troops. Our men
  were naturally very irate, and wanted very much to fire back. They
  considered it particularly hard lines, since we had been marching in
  the open and heliographing from a distance of ten miles. The 31st was
  a great day, as a parade before His Excellency Lord Roberts was fixed
  for 10.30 A.M. The Commander-in-Chief was punctual to time, and during
  the inspection addressed himself to the several companies as he met
  them. The various regiments then went past in order of brigades and
  returned to camp. Major Chamney, before dismissing Lumsden’s Horse,
  paraphrased what Lord Roberts had said to him for the benefit of the
  regiment. Briefly, it was to the effect that the disbandment of the
  corps was at the present time impossible, but Lord Roberts had
  telegraphed to His Excellency the Viceroy asking him to use his
  influence in keeping appointments open as far as possible.

  Lumsden’s Horse had requested disbandment on the reasonable grounds of
  pressing business in India, and the fact of local Colonial and other
  Volunteer corps—notably the C.I.V., Loch’s Horse, and others—having
  been disintegrated. At first an abrupt refusal was given, but
  yesterday General French telegraphed to Lord Kitchener and strongly
  recommended our case. A reply has been received that only those having
  business of an urgent nature in India may return, but they must pay
  their own expenses back, only a railway ticket to port of embarkation
  being provided. Needless to say, many are going even on these
  conditions, but those who desire to go to England have to hang on for
  an indefinite period of time still. Only from Machadodorp three Surma
  Valley men were allowed to leave, as their appointments were in
  jeopardy. These men had free passages back given them. Again, a
  fortunate few have been given employment in South Africa, and they
  were permitted to leave as their appointments were secured. These
  number altogether about twenty. Colonel Lumsden is unfortunately still
  away from the regiment, sick at Pretoria. Major Chamney, officiating
  in command, finds his hands tied to some extent, and cannot do much
  for us in matters of such moment. But the feeling in the regiment is
  very strong, and the term ‘Volunteer’ is sneered at as a misnomer. If
  the war was not over it would be quite another matter; but it has been
  announced that the war is practically ended, and the duties now to be
  performed are in the nature of police work.

  All round Springs was a hotbed of Boers, and patrols proceeding two or
  three miles from camp were invariably sniped at. Just outside Springs
  we had great luck in finding a brewery which, despite the war, had not
  ceased to brew, and we regaled ourselves with limited quantities of
  Colonial stout in a vain endeavour to keep out the eternal rain. The
  Boers, who were used to dealing with a garrison armed with carbines,
  were rather surprised one day when going to round up some cattle they
  ran into a small patrol of our corps, and Trooper Consterdine fetched
  one of them out of the saddle with a good shot at 1,800 yards, and
  thus gave them a lesson which will probably make them more careful.

  The weather now became absolutely vile. There were hailstorms every
  afternoon, just late enough to spoil any chance of getting dry for the
  night. The roads were very heavy, and horses could not get on. We
  hoped and concluded the Boers were in the same fix. From Springs the
  Boers ceased to give trouble, but this was more than atoned for by the
  abominable weather and going. For forty-eight hours it poured torrents
  without ceasing, and there was not a dry skin or blanket in the
  division. To remove misapprehension, it is necessary to say men had
  seen no tents for practically eight months. Bad it was for us and the
  horses, but worse for the Transport, the animals dying daily to such
  an extent that it was all they could do to drag empty waggons into
  Pretoria. Pistol-shots every morning latterly had announced the death
  of animals that had dragged our carts for many miles, and to save the
  waggons from falling into the hands of the Boers there was nothing to
  do but burn them. It was no uncommon sight to see cattle lying in the
  last stages of exhaustion on the road, and ere death ensued being cut
  up and looked upon as a great treat by the local Kaffirs.

  Everybody was struck by the formation of our Transport when out of
  hilly country; the waggons moved along in a dense mass with a frontage
  of about a quarter of a mile and depth of half a mile, the whole mass
  forcing its way over nullahs and obstacles irresistibly. It will be
  obvious to all that this formation of the convoy lent itself much more
  easily to protection than a stream of waggons seven miles long.

  At 5 A.M. of November 1 the trek was resumed, the direction being
  Pretoria. A heavy drizzle of rain was falling, and without
  intermission it continued for three days, only ceasing when Pretoria
  was seen in the distance on the morning of the 3rd. Every garment,
  whether on the person or in the kit bags, was wet, and never was
  sunshine more welcome than on that morning. By 11 A.M. the regiment
  had camped on the far side of the racecourse, and for the first time
  since April experienced the shelter of tents.




                             CHAPTER XVIII
           _HOMEWARD BOUND—APPROBATION FROM LORD ROBERTS—CAPE
                TOWN’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—FAREWELL TO SOUTH
                                AFRICA_


Though they did not know it at the time, Lumsden’s Horse as a corps had
done their last march in the Transvaal, and fired their last shot
against the Boers. They had begun to think that others, with less chance
of serving the Empire elsewhere and fewer interests calling them home,
could very well do all the work that remained to be done in South
Africa. Yet up to that time their expressions of a wish to be relieved,
as other Volunteer contingents had been, from the fruitless pursuit of
guerilla raiders, was productive of no result. It is hardly surprising,
therefore, after the miserable experiences of a sweeping movement, by
which nothing of any importance had been achieved, and from which nobody
suffered much except the troops engaged in it, that a spirit of
discontent should have begun to manifest itself among men who knew that
every day they remained in South Africa might jeopardise all their
future careers. They were running the risk of losing all and gaining no
commensurate advantage either for themselves or for the Empire. It is
little to be wondered at, therefore, that they should have envied the
City Imperial Volunteers, the Canadians, and some other Colonial
contingents which had been allowed to leave for home when Lord Roberts
declared that regular warfare was at an end. Even the departure of some
of their own comrades, whose plea of urgent private affairs had
prevailed over military considerations, seemed to some extent a
grievance, so that when Thesiger, Townsend-Smith, and Moir-Byres were
allowed to go many others regretted that they also had not applied for
passages to India instead of England. So far back as October 9, Army
Orders had contained the following:

                          COLONIAL CONTINGENTS

  It has been brought to the notice of the Field-Marshal
  Commanding-in-Chief that many men of the Colonial contingents made
  arrangements before leaving their homes for only one year, which has
  now nearly expired. Though precise date cannot yet be fixed on which
  all will be free, commanding officers may submit names of any urgent
  cases at once, and the Field-Marshal hopes that within the next few
  weeks he may be able to dispense with their services, which have
  proved invaluable to the Empire.

But Lord Roberts, with every wish to meet the convenience of those who
had sacrificed much for the sake of serving under him, found himself
hampered by unforeseen circumstances, which were fully explained in one
of his despatches about this date. ‘There still remained much for the
Army in South Africa to do before the country could be said to be
completely conquered. Certain Boer leaders, notably De Wet and De la
Rey, had still to be dealt with, and the guerilla warfare carried on by
them put a stop to.’ This state of affairs made it imperative that the
Army should be broken up into several comparatively small columns of
increased mobility. Mounted troops were therefore in more demand than
ever.

  Great difficulty was experienced in carrying out these necessary
  changes owing to the time having arrived for the withdrawal of the
  Royal Canadian Dragoons, the Royal Canadian Regiment, the three
  batteries of Canadian Artillery, and the greater part of the first
  contingents furnished by Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, and
  allowing the members of the second South African corps to return to
  their homes and employments after having been embodied for twelve
  months. It was impossible to disregard the urgent reasons given by our
  Colonial comrades for not being able to remain longer at the seat of
  war. They had done admirable service and shown themselves well fitted
  to take their places by the side of Her Majesty’s Regular troops, and
  I witnessed their departure with deep regret, not only on account of
  their many soldierly qualities, but because it materially impaired the
  mobility and efficiency of the Army in South Africa for the time
  being, a very critical time, too, until indeed a fresh body of Mounted
  Infantry could be formed from the nearest available Line battalions,
  and the several South African local corps could be again recruited up
  to their original strength.

[Illustration: SERGT. G.E. THESIGER]

[Illustration: E.B. MOIR-BYRES]

[Illustration: J.A. BROWN]

[Illustration: H. EVETTS]

[Illustration: SERGT. J.L. STEWART]

[Illustration: CORPL. W.T. SMITH]

[Illustration: H.N. SHAW]

[Illustration: E.S. CLARKE]

[Illustration: B.E. JONES]

                         N.C.O.S. AND TROOPERS

Thus, the Commander-in-Chief, having declared that regular warfare was
at an end, found himself unable to deal effectually with raiding
guerilla bands for want of enough mobile troops. In this difficulty he
kept faith with those who had completed the year of service for which
they had enlisted by letting them go. Lumsden’s Horse did not come
within that category, and, though Lord Roberts recognised the justice of
their Colonel’s plea on behalf of men who were sacrificing much, he
would promise nothing until fresh companies of Mounted Infantry could be
formed to fill the places left vacant by Canadians, New Zealanders, and
Australians who had gone. Colonel Lumsden’s ceaseless efforts, however,
had so impressed the Commander-in-Chief that he sent a cable message to
the Viceroy urging him, as Honorary Colonel of Lumsden’s Horse, to use
all his influence with employers on behalf of members of the corps, so
that their appointments in India might be kept open for them a little
longer. Lord Roberts added: ‘I trust the war is nearly over, but it is
essential that all shall hold together till the end, and it would be a
hardship to members of a corps that has done such gallant service if
they were to suffer for their devotion to the cause of the Empire.’
Several men whose cases were exceptionally urgent got permission to
leave for India, and others who had accepted commissions in Regular
regiments or civil appointments were necessarily taken off the strength
of the corps, which consequently became reduced to little more than a
full company. One of the Colonel’s Staff, therefore, thought it an
opportune time to trace the whereabouts of men who had ceased to serve
in the ranks of Lumsden’s Horse. He therefore prepared a record in
tabulated form, which was at that time the most complete return
available, though he prefaced it with an apology for incompleteness:

  The corps has shifted about such a lot recently that it is difficult
  to know accurately what has happened to many men who were left sick at
  various points in the march. But the following is pretty correct so
  far as it goes.

 Follett, M.     }     Died in hospital
 Maclaine        }
 Adlam                 }
 Burnett               }
 Bankes, E.N.          }
 Bewsher               }
 Birch                 }
 Burn-Murdoch          }
 Campbell, H. A.,
   Sergeant            }
 Campbell, L. C.       }
 Cheshire              }
 Cooper                }
 Dawson, Ernest        }
 Elliott, Sergeant     }
 Glascock              }
 Hunter-Muskett        }     Invalided,
 Jameson, J.V.         }     England
 Keating               }
 Logan                 }
 McMinn                }
 Martin, A.            }
 Martin, C.K.          }
 Mitchell              }
 Neville, Lieutenant
   (since rejoined)    }
 Oldham                }
 Saunders              }
 Skelton               }
 Thelwall, H.W.        }
 Walton                }
 A.N. Woods            }
 Baldwin               }     Invalided
 Thompson, F.C.        }     India
 Turnbull              }
 Howes—Invalided, Burma
 Follett, F.B.
   (convalescent)            }     Invalided,
 Gough, H. (convalescent)    }     Cape
 Noblett, Captain (since
   rejoined)                 }     Town
 Bearne—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria
 Booth—Corps Depôt, Pretoria
 Chartres, Corporal—Medical Office, Middelburg.
 Conduit—Pretoria Police
 Firth, Corporal—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria
 Francis—Rest Camp, Cape Town
 Huddleston—Assistant-Commissioner of Police, Kroonstad
 Macgillivray—Corps Depôt, Pretoria
 Morris, Corporal—Remount Department, Johannesburg
 Pugh, Lieutenant—Assistant-Commissioner of Police, Bloemfontein
 Richey—Corps Depôt, Pretoria
 Stuart, C.E.—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria
 Shaw, H.N.—Corps Depôt
 Watson, Remount Department, Johannesburg
 Warburton—Secretary, Irish Hospital,Pretoria
 Woollright—Medical Officer, Elandsfontein
 Anderson              }
 P.W. Banks            }
 H.K. Dawson           }
 Evetts                }
 Fuller                }     Transferred temporarily
 FitzGerald            }     to A.S.
 F.B. Johnstone        }     Corps, Pretoria
 Meares                }
 Nightingale           }
 Pringle               }
 Rice                  }
 Waller                }

 Hayward         }     Regular signallers
 Longman         }     transferred to
 Lowe            }     Hamilton’s Division
 Lee             }

 Braine                      }
 Chapman, E.S.               }
 Charles, J.                 }     Hospital, Pretoria
 Clifford, F.M.
   (convalescent)            }
 Wilkinson                   }

 Clerk           }     Hospital,
 Forbes          }     Germiston
 Haines, R.P.    }

 Harvey, C.C. (convalescent) }     Hospital,
 Kenny (convalescent)        }     Bloemfontein
 Puckeridge (convalescent)   }
 Pryce (convalescent)        }     Hospital,
 Walker, Arthur
   (convalescent)            }     Bloemfontein
 Willis                      }

 Jones, B.E.—Convalescent, Elandsfontein
 Sladden—Hospital, East London
 Walton, C.F.—Hospital, Johannesburg

 Cayley          }     Granted discharge, England
 Cubitt          }

 Graham, J.A.—Granted leave, India

  Of the above-named, Elliott, Burn-Murdoch, and C.A. Walton were
  invalided on account of wounds. J.S. Saunders cracked a bone in his
  arm when he took the fall at Spytfontein which cost him his liberty,
  and he has been sent home by the medical authorities as being
  incapacitated for further service. C.E. Stuart is also unfit for
  active service, as the wound in his foot sustained at the taking of
  Pretoria has left permanent effects. He moves about gingerly, and is
  buoyed up with the hope of a pension for life. Stuart wears
  spectacles, and he’ll need ’em badly when it comes to drawing his
  quarterly allowance.

  Poor Maclaine, who died here of pneumonia on August 29, makes the
  eighth death in the regiment. Though most of us are enjoying splendid
  health and spirits, it is sad to reflect that to so many our campaign
  in South Africa has brought but sickness and broken constitutions.

  Some record of those old comrades whose services have won well-merited
  recognition, and whose subsequent movements I have endeavoured to
  trace for the delectation of cousins, aunts, creditors, and insurance
  company secretaries, would not come amiss. The home authorities and
  Lord Roberts himself have treated the regiment most generously in the
  matter of commissions in the Regular Army, as the following list will
  show. Men named have been gazetted, as far as I can remember, to the
  regiments stated below:


     W. Douglas Jones, A.S. Corps  │J.A. Fraser, West India
                                   │  Regiment

     Montagu Bates, East Surrey    │Percy Smith, Oxfordshire L.I.
       Regiment                    │

     J.S. Biscoe, West India       │G.P.O. Springfield, 3rd
       Regiment                    │  Dragoon Guards

     P.J. Partridge,               │P. Strahan, South
       Northamptonshire Regiment   │  Staffordshire Regiment

     B.C.A. Steuart, Black Watch   │F.W. Wright, A.S. Corps

     Arathoon, 3rd Dragoon Guards  │H.S.N. Wright, A.S. Corps

     R.G. Collins, West India      │T.B. Nicholson, West India
       Regiment                    │  Regiment

     Fletcher, A.S. Corps          │Norton, West India Regiment

     C.R. Macdonald, Argyll and    │Hugh Blair, Somersetshire L.I.
       Sutherland Highlanders      │


  Of the above, Macdonald’s, I think, has not yet been confirmed, but
  all the others have gone, some to their regiments in the country, and
  others to report at the War Office. Arathoon, who has been one of the
  best and cheeriest of the regiment, is, I am sorry to say, in the
  Irish Hospital here recovering from a bad go of rheumatic fever, which
  will prevent him from joining his new regiment for a long time.

Meanwhile it appears that Colonel Lumsden had been trying to secure for
Calcutta one of the guns so gallantly captured by his men. He received
the following letter:

                  Army Headquarters, Johannesburg: November 8, 1900.

  DEAR COLONEL LUMSDEN,—With reference to your request to be permitted
  to take back to Calcutta one of the guns captured from the enemy, the
  Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief desires me to inform you that he
  fears you must wait until he knows definitely what guns he has to
  dispose of.

                                Believe me, yours sincerely,

                 H.V. COWAN, Lieutenant-Colonel, Military Secretary.

That the corps were not so homesick as to have lost their zest for sport
or for the simple pleasures that came in their way may be gathered from
the following note furnished by their late Adjutant:

  On the conclusion of the march from Machadodorp we were left to
  re-equip for ten days at Pretoria, and were one day asked to produce
  an officers’ polo team. We had some seven officers to choose from, and
  a few chargers which were small enough for the game; no sticks, and
  only parade saddles, and we had never played together. However, we
  produced a team and went to the fray. We found it was quite a big
  affair. There was a crowd of spectators, with a fair ground, umpires,
  whistles, &c., and we agreed to play ‘Hurlingham Rules,’ which none of
  us knew. They kindly lent us polo-sticks of sorts, and the game began.
  It was a really good game, and the chargers, rendered docile by work
  and starvation, played wonderfully. However, we were beaten by two
  goals to one, and in the return match we each got one goal. We were
  quite proud of the show, as our opponents represented the whole
  garrison, including one Cavalry division, and were in some practice.

[Illustration: H.S.N. WRIGHT]

[Illustration: J.D.L. ARATHOON]

[Illustration: S.L. LONG-INNES]

[Illustration: F.W. WRIGHT]

[Illustration: R.G. COLLINS]

[Illustration: A.E. NORTON]

[Illustration: CORPL. F.S.M. BATES]

[Illustration: W. DOUGLAS-JONES]

[Illustration: T.B. NICHOLSON]

                      GAZETTED TO THE REGULAR ARMY

One day about this time the Editor was present at a little scene which
may be interesting as an example of the many strange meetings that
characterised a campaign in which men from all parts of the world came
together. His son, a lieutenant in the Army Service Corps, had just been
transferred from an Irregular Cavalry regiment, and they were
celebrating the first occasion of being together since the relief of
Ladysmith. At another table Colonel Lumsden and some of his officers
were dining. Introductions followed, when suddenly Captain Holmes and
the young lieutenant greeted each other by familiar nicknames which
neither had heard for some years. As students they had served together
in the Artists’ Volunteers, of which Lord Leighton was then Honorary
Colonel. They had been fighting through the campaign, one from Natal,
the other from Bloemfontein. Their paths had crossed several times
without either knowing it, and here at the end they met in Pretoria for
the first time since boyhood. Such incidents occurred frequently until
they ceased to be strange, and they illustrate the all-prevailing power
of a sentiment that drew men from every quarter of the globe to South
Africa, where the Empire’s interests centred. All were then beginning to
think that there might be still a long spell of campaigning before them,
and, in spite of a little natural grumbling, they took the prospect
philosophically enough, as we may see by the following extract from a
trooper’s letter:

  At Pretoria we were joined by Captain Noblett and Captain Stevenson,
  who had been away on two months’ sick leave visiting Natal
  battlefields, and Lieutenant Neville, who had left us sick in June,
  been to England, and come back, and little expected to find any of us
  still there. We were overjoyed to hear we were to have ten days’ rest
  in tents, the first we had seen for many months. We were now living on
  the fat of the land, with—luxury of luxuries—a dry canteen where you
  could buy at half price those necessaries of life which had lately
  been considered luxuries, the balance being paid out of the funds
  provided by our kind friends in India. Here we waxed fat. Colonel
  Lumsden, in his absence from the corps, had not been idle, and had
  been putting before the highest authorities the real urgency in many
  cases to men for whom prolonged absence from India would mean absolute
  ruin. To such purpose did he work that a week after arrival we
  received the welcome news that seventy of the most urgent cases were
  permitted to go. We saw them off on November 15 under Major Chamney,
  and then returned to camp in full anticipation of another year of it.
  A week after this came the joyful news that the whole corps was also
  to return at once, and on the 22nd we entrained for Cape Town. Despite
  various alarms, railway accidents, and breaking up of the line in
  front of us, we arrived in Cape Town without mishap.

Alas! for the horses. Only four remained to come back with the corps.
Some troopers hoped to have brought the regimental dog, who was quite a
veteran and by distinguished service fully entitled to ease, with a
pension for life. Trooper D. Morison gives the following sketch of him:

  He first attached himself to the regiment at Irene in July 1900. He
  very soon became a popular character among us, and went by the name of
  Kruger, and from that time on he was always to be found with the
  regiment. His intelligence was almost human, and it is a mystery how
  he could always find the regiment when marching with other troops. On
  more than one occasion he has been the means of finding men in distant
  parts of the field owing to his white colour. That dog and Trooper
  Burgess seemed to understand each other perfectly. He started from
  Pretoria with the regiment _en route_ for India, but unfortunately got
  left behind one morning at a wayside station.

On November 21 Lord Roberts telegraphed to Colonel Adye, A.A.G. for
Colonial Forces:

  Please convey the following message to Colonel Lumsden. Am extremely
  sorry to be unable to see Colonel Lumsden’s regiment and say good-bye
  before they leave South Africa. I am telegraphing to the Viceroy, who
  is Honorary Colonel of the regiment, to express my appreciation of the
  admirable work done by all ranks during the present war. Colonel
  Lumsden and all serving under him have my best wishes for their future
  success.

Lieutenant-Colonel Lumsden replied:

  Kindly convey to Field-Marshal Lord Roberts the deep appreciation felt
  by my regiment and myself of the great kindness expressed in his
  telegram and shown to us throughout the period we have had the honour
  of serving under him.

That telegram was not known in Cape Town when, on November 22, Major
Chamney, with the convalescents and those who had been allowed to leave
the corps a week earlier, marched to the Docks, headed by the band of
the Cheshire Regiment, and embarked for India on board the ‘Catalonia.’
They went off amid loud cheers from ship and shore, little thinking that
the corps would so soon follow or that its departure would be marked by
a great demonstration complimentary to every man in its ranks.

Sixteen of the corps embarked, under Major Chamney’s command, in the
‘Catalonia,’ and sailed from Table Bay in the company of 600 Boer
prisoners. At Durban, finding measles on board the ‘Catalonia,’ they
disembarked, and took the Clan steamer ‘Sinclair’ to Calcutta, calling
at Galle by the way. They were Sergeants Stewart, Pratt, and Oakley;
Corporal Horne, Lance-Corporal Phillips, Troopers Dalton, Clarke, Elsie,
Biscoe, H. Allardice, Elwes, Hight, Lucas, Moore, Brown, and H.C. Wood.
The last named was seized with measles and had to be left at Galle.

On November 23 Field-Marshal Lord Roberts telegraphed to His Excellency
the Viceroy of India (Lord Curzon of Kedleston) as follows:

  Lumsden’s Horse left Pretoria to-day for India, about 120 strong. I
  cannot allow the corps to leave South Africa without expressing to
  your Excellency, as their Honorary Colonel, my appreciation of the
  excellent services rendered throughout the war by officers,
  non-commissioned officers, and men. Many of them have received
  commissions in the Regular forces, and many are remaining in South
  Africa in various employments, to take their part in the settlement of
  that country which they have assisted to add to Her Majesty’s
  dominions. It has been a pride and a pleasure to me to have under my
  command a Volunteer contingent which has so well upheld the honour of
  the Indian Empire.

The Viceroy, on November 26, replied:

  It is a great satisfaction to me, as Honorary Colonel of Lumsden’s
  Horse, to receive the message in which you have testified to their
  gallantry and services in the war. India will welcome those who are
  coming back with enthusiasm, and wish God-speed to those who stay and
  have served in such a campaign, and have earned the praises of such a
  commander.

Colonel Lumsden, with the remainder of the corps, embarked in the
‘Atlantian’ on December 5, at Cape Town, after a farewell speech from
the Mayor of Cape Town, Mr. T.J. O’Reilly.

The following appeared in the ‘Cape Times’ of December 6:

  About 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon His Worship the Mayor (Mr. T.J.
  O’Reilly), accompanied by the Town Clerk (Mr. C.J. Byworth) and the
  Mace Bearer, attended at the South Arm to say farewell to the Indian
  Volunteer contingent known as Lumsden’s Horse, under the command of
  Colonel Lumsden. The men were drawn up on the South Arm, alongside of
  which lay the huge transport ‘Atlantian,’ which was to convey them to
  India.

  Colonel Lumsden, having called the men to attention, stated that it
  was very gratifying to him to know that His Worship the Mayor had so
  kindly come down to the Docks to say a few words to them before they
  sailed.

[Illustration: RECEIVING THE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN’S FAREWELL ADDRESS ON
THE SOUTH ARM]

[Illustration: CHEERING IN RESPONSE]

  His Worship said: Colonel Lumsden, Officers, and Men of Lumsden’s
  Horse,—I am very pleased indeed to have the honour of saying a few
  words to you to-day before you leave South Africa. We are all very
  grateful to you for the noble services you have rendered in the field
  for us for upwards of twelve months. You are now going home covered
  with honour and glory, and I earnestly trust you will find all those
  you left behind you well and anxious to give you a hearty welcome,
  which I feel sure awaits you on your return. On the outbreak of
  hostilities in this country Colonel Lumsden at once offered his
  services, and also to organise a corps to proceed to South Africa to
  fight for Queen and country. Out of 1,000 men who eagerly offered
  themselves in response to the call for volunteers, 250 were accepted.
  This gratifying response is an eloquent testimony to the patriotic
  spirit by which the British race all over the world are animated. To
  the public of India and to Colonel Lumsden belong the credit for the
  equipment of your corps with everything needful excepting rifle and
  bandolier, and I can only characterise the action of your Colonel as
  patriotic in the highest degree, and deserving the hearty thanks of
  all, apart from the splendid services rendered in the field. I feel
  assured that if Lord Roberts were now to ask Colonel Lumsden to again
  return to the field, his request would be most willingly and promptly
  complied with by one and all of the contingent here to-day, who would
  be only too eager to follow their trusted and tried leader to further
  honour and glory. Some of your members have fallen in the field
  fighting bravely for the dear old flag and the honour and prestige of
  the Empire. Others, more fortunate, have secured civil and other
  appointments in the country in which they have acquitted themselves
  with so much credit to the corps and the country from which they hail.
  Out of the 250 men comprised in the corps as originally organised,
  twenty-five have received commissions, a most gratifying percentage,
  while fifteen men have received civil appointments and thirty have
  joined the constabulary force commanded by General Baden-Powell, so
  that on the whole your corps have done exceedingly well as regards
  employment in South Africa. It is also very pleasing to learn that the
  contingent holds a splendid record from Field-Marshal Lord Roberts
  downwards. I wish to impress upon you the fact that, after your Queen
  and the Empire, you were fighting for the vital principles of right
  and justice claimed by Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Alfred Milner, and if
  Mr. Kruger and Mr. Steyn had been willing to recognise the equity of
  such claim there would have been no necessity to have recourse to the
  sword. It is recognised that the only man who is capable of
  establishing permanent peace and settlement in South Africa is His
  Excellency Sir Alfred Milner, and by urging this fact, in season and
  out of season, whenever the opportunity occurs upon your return to
  India you will be rendering a further service to the country which you
  have already placed under a lasting debt of gratitude for services
  already performed. We are going to send you a little souvenir of your
  sojourn in South Africa, and as a slight token of our gratitude and
  appreciation for the great work you have done for us; and as the years
  roll on and your children and grandchildren gather around you,
  probably you may be asked by a son or a grandson as to the history of
  the souvenir from South Africa. In telling the story remember the
  refrain of the soldier’s song:

             Roll drums merrily, march away,
             Soldiers glory famed in story.
             His laurels were green when his locks were grey,
             Hurrah for the life of a soldier.

  When you look at the souvenir in after-years, when, perhaps, your
  locks are grey, you can always bear in mind that the laurels you have
  won in this country will remain ever green with us, and we hope ever
  green with you. Colonel Lumsden, officers, and men, I now bid you _bon
  voyage_, a safe return home, a happy Christmas on board the good ship
  ‘Atlantian,’ and a bright and prosperous New Year in your distant
  homes in India.

  Colonel Lumsden said: Your Worship,—On behalf of Lumsden’s Horse and
  myself, I thank you most cordially for the eloquent speech you have
  made to-day, and I also thank you for coming down here, I feel sure at
  no little inconvenience, to bid us farewell on our departure from
  these shores. We shall ever think of the time we spent in South
  Africa, but I should like you to understand, Mr. Mayor, that in coming
  here we were only actuated by our duty to our Queen and to our
  country. I have again to thank you for the trouble you have been good
  enough to take in coming down to the Docks this afternoon, and to
  assure you that we greatly appreciate your courtesy and kindness.

  Colonel Lumsden then called upon the officers and men to join with him
  in giving three hearty cheers for the Mayor, and the call was
  enthusiastically responded to. His Worship then shook hands with the
  Colonel and officers, and expressed the hope that the men would enjoy
  their voyage and have a happy Christmas.

So, amid cheers and many good wishes, Lumsden’s Horse took their
farewell of South Africa, leaving behind them a reputation of which any
regiment might have been proud. They had fought side by side with
Regular soldiers of the British Army, and earned a character for courage
among men whose self-sacrificing devotion they, in turn, regarded with
admiration and strove to emulate. They had made many friends among all
branches of the Service, Imperial and Colonial, and had won the respect
even of their enemies. It had been their good fortune to serve under
three at least of the ablest leaders who came to the front in the course
of that long campaign, and from every one of these they won commendation
as a body of troopers on whom reliance might be placed in any emergency.
No better name need any soldiers want to take home with them and hand
down to their children’s children.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: R. Brow_
  LANCE-CORPORAL JOHN CHARLES
]




                              CHAPTER XIX
               _THE RETURN TO INDIA—WELCOME HOME—HONOURS
                       AND ORATIONS—DISBANDMENT_


On arrival at Cape Town, Colonel Lumsden was told that the accounts of
his corps were the only pay-sheets of any Irregular contingent that had
been kept up to date; and the men of Lumsden’s Horse left South Africa
not only in possession of every shilling of pay then due to them, but
just as they had left India ten months earlier, owing not a debt in the
country, though the country owed them much in the form of obligations
that can never be forgotten except by the men, who, conscious of duty
nobly done, need no other reward. They were leaving South Africa assured
by every testimony that high approval could give that they had done
their duty and done it well. They had with other soldiers taken their
full share of great hardships. The weariness of long marches, the trying
ordeals of exposure to fierce heat by day and bitter cold at night,
sometimes drenched to the skin when they lay down to rest on the bare
veldt with no tent to shelter them and not always a blanket to cover
them, at other times benumbed by the icy coldness of a wind that
stiffened their wet khaki tunics with frost which the sluggish blood had
not warmth enough to thaw—all these things they had borne with a manly
fortitude that won the respect of war-hardened veterans; and they were
going back with the knowledge that the Commander-in-Chief of such an
army as Great Britain had never sent to war before in all the long
course of her Empire-making history, had signified his approval of their
conduct in that telegram to the Viceroy of India expressing recognition
of the excellent service rendered by officers, non-commissioned
officers, and men, of whom he said: ‘It has been a pride and a pleasure
to me to have under my command a Volunteer contingent which has so well
upheld the honour of the Indian Empire.’

With these words assuring them of a great soldier’s appreciation, they
were going back to the certainty of an enthusiastic welcome from the
people of India, to whose honour all the good deeds of Lumsden’s Horse
redound. Of the warmth of that welcome His Excellency the Viceroy had
given them a foretaste when, in his reply to the message received from
Lord Roberts, he sent back by cable the inspiriting words: ‘India will
welcome those who are coming back with enthusiasm and wish God-speed to
those who stay.’

It was with knowledge of the deep interest taken by Lord Curzon in all
things concerning Lumsden’s Horse that the Commander-in-Chief
telegraphed to him something more than a formal recognition of their
services. It was with characteristic intuition and tact that the Viceroy
replied, giving voice to the wishes of a whole people and expressing
those wishes in the choicest of phrases. In this telegram Lord Curzon
epitomised the meaning of all that he had said or done for the welfare
of Lumsden’s Horse since the corps was formed nearly a year earlier, and
his desire that its services should be recognised both officially and
publicly as a bond between India and the Mother Country—an epoch-making
event in which all classes of the Empire might equally take pride. All
this and more His Excellency continued to demonstrate by the share he
took in welcoming the warriors home, when his eloquent words appealed
alike to the quick sympathies and to the intelligence of those who heard
him speak, or read what he had to say. And long after the flood of
popular enthusiasm had reached its height he continued to manifest his
interest in the corps by practical efforts to benefit its surviving
members, and by a most graceful tribute to the memory of those whose
lives had been sacrificed for the honour of the Empire. At his own cost,
Lord Curzon erected a tablet in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Calcutta, on which
was inscribed the name of every man of the corps who had died in South
Africa, and himself wrote the touching lines that will through
after-ages commemorate the services they rendered. Throughout, Lord
Curzon’s great aim was to foster and encourage the spirit of
volunteering, the importance of which to a world-wide Empire nobody
realises more fully than he. As a proof of his conviction in this
regard, he has succeeded in getting an Inspector-General of Volunteers
appointed on the Staff in India, and the first holder of this office is
Major-General Hill, of the Bombay Staff Corps.

[Illustration: SERGT. STOWELL]

[Illustration: SERGT. DONALD]

[Illustration: SERGT. RUTHERFOORD]

[Illustration: L.-CORPL. GODDEN]

[Illustration: SERGT. H.J. FOX]

[Illustration: S.C. GORDON]

[Illustration: E.A. THELWALL]

[Illustration: F.-SERGT. EDWARDS]

[Illustration: A.P. COURTENAY]

              HOME FROM SOUTH AFRICA—N.C.O.S AND TROOPERS

Directly it was known through the telegram sent by Lord Roberts from
Irene that Lumsden’s Horse were actually on their way home, a committee
met at the Chamber of Commerce and elected Sir Patrick Playfair as its
chairman. This body was thoroughly representative of the mercantile
community and all the complex elements that constitute the most
influential sections of society in Calcutta. It included judges,
barristers, doctors, solicitors, besides the most prominent native
merchants and princes, and formed altogether one of the most typical
assemblages ever known in the city. It was called to decide what sort of
reception should be given to Lumsden’s Horse, and its deliberations
closed with the unanimous resolve to make the occasion worthy alike of a
great country and of those who had fought for its honour with a courage
and devotion characteristic of British soldiers. The decision was
telegraphed to His Excellency the Viceroy, who was at that time absent
from Calcutta on tour. The Committee were very anxious that Lumsden’s
Horse should arrive in time to take part in the New Year Proclamation
Parade commemorating the Empress of India’s accession, when, according
to custom, there is a great military concentration in Calcutta of
Regular troops, Volunteers, and all branches of the Imperial Service to
be reviewed by the Viceroy.

In reply to Sir Patrick Playfair’s message the following telegram was
received:

     _Copy of a Telegram from U.S.V. to Sir Patrick Playfair, dated
                     Bangalore, December 8, 1900._

  The Viceroy will be very glad to take part in any reception that it
  may be possible to organise for Lumsden’s Horse on their return to
  Calcutta, and would gladly entertain them to lunch or in some other
  way; he consulted military department upon the subject a fortnight
  ago, but has received no reply; difficulty seems to be, first, that
  force is coming back in separate batches; second, that all of these do
  not come to Calcutta, one batch being due at Bombay December 24; it is
  for consideration whether it would be possible to invite the whole
  force to Calcutta and give them public reception, but there may be
  difficulties in this course.

About this time the Executive Committee received a most gratifying
tribute to the reputation that the contingent had made for itself in
South Africa. This was an intimation that Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund had
voted 500_l._, under the rules of the institution, towards the expenses
of Lumsden’s Horse in acknowledgment of their services to the Empire. A
cheque for this generous amount had been forwarded to the Government of
India.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: A. Saché & Co._
  J.S. COWEN
]

Taking up again the thread of events, Major Neville Taylor tells the
story of the voyage from Cape Town to Bombay in his own cheery way:

  We had no horses to look after and no drill; no saddles or rifles, but
  plenty of accommodation for the men. I think everyone enjoyed the rest
  immensely.

  Proceeding to Durban, we picked up most of the men who had left on
  urgent private affairs in the ‘Catalonia,’ which had been unexpectedly
  stopped at Durban. After the rough living of the veldt, the good
  feeding on board ship was very welcome, and rapidly told its tale in
  the condition of the men. Before leaving Cape Town, the Colonel had
  authorised the purchase of extra stores for the men out of the corps
  funds. Two or three evenings every week were wiled away with
  sing-songs, and many hours of each day devoted to sport of some sort.
  These gave Trooper J.S. Cowen, the regimental artist, many
  opportunities of adding character sketches to the portfolio that was
  already well filled with subjects from the war. On Christmas Day the
  men had a really good dinner, and the officers were the guests of
  Captain Wallace, the kind veteran commander of our ship, the
  ‘Atlantian.’ After a very lively voyage, during which but one ship was
  sighted since the South African coast sank below the horizon, we drew
  near the land of Hindustan once more. A day or so before our arrival
  everyone was very busy putting things clean and straight. On the
  morning of December 31 we came in sight of the mark-boat, which was
  gaily dressed with flags in our honour and gave us a salute with her
  gun. This was the first hint we had of the enthusiastic reception
  awaiting us in India. As soon as anchor was dropped, we officers
  received an invitation from the General to lunch with him at the Yacht
  Club, and an intimation that the men were all to land at 5 P.M.

On December 26, Brigadier-General Ventris, Commanding at Bombay, had
issued the following Garrison Order:

  In connection with the expected arrival of Lumsden’s Horse from South
  Africa per transport ‘Atlantian’ on or about the 28th inst., the
  Officers commanding 2nd Bombay Grenadiers and 21st Bombay Infantry
  will be good enough to detail their bands to be in attendance at the
  Ballard Pier at 8 A.M. (on date to be hereafter notified).

  All Officers of the Garrison, Regular and Volunteers, are invited to
  be present.

  Dress.—Review order, summer clothing.

The following appeared in the District Orders for the next day:

  On the arrival of Lumsden’s Horse they will be marched from the
  Ballard Pier to Victoria Terminus, _viâ_ Elphinstone Circle, Church
  Gate Street, and Hornby Road.

  The troops and Volunteers in garrison will line each side of Hornby
  Road from the Floral Fountain to Victoria Terminus in the following
  order, on Friday, the 28th inst., commencing at the Floral Fountain:
  Royal Garrison Artillery; Norfolk Regiment (Detachment at Colaba); 2nd
  Bombay Grenadiers; 21st Bombay Infantry; Bombay Volunteer Artillery;
  Bombay Volunteer Rifles; and 1st B.B. & C.I. Railway Volunteer Rifle
  Corps.

  The Bombay Light Horse will, if possible, furnish a mounted escort.

  The Regular troops will rendezvous at the Floral Fountain and the
  Volunteers at the Victoria Terminus at 7.30 A.M. As Lumsden’s Horse
  pass, troops should shoulder arms. When they have reached Victoria
  Terminus troops may march to quarters.

  Dress.—Review order, summer clothing.

  The signal for the arrival of the transport ‘Atlantian’ with Lumsden’s
  Horse on board will be four guns to be fired from the Saluting
  Battery.

  Officers commanding corps are requested to have someone at the
  Saluting Battery up to 6 A.M. on the 28th inst., to ascertain if the
  transport is signalled. Should the steamer be signalled after 6 A.M.
  the parade will not take place till the 29th inst. at the same hour.

The ‘Atlantian,’ however, did not reach Bombay Harbour until 7 A.M. on
December 31, with the following officers, non-commissioned officers, and
men of Lumsden’s Horse on board:

  Colonel Lumsden, Captain and Adjutant Taylor, Captain
  Beresford, Captain Noblett, Captain Holmes, Surgeon-Captain
  Powell. Staff—Regimental Sergeant-Major Hewitt, Regimental
  Quartermaster-Sergeant Dale, Staff-Sergeant Stephens, Farrier-Sergeant
  Marshall, Farrier-Sergeant Edwards, Pay-Sergeant Fraser, Orderly-Room
  Sergeant Graves, Sergeant Longman, Lance-Sergeant S.S. Cuthbert,
  Saddler Briggs, Privates Lowe, Lee, and Hayward. A Company—Company
  Sergeant-Major Mansfield, Company Quartermaster-Sergeant Booth,
  Sergeants Fox, Llewhellin, Stowell, Donald, and Rutherfoord, Corporal
  Macgillivray, Lance-Corporals Lemon and Godden, Privates E.S.
  Clifford, F.M. Clifford, C.H.M. Johnstone, Corbett, Dickens, Bradford,
  Cowen, Webbe, Kennedy, Courtenay, Zorab, Renny, Ritchie, Gordon,
  Atkinson, Watson, Brown, Henry, Allan, Aldis, John, Newton, Reid,
  Campbell, Bell, Macdonald, Haines, Smith, Hughes, Tancred, Bolst,
  Burnand, Dowd, and Palmer; Transport-Sergeant Power, Privates
  Lovegrove, Doyle, Manville, Paxton, Daly, and Scott; and
  Lance-Corporal Wheeler. B Company—Sergeant Conduit, Lance-Sergeant
  Warburton, Corporal Jackman, Privates Nicolay, Bagge, Innes, Williams,
  Nolan, Betts, Turner, Powis, Thelwall, Lytle, Spicer, Lungley, Winder,
  Dexter, Martin, Moorhouse, Maxwell, and Allardice; Transport-Sergeant
  Smith, Privates Rice, Crux, Meares, Rust, and Quartermaster-Sergeant
  Morris.

Before going on shore at Bombay, Colonel Lumsden received the following
telegram from Sir Patrick Playfair, C.I.E., Chairman of the Calcutta
Reception Committee:

  The people of Calcutta bid you and your gallant corps welcome. They
  are proud of the way in which Lumsden’s Horse has represented India
  against Britain’s enemies. They wish to do you honour on arrival in
  Calcutta. You will be given a public reception, and the military bands
  will play you into your camp. It is proposed that your corps should
  take part in the Proclamation Parade on the morning of January 1, and
  then attend a special Divine Service at the Cathedral. His Excellency
  the Viceroy will entertain the corps at luncheon on Wednesday, January
  2, and the reception committee are organising an evening party in the
  Town Hall for the night of the same day.

[Illustration: W.H. NICOLAY]

[Illustration: A. ATKINSON]

[Illustration: C.H. JOHNSTONE]

[Illustration: G. SMITH]

[Illustration: SERGT. J. BRENNAN]

[Illustration: N.V. REID]

[Illustration: W.R. WINDER]

[Illustration: R.M. CRUX]

[Illustration: L.K. ZORAB]

               HOME FROM SOUTH AFRICA—N.C.O. AND TROOPERS

Sir Patrick Playfair supplemented his telegram by a characteristically
cordial letter which Colonel Lumsden found also awaiting him when the
‘Atlantian’ reached Bombay two days later:

                                        Calcutta: December 24, 1900.

  MY DEAR LUMSDEN,—Welcome back to India! You and your gallant men have
  done splendid service, of which your countrymen in India, and your
  native friends here, are justly proud, and you will have a great
  reception. Owing to the numbers that wish to give you and the members
  of your corps a hearty welcome, it may not be possible to inaugurate a
  public banquet, and the alternative may be a reception in the Town
  Hall on the evening of the 1st if His Excellency the Viceroy can be
  present after the State dinner at Government House.

  The Viceroy is taking the keenest interest in the return of the corps,
  and is considering what had best be done. He has expressed his wish to
  give the corps a luncheon at Government House.

  It is suggested that you should arrive here on the evening of the 31st
  or at dawn of the 1st, and be accommodated in camp on the Maidan and
  take part in the Proclamation Parade on the morning of the 1st, attend
  a short service in the Cathedral, and have a reception in the Town
  Hall in the evening.

  A meeting has been called, to be held in the rooms of the Bengal
  Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, the 26th, to form a Reception
  Committee.

  You will be brought across at Government expense, and when in camp the
  corps will draw ration pay, and the Executive Committee of Lumsden’s
  Horse will arrange as formerly for your food while in camp.

  It is to be hoped that all the members of your corps will come across;
  and the Viceroy is further desirous that members of the corps who have
  already returned to India and taken their discharge should be invited
  to come to Calcutta and take part in the parade and public
  demonstration. I am, therefore, communicating with those members who
  have already returned to India, so far as I am aware of their names
  and addresses.

  The corps will be disbanded here, and the members will receive
  warrants for railway fare to their homes.

  Expenses connected with the public reception of the corps will be met
  independently of the Lumsden’s Horse Fund. There is a balance here of
  about Rs. 14,000 at credit of the fund. From your telegram received
  from Durban—for which I thank you—we infer that you are returning with
  about Rs. 40,000. The settlement of account for horses originally
  contributed by troopers to the corps has yet to be made. This is
  rather a large item. If the above balances be left, there should be a
  fair sum at the disposal of the corps after liabilities are met.

  Messrs. King, King, & Co. have kindly undertaken to have _sola topees_
  waiting your arrival, as requested by telegram, and also to deliver
  letters on board.

  I am asking King, King, & Co. to wire to me whenever the steamer is
  sighted, and again so soon as they ascertain how many of the corps are
  with you—officers and men—on board. This is necessary and desired, as
  there is some inconsistency between the military telegraphic
  information and that received by me from you with regard to your
  numbers.

  Let me know the date and hour when you will leave Bombay, and the date
  and hour when you will reach Howrah; also where, and on what dates,
  telegrams will reach you when crossing India.

  I shall not ascertain the programme and details of your reception
  until after the 27th, and I shall have to wire all this.

  Bombay may wish to entertain you, and in accepting their hospitality
  be sure that their arrangements will bring you to Calcutta in time to
  take part in the Proclamation Parade on the Maidan on the morning of
  January 1.

  It is doubtful if we can mount you. That remains to be seen. If we
  cannot do so, the corps must march past, and will probably be formed
  into a guard of honour to His Excellency thereafter.

  Have you got your arms with you?

  Is there anything in the matter of furnishing that the members of the
  corps require on arrival?

  I shall be very glad to see you, old fellow, and join in the hurrahs
  that are waiting for you.

  Please remember me to all your officers and to the members of the
  corps.

  I may write to you again to-morrow, but I cannot delay a letter any
  longer in case my communication should miss you.

  With the warmest greetings to you and your gallant officers and men,
  and wishing you all a Merry Christmas,

                                               Believe me,

                                              Yours sincerely,

                                                        P. PLAYFAIR.

  Lieutenant-Colonel Lumsden (Lumsden’s Horse),
                      Bombay.

Colonel Lumsden replied, December 31, 1900:

  On behalf my corps please offer my best thanks to people of Calcutta
  for promised reception. Much regret we have arrived too late to join
  in Proclamation Parade. Our numbers are seven officers and eighty-nine
  men. No arms. Our train leaves Bombay 7 to-night, timed arrive
  Calcutta 6 P.M. Wednesday.

The luncheon was a delightful success, as it always is at the Yacht
Club. Then all officers went on board and the official disembarkation
was got through.

The ‘Times of India’ of January 1, 1901, had the following:

  Among those present at the Bunder when the troops arrived from the
  ‘Atlantian’ were: His Excellency Lord Northcote, Governor of Bombay;
  Brigadier-General F. Ventris, Commanding the Bombay District;
  Lieutenant-Colonel R. Owen, Military Secretary to Lord Northcote;
  Captain Greig, A.D.C.; Colonel Riddell, Assistant Adjutant-General;
  Major Butcher, Commanding R.A., Colaba; Captain Oldfield, R.A.,
  Captain Edwardes, Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General; the Honourable
  Mr. Justice Crowe; the Honourable Mr. S.M. Moses; the Honourable Mr.
  John R. Greaves; Major A. Leslie, Bombay Volunteer Artillery; Major
  Soundy, V.D., Bombay Volunteer Rifles; Major Fowle, R.A.; Captain
  Browne; Lieutenant G.W. Moir, Bombay Light Horse; Captain Stoddart,
  B.V.A.; Lieutenant Robertson, R.A.; Captain J. Leash, Captain Savage,
  Captain Rogers, Lieutenant Deane, Lieutenant Sharp, Lieutenant
  Wilkinson, Lieutenant Moens, and Lieutenant Greaves, all of the Bombay
  Volunteer Rifles; Prince Samatsingji of Palitana, the Nawab of
  Radhanpore, and others.

  Outside the Bunder shed were drawn up twenty men of the Governor’s
  Bodyguard, and a detachment of the Bombay Light Horse under the
  command of Lieutenant G.W. Moir.

  The men belonging to Lumsden’s Horse left the ‘Atlantian’ in two
  Government troop-boats, and landed at the Ballard Pier at 5 P.M.,
  where they were given a cordial welcome by the Bombay Volunteers and
  the general public, who had assembled at the pierhead in large
  numbers. They were loudly cheered, and, forming fours, were marched
  through the shed to the pavilion, in front of which stood the
  Governor, Lord Northcote. Brigadier-General Ventris presented Colonel
  Lumsden to His Excellency who cordially greeted him. The men took up
  their position outside the shed, where they were inspected by Lord
  Northcote.

  The Governor then addressed the men in front of a large gathering of
  spectators. He said: The present opportunity is one that it gives me
  great pleasure to avail myself of to extend, on behalf of the Bombay
  Presidency, a most cordial welcome to you, members of the gallant
  band, some 281 strong, I believe, who left India some ten months ago
  to serve our Queen-Empress in South Africa. We have followed with the
  deepest interest the fortunes of your gallant corps, and we have read
  with pride and pleasure the testimony that has been borne to your
  valour and your service by Dr. Conan Doyle in his history of the war
  and from many other sources. We read with pride and pleasure how you
  gentlemen, sacrificing your ease and comforts and the luxuries of your
  Eastern life, went forth to do your duty to your country in South
  Africa—an object-lesson of patriotism to the Empire, and worthily
  maintaining the traditions of Outram’s Volunteers. Well indeed have
  the members of Lumsden’s Horse merited the warm eulogium which the
  Commander-in-Chief in South Africa paid to you. Most truly did the
  Viceroy say that the whole of India would greet your return with
  enthusiasm. You gave us in your first fight a taste of the stuff of
  which you were made when you cut your way through superior forces, one
  detachment of you having been surrounded; and you won our admiration
  by your return when, after losing a large percentage of your number,
  every member came back with marks of bullets on him. That was but one
  incident of your career of honour throughout the campaign. This is not
  the occasion for anything in the nature of a long speech. You are
  about to proceed to Calcutta, where you will receive a more formal,
  but not a more hearty, welcome than we in Bombay extend to you to-day.
  We in Bombay have seen too many valiant soldiers, both Native and
  European, go forth from time to time to serve the Queen-Empress, not
  to seize with pride and pleasure every opportunity of welcoming them
  back again. It is with interest that we learn that many of you remain
  to colonise and develop those countries which you have aided to
  enfranchise. Some of your comrades, alas! sleep their last, an
  honoured sleep, beneath the South African veldt. They were men who
  held their lives as naught when it came to sealing their loyalty with
  their life’s blood. To their memory be all honour and all gratitude
  paid by their fellows in India. You, gentlemen, I will repeat once
  more, have our heartiest congratulation and our warmest welcome.

  Colonel Lumsden, in reply, said: On behalf of the corps which I have
  the honour to command, let me offer you our warmest thanks and
  gratitude for the very kind and cordial reception you have given us
  to-day. I believe the present war was the first which had the honour
  of calling out the Volunteers from across the seas, and we as the few
  who represented India feel with deep respect and gratitude the warm
  welcome you have given us on our return. Gentlemen (turning to his
  men), I cannot make a long speech, but I ask you all to give three
  cheers for the Governor and the residents of Bombay for having given
  us such a hearty welcome.

  The members of the corps responded to the call lustily, and the crowd
  answered again with three cheers for Lumsden’s Horse.

  A few brief orders, and the procession formed to march to the station.
  It was headed by the Bodyguard and the Governor’s carriage as far as
  the Floral Fountain. The band of the B.V.A. then led the way, followed
  by the Bombay Light Horse and Lumsden’s Horse. Behind these came
  numbers of carriages, and on either side pressed a crowd that seemed
  unable to show its enthusiasm sufficiently. From the offices of the
  Port Trust, by Elphinstone Circle and along Hornby Road, every window
  was occupied. Handkerchiefs were to be seen waving on all sides, until
  even the walls of the houses seemed to awake to the wonder of the
  scene. After all, it was one such as India has rarely witnessed. The
  Imperial instinct was aroused. The handful of men following the
  Colonel they had bravely followed through all the chances and changes
  of war, by whom they had stood for the sake of their country while the
  bullets whistled and carried death around, were the embodiment of a
  great idea, a noble sentiment. And the people saw and appreciated. The
  crowd that had assembled to await the arrival of the troops as they
  passed along joined in the march. Some pressed eagerly to speak to the
  warriors—most were content to realise what it meant, this wave of
  patriotism. The band in front changed the march tune. The music seemed
  to become more jubilant as the great mass of soldiers and people swung
  along in step. Bombay was rejoicing in very truth. The banners hung
  out from the buildings told of it. The spirit of gladness pervaded
  everything. Here was a grand ending of the old year. What would the
  new year bring? A detachment of the Bodyguard had formed a line
  outside the Victoria Terminus. The Bombay Light Horse took up a
  position alongside. The band of one of the Native regiments played a
  welcome, and under the portico Lumsden’s Horse tramped in, followed by
  an enormous crowd. The officers of the garrison had arranged to give
  the corps dinner in the refreshment-room. When the meal was over the
  guests were fairly besieged. In the station itself it seemed as if
  thousands of spectators had assembled. They shook hands with Lumsden’s
  men. ‘Welcome,’ ‘Good Luck,’ and ‘A Happy New Year’ were heard
  everywhere. It was a great day—one worth waiting for. As the train
  steamed out of the station the building resounded again and again with
  the cheering. On the line detonators sounded a parting salute, and the
  crowd, now hoarse with shouting, dispersed.

Major Taylor also deals with these incidents briefly, and then carries
on a lively narrative up to the hour when Lumsden’s Horse, having made a
record journey across India, arrived at Calcutta:

  When the troops landed there was a great crowd with bands playing. The
  Governor (Lord Northcote) made us a speech full of kindly references
  and good wishes as he bade us welcome home. The corps then marched
  with the band and an enthusiastic throng—among which numbers of
  Parsees were particularly prominent—to the railway station. There all
  Lumsden’s Horse found themselves the honoured guests of the Bombay
  Garrison, officers of the Regulars and Volunteers having combined,
  with the most gratifying unanimity, to give us festive welcome. All
  the regimental and private baggage had been taken over by our kind
  hosts and put on the train, so that all the men had to do was just to
  march into the train. Great enthusiasm prevailed. The fine band of a
  Native regiment (the 21st Bombay Infantry) played us off, and so, amid
  much cheering, the train steamed out, firing a salute in our honour as
  it passed over lines on which detonating signals had been placed at
  regular intervals. About 10 o’clock at night we passed a Volunteer
  camp and stopped at the station, where bands were playing. The whole
  force from camp was paraded on the platform, a great honour at that
  time of night. Then we went on again at full speed, stopping only for
  meals at stations, which were dressed gaily with flags, and at each of
  these bands of sorts assembled, and we were entertained free of cost.
  One halt was called at a very small station, but even there we were
  escorted from the train to the dining-tent by the best band they had.
  It was native and local, its instruments being one big drum, two
  kettledrums, three flutes, two penny whistles. That was all they could
  do, but they did it. Their desire to honour us was evident, though
  their means were small—except the big drum—and this demonstration
  touched us perhaps even more than the most elaborate ceremonials
  prepared for our reception. Eventually, at about 7 o’clock, we reached
  Calcutta, having performed the journey in record time, which was due
  entirely to the skill, kindness, and courtesy of Mr. T.R. Wynne,
  manager of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway, who caused all other traffic to
  be shunted wherever necessary in order that Lumsden’s Horse might keep
  faith with the multitude of friends who were waiting to welcome them
  in the city from which they had set out.

The following orders were issued by the military authorities at Army
Headquarters:

  Lumsden’s Horse will be accorded a public reception on their arrival
  in Calcutta at about 4 P.M. on January 2.

  The General Officer Commanding and Staff will meet Lumsden’s Horse at
  Howrah station; regimental and departmental officers not on duty are
  invited to attend. Dress: drill order, serge.

  Lieutenant-Colonel Swaine, R.I.R., will command the troops; Staff
  Officers, Major Carpendale and Captain Hill.

  The following arrangements will be made at Howrah:

  On the arrival of Lumsden’s Horse a procession will be formed. The
  Calcutta Light Horse will form the advanced guard, followed by the
  14th Bengal Lancers. Regimental bands will follow in the following
  order: 2nd Madras Infantry, 7th Bengal Infantry, Royal Irish Rifles
  Volunteers. Then will follow General Officer Commanding and Staff and
  Lumsden’s Horse. The several Volunteer corps will be formed up in line
  in the order hereinafter detailed, with ranks opened and facing
  inwards to form a lane, and as the procession passes they will in
  succession ‘shoulder arms.’ On Lumsden’s Horse passing the Calcutta
  Port Defence Volunteers, the several Volunteer corps will join in the
  procession in the order in which they are standing.

  The units will be formed in the following order, commencing from
  Howrah station: E.I.R. Volunteers, E.B.S.R. Volunteers, 3rd Battalion
  C.V.R., 2nd Battalion C.V.R., 1st Battalion C.V.R., Cossipur Artillery
  Volunteers, C.P.D. Volunteers.

  The procession will proceed along the following route: Hugli Bridge,
  Strand Road, Clive Ghat Street, Clive Street, Dalhousie Square North,
  Dalhousie Square East, Old Court House Street, the Lawrence Monument,
  to Lumsden’s Horse Camp pitched on the Maidan between Calcutta and
  Plassey Gates.

  The Fort William Garrison will line the route from Government Place to
  the camp in the following order: 20th Bombay Infantry, 2nd Madras
  Infantry, Royal Irish Rifles, No. 9 Company E.O.R.G.A., 45th Battery
  R.F.A.

  On Lumsden’s Horse reaching their camp, officers commanding corps will
  form up independently and march to quarters. Should the arrival of
  Lumsden’s Horse be delayed till after dark, torches will be provided,
  with reference to which subsidiary orders will be issued.

  Definite information as to the time of arrival will be circulated at
  noon on January 2.

  Corps should be in position twenty minutes before the train is due.

  The Chief Commissariat Officer will provide transport for the baggage
  of Lumsden’s Horse, and the 7th Bengal Infantry will furnish an escort
  of a N.C.O. and twelve men to escort the baggage from Howrah to Camp.

                                       By order,

                                       J.M. CARPENDALE, Major,

                                 Officiating Garrison Quartermaster.

In substitution of the memo, bearing the same date:

  Officers attending the reception at the Town Hall in honour of
  Lumsden’s Horse on the evening of January 2 will wear mess dress.

  Officers who have been invited as guests by His Excellency the Viceroy
  to luncheon on January 3, to meet Lieutenant-Colonel Lumsden and
  officers and men of Lumsden’s Horse, will appear in drill order.
  (Mounted officers, undress overalls and Wellington boots.)

                                       By order,

                                    E.R. ELLES, Major-General,

                                          Adjutant-General in India.

  Army Headquarters, Fort William: December 31, 1900.

Major Carpendale, of the Bombay Cavalry, acting as Garrison
Quartermaster, with great kindness took upon himself all arrangements
for the camp. This was pitched on the glacis of Fort William,
overlooking the broad Maidan, and provided with every necessary article
of equipment, the mess tents and others being in all respects complete
and comfortable. The following appeared in the ‘Englishman’ of January
3, 1901:

  Punctually at 5.30 yesterday evening, the time previously announced
  for its arrival, the eagerly awaited train bringing Lumsden’s Horse
  from Bombay, drew up alongside the new arrival platform of the
  Bengal-Nagpur Railway Company at Howrah. The scene which the station
  presented to the returning Volunteers must have struck those who were
  not wrapt up in more important personal concerns as exceptionally
  bright and picturesque. The Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (His Honour
  Sir John Woodburn) paid to the corps and its commanding officer the
  great compliment of coming with his Staff and a brilliant escort to
  receive them at the station. Outside, where the Bengal Lancers in
  their striking uniforms, with pennons flying, together with the
  Calcutta Light Horse, were drawn up, were long rows of tall Venetian
  masts, from which strings of gaily coloured flags fluttered. ‘Welcome’
  in bold white letters on a groundwork of red appeared as the chief
  feature of an ornamental arch facing the entrance. The roof of the
  platform itself and the pillars were most tastefully decorated with
  festoons of evergreens and arrangements of bunting. When mention is
  also made of the ladies occupying specially erected stands on either
  side of the gateway, and of the large and representative assembly of
  officials, military and civilian, gathered, sufficient has been said
  to warrant the men of Lumsden’s Horse, as they looked out from the
  carriage windows, feeling that Calcutta was not unmindful of them and
  had prepared a fitting reception. As the coaches came to a standstill
  the friends of the ‘boys in khaki’ flocked round to bid them welcome
  by a hearty grip of the hand, to exchange greetings and news. There
  were no scenes. Britons do not, as a rule, make public parade of their
  deepest feelings. The occasion, moreover, was a gladsome one, and it
  did all present good to note the magnificently robust health of the
  men displayed in their sturdy figures and ruddy and bronzed faces; all
  looked remarkably fit, and none more so than the gallant Colonel
  himself, who was first to step from his carriage. He at once walked
  towards the group where the Lieutenant-Governor, Bishop Welldon,
  General Leach, and other distinguished personages were standing. After
  a course of hand-shaking, the Colonel directed his attention to the
  detraining of his men. Soon they were busily engaged in getting out
  their kits. When this task was accomplished, they were formed into
  line and His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor said:

  Colonel Lumsden,—The citizens of Calcutta give you and your gallant
  men of the Indian contingent a very hearty and enthusiastic welcome.
  You have had a hard time abroad, and suffered great privations. But I
  should like you to know that your career has been followed by those
  left behind in Calcutta with the greatest admiration and pride.
  Gentlemen all, let us give Colonel Lumsden and his gallant men three
  hearty cheers.

  Needless to say there was a quick and cheerful response to this
  request, and before it had quite subsided Sir John called for ‘one
  cheer more,’ which was given with equal heartiness. Colonel Lumsden,
  in a voice the huskiness of which betokened the depth of his feelings,
  called on the men of the Indian contingent to respond with ‘three
  cheers for the Lieutenant-Governor.’ Their effort emphasised the fact
  that in lung power and appreciation for Sir John Woodburn their trip
  to South Africa had effected no deteriorating influences, nor was
  there anything wanting in the worth of the response to the gallant
  Colonel’s call for ‘one more for the citizens of Calcutta.’ The men
  then formed fours and marched out to receive the welcome of the
  thousands collected round the approaches to the station and along the
  route.

  Among those present on the platform were: The Hon. Mr. Cotton, Chief
  Commissioner of Assam (now Sir Henry Cotton, K.C.S.I.); General Leach,
  commanding Presidency District; the Most Rev. Dr. Welldon,
  Metropolitan of India and Lord Bishop of Calcutta; Major the Hon. E.
  Baring, Military Secretary to the Viceroy; Sir Patrick Playfair; Mr.
  R.T. Greer, Chairman of the Calcutta Corporation; Rev. Mr. Jackson;
  Mr. Harry Stuart; Mr. Apjohn, Vice-Chairman Port Commissioners; Major
  Harington, Commandant Artillery Company C.P.D.V.; Captain Bradshaw,
  Artillery Company C.P.D.V.; Major Churchill, commanding 9th
  E.D.G.R.A.; Captain Deverill; Lieutenant-Colonel Meade, Officiating
  Commandant Calcutta Volunteer Rifles; Dr. J. Neild Cook, Health
  Officer; Mr. Dring, Agent E.I. Railway; Major Cooper, C.V. Rifles;
  Colonel Master, Assistant Adjutant-General; Captain Iggulden,
  Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General; Mr. H.M. Rustomjee, and a host of
  others.

  It was about a quarter to 6, the dusk just merging into dark, when the
  picturesque procession swung over the bridge. The Calcutta Light
  Horse, neat and trim, sitting firmly in their saddles, composed the
  van. The Native Cavalry from Alipur followed—great black-bearded men
  mounted on fretting horses; then the bands of four regiments, the 2nd
  Madrasis, the 20th Bombay Infantry, the Royal Irish Rifles, and the
  Calcutta Volunteers. Immediately behind were Lumsden’s Horse—on foot.
  The bridge and its approaches were packed with seething masses of
  people, who were with difficulty restrained from breaking through the
  ranks of the Calcutta Port Defence and the Rifle Volunteers who lined
  each side of the roadway and brought up the rear of the procession
  after Lumsden’s Horse had passed through.

  On the Calcutta side of the bridge a novel element was introduced, the
  flanks of the column being illuminated by numbers of men carrying
  acetylene lamps on poles—a very efficient substitute for torches. The
  route taken was almost an historic one, for by it all our great
  Viceroys have entered Calcutta; but it may safely be said that never
  have the Strand Road, Clive Road, and that stretch flanked by
  magnificent buildings which leads direct to the Maidan, witnessed
  scenes of more moving enthusiasm than when Lumsden’s Horse, after
  perils oft and tribulations, came marching home again. From Howrah to
  the camp on the Maidan the roadway and buildings beside were lined
  with the densest masses of humanity the eye can conceive. The
  spectacle was a striking illustration of the variety and numbers of
  the population of Calcutta. Naturally the crowds were thickest in the
  northern part of the route, where the close-packed Native city
  contributed its thousands, but even in the more European part of the
  town one wondered whence the sightseers had come. It is probably no
  exaggeration to say that so large a multitude of civilian Europeans
  has never before been drawn together for a similar demonstration in
  the East.

  The decorations were most tasteful, especially down Dalhousie Square
  South and Old Court House Street, where the larger shops were
  brilliantly lighted behind the groups of well-dressed people who
  thronged the verandahs and balconies. Partly because the Oriental is
  by nature averse to violent demonstration, and partly because there
  does not exist in India that class which ‘mafficks’ in London streets,
  there was never any real roar of sustained cheering, but there could
  be no mistaking the reality and fervour of the emotion that shook the
  crowd as the returning warriors marched along. Besides, no man of
  Lumsden’s Horse could have regretted the absence of that which made
  more touching felicitations possible. The repression of the masculine
  desire to express feelings by making a noise afforded the feminine
  element an opportunity of extending a pretty and graceful welcome by
  waving handkerchiefs and little flags, and uttering with each flutter
  some tiny cry of admiration and delight, which reached distinctly the
  ears of those for whom it was meant. The second part of the route was
  lined by the troops in garrison, including the battery from
  Barrackpur. Along the Maidan roads down to the camp the crowds were
  the least dense, but represented the most wealthy sections of the
  community. In dealing with them there was not the same necessity for
  police supervision, and if people broke through the line of soldiers,
  rushing forward to welcome their friends in the ranks, and escorted
  them to the camp, why, no harm was done. Indeed, unrehearsed incidents
  of this kind added the final touch to the heartiness and friendliness
  of India’s greeting to those who had fought for our Empire in a far
  country. When the long procession drew near Government House in the
  gathering darkness, H.E. the Viceroy and Lady Curzon, with their
  children and a large number of the Viceregal Staff, walked to the
  south-east gate, and, standing on the roadway, waved a welcome to the
  corps as it marched past. The roads on each side, and hence through
  the Maidan skirting Eden Gardens, were lined by companies of the Royal
  Irish Rifles. Of course, the appearance and bearing of the Volunteers
  whom all had assembled to honour were keenly watched. The men had
  grown leaner and browner than when they sailed away, and their
  marching was in strong contrast to the stiff upright gait of the Port
  Defence Volunteers behind them. It happens that in the stern, actual
  business of war men learn to grasp only essentials. These returning
  soldiers had plumbed the realities of life. Hunger they had known, and
  thirst, and heat, and cold, and wounds, and the ever-present risk of
  death. In such conditions the formalities that surround the British
  Army in peace time drop away. Soldiers learn—and their officers
  too—that, for instance, it matters not how one marches so long as one
  does march. Thus it is that Lumsden’s Horse came through the streets
  of Calcutta with bodies swinging carelessly forward, with eyes eager
  and roving instead of being fixed at ‘attention,’ with ranks loosened
  instead of being set in compact stiffness. It has sometimes been said
  that war spoils men for drill. But it is something that the Volunteer
  ranks in India have been leavened by men who know what campaigning is
  really like. The feeling of those Calcutta Volunteers who assisted in
  the procession was thus partly one of pride, for were not Lumsden’s
  Horse also of themselves, and partly of prospective gratitude, for had
  not the successes of their comrades in the great war opened the way
  for their own employment also? No longer can it be said that unless
  Volunteers attain an irreproachable precision in drill and smartness
  in bearing they are useless as fighting men.

  Large crowds of well-dressed persons, natives, and equipages of all
  descriptions followed the corps up to the camp, where gunners of the
  45th Field Battery lined the way. On arrival there three hearty cheers
  were given for the men of Lumsden’s Horse, the cheers being repeated
  over and over till the men were dismissed. In camp the scene was an
  animated one. Men of the corps, singly and in groups, were centres of
  attraction to friends and strangers alike. Conversation was free,
  eager questions being good-humouredly answered, and questions repeated
  and answered over and over again. The scene was well illuminated. A
  well-ordered little camp of twenty tents has been pitched on the old
  cricket ground of the Calcutta Cricket Club, exactly south of the Eden
  Gardens. The camp has been furnished in ordinary military style and is
  pitched in rows of three, with one tent for the officers of the corps,
  a large mess tent, a canteen, and the usual necessaries. Camp
  furniture only is allowed, consisting of a wooden folding-bed with a
  straw mattress and pillow, and a few zinc tubs and basins for lavatory
  purposes. The mess tent consists of four fly tents, open at the sides,
  with a long table, big enough to accommodate a hundred hungry men,
  running along its entire length.

  After dinner, the men were formed up at 8.45 P.M. and marched into the
  Town Hall, where they arrived at 9 P.M. After a short stay downstairs
  they were ordered upstairs, where a most brilliant reception awaited
  them.

  This evening reception at the Town Hall was an entire success. The
  decorations of the hall were most elaborate and characterised by great
  taste.

  On the landing upstairs, in addition to greenery in profusion, a
  number of naval 9-pounders and a Hotchkiss machine gun, Nordenfeldts
  and Maxims were arranged to form a central group, all these being
  flanked by a number of small ancient ship’s brass cannons and
  howitzers.

  A daïs was erected in the centre of the hall, facing the main
  entrance, which was occupied by His Excellency the Viceroy, Lady
  Curzon, His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, the Commander-in-Chief,
  General Leach, Sir E. Buck, Bishop Welldon, Sir F. Maclean, Lady
  Jenkins, and others, while the space in front was roped off, and here
  stood in lines the members of Lumsden’s Horse, whose Colonel, as the
  Viceroy’s party passed through, presented to His Excellency every
  officer of the corps in turn. No time was lost, after the arrival of
  Lord and Lady Curzon, in proceeding with the object of the gathering.

  His Excellency the Viceroy said:

  Colonel Lumsden, Officers and Men of Lumsden’s Horse,—It is not yet a
  year since I was bidding you farewell at Kidderpur Docks. You had
  appointed me the Honorary Colonel of a corps of Volunteers that had
  never seen warfare, but that was starting out at the call of duty, and
  in many cases at great personal sacrifice, to fight for the Queen and
  the Empire. Now you have come back, the war-stained and laurel-crowned
  veterans of a long and arduous campaign; and we are all here this
  evening to welcome you home and to do you honour. I, your Honorary
  Colonel, am as proud of you as if I had been through the campaign at
  your side, which being a man of peace I am very glad to think that I
  was not called upon to do; and all of us here, the citizens of
  Calcutta who subscribed to your outgoing, and have kept a watch upon
  you ever since, feel a sort of parental glow at receiving back again
  our one corps of Indian Volunteers to South Africa, who have shown
  that the Englishman in India is not one whit behind his countrymen at
  home or his cousin in the Colonies in daring and risking and suffering
  for the flag that waves above us all.

  For we know well through what hardships and experiences you have
  passed since you steamed away down the Hugli in February last. The one
  characteristic that has struck me most in this South African campaign
  has been the physical strain and suffering which it has imposed. We
  have robbed travel and sport and adventure nowadays of most of their
  roughness, but war, even when your enemy is out of sight, and you
  scarcely ever set eyes upon him, though it has lost in romance, has
  not lost, nay—I think it has gained—in peril and privation. We have
  followed you in your breathless marches across the dismal veldt, in
  your assaults upon those deadly kopjes, in your days of endurance and
  fighting, in your grim nights under the cold stars. We have
  commiserated you when some of your number were taken prisoners, but we
  were consoled when we heard that you were more frequently the pursuers
  than the pursued, that you captured far more of the enemy than the
  enemy did of you. We felt a thrill of pleasure when you were praised
  by the Generals and, above all, by the brave old Field-Marshal who
  knew what our men from India could do; and when you were publicly
  thanked in despatches we all of us felt as if our own names had
  appeared in the ‘Birthday Gazette.’ One thousand five hundred miles of
  marching, twenty-nine actions of one kind or another—and all this in
  the space of ten months. This is not a bad record for our pioneer body
  of Indian Volunteers.

  I was delighted, Colonel Lumsden, that in one respect you most
  strictly obeyed the final instructions which as your Commanding
  Officer, in mufti, I ventured to address to you in February of last
  year. I urged you and your men to be there or thereabouts when the
  British forces entered Pretoria. Knowing your keen sense of
  discipline, it was with no surprise that I learned that on June 5
  Lumsden’s Horse marched into that place in the van of Lord Roberts’s
  occupying force. I only regret that I did not issue a few more timely
  injunctions to you, such, for instance, as the capture of General De
  Wet, since I have little doubt that you would have carried them out to
  the letter.

  There was one other remark that I made a year ago to which I must
  allude. I said that there were some among those whom I was addressing
  who might have to face the supreme peril without which war cannot be
  waged. You all of you carried your lives in your hands, and a few of
  your number have handed in your cheques at the great audit. But we
  rejoice that it was only a few—a brave and heroic fraction, but still
  only a fraction. You lost your second in command, the gallant Major
  Showers, whom Nature had intended for a soldier and whom destiny in
  his first encounter claimed as a hero. But besides him only five
  others were killed, while two only died of disease in the entire
  campaign. Indeed, the total casualties were fewer than twenty-four,
  which in a force of over 250 men is, I think, a very remarkable
  result. I doubt not that all the rest of you have often faced death,
  and that many have triumphed over disease. So much the more cause is
  there for satisfaction at coming back on your part and for rejoicing
  on ours.

  Colonel Lumsden, I am only addressing less than one half of the force
  that mustered before me a year ago. Some have stayed behind in Africa
  to continue, in the Regular Army, in the police, or in civil
  appointments, the good service which they have rendered during the
  past ten months. Though they are far away, and have cut the painter
  from India, we include them in our gratitude and well-wishes to-night.
  Others have already gone back to their Indian homes, and have been
  unable to attend here to-day. We honour them in honouring you. In
  their distant plantations or in their employments, wherever they may
  be, possibly they will read of this gathering, and will know that they
  equally have their places in our reception. As for the rest of those
  here present, you, Colonel Lumsden, will always have the pride of
  recollecting that it was to your initiative and liberality that this
  corps owed its being, and that in the history of the war it bore your
  name with credit and without a stain; while you, officers and men, as
  you revert to your several avocations in civil life, and as the past
  year fades into a hazy dream, will never forget that at a critical
  moment in the fortunes of your country you came forward, and staked
  much, endured much, and wrought much for the honour of the greatest
  thing on earth—namely, the British name.

  Officers and men, it was a pride to me to bid you God-speed nearly a
  year ago. It is an inexpressible pleasure to me to welcome you back
  this evening, and to thank you, in the name of India, for what you
  have done in the service of the Empire.

  Colonel Lumsden said: Your Excellency, your Honour, Ladies and
  Gentlemen,—I feel it, though a pleasure, a hard task to endeavour to
  express the feelings of my men and myself for the very hearty welcome
  we have received and the very kind speech which our Honorary Colonel
  the Viceroy has given us this evening. Our Honorary Colonel mentions,
  and with truth, his words of advice in speaking to us on leaving. We
  no doubt did our best to act up to it in every way, and I am sure,
  speaking for myself as leader, there was no difficulty to do so when
  followed by such men as I had. It was not altogether a party of
  pleasure. There were rough things and hard times, and I often feared
  that the Indian man, accustomed as he always is to the well-known
  _kai-hae_, would not take to the labour of the veldt as well as he
  did. I can assure your Excellency that never at any moment when things
  were at their worst did I hear a word that was not cheerful and
  pleasant from my men. We have been a fortunate corps in more ways than
  one. We have been specially fortunate in our health. As our Honorary
  Colonel remarked, only two men in the whole corps died of sickness.
  This I think shows in a great measure how well the soldiers were
  treated. There have been many complaints, I believe, in several
  quarters as to the treatment of the soldiers there. But taking the
  class of men I had to deal with, the small percentage of deaths from
  disease shows we had not much to complain about in that respect. We
  were fortunate also in our list of casualties. We were all very much
  touched by the Viceroy’s allusions to those who have gone. No better
  man existed than Major Showers, no greater loss could be felt by the
  corps than in his death. He died, I believe, as he often thought he
  would. He was a soldier to the backbone, and nothing pleased him
  better than being in the field. Five died besides Major Showers,
  giving a total of six altogether. That out of 250 men may be looked
  upon as a small percentage. On the whole, in spite of the hardships
  the men have gone through, I think there is not one, if the call to
  arms were sounded to-morrow, who would not love to go back again. We
  were greatly honoured at having the Viceroy as our Honorary Colonel,
  and that pleasure was deeply felt by the men and remained in their
  memory throughout the campaign. When any meed of praise was bestowed
  upon us one and all felt sure our Honorary Colonel would be pleased to
  hear of it. I cannot make a long speech to-night. I think the Viceroy
  himself touched upon most of the points of interest connected with the
  corps. I can only say how pleased we are with the reception we have
  got. When we landed in Bombay the Governor said a few kindly words.
  The streets were lined by thousands of people, and we had a welcome
  such as we can never forget. Another thing I would wish to touch upon.
  I think all the corps are proud of the number of commissions our men
  have got. For this we have entirely to thank the Field-Marshal the
  Commander-in-Chief. From start to finish there is no doubt his love of
  India led Lord Roberts to take a keen interest in our Indian corps.
  Our welcome to Calcutta to-day will, I am sure, sink deeply into all
  our hearts and be long remembered. I can only say on behalf of my
  officers and comrades that I thank you all deeply and sincerely. In
  doing so I feel certain I am expressing the gratitude of us all, not
  only for what we have received, but what I am told we have yet to
  receive. I thank you, Sir, very heartily indeed on behalf of the whole
  corps for the extremely kind way in which you have spoken of us and
  our work.

The temporary barriers having been removed, the men were soon busily
engaged in conversation with their many friends and acquaintances. The
band discoursed a bright selection of music for the remainder of the
evening.

The ‘Englishman’ of Friday, January 4, 1901, contained the following:

  Yesterday afternoon His Excellency the Viceroy and Lady Curzon
  entertained Colonel Lumsden and the officers and men of the Indian
  contingent to luncheon at Government House. The function took place in
  the Marble Hall. The officers and men of Lumsden’s Horse, who were in
  khaki, occupied two long tables running down the centre of the room at
  right angles to that at which the Viceroy sat. The floral decorations
  of the tables were of an exceptionally chaste and artistic character.
  On the verandah the members of the Viceroy’s band were located, and
  the most appropriate selection of national and patriotic music which
  they rendered contributed largely to the success of the luncheon.
  Ninety-two officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of Lumsden’s
  Horse were present, and with the guests and Viceroy’s Staff the total
  number sitting down to luncheon was 169. A pleasing feature of the
  luncheon was the presence of Lady Curzon and the following ladies:
  Lady Woodburn, Lady Palmer, Mrs. Harrington, Mrs. Tyler, Mrs.
  Laurence, Miss Trevor, and Miss Law. The list of guests also included:
  His Honour Sir John Woodburn, Sir Power Palmer, Sir Francis Maclean,
  the Metropolitan, Sir Edwin Collen, Sir Arthur Trevor, Sir Edward Law,
  Hon. Mr. Raleigh, Hon. Mr. Rivaz, Hon. Sir Henry Cotton, Sir Edward
  Elles, General Luck, General Maitland, Surgeon-General Harvey, General
  Wace, General Henry, General Dyce, Colonel Buckingham, Sir Patrick
  Playfair, Mr. Justice Harington, Sir Henry Prinsep, Sir Allan Arthur,
  Captains Taylor, Beresford, Noblett, Holmes, and Powell of Lumsden’s
  Horse, Hon. Mr. Bourdillon, Colonel Masters, Colonel Meade, Colonel
  MacLaughlin, Major Churchill, Colonel O’Donoghue, Captain Wilson,
  Commander Petley, Colonel Swaine, Major Hoore, Captain Bradshaw,
  Colonel Wynne, Major Ferror, Captain Ayerst, Rev. J. Hatton, Messrs.
  Stuart, Sutherland, Elworthy, Kerr, Tremearne, Woodroffe, Turner,
  Greer, and Apcar.

  At the conclusion of the luncheon the toasts of ‘The Queen,’ ‘Colonel
  Lumsden, Officers and Men of Lumsden’s Horse,’ and ‘The Viceroy’ were
  enthusiastically honoured.

  The same evening the members of Lumsden’s Horse marched to the
  Cathedral to attend a special thanksgiving service for their safe
  return. The congregation was a large and most representative one, and
  included their Excellencies Lord and Lady Curzon, Sir John and Lady
  Woodburn. The service was brief and bright, the musical portion
  predominating. The hymns, being well known, were taken up heartily by
  the congregation, and a magnificent rendering was given by the choir
  of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ to which result the inclusion of a number
  of ladies in the choir and an orchestral accompaniment largely
  contributed. The clergy present were the Metropolitan, Canons Luckman
  and Cogan, Revs. Brown, Gee, Nansen, Kitchen, Clarke, Wickens, Otley,
  and Campbell, The men of Lumsden’s Horse occupied the front pews, and
  at the conclusion of the service filed out immediately behind the
  choir and the clergy.

  The following was the address which the Metropolitan delivered:

  It is my privilege, brethren, to offer you in the house of God the
  words of welcome which have been in all hearts, and upon all lips,
  since your landing in India—the last words perhaps that shall be
  addressed to you as a military force. It was here on the fourteenth
  day of February last that you sought God’s blessing at a special
  service before setting sail for the war, and it is here by a natural
  consequence that you come again to render Him thanks on your return.

  Brethren, we have followed you with earnest prayers in your long
  absence. There has not been a Sunday when we have not entreated God to
  bless you, and keep you safe, and to give victory to your arms, and to
  bring you home in peace. You will not say or think those prayers have
  been unheard. The memory of the friends who were far away, of their
  care for you, and their sympathy in your perils must often have been
  present to your minds. It may even have happened that you felt
  strengthened and inspired, as others have felt by the consciousness,
  of their intercession in your behalf.

  Brethren, you have fought, not in a light cause, but for the Empire,
  whose members and citizens you are. You have been the witnesses, and
  in part the authors, of a new solidarity between the widely severed
  forces of the Empire. That solidarity is the great fact, the permanent
  result, of the war in South Africa. Its influence upon the destiny of
  mankind will be more and more declared in the new-born century. A new
  spirit of confederation has dawned upon the Empire, and it is your
  spirit, and the spirit of men such as you.

  May I remind you of a sentence spoken by a high authority on a
  critical occasion in modern European history? Goethe relates that
  after the battle of Valmy, at which he was present, he was asked by
  his comrades in camp to pronounce an opinion upon its significance. He
  said—and his language may have seemed extravagant when he used
  it—‘From this place, and from this day forth, commences a new era in
  the world’s history, and you can all say that you were present at its
  birth.’ Brethren, the birthday of Imperial solidarity is likewise an
  event fraught with issues of untold power and moment for mankind; but
  that solidarity has been born in South Africa, and you can all say
  that you were present at its birth.

  Once more you have realised, and we too, how great and solemn is the
  cost of an Imperial destiny. It is not by mere child’s play, but by
  sorrow, pain, and death, that a wide-world Empire, like a Universal
  Church, is achieved and maintained. You have hazarded your lives, some
  of your comrades have laid theirs down, for that high cause; and the
  issue of your sacrifice and theirs has been a solemnisation of the
  Empire in the last year. It has been good for us that we have known
  the reverses and anxieties which ennoble the ultimate victory. We have
  felt the hand of God laid upon us. You who have come home, and we who
  bid you so glad a welcome, shall spend the residue of our lives with
  an enhanced moral seriousness, with a more profound apprehension of
  the Providence which regulates and determines human ends.

  Brethren, I shall not detain you longer in this holy place. Only let
  your home-coming be worthy of your warfare. There are dangers in peace
  as well as in war. Let the spirit, then, of your future lives be
  grave, responsible, temperate, sublime, as befits your religion and
  your race.

  May the God of our fathers bless you all, and bring you all to Heaven!

The ‘Englishman’ of Monday, January 7, 1901, gave the following report
of another interesting scene:

  Immediately after the Thanksgiving Service held at the Cathedral on
  Thursday, the officers and men of our pioneer corps celebrated the
  closing function of their active military career. It took its form in
  a dinner given expressly by Colonel Lumsden, and the guests included
  Sir Patrick Playfair, the Hon. Mr. Buckingham, Colonel MacLaughlin,
  Mr. Harry Stuart, and several friends of the non-commissioned officers
  and men. After an excellent dinner supplied by Mr. Wallace, of the
  Italian Restaurant, who also catered for the corps prior to their
  departure in February last, the toast of the Queen was proposed and
  received with enthusiasm.

  Private Turner, in a very apt little speech, then asked the Colonel if
  he would very kindly consent to present, on behalf of the men, to
  Sergeant-Major Hewitt, Quartermaster-Sergeant Dale, and Sergeant-Major
  Brennan, souvenirs to mark their appreciation of the admirable work
  done by these three non-commissioned officers. They always had the
  knack of taking the men the proper way. To Quartermaster-Sergeant
  Dale, _alias_ ‘Daddy,’ or ‘Bobby’ Dale, was due the excellent form in
  which the men found themselves. They looked none the worse for their
  trying marches and watchful nights simply because the man in charge of
  the food arrangements was Dale. Colonel Lumsden said he had much
  pleasure in presenting, on behalf of the men, a silver flask to
  Sergeant-Major Hewitt, a silver flask to Quartermaster-Sergeant Dale,
  and a silver cigar-case to Sergeant-Major Brennan.

  The Colonel then proposed the health of the Executive Committee, who,
  he said, had worked so indefatigably when the corps was being
  organised. Their labours did not end there, however, for always while
  the corps was in South Africa, and still on its return, they were all
  concerned in its well-being and interests. It was a pleasure to him
  and to his men to have been the recipients of so hearty a welcome as
  that which met them on their arrival at Howrah on the evening of the
  2nd inst. The work which the raising of a force such as Lumsden’s
  Horse entails is extensive, complicated, and laborious, but thanks to
  the able committee formed on the inception of the corps, they were
  able to be equipped and despatched to the country they had just
  returned from with comparatively no delay. To Sir Patrick Playfair
  particularly he was deeply indebted for his energy in seeing things
  put through in such an efficient manner and without a hitch, and he
  was proud of now having an opportunity of asking his men to drink the
  health of the gentlemen of the Executive Committee, with three times
  three cheers for Sir Patrick Playfair.

  Sir Patrick Playfair, in reply, said that he was sorry another very
  important public function required the presence of many of the
  Executive Committee who otherwise would have been present at this
  dinner, Colonel Lumsden, he thought, was too lavish in his praises of
  the work done by the Executive Committee. The work was a labour of
  love, in the execution of which every member of that Committee took a
  pleasure and a pride. He had met and known Colonel Lumsden very many
  years before a certain day in November 1899, when he received from
  Australia a cable from Colonel Lumsden intimating his willingness to
  raise and have equipped a suitable corps capable of giving a good
  account of themselves in South Africa. He had the fullest confidence
  in Colonel Lumsden, and knew that the class of men to whom Colonel
  Lumsden had particular recourse were the right sort. He, therefore,
  did his utmost to encourage Colonel Lumsden in accomplishing his noble
  object. Great obstacles for a time blocked the way, but in time, by
  virtue of the personal influence of His Excellency the Viceroy, the
  War Office sanctioned the raising of a corps which has now returned
  loaded with honours, complimented time after time by Generals and in
  official despatches for gallantry in the field. The Committee always
  followed with interest the operations of the corps in South Africa,
  and it was a pride and an honour to them to be in a position to say
  that they were so closely connected with its formation. He regretted
  that a few men should have found their appointments closed against
  them on their return, but he assured them that the Executive
  Committee, and particularly himself, would only be too glad to help
  any man in finding suitable employment. He said he had already made
  reference to the cases of men so placed to the Lieutenant-Governor,
  and had asked that, all things else being equal, the men who had
  served in Lumsden’s Horse should have the preference when appointments
  were vacant. Sir Patrick Playfair then thanked Colonel Lumsden, the
  officers, and men of the corps for the hearty way in which they had
  drunk the health of the Committee.

  Sergeant Fraser then, in a very humorous speech, announced to the
  Colonel the intention of the men to present him with a sword of
  honour as a memento and a token of their respect and esteem. Within
  the last few days they had heard the Governor of Bombay, the
  Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, and the Viceroy himself, express warm
  admiration of Colonel Lumsden for the manner in which he had
  conceived, organised, and led the corps. But he ventured to consider
  that the men of Lumsden’s Horse were even in a better position than
  these exalted gentlemen to express an opinion upon Colonel Lumsden,
  for they had been with him in South Africa and seen with their own
  eyes what he had done. It was in consequence of what they had seen
  that they now asked Colonel Lumsden to accept from the men who had
  been his comrades a sword of honour as the highest compliment they
  knew how to pay him. He would remind them that Colonel Lumsden,
  during the action at Ospruit, had ridden out to the rescue of a
  wounded trooper, placed him on his own horse, and led the horse back
  at a walk a distance of 200 yards, all under heavy fire.[14] Colonel
  Lumsden had never asked his men to go where he did not lead himself,
  and it will be within the recollection of all of them, after
  climbing kopjes representing Kinchingjunga at six stone, that they
  invariably found the Colonel on top busy with his binoculars, whilst
  they themselves were helpless from loss of breath. His concern had
  always been for his men without regard to his own convenience, and
  it was because Colonel Lumsden had proved himself both gallant and
  unselfish, that they desired to present him with the sword. If they
  had a fault to find with Colonel Lumsden, it was that he was too
  lenient with misdemeanants. They had frequently seen men marched
  before him and sternly interrogated regarding their sins. But the
  end of such interviews was generally a private conversation
  regarding old times in Assam, or elsewhere, and no punishment. The
  result was that the men swore by their Colonel, even those he had
  been compelled to send to ‘cells’—there was one of these, half rear,
  at the present moment loudly applauding all he was saying. Colonel
  Lumsden was not only their commanding officer, but a personal friend
  to each man, a combination which had led to the maintenance of an
  extraordinary degree of discipline. They were all proud of the corps
  they had the honour to belong to, but they were prouder, if
  possible, of the officer whose name the corps bore. The only fault
  they ever found with Colonel Lumsden was that he was too lenient
  with the men, and in the goodness of his heart refrained from meting
  out punishment where it was perhaps well deserved. However, it is
  not every delinquent who would regard that as a fault. The men
  regretted that time had not given them an opportunity of providing
  the sword for presentation that night, but it would come in the
  fulness of time. The Colonel’s health was then drunk with musical
  honours, the men shouting themselves hoarse.

[Illustration: Ceremonial Sword]

  Colonel Lumsden, in reply, said that this was truly and in every sense
  the proudest moment of his life. He had already had the pleasure of
  making a few speeches since the corps was raised, but he found it a
  difficult thing to hit on words to express at all adequately his
  appreciation of the eulogistic terms in which Sergeant Fraser, on
  behalf of his comrades, had referred to him. He always had the
  greatest confidence in his men and relied on their honour rather than
  on strict and rigid discipline for the execution of his orders. He
  knew his men thoroughly, and saw that they were prepared to play the
  game as it should be played, and he felt proud, as any officer must,
  of the men he commanded. The sword of honour proposed to be presented
  to him would be his most treasured possession—he would always be proud
  to refer to it and the happy associations it recalled. The past twelve
  months had been the happiest in his whole career, and nigh forty-eight
  summers had passed over his head. Turning to Sir Patrick Playfair’s
  remark, he said that he, too, would do his utmost to have the men
  without billets provided for. He was a believer in the great future in
  store for South Africa, and wished every success to those of the corps
  who had remained behind. He also said that Captain Petley had very
  kindly placed the ‘Koladyne’ at the disposal of those who had no
  friends to stay with in Calcutta, and that they only had to signify to
  Captain Petley, who had taken a deep interest in the corps, their wish
  to avail themselves of this kind offer. He would now say good-bye and
  God-speed with every good wish for their future welfare, requesting
  that, before breaking up camp, every man should promise to send his
  photo.

  The men were visibly touched by Colonel Lumsden’s speech, and, after
  cheering him over and over again, chaired him and all the officers,
  and Sergeant-Major Stephens, at great risk to those chaired.

The Sword of Honour, exquisitely wrought by Messrs. Hamilton & Co., of
Calcutta, and presented to Colonel Lumsden with such gratifying
evidences of good-will from those whom he had commanded, was of silver
with ring-mountings of gold, and bore upon its scabbard the following
inscription:

                           SOUTH AFRICA, 1900.

                               CAPE COLONY.

                            ORANGE FREE STATE.

                              JOHANNESBURG.

           PRESENTED TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL D.M. LUMSDEN, C.B.,
                BY THE N.C.O.S AND MEN OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE

 AS A TOKEN OF THEIR PERSONAL REGARD, AND AS A MARK OF THEIR APPRECIATION
              OF HIS HIGH QUALITIES AS A COMMANDING OFFICER.

-----

Footnote 14:

    Trooper Betts has since been awarded the D.C.M. for accompanying the
    Colonel on this occasion—to carry in Franks, who was mortally
    wounded.

-----




                               CHAPTER XX
       _A STIRRING SEQUEL—THE STORY OF THOSE WHO STAYED—MEMORIAL
                    TRIBUTES TO THOSE WHO HAVE GONE_


On January 4, 1901, just one year after they had assembled on the Maidan
full of high hopes and noble aspirations, these Indian Volunteers, who
had made for themselves a name that will long be honoured among British
soldiers, were disbanded. So the curtain fell on the war scene in which
the two hundred and fifty men known to history as Lumsden’s Horse played
their parts. They had been in the field ten months, marched from camp to
camp over 1,500 miles, fought in thirty-nine actions, lost seven men
killed in action, two from enteric, several at various times
incapacitated by wounds; they had left nearly sixty of their number in
South Africa, some as administrators, some in the Regular Army, and some
in the Police; they had brought back to Calcutta only four of the horses
with which they started, and had used up 750 remounts. They had been
twice mentioned in despatches by the Field-Marshal, and had been praised
by every General under whom they served. Out of a total of fifteen
officers, one, Colonel Lumsden, was decorated by Her Majesty Queen
Victoria with the C.B.; another, Major Chamney, received the C.M.G.; two
others, Captain Rutherfoord and Lieutenant Pugh, obtained the D.S.O. The
Adjutant and the two Regular officers who had commanded companies were
promoted a step, to the rank of Brevet-Major. Trooper J.A. Graham, whose
act of valour at Crocodile River has been recorded, received the
Distinguished Conduct Medal; similar decorations were awarded to
Corporal Percy Jones, Troopers P.C. Preston, H.N. Betts, W.E. Dexter,
and Regimental Sergeant-Major Marsham; while seven other N.C.O.s and
troopers were mentioned in despatches. It is a noteworthy fact that of
all those whose names were brought forward by Colonel Lumsden not one
failed to obtain recognition from the Commander-in-Chief, and only three
received less honourable distinctions than their Colonel thought they
were entitled to. All these things prove that nobody was recommended
except for meritorious services of which clear and conclusive evidence
could be given. All soldiers will appreciate what that means. And of
twenty-three who obtained commissions in the Regular Army and others
gazetted to Irregular corps, only two resigned subsequently. Colonel
Lumsden was exceptionally fortunate in securing this number of
commissions, and still more fortunate in selecting men worthy to retain
them. It must not be forgotten, however, that the majority of those
serving in the ranks of Lumsden’s Horse were Public School boys, some of
whom may have failed in their examinations for Sandhurst, and gone out
to fight their way in India as indigo, tea, and coffee planters, and
who, when the occasion arose, were just the right men to fill the
appointments they got. Their merits were recognised not only by our own
military authorities, but also by the enemy. One Boer told the Rev. J.H.
Siddons, of Great Berkhampstead, whose letter is quoted by permission,
that Lumsden’s Horse were ‘exceptionally good both at scouting and
shooting.’ The same authority also says that he had similar testimony to
their merits from a corporal of one of the Cavalry regiments. This is
not surprising, as Lumsden’s Horse and their comrades of the Line were
always on good terms, and had a mutual admiration for each other. In a
letter to the Colonel, Trooper D. Morison says:

  I am afraid I cannot help you much with my personal experiences and
  views. No doubt everyone who writes you on the subject will be full of
  praise and admiration for Mr. Thomas Atkins as we found him on the
  veldt. But I should like to record what a splendid chap he is. Whether
  Scotch, Irish, Welsh, or from any other part of the country, he is all
  the same when it comes to a tight corner.

[Illustration:

  _Photo: Davies Brothers, Johannesburg_
  MEMBERS OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE WHO JOINED THE JOHANNESBURG POLICE,
    DECEMBER 1900
]

Though the records of active service with Lumsden’s Horse as a body
closed when the corps left South Africa on December 6, 1900, many of its
members fought on in the Transvaal with the same undaunted spirit that
had quickened them and their comrades throughout, the same determination
to be true to their old regimental motto, and ‘Play the Game.’ The
following accounts of the affair at Benoni, in the Boksburg mining
district, give a good idea of the fighting qualities of the
Anglo-Indians who had won their spurs in Lumsden’s Horse:

  At the beginning of December 1900 many of the gallant little band had
  enrolled themselves under Major-General Baden-Powell in the South
  African Constabulary, others again in the Rand Mounted Rifles under
  Mr. Henry, erstwhile Inspector-General of Police, Bengal, whose
  companies were then holding entrenched positions at different portions
  of the Rand. The one at Benoni for the protection of cattle, refugees,
  and the mines was deemed an important duty, as the neighbourhood had
  been in a very disturbed state for months past, and from time to time
  had been visited by small parties of Boers. These were always put to
  flight by the ordinary mounted patrols. But on Boxing Day at 4 A.M.
  the alarm was given that a strong force of Boers was in the vicinity.
  Immediate defensive measures were taken, and when a party of 100 of
  the enemy rode up to the Post Office, they were accorded a greeting
  very different from the Christmas one of ‘Peace and goodwill.’ They
  scuttled, but later a second party engaged the right flank of the
  police post. A second time they were compelled to retire, but poor
  dear old Sergeant Walker (Lumsden’s Horse) was killed outright, a
  bullet entering his head in the region of the temple. He was the
  senior non-commissioned officer, and died bearing his responsibility
  nobly. The command then devolved on Sergeant ‘Tim’ Lockhart, also of
  Lumsden’s Horse, who displayed great dash and courage, exposing
  himself at the most dangerous points, and thus inspiring his men to
  avenge poor Walker. In the meanwhile the Boers took up a very strong
  position on the left front, from which they harassed the gallant
  little body of defenders. Finding that rifle-fire was ineffective, the
  Boers brought a pom-pom and a Maxim to bear on the position, and
  considerable damage was done to the head-gear machinery of the mine.
  Lieutenant Evans, in command of a detachment of the Railway Pioneer
  Regiment, finding he could not relieve the brave fellows, despatched
  Trooper Tooley to Boksburg for reinforcements. The Boers, however,
  true to their traditions, were now effecting a hurried retirement, and
  to prevent a surprise Sergeant Lockhart sent out patrols (Troopers
  Granville, Kelly, and Lloyd-Jones—all of Lumsden’s Horse). Lloyd-Jones
  came to grief, falling from his horse and breaking his wrist,
  otherwise the movement was eminently successful. The Boers were
  retiring in very good order, and succeeded in doing considerable
  damage to the New Kleinfontein and the New Chimes mines, held by
  Lieutenant Evans and twenty-three men. Sergeant Lockhart had, all
  told, eleven men, and two officers of the Intelligence Department and
  Mrs. Hunter, the wife of one of these gentlemen. The post consisted of
  twenty-three of all ranks, principally men of Lumsden’s Horse. Among
  them were ‘Tim Lockhart’—now blossomed into a Sergeant of Mounted
  Police—Walter Walker, Kelly, Arthur Nicholson, Jones, Harris,
  Bradford, Kearsey, Petersen, Grenville, and Tooley; the remainder
  being Railway Pioneer men. Their duty was to protect the mines from
  raids by Boer patrols, and it was in the head-gear of the mine
  workings that the defenders ensconced themselves when the attack was
  made.

  Pom-pom, Maxim, and the rifle-fire of 300 Boers under Viljoen and
  Erasmus played merrily on them from 4.20 A.M. till afternoon, the
  pom-pom shells playing havoc with the wood and iron work of the
  head-gear, but without hurting anybody.

[Illustration: A. NICHOLSON]

  It has been definitely ascertained that the Boers were 400 strong, and
  possessed a pom-pom and Maxim gun. Trooper Harris (Lumsden’s Horse)
  was responsible for the work of ‘entrenching the position,’ and his
  comrades testify to the creditable manner in which he executed his
  duty. Of the 1,400 head of cattle in the British laager, not a single
  one was taken. Viljoen was in command of the Boers.

  Poor Walker lies in the Johannesburg cemetery. He was accorded a
  military funeral that was attended very largely.

  The reinforcements under Lieutenant Wynyard Battye (a cousin of the
  Indian fighting Battyes) came up too late to render any immediate aid,
  but they pursued the retreating Boers as far as Springs.

  Between 2 and 3 in the afternoon relief came, but not until
  300,000_l._ worth of damage had been done to machinery and buildings
  near. The telegram given below speaks for itself, and it is pleasant
  reading that those of our fellows who stayed behind are continuing to
  play the game so well.

                               _Telegram_

  To Officer Commanding Police, Boksburg, from Lord Kitchener, dated
  December 28, 1900.

  ‘Commander-in-Chief has heard with much pleasure of the successful
  defence of their post by the Police at Benoni against an attack by
  greatly superior numbers. He considers their gallant conduct does all
  ranks of their garrison the greatest credit. He much regrets the loss
  of their sergeant.’

  This telegram, with flattering endorsements by the Military Secretary
  to the Commander-in-Chief and the Military Governor of Johannesburg,
  was ordered to be read to the men.

Another and fuller version is given in a letter to Colonel Lumsden by
Trooper D. Morison, who writes:

  Just to show how the reputation of the corps is being kept up and
  added to by those who remained in South Africa, I enclose an extract
  from a letter received a short while ago from Sergeant Renny, now
  serving in the Johannesburg M.M. Police. It gives an account of the
  heroic death of Sergeant Walker at Benoni last Boxing Day. Renny says:
  ‘On December 5, after a fortnight’s stay in Johannesburg, we were sent
  off in two parties to take up police duties. One company, consisting
  of nine men and Sergeant Walker, was sent to this place (Benoni), the
  other party going to Brakpan coal-mines, half-way between Boksburg and
  Springs. When we first came here there were four men of the Railway
  Pioneer Rifles, together with whom we formed the garrison. We are in
  charge of 1,300 head of cattle and sheep. We send out patrols every
  day and mount three guards every night. Our three guards are posted
  round the enclosure where the cattle are kept at night—one about 150
  yards in front, one in an empty dynamite magazine about 250 yards in
  rear, and the third one is posted near where we sleep. We live in a
  corrugated iron room on the top of a gold dump, half-way up to
  heaven—that is, about 30 feet from the ground. A verandah runs round
  it which we have fortified with sandbags. We have also dug trenches
  all round the room, as a big body of Boers is reported to be in laager
  twenty miles from us—the same commando that paid us so much attention
  on French’s famous march. We had hardly settled down here before the
  Boers paid us a visit. On December 10 I was on guard with a Railway
  Pioneer Regiment man, and at 11.30 I suddenly heard the sound of
  whips, as if cattle were being driven out of the kraal. I immediately
  fired two shots in rapid succession. This had the desired effect of
  hurrying the Boers out of the kraal and at the same time of warning
  the other men. There was a small moon up and we could just distinguish
  a dark body of men. At this we fired as fast as we could load, and had
  the satisfaction of completely surprising the Boers, several of whom
  we hit. They had got all the cattle out of the kraal, but were in such
  a hurry to get away that they left these all behind. They exchanged a
  few shots when at a safe distance. But where their bullets went none
  of us know, as none came in our direction. After this they left us in
  peace till December 26.

[Illustration: G.D. NICOLAY]

  Reinforced after the first attack, we mustered twenty-seven guns on
  the morning of the 26th, a day never to be forgotten by the little
  garrison at Benoni. The Boers attacked us at 4.30 A.M. in large force,
  numbering over three hundred men, with two pom-poms and a Maxim. Those
  not on guard were in bed, when Tooley, who was outside the room,
  shouted that the Boers were on us. We rushed out as quickly as we
  could, and had just time to get into the trenches before a body of
  about fifty Boers charged down upon us in regular cavalry fashion. We
  waited till they were within 200 yards and then we gave them a volley
  which cooled their ardour a bit and sent them back in hot haste with a
  few of their saddles emptied. They then took up positions on mounds
  right round us and began to pour in a hot rifle-fire from ranges
  varying from 200 to 800 yards, using rifles of every description, even
  fowling pieces, as we heard several charges of buckshot scatter over
  us. Poor Walker, whom we all liked, exposed himself, and was shot
  immediately. We returned their fire as well as we could, bowling over
  a good few, both horses and men. We exchanged rifle shots till 9 A.M.,
  when, finding that they could not dislodge us, they brought their
  pom-poms and Maxim up, and for half an hour gave us as lively a time
  as we have ever had. Our room was riddled from top to bottom, any kit
  hanging on the walls being perforated. The noise of the shells going
  through the corrugated iron was most terrific and made us feel pretty
  queer. We had to lie low in our trenches, expecting shells to drop
  into the middle of us at any moment. The Boers crept closer under
  cover of the pom-poms, but luckily for us the supply of pom-pom
  ammunition gave out. Then rifle-fire recommenced and we soon drove
  them back to their original positions. They had fired whole belts of
  shells at us at a time. So you can imagine the lively time we had.
  Rifle-fire was kept up till 2 P.M., when the Boers decamped on seeing
  reinforcements arriving from Johannesburg and Boksburg. They burnt two
  mines and several dwelling-houses and looted the stores before they
  cleared out. We have had great praise for holding out so long—4.30
  A.M. to 2 P.M.—and have received congratulatory telegrams from Lord
  Kitchener, Sir Alfred Milner, Colonel McKenzie, Governor of
  Johannesburg, and Colonel Davies, Military Commandant of Johannesburg.
  The Boers were led by Ben Viljoen, Hans Botha, and Erasmus.’ The names
  of men with Rennie were Nicholson, Kelly, G.D. Nicolay, Jones,
  Petersen, late of A Company; Harris, Grenville, Bradford, Kearsey,
  late of Transport; Tooley, of Loch’s horse.

Mr. E.R. Henry, lately commanding the Rand Mounted Rifles, writes thus
to Sir P. Playfair, C.I.E.:

                                   New Scotland Yard: July 31, 1901.

  DEAR PLAYFAIR,—You asked me last night to note down briefly some
  details of the attack on the Chimes West mine. Here are the facts as
  well as I remember them.

  We had a Police post at this mine on the Rand about nine miles from
  Boksburg, a place you will find on all maps. Our force consisted of
  sixteen Railway Pioneer Regiment and nine Lumsden’s Horse, the latter
  under Sergeant Walker.

  On the morning of December 26 this small force—which, by-the-by, was
  located in what I may term the first floor of the head-gear of the
  Chimes West mine—was attacked by 300 Boers, who had with them two
  pom-poms.

[Illustration: H. KELLY]

  The Boers fired volleys, and a good many pom-pom shells went through
  the quarters occupied by Lumsden’s Horse. I saw dozens of shell-holes,
  not only through the iron sheets which formed the walls of their
  quarters, but also through the great wooden beams or baulks of a foot
  or more in diameter. From one of the earliest of these volleys
  Sergeant Walker was killed as he was kneeling behind a sandbag.

  Our men were under fire for several hours, and, seeing that we were so
  greatly outnumbered, Tolley volunteered to ride through the Boers into
  Boksburg, a distance of nine miles, and did so—a gallant feat. Kelly,
  Grenville, and Jones volunteered to make a dash for a tailings or
  dump-heap, so as to enfilade the Boers. Kelly and Grenville got home,
  Jones’s horse fell, and he fractured his arm and lay there. Kelly and
  Grenville did excellent work from the tailings heap, and made it so
  uncomfortable for the Boers that they had to shift their position. I
  was there next day and met General Barton on the ground. On receipt of
  his report the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Kitchener, wired us the
  following message: ‘Congratulate Police on gallant defence Benoni.
  Deplore loss of their sergeant.’ Lord Kitchener is temperate in
  praise, so I take it his commendation meant much. I understand that
  three of the men whose names I have given above have been since
  mentioned in despatches on account of their behaviour on December 26.

  E.I. Lockhart, of Lumsden’s Horse, became senior sergeant on Walker’s
  death, and is a gallant old fellow. He is much younger than I, but
  everyone dubs him old. He behaved very well. His name should be
  mentioned in any account of this particular incident.

  Our men saved the Chimes West mine. What this means you can infer from
  what the Boers did to the Modderfontein mine, close by, which our men
  could not defend. In less than half an hour the Boers did damage
  estimated at from 250,000_l._ to 300,000_l._

  We buried poor Walker on December 27 at Boksburg, and a memorial has
  been subscribed for.

  I hope this gives you the data you require.

                                                      Yours,

                                                         E.R. HENRY.

  List of Lumsden’s Horse who joined the Johannesburg Police in December
  1900:

                              A COMPANY.

  No. 63, Sergeant W.L. Walker     │No.  4, Trooper  I.A. Irwin
   ”  88, Trooper  B.R. Lloyd-Jones│ ”  55,    ”     G.D. Nicolay
   ”  83,    ”     I.G. Petersen   │ ”  10,    ”     A.J.H. Nicholson
   ”  72,    ”     L.H. Bell       │ ”  11,    ”     H.R. Kelly
   ”  29,    ”     F.W.C. Lawrie   │ ”  97,    ”     J.D.W. Holmes
   ”  30,    ”     A.H. Buskin     │ ”  60,    ”     K. Boileau
   ” 274,  Driver  L.H. Bradford   │ ” 272,  Driver  W.E. Harris
   ” 254,    ”     R.A. Grenville  │ ” 270,    ”     P.W. Anderson

                              B COMPANY.

  Sergeant Lockhart                │Trooper Smith
  Lance-Sergeant Goodliffe         │  ”    Walton
  Corporal Campbell                │Driver  Fitzgerald
  Trooper Renny

[Illustration: K. BOILEAU]

Well may the names of men who fought that good fight at Benoni be
enrolled with honour in the records of Lumsden’s Horse; and proud indeed
must be the Colonel, who, commanding such a corps through all the
vicissitudes of an arduous campaign, won the affectionate respect of all
ranks serving under him. To this the officers have testified by
combining to present him with a silver statuette that will be a
gratifying memento to place beside the sword of honour given by his
troopers.

[Illustration:

  SILVER STATUETTE OF COLONEL LUMSDEN
  _Manufactured by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths’ Company, Limited,
    112 Regent Street, London_
]

A history of Lumsden’s Horse would be incomplete were the names of those
noble sisters, the Misses Keyser, omitted. They nursed and looked after
several officers of the corps who were invalided home, and on this
account Colonel Lumsden thinks a tribute of admiration and an expression
of grateful thanks are due to them. Miss Keyser and her sister Miss
Agnes (Sister Agnes) have, since the commencement of the war, devoted
their house, their money, and their time to nursing officers invalided
home from wounds and sickness, and are still continuing their noble
work. Their contribution to the War Fund has been one of which the
nation may feel justly proud. King Edward’s Convalescent Home, which
their house is now styled, has been indeed ‘sweet home’—a place of rest
and unalloyed comfort—to over 300 officers who have been invalided from
South Africa, and the self-sacrifice of ladies whose days have been
devoted to the alleviation of suffering will be gratefully appreciated
by all those who have received kind treatment at their hands, and by the
British public.

Colonel Lumsden, on his return to London, applied to get pay for his men
raised to the Colonial standard of 5_s._ per diem, but was told by Lord
George Hamilton that as Indian taxpayers would not be asked to
contribute to the cost either of the war in South Africa or of the war
in China, it would be quite impossible to make up the difference between
the British standard of pay and the Colonial standard. The Cape Colony
and Natal Governments had, in special cases, defrayed the difference out
of their own exchequers.

On applying to the Secretary of State for War, the Colonel was informed
by Mr. Brodrick that, were his request granted, the whole of the
Yeomanry who went out in 1900 would be entitled to a similar increase,
and therefore he could not assist. Colonel Lumsden, in explanation, said
the request had not been made by any of the men themselves, but by him
on their account, and, although a sense of duty to them had impelled him
to make this claim, he considered that they would be all the prouder for
having served their country on 1_s._ 2_d._ a day.

For nearly eighteen months after the disbandment of the corps its former
Colonel gave up his time to details connected with it. In the event of
another Volunteer contingent being despatched from India, it is doubtful
whether anyone of Colonel Lumsden’s position and resources would take
such an interest in the force or would have the time to give to work
that might be more properly undertaken by the War Office.

Colonel Lumsden endeavoured successfully to get employment for those of
his troopers who had given up lucrative engagements to join the corps.
There were certain men who could not obtain their former appointments,
and their old commandant devoted his time and attention to further their
interests. He found that, however willing the Government of India and
the Government of Bengal were to find employment for these men in
Government service as some recognition of what they had done for the
Empire while serving with Lumsden’s Horse, neither the Viceroy nor the
Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal had appointments at his disposal owing to
the system of competitive examination for all posts under their
administration. Therefore Colonel Lumsden was greatly indebted to
merchants, tea proprietors, and others for the help they gave him in
obtaining situations for certain of his men. The fact that no
appointments are reserved for the benefit of soldiers or sailors who
have served their country well is a blot on the competitive system both
in India and in England. It may prove to be a serious discouragement to
the desire for volunteering in future emergencies.

Very few, even among Colonel Lumsden’s most intimate friends and old
comrades, know that after all his hard work he went out to India again
in the first week of December 1901 with instructions from the War Office
to raise another corps of Indian Volunteers for service in South Africa,
provided sufficient numbers of the right class of men were available. On
arrival in Calcutta, and after consultation with His Excellency the
Viceroy, Colonel Lumsden wrote to Officers Commanding the different
Volunteer corps from whose ranks most of his previous contingent had
been recruited. Their replies showed, however, that the three great
industries, indigo, tea, and coffee, were not in a position to bear
another strain so soon. The Colonel’s sporting offer therefore came to
nothing. His efforts, however, were appreciated both by the Secretary of
State for War and by the Commander-in-Chief, and duly recognised in a
letter of thanks from the Adjutant-General.

Colonel Lumsden and Sir Patrick Playfair have hardly yet finished their
labours in connection with the corps, of which all accounts have been
carefully audited by Messrs. Lovelock & Lewes, the actuaries in
Calcutta, and have been balanced to a point showing the expenditure in
India to equip the corps, the remittances made to South Africa for
urgent requirements, all disbursements in connection with the
disbandment of the corps, and the balance that remains. These
accounts[15] may be valuable in the future as guides to the probable
expenditure in similar cases, and they are interesting now as proving
the accuracy of calculations made at the outset, whereby the cost of
equipping and maintaining such a force in the field for twelve months
was estimated at 1,000 rupees per man, exclusive of gifts in kind. In
dealing with accounts previous to disbandment of the corps, much
valuable assistance was given by Major Ramsden, Controller of Military
Accounts, Bengal; but for the completeness and accuracy of pay-sheets
and other regimental documents, great credit is due to Mr. Fraser, of
the Bank of Bengal, and to his assistant paymaster, Mr. Graves, of the
same bank, both of whom did hard clerical work under difficulties in the
office without neglecting their duties as soldiers. After all expenses
are paid, there will probably be a balance of twenty or thirty thousand
rupees in hand. Colonel Lumsden has suggested that it cannot be devoted
to a better purpose than as a subsidy towards the maintenance of a
paying ward for sick or disabled Volunteers in the New General Hospital
in Calcutta. The general wish is that this should henceforth be known as
the Lumsden’s Horse Ward in commemoration of men who did good service to
their country at some personal sacrifice.

To the memory of those who fell in battle or passed through the portals
of sickness to infinite peace in the midst of war Lord Curzon has paid
tribute by the erection of a handsome mural tablet in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, Calcutta. That monument was unveiled by the Viceroy on March
23, 1902, after Evensong, when a specially appropriate service was
arranged by Canon Luckman. Members of the Corps were invited to assemble
in full dress at the south transept door of St. Paul’s Cathedral at 6.15
o’clock that Sunday evening. They entered the Cathedral and passed in
procession, following the choir and clergy, to seats provided for them
in the aisle.

At the conclusion of the service His Excellency the Viceroy, Honorary
Colonel of Lumsden’s Horse, unveiled the brass tablet he had personally
presented to the Cathedral in memory of those members of the corps who
died in South Africa. The tablet had been placed on the south wall of
the entrance to the chancel, in front of the statue to Bishop Heber.
After the singing of the Offertory hymn the procession was formed in the
following order:

                               The Choir.
                              The Clergy.
                      His Excellency the Viceroy.
                                 Staff.
              The Executive Committee of Lumsden’s Horse.
                    Lieutenant-Colonel Lumsden, C.B.
                      Members of Lumsden’s Horse.

The troopers then formed up in front of and facing the tablet. His
Excellency took up a position in front of the tablet; Lieutenant-Colonel
Lumsden standing at the Viceroy’s left, and the Executive Committee and
Staff to the right of His Excellency, while Canon Luckman offered up the
prayers. His Excellency then unveiled the tablet. The choir sang the
hymn ‘Fight the good fight,’ and the Blessing was pronounced by the
Venerable the Archdeacon, Bishop’s Commissary in charge of the diocese.

That tribute to the honoured memory of gallant comrades was the last
scene in which Lumsden’s Horse were to take part. Thenceforth they could
lay aside the frayed and war-stained khaki and say, ‘I have done my
duty.’ To the living as to the dead Lord Curzon’s eloquent words, with
one slight change, apply:

                 Those sons of Britain in the East
                   Fought not for praise or fame;
                 They served for England, and the least
                   Made greater her great name.

[Illustration:

  TABLET IN ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, CALCUTTA
  (_From a photograph by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd_)
]

-----

Footnote 15:

  Appendix X.

                               APPENDICES



                               APPENDIX I
             _ROLL OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE, INCLUDING TRANSPORT_

 ┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────┬────────────────────────┐
 │Rank              │Name                    │Occupation and Address  │
 ├──────────────────┼────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
 │                  │        OFFICERS        │                        │
 │Lieut.-Colonel    │Dugald Mactavish Lumsden│Gentleman, Oriental     │
 │                  │  (Commandant)          │  Club, Hanover         │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                  │                        │     Square, London     │
 │Major             │Eden C. Showers         │Tea Planter, Surma      │
 │                  │                        │  Valley                │
 │Captain           │Neville C. Taylor       │14th Bengal Lancers,    │
 │                  │  (Adjutant)            │  Allahabad             │
 │        ”         │James Hugh Brownlow     │3rd Sikhs               │
 │                  │  Beresford             │                        │
 │        ”         │John Brownley           │Indigo Planter, Behar   │
 │                  │  Rutherfoord           │                        │
 │        ”         │Louis Hemington Noblett │Royal Irish Rifles,     │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Henry Chamney[A]        │Tea Planter, Surma      │
 │                  │                        │  Valley                │
 │        ”         │Frank Clifford          │Coffee Planter, Mysore  │
 │        ”         │Samuel Arthur Powell    │Medical Officer, Cachar │
 │        ”         │Bernard Willoughby      │Medical Officer, E.I.   │
 │                  │  Holmes                │  Railway               │
 │Veterinary Captain│William Stevenson       │Veterinary Surgeon,     │
 │                  │                        │  Rangoon               │
 │Lieutenant        │George Augustus Neville │Tea Planter, Assam      │
 │        ”         │Charles Edward Crane    │Indigo Planter, Behar   │
 │        ”         │Charles Lyon Sidey[A]   │Tea Planter, Assam      │
 │        ”         │Herbert Owain Pugh      │Jute Broker, Calcutta   │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                  │       A COMPANY        │                        │
 │                  │     NO. 1 SECTION      │                        │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Company           │James Brennan[A]        │York and Lancaster      │
 │  Quartermaster-  │                        │  Regiment, Agra        │
 │        Sergeant  │                        │                        │
 │Farrier-Sergeant  │William Marshall        │54th Battery, R.F.A.,   │
 │                  │                        │  Meerut                │
 │Sergeant          │Herbert James Fox       │Assistant Manager,      │
 │                  │                        │  Dumraon Raj, Shahabad │
 │                  │                        │  District              │
 │Corporal          │Percy Jones             │Indigo Planter, Benipore│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Sakri,       │
 │                  │                        │  Durbunga              │
 │        ”         │Herbert Wheeler Marsham │Indigo Planter, Motihari│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Motihari,    │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │Lance-Corporal    │Hugh F. Blair           │Indigo Planter, Lalouria│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Bettiah,     │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │Trooper           │John Alexander Irwin    │Indigo Planter, Dhroomra│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore,│
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot District      │
 │        ”         │Arthur John Hampton     │Indigo Planter, Thurma  │
 │                  │  Nicholson             │  Concern, Sitamari,    │
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot District      │
 │        ”         │Hector Rupert Kelly     │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Bhagulpore            │
 │        ”         │Leonard Kars Zorab      │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Bhagulpore            │
 │        ”         │John Stewart Campbell   │Indigo Planter, Sunyat  │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore,│
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot District      │
 │        ”         │Claud Leonard Bell      │Indigo Planter, Sunyat  │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore,│
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot District      │
 │        ”         │John Alexander Brown    │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Jeetwarpore Concern,  │
 │                  │                        │  Durbunga              │
 │        ”         │George Maxwell Smith    │Indigo Planter, Begum   │
 │                  │                        │  Sarai Concern,        │
 │                  │                        │  Durbunga              │
 │        ”         │Charles Reginald        │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │  Macdonald             │  Dowlutpore Concern,   │
 │                  │                        │  Durbunga              │
 │        ”         │George Patrick Osborn   │Indigo Planter, Singhea │
 │                  │  Springfield           │  Concern, Hajipore,    │
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot               │
 │        ”         │John Alexander Fraser   │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │        ”         │D.C. Percy Smith        │Assistant Superintendent│
 │                  │                        │  of Police, Dinapore   │
 │        ”         │E. Harry Gough          │Indigo Planter, Suddowat│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Sewan, Saran │
 │        ”         │Robert G. Collins       │Indigo Planter, Singhea │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Hajipore,    │
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot               │
 │        ”         │Bruce Macgregor Allan   │Indigo Planter, Begum   │
 │                  │                        │  Sarai Concern,        │
 │                  │                        │  Durbunga              │
 │        ”         │John Henry              │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Turcouleah Concern,   │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │        ”         │Osborne Aldis           │Indigo Planter, Dulsing │
 │                  │                        │  Sarai, Durbunga       │
 │        ”         │Henry George Newton     │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Jaintpore Concern,    │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore          │
 │        ”         │Robert Pheydell Haines  │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Mortipore Concern,    │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore          │
 │        ”         │Frederick William       │Indigo Planter, Kahunia │
 │                  │  Charles Lawrie        │  Concern, Gorukhpore   │
 │        ”         │Allan Henry Buskin      │Indigo Planter, Dooriah │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                           NO. 2 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Regimental        │Cyril Montagu Charles   │Indigo Planter, Serryah │
 │  Sergt.-Major    │  Marsham               │  Concern, Mozufferpore │
 │Sergeant          │Francis Stewart         │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │  McNamara[A]           │  Burhoulie Concern,    │
 │                  │                        │  Sewan, Saran          │
 │Corporal          │George Elliott Pollnitz │Indigo Planter, Burhoga │
 │                  │  Llewhellin            │  Concern, Saran        │
 │Signr.            │William Lee             │York and Lancaster      │
 │  Lance-Corporal  │                        │  Regiment, Agra        │
 │Lance-Corporal    │Arthur Helme Firth      │Indigo Planter, Kanti   │
 │                  │                        │  Cour Concern,         │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │        ”         │Angus Macgillivray      │Indigo Planter, Sohazra │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Sewan, Saran │
 │Saddler           │Richard James Lance     │3rd (K.O.) Hussars,     │
 │                  │                        │  Lucknow               │
 │Trooper           │R.J. Clayton Daubney    │Indigo Planter, Belsund │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Durbunga     │
 │        ”         │Selwyn Long-Innes       │Indigo Planter, Peeprah │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Motihari,    │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │        ”         │Howard Herbert Julian   │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │  Hickley[A]            │  Bhicanpore Concern,   │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │        ”         │Leslie Gwatkin Williams │Indigo Planter, Rajkund │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore,│
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot               │
 │        ”         │Burton Disney           │Indigo Planter, Peeprah │
 │                  │  Rutherfoord[A]        │  Concern,  Motihari,   │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │        ”         │Charles Bertram H.      │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │  Mansfield             │  Ramcollah Concern,    │
 │                  │                        │  Saran                 │
 │        ”         │Philip Stanley          │Indigo Planter, Bhamoo  │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Saran, Chupra│
 │        ”         │Harry C. Lumsden        │Indigo Planter, Chuckhea│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Sewan, Saran │
 │        ”         │Norman James Vaughan    │Indigo Planter, Moniarah│
 │                  │  Reid                  │  Concern, Gopalgunje,  │
 │                  │                        │  Saran                 │
 │        ”         │Spencer Cochrane Gordon │Indigo Planter, Matihari│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Motihari,    │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │        ”         │Christie West Fletcher  │Indigo Planter, Dholi   │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore,│
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot               │
 │        ”         │William Gordon Watson   │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │        ”         │George Innes Watson     │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Chitwarrah Concern,   │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │        ”         │Reginald N. Macdonald   │Indigo Planter, Jogapore│
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Sewan, Saran │
 │        ”         │Percy Strahan           │Indigo Planter, Dulsing │
 │                  │                        │  Sarai Concern,        │
 │                  │                        │  Durbunga              │
 │        ”         │John Pringle Kennedy    │Indigo Planter, Munjoul │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Monghyr      │
 │        ”         │Gilbert Denis Nicolay   │Indigo Planter, Durbunga│
 │        ”         │Cecil W. John           │Indigo Planter, Peeprah │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Motihari,    │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │        ”         │Cyril Darcy Vivian      │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │  Cary-Barnard          │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │        ”         │R. Upton Case           │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Chumparan             │
 │        ”         │Julian Victor Jameson   │Indigo Planter, Ottur   │
 │                  │                        │  Concern, Mozufferpore,│
 │                  │                        │  Tirhoot               │
 │        ”         │Knyvett Boileau         │Indigo Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Chitwarrah Concern,   │
 │                  │                        │  Mozufferpore, Tirhoot │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                           NO. 3 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Sergeant          │Walter Larkins Walker   │Tea Planter, Doom Dooma │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Assam           │
 │Vety.             │James Lee Stewart       │Coffee Planter, Thollol │
 │  Lance-Sergeant  │                        │  Coffee Estate, Beber, │
 │                  │                        │  Mysore                │
 │Paymaster-Sergeant│David Stewart Fraser    │Assistant, Bank of      │
 │                  │                        │  Bengal, Agra          │
 │Lance-Sergeant    │James Stemhurst Elliott │Tea Planter, Assam      │
 │                  │                        │  Company, Towkok       │
 │                  │                        │  Nazira, Assam         │
 │Lance-Corporal    │Arthur Collier Walker   │Tea Planter, Doom Dooma │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Assam           │
 │        ”         │Denis J. Keating        │Assistant, Calcutta Port│
 │                  │                        │  Trust                 │
 │Signaller         │Arthur Thomas Hayward   │3rd Hussars, Lucknow    │
 │Trooper           │George E. Kenny         │Tea Planter, Doom Dooma │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Assam           │
 │        ”         │Arthur Leigh Godden[A]  │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Kilburn & Co.,        │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Edward Nugent Bankes    │Tea Planter, Majuli Tea │
 │                  │                        │  Co., Ltd., Behali,    │
 │                  │                        │  Darrang, Assam        │
 │        ”         │Henry Cecil Charleton   │Tea Planter, Darjeeling │
 │                  │  Bennett               │                        │
 │        ”         │Arnold Daniell Radford  │Gentleman, Rose Cottage,│
 │                  │                        │  Sonada, Darjeeling    │
 │        ”         │Arthur Noel Woods       │Tea Planter, Surmah     │
 │                  │                        │  Valley T.E., South    │
 │                  │                        │  Sylhet                │
 │        ”         │Lionel Hugh Bell        │Tea Planter, Badlipar,  │
 │                  │                        │  Sibsagar              │
 │        ”         │Arthur Henry Luard[A]   │Tea Planter, Kingsley   │
 │                  │                        │  Golaghat Tea Co.,     │
 │                  │                        │  Jorhat, Assam         │
 │        ”         │Clarence A. Walton      │Tea Planter, Badlipar,  │
 │                  │                        │  Golaghat, Assam       │
 │        ”         │Hugh Stanley Cheshire   │Engineer, Assam-Bengal  │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Hathikhola   │
 │        ”         │Bertie Edward Jones     │Tea Planter, Singh Tea  │
 │                  │                        │  Co., Jaboka, Sibsagar │
 │        ”         │Herbert Pearce Brown    │Tea Planter, Khonjea    │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Rajmai, Sibsagar│
 │        ”         │Charles Edward Stuart   │Tea Planter, Assam      │
 │        ”         │John W.A. Skelton       │Tea Planter, Salonah Tea│
 │                  │                        │  Co., Ltd., Nowgong,   │
 │                  │                        │  Assam                 │
 │        ”         │Rupert Henry Mackenzie  │Tea Planter, Hattigor   │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Mungledai, Assam│
 │        ”         │Edward Bayley Hadden    │Tea Planter,            │
 │                  │  Parkes                │  Doolapudung, Assam    │
 │        ”         │Johan Gottfried Petersen│Assistant, R.S.N. Co.,  │
 │                  │                        │  Ltd., Garden Reach,   │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │John Stratford Saunders │Tea Planter, Jorhat Tea │
 │                  │                        │  Co., Ltd., Nimaligarh,│
 │                  │                        │  Sibsagar              │
 │        ”         │John Francis Hughes     │Tea Planter, Amalgamated│
 │                  │                        │  Tea Estate, Dibrugarh,│
 │                  │                        │  Assam                 │
 │        ”         │Frank Tancred           │Gentleman, Lahore       │
 │        ”         │Bertie Rhys Lloyd Jones │Survey Department,      │
 │                  │                        │  Lahore                │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                           NO. 4 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Company           │Edgar Hall Mansfield    │Assistant Examiner,     │
 │  Sergeant-Major  │                        │  Milty. Accts. Dept.,  │
 │                  │                        │  Punjab Command, Lahore│
 │Sergeant          │Robert Septimus Stowell │Brewer, Messrs. Meakin &│
 │                  │                        │  Co., Kirkee           │
 │Corporal          │George Lawrie           │Photographer, Lucknow   │
 │Lance-Corporal    │William Solomon Lemon   │Travelling Agent,       │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Edward James Ballard    │Planter, Peshawar       │
 │Trooper           │Charles Frederick Hayes │Clerk, Calcutta         │
 │        ”         │Ernest Phillip Sanders  │Travelling Agent,       │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Ernest Stanley Clifford │Gentleman, Delhi        │
 │        ”         │John David William      │                        │
 │                  │  Holmes                │                        │
 │        ”         │Harry Warren Puckridge  │Bangalore               │
 │        ”         │Arthur Edward           │Inspector of Police     │
 │                  │  Consterdine           │                        │
 │        ”         │Donald Robert Graham    │Planter, Palumpur       │
 │                  │  Glascock              │                        │
 │        ”         │Frederick Charles Warren│                        │
 │                  │  Mercer                │                        │
 │        ”         │John Haviland Sperrin   │                        │
 │                  │  Richardson            │                        │
 │        ”         │Isambard Clarke Webbe   │                        │
 │        ”         │Frederick Maurice       │Extra Assist.           │
 │                  │  Clifford              │  Commissioner, Delhi   │
 │        ”         │James Sydney Cowen      │Agent to the Amir of    │
 │                  │                        │  Afghanistan, Peshawar │
 │        ”         │Hubert Noel Shaw        │Planter, Palumpur       │
 │        ”         │Wilfred Herbert Holme   │Planter, Palumpur       │
 │        ”         │Arthur Patrick Courtenay│Gentleman, Umballa      │
 │        ”         │Charles Henry Mortimer  │Gentleman, Kalka        │
 │                  │  Johnstone             │                        │
 │        ”         │Charles Hilliard Donald │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Spedding & Co.,       │
 │                  │                        │  Kashmir               │
 │        ”         │Hugh Stopford Northcote │Plague Department,      │
 │                  │  Wright                │  Secunderabad, Deccan  │
 │        ”         │Frank Graham Bateman    │Planter, Mysore         │
 │        ”         │Frederick Wilford Wright│Assistant, N.G.S.       │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Secunderabad │
 │        ”         │Alexander Atkinson      │Gentleman, Lahore       │
 │        ”         │John Daly Lecky Arathoon│Assistant, Alliance Bank│
 │                  │                        │  of Simla, Calcutta    │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                        MAXIM-GUN DETACHMENT                        │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Sergeant          │Ephraim Robert Dale     │Contractor, Jubbulpore, │
 │                  │                        │  C.P.                  │
 │Trooper           │Patrick Terence Corbett │Loco. Dept., E.I.       │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Jamalpore    │
 │        ”         │Ivan Victor G. Dowd     │Loco. Dept., E.I.       │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Jamalpore    │
 │        ”         │Noel Jocelyn Bolst      │Loco. Dept., E.I.       │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Asansol      │
 │        ”         │Charles Vivian Scott    │Loco. Dept., E.I.       │
 │                  │  Dickens               │  Railway Jamalpore     │
 │        ”         │John Joseph Booth[A]    │Traffic Dept., E.I.     │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Howrah       │
 │                  │                        │  (formerly Royal       │
 │                  │                        │  Artillery)            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                             B COMPANY                              │
 │                           NO. 1 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Sergeant          │Gerald Edward Pierson   │Tea Planter, Tarapore   │
 │                  │  Thesiger              │  Tea Co., Cachar       │
 │Corporal          │William Townsend Smith  │Tea Planter, Tarapore   │
 │                  │                        │  Tea Co., Cachar       │
 │        ”         │Edward A. Chartres      │Doctor, Ballacherra     │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │Lance-Corporal    │John Maclaine           │Tea Planter, Hatticherra│
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │Bugler            │Hugh Kirkwood F.A.H.    │Custom House Officer,   │
 │                  │  Dawson                │  Calcutta              │
 │Trooper           │Charles Alexander Forbes│Tea Planter, Vernerpore │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Hailakandi,     │
 │                  │                        │  Cachar                │
 │        ”         │Cecil Wilfred Spicer    │Tea Planter, Alyne T.E.,│
 │                  │                        │  Lukipore, Cachar      │
 │        ”         │William Reid            │Tea Planter, Chargola   │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Sylhet          │
 │        ”         │William Edward Clifford │Tea Planter, Pathemara  │
 │                  │  Johnson               │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │        ”         │Ian George Sinclair     │Tea Planter, Kalline    │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │        ”         │Walter Reginald Winder  │Tea Planter, Bhuberighat│
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Sylhet          │
 │        ”         │Archibald William       │Tea Planter, Coombirgram│
 │                  │  Harrison              │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │        ”         │James Henry Archibald   │Tea Planter,            │
 │                  │  Burn-Murdoch          │  Dullabcherra T.E.,    │
 │                  │                        │  Sylhet                │
 │        ”         │Ernest Adair Thelwall   │Tea Planter, Lungla Tea │
 │                  │                        │  Co., Sylhet           │
 │        ”         │Stanley Ducat           │Tea Planter, Chargola   │
 │                  │                        │  Tea Co., Sylhet       │
 │        ”         │James Whyte Stevenson[A]│Tea Planter, Hattikhira │
 │                  │                        │  T.E.,Sylhet           │
 │        ”         │Arthur Philip Woollright│Medical Officer, Assam  │
 │                  │                        │  Bengal Railway        │
 │        ”         │Frederick Vivian Clerk  │Engineer, Assam-Bengal  │
 │                  │                        │  Railway               │
 │        ”         │Richard Tait Innes      │Tea Planter, Chandypore │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Hailakandi,     │
 │                  │                        │  Cachar                │
 │        ”         │Arthur Ruthven Thornton │Journalist, Calcutta    │
 │        ”         │Malcolm Hunter Logan    │Engineer, Assam-Bengal  │
 │                  │                        │  Railway               │
 │        ”         │Robert Brooke Lungley   │Tea Planter, Deundi     │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., South Sylhet    │
 │        ”         │Herbert Wallace Thelwall│Tea Planter, Dooars     │
 │        ”         │Edmond Stewart Chapman  │Tea Planter, Rema T.E., │
 │                  │                        │  South Sylhet          │
 │        ”         │Rawdon Graham Hunter    │Tea Planter, Ballacherra│
 │                  │                        │   T.E., Cachar         │
 │        ”         │Alexander Lytle         │Tea Planter, Alyne T.E.,│
 │                  │                        │  Cachar                │
 │        ”         │Edward B. Moir-Byres    │Tea Planter, Tarrapore  │
 │                  │                        │  Tea Co., Cachar       │
 │        ”         │Bernard Charles Albert  │Tea Planter, Silcaorie  │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │        ”         │Philip Partridge        │Tea Planter, Silcaorie  │
 │                  │                        │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │        ”         │William Turnbull        │Tea Planter,            │
 │                  │                        │  Pathecherra, T.E.,    │
 │                  │                        │  Cachar                │
 │        ”         │Oliver Charles John     │Tea Planter, Jalinga    │
 │                  │  Stevenson-Hamilton    │  T.E., Cachar          │
 │        ”         │Harvey Davies           │Tea Planter, South      │
 │                  │                        │  Sylhet                │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                           NO. 2 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Company           │William Burrell         │Royal Irish Rifles,     │
 │  Sergeant-Major  │  Hewitt[A]             │  Calcutta              │
 │Sergeant          │Walter Arnold Conduit   │Assistant Engineer, B.N.│
 │                  │                        │   Railway              │
 │Lance-Sergeant    │Philip Bunbury Warburton│Assistant, Bank of      │
 │                  │                        │  Bengal, Calcutta      │
 │Farrier-Sergeant  │Frederick Edwards       │15th Hussars, Meerut    │
 │Corporal          │Francis Stuart Montagu  │Merchant, Rangoon       │
 │                  │  Bates                 │                        │
 │Lance-Corporal    │Charles Maclean Jack    │Assistant, Messrs. Shaw,│
 │                  │                        │  Wallace, & Co.,       │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Graham Peddie[A]        │Assistant District      │
 │                  │                        │  Traffic               │
 │                  │                        │  Superintendent, E.I.  │
 │                  │                        │  Railway               │
 │Saddler           │Henry Briggs            │15th Hussars, Meerut    │
 │Trooper           │Harry Howes             │Superintendent, Rangoon │
 │                  │                        │  Boat Club             │
 │Trooper           │Lewis Hills Cubitt      │Broker, Calcutta        │
 │        ”         │Herbert Nicholson Betts │Jute Broker, Calcutta   │
 │        ”         │Walter Douglas Jones    │Merchant, Calcutta      │
 │        ”         │William Burton Elwes    │Indo-European           │
 │                  │                        │  Telegraphs, Madras    │
 │        ”         │Charles Edward Turner   │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Bullock               │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                  │                        │           Brothers,    │
 │                  │                        │  Rangoon               │
 │        ”         │Thomas Brinsley         │Coffee Planter, Yercand │
 │                  │  Nicholson             │                        │
 │        ”         │Phillip Chamberlayne    │Indigo Planter, Purneah │
 │                  │  Preston               │                        │
 │        ”         │Harry Bright Oldham     │Tea Planter             │
 │        ”         │George Alfred Gowenlock │Tea Planter, Darjeeling │
 │        ”         │Eian Ingram Lockhart    │Indigo Planter, Behar   │
 │        ”         │Reginald William Royds  │Indigo Planter, Purneah │
 │                  │  Birch                 │                        │
 │        ”         │Alfred Frederick Franks │Assistant Engineer,     │
 │                  │                        │  B.-N. Railway         │
 │        ”         │Morris William Clifford │P.W.D. Accounts, Lahore │
 │        ”         │Cecil Grant Huddleston  │Mining Engineer,        │
 │                  │                        │  Hyderabad State       │
 │        ”         │John Graves[A]          │Assistant, Bank of      │
 │                  │                        │  Bengal, Hyderabad     │
 │        ”         │Alfred Holberton Francis│Assistant, Messrs. Thos.│
 │                  │                        │  Cook                  │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                  │                        │       & Sons, Rangoon  │
 │        ”         │Charles Henry McMinn    │N.W.P. Police           │
 │        ”         │William Harold Nicolay  │N.W.P. Police           │
 │        ”         │Harry Baden Powis       │Tutor, Simla            │
 │        ”         │Harold Cooper           │Assistant Engineer, East│
 │                  │                        │  Coast Railway         │
 │        ”         │Henry Dawson Were       │Gentleman, Broadclyst,  │
 │                  │                        │  S. Devon              │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                           NO. 3 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Sergeant          │Harry Alexander Campbell│Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Natroeull Estate,     │
 │                  │                        │  Koppa, Kadur Dist.    │
 │Corporal          │Lionel Edward Kirwan    │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Santaweri Estate,     │
 │                  │                        │  Birur, Kadur Dist.    │
 │Lance-Corporal    │George Horne            │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Bykarhully Estate,    │
 │                  │                        │  Sakluspur, Hassan     │
 │                  │                        │  Dist.                 │
 │        ”         │Talbot Cox              │Coffee Planter, Santi   │
 │                  │                        │  Kappa Estate, North   │
 │                  │                        │  Coorg                 │
 │Trooper           │Bernard Cayley          │Coffee Planter, Honpet  │
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Santaweri,    │
 │                  │                        │  Birur, Kadur Dist.    │
 │        ”         │Lionel Kingchurch       │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Balihonur Estate,     │
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │Francis Bere Follett    │Coffee Planter, Bynekhan│
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Chickamagloor,│
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │Henry Percy Cobb        │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Arabedicool Estate,   │
 │                  │                        │  Chickamagloor, Kadur  │
 │                  │                        │  Dist.                 │
 │        ”         │James Charles Dent      │Coffee Planter, Bynekhan│
 │                  │  Bewsher               │  Estate, Chickamagloor,│
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │Arthur Ernest Norton    │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Santaweri Estate,     │
 │                  │                        │  Birur, Kadur Dist.    │
 │        ”         │Thomas Edward Marmaduke │Indigo Broker, Madras   │
 │                  │  Lawson                │                        │
 │        ”         │Montagu Beadon Follett  │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Nungangode Estate,    │
 │                  │                        │  Mysore                │
 │        ”         │Crosbie Charles Harvey  │Coffee Planter, Davekhan│
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Koppa, Kadur  │
 │                  │                        │  Dist.                 │
 │Trooper           │Hugh Allardice          │Coffee Planter, Burgode │
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Chickamagloor,│
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │Melville Seymour Biscoe │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Chickolly Estate,     │
 │                  │                        │  Chickamagloor, Kadur  │
 │                  │                        │  Dist.                 │
 │        ”         │Herbert Cecil Wood      │Coffee Planter, Mercara,│
 │                  │                        │  North Coorg           │
 │        ”         │Thomas Lawrence Dalton  │Coffee Planter, Huntrey │
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Shanwara      │
 │                  │                        │  Santi, Mungerabad     │
 │        ”         │John Arthur Graham      │Coffee Planter, Halari  │
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Mercara, North│
 │                  │                        │  Coorg                 │
 │        ”         │Claude Kennedy Martin   │Coffee Planter, Palamado│
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Mercara, North│
 │                  │                        │  Coorg                 │
 │        ”         │Lewis Collingwood Bearne│Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Pollibetta Estate,    │
 │                  │                        │  South Coorg           │
 │        ”         │Rex Johnston Smith      │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Pollibetta Estate,    │
 │                  │                        │  South Coorg           │
 │        ”         │Herbert Evetts          │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Murguddi, Sullibile,  │
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │Claude Francis Walton   │Police Inspector, Mysore│
 │                  │                        │  Service, Mudigiri,    │
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │David Onslow Allardice  │Coffee Planter, Gubcull │
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Mudigiri,     │
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │        ”         │Seymour Sladden         │Coffee Planter, Badni   │
 │                  │                        │  Estate, Sudaspore,    │
 │                  │                        │  Hassan Dist.          │
 │        ”         │Ernest Alfred Sydenham  │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │  Clarke                │  Hitherhulli Estate,   │
 │                  │                        │  Shanwara Santi,       │
 │                  │                        │  Mungerabad            │
 │        ”         │Charles Elsee           │Coffee Planter, Shanwara│
 │                  │                        │  Santi, Mungerabad,    │
 │                  │                        │  Hassan Dist.          │
 │        ”         │Divie Robertson         │Coffee Planter, Kerke   │
 │                  │                        │  Coondah Estate,       │
 │                  │                        │  Sullibile, Kadur Dist.│
 │        ”         │Francis Hannay          │Coffee Planter, Could   │
 │                  │  Cunningham            │  Hilton Estate, Koppa, │
 │                  │                        │  Kadur Dist.           │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                           NO. 4 SECTION                            │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Sergeant          │Ernest Dawson           │Uncovenanted Civil      │
 │                  │                        │  Service, Pagan, Burmah│
 │Vety.-Sergeant    │Lewis Joseph Orland     │Superintendent of       │
 │                  │  Oakley                │  Stables, Maharajah of │
 │                  │                        │  Cooch-Behar           │
 │        ”         │Frank Deccan Sheriff    │Tea Planter, Eastern    │
 │                  │  Mitchell              │  Assam Co., Balijan    │
 │Sig.-Sergeant     │Albert John Longman     │Sergeant Signaller, 3rd │
 │                  │                        │  Hussars, Lucknow      │
 │Corporal          │Alick Cyril Pratt[A]    │D.I.S., B. & N.W.       │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Somastipore  │
 │Lance-Corporal    │Arthur D. Butler        │Assistant, Messrs. Oakes│
 │                  │                        │  & Co., Madras         │
 │        ”         │Albert Hedley Jackman[A]│Traveller, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Wrenn, Bennett & Co., │
 │                  │                        │  Madras                │
 │Signaller         │William Lowe            │3rd Hussars, Lucknow    │
 │Shoeing-Smith     │Osborne Reginald        │Shoeing Smith, 15th     │
 │                  │  Cuthbert              │  Hussars, Meerut       │
 │Trooper           │William Kilner Brown    │Assistant, Audit Office,│
 │                  │                        │  E.I. Railway, Calcutta│
 │        ”         │Herbert James Moorhouse │P.O. Department,        │
 │                  │                        │  Bangalore             │
 │        ”         │John Boyd Johnston      │Assistant, Planters’    │
 │                  │                        │  Stores and Agency Co.,│
 │                  │                        │  Ltd., Calcutta        │
 │        ”         │Charles W. Maxwell      │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  William Watson & Co., │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Hugh James Renny        │Tea Planter, Jalpaiguri │
 │        ”         │George Augustus         │Secretary, Rampur Raj,  │
 │                  │  Phillips[A]           │  Rampur, N.W.P.        │
 │        ”         │David Liddell           │2nd Officer, B.I.S.N.   │
 │                  │  Livingstone           │  Co., Calcutta         │
 │        ”         │James Moore             │Cawnpore Woollen Mills, │
 │                  │                        │  Cawnpore, N.W.P.      │
 │        ”         │William Walter Hight    │Coffee Planter,         │
 │                  │                        │  Valakadai Peak        │
 │                  │                        │  Estate,Yercand, Salem │
 │        ”         │Edward John Burgess     │Assistant to the        │
 │                  │                        │  Secretary, Government │
 │                  │                        │  of India, Home Dept.  │
 │        ”         │Robert Pennington       │Chief Officer, B.I.S.N. │
 │                  │  Williams              │  Co., Calcutta         │
 │        ”         │Richard Grant Dagge     │Captain, B.I.S.N. Co.,  │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Arthur King Meares      │Gentleman, Ranchi, Chota│
 │                  │                        │  Nagpur                │
 │        ”         │Willie King Meares      │Gentleman, Ranchi, Chota│
 │                  │                        │  Nagpur                │
 │        ”         │Walter Ernest Dexter    │Chief Officer, Hajee    │
 │                  │                        │  Cassim Line of        │
 │                  │                        │  Steamers, Bombay      │
 │        ”         │Sydney Ward Circuitt    │Jute Merchant, Pubna,   │
 │                  │  Lucas                 │  Lower Bengal          │
 │        ”         │Harry Rufus Parks       │Asiatic Steam Navigation│
 │                  │                        │  Co., Calcutta         │
 │        ”         │Robert Charles Nolan    │Mounted Police, Calcutta│
 │        ”         │Joseph Seymour Biscoe   │Salt Revenue Dept.,     │
 │                  │                        │  Northern Frontier,    │
 │                  │                        │  Singum                │
 │        ”         │John Lewis Behan        │Journalist, Calcutta    │
 │        ”         │Douglas Morison         │Tea Planter, Assam      │
 │        ”         │Harry McGregor          │Engineer, B.I.S.N. Co., │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                        A COMPANY TRANSPORT                         │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Sergeant          │Fred. Stephens          │Indian Commissariat     │
 │                  │                        │  Transport Department, │
 │                  │                        │  Howrah                │
 │Driver            │George Edward Wilkinson │Clerk, Medical College  │
 │                  │                        │  Hospital, Calcutta    │
 │        ”         │Sydney Graham           │Clerk, B.I.S.N. Company │
 │                  │  Nightingale           │                        │
 │        ”         │Leo. Davis              │Tea Planter, Darjeeling │
 │        ”         │Herbert Gregory Phillips│Clerk, B.I.S.N. Company │
 │        ”         │Douglas Daly            │Foot Police, Calcutta   │
 │        ”         │Richard Arthur Grenville│Foot Police, Calcutta   │
 │        ”         │Percy William Pryce     │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Peliti & Co., Calcutta│
 │        ”         │Percy Harrington Paxton │Custom House Officer,   │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Frederick Charles       │Custom House Officer,   │
 │                  │  Manville              │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Richard Parker          │Assistant, Grand Hotel, │
 │                  │  Estabrooke            │  Darjeeling            │
 │        ”         │George Johnston Shaw    │Guard, E.I. Railway,    │
 │                  │                        │  Jamalpore             │
 │        ”         │Edmond John Power       │Travelling Agent,       │
 │                  │                        │  Messrs. Phelps & Co., │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │John Charles[A]         │Rice Broker, Rangoon    │
 │        ”         │Trewren Hare Scott      │Rawalpindi              │
 │        ”         │George William Harrison │Guard, E.I. Railway,    │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │John Canute Doyle       │Reporter, ‘Englishman,’ │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │Driver            │George William Palmer   │Gentleman, Calcutta     │
 │        ”         │William G. Arthurton    │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Whiteaway, Laidlaw, & │
 │                  │                        │  Co., Calcutta         │
 │        ”         │Lionel Willis           │Theatrical Agent,       │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │John Frederick Richey   │Audit Department, E.I.  │
 │                  │                        │  Railway, Jamalpore    │
 │        ”         │Patrick W. Anderson     │Assistant, Great Eastern│
 │                  │                        │  Hotel, Calcutta       │
 │        ”         │William Edward Harris   │Clerk, E.I. Railway,    │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Charles William         │Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │  Lovegrove             │  Whiteaway, Laidlaw, & │
 │                  │                        │  Co., Calcutta         │
 │        ”         │Leo Horatio Bradford    │Assistant, Messrs. Ball,│
 │                  │                        │  Mudie, & Co., Lahore  │
 │        ”         │Sherbrook William Cullen│Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Harman & Co., Calcutta│
 │        ”         │William Burnand         │Clerk, E.I. Railway,    │
 │                  │                        │  Jamalpore             │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │                        B COMPANY TRANSPORT                         │
 │                  │                        │                        │
 │Driver            │John James Campbell     │Assistant Tea Planter,  │
 │                  │                        │  Dibrugarh, Assam      │
 │        ”         │Alfred Morris           │Assistant, Adelphi      │
 │                  │                        │  Hotel, Calcutta       │
 │        ”         │William B. Brown        │Engineer, B.I.S.N. Co.  │
 │        ”         │John Francis E. Morley  │Assistant Tea Planter,  │
 │                  │                        │  Kandie, Ceylon        │
 │        ”         │Francis Campbell        │Clerk, E.I. Railway,    │
 │                  │  Thompson              │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Walter Henry Wheeler    │Manager, Charing Cross  │
 │                  │                        │  Hotel, Lahore         │
 │        ”         │Harry Archibald Campbell│Assistant, Messrs.      │
 │                  │                        │  Davis, Leech, & Co.,  │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Albert Martin           │Custom House Officer,   │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Ernest Henry Waller     │Coffee Planter          │
 │        ”         │Henry Tomlinson Smith   │Travelling Agent, Great │
 │                  │                        │  Eastern Hotel,        │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Harry Richard Rice      │Clerk, Custom House,    │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │George Goodliffe        │Veterinary Surgeon,     │
 │                  │                        │  Messrs. Brown & Co.,  │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Richard Millett Crux    │Military Accounts       │
 │                  │                        │  Office, Lahore        │
 │        ”         │Sydney Herbert Bradford │Assistant, Messrs. Ball,│
 │                  │                        │  Mudie, & Co., Lahore  │
 │        ”         │Stephen Harry Kearsey   │Military Accounts       │
 │                  │                        │  Office, Lahore        │
 │        ”         │Edward Adlam            │Railway Coolie          │
 │                  │                        │  Contractor, Lahore    │
 │        ”         │Ormond Edward Fitzgerald│Tea Planter, Kangra     │
 │                  │                        │  Valley                │
 │        ”         │Henry William Fuller    │Coffee Planter          │
 │        ”         │William Rust            │Agent for the Maharajah │
 │                  │                        │  of Nepal, Calcutta    │
 │        ”         │John Braine             │Tea Planter, Gauhati,   │
 │                  │                        │  Assam                 │
 │        ”         │Robert Wallace Hyde     │Assistant, Bristol      │
 │                  │                        │  Hotel, Calcutta       │
 │        ”         │Harry Macgregor         │Engineer, B.I.S.N. Co., │
 │                  │                        │  Wellington, New       │
 │                  │                        │  Zealand               │
 │        ”         │Richard Pringle         │Clerk, Custom House,    │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Fred Leslie Lowther     │Clerk, Custom House,    │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 │        ”         │Patrick William Banks   │Guard, E.I. Railway,    │
 │                  │                        │  Jamalpore             │
 │        ”         │Robert Henry Baldwin    │Custom House Officer,   │
 │                  │                        │  Calcutta              │
 └──────────────────┴────────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘

Footnote A:

  Subsequently promoted.


                              APPENDIX II
               _MOBILISATION SECTION, ARMY HEADQUARTERS_

                    DATED FORT WILLIAM, JANUARY 1900

      _Scheme for the despatch of Two Companies Mounted Volunteers
                            to South Africa_


Her Majesty’s Government having accepted the offer of the Government of
India to provide a force of Mounted Volunteers for service in South
Africa, two companies of Mounted Infantry, to be called ‘The Indian
Mounted Infantry Corps (Lumsden’s Horse),’ will be raised immediately at
Calcutta under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel D. McT. Lumsden, of the
Volunteer Force of India, Supernumerary List, Assam Valley Light Horse.

_Terms of Enlistment._—The term of enlistment for officers and men will
be for one year, or for not less than the period of the war.

All members of the force will be entitled to free passages to India on
discharge or completion of engagement.

Preference will be given to Volunteers from Mounted Volunteer corps, but
Volunteers belonging to Infantry corps who may possess the requisite
qualifications will also be eligible.

_Qualifications._—Candidates must be from twenty to forty years of age
and of good character. Infantry Volunteers must show that they are good
riders.

All candidates must obtain a medical certificate of fitness for active
service. Civil surgeons will be asked to examine free of charge all
candidates applying for enlistment.

_Pay._—The pay and allowances for officers and men will be at British
Cavalry rates from date of enlistment.

_Allowances._—Particulars regarding wound pensions, gratuities, and
family pensions will be given later.

_Rations._—All ranks will receive rations as for British soldiers from
date of joining.

_Organisation._—_Establishment._—The corps will be organised in two
companies as under:


 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                      Officers  Sergeants Artificers Buglers  R.&F.  Total
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Staff—
   Lieutenant-Colonel    1         —         —        —        —      1
   Second in Command     1         —         —        —        —      1
   Adjutant and         1[B]       —         —        —        —      1
     Quartermaster
   Medical Officer       1         —         —        —        —      1
   Quartermaster-        —        1[B]       —        —        —      1
     Sergeant
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   Total                 4         1         —        —        —      5
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Detail of one
   Company—
   Major (or Captain)   1[B]       —         —        —        —      1
   Captain or            4         —         —        —        —      4
     Subalterns
   Company               —        1[B]       —        —        —      1
     Sergeant-Major
   Company
     Quartermaster-
   Sergeant              —        1[B]       —        —        —      1
   Sergeants             —         4         —        —        —      4
   Farrier-Sergeant      —        1[B]       —        —        —      1
   Shoeing-Smiths        —         —        2[C]      —        —      2
   Saddlers              —         —         1        —        —      1
   Signallers            —         1         —        —        1      2
   Buglers               —         —         —        2[C]     —      2
   Rank and File         —         —         —        —       104    104
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Total of one Company    5         8         3        2       105    123
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Total of two           10        16         6        4       210    246
   Companies
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   Total of Staff        4         1         —        —        —      5
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 GRAND TOTAL OF UNIT    14        17         6         4      210    251
 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
                                 Horses   Ponies   Private
                                          or Mules Followers
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
            Staff—
              Lieutenant-Colonel    2                 3
              Second in Command     2                 3
              Adjutant and          2                 3
                Quartermaster
              Medical Officer       2                 3
              Quartermaster-        1                 —
                Sergeant
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
              Total                 9                 12
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
            Detail of one
              Company—
              Major (or Captain)    2                 3
              Captain or            8                 12
                Subalterns
              Company               1                 —
                Sergeant-Major
              Company
                Quartermaster-
              Sergeant              1                 —
              Sergeants             4                 —
              Farrier-Sergeant      1                 —
              Shoeing-Smiths        2                 —
              Saddlers              1                 —
              Signallers            2                 —
              Buglers               2                 —
              Rank and File        104                —
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
            Total of one Company   128                15
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
            Total of two           256                30
              Companies
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
              Total of Staff        9                 12
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────
            GRAND TOTAL OF UNIT    265                42
            ───────────────────────────────────────────────


Footnote B:

  From Regular Army.

Footnote C:

  One from Regular Army, the other a Volunteer.

The following officers, non-commissioned officers, and men will be drawn
from the Regular Army:

             Adjutant and Quartermaster                  1
             Company Commanders (Majors or Captains)     2

                                       Total Officers    3
             Quartermaster-Sergeant                      1
             Company Sergeant-Majors                     2
             Company Quartermaster-Sergeants             2
             Farrier-Sergeants                           2
             Shoeing-Smiths                              2
             Saddlers                                    2
             Signallers                                  4
             Buglers                                     2
                                                         —
                                                Total   17

The force will be equipped and trained as Mounted Infantry.

Officers will be equipped and armed as far as possible like the men.

Officers and men will provide their own horses.

Officers’ Servants.—Officers will be allowed one personal native servant
each and one syce for each charger. Total, three native servants per
officer.

_Ordnance Department._—Arms, ammunition, accoutrements, and equipment
will be issued _free_ by the Ordnance Department according to the scales
given.

Officers and men will be armed with ·303 rifles and bayonets.

All members of Volunteer corps of Light Horse or Mounted Rifles joining
the corps may, if they so wish it, bring with them the saddlery and
equipment issued to them in their present corps.

Saddlery and camp equipment, according to the scales given, will be
supplied under regimental arrangements. If required the Ordnance
Department will supply saddlery and camp equipment on payment.

The Ordnance Department will supply _free_ transport saddlery and
draught harness according to scale given.

Line gear including one knee halter per horse will be provided _free_ by
the Ordnance Department.

Two horse loads of entrenching tools as for a British Cavalry regiment,
together with complete equipment of saddlery, bridles, and entrenching
tool bags for two horses, will be provided _free_ by Ordnance
Department.

Artificers’ tools and stores and miscellaneous stores, including two
light forges for pack saddles, will be issued _free_ by Ordnance
Department.

_Signalling._—Signalling equipment will be issued _free_ on the field
service scale for a British Cavalry regiment.

_Ammunition._—Small-arm ammunition will be issued at the rate of 650
rounds per rifle, calculated according to the following scale:

     On soldier                           100 rounds   per rifles

     1st Reserve (34 boxes)               132    ”         ”

     2nd   ”     (Ammunition Column and   268    ”         ”
     Park)

     Practice ammunition                  150    ”         ”

Mark II. ·303 ammunition only will be taken for use in South Africa. The
practice ammunition may be black powder ammunition.

Revolver ammunition will be issued at the rate of 150 rounds per
officer’s revolver calculated as under:

     On person                             24 rounds  per revolver

     1st Reserve                           26    ”         ”

     2nd   ”    (Ammunition Column and     50    ”         ”
     Park)

     Practice ammunition                   50    ”         ”

                                   Total  150

Two boxes of revolver ammunition will be carried with the 1st reserve
rifle ammunition. All the above ammunition will be issued at Calcutta.

The 2nd reserve of rifle and revolver ammunition will on arrival of the
corps in South Africa be handed over to the Ordnance Department as may
be directed by the local military authorities.

_Cooking Utensils._—Cooking utensils will be provided _free_ by the
Commissariat Department if required—viz., five sets of three oval camp
kettles (with one gridiron, chopper, and ladle for each kettle) per
company; one set weighs 39½ lb.

_Transport._—Transport mules or ponies will be provided by the corps for
1st reserve ammunition, medical equipment and signalling equipment.
These animals should be trained to draught or pack work. Army transport
_carts_ as required will be provided _free_ by the Commissariat
Department.

_Clothing._—Sea kit, as prescribed for the Cape Route in Army
Regulations, India, Volume V., Article 2166 (but without mattresses),
will be issued _free_ to all non-commissioned officers and men by the
Commissariat Transport Department.

Clothing will be provided under regimental arrangements, but field
service and other clothing as required will be issued on payment indent
by the Commissariat Transport Department.

_Supplies._—(_a_) Thirty days’ sea rations for men and animals will be
placed on the transport by the Commissariat Department.

(_b_) In addition to the above sea rations, three months’ rations for
men and one month’s crushed gram and compressed hay for animals will be
provided and shipped by the Commissariat Department.

(_c_) Supplies will be packed in one-maund packages and in waterproof
bags where necessary.

_Veterinary._—The Principal Veterinary Officer in India will arrange for
the veterinary inspection of horses before embarkation and for the
necessary veterinary arrangements for the voyage. The corps will be
provided _free_ with two field veterinary chests and two veterinary
wallets.

_Medical._—The Principal Medical Officer of her Majesty’s Forces in
India will issue orders for the necessary medical arrangements for the
voyage. The corps will be provided _free_ with medical equipment as for
a British Cavalry regiment on field service, except that two field
stretchers and four blanket stretchers will be provided.

_Office Stationery._—The Superintendent Government Stationery will issue
_free_ such stationery as may be required for use in the regimental
office.

The Superintendent Government Printing will supply _free_ such books and
forms as may be required for use in the regimental office.

The officers in charge Mathematical Instrument Office will issue _free_
such instruments as may be required on a scale not exceeding that of a
British Cavalry regiment on field service.

_Embarkation._—The force will be embarked at Calcutta. The Director of
the Royal Indian Marine will arrange for the necessary sea transport for
conveyance of the force, informing the General Officer Commanding
Presidency District of the vessel or vessels he proposes to charter. The
vessels will then be surveyed in accordance with Army Regulations,
India, Volume X., and as soon as the date of sailing is known the
General Officer Commanding the Presidency District will arrange for the
embarkation of the force. Details regarding the transports engaged, date
of sailing, and probable date of arrival at Durban should be sent to
Army Headquarters and to the Bengal Command.

_Stores, Rest Camps._—The General Officer Commanding the Presidency
District will make such arrangements as may be needed to facilitate the
raising of the force, the provision of such storage accommodation as may
be necessary, and for rest camps. He will be responsible for receiving
stores for the force and for loading the transport.

_Telegrams._—The Lieutenant-General Commanding the Forces, Bengal, will
authorise the despatch of telegrams on the ‘debit note’ system from such
offices as may be concerned with the raising, equipment, and despatch of
the force. He will communicate to the Director-General of Telegraphs the
designations and head-quarters of officers whom he authorises to use the
‘debit note’ system, and any other offices from which such telegrams are
likely to be despatched. ‘Debit note’ telegrams cannot be despatched
from railway offices.

All telegrams will be endorsed, ‘Lumsden’s Horse. Debit cost to Military
Department.’

_Report and Maps of Transvaal._—Copies of ‘A Short Military Report on
the Transvaal,’ together with maps, will be supplied by the Intelligence
Branch, Quartermaster-General’s Department, Simla.

_Press Correspondents._—No member of the corps will be permitted to act
as a Press correspondent except with the special permission of the
military authorities in South Africa.

_Expenditure Accounts._—The various departments of the Army are
authorised to issue on ‘payment indents’ such supplies, stores,
equipment, and clothing as may be required, in addition to the free
issues referred to above. All such payment indents will be clearly
marked ‘Lumsden’s Horse. On payment.’

All supplies, stores, equipment, and clothing issued from stock to the
force should be replaced as soon as possible, and all charges connected
with the raising, equipping, and despatching of the force other than
those borne by the corps itself should be debited to the Government of
India under the heading ‘Lumsden’s Horse.’

FORT WILLIAM: _January 1900_.

                           FIELD-SERVICE KIT

 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
 │                    ——                    │  Officers  │ N.C.O. and │
 │                                          │            │    Men     │
 ├──────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤
 │                                          │            │            │
 │               _On Person_                │            │            │
 │Helmet with khaki cover, pagri, and chin  │     1      │     1      │
 │strap (or felt hat)                       │            │            │
 │Khaki serge coat                          │     1      │     1      │
 │Pantaloons, Bedford cord                  │     1      │     1      │
 │Khaki putties or leather gaiters          │     1      │     1      │
 │Walking boots                             │     1      │     1      │
 │Spurs, jack                               │     1      │     1      │
 │Drawers                                   │     1      │     1      │
 │Flannel shirt                             │     1      │     1      │
 │Socks, woollen                      pairs │     1      │     1      │
 │Vest                                      │     1      │     1      │
 │Flannel belt                              │     1      │     1      │
 │Braces                                    │     1      │     1      │
 │Pocket handkerchief                       │     1      │     —      │
 │Sword                                     │     1      │     1      │
 │Revolver (and ammunition)                 │     1      │     —      │
 │Belts                               set   │     1      │     1      │
 │Bandolier                                 │     1      │     1      │
 │Field glasses (if not on saddle)          │     1      │ 1 (N.C.O.  │
 │                                          │            │   only)    │
 │Compass                                   │     1      │1    (ditto)│
 │Watch                                     │     1      │1    (ditto)│
 │Note-book                                 │     1      │1    (ditto)│
 │Water-bottle                              │     1      │     1      │
 │Haversack, with knife, fork, and cup      │     1      │     1      │
 │Map, linen (if available)                 │     1      │ 1 (N.C.O.  │
 │                                          │            │   only)    │
 │First field dressing (in special pocket)  │     1      │     1      │
 │Descriptive card          (ditto)         │     —      │     1      │
 │Emergency ration (if available)           │     1      │     1      │
 │Pocket dressing-case                      │ 1 (Medical │     —      │
 │                                          │  Officer   │            │
 │                                          │   only)    │            │
 │                                          │            │            │
 │             _Carried in Kit_             │            │            │
 │                                          │            │            │
 │Khaki helmet cover, spare                 │     1      │     1      │
 │Khaki drill coat                          │     1      │     1      │
 │Khaki serge coat                          │     1      │     1      │
 │Khaki trousers, serge                     │     1      │     1      │
 │  ”       ”    drill                      │     1      │     1      │
 │Pantaloons, Bedford cord                  │     1      │     1      │
 │Field service cap                         │     1      │     1      │
 │Walking boots (and spare laces)           │     1      │     1      │
 │Putties, khaki                      pair  │     1      │     1      │
 │Drawers                                   │     2      │     1      │
 │Flannel shirts                            │     2      │     1      │
 │Socks, woollen                      pairs │     3      │     1      │
 │Vests                                     │     2      │     1      │
 │Flannel belt                              │     1      │     1      │
 │Pocket-handkerchiefs                      │     5      │     2      │
 │Housewife                                 │     1      │     1      │
 │Holdall                                   │     1      │     1      │
 │Towels                                    │     2      │     2      │
 │Blankets                                  │     2      │     2      │
 │Wolseley valise                           │     1      │     —      │
 │Waterproof sheet                          │     1      │     1      │
 │Basin, canvas                             │     1      │     —      │
 │Dubbing                             tin   │     1      │     1      │
 │Small book                                │     —      │     1      │
 │Diary                                     │     1      │     —      │
 │Field Service Departmental Code, Medical  │ 1 (Medical │            │
 │                                          │  Officer   │            │
 │                                          │   only)    │            │
 │Writing-case                              │     1      │     —      │
 │Lantern                                   │     1      │     —      │
 │Cardigan jacket                           │     1      │     1      │
 │Warm coat                                 │     1      │     1      │
 │Mittens                             pair  │     1      │     1      │
 │Balaclava cap                             │     1      │     1      │
 │Cooking utensils                    set   │     1      │     —      │
 │Enamelled tin plates, cups, &c.     set   │     1      │     1      │
 │Logline for packing, 15 feet              │     —      │     1      │
 └──────────────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘


         _Artificers’ Tools and Stores (to be supplied free by
                              Government)_

     Armourer’s tools and stores                          80 lb.

     Saddler’s tools and stores                          160 ”

     Materials for repairs of accoutrements, saddlery,   160 ”
     and line gear

     Shoeing iron and charcoal                           160 ”

     Reserve of shoes with nails                         160 ”

       _Miscellaneous Stores (to be supplied free by Government)_

     Handcuffs                                             2 pairs

     Steelyards, with weights, complete                    1 set

     Scales, weights, with small stores, &c.               1

     Light forges, Mark IV., pack saddle, I.P.             2

        _Veterinary Stores (to be supplied free by Government)_

     Universal field veterinary chests                     2

     Veterinary wallets                                    2

          _Medical Stores (to be supplied free by Government)_

     Medical field panniers                                1 pair

     Field medical companion                               1

     ”   surgical haversack                                1

     ”     ”      Cavalry bag                              1

     ”   stretchers                                        2

     Blanket stretchers                                    4


         _Quartermaster’s Stores (to be supplied on payment by
                       Government if required)._

     Drawers, cotton                                      25 pairs

     Coats, khaki serge                                   25

     Trousers, serge, khaki                               25 pairs

     ” drill ”                                            25 ”

     Boots, ankle                                         25 ”

     Socks, woollen                                       25 ”

     Shirts, flannel                                      25

     Caps, forage                                         10

     Buttons, coat, small                                  6 doz.

     ” iron, trousers                                      2 gross

     Cloth, serge, khaki                                  20 yds.

     Chin, strapers, helmet, leather                      10

     Thread, black and coloured                            5 lb.

     ” khaki                                               4 ”

                                Dubbing
     Soap, washing                                        30 ”

     Scissors, tailor’s, 9”                                1 pair

     Oil, Rangoon (1 gallon per company)                   2 cans

         _Shoemakers’ Tools and Stores (to be supplied free by
                              Government)_

     Soles, half pairs                                    50

     Lifts ” ”                                            50

     Tips ” ”                                             50

     Nails, tip                                            1 lb.

     Rivets                                                7 ”

     Feet, iron, 9”                                        2

                             Leather, spare
     Hemp balls, 24-lb.                                    1

     Tools, shoemakers’                                   10

        _Entrenching Tools (to be supplied free by Government)_

     Shovels, light                                       20

     Pickaxes, ”                                          20

     Felling axes                                          8

     Bill-hooks                                           16

     Hooks, reaping                                       32

     Bags, entrenching tool                                2 pairs

                   Carried on one horse per company.

                           _Maxim Equipment_

     One Maxim gun. One tripod mounting, &c.

            _Camp Equipment (to be supplied under regimental
                             arrangements)_

     Officers, 80-lb. tent each. Non-commissioned officers and men,
     8 per 80-lb. G.S. tent. Office, 80-lb. tent. Surgery, 80-lb.
     tent. Quarter-guard, 80-lb. tent. Rearguard, 240-lb. tent.


                               _Baggage._

     Officers, 80 lb. each. Non-commissioned officers and men, 40
     lb. each.


      _Saddlery and Line Gear (to be supplied free by Government)_
                            _For each Horse_

 One hay-net.                  │One set head and heel ropes.
 One nosebag, canvas.          │One set heel-pegs.
 One watering-bridle.          │One jhool.
 One horse-brush.              │One blanket.
 One curry-comb.               │One set spare shoes with nails.
 One knee-halter.              │One horse rubber.
 One canvas water-bucket.      │One waterproof harness wrapper.
 One numnah.                   │Water buckets, one to four horses.
 One eye-fringe.               │Sponges, one to ten horses.
 One chagul.                   │Clipping machines, one to ten horses.
 One headstall.                │Hoof-pickers, one to five horses.

                            _Miscellaneous_

          Cooking utensils, five sets per company    10 sets
          Tables, office, 14 lb. each                 2
          Chairs    ”    4 lb. each                   2
          Yakdans, office. Weight full 80 lb. each    1 pair

         _Reserve Saddlery (to be supplied free by Government)_

     Saddle.             │Horse brush.        │Headstall.
     Numnah.             │Curry-comb.         │Head-ropes.
     Bridle.             │Knee-halter.        │Heel-pegs.
     Reins.              │Canvas water-bucket.│Jhool.
     Bit, complete.      │Eye-fringe.         │Blanket.
     Nosebags, canvas.   │Chaguls.            │
     Watering bridle.    │                    │

Pay as for British Cavalry of the Line (_vide_ Article 780, Royal
Warrant for Pay and Promotion):

        ┌────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────┐
        │Rank                                │     Per day     │
        │                                    │ _£._  _s._  _d._│
        │Lieutenant-Colonel                  │    1     1     6│
        │Major                               │         15     0│
        │Captain                             │         13     0│
        │Lieutenant                          │          7     8│
        │Second-Lieutenant                   │          6     8│
        │Adjutant (and Quartermaster)        │          5  0[D]│
        │Quartermaster-Sergeant              │          4     4│
        │Company Sergeant-Major              │          4     4│
        │Company Quartermaster-Sergeant      │          3     4│
        │Sergeant                            │          2     8│
        │Farrier Sergeant                    │          2    10│
        │Shoeing Smith                       │          1     8│
        │Saddler                             │          1    9½│
        │Bugler                              │          1     4│
        │Corporal (if paid as Lance-Sergeant)│          2     4│
        │Corporal                            │          2     0│
        │Private (appointed Lance-Corporal)  │          1     6│
        │Private                             │          1     2│
        └────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────┘

Footnote D:

  In addition to pay of rank.


                              APPENDIX III
                        THE ADJUTANT’S NOTE-BOOK


Captain and Adjutant Taylor contributes the following notes and
suggestions for consideration:

  There were a certain number of points which struck me very forcibly
  during the campaign, and I should like to give them for what they are
  worth. There may be certain conditions to be considered, the
  importance of which outweighs all others, so that the following notes
  must be regarded only as an attempt to carry out the duty which every
  man owes to his profession, by showing things in the light in which he
  saw them. Higher authorities, busy about big affairs, fail sometimes
  to notice the important details with which juniors are brought in
  daily contact.

  _Spare Horses._—The corps started from India with one horse per man
  and the necessary complement of transport animals. There were a few
  casualties on the journey, which were replaced at Cape Town, and the
  corps began work in good condition, but with no spare animals. The
  supposition apparently is that men fall out just as fast as the
  horses. This did not prove correct in South Africa, and it is hard to
  believe that it would be so elsewhere provided the work required was
  of an active mounted kind. Therefore true economy would seem to
  dictate the provision of spare horses. Very soon with us a few horses
  got slight sore backs, but as every mounted man available was required
  it was found impossible to ease these horses; the inevitable result
  being that after a few days they were unfit for work. Consequently a
  similar number of men had to be taken from the fighting strength and
  their saddles put into the carts. As the work continued, more horses
  gave out, and more loads were put into the carts. Hence, while the
  transport animals grew weaker their loads grew heavier. To take
  figures. The nominal strength of the mounted portion of the corps was
  250 men; actually the largest number we ever had in action was 185.
  The average in the fighting line was under 150; of the remainder,
  fifty were short on account of sickness and casualties, and fifty on
  account of horses short. Had we had fifty spare horses, every
  available man could have been mounted. As a matter of fact, thirty
  spare horses would probably have sufficed, as, on the principle of ‘a
  stitch in time,’ the timely ‘easing’ of trivial cases—such as a slight
  sore back or temporary indisposition—would have saved many a horse’s
  usefulness or life. The further you go, the more necessary such
  reliefs become. The exact number of spare horses depends upon the
  class of work required. To my mind, this is one of the lessons we
  should learn from the Boers, who generally had two horses per man, and
  often five. These spare horses can conveniently march with the
  veterinary hospital and be taken care of by a small ‘native’ staff.
  Working on this principle, Lumsden’s Horse kept every man mounted
  during two months’ ceaseless trek, and the horses were practically all
  fit and well at the end of it. On the other system each man used up
  seven horses in as many months. To put it in brief. A corps of 250 men
  and 250 horses, with their baggage, would, at the end of a week’s hard
  marching and fighting, be less efficient than a corps of 200 men with
  250 horses, in that they would have no more mounted men in the field,
  while their transport would have to carry food and kit for the extra
  fifty men, in addition to the fifty saddles of the dismounted men,
  weighing some five stones each, and also probably the fifty dismounted
  men themselves.

  The same principles affect the question of the number of baggage
  animals.

  _Method of Carrying Ammunition._—Our equipment for ammunition to be
  carried by the man took the shape of a belt with two cross braces. On
  the former were leather pouches to hold packets of cartridges, and on
  the latter bandolier attachments to take single cartridges. The
  disadvantages were many. (1) It necessitated the man carrying a heavy
  weight constantly on his body or else hiding packets of ammunition in
  his holsters, whence they were difficult to extract and where he often
  left them in the hurry of a dismount. (2) The pouches were a great
  discomfort to the men when lying down to snatch much-needed rest in
  the many short intervals at their disposal. (3) The whole weight of
  the ammunition came on to the saddle when the man was mounted, and
  went some way towards causing sore backs. (4) Marching on foot with
  this load of ammunition was so irksome that it soon tired the soldier
  and made him urge and take every possible excuse for remaining
  mounted.

  _The proposed remedy_ is to give every man two bandoliers holding
  fifty rounds each and a bayonet-belt to take fifty rounds. The
  bandoliers to be habitually buckled round the horse’s neck, like
  collars. When going into action the man can transfer one or both
  bandoliers to his own shoulders even without dismounting. Should he
  have under-estimated the amount of ammunition required, and have left
  one or both of these bandoliers on his horse, they can be sent for and
  found with no difficulty, the distribution being also very simple.
  Taking the weight of this ammunition off the saddle helps to save sore
  back. The man will walk unencumbered, and consequently will walk more
  readily, and can do so for longer distances, besides being in a better
  state for duties when he gets to camp. On a similar principle the
  rifle should not be carried by the soldier when marching dismounted,
  as it is better to keep his weight, say eleven stone, off the horse’s
  back as long as possible, and it will be longer if you put the
  rifle-weight, seven pounds, on to the horse and not on to the man.

  _Spare Ammunition._—Anything in excess of this 150 rounds per man
  should be, and was, carried on a led mule or horse, who could keep up
  with the mounted men.

  _Picketing Gear_ caused us much trouble, as every kind of ground
  entailed a different stamp of peg—_e.g._, a small iron peg did not
  hold in sandy soil, wooden ones broke in rocky ground, while the
  bundle of rope and pegs was an extra weight on the horse, and caused
  the saddle to roll besides making the man less handy at getting on and
  off his horse. The remedy was to have no heel-ropes or pegs carried on
  the saddle horse, and to substitute three big iron pegs with fifty
  yards of ‘line rope’ and a heavy mallet to every fifty men, carried on
  a pack-animal with the ammunition mules. On arrival in camp these pegs
  were driven in, the line rope stretched between them, and the horses
  tied to each side of it by their head-ropes: heel-ropes were not found
  necessary. This worked perfectly except on detached duties, when
  perhaps ten men were separated for some ‘post,’ when they had to
  ‘ring’ their horses—i.e., tie them together by their head-ropes in a
  circle, heads inwards. They are unable to lie down in comfort, which
  is of course a weak point, but it does not often happen.

  _Marching._—When the object to be attained was to cover as much ground
  as possible it was found best to trot long stages, with walking
  intervals between, when the men were made to dismount and lead. The
  man should never be on his horse except when going faster than a walk.
  It was found better to trot a good deal than to walk and lead even,
  because the time saved by the faster pace gave the men and horses time
  for an appreciable rest and for food while they were ‘off-saddled,’
  which should always be done when the enemy’s movements in any way
  admit of it.

  _Shoeing._—Each horse, in marching order, is supposed to carry one
  complete set of shoes. If every man were trained to see constantly
  that his horse’s shoes were on firm, a shoe ought seldom to be lost.
  If a farrier is present, and the man has the necessary nails, a
  doubtful or loose nail can be drawn and replaced, hence we made the
  rule that the men should not carry spare shoes, but should carry
  nails, and we had the farriers with us. Occasionally a horse lost a
  shoe when on detached duty, but only then; and, after all, if the
  rider is careful, no serious damage should result. In any case, it is
  not worth while for every horse to carry a complete set of shoes
  always, on the chance of one horse requiring one shoe occasionally.

  _The Usefulness of Followers_ may be gathered to a certain extent from
  the fact that none of the officers had chargers killed by anything but
  bullets. Every officer had an Indian syce, and when a horse had had a
  hard time it was found that one day marching with the syce restored
  him. The follower has nothing to think about except to feed the horse
  when he can, and it is wonderful what good one hour in a field of
  green wheat or on a good bit of grass does for a tired and underfed
  animal; besides, the follower often chances on a bundle or two of
  oat-straw or some such luxury, and in any case the horse has plenty of
  time for grazing during the delays of the march. The men latterly
  employed Kaffir boys to a considerable extent, paying them wages out
  of their own pockets. These Kaffirs received no rations, living on
  their masters’ leavings and occasional steaks out of dead horses.
  Taking all considerations together, it would appear to be a saving to
  use the soldier as much as possible for fighting purposes _only_, and
  to use native followers for all work that does not entail fighting.
  Cooks and syces, even in small numbers, would to a great extent ease
  the fighting man of arduous labour which the follower could do just as
  well. We should have fewer cases of sickness from want of rest and
  lack of time to cook properly if a few native cooks accompanied each
  regiment. And a few syces might save the lives of many horses that
  have to be neglected by the men when, after a long march and perhaps a
  fight, they are ordered out on picket directly they arrive in camp.
  The native is cheaper to feed and more docile to manage, not minding
  things which Tommy hates—such as cutting grass, for instance. His food
  is simple, and he can eat it very comfortably going along the road, so
  that when he gets into camp he is quite fit to go to work. I was told
  by an officer of the Indian Transport train, who was with General
  Buller’s force in Natal, that he had taken his corps with his native
  followers right through to Belfast, and landed his animals there
  without a single casualty, and not only well, but fat. He attributed
  it solely to the fact that the servants understood their work and
  would unload without a murmur a dozen times a day, and cut a heap of
  grass for every animal when they got to camp. Why not employ the
  cheaper labourer, and save the dearer for work that suits him better
  and which the follower cannot do? The answer, I am aware, is that an
  armed transport man can help to defend the convoy. This is of course
  true to a limited extent. Our transport men never had a chance of
  firing a shot, and I think few had. All the ox-waggons and
  mule-waggons were driven by Kaffirs, on the same grounds as advocated,
  so why not apply the reasoning to other cases? The argument in favour
  of the armed transport reminds one of the sportsman who goes out armed
  with a gun, rifle, and pig-spear, ready for all emergencies, but never
  has the right weapon in his hand when the game springs up. The spare
  horse-shoes are another case of the same thing, and there are many
  others. It is impossible to provide for every contingency.

  _Rations._—In a general way the men’s rations were very good, but one
  or two improvements suggest themselves. First, everyone who has tried
  it knows that when spirits are not available the body acquires a great
  craving for sugar, which is no doubt recognised, and hence the jam
  issue. Chocolate is cheap, by which I mean light to carry, and is
  enormously appreciated; but more important than anything appear to be
  the tea, coffee, or cocoa rations, because, in a great measure, on the
  plentifulness of these depends the amount or otherwise of many
  diseases, notably enteric. No man will boil water and let it cool
  simply because he knows it’s a healthy thing to do, but he will boil
  it to have a good drink of hot tea. If you give him enough, he will
  have his drink before he goes to bed, another in the morning, and he
  will also fill his water-bottle with it. Half an ounce per man will
  accomplish this. I believe the amount allowed per man in South Africa
  was ⅟16 oz. By the time this had been distributed in the dark, the
  ration became so small that half-a-dozen men used to toss for the lot,
  in the hope that one at least would get a good drink. Tea, moreover,
  is very light. An ox-waggon load is 4,000 lbs., which is 128,000
  rations of ½ oz. each; which means that 4,000 men could be given ½ oz.
  of tea daily for a month, at the cost of one ox-waggon added to the
  convoy. On our trek from Machadodorp to Pretoria, we carried supplies
  for about 4,000 men for about a month, and the convoy was many _miles_
  long, and I do not think that one ox-waggon added thereto would have
  given any trouble.

  _Firing off Horseback._—The value of this practice on occasions is
  another of the lessons we might learn from the Boers. I do not pretend
  that the shooting is accurate, yet it has a great moral advantage in
  certain circumstances. Imagine yourself on a big rolling veldt doing
  rearguard. The slopes are easy, and the ridges about 1,000 yards from
  crest to crest. You hold one and the enemy the next. In order to keep
  your horses out of fire they must be 200 yards or so away. All is well
  till you begin to retire, but on rising you at once become visible to
  the Boer, who first of all shoots at you, and then follows you up at a
  gallop to have a shot at you before you can gain the next ridge. You
  retire in a hurry, run the risk of being shot, and have the
  demoralising feeling that the enemy is gaining rapidly on you and will
  ‘get at you’ before you gain the next ridge. _But_ leave near the
  ridge a few mounted men, place them back so far that while they can
  see the Boer’s ridge, the enemy can only possibly see their heads and
  shoulders, and order your dismounted men to retire, crawling at first,
  then stooping, and finally rising. They do this leisurely, as they can
  see the mounted sentinels watching and they are reassured. These
  sentinels have no fear, for they can at any time retire at a gallop,
  while the enemy, hearing the firing, do not like advancing on an
  unknown number. During the march from Machadodorp to Pretoria, this
  practice enabled us to do in perfect comfort a rearguard duty which
  was considered by all other corps very ‘nasty.’

  _Suggestions with regard to raising Mounted Volunteer Corps in the
  future._—Besides the actual experiences of the fighting in South
  Africa, there were one or two points in connection with the raising of
  the corps itself, which came to my special notice in the course of my
  duties as Adjutant and Quartermaster, the knowledge of which would, I
  think, facilitate matters in the event of anyone raising another
  Volunteer corps in India for active service.

  In my opinion the most important point of all is to make certain that
  secrecy is maintained. Before any steps are taken for enrolling men,
  the Adjutant and other officers from the Regular Army should be
  selected and apportioned their work in connection with the raising of
  the corps. The ‘Regular’ N.C.O.s should be chosen, and the official
  scheme drawn up. The first duty falls on the ‘office,’ and it should
  be properly organised in every detail. Three or four rooms,
  Quartermaster’s store accommodation, a shorthand writer, at least
  three or four competent clerks, as well as mounted orderlies, are
  necessary. A camp pitched complete in every detail should be ready to
  receive the men, especial attention being paid to the provision of a
  temporary mess for the men as well as ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ canteens, and of
  a native food-shop for followers. This can all be done
  ‘confidentially.’ When the arrangements are complete, the intention to
  raise the corps and the terms may be made public.

  If the fact of the raising of the corps had not leaked out, Government
  would of course have made all the above suggested arrangements, and
  things would have gone smoothly from the outset. As it was, every
  Government official assisted Colonel Lumsden to his utmost power. As a
  sample of this I may mention that, at their own request, the one
  squadron of the 14th Bengal Lancers at Alipur supplied eight mounted
  orderlies daily for six weeks, rendering invaluable assistance in
  carrying letters. This same squadron marked out the camp for us, and
  lent their _bunniahs’_ (grain-sellers’) shops for the use of the swarm
  of servants who came in attendance on the Volunteers. Another
  difficulty which it would be good to avoid, if possible, was that
  under existing regulations it was found to be impossible to attest the
  men until the day before embarkation, so that for some weeks they were
  in camp and being trained without being under military law. Their good
  feeling alone preserved discipline.

  _Regulars._—A certain number of men who were specialists in various
  lines, such as saddlers, farriers, signallers, and shoeing-smiths,
  together with a sprinkling of non-commissioned officers, were lent to
  the corps from the Regular Army, and they were of the greatest use to
  us. It is essential that the selection of these be made with great
  care. There is little doubt that the gentleman Volunteer is not always
  easy to get on with, so that the Regular should be a man of character
  and tact. When called upon for men, Commanding Officers send fully
  qualified men, but have a tendency to ‘give a man a chance’ in novel
  circumstances. Unless a Regular is a tactful, good fellow, he is
  unlikely to be of much use with Volunteers.

  _Selection of Horses._—As far as we could learn from our experience in
  South Africa, the three main points in the selection of a horse are:
  (1) hardiness, (2) true action, (3) ‘good doing’; while for
  convenience in mounting and dismounting he should not be over fifteen
  hands high. Comparative slowness, light legs, and slight unsteadiness
  do not seem to matter, but he must be hardy, he must be clear of any
  suspicion whatever of brushing, and he must be the sort likely to
  ‘live on sticks and stones.’ The work is all very slow, but it is
  continuous. There were practically no cases of lameness from sprains,
  or indeed of anything except ‘brushing,’ and after a month’s work, the
  horse which could go the furthest and fastest was the one that kept
  the best condition. One of the horses that did the best work in the
  corps was a little Boer pony of Private Graham’s, which was only about
  twelve hands high. As transport animals, our little ‘Bhootia’ ponies
  did most excellently, and were better than mules, in that while they
  were quite as hardy, they were heavier and more game.

  _Shipping Horses._—At Calcutta the quays are only a few feet above the
  water-level, and as the horses all have to be put on the upper and
  main decks, the custom is to ‘sling’ them on board by means of cranes
  and tackle attached to belly-bands. I saw a whole ship being laden
  with horses in this way. The operation took one entire day and cost
  five rupees per horse. One horse at least was dropped and had to be
  destroyed, a large proportion suffered injuries, and all were
  terrified. On meeting the officer in charge afterwards, I learnt that
  hardly any of the horses would feed at all for a day at least. For us
  the authorities erected a zigzag gangway by the aid of which 200
  horses were put on board without accident in one hour and a half.
  Moreover, the gangway could not have cost 100_l_. Communication
  gangways between the decks were also fitted up, thus enabling us to
  transfer horses from one deck to another, and these proved very
  valuable in dealing with sick cases during the voyage.

  _Horse Standings._—Once on the ship each horse had a stall in a row,
  each stall being just big enough for a horse to stand in, and
  surrounded by a four-foot rail. On the floor-boards were fixed four
  strong battens, two inches square in cross section, at intervals of
  eighteen inches. The horse’s fore feet fell naturally on to the first
  batten and his hind feet on to the last. He was thus forced to stand
  always in a constrained position. For my own horses I had the battens
  otherwise distributed, putting one six inches from either end and one
  in the middle. The fore feet came naturally behind the first batten
  and the hind feet before the rear one, while the middle one did not
  interfere with the horse’s position, and was only used by the horse
  when necessitated by bad weather. It was, I think, a great
  improvement. This was not my idea, but was what the Australian horse
  ‘shippers’ recommend and use.

  _Shoes._—The orders in the Service are that all horses go on board
  shod, which is contrary to the custom of the big Australian shipping
  firms, who say that shod horses slip up when it is rough. We had no
  rough weather, and so could not prove this, but owing to the shoe
  keeping the foot off the constantly damp boards, the feet of our
  horses were, on arrival, in infinitely better condition than those of
  the horses brought over by Australian ‘shippers’ to India.

  _Exercising Horses on Board Ship._—This is, I learn, never done, but
  we gave the idea a trial, and it turned out to be quite practicable.
  Our ship was a very small one, and we had some difficulty about space
  for exercise ground. However, we found three places in different parts
  of the ship where we could get a small circle. Matting was put down,
  to prevent slipping, and it was found that on each of these ten horses
  could be led at a time, one behind the other. In this manner we
  managed to give every horse half an hour a day of walking exercise.
  While these ten horses were out, the next ten had twice as much room
  to stand in, which enabled the men to give them half-an-hour’s
  grooming. It was very noticeable how the legs ‘fined’ with the
  exercise, and it must have been a great relief to the horse. Our
  horses landed in very good condition, and, except for being soft, they
  were fit to go to work at once. It is obviously only possible to
  exercise horses like this when you have a large number of hands as we
  had.


                              APPENDIX IV

           _LIST OF OFFICERS, N.C.O.S, AND MEN WHO HAVE BEEN
               AWARDED DECORATIONS, COMMISSIONS, OR CIVIL
                             APPOINTMENTS_

                              DECORATIONS

          Colonel D.M. Lumsden, Assam Valley Light C.B.
          Horse

          Major H. Chamney, Surma Valley Light     C.M.G.
          Horse

          Captain J.B. Rutherfoord, Behar Light    D.S.O.
          Horse

          Lieutenant H.O. Pugh, Calcutta Light     D.S.O.
          Horse

                            CIVIL EMPLOYMENT

 Major H. Chamney               District Commissioner, Potchefstroom

 Lieutenant H.O. Pugh           Assistant District Commissioner,
                                  Heilbron

 Trooper C.G. Huddleston        Assistant District Commissioner,
                                  Kroonstad

                    MILITARY AND CIVIL APPOINTMENTS

 Driver P.W. Anderson                Johannesburg Police
 Trooper J.D.L. Arathoon             Gazetted to 3rd Dragoon Guards
                                       (resigned);
                                                  returned to Calcutta
 Lance-Corporal E.J. Ballard         Johannesburg Police
 Driver P.W. Banks                   Chief Warder, Barberton Gaol
 Corporal F.S. Montagu-Bates         East Surrey Regiment
                                       (Commission)[E]
 Trooper L.H. Bell                   Johannesburg Police
   ”     J.S. Biscoe                 2nd Batt. W.I. Regiment
                                       (Commission)[E]
   ”     H.F. Blair                  Northumberland Fusiliers
                                       (Commission)
   ”     K. Boileau                  Johannesburg Police
 Driver L.H. Bradford                Johannesburg Police
   ”     J. Braine                   S.A. Constabulary
 Trooper A.H. Buskin                 Johannesburg Police
 Sergeant H.A. Campbell              Imperial Yeomanry (Commission)
 Transport-Corpl. H.A. Campbell      Johannesburg Police
 Trooper C.D.V. Cary-Barnard         Wiltshire Regiment (Commission)[E]
   ”     E.S. Chapman                Johannesburg Police
 Corporal E.A. Chartres              Royal Irish Fusiliers Medical
                                       Officer (Commission)
 Trooper R.G. Collins                W.I. Regiment (Commission)
 Lance-Corporal S.W. Cullen          S.A. Constabulary
 Driver O.E. Fitzgerald              Johannesburg Police
 Trooper C.W. Fletcher               Army Service Corps (Commission)[E]
   ”     C.A. Forbes                 Re-enlisted in S.A. corps (not
                                       known)
   ”     A.H. Francis                Scottish Horse (re-enlisted
                                       November)
   ”     J.A. Fraser                 W.I. Regiment (Commission)[E]
 Veterinary-Sergeant G. Goodliffe    Johannesburg Police
 Driver R.A. Grenville               Johannesburg Police
 ”   W.E. Harris                     Johannesburg Police
 Trooper W.H. Holme                  Stated to be gazetted to Yeomanry
                                       (Commission)
   ”     J.D.W. Holmes               Johannesburg Police
   ”     S.L. Innes                  Stated to be gazetted to Yeomanry
   ”     B.R. Lloyd-Jones            Johannesburg Police
 Quartermaster-Sergt. W.D. Jones     Army Service Corps (Commission)[E]
 Driver S.H. Kearsey                 Johannesburg Police
 Trooper H.R. Kelly                  Johannesburg Police
   ”     F.W.C. Lawrie               Johannesburg Police
   ”     E.I. Lockhart               Johannesburg Police
   ”     C.H. McMinn                 Gazetted to a Colonial corps
                                       (December 1900)
   ”     C.B.H. Mansfield            19th Hussars (Commission)[E]
 Reg. Sgt.-Maj. C.M.C. Marsham       S.A. Constabulary (Commission)
 Driver A. Martin                    Scottish Horse, South Africa
 Transport-Corporal A. Morris        Re-enlisted in Yeomanry at
                                       Aldershot
 Trooper T.B. Nicholson              W.I. Regiment (Commission)[E]
   ”     G.D. Nicolay                Johannesburg Police
   ”     A.E. Norton                 W.I. Regiment (Commission)[E]
   ”     G.W. Palmer                 W.I. Regiment (Commission)[E]
   ”     P. Partridge                Northampton Regiment
                                       (Commission)[E]
   ”     J.G. Petersen               Johannesburg Police
 Driver P.W. Pryce                   Scottish Horse
 Trooper H.J. Renny                  Johannesburg Police
   ”     D.C. Percy Smith            Middlesex Regiment (Commission)[E]
   ”     R.J. Smith                  Johannesburg Police
   ”     G.P.O. Springfield          3rd Dragoon Guards (Commission)[E]
   ”     B.C.A. Steuart              Royal Highlanders (Black Watch)
                                       (Commission)[E]
   ”     P. Strahan                  South Staffordshire Regiment
                                       (Commission)[E]
   ”     C.F. Walton                 Johannesburg Police
 Driver G.E. Wilkinson               Brabant’s Horse
 Trooper L.G. Williams               North Staffordshire Regiment
                                       (Commission)[E]
   ”     A.N. Woods                  Royal Garrison Artillery
                                       (Commission)[E]
   ”     A.P. Woollright             Imperial Military Railway, Medical
                                       Officer
                                                 (Commission)
   ”     F.W. Wright                 Army Service Corps (Commission)
   ”     H.S.N. Wright               Army Service Corps (Commission)

Footnote E:

  Verified by the Army list.


                               APPENDIX V
                        _HONOURS AND PROMOTIONS_

Following are the recommendations made by Lieutenant-Colonel Lumsden,
late commanding Lumsden’s Horse, in bringing the names of the
undermentioned officers and men to the favourable notice of
Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, the Commander-in-Chief, as having done
special and meritorious work during the service of his corps in South
Africa. The promotions or honours given subsequently are placed within
parentheses.

Previous to the date of these recommendations, Major Chamney had been
gazetted a Companion of St. Michael and St. George, while Captain
Rutherfoord and Lieutenant Pugh had received the decoration of the
Distinguished Service Order.


                               FOR D.S.O.

CAPTAIN N.C. TAYLOR, _14th Bengal Lancers_.

This gentleman filled the post of adjutant (difficult in a corps like
mine) with great judgment, and fulfilled his arduous duties to my entire
satisfaction. He behaved splendidly under fire on many trying occasions,
displayed great coolness and self-reliance, and proved himself a dashing
and able leader, and was of much service to me throughout the campaign.
(Brevet Major.)

CAPTAIN L.H. NOBLETT, _Royal Irish Rifles_.

In command of B Company Lumsden’s Horse. I cannot speak too highly of
this gentleman as a leader of Mounted Infantry. His services to me
from the raising of the corps until its disbandment were
invaluable—clear-headed and cool in any circumstances; and the way he
handled his men in action won their unbounded confidence and mine. To
raise or lead a corps of Mounted Infantry I know no one I would sooner
select. (Brevet Major.)

CAPTAIN J.H.B. BERESFORD, _3rd Sikhs_.

Commanded A Company Lumsden’s Horse. This gentleman took immense trouble
and interest in his company from start to finish, displaying much tact
in handling his men, with whom he was a great favourite. As a soldier I
can only say his long and honourable record added herewith speaks for
itself. (Brevet Major.)

                        _Previous War Services_

 Burmese Expedition,     1886-7                     Medal with clasp.
 Hazara         ”        1888                       Clasp.
 Miranzai       ”        1891                       —
 Hazara         ”        1891                       Clasp.
 Waziristan     ”        1894-5. Action at Wana     Clasp.

North-West Frontier of India, 1897-8. Operations on the Samana and in
the Kurram Valley during August and September 1897. Medal with two
clasps.

Tirah, 1897-8. Action on Dargai and capture of the Sampagha Pass.
Reconnaissance for the Saran Sar operations against the Khan Khel
Chamkanis. Operations in the Bazar Valley, December 25 to 30, 1897.
Clasp.

                              FOR MENTION

                                OFFICERS

CAPTAIN B.W. HOLMES, _East India Railway Volunteers_.

This officer was in command of the Maxim-gun contingent sent by the East
India Railway. He did excellent service with his Maxim gun, on many
occasions displaying much coolness, especially in the action at the Zand
River, when, by his accurate fire, he dislodged the enemy from Kopje
Allien. In fact, throughout the campaign he and his Maxim-gun contingent
were a most useful and reliable addition to my corps. (Mention in
despatches.)

CAPTAIN F. CLIFFORD.

Commanded the contingent from the Coorg and Mysore Volunteer Rifles.
This gentleman did good service on many occasions, and had some very
trying duties to perform, especially while scouting on two occasions in
the Crocodile Valley in July, while we were stationed at Irene, as well
as on another occasion when his detachment was located at Springs.
(Mention in despatches.)

LIEUTENANT C.E. CRANE.

Was badly wounded and taken prisoner at Houtnek on April 30. He behaved
splendidly on that day in a very difficult position and in trying
circumstances. He rejoined at Pretoria, and went through the remainder
of the campaign with us with great credit to himself.

If possible I should like this gentleman to receive the D.S.O. (Mention
in despatches.)

CAPTAIN C.L. SIDEY, _from the Surma Valley Light Horse Volunteers_.

This officer did _very_ good and consistent work throughout the
campaign. Was most popular with his men, and was never off a single
march during our stay in South Africa. (Mention in despatches.)

SURGEON-CAPTAIN S.A. POWELL, M.D., _Surma Valley Light Horse
Volunteers_.

This gentleman carried out his duties on many occasions under much
personal danger and difficulty, especially in assisting to carry Major
Showers when wounded into a place of safety under heavy fire. On June 4,
near Pretoria, as well as on the day prior to entering Johannesburg, he
also displayed much coolness in attending to some cavalrymen who were
wounded, also under fire. I consider him fully deserving of honourable
mention. (Mention in despatches.)

                     RECOMMENDED FOR VICTORIA CROSS

Trooper J.A. Graham—as per my letter attached. I have wired to India for
Trooper Caley’s statement of the case.

The above happened in the end of July, when we were stationed at Irene.
Captain Clifford reported the matter to me on the evening of the event.

I consider Trooper Graham behaved with great gallantry, risking his life
to endeavour to save that of Trooper Cayley, and, with exemplary
coolness, bringing in Cayley’s rifle as well as capturing and bringing
in under a heavy fire a horse which would otherwise have fallen into the
hands of the enemy.

I strongly recommend him for the Victoria Cross. (Distinguished Conduct
Medal.)

              RECOMMENDED FOR DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDALS

 1. Corporal Percy Jones                    }
 2. Trooper P.C. Preston                    } (Distinguished
 3.    ”    H.N. Betts                      } Conduct Medal.)
 4.    ”    W.E. Dexter                     }
 5. Regimental Serg.-Major C.M.C. Marsham   }
 6. Corporal G. Peddie                    (Mention in despatches.)

The men I have recommended for this decoration behaved splendidly
throughout the campaign, and did many individual plucky actions. They
were the pick of my scouts, and were always selected when any difficult
or dangerous duty had to be performed.

                         FOR HONOURABLE MENTION

      1. Corporal J. Graves            }
      2. Sergeant D.S. Fraser          }
      3.     ”    E.R. Dale            } (Mention in despatches.)
      4. Trooper H.R. Parks            }
      5. Sergeant G. Llewhellin        }
      6. Corporal C.E. Turner          }

In my recommendations for honourable mention I feel I must particularise
Corporal Graves and Sergeant Fraser, of the Bank of Bengal. They
rendered me invaluable service as orderly-room clerk and paymaster
respectively, besides rendering excellent service in the field. To carry
out efficiently both duties was no light measure, and on our arrival at
Cape Town I was complimented by the Pay Department as the only corps
which had come down with its pay-sheets up to date, all credit for which
is due to the above-named gentlemen.

The remaining four named have all done meritorious work throughout the
campaign, and are extremely deserving of the honour I am soliciting for
them.

In a corps like mine, where all did so well, I have found it a most
difficult and invidious duty in making my selections.


                   REGULAR NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

The following non-commissioned officers lent from the Regulars did
excellent work with me throughout the campaign, and I have much pleasure
in mentioning them:—

1. SERGEANT HEWITT, of the Royal Irish Rifles, acted as Company
Sergeant-Major to B Company until November 1900, when he was made
Regimental Sergeant-Major, in succession to Sergeant-Major Marsham, who
then vacated the post for a commission in the South African
Constabulary. He had also acted temporarily as Regimental Sergeant-Major
from May 1 to September 1. He showed much tact throughout, and was of
the greatest possible assistance to the Adjutant; and I can strongly
recommend him for any similar appointment. He was most popular with all
members of the corps from the raising of the same to its disbandment.

2. STAFF-SERGEANT STEPHENS, of the Indian Transport, was with the corps
throughout the war. It is impossible to over-estimate the assistance
given by him. He was in direct command of the whole of the regimental
transport and carried out his duties with skill, energy, tact, and
determination. He was most popular with his Volunteer drivers, and
managed them with great credit.

3. FARRIER-SERGEANT MARSHALL, 54th Battery Royal Field Artillery, was in
subordinate charge of the horse hospital throughout the war, and
performed his duties most satisfactorily. He was especially tactful with
Volunteers.

4. SERGEANT BRENNAN, of the York and Lancaster Regiment, was always
capable, willing, obliging, and uniformly well behaved. He took his
position where wanted in any capacity without a murmur, and, at various
times, filled the posts of Company Sergeant-Major, Company
Quartermaster-Sergeant, Regimental Sergeant-Major, and Regimental
Quartermaster-Sergeant. He also displayed much tact in dealing with
Volunteers.

BRIGGS, CUTHBERT, and EDWARDS, shoeing-smiths, of the 15th Hussars, did
their work well and willingly from start to finish. They also worked
well with the Volunteers.

Signallers LANCE-CORPORAL LEE, of the York and Lancaster Regiment,
Privates LOWE, LONGMAN, and HAYWARD, of the 3rd Hussars, did good and
useful work for the brigade, but were almost invariably detached from
the corps and placed on special service. From the end of May to the end
of November they were with General Sir Ian Hamilton, only rejoining when
my corps returned to Bloemfontein. While with me they were in every way
satisfactory.

                        (Signed) D.M. LUMSDEN, Lieutenant-Colonel,

                            Late Commanding Lumsden’s Horse.


                              APPENDIX VI

                      _HONORARY RANK IN THE ARMY_

The undermentioned officers of Colonel Lumsden’s corps are, on the
disbandment of the corps, granted honorary rank in the Army as follows,
with permission to wear the uniform of the corps:—

  To be Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel:—

    Lieutenant-Colonel D. McT. Lumsden, C.B. (Dated January 12, 1901.)

  To be Honorary Major:—

    Major H. Chamney, C.M.G., Second-in-Command. (Dated January 12,
      1901.)

  To be Honorary Captains:—

 Captain F. Clifford                        }

    ”    B.W. Holmes                        }

    ”    J.B. Rutherfoord, D.S.O.           } (Dated January 12,

    ”    C.L. Sidey                         } 1901.)

    ”    S.A. Powell, M.D., Medical         }
   Officer

  To be Honorary Lieutenants:—

   Lieutenant H.O. Pugh, D.S.O.               }
       ”     G.A. Neville                     } (Dated January 12,
       ”     C.E. Crane                       } 1901.)
       ”     F.S. McNamara                    }

  To be Honorary Veterinary-Captain:—

    Veterinary-Captain W. Stevenson, Veterinary Officer. (Dated January
      12, 1901.)

—‘London Gazette,’ June 24, 1902.


                              APPENDIX VII
                    _LUMSDEN’S HORSE EQUIPMENT FUND_

                         CONTRIBUTIONS IN CASH

                  Name of Subscriber                    Amount

                                                        Rs.  a.  p.

     H.E. the Viceroy (Lord Curzon of Kedleston)      1,500   0   0

     H.E. the Governor of Bombay (Lord Sandhurst)       200   0   0

     H.E. the Commander-in-Chief in India (Sir
     William Lockhart)                                  500   0   0

     H.H. the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (Sir
     John Woodburn)                                     500   0   0

     H.H. the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab
     (Sir W. Mackworth Young)                           250   0   0

     H.H. the Lieutenant-Governor of the N.W.P.
     and Oudh (Sir A.P. MacDonnell)                     200   0   0

     H.H. the Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah (Sir
     F.W.R. Fryer)                                      200   0   0

     H.J.S. Cotton, Esq., I.C.S.                        100   0   0

     Lieut.-Colonel D.M. Lumsden                     50,000   0   0

     Sir H. Seymour King, K.C.I.E., M.P., on
       account of Messrs. Henry S. King & Co.,
       Messrs. King, Hamilton, & Co., and Messrs.
       King, King, & Co.                             10,000   0   0

     Maharajah Sir Jotendro Mohun Tagore, K.C.S.I.    5,000   0   0

     Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Kt., C.I.E.    5,000   0   0

     F.T. Verner, Esq., M.P.                          5,000   0   0

     Kumar Radha Prosad Roy                           5,000   0   0

     Nawab Sir Sidi Ahmed Khan, K.C.S.I.              5,000   0   0

     Messrs. Apcar & Co.                              5,000   0   0

     Babu Kally Kissen Tagore                         2,500   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah of Bharatpur                  2,500   0   0

     The Khulsor State                                2,500   0   0

     The Nawab Bahadur of Murshidabad, G.C.I.E.       2,000   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah of Kooch Behar, G.C.I.E.,
     C.B.                                             2,000   0   0

     Kwajah Mahomed Khan of Mardan                    2,000   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah of Jodhpur, G.C.S.I.          2,000   0   0

     Messrs. Cooper, Allen, & Co.                     2,000   0   0

       ”    Prawn, Kissen, Law, & Co.                 2,000   0   0

       ”    Jardine, Skinner, & Co.                   1,000   0   0

       ”    Gillanders, Arbuthnot, & Co.              1,000   0   0

       ”    Bird & Co.                                1,000   0   0

       ”    Andrew Yule & Co.                         1,000   0   0

       ”    Geo. Henderson & Co.                      1,000   0   0

       ”    Anderson, Wright, & Co.                   1,000   0   0

       ”    Kettlewell, Bullen, & Co.                 1,000   0   0

       ”    Mackinnon, Mackenzie, & Co.               1,000   0   0

       ”    Balmer, Lawrie, & Co.                     1,000   0   0

       ”    Barry & Co.                               1,000   0   0

       ”    Turner, Morrison, & Co.                   1,000   0   0

       ”    Ewing & Co.                               1,000   0   0

       ”    Gladstone, Wyllie, & Co.                  1,000   0   0

       ”    Octavius Steel & Co.                      1,000   0   0

       ”    Ralli Brothers                            1,000   0   0

       ”    Grindlay & Co.                            1,000   0   0

       ”    Piggott, Chapman, & Co.                   1,000   0   0

       ”    Becker, Ross, & Co.                       1,000   0   0

       ”    J. Thomas & Co.                           1,000   0   0

       ”    McLeod & Co.                              1,000   0   0

       ”    Birkmyre Brothers                         1,000   0   0

       ”    Jessop & Co.                              1,000   0   0

       ”    Finlay, Muir, & Co.                       1,000   0   0

       ”    Shaw, Wallace, & Co.                      1,000   0   0

       ”    Lyall, Marshall, & Co.                    1,000   0   0

       ”    Marshall, Sons, & Co.                     1,000   0   0

     Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.,
     Ltd.                                             1,000   0   0

     Eastern Insurance Co.                            1,000   0   0

     Triton Insurance Co.                             1,000   0   0

     Messrs. Hamilton & Co.                           1,000   0   0

       ”    Whiteaway, Laidlaw, & Co.                 1,000   0   0

       ”    Bathgate & Co.                              500   0   0

       ”    Cooke, Kelvey, & Co.                        500   0   0

       ”    Lovelock & Lewes                            500   0   0

       ”    E. Meyer                                    500   0   0

       ”    S. Menasseh & Sons                          500   0   0

       ”    Macintosh, Burn, & Co.                      500   0   0

       ”    Meakin & Co.                                500   0   0

       ”    E. Dyer & Co.                               500   0   0

       ”    Hoare, Miller, & Co.                        500   0   0

       ”    F.W. Heilgers & Co.                         500   0   0

       ”    Halford, Smith, & Co.                       500   0   0

       ”    M. David & Co.                              500   0   0

     The Murree Brewery Co.                             500   0   0

     Messrs. Bhama, Churn, Bhur, & Co.                  260  10   0

       ”    Duncan Brothers & Co.                       250   0   0

     Messrs. Peace, Siddons, & Gough                    250   0   0

       ”    Walter Locke & Co.                          250   0   0

     The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking
     Corporation, Ltd.                                  250   0   0

     Messrs. Baines & Co.                               250   0   0

       ”    F. & C. Osler                               250   0   0

       ”    Lazarus & Co.                               250   0   0

       ”    Stewart & Co.                               250   0   0

       ”    Thacker, Spink, & Co.                       250   0   0

       ”    Dykes & Co.                                 250   0   0

       ”    Armfield & Chard                            250   0   0

       ”    H. Goldspink & B. Thompson                  250   0   0

       ”    Harding & Monk                              250   0   0

       ”    Cook & Co.                                  250   0   0

       ”    Manton & Co.                                250   0   0

       ”    Grunberg Brothers                           250   0   0

       ”    Davenport & Co.                             250   0   0

       ”    R. Knight & Sons                            250   0   0

       ”    Norman Brothers                             250   0   0

       ”    McDowell & Co.                              250   0   0

       ”    Mackenzie, Lyall, & Co.                     250   0   0

       ”    McVicar, Smith, & Co.                       250   0   0

       ”    Davidson & Co.                              250   0   0

       ”    Smith, Stanistreet, & Co.                   250   0   0

       ”    A. & J. Main & Co.                          250   0   0

       ”    John King & Co.                             250   0   0

       ”    Arracan Co., Ltd.                           250   0   0

       ”    David Sassoon & Co.                         250   0   0

       ”    T.E. Thomson & Co.                          200   0   0

       ”    R. Scott, Thomson, & Co.                    200   0   0

       ”    Francis Harrison, Hathaway, & Co.           200   0   0

     The South British Fire and Marine Insurance
     Co.                                                250   0   0

     Messrs. Jas. Monteith & Co.                        200   0   0

       ”    Moore & Co.                                 100   0   0

       ”    Watts & Co.                                 100   0   0

       ”    Broomfield & Co.                            100   0   0

       ”    Ahmuty & Co.                                100   0   0

       ”    Marrison, Cottle, & Co.                     100   0   0

       ”    W. Newman & Co.                             100   0   0

       ”    J. Boseck & Co.                             100   0   0

       ”    Cuthbertson & Harper                        100   0   0

       ”    Hall & Anderson                             100   0   0

       ”    Phelps & Co.                                100   0   0

       ”    Stockwell & Co.                             100   0   0

       ”    Harold & Co.                                100   0   0

     Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd                          100   0   0

       ”    J.B. Norton & Sons                          100   0   0

       ”    B. Smyth & Co.                              100   0   0

       ”    Traill & Co.                                100   0   0

       ”    M.S. Hathaway & Co.                         100   0   0

     The Naini Tal Brewery Co.                          100   0   0

     The Crown Brewery Co.                              100   0   0

     Messrs. S.G. Tellery & Co.                          50   0   0

       ”    T.E. Bevan & Co.                             50   0   0

       ”    J.A. Dykes & Co.                             50   0   0

       ”    J.C. Bechtler & Sons                         50   0   0

       ”    Jamasji & Sons                               21   0   0

     Staff of the Bank of Bengal, Calcutta            2,000   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah of Ajodhya, K.C.I.E.          1,000   0   0

     Hon. Rajah Ranajit Sinha Bahadur of Nashipur     1,000   0   0

     Maharajah Manindra Chandra Nundy of
     Cossimbazar                                      1,000   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah of Bikanir                    1,000   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah Bahadur of Durbhanga          1,000   0   0

     Malik Ahmed Wali Khan                            1,000   0   0

     H.H. the Rajah of Charkhari                      1,000   0   0

     H.H. the Rajah of Datia                          1,000   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah Bahadur of Oorcha,
     K.C.I.E.                                         1,000   0   0

     Hon. Nawab Mumtaz-ud-Dowla Mahomed Fairaz Ali
       Khan   of Pahasu, Bulandshahr                    500   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah of Benares, G.C.I.E.            500   0   0

     Rajah Bijoy Singh of Kunari, Kotah                 500   0   0

     Babu Sotish Chunder-Chowdhari, Zemindar of
     Bhowanipur                                         500   0   0

     Babu Romanath Ghose                                500   0   0

     Rai Cameleshwari Prosad Singh Bahadur of
     Monghyr                                            400   0   0

     Zinzbur Disit                                      251   0   0

     Rao Saheb Bahadur Singh, C.I.E.                    200   0   0

     H.H. the Maharajah Bahadur of Gidhour,
     K.C.I.E.                                           200   0   0

     Kumar Dakshineswar Mallia                          200   0   0

     Khan Bahadur Moulvi Syed Ali Ahmed Khan            200   0   0

     H. Mustafa Khan                                    150   0   0

     Nawab Walakader Syed Hossein Ali Mirza             150   0   0

     Nawab Syed Mahomed Zain-ul-Abidin,
     Murshidabad                                        100   0   0

     Syed Bahadur Nawab Goozree, Patna                  100   0   0

     Rajah Mumtaz Ali Khan (Utraula)                    100   0   0

     Rajah of Naldanga                                  100   0   0

     Rai Budri Dass Mookim Bahadur                      100   0   0

     Maharajah Sir Narendra Krishna Deb Bahadur         100   0   0

     Babu Nolin Behary Sircar                           100   0   0

     Babu Nibaron Chunder Dutt                          100   0   0

     Nawab Syed Ameer Hossein, C.I.E.                   100   0   0

     Babu Jumna Prosad                                  100   0   0

     Lalla Ram Saran Dass                               100   0   0

     Golam Hashim Ariff                                 100   0   0

     Babu Chakan Lall Roy                                60   0   0

     Talukdar of Haswar                                  50   0   0

     Nawab Mahomed Hayat Khan, C.S.I.                    50   0   0

     Prince Mehomed Bukhtyar Shah, C.I.E.                25   0   0

     Lieut.-Col. J.L. Walker                          1,000   0   0

        ”       D.P. Masson, C.I.E.                   1,000   0   0

     W. Malings Grant, Esq.                           1,000   0   0

     G.T. Spankie, Esq.                               1,000   0   0

     C.W. McMinn, Esq.                                  750   0   0

     C.R.S. Walker, Esq.                                700   0   0

     Hon. Mr. Clinton Dawkins                           500   0   0

      ”   Sir Griffith P. Evans, K.C.I.E.               500   0   0

      ”   Mr. J.T. Woodroffe (Advocate-General)         500   0   0

      ”   Sir Francis Maclean, K.C.I.E. (Chief
     Justice of Bengal                                  150   0   0

     Hon. Mr. Justice C.H. Hill                         100   0   0

      ”            ”       Stanley                      100   0   0

      ”            ”       Harington                    100   0   0

      ”            ”       Wilkins                      100   0   0

      ”            ”       Rampini                      100   0   0

      ”            ”       Stevens                      100   0   0

      ”            ”       S.G. Sale                    100   0   0

      ”    Sir H.T. Pinsep                              100   0   0

      ”    Sir Wm. Macpherson                           100   0   0

      ”    Mr. Justice W.O. Clark, I.C.S.                50   0   0

      ”             ”       R. L, Harris, I.C.S.         50   0   0

      ”             ”       J.A. Anderson, I.C.S.        50   0   0

      ”            ”       Gooroo Dass Bannerjee        100   0   0

      ”            ”       Chunder Mudhab Ghose         100   0   0

      ”            ”       O.H.S. Reid                   50   0   0

      ”            ”       P.C. Chatterjee               32   0   0

     Subscriptions from Tezpur District (per L.
       Mackay, of Borjulie   Tea Estate)              1,109   0   0

     ‘A Sympathiser’                                  1,000   0   0

     An ex-Deputy Commissioner of Assam and
       Trooper of the   S.V.L.H.                      1,000   0   0

     Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Men
       of the Imperial   Service Camel Corps of
       Bikanir                                          500   0   0

     Officers and Men of the Cossipur Artillery
     Volunteers                                         471   0   0

     Staff of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking
     Corporation, Ltd.                                  400   0   0

     ‘A Recruit’                                        250   0   0

     Committee of the Mounted Infantry Send-off
     Fund, Rangoon                                      196  10   0

     Staff of Messrs. Cook & Co.                        186   0   0

     Officers of Executive Engineer, S.M. Railway       111   4   0

     Manager and Staff of Jhainpur Concern              160   0   0

     Darjeeling Bench and Bar                           123   0   0

     Mirzapore Detachment, B Company, Ghazipur
     Volunteer Rifles                                   106   0   0

     ‘C.O.S.’ (Bombay)                                  105   0   0

     Staff of Messrs. Davis, Leech, & Co.               100   0   0

     Employés of the Bengal Central Railway             100   0   0

     Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and
       Troopers of B Troop A.V.L.H., and Civilian
       Residents of the District                      1,078   0   0

     Staff of Messrs. Moore & Co.                        67   9   6

     Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Men
       of H Company 3rd Battalion C.V.R.                 65   0   0

     Hajipur Division, B. & N.W. Railway                 61   5   5

     District Superintendent and Inspector of
     Police (Balaghat C.P.)                              60   0   0

     ‘A.’                                                50   0   0

     ‘F.’                                               100   0   0

     ‘Rot’                                               50   0   0

     Subscriptions collected at Spence’s Hotel           47   0   0

     Staff of Messrs. Bevan & Co.                        41   0   0

     Subscriptions through Punjab Banking Company,
     Ltd.                                                35   0   0

     No. 21, Fort Sandeman                               30   0   0

     ‘S.C.’                                              30   0   0

     Members of B Troop, N.B.M.A.                        45   0   0

     ‘X.Y.Z.’ (Sonai)                                    25   0   0

     ‘A Corporal of the Agra Volunteers’                 25   0   0

     ‘E.L.C.’                                            25   0   0

     Morton Institution                                  10   0   0

     ‘T.H.I.’                                            10   0   0

     ‘G.H.D.’                                             5   0   0

     W. Garth, Esq.                                     500   0   0

     Geo. Foster, Esq.                                  500   0   0

     J.H. Thomson, Esq.                                 500   0   0

     Geo. Williamson, Esq.                              500   0   0

     Cairns Deas, Esq.                                  500   0   0

     C.H. Moore, Esq.                                   500   0   0

     Colonel Kirwan                                     500   0   0

     J.A. Devenish, Esq.                                500   0   0

     Harry Stuart, Esq.                                 500   0   0

     Miss Mackinnon                                     365   0   0

     Sir William J. Cuningham, K.C.S.I.                 250   0   0

     Hon. Sir A.C. Trevor, K.C.S.I.                     250   0   0

     R. Nathan, Esq.                                    250   0   0

     L.P.D. Broughton, Esq.                             250   0   0

     J.S. Ritchie, Esq., I.C.S.                         250   0   0

     R.B. Pringle, Esq.                                 300   0   0

     J.H.S. Richardson, Esq.                            300   0   0

     R.H. Mackenzie, Esq.                               300   0   0

     C.E. Turner, Esq.                                  300   0   0

     Shirley Tremearne, Esq.                            250   0   0

     G.S. Henderson, Esq.                               250   0   0

     R.J. Reid, Esq.                                    250   0   0

     A.M. Dunne, Esq.                                   250   0   0

     J.M.G. Prophit, Esq.                               250   0   0

     A.S. Dott, Esq.                                    250   0   0

     Hon. Mr. J. Buckingham, C.I.E.                     250   0   0

     G. Champion, Esq.                                  250   0   0

     F. Robinson, Esq.                                  250   0   0

     F.G. Harris, Esq.                                  250   0   0

     J.A. Beattie, Esq.                                 250   0   0

     W.L. Bailey, Esq.                                  250   0   0

     H. Wicks, Esq.                                     250   0   0

     A.W. Forbes, Esq.                                  250   0   0

     Major-General Sir Edwin Collen, K.C.I.E.           250   0   0

     F. Herlihy, Esq.                                   248   0   0

     F.S. Hamilton, Esq., I.C.S.                        200   0   0

     L. Hare, Esq., I.C.S.                              200   0   0

     E.A. Short, Esq.                                   200   0   0

     J.B. Lee, Esq.                                     200   0   0

     J.F. Hughes, Esq.                                  200   0   0

     F.R. Roe, Esq.                                     200   0   0

     A.W. Davis, Esq.                                   200   0   0

     R.W. Maxwell, Esq.                                 200   0   0

     D.J. Macpherson, Esq., C.I.E., I.C.S.              150   0   0

     G. Rivett-Carnac, Esq.                             150   0   0

     D. Coats Niven, Esq.                               150   0   0

     A.L. Johnston, Esq.                                150   0   0

     A.S. Crum, Esq.                                    150   0   0

     Hon. Mr. C.W. Bolton, C.S.I.                       100   0   0

     ”    Mr. J.D. Rees, C.I.E.                         100   0   0

     Brigadier-General C.R. McGregor, C.B.              100   0   0

      ”            ”       Sir E.R. Elles, K.C.B.       100   0   0

      ”            ”       Sir A. Gaselee, K.C.B.       100   0   0

      ”            ”       H.P.P. Leigh, C.I.E.         100   0   0

     Sir Adelbert C. Talbot, K.C.I.E.                   100   0   0

     Surgeon-General R. Harvey, C.B., I.M.S.            100   0   0

     F.A. Upcott, Esq., C.S.I.                          100   0   0

     The Lord Bishop of Calcutta (Dr. J.E.C.
     Welldon)                                           100   0   0

     H.F. Evans, Esq., I.C.S.                           100   0   0

     A.U. Fanshawe, Esq., C.I.E., I.C.S.                100   0   0

     J. Douglas, Esq.                                   100   0   0

     G.H. Sutherland, Esq.                              100   0   0

     W. Skinner, Esq.                                   100   0   0

     Dr. G.A. Ferris                                    100   0   0

     Otto Eck, Esq.                                     100   0   0

     D.B. Horn, Esq.                                    100   0   0

     C.E. Pittar, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     E.G. Colvin, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     W.F. Wells, Esq., I.C.S.                           100   0   0

     H. Luson, Esq., I.C.S.                             100   0   0

     Captain H. Daly, C.I.E.                            100   0   0

     L.C. Turner, Esq., I.C.S.                          100   0   0

     T. Higham, Esq., I.C.S.                            100   0   0

     F.J. Jeffries, Esq., I.C.S.                        100   0   0

     Hon. Mr. G. Toynbee, I.C.S.                        100   0   0

     E. Molony, Esq., I.C.S.                            100   0   0

     Major-General T.B. Tyler, R.A.                     100   0   0

     A. Goodeve, Esq., I.C.S.                           100   0   0

     Lieutenant-Colonel C.H. Joubert, I.M.S.            100   0   0

     Hon. Mr. W.B. Oldham, C.I.E.                       100   0   0

     Lieutenant-Colonel B. Scott, C.I.E.                100   0   0

     S.H. Freemantle, Esq., I.C.S.                      100   0   0

     H.C. Williams, Esq., I.C.S.                        100   0   0

     F.F. Handley, Esq., I.C.S.                         100   0   0

     W.H. Cobb, Esq., I.C.S.                            100   0   0

     H.F. Maguire, Esq., I.C.S.                         100   0   0

     J. Lang, Esq., I.C.S.                              100   0   0

     F.D. Simpson, Esq., I.C.S.                         100   0   0

     Ross Scott, Esq., I.C.S.                           100   0   0

     M.L. Darrah, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     Lieutenant-Colonel H. St. P. Maxwell, C.S.I.       100   0   0

     J. Taylor, Esq.                                    100   0   0

     William Dods, Esq.                                 100   0   0

     H.H. Jelliott, Esq.                                100   0   0

     H.S. Ashton, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     C. Greenway, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     Geo. Girard, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     H.C. Begg, Esq.                                    100   0   0

     J.D. Nimmo, Esq.                                   100   0   0

     J. Arbuthnot, Esq.                                 100   0   0

     J.H. Apjohn, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     Otto Hadenfelt, Esq.                               100   0   0

     T.B.G. Overend, Esq.                               100   0   0

     E.W.J. Bartlett, Esq.                              100   0   0

     H. Hensman, Esq.                                   100   0   0

     C.P. Hill, Esq.                                    100   0   0

     Captain W.J. Bradshaw, P.D.V.R.                    100   0   0

     George Irving, Esq.                                100   0   0

     W.H. Cheetham, Esq.                                100   0   0

     F. Mathewson, Esq.                                 100   0   0

     W.C. Bonnerjee, Esq.                               100   0   0

     R. Allen, Esq.                                     100   0   0

     M.J. Beattie, Esq.                                 100   0   0

     R.H. Tickell, Esq.                                 100   0   0

     Mrs. F.A. Burnham                                  100   0   0

     W. Bull, Esq.                                      100   0   0

     J.L. Maddox, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     F.M. Shaw, Esq.                                    100   0   0

     W.H. Holmes, Esq.                                  100   0   0

     A. Pedler, Esq.                                    100   0   0

     Mrs. J.A.C. Skinner                                 75   0   0

     E.P. Chapman, Esq.                                  75   0   0

     Examiner of Accounts and Circle Paymaster,
     Rangoon                                             68   0   0

     Dr. J. Neild Cook                                   60   0   0

     Hon. Mr. R.B. Buckley                               50   0   0

     Major-General Hobday, C.B.                          50   0   0

     C.E. Pitman, Esq., C.I.E.                           50   0   0

     Captain J.H. Murray                                 50   0   0

     F.F. Duke, Esq., I.C.S.                             50   0   0

     H. Paget, Esq.                                      50   0   0

     W.O. Grazebrook, Esq.                               50   0   0

     J. Allison, Esq.                                    50   0   0

     G.H.D. Walker, Esq.                                 50   0   0

     Victor Murray, Esq.                                 50   0   0

     W.S. Meyer, Esq.                                    50   0   0

     Frank Lyall, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     P.E. Guzdar, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     H. Robinson, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     A.F. Simson, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     R.D. Mehta, Esq., C.I.E.                            50   0   0

     H.N. Harris, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     W.H. McKewan, Esq.                                  50   0   0

     Mrs. A.C.M. Harrison                                50   0   0

     H.J. Bell, Esq.                                     50   0   0

     F. McL. Carter, Esq.                                50   0   0

     S. Brandreth, Esq.                                  50   0   0

     G.F. Stainforth, Esq.                               50   0   0

     W.E. Curry, Esq.                                    50   0   0

     Arthur Casperz, Esq.                                50   0   0

     St. John Stephens, Esq.                             50   0   0

     H.S. Tozer, Esq.                                    50   0   0

     F.W. Roberts, Esq.                                  50   0   0

     G.C. Lawrie, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     S. Finney, Esq.                                     50   0   0

     H.C. Woodman, Esq.                                  50   0   0

     W. Touch, Esq.                                      50   0   0

     J.R.E. Younghusband, Esq.                           50   0   0

     James Lackersteen, Esq.                             50   0   0

     J.G. Jennings, Esq.                                 50   0   0

     C.H. Browning, Esq.                                 50   0   0

     H.B. Warner, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     Mair R. Buksh                                       50   0   0

     C.P. Beachcroft, Esq., I.C.S.                       50   0   0

     Major H.W. Pilgrim, I.M.S.                          50   0   0

     B. Foley, Esq., I.C.S.                              50   0   0

     L.A.G. Clarke, Esq., I.C.S.                         50   0   0

     H. Ware, Esq., I.C.S.                               50   0   0

     J. Hope Simpson, Esq., I.C.S.                       50   0   0

     C.E. Crawford, Esq., I.C.S.                         50   0   0

     F.J. Cooke, Esq., I.C.S.                            50   0   0

     Capt. St. J. Shadwell                               50   0   0

     F.G. Mayne, Esq.                                    50   0   0

     H.W. Sutcliffe, Esq.                                50   0   0

     A.J. Fraser Blair, Esq.                             50   0   0

     D. McLaren Morrison, Esq.                           50   0   0

     F.E. Durham, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     W.M. Beresford, Esq.                                50   0   0

     G.H.L. Mackenzie, Esq.                              50   0   0

     A.F.M. Abdur Rahman, Esq.                           50   0   0

     E.L.S. Russell, Esq.                                50   0   0

     J. Reid, Esq.                                       50   0   0

     L.B. Goad, Esq.                                     50   0   0

     R. Sykes, Esq.                                      50   0   0

     R. Todd, Esq.                                       50   0   0

     R.W. Hilliard, Esq.                                 50   0   0

     B. Harrison, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     E.N. Drury, Esq.                                    50   0   0

     P.R. Cadell, Esq.                                   50   0   0

     Captain N. Rainier                                  50   0   0

     Babu Baij Nath Goenka                               33   0   0

       ”    Nand Kumar Lall                              33   0   0

       ”    Jowhary Lall                                 33   0   0

     Captain W.J. McElhinny                              32   0   0

     Major E.A. Waller, R.E.                             32   0   0

     J.E. Phillimore, Esq., I.C.S.                       32   0   0

     R.N. Burn, Esq.                                     32   0   0

     S. Halliwell, Esq.                                  32   0   0

     G. Kingsley, Esq.                                   32   0   0

     G.D. Oswell, Esq.                                   32   0   0

     Trevor Lloyd, Esq.                                  32   0   0

     P. Hennesy, Esq.                                    32   0   0

     H. Lyall, Esq.                                      32   0   0

     G.L. Hendley, Esq.                                  32   0   0

     F.C.W. Dover, Esq.                                  30   0   0

     E.R. Osgood, Esq.                                   30   0   0

     E. Staples, Esq.                                    30   0   0

     W.G. Hemingway, Esq.                                30   0   0

     H. Richardson, Esq.                                 30   0   0

     Rao Gungadhur Mahdev Chitnavis, C.I.E.              30   0   0

     Major D. Prain, I.M.S.                              25   0   0

     J.S. Harris, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     Thomas Watson, Esq.                                 25   0   0

     W. Parsons, Esq.                                    25   0   0

     John Bathgate, Esq.                                 25   0   0

     C.A. Walsh, Esq.                                    25   0   0

     Colin A. Paterson, Esq.                             25   0   0

     H.H. Macleod, Esq.                                  25   0   0

     W.J. Cotton, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     G.H. Le Maistre, Esq.                               25   0   0

     W.B. Browne, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     O. Ghilardi, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     Chas. F. Baker, Esq.                                25   0   0

     W.T. Grice, Esq.                                    25   0   0

     F.H. Ware, Esq.                                     25   0   0

     P.J. Macdonald, Esq.                                25   0   0

     E.J.R. Dyer, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     C.E. Dard, Esq.                                     25   0   0

     John Leslie, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     F.C. Simpson, Esq.                                  25   0   0

     H.W.G. Herron, Esq.                                 25   0   0

     J.C. Hewitt, Esq.                                   25   0   0

     N. Williamson, Esq.                                 25   0   0

     A.J. Lloyd, Esq.                                    25   0   0

     Hon. Babu Doorgagati Bannerjee, C.I.E.              25   0   0

     Babu Davendro Nath Dutt                             25   0   0

     Nawab Mehdi Hassan                                  25   0   0

     Syed Manjhla Nawab                                  25   0   0

     F. Williams, Esq., C.E.                             20   0   0

     Captain G.W. Rawlins                                20   0   0

     C.H. Atkins, Esq.                                   20   0   0

     Captain I.C. Beresford                              20   0   0

     G. Huddleston, Esq.                                 20   0   0

     M.C. Fitzgibbon, Esq.                               20   0   0

     Dr. Scott                                           20   0   0

     Babu Krishna Chunder Bannerjee                      20   0   0

     Babu Gobind Sahai                                   17   0   0

     Babu Ram Dhari Singh                                17   0   0

     A.H. Diack, Esq., I.C.S.                            16   0   0

     Captain P. Thompson, I.S.C.                         16   0   0

     Colonel B. Franklin, I.M.S.                         16   0   0

     Captain T.J. Kennedy                                16   0   0

     Lieutenant-Colonel J.A. Parkinson                   16   0   0

     Major J.M. Reid                                     16   0   0

       ”   J.R. Harwood                                  16   0   0

     A.S. Barrow, Esq.                                   16   0   0

     E. Walker, Esq.                                     16   0   0

     T. Major, Esq.                                      16   0   0

     J.B. Lloyd, Esq.                                    16   0   0

     H.R. Klugh, Esq.                                    16   0   0

     F. Stevenson, Esq.                                  16   0   0

     W. Muir Masson, Esq.                                16   0   0

     James Jameson, Esq.                                 16   0   0

     S.M. Robinson, Esq.                                 16   0   0

     Rev. E.F.C. Wigram                                  16   0   0

     R.P. Atkinson, Esq.                                 16   0   0

     S.E. Madan, Esq.                                    16   0   0

     C. Roe, Esq.                                        16   0   0

     S. Waterfield, Esq.                                 16   0   0

     F. Field, Esq.                                      16   0   0

     S.W. Emery, Esq.                                    16   0   0

     H.P. Cowley, Esq.                                   16   0   0

     J.F. Mure, Esq.                                     16   0   0

     Lieutenant G. Wilkinson, R.A.                       15   0   0

     A.B. Dalgetty, Esq.                                 15   0   0

     A.W. Thomas, Esq.                                   15   0   0

     Chas. H. Hacking, Esq.                              15   0   0

     Lieutenant W.B. Huddleston                          10   0   0

        ”       L.T. Gage                                10   0   0

     Major E. Bowring                                    10   0   0

     F. Fischer, Esq.                                    10   0   0

     J.M. D’Costa, Esq.                                  10   0   0

     C.H. Jones, Esq.                                    10   0   0

     D.S. Richmond, Esq.                                 10   0   0

     T.F. Richardson, Esq.                               10   0   0

     V.E. Nepos, Esq.                                    10   0   0

     A. Stevenson, Esq.                                  10   0   0

     Mrs. E. Clarke                                      10   0   0

      ”   L. Macalister                                  10   0   0

     A.E. Jones, Esq.                                    10   0   0

     A.J. Stavridi, Esq.                                 10   0   0

     K.C. Chronopolo, Esq.                               10   0   0

     E.S.L. Morton, Esq.                                 10   0   0

     W.L. Dallas, Esq.                                   10   0   0

     Mrs. L.P. Patton                                    10   0   0

     E.C. Richardson, Esq.                               10   0   0

     Rai Medni Prosad Singh Bahadur                      10   0   0

     Babu Tin Cowry Rai                                   6   0   0

     Mirza Habib Husain                                   5   0   0

     A.S. Cooper, Esq.                                    5   0   0

     W.H. Burgess, Esq.                                   5   0   0

     J. Harding, Esq.                                     5   0   0

     W.H. Russell, Esq.                                   5   0   0

     Malik Mahomed Khan                                   5   0   0

     Babu Behary Lall Mukerji                             5   0   0

     Captain L.C. Dunsterville                            5   0   0

     Babu B.M. Laha                                       3   8   0

                                                      —————————

                         TOTAL                     2,20,353   6  11

     Proceeds of Ladies’ Ball given in Town Hall      6,898   1   0

                                                      —————————

                      GRAND TOTAL                  2,27,251   7  11

                         CONTRIBUTIONS IN KIND

          Name of Contributor                Contribution

     H.H. the Maharajah of          50 Arab chargers and saddlery
     Bhownagar

     The Maharani Regent of Mysore  20 country-bred chargers

     Maharaj Kumar Prodyat Coomar   A complete set of _x_-ray
     Tagore                           apparatus

     Colonel Desraj Urs             30 horses

     Rajah of Mursan                25 horses

     The Maharajah Bahadur of       12 horses
     Soubarsa, C.I.E.

     Nawab Mahomed Khan, Chief of   2 horses
     Mardan

     Mahomed Mazamullah Khan of     2 horses, 1 mule, and 2
     Aligarh                          sleeping cottage tents

     Natives of Aligarh             27 horses and 1 mule

     Kashmir Durbar                 300 Kashmir putties

     Victoria Mills Company of      125 thick double blankets for
     Cawnpore                         syces

     The Muir Mills, Cawnpore       Tents for the force

     The Woollen Mills, Cawnpore    Serge cloth for all coats
                                      complete, 1,000 pairs ribbed
                                      stockings, 400 yards fawn
                                      flannel, 400 pairs khaki
                                      putties

     The Brush Factory, Cawnpore    Brushes

     The Wense Tannery, Cawnpore    Leather goods

     Messrs. Cooper, Allen, & Co.,  300 pairs of gaiters
     Cawnpore

     New Egerton Mills, Dharwal     300 Cardigan jackets

     F.H. Abbott, Esq.              Fodder

     G.C. Mookerjee & Sons          2 lever clocks

     Messrs. Hart Bros.             Fodder, shoes, veterinary
                                      nails, &c.

       ”    James Murray & Co.      6 field glasses

     Russell of Dinapore            1 box Diamond Ointment

     Messrs. Lipton, Ltd.           Tea and coffee for the force
                                      for the voyage to South
                                      Africa

     Lawrie Johnstone, Esq., and    5,000 Manilla cigars
     J.R. Stewart, Esq.

     C.F. Chadburn, Esq.            7,200 boxes of matches

     G.F. Kellner & Co.             10 cases of whisky

     Robinson, Morrison, & Co.      2 hogsheads beer

     Whiteaway, Laidlaw, & Co.      300 hats

     Ranken & Co.                   Officers’ uniforms

     Harman & Co.                   Making one suit of clothes for
                                      each man

     W. Leslie & Co.                12 sets of aluminium
                                      cooking-pots

     J.F. Madan                     30 doz. Charles Southwell’s
                                      whole fruit jams, 15 doz.
                                      Rowat’s pickles, 72 doz.
                                      Rowat’s Sauce, 200 lb.
                                      Mackenzie & Mackenzie’s
                                      biscuits, 96 doz. Universal
                                      potted meat, 10 doz. Brand’s
                                      essence of beef, 25 galls.
                                      English malt vinegar, 30 lb.
                                      fresh ground coffee, 50 lb.
                                      orange Pekoe tea

     Various People                 7 volumes ‘Blackwood’s
                                      Magazine,’ 4 volumes
                                      ‘Harper’s Monthly Magazine,’
                                      6 volumes ‘The Century
                                      Magazine,’ 72 paper books
                                      (miscellaneous)


                             APPENDIX VIII
                 _FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE CORPS_

The following gentlemen played prominent parts in connection with the
raising and equipment of Lumsden’s Horse:

  H.E. the Commander-in-Chief—Sir William Lockhart, G.C.B., K.C.S.I.,
  whom illness, however, prevented from inspecting the corps prior to
  their departure to South Africa.

  Major-General Sir Edwin Collen, K.C.I.E., C.B., Military Member of
  Council.

  Major-General P.J. Maitland, C.B., Secretary to the Government of
  India Military Department.

  Major the Hon. E. Baring, Military Secretary to H.E. the Viceroy.

  Brigadier-General Sir E.R. Elles, K.C.B., Adjutant-General in India.

  Brigadier-General Sir Arthur Gaselee, K.C.B., Quartermaster-General in
  India.

  Sir Patrick Playfair, C.I.E.

  Captain A.L. Phillips, Indian Staff Corps.

  Major-General R. Wace, C.B., Director-General of Ordnance.

  Surgeon-General R. Harvey, C.B., Director-General of I.M.S.

  Colonel P.A. Buckland, Superintendent Army Clothing.

  Major-General T.F. Hobday, Commissary-General.

  Captain W.S. Goodridge, Director R.I.M. (Bombay).

  Captain A. Gwyn, Deputy Director R.I.M. (Kidderpur Docks).

  William Currie, Esq., Messrs. Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co.

  The Most Rev. J.E.C. Welldon, Lord Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan
  of India.

  Shirley Tremearne, Esq.

  Canon A. Luckman, Senior Chaplain, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Calcutta.

  H.E.A. Apjohn, Esq., Chairman, Port Commissioners.

  Brigadier-General Leach, C.B., G.O.C. Bengal.

  Colonel Money, Assistant Adjutant-General.

  Colonel Mansfield, Commissary-General for Transport.

  Thanks are due to the following:

  The Indian Press for the free notices and list of subscriptions
  inserted from time to time.

  A.U. Fanshawe, Esq., C.I.E., Director-General of Post Offices.

  C.E. Pitman, Esq., C.I.E., Director-General of Telegraphs, for
  establishing Post and Telegraph Offices in Camp.

  The Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (Sir John Woodburn).

  Her Excellency Lady Curzon of Kedleston.

  Lady Woodburn, the Misses Pugh, and the other ladies of Calcutta who
  organised the Ball.

               THE LADIES’ BALL, CALCUTTA, JANUARY 1900,

           IN AID OF THE FUNDS FOR EQUIPPING LUMSDEN’S HORSE.

                              _Patroness_
             Her Excellency LADY CURZON OF KEDLESTON, C.I.

                          _Vice-Patronesses_
          Lady _Woodburn_           Lady LOCKHART

          Lady MACLEAN              H.H. the MAHARANI OF
                                    COOCH BEHAR

                              Mrs. COTTON

                          _General Committee._

Mrs. Aldam
  ”  C.H. Allen
  ”   Apjohn
  ”   Baker
  ”   Barkley
  ”   Barrow
  ”   Birkmyre
  ”   Bolton
  ”   Boyd
  ”   Branson
  ”   Beadon-Bryant
  ”   Buckland
  ”   Campbell
  ”   Chappell
  ”   Charles
  ”   Churchill
Lady Collen
Mrs. Comley
  ”   Constable
  ”   Coulter
  ”   Dangerfield
  ”   Lindsay Daniell
  ”   Dawkins
  ”   Dring
  ”   Duke
  ”   Dunne
  ”   Eggar
  ”   Ellis

Mrs. Elworthy
  ”   Trevor Forbes
  ”   Gayer
  ”   Gemmell
  ”   Gibbs
  ”   A.S. Gladstone
  ”   Banks-Gwyther
  ”   Haggard
  ”   Harington
  ”   Havell
  ”   Hill
  ”   Huddleston
  ”   Iggulden
  ”   Joubert
  ”   Judge
  ”   Ker
  ”   Knight
  ”   Luson
  ”   Maconochie
  ”   Mair
  ”   Maitland
  ”   Mansfield
  ”   Mawdsley
  ”   Melville
  ”   Miller
  ”   R.L. Morgan
Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison

Mrs. Morris
  ”   Murray
  ”   Goodwin Norman
  ”   Oakley
  ”   Ormond
  ”   Orr
  ”   Paget
  ”   Pearson
  ”   Petersen
  ”   Phelps
  ”   Poppe
  ”   Pratt
  ”   Pugh
  ”   Renny
  ”   Seymour
  ”   Silk
Kanwar Rani Lady Harnam Singh
Mrs. Assheton-Smith
  ”   Sparkes
  ”   Stanley
  ”   Foster Stevens
  ”   Stone
  ”   Watkins
  ”   Wallis-Whiddett
  ”   Wicks
  ”   Wilkins
  ”   Wynne

                        _List of the Stewards._

Captain Allanson
Mr. C.H. Allen
 ”   Rob Allen
 ”   G.G. Anderson
 ”   E.W. Antram
 ”   A.A. Apcar
 ”   Gregory Apcar
 ”   J.G. Apcar
 ”   J.H. Apjohn
 ”   E.C. Apostolides
Hon. Mr. Allan Arthur
Captain Badcock
Mr. L.C. Baines
Major the Hon. E. Baring
Mr. A.S. Barrow
 ”   C.P. Bartholomew
 ”   W.E. Bayley
 ”   C.F. Beadel
 ”   V. Beatty
 ”   H.C. Begg
 ”   W.M. Beresford
 ”   A.J. Fraser Blair
 ”   D.C. Blair
 ”   E.G. Buck
Hon. Mr. J. Buckingham
Mr. P.L. Buckland
 ”   A.L. Butter
Dr. Arnold Caddy
Mr. G. Caine
 ”   P.E. Cameron
Captain Campbell, A.D.C.
Mr. John Campbell
Captain Baker-Carr, A.D.C.
Mr. N. Bonham Carter
 ”   W.D. Carter
 ”   W.D. Cartwright
 ”   E. Chapman
 ”   E.P. Chapman
 ”   E.C. Coates
 ”   G. Colville
 ”   W. Ross Craig
 ”   W.D. Cruickshank
 ”   J.E. Cubitt
 ”   R.H.S. Dashwood
Hon. Mr. Clinton Dawkins
Mr. Cairns Deas

Mr. W. Dods
Major Dolby
Mr. W.A. Dring
 ”   W.K. Eddis
 ”   W.H. Edwards
Sir G.H.P. Evans
Hon. Mr. A.U. Fanshawe
Mr. R.R. Gales
  ”  J. Gemmell
  ”  G. Girard
 ”   W.O. Grazebrook
 ”   R.J. Green
Captain Grimston
Mr. J.D. Guise
 ”   F.F. Handley
Hon. Mr. Justice Harington
Surgeon-General Harvey
Mr. H. Hensman
 ”   C.R. Hills
 ”   H. Hookey
 ”   G. Huddleston
 ”   A.D. Ingram
 ”   P. Ismay
 ”   C.M. Jack
 ”   J.R. Johnston
 ”   C. Lawrie Johnstone
 ”   C.B. Jourdain
 ”   A.S. Judge
 ”   C.H.B. Jurret
 ”   Paul Knight
Captain Knox, A.D.C.
Brigadier-General Leach, C.B.
Mr. A.M. Lindsay
 ”   Allan Mackinnon
Sir Francis Maclean
Mr. A. McNiven
Sir Wm. Macpherson
Mr. A.G.H. Macpherson
Major-General Maitland, C.B.
Mr. J.R. Maples
 ”   E.J. Marshall
 ”   E.S. Martin
 ”   Harold Martin
 ”   Francis Matthewson
Colonel Money
Mr. D. McLaren Morrison

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. A.K. Muir
Hon. Mr. A.C. Murray
Mr. J. Needham
 ”   John Nicoll
Captain Noblett
Major Ormerod
Mr. J.A. Ormiston
 ”   E.W. Ormond
 ”   J.C. Orr
 ”   J.W. Orr
 ”   W. Orrell
 ”   J.J. Page
Captain Phillips
Mr. G. Pickford
 ”   A. Pickford
Sir Patrick Playfair, C.I.E.
Mr. F. Power
 ”   A.J. Pugh
 ”   L.P. Pugh
 ”   R.A.C. Pugh
 ”   C. Radcliffe
 ”   A. Rawlinson
Hon. Mr. J.D. Rees
Mr. A. Rodachanachi
 ”   L.E.D. Rose
 ”   C.L.S. Russell

Mr. A. Short
 ”   J.A. Simpson
Hon. Mr. D.M. Smeaton
Mr. C.E. Smyth
 ”   C.D. Stewart
 ”   H. Stokes
 ”   Harry Stuart
Earl of Suffolk and Berks, A.D.C.
Mr. H.W. Sutcliffe
 ”   G.H. Sutherland
 ”   R.G.D. Thomas
 ”   W.L. Thomas
 ”   Shirley Tremearne
 ”   J.M. Turner
Captain Tyrrell
Major Verschoyle
Mr. S. Verschoyle
 ”   C.L.W. Wallace
Captain Waters
Mr. Martyn Wells
 ”   D. Westmacott
 ”   Thos. Westmacott
Hon. Mr. Justice Wilkins
Captain Wilkinson
Mr. H.D. Wood


                              APPENDIX IX
                 _LUMSDEN’S HORSE RECEPTION COMMITTEE_

The following is the first list of names of the Reception Committee:

                                _Patron_

          His Excellency Lord Curzon

                             _Vice-Patrons_

          His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief
          His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal
          Hon. the Chief Commissioner of Assam
          Hon. the Chief Justice of Bengal
          Most Rev. the Lord Bishop of Calcutta

                               _Members_

          Mr. A.F.M. Abdur Rahman
           ”   J.A. Anderson
           ”   A.A. Apcar
           ”   A.G. Apcar
          Captain Apostolides
          Mr. J. Arbuthnot
          Hon. Sir Allan Arthur, Kt.
          Mr. H.S. Ashton
           ”   R.P. Ashton
          Lieutenant Baines
          Mr. W.A. Bankier
          Hon. Mr. Justice Gooroo Das Bannerjee
          Major the Hon. E. Baring
          Mr. A.S. Barrow
           ”   H. Bateson
           ”   H.C. Begg
           ”   W.M. Beresford
          Colonel J. Binning
          Mr. D.C. Blair
          Hon. Mr. C.W. Bolton, C.S.I., I.C.S.
           ”    Major J. Bourdillon, C.S.I., I.C.S.
          Captain W.J. Bradshaw, P.D.V.
          Hon. Mr. J. Buckingham, C.I.E.
           ”    Mr. C.E. Buckland, C.I.E., I.C.S.
           ”    Mr. R.B. Buckley
           ”    Prince Mahomed Bukhtyar Shah, C.I.E.
          Mr. E. Cable
          Lieutenant Caddy
          Captain Baker-Carr
          Dr. J. Nield Cook
          Hon. Mr. W.E. Cooper, C.I.E.
          Mr. H.E.A. Cotton
          Dr. William Coulter
          Mr. W.D. Cruickshank
          Sir William J. Cuningham, K.C.S.I.
          Mr. Lindsay Daniell
           ”   Walter J. Davies
           ”   Cairns Deas, C.E.
           ”   J.G. Dickson
          Lieutenant Dunbar
          Mr. E.B. Eden
          Hon. Mr. H. Elworthy
           ”    Sir Griffith Evans, K.C.I.E.
           ”    Mr. H.F. Evans, C.S.I., I.C.S.
          Mr. A.U. Fanshawe, C.I.E., I.C.S.
           ”   J. Finlay
          Hon. Mr. M. Finucane, C.S.I., I.C.S.
          Mr. J.S. Fraser
           ”   J. Gemmell
          Hon. Mr. Justice Chunder Madhub Ghose
          Mr. C. Greenway
           ”   R.T. Greer, I.C.S.
          Captain Griffiths
          Mr. H.B. Hall
           ”   D.M. Hamilton
          Hon. Major Harington
          Mr. John Harper
          Surgeon-General R. Harvey, C.B., I.M.S., &c.
          Mr. Gilbert S. Henderson
          Captain Henry
          Mr. H. Hensman
           ”   J.P. Hewett, C.S.I., C.I.E.
          Hon. Mr. Justice Hill
          Mr. T.W. Holderness, C.S.I., I.C.S.
          Hon. Nawab Syed Ameer Hossein, C.I.E.
          Mr. A.J. Ker
           ”   D. King
           ”   H.A. Kirk
           ”   H.M. Kisch, M.A., I.C.S.
           ”   Paul Knight
          Hon. Sir Edward Law, K.C.M.G.
          Brigadier-General H.P. Leach, C.B., R.E., &c.
          Mr. W. Leslie
           ”  A.M. Lindsay, C.I.E.
           ”  A.S. Lovelock
          Rev. Canon Luckman
          Mr. A.A. Lyall
           ”  F.G. Maclean
           ”  D.J. Macpherson, C.I.E., I.C.S.
          Maharajah Sir Narendra Krishna Bahadur, K.C.I.E.
          Major-General P.J. Maitland, C.B., I.S.C.
          Mr. E.J. Marshall
          Colonel A. Masters
          Mr. W.J.M. McCaw
          Lieut.-Colonel McLaughlin, S.V.L.H.
          Mr. F. Matheson
           ”  Norman McLeod
          Major J.R. Maples
          Lieut.-Colonel J.J. Meade
          Mr. R.D. Mehta, C.I.E.
          Colonel J.A. Miley, C.S.I., I.S.C.
          Mr. Charles Morris
          Mr. A.K. Muir
           ”  Reginald Murray
          Hon. Mr. F.A. Nicholson, C.I.E.
          Mr. John Nicoll
          Mr. A.F. Norman
          Hon. Mr. C.W. Odling, C.S.I., M.E.
          Mr. G.A. Ormiston
           ”  C.R. Orr
           ”  T.B.G. Overend
           ”  W. Parsons
           ”  A. Pedler, F.R.S.
          Captain E.W. Petley, C.I.E.
          Mr. W.H. Phelps
          Major H.W. Pilgrim, I.M.S.
          Sir Patrick Playfair, Kt., C.I.E.
          Major D. Prain, M.B., I.M.S.
          Hon. Mr. Justice Pratt, M.A., I.C.S.
           ”   Sir H.T. Prinsep, Kt.
          Mr. J.M.G. Prophit
          Mr. L.P. Pugh
          Hon. Mr. T. Raleigh
           ”   Mr. Justice Rampini
          Colonel Rankin, M.D., I.M.S.
          Hon. Mr. C.M. Rivaz, C.S.I.
          Mr. W.T.M. Robertson
           ”  A. Rodocanachi
           ”  H.M. Ross
           ”  H.M. Rustomji
           ”  J. O’B. Saunders
           ”  F.N. Schiller
           ”  J.C. Shorrock
          Hon. Sir Harnam Singh, K.C.I.E.
           ”   Mr. D.M. Smeaton, C.S.I.
          Mr. C.E. Smyth
           ”  T.W. Spink
          Hon. Rai Sri Ram Bahadur
           ”   Mr. Justice Stanley
          Mr. W.R. Stikeman
          Major Strachey
          Mr. Harry Stuart
          Hon. Mr. Sutherland
          Maharajah Sir Jotendro Mohun Tagore Bahadur, K.C.S.I.
          Maharaj Kumar Prodyat Coomar Tagore
          Rajah Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Kt., C.I.E.
          Mr. W.L. Thomas
           ”  T. Traill
           ”  Shirley Tremearne
          Hon. Sir A.C. Trevor, K.C.S.I.
          Mr. M.C. Turner
           ”  F.R. Upcott, C.E.
          Major-General R. Wace, C.B., R.A.
          Mr. A.H. Wallis
          Mr. C.H. Wilkie
           ”  George Williamson
           ”  H.C. Williamson, C.S.
           ”  J. Wilson
          Hon. Mr. J.T. Woodroffe, Advocate-General
          Colonel T.R. Wynne

                               APPENDIX X
                          _THE FINAL ACCOUNTS_

               _To the Editor of the ‘Indian Daily News.’_

  SIR,—May I ask you to be good enough to publish for the benefit of the
  subscribers to the Indian Mounted Infantry Corps (Lumsden’s Horse)
  Fund a detailed account of the receipts and expenditure?

  On behalf of myself, officers, and men of the corps, I desire to
  tender our grateful acknowledgment to His Excellency Lord Curzon,
  Honorary Colonel, not only for having sanctioned the raising of the
  corps and for his patronage, but also for the very material assistance
  he graciously gave us and for the interest he took in our operations
  on active service.

  I take the opportunity, at the completion of our campaign, again to
  thank the public for the splendid manner in which they equipped the
  corps for active service in South Africa and for the cordial way they
  welcomed it back again. The public appreciation of their services to
  the Army has been to the officers and men of Lumsden’s Horse ample
  recompense for any hardships they may have endured. For myself I can
  only repeat that I never wish to be associated with more gallant
  comrades. I am indebted to General Sir E.R. Elles, Adjutant-General,
  General Gaselee, Quartermaster-General, Surgeon-General Harvey,
  Director-General I.M.S., and General Wace, Director-General of
  Ordnance, for the assistance given in obtaining equipment for the
  corps and facilitating its despatch.

  More than special thanks are also due to Sir Patrick Playfair for the
  great interest he has taken in the corps from start to finish, as well
  as to the other members of the committee.—Yours, &c.,

                                 D.M. LUMSDEN, Lieutenant-Colonel,

                                         Commanding Lumsden’s Horse.

      April 17, 1900.

                     LUMSDEN’S HORSE EQUIPMENT FUND

 THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IN ACCOUNT WITH THE FUND FROM THE DATE OF THE
                          OPENING OF THE FUND
                            TO APRIL 9, 1900

                    ───────────────────────────────
                               RECEIPTS.
                                      Rs.    a.  p.
                    Subscriptions   2,22,225  7  11
                      and
                      Donations

                               Rs.  2,22,225  7  11
                    ═══════════════════════════════

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                            DISBURSEMENTS.
                                      Rs.  a.  p.         Rs. a.  p.
 Equipment                         31,027   2  1
 Uniform, Clothing, &c.            30,320   7 11
 Ponies and Transport              27,459   9  7
 Horses and Remounts               15,337  15  0[F]
 Medicines                            695  14  6
                                     —————————       1,04,841  1     1
 Camp Messing                      19,301   9  0
 Camp Equipage                      2,522  14  6
 Camp Conservancy                     529   0  0
 Camp Sundry Expenses               1,523   9  0
 Office Establishment and
   Expenses                         1,631   7  9
 Stationery, Printing, and
   Advertising                        628  11  6
 Postages and Telegrams               373   5  6
 Salaries of Native Followers         862   0  0
                                     —————————         27,372  9     3
 Canteen and Stores for South
   Africa                          12,059  13  9
 £2,000 taken to South Africa      29,912  10  0
                                     —————————         41,972  7     9
                                                        —————————
                                                     1,74,186  2     1
 Advances to Recover                1,277  13  0
 Balance in Hand:
 With Bank of Bengal               46,241   2  1[G]
 With Honorary Treasurers             520   6  9
                                     —————————         46,761  8    10
                                                        —————————
                                                Rs.  2,22,225  7    11
 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Footnote F:

  There is a further liability under this head of about Rs. 20,000.

Footnote G:

  From Bank Balance in Hand a credit of £2,000 has been opened for the
  contingent with the Standard Bank of South Africa.


Audited and found correct.
             LOVELOCK & LEWES, Chartered Accountants,
                           _Honorary Auditors_.
CALCUTTA: _April 14, 1900_.


                              APPENDIX XI
                      _LUMSDEN’S HORSE TRANSPORT_

The following article is by Sergeant Stephens, of the Indian
Commissariat and Transport Department, attached to Lumsden’s Horse:

  The Government of India at the last moment not sanctioning native
  drivers for the corps, fifty Europeans had to be enlisted under the
  same terms as those of trackers, receiving kit, equipment, &c. As
  there was no time to pick and choose, the men were taken, if
  physically fit, more by personal appearances than recommendations.
  With the exception of a few, they worked remarkably well and never
  complained of the hardships they had to endure while we were in South
  Africa.

  When each member joined the corps he was handed over a pair of ponies
  or mules, also harness for same, with cart complete. The majority of
  them had never driven or ridden a horse in their lives, so that the
  breaking-in of horses and men was not an easy task. Of fifty pairs of
  animals received for draught purposes not a pair was broken to
  harness, and when the heavy breechen was placed on their backs they
  did their best to kick it off, but the girths supplied by Government
  were strong enough to keep that in place. Our next difficulty was to
  put them together in carts. Immediately the curricle bar or iron
  support rested on their backs they wanted to be off for their lives,
  and in some instances got away and did a lot of mischief before they
  came to grief, cart and all. Privates Hyde and Braine once trying to
  stop a pair got severely hurt; Hyde putting his shoulder out, while
  Braine got his head badly cut. Both were sent to the General Hospital
  for treatment, but recovered in time to join B Company.

  The Transport men were very willing, took a delight in their duty, and
  worked hard from 7 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily, and at that rate we were able
  to have the worst of the animals broken to harness before we left
  Calcutta. At the same time, the men were improving daily in the care
  and treatment of animals, and when the General Officer Commanding held
  his inspection, every one of them was able to drive, or seemed to
  think he could, so we had A Company’s Transport out for inspection.
  After inspecting carts, animals, and drivers, the General expressed
  himself pleased with the very ready way in which they had been got in
  order, and stated that he thought we should get on well in Africa.

  The men had not the slightest idea of what a muleteer was until they
  got on board ship. Then the work started, and dirty work it was for
  about two hours every morning. Even then there were no complaints. The
  officer commanding the corps and the captain of the ship gave great
  praise to the Transport men every day for having the cleanest deck.
  The captain afterwards said that with Regular troops he had never seen
  it better kept. They had to perform the same duties as the troopers,
  the only difference being that they had extra work daily from 2 P.M.
  to 4 P.M. dubbing and cleaning harness.

  While on board ship the Transport of A Company was divided into four
  sections, consequently four non-commissioned officers had to be made.
  This was the first promotion in the Transport, and was given to those
  who seemed to take most interest in their work. The names of men
  promoted were Power, Palmer, Cullen, and Estabrooke. Power afterwards
  worked up to sergeant, was a very good non-commissioned officer
  throughout, and quite deserved the rank he held. Work on board ship
  was the same daily, nothing fresh occurring till we landed at Cape
  Town. That night carts had to be got ready, and the following morning
  we had to take our own baggage to Maitland Camp. That was about the
  worst day we had while in Africa. It was impossible to look to our
  front—animals would not face the sand-storms—it was not sand, but
  small stones beating against our faces, and our eyes were sore for
  weeks after our first day at the Cape. It was very hard to harness the
  Transport animals in carts; but after being about twenty-six days on
  board ship, they had not much mind for bolting that first day. The
  camp, when we got there, was knee-deep in sand. Maitland at that time
  was a dirty hole, and we were pleased when we got our orders to shift.
  But a few things happened during our stay there which we cannot
  forget. The Government came on us, thinking we had too many carts, and
  they had to be reduced by ten. So we handed our ten carts and ten
  pairs of ponies to the Transport Officer, Cape Town, and, instead of
  them, got thirty-eight pairs of mules, with leader harness complete,
  to act as leaders for our remaining carts. That meant instead of two
  ponies to a cart, as we left India, we had to put four ponies or
  mules. This complicated matters a long time, for some of the drivers
  could never manage four-in-hand, so had to be left with a pair only.
  They said that two ‘donkeys’ (which they would insist upon calling
  their chargers) were quite enough for them to look after. In the end,
  everything turned out very well. We kept those animals spare, and
  whenever any in the teams showed signs of fatigue, got lame, or
  otherwise unfit, we had others to take their places.

  The Transport Officer at the Cape did not think much of his bargain.
  He could not get the Cape boys to make head or tail of our Indian
  carts and harness. It was harder for them to put a pair of our ponies
  in their cart than their own span of ten, which they could use as they
  liked.

  After receiving orders for the front with a light heart, every man
  thought the minutes too long until he got an opportunity of
  distinguishing himself. We were ordered to Bloemfontein, and everybody
  was on the war-path at once. We railed to that station, which did not
  do the animals any good, and on arrival there were ordered to join a
  brigade at Deel’s Farm, about three miles beyond the town. Having to
  draw our stores from Bloemfontein station prepared our transport and
  drivers for the work which lay before them, and during our stay there
  they got in excellent order.

  The first day our Transport carts went out with spare ammunition for
  the corps, nothing unusual occurred, and, in fact, all returned
  disappointed, but this showed the ammunition drivers what they must
  expect when going out again. All in charge of these carts were picked
  men, being the best drivers with the best animals. They had to canter
  and trot over rough country with eight boxes of ammunition, to keep in
  touch with their corps, over hills or otherwise, and be always where
  they were wanted; our carts were very handy, and could go where others
  failed.

  Next day was the well-remembered Ospruit fight, and the carts had a
  narrow escape then. The enemy got their range, and the pom-poms
  played round them for some time, a few of the shells landing between
  the carts; but the drivers were just as easy as ever, and when
  ordered to retire did it in excellent style, smoking and passing
  jokes as the shells followed them up. Private Lowther, who was on
  stretcher-bearer’s duty that day, will not forget what he called a
  cool order. When the drivers were getting out of range one of their
  hats was blown off, and Lowther, being on foot, was ordered to pick
  it up. He looked twice, but went back and got it. Shells were a bit
  thick, but he remembered he was a soldier. The day after the fight
  we had to send a cart out to bring in Major Showers. Corporal Cullen
  and Private Arthurton went with it on duty, Cullen corporal in
  charge, Arthurton the driver. After finding the Major’s body, they
  were joined by some Boers, who assisted to put the Major in the
  cart, had a friendly chat with them, passed cigarettes and tobacco
  round, and Cullen said when he came back to camp that there were
  very few Boers among them, nearly all English-speaking and of a very
  respectable class. They had very little to say regarding the fight
  the previous day, but said they were sorry our Colonel was killed.
  They had found some papers in the pockets of young Lumsden, whom
  they took to be the Colonel.

  We had most trouble with our carts and animals when night marching.
  The ponies were excellent for draught purposes; the Cape mules did not
  last nearly as well. If properly fed the ponies would have worked
  throughout our stay in Africa; but they were often days without
  anything but what they could pick when we got an hour’s halt. On one
  occasion which I remember well they were thirty-six hours under
  harness without food of any kind, and only watered once. People might
  say, Why not oftener? Water was not procurable.

  Another thing that came against us was the cunning Kaffir. He could
  walk around at night, take the best of our animals, and have them
  disfigured in such a way that nobody could recognise them the
  following morning. We put up with this for a long time, until our
  stock of spare mules ran short, and then we had to carry out the same
  tricks as the remainder by doing unto others as they had done to us.
  We were able to take to Pretoria every one of the carts with which we
  left Bloemfontein. When we got there, everything, of course, was the
  worse for wear, but complete in every other respect. If anything ever
  frightened our Transport drivers it was the word ‘drift.’ You should
  have seen their worried looks when they heard that there was a drift
  ahead; but they braved everything, thinking that Pretoria would finish
  all. But to our surprise when we got there we found out that the show
  was only then starting. We had a little rest after the surrender,
  being sent to a station ten miles off called Irene. While there the
  Transport kept the horses of the corps well fed on oat-hay, which we
  brought from all the farms within ten miles of the place. We remained
  at Irene until August 1, and then got attached to a brigade going
  after De Wet in the Rustenburg direction. We were on this march for
  twenty-eight days without rest, which was the cause of killing all our
  Indian ponies except twelve. The whole of that month’s march was a
  dead pull for the Transport—some days it was up to the ankle in sand,
  while next it was just the same in black sticky earth. We were not the
  only lot that suffered; every unit experienced just the same. It took
  us all our time to get our carts back to Pretoria. At the end of
  August we were only a day in Pretoria before being ordered off again
  on the march to Barberton. Things had to be got ready as quickly as
  possible, and off we went on September 1 for another long trek. When
  starting on this march we had to leave twelve of our carts in
  Pretoria, and as many men of the corps had come down we reduced our
  Transport. During the whole of this period we had very little time for
  carrying out repairs to carts and harness. The saddles began to give
  out in the leather, as they had not been repaired since we left
  Calcutta except a stitch here and there. During our stay in Africa we
  never had an animal suffer from sore back. This, we think, was due to
  the excellent way in which the saddles were stuffed before leaving
  Calcutta. Although newly received from the Ordnance Department, they
  did not satisfy the Commissariat and Transport Sergeant-Major, who had
  them stuffed to his own liking.

  On the march to Barberton and back we had very bad weather, which
  completely destroyed our gear, and, arriving at Pretoria for the third
  time, we thought of getting it thoroughly repaired. We had done our
  best, and, in fact, had all the saddles restuffed and lined in a very
  short time, when orders were received for the corps to be disbanded.

  The number of animals with which we left India was—Ponies, 100; mules,
  5; total, 105. The five mules lasted throughout, but only eight ponies
  lived to see the finish. Two of these, driven by Private Arthurton,
  seemed to be in better condition at the finish than when they left
  Calcutta. He took great care of his animals. Two others were in charge
  of Driver Estabrooke. As he intended remaining in South Africa, the
  Colonel presented him with his pair.

  The whole of the carts and gear were handed over to the Ordnance,
  Pretoria, before our departure, with three hearty cheers from
  Lumsden’s muleteers.


                              APPENDIX XII
                              TOPICAL SONG

                BY J. HENRY, TROOPER IN LUMSDEN’S HORSE

                  I

       The long campaign is over,
       And we are homeward bound;
           We think about what’s waiting us on shore:
       Of the dâks at country stations,
       Of the evenings in the club,
           And the pleasures of a civy rig once more.

               CHORUS.

               For the ration jam is sweet,
               And the ‘bully’ beef is good,
                   And ‘Machonochie’ is nothing short of prime;
               But give me, yes, oh, give me,
               Oh, how I wish you would,
                   ‘Moorghi’ cutlets and my peg at evening time.

                   II

       We have often groused and grumbled,
       But not a man would say
           He’s sorry that he joined the good old corps;
       And the longest marches seem now
       But fair share of work and play,
           When we know we’ve not to do them any more.

                 (Chorus.)

                   III

       It really is annoying
       When you march at break of day,
           To find your moke has vanished from the line;
       And you curse the stable picket,
       And on your knees you pray
           You may never see another ‘Argentine.’

                 (Chorus.)

                    IV

       We’re very near the finish,
       And in a week or so
           We will scatter over India, hill and plain;
       But when two of us foregather,
       ’Mid the clouds of smoke we blow
           We’ll follow-Colonel Lumsden once again.

                 (Chorus.)


                                _Errata_

    Page   100, line    16, _for_ Grobelaar’s _read_ Grobler’s

      ”    182,   ”     20, _for_ East Indian Railway Volunteer
                            Rifles _read_ East India Railway
                            Volunteer Rifles

      ”    257,   ”     20, _for_ Private J.E. Cubitt _read_ Private
                            L.H. Cubitt

      ”    267,   ”     25, _for_ Thompson, T. _read_ Thompson, F.C.

      ”       ”   ”     32, _for_ Henry, G.E. _read_ Henry, J.

      ”    364,   ”      4, _for_ Burnett _read_ Bennett

      ”       ”   ”     10, _for_ Campbell, L.C. _read_ Campbell,
                            J.S.

      ”    384,   ”     13, _for_ Johnstone, E.J. _read_ Johnstone,
                            C.H.

      ”       ”   ”     15, _for_ Ritchie _read_ Richey

      ”       ”   ”     20, _for_ Bagge _read_ Dagge

      ”    395,   ”     35, _for_ Rustomjee _read_ Rustomji

HISTORY OF LUMSDEN’S HORSE




                                 INDEX


 Abbott, Mr. F.H., 475

 Abdur Rahman, Mr. A.F.M., 471, 480

 Adlam, E., 267, 364, 436

 Adye, Colonel, 370

 Ahmed Khan, Nawab Sir Sidi, 25, 462

 Ahmed Wali Khan, Malik, 465

 Ahmuty & Co., 464

 Ajodhya, Maharajah of, 465

 Aldam, Mrs., 477

 Aldis, O., 384, 428

 Aligarh, 25, 475

 Aligarh, Mahomed Mazamullah Khan of, 475

 Alipur, 451

 Alipur Native Cavalry, 395

 Allan, B.M., 384, 428

 Allanson, Captain, 478

 Allardice, D.O., 267, 344, 346, 384, 434

 Allardice, H., 344, 346, 371, 434

 Allen, Mr. C.H., 478

 Allen, Mr. R., 470, 478

 Allen, Mrs. C.H., 477

 Allison, Mr. J., 470

 Anderson, P.W., 364, 418, 436, 454

 Anderson, Mr. Justice, 466

 Anderson, Mr. G.G., 478

 Anderson, Mr. J.A., 480

 Anderson, Wright & Co., 463

 Anley, Captain, 104

 Anstruther, Colonel, 316

 Antram, Mr., 478

 Apcar, Mr., 402

 Apcar, Mr. A.A., 478, 480

 Apcar, Mr. A.G., 480

 Apcar, Mr. J.G., 478

 Apcar & Co., 25, 462

 Apjohn, Mr., 395, 470, 476, 478

 Apjohn, Mrs., 477

 Apostolides, Captain, 480

 Apostolides, Mr., 478

 Arathoon, J.D.L., 311, 365, 367, 431, 454

 Arbuthnot, Mr. J., 469, 480

 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 296

 Armfield & Chard, 464

 Army Service Corps, 311

 Arracan Co., Ltd., 464

 Arthur, Sir A., 402, 480

 Arthur, Mr. A., 478

 Arthurton, W.G., 436, 487, 489

 Artillery, _see_ Royal Horse

 Artists’ Volunteers, 369

 Ashton, Mr. H.S., 469, 480

 Ashton, Mr. R.P., 480

 Asonsole, 183

 ‘Assam Gazette,’ 180

 Assam Valley Light Horse, 4, 12, 38, 467

 Atkins, Mr. C.H., 473

 Atkinson, A., 72, 384, 385, 431

 Atkinson, Mr. R.P., 473

 ‘Atlantian’ transport, 371, 372, 382, 383, 384, 387, 389

 Australian Volunteers, 184, 217, 219, 220, 239, 293, 296, 338, 360, 363

 Avoca, 335

 Ayerst, Captain, 402


 Badcock, Captain, 478

 Baden-Powell, General, 288, 289, 292, 293, 294, 296, 300, 305, 306,
    309, 310, 311, 413

 Baden-Powell, Major, 293

 Bailey, Mr. W.L., 468

 Baileytown, 121

 Baines, Lieutenant, 480

 Baines, Mr., 478

 Baines & Co., 464

 Baker, Mr. C.F., 472

 Baker, Mrs., 477

 Balaghat Police, 467

 Baldwin, R.H., 267, 364, 436

 Ballard, Lance-Corporal, 75, 430, 454

 Balmer, Lawrie, & Co., 463

 Balmoral, 316, 328

 Bank of Bengal, 423, 465

 Bankes, E.N., 267, 364, 430

 Bankier, Mr. W.A., 480

 Banks, P.W., 364, 436, 454

 Bannerjee, Mr. Justice, 466, 480

 Bannerjee, Babu Doorgagati, 473

 Bannerjee, Babu Krishna Chunder, 473

 Barberton, 190, 314, 315, 316, 320, 324, 327, 332, 333, 336, 339, 340,
    349, 351, 488

 Baring, Hon. E., Major, 395, 476, 478, 480

 Barkley, Mrs., 477

 Barotse Tribe, 306

 Barrackpur, 396

 Barrow, Mr. A.S., 473, 478, 480

 Barrow, Mrs., 477

 Barry & Co., 463

 Bartholomew, Mr., 478

 Bartlett, Mr. E.W.J., 470

 Barton, General, 417

 Bateman, F.G., 347, 431

 Bates, Corporal, 268, 311, 365, 367, 432, 454

 Bateson, Mr. H., 480

 Bathgate, Mr. J., 472

 Bathgate & Co., 463

 Battye, W., Lieutenant, 414

 Bayley, Mr., 478

 Beachcroft, Mr. C.P., 471

 Beadel, Mr., 478

 Bearne, L.C., 277, 280, 281, 364, 434

 Beattie, Mr. J.A., 468

 Beattie, Mr. M.J., 470

 Beatty, Mr., 478

 Bechtler & Sons, 465

 Bechuanaland, 287

 Becker, Ross, & Co., 463

 Begg, Mr. H.C., 469, 478, 480

 Behan, J.L., 364, 435

 Behar, 172, 173

 Behar Contingent, 15, 38

 Behar Light Horse, 12

 Belfast, 337, 344, 449

 Bell, C.L., 384, 428

 Bell, L.H., 418, 430, 454

 Bell, Mr. H.J., 470

 Benares, Maharajah of, 465

 Bengal, 178

 Bengal Central Railway, 467

 Bengal Lancers (14th), 451

 Bennett, H.C.C., 267, 364, 430

 Benoni, 413, 414, 417, 418

 Beresford, Captain, 31, 33, 120, 126, 266, 312, 316, 333, 334, 335,
    337, 340, 343, 344, 345, 349, 384, 402, 427, 457

 Beresford, Captain, I.C., 473

 Beresford, Mr. W.M., 471, 478, 480

 Bergendal, 313

 Berkshire Regiment, 290

 Bethany, 124

 Bethel, 350, 353

 Bethulie, 86, 91, 92, 121, 122, 223

 Bevan & Co., 465, 467

 Bewsher, J.C.D., 244, 267, 332, 364, 433

 Bhama, Churn, Bhur, & Co., 463

 Bharatpur, Maharajah of, 462

 Bhownagar, Maharajah of, 25, 474

 Bidenhamp, Dr., 333

 Bijoy Singh, Rajah of Kunari, Kotah, 465

 Bikanir, Maharajah of, 465

 Bikanir Imperial Service Camel Corps, 466

 Binning, Colonel, 480

 Birch, R.W.R., 267, 364, 433

 Bird & Co., 463

 Birkmyre, Mrs., 477

 Birkmyre Brothers, 463

 Biscoe, J.S., 268, 346, 365, 435, 454

 Biscoe, M.S., 371, 434

 Bishop of Calcutta, _see_ Welldon

 Blair, Lance-Corporal, 71, 75, 119, 267, 268, 365, 427, 454

 Blair, Mr. A.J.F., 471, 478

 Blair, Mr. D.C., 478, 480

 ‘Blake’s Ruffians,’ 312

 Bloemfontein, 86, 90, 93, 96, 98, 99, 101, 110, 111, 112, 113, 117,
    120, 122, 123, 124, 127-143, 150, 177, 194, 199, 208, 224, 226, 253,
    257, 258, 269, 369, 460, 487, 488

 Boesman’s Kop, 99, 106, 107

 Boileau, K., 90, 111, 418, 429, 454

 Bokfontein, 304

 Boksburg, 242, 244, 271, 273, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 425

 Bolst, N.J., 77, 183, 384, 431

 Bolton, Mr. C.W., 468, 480

 Bolton, Mrs., 477

 Bombay, 387-391

 Bombay Infantry (20th), 395

 Bonnerjee, Mr. W.C., 470

 Booth, J.J., 183, 364, 384, 431

 Bosek & Co., 464

 Botha, Hans, Commandant, 416

 Botha, Louis, General, 97, 150, 178, 200, 234, 236, 248, 251, 260, 261,
    270, 287, 289, 301, 313, 315, 338

 Bothaville, 118, 331

 Bourdillon, Major, 480

 Bourdillon, Mr., 402

 Bourne & Shepherd, 465

 Bowring, Major, 474

 Boyd, Mrs., 477

 Brabant, General, 150

 Bradford, L.H., 235, 414, 416, 418, 436, 454

 Bradford, S.H., 384, 436

 Bradshaw, Captain, 395, 402, 470, 480

 Braine, J., 321, 364, 436, 454, 485

 Brakpan, 208

 Brandfort, 136, 140, 141, 142, 143, 150, 176, 177, 189, 193, 208, 209,
    213, 258, 311, 343

 Brandreth, Mr. S., 471

 Branson, Mrs., 477

 Brennan, Sergeant, 385, 404, 405, 427, 460

 Briggs, H., 384, 432

 Broadwood, General, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 106, 177, 300

 Brodrick, Mr. St. John, 421

 Bronkhurst Spruit, 316

 Broomfield & Co., 464

 Broughton, Mr. L.P.D., 468

 Brown, J.A., 361, 428

 Brown, H.P., 341, 430

 Brown, W.B., 267, 371, 384, 436

 Brown, W.K., 434

 Brown, Rev. Mr., 403

 Browne, Captain, 389

 Browne, Mr. W.B., 472

 Browning, Mr. C.H., 471

 Bryant, Mrs. Beadon, 477

 Buck, Sir E., 398

 Buck, Mr. E.G., 478

 Buckingham, Colonel, 4, 26, 64, 402

 Buckingham, Mr., 404, 468, 478, 480

 Buckland, Colonel, 29, 64, 476

 Buckland, Mr. C.E., 480

 Buckland, Mr. P.L., 478

 Buckland, Mrs., 477

 Buckley, Mr. R.B., 470, 480

 Buffalo River, 91

 Buffalo Spruit, 320

 Bukhtyar Shah, Prince Mahomed, 480

 Buksh, Mair R., 471

 Bull, Mr. W., 470

 Buller, General, 85, 87, 180, 314, 449

 Burgess, E.J., 370, 435

 Burgess, Mr. W.H., 474

 Burmese Mounted Infantry, 106

 Burn, Mr. R.N., 472

 Burn-Murdoch, J.H.A., 136, 149, 159, 161, 163-166, 171, 267, 364, 365,
    432

 Burnand, W., 183, 321#, 384, 436

 Burnham, Mrs. F.A., 470

 Bushman’s Kop, _see_ Boesman’s

 Buskin, A.H., 418, 428, 454

 Butcher, Major, 389

 Butler, Lance-Corporal, 267, 332, 434

 Butter, Mr. A.L., 478

 Byres, _see_ Moir-Byres


 Cable, Mr. E., 480

 Cachar, 181

 Caddy, Lieutenant, 480

 Caddy, Dr. Arnold, 478

 Cadell, Mr. P.R., 471

 Caine, Mr. G., 478

 Calcutta, 11, 35, 41, 45, 48, 63, 86, 182, 206, 225, 269, 366, 378,
    381, 391-408, 422, 423, 488

 Calcutta ladies’ work for the corps, 38, 64, 95

 Calcutta Light Horse, 12, 395

 Calcutta Port Defence, 396

 Calcutta Volunteers, 395, 467

 Cameron, Mr. P.E., 478

 Campbell, Captain, 478

 Campbell, Sergeant, 227, 364, 433, 454

 Campbell, Corporal, 418, 436, 454

 Campbell, J.J., 384, 436

 Campbell, J.S., 231, 267, 364, 428

 Campbell, Mr. John, 478

 Campbell, Rev. Mr., 403

 Campbell, Mrs., 477

 Canadian Volunteers, 273, 296, 343, 359, 360, 363

 Cape Colony, 97, 110, 195

 ‘Cape Times,’ 371

 Cape Town, 85, 88, 89, 90, 110, 111, 142, 266, 268, 369, 370, 371, 377,
    382, 486

 Carabiniers, 350, 354

 Carolina, 311, 314, 316, 318, 320, 350, 351, 352

 Carpendale, Major, 393, 394

 Carr, Captain Baker, 478, 480

 Carrington, General, 288, 293, 294

 Carter, Mr. F. McL., 471

 Carter, Mr. N. Bonham, 478

 Carter, Mr. W.D., 478

 Cartwright, Mr. W.D., 478

 Cary-Barnard, C.D.V., 231, 246, 429, 454

 Case, R.U., 72, 157#, 159, 161, 173, 178, 194, 425, 429

 Casperz, Mr. A., 471

 ‘Catalonia’ transport, 370, 371, 382

 Cathcart, 94

 Cawnpore, 25

 Cawnpore Brush Factory, 475

 Cawnpore Woollen Mills, 475

 Cayley, B., 210, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 365, 436

 Chadburn, Mr. C.F., 475

 Chakan Lall Roy, Babu, 466

 Chamney, Captain, 31, 33, 152, 155, 165, 166, 178, 179, 266, 271, 334,
    349, 351, 353, 356, 357, 369, 370, 409, 427, 454, 456, 461

 Champion, Mr. G., 468

 Chapman, E.S., 167, 168, 171, 231, 364, 432, 454

 Chapman, Mr. E., 478

 Chapman, Mr. E.P., 470, 478

 Chappell, Mrs., 477

 Charkhari, Rajah of, 465

 Charles, Lance-Corporal, 75, 364, 376, 435

 Charles, Mrs., 477

 Chartres, Corporal, 3, 155, 311, 344, 364, 431, 454

 Chatterjee, Mr. Justice, 466

 Cheetham, Mr. W.H., 470

 Cherra Gardens, 180

 Cheshire, H.S., 249, 267, 364, 430

 Cheshire Regiment, 95, 141, 370

 Chitnavis, Rao Gumgadhur Mahdev, 472

 Christian, Princess, hospital train, 349

 Chronopolo, Mr. K.C., 474

 Churchill, Major, 395, 402

 Churchill, Mrs., 477

 City Imperial Volunteers, 130, 237, 357, 359

 Clark, Mr. Justice, 466

 Clarke, E.A.S., 361, 371, 434

 Clarke, Mr. L.A.G., 471

 Clarke, Rev. Mr., 403

 Clarke, Mrs. E., 474

 Clerk, F.V., 364, 432

 Clifford, Captain, 31, 33, 155, 159, 266, 276, 277, 278, 281, 282, 310,
    344, 354, 355, 427, 457, 461

 Clifford, E.S., 231, 384, 430

 Clifford, F.M., 257, 364, 384, 431

 Clifford, M.W., 268, 433

 Coates, Mr. E.C., 478

 Cobb, H.P., 344, 346, 347, 349, 433

 Cobb, Mr. W.H., 469

 Cogan, Rev. Canon, 403

 Coghlan, Private (Victorian Rifles), 194

 Colesberg, 112, 315, 343

 Collen, Sir Edwin, 64, 402, 468, 476

 Collen, Lady, 477

 Collins, R.G., 268, 365, 367, 428, 455

 Colombo, 11

 Colvile, General, 99, 107

 Colville, Mr. G., 478

 Colvin, Mr. E.G., 469

 Comley, Mrs., 477

 Commando Nek, 281, 288, 292, 294, 296, 303, 304, 305, 306

 Compton’s Horse, 243, 244

 Conduit, Sergeant, 257, 364, 384, 432

 Constable, Mrs., 477

 Consterdine, A.E., 347, 357, 430

 Cooch-Behar, Maharani of, 477

 Cook, Dr. J.N., 395, 470, 480

 Cook & Co., 464, 467

 Cooke, Mr. F.J., 471

 Cooke, Kelvey & Co., 463

 Cooper, Major, 395

 Cooper, H., 267, 333, 364, 433

 Cooper, Mr. A.S., 474

 Cooper, Mr. W.E., 480

 Cooper, Allen, & Co., 462, 475

 Coorg Contingent, 19

 Corbett, P.T., 77, 183, 384, 431

 Cossipur Artillery Volunteers, 466

 Cotton, Sir Henry, 180, 395, 402

 Cotton, Mr. H.E.A., 480

 Cotton, Mr. H.J.S., 462

 Cotton, Mr. W.J., 472

 Cotton, Mrs., 477

 Coulter, Dr. W., 480

 Coulter, Mrs., 477

 Courtenay, A.P., 345, 379, 384, 431

 Cowan, Colonel, 119, 366

 Cowen, J.S., 136, 243, 275, 297, 329, 382, 384, 431

 Cowley, Mr. H.P., 473

 Cox, Captain, (N.S.W. Lancers), 264

 Cox, Lance-Corporal, 433

 Craddock, Colonel, 338

 Craig, Mr. W. Ross, 478

 Crane, Lieutenant, 31, 33, 72, 155, 156, 160, 161, 162, 168, 172, 174,
    183, 190, 194, 205, 207, 258, 268, 427, 457, 461

 Crawford, Mr. C.E., 471

 Crocodile Poort, 336

 Crocodile River, 276, 277, 278, 279, 281, 287, 290, 295, 304, 328, 337,
    409

 Cronjé, General, 86, 315

 Crowe, Mr. Justice, 389

 Crown Brewery Co., 465

 Cruickshank, Mr., 478, 480

 Crum, Mr. A.S., 468

 Crux, R.M., 384, 385, 436

 Cubitt, L.H., 257, 365, 433

 Cubitt, Mr. J.E., 478

 Cullen, S.W., Lance-Corporal, 75, 235, 436, 455, 486, 487

 Cuningham, Sir W.J., 467, 480

 Cunningham, General, 333, 340

 Cunningham, F.H., 434

 Currie, Mr. W., 476

 Curry, Mr. W.E., 471

 Curzon, Lady, 29, 48, 59, 63, 397, 398, 402, 477

 Curzon, Lord, 9, 11, 22, 24, 29, 48, 52, 56, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 119,
    356, 363, 371, 378, 381, 402, 422, 423, 424, 425, 462, 483

 Cuthbert, O.R., 384, 434, 460

 Cuthbertson & Harper, 464

 Cyferfontein, 237


 D’Costa, Mr. J.M., 474

 Dagge, R.G., 215, 240, 384, 435

 ‘Daily News,’ the, 97

 Dakshineswar Mallia, Kumar, 465

 Dale, Lance-Sergeant, 75, 77, 183, 229, 384, 404, 405, 431, 459

 Dalgetty, Mr. A.B., 473

 Dallas, Mr. W.L., 474

 Dalmanutha, 345

 Dalton, T.L., 371, 434

 Daly, Captain, 469

 Daly, D., 384, 435

 Dangerfield, Mrs., 477

 Daniell, Mr. Lindsay, 480

 Daniell, Mrs. L., 477

 Dard, Mr. C.E., 472

 Darjeeling Bench and Bar, 467

 Darrah, Mr. M.L., 469

 Dashwood, Mr., 478

 Datia, Rajah of, 465

 Daubney, R.J.C., 75, 90, 111, 159, 161, 173, 178, 194, 425, 429

 Davenport & Co., 464

 David & Co., 463

 Davidson & Co., 464

 Davies, Colonel, 416

 Davies, H., 347, 432

 Davies, Leo, 235, 435

 Davies, Mr. W.J., 480

 Davis, Mr. A.W., 468

 Davis, Leech, & Co., 467

 Dawkins, Mr. C., 466, 478

 Dawkins, Mrs., 477

 Dawson, Sergeant, 267, 269, 364, 434

 Dawson, H.K.F.A. H., Bugler, 431

 De Aar, 112, 113, 117

 De Kaap Goldfields, 327

 De Kaap Mountains, 320, 331, 349

 De Kaap Valley, 324

 De la Rey, General, 176, 178, 189, 208, 286, 288, 289, 300, 302, 315,
    360

 De la Rey, Mrs., 340

 De Lisle, Colonel, 248

 De Wet, General, 97, 98, 100, 118, 150, 178, 234, 235, 236, 240, 270,
    294, 295, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 306, 309, 313, 338, 360, 488

 Deane, Lieutenant, 389

 Deas, Mr. Cairns, 467, 478, 480

 Deel’s Farm, 128, 129, 131, 487

 Delagoa Bay Railway, 314

 Delhi, 180

 Derby Militia, 125, 267

 Devenish, Mr. J.A., 467

 Deverill, Captain, 395

 Devil’s Kantoor, 315, 323

 Dewetsdorp, 177

 Dexter, W.E., 229, 243, 384, 409, 435, 458

 Diack, Mr. A.H., 473

 Diamond Hill, 260, 270, 289, 343

 Dickens, C.V.S., 77, 183, 384, 431

 Dickson, General, 337, 349, 350, 351, 352, 355

 Dickson, Mr. J.G., 480

 Disit, Zinzbur, 465

 Distinguished Conduct Medal, 279

 Dods, Mr. W., 469, 478

 Dolby, Major, 64, 478

 Donald, Sergeant, 379, 384, 431

 Donker Hoek, 343

 Doorn Spruit, 208

 Dorrien, Smith-, General, 107, 117, 300, 302, 345

 Dorset Yeomanry, 327

 Dott, Mr. A.S., 468

 Douglas, Mr. A., 469

 Dover, Mr. F.W.C., 472

 Dowd, I.V.G., 183, 384, 431

 Doyle, Sir A. Conan, quoted, 173, 389

 Doyle, J.C., 90, 111, 384, 435

 Dragoon Guards (7th), 350, 352

 Drake-Brockman, Captain, 64

 Driefontein, 315, 343

 Dring, Mr., 395, 478

 Dring, Mrs., 477

 Drury, Mr. E.N., 471

 Dublin Fusiliers, 180

 Ducat, S., 164, 165, 166, 215, 432

 Duke, Mr. F.F., 470

 Duke, Mrs., 477

 Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, 283

 Dunbar, Lieutenant, 480

 Duncan Brothers & Co., 463

 Dundonald, Lord, 314

 Dunne, Mr. A.M., 468

 Dunne, Mrs., 477

 Dunsterville, Captain, 474

 Durban, 85, 87, 371, 382

 Durbunga, Maharajah Bahadur of, 465

 Durham, Mr. F.E., 471

 Durham Light Infantry, 104

 Durrung Mounted Rifles, 4

 Dutt, Babu Davendro Nath, 473

 Dyce, General, 402

 Dyer, Mr. E.J.R., 472

 Dyer & Co., 463

 Dykes & Co., 464

 Dykes (J.A.) & Co., 465


 East India Railway, 25

 East India Railway Volunteer Rifles, 182

 East Lancashire Mounted Infantry, 136

 East London, 85, 86, 88, 91, 92, 93, 120, 121

 East Surrey Regiment, 311

 Eastern Bengal State Railway, 25

 Eastern Insurance Company, 463

 Eck, Mr. Otto, 469

 Eddis, Major, 26, 27, 64

 Eddis, Mr. W.K., 478

 Eden, Mr. E.B., 480

 Edenburg, 123, 124, 125

 Edwardes, Captain, 389

 Edwards, Farrier-Sergeant, 379, 384, 432

 Edwards, Mr. W.H., 478

 Egerton Woollen Mills, Cawnpore, 25

 Eggar, Mrs., 477

 Eikenhof Drift, 239, 240

 Eland’s River, 288, 293, 302

 Elandsfontein, 241, 242, 243, 260, 270, 273, 316, 332

 Elandslaagte, Battle of, incidents at, 147, 148

 Elgin Cotton Mills, Cawnpore, 25

 Elles, General, 23, 64, 393, 402, 468, 476, 483

 Elliott, Lance-Sergeant, 75, 157, 161, 162, 166, 267, 364, 365, 429

 Ellis, Mrs., 477

 Elsburg, 242

 Elsee, C., 371, 434

 Elwes, W.B., 244, 371, 433

 Elworthy, Mr., 402, 408

 Elworthy, Mrs., 477

 Emery, Mr. S.W., 473

 Engelbrecht’s Drift, 230, 233

 ‘Englishman,’ the, 14, 63, 69, 87, 111, 136, 163, 253, 272, 279, 394,
    402, 404

 Erasmus, Commandant, 256, 414, 416

 Ermelo, 350

 Estabrooke, R.P., Lance-Corporal, 75, 321#, 435, 486, 489

 Evans, Sir G.P., 466, 478, 480

 Evans, Lieutenant, 413

 Evans, Mr. H.F., 469, 480

 Everard, Dr., 189

 Evetts, H., 361, 364, 434

 Ewing & Co., 463

 Executive Committee, the, 25, 26, 52, 266, 382, 405


 Fanshawe, Mr. A.U., 469, 476, 478, 480

 Ferreira (Boer emissary), 236

 Ferris, Mr. G.A., 469

 Ferror, Major, 402

 Field, Mr. F., 473

 Finlay, Mr. J., 480

 Finlay, Miar, & Co., 463

 Finney, Mr. S., 471

 Finucane, Mr. M., 480

 Firth, Lance-Corporal, 75, 160, 162, 173, 178, 192, 194, 207, 257, 364,
    428

 Fischer, Mr. F., 474

 Fitzgerald, O.E., 364, 418, 436, 455

 Fitzgibbon, Mr. M.C., 473

 Fletcher, C.W., 365, 429, 455

 Foley, Mr. B., 471

 Follett, F.B., 266, 364, 433

 Follett, M.B., 266, 311, 332, 364, 425, 433

 Forbes, C.A., 364, 431, 455

 Forbes, Mr. A.W., 468

 Forbes, Mrs. Trevor, 477

 Fort William, 52, 394

 Foster, Mr. G., 467

 Fowle, Major, 389

 Fox, Sergeant, 75, 379, 384, 427

 Francis, Prince, of Teck, 126

 Francis, A.H., 219, 267, 364, 433, 455

 Franklin, Colonel, 473

 Franks, A.F., 155, 157, 160, 161, 166, 167, 168, 169, 171, 189, 194,
    425, 433

 Franks, Mrs., 190

 Fraser, Sergeant, 75, 161, 169, 193, 205, 207, 222, 257, 384, 406, 423,
    429, 459

 Fraser, J.A., 268, 364, 365, 428, 455

 Fraser, Mr. J.S., 480

 Freemantle, Mr. S.H., 469

 French, General, 100, 135, 136, 150, 190, 229, 230, 233, 234, 235, 236,
    237, 240, 252, 313, 314, 315, 318, 324, 337, 343, 349, 350, 352,
    353, 357

 Fuller, H.W., 364, 436


 Gage, Lieutenant, 474

 Gales, Mr. R.R., 478

 Galle, 371

 Garth, Mr. W., 467

 Gaselee, General, 23, 29, 468, 476, 483

 Gatsrand, 234

 Gayer, Mrs., 477

 Gee, Rev. Mr., 403

 Gemmell, Mr. J., 478, 480

 Gemmell, Mrs., 477

 Germiston, 242, 243, 244

 Ghilardi, Mr. O., 472

 Ghose, Mr. Justice, 466, 480

 Gibbs (Somerset Yeomanry), 264

 Gibbs, Mrs., 477

 Gidhour, Maharajah Bahadur of, 465

 Gillanders, Arbuthnot, & Co., 462

 Girard, Mr. G., 469, 478

 Girouard, Colonel, quoted, 117

 Gladstone, Mrs. A.S., 477

 Gladstone, Wyllie, & Co., 463

 Glascock, D.R.G., 364, 430

 Glasgow, 182

 Glen, 126, 135, 136, 141, 142

 Gloucester Yeomanry, 141

 Gloucestershire Regiment, 50

 Goad, Mr. L.B., 471

 Godden, Lance-Corporal, 379, 384, 430

 Goenka, Babu Baij Nath, 472

 Goldspink & Thompson, 464

 Goodeve, Mr. A., 469

 Goodliffe, Lance-Sergeant, 418, 436, 455

 Goodridge, Captain, 55, 476

 Goozree, Syed Bahadur Nawab, Patna, 465

 Gordon, General, 233, 350, 351

 Gordon, S.C., 379, 384, 429

 Gordon Highlanders, 237

 Gough, E.H., 231, 267, 364, 428

 Gowenlock, G.A., 267, 433

 Graham, J.A., 278, 279, 280, 281, 365, 409, 434, 458

 Grant, Mr. W.M., 466

 Graves, Corporal, 222, 354, 355, 384, 423, 433, 459

 Grazebrook, Mr. W.O., 470, 478

 Greaves, Lieutenant, 389

 Greaves, Mr., 389

 Green, Mr. R.J., 478

 Greenberg Brothers, 464

 Greenway, Mr. C., 469, 481

 Greer, Mr. R.T., 395, 402, 481

 Greig, Captain, 389

 Grenville, R.A., 413, 414, 416, 418, 435, 455

 Grice, W.T., 472

 Griffiths, Captain, 481

 Grimston, Captain, 478

 Grindlay & Co., 463

 Grobler, Commandant, 100, 306, 309, 310

 Guards, Foot, 221, 251

 Guise, Mr. J.D., 478

 Gun Kopje, 154, 209

 Guzdar, Mr. P.E., 470

 Gwyn, Captain, 55, 64, 476

 Gwyther, Mrs. Banks, 477


 Haaman’s Kraal, 306, 309, 310

 Haartebeestefontein Farm, 237

 Hacking, Mr. C.H., 473

 Hadenfelt, Mr. Otto, 470

 Haggard, Mrs., 477

 Haines, R.P., 249, 267, 364, 384, 428

 Halford, Smith, & Co., 463

 Hall, Mr. H.B., 481

 Hall & Anderson, 464

 Halliwell, Mr. S., 472

 Hamilton, Lord George, 421

 Hamilton, Bruce, General, 284

 Hamilton, Ian, General, 120, 135, 149, 150, 176, 177, 208, 217, 219,
    227, 230, 233, 234, 236, 237, 240, 257, 268, 284, 288, 289, 290,
    291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305, 306, 309,
    310, 312, 316, 345, 460

 Hamilton, Mr. D.M., 481

 Hamilton, Mr. F.S., 468

 Hamilton & Co., 408, 463

 Handley, Mr. F.F., 469, 478

 Harding, Mr. J., 474

 Hare, Mr. L., 468

 Harington, Major, 395, 481

 Harington, Mr. Justice, 402, 466, 478

 Harington, Mrs., 477

 Harman & Co., 475

 Harold & Co., 464

 Harper, Mr. John, 481

 Harrington, Mrs., 402

 Harris, Captain, 244

 Harris, W.E., 414, 416, 418, 436, 455

 Harris, Mr. Justice, 466

 Harris, Mr. F.J., 468

 Harris, Mr. H.N., 470

 Harris, Mr. J.S., 472

 Harrismith, 223

 Harrison, A.W., 432

 Harrison, G.W., 435

 Harrison, Mr. B., 471

 Harrison, Mrs. A.C.M., 470

 Harrison, Hathaway, & Co., 464

 Hart, General, 300, 302

 Hart Brothers, 475

 Harvey, Surgeon-General, 23, 29, 64, 402, 468, 476, 478, 481, 483

 Harvey, C.C., 267, 364, 433

 Harwood, Major, 473

 Hashim Ariff, Golam, 466

 Hassan, Nawab Mehdi, 473

 Haswar, Talukdar of, 466

 Hathaway & Co., 465

 Hatton, Rev. J., 402

 Haumann, Mr. E.E., 334

 Havell, Mrs., 477

 Hayat Khan, Nawab Mahomed, 466

 Hayes, C.F., 430

 Hayward, A.T., 364, 384, 429, 460

 Healy, Sergeant-Major (Victorian Rifles), 194

 Heidelberg, 230, 233, 350, 353, 356

 Heilbron, 230, 256, 257, 268, 311

 Heilgers & Co., 463

 Hekpoort, 300

 Helvetia, 345

 Hemingway, Mr. W.G., 472

 Henderson, Mr. G.S., 468, 481

 Henderson & Co., 463

 Hendley, Mr. G.L., 472

 Hennesy, Mr. P., 472

 Henry, Colonel, 106, 150, 154, 161, 177, 209, 227, 230, 240, 243, 251,
    271

 Henry, Captain, 481

 Henry, E.R. (Commanding Rand M.R.), 413, 416, 418

 Henry, J., 267, 384, 428, 490

 Hensman, Mr. H., 470, 478, 481

 Herlihy, Mr. F., 468

 Herron, Mr. H.W.G., 472

 Hewett, Mr. J.P., 481

 Hewitt, Sergeant-Major, 166, 384, 404, 405, 432, 459

 Hewitt, Mr. J.C., 472

 Hex River Mountains, 114

 Hickley, H.H.J., 75, 90, 111, 345, 429

 Hickman, General, 283, 284, 287, 288, 289

 Higham, Mr. T., 469

 Highland Brigade, 107

 Hight, W.W., 371, 435

 Hill, General, 381

 Hill, Mr. Justice, 466, 481

 Hill, Mr. C.P., 470

 Hill, Mrs., 477

 Hilliard, Mr. R.W., 471

 Hills, Mr. C.R., 478

 Hoare, Miller, & Co., 463

 Hobday, General, 29, 470, 476

 Holderness, Mr. T.W., 481

 Holme, W.H., 267, 345, 431, 455

 Holmes, Captain, 21, 33, 34, 76, 77, 159, 182, 184, 244, 246, 252, 369,
    384, 402, 427, 457, 461

 Holmes, J.D.W., 418, 430, 455

 Holmes, Mr. W.H., 470

 Homolomo, 324

 Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Ltd., 464, 466

 Hookey, Mr. H., 478

 Hoore, Major, 402

 Hore, Colonel, 288, 293, 302

 Horn, Mr. D.B., 469

 Hornby, Major, R.H.A., 103, 104, 105, 106

 Horne, Lance-Corporal, 371, 433

 Horse Artillery, _see_ Royal

 Hossein Ali Mirza, Nawab Walakader Syed, 465

 Hossein, Nawab Syed Ameer, 466, 481

 Household Cavalry, 107

 Houtnek, 145, 150, 175, 176, 177, 181, 190, 208, 311, 425, _see also_
    Ospruit

 Howes, H., 249, 364, 432

 Howrah, 183, 396

 Huddleston, Lieutenant, 474

 Huddleston, C.G., 256, 257, 268, 364, 433, 454

 Huddleston, Mr. G., 473, 478

 Huddleston, Mrs., 477

 Hughes, J.F., 384, 430

 Hughes, Mr. J.F., 468

 Hugli, 67, 69, 85

 Hunter, General, 284

 Hussain, Mirza Habib, 474

 Hussars (14th), 350

 Hussars (18th), 203, 289, 319, 328, 349

 Hutton, General, 208, 220, 229, 271, 283, 285, 344

 Hyde, R.W., 436, 485


 Iggulden, Captain, 395

 Iggulden, Mrs., 477

 Imperial Light Horse, 147, 289, 291, 296, 301, 302, 304, 312, 314, 320,
    323, 324, 334, 337, 338, 349

 Imperial Yeomanry, 251, 289, 296, 314, 320

 India General Steam Navigation Co., 25, 64

 ‘Indian Daily News,’ 39, 83, 120, 168, 254, 257, 271, 483

 Ingram, Mr. A.D., 478

 Innes, R.T., 267, 384, 432

 Innes, S., _see_ Long-Innes

 Irene, 117, 247, 252, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258, 259, 266, 271, 278, 279,
    282, 283, 286, 287, 338, 370, 381, 488

 Irish Brigade, 312

 Irving, Mr. G., 470

 Irwin, J.A., 418, 428

 Isabellafontein, 117, 208

 Ismay, Mr. P., 478


 Jack, Lance-Corporal, 432

 Jack, Mr. C.M., 478

 Jackman, Lance-Corporal, 267, 384, 434

 Jackson, Rev. Mr., 395

 Jagersfontein, 123, 141

 Jamalpur, 183

 Jamasji & Sons, 465

 Jameson, J.V., 249, 267, 364, 429

 Jameson, Mr. J., 473

 Jardine, Skinner, & Co., 462

 Jeffries, F.J., 469

 Jelliott, H.H., 469

 Jenkins, Lady, 398

 Jennings, Mr. J.G., 471

 Jessop & Co., 463

 Jhainpur Concern, 467

 Jodhpur, Maharajah of, 462

 Johannesburg, 233, 234, 236, 238, 239, 240, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248,
    252, 257, 266, 270, 272, 277, 282, 283, 311, 312, 315, 317, 332,
    340, 416, 425

 John, C.W., 384, 429

 Johnson, W.E.C., 431

 Johnston, J.B., 364, 435

 Johnston, Mr. A.L., 468

 Johnston, Mr. J.R., 478

 Johnstone, C.H.M., 384, 385, 431

 Johnstone, Mr. L., 475, 478

 Jones, Corporal, 75, 228, 409, 427, 458

 Jones, B.E., 361, 365, 430

 Jones, B.R. Lloyd, 346, 413, 414, 416, 417, 418, 430, 455

 Jones, W. Douglas, 141, 268, 311, 365, 367, 433, 455

 Jones, Mr. A.E., 474

 Jones, Mr. C.H., 474

 Joubert, Lieutenant-Colonel, 469

 Joubert, Mrs., 477

 Jourdain, Mr. C.B., 478

 Jubbulpur, 183

 Judge, Mr. A.S., 478

 Judge, Mrs., 477

 Jumna Prosad, Babu, 466

 Jurret, Mr., 478


 Kaalspruit, 125

 Kaapmuiden, 335, 336

 Kaffir River, 124

 Kalfontein, 117, 254, 255, 257, 258, 259, 271, 273, 283

 Karree Siding, 126, 136, 141, 142, 161, 174, 208

 Karroo, Great, 114, 117

 Kashmir, 25, 475

 Katalguri, 180

 Kearsey, S.H., 414, 416, 436, 455

 Keating, Lance-Corporal, 75, 267, 364, 429

 Kekewich, Colonel, 303

 Kellner & Co., 475

 Kelly, H.R., 413, 414, 416, 417, 418, 428, 455

 Kenna, Major, 264, 265, 352

 Kennedy, Captain, 473

 Kennedy, J.P., 384, 429

 Kenny, G.E., 364, 430

 Ker, Mr. A.J., 481

 Ker, Mrs., 477

 Kerr, Mr., 402

 Kettlewell, Bullen, & Co., 463

 Keyser, Misses, 418, 421

 Khulsor State, 462

 Kidderpore Docks, 50, 55, 56, 57, 76

 Kimberley, 98, 201

 King, Sir Seymour, 24, 462

 King, Mr. D., 481

 King & Co., 464

 King Edward’s Convalescent Home, 421

 Kingchurch, L., 344, 346, 347, 349, 350, 433

 Kingsley, Mr. G., 472

 Kirk, Mr. H.A., 481

 Kirwan, Colonel, 181, 467

 Kirwan, Corporal, 221, 231, 345, 433

 Kisch, Mr. H.M., 481

 Kitchen, Rev. Mr., 403

 Kitchener, Lord, 89, 228, 241, 245, 284, 300, 302, 345, 357, 414, 416

 Klip Drift, 241

 Klip River, 234

 Klipriviersberg, 234, 236, 237, 238, 315

 Klipsteple, 352

 Klugh, Mr. H.R., 473

 Knight, Mr. Paul, 478, 481

 Knight, Mrs., 477

 Knight & Sons, 464

 Knox, Captain, 478

 Koch, Commandant, 315

 ‘Koladyne,’ the, 408

 Komati Poort, 324, 335, 336

 Komati River, 320

 Kooch-Behar, Maharajah of, 462

 Koorn Spruit, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102

 Kraaipan, 286, 287

 Krantzpan, 352

 Kranz Kraal, 143

 Kroonstad, 86, 139, 161, 201, 220, 221, 222, 223, 225, 227, 229, 230,
    256, 257, 268, 269, 311, 332, 343

 Kruger, Paul, President, 130, 200, 218, 233, 253, 314

 Kruger, Piet, 295

 Kruger Siding, 141

 Kuma Radha Prosad Roy, 462


 Lackersteen, Mr. J., 471

 Ladybrand, 98, 100

 Ladysmith, 5, 85, 96, 98, 180, 201

 Laha, Babu B.M., 474

 Lall, Babu Jowhary, 472

 Lall, Babu Nand Kumar, 472

 Lancashire Mounted Infantry, 139

 Lance, R.J., Saddler, 428

 Lang, Mr. J., 469

 Laurence, Mrs., 402

 Law, Sir Edward, 402, 481

 Law, Miss, 402

 Lawrie, Corporal, 75, 345, 347, 430

 Lawrie, F.W.C., 418, 428, 455

 Lawrie, Mr. G.C., 471

 Lawson, T.E.M., 433

 Lazarus & Co., 464

 Le Gallais, Colonel, 118

 Le Maistre, Mr. G.H., 472

 Leach, General, 52, 64, 394, 395, 398, 476, 478, 481

 Leash, Captain, 389

 Lee, Lance-Corporal, 364, 384, 460

 Lee, Mr. J.B., 468

 Leighton, Lord, 369

 Lemon, W.S., Lance-Corporal, 75, 267, 384, 430

 Leslie, Major, 389

 Leslie, Mr. J., 472

 Leslie, Mr. W., 481

 Leslie & Co., 475

 Lichtenburg, 288

 Life Guards, 180

 Lilley, Lieutenant (Victorian M.R.), 193

 Lincoln Regiment, 281

 Lindsay, Mr. A.M., 478, 481

 ‘Lindula’ transport, 52, 56, 63, 69, 85, 88, 89

 ‘Linesman’ quoted, 170

 Lipton, Ltd., 475

 Little Modder River, 132

 Livingstone, D.L., 435

 Llewhellin, Corporal, 75, 229, 384, 428, 459

 Lloyd, Mr. A.J., 473

 Lloyd, Mr. J.B., 473

 Lloyd, Mr. Trevor, 472

 Lloyd-Jones, _see_ Jones, B.

 Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund, 382

 Loch’s Horse, 120, 136, 139, 141, 219, 220, 230, 357

 Locke & Co., 464

 Lockhart, General, 11, 24, 52, 64, 462, 476

 Lockhart, Lady, 477

 Lockhart, E.I., 413, 414, 417, 418, 433, 455

 Logan, M.H., 249, 267, 364, 432

 Long-Innes, S., 367, 429, 455

 Longman, Sergeant, 364, 384, 434, 460

 Lourenço Marques, 324

 Lovegrove, C.W., 235, 384, 436

 Lovelock, Mr. A.S., 481

 Lovelock & Lewes, 423, 463

 Lowe, W., Signaller, 364, 384, 434, 460

 Lowther, F.L., 436, 487

 Luard, Sergeant, 345, 347, 430

 Lucas, S.W.C., 371, 435

 Luck, Sir George, 180, 402

 Luckman, Rev. Canon, 403, 423, 476, 481

 Lumsden, Colonel, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29,
    30, 31, 33, 37, 44, 47, 48, 49, 52, 55, 59, 63, 64, 67, 72, 75, 86,
    91, 110, 111, 117, 118, 119, 120, 125, 132, 135, 142, 154, 161, 166,
    167, 168, 171, 172, 176, 180, 182, 189, 205, 206, 207, 209, 213,
    218, 219, 227, 228, 233, 240, 242, 243, 245, 246, 252, 256, 257,
    259, 265, 278, 279, 283, 284, 289, 293, 316, 332, 333, 337, 343,
    344, 349, 357, 363, 366, 369, 370, 372, 375, 377, 382, 384, 388,
    389, 390, 395, 398, 400, 404, 405, 406, 408, 409, 410, 415, 418,
    419, 421, 422, 424, 427, 451, 454, 456, 461, 462, 483, 489, 490

 Lumsden, H.C., 159, 160, 161, 173, 178, 194, 425, 429, 487

 Lungley, R.B., 384, 432

 Luson, Mr. H., 469

 Luson, Mrs., 477

 Lyall, Mr. A.A., 481

 Lyall, Mr. Frank, 470

 Lyall, Mr. H., 472

 Lyall, Marshall, & Co., 463

 Lydenburg, 345

 Lytle, A., 257, 384, 432


 Macalister, Mrs. L., 474

 McCaw, Mr. W.J.M., 481

 MacDonald, General, 107

 Macdonald, C.R., 365, 428

 Macdonald, R.N., 157, 160, 162, 173, 178, 194, 207, 384, 429

 Macdonald, Mr. P.J., 472

 MacDonnell, Sir A.P., 24, 462

 McDowell & Co., 464

 McElhinny, Captain, 472

 Macgillivray, Lance-Corporal, 75, 157, 160, 173, 190, 194, 207, 354,
    364, 384, 428

 McGregor, General, 468

 McGregor, H., 435

 Macgregor, H., 436

 Machadodorp, 314, 316, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 345, 349, 356, 357,
    366, 450, 451

 Macintosh, Burn, & Co., 463

 Mackay, Mr. L., 466

 McKenzie, Colonel, 416

 Mackenzie, Bugler, 162, 186, 187, 430

 Mackenzie, Mr. G.H.L., 471

 Mackenzie, Mr. R.H., 468

 Mackenzie, Lyall, & Co., 464

 McKewan, Mr. W.H., 470

 Mackinnon, Mr. Allan, 478

 Mackinnon, Miss, 467

 Mackinnon, Mackenzie, & Co., 463

 Maclaine, Lance-Corporal, 332, 364, 365, 425, 431

 MacLaughlin, Colonel, 181, 402, 404, 481

 Maclean, Sir F., 398, 402, 466, 478

 Maclean, Lady, 477

 Maclean, Mr. F.G., 481

 Macleod, Mr. H.H., 472

 McLeod, Mr. Norman, 481

 McLeod & Co., 463

 McMinn, C.H., 219, 267, 364, 433, 455

 McMinn, Mr. C.W., 466

 McNamara, Sergeant, 75, 157, 161, 173, 244, 268, 428, 461

 McNeil, Captain, 264

 Macniell & Co., 180

 McNiven, Mr. A., 478

 Maconochie, Mrs., 477

 Macpherson, Sir W., 466, 478

 Macpherson, Mr. A.G.H., 478

 Macpherson, Mr. D.J., 468, 481

 McVicar, Smith, & Co., 464

 Madagascar, 85

 Madan, Mr. J.F., 475

 Madan, Mr. S.E., 473

 Maddox, Mr. J.L., 470

 Madras, Archdeacon of, 244

 ‘Madras Daily Mail,’ 273, 283

 Madrasis (2nd), 395

 Mafeking, 175, 286, 287, 288, 289, 315, 343

 Magaliesberg, 205, 288, 289, 290, 300, 311

 Magersfontein, 5, 140, 343

 Maguire, Mr. H.F., 469

 Mahomed Khan, Malik, 474

 Mahon, General, 175, 190, 284, 286, 287, 289, 290, 291, 292, 294, 296,
    300, 303, 304, 305, 312, 314, 316, 317, 320, 324, 333, 334, 337,
    338, 339, 340, 343, 344, 350, 351, 352, 353

 Maidan, the, 17, 30, 40, 43, 48, 55, 56, 64, 394, 396, 397, 409

 Main & Co., 464

 ‘Maine’ hospital ship, 87

 Mair, Mrs., 477

 Maitland, General, 8, 11, 22, 64, 402, 476, 478, 481

 Maitland, Mrs., 477

 Maitland Camp, 89, 96, 108, 109, 486

 Major, Mr. T., 473

 Manindra Chandra Nundy, Maharajah of Cossimbazar, 465

 Manipur, 44

 Manjhla, Nawab Syed, 473

 Mansfield, Colonel, 64, 476

 Mansfield, Sergeant-Major, 75, 267, 384, 430

 Mansfield, C.B.H., 429, 455

 Mansfield, Mrs., 477

 Manton & Co., 464

 Manville, F.C., 235, 384, 435

 Maples, Mr. J.R., 478, 481

 Mardan, Nawab Mahomed Khan, Chief of, 475

 Mardan, Kwajah Mahomed Khan of, 462

 Marrison, Cottle, & Co., 464

 Marshall, Sergeant, 384, 427, 460

 Marshall, Mr. E.J., 478, 481

 Marshall, Sons, & Co., 463

 Marsham, Sergeant-Major, 75, 161, 162, 173, 267, 311, 409, 428, 455,
    458, 459

 Marsham, Corporal, 75, 427

 Martin, Captain, 79

 Martin, Sergeant-Major (R.A.), 103

 Martin, A., 267, 332, 364, 436, 455

 Martin, C.K., 249, 364, 384, 434

 Martin, Mr. E.S., 47

 Martin, Mr. H., 478

 Martyr, Colonel, 99, 106

 Masson, Lieutenant-Colonel, 466

 Masson, Mr. W.M., 473

 Masters, Colonel, 395, 402, 481

 Matheson, Mr. F., 481

 Mathewson, Mr. F., 470, 478

 Mawdsley, Mrs., 477

 Maxim-gun Contingent, 33, 34, 55, 77, 431

 Maxwell, General, 151, 154, 159, 176, 207, 209, 251

 Maxwell, Lieutenant-Colonel, 469

 Maxwell, C.W., 354, 384, 435

 Maxwell, Mr. R.W., 468

 Mayne, Mr. F.G., 471

 Mazamullah Khan, Mohammed, 25

 Meade, Lieutenant-Colonel, 395, 402, 481

 Meakin & Co., 463

 Meares, A.K., 214, 215, 217, 425, 435

 Meares, W.K., 215, 217, 364, 384, 435

 Mearsa, Rajah of, 25

 Mehomed Bukhtyar Shah, Prince, 466

 Mehta, Mr. R.D., 470, 481

 Melville, Mrs., 477

 Menasseh & Sons, 463

 Mercer, F.C.W., 183, 431

 Methuen, Lord, 230, 300, 301, 302

 Meyer, Mr. W.S., 470

 Meyer, Alma, Sister, 334

 Meyer, Messrs., 463

 Meyers (Boer), 190, 331

 Middelburg, 310, 311, 317

 Miley, Colonel, 481

 Miller, Mrs., 477

 Milne, Colonel, 180

 Milner, Sir Alfred, 416

 Mirzapore Volunteers, 467

 Mitchell, Sergeant, 277, 364, 434

 Modder River, 99, 107, 126, 128, 135, 139, 140, 229, 315

 Modder Valley, 150

 Moens, Lieutenant, 389

 Moir, Lieutenant, 389

 Moir-Byres, E.B., 257, 359, 361, 432

 Molony, Mr. E., 469

 Money, Colonel, 26, 27, 64, 476, 478

 Monteith & Co., 464

 Montmorency’s Scouts, 296

 Mookerjee & Sons, 475

 Mookim Bahadur, Rai Budri Dass, 465

 Moore, J., 371, 435

 Moore, Mr. C.H., 467

 Moore & Co., 464, 467

 Moorhouse, H.J., 3, 215, 384, 434

 Morgan, Mrs., 477

 Morison, D., 354, 355, 371, 410, 415, 435

 Morley, J.F.E., 436

 Morris, Corporal, 364, 384, 436, 455

 Morris, Mr. C., 481

 Morris, Mrs., 477

 Morrison, Mr. D. McL., 471, 478

 Morrison, Mrs. McL., 477

 Morton, Mr. E.S.L., 474

 Morton Institution, 467

 Moses, Mr. S.M., 389

 Moulvi Syed Ali Ahmed Khan, Khan Bahadur, 465

 Mozufferpore, 172, 173

 Muir, Mr. A.K., 479, 481

 Muir Mills, Cawnpore, 475

 Mukerji, Babu Behary Lall, 474

 Mumtaz Ali Khan, Rajah, 465

 Mumtaz-ud-Dowla Mahomed Fairaz Ali Khan, Nawab, 465

 Murdoch, _see_ Burn-Murdoch

 Mure, Mr. J.F., 473

 Murray, Captain, 470

 Murray, Mr. A.C., 479

 Murray, Mr. R., 481

 Murray, Mr. V., 470

 Murray, Mrs., 477

 Murray & Co., 475

 Mursan, Rajah of, 474

 Murshidabad, Nawab Bahadur of, 462

 Muskett, R.G.H., 267, 364, 432

 Mustafa Khan, H., 465

 Mysore and Coorg Contingent, 19, 38, 332

 Mysore, Maharani Regent of, 25, 474

 Mysore Volunteers, 12


 Naauwpoort, 112

 Naini Tal Brewery Co., 465

 Naldanga, Rajah of, 465

 Nansen, Rev. Mr., 403

 Narendra Krishna, Bahadur, Maharajah Sir, 465, 481

 Natal, 86, 96, 180, 204

 Natal Carbineers, 85

 Natal Railway, 241

 Natal Spruit, 240, 241

 Nathan, Mr. R., 468

 Naval Brigade, 112

 Needham, Mr. J., 479

 Nelson, Lord, quoted, 51

 Nelspruit, 318

 Nepos, Mr. V.E., 474

 Neville, Lieutenant, 31, 33, 160, 234, 364, 369, 427, 461

 New Egerton Mills, 475

 New South Wales Mounted Rifles, 135

 New Zealand Mounted Infantry, 104, 289, 296, 304, 305, 314, 334, 360,
    363

 Newman & Co., 464

 Newton, H.G., 384, 428

 Nibaron Chunder Dutt, Babu, 465

 Nicholson, A.J.H., 414, 416, 418, 428

 Nicholson, T.B., 268, 367, 433, 455

 Nicholson, Mr. F.A., 481

 Nicolay, G.D., 416, 418, 429, 455

 Nicolay, W.H., 384, 385, 433

 Nicoll, Mr. John, 479, 481

 Nigel, 356

 Nightingale, S.G., 364, 435

 Nimmo, Mr. J.D., 469

 Niven, Mr. D. Coats, 468

 Noblett, Captain, 31, 33, 142, 155, 156, 166, 301, 317, 364, 369, 384,
    402, 427, 456, 479

 Nolan, R.C., 215, 267, 384, 435

 Nolin Behary Sircat, Babu, 465

 Nooitgedacht, 205, 207, 327

 Norman, Mr. A.F., 481

 Norman, Mrs. Goodwin, 477

 Norman Brothers, 464

 Northcote, Lord, 389, 391

 Northumberland Fusiliers, 311

 Norton, A.E., 365, 367, 433, 455

 Norton & Sons, 465

 Norval’s Pont, 112, 117


 O’Donoghue, Colonel, 402

 O’Reilly, Mr., Mayor of Cape Town, 371, 372, 373, 375

 Oakley, Sergeant, 39, 371, 434

 Oakley, Mrs., 477

 Odling, Mr. C.W., 481

 Oldfield, Captain, 389

 Oldham, H.B., 249, 267, 364, 433

 Oldham, Mr. W.B., 469

 Oliphantfontein, 254

 Oliphant’s Nek, 294, 300, 301, 302

 Oorcha, Maharajah Bahadur of, 465

 Orange River, 117, 122

 Ormerod, Major, 479

 Ormiston, Mr. G.A., 481

 Ormiston, Mr. J.A., 479

 Ormond, Mr. E.W., 479

 Ormond, Mrs., 477

 Orr, Mr. C.R., 481

 Orr, Mr. J.C., 479

 Orr, Mr. J.W., 479

 Orr, Mrs., 477

 Orrell, Mr. W., 479

 Osgood, Mr. E.R., 472

 Osler F. & C., 464

 Ospruit, 118, 171, 175, 210, 252, 331, 354, 487, _see also_ Houtnek

 Oswell, Mr. G.D., 472

 Otley, Rev. Mr., 403

 Oudh Light Horse, 311

 Overend, Mr. T.B.G., 470, 481

 Owen, Colonel, 389

 Oxford L.I. Mounted Infantry, 143, 220, 230, 267, 276, 283, 284


 Paardeberg, 97, 98

 Page, Mr. J.J., 479

 Paget, General, 306, 309, 310

 Paget, Mr. H., 470

 Paget, Mrs., 477

 Palmer, Sir Power, 402

 Palmer, Lady, 402

 Palmer, Lance-Corporal, 75, 384, 436, 455, 486

 Pan, 317, 343

 Parkes, E.B.H., 187, 267, 430

 Parkinson, Lieutenant-Colonel, 473

 Parks, H.R., 229, 240, 354, 355, 435, 459

 Parsons, Mr. W., 472, 481

 Partridge, P., 311, 365, 432, 455

 Parys, 230

 Paterson, Mr. C.A., 472

 Patterson, General (U.S.A.), 8

 Patton, Mrs. L.P., 474

 Paxton, P.H., 384, 435

 Peace, Siddons, & Gough, 464

 Pearson, Mrs. 477

 Peddie, Lance-Corporal, 228, 229, 432, 458

 Pedler, Mr. A., 470, 481

 Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., 463

 Pepys, Samuel, alluded to, 44, 48

 Peters, Mr., 182

 Petersen, J.G., 194, 207, 215, 414, 416, 418, 430, 455

 Petersen, Mrs., 477

 Petley, Captain, 402, 408, 481

 Phelps, Mr. W.H., 481

 Phelps, Mrs., 477

 Phelps & Co., 464

 Philipps, Captain, 64

 Phillimore, Mr. J.E., 472

 Phillips, Captain, 29, 476, 479

 Phillips, Lance-Corporal, 371, 435

 Phillips, H.G., 321#, 435

 Pickford, Mr. A., 479

 Pickford, Mr. G., 479

 Pienaar’s River, 310

 Piggott, Chapman, & Co., 463

 Pilcher, Colonel, 98, 302

 Pilgrim, Major, 471, 481

 Pilkington, Major, 239, 240

 Pitman, Mr. C.E., 470, 476

 Pittar, Mr. C.E., 469

 Playfair, Sir Patrick, 5, 7, 8, 11, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 63, 64, 67, 75,
    119, 171, 337, 381, 384, 388, 395, 402, 404, 405, 406, 416, 417,
    422, 476, 479, 481

 Plumer, Colonel, 293

 Pole-Carew, General, 150, 208, 240, 251, 313

 Poppe, Mrs., 477

 Port Natal, 85

 Potchefstroom, 230

 Powell, Captain, 33, 156, 160, 179, 181, 189, 246, 268, 333, 384, 402,
    427, 458, 461

 Power, Sergeant, 75, 323, 384, 435

 Power, Mr. F., 479

 Powis, H.B., 166, 384, 433

 Prain, Major, 472, 481

 Pratt, Sergeant, 327, 371, 434

 Pratt, Mr. Justice, 481

 Pratt, Mrs., 477

 Prawn, Kissen, Law, & Co., 462

 Preston, P.C., 166, 189, 229, 244, 245, 409, 433, 458

 Pretoria, 87, 111, 117, 173, 190, 195, 196, 200, 202-207, 221, 223,
    230, 233, 246, 247, 248, 251, 252, 253, 254, 257-266, 270, 276, 278,
    283, 287, 288, 289, 295, 303, 309, 310, 311, 316, 319, 327, 328,
    331, 332, 333, 335, 336, 337, 343, 349, 356, 357, 358, 365, 366,
    369, 370, 425, 451, 488, 489

 Pretorius’s Farm, 100, 101

 Pringle, R., 321#, 364, 436

 Pringle, Mr. R.B., 468

 Prinsep, Sir Harry, 402, 466, 481

 Prinsloo, 311

 Prophit, Mr. J.M.G., 468, 481

 Pryce, P.W., 267, 365, 435, 455

 Puckridge, H.W., 215, 267, 364, 430

 Pugh, Lieutenant, 31, 33, 155, 167, 168, 189, 214, 217, 228, 240, 241,
    242, 243, 244, 256, 257, 268, 364, 409, 427, 454, 456, 461

 Pugh, Mr. A.J., 479

 Pugh, Mr. L.P., 479, 481

 Pugh, Mr. R.A.C., 479

 Pugh, Mrs., 38, 63, 64, 72, 477

 Pugh, Misses, 29, 477

 Punjab Banking Co., 467

 Punjab Volunteers, 12


 Queen’s Town, 91, 94, 96, 108, 120, 224

 Queensland Mounted Infantry, 95, 106, 289, 299, 314


 Radcliffe, Mr. C., 479

 Radford, A.D., 162, 244, 430

 Radhanpore, Nawab of, 389

 Railway Pioneers, 117, 413, 415

 Rainier, Captain, 472

 Raleigh, Mr. T., 402, 481

 Ralli Brothers, 463

 Rampini, Mr. Justice, 466, 481

 Ramsden, Major, 423

 Ranajit Sinha Bahadur, Rajah of Nashipur, 465

 Rangoon Examiner of Accounts, 470

 Rangoon Volunteers, 12, 467

 Ranken & Co., 475

 Rankin, Colonel, 481

 Rawlins, Captain, 473

 Rawlinson, Mr. A., 479

 Red House Farm, 142

 Rees, Mr. J.D., 468, 479

 Reid, Major, 473

 Reid, N.J.V., 267, 384, 385, 429

 Reid, W., 431

 Reid, Mr. Justice, 466

 Reid, Mr. J., 471

 Reid, Mr. R.J., 468

 Reitfontein, _see_ Diamond Hill

 Reitpan, 317

 Reitspruit, 317

 Reitzburg, 230

 Remington’s Scouts, 103

 Rendell, Colonel, 182

 Renny, H.J., 384, 415, 418, 435, 455

 Renny, Mrs., 477

 Rensburg, 112

 Rhenoster River, 311

 Rhodes, Colonel, 287

 Rhodes, Major, 290

 Rhodesian Regiment, 288, 296

 Rhodesian Volunteers, 288, 293

 Rice, H.R., 364, 384

 Richardson, J.H.S., 431

 Richardson, Mr. E.C., 474

 Richardson, Mr. H., 472

 Richardson, Mr. J.H.S., 468

 Richardson, Mr. T.F., 474

 Richey, J.F., 364, 384, 436

 Richmond, Mr. D.S., 474

 Riddell, Colonel, 389

 Ridley, Colonel, 120

 Rietfontein, 127, 128

 Ritchie, Mr. J.S., 468

 Rivaz, Mr. C.M., 402, 481

 River Steam Navigation Company, 25, 64

 Rivett-Carnac, Mr. G., 468

 Riviersberg, _see_ Klipriviersberg

 Roberts, Lord, 86, 90, 94, 96, 97, 101, 110, 119, 177, 201, 208, 219,
    221, 223, 227, 229, 230, 233, 240, 248, 251, 253, 260, 262, 268,
    284, 287, 288, 313, 337, 338, 344, 356, 359, 360, 363, 365, 370,
    371, 378, 381, 422, 425

 Roberts, Lady, 256, 265

 Roberts, Mr. F.W., 471

 Roberts’s Horse, 103, 107

 Robertson, Lieutenant, 389

 Robertson, D., 345, 346, 347, 434

 Robertson, Mr. W.T.M., 481

 Robinson, Mr. F., 468

 Robinson, Mr. H., 470

 Robinson, Mr. S.M., 473

 Robinson, Morrison, & Co., 475

 Rodachanachi, Mr. A., 479, 481

 Rodewal, 235, 236, 270

 Roe, Dr., 258

 Roe, Mr. C., 473

 Roe, Mr. F.R., 468

 Rogers, Captain, 389

 Romanath Ghose, Babu, 465

 Roode Kopje, 289, 294

 Rose, Mr. L.E.D., 479

 Ross, Colonel, 116, 117, 118, 120, 135, 143, 151, 154, 155, 161, 172,
    183, 190, 219, 230, 240, 242, 243, 252, 266, 268, 271, 274, 276,
    277, 278, 284, 285, 287

 Ross, Mr. H.M., 481

 Rotton, Captain, 185

 Royal Engineers, 254

 Royal Horse Artillery, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 289, 314, 319, 350, 352

 Royal Irish Rifles, 48, 395

 Rundle, General, 135, 149, 150

 Russell, Mr. C.L.S., 479

 Russell, Mr. E.L.S., 471

 Russell, Mr. W.H., 474

 Russell of Dinapore, 475

 Rust, W., 384, 436

 Rustenburg, 288, 289, 292, 293, 294, 295, 302, 303, 311, 488

 Rustfontein, 117

 Rustomji, Mr. H.M., 395, 481

 Rutherfoord, Captain, 31, 33, 155, 243, 258, 259, 262, 263, 264, 265,
    268, 409, 427, 454, 456, 461

 Rutherfoord, Sergeant, 379, 384, 429


 Sahai, Babu Gobind, 473

 Saheb Bahadur Singh, Rao, 465

 Sale, Mr. Justice, 466

 Samat-singji, Prince, 389

 Sandeman, Fort, 467

 Sanders, E.P., 430

 Sandhurst, 180

 Sandhurst, Lord, 24, 462

 Sanna’s Post, 98, 99, 102, 108, 111

 Saran Dass, Lalla Ram, 466

 Sassoon & Co., 464

 Saunders, J.S., 157, 187, 188, 193, 194, 258, 267, 364, 365, 430

 Saunders, Mr. J. O’B., 481

 Savage, Captain, 389

 Schiller, Mr. F.N., 481

 Schreiner, Olive, 136

 Schwartz Kopje, 289

 Scots Greys, 281, 320, 350, 352

 Scott, Lieutenant-Colonel, 469

 Scott, T.H., 321#, 384, 435

 Scott, Dr., 473

 Scott, Mr. Ross, 469

 Scott, Thomson, & Co., 464

 Seymour, Major (Railway Pioneers), 117

 Seymour, Mrs., 477

 Shadwell, Captain, 471

 Sharp, Lieutenant, 389

 Shaw, G.J., 435

 Shaw, H.N., 361, 364, 431

 Shaw, Mr. F.M., 470

 Shaw, Wallace, & Co., 463

 Shorrock, Mr. J.C., 481

 Short, Mr. A., 479

 Short, Mr. E.A., 468

 Showers, General, 180

 Showers, Major, 31, 33, 55, 64, 67, 83, 84, 85, 95, 120, 123, 126, 152,
    153, 155, 156, 160, 161, 164, 170, 175, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182,
    183, 194, 209, 425, 427, 487

 Siddons, Rev. J.H., 410

 Sidey, Lieutenant, 31, 33, 155, 156, 277, 352, 354, 427

 Silchar, 178

 Silk, Mrs., 477

 Simmons, Private (Duke of Cornwall’s Regiment), 194

 Simon’s Bay, 88

 Simpson, Mr. F.C., 472

 Simpson, Mr. F.D., 469

 Simpson, Mr. J.A., 479

 Simpson, Mr. J. H, 471

 Simson, Mr. A.F., 470

 Sinclair, I.G., 346, 347, 431

 ‘Sinclair’ steamship, 371

 Singh, Sir Harnam, 481

 Singh, Babu Ram Dhari, 473

 Singh Bahadur, Rai Cameleshwari Prosad, of Monghyr, 465

 Singh Bahadur, Rai Medni Prosad, 474

 Singh, Kanwar Rani Lady Harnam, 477

 Six Mile Spruit, 246, 251, 277, 279

 Skelton, Lance-Corporal, 71, 75, 249, 267, 364, 430

 Skinner, Mr. W., 469

 Skinner, Mrs. J.A.C., 470

 Sladden, S., 91, 267, 365, 434

 Smaldeel, 199, 200, 218, 258

 Smeaton, Mr. D.M., 479, 481

 Smith, Sergeant, 384, 436

 Smith, D.C. Percy, 118, 167, 168, 171, 256, 267, (Lieutenant) 276, 365,
    428, 455

 Smith, G.M., 384, 385, 428

 Smith, R.J., 434, 455

 Smith, W.T., 359, 361, 431

 Smith, Mrs. Assheton, 477

 Smith, Stanistreet, & Co., 464

 Smith-Dorrien, _see_ Dorrien

 Smyth, Mr. C.E., 479, 481

 Smyth & Co., 465

 Sotish Chunder-Chowdhari, Babu, Zemindar of Bhowanipur, 465

 Soubarsa, Maharajah Bahadur of, 25, 474

 Soundy, Major, 389

 South African Republic Police, 203

 South Australian Rifles, 219

 South British Fire and Marine Insurance Co., 464

 Spankie, Mr. G.T., 466

 Sparkes, Mrs., 477

 Spenser, Colonel, 64

 Spicer, C.W., 384, 431

 Spink, Mr. T.W., 481

 Springfield, G.P.O., 365, 428, 455

 Springfontein, 123

 Springs, 241, 243, 254, 266, 270, 271, 272, 273, 283, 356, 357, 414,
    415

 Spytfontein, 122, 123, 126, 136, 142, 143, 161, 182, 189, 331, 365

 Sri Ram Bahadur, Rai, 481

 Staff Corps, Indian, 22

 Stainforth, Mr. G.F., 471

 Standard Bank of South Africa, 206

 Stanley, P., 307, 309, 429

 Stanley, Mr. Justice, 481

 Stanley, Mrs., 477

 Staples, Mr. E., 472

 Stavridi, Mr. A.J., 474

 Steel (Octavius) & Co., 180, 463

 Stel, Van der, Commandant, 113

 Stellenbosch, 113, 334

 Stephens, T., Sergeant, 135, 160, 265, 384, 408, 485, 485-489

 Stephens, Mr. St. John, 471

 Sterkstroom, 121, 125, 294, 303

 Steuart, Captain, 71, 76

 Steuart, B.C.A., 267, 365, 432, 455

 Stevens, Mr. Justice, 466

 Stevens, Mrs. Foster, 477

 Stevenson, Captain, 31, 33, 76, 268, 311, 369, 427

 Stevenson, J.W., 164, 165, 166, 432

 Stevenson, Mr. A., 474

 Stevenson, Mr. F., 473

 Stevenson-Hamilton, O.C.J., 432

 Stewart, Lance-Sergeant, 75, 76, 90, 111, 142, 361, 371, 429

 Stewart, Mr. C.D., 479

 Stewart, Mr. J.R., 475

 Stewart & Co., 464

 Stikeman, Mr. W.R., 481

 Stinkwater, 306

 Stockwell & Co., 464

 Stoddart, Captain, 389

 Stokes, Mr. H., 479

 Stone, Mrs., 477

 Stormberg, 5

 Stowell, Sergeant, 75, 379, 384, 430

 Strachey, Major, 481

 Strahan, P., 365, 429, 455

 Stuart, C.E., 231, 247, 267, 364, 365, 430

 Stuart, Mr. Harry, 26, 27, 64, 395, 402, 404, 467, 479, 481

 Stuart, Mr. John (‘Morning Post’), 148

 Suffolk and Berks, Earl of, 479

 Suffolk Regiment, 318, 319

 Surma Valley Light Horse, 12, 44, 81, 91, 156, 179, 180, 181, 182, 332

 Sutcliffe, Mr. H.W., 471, 479

 Sutherland, Mr., 402, 469, 479, 481

 Swaine, Colonel, 402

 Swartzkop, 278, 306

 Swaziland, 323

 Sykes, Mr. R., 471


 Table Bay, 88

 Tagore, Maharajah Sir Jotendro Mohun, 25, 462, 481

 Tagore, Maharaj Kumar Prodyat Coomar, 474, 482

 Tagore, Sir Sourindro Mohun, 462, 481

 Tagore, Babu Kally Kissen, 462

 Talana, 289

 Talbot, Sir A.C., 468

 Tancred, F., 345, 384, 430

 Tasmanian Volunteers, 219, 296, 360

 Taylor, Captain, 31, 33, 56, 145, 155, 156, 159, 168, 169, 276, 305,
    335, 346, 354, 355, 382, 384, 391, 402, 409, 427, 446-453

 Taylor, Mr. J., 469

 Tellery & Co., 465

 ‘Terrible,’ H.M.S., 87

 Thaba ’Nchu, 98, 100, 101, 102, 107, 135, 150, 177, 208

 Thacker, Spink, & Co., 464

 Thelwall, E.A., 379, 384, 432

 Thelwall, H.W., 151, 164, 249, 257, 267, 364, 432

 Thesiger, Sergeant, 257, 359, 361, 431

 Thomas, Mr. A.W., 473

 Thomas, Mr. R.G.D., 479

 Thomas, Mr. W.L., 479, 482

 Thomas & Co., 463

 Thompson, Captain, 473

 Thompson, F.C., 267, 235, 364, 436

 Thomson, Mr. J.H., 467

 Thomson & Co., 464

 Thornton, A.R., 257, 432

 Tickell, Mr. R.H., 470

 ‘Times of India,’ 290, 389

 Tin Cowry Rai, Babu, 474

 Todd, Mr. R., 471

 Todd, Trooper (Roberts’s Horse), 105

 Tolly’s Nullah, 38

 Tooley, Trooper (Johannesburg Police), 413, 414, 416, 417

 Touch, Mr. W., 471

 Toynbee, Mr. G., 469

 Tozer, Mr. H.S., 471

 Traill, Mr. T., 482

 Traill & Co., 465

 Transvaal Mounted Police, 268

 Tremearne, Mr. Shirley, 26, 402, 468, 476, 479, 482

 Trevor, Sir Arthur, 402, 467, 482

 Trevor, Miss, 402

 Triton Insurance Co., 463

 Tucker, General, 135, 136, 150, 154, 161, 172, 208

 Tugela, 87

 Turnbull, W., 364, 432

 Turner, Corporal, 229, 231, 240, 384, 404, 436, 459

 Turner, Mr., 402

 Turner, Mr. C.E., 468

 Turner, Mr. J.M., 479

 Turner, Mr. L.C., 469

 Turner, Mr. M.C., 482

 Tyler, General, 469

 Tyler, Mrs., 402

 Tyrrell, Captain, 479


 Uitval Nek, 290, 296

 ‘Ujina’ transport, 67, 76, 83, 84, 85, 92

 Upcott, Mr. F.A., 469

 Upcott, Mr. F.R., 482

 Urs, Colonel Desraj, 474


 Vaal River, 177, 202, 227, 228, 229, 230, 233, 235, 343

 Ventris, General, 383, 389

 Vereeniging, 202, 228, 229, 233, 235, 289

 Verner, Mr. F., 25, 462

 Verschoyle, Major, 479

 Verschoyle, Mr. S., 479

 Vet, 218

 Vet River, 213, 425

 Victoria, Queen-Empress, 50, 409

 Victoria Cross, 147, 163, 171, 279

 Victoria Mills Co., 475

 Victorian Mounted Rifles, 139

 Viljoen, Commandant, 414, 416

 Viljoen’s Drift, 227, 228, 229, 230, 233

 Virginia Siding, 219

 Voltaire referred to, 91

 Vredefort Road Station, 235


 Wace, General, 23, 26, 64, 76, 402, 476, 482, 483

 Waggon Bridge, 140, 142

 Walker, Lieutenant-Colonel, 178, 466

 Walker, Sergeant, 75, 160, 162, 186, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 425,
    429

 Walker, Lance-Corporal, 75, 267, 365, 429

 Walker, Mr. C.R.S., 466

 Walker, Mr. E., 473

 Walker, Mr. G.H.D., 470

 Wallace, Captain (‘Atlantian’), 382

 Wallace, Mr. C.L.W., 479

 Waller, Major, 472

 Waller, E.H., 364, 436

 Wallis, Mr. A.H., 482

 Walsh, Mr. C.A., 472

 Walton, C.A., 157, 160, 257, 267, 364, 365, 430

 Walton, C.F., 266, 267, 272, 274, 365, 418, 434, 455

 Warburton, Lance-Sergeant, 257, 364, 384, 432

 Ward, Sir Edward, 223

 Ward, Artemus, quoted, 8

 Ware, Mr. F.H., 472

 Ware, Mr. H., 471

 Warmbaths, 295, 309

 Warner, Mr. H.B., 471

 Waterfield, Mr. S., 473

 Waters, Captain, 379

 Waterval, 192, 205, 257, 295, 310

 Waterval Boven, 314, 336, 337

 Waterval Drift, 96

 Waterval Onder, 336, 337

 Watkins, Mrs., 477

 Watson, Major, 345

 Watson, G.I., 231, 246, 364, 384, 429

 Watson, W.G., 429

 Watson, Mr. T., 472

 Watts & Co., 464

 Webbe. I.C., 384, 431

 Welldon, Bishop, 49, 67, 79, 394, 395, 402, 403, 469, 476

 Wellington, Duke of, quoted, 51

 Wellington College, 180

 Wells, Mr. Martyn, 479

 Wells, Mr. W.F., 469

 Wense Tannery, 475

 Wepener, 108, 135, 150, 177

 Were, H.D., 166, 169, 240, 433

 West Riding Mounted Infantry, 143, 220, 230, 244, 245

 Westmacott, Mr. D., 479

 Westmacott, Mr. T., 479

 Westminster, Duke of, 344

 Wheeler, W.H., 384, 436

 Whiddett, Mrs. Wallis, 477

 White, Sir George, 87, 312

 Whiteaway, Laidlaw, & Co., 463, 475

 Wickens, Rev. Mr., 403

 Wicks, Mr. H., 468

 Wicks, Mrs., 477

 Wigram, Rev. E.F.C., 473

 Wilkie, Mr. C.H., 482

 Wilkins, Mr. Justice, 466, 479

 Wilkins, Mrs., 477

 Wilkinson, Captain, 479

 Wilkinson, Lieutenant, 389, 473

 Wilkinson, G.E., 364, 435, 455

 Williams, Captain, 118, 172

 Williams, Lieutenant, 331

 Williams, L.G., 157, 160, 162, 173, 178, 194, 207, 268, 429, 455

 Williams, R.P., 215, 384, 435

 Williams, Mr. F., 473

 Williams, Mr. H.C., 469

 Williamson, Mr. G., 467, 482

 Williamson, Mr. H.C., 492

 Williamson, Mr. N., 472

 Willis, L., 365, 436

 Wilson, Captain, 402

 Wilson, Mr. J., 482

 Winburg, 217, 218

 Winder, W.R., 345, 384, 385, 432

 Wolve Hoek, 289

 Wonderfontein, 317

 Wood, H.C., 371, 434

 Woodburn, Sir John, 24, 48, 49, 52, 59, 64, 67, 79, 394, 402, 462, 477

 Woodburn, Lady, 477

 Woodman, Mr. H.C., 471

 Woodroffe, Mr. J.T., 402, 466, 482

 Woods, A.N., 71, 267, 364, 430, 455

 Woollright, A.P., 3, 91, 364, 432, 455

 Woolls-Sampson, Colonel, 337, 339

 Worcester, 114

 Wright, F.W., 267, 365, 367, 431, 455

 Wright, H.S.N., 365, 367, 431, 455

 Wynne, Colonel, 402, 482

 Wynne, Mr. T.R., 392

 Wynne, Mrs., 477


 Yeomanry, Imperial, 251

 Young, Sir W. Mackworth, 24, 462

 Younghusband, Mr. J.R.E., 471

 Yule & Co., 463


 Z.A.R.P., 203

 Zain-ul-Abidin, Nawab Syed Mahomed Murshidabad, 465

 Zand River, 219, 220, 225

 Zeerust, 288, 293

 Zilikat’s Nek, 289

 Zorab, L.K., 267, 384, 385, 428

 Zoutpans, 295, 306

 Zurfontein, 254, 266, 271

                               PRINTED BY

              SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE

                                 LONDON

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration:

  PART OF
  SOUTH AFRICA
  showing
  the routes taken by
  LUMSDEN'S HORSE.
]

                  *       *       *       *       *

                               Reference
                    to the Figures (in Red) on Map.

          1. Bloemfontein                          April 3 to 21
          2. Glen                                       April 21
          3. Spytfontein                                  ”   22
          4. Krang Kraal (Houtnek)                        ”   29
          5. Spytfontein                                  ”   30
          6. Brandfort Rand                                May 4
          7. Vet River Station                            ”    5
          8. Smaldeel                                     ”    6
          9. Near Zand River Station                      ”    8
         10. Near Ventersburg Road Station                ”    9
         11. Valsch River                                 ”   10
         12. Kroonstad W. Hills                           ”   11
         13. Kroonstad Camp                               ”   12
         14. Amerika Siding                               ”   22
         15. Honing Spruit                                ”   22
         16. Rhenoster Spruit                             ”   23
         17. Wolvehoek Station                            ”   25
         18. Vereeniging                                  ”   26
         19. Klip River                                   ”   27
         20. Natal Spruit                                 ”   28
         21. Germiston (Elandsfontein Junction)           ”   29
         22. Orange Grove (Johannesburg)                  ”   31
         23. Strydom                                      June 3
         24. Six Mile Spruit                              ”    4
         25. Irene (_viâ_ Pretoria)                       ”    5
         26. Pretoria                                    July 22
         27. Crocodile River                              ”   27
         28. Wonderboom                                   ”   27
         29. Dasport Camp                                 ”   28
         30. Vasser’s Hoek                                Aug. 1
         31. Commando Poort (Uitval’s Nek)                ”    3
         32. Sterkstroom                                  ”    4
         33. Rustenburg                                   ”    5
         34. Eland’s River                                ”    6
         35. Rustenburg                                   ”    6
         36. Commando Poort                               ”    8
         37. Grobelar’s                                   ”   11
         38. Heck Poort                                   ”   12
         39. Kaulfontein                                  ”   13
         40. Buffel’s Hoek                                ”   16
         41. Olphant’s Nek                                ”   17
         42. Rustenburg                                   ”   17
         43. Sterkstroom                                  ”   18
         44. Roode Kopjes                                 ”   19
         45. Zoutpans                                     ”   21
         46. Near Haman’s Kraal                           ”   22
         47. Zwart Boys’ Location                         ”   22
         48. Botha’s Vley                                 ”   23
         49. Warmbads                                     ”   24
         50. Outposts on Buis Kop                         ”   25
         51. Pienaar’s River Station                      ”   26
         52. Waterval (Prisoner’s Camp)                   ”   27
         53. Pretoria Racecourse                          ”   28
         54. Erstefabriken                                ”   30
         55. Mors Kop                                     ”   31
         56. Bronkhorst Spruit                            ”   31
         57. Balmoral                                    Sept. 1
         58. Elandsfontein (Brug Spruit)                  ”    1
         59. Oliphant’s River                             ”    2
         60. Middelburg                                   ”    3
         61. Pan or Reetpan                               ”    3
         62. Wonderfontein                                ”    1
         63.     ”    ” (5 mile south of)                 ”    5
         64. Carolina                                     ”    8
         65. Buffel’s Spruit                              ”    9
         66. Rendsburg                                    ”   10
         67. Tafel’s Kop                                  ”   11
         68. Devil’s Kantor                               ”   12
         69. Barberton                                    ”   15
         70. Machadodorp                                  Oct. 3
         71. Doorn Kop                                    ”   11
         72. Carolina                                     ”   13
         73. Kranspan                                     ”   15
         74. Klipstepel                                   ”   15
         75. Bethal                                       ”   19
         76. Trickardsfontein                             ”   22
         77. Wilbank                                      ”   25
         78. Bultfontein                                  ”   26
         79. Heidelburg                                   ”   26
         80. Springs                                      ”   31
         81. Tweefontein                                  Nov. 1
         82. Erasmus Dam                                  ”    2
         83. Pretoria Racecourse                          ”    3

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               Footnotes

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           Transcriber’s Note

Errors in the text have been corrected where they can be reasonably
attributed to the printer or editor, or where the same word appears as
expected elsewhere. Inconsistencies in punctuation, particularly in the
Index, have been resolved.

In the very long table of cash contributions in Appendix VII, the
‘Carried Forward’ subtotals at the foot and head of each page have been
removed.

In Appendices II and X, wide tables have been divided into rearranged in
order to be more readily viewable in this media.

The book was bound with a short errata slip inserted prior to p. 1,
which has been moved to the end of the text, prior to the Index. The
changes have _not_ been made. The error noted on p. 384, line 13, for
‘E.J. Johnstone’ apparently had already been corrected, but shows as
‘C.H.M. Johnstone’ rather than 'Johnstone, C.H.'. The text is given as
printed.

Footnotes in the text have been renumbered consecutively for
consecutively. They have been gathered at the end of each chapter.
Footnotes in the tabular matter in the Appendices have been sequenced as
letters A through G, and follow the table to which they pertain.

In the list of men gazetted to the Regular Army on p. 365, 'Norton'
would seem to be A.E. Norton, of the West India Regiment.

The Index reference for Captain Chamney, indicating p. 379, is
incorrect. This probably refers to p. 349, where the Captain is
mentioned.

The details of each correction are noted below.

  8.37       P.[T/J]. Maitland                        Corrected.

  12.3       'Her Majesty’s[’]' Government            Added.

  99.1       by the slow prog[r]ess of a convoy.      Added.

  189.15     my scouts, while reconnoit[i]ring under  Removed.
             Lieutenant Pugh,

  192.13     he had thought for a mo[n/m]ent of the   Corrected.
             bitterness

  273.17     he attemp[t]ed> to return                Added.

  288.24     in the centre, and Brigad[i]er-General   Added.
             Mahon’s on the right,

  296.32     for the sake of some amusing incidents   Transposed.
             and an[ce/ce]dotes

  301.39     some dozen Australian[s]                 Added.

  313.12     Ragged and out at heels from [being      _sic_
             having] marched]

  435.7      Peak Es[s]tate,Yercand, Salem            Removed.

  428.9      Charles Reginald Macdonald ...           Removed.
             Dowlutpore Concern, Durb[h]unga

  428.17     Osborne Aldis  ... Dulsing  S[e/a]rai,   Corrected.
             Durbunga

  444.13     Chin, [strappers], helmet, leather       _sic_ straps?

  492.5      Barrackpur, 3[9]6                        Restored.