Nolan-Neylan, John
NOLAN-NEYLAN,
JOHN,
Major, was born 14 May 1854, in the County Clare, Ireland,
the son of D Nylan and Mary Nolan, his wife; and nephew of Captain L E
Nolan.
On his mother's side, therefore,
he was a member of that famous if turbulent Irish family whose proudest
boast it was—if it is not yet—in bygone years that some of its members had
killed the Earl of March, heir to the throne of England, in battle. One of
the latter-day Nolans is said to have attended King Edward's coronation,
"just to show that there was no ill-feeling" Though one would have thought,
the ill-feeling might have been on King Edward's side. These typically Irish
people, doubtless some of them with doubtful, if not disloyal sentiments on
their lips, rushed headlong into the conflict, as troopers or cavalry
officers, they cared not which, on the outbreak of the European War, and
fought, for Great Britain and Ireland until the old soldier's family who
attended the coronation was almost wiped out, and is now represented by his
infant grandchild. One of the family went down with Kitchener, a trusted
member of his Staff. Soldiers of fortune, the blood of the Nolans has been
poured out on almost every battle-field in Europe:
"For in far foreign
lands from . . . to Belgrade
Lie the captains and
chiefs of the Irish Brigade."
The famous Captain
Louis Edmond Nolan, of the 10th Hussars, Colonel Nolan-Neylan's
uncle, brought the order for the deathless charge of which it was said: "C'est
magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre."
" ' Forward the Light
Brigade!
Charge for the guns!'
he said.
Into the Valley of
Death
Rode the Six
Hundred."
And for some time
afterwards many people mistakenly thought that Nolan was the "someone"
described by the poet as having "blundered." It was ultimately proved,
however, to the satisfaction of most authorities, that it was not Captain
Nolan who had made a mistake. He is said to have perished in the act of
trying to point out -where the guns really were which formed the objective
of the Charge of the Light Brigade. We are all of us hero-worshippers, and
perhaps Captain Nolan has had countless fervent admirers since his death,
and some in his lifetime. Though many of his contemporaries looked on him
with suspicion as a crank who studied his profession and wrote books. He
died at the age of thirty-four, a recognized authority on cavalry movements,
and one who had written one or two standard works. His great idea seems to
have, been that the steeplechase horse and his rider, and the cavalry
officer and his mount, are one and indivisible, and interchangeable. He
received his early military training, together with his elder brothers, in
the Austrian Army, and the fact that he was born in Canada and the
particulars of his early career were made known to an English inquirer by
the courtesy of the Austrian Embassy and War Office in pre-war days. It is
to be feared that Nolan learned to ride as an Austrian cavalry officer,
though his stirring and ambitious old father never rested until he obtained
for Louis, or "Ned," Nolan a commission in the British Army. Ned Nolan it
was who was Lindsay Gordon's especial hero.
"I remember," says
the Australian laureate, who died fretting after the Cotswold Hills:
"I remember the
lowering wintry morn,
And the mist on the
Cotswold Hills,
Where I once heard
the blast of the huntsman's horn,
Not far from the
Seven Rills.
Jack Esdaile was
there, and Hugh St. Clair,
Bob Chapman and
Andrew Kerr,
And big George
Griffiths on Devil-May-Care,
And black Tom Oliver,
And one who rode on a
dark-brown steed
Clean-jointed,
sinewy, spare,
With the lean game
head of the Blacklock breed,
And the resolute eye
that loves the lead,
And the quarters
massive and square—
A tower of strength
with a promise of speed
(There was Celtic
blood in the pair)."
Captain L E Nolan
this was, and though Lindsay Gordon admired him above all men he must needs
describe his mount first. Nolan and another man were riding to hounds up
there by the Seven Springs:
"And between the pair
on a chestnut mare,
The duffer who writes
this lay.
What business had
this child there to ride?
But little or none at
all;
Yet I held my own for
a while ' in the pride
That goeth before a
fall.'
Though rashness can
hope for but one result.,
We are heedless when
fate draws nigh us,
And the maxim holds
good:
'Quern perdere vult
Deus dementat prius!'
The right-hand man to
the left-hand said,
As down in the vale
we went,
' Harden your heart
as a millstone, Ned,
And set your face as
a flint—
Solid and tall is the
rasping wall
That stretches before
us yonder.
You must have it at
speed or not at all:
'Twere better to halt
than to ponder,
For the stream runs
wide on the take-off side,
And washes the clay
bank under;
Here goes for a pull,
'tis a madman's ride
And a broken neck if
you blunder.'
" No word in reply
his comrade spoke,
Nor waver'd nor once
looked round,
But I saw him shorten
his horse's stride
As we splash'd
through the marshy ground
"I remember one
thrust he gave to his hat,
And two to the flanks
of the brown,
And still as a statue
of old he sat,
And he shot to the
front, hands down;
I remember the start
and the stag-like bound
Of the steed six
lengths to the fore,
And the laugh of the
rider; while landing sound,
He turned in his
saddle and glanced around;
I remember—but little
more,
Save a bird's-eye
gleam of the dashing stream,
A jarring thud on the
wall,
A shock and the blank
of a nightmare's dream—
I was down with a
stunning fall."
Again
and again in his poems Gordon goes back to Louis Nolan :
" Where bullets
whistle and round shots whiz,
Hoofs trample and
blades flash bare,
God send me an ending
as fair as his
Who died in his
stirrups there! "
And in "Ye
Wearie Wayfarer" the Gay Gordon poet has one hope in his saddest mood:
" Vain dreams, again
and again retold,
Must you crowd on the
weary brain,
Till the fingers are
cold that entwined of old
Bound foil and
trigger and rein,
Till stay'd for aye
are the roving feet,
Till the restless
hands are quiet,
Till the stubborn
heart has forgotten to beat,
Till the hot blood
has ceas'd to riot.
' But Nolan's
name will flourish in fame
When our galloping
days are past,
When we go to the
place from whence we came,
Perchance to find
rest at last.
" Though our future
lot is a sable blot,
Though the wise ones
of earth will blame us,
Though our saddles
will rot and our rides be forgot,
' Dum Vivimus,
Vivamus!' "
Nolan's
death was the part of his life Gordon always envied him:
"Oh, the minutes of yonder maddening ride
Long pleasures of life outvie ! "
The Gordons and the
Nolans are in this book—and Ned Grifliths's kith and kin. And the rebel
Irish and the English, the Austrians and Count O'Kelly and Eclipse and the
Nolans are all mixed up together in that weird pedigree of his family in the
possession of the Very Reverend Monsignor Edmond Nolan, cousin of Captain L.
E. Nolan. Ned Nolan's nephew, John Nolan, first saw active service in
1877-78-79, in Gaika, Gaeleka and Moirosi's Mountain (Medal with clasp). He
joined the Cape Mounted Riflemen on 1 Nov. 1879, and was present in
operations in Basutoland and Transkei, 1880-81 (Medal with clasp). He served
with the Cape Mounted Police in Bechuanaland, 1896-97 (General Service Medal
with clasp). In the South African War of 1899 to 1902, this Irishman from
the County Clare was also present. His deeds are told at length by Sir A.
Conan Doyle's "Great Boer War" as are those of another of his name, at Spion
Kop, when: "A detached group of the South Lancashires was summoned to
surrender. 'When I surrender,' cried Colour-Sergt. Nolan,' it will be my
dead body!' " When Bethulie Railway Bridge had been blown to smithereens by
the retreating Boers, the only hope of preserving some means of crossing
the Orange River lay in the hope that the British troops might be beforehand
with the Boers who were just going to destroy the road bridge also. “In
this” says Sir A. Conan Doyle, in “The Great Boer War” (pages 270-271),
“they were singularly favoured by fortune. On the arrival of a small party
of scouts and of the Cape Police under Major Nolan-Neylan at the end of the
bridge it was found that all was ready to blow it up, the mine sunk, the
detonator fixed, and the wire laid. Only the connection between the wire and
the charge had not been made. To make sure, the Boers had also laid several
boxes of dynamite under the last span, in case the mine should fail in its
effect. The advance guard of the Police, only six in number, with Nolan-Neylan
at their head, threw themselves into a building which commanded the
approaches of the bridge, and this handful of men opened so spirited and
well-aimed a fire that the Boers were unable to approach it. As fresh scouts
and policemen came up they were thrown into the firing line, and for a whole
long day they kept the destroyers from the bridge. Had the enemy known how
weak they were and how far from supports, they could have easily destroyed
them; but the game of bluff was admirably played, and a fire kept up which
held the enemy to their rifle pits. The Boers were in a trench commanding
the bridge, and their brisk fire made it impossible to cross. On the other
hand, our rifle fire commanded the mine and prevented any one from exploding
it. But at the approach of darkness it was certain that this would be done.
The situation was saved by the gallantry of young Popham of the Derbyshires,
who crept across with two men and removed the detonators. There still
remained the dynamite under the further span, and this also they removed,
carrying it off across the bridge under a heavy fire. The work was made
absolutely complete a little later by the exploit of Captain Grant, of the
Sappers, who drew the charges from the holes in which they had been sunk,
and dropped them into the river, thus avoiding the chance that they might be
exploded next morning by shell fire. The feat of Popham and of Grant was not
only most gallant, but of extraordinary service to the country; but the
highest credit belongs to Nolan-Neylan, of the Police, for the great
promptitude and gallantry of his attack, and to M'Neill for his support. On
that road bridge and on the pontoon bridge at Norval's Pont Lord Robert's
army was for a whole month dependent for their supplies".
This was really a
much more useful performance than the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Another account savs:
"On 2 January 1900,
Major Nolan-Neylan, in command of 75 European details at Molteno, the
advanced post of the 3rd Division, under General Sir William Gatacre, was
attacked at 5 am by a strong force of Boers, with two 15-pounder guns.
The enemy started off by firing on a mounted piquet about to take a post on
the eastern kopje at dawn. Major Neylan posted one officer and twenty men
in fort to watch the west, and with the remainder took up a position behind
the rocks and embankment along the Molteno-Cyphergat railway line and
immediately opposite the enemy's central position—a kopje behind which they
were massing and from whence they charged. Their object was to capture the
low-lying hills along the railway parallel to the line taken up by Neylan.
A well-directed fire, however, checked and forced them to retire, and they
subsequently occupied positions round about, and kept up incessant gun and
rifle fire all day long. At one time the enemy occupied Cyphergat, and
actually brought up guns into position on the high Looperberg Ridge, and
shelled General Gatacre's Relief Column, which did not come into action as
the Boer forces retired to Stonnberg. In face of overwhelming numbers, the
important positions through which the main road runs were held by a small
force and the road to the Stormberg stronghold kept open. On 10 March,
1900, the 3rd Division Column, under General Sir William Gatacre,
had just halted at Knapdaar, on the Burghersdorp-Bethulie railway line, when
a despatch-rider, who had ridden his horse to a standstill, reported that
the Boers were recrossing the Orange River from the Free State to the
Colony, and that assistance was urgently needed by Scouts sent ahead from
the column the day before. The GOC ordered Major Nolan-Neylan to move
forward with about 50 details, and to use his own discretion. About 10.30
pm this officer came up with the Scouts, five miles from the bridge. Their
OC reported both railway and road bridges destroyed. Before daylight Major
Nolan-Neylan found the railway bridge destroyed, but, on creeping near,
discovered the road bridge intact. Boer sentries were marching up and
down between the parapets, and the sand dunes, embankments and rough ground
between the bridges were held by a strong force of the enemy. He crept back
and despatched his orderly for Scouts and Police. Whilst waiting, a native
manservant crossed the bridge with a white flag as a protection. This native
said the bridge would be destroyed at 10 am. It was then about 9 am. He
also said that Bethulie town was full of Boer soldiers, and they had very
big guns. No time was to be lost under these circumstances, so when the
forces galloped up and dismounted, leaving their horses under cover behind
the hills, the Scouts extended to the left, the Police to the right, while
Major Nolan-Neylan moved in the centre in the direction of the bridge. At
this moment the enemy horsemen were galloping over the plain between the
river and the village, and their artillery coming into action. No time
was to be lost, something had to be done quickly, so Major Nolan-Neylan
called in the three men on his right, and the three on his left, and they
readily volunteered to go with him. The officer and his six men moved
rapidly towards the stone boundary walls, near the approaches to the bridge.
Firing from all sides opened on the small party, who climbed one stone wall,
crossed a garden, over the next stone wall, past Holm's house, and over open
ground to a brick wall in rear of the old Police Camp. Removing some bricks
from the top of the wall, the men were able to rest their rifles and take
steady aim. All being good shots, the range to a bare patch on the Free
State side of the bridge was soon found, and all who ventured within range
had a very warm reception. Very soon riderless horses were wandering about
the veldt. Shells were bursting unpleasantly close, the rain of bullets was
incessant, but the six held on. A little later they moved to a toll-house
within ninety yards of the bridge; here one of the six was mortally
wounded. He was carried to shelter by Private Blake, who subsequently was
decorated (DCM). After some hours, during which the small party held the
bridge, the main column arrived and joined in the fight. Major Nolan-Neylan
and Captain Schenk built a wall across the road from behind which rifle fire
was kept up directly on to the bridge all night, and from the kraals men
were posted, some to fire on the Free State side, some on the centre, and
some on the near side of the bridge, to prevent any attempt by the enemy to
link up wire from the parapet to an electric battery in the toll-house.
Captain Woon took up a position in the Cemetery, about a mile away, where he
was held fast by men from our Column firing on him in mistake, and enemy
shrapnel constantly bursting over him. After the enemy retired, the
dynamite charges were withdrawn by the Royal Engineers. In a short while
rails were laid on the saved bridge, and it was used immediately for
transporting supplies to Lord Roberts's Army".
Major Neylan was
wounded in action 13 August 1901; was mentioned three times in Despatches ;
received the Queen's Medal with three clasps, King's Medal with two clasps,
and was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London
Gazette. 27 Sept. 1901]: "John Nolan-Neylan, Major, Cape Police. In
recognition of services during the operations in Cape Colony". He was
Second-in-Command of General Gorringe's Flying Column, and was Commander of
the Orange River Scouts. Lieutenant Colonel Nolan-Neylan retired from the
Cape Mounted Police. He married, 17 August 1881, Minnie, daughter of R
P Impey, of Aliwal North, Cape Colony; they had four sons: Lawrence, born 14
November 1886 ; Denis, born 2 May 1890 ; Richard, born 8 April 1896, and
Vivian, born 14 October 1901; and six daughters: Kathleen, Eily, Clare,
Marie, Nora and Ita.
