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Officers of the
4th Battalion |
4th Battalion |
Officers of the
2nd Battalion |
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The 2nd Battalion sailed on the Sumatra about 16th December 1899, and
arrived at the Cape about 8th January 1900. Along with the 1st Royal
Irish Regiment, the 2nd Wiltshire, and 2nd Worcestershire, they composed the
12th Brigade under Major General R A P Clements.
The brigade sailed as part of the Vlth Division under General
Kelly-Kenny, but shortly after landing that general and his other troops
were taken to Modder River for the eastern advance, and the 12th Brigade
was, during an important stage of the operations, to act as an independent
force, its place in the division being taken by General T E Stephenson's
18th Brigade.
Shortly after their arrival the 12th Brigade were sent to the Colesberg
or central district of Cape Colony, Major General Clements with the Royal
Irish and 2nd Worcesters coming into French's lines on 18th January, and
when French was called away from that district to command the cavalry in the
Kimberley relief expedition, General Clements was left in charge at Arundel.
French had in a wonderful way not only been able to contain the Boers at
Colesberg on a line of thirty-eight miles, but had successfully compelled
them to withdraw over and over again. When, however, he left early in
February the bulk of his horsemen went with him, and the Boers were not long
in discovering that the force opposed to them was no longer so elastic or
mobile, and they soon forced Clements' Infantry back from many of the
advanced positions French's men had gained, and on 12th February Clements
was under the necessity of withdrawing from Slingersfontein, near which the
Royal Irish were posted, and on the 13th he had to move back from Rensburg
to Arundel. Probably it was part of the scheme that he should do this
so as to tempt the Boers to go farther into Cape Colony, and render it less
likely that they should interfere with the great movement from Modder River
and Ramdan. By the end of February 1900 Clements was finding that Lord
Roberts' successful operations were having the effect which was to be
expected on the enemy in the central district. On the 28th the British
found Colesberg evacuated. On 3rd March Achtertang, where the Boers
had formed and kept a great depot of stores, was occupied, and on 9th March
Clements was able to seize Norval's Pont and the adjacent drifts. He
soon pushed across the Orange River, and moving north-west by Fauresmith,
and swinging round by Petrusburg, he arrived at Bloemfontein and joined the
main army on 2nd April, having en route lifted two guns which the enemy had
hidden in a mine-shaft.
The 12th Brigade had lost their place in the Vlth Division, in the
Paardeberg - Bloemfontein advance, and Stephenson's 18th Brigade, which had
taken their place, had the luck to be selected as one of the units in the
movement on Pretoria. The 12th and 13th, Kelly-Kenny's original
troops, being allotted the difficult and onerous, but less showy, work of
guarding Bloemfontein, Kroonstad, and the lines of communication after 3rd
May, when the Commander-in-Chief left for the north. During February
and March about thirty Militia battalions had arrived from England, and
these to some extent set free the regiments of the first line; but an
enormous force was needed to look after the hundreds of miles of railway.
At the end of May the 12th Brigade was ordered to Senekal. After the
occupation of Pretoria and the driving of the Boers from their very strong
position at Diamond Hill, east of the capital, Lord Roberts at once set
himself to deal with the Boer army under Steyn, De Wet, and Prinsloo, which
had hung on the right flank of the British all through the northern advance
— an army which had given Ian Hamilton and Colvile a very hot time, and
which among other exploits had on 31st March smashed Broad wood at Sannah's
Post, gobbled up 500 Royal Irish Rifles at Reddersburg in April, and 500
Imperial Yeomanry at Lindley on 29th May, besides capturing several trains
and convoys. Ian Hamilton had been appointed to command the splendid
force—as fine a fighting force as ever stood to arms, to quote Sir Archibald
Hunter—which was intended to capture or at least disperse this Boer army;
but having been injured by a fall from his horse, Sir Archibald Hunter was
appointed his successor, and right well did he do the work.
The 12th Brigade under Clements had since 31st May been assisting Rundle
to prevent Steyn's army from breaking south of the line—Kroonstad, Senekal,
Ficksburg. At the beginning of June the brigade was at Senekal, and
this place was Clements' headquarters and starting-point when his time to
move came, about 26th June. Clements had in addition to his own
brigade 1000 mounted men from the 8th and Colonial Divisions, 400 mounted
men from Bloemfontein, one battery RFA, and two 5-inch guns. Lord
Roberts' instructions were that Clements from Senekal and Paget with the
20th Brigade from Lindley should converge on and take Bethlehem. Each
general had some fighting; on 2nd July, however, they joined hands.
Bethlehem was summoned to surrender, but this was met by a refusal, De Wet
having confidence in his ability to hold his very strong position on the
hills south and west of the town. To quote Lord Roberts: "On this
demand being refused Paget moved to the north-west with the object of
turning the enemy's left, while Clements' troops operated on their right
flank. On the morning of the 7th a general assault was made, and by
noon the place was in our hands, and the Boers were in full retreat to the
north-east". After further fighting the neks entering into the
Brandwater basin were seized, and the Boers driven back beyond Fouriesburg,
where Prinsloo and over 4000 of his people surrendered to Sir Archibald
Hunter on 30th July 1900.
In all these operations the battalion took an honourable share.
Soon after this the 12th Brigade was broken up; General Clements with one
of his regiments was taken to the Megaliesberg. The Bedfords remained
in the Orange River Colony, and for a considerable time operated in the
north-east of the colony with General Hunter. Thereafter the battalion
was for a time in a column under Major General Bruce Hamilton which operated
from Kroonstad. The battalion did excellent service in the action near
Winburg on 27th August 1900, which resulted in the capture of Olivier and
his sons. On 31st August one wing entrained for Bloemfontein and was
sent to garrison posts on the line between the capital and Thabanchu.
Many attempts to cross the line were repulsed with loss to the enemy.
On 14th December a Boer force of about 3000 driven north by Knox attacked
the line, and after severe fighting got through, but minus a pompom, twelve
waggons, and much ammunition, captured by the men holding the line.
The mounted troops also captured a 15-pounder and 30 prisoners. The
headquarters and about half the battalion remained near Sannah's Post till
peace was declared. From August 1900 till the close about four
companies were generally on column duty. They acted under General
Macdonald, Colonel Henry, and Colonel Sitwell.
Eight officers and 12 non-commissioned officers and men were mentioned in
Lord Roberts' final despatch.
Throughout the campaign the Mounted Infantry of the regiment did
excellent work. For example, one section under Lieutenant Stevens was
at Colesberg, the relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Sannah's
Post, all Ian Hamilton's actions, Diamond Hill, and the surrender of
Prinsloo. In Lord Kitchener's despatches of 8th July 1901, and
subsequent dates, 4 officers and 6 non-commissioned officers and men were
mentioned for exceptional work. These belonged chiefly to the Mounted
Infantry. In his final despatch 2 officers and 4 men were mentioned.
Colonel Pilcher distinguished himself as a column leader on many
occasions, and earned the CB by very fine work.
