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Officers of the
1st Battalion |
NCOs |
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The 1st Battalion sailed on the Catalonia on 5th November 1899, arrived
at the Cape about the 30th, and was sent to Durban. Along with the 1st
Border Regiment, 1st Connaught Rangers, and 1st Dublin Fusiliers, they
formed the 5th Brigade under Major General Fitzroy Hart. It was
originally intended that the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles should be in the
brigade, making it completely Irish, but that battalion, alone out of the
division, landed in Cape Colony with the divisional commander, Sir W F
Gatacre, and the Border Regiment took their place in the brigade.
The 5th Brigade were on the extreme left of General Buller's force at
Colenso, 15th December 1899. It was intended that they should cross
the Tugela at a place called Bridle Drift, but that drift was never found—
possibly the river was dammed back, as General Buller suggested. A
short account of the action, as well as of the work of the Natal Army
generally, is given under the Royal West Surrey. It is
possible that, as has been said by some writers, the Irish Brigade were kept
too long in close order; certainly they suffered severely before getting
extended, and also while advancing at a point where the river forms a loop
to the north or Boer side, where they came under an awful fire from either
flank as well as from
the front. It has been said that some men actually forced their way
across the river and could not get back, but this is uncertain. The
brigade was extricated from its difficult position, every one behaving most
nobly. The entanglement with the guns near the right flank put an end
to all thoughts of attempting a crossing elsewhere, and the army retired to
Chieveley. The battalion lost approximately 1 officer and 17 men
killed, and 10 officers and 76 men wounded. Altogether the brigade
lost over 500 officers and men killed, wounded, and missing.
At Venter's Spruit the brigade was very heavily engaged on the 20th January.
Several of the Boer positions were gallantly carried; but beyond those was a
plateau, on the farther side of which was still another ridge scored with
trenches and sangars. Farther than the outer edge of the plateau our
men could not advance. Two Lancashire regiments who were with Hart
that day and the Dublin Fusiliers and Border Regiment lost heavily.
The Inniskilling Fusiliers were not so closely engaged, and their casualties
were trifling. The troops in the centre and on the left hung on to the
positions gained until Spion Kop had been taken and evacuated, but they were
never able to make any substantial step forward.
The Irish Brigade were not engaged in the attack on Vaal Krantz, and they
were chiefly occupied as garrison of the rail-head during the first few of
the fourteen days' fighting, which culminated in the defeat of the Boers and
the relief of Ladysmith. On 20th February—that is, after Monte Cristo
and Hlangwane had been captured—General Hart's brigade moved down to
Colenso, occupying the village and ground about it. On the 22nd they
went nearer the front, where Wynne's brigade were to get some hard knocks
that day. On the afternoon of the 23rd a high steep hill, strongly
fortified and held, on the eastern side of the Langerwachte, was attacked by General Hart. The attack has
already been shortly described under the 2nd Queen's.
The Inniskilling Fusiliers were the front line, supported by the Connaught
Bangers and part of the Dublins, and later by the Imperial Light Infantry,
who had taken the place of the Border Regiment in the brigade; but soon the
lines were to be all mixed—nay, some were to be obliterated altogether.
The first tier of the defensive works was carried in the face of an awful
fire from the front and flanks. An attempt, unsurpassable in its
devoted gallantry, was made to press in with the bayonet to the next line of
trenches on the crest, but this failed. The attackers were mown down
like grass, and as darkness set in those left had to retire to a position
near the hill-foot. It was impossible to bring in all the dead and
wounded, and throughout the next day wretched men had to lie in the open
writhing with pain and thirst, and mercilessly fired on if they made an
attempt to wriggle down the hill. To these the armistice of the 25th
came as a godsend. Some of the positions taken were held, and were to
be of use on the 27th. The losses in the attack were appalling.
The Inniskilling Fusiliers lost the gallant Colonel Thackeray, Major
Sanders, and Lieutenant Stuart killed, 8 officers wounded, and about 54 men
killed and 165 wounded. The Dublins, Connaughts, and Imperial Light
Infantry had over 330 casualties. Altogether the brigade's losses were
even heavier than at Colenso on 15th December.
'Linesman's' description of what he saw of the
fighting and of the strangely contrasted scenes on that most blessed of
Sundays is pretty well burnt into the minds of most of us.
The story of the assault on the 27th, when the whole Boer position—not a
feature of it only—was successfully attacked, is told under the
2nd Queen's.
Five officers were mentioned in General Buller's despatch of 30th March
1900, and 5 non-commissioned officers and men were recommended for the
distinguished conduct medal. No doubt more men would have been
mentioned, had the awful casualty list not made that wellnigh impossible.
Ladysmith being relieved, the battalion got some time to recuperate and
gather strength from the drafts it so badly needed. When General
Buller moved north from the Natal-Pretoria Railway towards Belfast on the
Delagoa line, he took with him the Ladysmith garrison and the Inniskilling
Fusiliers, who replaced the 2nd King's Royal Rifles, sent to Ceylon.
At Bergendal, 27th August 1900 (see 2nd Rifle Brigade), the Inniskilling
Fusiliers and Rifle Brigade were in the front line, and although the latter
regiment had the heaviest of the work, the Fusiliers did well and gained
praise from those who saw their advance.
Four officers and 7 non-commissioned officers and men were mentioned in
General Buller's despatch of 13th September 1900.
The battalion advanced with General Buller to Lydenburg, fighting there,
and after the general had left for home they were long employed in the
Eastern Transvaal. Their big days were over, but there was a lot of
tidying up to do, and the Inniskillings always did well. In his
despatch of 9th November 1900 General Buller, after referring to the
battalion's very severe losses, Gives praise to Colonel Payne, DSO, and remarks, "There can, I think, be but
few instances in history in which a battalion after such heavy losses has
returned a perfect machine into the fighting line within so short a time".
Ten officers and 16 non-commissioned officers and men were mentioned in Lord
Roberts' final despatch.
In December 1900 the battalion was put into a column under General Alderson
to relieve and assist General Clements after his defeat at Nooitgedacht (see
2nd Northumberland Fusiliers).
In 1901 portions of the battalion did a lot of hard marching in columns
under Colonel Allenby and other commanders, and in the autumn of that year
the battalion did garrison duty in the central district of the Transvaal.
In 1902 the battalion assisted in the great driving operations undertaken to
clear the north-east of the Orange River Colony.
In Lord Kitchener's final despatch 6 officers and 5 non-commissioned
officers and men of the regiment were mentioned.
The 2nd Battalion arrived in South Africa from India at the close of 1901.
They were sent to operate in the Pietersburg district under Colonel
Colenbrander, and did good service there. In his telegram of 13th
April 1902 Lord Kitchener said: "Beyers' laager having been located at
Palkop, the force under Colonel Colenbrander moved by different routes from
Pietersburg so as to block all the principal outlets. The march was
successful, and at 3 pm on the 8th a half-battalion of the Royal
Inniskilling Fusiliers, led by Colonel
Murray, attacked the entrance to Molipspoort, covering the enemy's position.
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers advancing magnificently in the face of
opposition, and making skilful use of cover, by dusk had seized a hill to
the east of Poort".
In the fighting on the 8th and 9th 1 officer was killed, 3 officers and 5
men wounded. Two officers gained mention in despatches for good work
on this occasion.
