This corps was raised in June 1900 by Major F Von Steinaecker to operate
in Zululand and on the Swaziland border of the Transvaal. Their leader
had served as a lieutenant in the Prussian Army, but had subsequently been,
for nearly twenty years, in South and South-West Africa. Before
raising his 'Horse' he had done one of the most daring exploits performed in
the course of the war.
In November 1899 Steinaecker had enlisted as a private in the Colonial
Scouts, a Natal-raised corps. He was soon promoted Squadron
Quartermaster Sergeant, but in December he left the Scouts to command a
small party serving under the Intelligence Department. The Colonial
Scouts were disbanded in March 1900, and in that month Steinaecker, now a
lieutenant, selected six men, of whom Scouts Duncan, Lawson, Gray, and
Carmichael served with him for many months, Lawson finishing as a captain,
and being present at the disbandment of the corps in February 1903.
With this small party Steinaecker left Eshowe on 3rd April 1900, and rode or
walked through Zululand and Swaziland, a distance of 500 miles. Their
horses having died of horse-sickness, the party were on foot when the
Transvaal border was reached. On their journey they had picked up a
British settler, Holgate, afterwards a captain in this corps. He knew
the country thoroughly, and as a guide in the last stages was invaluable.
The party intended to attempt the blowing up of the great bridge at Komati
Poort, but found it too strongly guarded. Steinaecker and three men
now struck through the bush, swam the Komati river "when the crocodiles were
off their feed", travelled all the night of 16th June, and on the 17th,
after dark, placed nearly 100Ib of dynamite between the masonry and girders
of a bridge at Malelane, forty miles up the line, and destroyed it.
The fact that the Boers afterwards restored the bridge does not detract from
the credit due to Steinaecker and his gallant men for their splendid piece
of daring, which, strangely enough, was never recognised in despatches.
Having returned to Natal, Lieutenant Steinaecker now recruited for his
'Horse'; and after having them equipped, he and his corps embarked on a
warship and were landed through the surf at Kosi Bay, in the north corner of
Zululand, not, however, without the loss of a boatload of arms and saddlery,
the boat upsetting on the dangerous bar. Steinaecker's force now made
their way to the Transvaal border, south of the Delagoa Railway. On
20th July 1900 he and a party of his men were successful in capturing
Commandant Van Dam and another leader.
When the armies of Lord Roberts and General Buller reached the eastern
confines of the Transvaal, Steinaecker's Horse, now recruited up to 450 men,
moved farther out into the very wild and unhealthy country which lies west
of the Portuguese border. From Komati as a centre they gradually
extended their raids to the north and south for great distances, thereby
denying to the enemy the use of the eastern lowlands for rest and
recuperation. They also guarded closely the long eastern border
against Boer despatch riders and ammunition runners. In time the corps
completely occupied and pacified the whole low veldt to the Olifant's river,
holding over a dozen permanent posts scattered over a large province.
The corps had now become one of the most complete and self-contained units
in the country. They had their own intelligence, transport, workshops,
etc and were able for over a year to work the Selati railway with their own
men.
In their eminently unhealthy district, Steinaecker's men had much most
arduous and very dangerous guerilla campaigning; but being a corps specially
recruited for such tasks, and having an admirable leader, they escaped
serious casualties for a long time.
In Lord Roberts' telegram of 14th November 1900 he said: "On the 8th
inst, a party of Steinaecker's Horse, raised for service in the Komati Poort
district, captured 16 Boers trying to cross from Portuguese territory at
Nomahash, a place by which the Boers have been trying to get ammunition
brought into the Transvaal". A day or two later 5 more were taken.
At this time there were several encounters with despatch riders, which
almost uniformly ended in favour of the patrols of the corps.
In July 1901 the corps met their first piece of bad luck. On the 22nd
a party of about 100, many of whom were without horses, returned from a
successful foray, bringing in some prisoners, stock, and a party of
surrendered Burghers to Bremersdorp in Swaziland, a post which had been held
by the corps for six months. They were followed by a force of Boers
under Generals Oppermann, Smuts, and Grobelaar which many times outnumbered
them. The detachment evacuated the town, hoping to get clear away; but
on the 23rd they were caught up by the enemy, and after a running fight, in
which they lost 4 killed and a greater number wounded and captured, were
forced to abandon their baggage. Captain Greenhill-Gardyne was said to
have conducted the retirement most ably. A party of the Yorkshire
Regiment (Green Howards) made a very fine march from Komati Poort to assist,
but did not arrive in time.
Shortly after this Major Steinaecker surprised a laager and took 18
prisoners, and from this time onwards the corps had on many occasions severe
fighting in localities where help was very far distant. On 7th August
1901 a post of 25 men on the Sabie river was attacked by a strong force of
Boers. The post had been newly established, and the fortifications
were not complete. The enemy, who numbered about 300, attacked
vigorously and lost heavily. Commandant or General Moll was wounded in
the attack, and was afterwards captured by a patrol of the corps. The
defenders had Captain H Farmer Francis killed, several wounded, and the
remainder captured. Captain Francis had served with the Imperial Light
Horse throughout the siege of Ladysmith, and thereafter in the relief of
Mafeking. His brother, also in the ILH, was killed outside Mafeking.
At the end of August Captain Gardyne, in command of a small party,
captured 11 Boers, some waggons, and much stock, 150 miles north of Komati
Poort.
In February 1902 Captain Holgate, the scout of the bridge destruction
party, with 16 men, surprised and captured 18 of the enemy on the Swaziland
border.
Early in 1902 an extra squadron of Steinaecker's Horse was raised for
service in the Pietersburg low veldt, in which district they did a lot of
fighting under Colonel Colenbrander (see Kitchener's
Fighting Scouts). On 16th April this squadron were heavily
engaged, and lost 5 men killed and Lieutenant Robertson and 11 men wounded.
Lieutenant and Paymaster J Hartley, who had been attached to Lord
Methuen's column in the Western Transvaal, was killed in the disaster to
that General's column on 7th March 1902 (see Cape
Police).
After the conclusion of the war Steinaecker's Horse, in somewhat reduced
strength, remained in occupation of the eastern border until February 1903,
when the South African Constabulary took over a number of the officers and
men, and the others were disbanded.
In 'Temple Bar' for July and August 1901 there are two admirably written
articles, headed "A Byeway of the Boer War", by Captain Greenhill-Gardyne
who was long attached to Steinaecker's, which give an excellent picture of
the hard but most exciting—and to any lover of adventures most interesting —
life led by Steinaecker's Horse. Their district was one in which few
white men could live, as is proved by the fact that every regular regiment
which had the misfortune to be stationed near Komati Poort lost more than 50
per cent of its strength through fever. The regulars were generally
accommodated in tents or huts, but Steinaecker's men had often to lie out
for weeks at a time in districts so wild that lions were a most real
danger,—as in the Sabie river valley,—and more than one poor fellow was
seized and carried off almost from the camp fire, while one was taken by
crocodiles. Many of the corps did not see the railway for months on
end, while some of the wounded had actually to be carried over 150 miles
before reaching any sort of hospital.
The Mentions gained by Steinaecker's Horse were as follows:—
LORD KITCHENER'S DESPATCHES: 8th August 1901.—Lieutenant
J A Baillie, on July 4th, having heard that two despatch riders had
crossed the Portuguese Border into Swaziland, followed them with one man by
moonlight, and after a hand-to-hand fight killed them both and took
despatches. Lance Corporal W S Hains (Harris in Gazette), who
accompanied Lieutenant Baillie, was also mentioned, and was promoted
Sergeant by the Commander-in-Chief.
8th March 1902.—Troopers D E Wilson and F Hennessy, for most plucky rescue
of the body of a comrade which had been carried off by a crocodile whilst
bathing in Usutu River, 30th November.
8th April 1902.—Major F V Steinaecker.
1st June 1902.—Lieutenant W P Robertson for good service east of Pietersburg,
25th March to 21st April 1902. Trooper W W Griffin, killed whilst
trying to take a wounded comrade to cover.
23rd June 1902.—Captain H F Francis (killed in action); Lieutenants J M
Dallamore, D Buchanan. Captain A Greenhill-Gardyne, Gordon
Highlanders, Adjutant attached (got Brevet-Major).
Major von Steinaecker commenced the war as a private. His steps are
worth noting—Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major,
DSO, Honourable Lieutenant Colonel in army.
