This corps was raised and took the field in the Queenstown-Dordrecht
district. Major Pollock in his volume frequently refers to them in
appreciative terms. On 28th November he visited their camp and saw
them at drill and musketry. "The progress already made quite
astonished me ... Poor De Montmorency was then adjutant, and judging
by the results, both he and his predecessor, Collins of the Berkshire, had a
great deal to be proud of. The shooting on the range was very good".
These facts are noted to show how quickly the volunteer and irregular troops
got into fighting trim. The regiment was very soon sent to hold
various posts, and when General Gatacre went out to attack Stormberg, on the
night of 9th December, 160 of Brabant's were intended to join the attacking
force from Penhoek, but it will be remembered the telegram was not
delivered. The detachment under De Montmorency did arrive at Molteno
on the afternoon of the 10th, and scouted back on the line of the British
retreat.
On 22nd and 23rd December De Montmorency and his men had skirmishes near
Dordrecht, in which they got the better of the enemy, who had the stronger
force. About this time Captain De Montmorency raised his body of
scouts, all picked men, who did some very fine work. On the 28th, with
some of his own scouts and some of Brabant's Horse, he was out near
Dordrecht, but little was to be seen of the enemy. On the 30th,
however, there was quite a stiff little fight, in which a party of the
Frontier Mounted Rifles was cut off and only rescued the following day (see
Cape Mounted Rifles). Captain Flanagan's company
of Brabant's was said to have done very well. The corps did an immense
amount of patrol work throughout January, and Captain Flanagan's company
were the first troops in the Queenstown district to gain touch with the Vlth
Division, then approaching the Stormberg country from Cape Town via Thebus.
Lord Roberts had in January announced the appointment of Brigadier
General Brabant as Commander of the Colonial Division, which included the
two regiments of this corps, and under that general they did excellent work
in the clearing of the north-east of Cape Colony. In the fighting
about Dordrecht, in the second half of February 1900, the corps took a very
prominent part and were several times very heavily engaged. In Lord
Roberts' telegram of 18th February he mentioned that Brabant "had attacked
Boer position on 16th. He gradually closed in on laager during the
day. Fighting lasted from 9 am till dusk. At midnight Captain
Flanagan, 1st Brabant's Horse, attacked and took laager at the point of the
bayonet, capturing the stores". Captain Crallen and Lieutenant
Chandler and 4 non-commissioned officers and men were killed, and 5
non-commissioned officers and men wounded. On 5th March there was
again severe fighting near Dordrecht, in which the Cape Mounted Rifles bore
the heaviest share of the losses. At Aliwal North, on the 11th,
Brabant's Horse had 3 killed and 6 wounded.
A second regiment having been raised in December, Lieutenant Colonel H M
Grenfell, 1st Life Guards, was appointed to command it, and when Colonel
Dalgety was besieged in Wepener (see Cape Mounted Rifles),
the first and a portion of the second regiment were with him, their strength
being respectively 345 and 459. One squadron of Brabant's Horse took
part in the relief of Wepener. During the siege Lieutenant Thurston
and 4 men were killed, and 5 officers— Surgeon Captain Perkins, Lieutenants
W E Holford, Turner, and Duncan, and Quartermaster Williams— and about 30
men were wounded.
In the advance northwards, and in the operations preparatory to the
surrounding of Prinsloo, the corps was very frequently engaged. In the
Hammonia district they had an immense amount of difficult scouting, and
several times, in the latter half of May and in June, they had encounters
with superior forces and rather heavy losses. On 29th June Lieutenant
J S Orr was severely wounded, and other casualties were suffered in an
action in which the enemy had to be driven across the Zand River. On
3rd July Lieutenant and Adjutant A F C Williams was shot through the lung.
On the 6th to 8th July at the capture of Bethlehem, on the 16th near Witnek,
and on the 23rd, 24th at Slabbert's Nek, Brabant's Horse were in the
forefront and gained distinction, but, as a matter of course, had to pay the
price. 'The Times' historian points out that it was some "adventurous
scouts" of Brabant's Horse who, by discovering on the night of the 23rd a
commanding summit to be unoccupied, enabled Clements to seize the ridge at
daybreak—the corps being entrusted with this task.
The 1st Regiment of the corps, now commanded by Major Henderson, 8th
Hussars, accompanied Dalgety to the Reitzburg district, and thence in August
across the Vaal in the pursuit of De Wet (see Cape Mounted
Rifles). In his despatch of 1st September 1900 Lord Roberts said
that "the enemy managed to derail another supply train south of Klip River
(Johannesburg district) early this morning. Two men were killed, 1
wounded, and 35 taken prisoners. The engine was blown up, and thirteen
trucks were burned. A party of Brabant's Horse on duty at Klip River
Bridge followed the enemy as soon as the report of the accident reached
them, drove them into the neighbouring hills, and recovered all the
prisoners".
The 2nd Regiment was ordered to the eastern Transvaal in August, to take
part under General Button in the movement from Belfast to the Portuguese
border, crossing some of the most difficult country in South Africa.
In November they were operating about Frederickstad in the Central Transvaal
with General Barton. They had skirmishing very frequently, and on 11th
December had 1 man killed and 3 wounded. A detachment of Brabant's
Horse remained in the Orange River Colony in August. On the 27th of
that month Sergeant Major Rutters of the 2nd Regiment was killed, and
Corporal Abernethy was wounded at Winburg. During the last quarter of
1900 a portion of the corps was with Bruce Hamilton in the Orange River
Colony. In the despatch of 8th March 1901, dealing with the events for
the preceding four months, Lord Kitchener said that when, in November, it
became apparent that De Wet was to attempt to invade Cape Colony, he (Lord
Kitchener) railed certain forces from the Transvaal to the south of the
Orange River Colony; these included the 2nd Regiment of Brabant's Horse.
In his telegraphic despatch of 15th December 1900 Lord Kitchener said,
"During the recent operations in the Zastron district, a party of Brabant's
Horse became detached, and being surrounded in a defile had to surrender".
The casualty list showed 3 men killed, 11 wounded, and 106 missing.
The mishap was unfortunate, coming after so much good sound work; but at
that time numerous small columns and patrols were then pursuing the enemy,
who was in great strength in the south-east of the Orange River Colony,
while to keep touch with him forces had to be greatly scattered, and there
was always a chance of any little detachment being cut off. About 18th
to 24th December the 2nd Brabant's had much fighting about Steynsburg, Cape
Colony—the object being to prevent the Boers working south. On 28th
December the 2nd Regiment had Captain Cholmondley and 5 men wounded.
When it was seen that Kritzinger and Smuts, about 16th December, had
effected an entrance into Cape Colony with about 2000 men, more troops were
railed from the Transvaal to Naauwpoort, and in this second batch were the
1st Brabant's Horse.
In February 1901 a portion of Brabant's Horse was operating in the
south-west of Cape Colony, and Lieutenant J M Grant gained mention near
Lambert's Bay on 1st March. Near Jansenville on 20th March 2 men were
killed and 6 wounded in an action when Colonel Scobell and Colonel
Colenbrander inflicted a severe defeat on Scheepers and Malan. About
this time there was fighting daily, and casualties came often. The
despatch of 8th July 1901 shows that two squadrons of Brabant's Horse were
in May and June, along with a squadron of the 9th Lancers and three
companies of Imperial Yeomanry, operating in the Cradock and Richmond
districts, chiefly against Malan's commando. On 28th June the 1st
corps were heavily engaged near Richmond, and had 2 officers, Captain M
Bowker and Lieutenant J R Thompson, and 6 men wounded. On 18th July
Captain W J S Rundle and several men were wounded. During the
remainder of the war Brabant's Horse were employed in Cape Colony,
traversing almost every part of it. On 5th February 1902 they were in
the sharp fight at Uitspanfontein near Beaufort West, when they had about
half a dozen casualties. During the last year the work was harder than
ever, and there was seldom the satisfaction of a fight, except when the
enemy was confident that he had a successful trap laid.
The Mentions gained by the corps were as follows:—
In his despatch of 2nd April 1901 Lord Roberts referred to Brigadier
General Brabant, and said, "Has been in chief command of the Colonial troops
from the Cape Colony, which, amongst other distinguished actions, furnished
the contingent which, under Lieutenant Colonel Dalgety, so gallantly
defended Wepener. Colonel Brabant is a fine leader of men; he
represents the true Imperial feeling in the Cape; and, aided by his
fellow-colonists, has furnished an object-lesson in loyalty and devotion to
the Crown".
In Colonel Dalgety's Report as to Wepener, 29th April 1900, "Lieutenant
Colonel Grenfell, commanding 2nd Brabant's Horse, my second-in-command,
rendered most valuable assistance. Private Anderson, assisted in
bringing in wounded comrades under heavy fire".
LORD ROBERTS’ DESPATCH: 2nd April 1901—Lieutenant Colonel H M Grenfell
(1st Life Guards), Captains H R Cholmondley, J S G Douglas, Honourable L
Ogilvie, Surgeon Captain R C Perkins, Lieutenants E S Stephenson (appointed
to Gloucestershire Regiment), A F C Williams (Adjutant), Sergeant Campbell,
Corporal Dutton, Trooper P E J Kornell.
LORD KITCHENER'S DESPATCH: 8th May 1901.—Lieutenant J M Grant, for
coolness and skill handling men in action near Lambert's Bay.
