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New recruits to
Kitchener's Horse |
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In the despatch of 6th February 1900 Lord Roberts, after referring to the
organisation of the Colonial Division under Brigadier General Brabant (see
Cape Mounted Rifles), said: "Two other regiments, designated, at the
particular request of the members, Roberts'
Horse and Kitchener's Horse, have also been formed, chiefly from men who
have found their way to South Africa from various parts of the world". These
corps were at first intended to be called 'The second and third regiments of
the South African Light Horse', but the names were changed as a compliment
to the new Commander-in-Chief and his chief of the staff.
Both Kitchener's Horse and Roberts' Horse were employed in the operations undertaken by Lord Roberts in
February 1900 for the relief of Kimberley and in his advance to
Bloemfontein; but one squadron of Kitchener's Horse was left on the lines of
communication, and was utilised as part of the force with which Lord
Kitchener and General Settle put down the rebellion in the Prieska district,
March and April (see Orpen's Horse).
On 9th February the Mounted Infantry Division, under Colonel Hannay,
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, left Orange River station. After
some fighting, the Division on the 12th reached Ramdam, where Lord Roberts
was concentrating his army; but the bulk of Kitchener's Horse had preceded
the rest of the Mounted Infantry, and had joined General French before
midnight on the 11th. At 2 AM on the 12th they set out with French for
Dekiel's Drift, on the Riet. On the 13th, General French, who had
crossed the Riet River on the 12th, left a squadron of Kitchener's Horse at
Blaauwbosch Pan, about eight miles north-east of Dekiel's Drift, on the Riet,
in order to protect the wells until the infantry, who were following, should
arrive. Unfortunately the infantry took a different course, and
instead of them a large force of Boers turned up, who attacked the squadron
and compelled their surrender after they had made a very creditable defence
in a farmhouse for two days. Lieutenants Carstens and Buchanan were
killed in action about this time. Another squadron was part of the
slender escort of the convoy which was lost on the Riet on the 13th.
The convoy is said to have been seven miles long, and the escort, left to
see it over a most difficult drift with Boers all round, was 300 strong.
The escort was not captured. Notwithstanding this bad luck, the corps
did excellent work before Bloemfontein was reached. About one half of
the regiment was with Colonel Hannay when Cronje was discovered to be
trekking across the front of the Vlth Division on 15th February, and they
took part in the pursuit and the other operations which led to his capture.
On 7th March they were engaged at Poplar-Grove. Five officers and five
non-commissioned officers and men gained mention in the despatch of 31st
March for good work on the way to Bloemfontein. According to the
official statement, the strength of the corps when it entered Bloemfontein
on 13th March was 26 officers, 402 men, 270 horses, and 2 maxims.
About the beginning of March Kitchener's Horse had been, along with the
6th and 8th Regiments of Regular Mounted Infantry, the City Imperial
Volunteers Mounted Infantry, Nesbitt's Horse, and the New South Wales
Mounted Infantry, put into the 2nd Brigade of Mounted Infantry under Colonel
P W J Le Gallais, 8th Hussars,—a splendid officer, who led his brigade to
victory on many occasions, but who afterwards fell at Bothaville, 6th
November 1900, in the moment of success. The regiment fought with Le
Gallais and General Tucker at the battle of Karee Siding on 29th March 1900,
and they were attached to Ian Hamilton's force, which, towards the end of
April, set out first to clear Thabanchu and thereafter take part in the
northern advance, during which the regiment, along with the 2nd Mounted
Infantry Regulars and Lovat's Scouts, was in the 6th corps under Colonel
Legge, who was afterwards killed at Nooitgedacht.
Mr Churchill, in his 'Ian Hamilton's March' relates that on 26th April
Kitchener's Horse and a company of regular mounted infantry were told to
hold a kopje near Thabanchu for the night, but about dusk they were ordered
to retire. This the Boers endeavoured to prevent, attacking the force
with great determination: however, the attack was driven off, and the little
body got into camp during the night. Captain F J Warren was severely
wounded, 1 man killed, and several wounded. On the 30th, at the battle
of Houtnek, the regiment, with great boldness and skill, seized Thoba
Mountain, and it was during the enemy's attempt to regain this commanding
position that a party of about 12 Gordon Highlanders and 13 of Kitchener's
Horse under Captain Towse of the Gordons made the famous stand and bayonet
charge. The incident is admirably described in 'Ian Hamilton's March'
by Mr Churchill, who was a spectator. Captain Towse, blinded by a bullet in the hour of triumph, got the VC.
Lieutenants Parker and Munro and 5 men of Kitchener's Horse were killed, and
Captains Ritchie and Cheyne and 8 men were wounded at Houtnek. In his
telegram of 2nd May Lord Roberts remarked: "Kitchener's Horse is spoken of
in terms of praise". On 4th May Ian Hamilton was again engaged, "and
succeeded in preventing a junction of two Boer forces by a well-executed
movement of some of the Household Cavalry, 12th Lancers, and Kitchener's
Horse, who charged a body of the enemy and inflicted serious loss.
They fled leaving their dead on the field, and their wounded to be attended
by our doctors" (see Lord Roberts' telegram of 2nd May). In this
affair Lieutenant Patrick Cameron was mortally wounded. The 'Standard'
correspondent drew attention to the good work of the regiment at the
crossing of the Zand River on 10th May.
The regiment was present at Ian Hamilton's other actions on the way to
Pretoria and at Diamond Hill (11th and 12th June). They started as a
portion of Hunter's force designed to surround Prinsloo, but like Roberts'
Horse were detached to pursue De Wet. On 24th July the regiment lost 9
men wounded at Stinkhoutboom. but about the same date they captured 5
of De Wet's waggons. When De Wet left the Reitzburg Hills Kitchener's
Horse again crossed to the north of the Vaal and operated under Ridley,
Hart, Clements, and other commanders in the district west of Johannesburg
and Pretoria. In the despatch of 10th October 1900 Lord Roberts
mentioned that "De Lisle's corps of mounted infantry was withdrawn from
Clements' column and moved by rail on 17th September to Rhenoster, where it
was joined by 250 men of Kitchener's Horse from Kroonstad". The work
of De Lisle's men is briefly sketched under the 1st and 2nd New South Wales
Mounted Infantry. This portion of Kitchener's Horse took part in the
pursuit of De Wet on the south side of the Vaal and other operations under
General C Knox in the Kroonstad district during September, October, and
November, and were present on 27th October when 2 guns were captured at
Rensburg, and in the very successful action of Bothaville on 6th November
when 6 guns, a pom-pom, a maxim, and 130 prisoners were taken.
Another portion of the corps was employed in the Eastern Transvaal, and
frequently had odd casualties about Brugspruit in September and the first
half of October. They took part in French's march from the Delagoa
Railway to Heidelberg in October 1900,—a march which only a great leader
could have brought off successfully, having regard to the strength of the
enemy in the district at the time. The fighting was continuous and the
strain on all most severe. In Lieutenant Colonel Watkin-Yardley's
'With the Inniskilling Dragoons', page 217, speaking of the arrival of the
force at Heidelberg, he says: "Lieutenant Elphick, with his troop of
Kitchener's Horse, which had requested to be attached to the Inniskillings
at Machadodorp, and fought gallantly with us throughout the march, also left
the column". On this march the troop lost Sergeant Hunter killed, 2
wounded, and 2 missing.
A detachment which had remained in the Gatsrand and Krugersdorp district
on the north side of the Vaal operated throughout September with Clements
and Ridley, and had sharp fighting under General Hart on 23rd and 24th
November 1900, when they lost 2 men killed.
This portion of the regiment was with General Clements when he was
attacked and met with disaster at Nooitgedacht in the Megaliesberg on 13th
December 1900. It will be remembered that a high hill commanding the
camp, and which was garrisoned by 4 companies of the 2nd Battalion
Northumberland Fusiliers, was assaulted by the enemy in great force and was
captured. Kitchener's Horse and the 2nd Battalion Mounted Infantry
were on the west or left front of the camp; the enemy attacked upon this
side in the most determined manner, and although some pickets were captured
or wiped out entirely, the attack on the west was driven off, the enemy
losing very heavily in his endeavour to push into the camp from that
direction. When, however, it was seen that the high hill commanding
the camp had been captured by the enemy, the General decided to retire.
With difficulty General Clements got away his guns and most of his
ammunition, but the camp was left standing and some stores were lost.
The losses of Kitchener's Horse were severe: Lieutenant Skene and 8 men were
killed, and Captain Stevenson and about 12 men wounded and about 40 taken
prisoners. Some of the latter were wounded. Several mentions
were gained by the corps on this occasion, and those who were present
praised very highly the conduct of Kitchener's Horse and their old comrades
the 2nd Battalion Regular Mounted Infantry, also the 2nd Battalion King's
Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
The regiment, sadly reduced in numbers, operated in the second phase of
the war chiefly in the Western Transvaal, and had a few casualties on
various occasions. A reference in the despatch of 8th May 1901 to a
very valuable bit of work by men of Roberts' Horse and Kitchener's Horse has
already been quoted under the former corps. Both regiments were for a
time in a column under Colonel Hickie (despatch of 8th July 1901), and
continued to do good work in the Transvaal. On 8th and 9th July both
Roberts' and Kitchener's Horse were sharply engaged and suffered casualties.
They were, during the next few months, constantly in touch with the enemy,
and often suffered losses, as on 4th November 1901, when Kitchener's Horse
had 5 men wounded at Vaalbank.
The Mentions gained by the corps were as follows:—
LORD ROBERTS' DESPATCH: 31st March 1900.—Major N Legge, DSO (20th
Hussars); Captain W N Congreve, VC (Rifle Brigade),
H J Macandrew (5th Bengal Lancers);
Captain and Adjutant G H M Richey;
Lieutenant J E Jackson; Squadron
Quartermaster Sergeant D P Bree; Troopers T Maldrett, T Huckle, A Miller, A
Lewis.
FINAL DESPATCHES. — Major F J Warren; Captains G H M Richey, W Vaughan;
Lieutenants Clayton, J E Jackson, Skene; Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant
Bree; Sergeants Drannette, Brunette, Coopers, G Dawes, W White, W
O'Shaughnessy, G Hoitzel; Corporal G Hill; Troopers O S Purchase, Suckle.
LORD KITCHENER'S DESPATCHES: 8th March 1901.—Lieutenants L A Myburg and G
Dobree; Corporal G Pitt; Troopers H Anderson, C Brown.
8th July 1901.— Private G Davidson, promoted Corporal; as a scout he has
shown exceptional skill and nerve. With Private Wilson, Victorian
Rifles, and alone, voluntarily took most important messages through Boer
lines.
8th December 1901.—Lieutenants M Chinnery and J Monro, gallant leading under
heavy fire and capturing prisoners. Troopers G H Brown and G Swift,
for gallantly sticking to retreating enemy, Barnard's Kop, 14th October
1901.
