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Clarence William Evans

Trooper, Kitchener’s Horse
Sergeant, Rand Rifles – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein and Transvaal to 3079 Tpr. C.W. Evans, Kitchener’s Horse

Clarence Williams was born on Rietfontein, a farm in the Graaf Reinett district of the Eastern Cape on 29 May 1864 the son of John Brown Evans and his wife Anne Caroline Evans. Mr Evans senior was a Farmer by profession in an area of the country known for its arid landscape – he would appear to have made his mark though as he is credited with being the man who introduced the Angora goat into South Africa. Despite this it was a hard life with many merely eking out a living. Evans was only baptised on 22 October 1878 – 14 years after he first saw the light of day.

Evans must have come to the conclusion that there was more to life than farming - he decided to improve his lot and was admitted, according to the Cape Civil List of 1910, as an Land Surveyor with effect from 1 November 1894. He was 30 years old at the time.

As is almost always the case with colonials living in Victorian times his early life is largely undocumented and so it is that we pick up his story in October 1899 – the onset of the Anglo Boer War. The Boer War was a conflict which jolted Imperial England out of her complacency – almost all of the wars leading up to it had been little more than skirmishes against a largely inferior foe – one equipped with no modern weapons and, even if these were available, without the savvy to use them effectively. The two Dutch Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were a different kettle of fish – here we had to do with a force of hardy farmers, for the most part, who were of European descent and, thanks to the foresight of their leaders, armed with modern Mauser rifles and smokeless ammunition. The fact that they were crack shots and excellent horsemen added to the British woes.

Long simmering tensions between Boer and Brit boiled over into open war on 11 October 1899 and the call went out to Colonials to join the fray by joining one of the many irregular outfits being raised to assist. Kitchener’s Horse was one such example and it was to this regiment that Evans turned on 1 February 1900 – the attestation forms he completed confirming that he was a 35 year old Land Surveyor. Assigned no. 3079 and the rank of Trooper, Evans joined “B” Squadron of Kitchener’s Horse.

They were employed in the operations undertaken by Lord Roberts in February 1900 for the relief of Kimberley and in his advance to Bloemfontein. On 9th February the Mounted Infantry Division, under Colonel Hannay, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, left Orange River station. After some fighting, the Division reached Ramadam on the 12th, 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 a.m. on the 12th they set out with French for Dekiel's Drift, on the Riet. The next day 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.

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.

At Paardeberg Kitchener proceeded to order his infantry and mounted troops into a series of uncoordinated frontal assaults against the Boer laager. This was despite the fact that the cost of frontal assaults against entrenched Boers had been demonstrated time and again the preceding months. It was no different this time. The British were shot down in droves. It is thought that not a single British soldier got within 200 yards of the Boer lines. By nightfall on 18 February, some 24 officers and 279 men were killed and 59 officers and 847 men wounded. Judged by British casualties it was the most severe reverse of the war and became known as Bloody Sunday.

Kelly-Kenny had warned Kitchener not to leave "Kitchener's Kopje" undefended. Possession of the kopje was essential to guard the south-east of the British position and prevent Cronjé's escape. But Kitchener, in his zeal for an all-out attack, had left the kopje defended by only a handful of "Kitchener's Horse" of which Evans was one. De Wet was therefore able to take the kopje with little resistance. The strategic picture had now changed dramatically. De Wet could now make the British position on the south east bank of the Modder untenable, and the Boers now commanded a swathe of front stretching from the north east right through to the south east. As darkness fell, Kitchener ordered his troops to dig in where they were. Few received these orders and fewer still obeyed them. Desperately thirsty and exhausted, the surviving British trickled back into camp. It was only after Cronje had been trapped and unable to move his forces that he surrendered on 27 February with 4000 men.

On 7th March Kitchener’s Horse 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. 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.

Winston 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 tried to prevent, attacking the force with great determination: however, the attack was driven off, and the little body got into camp during the night.

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. 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" 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 1900). 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.

As can be surmised Evans saw plenty of action but, with the fight having moved on to parts north he elected to take his discharge at Cape Town on 28 November 1900. His Record of Service recorded that he was Medically Unfit and that he had served for 290 days with the regiment. The address he provided was 62 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town leading one to the conclusion that he had moved to that city to pursue his profession. His war was, however, not yet over, according to the nominal rolls he then enlisted for service with “F” Company of the Rand Rifles with no. 29581 and the rank of Sergeant. This corps was raised towards the end of 1900, and was generally employed on the defences of Johannesburg and of posts in the surrounding district. They saw some skirmishing and some sharp attacks on posts, but they were not in any big engagement, and had few opportunities of gaining distinction. Evans took his discharge from their ranks on 5 June 1901.

Clarence William Evans returned to the farming way of life in the Cradock area of the Eastern Cape where, on his farm “Riet River”, he passed away at the age of 66 years on 24 May 1929. The cause of death was septicemia and a duodenal ulcer. He had never married and had thus no children to leave his estate to.

Thank You Rory........

Another nice story, Rory. Thanks for posting it.

'B' Squadron KH was made up mainly from men seconded from the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles, so he was in experienced company.

The trusty Civil Service List 1910 shows that Evans was registered as a land surveyor on 1 November 1894.

Thanks Arthur and Mike

Arthur could you e-mail me the full details of Evans's civil service please?

Regards

Rory

Rory, he wasn't a civil servant. The CSL just includes a list of registered land surveyors. .