TOPIC:

A sad end to a man - Pullen of the Alexandria TG & Nesbitt's Horse 7 years 8 months ago #56816

Rory
Topic Author
Offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3553
Thank you received: 2433

Joseph Longman Pullen

Private, Alexandria Town Guard
Trooper, Nesbitt’s Horse – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony & South Africa 1901 to 1516 Tpr. J.L. Pullen, Nesbitt’s Horse

Joe Pullen was born in the small Eastern Cape hamlet of Alexandria, today a farming community heavily involved in the chicory industry. Born in 1885 he was baptised later that year on 2 August and was the son of Edward Charles Pullen and his wife, Hester Susannah Josephine Pullen.

The Anglo Boer War between Great Britain and the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal broke out on 11 October 1899 when Pullen was a mere slip of a lad at the age of 14. Initially the conflict had little to no impact on the eastern Cape region where Pullen and his family lived but, as the war wore on and phase two, the guerrilla phase, commenced Boer Commandos began to infiltrate further south in search of sympathetic Cape Dutch burgers to join their cause and to find supplies and food for their horses and men.

This led to the creation of Town Guards – a motley assortment of men from the small outlying towns whose sole purpose was to prevent, where possible, the small and highly mobile Boer raiding parties from entering their town’s intent on pillage and plunder. One such example was that of the town of Alexandria, about an hours drive from Port Elizabeth. It was to this band of men that a 15 year old Pullen applied himself, along with his brother Ignatius. Pullen, a wagon builder by trade, was assigned no. 8 and the rank of Private and conscientiously set about his duties guarding the town.

Like all Town Guards the duties weren’t always very onerous but there was always the possibility of a surprise attack. A story is told of Walter Weeks, the commanding officer of the Alexandria Town Guard, which goes something like this: Intelligence has been received that Jan Smuts, later to be the Prime Minister of South Africa, was travelling on horseback from the north, rounding up willing Afrikaners to join his commando. It was ‘Nagmaal’ in the village of Paterson. (Nagmaal was the Dutch Reformed Church’s monthly communion service. Surrounding Afrikaans farmers would come to town for a few days to catch up on news, trade and buy their monthly supplies.) Captain Walter Weeks waited for all the Afrikaners to enter the church before he and his men rushed from their hiding places and bolted the doors shut. They kept them there for 3 days until Jan Smuts’s Commando was no longer a threat and thereby, thwarted another confrontation.

Another account also referred to General Jan Christiaan Smuts attempted invasion of the Cape Colony during the latter months 1901.

“After a long and arduous trek through the Free State and North-Eastern Cape Colony, Smuts came to within sight of Port Elizabeth. On 2 October 1901 a skirmish took place with members of the Alexandria and Grahamstown Town Guards who had been following the Boer commando for some time in an area south of the Zuurberg Mountains near the present day Addo Elephant National Park.”

Whether or not Pullen was one of the men is involved is unknown but I would like to think that he was. On 1 May 1901 he enlisted with another locally raised force, Nesbitt’s Horse. This outfit was, during the aforementioned second phase of the war employed in Cape Colony. They were frequently engaged, and took part in many pursuits. On 14th December 1901 a small post near Colesberg, garrisoned by 14 of the corps, was attacked. For a great part of 1901 a portion of the corps was in the western district doing column work under Colonel Capper and Major Jeudwine, and their fine scouting often prevented loss. Another portion worked in the central district of the colony. The corps remained in the field to the very end, and when Commandant Malan was defeated in Central Cape Colony three days before peace was declared, he himself being wounded and captured, the successful British force was composed of the Jansenville district mounted troops, Nesbitt's Horse, and some other local troops.

For his efforts Pullen was awarded the Queens medal with clasps to the Cape Colony and South Africa 1901. That he remained in the Alexandria area is confirmed by an extract from the Fort Beaufort marriage register – entry no. 448 shows that Joseph Longman Pullen, a 26 year old bachelor and wagon builder from Alexandria married Agnes Maud Moss, a 21 year old spinster from Blinkwater – on 25 July 1911. Interestingly his younger brother Tindal married Agnes’ sister Nellie two years later.

Tragedy struck and, on 20 August 1913, only two years after their marriage, his wife passed away – this could well have been as a result of complications from the birth of his daughter, named Agnes Maud after her mother, who was born on 12 July 1913. The death of his wife might well have been the catalyst leading to Pullen’s decision to cut all ties with him home town and move to Natal where he joined the ranks of the South African Police stationed in the remote Thabamhlope area near Estcourt in the Midlands. It was in this area that he met and married his second wife, Marias Magdalena Boshoff.

It was also here that things started to go wrong for Pullen. Quite what strain he was under we don’t know but, on 20 April 1923 he took his own life at the stables at the Police Camp in Thabamhlope. Aged 37 years and 10 months he was still a young man and was survived by his daughter from his first marriage and two subsequent children – Wilhelmina Dorothy born on 28 April 1921 and Edward Charles born on 5 February 1923 – a few months before he killed himself. According to his death certificate the cause of death of the Constable was “Suicide whilst temporarily of unsound mind by shooting himself through the head.”

What a sad end to a man’s life.