It subsequently assisted in the occupation of Lydenburg (6th of September), and at the fighting in the Mauchberg (9th of September), and at Pilgrim’s Rest (27th of September). On October the 16th, 1900, the Battalion returned to Middelburg, where it was continually engaged in minor operations until July, 1901, when it proceeded to Cape Colony. Here it built the seventy miles of blockhouses between De Aar and Orange River, which it occupied till the end of the war in June, 1902. SECOND BATTALION. [Sidenote: 2nd BATTALION.] The 2nd Battalion left India, and landed in Natal in October, 1899, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel G. Grimwood, and proceeded at once to Ladysmith, taking part in the battles of Rietfontein (October the 24th) and Lombard’s Kop, in which it fought alongside the 1st Battalion. It served through the DEFENCE OF LADYSMITH, and greatly distinguished itself in the famous fight on Waggon Hill of January the 6th. Up to the 31st of March the Battalion lost five officers (including two attached) and twenty-six men killed in action, seventy-five men wounded, and 107 who died in hospital. After the relief it was under the command of Major the Hon. E. J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley,[70] and, with the 1st Battalion, formed part of the 8th Brigade, 5th Division until the 1st of August, 1900, when it proceeded to Ceylon in charge of prisoners of war. THIRD BATTALION. [Sidenote: 3rd BATTALION.] The 3rd Battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Robert George Buchanan-Riddell, left England in November, 1899, with the 4th Light Infantry Brigade, under Major-General the _Hon. N. G. Lyttelton_, and landed at Durban on the 30th. It took part in all the battles for the RELIEF OF LADYSMITH, namely, Colenso (December the 15th), Spion Kop (January the 24th), Vaal Krantz (5th–7th of February), and the fourteen days continuous fighting from the 13th to the 27th of February, including the actions at Cingolo, Monte Christo, Hlangwane, Hart’s Hill, and the final battle of Pieter’s Hill, on February the 27th, Majuba Day. The Battalion rightly cherishes with pride the names of Spion Kop, Vaal Krantz, and Hart’s Hill. At Spion Kop[71] it captured by a bold and vigorous stroke the famous Twin Peaks single-handed, rightly considered one of the most notable feats of the war. Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan-Riddell was killed on the summit at the moment of victory while leading his men, and Major R. Bewicke-Copley[72] thereupon assumed command. At Vaal Krantz, after being engaged for twenty-four hours, the Battalion highly distinguished itself in repulsing the Boer counter-attack.[73] At Hart’s Hill four companies were prominent in the desperate struggle during the night of the 22nd–23rd of February, delivering two bayonet charges and losing over a third of their number in killed and wounded.[74] Part of the Rifle Reserve Battalion was also engaged in this fight.