Campaigning in Kaffirland; Or, Scenes and Adventures in the Kaffir War of 1851-52King, William Ross
History
Campaigning in Kaffirland; Or, Scenes and Adventures in the Kaffir War of 1851-52
King, William Ross
South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878
of all corps and uniforms; then long lines of horses, and neatly ranged
saddles; and beyond all, the guard tents and sentries, with a perfect
village of waggons.
At "tattoo" a sudden stir runs through the camp; picquets are inspected
and reports collected by orderly-officers, who have mysterious
interviews in the marquees; the trumpets and bugles ring out the "last
post;" and the Pipers play "Farewell to Lochaber," recalling many a
distant and very different scene; the fires are deserted; the different
parties break up and disperse; in ten minutes more the bugles sound
"lights out," and the men's tents shine white and cold in the pale
moonlight.
All the time we were at Burghersdorp we had constant sand-storms,
filling the air with a red cloud, and colouring everything inside our
carefully closed tents with the same rusty hue as outside. With the
westerly wind came a wonderful flight of locusts, passing over for
hours and literally darkening the air.
On the 28th, his Excellency inspected the whole of the troops; the
line, at "open order," in front of the camp, extending about a mile in
length, and we were formed into Brigades for the ensuing march. The
First Brigade, under Lieut.-Col. MacDuff, 74th Highlanders, consisted
of the 2nd Queen's, the 74th Highlanders, and a rocket battery.
The Second under Major Pinckney, 73rd regiment, of the 43rd Light
Infantry, the 73rd, the Rifle Brigade, and a rocket battery (Colonel
Eyre commanding the Division), and a Cavalry Brigade under Lieut.-Col.
Napier, composed of the 12th Lancers, Artillery, and Cape Corps. The
heat of the sun was so great that several of the men fainted as we
stood on parade, and one had a sun-stroke. Later in the day we were
visited by violent whirlwinds, that whisked some of the tents into the
air among clouds of sand and small gravel, levelling many others in
their course.
The Cavalry marched for the Orange River; and at daylight next morning
the Second Brigade followed, the First bringing up the rear the morning
following.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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