History of the Cape Mounted Riflemen: With a Brief Account of the Colony of the Cape of Good HopeCannon, Richard
History
History of the Cape Mounted Riflemen: With a Brief Account of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope
Cannon, Richard
Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History; Great Britain. Army. Cape Mounted Riflemen -- History
The loss sustained in the landing at Lospard’s Bay, and in the
action of the 8th January, was--1 Captain, (Foster,) 24th Regt.,
and 14 men killed; 36 men of the 93rd Regt., drowned by the
upsetting of a boat in attempting to land; 9 officers and 183 men
wounded; and 8 men missing.
[2] The _Kafirs_ are natives of _Caffraria_, _Caffreland_, or,
more properly, “_Kafirland_,” from the Arabic word _Kafir_, which
signifies “Unbeliever;” these people are a hardy and warlike race;
they are armed with light spears, about seven feet in length,
called _assagais_, of which each warrior carries six or eight, and
a kind of club for close fighting, called a kerrie; the former they
throw with great force and dexterity, seldom missing an object at
a less distance than sixty paces. The men are, for the most part,
tall, muscular, robust, and very active, and from the difficult,
and almost inaccessible nature of the country in which the troops
have to act against them, are far from being a despicable enemy:
they have of late years obtained guns and an abundance of horses;
they seldom make an attack in the open field, but select, with
much judgment, the most rugged and rocky ravines, and the densest
thickets, for their onset. They are patient of hunger and fatigue;
and traverse immense distances in an incredibly short space of
time, and the features of the country being favourable to their
mode of warfare, military combination is rendered extremely
difficult; the greatest caution and steadiness are, therefore,
requisite in troops employed in any operation, in order to guard
against a surprise from so wily and active a people, who are
watchful of every opportunity to pounce upon any detachment which
may appear to be unsupported, or neglectful of the necessary
precautions against surprise.
A most able and experienced officer (Colonel H. G. Smith, late of
the Rifle Brigade, and Deputy Quarter-Master-General at the Cape
of Good Hope) declared, “that to follow the enemy vigorously to
his haunts and lurking-places, requires a perfect knowledge of the
service in all its branches, and an intrepidity and recklessness of
danger, which, while they become the soldier, prove the courage of
the man.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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