The first ship to arrive with reinforcements was H.M.S. _Shah_, which anchored at Port Natal on Thursday, the 6th of March. The troops available by her were 392 men of the Naval Brigade and 200 men from the St. Helena garrison.[28] Baker and Lonsdale's Light Horse, as well as other irregulars, were recruited in the Cape Colony, and sent on by degrees. The first steamer from England to arrive with reinforcements was the _Pretoria_, of the Union Royal Mail Steam Shipping Company's fleet. She made the run to Natal in less than twenty-four days, and had on board 34 officers, 7 staff officers, and 890 men of the 71st Highlanders. The British soldiers were received in Natal with the utmost enthusiasm, as saviours of the country. Each ship and each regiment was eagerly looked for and gladly welcomed. Previous to the _Pretoria_, the 57th Regiment had arrived from Ceylon in H.M. troopship _Tamar_. The Secretary of War telegraphed, on the 13th of February, to Lord Chelmsford that the following reinforcements had been placed under immediate orders for Natal:—Two regiments of cavalry, each 648 men and 480 horses; two field batteries of artillery, 336 men and 220 horses; one field company of Engineers; five regiments of infantry from home, each 806 men; 57th Regiment from Ceylon; three companies Army Reserve Corps, 140 men, 380 horses; Army Hospital Corps, 140; drafts for the 57th, the 24th, and Royal Artillery. The steamers employed to bring out these troops were— _Line._ _Troops conveyed._ The Pretoria Union S.S. Co. 91st Highlanders Danube Ditto 200 men 60th Rifles Dublin Castle D. Currie & Co. 3rd Battalion, Rifle Brigade England National S.S. Co. 17th Lancers and horses France Ditto Ditto Egypt Ditto 1st Dragoon Guards and horses Spain Ditto Ditto Loando British and African S.S. Co. Military stores and field Ditto 58th Regiment China Ditto 94th Regiment Olympus Ditto Royal Artillery Palmyra Ditto Royal Engineers Manora McNeil Denny M Battery, 6th Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery City of Paris[29] Inman Company 21st Regiment City of Venice Smith & Sons Army Service and Hospital Corps Clyde Temperley's Drafts of 24th Regiment. Wrecked off Cape Coast, brought in by _Tamar_ Queen Margaret Queen Line Army Service Corps and horses Andean East India and Reserve ammunition column Pacific