The History of Lumsden's Horse: A Complete Record of the Corps from Its Formation to Its Disbandment
History
The History of Lumsden's Horse: A Complete Record of the Corps from Its Formation to Its Disbandment
Great Britain. Army. Lumsden's Horse; South African War, 1899-1902 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
how difficult it was to find the enemy, who kept hidden among rocks on
the kopjes and never fired till our men were within about a hundred
yards. As soon as the first shot was fired, the scouts turned and
galloped for their lives, and the artillery then began to shell the
kopjes. Next morning we saw several Boer prisoners, among them being a
lad of about eighteen, who had killed a Major in one of our regiments
while coming towards him with a flag of truce in his hand. Near the
place where we had bivouacked quantities of buried Boer ammunition and
guns were discovered. We continued our march at about 1 A.M., and
encamped in the afternoon at a small place called Bethany. Here a
night attack was expected, a Boer commando of several thousand men
being reported in the vicinity. The men of the Maxim battery stood to
their guns all night on a kopje close by, and about thirty of us
accompanied them as an extra precaution. Cossack posts were also
thrown out. Locusts, of which we had already met several swarms on our
march up, literally covered the hill-sides here, and, getting down our
backs and up our sleeves, took some dislodging. No alarm was given, so
we passed the night in peace. We resumed our march on Good Friday,
and, reaching Kaffir River in the afternoon, encamped there for the
night with Regular regiments—Guards, Highlanders, and several others.
Camps were fairly far apart, and after picketing horses, drawing
forage, and eating our frugal meals, we had no time for exchanging
visits or getting any news from the various regiments we met at our
stopping-places. However, there was consolation for us when we
received our first budget of home and Indian letters, one of the men
from A Company, then at Bloemfontein, having been sent down with them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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