TOPIC:

That's really interesting about men being prepared to drop ranks in order to join units in South Africa. Would this flexibility of these SALH units mean that a sergeant might reasonable be expected to get a battlefield commission and become, say, a captain?

Thanks very much!

Lazy researcher
In 1883, the War Office used a Recruiting Age band of eighteen to twenty five years. However, a caution. There was no means of checking the stated age of prospective recruits - apart from their appearance. I suppose sixteen COULD look eighteen and thirty COULD look like twenty five. The cavalry apparently attracted a large number of prospective recruits and had higher physical standards. A good book to research the British army of the day is; "The Late Victorian Army, 1868-1902" by E.M.Spiers (ISBN 0 7190 2659 8). By the way, in my reply 45158, I slipped up in line 2 when I said that "..having your man enlist in the 17L'. I meant 21st Lancers
As far as your rough description of the action where your projected hero runs into a charge of insubordination - well, such circumstances COULD happen. Heck, ANYTHING could happen! For such a charge to stick, there would have to be only the word of the officer versus that of your projected hero. The latter may well have supporting witnesses to complicate things. Or else, the Court Martial President could intervene.

If you are looking for an example of an actual assault in which the SALH took a prominent part, you might consider consulting Stirling's "The Colonials In South Africa". I understand that this book may be found on this site.
Good luck with your projected novel! I don't mean to be dismissive in any of my comments.
Regards
IL.

Linney
Thanks so much for answering all my queries so courteously and at such length. You have reassured me that I'm not barking up totally the wrong tree!
And thank you for the book recommendations. I shall stop being such a 'Lazy researcher' and have a good look at them!

I'm glad that my projected scenario didn't appear too unlikely; as you say, anything, one supposes can happen in the heat of battle and given that sometimes personalities triumph over discipline.

Thanks for your good wishes for the novel. If by any chance, publication becomes a possibility, I'll be back to let you know
Meanwhile thanks for letting me barge in!
regards
NB

Ian, are you a best selling author and novelist, do you use a particular pen name?

LinneyI wrote: Lazyresearcher
You seem to want to tick a lot of boxes for your projected hero's career. I don't know of any British Cavalry regiment that served in both Afghanistan and the Sudan in the 1890's ("odd men" attached could well have done so). However the 21st Lancers had a highly publicised role in the Sudan (W.S.Churchill rode with them). I suppose you could craft your tale by having your man enlist in the 17thL (occupation/trade; groom) as a start. Cavalry enlistment was amended in 1874 to eight years with the colours and four years in the reserve according to my references; so you can figure out the likely time scale as well as IL. Once he went to the Reserve, he would have to have left an address at which he could be recalled; admittedly if he went to the Cape to seek adventure after his eight years with the colours, he might be a bit hard to contact. Story mechanism there?
Enlistments in the SALH at the commencement of the ABW would have been for six months as Ryan says. You might note that a certain WSC also served in the SALH and some sort of continuity could be invented there. If an other rank was charged with insubordination on active service, as you seem to want to weave into your story, the sentence after a Field Court Martial could be severe. Depending on how bad the "insubordination" was and which grade of officer was offended. After all, there was a war on - AND there are no degrees of discipline; either one has it or one does not. One of the medal groups I currently own tells of an OR who "offered violence to an officer" and lost his Good Conduct pay as well as serving six months detention.
Regards
IL.

Tragically, not a best selling author and novelist, Frank. Not even a published one! However, should I have any luck with this one, I'll post the details. My character's Boer War experience actually takes up only a small but crucial piece of the novel, because the injustice that he suffers there, colours the rest of his life, that he spends in Northern Canada as a trapper and prospector! Thanks for asking though!

Hello Ian,
Your silence is thunderous, I'll take it as a no then?
(You should perhaps consider it at some point in the future! )
Regards Frank

Frank Kelley wrote: Ian, are you a best selling author and novelist, do you use a particular pen name?

LinneyI wrote: Lazyresearcher
You seem to want to tick a lot of boxes for your projected hero's career. I don't know of any British Cavalry regiment that served in both Afghanistan and the Sudan in the 1890's ("odd men" attached could well have done so). However the 21st Lancers had a highly publicised role in the Sudan (W.S.Churchill rode with them). I suppose you could craft your tale by having your man enlist in the 17thL (occupation/trade; groom) as a start. Cavalry enlistment was amended in 1874 to eight years with the colours and four years in the reserve according to my references; so you can figure out the likely time scale as well as IL. Once he went to the Reserve, he would have to have left an address at which he could be recalled; admittedly if he went to the Cape to seek adventure after his eight years with the colours, he might be a bit hard to contact. Story mechanism there?
Enlistments in the SALH at the commencement of the ABW would have been for six months as Ryan says. You might note that a certain WSC also served in the SALH and some sort of continuity could be invented there. If an other rank was charged with insubordination on active service, as you seem to want to weave into your story, the sentence after a Field Court Martial could be severe. Depending on how bad the "insubordination" was and which grade of officer was offended. After all, there was a war on - AND there are no degrees of discipline; either one has it or one does not. One of the medal groups I currently own tells of an OR who "offered violence to an officer" and lost his Good Conduct pay as well as serving six months detention.
Regards
IL.