THE ADJUTANT’S NOTE-BOOK
Captain and Adjutant Taylor contributes the following notes and
suggestions for consideration:
There were a certain number of points which struck me very forcibly
during the campaign, and I should like to give them for what they are
worth. There may be certain conditions to be considered, the
importance of which outweighs all others, so that the following notes
must be regarded only as an attempt to carry out the duty which every
man owes to his profession, by showing things in the light in which he
saw them. Higher authorities, busy about big affairs, fail sometimes
to notice the important details with which juniors are brought in
daily contact.
Spare Horses.—The corps started from India with one horse per man
and the necessary complement of transport animals. There were a few
casualties on the journey, which were replaced at Cape Town, and the
corps began work in good condition, but with no spare animals. The
supposition apparently is that men fall out just as fast as the
horses. This did not prove correct in South Africa, and it is hard to
believe that it would be so elsewhere provided the work required was
of an active mounted kind. Therefore true economy would seem to
dictate the provision of spare horses. Very soon with us a few horses
got slight sore backs, but as every mounted man available was required
it was found impossible to ease these horses; the inevitable result
being that after a few days they were unfit for work. Consequently a
similar number of men had to be taken from the fighting strength and
their saddles put into the carts. As the work continued, more horses
gave out, and more loads were put into the carts. Hence, while the
transport animals grew weaker their loads grew heavier. To take
figures. The nominal strength of the mounted portion of the corps was
250 men; actually the largest number we ever had in action was 185.
The average in the fighting line was under 150; of the remainder,
fifty were short on account of sickness and casualties, and fifty on
account of horses short. Had we had fifty spare horses, every
available man could have been mounted. As a matter of fact, thirty
spare horses would probably have sufficed, as, on the principle of ‘a
stitch in time,’ the timely ‘easing’ of trivial cases—such as a slight
sore back or temporary indisposition—would have saved many a horse’s
usefulness or life. The further you go, the more necessary such
reliefs become. The exact number of spare horses depends upon the
class of work required. To my mind, this is one of the lessons we
should learn from the Boers, who generally had two horses per man, and
often five. These spare horses can conveniently march with the
veterinary hospital and be taken care of by a small ‘native’ staff.
Working on this principle, Lumsden’s Horse kept every man mounted
during two months’ ceaseless trek, and the horses were practically all
fit and well at the end of it. On the other system each man used up
seven horses in as many months. To put it in brief. A corps of 250 men
and 250 horses, with their baggage, would, at the end of a week’s hard
marching and fighting, be less efficient than a corps of 200 men with
250 horses, in that they would have no more mounted men in the field,
while their transport would have to carry food and kit for the extra
fifty men, in addition to the fifty saddles of the dismounted men,
weighing some five stones each, and also probably the fifty dismounted
men themselves.
The same principles affect the question of the number of baggage
animals.
Method of Carrying Ammunition.—Our equipment for ammunition to be
carried by the man took the shape of a belt with two cross braces. On
the former were leather pouches to hold packets of cartridges, and on
the latter bandolier attachments to take single cartridges. The
disadvantages were many. (1) It necessitated the man carrying a heavy
weight constantly on his body or else hiding packets of ammunition in
his holsters, whence they were difficult to extract and where he often
left them in the hurry of a dismount. (2) The pouches were a great
discomfort to the men when lying down to snatch much-needed rest in
the many short intervals at their disposal. (3) The whole weight of
the ammunition came on to the saddle when the man was mounted, and
went some way towards causing sore backs. (4) Marching on foot with
this load of ammunition was so irksome that it soon tired the soldier
and made him urge and take every possible excuse for remaining
mounted.
The proposed remedy is to give every man two bandoliers holding
fifty rounds each and a bayonet-belt to take fifty rounds. The
bandoliers to be habitually buckled round the horse’s neck, like
collars. When going into action the man can transfer one or both
bandoliers to his own shoulders even without dismounting. Should he
have under-estimated the amount of ammunition required, and have left
one or both of these bandoliers on his horse, they can be sent for and
found with no difficulty, the distribution being also very simple.
Taking the weight of this ammunition off the saddle helps to save sore
back. The man will walk unencumbered, and consequently will walk more
readily, and can do so for longer distances, besides being in a better
state for duties when he gets to camp. On a similar principle the
rifle should not be carried by the soldier when marching dismounted,
as it is better to keep his weight, say eleven stone, off the horse’s
back as long as possible, and it will be longer if you put the
rifle-weight, seven pounds, on to the horse and not on to the man.
Spare Ammunition.—Anything in excess of this 150 rounds per man
should be, and was, carried on a led mule or horse, who could keep up
with the mounted men.
Picketing Gear caused us much trouble, as every kind of ground
entailed a different stamp of peg—e.g., a small iron peg did not
hold in sandy soil, wooden ones broke in rocky ground, while the
bundle of rope and pegs was an extra weight on the horse, and caused
the saddle to roll besides making the man less handy at getting on and
off his horse. The remedy was to have no heel-ropes or pegs carried on
the saddle horse, and to substitute three big iron pegs with fifty
yards of ‘line rope’ and a heavy mallet to every fifty men, carried on
a pack-animal with the ammunition mules. On arrival in camp these pegs
were driven in, the line rope stretched between them, and the horses
tied to each side of it by their head-ropes: heel-ropes were not found
necessary. This worked perfectly except on detached duties, when
perhaps ten men were separated for some ‘post,’ when they had to
‘ring’ their horses—i.e., tie them together by their head-ropes in a
circle, heads inwards. They are unable to lie down in comfort, which
is of course a weak point, but it does not often happen.
Marching.—When the object to be attained was to cover as much ground
as possible it was found best to trot long stages, with walking
intervals between, when the men were made to dismount and lead. The
man should never be on his horse except when going faster than a walk.
It was found better to trot a good deal than to walk and lead even,
because the time saved by the faster pace gave the men and horses time
for an appreciable rest and for food while they were ‘off-saddled,’
which should always be done when the enemy’s movements in any way
admit of it.
Shoeing.—Each horse, in marching order, is supposed to carry one
complete set of shoes. If every man were trained to see constantly
that his horse’s shoes were on firm, a shoe ought seldom to be lost.
If a farrier is present, and the man has the necessary nails, a
doubtful or loose nail can be drawn and replaced, hence we made the
rule that the men should not carry spare shoes, but should carry
nails, and we had the farriers with us. Occasionally a horse lost a
shoe when on detached duty, but only then; and, after all, if the
rider is careful, no serious damage should result. In any case, it is
not worth while for every horse to carry a complete set of shoes
always, on the chance of one horse requiring one shoe occasionally.
The Usefulness of Followers may be gathered to a certain extent from
the fact that none of the officers had chargers killed by anything but
bullets. Every officer had an Indian syce, and when a horse had had a
hard time it was found that one day marching with the syce restored
him. The follower has nothing to think about except to feed the horse
when he can, and it is wonderful what good one hour in a field of
green wheat or on a good bit of grass does for a tired and underfed
animal; besides, the follower often chances on a bundle or two of
oat-straw or some such luxury, and in any case the horse has plenty of
time for grazing during the delays of the march. The men latterly
employed Kaffir boys to a considerable extent, paying them wages out
of their own pockets. These Kaffirs received no rations, living on
their masters’ leavings and occasional steaks out of dead horses.
Taking all considerations together, it would appear to be a saving to
use the soldier as much as possible for fighting purposes only, and
to use native followers for all work that does not entail fighting.
Cooks and syces, even in small numbers, would to a great extent ease
the fighting man of arduous labour which the follower could do just as
well. We should have fewer cases of sickness from want of rest and
lack of time to cook properly if a few native cooks accompanied each
regiment. And a few syces might save the lives of many horses that
have to be neglected by the men when, after a long march and perhaps a
fight, they are ordered out on picket directly they arrive in camp.
The native is cheaper to feed and more docile to manage, not minding
things which Tommy hates—such as cutting grass, for instance. His food
is simple, and he can eat it very comfortably going along the road, so
that when he gets into camp he is quite fit to go to work. I was told
by an officer of the Indian Transport train, who was with General
Buller’s force in Natal, that he had taken his corps with his native
followers right through to Belfast, and landed his animals there
without a single casualty, and not only well, but fat. He attributed
it solely to the fact that the servants understood their work and
would unload without a murmur a dozen times a day, and cut a heap of
grass for every animal when they got to camp. Why not employ the
cheaper labourer, and save the dearer for work that suits him better
and which the follower cannot do? The answer, I am aware, is that an
armed transport man can help to defend the convoy. This is of course
true to a limited extent. Our transport men never had a chance of
firing a shot, and I think few had. All the ox-waggons and
mule-waggons were driven by Kaffirs, on the same grounds as advocated,
so why not apply the reasoning to other cases? The argument in favour
of the armed transport reminds one of the sportsman who goes out armed
with a gun, rifle, and pig-spear, ready for all emergencies, but never
has the right weapon in his hand when the game springs up. The spare
horse-shoes are another case of the same thing, and there are many
others. It is impossible to provide for every contingency.
Rations.—In a general way the men’s rations were very good, but one
or two improvements suggest themselves. First, everyone who has tried
it knows that when spirits are not available the body acquires a great
craving for sugar, which is no doubt recognised, and hence the jam
issue. Chocolate is cheap, by which I mean light to carry, and is
enormously appreciated; but more important than anything appear to be
the tea, coffee, or cocoa rations, because, in a great measure, on the
plentifulness of these depends the amount or otherwise of many
diseases, notably enteric. No man will boil water and let it cool
simply because he knows it’s a healthy thing to do, but he will boil
it to have a good drink of hot tea. If you give him enough, he will
have his drink before he goes to bed, another in the morning, and he
will also fill his water-bottle with it. Half an ounce per man will
accomplish this. I believe the amount allowed per man in South Africa
was ⅟16 oz. By the time this had been distributed in the dark, the
ration became so small that half-a-dozen men used to toss for the lot,
in the hope that one at least would get a good drink. Tea, moreover,
is very light. An ox-waggon load is 4,000 lbs., which is 128,000
rations of ½ oz. each; which means that 4,000 men could be given ½ oz.
of tea daily for a month, at the cost of one ox-waggon added to the
convoy. On our trek from Machadodorp to Pretoria, we carried supplies
for about 4,000 men for about a month, and the convoy was many miles
long, and I do not think that one ox-waggon added thereto would have
given any trouble.
Firing off Horseback.—The value of this practice on occasions is
another of the lessons we might learn from the Boers. I do not pretend
that the shooting is accurate, yet it has a great moral advantage in
certain circumstances. Imagine yourself on a big rolling veldt doing
rearguard. The slopes are easy, and the ridges about 1,000 yards from
crest to crest. You hold one and the enemy the next. In order to keep
your horses out of fire they must be 200 yards or so away. All is well
till you begin to retire, but on rising you at once become visible to
the Boer, who first of all shoots at you, and then follows you up at a
gallop to have a shot at you before you can gain the next ridge. You
retire in a hurry, run the risk of being shot, and have the
demoralising feeling that the enemy is gaining rapidly on you and will
‘get at you’ before you gain the next ridge. But leave near the
ridge a few mounted men, place them back so far that while they can
see the Boer’s ridge, the enemy can only possibly see their heads and
shoulders, and order your dismounted men to retire, crawling at first,
then stooping, and finally rising. They do this leisurely, as they can
see the mounted sentinels watching and they are reassured. These
sentinels have no fear, for they can at any time retire at a gallop,
while the enemy, hearing the firing, do not like advancing on an
unknown number. During the march from Machadodorp to Pretoria, this
practice enabled us to do in perfect comfort a rearguard duty which
was considered by all other corps very ‘nasty.’
Suggestions with regard to raising Mounted Volunteer Corps in the
future.—Besides the actual experiences of the fighting in South
Africa, there were one or two points in connection with the raising of
the corps itself, which came to my special notice in the course of my
duties as Adjutant and Quartermaster, the knowledge of which would, I
think, facilitate matters in the event of anyone raising another
Volunteer corps in India for active service.
In my opinion the most important point of all is to make certain that
secrecy is maintained. Before any steps are taken for enrolling men,
the Adjutant and other officers from the Regular Army should be
selected and apportioned their work in connection with the raising of
the corps. The ‘Regular’ N.C.O.s should be chosen, and the official
scheme drawn up. The first duty falls on the ‘office,’ and it should
be properly organised in every detail. Three or four rooms,
Quartermaster’s store accommodation, a shorthand writer, at least
three or four competent clerks, as well as mounted orderlies, are
necessary. A camp pitched complete in every detail should be ready to
receive the men, especial attention being paid to the provision of a
temporary mess for the men as well as ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ canteens, and of
a native food-shop for followers. This can all be done
‘confidentially.’ When the arrangements are complete, the intention to
raise the corps and the terms may be made public.
If the fact of the raising of the corps had not leaked out, Government
would of course have made all the above suggested arrangements, and
things would have gone smoothly from the outset. As it was, every
Government official assisted Colonel Lumsden to his utmost power. As a
sample of this I may mention that, at their own request, the one
squadron of the 14th Bengal Lancers at Alipur supplied eight mounted
orderlies daily for six weeks, rendering invaluable assistance in
carrying letters. This same squadron marked out the camp for us, and
lent their bunniahs’ (grain-sellers’) shops for the use of the swarm
of servants who came in attendance on the Volunteers. Another
difficulty which it would be good to avoid, if possible, was that
under existing regulations it was found to be impossible to attest the
men until the day before embarkation, so that for some weeks they were
in camp and being trained without being under military law. Their good
feeling alone preserved discipline.
Regulars.—A certain number of men who were specialists in various
lines, such as saddlers, farriers, signallers, and shoeing-smiths,
together with a sprinkling of non-commissioned officers, were lent to
the corps from the Regular Army, and they were of the greatest use to
us. It is essential that the selection of these be made with great
care. There is little doubt that the gentleman Volunteer is not always
easy to get on with, so that the Regular should be a man of character
and tact. When called upon for men, Commanding Officers send fully
qualified men, but have a tendency to ‘give a man a chance’ in novel
circumstances. Unless a Regular is a tactful, good fellow, he is
unlikely to be of much use with Volunteers.
Selection of Horses.—As far as we could learn from our experience in
South Africa, the three main points in the selection of a horse are:
(1) hardiness, (2) true action, (3) ‘good doing’; while for
convenience in mounting and dismounting he should not be over fifteen
hands high. Comparative slowness, light legs, and slight unsteadiness
do not seem to matter, but he must be hardy, he must be clear of any
suspicion whatever of brushing, and he must be the sort likely to
‘live on sticks and stones.’ The work is all very slow, but it is
continuous. There were practically no cases of lameness from sprains,
or indeed of anything except ‘brushing,’ and after a month’s work, the
horse which could go the furthest and fastest was the one that kept
the best condition. One of the horses that did the best work in the
corps was a little Boer pony of Private Graham’s, which was only about
twelve hands high. As transport animals, our little ‘Bhootia’ ponies
did most excellently, and were better than mules, in that while they
were quite as hardy, they were heavier and more game.
Shipping Horses.—At Calcutta the quays are only a few feet above the
water-level, and as the horses all have to be put on the upper and
main decks, the custom is to ‘sling’ them on board by means of cranes
and tackle attached to belly-bands. I saw a whole ship being laden
with horses in this way. The operation took one entire day and cost
five rupees per horse. One horse at least was dropped and had to be
destroyed, a large proportion suffered injuries, and all were
terrified. On meeting the officer in charge afterwards, I learnt that
hardly any of the horses would feed at all for a day at least. For us
the authorities erected a zigzag gangway by the aid of which 200
horses were put on board without accident in one hour and a half.
Moreover, the gangway could not have cost 100l. Communication
gangways between the decks were also fitted up, thus enabling us to
transfer horses from one deck to another, and these proved very
valuable in dealing with sick cases during the voyage.
Horse Standings.—Once on the ship each horse had a stall in a row,
each stall being just big enough for a horse to stand in, and
surrounded by a four-foot rail. On the floor-boards were fixed four
strong battens, two inches square in cross section, at intervals of
eighteen inches. The horse’s fore feet fell naturally on to the first
batten and his hind feet on to the last. He was thus forced to stand
always in a constrained position. For my own horses I had the battens
otherwise distributed, putting one six inches from either end and one
in the middle. The fore feet came naturally behind the first batten
and the hind feet before the rear one, while the middle one did not
interfere with the horse’s position, and was only used by the horse
when necessitated by bad weather. It was, I think, a great
improvement. This was not my idea, but was what the Australian horse
‘shippers’ recommend and use.
Shoes.—The orders in the Service are that all horses go on board
shod, which is contrary to the custom of the big Australian shipping
firms, who say that shod horses slip up when it is rough. We had no
rough weather, and so could not prove this, but owing to the shoe
keeping the foot off the constantly damp boards, the feet of our
horses were, on arrival, in infinitely better condition than those of
the horses brought over by Australian ‘shippers’ to India.
Exercising Horses on Board Ship.—This is, I learn, never done, but
we gave the idea a trial, and it turned out to be quite practicable.
Our ship was a very small one, and we had some difficulty about space
for exercise ground. However, we found three places in different parts
of the ship where we could get a small circle. Matting was put down,
to prevent slipping, and it was found that on each of these ten horses
could be led at a time, one behind the other. In this manner we
managed to give every horse half an hour a day of walking exercise.
While these ten horses were out, the next ten had twice as much room
to stand in, which enabled the men to give them half-an-hour’s
grooming. It was very noticeable how the legs ‘fined’ with the
exercise, and it must have been a great relief to the horse. Our
horses landed in very good condition, and, except for being soft, they
were fit to go to work at once. It is obviously only possible to
exercise horses like this when you have a large number of hands as we
had.
