The answer of the War Office as to the Artillery seemed at the time final. But (most happily for us in this case) finality is not one of that body’s strongest points. An announcement having appeared in the ‘Times’ two or three days later that the Elswick Volunteer Battery had been accepted for service, immediate advantage was taken of this symptom of a change of policy, and fresh inquiries and proposals were made. The result was the acceptance of a four-gun Field Battery, to be horsed by the Government.
On the day following this welcome decision there came a proposal from the Lord Mayor’s Committee to incorporate the Battery in the C.I.V., which, by the addition of Artillery, would thus complete its threefold composition. The offer was agreed to, and the Battery, though the H.A.C. was still entirely responsible for raising it, and for recruiting, equipping, and clothing the men, became from that time technically a branch of the C.I.V., enjoyed the privileges of that corps, and shared in the funds subscribed for it. At the same time the Lord Mayor offered to arm the Battery with four 12-pr. quick-firing guns, which it was found that Messrs. Vickers, Sons & Maxim had on hand. The War Office at first demurred, expressing a decided preference for the Service 15-pr. gun, with which the H.A.C. was already armed; not from any doubts as to the excellence of the 12½-pr. gun, which, it was admitted, was superior in some details to the 15-pr., but from a fear that trouble might arise out of the necessity for a special type of ammunition for this one Battery. Permission, however, was eventually given, on the understanding that special and extra provision was to be made for the transport and supply of ammunition in the field.
The enrolment of the Battery was promptly initiated. At the time the Artillery Division of the H.A.C. numbered about 180, a majority of whom volunteered, and a large proportion of these were accepted and sworn in. But it must not be supposed that recruiting was confined to the Artillery Division. Several men from the Infantry Battalion were anxious to serve and were enrolled, so that the whole Regiment was represented, to the number of 84. From this number all the combatant Officers of the Battery, all the Sergeants (except the two Staff Sergeants), and all the Corporals were selected. The total initial strength, with additions from other sources, was ultimately 131, and if these figures be borne in mind, together with the fact that of the reinforcing draft of 17 men 14 came from the H.A.C., it will be granted that it is perfectly fair and correct to describe the outcome as an H.A.C. Battery.
Of the original 131 men, the balance of 47 were chosen principally from Volunteer Corps, by special sanction of the War Office. The 1st Sussex Volunteer Artillery contributed eight, the 1st City of London Volunteer Artillery five, the 2nd and 3rd Middlesex Volunteer Artillery three each, and various other Corps sent one or two representatives.
There were also five old R.A. men. A difficulty—one inseparable from Auxiliary Artillery—was the scarcity of artificers; but eventually a retired Collar-maker Sergeant from Woolwich Dockyard and a retired Farrier-sergeant from the Arsenal were engaged; and the rank of Wheeler-sergeant was given to a member of the 3rd Kent Volunteer Artillery who joined us from the Royal Carriage Department of the Arsenal. Major McMicking was given the command of the Battery, and the Captain was Captain (now Major) Budworth, who was then and is still the Adjutant of the H.A.C. A full nominal roll appears at the end of the chapter. So much for the guns and personnel.
There remain the questions of funds and general equipment, which for convenience are taken together.
The cost of the Battery was defrayed partly by the Government and partly from the Lord Mayor’s Fund for the C.I.V., and to a certain extent from private generosity. The harness taken was the existing H.A.C. harness, as originally supplied by the Government, who now undertook to alter it to the rapid-release system, and also to make np some small deficiencies. They also converted four of our existing ammunition waggons into waggons capable of taking fixed ammunition; and they further paid for many of the mobilisation stores and for the horses, £45 being allowed per horse. Before the intentions of the War Office in this respect were known many private members offered to provide horses, and Mr. W. R. Clarke promised to supply a complete gun-team. It was unnecessary, of course, to accept this munificent offer. Among many individual gifts. Colonel Stohwasser presented all the blankets, leggings, and picketing gear. All other expenses were borne by the Lord Mayor’s Fund, to which, by the way, the Court of Assistants of the H.A.C. had officially contributed £1,000, and members of the Company, subscribing independently, another £1,500. The four guns, together with 3,200 rounds of ammunition, and one Vickers-Maxim waggon, and the clothing and equipment of the men, were the principal items so provided for. Another was a supplementary payment for horses, over and above the £45 per horse given by the War Office. This amounted to £9 per horse, or, roughly, £1,000 for the whole complement of 114, since they cost on an average £54 apiece.
As soon as an understanding on these matters was reached the purchase of material and horses was energetically proceeded with. The quality of the horses was, needless to say, of paramount importance. That of ours was excellent, thanks to the care and judgment of Major McMicking, who selected the majority of them. To establish this, in a word, by the best test of all, it is only necessary to point to the result—namely, that at the end of our campaigning, out of the original number of 114, we handed over to the Remount authorities at Pretoria between 80 and 90 of the original animals, in good condition; and wounds accounted for several of the rest. It must be admitted, however, that this good result was partly due to the length of our stay on the line of communications; a stay long enough to thoroughly acclimatise the horses. Nearly all of them were taken from London omnibus companies and jobmasters, and a point was made of choosing only strong short-legged animals, very few exceeding 15.3 in height.
In the matter of material, various members of the H.A.C. were of the greatest possible assistance in obtaining goods of the best quality and at wholesale prices. Buck-waggons of South African type were contracted for in Bristol, mule-harness in Bermondsey, forge and artificers’ tools in Birmingham; whilst orders for clothing and various stores and details of equipment were placed in many different quarters. Thanks to the zeal displayed, all the goods were delivered to date, and in good time for embarkation.
The total sum contributed by the War Office was £17,000, of which £5,100 was paid for horses and the remainder for altering four H.A.C. waggons so as to hold fixed ammunition, for an additional supply of ammunition, for buck-waggons, and for mole-harness.
The C.I.V. Committee, among other items, paid £8,000 for the guns, the one waggon, and the 3,200 rounds of ammunition; and £1,000 for horses.
Nominal roll
