TOPIC:

At the outbreak of the 2nd Boer War, infantry regiments were each required to raise a company of mounted infantry.

Were these mounted infantry companies formed into new mounted infantry regiments and if so what were these called and under whose command.

I am interested specifically in a company of mounted infantry from the 2nd Btn Northamptonshire Regiment.

Hello Ian.....

The regiment was in the:

11th Mounted Infantry Company
Cameronians
Inniskilling Fusiliers
South Staffordshire Regiment
Northamptonshire Regiment
West Kent Regiment
Connaught Rangers
Leinster Regiment
Royal Dublin Fusiliers

23rd Mounted Infantry Company
Lancaster Regiment
Cameronians
Hampshire Regiment
Northamptonshire Regiment
Manchester Regiment
Durham Light Infantry
Gordon Highlanders
Rifle Brigade

Here is somewhere to start.....

Mike

Thank you Mike.
Would these companies have been deployed separate to their parent regiment?
Should I be looking for reference to the 11th Mounted Infantry Company and 23rd Mounted Infantry Company instead of the Northamptonshire Regiment per se?

My grandfather saw action at Belmont for which he received a bar but was not at Modders or any other action that I believe the Northamptonshire Regiment fought. He did get general campaign bars for South Africa 1901, Transvaal and Orange Free State but I believe the Northamptonshire Regiment would have seen action and received bars.

He was at Enslin a few days after Belmont but not sure if the regiment was there or not.
He was also at Sandbaker(?) where he was critically wounded. I can find no reference to this place, so again, was he away from the regiment.

I noticed from your COMPOSITE REGIMENTS OF MOUNTED INFANTRY the 1st and 2nd Companies were aka Sitwell’s Mounted Infantry and Burn’s Mounted Infantry respectively presumably after their C.O.
Were other companies likewise named?
Where would I find who commanded the 11th Mounted Infantry Company and 23rd Mounted Infantry Company as a means to widen my search.

Perhaps this is an avenue on which I should focus.

Ian
Obviously, you are seeking detailed information on your grandfather’s 2nd Boer War service but in the absence of specific information and detail we are left to make deductions from the clues you have given us.

That you suspect he had service with Mounted Infantry seems to be based on the information that he qualified for Belmont but didn’t go on to qualify for Modder River or other battle bars. Is that your premise ?

Simple perusal of the 2nd Northamptonshire Regt. QSA medal roll shows approx.. 54 men being detached from the regiment on 23rd January 1900 to join the 3rd Mounted Infantry.
Of these, 1 had neither Bel or MR
7 had single Bel
46 had both Bel and MR
(Most these then earned Joh. DH. Drief )

From this, it is safe to say that absence of MR is no indicator that a man served with the MI and that they joined the 3rd MI

A name would help our research.

Best regards

Pete

Hi Pete, thanks for replying.
I apologize for omitting his name. He was James Mellett

I have listed specifics that I have currently

10 February 1891 Enlisted into Northamptonshire Regiment at Northampton depot as Private. Military Serial Number 3027
...
11 May 1897 Appointed Lance Sergeant
10 February 1898 End of required Army Service with the colours (7 years) as per short service attestation

9 October 1899 Rejoined the colours under Special Army Order dated 7 October 1899 from Army Reserve.
11 October 1899 2nd Boer War in South Africa started.
21 October 1899 Deployed to South Africa - 2nd Boer War
7 December 1899 Wounded in action. Battle of Graspan, Enslin station
27 April 1900 Promoted to Sergeant in 2nd Battalion of Northamptonshire Regiment
3 July 1901 Sandbaker, South Africa Injured whilst serving with mounted infantry
5 August 1901 Wounded in left arm. Finally had arm amputated and wore a prosthetic arm.
8 October 1901 Returned to England wounded.
19 February 1902 Discharged from Army as medically unfit for duty.

I know definitely he was MI in July 1901. What I am trying to find is if he was MI at the outset of the war or, and this is seeming more likely, did he remain with the main force and became mounted later as your information suggests.

I now know of his two hospital entries, only the second mentions MI so he possibly became mounted later as you suggest.

I also found the battalion was not in the action at Modder River on 28th November, having been detailed to guard the railway.

what is Joh. DH. Drief

many thanks
Ian

Ian

Easy bit first.
Abbreviations for battle clasps
Joh – Johannesburg
DH – Diamond Hill
Drief – Driefontein
Mellett had none of these clasps and there is no note re 3rd M.I. on the roll against his name. Pretty sure he did not serve with 3rd M.I.

So was it 11th or 23rd ?

This from Findmypast from SWB’s site Casus-Belli
Lt J.I Wood-Martin. Northamptonshire Regt
Wounded severely on 3rd July 1901 at Sandbaker
nr Standerton* and Vaal Station, in the eastern South African Republic. On 3 July 1901 four men were wounded and one killed of the Northampton Regiment, 11 Mounted Infantry. CR. Watt



These would appear to be those men, from Hayward’s South African War Casualty Roll and taken together tend to confirm Mellett’s service in 11th M.I.
5417 Paul is the 1 killed.

Mellett would have been in receipt of an Army Pension having lost an arm in HM’s service.
Indeed, his attestation form is endorsed with the number 2719/FW/M, which is an indication that papers exist in the PIN 71 series at the National Archives.
This would appear to be the link to those records.
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4360930
and suggest a date of death in 1948. (This confirmed in Linda Barr’s family tree on Ancestry
www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tr...on/48217572112/facts
This also mentions that he wore a prosthetic arm. Might that account for the photograph that you have ?)
The pension papers are not available on line and would require an in person visit.
Is this an avenue of research already pursued ?

Pete

PS The2nd Batt WAS at Modder River. P