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Well worth the wait, Rory and what a pair of medals!

Having transcribed the relevant pages of Lt D. Howard-Gills diary that pertain to this incident, I have pleasure in posting the story below. Howard-Gills was a Lt, with the 21st battery, R.F.A., the one sent out to Lancers Hill/End Valley once word had reached the camp in Ladysmith that the Boers were massing in the vicinity. His diary must be read in the context of the times - it is a subjective (and possibly inaccurate) version of events but it is yet another aspect and deserves our attention. I also enclose his hand-drawn map of the skirmish. He termed this the "First Pogglehurst Affair"

The Thirty Light Horseman – an R.F.A. Officer’s view of the Lancer’s Nek/Long Valley incident on 3 November 1899

"A Major in charge of a squadron of the Light Horse comes up to Blewitt, and asks if he may take his squadron up and take the hill from the left and rear. Brocklehurst does not appear or issue any orders. The Major bids him do so by all means, and arranges to only fire on the right side of the Hill, so as not to hit his men.

They gallop up and dismount under Hussar Hill leaving their ponies in a donga and are lost to sight. A very sharp rifle fire breaks out immediately from Lancer’s Hill and shortly after from Hussar Hill. the Major turns the two left guns onto Hussar Hill and keeps down this fire considerably. We look in vain for our men to appear on Lancer’s Hill, and are very careful not to burst our shrapnel over the crest for fear of hitting them. Where we might have, had we known, done much damage to the Boers.

No message is sent back by the ILH as to how they are prospering, but we learn afterwards that on finding the Hill strongly held they got into a donga between it and us and remained there loosing off their rifles till they retired. They suffered hardly any loss (one or two men hit, Major Taunton killed)*, but we thought they were having a frightful time, as one of their Doctor’s galloped back very pale saying they were in an awful fix, that C squadron must be cut to pieces and asking for reinforcements.

They were the only people who attempted to make any sort of attack, this idiotic day. About this time, a long range gun opens away to our right rear and starts making excellent practice at our wagons, which are about 200 yards to our rear in the Spruit (which is dry). The Farrier Sergeant canters up to know if he shall shift their position a bit, as the gun had got their range perfectly and had wounded two horses.

As he reaches the battery a thing occurs, which I must put down, as I wish this to be a full and truthful account, although it is (strictly private) the only occurrence that reflects any discredit on the battery during the war. The wagons which are now in the midst of a hot shell fire, and have no one in charge of them, Campbell being wounded, right reverse and commence to trot to the rear to take up a fresh position, without orders. The Farrier is immediately sent galloping after them and brings them back.

While we are all thunderstruck as to what can have caused this extraordinary movement, the Major thinking they had possibly received orders from some staff officer and that we were being attacked in rear, orders us to see we have our case shot and magazine shrapnel ready. Also a gun away on our left started bursting time shrapnel right up over End Hill, miles up in the air, and the men on End Hill are being shot at, so the Boers are evidently trying to turn our left and cut us off.

General Brocklehurst and his ADC, Lord Crichton, now rides up to Blewitt and says he fancies the Boers are reinforcing very strongly and seem to be trying to cut us off. So we’d better retire and suggests his retiring the battery at once. Blewitt says “Good God man you’re not going to leave those fellows in the ILH on that Hill, I’m not going to take my battery away till they are extricated.” Brocklehurst replies “Oh, I’d forgotten, what had I better do?” Blewitt says “Do, why send up some of those cavalry to reinforce, I suppose; what did you bring them out for?”

Brocklehurst thanks him quite humbly for the suggestion, and says he will send back to Ladysmith for two more batteries and reinforcements. This Blewitt is strongly opposed to as he doesn’t see any point in it if we are going to do nothing, and says so. But old Brocklehurst does so. Some of the 5th Lancers gallop up and get into the donga with the ILH but there is no more sign of any attack than before. Very shortly the 42nd and 53rd batteries arrive out and some volunteers, having trotted and galloped the whole way fancying that we must be in distress.

The 53rd come into action alongside us and help to pound away at Lancer’s Hill, the 42nd after silencing the gun to our right rear come into action in the nek at B, and knock over several Boers galloping to reinforce from the north and effectually put a stop to this reinforcing. This of course should have been done by the 19th Hussars two hours ago, as the Boers were simply galloping over the open, but their Colonel, (Wolsely-Jenkins) seemed afraid to even show up in the nek where the battery went.

The volunteers to come out, dismount and reinforce End Hill and occupy Middle Hill. Brocklehurst now orders a retirement and the ILH and 5th Lancers come galloping back in twos or threes from Lancer’s Hill amidst a fairly hot but distant rifle fire, our two batteries meanwhile covering Hussar and Lancer’s Hill with shrapnel. I think one man was hit only. One troopers horse was shot and he was footing it back about 2000 yards from the enemy’s fire without anyone taking any notice of him, when an officer pulls up and catches a loose horse for him and mounts him on it and they gallop in.

There was nothing particularly venturesome in this owing to the great distance from the enemy and the harmlessness of their fire, yet a picture of the incident drawn by Maud (who was not there) appeared in the Graphic entitled “A gallant candidate for the VC.” Meanwhile the 19th Hussars have mounted and galloped home and the 42nd battery follows them at a trot. We move off first, the ILH and 5th Lancers having retired homeward at a gallop, to position E and cover End Hill with our guns till all the volunteers and cavalry are off it. The 53rd remaining in action at A.

Lt. Higgins spots a team bringing a gun into action on the now deserted left kopje, and laying and ranging one of his own guns, knocks it out observing three horses and two men go down to the shot. They then trot past us to a position between E and F and cover End Hill. as soon as all our men have left End Hill we trot to P(F?) and come into action there, against End Hill, two guns opening fire from Lancer’s Hill. three German and Dutch gunners watch us like cats from a safe place away from their guns, and as soon as we limber up, they rush back to their deserted guns and open a rapid fire.

The top of End Hill is now covered with the Boers, but a few shells from us soon silence them, whilst our men retire from Middle Hill. The 53rd is meanwhile retiring along the road at a walk ready to come into action again, when the Colonel rides up to Blewitt and tells him to retire as everyone but the two batteries have already gone home. The ambulances pass us going out and they say one of them was fired on by the Boers, one dead Lancer is carried past on a stretcher.

We retire behind the 53rd in battery column along the road at a walk shell after shell whizzing just over us or just short from guns on our left. As we cross Sign Post ridge we come into view of Pepworth and get one or two Long Tom 96 pounders, two of which barely miss our heads. When we cross Range Post and walk down the road to camp we come under a heavy fire from Bulwana.

Major Taunton was killed and a 5th Lancer trooper, the ILH had two men wounded and this was all our casualties. *I found out after (16 February 1900) that I somewhat wronged to ILH. One troop did go forward to attack the kopje, the rest remaining in the donga. They came under a very hot fire and had to retire, losing 5 men and 2 officers. This was however the only attack made."

I photographed this remote and hard-to-find cairn in 1981. It marks the spot where Major Taunton fell on 3rd November 1899.

I don't know if it is still there.

It is a long time ago, but my diary entry for 23 July 1981 seems to indicate that this is/was located on either the southern or eastern flank of Middle Hill.

ON THIS SPOT / MAJOR C.E. TAUNTON / NATAL CARBINEERS / WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON THE / 3RD NOVEMBER 1899




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Thank you Neville - a very tragic family - I have his only son's medal - a Natal Carbineer, Frank Walter Taunton, commissioned just before his death on 14 June 1900 - some 7 months after his father perished.

“In Thy light shall we see light.’ In loving memory of my husband, Charles Edmund Taunton, Major in the Natal Carbineers. Killed in action near Ladysmith during the siege, 3rd November, 1899. Also of our only son, Frank Walter Taunton, Natal Carbineers, who died on the 14th June, 1900.”

Taunton Road in the suburb of Wembley, Pietermaritzburg, is named after the family.

Regards

Rory

Correction.

The 1997 edition of the 1:50,000 map of South Africa shows the Taunton monument situated on the north-western flank of Middle Hill.



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For some reason I recently ended up on-line in the village of Ipplepen in Devon and about 7 miles NW of Torquay. Somebody in the present population 2,500 some seems to have taken an interest in the men of Devon who served in the South African (Boer) War of 1899-1902. They were possibly inspired by a tablet attached to St. Andrew’s Church commemorating two men with connections to the village who died in SA. One of whom was Major Charles Edmund Taunton of the Natal Carabineers. Rory has written at length regarding his son and given a summary of the Major elsewhere. Neville has mentioned the Major most recently and in this thread.

This is the write up he receives from “Peter-H” on Find-a-Grave which gives a bit more detail than the one Rory supplied. This write-up is heavily, but not entirely, dependent on that of Mildred Dooner.

Major Charles Edmund Taunton, Natal Carbineers. Only son of Walter and Mary Ann Taunton. Husband of Clara Annette Taunton (nee Hinde). Lived in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. Was in business in South Africa, was well known in South African finance circles, and a director of many of the older gold mining companies. The regiment was ordered out for active service on 29 Sep 1899, 2 weeks before the Second Anglo Boer War started, and mustered at Ladysmith, with the exception of No 5 (Estcourt) Squadron, which remained at Colenso. They were immediately deployed along the Free State border, to watch the passes over the Berg. They had their first contact with Boer forces on 18 Oct 1899 near Bester's Station and were then redeployed with a column, under Major General French, sent in the direction of Elandslaagte. They fought at Rietfontein on 24 Oct 1899 and at Lombard's Kop on 30 Oct 1899 and were part of the garrison at Ladysmith throughout the siege. Major Taunton was killed in action during a reconnaissance from Ladysmith along the Colenso road (to the south). The enemy was in considerable force and the officer in command, finding their numbers increasing, ordered their withdrawal. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "the death of Major Taunton, Captain Knapp, and young Brabant, the son of the general who did such good service at a later stage of the war, was a heavy price to pay for the knowledge that the Boers were in considerable strength to the south". He was buried in Ladysmith cemetery. After the war, his remains were reinterred in the Commercial Road Cemetery, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (see Find a Grave memorial 188682609). Major Taunton was a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, and his name was inscribed on a memorial tablet in the hall of the building in Northumberland Avenue, London (see: www.roll-of-honour.com/London/RoyalColonialInstitute.html . Location of memorial is unknown since the building was refurbished in about 1993). He is also commemorated on a Boer War memorial plaque in St Andrews Church, Silver Street, Ipplepen, Teignbridge, Devon, England (see: www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/25927 ) and on a memorial near Ladysmith (see: www.battlefieldsroute.co.za/place/taunton/ ).

To save you using the links the first takes you to:



The second link takes you to (which perfectly compliments the photo posted by Neville previously):



Elmarie also contributed to the Find-A-Grave entry with his photo:



Finally an article regarding the tablet attached to the church and the cross in the churchyard at St Andrews’s Church, Ipplepen.



This is the cross referred to in the article:



Ancestry tells me he was born on 21 March 1851 and the 1851 Census shows 11 day old Charles residing at a smart Marylebone address, namely 11 Radnor Place with a father of “independent” means. The 1871 Census find the family at a smart Knightsbridge address of 90 Ebury Street. His probate was carried out in London and shows he appointed a Judge of the South Africa Supreme Court as his executor and his “effects” amounted to £2,964 18s 6d.

This link takes you to the information about the men of Devon (mentioned in my opening paragraph):

www.devonheritage.org/Nonplace/DevonReg/...Honour1899to1902.htm