TOPIC:

James Miller Ramsay

Private, Cape Mounted Rifles
Private, Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry
Trooper, Provisional Mounted Police
Private, Kaffrarian Rifles – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal to 19371 Pte. J.M. Ramsay, Th’croft’s M.I. with clasps Cape Colony, Tugela Heights and Relief of Ladysmith

James Ramsay certainly got around! There were many Colonials who flitted like butterflies from one regiment to another and he was most certainly one of them seeing service in no fewer than three regiments all based in different parts of South Africa.

Born in the remote Katberg area of the Eastern Cape on 21 December 1863 he was 23 when he donned his first military uniform, that of the Cape Mounted Riflemen whose ranks he joined at King William’s Town on 10 March 1887 with the rank of Private and no. 1709. The C.M.R. was tasked with ensuring that peace reigned in the volatile Eastern Cape/Pondoland region which had been plagued for many years by tribal factionalism and frequent and bloody raids on frontier farmers in order to dispossess them of their livestock and, very often, their lives as well. This had led over the years to as many as nine Kaffir wars but by the time Ramsay was in the saddle things had quietened down considerably.

His time with the C.M.R. was not an auspicious one with his name appearing regularly in the regiment’s Defaulter’s Book– on 20 July 1887 he was Admonished for Overstaying his Leave. A month later on 23 August he was again Admonished on this occasion for Fighting in Camp. Undeterred he went on to Absent himself from Camp on 23 December 1887 for which he was once more Admonished (this was two days before Christmas and the Spirit of the season must have caught him). His final act of defiance came on 8 February 1888 when he topped all his previous misdemeanors by making himself guilty of no less than three charges – those of being Drunk on Duty; Neglect of Duty on Horse Guard and Using Abusive Language. It is supposed that the first charge led to the other two and for this he received 6 days Confinement to Barracks.

After this spate of misbehaviour he seems to have cooled down and there were to be no further mentions of him until he purchased his Discharge for £9 on 16 December 1889 having served for 2 ½ years.

Free from the shackles of authority he appears to have moved to East London on the coast where, on 7 December 1894 his daughter, Ethel, was born to his wife Elizabeth and himself. She was duly baptised on 27 March 1895. Things went quiet on the Ramsay front until the Anglo Boer War erupted onto the world stage in October 1899. The young and the not so young men of the Cape and Natal were stirred by appeals made to them to enlist with a multitude of locally based outfits that were being raised to support the outnumbered Regular Army forces stationed in Natal at the time.

Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry was one such unit - This corps, to become famous in the course of the war, was raised at Pietermaritzburg by Major A W Thorneycroft of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Ramsay attested for service with them on 8 January 1900 with no. 19871 and the rank of Private and was immediately thrust into the action.

On the 18th and 20th of January 1900 the regiment had not so conspicuous a place as the composite regiment of Mounted Infantry or the South African Light Horse. When Bastion Hill was seized the regiment was on Lord Dundonald's right, keeping in touch with the left of Hildyard's infantry. But it was the fight atop Spioenkop which was to be Thorneycroft’s finest and most trying hour - on the 22nd January it was determined that this great hill, at the angle where the Boer line turned back from the river, must be taken. To allow of the ground being examined the operation was put off till the evening of the 23rd. At first it was arranged to ascend by the south-east face, next Trichard's Drift; but, near dusk on the 23rd, General Woodgate, who was in command of the assaulting force, decided to go by the south-west face.

In the brief twilight Colonel Thorneycroft made a hasty reconnaissance, and sketched the outstanding features, trees, kraals, etc. The force employed was the 2nd Battalion Royal Lancaster Regiment, the 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, two companies of the 1st Battalion South Lancashire Regiment, and Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, whose strength was 18 officers and 180 men, all dismounted for the task in hand. About 11 pm on the 23rd the force moved off, and after the first half-mile Thorneycroft and his men headed the column, the Colonel himself, with Lieutenants Farquhar and Gordon Forbes and Privates Shaw and Macadam, acting as guides. The most perfect silence was maintained. Halts were frequently made in the ascent, which was so difficult that at times the hands had to be used. During the ascent the column opened out into lines, the order being — Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, Lancashire Fusiliers, Royal Lancaster Regiment, and two companies South Lancashire Regiment.

At 4 am the last slope was breasted, a Boer sentry challenged, and instantly the picket fired. The leading lines lay down until it was thought the magazines were emptied, then rushed forward with the bayonet; but the picket fled, and the summit was occupied. Steps were immediately taken to make defensive works. In his report, dated 26th January 1900, Spion Kop Despatches, Colonel Thorneycroft said: "There was a mist on the hill, and in the darkness and mist it was difficult to get the exact crest line for a good field of fire, and the boulders made it difficult to dig, but we made a rough trench and breastwork".

About 4.30 some Boers opened fire; our men replied—then the firing died out for a time. It was found that the trench did not command the ascent - and men were pushed forward to line the crest. The enemy recommenced firing now more heavily. Defensive works were about to be commenced on the crest, about 180 yards in front of the trench, when the mist lifted—this was between 7.30 and 8. The Boers' rifle-fire now became extremely severe, while 3 guns and a Maxim-Nordenfeldt pitched shells on to the plateau with great accuracy from a range of 3000 yards. It was also now discovered that the trench which had been cut was enfiladed at easy range by trenches or natural caves occupied by the enemy. Most of the advanced parties, being also enfiladed, were completely wiped out, but these were constantly reinforced or replaced.

Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry had been placed at the left of the trench with parties in advance. When visiting this position about 8 am General Woodgate was mortally wounded. Colonel Blomfield of the Lancashire Fusiliers took command, but he too was wounded. Early in the forenoon, probably about 10 am, Colonel Thorneycroft received a message that he was in command of the hill. The messenger was killed as he delivered the order. Over and over again the advance parties were entirely destroyed. No help could be sent to the wounded. Officers and men who were not killed outright kept on firing as long as they could hold a rifle. In his report Colonel Thorneycroft says: "The Boers closed in on the right and centre. Some men of mixed regiments at right end of trench got up and put up their hands; three or four Boers came out and signalled their comrades to advance. I was the only officer in the trench on the left, and I got up and shouted to the leader of the Boers that I was the commandant and that there was no surrender. In order not to get mixed up in any discussion I called on all men to follow me, and retired to some rocks farther back. The Boers opened a heavy fire on us. On reaching the rocks I saw a company of the Middlesex Regiment advancing. I collected them up to the rocks, and ordered all to advance again. This the men did, and we reoccupied the trench and crestline in front. As the companies of the Middlesex arrived I pushed them on to reinforce, and was able to hold the whole line again. The men on the left of our defence, who were detached at some distance from the trench, had held their ground. The Imperial Light Infantry reinforced this part. The Boers then made a desperate endeavour to shell us out of the position, and the fire caused many casualties. The Scottish Rifles came up, and I pushed them up to the right and left flanks as they arrived".

After speaking of the difficulties arising from the uncertainty as to who was in command on the hill, Colonel Thorneycroft went on to say: "The heavy fire continued, and the Boers brought a gun and Maxim-Nordenfeldt to bear on us from the east, thus sweeping the plateau from the east, north, and northwest, and enfilading our trenches. The men held on all along the line, notwithstanding the terrific fire which was brought to bear on them as the enemy's guns (which now numbered 5 and 2 Nordenfeldts) were absolutely unmolested. When night began to close in I determined to take some steps, and a consultation was held.

The officer commanding Scottish Rifles and Colonel Crofton were both of opinion that the hill was untenable. I entirely agreed with their view, and so I gave the order for the troops to withdraw on to the neck and ridge where the hospital was. It was now quite dark, and we went out to warn all to come in. The enemy still kept up a dropping fire. The regiments formed up near the neck and marched off in formation, the Scottish Rifles forming the rear-guard. I was obliged, owing to want of bearers, to leave a large number of wounded on the field. In forming my decision as to retirement I was influenced by the following —

1. The superiority of the Boer artillery, inasmuch as their guns were placed in such positions as to prevent our artillery-fire being brought to bear on them from the lower slopes near camp, or indeed from any other place.

2. By my not knowing what steps were being taken to supply me in the morning with guns other than the mountain-battery, which, in my opinion, could not have lived under the long-range fire of the Boer artillery and their close-range rifle-fire.

3. By the total absence of water and provisions.

4. By the difficulty of entrenching on the top of the hill, to make trench in any way cover from infantry fire with the few spades at my disposal, the ground being so full of rocks.

5. Finally, I did not see how the hill could be held unless the Boer artillery was silenced, and this was impossible. Lieutenant Winston Churchill arrived when the troops had been marched off".

It is impossible to do justice to the scene on the hill throughout the day, or to the splendid behaviour of the great mass of the troops. There have been several detailed accounts of the heroic combat published, but none is more realistic than that of Lieutenant L Oppenheim, of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, published in the 'Nineteenth Century' of 1901. Mr Oppenheim has there given a contribution to the history of the war which is invaluable. Colonel Thorneycroft says little about his own doings, so a quotation from Mr Oppenheim is not out of place.

"It was one o'clock. A soldier near to Colonel Thorneycroft in the angle of the entrenchment drew his attention to some movement which was going on on the right of the entrenchment, some fifty yards away. The stretch of wall in between was unoccupied. The soldier said, 'By God, they're surrendering', and this was what was happening: About forty men of mixed regiments (amongst whom was no man of the Mounted Infantry) were standing up in the entrenchment with their empty arms raised. Their rifles lay at their feet, and their hands were in the air, while coming up the slope towards them were three Boers. Other Boers were following these behind. The three in front turned and beckoned to their comrades to come on, and all were waving small pocket-handkerchiefs.

The leader of the Boers was only about thirty yards away from Colonel Thorneycroft. He was a Transvaaler, by name De Kock, and I continue the story of what then happened as he himself described it to a British officer in the Biggarsberg laager in April. 'We had got up, and we should have had the whole hill' he said; the English were about to surrender, and we were all coming up, when a great big, angry, red-faced soldier ran out of the trench on our right and screamed out, 'I'm the commandant here; take your men back to hell, sir; there's no surrender!'" and then there was ten minutes melee. It was just such a trick as the Boers love. Profiting by the shattered morale of a small body of men who had lost their officers, the Boers were hoping to start a discussion and gain time for more and more men to creep up into the 'dead' ground behind them.

The ' great big soldier' was Colonel Thorneycroft, who, grasping the situation, ran forward to the Boer and then back to his men ... Towards sundown the men of the old force were completely exhausted. Since six on the night of the 23rd they had been continuously under arms; they had had absolutely no water and no food. Many of them had been served out with six-pound tins of beef the day before, which they could not carry up the hill, and had, with an improvidence frequently seen, thrown away. Of the lack of water General Woodgate had spoken as early as ten o'clock; a few tins of water had since then been brought up on the backs of mules. Of these more than half had been spilt, for the mules had fallen down the hillside, and the rest was inadequate for the hospital.

The intolerable strain of the shell-fire and rifle-fire had told on the stoutest. Amongst the prisoners taken by the Boers from the right of the entrenchment on Spion Kop was an officer. When he arrived in Pretoria on the following day his fellow-captives went out to meet him, anxious to get the news. One asked, 'How's my brother?' His answer was 'Dead'. Another asked, 'How is my brother?' His answer was ' Dead, dead; everybody's dead; the British army is all dead'. And for a month no other answer to every question put to him could an averagely sane and healthy and strong and brave young English officer give to all who spoke to him. Such had been the strain of the 24th of January.

"The casualties of the corps, according to the lists published at the time, were: killed, 6 officers— Captains the Honourable W H Petre and C S Knox-Gore, Lieutenants C G Greenfell, P F Newnham, H S M'Corquodale, and the Honourable N W Hill-Trevor— and 20 non-commissioned officers and men; wounded, 4 officers—Captain R. A Bettington, Lieutenants A W J Forster, J W B. Baldwin, and N. Howard— and 41 non-commissioned officers and men; missing, 1 officer and 12 non-commissioned officers and men. Nearly all the latter were afterwards returned as killed. This was practically fifty per cent of the strength.



In his despatch of 30th January 1900, General Buller said: "I have not thought it necessary to order any investigation. If at sundown the defence of the summit had been taken regularly in hand, entrenchments laid out, gun emplacements prepared, the dead removed, the wounded collected, and, in fact, the whole place brought under regular military command, and careful arrangements made for the supply of water and food to the scattered fighting line, the hills would have been held, I am sure. But no arrangements were made. General Coke appears to have been ordered away just as he would have been useful, and no one succeeded him; those on the top were ignorant of the fact that guns were coming up, and generally there was a want of organisation and system that acted most unfavourably on the defence. It is admitted by all that Colonel Thorneycroft acted with the greatest gallantry throughout the day, and really saved the situation. Preparations for the second day's defence should have been organised during the day and have been commenced at nightfall. As this was not done, I think Colonel Thorneycroft exercised a wise discretion ... I cannot close these remarks without bearing testimony to the gallant and admirable behaviour of the troops; the endurance shown by the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Middlesex Regiment, and Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry was admirable, while the efforts of the 2nd Battalion Scottish Rifles and 3rd Battalion King's Royal Rifles were equally good, and the Royal Lancasters fought gallantly".

The remnant of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry was with Lord Dundonald protecting the right and rear at Vaal Krantz, and took part in the operations which commenced on 12th February and lasted till the 27th, when Ladysmith was relieved. Thorneycroft's men were the first troops to cross the Tugela on the 20th, and did most valuable scouting work on the 21st. with Ladysmith relieved on 1 March 1900 Ramsay took his discharge from the T.M.I. on 7 April 1900. He would have been in need of the break after the horrors of Spioenkop.



Ramsay was however not done with the war – having made his way back to his home town of East London he was soon itching to be back in uniform. At around that time the call had gone out to find recruits for the Provisional Mounted Police – a S.A.C. equivalent to police the Orange Free State now that the territory was, nominally, in British hands. On 14 September 1900 Ramsay completed the Application forms for service with the “Orange River Colony Police” at East London. Confirming that he was 36 years old he also advised that he was 5 feet 8 inches in height and that he was a Carpenter by trade. South African born he was fluent in English, Dutch and Kafir (fairly). He confirmed that he was married and that he was accustomed to riding on horse- back and that he could swim. Mention was made that he had served with the Cape Mounted Riflemen.

Taking the Oath of Allegiance in Bloemfontein four days later he was assigned no. 574 and the rank of Trooper. How long he stuck it out for is not known but the duties he was required to execute were probably very similar to those of the Cape Mounted Rifles and, as we have seen, that didn’t sit very well with him. On 7 January 1901 he enlisted with the Kaffrarian Rifles serving with them until 8 July of that year with no. 1722. For this service he earned the Cape Colony clasp to the Queens Medal awarded to him. This was in addition to the Tugela Heights and Relief of Ladysmith clasps he had fought so hard for.

Nothing further is known of James Miller Ramsay’s whereabouts. [/size]

Bibliography:

Stirling's Colonials in South Africa
Family Search.org
National Archives of South Africa - Cape Archives iro CMR record
Ancestry.co.uk iro Medal rolls
Anglo Boer War.com iro Nominal Rolls