South Africa, May 1900

v0.6 draft, released after being hung up for a month trying to work out Mounted Brigade structures and trying to find who was in Chermside’s 3^rd Division. It’s still work in progress.

For comparison, the British fielded an army the size of the combined American Civil War Armies of the Potomac, James, Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio combined to defeat the Boers.

Notes on Nomenclature

The Division is the basic unit of manoeuvre and roughly corresponds with a European/ US Corps in many ways. Reflecting this, the numbering system uses roman numerals.

The terms “Column” and “Field Force” are both used for larger organisations. A Column is usually several divisions and roughly corresponds with a Corps. A Field Force roughly corresponds to an Army.

The term Corps is usually used to describe Battalion or smaller units. It was especially used by the Mounted Infantry as an intermediate term. A Corps of MI was usually several Mounted Infantry/ Imperial Yeomanry Bns and some colonial horse. It is the nearest thing to a “Regimental” level of command as the British have ever got.

Notes on Organisation

The British Army in South Africa was effectively organised into 4 Corps de Armee, although the term wasn’t in use at the time. Instead they referred to the Natal Army, and the centre and flanking columns of the main army.

A Brigade was roughly 4,700 men strong, with a composition of:

• Brigade Staff
• 4x Infantry Battalions (ea. 29 officers and 1,003 men)
• 1 Company of the Army Service Corps (Logistics)
• 1 Company of the Royal Army Medical Corps and a Field Hospital

Fighting strength was roughly 3,520 riflemen and 4 Maxim machine gun teams

A Division generally consisted of 2 Brigades, plus the following assets:

• 3 Batteries of 6 Field Artillery pieces (guns are 15 pounder breach loading rifles)
• 1 Ammunition Column
• 1 Field Engineer Company
• 1 Squadron of Cavalry

• 1 Company of the Army Service Corps (Logistics)

• 1 Field Hospital

On the subject of artillery, I’ve yet to nail it all down, but 10 RHA batteries were present (A, G, J, M, O, P, Q, R, T and U) and 44 RFA batteries (2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 13^th, 14^th, 17^th, 18^th, 19^th, 20^th, 21^st, 28^th, 37^th, 38^th, 39^th, 42^nd, 43^rd, 53^rd, 61^st, 62^nd, 63^rd, 64^th, 65^th, 66^th, 67^th, 68^th, 69^th, 73^rd, 74^th, 75^th, 76^th, 77^th, 78^th, 79^th, 81^st, 82^nd, 83rd  84^th, 85^th, 86^th, 87^th and 88^th), plus 2 RGA batteries (4^th Mountain and 10^th Mountain), 2 volunteer batteries (City Imperial Volunteers Battery (essentially an HAC battery) and the Elswick Battery), 4 militia batteries and eventually 3 Canadian batteries (C, D and E). In addition, some RGA heavy batteries were present, as were some South African batteries (The Natal Field Battery and Cape Artillery Regiment), but I’ve yet to locate them all.

The Cavalry Brigades consisted of:

• Brigade Staff
• 3 Cavalry Regiments (ea. 531 men with 467 actual sabres and 1 Maxim team)
• 1 Battery of RHA (with 6 12 pounder breach loading rifles)
• 1 Troop of Field Engineers
• 2 Companies of Mounted Infantry

Cavalry Regiments were self-supporting, and when organised as a Cavalry Division had little extra assets attached. Note that unlike the infantry (where brigades had a single numbering) the two Cavalry Divisions numbered their brigades 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd (and 4^th), leading to some confusion.

The Mounted Infantry were created by taking a company out of each Battalion (reducing strength of a Bn from ca. 1,250 to ca 1,030) and forming 8 Mounted Infantry Battalions. Each Company had 142 men and had a Maxim gun team. A few spare companies were given to the cavalry.

However, instead of the initial organisation of 2 MI Bdes (as a Division) instead the British gained 5 Mounted Brigades, each of which was composed of a number of “Corps”, which in turn was composed of a number of battalions, and probably numbered around 1,000 rifles.

Reserve Forces

The Militia was mobilised and 12 battalions were sent overseas in December 1899 (possibly more later), at least 7 to SA as combat units. The rest of the militia sent reinforcement draughts to their regular battalions.

The 12 Bns sent abroad were:

• 4^th Bn, Royal Lancaster Regiment (SA)
• 6^th Bn, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (SA)
• 3^rd Bn, South Lancashire Regiment (SA)
• 4^th Bn, Derbyshire Regiment (SA)
• 9^th Bn, King’s Royal Rifles (SA)
• 3^rd Bn, Durham Light Infantry (SA)
• 4^th Bn, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (SA)
• 3^rd Bn, Royal West Kent Regiment (Malta)
• 3^rd Bn, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (Malta)
• 3^rd Bn, Devonshire Regiment (Channel Islands)
• 3^rd Bn, Suffolk Regiment (Channel Islands)
• 6^th Bn, Lancashire Fusiliers (not known)

Doyle notes “about 30 battalions of militia arrived February-March”, so there may have been another set of battalions accepted in January, arriving in March.

The Volunteers were asked to provide complete reinforcement companies (116 all ranks) to their regular battalions. The Irish Battalions in England were assigned as follows:

• 5^th (Liverpool Irish) Bn, King’s Regiment à Royal Irish Regiment
• 16^th (London Irish) Bn, Middlesex Regiment à Royal Irish Rifles

The Yeomanry could not be sent overseas due to their terms of service. So the government formed a new force, “The Imperial Yeomanry” and many of the existing Yeomanry joined it, often dropping rank to do so, since most Yeomanry Regiments formed a single squadron (often with the Colonel acting down to Captain, and Subalterns acting down to enlisted ranks).

The first cohort of the Imperial Yeomanry were mostly those Yeomanry types, excepting the 13^th and much of the 17^th Battalions (raised in Ireland as new units), 18^th Battalion (Sharpshooters),19^th Battalion (Paget’s Horse) and 20^th Battalion (Rough Riders) by this date, another 19 Battalions would be raised in the first cohort.

See: http://hometown.aol.co.uk/kevinasplin/IYhistory.html

Transvaal Field Force (General Lord Roberts)

Independent Troops

12^th Brigade (Major General R A P Clements)

2^nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment
1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment
2nd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment
2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment

Left Wing

5^th Mounted Brigade (Hutton)

Canadian Mounted Rifles

Queensland Mounted Infantry

XI^th Division (Lieutenant General Pole-Carew)

1^st (Guards) Brigade (Major General Colville)

3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
1^st Battalion, Coldstream Guards

2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards
1st Battalion, Scots Guards

18^th Brigade (Brigadier General T Stephenson)

2^nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
1^st Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment
1^st Battalion, Welsh Regiment
1^st Battalion, Essex Regiment

Artillery

83^rd Battery, RFA

84^th Battery, RFA

85^th Battery, RFA

VII^th Division (Lieutenant General Tucker)

14^th Brigade (Major General Maxwell)

2nd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment

2^nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment

1^st Battalion, King’s Own Borderers

2^nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment

15^th Brigade (Major General Wavell)

2^nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment

2^nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers

1^st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment

2^nd Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment

Right Wing

Mounted Rifle Division (Lieutenant General Ian Hamilton)

21^st Brigade (Brigadier General Bruce Hamilton)

1^st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment

1^st Battalion, Queen’s Own (Cameron) Highlanders

1^st Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment

City Imperial Volunteers Infantry Battalion

19^th (Light) Brigade (Major General Horace Smith-Dorrien)

2^nd Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry

2^nd Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry

1^st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders

2^nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Infantry

1^st Cavalry Brigade (Broadwood)

Household Cavalry Regiment
10th Hussars
12th Lancers

4^th Mounted Brigade (Major General Ridley)

2^nd, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th Mounted Infantry

South African Mounted Rifles

Artillery Brigade

P and Q Batteries, RHA

76^th, 81^st and 82^nd Batteries, RFA

Massey’s section (5” guns)

Cape Field Force (Lord Kitchener)

I^st Division (Lieutenant General Lord Methuen)

Naval Brigade

9^th Brigade (Major General Pole-Carew)

1st Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers

2nd Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

2nd Battalion, Loyal Regiment

2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment

20^th Brigade (Major General Arthur Paget)

1^st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers

4^th (Militia) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment

4^th (Militia) Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment

unidentified Militia Bn

X^th Division (Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Hunter)

5^th (Irish) Brigade (Major General Hart) – detached to right wing

1^st Battalion, Inniskilling Fusiliers
1^st Battalion, Connaught Rangers
1^st Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers
1^st Battalion, Border Regiment

6^th (Fusilier) Brigade (Major General Barton)

2^nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
2^nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
1^st Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers
2^nd Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers

Divisional Troops

Imperial Light Horse

M Battery, RHA

VI^th Division (Lieutenant General Kelly-Kenny)

13^th Brigade (Major General Knox)

2nd Battalion, East Kent Regiment
2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
1st Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment
1st Battalion, Oxfordshire Light Infantry

IX^th Division (Major General Colville)

3^rd (Highland) Brigade (Major General McDonald)

2^nd Battalion, Black Watch
1^st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry
2^nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders
1^st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

III^rd Division (Major General Sir Herbert Chermside)

VIII^th Division (Lieutenant General Sir H M L Rundle)

16th Brigade (Major General B B D Campbell)

2^nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards

2^nd Battalion, Scots Guards

1^st Battalion, Leinster Regiment

2^nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment

17th Brigade (Major General J E Boyes)

1^st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment

2^nd Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment

1^st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment

2^nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment

Colonial Division (Major-General Sir Edward Brabant)

Brigade

Cape Mounted Rifles

1^st Brabant Mounted Rifles

2^nd Brabant Mounted Rifles

Kaffrarian Rifles

Queenstown Volunteers

Natal Volunteer Brigade (Brigadier General Dartnell)

Natal Carabiniers

Natal Mounted Rifles

Border Mounted Rifles

Cavalry Division (Lieutenant General French)

2^nd Cavalry (Union) Brigade (Porter)

6^th Dragoon Guards (Carabineers)
2^nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys)
6^th Dragoons (Inniskillings)

1^st Australian Horse (Sqn)

3^rd Cavalry (Lancer) Brigade (Brigadier General J R P Gordon)

9^th Lancers.
16^th Lancers.

17^th Lancers

4^th Cavalry Brigade (Dickson)

7^th Dragoon Guards

8^th Hussars

14^th Hussars

Artillery

G Battery, RHA

J Battery, RHA

P Battery, RHA

Q Battery, RHA

R Battery, RHA

T Battery, RHA

U Battery, RHA

Natal Field Force (General Buller)

4^th Cavalry Brigade (Earl of Dundonald)

1^st Royal Dragoons
13^th Hussars

14^th Hussars

2^nd Division (Lieutenant General Sir C. F. Clery)

2^nd Brigade (Major General Hildyard)

2^nd Battalion, Queen’s Royal Regiment

2^nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
2^nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment
2^nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment

4^th (Rifle) Brigade (Major General Lyttelton)

1^st Battalion, Rifle Brigade
1^st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
3^rd Battalion, King’s Royal Rifles
2^nd Battalion Scottish Rifles

Artillery Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Harrison)

7th, 63rd and 64th Batteries, RFA

A Battery, RHA (The Chestnut Troop)

61st Howitzer Battery, RFA
Naval Brigade: 3x 4.7 inch naval guns, 3x 37mm'pom-poms', 4 12-pr naval guns.

17th Company, Royal Engineers

4th Division (Major General Lyttelton)

7th Brigade (Major General F W Kitchener)

1^st Battalion, Princess Victoria’s Royal Irish Fusiliers

2^nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade

1^st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment

2^nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders

8th Brigade (Major General Howard)

1^st Battalion, King’s Regiment

1^st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

1^st Battalion, King’s Royal Rifles

1^st Battalion, Manchester Regiment

5^th Division (Lieutenant General Sir Charles Warren)

10^th Brigade (Major General Coke)

2nd Battalion, Dorset Regiment
2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment

2^nd Battalion, Prince Albert’s (Somerset) Light Infantry

Imperial Light Infantry

11^th (Lancashire) Brigade (Major General Woodgate)

2nd King’s Royal Lancaster Regiment
2nd Lancashire Fusiliers
1st South Lancashire Regiment
1st York and Lancashire Regiment

2^nd Cavalry Division

1^st Cavalry Brigade (Burn-Murdoch)

5^th Dragoon Guards

1^st Royal Dragoons

13^th Hussars

2^nd Cavalry Brigade (Major General Brocklehurst)

5^th Lancers

18^th Hussars

19^th Hussars

3rd (Mounted Rifles) Cavalry Brigade (Colonel Lord Dundonald)

4^th Battalion, Mounted Infantry

Lord Strathcona’s Horse

1^st Regiment, South African Light Horse

Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry

Appendix: Mounted Infantry and Rifles, and other Units

Present at this period were the following:

UK

• 20 Battalions of the Imperial Yeomanry (roughly 500 Mounted Rifles each)
• 10 Battalions of Regular Mounted Infantry (roughly 500 Mounted Infantry each)
• Additionally, the Militia were called out, and many sent to SA

South Africa (unless noted these are 500 man Battalions)

• Asburner’s Light Horse (1 Sqn, Meuthuen’s Column)
• Bethune's Mounted Infantry (Corps Tps, Buller)
• Border Horse (Brabant’s Colonial Division)
• Border Mounted Rifles (?)
• Brabant’s Horse (Brabant’s Colonial Division)
• Marshall’s Horse (5^th Mounted Brigade)
• Cape Mounted Rifles (Brabant’s Colonial Division, this regiment is the Cape Colony Regular Army)
• Commander in Chief’s Bodyguard (Bullock’s column)
• Eastern Province Light Horse
• French’s Scouts (about 3 Sqns)
• Frontier Light Horse (about 3 Sqns)
• Frontier Mounted Rifles (about 2 Sqns, Brabant’s Colonial Division)
• Imperial Light Horse (att. Hunter’s Division)
• Kaffrarian Rifles (Brabant’s Colonial Division)
• Kitchener’s Horse (Hannay’s Mounted Division)
• Loch’s Horse (2 Sqns, 8^th Corps in Henry’s Bde)
• Natal Carabiniers
• Nesbitt’s Horse (2^nd Mounted Brigade (att VII Div))
• Orpen’s Horse
• Robert’s Horse (1^st Mounted Brigade)
• South African Light Horse
• Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry

New South Wales

• New South Wales Lancers (Cavalry Squadron)
• 1^st Australian Horse (Mounted Rifles Squadron, integrated into the 2^nd Dragoons (Scots Greys))
• A and E Sqns, New South Wales Mounted Rifles

Queensland

• Queensland Mounted Infantry (4 Sqn Bn, part of Lieutenant Colonel C G Martyr’s 3^rd Mounted Infantry)

South Australia

• South Australian Mounted Rifles (3 Sqn Bn, part of Colonel St G C Henry’s 4^th Mounted Infantry)

Tasmania

• Tasmanian Mounted Rifles (attached to the SAMR as a 4^th Sqn)

Western Australia

• 1^st and 2^nd Squadrons, Western Australia Mounted Infantry (attached to Lieutenant Colonel De Lisle’s Brigade)

Canada

• 1^st Canadian Mounted Rifles (regular cavalry)
• 2^nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (ex- NWMP, Carnarvon FF)
• Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Cavalry Regiment)

New Zealand

• New Zealand Mounted Rifles (3 Sqn Bn, part of Alderson’s 1^st Mounted Infantry Brigade)

SA Infantry

• Cape Town Highlanders
• Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteer Rifles
• Durban Light Infantry
• Imperial Light Infantry (spent time in a regular Bde, now part of Bethune's column under Buller)

Notes on Composition of MI Bdes

1^st Mounted Infantry Brigade ()

1^st Battalion, Mounted Infantry

3^rd Battalion, Mounted Infantry

Roberts' Horse (2^nd Regiment, South African Light Horse)

New Zealand Mounted Rifles

Rimington's Guides

1^st Mounted Brigade (Brigadier General Alderson)

1^st Battalion, Mounted Infantry

2^nd Battalion, Mounted Infantry

Rimington's Guides

2^nd Mounted Infantry Brigade (Colonel P W J Le Gallais) –Ian Hamiltons force

6^th Battalion, Mounted Infantry

8^th Battalion, Mounted Infantry

Kitchener’s Horse (3^rd Regiment, South African Light Horse)

City Imperial Volunteers Mounted Infantry

Nesbitt's Horse

New South Wales Mounted Infantry

3^rd Mounted Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel CG Martyr)

5^th Mounted Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Dawson)

5^th Battalion, Mounted Infantry

Marshall’s Horse

Robert’s Horse

8^th Mounted Brigade (Colonel Henry)

4^th Battalion, Mounted Infantry

Australian Composite Mounted Rifles Regiment (1^st and 2^nd Victorian Mounted Rifles, South Australian Mounted Rifles and Tasmanian Mounted Rifles)

Loch’s Horse (1 Squadron)

Lumsden’s Horse (?)

1^st Imperial Yeomanry Brigade (Brigadier-General Charles Gore Erroll, Earl)

1^st Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry

2^nd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry

3^rd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry