| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| Naval Brigade | 3 | 8 | 13 | 34 |
| Royal Artillery | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 12th Suffolks | 1 | - | 7 | 24 |
| 14th W. Yorks | 2 | 8 | 13 | 29 |
| 18th Roy. Irish | 1 | 1 | 19 | 44 |
| 40th N. Lancs | 2 | 3 | 22 | 42 |
| 43rd Oxford L.I. | 7 | 2 | 13 | 19 |
| 50th W. Kent | 1 | 3 | 18 | 30 |
| 57th Middlesex | 2 | 2 | 23 | 47 |
| 65th York and Lancaster | 2 | 8 | 24 | 49 |
| 68th Durham L.I. | - | 4 | 9 | 41 |
| 70th E. Surrey | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
| Colonial Troops | 6 | 15 | 650 | |
Although the war dragged on for so long, it calls for no special remark. It resolved itself into the attack of the Maori stockades, which were constructed with great skill. On more than one occasion we certainly came off second best. One point, however, is worthy of note. It was found that the red coats and shakos of the soldiers were not the most suitable garments for Bush warfare, and, to the distress of the old soldiers of the leather stock and pipeclay school, the men fought in blue jumpers and forage-caps.
In the month of June we experienced rather a serious reverse at what was known as the Gate Pah; but the distinguished regiment which suffered heavily on that day showed a few weeks later that it had lost none of the dash for which it had been so famous in Wellington's days. In the early spring of 1866 peace was declared, and since then there have been no more loyal servants of the Crown than our Maori fellow-subjects.
Abyssinia, 1867-68.
The following regiments are authorized to bear this battle honour:
3rd Dragoon Guards.
King's Own Lancasters.
Cameronians.
West Riding.
Sherwood Foresters.
10th Hodson's Horse.
12th Cavalry.
33rd Q.O. Light Cavalry.
2nd Q.O. Sappers and Miners.
3rd Sappers and Miners.
21st Punjabis.
23rd Pioneers.
102nd K.E.O. Grenadiers.
103rd Mahratta Light Infantry.
104th Wellesley's Rifles.
121st Pioneers.
125th Napier's Rifles.
127th Baluch Light Infantry.
The above regiments formed the expeditionary force, under Sir Robert Napier, then Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, which had for its object the release of a number of English and German prisoners held in captivity by Theodore, King of Abyssinia. Until the year 1861 our relations with this half-savage, half-Christian potentate had been of the most cordial nature. He looked on Mr. Plowden, the British Consul, as his most trusted adviser, and amongst the members of his personal household was more than one Englishman. On Mr. Plowden's death a change occurred. The new Consul seems not to have been on the best terms either with the King or with the Foreign Office, and the neglect of the latter to take any notice of an autograph letter addressed to our Queen by King Theodore led to an open rupture. The King swept all Europeans into prison, including the Consul, and on remonstrances being made detained other emissaries. As Theodore had contracted a habit of doing away with his prisoners, it was considered necessary to back up verbal remonstrances with force, and the conduct of the negotiations was removed from the Foreign Office and placed in the hands of the Commander-in-Chief in Bombay.
Little was known of the country, and the most pessimistic forebodings were indulged in by the English Press. The result proved the falsity of the critics. Sir Robert Napier was a master of the art of organization, and from the date of the landing of the troops in Zoulla Bay until their final embarkation there was not a single mishap. There was practically no fighting. The army traversed close on 300 miles of country destitute of roads, crossed mountain-ranges 9,000 feet in height, stormed what Theodore fancied was an impregnable fortress, effected the release of the European prisoners, and freed the Abyssinians from the tyranny of a bloodthirsty King, without the loss of a single man killed in action, and of only thirty-seven who died by disease. The result was due to one man, and to one man alone, and it proved the wisdom of not interfering with the General in command when once he has been entrusted with the conduct of military operations. The House of Commons grumbled at the cost of the expedition, but Sir Robert Napier judged the value of a British soldier at a higher price than mere pounds, shillings, and pence, and preferred that the tax-payer should pay for the mistakes of the Foreign Office in hard cash rather than that the army should pay in the lives of its men.
Thirty years later the Italians tried their 'prentice hand in the same country. The annihilation of their army threw into stronger relief the wisdom of the tactics employed by Lord Napier, where, by utilizing native labour for the construction of the necessary military roads, he saved the health and the lives of his soldiers.
It is impossible to write of the Abyssinian Expedition without adding a word as to the marvellous manner in which the disembarkation and final embarkation of the army was conducted, without hitch or loss, by the Quartermaster-General at Zoulla Bay, then Major Fred Roberts,[27]