On the 19th and 20th General Clements, in conjunction with General French, fought a continuous series of engagements with Delarey’s men, and eventually drove them from the Magaliesberg region. But these took their revenge on the 29th by capturing Helvetia, on the Machadodorp-Lydenburg Railway. This position, a very strong one, was held by a detachment of the Liverpool Regiment, who were surprised by the enemy at 2.30 A.M., the Dutchmen having first “rushed” the 4.7 gun. The officer commanding the post at Swarzkopjes sent out a post, shelled away the enemy, and forced them to temporarily abandon their prize; but the Boers eventually secured the trophy by knowingly forming an ægis of British prisoners around it. Major Cotton was severely wounded, and four other officers; eleven men were killed and twenty-two wounded, and two hundred taken prisoners. It was a sorry finale for the year, yet those who could appreciate the complexities of the work of subjugation now engaging Lord Kitchener, possessed their souls in patience, and looked to 1901 for the dawn of better things.
London, December 1900.
THE INSPECTION OF COLONIAL SOLDIERS AT WINDSOR CASTLE BY QUEEN VICTORIA, NOV. 16, 1900
Drawing by R. Caton Woodville
FOOTNOTES:
[15] See vol. i. p. 186.
[16] Colonel Philip Walter Jules Le Gallais was born on August 17, 1861. He entered the army, from the Militia, as a second lieutenant in the 8th Hussars on April 23, 1881, obtaining his lieutenancy in the following July and his troop in March 1888. He served on the staff as aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief in Bombay from July 1891 to March 1893, and was adjutant of his regiment from July 1893 to May 1896. From November 1896 until he went out to South Africa he was serving with the Egyptian Army, obtaining his majority in April 1897. He was actively engaged in the Nile Expedition in 1897 (for which he received the medal with clasp), and also in the expedition of the following year, when he took part in the cavalry reconnaissance on April 4, and the battles of the Atbara and Khartoum, obtaining mention in despatches, published in the London Gazette of May 24 and September 30, and being rewarded with the brevet of lieutenant-colonel (November 16, 1898) and the 4th class of the Osmanieh and two clasps to his Egyptian medal. Colonel Le Gallais was an officer qualified as an interpreter in French. He had been on the staff of the army in South Africa as a cavalry leader, graded as an assistant adjutant-general, since April 7 last. A correspondent, writing to the Times, said: “His death is especially to be deplored, as he stood in the front rank of the few cavalry officers who have proved exceptional abilities during the recent war.... It is interesting to note that the three junior cavalry officers who have been given independent commands in South Africa upon merit were serving together in the last Nile campaign. These are Brigadier-General Broadwood and Colonels Le Gallais and Mahon. At Bloemfontein, where the Mounted Infantry Division was formed, Colonel Le Gallais was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General to General Ian Hamilton, and he accompanied that officer in his flank march to Pretoria and Heidelberg. After the breaking up of the Division, Colonel Le Gallais was given a detached mounted infantry command, and his force has since been operating with the many flying columns on the heels of De Wet, with the final result reported on Friday. Besides being a brilliant soldier, Colonel Le Gallais was well known as a polo player and an expert steeple-chase rider.”
[17] The following were taken prisoners: Gloucestershire Regiment, Major H. R. Tufnell, Second Lieutenant A. K. Ford, Captain B. O. Fyffe, Captain A. J. Menzies, Captain W. H. Walshe, and all non-commissioned officers and men of “A,” “B,” and “F” Companies; 68th Battery R.F.A., Major Massy and one section; Highland Light Infantry, Second Lieutenant Alston and one Company; Army Service Corps, Second Lieutenant M’Nally; Orange River Colony Police, Lieutenant Boyle; Royal Irish Rifles, detachment, strength unknown. The total taken prisoners numbered 451 of all ranks.