1824
1825
1826
1827
In the years 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1827, the regiment was constantly employed in repelling the inroads of the Kafirs; numerous rencounters took place, and in that period the patroles of the regiment recovered six thousand and twenty-nine head of cattle belonging to the colony, which will give some idea of the nature of this border warfare, and of the arduous duties performed by the corps.
Some respite from these services being afforded, the corps was reduced, in November, 1827, to three companies of mounted riflemen, under a major commanding, and the head-quarters were removed to Fort Beaufort.
1828
The Cape Mounted Riflemen, under the command of Captain Aitchison, accompanied Lieutenant-Colonel Somerset[4] into Kafirland, in July and August, 1828, to repel the attacks of a horde of savages, who had driven the border Kafirs into the colony. Lieut.-Colonel Somerset advanced as far as the Umtata River, and on the 28th of August the Cape Mounted Riflemen were engaged with a very superior force of the invading tribes, and after a severe action from day-break until mid-day, the savages retreated, leaving many women and children, and much cattle behind them.
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
After returning from this enterprise, the Riflemen resumed their duties along the frontier; the depredations of the Kafirs were continued, and in the years 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, and 1834, the patroles of the corps recaptured six thousand two hundred and ten head of cattle, and three hundred and thirty-four horses, which had been stolen from the colonists.
Disputes frequently arose when the military were searching for lost property; the Kafirs denied the justice of some claims, asserted that seizures were made without proof of guilt, and without the tracks of the lost cattle being traced to the kraal where a demand for cattle in lieu of those lost was enforced. These disputes led to bloodshed, and were followed, in 1834, by a simultaneous attack of the Kafirs upon the colony at all points. On this occasion the Cape Corps had three provisional companies of mounted men attached to it, and having taken the field, it was almost constantly engaged in detached parties with the invaders. It penetrated into Kafirland, and was employed in the most active and arduous services under Lieut.-Colonel Somerset, and Major Burney, for many months.
1835
1836
1837
The Kafir war was continued in 1835, and in May of that year the head-quarters of the corps were removed to Cypher Fontein; strong detachments being employed in the new province, and along the line of posts. The corps was also actively employed on the frontier during the subsequent years.