HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS, ST. MARTIN’S LANE.
CAPE MOUNTED RIFLEMEN.
ROYAL STANDARD.
REGIMENTAL GUIDON.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Corps employed against the Cape of Good Hope, in 1806:—
20th Lt. Drag., (det.)
Royal Artill., (det.)
Royal Engin., (det.)
24th Foot,
38th Foot,
59th Foot,
71st Foot,
72nd Foot,
83rd Foot,
93rd Foot,
Staff Corps, (det.)
The loss sustained in the landing at Lospard’s Bay, and in the action of the 8th January, was—1 Captain, (Foster,) 24th Regt., and 14 men killed; 36 men of the 93rd Regt., drowned by the upsetting of a boat in attempting to land; 9 officers and 183 men wounded; and 8 men missing.
[2] The Kafirs are natives of Caffraria, Caffreland, or, more properly, “Kafirland,” from the Arabic word Kafir, which signifies “Unbeliever;” these people are a hardy and warlike race; they are armed with light spears, about seven feet in length, called assagais, of which each warrior carries six or eight, and a kind of club for close fighting, called a kerrie; the former they throw with great force and dexterity, seldom missing an object at a less distance than sixty paces. The men are, for the most part, tall, muscular, robust, and very active, and from the difficult, and almost inaccessible nature of the country in which the troops have to act against them, are far from being a despicable enemy: they have of late years obtained guns and an abundance of horses; they seldom make an attack in the open field, but select, with much judgment, the most rugged and rocky ravines, and the densest thickets, for their onset. They are patient of hunger and fatigue; and traverse immense distances in an incredibly short space of time, and the features of the country being favourable to their mode of warfare, military combination is rendered extremely difficult; the greatest caution and steadiness are, therefore, requisite in troops employed in any operation, in order to guard against a surprise from so wily and active a people, who are watchful of every opportunity to pounce upon any detachment which may appear to be unsupported, or neglectful of the necessary precautions against surprise.
A most able and experienced officer (Colonel H. G. Smith, late of the Rifle Brigade, and Deputy Quarter-Master-General at the Cape of Good Hope) declared, “that to follow the enemy vigorously to his haunts and lurking-places, requires a perfect knowledge of the service in all its branches, and an intrepidity and recklessness of danger, which, while they become the soldier, prove the courage of the man.”