The 3rd Battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Cromer Ashburnham,[[48]] remained in South Africa, and was quartered at Pietermaritzburg, when in January, 1881, the Boers, under Joubert, invaded Natal. Major-General Sir George Colley, the High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, having assembled at Newcastle a small force, which included the 3rd Battalion, advanced and attacked the Boers on the 28th in position at Laing’s Nek. The Battalion in part covered the left flank, and in part formed a reserve to the assaulting column. The attack was repulsed with heavy loss, and the Battalion covered the retreat, but did not lose many men.
On the 25th of January the 2nd Battalion arrived from India in a state of the highest efficiency after its successful experience in the Afghan War. Landing at Durban, it marched forthwith to join headquarters at Newcastle, where it remained until the armistice in March.
Feb. 8th, 1881, INGOGO FIGHT.
The Boers, as a result of their victory at Laing’s Nek, made a desperate effort to sever the communications between Colley’s force at Mount Prospect, and the advanced base at Newcastle. The General accordingly took prompt steps to avert this catastrophe, and thus it came about that on the 8th of February was fought on the Ingogo Heights an action as glorious as any in the history of the 60th. Colley, with two 9–pounder R.A. guns, thirty-eight men of the Mounted Infantry, and five companies of the 3rd Battalion, under Ashburnham, marched early on the 8th from Prospect upon Newcastle, crossed the Ingogo River, and, on ascending the heights beyond, was attacked from all sides shortly before noon. The British position was a plateau covered with short grass, rocks, and boulders; whereas the kloofs and slopes occupied by the Boers were also not only strewn with rocks, but overgrown with long grass, which being three and four feet high afforded excellent cover. The troops, though completely surrounded, maintained the fight for nearly seven hours, until at last, in the gloom of approaching night and a heavy thunderstorm, the fire ceased and the enemy sullenly withdrew.
The Battalion had lost five out of thirteen officers, and 119 out of 295 other ranks; of I Company only one officer and thirteen men were left, but nowhere had the enemy gained ground. The survivors, without food or water, and with ammunition running short, but with courage and discipline still unshaken, then faced the last ordeal of that long day. Little could be done for the wounded, except to collect and leave them with the chaplain, the doctor, and a few other noncombatants; and then, in drenching rain and darkness only broken by flashes of lightning, the few remaining horses were hooked into the guns, and the little force moved silently across the veldt to the river, which was in flood, and had to be forded breast high. So slippery was the ground from the rain that the horses could not draw the guns; this for the last few miles was done by the Riflemen. At 8.30 a.m. the following morning Prospect Camp was reached after a peculiarly strenuous test of the courage and endurance of the troops.
“The conduct of all ranks throughout this trying day was admirable,” wrote Sir George Colley in his despatch.[[49]] “The comparatively young soldiers of the 60th Rifles behaved with the steadiness and coolness of veterans. At all times perfectly in hand, they held or changed their ground as directed without hurry or confusion; though under heavy fire, themselves fired steadily, husbanding their ammunition, and at the end of the day, with sadly reduced numbers, formed and moved off the ground with the most perfect steadiness and order; and, finally, after eighteen hours of continuous fatigue, readily and cheerfully attached themselves to the guns, and dragged them up the long hill from the Ingogo, when the horses were unable to do so.”
Feb. 27th, 1881, MAJUBA.
On the night of the 26th of February Sir George Colley decided to seize Majuba Hill by a night march—a hazardous undertaking which was ably executed. The following day the Boers in three assaulting columns, covered by the rifle fire of their largely superior force, carried the mountain with splendid gallantry, and completely defeated the small British force of 414 soldiers and sailors.
Two companies of the 3rd Battalion were posted upon the lower spurs of the mountain, and with a third company sent out later with ammunition they covered the retreat, but were only slightly engaged.
The brave and accomplished Colley—dauntless to the end—died a soldier’s death upon the summit of the mountain, and deplorable indeed was the loss in officers and men of the force engaged. A peace—insisted upon by the British Government—brought this unhappy campaign to a close little to the satisfaction of the troops concerned.