The history of the 3rd Battalion at this period would not be complete without reference to the introduction of Mounted Infantry into the British Army. It may be fairly said that the creation of Mounted Infantry, the establishment of a recognised system for its training, and the development of its tactics, is largely the work of Officers and Riflemen of the 60th, and in a very special degree of the 3rd Battalion.
The value of Mounted Infantry under modern conditions of war was established by the phenomenal success of the relatively small force of Mounted Infantry in Egypt in 1882. This corps, raised and organised by an officer of the 60th,[[52]] owed much of its success to the officers and men drawn from the 3rd Battalion who had similarly served in the Boer war; its high reputation for individual gallantry and initiative was universally acknowledged, and there was no engagement in the war, from the preliminary skirmishes before Alexandria in July, until the capture, by a coup de main, of the citadel of Cairo at mid-night of the 14th–15th September, in which the Mounted Infantry did not take a distinguished share.[[53]]
1884–85, NILE EXPEDITION.
At Cairo, early in 1884, the inception and scheme of organisation for the Mounted Camel Regiments was also the work of an officer of the 60th Rifles. The Mounted Infantry Camel Regiment in particular which rendered such distinguished service with the Desert Column, under the late General Sir Herbert Stewart, was raised and equipped by the same officer, and was largely composed of officers and men of the 60th. Two out of the four companies were commanded by officers of the 60th (Fetherstonhaugh[[54]] and Berkeley Pigott,[[55]] both of whom had served with the 3rd Battalion in South Africa), and six out of the sixteen subaltern company officers were also Riflemen.[[56]]
In June, 1886, a comprehensive scheme for raising and training Mounted Infantry in England was first proposed, before a public audience, by an officer of the 60th, under the powerful wing of Lord Wolseley, and in November of the same year Mounted Infantry were raised and trained under Captain Lewis Butler at Shorncliffe from detachments of the 2nd Battalion and other regiments, under the effective supervision of Colonel Sir Baker Russell.[[57]]
When, in 1887, it was subsequently decided to form a regiment of Mounted Infantry for service with the Cavalry Division, composed of detachments from nearly all infantry battalions on home service, the command and organisation was again given to an officer of the 60th, and, out of the eight companies composing the original regiment, the 60th and Rifle Brigade found two, or one-fourth of the whole corps. The Mounted Infantry movement therefore may be said to owe its inception, and in a large measure its success, to the officers of the 60th, and to their riflemen.
The Mounted Infantry system thus begun was largely developed, so that upon the outbreak of the South African war in 1899 there were many thousands of officers and men throughout the infantry of the Army who had been trained as Mounted Infantry. It has been rightly said[[58]] that the ultimately successful issue of the late campaign was in a great measure due to “the large number of Mounted Infantry officers previously trained, and to the long work of preparation carried on before the war by the Mounted Infantry enthusiasts.” If this is so, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps may lay a fair claim to a goodly share of such an important result.
IX.
1886–1898.—Indian Frontier. Chitral. Manipur. Wreck of the “Warren Hastings.”
1891, INDIAN FRONTIER.
In March, 1891, the 1st Battalion, then recently arrived in India, formed part of the 3rd Brigade, Hazara Field Force, and took part in the operations on the Samana Range, where Colonel Cramer,[[59]] commanding the Battalion, was severely wounded; and the command throughout the remainder of the campaign devolved upon Major the Hon. Keith Turnour.[[60]] The Battalion also took part in the expedition sent into the Sheikhan country and Khanki Valley, and in the action at Mastaon.