X.
1899–1902.—South Africa. Talana Hill. Defence of Ladysmith. Relief of Ladysmith. Transvaal.
Note.—As the following section deals with contemporaneous events and with members of the Regiment still serving, it has been considered advisable to adopt a simple form of record of events by Battalions and units, leaving to a future historian the compilation of a complete narrative.
First Battalion.
1st BATTALION.
When, on October the 7th, 1899, war was declared by President Kruger and the Boer Government, the 1st Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Henry Gunning, was at Dundee, Natal, with the exception of G Company, which was at Eshowe in Zululand, and there remained until after the following March.
At Talana Hill (20th of October), the first battle of the war, the Battalion greatly distinguished itself in the attack of the Boer position, and took a leading part in the complete defeat of the enemy.[[68]] Lieutenant-Colonel Gunning was killed leading the assault, and out of seventeen officers present, five were killed and eight wounded, together with many N.C.O.’s and Riflemen. Major W. Pitcairn Campbell[[69]] thereupon assumed command.
Then came the retreat to Ladysmith by a forced march under peculiarly trying circumstances, and on the 30th October took place the battle of Lombard’s Kop, which, indecisive in its effect, led to the investment by the Boer Army. The four months Defence of Ladysmith was the result, the chief battle being that of Waggon Hill on January the 6th, 1900.
Up to March, 1900, the Battalion lost eight officers and forty-three men killed, eight officers and 180 men wounded, and eighty-one men who died in hospital.
After the Relief of Ladysmith, on the 3rd of March, the Battalion joined the 8th Brigade, 5th Division, and was with Buller’s advance into the Transvaal, taking part in the passage of the Biggarsberg in May, the attacks on Botha’s Pass and Alleman’s Nek (8th and 11th of June).
In August the Battalion assisted in the capture of Amersfoort and Ermelo, and was present at the battle of Belfast (August the 27th), when the armies under Roberts and Buller first joined forces, taking part in the attack on Bergendal.