Thus, the Commander-in-Chief, having declared that regular warfare was at an end, found himself unable to deal effectually with raiding guerilla bands for want of enough mobile troops. In this difficulty he kept faith with those who had completed the year of service for which they had enlisted by letting them go. Lumsden’s Horse did not come within that category, and, though Lord Roberts recognised the justice of their Colonel’s plea on behalf of men who were sacrificing much, he would promise nothing until fresh companies of Mounted Infantry could be formed to fill the places left vacant by Canadians, New Zealanders, and Australians who had gone. Colonel Lumsden’s ceaseless efforts, however, had so impressed the Commander-in-Chief that he sent a cable message to the Viceroy urging him, as Honorary Colonel of Lumsden’s Horse, to use all his influence with employers on behalf of members of the corps, so that their appointments in India might be kept open for them a little longer. Lord Roberts added: ‘I trust the war is nearly over, but it is essential that all shall hold together till the end, and it would be a hardship to members of a corps that has done such gallant service if they were to suffer for their devotion to the cause of the Empire.’ Several men whose cases were exceptionally urgent got permission to leave for India, and others who had accepted commissions in Regular regiments or civil appointments were necessarily taken off the strength of the corps, which consequently became reduced to little more than a full company. One of the Colonel’s Staff, therefore, thought it an opportune time to trace the whereabouts of men who had ceased to serve in the ranks of Lumsden’s Horse. He therefore prepared a record in tabulated form, which was at that time the most complete return available, though he prefaced it with an apology for incompleteness:
The corps has shifted about such a lot recently that it is difficult to know accurately what has happened to many men who were left sick at various points in the march. But the following is pretty correct so far as it goes.
| Follett, M. Maclaine |
| Died in hospital | ||
| Adlam Burnett[Burnett] Bankes, E.N. Bewsher Birch Burn-Murdoch Campbell, H. A., Sergeant Campbell, L. C.[Campbell, L. C.] Cheshire Cooper Dawson, Ernest Elliott, Sergeant Glascock Hunter-Muskett Jameson, J.V. Keating Logan McMinn Martin, A. Martin, C.K. Mitchell Neville, Lieutenant (since rejoined) Oldham Saunders Skelton Thelwall, H.W. Walton A.N. Woods |
| Invalided, England | ||
| Baldwin Thompson, F.C. Turnbull |
| Invalided, India | ||
| Howes—Invalided, Burma | ||||
| Follett, F.B. (convalescent) Gough, H. (convalescent) Noblett, Captain (since rejoined) |
| Invalided, Cape Town | ||
| Bearne—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria | ||||
| Booth—Corps Depôt, Pretoria | ||||
| Chartres, Corporal—Medical Office, Middelburg. | ||||
| Conduit—Pretoria Police | ||||
| Firth, Corporal—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria | ||||
| Francis—Rest Camp, Cape Town | ||||
| Huddleston—Assistant-Commissioner of Police, Kroonstad | ||||
| Macgillivray—Corps Depôt, Pretoria | ||||
| Morris, Corporal—Remount Department, Johannesburg | ||||
| Pugh, Lieutenant—Assistant-Commissioner of Police, Bloemfontein | ||||
| Richey—Corps Depôt, Pretoria | ||||
| Stuart, C.E.—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria | ||||
| Shaw, H.N.—Corps Depôt | ||||
| Watson, Remount Department, Johannesburg | ||||
| Warburton—Secretary, Irish Hospital,Pretoria | ||||
| Woollright—Medical Officer, Elandsfontein | ||||
| Anderson P.W. Banks H.K. Dawson Evetts Fuller FitzGerald F.B. Johnstone Meares Nightingale Pringle Rice Waller |
| Transferred temporarily to A.S. Corps, Pretoria | ||
| Hayward Longman Lowe Lee |
| Regular signallers transferred to Hamilton’s Division | ||
| Braine Chapman, E.S. Charles, J. Clifford, F.M. (convalescent) Wilkinson |
| Hospital, Pretoria | ||
| Clerk Forbes Haines, R.P. |
| Hospital, Germiston | ||
| Harvey, C.C. (convalescent) Kenny (convalescent) Puckeridge (convalescent) Pryce (convalescent) Walker, Arthur (convalescent) Willis |
| Hospital, Bloemfontein | ||
| Jones, B.E.—Convalescent, Elandsfontein | ||||
| Sladden—Hospital, East London | ||||
| Walton, C.F.—Hospital, Johannesburg | ||||
| Cayley Cubitt |
| Granted discharge, England | ||
| Graham, J.A.—Granted leave, India | ||||
| Follett, M. | } | Died in hospital | |||
| Maclaine | } | ||||
| Adlam | } | ||||
| Burnett[Burnett] | } | ||||
| Bankes, E.N. | } | ||||
| Bewsher | } | ||||
| Birch | } | ||||
| Burn-Murdoch | } | ||||
| Campbell, H. A., Sergeant | } | ||||
| Campbell, L. C.[Campbell, L. C.] | } | ||||
| Cheshire | } | ||||
| Cooper | } | ||||
| Dawson, Ernest | } | ||||
| Elliott, Sergeant | } | ||||
| Glascock | } | ||||
| Hunter-Muskett | } | Invalided, England | |||
| Jameson, J.V. | } | ||||
| Keating | } | ||||
| Logan | } | ||||
| McMinn | } | ||||
| Martin, A. | } | ||||
| Martin, C.K. | } | ||||
| Mitchell | } | ||||
| Neville, Lieutenant (since rejoined) | } | ||||
| Oldham | } | ||||
| Saunders | } | ||||
| Skelton | } | ||||
| Thelwall, H.W. | } | ||||
| Walton | } | ||||
| A.N. Woods | } | ||||
| Baldwin | } | ||||
| Thompson, F.C. | } | Invalided, India | |||
| Turnbull | } | ||||
| Howes—Invalided, Burma | |||||
| Follett, F.B. (convalescent) | } | ||||
| Gough, H. (convalescent) | } | Invalided, Cape Town | |||
| Noblett, Captain (since rejoined) | } | ||||
| Bearne—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria | |||||
| Booth—Corps Depôt, Pretoria | |||||
| Chartres, Corporal—Medical Office, Middelburg. | |||||
| Conduit—Pretoria Police | |||||
| Firth, Corporal—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria | |||||
| Francis—Rest Camp, Cape Town | |||||
| Huddleston—Assistant-Commissioner of Police, Kroonstad | |||||
| Macgillivray—Corps Depôt, Pretoria | |||||
| Morris, Corporal—Remount Department, Johannesburg | |||||
| Pugh, Lieutenant—Assistant-Commissioner of Police, Bloemfontein | |||||
| Richey—Corps Depôt, Pretoria | |||||
| Stuart, C.E.—Military Governor’s Office, Pretoria | |||||
| Shaw, H.N.—Corps Depôt | |||||
| Watson, Remount Department, Johannesburg | |||||
| Warburton—Secretary, Irish Hospital,Pretoria | |||||
| Woollright—Medical Officer, Elandsfontein | |||||
| Anderson | } | ||||
| P.W. Banks | } | ||||
| H.K. Dawson | } | ||||
| Evetts | } | ||||
| Fuller | } | Transferred temporarily | |||
| FitzGerald | } | to A.S. | |||
| F.B. Johnstone | } | Corps, Pretoria | |||
| Meares | } | ||||
| Nightingale | } | ||||
| Pringle | } | ||||
| Rice | } | ||||
| Waller | } | ||||
| Hayward | } | Regular signallers | |||
| Longman | } | transferred to | |||
| Lowe | } | Hamilton’s Division | |||
| Lee | } | ||||
| Braine | } | ||||
| Chapman, E.S. | } | ||||
| Charles, J. | } | Hospital, Pretoria | |||
| Clifford, F.M. (convalescent) | } | ||||
| Wilkinson | } | ||||
| Clerk | } | Hospital, | |||
| Forbes | } | Germiston | |||
| Haines, R.P. | } | ||||
| Harvey, C.C. (convalescent) | } | ||||
| Kenny (convalescent) | } | Hospital | |||
| Puckeridge (convalescent) | } | Bloemfontein | |||
| Pryce (convalescent) | } | ||||
| Walker, Arthur (convalescent) | } | ||||
| Willis | } | ||||
| Jones, B.E.—Convalescent, Elandsfontein | |||||
| Sladden—Hospital, East London | |||||
| Walton, C.F.—Hospital, Johannesburg | |||||
| Cayley | } | Granted discharge, England | |||
| Cubitt | } | ||||
| Graham, J.A.—Granted leave, India | |||||
Of the above-named, Elliott, Burn-Murdoch, and C.A. Walton were invalided on account of wounds. J.S. Saunders cracked a bone in his arm when he took the fall at Spytfontein which cost him his liberty, and he has been sent home by the medical authorities as being incapacitated for further service. C.E. Stuart is also unfit for active service, as the wound in his foot sustained at the taking of Pretoria has left permanent effects. He moves about gingerly, and is buoyed up with the hope of a pension for life. Stuart wears spectacles, and he’ll need ’em badly when it comes to drawing his quarterly allowance.
Poor Maclaine, who died here of pneumonia on August 29, makes the eighth death in the regiment. Though most of us are enjoying splendid health and spirits, it is sad to reflect that to so many our campaign in South Africa has brought but sickness and broken constitutions.
Some record of those old comrades whose services have won well-merited recognition, and whose subsequent movements I have endeavoured to trace for the delectation of cousins, aunts, creditors, and insurance company secretaries, would not come amiss. The home authorities and Lord Roberts himself have treated the regiment most generously in the matter of commissions in the Regular Army, as the following list will show. Men named have been gazetted, as far as I can remember, to the regiments stated below:
| W. Douglas Jones, A.S. Corps | J.A. Fraser, West India Regiment |
| Montagu Bates, East Surrey Regiment | Percy Smith, Oxfordshire L.I. |
| J.S. Biscoe, West India Regiment | G.P.O. Springfield, 3rd Dragoon Guards |
| P.J. Partridge, Northamptonshire Regiment | P. Strahan, South Staffordshire Regiment |
| B.C.A. Steuart, Black Watch | F.W. Wright, A.S. Corps |
| Arathoon, 3rd Dragoon Guards | H.S.N. Wright, A.S. Corps |
| R.G. Collins, West India Regiment | T.B. Nicholson, West India Regiment |
| Fletcher, A.S. Corps | Norton, West India Regiment |
| C.R. Macdonald, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders | Hugh Blair, Somersetshire L.I. |
Of the above, Macdonald’s, I think, has not yet been confirmed, but all the others have gone, some to their regiments in the country, and others to report at the War Office. Arathoon, who has been one of the best and cheeriest of the regiment, is, I am sorry to say, in the Irish Hospital here recovering from a bad go of rheumatic fever, which will prevent him from joining his new regiment for a long time.
Meanwhile it appears that Colonel Lumsden had been trying to secure for Calcutta one of the guns so gallantly captured by his men. He received the following letter: