On the 17th of March the battalion, under Major Forbes, proceeded from Blinkwater en route to Thorn river with Colonel Napier’s division, patrolling the country, capturing the enemy’s cattle, and destroying the crops. The following extracts from a report of Colonel Napier, dated “Camp, Quantie River, 8th April 1852,” gives some details of the work done by the force, of which the 91st formed part:—
“I marched from the camp at the Thomas river at 9 A.M. on the 5th instant, and encamped at the Quantie river at 4 P.M. Next morning I sent Captain Tylden’s force, the whole of the mounted Burghers and Fingoes, before daylight to scour the country between the Thomas river and the Kei, while I followed in support with the Cape Mounted Rifles, 60 of the 74th regiment, 200 of the 91st regiment, and the Kat River levy, leaving Captain Robinson, R.A., with the gun and 100 of the line to take charge of the camp. At noon I perceived Captain Tylden on a hill to my front, and the Burghers on another to my left, who made a signal (previously agreed upon) that they saw cattle and wanted support.”
The cattle, however, were too far off to attempt to capture them that afternoon, and the infantry remained on the heights. The attack was resumed next day, when the Kaffirs were made to retreat, and a great quantity of cattle, horses, and goats were captured.
“The infantry, under Major Forbes, 91st regiment,” the report states, “were not engaged with the enemy; but, from the judicious position the Major took up, were of great use in preventing the cattle escaping from Captain Tylden.”
The battalion returned to Blinkwater on the 16th of May. During the greater part of July operations were carried on against the enemy in the Waterkloof region, in which a detachment of the 91st formed a part of the force engaged. It was probably during these operations that an attack by a body of rebels upon Eland’s Post was gallantly repulsed by a small detachment of the 91st stationed there under Captain Wright (the survivor of the “Birkenhead.”) The enemy appeared in considerable force, and manœuvred with all the skill of disciplined troops, extending, advancing, and retiring by sound of bugle. After endeavouring, almost successfully, to draw the little garrison into an ambuscade, they sounded the “close” and the “advance,” and moved on to the fort. Captain Wright, with only 23 men of the 91st, then marched out to meet them, and, being joined by a party of the Kat River levy, drove them off with loss.
On the 30th of July the battalion marched from Blinkwater, under Major Forbes, on an expedition which lasted during a great part of August, across the Kei, to capture cattle from the chief Kreli. The expedition was very successful, having captured many thousand head of cattle.
On the 14th of September the battalion, under Major Forbes, marched from Blinkwater to unite with a force under His Excellency General Cathcart to expell the Kaffirs and rebel Hottentots from the Waterkloof. The troops having been concentrated in the neighbourhood of the Waterkloof, were so posted as to command every accessible outlet from the scene of the intended operations, which consisted of an irregular hollow of several miles in extent, nearly surrounded by precipitous mountains, the bases of which, as well as the greater part of the interior basin, were densely wooded. The arduous nature of the duty imposed upon the troops of dislodging such an enemy from such a position may thus be faintly imagined. Four companies of the 91st and Cape Mounted Rifles were posted on the northern heights of the Waterkloof, while another detachment of the regiment and some irregulars from Blinkwater were to move up the Fuller’s Hoek ridge; other troops were judiciously posted all around the central position of the enemy. The dispositions having been completed, the several columns moved upon the fastnesses they were to clear at daylight on the 15th.
“The operations of that and the following day,” to quote General Cathcart’s order, “were conducted with unabated vigour and great judgment on the part of the officers in command. The troops bivouacked each night on the ground of their operations, and pursued on the following day, with an alacrity which cannot be too highly commended, the arduous task of searching for and clearing the forest and krantzes of the enemy. These appeared to be panic-stricken, offering little resistance, but endeavouring to conceal themselves in the caverns and crevices of the wooded hills, where many of them were killed. The results of the three days’ operations have been, the evacuation of the Waterkloof and other fastnesses by the Tambookie chief Quashe and the Gaika chief Macomo and his adherents, and the expulsion and destruction of the Hottentot marauders.”
Among those specially mentioned by the Commander-in-chief was Major Forbes of the 91st.
The battalion returned to Blinkwater on the 20th of September, where it stayed till the 29th, when it proceeded to Fort Fordyce, sending out detachments to the Waterkloof, Port Retief, and various other posts. The headquarters of the battalion remained at Fort Fordyce till the 10th of November 1853, when it marched to garrison Fort Beaufort, where it remained till July 1855, sending out detachments regularly to occupy various frontier posts.