Chauvel in the Boer War

by Miles Farmer OAM

To appreciate the role of Sir Harry in the Boer War it is necessary to understand something of his early life and his military heritage. His Grandfather, Captain Charles George Temple Chauvel, an officer in the Madras Native Infantry migrated to NSW in 1839, and was joined by his wife Marianna and family, including Charles Henry Edward, his father, the following year. After a few years in the Mudgee district they moved north and settled at Tabulam on the Clarence River in 1848. In 1860 Captain Chauvel and Marianna retired to Sydney where he died in 1865.

1865 was the year in which Henry George (Harry) was born to Charles Henry Edward Chauvel and his wife Fanny. The property at Tabulam comprised excellent pasturage for a large flock of sheep, but more importantly large mobs of cattle. Over three hundred horses of all types were needed to manage the herds and flocks. All the children virtually grew up in the saddle and became very competent riders.

In 1874 Harry and his older brother Arthur were sent to Sydney to attend Sydney Grammar School. It was quite a difficult journey in those days, including a two-day sea trip on a coastal trader, which they boarded at the mouth of the Clarence. It would seem he enjoyed a friendship with A.B. (Banjo) Paterson at school—a friendship they renewed in South Africa during the Boer War and again in World War 1 when Banjo ran a Remount Depot in Palestine. At School Harry enjoyed Cadets becoming a Lance Corporal and winning a trophy for rifle shooting.

After about six years at Sydney Grammar the boys returned to Tabulam before riding North to attend Toowoomba Grammar School—quite a ride for young lads. It was not known then that these experiences would be reflected in his later career as a Light Horseman.

In 1886 Harry’s father Charles Henry Chauvel raised the Upper Clarence Light Horse, which he commanded, with his sons Arthur and Harry commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants. The troops looked resplendent, dressed in scarlet and blue uniforms and wearing white helmets, when they escorted Lord Carrington to open the railway at Tenterfield in 1886. They were also skilled in mounted drill, musketry and tentpegging.

In 1888 Charles Henry sold at Tabulam and moved to Canning Downs not far from Warwick on the Darling Downs. Here Harry honed his riding skills winning races as an amateur rider. He also exhibited his livestock with success

Captain Charles E. Chauvel of the Upper Clarence Light Horse

In 1890 he resigned his commission in the NSW Forces, and was gazetted Second Lieutenant in No 1 Company Darling Downs Mounted Infantry. In the same year there was trouble brewing between shearers and station owners which led to the shearers going out on strike early in 1891.

Strike breakers from NSW and Victoria were brought in and trouble flared up with shearing sheds and wool stores being burned to the ground. Special constables were enrolled, and the Government called out the Defence Force in aid of the Civil Power. In March, Chauvel was ordered to have twenty men of the Darling Downs Mounted Infantry, each with their horse and 50 rounds of ammunition, to deploy north to Charleville – part of their travel by rail.

He was accompanied by a few police officers and was just short of Charleville when accosted by some two hundred striking shearers. It was a threatening situation and so Chauvel ordered his men to load and raise their rifles. The police took several prisoners and with Chauvel’s escort reached Charleville without further trouble.

This experience impressed on Chauvel the power of discipline and a cool head in a crisis, which stood him in good stead in future years.

At this stage of the story it is appropriate to tell the story of the emu plumes which are proudly worn to this day by officers and men of all units of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. To relieve boredom when not on duty, the troopers used to ride after emus and pluck feathers from the tails. These they stuck in their hats as adornments, a practice which was approved by the Queensland Government. In 1903 this privilege was extended to regiments in Tasmania and South Australia, and finally, in 1915, to all regiments of the Light Horse in Egypt.

In 1894 the Shearers went out on strike again, but this time the Queensland Government proclaimed the Peace Preservation Act and enrolled special constables rather than calling out the troops. Chauvel was appointed a temporary sub-inspector of police and posted to Claremont, where he again did well riding in picnic race meetings.

In the spring of 1896 he was commissioned an officer in the Defence Force of Queensland (QDF), and stationed at Victoria Barracks in Brisbane. Federation of the colonies was five years away, as was the raising of the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Activities of France and Germany in the Pacific, along with the rising power of Japan and Russia further north, had for several years been of concern to the fledgling State. The security of Queensland relied entirely on the ships of the Royal Navy.

Queensland had a very small navy, and a very small army including 150 all ranks of the Permanent Artillery who manned the forts at Thursday Island, Townsville and Fort Lytton at the mouth of the Brisbane River. Its infantry component included the Moreton Regiment to which Chauvel was posted as Adjutant.

The two battalions of the Moreton Regiment comprising ten companies had centres in Brisbane, Ipswich, Southport and other smaller localities. This kept Chauvel more than busy because to some extent he was still learning his trade. Hence he spent much of his spare time studying military history, particularly the American Civil War.

In 1897 he was selected to go to England with the Queensland Diamond Jubilee contingent and stay on for attachment to regular British infantry and mounted infantry units. He also qualified at the School of Musketry, Hythe—no doubt this reflected the skill he acquired growing up in country NSW and Queensland. The Queensland contingent rode behind Lord Roberts in the great procession through London on 21 June. Young Trooper TW (Bill) Glasgow rode behind him in the contingent and served under him in the Boer War and World War 1—a respect and friendship which lasted all their lives. Chauvel was to serve under Roberts during the Boer War.

While in England he was in the group which accompanied the Premier of Queensland to Warwick in the Midlands to present a silver cup and other gifts from Warwick in Queensland—sister city relationships obviously go back a long way. The Queenslanders proudly wore the emu plumes for the first time while they were in England.

Back in Queensland, he resumed his life as adjutant of the Moreton Regiment—camps, inspections and administrative duties. He also indulged his love of horse racing, winning acclaim at the Warwick races in 1899. In March of that year, he was appointed Acting ADC to Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland, accompanying him on State visits to NSW and Victoria.

1899 was the year in which the move to Federation was still being pursued, but interest was overshadowed by events in South Africa. War on that sub-continent was imminent. Chauvel and Lieutenant Colonel Percy Ricardo, commander of the Queensland Mounted Infantry (QMI) began preparing to send a contingent. Chauvel was the enrolling officer and visited QMI centres on the Darling Downs and other areas. Together their efforts led to 250 volunteers from the QMI and a machine gun section from the Queensland Royal Australian Artillery being offered by the Commandant and the Premier for service in the event of war breaking out in South Africa.

War did break out on 11th October 1899 and Chamberlain, Britain’s Foreign Secretary requested each of the colonies to send troops. The QMI was ready under command of Ricardo, and Chauvel was its Adjutant, but there was still much to be done assembling horses and stores for the long sea journey. The troops departing comprised 14 officers and 248 men of the QMI, plus 1 officer and 16 gunners of the machine gun section.

Preparation of the contingent aroused much interest throughout the colony and volunteers were feted. Farewell dinners were held during which the soldiers, on one occasion, had to sit through ten speeches. Funds were raised to ensure each member of the contingent for 250 pounds. The Lady Mayoress formed a committee of ladies who prepared a guidon which was presented at a parade before embarkation.

The contingent marched through the streets of Brisbane where they were reviewed by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Samuel Griffith. They were given rousing cheers by the citizens who lined the streets. 1st November 1899 was declared a public holiday so that the families and citizens could farewell the troops as they sailed from Pinkenba wharf on the SS Cornwall. At last, the Queenslanders were on their way to active service.

The QMI disembarked in Table Bay, South Africa on 14th December 1899—this was in Black Week during which the British troops had suffered grievous defeats at Colenzo, Magersfontein and Stormberg. The QMI was immediately trucked north by rail to De Aar on the Orange River (see maps here). Here they experienced the first difficulties of living rough on the veldt. The opportunity was taken to blacken any item of their dress and kit that was shiny, and the officers exchanged their swords for carbines. It is also said that they all grew beards.

At this point, it is worth mentioning their horses. There were some losses on the sea voyage, and many still had horse flu when they disembarked, to say nothing of their loss of condition. From then on, the losses from starvation, disease and exhaustion worsened. Chauvel wrote home that as the campaign wore on they were losing five horses a day, sometimes more. Hence the QMI often spent more time on foot than riding. As Banjo Patterson wrote they were ‘Cavalry to ride, but infantry to shoot, but you will know them by the feathers in their hat’. The whole campaign was often slowed down because of the condition of the horses throughout the whole army. Fortunately, many lessons in animal husbandry were not lost on Chauvel when he led the Desert Mounted Column in Palestine in WW1.

It was not long before they were selected by Lieutenant Colonel T D Pilcher of the Northumberland Fusiliers to join the force he was assembling at Belmont. It comprised a company of Canadian infantry, 40 mounted infantry of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, two guns of the Royal Horse Artillery with a Maxim gun, a detachment of the NSW Medical Corps, and some field telegraphists. The Queenslanders also had their machine gun detachment with them. It was indeed a mixed force.

They were to attack a Boer defensive position on the Sunnyside kopje, a hill, 60 miles south-west of Kimberly, between Belmont and Douglas. Pilcher sent out two mounted patrols from the QMI, each of four men—one to the north and one to the west. Their task was to see whether any Boers were returning from Douglas to their base at the foot of Sunnyside kopje. Unfortunately for the one commanded by Lieutenant Adie they did run into some Boers. In the exchange of fire Private Victor Jones was shot and fell dead from his horse. He was buried the following morning in a shallow grave where he had fallen.

It was around 11.00am that Pilcher began the attack with rounds being fired by the artillery into the Boer’s lager. He sent the Munsters around to attack from the north, while the Canadians were to advance on the kopje across open ground. The QMI were sent around to the left flank where they dismounted and began the assault up the rock-strewn kopje. After some serious fighting, the Boers surrendered. During the firefight Private David McLeod was badly wounded, and died that evening. He was nursed by his Canadian friends and buried by them.

Chauvel had led his company in the attack: ‘We had a very hard day lying for hours in the sun waiting to advance about a three mile walk with a tough fight at the end to say nothing of climbing the kopje. I was pretty tired when we got to the top. Fortunately I found a Boer pony which I annexed and did the rest of the job mounted.’ This was almost his undoing. Ricardo sent him to take a message to Pilcher. Astride a Boer pony and wearing a slouch hat the Canadians mistook him for a Boer and fired at him. He quickly dismounted, tied his handkerchief to the muzzle of his carbine and advanced under the white flag—the only time in his entire service.

The QMI proceeded to Douglas where they were welcomed by the British townsfolk and spent a comfortable night. Chauvel washed his supper down with champagne. Then after further reconnaissance, they were back in Belmont two days later.

After their success at Sunnyside and at Douglas, the QMI rode to the east and patrolled into the Free State. There were some almost disastrous clashes with Victorian and British columns. This highlighted the problems of communications and identification—no radios in those days. The slouch hats worn by the QMI at that time meant that they were often mistaken for Boers. Later in the campaign when under the command of General Hutton, they were made to wear pith helmets, much to the disgust of Chauvel and the men. The New Zealanders felt much the same when they also had to give up their “lemon squeezer” hats.

On 10th January 1900 Field Marshal Lord Roberts VC arrived and took command, with Major General Lord Kitchener as his deputy. He soon began reorganising units and supply arrangements ready to defeat the Boers. It was not long before he was ready to advance on the Boers.

Major General French’s Cavalry Division was formed on 8th February and included a mounted infantry brigade commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Alderson. It comprised British mounted infantry battalions, South African Horse, New Zealand Mounted Rifles, and the QMI. The QMI was under command of Ricardo whose rank of Lieutenant Colonel had been restored, and Captain Chauvel was now the Adjutant.

Roberts’ plan now depended on surprise and speed. French’s cavalry moved under the cover of darkness securing fords on the Riet River then north across the Modder River before riding hell for leather for Kimberley. The rest of the army followed across the rivers but headed east towards Bloemfontein. French entered Kimberley on 15 February. This was much to the relief of all citizens and the Royal Engineer Commandant, Colonel Kekewich who now had Cecil Rhodes off his back. In fairness to Rhodes he was instrumental in having a field gun designed and built in his workshops. Long Cecil as it was known was used to great effect in shelling the Boers who were besieging Kimberley.

Chauvel had found the great cavalry advance exhilarating despite occasional actions on the way and some artillery shells bursting nearby. He enjoyed the hospitality of Rhodes at the Kimberley Club and accommodation for the men on Rhodes’ property, complete with electric light, showers and grapes from his orchard. “It won’t last”, Chauvel wrote and they were soon heading east again supporting Roberts’ advance to Bloemfontein, which was entered on 13 March. The advance was no pushover, and whilst there was some respite at the end, half rations and enteric fever (typhoid) was taking its toll. Makeshift hospital facilities were inadequate. Men were dying, often as many as fifty in one day.

The QMI had tents but some eighty men were in hospital by the end of March leaving the QMI well below fighting strength. Chauvel went to Cape Town to bring back men who had drifted there after hospital. At the same time, Roberts was building up his resources in preparation for an advance north to capture Johannesburg and then Pretoria, believing that would bring the war to an end. The Boers had other ideas, however, and de Wet threatened Bloemfontein from the east. The QMI under Ricardo was deployed to stem the flow. In doing so they lost two men and a number were taken prisoner.

Roberts placed all the colonial mounted units into a mounted infantry division of two brigades under Major General Ian Hamilton. The 1st Brigade was placed under the command of Major General “Curly” Hutton, commandant in NSW 1893-96. Hutton was to return to Australia in 1902 after Federation as its first General Officer Commanding the Australian Military Forces.

As part of Hutton’s force the QMI again came under command of Colonel Pilcher, and followed Robert’s push north along the railway line leading to Johannesburg and thence to Pretoria (see maps here). There were many rivers to cross and Chauvel saw plenty of action, sometimes to the displeasure of Ricardo. On 1st July Ricardo relinquished command which Hutton then gave to Chauvel, now a major.

The advance north entailed much hard fighting to secure numerous river crossings, and they frequently came under fire from the Boer guns which outranged those of the Royal Horse Artillery. By 31st May Johannesburg had been occupied, and Chauvel was able to watch the triumphant Roberts marching in ahead of some twenty thousand infantry with their bands and pipers. This was a nuisance to Chauvel who had been on a mission to get rations but the shops were closed.

Pretoria was then occupied without a shot being fired. Kruger had long departed for Europe via the Delagoa Bay Railway line to the port in neutral Mozambique. The fate of Kruger’s gold remains a mystery to this day. The Boers now occupied the ranges along Diamond Hill which they lost in a hard battle over two days, 11 and 12 June. The QMI had fought under Hutton on the left flank to find that on 13th June the Boers were in full flight to the east. After a short pursuit Roberts ordered his troops back to Pretoria for rest and refit.

By now the QMI was seriously reduced in numbers—many were sick and a number had joined the South African Constabulary (under command of Baden Powell) and others went to the Imperial Military Railways. It was not an inspiring command for Chauvel now to take on. Their work entailed patrolling in the districts around Pretoria, spending many a night on the veldt, which being so high above sea level was always cold, and often freezing. Many native porters and British soldiers died of the cold.

At some stage, Chauvel was under the command of General Ian Hamilton and they became firm friends, to meet again years later on Gallipoli.

One task he was given was to drive a thousand head of cattle to Belfast in the Eastern Transvaal (see maps here) with a mixed force under his command, including his old friend Major “Porky” Selheim as Chief Staff Officer (this sounds a bit grand). He also had an officer of the 5th Dragoon Guards as his “galloper”, i.e. someone to carry messages and orders to the various units (remember they did not enjoy the radio communications as of today). This force became known as Chauvel’s Mounted Infantry. At Middleburg, they were diverted to clear a district of Boers who were threatening the railway. They were also ordered to burn homesteads which had been sheltering the Boers. Chauvel does not record his view on this practice, nor does he mention what happened to the herd of cattle.

Chauvel’s force continued operating on the rail line and had many clashes with the Boers. Two of their men were captured and were returned unharmed but had been stripped of their weapons. As the war continued the prisoners were often stripped of their clothing and their boots. The men filled in any leisure time playing baseball with the Canadians and holding athletic meets. In these Chauvel was an eager participant. They pushed on to Belfast where the QMI was employed on some minor clearing patrols. At the end of November, they were ordered back to the Cape Colony and assembled near Cape Town ready for embarkation on the transport Orient.

Chauvel enjoyed the respite in Cape Town, including lunch at Groote Schurr as a guest of Cecil Rhodes. It seems that Chauvel had taken a dingo pup from Queensland and left it at Groote Schurr when the contingent arrived the previous year. He was surprised that it was now fully grown and Rhodes was very proud of him. The Orient sailed on 13 December reaching Brisbane on 17 January 1901. Six days later the 1st QMI was disbanded.

By now the colonies had federated and Chauvel was an officer in the Australian Army. In April he was no doubt pleased and proud that he had been mentioned in despatches and appointed a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG). The following month he went to Melbourne for the opening of the first parliament of Australia. He went as Brigade Major to Colonel Tom Price, commander of some 14,000 troops.

Chauvel was now appointed Staff Officer, Northern Military District and stationed at Townsville. Late 1901 the United Kingdom requested more troops for South Africa which was readily acceded to by Australia. Units of the Australian Commonwealth Horse (ACH) were raised, with some arriving in South Africa in time for some combat. The 7th ACH was raised in Queensland and Chauvel was appointed to command as a temporary Lieutenant Colonel.

They paraded before the Queensland Governor on 17th May and sailed the following morning. They reached Durban on 22nd June after the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging had been signed on the evening of 31 May in Melrose House, Kitchener’s residence in Pretoria. After a few days shore leave the 7th ACH re-embarked on 28th June, arriving back in Brisbane on 2nd August to be disbanded the following week.

Chauvel had permission to stay in South Africa in order to study battlefields. In Natal, he saw British officers arranging for the erection of memorials. This gave him the idea for an Australian memorial on Sunnyside kopje, where Jones and McLeod had been killed on 1st January 1900—the first Australian soldiers to be killed in battle.

In due course at a high point on the kopje, a cairn of rocks was erected, and a marble plaque provided by the Queensland Government was affixed. A bronze plaque was secured at the base of the cairn on 1st January 2000 by a party of ex-members of the 2nd/14th Light Horse (QMI). It had also been provided by the Premier of Queensland. There is a replica cairn in front of Regimental Headquarters of the 2nd/14th on Chauvel Drive, Gallipoli Barracks. It had been erected there in 1995.

Chauvel continued his army service with distinction, commanding the 1st Light Horse Brigade on Gallipoli, dismounted of course. Towards the end of the Gallipoli campaign he was promoted Major General in command of the First Australian Division. Back in Egypt he chose to remain to command the Anzac Mounted Corps which cleared the Turks out of Palestine, bringing the war to an end there in October 1918. By now (2nd August 1917) he had become Australia’s first Lieutenant General. (Monash was promoted General on the Western Front on 1st June 1918).

References and Acknowledgements

Hill, A. J., Chauvel of the Light Horse: A Biography of General Sir Harry Chauvel, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. (Melbourne University Press, 1978)

Judd, D. & Surridge, K., The Boer War: A History (Angus and Robertson, 1977)

Mitchell, E., Light Horse: the Story of Australia’s Mounted Troops (The MacMillan Company of Australia, 1978)

Perry, R., The Australian Light Horse (Hachette Australia, 2009)

Perry, R., Monash and Chauvel: How Australia’s two greatest generals changed the course of World History (Allen and Unwin, 2017)

Starr, J., & Sweeney, C., Forward—the History of the 2nd/14th Light Horse (Qld Mounted Infantry) (University of Queensland Press, 1989) See Note 1

Wallace, R.L., The Australians at the Boer War (Canberra: The Australian War Memorial and the Australian Government Publishing Service, 1976) See Note 2

Notes 1-2 (Author’s notes)

Both books carried the story “some years ago the memorial, bearing the crest and motto of the Queensland Mounted Infantry, had almost disintegrated. The ruined memorial was removed to Kimberly and incorporated with mortar used in building the permanent British Memorial erected by the War Graves Commission in the Garden of Remembrance which commemorates all the soldiers who fell in the area, and were re-interred there.” This was incorrect—based on the misinterpretation of letters written from South Africa many years after the war. The memorial stands today in as good condition as when Chauvel had it built.

Bob Wallace’s first story must be understood in the context of the dearth of information available at the time of his writing. He visited the battlefields on several occasions and his written works became the “bible” for many of us. There was nothing else readily available—not like today. His book was republished by the NBWMA(Vic) to raise funds for the National Boer War Memorial which was dedicated in Canberra 31 May 2017. Bob also wrote the excellent “Elands River Siege”

M W Farmer

9 Jan 2018

Acknowledgement: All images in this article were sourced from the Australian War Memorial unless otherwise specified.

Biographical Note Lieutenant Colonel Miles Farmer OAM (Retd.)

Miles served in the CMF as a Sapper in the 2nd Water Transport Sqn RAE in 1951 before entering RMC, Duntroon graduating into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps in December 1955. He served for 3 years in 1st Armoured Regiment at Puckapunyal before promotion to Captain and appointed Adjutant 1st/15th Royal NSW Lancers in the historic Lancer Barracks, Parramatta NSW. His interest in the Boer War began through the Lancers’ service in that war.

In 1961 he returned to 1st Armoured Regiment before travelling to England to begin the 16th Technical Staff Officers Course at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, where he specialised in Fighting Vehicle Design. This was followed by an attachment to the Army Operational Research Establishment to work on ‘War Gaming” studies.

Returning to Australia 1964 he was promoted Major to command the Trials and Proving Wing (TPW) of the Army Design Establishment (ADE). TPW covered 300 acres of test tracks and obstacles in country Victoria. It was an unusual posting of mainly civilian drivers and mechanics, but was very busy with trials often running day and night.

In 1967 he was posted to the Military Research and Development Centre (MRDC) in Bangkok, Thailand as Deputy Program Manager, Mobility Division. This was a joint US Thai organisation in which Miles travelled widely throughout Thailand with occasional visits to South Vietnam. He was there when the TET offensive of 1968 erupted.

Late 1968 back in Australia he commanded B Squadron 2 Cavalry Regiment, an independent squadron based at Enoggera, Brisbane. His squadron provided 8 RAR with its infantry armour training before it went to South Vietnam. Then in November 1969 he flew to Saigon to become an Advisor to the South Vietnamese in Phuoc Tuy Province, the same province in which the Australian Task Force was based. For this posting he was seconded to the American Joint United States Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO). He later transferred to the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV). Arrangements were complex but provided Miles with invaluable experiences.

Returning to Australia he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in charge of a section in a branch of the Master General of the Ordnance in Melbourne which dealt with clothing and general stores. It was a rather unusual posting but it was one in which a lot of good could be done for the comfort and well-being of all soldiers—in combat and at base. In 1973 Miles transferred to the A Res to command 2nd /14th Qld Mounted Infantry (QMI). This was the regiment in which Sir Harry had served in 1900 during the Boer War. After completing this posting Miles did one or two other projects before transferring to the Retired List.

He was awarded the Order of Australia medal for his service in Pony Riding for the Disabled for children and people with a disability. The Centenary Medal was awarded for his service to the community and the RSL, as were other Life Memberships.