WESTERNERS IN THE BOER WAR.
The Boer war, commencing in 1899 and lasting three years, called
forth a hearty response from the Northwest Territories. When Canada
offered assistance to the Old Land, the British War Office requested that
infantry be sent, and the first contingent consisted of a regiment of foot.
The War had not developed very far when it became evident that light
horsemen were required in numbers, and the succeeding regiments sent
out were all mounted men. The 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles were raised
in the West, the principal rendezvous being at Regina, the headquarters
of the Mounted Police. The regiment was largely stiffened up by North
West Mounted Police, and all the officers belonged to that body. Com-
missioner Herchmer was the Colonel commanding; Lieut.-Col. Sam Steele
second in command; Lieut. Montague Baker, adjutant; Lieutenant Eus-
tace, transport officer; Captain Allan, quartermaster; Surgeon-Captain
Devine, medical officer; Lieutenants Moody, Begin, Davidson, Wroughton,
Cosby, Chalmers, Taylor and Inglis. The Regina battalion numbered
about 350 and another section was raised at Calgary. The townspeople
of Regina, gave it a send off at the Town Hall on the 10th January, 1900,
the night previous to its departure, when each man received an envelope
containing a sum of money. The envelopes were handed to the recipients
by Lieutenant-Governor Forget and in the absence of Colonel Herchmer,
Major Howe acknowledged the gifts. Premier Haultain gave the fare-
well speech which was described in the Regina Standard as "eloquent,
comprehensive, lucid and not too long." The peroration was particularly
touching as in subdued and well-measured accents he commended the
soldiers to providential care. The meeting concluded by Mr. Haultain
singing "Rule Brittania," all joining in the chorus; and during the eve-
ning Mr. Robert Martin is recorded as having sung in fine style "The Red,
White and Blue." The battalion does not appear to have got away till
the following Monday, when a special train came down from Moose Jaw,
with a large party of citizens and a brass band, to participate in the
actual send off.
There was no Saskatchewan regiment, and what is now the province
shared what credit there was with the rest of the Territories. We will
confine ourselves therefore chiefly to what we may call the local aspect.
The rendezvous of the Canadian Mounted Rifles had its interesting fea-
tures, besides those already mentioned.' It was in March that the recruits
began to come in, and so numerous were they that the selection was almost
fastidious. If a man had a tooth or two missing he was liable to be
rejected; and several were dismissed for some little breach of discipline
after they had been enrolled. The recruits were an extremely serviceable,
wiry, husky lot of men, but owing to their varied garb, they were a very
motley crowd, some from Saskatchewan and Manitoba being in full winter
garb, fur caps and Mennonite socks, and others from Sunny Alberta, in
spring-like garb. It fell to Sergeant-Major Church, an old English guards-
man, to drill these men, and right well did he perform the task. Many
of the horses came straight off the prairies, and some of them had to be
outlawed. When the recruiting was finished, and before uniforms had
been issued, the day came to saddle up for the first time. The big riding
school at the Barracks was the scene of the first mount, and we were in
the gallery with other spectators. The men stood to their horses, and
were ranged round the sides of the building. Colonel Herchmer with
Sergeant-Major Church, and other officers were in the centre. All was
quiet till Church gave the order to mount. Most of the horses were quiet,
but in an instant a dozen men and horses were out of the ranks in the
centre with the horses bucking and pitching to beat six. Presently all
were back in the ranks again but one, and everyone watched the contest
between this man and horse. Finding it could not unseat its rider, the
horse threw itself down on its. side with lightning rapidity. It seemed
impossible that the man could avoid being crushed, but there he was
standing astraddle the horse with the lines in his hand smiling down at
the brute, which now lay perfectly still, sulky, and beaten. Then the
man got his feet together and gently kicked him. "Get up," he said. And
after a few seconds it got up, now docile as a sheep; the man mounted
him and rode quietly to his place in the rank. One hardly knows whether
an incident like this so trivial in itself is worth recording, but it will
illustrate the type of horse some of these me~ had to bring into the sub-
jection of drill.
We cannot refrain from recording another incident, equally trivial.
The men by this time were being drilled on the parade ground. A man
came into barracks, who had been accepted in Southern Alberta and who
had passed the doctor and all the tests except the riding test. The man
was dressed in a cheap new "store" suit, and had a very footmanlike
appearance. A sergeant told him that he had better wait till the men
came off drill, as the only horse available was a bad one, and it wouldn't
be fair to put him on it. The man was impatient, and there was quite
a parley between the recruit and the good natured non-com. Said the
sergeant, "Well if you insist, but do you think you can ride him"" "Ride
him," bawled the man, now fairly exasperated, "ride him; I'll ride any-
thing that wears hair; I'll ride a blankety porcupine if you'll give me a
pair of leather breeches." The man was one of the best known horsemen
on the Alberta ranges, but he had thought it incumbent on him to look
respectable. Hence he had discarded, his riding outfit and donned that
very misleading tweed suit from the store.
Almost immediately recruiting commenced for the Strathcona Horse,
a regiment which was equipped and sent to the front entirely at the
expense of Lord Strathcona. Colonel Sam Steele was recalled from Hali-
fax to take command of this regiment, which achieved. an exceptional
reputation in Africa under his brilliant leadership. Two other regiments
were also sent out, and after the war Colonel Steele held the chief com-
mand in the South African Constabulary. A story went the rounds about
a Strathcona trooper who was "invalided" under rather peculiar circum-
stances. It was after General Roberts had taken Pretoria. A man from
Medicine Hat, feeling the need of excitement, mounted his horse, and rode
out on the streets with a rope. Perceiving a Boer with a wheel barrow he
roped him and was tugging him none too gently along the street. An
English officer remonstrated. He released the Boer, trotted away a piece
and then treated the Englishman to a similar experience. The doctors
decided that the trooper was not very well, and sent him home. The
Canadian soldiers did splendid work in the war. A soldier of the 1st
Regiment told me that they were linked with the Gordons, and that they
were very nervous at first lest they should cut a poor figure with the fam-
ous Highland Regiment. "But," he said, "we found that we could out-
shoot them and out-march them." This regiment helped to put the finish-
ing touch on Cronje at Paardeberg. Sergeant A. H. Richardson of the
N. W. M. P., who was with the Strathconas, won the Victoria Cross, by
riding through a heavy fire and rescuing a wounded comrade. The name
of this famous body has not been allowed to die and is now borne by an
Alberta Regiment. Many other stories of heroism and endurance by the
Canadian soldiers in Africa might be told; suffice it to say that their
military qualities as there shown formed a fitting foreground to the deeds
of the Great war fourteen years later.
Bibliography follows: