The 1st Australian Horse was a mounted infantry regiment of the Colony of New South Wales that was formed in 1897. The 1st Australian Horse wore distinctive myrtle green uniforms with black embroidery.

History

Formation

The regiment was raised on 28 August 1897 at

Murrumburrah Murrumburrah is a township in New South Wales, Australia, part of a twin town with Harden. The town is in Hilltops Council local government area in the South West Slopes area of NSW. It is on the Burley Griffin Way, the major link from the R ...

, New South Wales, as the 1st Australian (Volunteer) Horse. The unit recruited mainly from New South Wales, and had detachments in Murrumburrah,

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultu ...

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Hon ...

, Quirinidi,

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area as well as being th ...

, and various other NSW towns.

Second Boer War

When the Second Boer War began in late 1899, New South Wales raised multiple contingents which included detachments from the regiment. The first contingent left

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

on 14 November 1899 for

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa, arriving on 13 December. Two detachments of the regiment served under General John French's Cavalry Division during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

in 1899, composed of 141 men and 157 horses. The first detachment fought in the Battle of Slingersfontein on 16 January 1900 resulting in heavy casualties, and the first Australian casualty of the war. The unit then participated in the

Battle of Poplar Grove The Battle of Poplar Grove was an incident on 7 March 1900 during the Second Boer War in South Africa. It followed on from the Relief of Kimberley as the British Army moved to take the Boer capital of Bloemfontein. The Boers were demoralised f ...

and took part in occupying the towns of

Driefontein Driefontein is the Driefontein Mine in the West Witwatersrand Basin (West Wits) mining field. The West Wits field was discovered in 1931 and commenced operations with Venterspost Gold Mine in 1939. In 1952, the West Driefontein mine is opened. I ...

and

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

. The regiment also took part in both the advance to Pretoria and the Battle of Zand River, as well as the subsequent Surrender of Pretoria on 1 June. They also saw action in the

Battle of Belfast The Battle of Berg-en-dal (also known as the Battle of Belfast or Battle of Dalmanutha) took place in South Africa during the Second Anglo-Boer War. The battle was the last set-piece battle of the war, although the war was still to last another ...

in 1901, and later withdrew from South Africa by late March of the same year.

Commanding officer

* MacKay, James Alexander Kenneth (Kenneth Mackay)

References

{{reflist, 30em Infantry units and formations of Australia Military units and formations established in 1897 Military units and formations of the Second Boer War Colony of New South Wales