The New South Wales Imperial Bushmen was a mounted regiment, consisting of six rifle squadrons, raised in the New South Wales colony for service 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 Sout ...

. The volunteers came from

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

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, Honeys ...

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

, Moree,

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

Tenterfield Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tenterfield had a population of 4,066. Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a ...

, and Bourke. Formed as the sixth contingent of Imperial Bushman, with an original strength of 762 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Mackay, the unit departed Sydney for South Africa on 23 April 1900 on the transport ''

SS Armenian SS ''Armenian'' was an 1895-built British cargo liner built for the Frederick Richards Leyland, Leyland Line, but managed by the White Star Line from 20 March 1903. She was employed on the cargo service between Liverpool and New York City, with t ...

''. Between May 1900 and May 1901 it served in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

as part of the Rhodesian Field Force under Lieutenant General Sir

Frederick Carrington Major General Sir Frederick Carrington, (23 August 1844, Cheltenham – 22 March 1913, Cheltenham), was a British soldier and friend of Cecil Rhodes. He acquired fame by suppressing the 1896 Matabele rebellion. Biography Carrington was educ ...

and later in West Transvaal, including the capture of

Koos de la Rey Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey (22 October 1847 – 15 September 1914), better known as Koos de la Rey, was a South African military officer who served as a Boer general during the Second Boer War. also had a political career and was one of the l ...

's convoy and guns at Wildfontein on 24 March 1901. Lieutenant Colonel

Haviland Le Mesurier Colonel Haviland Le Mesurier (6 February 1856 – 25 November 1913) was an Australian soldier. Born in Fremantle, Western Australia on 6 February 1856, he attended schooling at the Bedford Grammar School, England, and also in Europe. He ar ...

took over as commanding officer in November 1900. The unit departed

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

on the transport ''Orient'' and returned to Australia on 17 July 1901. Casualties included 13 killed or died of wounds and nine died of disease. Members of the regiment received one Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, 4

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

s and 1

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

Commanding officers

The following officers commanded the unit: * Mackay, Kenneth * Le Mesurier, Haviland

Notes

References

* *

Commanding officers

Notes

References

Further reading