Lumsden's Horse, also known as Colonel Lumsden's Corps, was the name given to the Indian Mounted Infantry Corps, which was formed in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

in 1899 by Lieutenant-Colonel

Dugald McTavish Lumsden Colonel Dugald McTavish Lumsden CB (5 March 1851 – 10 May 1915) was a Scottish-born British army officer who founded the cavalry unit Lumsden's Horse in India in 1899. Lumsden was the oldest of the four sons of James Lumsden (1812–1882 ...

of the

Assam Valley Light Horse The Assam Valley Light Horse regiment was raised in 1891 and formed part of Indian Volunteer Force, later the Indian Defence Force and finally the Auxiliary Force (India). The regimental headquarters was at Dibrugarh in Assam. It was recruited ...

. The new corps was raised from volunteers from various existing Indian regiments, including the Assam Valley Light Horse. Colonel Lumsden contributed 50,000 rupees. The Corps left

250 strong in February 1900 to take part in the

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

, under the command of Field Marshal Lord Roberts. The Corps took part in the march to Bloemfontein, the occupation of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, the pursuit of de Wet, and the Barberton & De Kaap campaigns against the Boers.

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...

, Viceroy and Governor General of India placed a memorial tablet in St.Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta. It lists those of the Corps who died in action and in sickness. Lieutenant-Colonel

was formally appointed Commandant in March 1900, with Lieutenant-Colonel Eden Showers from the Surma Valley Light Horse as second in command. Showers was succeeded by Major Henry Chamney in late April 1900. This unit should not be confused with another horse regiment, the famous Guides Cavalry, which was founded by Harry Burnett Lumsden, whose surname was eventually added to that regimental title too: Queen Victoria's Own Guides Cavalry (Lumsden's).

References

* Henry H S Pearse, ''The History of Lumsden's Horse'', Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1903. {{Reflist British Indian Army cavalry regiments Military units and formations of the Second Boer War Military units and formations established in 1899