Colin
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:03 pm |
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This I think was from Philip Gon�s book - The Road To Isandhlwana, Page 115.
This quote (Gon) was not about Isandhlwana but an earlier campaign, the full paragraph being -
�By 19 November, the Gcaleka War was described, officially, as over. A few small colonial detachments were retained to guard strategic outposts in the empty Gcalekaland while the remainder headed for home as quickly as their mounts would carry them. Her Majesty�s soldiers in their �safe� posts in the Ciskei had to watch the victorious colonists stream home and listen to the exaggerated praise that was heaped on �the sons of the soil�. The regulars had worked hard in irksome, organisational jobs, but they received scant recognition. Coghill described the time as �work day and night combining the duties of ADC, Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Assistant Quartermaster-General and private secretary�. The glory had gone to the amateurs - it had not been the 1st Battalion�s finest hour.
My question is, having seen the expression �amateurs� used before regarding those not professional soldiers, is this - knowing the Natal Carbineers� remembered well the incident at Bushmans Pass when Durnford appeared at Isandhlwana...would the 24th have remembered well the incident related in the above paragraph, and held a negative view of the Colonials ?
This may explain a great deal about the lack of Colonial inclusion (native units too) in coverage post-Isandhlwana, at least by some sources. I always got the impression these Colonial/Native units were considered to have �got in the way� of the 24th �doing their job� as professionals at Isandhlwana.
As a topic-starter not argument question - Has the fear remained then and since, that the Colonial/Native units may have equalled the 24th in their actions at Isandhlwana, perhaps even more so, hence a similar phrase as the quote by Gon - �The Glory Had Gone To The Amateurs� ?
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