At the beginning of February England was shocked by the intelligence that one of Lord Chelmsford’s columns, consisting of the 24th Regiment, had been surprised and annihilated by the Zulus at Isandlhwana (22nd January). 10th Feb. The Seventeenth Lancers was at once warned to proceed on active service in South Africa, and the regiment was augmented by the transfer of sixty-five men and horses from the 5th and 16th Lancers. In the short interval between the warning and the embarkation the Commanding Officer, Colonel Gonne, was accidentally shot while superintending the practice of the non-commissioned officers with the newly issued revolver, and so severely wounded as to be unable to proceed on active service. Accordingly, on the 22nd February, Colonel Drury Lowe was gazetted as supernumerary Lieutenant-Colonel, and reassumed command of the regiment, his return being joyfully welcomed by all ranks, without exception, from the second in command downwards. On the same day the regiment was inspected by the Colonel-in-Chief at Hounslow, 24th Feb. and two days later one wing, under the command of Major Boulderson, embarked on board the hired transport France at Victoria Docks; headquarters and the other wing embarking on board the England at Southampton on the 25th. A depôt of 121 men with 30 horses was left under the command of Captain Benson at Hounslow.

The strength of the regiment, as embarked, was as follows:—

Both ships arrived at St. Vincent, Cape de Verdes, on the 7th March to coal; but owing to the great number of transports assembled at the same place for the same purpose, the England did not leave until the 12th, nor the France until the 14th. Both ships were detained again at Table Bay for a few days to coal, and arrived at Port Durban, the England on the 6th, and the France on the 11th April; five horses dead on the former, and six on the latter ship, were the casualties for the voyage. By the 14th both wings were disembarked, and the regiment then encamped for a day or two at Cator’s Manor, near Durban—the right wing, under Colonel Drury Lowe, finally marching on the 17th April to Landman’s Drift, and the left wing, under Major Boulderson, on the 21st April to Dundee.

The entire regiment shortly after marched up to Rorke’s Drift together with the King’s Dragoon Guards, the whole being under the command of Major-General Marshall. On the 21st May it visited the battlefield of Isandlhwana, buried most of the dead bodies, and brought back some of the abandoned waggons to Rorke’s Drift. On the 23rd it joined the 2nd Division under Major-General Newdegate at Landman’s Drift, on the 28th it marched with it to Koppie Allein on the Blood River, and at last on the 1st June crossed that river and entered Zululand.

On the 5th June the regiment came in contact with the Zulus for the first time at Erzungayan Hill. In a trifling skirmish which ensued the Adjutant, Lieutenant Frith, was shot dead by the Colonel’s side. 1879. 7th June.Two days later the division reached the Upoko River. A squadron of the Seventeenth was now detached to do duty at Fort Marshall, one of the posts constructed to guard the line of communication. The remainder moved up with division towards Ulundi, the kraal of the Zulu king. It was employed in the usual reconnaissance and outpost duties, varied by an occasional skirmish with the Zulus, but was never able to come to close quarters with the enemy. It was not employed, nor was any part of the strong force of cavalry available for the service, in a rapid advance upon Ulundi, as had been expected and hoped.

On the 2nd July the second division and flying column encamped on the south bank of the White Umvolosi River, about five miles from Ulundi, and on the 4th crossed the river and advanced against the kraal. The three squadrons of the Seventeenth formed the rear-guard; but no opportunity occurred of attacking the enemy on the march. The column was now rapidly enveloped by the Zulus in great force, and the cavalry was ordered to withdraw within the hollow square into which the infantry was formed. The Zulu attack began at 8.50 A.M., and was maintained for three-quarters of an hour within a hundred yards of a murderous artillery and rifle fire. During this time the Seventeenth stood to their horses under a heavy cross-fire, and suffered some casualties, Lieutenant Jenkins, among the officers, being shot in the jaw. About 9.30 the Zulus showed signs of wavering, and the Seventeenth was ordered out of the square to attack. As they rode out Captain Edgell was shot dead at the head of his squadron, and his troop farrier was killed at the same instant. Once clear of the square the regiment formed in echelon of wings, rank entire, covering over three hundred yards of front, and charged. It was met by a hot fire in front and flank from the Zulus, who were concealed in long grass in a donga; but charging right through them the Seventeenth scattered them in every direction, and then taking up the pursuit hunted them with great execution for nearly two miles. The horses were fresh, and there was no escape from the lances, which the enemy now encountered for the first time. The Zulu 1879.army was not only defeated but dispersed by this pursuit, and never appeared in the field again. 1879. The casualties of the Seventeenth on this day were, one officer (Captain Wyatt Edgell) and two men killed, three officers, viz. Colonel Drury Lowe, Lieutenant James, Scots Greys, attached to the Seventeenth, Lieutenant and acting Adjutant Jenkins, and five men wounded; the two first-named officers slightly, and the third severely. Also 26 horses were killed and wounded. The regiment was highly complimented, both verbally and in orders, by the General for its conduct at Ulundi. The only matter worthy of note in this short Zulu campaign is the heavy loss suffered by the Seventeenth in officers as compared with men; and this through pure chance, for all ranks were equally exposed.

The regiment began the return march on the day after the battle, with the 2nd Division, and arrived at the Upoko River on the 15th July. On the 26th it was ordered to march to Koppie Allein, to give over its horses to the King’s Dragoon Guards, and to proceed dismounted to Pinetown, where it arrived on the 21st August. It was reduced a month later to six troops for Indian service; and 198 men then proceeded direct to England under Lieutenant W. Kevill-Davies. On the 1st October Colonel Drury Lowe for the second time took leave of the regiment; and Major Boulderson took command. The regiment then embarked for India; the left wing under Captain Cook sailing on board H.M.S. Serapis on 8th October, the right wing under Major Boulderson on board H.M.S. Crocodile on the 20th, and arriving at Bombay on the 28th October and 10th November respectively. The regiment was quartered at Mhow, the point from which it had started on the chase of Tantia Topee, twenty-one years before; the headquarters and the right wing arriving there on the 1st, and the left wing on the 14th November. Finally, on the 4th December Lieutenant-Colonel Gonne, who had recovered from his wound, arrived from England and took over the command. He was the only officer remaining in the regiment who had served with it in Central India in 1858–59.

The Seventeenth had not been long in India before a request 1880. came from General Phayre that the regiment might be sent up to join his force on active service in Afghanistan,—a request which, unfortunately, could not be complied with, owing to the defective state of the saddlery which was taken over in India. In July, however, twenty non-commissioned officers and men were sent up to do duty with the Transport on the Quetta-Candahar route. In this, as in all cases in the history of the regiment when small parties of men have been detached for particular duty, one and all did extremely well, and were complimented on the excellence of their work in an order published by the Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Presidency. To make the parallel complete, two of these twenty now hold commissions—Major Forbes, the officer second in command of the King’s Dragoon Guards, and Lieutenant Pilley, who remains with the Seventeenth as riding-master.

In April of the following year Lieutenant-Colonel Gonne retired from the command, being appointed Military Attaché at St Petersburg; and in November Paymaster Captain John Brown took leave of the regiment with which he had been associated for five-and-thirty years. He and Major Berryman, the latter sometime the regimental Quartermaster, are the only two members of the Seventeenth who went through Balaclava, Central India, and South Africa.

The Seventeenth remained at Mhow until January 1884 without further incident worth the chronicling. Its old Colonel, General Drury Lowe, however, was meanwhile adding to his reputation in Egypt, where he commanded the cavalry division in the campaign of 1882. The pursuit of Arabi’s army after the action of Tel-el-Kebir by the British cavalry, and the surrender of Cairo and of Arabi himself to General Drury Lowe, are matters of history. From the close of that campaign we must speak of him as Sir Drury Lowe, K.C.B.

In February 1884 the Seventeenth Lancers relieved the 10th Hussars at Lucknow. In July Lieutenant-General Benson, who had commanded the regiment during the Central Indian campaign, became its Colonel. In December of the same year the regiment furnished a squadron to act as escort to the Commander-in-Chief in India, General Sir F. Roberts, at the camp of exercise in India.

The regiment remained at Lucknow until the expiration of its 1890. term of Indian service, embarking for England on H.M.S. Serapis on the 9th October 1890. One squadron was disembarked at Suez for duty with the army of occupation in Egypt, and was quartered at Abbasiyeh near Cairo. The remaining troops disembarked at Portsmouth on the 3rd of November. Of the non-commissioned officers and men who went out with the regiment to the Zulu War in 1879, just thirty returned with it in 1890; yet this was not due to death, for the Seventeenth lost but seventy men from disease during its last period of Indian service, an astonishing contrast to its former experiences in the times of the Pindari War and the Mutiny. 1891. For a year after its return the Seventeenth was quartered at Shorncliffe, where it was rejoined in November 1891 by the squadron that had been detached to Egypt, and then resumed the usual round of home service. 1892. The following year was marked by the successful introduction of the “squadron organisation,” which had been already tried in 1869.

In January General Benson died, and the colonelcy of the regiment fell vacant. And as for the present we must close the history of the Seventeenth Lancers at this point, we cannot more fitly end it than with the name of General Benson’s successor, the fifteenth and not the least Colonel of the regiment, Sir Drury Curzon Drury Lowe, K.C.B.