Especially The Imperial Yeomanry, A Corps Of Riders And
Shots, Appealed To The Sporting Instincts Of Our Race.
Many could
ride and not shoot, many could shoot and not ride, more candidates
were rejected than were accepted, and yet in a very short time
eight thousand men from every class were wearing the grey coats and
bandoliers.
This singular and formidable force was drawn from every
part of England and Scotland, with a contingent of hard-riding
Irish fox-hunters. Noblemen and grooms rode knee to knee in the
ranks, and the officers included many well-known country gentlemen
and masters of hounds. Well horsed and well armed, a better force
for the work in hand could not be imagined. So high did the
patriotism run that corps were formed in which the men not only
found their own equipment but contributed their pay to the war
fund. Many young men about town justified their existence for the
first time. In a single club, which is peculiarly consecrated to
the jeunesse doree, three hundred members rode to the wars.
Without waiting for these distant but necessary reinforcements, the
Generals in Africa had two divisions to look to, one of which was
actually arriving while the other was on the sea. These formed the
5th Division under Sir Charles Warren, and the 6th Division under
General Kelly-Kenny. Until these forces should arrive it was
obviously best that the three armies should wait, for, unless there
should be pressing need of help on the part of the besieged
garrisons or imminent prospects of European complications, every
week which passed was in our favour.
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