The Mounted Infantry
British Mounted Infantry units emerged during the colonial conflicts of the late 19th century. Foot regiments formed mounted platoons for scouting and skirmishing when serving overseas in Australia, South Africa, Sudan and Burma. Many of these were formed into the Imperial Mounted Infantry. The troops travelled on horses but dismounted and fought on foot with rifles.
The Mounted Infantry
1900
1900 On the outbreak of the Boer War, Sir Francis W. Grenfell, Governor and Commander in Chief Malta, raised a Corps of Mounted Infantry for service in South Africa.
In Dec 1899, Captain Marshall W.R. 2nd/Sherwood Foresters was tasked to buy ponies and establish the Mounted Infantry School at Malta.
20 Feb 1900 No 1 Malta Mounted Infantry Coy composed of men from the Royal Warwickshire, Lancashire Fusiliers, and Loyal North Lancashire and 2nd Sherwood Foresters left Malta for Cape Town.1
Bibliography
- 1Darmanin D. The Anglo Boer War and the Malta Mounted Infantry. The Bulletin of the Military Historical Society 2003 Feb; 53 (211): 115-119.
- War Horse fact and Fiction. National Army Museum available on line.