The 19th (Paget's Horse) Battalion was a unit of the Imperial Yeomanry raised by George Paget as auxiliaries to the British Army during the Second Boer War. The men were mainly upper middle class and recruited from the gentlemen's clubs of London. The unit saw action at Faber's Put, Elands River, Lichtenburg, and numerous engagements on the lines of communication. The battalion was disbanded after the war.
Recruitment
Following a string of defeats during Black Week in early December 1899, the British government realised that it would need more troops than just the Regular army to fight the Second Boer War, particularly mounted troops. On 13 December, the War Office decided to allow volunteer forces to serve in the field, and a Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December that officially created the Imperial Yeomanry (IY). This was organised as service companies each of approximately 121 officers and men enlisted for one year. Existing Yeomanry and fresh volunteers quickly filled the new force, which was equipped to operate as mounted infantry.
Besides the companies raised directly by the Yeomanry Cavalry regiments, a number of battalions were formed by enthusiasts, including Paget's Horse, enlisted by George Paget the son of Lord Alfred Paget and grandson of Field Marshal Henry Page, the 1st Marquess of Anglesey. Paget recruited largely from upper middle class members of London gentlemen's clubs and professional men (Trooper Cosmo Rose-Innes, who wrote an account of the first months of the unit, was a barrister at Gray's Inn). Paget's Horse was accepted as the 19th Battalion of the IY
The unit was organised as follows: 51st (Paget's) Company 52nd (Paget's) Company 68th (Paget's) Company 73rd (Paget's) Company
Paget himself was not a regular soldier, but had seen some service as a volunteer in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and the Anglo-Zulu War (1879–80). He served as the battalion's second-in-command with the temporary rank of major.
Service
The recruits did their basic training daily at Chelsea Barracks (many of the gentlemen arriving for morning drill by Hansom cab), their riding twice-weekly at Knightsbridge Barracks, and their musketry course at Bisley Ranges, all under Regular non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and a Colonial lieutenant attached to the unit. The first three companies embarked at Southampton aboard the troopship SS Tagus on 16 March and disembarked at Cape Town on 4 April; the 73rd Company followed on the SS Delphic on 31 March, arriving on 24 April. The battalion was sent to Maitland Camp outside Cape Town where it awaited the arrival of its horses and carried out fatigues and further training. It was next sent to the base camp at Stellenbosch.
The battalion then went up-country to join Lord Roberts' main army on the Orange River. It travelled by train to Belmont, where it continued field training. At the end of April the battalion was assigned to Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Warren's column, which was ordered to suppress Boer rebels in Griqualand West and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Warren arrived at the Orange River on 4 May and set about organising his column.