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Also referred to as the BRITISH MILITARY ENGINEERS. Note that the ROYAL ENGINEERS Library used a Martello Tower as their badge - see book cover and library stamp. For photographs of a Martello Tower visit the entry of the one in Fort Beaufort. British colonisation of the Cape Colony (1806) and Eastern Cape Frontier Wars (- 1878) On 23 April 1812 a Royal Warrant authorised the establishment of the 'Royal Engineer Establishment', in Chatham, Kent for "the Instruction of the Corps of Royal Military Artificers, or Sappers and Miners, and the junior officers of the Royal Engineers, in the duties of Sapping and Mining and other Military Field Works". Captain (later General Sir) Charles Pasley, was promoted to Major and appointed as the first Director of the Establishment, a position he held from 1812-46. He was an intelligent and far-thinking man who was the inspiration behind the early 19th century reforms in the Corps and the founding of the Royal Engineer Establishment (later the Royal School of Military Engineering). Curriculum and Innovation - 1812-1918 Under his Directorship the Establishment gained a reputation for experimentation, innovation and achievement. The Establishment which later developed into the School of Engineering provided the foundation upon which the high reputation of the Corps of Royal Engineers was built and prepared it for its participation in the widest aspects of engineering throughout the 19th century and beyond. Survey - first introduced in 1833, covered Technical Surveying and Military Topography. This lead to officers and soldiers conducting surveys and boundary commissions throughout the world. Electricity - first introduced in 1830's, covered battery construction, telegraphy, firing of mines, and electric light (search-lights). Estimating and Building Construction - first introduced in 1830's and included: building materials, sewerage, drainage, ventilation, gas and water supply, building design and architecture. Architecture was introduced in 1825 and by the 1840's onwards, this department was training world-class building designers and architects. [Royal Engineers Museum, Corps History - Part 6] Practitioners listed on this website who were either enlisted in South Africa or joined the Royal Engineers to fight wars elsewhere: ALEXANDER, JE (Captain)ARMSTRONG, John (Captain) BLANC, Louis David BOURCHIER, Lieut EF (EH?) CHAPMAN, Stephen COTTRILL, Gilbert St John COX, Gurth Howard DURNFORD, Anthony William (Lt.-Col) ELPHINSTONE, Howard FOWKE, George Henry GORDON, G Hamilton GREENE, Thomas HALL, Joseph Lockwood HARVEY, C (Captain) HIME, Sir Albert Henry HUDSON-HOLDGATE, John Graham (Lt Col) JERVOIS, Sir William Francis Drummond JONES, Walter Parke KALLENBACH, Clifford Raphael LESLIE, Francis Seymour LEWIS, H Loftus (Lieut) LEWIS, John (Colonel) LEWIS, GG LUCMORE, Thomas (Captain) McCUBBIN, David Aitken MINCY, J MITCHELL, Andrew MOFFAT, John Abraham MOODIE, Donald (Lieut) NEWTON, JN O'NEILL, John OXLEY, Wilfred Benjamin PAPWORTH, Alfred Wyatt PEARSE, Geoffrey Eastcott PENKETH, Peter PETERS, Kershaw PILKINGTON, George (Captain) RINALDI, Raymond Clement RUTHERFORD, James H (Lieut) SCOTT, Col H Maurice SELWYN, Charles Jasper (Major) SMITH, Charles Henry STEGMANN, George Frederick Charles TEELING, Christopher P THOMPSON, Albert John VINCENT, John Harold WALPOLE, JE (Capt) WHITE, Everard Zulu War - 1878-79The engineer units involved in the war were:
[Royal Engineers Museum, Corps History - Part 7] Officers of the Royal Engineers 1879: Who's WhoTwo field companies of the Engineers (the 2nd and the 5th) embarked for South Africa on December 2nd, 1878, and landed at Durban on January 4th, 1879, for the reinforcement of the Corps in South Africa. This had previously only consisted of the 7th Company, commanded by Major F W Nixon, who had under him Lieutenants, F H MacDowel and J Clarke. Colonel A W Durnford, assisted by Captain A H Hime, who was at the time Colonial Engineer, had organised and equipped three Companies of Native Pioneers. These each consisted of a Captain and 2 Subalterns (European), and 4 Sergeants and 96 Sappers (African). In each company 25 men were armed with the Martini-Henry rifle, the remainder bearing assegais and shields. Each man also carried a tool slung. The equipment of tools, forges, dynamite, etc, was loaded in two-wheeled ox-carts. The officers were employed in the Colonial Engineers department. When the expeditionary force was organised, Colonel Durnford took command of the entire Natal Native Contingent, consisting of three battalions of 1,000 men each, with 450 mounted men and a rocket battery under Captain Russell RA. From long residence in the area and from having command of similar contingents during previous outbreaks, Colonel Durnford had acquired great influence over the indigenous peoples of Natal and Basutoland, and it was felt that no-one else was so well qualified to lead this auxiliary force. Colonel F N Hassard was Commanding Royal Engineer, and Lieutenant J C Baxter was Adjutant. The other officers and companies were divided amongst the three columns which were intended to penetrate into the district from different points. Colonel E Wood commanded that which was to start from Utrecht; with him was Major C J Moysey. Colonel Glyn's column was to start from Helpmakaar and Rorke's Drift; with him was the 5th Field Company Royal Engineers, with Captain W P Jones, Lieutenants J R M Chard, R Da C Porter, and C E Commeline, also two Companies of Native Pioneers commanded by Lieutenant F H MacDowel. A third column, under Colonel Pearson, was to cross the Thukela river near its mouth. With him was the 2nd Field Company with Captain W R C Wynne, Lieutenants D C Courtney, H B Willock, and C E Haynes; also one Company of Native Pioneers under Lieutenant T R Main. Lieutenants V J Yorke and Brice were appointed Assistant Engineers and took charge of the bridge equipment for crossing the Thukela. Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford was in Command of the combined force. ReinforcementsWhen the dire situation of Chelmsford's forces became known in England, immediate steps were taken to hurry out reinforcements sufficiently numerous to carry on an active engagement in the war. The Engineers were strengthened by the 30th Field Company under Lieutenant Colonel R Harrison, with Captain (later General Sir) Blindon Blood, Lieutenants Watkins, Sherrard, MacKean and Littledale. One half of the 'C' or Telegraph Troop, under Major Hamilton, Lieutenants Hare, MacGregor, Rich and Bond. Also sent out were Lieutenant Colonel Steward, as Commanding Royal Engineer to the force, Lieutenant-Colonels Webber and Hale, Captains Anstey, Heneage, Lieutenants James, Cameron, Penrose and Brotherton. [Royal Engineers Museum, Engineers and the Zulu War 1879] Anglo-Boer War - 1899-1902In June 1899 the British garrison in South Africa amounted to less than 10,000 men, (4,000 in Cape Colony and 6,000 in Natal) its only engineer support was 29th Fortress Company (Captain EF Taylor RE) stationed in Cape Town, but organised and equipped to act as a field company in case of war. It was deployed on the railway lines at Naauwport Junction, De Aar Junction and Stormberg. To bolster this inadequate engineer support three units were hastily despatched to South Africa.
Colonel (local Major General, later Sir) Elliot Wood (1844-1931) was appointed Chief Engineer and the Royal Engineers detailed for service with the Army Corps were:
Army Corps Troops:
Line of Communications troops:
The engineers and the railwaysPrior to the war there were 4,628 miles (7,448km) of railway track working in direct intercommunication with one another in Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal. From the start it was evident that the railways would play an important strategic and tactical role in the war and to that effect the British were determined to ensure that they controlled them. A Department of Military Railways under the direction of Major (later Colonel Sir) E Percy C Girouard (1867-1932), Royal Engineers was set up in October 1899. Its work was divided under the following headings:
In December 1899 a Railway Pioneer Regiment (Major (later Major General Sir) John Capper RE) was raised in South Africa, they along with the engineer railway units (8th and 10th Railway Companies and 6th, 20th, 31st and 42nd Fortress Companies) did much work restoring damaged track and bridges, as well as, operating the trains. The Military Railway Department proved of great importance in transporting the force; for instance during the three weeks from 21 January to 10 February 1900 27,025 men, 13,590 horses and mules and 24,168 tons of stores were carried north on a single line in preparation for the assault on Bloemfontein. In the retreat from Bloemfontein the Boers did considerable damage to the railway including blowing four major bridges as well as several smaller ones. The 12th and 26th Field Companies along with C Pontoon Troop were called in to assist the units of the Military Railway Department to make good the damage and render the lines fit for use again. In the final stages of the war the Military Railway Department was heavily engaged in the containment strategy adopted by Kitchener by constructing and operating the armoured trains used to patrol the lines. On 15 May 1902 the Vereeniging Peace Conference opened. By 31 May the conditions of peace were agreed and the war was over. During the war the Royal Engineers developed in every branch, and during the last twelve months of it had designed and carried out a system of blockhouses and barbed-wire barriers which had been instrumental in bringing the fighting to a conclusion. They had taken over from the enemy, repaired, organised and ran about 1,400 miles of railway and the telegraph system of two large countries - the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. [Royal Engineers Museum, Corps History - Part 9] All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. List of projects With photographs With notes
Books citing ROYAL ENGINEERS
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