The Scatterer of Armies
Colonel Charles Robert St Leger Shervinton, a Victorian Soldier of Fortune
Colonel Charles Robert St Leger Shervinton, The Scatterer of Armies (The Shervintons)
In previous posts regarding the BaSotho Gun War 1880–81, I have mentioned, on several occasions, Captain, later Colonel Charles Shervinton, who seemed to be center stage in almost every battle fought in the Mafeteng District. His name was already well known in South Africa by this time, as during the Zulu War he had been recommended for the Victoria Cross. Then, during the Gun War, he led a mounted charge with pistol in hand and his sword clutched between his teeth, almost Erroll Flynn style—the Basuto called him the scatterer of armies. In 1898, however, at just 45 years of age, he took his own life in a London hotel due to financial troubles.
Charles Robert St Leger Shervinton was born in Armagh, Ireland, on 4 June 1852, the son of Colonel Charles Robert Shervinton, a Crimean War veteran of the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment. He briefly served as a Naval Cadet, then, wishing to follow his father into the army, he attended a ‘crammer’ course, and, disappointingly for him, he failed the Royal Military Academy entrance exam. In 1872, he enlisted in the ranks of the 20th Hussars at Canterbury, and having quickly been promoted to the rank of lance sergeant, his father purchased his discharge on 11 December 1873—about the same time another brother, William Shervinton, was serving in the ranks of the Life Guards.
Charles arrived in South Africa in late 1877, while his brother Thomas arrived in the Cape Colony in September with a draft of the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police and joined No. 5 Troop. As the Ninth Eastern Cape Frontier War (1877–78) was still being played out, Charles was appointed a lieutenant and company commander in Pulleine’s Rangers. On 10 January 1878, he was promoted to captain and commanded 100 of the rangers serving with Major E. Hopton’s column. He was then posted to Springs, which was the scene of an earlier battle between the Kaffrarian Volunteers and Kreli’s forces on 9 October 1877. Here, his men constructed the aptly named Fort Pulleine. His brother Tom wrote that:
‘Charlie is getting on splendidly. He is Captain in Pulleine’s Rangers, and gets 21s. a day. He is very popular with his men, who says they will follow him wherever he chooses to lead them. When he left King William’s Town they all wanted to get into his company, and actually smuggled themselves into the train, but were sent back to King.’
While Pulleine’s Rangers saw little action during the frontier war, Charles, not only fulfilled his command expectations of training and leading a company but also became acquainted with the many personalities on the Cape Frontier at the time. Following the end of the frontier war in June 1878, he served as a drill instructor with the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police and was attached to the Chalumna Volunteer Cavalry. From King William’s Town on 19 August 1878, Inspector Josiah W. Goldsworthy FAMP wrote that:
‘I have much pleasure in stating that during the time he was under my command at Fort Murray, he proved himself by his zeal and intelligence to be well worthy of the appointment, and I consider him well qualified in every way to take up an appointment as adjutant to any Colonial Corps.’
It was on 20 November 1878, that his name was submitted by Commandant Wilhelm von Linsingen as a potential candidate to command a company of the proposed Natal Native Contingent that was to be partly raised in the eastern cape for service in Zululand. Eight days later, Commandant William J. Nettleton from King William’s Town also recommended that he should be commissioned. On December 18, he was appointed as a captain and adjutant in the 2/2nd, Natal Native Contingent. The same day, his brother Tom, having been discharged as physically unfit from the FAMP in July, was commissioned a lieutenant in the same regiment; they wore blue puggarees around their helmets.
The 2/2nd NNC formed part of Colonel Charles Knight Pearson’s No. 1 Column; however, they did not take part in the Battle of Nyezane on 22 January 1879 where Pearson drove off the Zulus attack. Charles with the Right Wing of the 2/2nd NNC joined Pearson at the Norwegian Mission Station at Eshowe soon after Pearson occupied it, while Tom’s company remained behind at Fort Pearson on the lines of communication. Eshowe essentially became isolated and under siege from 28 January when the bulk of the NNC was ordered back to Natal, Charles remained behind as part of the 1,800 men who defended the now fortified station. They were not relieved until 3rd April.
During the siege of Eshowe, Charles served with the scratch-mounted infantry unit that was referred to as the Uhlans, which actively patrolled around Eshowe and was never directly attacked by the Zulus. On 4 March 1879, he saved the life of Private William Brooks of the 99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment during an ambush, for which Brooks wrote a statement testifying to Shervington’s bravery. After the war, he was considered a candidate for the Victoria Cross while he had been mentioned in despatches by Pearson. Private Brooks’ statement read in part that:
‘At Ekowe (sic) on or about March 4th, I and two other men proceeded to No. 4 vidette post under command of Captain Shervinton. When ten yards from the post, about 30 Zulus jumped up and fired a volley at us. The two other men’s horses took fright and bolted, whilst my horse threw me, and my foot caught in the stirrup. The Zulus rushed to within five or six yards of me, and were about to assegai me when Captain Shervinton mounted, dashed forward and the Zulus bolted. He put me on his horse, and ordered me to get under a tree under cover whilst he went back on foot and picked up my rifle and helmet, under heavy fire of the enemy. Whilst this happened, a hundred or more Zulus appeared on the top, some 200 yards away, and also opened fire on us.’
Eshowe as it appeared at the time of the Zulu War with earthwork defences having been constructed around its perimeter (The Graphic)
In April, his other brother, Will Shervinton, arrived in South Africa and joined Lonsdale’s Mounted Rifles as a trooper. With the Natal Native Contingent being restructured, Charles was appointed the adjutant of the 5th Battalion, NCC, while on 27 April 1879, from Fort Tenedos, he requested a transfer to Lonsdale’s Mounted Rifles, however, he was required to remain with the 5th NNC. In Natal at the time, the three brothers became known as the ‘handsome shervinton’s.’
On 13 September, from the Natal Club, Durban, Charles applied for a commission in the Cape Mounted Rifles, recording that he had been recommended for the Victoria Cross and an Imperial commission, but due to a lack of means, he could not accept it. He later, in support of his application provided three testimonials that attested to his soldierly qualities and are worth mentioning. Although, he was never a cadet at Woolwich, but a candidate, Captain Arthur Fitzroy Hart wrote from Potspruit, Natal, on 21 September 1879, that:
‘……His commanding officer chose him out of many good officers for Adjutant of his Battalion on the formation of the Regiment….Captain Shervington has been a Cadet at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich – this speaks sufficiently of his good education.’
On 26 September 1879, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander C. Bruce CB, the commanding officer of the 91st Highlanders, wrote from his camp at Verulam to Shervington:
‘I have much pleasure in stating that you served under my command for several months at Fort’s Crealock and Argyle during the Zulu War where you were in Command of a detachment of the Native Contingent & I had every reason to be satisfied with your zeal and ability with the support & assistance you afforded me – in your duties were always performed to my satisfaction.’
Commandant William J. Nettleton, Commanding Officer of both the 2/2nd and 5th Battalions, NNC, wrote from Durban on 21 October 1879 that:
‘I have much pleasure in testifying to his ability as a smart [and] good soldier who served with credit both in the Cape Colony & Zululand. Captain Shervington was with Colonel Pearson’s garrison of Eshowe, commanding a detachment of the Battalion and served as an officer of Mounted Infantry in which capacity he specially distinguished himself.’
On 21 February 1880, his brother Tom, who had also joined the 5th NNC, died in Durban, having suffered from broken down health since he was discharged from the FAMP in 1878. The following month, Charles was appointed a Captain in Left Wing, Cape Mounted Rifles, on 20 March 1880 and was posted to No. 3 Troop at Kokstad in East Griqualand. With war brewing in Basutoland over the disarmament act, Charles and his troop under Lieutenant Colonel Fred Carrington headed for Basutoland on 7 August 1880, and arrived at Mafeteng on 13 September having skirmished with Basuto commandos under Chief Lerothodi on the way in.
Charles Shervinton's entry in the muster book of the Cape Mounted Rifles with Cecil D'Arcy VC appearing below him (Cape Archives Repository)
Mafeteng was fortified by the CMR, while Carrington also re-formed his 200 men into four troops, with Charles taking command of ‘A’ Troop and also acting as Carrington’s field officer and second in command. Completely surrounded and living on reduced rations, Carrington’s Force was from that point on continually in action, during which on 21 September, Lerothodi and about 3,000 warriors attacked Mafeteng and the nearby Fraser’s Store. In this incredibly brave attack, some 400 of ‘the boldest’, on their nimble ponies, charged head-on into the centre of Mafeteng and held a sod wall on the ground between the magistrates’ buildings and the sangers on the high ground immediately behind. Carrington, understanding that the Basuto needed to be driven out, ordered Charles with 25-men to make a mounted charge, that became known as the ‘pistol charge’ in CMR folk law. Sergeant Harry Woon, who was one of the 25 men, wrote that they only had time to put a bridle on their horses and mount them bare-back with pistols only. During the charge, they were firing point blank while the men in the sangers fired down on the Basuto horses, leaving them dismounted to escape. Private Harry Eave of the CMR, a witness to the charge from the sangers was, recalled years later that Captain Shervinton ‘was in his shirt sleeves (rolled up), riding breeches and top boots, of course. He carried his sword crossways in his mouth and a revolver in his right hand.’ Charles’s frantic charge turned the day in favour of the colonials, and the Basuto, despite their heroism, retired. Realizing the reality of the situation that the defenders of Mafeteng were in, on 23 September he wrote to his father that:
‘I am afraid this is going to be a second Ekowe (sic). Our rations have been reduced, but even as it is I fear we have only enough for 27 days’ reduced rations…..we fear night attacks most. This is not a very strong place to defend, as once the schanze’s [sangers] are taken our camp must go. The Basutos are wonderful at picking up their dead and wounded. V.C’s would be common with them. You can fancy what it was when I tell you 59 of their horses were lying dead in one place after a charge, and only three dead bodies found afterwards. Of course, numbers were carried off in the night. They lost very heavily in their attack. Our loss was only some men wounded.’
The Camp Forge in Mafeteng just after the siege was lifted (Cape Parliament Library)
On 22 October, in what was a very intense day of fighting, he led a charge during the attack against Lerothodi’s village, drove the Basuto from a donga, and became known by the Basuto as ‘The Scatterer of Armies’ while Shervinton himself, under no illusions as to the quality of enemy that they were fighting, wrote that, ‘The Basutos are in most excellent spirits, and fight every time we go out. We can do little except an occasional seven-day’ patrol, just for the sake of a fight.’
Without outlining every action that Charles and the CMR fought, one other standout action was on 14 January 1881, near the location of the old Tweefontein Trading Station, which was known by the Basuto as the Battle of the Swords. With just 50 men, Charles and Captain Cecil D’Arcy VC, forming the column’s vanguard, were holding ground to the immediate front. Lerothodi ordered 3,000 mounted warriors to charge the column, with Charles and his men in the way. Charles nerve-rackingly waited until the charging Basuto were within 150 yards before ordering his men to open fire with their snider carbines at such a rate that 1,000 rounds had been fired before the charge had advanced another 100 yards. The fire was so effective that the Basuto peeled off to both flanks and within a few subsequent hours of fighting the Basuto had been driven off.
On 1 March 1881, Charles was appointed as the adjutant and instructor of musketry of Left Wing, CMR, and being a good shot himself, the standard of musketry improved. Not long after, on 21 March during a reconnaissance in force that resulted in a square being formed to repel a mounted charge, Carrington was severely wounded and could no longer command. Charles took command of the Left Wing, CMR, and was promoted to temporary major two days later. Although Captain Henry S.M. Montagu was senior, he was passed over, and Lieutenant Theo Clarke, before he was killed early in the war, had said that Montagu was ‘perfectly unfit for the command of men owing to his entire ignorance of military matters’.
The Gun War finished in April, and on 21 August 1881, Charles’ name was submitted to the Cape Government for favorable mention for his part in the war, and on 24 September he reverted to his substantive rank of captain. Apart from meeting Major General ‘Chinese’ Gordon during his six-month tenure as the Commandant General of the Cape Colonial Forces in 1882, life in the CMR was very quiet, so on 1 September 1884, when the regiment was being restructured, he resigned his commission.
An old acquaintance from the Zulu and Gun Wars, Digby Willoughby was the Commander-in-Chief of the Malagasy Army in Madagascar, and immediately after Charles left the CMR, he accepted the appointment of Colonel and Military Secretary and second in command to Willoughby of the 25,000-strong Hova army. He threw himself into this role and was instrumental in establishing a military academy as well as having shares in a gold mine and coffee plantation. When the French invaded in 1895 and defeated the Malagasy forces, Charles lost everything, and he returned home in a dejected state.
Colonel Charles Shervinton on the far right with cadets from the Malagasy Military Academy (The Shervinton's)
On 19 April 1898, he shot himself in a London hotel, leaving a note for his father, who had been so proud of his three boys, that read: ‘Dearest Father, it’s all UP. You will find me a dead man in the morning. Forgive and think the best of me.’ His father died in 1907, while his two sons, Thomas and William were both killed during the Great War. Captain Thomas Robert Munro Shervinton was killed at Loos in 1915 serving with the 8th Battalion, East Kent Regiment and Second Lieutenant William Hugh Byam Shervinton was killed on the Somme in 1916 serving with the 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.
References:
Adrian Greaves & Ian Knight., Who’s Who in the Zulu War 1879.
Cape Archives Repository: CO 1139 Operational Reports, 18 May 1881
Orpen, Neil., The Dukes: A History of the Cape Town Rifles.
Shervinton, Kathleen., The Shervintons Soldiers of Fortune.
The Quakamba., Colonial Regiment of ‘Cape Mounted Riflemen’. January 1899.
The Springbok., July 1929.
Another great one Cam. What a man he was!