Three: Major C. B. H. Mansfield, Indian Army, late Lumsden’s Horse

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Johannesburg, South Africa 1901 (44 Tpr: C. B. H. Mansfield, Lumsden’s Horse); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (Major C. B. H. Mansfield, 41/Cavy.); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, unnamed, mounted as worn, good very fine and better (3) £400-500

Charles Bertram Heyworth Mansfield was born on 24 February 1879 and was educated at Cheltenham College. An indigo planter by trade, he served as a Trooper with Lumsden’s Horse in South Africa during the Boer War, and was present during operations in the Orange Free State, February to May 1900, including the actions at Houtnek, 1 May 1900, and Vet River, 5-6 May 1900; and during operations in the Transvaal, May to June 1900, including the actions near Johannesburg, 29 May 1900, and at Pretoria, 4 June 1900.

Returning to India, Mansfield was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 19th Hussars on 29 December 1900, and joined the Indian Army, with the rank of Second Lieutenant, on 6 May 1902. He was promoted Lieutenant on 29 March 1903, and was advanced Major on 29 December 1915, whilst serving with the 8th Cavalry, and subsequently saw service as a Squadron Commander with the 41st Cavalry during the Third Afghan War. Appointed Acting Lieutenant-Colonel, he subsequently commanded the 41st Cavalry before he retired in 1925.


Lumsden’s Horse was an irregular unit of mounted volunteers raised by subscription in India. Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel D. M. Lumsden of the Assam Valley Volunteers, it consisted of two squadrons of cavalry and a maxim gun detachment. Its members were mostly tea, coffee or indigo planters from across India, along with a few gentlemen, merchants, clerks and civil servants, altogether some 240 strong.

The regiment sailed from Calcutta in February (A Squadron) and March (B Squadron). Once both squadrons had been assembled in South Africa, they joined Lord Robert’s Army at Bloemfontein, where they were attached to Colonel Ross’s Mounted Infantry. They took part in several sharp engagements during the advance to Pretoria, and after its occupation were engaged in outpost work and skirmishing. They later took part in the march from Machododorp to Heidelberg, where they were engaged in further severe fighting.

When the Regiment returned home in November 1900, they found that they were the toast of India. Lord Roberts sent a telegram to the Viceroy expressing his appreciation for their excellent services, stating, ‘It has been a pride and a pleasure to me to have under my command a volunteer contingent which has so well upheld the honour of the Indian Empire.’