‘We embarked on Friday 10th November, but owing to bad weather did not leave L/pool [Liverpool] until 12.30 noon on 12th November’
so reads an entry in a small notebook which is part of one of the treasures of our archives – the Sir Frederick Smith Collection.
Smith sailed for South Africa on the 12 November 1899 with the 13th Hussars aboard the S.S. Templemore. This little book is his record of the veterinary care he gave on board as well as in later operations in Natal including the Battle of Colenso, Vaal Krantz and Brakfontein.
In his book A veterinary history of the war in South Africa Smith describes two ways in which horses were transported overseas – they were either carried with the troops on transport ships or they went on board freight ships.
He states that animals conveyed in freight ships suffered ‘a great disadvantage,’ when compared to those on transport ships, as they were accompanied by less experienced men who had many more horses in their care. So the horses on board the SS Templemore could be classed as lucky!
Two days into the voyage, on 14th November, the entry in the notebook records the first fatalities like this ’C127 strangulation, found dead, C57 staggers, died, C118 staggers, died in 2 hours’. It is not clear what C127 etc refers to – perhaps it refers to the location of the horse on the ship or it may be the number attached to the horse by the army.
Over the course of the 4 weeks of the voyage the notebook records a total of 12 deaths and numerous conditions from which the horses recovered. The only entry for 28th November records Smith’s own sickness – ‘I was ill in bed all day’.
We also have an album of photos in the Smith Collection which contains a number taken on board the SS Templemore. These include a photo of a horse being buried at sea, a rather dark image of some animals on the horse deck, and some more light hearted images of the troops keeping fit by racing each other around the ship and doing exercises as part of their physical drill.
If you can shed light on what C127 etc means do let us know.
Reference
Smith, Frederick (1919) A veterinary history of the war in South Africa 1899-1902 London H. & W. Brown
Images: photographs from the album in the Smith Collection
“Sore backs appear inseparable from mounted service, they have existed as long as the horse has been used in war … it was reasonable to suppose … as knowledge advanced, a reduction in this class of injury should have been possible.”
So says Frederick Smith in his book A veterinary history of the war in South Africa 1899-1902 (item id 003722) in the section on the history of sore backs. He then goes on to claim that in the 40 years following the Battle of Waterloo all “the lessons of war appear to have been forgotten.”
Later campaigns meant that the topic became a matter for discussion again. In the early 1880s General Sir Frederick FitzWygram, Commander of the Cavalry Brigade, studied the problem showing that it was often the construction of the saddle that was to blame.
Smith’s Skeleton of horse showing back bone and ribs
The topic then became the subject of a series of lectures, delivered by Smith, at the Army Veterinary School in Aldershot. These lectures were eventually published in 1891 as A manual of saddles and sore backs (item id 26542).
The manual is set out in four sections: the first covers the anatomy and physiology of the back because, as Smith states, “no accurate conception of the fitting of a saddle … can be formed until we have some knowledge of the structure on which the saddle rests.” This is followed by 16 pages on the construction of a saddle, 8 pages of instruction on how to fit one properly and finally 17 pages on ‘sore backs – how they are caused, prevented and remedied.’ The book contains 11 illustrations – 6 are anatomical, 5 on fitting a saddle with the final one showing the sites of the various injuries.
In spite of the lectures and manual it would appear that little changed – when referring to the South African War Smith states that “sore backs represented one of the chief causes of inefficiency.”
Smith – How to fit a girth correctly
This view is also expressed by William Snowball Mulvey in his little (20 page) book Sore back and its causes in army horses on a campaign (item id 26379) which was published in 1902. Sore backs had been the topic of Mulvey’s RCVS Fellowship Thesis and one of the reasons for this choice was “The fact that nine out of every ten cases which came before my notice in South Africa were the so-called sore backs.” By publishing his thesis Mulvey hoped to make his observations more widely available.
The book is very much a practical manual – it identifies 9 causes of sore backs and then shows how to prevent the injuries occurring in the first place – as Mulvey says in his closing words “the rational treatment of sore backs, is of course, the removal of the cause.”
Interested in finding out more? The notes and illustrations Smith made when carrying out research for his lectures and manual form part of the Frederick Smith Collection , they provide a fascinating insight into the meticulous way Smith carried out his rearch on this topic.
References
Mulvey, William Snowball (1902) Sore back and its causes in army horses on a campaign . Fellowship theses later published by H & W Brown
Smith, Fred (1891) A manual of saddles and sore backs London: HMSO
Smith, Frederick (1919) A veterinary history of the war in South Africa 1899-1902 London: H. & W. Brown
In 1900, Frederick Smith was serving as a veterinary officer in the South African War. The entries in his official war diary for August of that year show that the focus of his attention at that time was on finding a new site for the veterinary hospital which he had responsibility for.
The hospital was full to capacity with horses suffering from glanders and sore back. On 13 August, Smith notes in his diary that in the previous week they had admitted 666 horses and mules of which 6 had died, 150 had been destroyed and 64 had been sent for duty. When added to the existing animals in the hospital this gave a total of 1011.
There were also some staffing difficulties to contend with, speaking of one of the hospital staff he writes:
“Clarke did not know a single case in the place, says he cannot remember them! I have given him one more chance.” [16 August]
However, in true British style, the main thing that was concerning Smith seems to have been the weather as it “rained the whole day” and “rained all night.” This was causing problems for the animals “the horses are over their fetlocks in clay. Walking can only be done by painfully putting each foot alternately in progression”. There was also an ever present threat of the imminent flooding of the hospital if the river rose much more.
On 30 August Smith took his Commanding Officer to see the two places he had identified as possible new locations for the hospital but these were ruled out because of “military considerations … the defences of the town are to be … contracted” which would have left them exposed to attack.
The CO identified another site which Smith didn’t like at all “owing to the difficulty of watering, the banks being nearly vertical & quite 50 feet above the river.” Fortunately the CO later changed his mind and rejected the site because it would have taken too long to prepare.
Smith’s sketch of the new hospital
Finally on 1 September a new site was suggested on the north bank of the river. This met with Smith’s approval as it was surrounded by the river giving “complete protection in the event of an attack”, it had “sandy ground” and the low banks of the river “allowed water to be pumped up easily.” He rapidly planned the hospital drawing a sketch of what it would look like. It was to “have six kraals each holding 100 horses, and lines for another 400… the kraals will be well built, mangers will be supplied.”
Work started on 2nd September when Smith writes “Tomorrow and the whole of next week will be occupied getting the place right.” I hope it was compeleted before the weather got any worse!
These official war diaries, which cover the period 1899-1902, form a small part of the Frederick Smith Collection which also includes notes relating to his research and publications, reprints of his published articles, handwritten notes for his autobiography, photographs and notes relating to the Army Veterinary Service and letters written between 1877-1929.
October is Black History Month so this seems an appropriate time to look at the life and work of Jotello Soga the first black member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Jotello Festiri Soga (1865-1906) was born in the Transkei, South Africa, the fifth son of the Reverend Tiyo Soga. Reverend Soga had been educated in Scotland and it followed that all his surviving sons were sent to the Dollar Academy in Fife. Soga then went to the Dick Veterinary School in Edinburgh to study, graduating in April 1886. On graduation he become the first black member of the RCVS and also the first South African-born qualified veterinary surgeon.
Soga’s entry in the RCVS roll of members
After qualifying he returned to South Africa, and then, in November 1889, he was appointed by Duncan Hutcheon, Chief Veterinary Surgeon of the Cape Colony, as ‘junior veterinary surgeon’ with responsibility for the veterinary services in the Victoria East region.
Here he worked on a programme of inoculation against lung sickness in cattle and developed his interest in bacteriology. Then Rinderpest broke out in 1896, decimating herds across the continent. The treatment and eradication of this highly infectious disease was to occupy the rest of Soga’s career with the Colonial Veterinary Services. In 1896 he attended the conference that was arranged to discuss how to tackle the outbreak, and then worked in the laboratory set up as a result. It was at this lab that he met Robert Koch who was visiting to try out his possible cures and serum immunisation method.
For the most part, though, Soga and Hutcheon worked in the field shooting cattle, often working excessively long hours.
In the Cape of Good Hope Board of Agriculture’s Report of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon and the assistant veterinary surgeons for the year 1897 Soga writes about his experience with rinderpest:
“It was noticeable the peculiar direction the plague took, viz, down the course of the rivers and valleys…the ways in which the plague is carried from place to place are varied and extraordinary…it was supposed that the long leaps…[were] due to birds, but these outbreaks in almost every instance could be traceable to man”
Speaking of the efficacy of the inoculation programme he writes:
“The first inoculation was not always sufficient to render immunity complete, hence it was repeated…on recurrence any cases were generally of an exceptionally mild character.”
This strain of this exhausting work took its toll on both Soga and Hutcheon and they both took sick leave and then eventually resigned.
Soga continued to work as a vet in private practice and to write articles particularly for the Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope. He co-founded the Cape Colony Veterinary Society in 1905and died aged 41 in 1906. Soga had married Catherine Watson Chalmers, who came from Edinburgh, they had three daughters Catherine, Doris and Margaret.
Soga appears to have been forgotten by history so much so that Arnold Theiler , who is considered to be the father of veterinary science in South Africa, named TJ Viljoen as the first South African veterinarian. In fact Viljoen graduated in 1912 some 26 years after Soga.
Happily he has been ‘rediscovered’ and is remembered in the naming of the Jotello F Soga Library at the University of Pretoria, and with an annual award from the South African Veterinary Association, the Soga Medal, which is given to veterinary students or veterinarians in “recognition of exceptional community service rendered by a veterinarian or a veterinary student”.
