Lot Essay
Lieutenant-Colonel Spencer Walpole Follett commanded the 9th Lancers from September 1900 and a Column in the guerilla phase of the War.
Follett was commanding 'A' Squadron of the 9th Lancers in October 1899 and took part in the early Battles of Belmont, Graspan, Modder River and Magersfontein. Lieutenant Eustace Abadie was one of his Squadron Officers and his diaries give an excellent picture of the role played by 'A' Squadron in the early months of the War (A Soldier's Diary refers). Having been present at all the 9th Lancers' engagements, Follett was detached on 17.7.1900 and appointed Second-in-Command of the Carbineers. He became the Commanding Officer of the 9th Lancers on 8.9.1900 and took the Regiment into Cape Colony in early 1901 in order to pursue the Boer Commandos which had crossed the Orange River. The 9th Lancers, as a part of Scobell's Column, were particularly prominent in the capture of Lotter and his Commando in September 1901. Follett took over command of Scobell's Column in December 1901 and continued the hunt for the remainder of Kritzinger's Commando, led by Louis Wessels, in the midland of the Cape. Follett's Column comprised the 9th Lancers, 300 men; 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen, 230; 17th Lancers, 150; 9th Company, Imperial Yeomanry, 113; Cape Mounted Rifles, 65; two guns of the Royal Field Artillery and three guns of the Cape Mounted Rifles Artillery. The Guerilla War was far from over in the Cape Colony in 1902 and Follett's Column had much work, including the hunt for Fouche and Malan in March. He was Mentioned in Despatches by Lord Kitchener and awarded the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel (London Gazette 29.7.1902).
Taking the 9th Lancers back to India Follett, as Commanding Officer, became embroiled in an incident which sent waves through the Raj. When the Headquarters of the Regiment arrived in Sialkot on 29.4.1902, a great quantity of beer was consumed and an Indian cook attacked. The cook died of his injuries eight days later but managed to give a dying disposition to the Cantonment Magistrate: 'At 9p.m., I was returning to my home when two soldiers of the [Headquarters Squadron of the] Regiment called me saying "Come here - which is our Bungalow?" I pointed it out to them. They then said they wanted a woman'. On eliciting no response they viciously attacked the cook. Curzon, the Viceroy, was extremely dissatisfied with the lack of action by the military and civil authorities and their inability or unwillingness to find the culprits. As Commanding Officer, Follett called and headed a Court of Enquiry. In his report he concluded that 'owing to the evidence being entirely native it appears impossible to bring the guilty men to justice' (A History of British Cavalry refers). Following further enquiries and a second outrage, the killing of a punkah-wallah by a 9th Lancer, Lord Curzon 'insisted that the Commander-in-Chief should institute disciplinary steps against the 9th Lancers'. Consequently all Officers and men from the Regiment who were on leave were recalled, no further leave was granted for nine months, and the Regiment was informed that it lay under the stigma of concealing criminal assault. The word 'stigma' became a regimental slogan and many horses were thus christened. However, in 1903, during the Durbar, it was reported that as the 9th Lancers passed the saluting base there was 'a loud continuous roar of applause, the mass of European specators rising to their feet as a man' (A Soldier in South Africa refers).
Follett handed the command of the 9th Lancers back to Colonel Little in 1903 and resumed as Second-in-Command. He was placed on the Reserve of Officers in 1904 and perished in the wreck of the steamship S.S. Hilda which sank near St. Malo, France with the loss of 125 lives, on 17.11.1905.
Follett was commanding 'A' Squadron of the 9th Lancers in October 1899 and took part in the early Battles of Belmont, Graspan, Modder River and Magersfontein. Lieutenant Eustace Abadie was one of his Squadron Officers and his diaries give an excellent picture of the role played by 'A' Squadron in the early months of the War (A Soldier's Diary refers). Having been present at all the 9th Lancers' engagements, Follett was detached on 17.7.1900 and appointed Second-in-Command of the Carbineers. He became the Commanding Officer of the 9th Lancers on 8.9.1900 and took the Regiment into Cape Colony in early 1901 in order to pursue the Boer Commandos which had crossed the Orange River. The 9th Lancers, as a part of Scobell's Column, were particularly prominent in the capture of Lotter and his Commando in September 1901. Follett took over command of Scobell's Column in December 1901 and continued the hunt for the remainder of Kritzinger's Commando, led by Louis Wessels, in the midland of the Cape. Follett's Column comprised the 9th Lancers, 300 men; 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen, 230; 17th Lancers, 150; 9th Company, Imperial Yeomanry, 113; Cape Mounted Rifles, 65; two guns of the Royal Field Artillery and three guns of the Cape Mounted Rifles Artillery. The Guerilla War was far from over in the Cape Colony in 1902 and Follett's Column had much work, including the hunt for Fouche and Malan in March. He was Mentioned in Despatches by Lord Kitchener and awarded the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel (London Gazette 29.7.1902).
Taking the 9th Lancers back to India Follett, as Commanding Officer, became embroiled in an incident which sent waves through the Raj. When the Headquarters of the Regiment arrived in Sialkot on 29.4.1902, a great quantity of beer was consumed and an Indian cook attacked. The cook died of his injuries eight days later but managed to give a dying disposition to the Cantonment Magistrate: 'At 9p.m., I was returning to my home when two soldiers of the [Headquarters Squadron of the] Regiment called me saying "Come here - which is our Bungalow?" I pointed it out to them. They then said they wanted a woman'. On eliciting no response they viciously attacked the cook. Curzon, the Viceroy, was extremely dissatisfied with the lack of action by the military and civil authorities and their inability or unwillingness to find the culprits. As Commanding Officer, Follett called and headed a Court of Enquiry. In his report he concluded that 'owing to the evidence being entirely native it appears impossible to bring the guilty men to justice' (A History of British Cavalry refers). Following further enquiries and a second outrage, the killing of a punkah-wallah by a 9th Lancer, Lord Curzon 'insisted that the Commander-in-Chief should institute disciplinary steps against the 9th Lancers'. Consequently all Officers and men from the Regiment who were on leave were recalled, no further leave was granted for nine months, and the Regiment was informed that it lay under the stigma of concealing criminal assault. The word 'stigma' became a regimental slogan and many horses were thus christened. However, in 1903, during the Durbar, it was reported that as the 9th Lancers passed the saluting base there was 'a loud continuous roar of applause, the mass of European specators rising to their feet as a man' (A Soldier in South Africa refers).
Follett handed the command of the 9th Lancers back to Colonel Little in 1903 and resumed as Second-in-Command. He was placed on the Reserve of Officers in 1904 and perished in the wreck of the steamship S.S. Hilda which sank near St. Malo, France with the loss of 125 lives, on 17.11.1905.