'Fighting in the Bush'

Coloured lithograph by Day and Son after Captain T J Lucas, Cape Mounted Riflemen, Plate 18 from the series 'Pen and Pencil Reminiscences of a campaign in South Africa', 1861.

A patrol of the Cape Mounted Riflemen (CMR) skirmishing with the Xhosa during the 8th Cape Frontier War (1850-1853). The CMR was raised locally, and was one of the most effective units at frontier warfare. It carried double barrelled carbines, which were more practical in the bush than the long muskets of the infantry. By this time, as this drawing suggests, many Xhosa were also armed with firearms.