The Graaff-Reinet and Somerset East military units

Military historian Col Graham du Toit says, regarding the Graaff-Reinet and Somerset East military units: The unit referred to was the Graaff-Reinet and Beaufort Levy. Formed in 1850, this unit was commanded by Captain Heathcote and consisted of 40 mounted men and 190 infantry. It served from 1850 to 1852 in the Eighth War on the Eastern Frontier (The War of Umlangeni) and after that in the then Basutoland. The unit mustered by Octavius Bowker was called Bowker’s Rovers. It was raised in the Graaff-Reinet and Somerset East districts and with a strength of 74 men. They served under Commandant B.E. Bowker.’s command in 1877 in the Ninth War on the Eastern Frontier (The Nchayechibi War).”

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