Orders, Decorations and Medals

The celebrated Colenso Victoria Cross group to Lieutenant-Colonel H.N. Schofield, Royal Field Artillery, together with his original unpublished Boer War Diary

VICTORIA CROSS, reverse of suspension bar engraved (Captain H.N. Schofield, Royal Field Artillery), reverse centre of the cross dated '15th Decr.1899'; QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902, 6 clasps, Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing's Nek, Belfast (Major, D.S.O., R.A.)' 1914-15 STAR (Lt. Col.); CORONATION 1902, silver; CORONATION 1911, these last two nnamed as issued, the group mounted for wearing, light contact marks, otherwise gene ally good very fine (7)

The lot is sold with the following original items:

a.The recipient's original leather bound pocket diary kept throughout his service in South Africa. Handwritten with one or two later additions, it covers the period 14th Oct ber 1899 to 17th October 1900. Approximately 120pp. Never before offered for sale with the Victoria Cross group.

b.Royal Artillery Officer's sword, 1822 pattern with post 1855 blade, with subsequent alterations, etched with royal arms, regimental motto and device, and further embellished with the recipient's coat of arms (Wilkinson No. 25721)

c.Contemporary leather bound album which contains a substantial quantity of related newspaper cuttings, the greater part dealing with the V.C. action and, more importantly, the famous campaign to have Schofield's D.S.O. raised to a V.C.

V.C., London Gazette, 30 August, 1901. 'At Colenso on 15 December 1899, when the detachments serving the guns of the 14th and 66th Batteries, Royal Field Artillery, had all been killed, wounded or driven from them by infantry fire at close range, Captain Schofield went out when the first attempt was made to extricate the guns, and assisted in withdrawing the two guns that were saved' [ In consequence of the above, the appointment of this Officer to the Distinguished Service Order, which was notified in the London Gazette on 19 April 1901, is cancelled].

Harry Norton Schofield was born on 29 January 1865 and entered the Royal Artillery via the R.M.A. Woolwich in 1884. Schofield was a keen polo player and was renowned for his impressive string of ponies. He was promoted Captain in 1893 and appointed Aide-deCamp to General Sir Redvers Bullet, V.C., G.C.B., K.C.M.G., commanding 1st Army Corps, in 1899. Schofield accompanied the General to South Africa aboard the steamer Dunottar Castle, whose passengers included the young War Correspondent Winston Churchill. Buller and his Staff proceeded to Natal where a force of 20,000 troops and five Field Batteries awaited, the intention being to cross the heavily defended line of the Tugela River and advance to relieve Ladysmith. Hildyard's 6th Infantry Brigade supported by the 14th and 66th Batteries of IV Brigade, R.F.A., and six Naval 12 pounder guns under Colonel Long, R.A., held the centre of the British position. The objective of 15 December was to cross the Tugela by the bridge at Colenso and dislodge the Boers beyond the river. Colonel Long, who had been responsible for the disaster to an armoured train a month before, had a theory that artillery was most effectively used at close quarters, or, in his own words, 'the only way to smash the beggars is to rush in at 'em'. Early in the action Long employed his theory bringing his guns into a dangerously exposed position not more than 1000 yards from the enemy. No sooner were the guns unlimbered than an enemy shell burst among them hailing the onset of a continuous and murderous fire. After half an hour of firing on the Boers at Fort Wylie both Batteries had run short of ammunition and the little they had left was kept to cover the expected advance of 6 Brigade. Casualties had been severe and nearly all the officers including Colonel Long, /Captain H.N. Schofield, the Hero of Colenso who had been shot through the liver, were wounded. The surviving men and officers withdrew to take cover in a donga to the rear of the position, leaving their guns exposed and unattended.

The Real Hero Of Colenso

Shortly afterwards Buller and his Staff appeared on the scene, having heard the guns supposedly in support of Hildyard's Brigade were out of action. The Boers recognising the Staff in an unusually forward position trebled their fire, but Bullet, unperturbed, finished his sandwich and ordered the immediate recovery of the guns. From the surrounding group of officers emerged 'one of the most gallant trio's that ever tried to win the Victoria Cross'. They were Captain Harry Schofield, Captain Walter Congreve of the Rifle Brigade and Lieutenant the Hon. F.H.S. Roberts of the 60th, only son of the Field-Marshal.The narrative which follows is in the words of Schofield himself and is taken from his pocket diary:
‘....we went back to the back donga where all the horses and drivers were, which was under a hot fire and the General personally tried to get some of them (men and horses) out to try and recover the guns but there were no officers there; so General and Congreve (RB.) and self set to work to get some out and we got 2 teams and a corporal and hooked in the teams to limbers just in front; doing this was no easy matter as it was rather difficult without N.C.O's to get men on foot to come and help to hook in; Gerard was coming out when I shouted to him to send me a man or two to help; we got the teams hooked in somehow, I forget how (except I saw Congreve doing his) and then I started off at a gallop with the limbers for the two guns on the right and Roberts, 60th, joined in; also Congreve came on tho 'I did not find this out till after; the impression I had going on was galloping on a carpet spotted thick with spots, it was a very hot fire; after we had gone about 400 yards young Roberts on my left was shot and fell backwards, he had just before been looking at me and smiling, waving his stick in a circular motion like one does one's crop sometimes when one goes away from covert, thinking to have a good burst; Congreve tells me he himself was shot just before this and also his horse and the latter plunging badly, threw him; so the Corporal and self were left. When on the way, I saw the lead driver of the right guns riding very wildly; I shouted to him to keep his horse in hand, which I think took them off thinking of the bullets, as it did me a little; on getting to the guns I howled out 'wheel about on your guns', which they did quite splendidly, as if on parade; Corp. Nurse and self jumped off our horses and ran to hook on the guns, I found mine rather too far off to drag up alone so told the Corporal to come and help me, which he did and then he put his own gun on which was just in the right place; while he was doing this my wheel driver turned round and said 'elevate the muzzle Sir', which I did; they all kept their heads most admirably; we then mounted, galloped for the centre sunken road running across the far donga and I left them in a place of safety some way behind; after crossing the Donga a spent bullet hit me on the thigh, only a tap and didn't leave a mark. Corporal Nurse, drivers Henry Taylor, Young, Potts, Rockall, Lucas, Williams, all of the 66th battery were not touched; 3 or 4 horses got hit; luckily not enough to make them falter or we should not have got off that particular plain I think. The corporal and drivers behaved most admirably and no doubt if they had bungled in their driving on to the guns we could not have got out, they were nailers.’

Congreve had crawled into the donga to seek shelter and later went out to bring in Roberts. He eventually remained in the donga with the other wounded until the Boers, who took the position, allowed their evacuation. Poor Roberts succumbed to his wounds and died under a blazing sun. A second attempt to recover the remaining guns was mounted by Lieutenants Grylls and Schreiber of the 66th Battery but their efforts were unavailing and both officers were killed. A third dash for the guns by Captain Reed of the 7th Battery ended with the loss of half his men and two-thirds of his horses. Eventually Buller, resigning himself to the loss of the guns, forbade any further attempts.

On Buller's recommendation, Reed, Congreve, Nurse and Roberts were awarded the Victoria Cross, the latter posthumously, and nineteen other ranks received the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Schofield, however, was rewarded with a D.S.O. This distribution of awards was met with great consternation from the British public, since the press had fully acknowledged Schofield's successful and gallant action and more importantly, recognised him as the officer who had actually saved the guns. Also news of Schofield's heroic feat shone out against the reports of serious British reverses during the 'Black Week', which had seen Gatacre defeated at Stromberg, Methuen at Magersfontein and finally Bullet at Colenso. Schofield himself believed that he had been recommended for the V.C. and was no less amazed at the omission as the interesting entry in his diary for the 4th March, 1900 reveals:

‘Got several letters from home the day before yesterday and most of them referred to Sir R. Buller's despatch on Colenso and recommendations for V.C and my belongings. Very angry and I must confiss the despatch astonishes me very much indeed, as Sir R. the day after Colenso called me into his tent and said 'I've recommended you for the Victoria Cross, Schofield, 'on which I said 'I hope you won't Sir, ' thinking I was being singled out for it and feeling not so deserving as Congreve and certainly no more so than Roberts, on which he said, 'it's done, I've done it', thereby leaving me to think he had, and when afterwards I found he had recommended Roberts (who was given it before he died) and the others, I felt easy in my own mind about it; so it is to say the least of it, rather an 'eye opener to see his 'differentiation' in the London Gazette which I see today for the first time. ’

The public sympathy for Schofield was well illustrated in a letter from his stud groom dated February 1900: 'I think it is a great shame you did not get the V.C., perhaps you will get it yet. I hope you will. Everyone says you ought to have it. I am enclosing paper cuttings, which I thought you might like to see. I think the 'Missing V.C.' will let you see what people think about it in England'. The author of the article in question, who signed himself 'JUSTITIA', had excused Buller for not recommending Schofield on the grounds that such an act might be misconstrued as favouritism towards a member of his own Staff, but nonetheless, he now demanded that the War Office read between the lines of Buller's report and award a V.C. instead. However, Buller had his own reasons for excluding Schofield. It was his contention that an act worthy of the V.C. should stem from the potential recipient's personal initiative, whereas Schofield had been acting directly under orders and to Buller's mind had done no more than duty demanded. Although Buller commended Schofield's valour he viewed it as the result of mere obedience to orders. Conversely, it should also be remembered that Schofield, in his capacity as aide-de-camp, was not at liberty to leave his General, unless commanded otherwise, or act independently, as had Congreve and Roberts, who enjoyed greater freedom of movement.

Harry Schofield's heroism was officially recognised on 30 August 1901, when the sheer volume of public opinion forced the authorities to look beyond the facade of military etiquette. Consequently his admittance to the Distinguished Service Order was cancelled and Schofield received a long overdue Victoria Cross. He had previously been promoted Major in 1900 and retired in December 1905. Schofield returned to the Colours during the First World War, firstly with the British Remount Commission in Canada and the U.S. and latterly as a Commandant of the Lines of Communication in France and Flanders. He finally left the Service in 1918 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became, somewhat fittingly, a member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms.