The Record of a Regiment of the Line: Being a Regimental History of the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment During the Boer War, 1899-1902

The siege of Ladysmith lasted 118 days. This is the record of the men who survived it. Written by the colonel who commanded them, this regimental history captures the Devonshire Regiment's journey from the dusty plains of India to the Natal frontier, where in October 1899 they found themselves surrounded by Boer forces. What emerges is not merely a chronicle of battles and maneuvers, but a granular portrait of late Victorian soldiering: the friction between officers and men, the adaptation to guerrilla tactics that confounded British doctrine, and the grim endurance required to hold a surrounded town for four months. Jacson writes with the detached precision of his era, yet his account preserves details no later history can: the specific companies that held particular kopjes, the logistical problems that nearly broke the garrison, the particular shade of boredom that settles over a besieged camp. For military historians and anyone researching British imperial campaigns, this serves as invaluable primary source material. It also stands as a testament to the thousands of regular soldiers whose voices were rarely captured in official histories of the Empire's smaller wars.