By Ivor Markman.

During the South African War of 1899 - 1902, Port Elizabeth was the main port of entry for remounts for the British forces, and because of this local residents were made very aware of the suffering endured by the thousands of horses.

After the war a ladies committee, headed by Harriet Meyer, was formed and £800 was collected for Messrs Whitehead and Sons, of Kennington and Westminster, to manufacture a memorial statue.

The statue was designed by the sculptor, Joseph Whitehead, and was cast at Thames Ditton, Surrey.

The horse stands 16 hands 2 inches and the figure of the soldier is life size.

The unveiling of the monument took place on Saturday afternoon, February 11, 1905, with His Worship the Mayor, Mr A Fettes, performing the ceremony.

The statue occupied a very suitable position, close to St George’s Park and at the time was the only known memorial to horses in the world.

The Mayor said in his speech “To raise a monument to the “brutes” that perish is considered by many to be misplaced sentiment, while some are inclined to think with Louis Wain “that all animals have their season of happiness in a hereafter before their final effacement, as a reward for the trials they undergo in life, while under the dominion of man.”

"The design as a whole is an object lesson in kindness, and may appeal to the cruel or careless driver, and teach him that there are some who do not think it beneath them to attend to the wants of animals placed under their charge."

The inscription on the base reads

"THE GREATNESS OF A NATION CONSISTS NOT SO MUCH UPON THE NUMBER OF ITS PEOPLE OR THE EXTENT OF ITS TERRITORY AS IN THE EXTENT AND JUSTICE OF ITS COMPASSION."
"ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION IN RECOGNITION OF THE SERVICES OF THE GALLANT ANIMALS WHICH PERISHED IN THE ANGLO BOER WAR 1899-1902"

At this juncture the statue was unveiled .

Mrs Meyer said she had much pleasure in handing over the South African War Memorial Trough for public use to the municipality.

“May it be preserved from generation to generation as a mark of the services of dumb animals to mankind, both in the labours of peace and in the perils of war.”

On behalf of the Town Council the Mayor undertook the care of the monument.

Rev A Hall tendered a vote of thanks to Mrs Meyer and to use a figure of speech, he begged to say that Mrs Meyer had "worked like a horse".

Three cheers were given for Mrs Meyer and the proceedings terminated by the singing of the National Anthem.

Afterwards an adjournment was made to a marquee inside St George’s Park, where refreshments were served.

One of the principal reasons why Port Elizabeth erected the Horse Memorial was because most of the horses brought to South Africa during the South African War 1899-1902, were landed at Port Elizabeth harbour.

The tragic plight of the 300 000 horses who died during the war was highlighted by newspapers, including the Westminster Gazette of February 12, 1902, which wrote: throughout the world as never before had so many horses died during a 'modern' war.

The Westminster Gazette said wastage was particularly heavy among British forces for several reasons:

1) Overloading of horses with unnecessary equipment and saddles.

2) Failure to rest and acclimatise horses after long sea voyages.

3) Poor management by inexperienced mounted troops later in the war and distant control by unsympathetic bureaucratic staff.

4) The average life expectancy of a British horse, from the time of its arrival in Port Elizabeth, was around six weeks.

During the Relief of Kimberley, during the relief of Kimberley, Lieutenant-General John French's cavalry division rode 500 horses to their deaths.

(Source: The Tragedy of Sir John French, by George Cassar, University of Delaware Press.)

Animals were an important part of the logistics for the Boer War, drawn from across the British Empire as well as Europe and the Americas.

Three hundred and sixty thousand horses out of a total of 519 000, had to be imported into South Africa.

One hundred and six thousand mules and donkeys out of a total of 151 000 were also brought in.

Horses were on occasion slaughtered for their meat, such as during the Siege of Kimberley and Siege of Ladysmith, when horses were consumed as food once the regular sources of meat were depleted.

The besieged British forces in Ladysmith also produced Chevril, a Bovril-like paste, by boiling down the horse meat to a jelly paste and serving it like beef.

A gentleman wrote to the Port Elizabeth Council during the week ending April 1, 1905, stating that while passing the Horse Memorial he noticed that it had been wilfully damaged.

The Engineer stated he had inspected the memorial, had seen the extent of the damage (which was serious) and had given instructions to have it repaired.

This, he said, was not the first time damage had been done, but this was the most serious.

The Mayor thought they should offer a reward of £10 for the conviction of the “scoundrel or scoundrels” who had done damaged it.

During the weekly Town Council meeting on Wednesday, August 16, 1905, with regard to making arrangements for drinking water taps for human drinking purposes to be installed to be turned on and made available for the public, the Port Elizabeth Board of Works could not recommend this for the following reasons:

1) There was no push button arranged, so the water had to either be shut off or left to run continuously.

2) It would not be possible to arrange such a tap without cutting right into the granite and altering the arrangement completely.

3) This trough is at present a playground for children and had to regularly be cleared of stones, grass, broken bottles, etc. etc.
It would be worse if a running tap were provided.

4) The drinking cups are so arranged as to fall into the trough from which the horses drink.

5) With two of the three heads plugged, a single stream will consume 500 gallons of water in 12 hours.

Money had been subscribed for the purpose of erecting the fountain, but the Board of Works said it was not to be used.
The Horse memorial stood at the junction of Rink Street and Park Drive but was later moved to Cape Road as the City Council considered it to be a traffic hazard.

The City Council's decision started a long controversy with ex-servicemen's associations who believed the memorial belonged in the Park.

Hanging from a cable attached to a mobile crane, the famous horse was "walked" along Rink Street to its new home by the City Engineer's Department in 1957.

The Horse Memorial was moved to a position in Cape Road as the result of increasing traffic, which was proving dangerous to sightseers.

It was proclaimed a national monument in 1983 and restored in 1993.

On April 6, 2015, a group of EFF supporters trashed the monument and pushed the soldier feeding the horse onto the ground where they pounded it with sledgehammers causing a few dents.

They also did substantial damage to the bridles, stirrups and sword.

Copyright Ivor Markman 2015.