think it of sufficient value. Captain R. Tufnell Barrett, of
Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, was my brother.—I am, Sir, &c., TUFNELL C. A. BARRETT.
Christ Church Vicarage, Belper, Derbyshire.
From a letter written by Captain Green, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, to his sister, sent on by a friend to the family of the late Captain R. T. Barrett :—" Amongst other casualties we lost Captain Barrett in our regiment. He was a very fine horseman, and he had an old pony here of which he was very fond, and riding at the time when he was killed (it was shot in the neck). We brought Barrett back to our camp, and buried him on a little knoll just outside the camp, and put a rough cross up over the ' grave. Another of our officers took his pony. About a week or so ago he was out with a patrol near the place where the fight of September 20th took place ; he got off his pony to look through his glasses, leaving the pony to stand, which all these well. broken coloured ponies will do. Suddenly the pony looked up, pricked up his ears, sniffed, and then started off, galloping straight for the little knoll where Barrett was buried, which could be sem four or five miles off; he jumped two wire fences in the way, and finally reached the knoll, where our chaps could see him quite plainly with their glasses, standing quite still beside the little cross over his old master's grave. The patrol had to push on fast in the opposite direction, and so the pony was never recovered."
Previous page
