Description South Africa, clasp, 1879 – 1st Dragoon Guards South Africa 1877-79, clasp 1879, 1384 Corp F. Horan 1st Dn Gds. Note, Correct on the original roll, which confirms medal and clasp. (Dutton incorrectly shows his surname as Horace Following the defeat at Isandlwana in January 1879, Lord Chelmsford urgently requested cavalry reinforcements to support a second invasion of Zululand. In response, the British War Office dispatched the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards (KDG), a heavy cavalry regiment, and the 17th Lancers, to South Africa. The KDG’s early duties in the campaign were sobering. In May 1879, they were part of the cavalry force that returned to the haunted battlefield of Isandlwana to bury the dead and recover vital transport wagons. Weeks later, in June, a troop from the KDG discovered the body of the exiled Prince Imperial of France, who had been killed in a Zulu ambush, and formally escorted his remains back to the British camp. The regiment’s most significant combat action took place on July 4, 1879, at the Battle of Ulundi, the decisive final clash of the Anglo-Zulu War. Operating as part of the cavalry screen and pursuit force, the KDG helped shatter the remaining military power of the Zulu Kingdom after the infantry squares broke the initial assault. On August 28, 1879, a detachment commanded by Major Richard Marter successfully tracked down and captured the fleeing Zulu King, Cetshwayo, in the dense Ngome Forest. This high-profile capture effectively ended the Anglo-Zulu War. Condition – NEF, some remains of lacquer to the rim, but a nice example.
