Some years of peace resulted, but the Kaffir tribes stifling their
resentment for a time, at length determined to venture again on
hostilities. Sir Harry Smith hearing of their designs, immediately
summoned a meeting of the chiefs, which was attended by several, but
Sandilli, who was regarded as their king, did not appear, whereupon he
was outlawed; this occasioned a general rising, and operations for the
purpose of securing Sandilli were at once commenced in the Keiskamma
River by Colonel Mackinnon, who left Fort Cox on the 24th. of December,
1850, with a force of six hundred men, composed of three hundred and
twenty-one of the 6th. and 73rd. regiments, one hundred and seventy-four
of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, and about one hundred of the Kaffir
Police. The Kaffirs attacked these troops in the Keiskamma defile, and
it was with difficulty that he succeeded in reaching Fort Cox. Sir Harry
Smith’s position at Fort Cox, too, had become critical, being hemmed in
by numbers of the enemy; while Colonel Somerset, in his endeavour to
succour him from Fort Hare, had been driven back on the 29th., after a
hard contest, in which the small body of regular troops made a gallant
but unavailing resistance. Lieutenants Melvin and Gordon, (adjutant,) of
the 91st. regiment, were killed in action on the 29th. of December.
The Governor at the head of a flying escort, escaped from Fort Cox, and
arrived at King William’s Town, at which place his head-quarters became
established. Flushed by the advantages which the knowledge of their
native fastnesses afforded the Kaffirs, and which made them almost a
match for disciplined troops, they ravaged the country, and committed
great depredations. It would be wearisome to detail all the skirmishes
that occurred; the only warfare that could be adopted against an enemy
who avoided concentration, or to encounter his opponents in open fight,
was to continually harass them in their strongholds; but the force at
the Cape was numerically insufficient for the contest. In these
campaigns the great object was to carry on operations rapidly, and at a
distant point, which made the fatigue excessive.
On the morning of the 3rd. of January, 1851, Fort White was attacked in
force by the Kaffirs, in four bodies, but they were driven back, with
great loss, by the garrison under Captain Mansergh, of the 6th. Foot.
A sharp action was fought, on the 21st. of January, between about six
thousand Kaffirs, who hemmed in Fort Hare and the adjacent Fingo village
of Alice, and the troops which garrisoned that post, under Major
Somerset. The Fingoes were formerly held in subjection by the Kaffirs;
but being relieved by the war of 1836, they afterwards proved friendly
to the British, and behaved with great determination.
The troops, serving upon the frontier and in British Kaffraria, were in
February, 1851, formed into two divisions designated the first and
second. The first was under Major-General Somerset, and the second under
Colonel Mackinnon; and combined operations were carried out by these
officers, in order to clear the Chumie Hoek of the enemy.
About the end of May an insurrection broke out amongst the Hottentots in
Lower Albany, and Major-General Somerset proceeded from Graham’s Town
with a portion of the 74th. Highland Regiment, which had recently
arrived at the Cape. A desperate encounter took place on the 3rd. of
June, and two days afterwards the stronghold of the insurgents were
surrounded.
Major-General Somerset commenced his operations in the Amatola Mountains
on the 26th. of June, 1851. The gallant attack made by the 74th., under
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, upon the enemy’s position on the 28th. of
that month, which was carried, received special commendation.
Colonel Mackinnon had proceeded from King William’s Town on the 24th. of
June, with a force of two thousand and fifty-five men, composed of three
hundred and thirty-seven of the 6th. Foot, four hundred and twenty of
the 73rd., forty-seven of the Royal Marines, one hundred and twenty of
the Cape Mounted Riflemen, and the rest consisting of colonial levies.
During the course of his operations the troops under Major-General
Somerset were seen scouring the ridges between the Amatola and Wolf
Valley. These combined movements harassed the enemy at all points and
were fully successful. In September, a force proceeded under Colonel
Mackinnon to the Fish River Bush. The 2nd. Foot, on the 9th. of that
month, sustained in these fastnesses a severe loss, Captain Oldham, four
sergeants, and nineteen men being killed in action, and four corporals
and nineteen privates wounded. During the month, this regiment,
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Burns, which had just arrived at the
seat of war, lost five sergeants and thirty-two men killed and died of
wounds.[74]
From the 14th. of October to the 8th. of November, 1851, the troops were
employed in the operations in the Waterkloof. The plan comprised a
series of attacks on the mountain fastnesses of the Kromme range,
Waterkloof, Fuller’s Hock, and other heights, wherein Macomo determined
to await the approach of the British. The scouring of the various
ravines was carried out, the inclemency of the weather adding to the
natural difficulties of the place. During these operations
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, the beloved commanding officer of the 74th.,
was killed on the 6th. of November.[75] The regiment also lost
Lieutenants Carey and Gordon and many men, among them some who were
taken prisoners, and who were subjected by the Kaffirs to the most
horrible tortures.
Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre effected the passage of the Kei in December,
1851. Here occurred the first instance during the war of the enemy
throwing obstacles in fords, and constructing breastworks; the Kaffirs
ingeniously heaped large stones together in the river, and erected a
number of stone breastworks, one above the other, forming a somewhat
formidable flank defence against musketry. The troops were six weeks
in the field without a single blanket, and without tents.
Lieutenant-Colonel Pole, of the 12th. Lancers, Lieutenant-Colonel
Napier, Major Somerset, and Captain Bramly, of the Cape Mounted
Riflemen, were specially noticed in general orders. Other operations
followed, and the Kaffir chiefs of the Gaikas and Seyolo sued for
peace, but declining to comply with the proffered terms, the troops,
in seven columns, were directed to penetrate the Amatolas, and the
country of Seyolo and other chiefs, on the left bank of the Keiskamma.
In March Major-General Somerset conducted operations in the Waterkloof,
and Lieutenant-Colonel (now Major-General Sir John) Michel carried the
Iron Mountain with the bayonet, despite a spirited opposition.
Lieutenant-Colonel Perceval and Major Armstrong, in two divisions, on
the 10th., attacked the strong position of the Chief Stock in the Fish
River Bush, and after a sharp conflict, drove the enemy from every
point.
Reinforcements had been sent from England to the Cape, but, owing to the
wreck of the “Birkenhead,” nine officers and three hundred and
forty-nine men, out of fifteen officers and four hundred and seventy-six
men (the total number embarked) perished.[76]
Attacks were also carried out by Lieutenant-Colonels Eyre and Perceval,
(Macomo’s den being carried by the former,) the result of which was that
the Kaffirs were driven from all their strongholds in the Amatolos.
Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre’s pursuit of the enemy with his herds across the
Kei, was pronounced by Sir Harry Smith to be one of the most
enterprising and successful forays of the campaign, in which Major
Armstrong, of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, and Captains Cureton and Oakes,
of the 12th. Lancers, greatly distinguished themselves.
Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir George Cathcart relieved Sir Harry
Smith in the command at the Cape, in April, in which month five hundred
Minié muskets were placed at the disposal of the troops in South Africa;
these were equally distributed at six per company; the six best
marksmen, being men of trust and intelligence, in each company were
selected, and were termed “marksmen.”
Major-General York, (now Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Yorke, G.C.B.,
and recently Military Secretary at the Horse Guards,) a Peninsula and
Waterloo veteran, commanding the second division of the army acting in
British Kaffraria, having obtained reliable information as to the
movements and position of the permanent Laager of the rebel Hottentots,
who associated with the hostile Kaffirs, had committed great outrages,
made his arrangements at the moment when they were all at home, for a
combined attack on the Buffalo Mountains, with a portion of the 43rd.
and 73rd. regiments, and other troops of the brigade of
Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre. This disposable force proceeded from the post
occupied by the latter in the centre of the Amatolas. A similar movement
was made by a force consisting of parts of the 6th. and 60th. regiments,
and certain levies, under Lieutenant-Colonel Michel, issuing from King
William’s Town. On the morning of the 20th. of June, the columns, one
from the north, and the other from the south, approached Murray’s Krantz
nearly simultaneously. The intricacies and difficulties inseparable from
the rugged and densely wooded forests were surmounted; and although the
enemy attempted a stand on several occasions, yet they were driven
headlong over the Krantz with severe loss.
Forays still continued. Lieutenant-General Sir George Cathcart, in July,
moved with three columns upon the Waterkloof; the enemy appeared in
considerable numbers, but offered only a faint resistance.
In August, when Major-General Somerset was placed on the staff in India,
Colonel (now Major-General) Sir George Buller was appointed to the
command of the first division, and that of the first battalion of the
Rifle Brigade devolved on Major (now Sir Alfred) Horsford.
A force of four guns and three thousand troops were collected in
September, for the purpose of finally clearing the Waterkloof and
adjacent fastnesses. Each night the troops bivouacked on the ground of
their operations, and the following day pursued the arduous task of
searching for, and clearing the forests and krantzes of, the enemy.
This protracted struggle was now drawing to a termination; in November
the troops marched into the Orange River territory, and on the 20th of
December were engaged with the Basutos, under their chief Moshesh, at
the Berea. The contest lasted from early in the morning until eight
o’clock at night, when the enemy, with a force of about six thousand
well-armed horsemen, under considerable organization, were defeated and
driven from the field; after repeatedly assailing the troops at every
point, with such severe loss, as to be compelled to sue for peace.
Hostilities shortly afterwards terminated, peace being proclaimed on the
12th. of March, 1853; the result of these exertions was the final
clearance of the Waterkloof, Fish River, and all the other strongholds
of the Kaffirs within the colony; the surrender of the chiefs Sandilli,
Macomo, and the Gaika people, who had been expelled from all their
former territories, including the Amatolas,—that troublesome race being
removed to the banks of the Kei. The Basutos, Tambookies, and other
tribes were completely subdued, and the Hottentot rebellion was
extinguished.
In the words of Sir George Cathcart,—“The Field of Glory opened to them
in a Kaffir war and Hottentot rebellion, is possibly not so favourable
and exciting as that which regular warfare with an open enemy in the
field affords, yet the unremitting exertions called for in hunting
well-armed yet skulking savages through the bush, and driving them from
their innumerable strongholds, are perhaps more arduous than those
required in regular warfare, and call more constantly for individual
exertion and intelligence.”
Lieutenant-General the Honourable George Cathcart, and Major-General
Henry Somerset, C.B., were appointed Knights Commanders of the Most
Honourable Order of the Bath; and Lieutenant-Colonels William Eyre, of
the 73rd. regiment, John Michel, of the 6th. Foot, Charles Cooke
Yarborough, 91st. regiment, John Maxwell Perceval, of the 12th. Foot,
and George Thomas Conolly Napier, late Lieutenant-Colonel of the Cape
Mounted Riflemen, to be Companions of the above Order. Colonel Eyre was
also appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen, with the rank of Colonel in
the army.
During this campaign the troops employed were the 12th. Lancers, Royal
Artillery, Royal Engineers, and Sappers and Miners, 2nd., 6th., 12th.,
43rd., 45th., Royal Marines, 60th., (2nd. battalion,) 73rd., 74th.,
91st., Rifle Brigade, (1st. battalion,) and the Cape Mounted Riflemen.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE GALEKAS AND GAIKAS,
1877–78.
Kaffraria and Basutoland lie to the eastward of Cape Colony. The Fingoes
and Gaikas occupy the portion called British Kaffraria, or sometimes the
Ciskei, and the Galekas, Griquas, Pondos, and other tribes, the
Transkei, or Kaffraria proper. The Fingoes, whose name signifies “dogs,”
had always been persecuted by the other tribes, and had been since 1835,
under British protection. They are a peaceable race, wealthy in cattle,
and in time of war are staunch allies, fighting always on the British
side. The Galekas led by their chief Kreli, and the Gaikas under their
chief Sandilli, mortal enemies of the Fingoes, who were formerly their
slaves, and envying their prosperity resolved on attacking them, in hope
of an easy conquest and plenty of plunder. The old Cape Mounted Rifles
having been disbanded in July, 1877, the only Colonial force was the
Frontier Mounted Police, little more than three hundred strong, with
three field pieces, commanded by Charles Griffiths, an old British
officer. On September 25th., 1877, a body of about five thousand
Galekas, crossed the frontier, and fiercely attacked the Fingoes (about
one thousand five hundred strong) and a small party of the Mounted
Police, at a place called Guadana; but after a sharp contest, were
repulsed with loss. A few days after, about eight thousand Galekas
attacked the fortified station of Ibeka, held by Commandant Griffiths,
with a handful of men, three seven-pounders, and about two thousand
Fingoes. After a series of determined assaults, from ten in the morning
till five in the afternoon, the enemy disheartened by their enormous
losses gave up the contest and retreated. General Sir Arthur Cunningham,
commander-in-chief of the forces in South Africa, a Crimean veteran, now
assumed the chief command. Detachments of the 24th. and 88th. regiments
were sent to the front, volunteers were enrolled for active service, and
Commandant Griffiths, with three thousand Europeans, and five thousand
Fingoes led by European officers, were ordered to invade Kreli’s
country. Griffiths with two guns advanced, and after an action in which
the Galekas lost one thousand five hundred men, captured and burnt
Kreli’s kraal, but was compelled to fall back for want of supplies. The
enemy were well armed with muskets and assagies, and fought with much
determination. After a smart skirmish at Umzintzani, in December, the
General resolved to cross the river Kei with all available force. The
88th. Connaught Rangers were ordered to the front, fifty men of the
24th. regiment were mounted as cavalry, and their band were utilized as
gunners. On December 26th., the column started, the centre under Colonel
Glynn, the right under Major Hopton, the left under Captain Upcher of
the 24th. Each column had a gun or two, and to each was attached a small
Naval Brigade, from H. M. S. “Active” and “Florence,” some of the
Mounted Police, and one thousand Fingoes. Information being received
that the Galekas now joined by the Gaikas of Sandilli, were
concentrating in strength near the Kei river, Colonel Glynn, joined the
Quintana Column, commanded by Major Owen of the 88th. at a place called
Nynnuxa, and immediately advanced against the enemy. Colonel Glynn took
command, Major Owen leading his column, which was in the first line, and
Captain Upcher the second. In the centre were the guns, under Lieutenant
Kell, and a rocket party of blue jackets under Lieutenant Maine, R.E.
After a very sharp action, the enemy terrified by the execution done
among them by the rockets, and the Martini-Henry rifles, (this being
almost the first time they were used) broke and fled, leaving four
chiefs of rank among the slain. The enemy then collected in great
numbers in the Chickaba Valley, which is about thirteen miles long, and
covered with a dense bush, so thick in some places as to render any
movement all but impossible. On January 14th., 1878, two columns, the
right under Colonel Lambert, and the left under Major Brown, both of the
88th. regiment, left Komgha, to attack Chickaba. The enemy for a time
showed a bold front, but were shelled and driven out of the valley, and
a vast number of their sheep and cattle taken. Soon after, another large
body of Galekas and Gaikas, about four thousand, under Kreli and
Sandilli, were repulsed with great loss in an attack upon Quintana, by
the column of Colonel Glynn. The enemy fought bravely, and withstood and
returned a heavy fire of rifles, rockets, and case shot for twenty
minutes, at a distance of five hundred yards, but after this defeat they
never again appeared in bodies in the field. On the day of the victory
at Quintana, another was gained by Commandant Griffiths over a chief
called Gongabele, who occupied the most difficult position in the
country, and one which the Kaffirs had held during the last war, in
spite of all efforts made to dispossess them. This position was carried,
and the enemy routed, with the loss of five only of the attacking party.
Soon after this, the 90th. Perthshire regiment with a field battery
arrived from England, and on February 25th, Sir Arthur Cunningham was
superseded in the command of the Army by General Thesiger, better known
as Lord Chelmsford, as he succeeded to the title on the death of his
father a few months later. Sandilli with a large number of his tribe
assembled in the Perie Bush on the Amatola Mountains, in February, 1878,
was defeated by a column under the command of Colonel (now Sir Evelyn
Wood), who also made another successful attack upon the enemy at Intaba
Indodo, April 30th. In these affairs Major Buller of the 60th. Rifles
(now General Sir Redvers Buller V.C.), much distinguished himself. After
a few more skirmishes, the war was ended, Sandilli[77] was killed, and
Kreli had previously surrendered. On June 28th., 1878, an amnesty was
proclaimed for all except the sons of the first-named chief; and the
Gaikas were removed to new settlements beyond the River Kei.