During this period I have little of personal adventure to record. After
a sojourn of a few months at Fort Peddie, we were removed to Graham's
Town, and I was residing there when the war broke out.
In the month of February, 1846, the Gaika Chief, Sandilla, having before
agreed to the proposal of the British authorities in South Africa, that
a military post should be established at Block Drift, near his own
kraal, or residence, and on the confines of the ceded territory [Note
1], chose to withdraw his consent, and treat the troops sent thither
with great insolence. His excuse was, that he had given his consent to
the Resident Agent, without consulting his councillors who were of a
different opinion.
On receiving this haughty message, the Lieutenant-Governor, Colonel
Hare, summoned Sandilla to a conference at Block Drift; the young chief
of the Gaikas appeared before the Lieutenant-Governor and his small
array of British troops, surrounded by two thousand warriors, armed with
muskets, and capitally mounted. The arms had been purchased from
British traders,--there being then no law to check the indiscriminate
sale of arms and ammunition to the Kaffirs,--and the greater proportion
of the horses had been plundered from the unfortunate farmers in the
colony. Nothing was decided at this conference, and the project of
establishing a post at Block Drift was for the time, if not altogether,
abandoned. The troops returned to Fort Beaufort, Sandilla to his kraal,
and, some days after, an abject and pathetic message was received by
Colonel Hare from the Gaika chief, with the assent of several other
chiefs subservient to him. The message was exceedingly well "got up,"
but meant nothing.
In March, a Kaffir being convicted of some misdemeanour at Fort
Beaufort, was placed, with others, under the charge of a Hottentot
guard, and ordered into Graham's Town, to be confined in the gaol until
the period of the circuit. Among these prisoners was also an English
dragoon. A party of Kaffirs secreted themselves near the road leading
from Fort Beaufort to Graham's Town, and, on the approach of the guard
and prisoners, darted out of the bush, shot the Hottentot to whom the
Kaffir was handcuffed, severed the dead man's hand from his body, and
led off the rescued savage; followed, however, by the guard, who were
obliged to retreat at last, narrowly escaping with their lives. A few
weeks previously to this event, a German missionary, named Schulz, had
been murdered in cold blood in the open day on the public road, not many
miles from Fort Peddie, by some of Pato's people. The murderers of Mr
Schulz were demanded by the authorities, and Pato promised to deliver
them up, but did not keep his word. He never intended to do so!
On the murder of the Hottentot, and rescue of the Kaffir prisoner in
March, Colonel Hare resolved to "chastise" the Kaffirs, and issued a
proclamation to that effect. The proclamation caused an immense stir,
and on the 15th of April the troops, began their march through the ceded
territory, seeing at first nothing but empty kraals.
Nothing was heard in Graham's Town of the progress of the troops for
many days. The 20th of April brought the unexpected intelligence that
the Kaffirs had made a most determined stand in the Amatolas. Several
valuable lives had been lost on our side, and fifty-two waggons
containing the whole of the baggage of the 7th Dragoon Guards, and part
of that of the 91st, had fallen into the hands of the enemy, being burnt
and plundered by them; the Kaffirs quietly arraying themselves in the
clothing and accoutrements of the soldiers.
Our troops had been engaged for three days fighting desperately with
thousands of these savages, and were compelled to retire upon Block
Drift, where they kept their ground, and finally established, by force
of arms, the disputed right to build a post there.
On the 15th of April, Colonel Somerset assembled his force on the Deba
Flats. This force consisted of part of the 7th Dragoon Guards, under
Lieut.-Col. Richardson [the effective strength of the 7th was now but
240]; the Cape Mounted Riflemen, commanded by Colonel Somerset; three
companies of the reserve battalion 91st, under Major Campbell; the
Grenadier company, 1st battalion, under Captain Ward; and about 150 Kat
River Burghers. Here Colonel Somerset made his dispositions; and at 7
o'clock on the following morning, the division under Major Campbell,
with the Kat River Burghers, marched into the Amatola Valley; Major
Armstrong, with some Cape Mounted Riflemen, and Captain Sutton, with
some mounted Burghers, were detached over the hill; and, it not being
passable with artillery, Colonel Richardson was requested to co-operate
with his guns, the 7th Dragoon Guards, and a detachment of the Cape
Mounted Riflemen, under Captain Donovan. Colonel Somerset proceeded
with his party round the Amatola Mountains, in order to unite with and
support the troops under Major Armstrong and Captain Sutton.
Major Campbell, having advanced some way into the valley, soon found
himself opposed to an immense body of Kaffirs, who opened a heavy fire
upon the troops. The ascent of the infantry up a hill clothed with
thick bush, was accomplished under desperate circumstances--thousands of
Kaffirs, secure in ambush, or assembled on the mountains around them,
shouting their war-cry of "Izapa! Izapa!"--"Come on! Come on!" On
reaching a kloof, a few Kaffirs made their appearance; but, "it being
suggested to Major Campbell that these were merely put there to divert
attention from the scrub [bush intermingled with stones] on the left, he
desired his men to keep a sharp lookout in that direction." It was well
he did so; the Kaffirs "opened a tremendous fire from that point, from
the kloof on the right, and in the rear." "I never before," says the
writer of an account from the scene of action, "experienced such
dreadful fatigue; what with the steepness of the mountain, and having to
ascend it amid a shower of balls, I was compelled to lie down twice,
screened by the thorn-trees, before I reached the top. Two men fainted
by the way, four of the 91st were killed, and two wounded. From the
number of shots fired, I am surprised half of us were not killed."
By the time the division had reached the summit of the mountain, they
were all fairly exhausted. It was a joyful sight for them when they
found their position was discovered, and they saw the Cape Corps coming
to their assistance, with a gun, from the other side. The red-jackets
cheered the reinforcement from the hill-top, and then rested on their
arms, while the Cape Corps went to work, and soon silenced the enemy
there.
In getting round the mountain, Colonel Somerset, after crossing a
difficult drift with a gun, discovered a large drove of cattle on the
left. Captain Sutton, with his Burghers, Captain Pipon, with a troop of
the 7th, and Captain Donovan, with some Cape Mounted Rifles, were
despatched to capture them, and succeeded in taking eighteen hundred
head. At sunset, the troops encamped for the night on the flat under
the Amatola.
The first day's action at Burn's Hill was disastrously marked by the
death of Captain Bambrick, 7th Dragoon Guards, a fine old Waterloo
soldier, who had also served for many years in India, in the 11th
Hussars. He unhappily went too far into a dense bush, and was shot.
One or two circumstances connected with his death are worthy of notice.
Captain Bambrick's troop formed part of a division under Major Gibsone,
7th Dragoon Guards, who had been left in charge of the baggage. During
the day, some Kaffirs came down upon the herds and oxen belonging to the
waggons, and in fighting for the cattle, mortally wounded a young boy,
named McCormick. His brother ran to his assistance; and the dying
child, seeing the other herds retreating, raised himself, and shouting,
in his death-agony, "Don't run! don't run! We'll beat them yet!" sank
back exhausted, and spoke no more. Captain Bambrick was sent in pursuit
of the Kaffirs who had killed this poor young settler; and the old
dragoon officer, reckless of the foe, seen or unseen, and accustomed to
charge wherever that foe might be, dashed into the bush at the head of
his troop, went too far, and fell in consequence by the hand of a
concealed savage. Shocking to relate, his body was cut in pieces by the
enemy, and either burned or hung about the bush. Oh "pastoral and
peaceful" people! as Missionary Society Agents have styled them. Ere
Captain Bambrick fell, he called to his men to retire, having found out,
too late, that "that was no place for cavalry."
He must have received many wounds. His charger galloped past the troop
without its rider; its trappings and saddle were covered with blood;
while the savages bore off the mangled body of their victim, brandishing
his sword on the top of the hill as they retreated. Captain Bambrick
was forty-seven years of age, and had served his country more than
thirty years.
As I have observed, Captain Bambrick's troop formed part of a division,
under Major Gibsone, left in charge of baggage and ammunition, while
Colonel Somerset proceeded with the main body towards the wooded kloofs
and steep ascents of the Amatola Mountains. Before proceeding in search
of the plundered cattle to a hill overlooking "Sandilla's drift,"
Captain Bambrick received distinct orders from Major Gibsone "by no
means to proceed to any distance." The old soldier could not, or would
not, understand a warfare which demanded such caution, dashed onwards,
full of chivalry, utterly wasted on such a foe, and fell, as might be
expected. It may be added, that, had he not fallen when he did, the
whole troop would have become the victims of his noble but ill-timed
daring.
Major Gibsone's dispatch states further--"About seven o'clock, just as I
had diminished the size of my camp, we were attacked by a considerable
body of Kaffirs, whom we beat off in six or seven minutes, I am sorry to
say, with the loss, of four men of the 91st killed, and four wounded."
On the 17th, Major Gibsone, in compliance with Colonel Somerset's
instructions, moved from Burn's Hill, at half-past ten a.m. From the
number of waggons (one hundred and twenty-five), and the necessity of
giving a support to the guns, Major Gibsone was only enabled to form a
front and rear baggage-guard, and could not detach any men along the
line of waggons. After proceeding about a mile, shots issued from a
kloof by the side of the road; Lieutenant Stokes, R.E., ran the gun up
to a point some three hundred yards in advance, and raked the kloof with
a shell. When half the waggons had passed, the Kaffirs made a dash upon
one of them, firing at the drivers and some officers' servants, who were
obliged to fly; then took out the oxen, and wheeled the waggon across
the river. An overpowering force then rushed down from the hills in all
directions, keeping up an incessant fire, which was returned by the 7th
Dragoon Guards and the 91st, with great spirit. The gun was also served
with much skill; but, owing to the Kaffirs' immense superiority in
numbers, Major Gibsone, to prevent his men from being cut off, was
obliged to return to Burn's Hill, where he again put the troops in
position. A short time after this, a company of the 91st, under Captain
Scott, advanced in skirmishing order, keeping up a heavy fire; but the
waggons completely blocking up the road, the troops were obliged to make
a _detour_, and, after considerable difficulty, succeeded in getting the
ammunition-waggons into a proper line, but found it quite impracticable
to save the baggage-waggons, the Kaffirs having driven away the oxen.
One of the ammunition-waggons broke down, but the ammunition was removed
to another; the troops then fought their way, inch by inch, to the
Tyumie Camp, where they were met by Colonel Somerset's division, and
where they again encamped for the night.
Colonel Somerset, in his dispatch, dated "Block Drift, 18th of April,"
describes the Kaffirs as "assembling in a very large force on the
heights above the troops, on the 17th, and, on arriving at the Tyumie
Drift, the enemy pressed upon them at every point. Lieutenant Hill,
R.A., got the gun into position, and made excellent practice into the
dense bush along the river, the enemy pressing on, and opening a severe
fire on our advance. Lieutenant Armstrong, with some Cape Mounted
Rifles, then scoured the bush in all directions; the flanking-parties of
the 91st kept up a strong fire on the enemy; and Colonel Richardson
supported the rear in the most able and gallant manner. Major Campbell
held the drift, while ammunition-waggons passed; Captain Browne's guns
taking up an admirable position, and doing great execution under a heavy
fire."
Thus, scarcely fifteen hundred men, not all regular troops, encumbered
with a hundred and twenty-five waggons, made their way into the
fastnesses of these savages, who were many thousands in number; and
although unable to follow up the enemy, of whom they killed at least
three hundred, succeeded in saving all their ammunition, captured
eighteen hundred head of cattle, and finally fought their way to the
original ground of dispute.
An old officer, in speaking of this affair of the "three days" in the
Amatolas, informed me that neither he, nor those in the same division
with himself, had had anything whatever to eat, from Thursday the 16th,
at daylight, until Saturday night, the 18th, when they reached Block
Drift; there, some biscuit was served out to them. My husband was not
only without food during this period, but, having lost all his baggage,
had nothing on for days after (night or day) but his shell jacket and
white trousers. His horse was slightly grazed by a ball, which touched
it between the saddle-flap and his canteen; fortunately, it must have
struck something on its way. The Kaffirs invariably aim at the
officers, believing that, in bringing down the leaders, the whole body
will be made to give way.
The following officers were killed and wounded during these engagements;
7th Dragoon Guards--Captain Bambrick, killed; 91st--Lieutenant Cochrane
wounded three times; Cape Mounted Rifles--Captain Sandes, murdered.
Colonel Richardson and Captain Rawstorne, 91st, narrowly escaped wounds
at least, both being struck by spent balls. Colonel Somerset had just
dismounted from his charger, when the man who took it from him was shot
dead, the animal escaping. Lieutenant O'Reilly had the trigger of his
gun shot off; and Mr Bisset lost two horses not long after dismounting.
The loss of Captain Sandes, Cape Mounted Rifles, was much deplored.
Being ordered to proceed with an express from Post Victoria to Colonel
Somerset at Block Drift, on the 18th of April, he unfortunately started
after the party, lost his way, returned to Victoria, was advised to wait
until another mounted party should be likely to proceed, but faithful to
his orders, determined on riding to Block Drift alone, which he did, and
was brutally murdered! The Kaffirs themselves acknowledged that he
fought desperately, cutting his way through two bodies of these
wretches, of whom they admit he must have killed and injured eight or
ten. The third body despatched him. So much for the Kaffir's mild
nature and generous sentiments! So much for his bravery! No man can be
brave who does not appreciate bravery in others.
Among the slain, was afterwards discovered a soldier of the 91st, who
had probably been burned to death by the savages, as his remains were
found bound to the pole of a waggon, and horribly defaced by fire.
Dr Eddie, of the Cape Mounted Rifles, on going back with a party to
endeavour to recover some of the Government property from the hospital
waggon, found that it had been rifled of almost everything but the jar
of blister ointment, which had been emptied of its contents--the
ointment having been scooped out by Kaffir fingers.
It must be observed that, on the 15th of April, the very day on which
Colonel Somerset assembled his small force on the Deba Flats, for the
purpose of getting the troops into position before attacking the enemy
in the Amatola Mountains, nothing was known in Graham's Town of the
operations of the troops in the field. Sir Peregrine Maitland, the
Governor, who had arrived on the frontier a few days before, left
Graham's town for Post Victoria with only a small escort, and in total
ignorance of Colonel Somerset's proceedings, which every one knew must
be regulated by circumstances, but which every one supposed would begin
and end in a march through the ceded territory and back again "without
seeing a Kaffir."
I forgot to mention that Colonel Hare, the Lieutenant-Governor, had
moved from Graham's Town to Fort Beaufort, before issuing his
proclamation against our savage neighbours, and on the 18th of April,
went to Post Victoria to meet Sir Peregrine Maitland.
Colonel Hare returned to Beaufort the same evening in safety. Captain
Sandes must have been murdered within a few miles of him; but
fortunately no one crossed the path of the Lieutenant-Governor or his
escort.
On Sunday, the 19th, some cattle were stolen from Post Victoria, in the
very face of the troops and their General. The Kaffirs were followed,
but had got into the bush with their booty before the troops could come
up with them.
On the morning of the 18th, while General Maitland was on a
reconnoitring expedition, he and his party came suddenly upon an ambush
of Kaffirs; happily he had with him an escort of dragoons, who dashed
after these savages. Had Sir Peregrine not been so attended, he, with
his staff, would have been cut off.
A party of the 27th went out from Victoria to clear the bush of the
Kaffirs. In the skirmish which ensued, a serjeant of the regiment being
shot in the ankle, the savages rushed upon him and beat him to death
with their knob-kiurries (war-clubs).
After the troops had taken up their position at Block Drift, they were
joined by Sir P. Maitland, who immediately assumed the command, and
superintended the defences.
But, while the troops were employed in the Amatola Mountains, Graham's
Town was utterly unprotected, and bodies of Kaffirs poured into the
Colony. Then began the work of devastation, plunder, and murder. Alas!
while our hearts were torn with anxiety for those dear to us in the
field, we knew ourselves to be surrounded by savages who openly
threatened to attack us! In all directions we heard the reports of
musketry. Now, a murdered waggon-driver was brought in, and now, a
Kaffir spy was shot close to the town; the townspeople of course
exaggerating the one waggon-driver to five or six, and the spy to
"thousands of Kaffirs." On the 29th of April, Colonel Somerset arrived
with his division. The sight of the troops winding down the hill
towards Graham's Town, cheered the drooping spirits of the inhabitants,
and made many hearts beat with alternate hope and fear, for we knew not
what intelligence they might bring, or what dangers they had
encountered. Little, indeed, can they, who never experienced the
horrors and anxieties of war, especially a war with savages, comprehend
the feelings of those who wait for tidings of the absent. The weary
watchings, the very dread of the arrival of expresses, bearing we know
not what tidings, the feverish restlessness to see the printed
dispatches of the day, the waiting for hours in uncertainty, and then
the regret, amidst our thankfulness at so much being done, that there
was yet so much to do. Ah! these are terrible hours. I especially
remember the reading of the first dispatch--the wife of one in command
of a division, which had not been engaged, but of which I shall have to
speak hereafter, tearing open the papers with trembling fingers, while
another and I leaned over her shoulder, and would see what she tried to
read with a faltering voice. Children looked up alarmed at they knew
not what, pausing in their play, and quite silent; while shots echoed
along the hills and through the kloofs above the town, and the sky above
and around us was lit with the fires from the devastated homesteads of
the settlers. The very sight of the thousands of cattle and sheep being
driven in at sunset by armed herds, was melancholy; and the
panic-stricken inhabitants galloped hither and thither, endangering
people's lives and wearing out their horses, causing a stir and
excitement equally useless and alarming. The appearance of the town on
one Sabbath morning was wretched beyond description. The bell for
prayers rang from our roofless church, the Independent Chapel being lent
to us as a place of worship, while the church of the established
religion was undergoing repairs. A crowd of Fingo and Hottentot
picquets were assembling in the streets, groups of people stood about
talking, and others passed on to the place of prayer with careworn
faces. At every opening, the sappers and miners were busy blockading
the streets, and parties of armed Burghers came galloping in with fresh
tidings of ruin, murder, and devastation. The return of Colonel
Somerset's division probably checked the advance of the enemy upon the
town, where the greatest fears had been entertained for the magazine,
containing the gunpowder belonging to the merchants. It must be added,
that the energies of those who were willing to join in the work of
defence had been considerably damped by a disastrous circumstance, which
had occurred during the absence of the troops in Kaffirland.
Mr Norden, a merchant, having been appointed to the temporary command
of the Yeomanry Corps [Note 2], which, it must be remembered, there had
been but little time to organise, led his men out, on the 25th of April,
to a valley a little beyond Graham's Town, where it had been ascertained
that a number of Kaffirs were lurking. He was a dashing, enterprising
man, always ready to lead whenever a leader was wanting. On reaching a
spot commanded by a krantz, or cliff, he divided his corps into two
bodies, directing one to the right and the other to the left, with one
of which he advanced towards a thick bush. On Mr Norden approaching a
mass of rock, which served as an ambush for one of the savages, he was
shot through the head, and fell dead. The wretch who shot him was
immediately brought down by the musket of one of the Yeomanry; but
others rushed on the murdered man, and dragged away the body. The
Yeomanry Corps being thus divided, the numbers of the foe unknown, and
the sun just setting, it was deemed imprudent to attempt the capture of
Mr Norden's remains from the Kaffirs at that moment. The following
day, the body was observed placed in a conspicuous position on the
krantz, probably as a decoy; and on Monday, the 27th, a large body of
the inhabitants, a few of the Cape Corps, and a remnant of the 90th--in
all amounting to about 200 men--headed by Colonel Johnstone, 27th
Regiment, Commandant of the town, went out, and brought back the mangled
body of the brave man whose life had been so miserably sacrificed. The
bereaved family of Mr Norden must ever be looked on by the people of
Graham's Town with feelings of deep and grateful interest.
From the windows, we had seen the patriot winding up the hills; all eyes
had followed him with interest; crowds assembled in the restless
streets, to watch his progress; little thought they of the miserable
result, or of the manner of his return,--dead, mutilated; stretched on a
gun-carriage, with a cloak flung over him for a pall! That night, the
air above us was thick with smoke, rising from the burning grass which
the enemy had fired to destroy the pasturage for the cattle.
The providing the wives and children of officers with safe quarters was
one of the first acts of the Lieutenant-Governor; and, although we were
never under the apprehension of a serious attack on the barracks in
which we were domiciled, it is pretty certain that, but for the
preparations for defence, the outskirts of the town would have been
destroyed. After the affairs at Block Drift, the Gaikas returned to the
deep recesses of the Amatolas, and there informed their people that they
had killed all the white men. The cry of "Victory!" rang through
Kaffirland; the loss of our waggons, and the sight of the savages
returning with their spoil, shouting their wild song of triumph, and
bearing their trophies along with them, roused the tribes who had
promised to "sit still;" and straightway the colony swarmed with these
ferocious barbarians.
Sir Peregrine Maitland now armed an immense force [Note 3]. The defeat
of the Kaffirs in the Amatolas, inspired us with hope, and for a while,
daunted the enemy; but the Kaffirs were like vermin in the land,--as
fast as they were hunted out of one corner, they rose up in another.