Early in November, Sir Peregrine Maitland moved towards Block Drift. He
was accompanied by the 90th, under Lieutenant-Colonel Slade; the reserve
battalion of the 45th under Lieutenant-Colonel Erskine; a troop of the
7th Dragoon Guards; and some artillery. By the end of the month, all
the principal Gaika chiefs had sent in most abject messages, and were as
humble in appearance as they were insincere in spirit.
Sandilla, in spite of his affected humility, was sullen, and perhaps
among them all the only one in any way anxious for peace was Macomo.
The General, from the first, declared his intention of receiving them
only as common individuals, no longer recognising one any of them as a
Chief of Kaffirland. Sandilla and the rest of them brought in a few
cattle, and some rusty arms; these tributes were refused, and the
ex-Chiefs were granted another truce of ten days, to bring in the
quantity of cattle demanded--namely, twenty thousand head--together with
five hundred horses, and eighteen hundred guns.
At the time this truce was made there were good reasons for it. The
General was awaiting his reinforcements, the Rifle Brigade and 6th
Regiment being still on their tedious way from Algoa Bay; and the
Commissary-General, Mr Palmer, was actively exerting himself to fill
the exhausted stores: the cattle were only beginning to recover from the
effects of the long droughts, and there were but few fresh horses in the
field. Thus, to us, time was of the utmost importance. At this period,
damaged biscuit was served out for the horses, and the Fingo women at
Fort Beaufort were well paid to cut grass for the starving chargers.
Much sickness prevailed, too, in the camps, owing to bad diet, cold, and
fatigue.
Still, Colonel Somerset contrived to be on the alert, with such men and
horses as he could muster. The guns from his division soon sent their
thundering echoes along the banks of the Buffalo, and Stock made his
second appearance at Fort Peddie, with a number of his followers,
presenting six or eight muskets, and forty-eight head of cattle; the
latter he declared to be "his whole share of the colonial plunder."
Stock had the hardihood to bring in, among the tributary cattle, some of
the oxen taken from the waggons at Trumpeter's Drift, on the 28th of
May; in which affair he had always professed to have had no share.
All this time the Kaffirs were creeping into the Colony, sweeping off
sheep and cattle, waylaying the settlers, and hanging about the
different drifts, watching their opportunity of crossing them
unobserved. That these banditti were in a starving condition was
well-known. One of the most daring robberies was committed at Oatlands,
the residence of Colonel Somerset, within half a mile from the town, the
cattle being whistled off at night by three Kaffirs. They were pursued
the next morning by a party of Cape Mounted Riflemen, under Ensign
Salis; the oxen were recaptured in a dense bush, but the thieves
escaped.
The Governor had now to contend with the disaffection that prevailed
among the irregular forces. These men complained that the promises made
to them, regarding some provision for their families, from whom they
were separated, had not been carried into effect. I subjoin an account
of the mutiny of the Swellendam Native Infantry, under the command of
Captain Hogg, 7th Dragoon Guards. The mutiny took place during the
absence of Captain Hogg, who had proceeded to the Governor's camp, near
Waterloo Bay, to make a personal representation of the grievances
complained of by his men.
On Friday, the 23rd of October, Captain Ward, 91st Regiment, Fort
Adjutant and Acting Commandant of Fort Beaufort, warned a hundred men of
the Swellendam Native Infantry to be in readiness to march on Saturday
morning, as an escort for waggons proceeding to Waterloo Bay. The men
were much pleased with this order, as they wished to speak with the
General on the subject of their complaints. On Saturday morning,
however, Captain Ward was informed that the whole of the Swellendam
Native Infantry were parading in the great square of the town, and in
the face of their officers; and, before the Commandant had time to
remonstrate with them, the men, to the number of three hundred and
fifty, faced to the left, and marched off in the direction of Graham's
Town. He was immediately requested by Major Smith, 27th Regiment,
Deputy Quartermaster-General, to follow the mutineers with the troops,
and to stop their progress. For this purpose, Captain Ward went over to
the barracks, to order the bugler to sound the "alarm," but he was not
at hand. The Commandant then ordered six of the sappers and two
artillerymen to run the 3-pounder howitzer out, and follow him. This
was immediately done, and he proceeded down the street in double time,
with the gun, towards the bridge, in the hope of getting there before
the men: but some of them called out from the rear, that the "cannons
were coming," and the mutineers in advance stepped out. Captain Ward
pushed on, and, on reaching the bridge, ordered the gun to be put in
action, and fired three rounds of blank ammunition to the left--not on
the mutineers,--as a signal for support from the military. Captain Ward
would have been unwise to follow the mutineers with only eight men, and
no protection for the gun. The blank firing scattered the Swellendam
people, who rushed up the hill over the bridge, and took up a position
on the top of it. This hill, like many South African acclivities, is a
natural defence, very steep, and covered with stone, and low bush or
scrub.
In the mean time, the few mutineers who had followed in the rear of the
gun were passing Captain Ward, who then turned round and desired the
artillery not to fire until he gave the order. He then rushed in among
the mutineers for the purpose of securing a prisoner; and, seizing the
firelock of one, opened the pan, and then had a scuffle with him, until
a Mr Cumming, of Fort Beaufort, came to his assistance and held the
man. Captain Ward followed up and laid hold of another, who might have
proved a match for him, had not Mr B.D. Bell, of Fort Beaufort, come
forward and assisted in securing him. Soon after, eighty men of the
90th, who happened to be at Beaufort on escort duty, advanced to the
assistance of the Commandant, who immediately gave orders to limber up
the gun and follow the mutineers, when he received an order from Colonel
Richardson to let them go on. The reason for this was as follows. The
Rev Mr Beaver, the clergyman of our Established Church at Fort
Beaufort, on learning the step these misguided men had taken,
immediately volunteered his services to follow them and to bring them
back. In this offer he was seconded by Mr Calderwood, the missionary.
The services of these two gentlemen were immediately accepted by Colonel
Richardson, and this was decidedly a preferable step to the following
three hundred and fifty mutineers up a steep acclivity with a handful of
men. The result was, that Mr Beaver and Mr Calderwood succeeding in
persuading most of them to return, and would no doubt have induced the
rest to accompany them back to Beaufort had they overtaken them, but
these were too far in advance.
I have given this statement from Captain Ward's own in a letter written
just after the occurrence, and never intended for publication. One or
two other statements appeared in the Colonial prints at the time, but
these gave a partial and rather incorrect view of the case, deprecating
the plan of firing blank cartridge, without knowing the reason; and, be
it remembered, the writers of these accounts from Beaufort were not with
Captain Ward at the moment of the occurrence. Sixty-three of the
mutineers came on to Graham's Town, to renew their complaints to Captain
Hogg, who had already represented their grievances. I am unable to say
whether they obtained redress or not; probably not as soon as they
anticipated, for shortly afterwards they again mutinied, when a
detachment of the 40th was marched against them, and they were compelled
to obey orders.
Mr Beaver's conduct was humane and judicious in this affair. Colonel
Richardson did wisely in accepting his proffered services, instead of
risking men's lives in a fray; and Mr Calderwood's ready assistance was
praiseworthy and valuable.
Unfortunately, a Serjeant of the 91st, when near the wooden bridge on
the other side of the river, fired at one of the Swellendam Native
Infantry, and wounded him, but not severely. This piece of folly was
interlarded with the account of the mutiny, by which the public would
infer that it was committed with the knowledge and in the presence of
the officer.
It was quite reviving to see the arrivals of stores and mule-waggons,
during the period of the truce. Seven Field Officers were also imported
from England, and thus disposed of: Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls, as
Commandant at Beaufort; Major Wetenhall, late 10th Regiment, of Waterloo
Bay; and Major O'Grady, late 2nd Regiment, was appointed to the command
of the Levies in Graham's Town. Lieutenant-Colonels Mackinnon, Napier,
and Montresor, were employed with the General's division, and Major
Storks, late 38th Regiment, with the 2nd division, under Colonel
Somerset.
The great misfortune hitherto attendant on the war had been the
impoverished state of the Commissariat; but now, while we were gaining
time and making fresh preparations for a renewal of hostilities, the
enemy were growing hungry. Their women were their foragers for roots,
and these poor creatures had carried powder and provisions for them from
one stronghold to another for many months.
Wherever these savages found it impracticable to take away the whole of
the cattle they had stolen, they killed what they must otherwise have
left to fall into our hands; and, cutting it up into strips, hung it
about the bush, in the densest thickets, to dry, thus providing for
their friends, who were acquainted with these (probably
long-established) primitive larders. Meat thus dried and hung up is
called _biltong_, and is by no means bad when grated.
The remains of Captain Sandes, Cape Mounted Rifles, were at last
discovered on the Debe flats, near the side of the road leading to Fort
Wiltshire, by a party of his own regiment, who were patrolling in that
neighbourhood. A letter was found in the pocket of his jacket, and his
eye-glass lay near him; by these, and his dress, he was identified.
Here Mr Macdonald, a young Ensign of the Cape Corps, caused a grave to
be dug by the soldiers, with their swords: "_Not a drum was heard, not a
funeral note_," at that melancholy burial, in the solitary plains of
Africa, and though it may be little thought of beyond the suffering
friends and relations of that poor murdered man, the circumstances of
his death, fighting alone and desperately as he did through hordes of
savages in their first moments of ferocious excitement, must ever, when
spoken of, awaken the sympathy and regret of his countrymen. The
discovery of his remains was the only consolation left to his
unfortunate widow, who only awaited this to leave the land which had
brought her so much misery. It would have been intrusive to have
troubled her with empty condolences, but there were those who felt
deeply for her, and longed to assure her of their sympathy.
Lieutenant Lewes, of the 27th Regiment, met his death by accident,
falling from his horse against the tressel-boom of a waggon. He
lingered only a short time afterwards, and lies buried near the Camp at
Fort Cox, mourned by all his brother officers, who were sincerely
attached to him, and regretted by all who were acquainted with his
honest-heartedness and kindly disposition.
If any proof were wanting of the innate villainy of the Kaffirs, it
would be furnished by what occurred during the time. Stock's people, in
passing by Newtondale, formerly a mission station, twelve miles from
Fort Peddie, being hospitably sheltered and fed there by a party
guarding that spot, the repentant chief repaid this kindness by walking
off at dawn with what cattle his people could drive away! At Fort Hare,
Macomo began his usual career of drunkenness, maltreating his wives,
and, in a fit of passion, striking one of his children dead out of its
mother's arms! At times, he is in a perfectly frantic state, riding
wildly about the neighbourhood of the General's camp, in an old uniform.
The last time I saw him was at a moment of peace. The band of the 7th
was playing some choice pieces, and Macomo, in a blue coat and brass
buttons, trousers with a broad red stripe, and a well-burnished dragoon
helmet, stood by, calmly listening, with equal attention, to a set of
lively polkas, and next to a glorious air from "Lucrezia Borgia." Music
has the most soothing effect on a Kaffir. The savage, Umhala, has been
known to shed tears, and retire from observation, on hearing the band of
a regiment playing in Graham's Town.
Now that the fighting is over, I confess I should like to see a foray.
I have witnessed the march of a Commando, but in this there is little
excitement. The sound of the trumpet among the wild mountains in
Africa, the "upsaddling" from a state of calm repose--the "assembling"--
the steady forward movement--the gradual hum of voices on the look-out--
the first sight of cattle quietly grazing in some wooded kloof--the
dusky forms that are seen creeping away, bewitching the cattle on--the
extending the cavalry, who spread themselves out in all directions, and
dash at full speed, in parties of two and three, towards the thieves and
their prey, must make a picture of no ordinary interest. Then, the hunt
through the bush--the flying up and down short cuts, to intercept the
enemy, or drive him into an open plain--more resembles the hunting some
wild animal than any thing else; while, in the distance, the Kaffir
scouts and videttes, who dot the hill-sides, are seen skimming along the
mountain-ridges, with news of the fray, to their friends.
"November 25th.--We have had melancholy proof of the sickness in the
field in the death of Captain Knight, 7th Dragoon Guards. Although he
went into the field in good health, the cold and privation he endured on
service in a few weeks laid him on his death-bed, with disease of the
liver. In his military career, he was most fortunate, obtaining his
commission as Cornet in the 7th in 1841, and his troop, by the death of
Captain Bambrick, killed in action at Burn's Hill, on the 16th of April,
1846."
We met Captain Knight's funeral in the streets of Graham's town to-day.
The party consisted of but few troops; and the Hottentot soldiers of the
Cape Corps, in their bush dress, green-jackets, and leather trowsers,
with haversacks slung across their shoulders, ready for the field, gave
a service-like appearance to the procession, creating melancholy
emotions, apart from the principal object of the mournful cavalcade.
The charger, which had carried his master through the actions in the
Amatolas, moved on, unconscious of its sad trappings, and the dirge that
wailed through the lately blockaded streets was in strange contrast with
the echoes that had formerly filled them from the rifles on the hills.
"The 6th Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Michel, presents so youthful
an appearance, that some of the recruits look anything but suited to the
service here. Two hundred of them have never yet been taught to handle
a musket. Such a country as this is very disheartening to a zealous
Commanding Officer, who finds his men and officers scattered in all
directions, with no prospect of seeing them in a body till he lands in
England. The Rifle Brigade have taken the coloured population by
surprise, as hitherto all soldiers from England have been _Roed
Batjes_--red-jackets. They have named the Rifle Brigade the `English
Cape Corps.'"
As the enemy began to succumb, and to mingle with the people in our
camps, we heard various details connected with the war for which we were
not prepared. It was learnt that the Gaikas, under Sandilla, seriously
meditated an onslaught on our handful of troops, under Colonel Hare, at
Block Drift, on the 26th of January, 1846. These are the particulars,
as related by the Kaffirs. Besides the three thousand warriors drawn up
in front of Colonel Hare's force of scarcely three hundred men, there
were immense numbers collected on the hill-sides, and in the ravines.
Women were there, too, watching for the signal, which was to be the
waving of a kaross by a chief. It was stated, also, that, as soon as
this signal was given, the scout on the point of a hill attempted to
obey it, as he had been desired,--namely, by firing off his piece; but
three times it missed fire, and he gave it up. No response followed the
raising the tiger-skin banner, and the result was the breaking-up of the
conference, and the safe return of the troops to quarters. It is most
probable the armed scout was deterred by superstitious motives from
trying a fourth time to give the signal of destruction. Had the Gaikas
risen _en masse_, as was intended, what a fearful slaughter there would
have been at the moment, and how terrible would have been the effect on
this devoted Colony!
The day that meeting took place, my little girl and I were travelling
with a small party, on horseback, through the bush not far from Block
Drift. Captain Bambrick had accompanied us part of the way on the first
day's journey: it was the last time I ever saw him. As we wound along a
splendid road, lately made between Post Victoria and Botha's Post, a
distance of nine miles, I looked up the mountain-sides, clothed with
euphorbia, mimosa, and innumerable shrubs, and observed that probably
those silent thickets were tenanted by human beings, who could watch our
progress unobserved. We had no fear. "The word had not been given to
kill;" and, though they were not aware of this expression on the part of
the Kaffirs, we had every reason to believe they would never fire the
first shot. I am doubtful as to the truth of the premeditated onslaught
at Block Drift; for they did not fire the first shot in the Amatola
Mountains.
The account of one death in the ranks of the 91st Regiment, on the first
day's action in the Amatolas, affected me sincerely when I heard it.
Gibb, a soldier, who was much exhausted with the march up the mountain,
was allowed to mount the horse of an officer's servant, and was shot
dead soon after. The melancholy task of informing his younger brother--
a bugler, attached to the grenadier company--of his loss, fell to the
lot of the Captain of that company. The poor fellow was shocked at the
intelligence; but, at the moment he heard it, the enemy were pressing
on; the grenadiers were ordered to advance in skirmishing order, the
cavalry were coming up in support, and it was necessary to sound the
bugle to extend. The officer, feeling for the young soldier, bid him
calm his emotion, if possible, at such a moment: he obeyed as well as he
could; and after various attempts to sound his instrument, did so at
last, with tears running down his face in showers. What thoughts of
home and of parents' faces, and sorrowing voices, were passing through
that poor fellow's heart at the moment of excitement and danger! What
memories of early times, when he and his brother had played as children
together! [Note 1.]
"15th December.--Another movement is to take place over the Kei, into
Kreli's country. At the commencement of hostilities, a body of Fingoes
were located, to the amount of three thousand, east of the Kei. These
soon found that Kreli was in league with the tribes near the colony,
from the circumstance that many of his best men were creeping towards
it. Large droves of fine colonial cattle were passed over into the
forests of the Bashee. The resident Agent and the members of the
missionary department, with five hundred Fingoes, took refuge with the
Amapondas, farther east, where they must have suffered great privations.
What must be the sufferings of the women and children in such difficult
straits! The women are most to be pitied, since their misery arises
from anxiety of mind, and this is worse to bear than a host of physical
evils. Two thousand five hundred Fingoes remained with their families
and cattle in the district of Kreli, who has certainly displayed great
tact in avoiding all open collision with our dependents. Faku, it will
be remembered, is the terrible Zoolah Chief, who spares neither women
nor children, but who, with his tribe of warriors, drives all before him
at the point of a short assegai. With this weapon, these people close
upon their enemy, and stab him. The Fingoes in Kreli's neighbourhood
have been permitted to keep their ground and cattle; Kreli would not
choose to meddle with them, because they are our allies, while Faku had
probably some dread of the good musket in their hands, a weapon
ill-suited to the Zoolah spear. Faku's tribe, it is said, resemble the
Mantatees in their cannibal propensities, only indulged, however, after
an unsuccessful foray in search of plunder, or provision. The Mantatees
are a tribe farther north than the Zoolahs. It has been determined to
march into Kreli's Country, in consequence of the discovery, that Kreli
has been the receiver-general of the enemy's plunder. The 27th have
been ordered from the head-quarter division at Fort Hare, to join
Colonel Somerset--Number 2 division--and advance towards the Kei.
Whether they will cross it, appears very uncertain. It is perfectly
well-known now, that, besides the Gaikas, Pato, Umhala, Sonto, Seyolo,
etc, have made Kreli's Country their depot for stolen colonial cattle.
"Sutu, the mother of Sandilla, has made her appearance at Fort Hare,
wishing to surrender herself, and to make intercession for her son. To
this latter request, the General has replied, he does not war with
women, and can enter into no negotiations with them. Sutu is an aged
woman, of a size that would befit the wife of a Daniel Lambert. She is
very infirm, and would have gladly have given herself up long ago, but
was not permitted by Sandilla to have any communication with the English
authorities. This young Gaika tyrant was once on the point of roasting
his mother alive! and she was only saved from this fearful doom by
British interference.
"Colonel Somerset has made two successful forays across the Keiskama;
and, besides re-capturing some fine colonial cattle, has brought the
I'Slambies to implore for peace. After the first expedition, Umhala,
Nonnebe, and Seyolo presented themselves with their abject and deceptive
protestations at his camp on the Chalmuna river.
"In the second expedition, from which he returned not many days ago,
four hundred head of cattle were taken, and the notorious Chief, Pato,
narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the troops, but concealed
himself in a cave. He has since sent in to beg that he may give himself
up, if permitted to do so. The Government will be puzzled how to act
towards him; he has been our most treacherous, troublesome, and
determined enemy.
"In the first foray two of the Cape Corps were killed, through their own
imprudence. They stopped to drink milk in a Kaffir hut, where there
were some women. The latter slipped away, and gave warning to some men
concealed in a kloof near the kraal, who, on learning that but two were
to be opposed, came upon them at once, and murdered them both. One poor
Hottentot, in his dying moments, brought down his Kaffir foe.
"In the second expedition, on the 24th and 25th November, the Rifle
Brigade proved a most efficient force.
"On the 17th December, we learn that Sandilla has at last surrendered
himself at Fort Hare, bringing in about forty head of cattle, and
several muskets and carbines taken from the waggons at Burn's Hill, on
the 17th of April, and giving up the two prisoners demanded by Colonel
Hare in February and then refused. One was the axe-stealer; the other
the murderer of the Hottentot. They were lodged in gaol. Another
prisoner, who accompanied them, died the night he entered his prison;
and, some time afterwards, the Kaffirs, affecting to suspect poison,
requested permission to examine the body, which was accordingly exhumed;
but was too much decomposed to allow of the forming any opinion on the
subject."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. Another soldier of the 91st met with a cruel death at the hands
of the savages. Being too much exhausted to ascend the Amatolas, he sat
down by the way side. At night, when the roll was called, poor Ewell
was missing. The Kaffirs admit, too, that they took him through the
bush to a spot where some of their Chiefs were assembled with many
warriors. Here they tied their victim to a stake, and literally flayed
him alive; the little children being permitted to assist in tormenting
him. Oh, "pastoral and peaceful people!" The Kaffirs said that they
imagined the grenadiers of the 91st could not be killed, as the balls
appeared to glance harmlessly past them. Mr Cochrane, however, was
wounded three times on the last day in the Amatolas.