I copy from a Colonial newspaper (the "Graham's Town Journal") the
following account of the military honours recently paid to the remains
of the gallant sufferers:--
"King William's Town, 7th September 1850.
"The inhabitants of King William's Town have been lately very sensibly
reminded of one of the most tragical and melancholy events of the late
Kaffir War, by a pleasing and gratifying exhibition of that mutual
feeling of good will and companionship, which so eminently distinguishes
the gentlemen of the military profession. It is now three years since
the occurrence of the events alluded to, but that time seems to have had
but little influence in obliterating from the soldier's mind the
remembrance of those who fell in the late strife, whether when in actual
contact with the enemy, or slain in cold blood by the merciless cruelty
of a barbarous foe. The incidents of the affair spoken of, are no doubt
still fresh in the recollection of most of the inhabitants of the
Colony, yet it may be neither uninteresting nor unedifying, shortly to
repeat them, tending as they do, in some measure, to illustrate the
native character of the Kaffir.
"In September, 1847, a party of five officers, consisting of Captain
Baker (whose promotion to the rank of Major was received shortly after
his death), Lieutenant Faunt, Ensign Burnop, Dr Campbell, of the 73rd
Regiment, and Dr Loch, of the 7th Dragoon Guards, set out from Fort
Wellington, to determine a wager which had been made concerning the
locality of a hill which, from that place, may be observed as exhibiting
a very remarkable resemblance to Table Mountain--one party maintaining
the opinion that it was situated on the north, the other, that it was on
the south side of the River Kei. With light hearts, and jocund spirits,
they may easily be imagined to have parted from those companions they
were destined never to meet again; and also, after having reached in
safety the end of their journey, to have been returning in happy
anticipation of the merry welcome their comrades would afford them with
the intelligence they had obtained; when, in passing through a ravine by
a narrow pathway, where they could travel only in file, they were
waylaid by a vast number of Kaffirs, and literally cut to pieces. They
fell, 'tis true, as British officers under similar circumstances ever
will fall,--together; and bravely and strongly contending against
numbers sufficient to combat with a battalion; but the determination,
self-devotion, and bravery of such a defence only increases our
admiration of their characters, and redoubles in poignancy the sincerity
of regret.
"Around the fatal spot were scattered many ghastly evidences how dearly
they had sold their lives, but on the same ground also were too
evidently portrayed the characters and dispositions of their assassins,
by the awful spectacle of horror and blood which was spread out before
the beholders. It would be vain, or at least unfit, to attempt
describing such a scene; humanity would revolt and shudder at the
detail, and it is enough (if not more than sufficient) to say, that the
detached limbs, and mutilated members of those who a few hours before
were happy, and in manly vigour, were gathered from different and
distant places, into the great coats of the infuriated and sorrowing
soldiers, who unhappily arrived too late for the relief of their
murdered officers. `Vengeance belongeth not to man,' yet the human
heart cannot know of such barbarity, without feeling at the same time
satisfied, when assured, that an awful retribution was visited upon its
perpetrators.
"In as perfect a manner as their mangled and disfigured state would
permit, their remains were enshrouded in the soldier's last covering
when in the field, and deposited in one lonely and desolate grave, far
from the resort of their fellow men--beyond the reach of the tear of the
bereaved, and the sigh of a friend,--where no tablet would proclaim the
worth of the departed, nor bewail their untimely and melancholy end.
They were not, however, allowed to remain, in such undeserved obscurity;
the genuine feeling of comradeship, which is ever found in the heart of
a British soldier, and reaches beyond the present, sought a more
hallowed spot where their ashes might slumber--where the tear of sorrow
might fall upon their tomb; a testimony of affection, where the finger
of regret might be pointed on a recital of their hapless fate, and where
their virtues might be told to generations yet to come.
"For this desirable and commendable purpose an escort belonging to the
6th Royal Regiment of Foot, now under the command of Brevet
Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart, accompanied by the Reverend J. Fleming,
Military Chaplain, proceeded to the spot where their remains had been
left; and having, with the utmost care, recovered from their lonely
resting-place, brought them to King William's Town, where, on the
morning of the 31st of August, 1850, they were re-interred in one
coffin, in a grave prepared within the boundaries of the church now
being erected there, being borne to their last home by twelve men of the
above regiment, and followed in solemn procession by the whole of Her
Majesty's officers in the garrison.
"J.S.N."
Appendix Two.