At two o'clock on the morning of the 11th of January the bugle sounded
the reveille and the troops prepared to cross the Buffalo. Tents were
struck, baggage piled on the waggons, and the regiments stood to arms at
half-past four. The native contingent crossed first. The cavalry
brigade under Lieutenant-Colonel Russell placed their ammunition on a
pontoon and rode over. The river was in some places up to the necks of
the infantry, and even the cavalry were nearly swept away. The first
and second battalions of the 24th crossed on the pontoons. The third
regiment of the native contingent threw out skirmishers, but could find
no trace of the enemy.
A heavy storm had come on at daybreak, but this left off at nine
o'clock. Lieutenant-Colonel Buller, commanding the Frontier Light
Horse, now rode in from the camp of Colonel Wood's force, which had
crossed the Blood River and had encamped in Zululand at a spot about
thirty-two miles distant. Lord Chelmsford rode over there with an
escort of the Natal Mounted Police and the Natal Carabineers, who on
their return captured three hundred head of cattle, several horses, and
a number of sheep and goats. During the day the waggons, oxen, and
ambulances were brought across the river on the platoon.
Early next morning the 1st battalion of the 1st Native Regiment, four
companies of the 1st battalion of the 24th, and 300 of the irregular
horse started on a reconnaissance towards the kraal of Sirayo, the chief
whose sons had been the greatest offenders in the raids into Natal. The
cavalry were thrown out in skirmishing order, and after marching nine
miles they descended into the slope of the valley in which Sirayo's
kraals were situated. The enemy were heard singing their war-songs in
one of the ravines, and the 3rd Native Regiment advanced against them
with the 24th in reserve. The Zulus opened fire as they approached, and
so heavy was this that many of our natives turned and ran; they were
rallied, however, and with a rush carried the caves in which the Zulus
were lurking.
In the meantime the 24th's men had moved round to the head of the
ravine, and cut off the enemy's retreat. There was a skirmish between
the cavalry and some mounted Zulus, and six of these, including a son of
Sirayo, were killed. Thirty horses and 400 head of cattle were
captured.
The next day was spent in cleaning up arms and accoutrements, after the
heavy rain which had fallen the preceding week, and several days were
spent in making the roads passable for the waggons.
On the 20th the force moved forward, leaving one company of the 2nd
battalion of the 24th, under Lieutenant Bromhead, with some engineers
and a few natives to guard the ford and look after the platoons, and
garrison the store and hospital. The column camped at Isandula, or, as
it is more properly called, Isandwhlana, ten miles distant from Rorke's
Drift. A portion of the road was extremely rough, and the waggons had
the greatest difficulty in making their way forward.
The spot selected for a camping-ground was a wide flat valley, with
hills on the left and undulating ground on the right; almost in the
centre rose an isolated hill, perpendicular on three sides, and very
steep and difficult on the fourth. The camp was pitched in front of
this hill, looking down the valley, with a mile of open country between
it and the hills on the left.
The camp was formed in the following order: on the left were the two
battalions of the 3rd Native Regiment; the Royal Artillery were in the
centre; next to these was the 2nd battalion of the 24th. The line was
then taken up by the cavalry, with the 1st battalion of the 24th on the
right of the whole. The waggons were all placed between the camp and
the hill at the back.
By a strange and criminal neglect no attempt was made to intrench this
position, although it was known that the column might at any moment be
attacked by the Zulus.
It was determined that the greater part of the force should advance the
next morning towards a stronghold, ten miles distant from the camp,
straight down the valley. News had come that a large number of Zulus
were at this spot, and it was supposed that these would fight. The
column consisted of eight companies of each of the battalions of the 3rd
Native Regiment, with the greater part of the cavalry.
The force started early and marched for three hours down the valley.
Here they came on much cultivated ground, but the kraals had been
deserted by the enemy. At four o'clock, as the cavalry were skirmishing
at a distance on both flanks, they came upon a body of Zulus about 2000
strong. The horse fell back upon the infantry, but, as it was now late,
Major Dartnell decided to encamp for the night, and to attack in the
morning. A messenger was despatched into camp with a report of the
day's proceedings, and some provisions and blankets were sent out, with
news that the general would join the troops with reinforcements in the
morning.
At daybreak he left the camp at Isandula with seven companies of the 2nd
battalion of the 24th, and orders were sent to Colonel Durnford, at
Rorke's Drift, to bring up 200 mounted men and his rocket-battery, which
had reached that spot.
The Zulus were seen in all directions, and a good deal of skirmishing
took place. By a gross neglect, equal to that which was manifested in
the omission to fortify the camp, no steps whatever were taken to keep
up communication between the column, which now consisted of the greater
part of the troops, and those who remained at the camp at Isandula. No
signallers were placed on the hills, no mounted videttes were posted,
and the column marched on, absorbed in its own skirmishes with the
enemy, as if the general in command had forgotten the very existence of
the force at Isandula. Even in the middle of the day, when the firing
of cannon told that the camp was attacked, no steps were taken to
ascertain whether reinforcements were needed there, and it was not until
hours after all was over that a party was despatched to ascertain what
had taken place at the camp.
Upon the day on which the two native regiments advanced, the two boys
felt the time hang heavy on their hands; they would have liked to take
their guns and go out to shoot some game for their dinners, but all
shooting had been strictly forbidden, as the sound of a gun might cause
a false alarm. After hanging about the camp for an hour or two, Dick
proposed that they should climb the hill which rose so steeply behind
them.
"If the columns have any fighting," he said, "we should be sure to see
it from the top."
Borrowing a telescope from one of the officers of the volunteer cavalry,
they skirted round to the back of the hill, and there began their climb.
It was very steep, but after some hard work they reached the summit,
and then crossed to the front and sat down in a comfortable niche in the
rock, whence they could command a view far down the valley. They could
see the two battalions of infantry marching steadily along, and the
cavalry moving among the hills and undulations on both flanks. They had
taken some biscuits and a bottle of beer up with them, and spent the
whole day on the look-out. The view which they gained was a very
extensive one, as the hill was far higher than those on either side, and
in many places they could see small bodies of the enemy moving about.
At sunset they descended.
"I vote we go up again," Tom said the next morning. "The general has
gone forward with most of the white troops, and there is sure to be
fighting to-day. We shall have nothing to do, and may as well go up
there as anywhere else."
After the general's departure there remained in camp five companies of
the 1st battalion of the 24th, and one of the 2nd battalion, two
field-pieces with their artillery men, and some mounted men.
Just as the boys were starting at eight in the morning, there was a
report in the camp that the Zulus were gathering in force to the north
of the camp. This quickened the boys' movements and half an hour later
they gained the top of the hill, and from their old position looked down
upon the camp lying many hundred feet below them. There was
considerable bustle going on, and the Kaffir drivers were hastily
collecting the cattle which were grazing round, and were driving them
into camp.
"There is going to be a fight!" Dick exclaimed, as they gained their
look-out; "there are crowds of Zulus out there on the plains."
Could the boys have looked over the hills a mile away to their right,
they would have seen that the number of Zulus down in the valley in
front was but a small proportion of those gathering for the attack; for
15,000 men had moved up during the night, and were lying quietly behind
those hills, 3000 or 4000 more were taking the road to Rorke's Drift, to
cut off any who might escape from the camp, while as many more were
showing down the valley. Altogether some 24,000 of the enemy had
gathered round the little body in the camp. To the boys, however, only
the party down the valley was visible.
At eleven o'clock Colonel Durnford came into camp with his 350 mounted
men from Rorke's Drift, and advanced with them to meet the enemy
threatening the left flank, while two companies of the 1st battalion of
the 24th moved out to attack their right. The Zulus, now reinforced
from behind the hills, moved forward steadily, and Colonel Durnford with
his cavalry could do little to arrest them. For an hour the infantry
stood their ground, and the two field-pieces swept lines through the
thick ranks of the enemy. The Zulus advanced in the form of a great
crescent.
"Things look very bad, Dick," Tom said; "what do you think we had better
do?"
"I think we had better stay where we are, Tom, and wait and see what
occurs; we have a splendid view of the fight, and if our fellows meet
them we shall see it all; but if--oh, look there, Tom!"
Over the hills on the left thousands of Zulus were seen pouring down.
"This is terrible, Tom. Look here, I will crawl along over the crest,
so as not to be seen, and look behind to see if it is clear there. If
it is, I vote we make a bolt. It is of no use our thinking of going
down for a couple of horses; the Zulus will be in the camp long before
we could get there."
Five minutes later he again joined his friend.
"They are coming up behind too, Tom. They have really surrounded us.
Look, they are close to the camp!"
It was a scene of frightful confusion. Nothing could be seen of the
companies of the 24th, which had gone out to meet the Zulus. The great
wave of the advancing army had swept over them. Below, the panic was
complete and terrible, and soldiers, native drivers, and camp-followers
were running wildly in all directions.
One party of the 24th's men, about sixty strong, had gathered together
and stood like a little island. The incessant fire of their rifles
covered them with white smoke, while a dense mass of Zulus pressed upon
them. Many of the soldiers were flying for their lives; others again,
when they found that their retreat was cut off, had gathered in groups
and were fighting desperately to the last. Here and there mounted men
strove to cut their way through the Zulus, while numbers of fugitives
could be seen making for the river, hotly pursued by crowds of the
enemy, who speared them as they ran.
"It is frightful, frightful, Tom! I cannot bear to look at it."
For a few minutes the fight continued. The crack of the rifles was
heard less frequently now. The exulting yell of the Zulus rose louder
and louder. On the right Colonel Durnford with his cavalry essayed to
make one last stand to check the pursuit of the Zulus and give time for
the fugitives to escape; but it was in vain, showers of assegais fell
among them, and the Zulu crowd surged round.
For a time the boys thought all were lost, but a few horsemen cut their
way through the crowd and rode for the river. The artillery had long
before ceased to fire, and the gunners lay speared by the cannons. The
first shot had been fired at half-past eleven, by one o'clock all was
over. The last white man had fallen, and the Zulus swarmed like a vast
body of ants over the camp in search of plunder.
Horror-stricken and sick, the boys shrank back against the rock behind
them, and for some time sobbed bitterly over the dreadful massacre which
had taken place before their eyes. But after a time they began to talk
more quietly.
"Will they come up here, do you think, Dick?"
"No, I don't think so," Dick replied. "They could hardly have seen us
come up here, even if they had been on the look-out on the hills, and as
they reached the back of the mountain before the camp was taken, they
will know that nobody could have come up afterwards. Lie back here; we
cannot possibly be seen from below. They will be too much taken up with
plundering the camp to think of searching this hill. What on earth is
the general doing?--I can see his troops right away on the plain.
Surely he must have heard the guns? Our only hope now is that when he
hears it he will march straight back; but, even if he does, I fear that
the Zulus will be too strong for him. The whole force which he has with
him is no stronger than that which has been crushed here, and I don't
expect the native regiments can make much stand if attacked by such a
tremendously strong force."
So long as the daylight lasted, the boys, peering occasionally over,
could see the Zulus at the work of plundering. All the sacks and
barrels were taken from the waggons and cut or broken open, each man
taking as much as he could carry of the tea, sugar, flour, and other
necessaries; many of the yoke-oxen were assegaied at once, and cut up
and eaten, the rest being driven off towards the north by a party of
warriors.
At nightfall the tents were set on fire; they soon burnt out, and the
boys could no longer see what was taking place. Rising from the
shelter, they walked back to the other side of the crest.
"I can hear firing now," Dick said; "it seems to me that it is back at
Rorke's Drift."
They were soon sure that they were not mistaken; as it grew darker a
flittering light was seen in that direction, and a continued fire of
distant musketry was heard. Later on there was a broad glare in the
sky.
"I fear it is all over there too," Dick said, "and that the place has
been burnt."
Still, however, the firing continued, as heavy as ever, and long on into
the night the lads sat listening to it. At last they fell asleep, and
when they awoke the sun was already high. Thus they missed their chance
of escape.
At nine o'clock in the evening Lord Chelmsford's force, hearing at last
what had happened, marched back into the camp, and before day had fairly
broken continued their way down to Rorke's Drift. The defenders here, a
little garrison, under Lieutenant Bromhead of the 24th, and Chard of the
Royal Artillery, had made an heroic defence against some 4000 of the
enemy. With mealy bags and boxes they built up a breastwork, and this
they held all night, in spite of the desperate efforts of the Zulus to
capture it. The hospital, which stood at one end of the intrenchment,
was carried and burnt by the Zulus, but the little garrison held out
till morning in an inner intrenchment round the store-house.
Here was seen what could be done in the way of defence by the aid of
hastily-thrown-up intrenchments; and had breastworks been erected at
Isandula, as they ought to have been the instant the troops arrived
there, and still more so when the major portion of the column marched
away, the force there, small as it was, would doubtless have made a
successful resistance. Even had the step been taken, when the Zulus
were first seen approaching, of forming a laager--that is, of drawing up
the waggons in the form of a hollow square--at the foot of the steep
mountain, the disaster might have been averted. It may be said that the
massacre of Isandula was due entirely to the over-confidence and
carelessness of the officers in command of the column.
The boys on waking crawled back cautiously to a spot where they could
obtain a view over the valley, and, to their surprise, the force which,
on the afternoon before, they had seen out there had entirely
disappeared. Many bodies of Zulus were seen moving about, but there was
no trace of the white troops. They made their way to the back of the
hill, and then, to their horror, saw the column moving away from them,
and already half-way on its road to Rorke's Drift.
Their first impulse was to get up and start off in a run in pursuit of
it, but this feeling lasted but a moment, for between the hill and the
column many scattered parties of Zulus were to be seen. The boys looked
blankly at each other. It was but too clear that they were cut off and
alone in the enemy's country.
"Whatever shall we do, Dick?"
"I have not the least idea, Tom. At any rate there is nothing to be
done at present. We should be assegaied in a moment if we were to go
down; let's go back to our old look-out."
After much talk they agreed that it would be hopeless to attempt to make
south and cross the Buffalo, as many of the fugitives had done. There
were sure to be strong bodies of Zulus along the river, and even if they
passed these without detection they would be unable to cross the river,
as they would find no ford, and neither of them was able to swim.
There were great numbers of Zulus in the camp below, and these seemed to
be pursuing the work of plundering more minutely than they had done on
the previous day. The stores scattered recklessly about were collected,
placed in empty barrels, and loaded up on the waggons. Presently a
number of cattle were brought down; these were harnessed to the waggons
and driven off, and by nightfall nothing save scattered remnants marked
the place where the British camp had stood. But from their post the
boys could see that the ground far and near was dotted with corpses,
black and white.
After nightfall the boys descended to the camp, and having marked the
exact spot where the waggons had stood were able to collect a number of
pieces of the broken biscuit scattered about; they were fortunate enough
to light upon a water-bottle still full, and with these treasures they
returned to the post on the mountain. They had agreed to wait there for
three or four days, in fact as long as they could hold out, and then
quietly to walk into one of the native kraals. If caught in the act of
flight they were certain of being killed, but they hoped that when the
Zulus' blood had cooled down after the conflict their lives might
possibly be spared.
This plan was carried out; for four days they remained on the hill of
Isandula, and then descending late one evening to the plain walked for
ten or twelve miles north, and waiting until daybreak showed them a
large native kraal at no great distance, they made for it, and sat
quietly down at the door of the principal hut. Presently a girl issued
from a neighbouring hut, and, upon seeing them, gave a scream and ran
back again. The cry brought others to the doors of the huts. When the
boys were seen, a perfect hubbub of tongues broke forth, and many of the
men, running out with their spears, advanced towards the lads. They sat
perfectly quiet, and held up their hands to show that they were unarmed.
The Zulus hesitated. Dick went through the motion of eating and
drinking, and in his best Kaffir begged for a glass of water.
The Zulus, seeing that the boys were alone, approached them, and began
to ask them questions, and were evidently much surprised at hearing that
they had escaped from the massacre of the British. From the door of the
hut in which they were sitting a chief, evidently of high rank, for the
others greeted him respectfully, now came out.
After the cause of the tumult was explained to the chief, he ordered the
boys to be bound. This was done and they were put into an empty hut
while their fate was decided upon; after much deliberation it was agreed
by the Zulus that, as they were but boys and had come into the camp
unarmed and of their own accord, their lives should for the present be
spared.
It happened that in the village were a party of men who belonged to the
tribe of Umbelleni, whose territory lay to the north-west, and these
volunteered to take the prisoners to their chief, who was one of the
strongest opponents of the English. His country, indeed, lay just
within the Zulu frontier, and, having been engaged in constant
skirmishes and broils with the Dutch settlers, he was even more
disappointed than the other chiefs at the taking over of the Transvaal
by England, just at the time when the Zulus were meditating its
conquest.
The road from Itelezi, the village at which the boys had given
themselves up, to Umbelleni's country ran along between the Blood River
and the lofty hill-country; and, although they were ignorant of the
fact, Colonel Wood's force was at that moment lying on this line. They
were therefore taken up over a mountain-country, crossing Mount Ingwe,
to the Zlobani Mountain, a stronghold ten miles south of Umbelleni's
chief kraal, and where at present he was residing. After three days'
journey the lads, exhausted and footsore, ascended to the plateau of the
Zlobani Mountains.
Upon their way they passed through many villages, and at each place it
needed the efforts of their guards to prevent their being seriously
maltreated, if not killed. The Zulus, although victorious at Isandula,
had suffered terribly, it being estimated that nearly 3000 had fallen in
the attack.
Thus there was not a village but had lost some of its members, for,
although the Zulu regiments have local denominations and regular
military kraals, each regiment consists of men drawn from the population
at large.
Every four or five years all the lads who have passed the age of
eighteen since the formation of the last corps, are called out and
formed into a regiment, or are embodied with some regiment whose numbers
have fallen in strength. Thus a regiment may consist of men differing
considerably from each other in point of age, the great distinction
being that some corps consist entirely of married men, while others are
all unmarried. A regiment remains unmarried until the king formally
gives the permission to take wives, and the corps to whom the boon has
been granted are distinguished from the others by their hair being
arranged in a thick ring round the head. So great is the enmity between
these married regiments and their less fortunate comrades that they are
never encamped in each other's view, as fighting in that case would
inevitably take place. Thus it happened that, although some of the
corps had suffered far more than others, the loss was spread over the
whole of Zululand.