Transcriber's Note:
Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without
note. Variant spellings, mostly proper nouns, have been retained:
_Inyezane_, _Inyesani_, _Inyezani_, _Ingesani_, etc. The oe ligature
is represented by [oe].
THE STORY
OF
THE ZULU CAMPAIGN.
BY
MAJOR ASHE (LATE KING'S DRAGOON GUARDS),
AUTHOR OF "THE MILITARY INSTITUTIONS OF FRANCE," ETC.
AND
CAPTAIN THE HON. E. V. WYATT-EDGELL
(17TH LANCERS, KILLED AT ULUNDI).
_DEDICATED BY SPECIAL PERMISSION TO HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY_
THE EMPRESS EUGÉNIE.
WITH MAP.
London:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
1880.
[_All rights reserved._]
LONDON:
Gilbert and Rivington, Printers,
St. John's Square.
TO HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY
THE EMPRESS EUGÉNIE
_THIS RECORD OF THE ZULU WAR IS, BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION, HUMBLY
DEDICATED, AS A POOR TRIBUTE AND OFFERING_.
In Memoriam.
Worthy of the Race of Guzman, and of the soldier of Lodi and Arcola,
while recalling memories of him who gave to the gods of the Tiber the
gift most precious to Rome--Human Valour--PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON'S name
will live in the hearts of all his English comrades, as a type of pure
chivalry, of knightly generosity, and as a rainbow of Hope over two
great western powers, for centuries at war, but now allied in
friendship.
PREFACE.
Some apology or explanation may be deemed requisite, for delaying the
publication of this "Story of the Zulu War" for more than a year after
its conclusion. The little book itself was written very shortly after
the capture of the king, Cetywayo, and the tardiness of its appearance
has been, to a certain extent, intentional on my part.
Although it may seem ungracious and, perhaps, ungrateful to cavil at the
war criticisms and descriptions which, by every post and telegram, adorn
the pages of contemporaneous journalism, I would submit that the
practice of writing _ex cathedrâ_ on war topics the day after an
engagement, is too early to allow us to examine motives as well as
facts, so that we may form conclusions to which we can only justly
arrive, when "Time, the corrector, where our judgments err," has
softened prejudice and exposed partisan feeling. The worst and most
valueless criticisms on Waterloo were given to the world immediately
after the fight of Mont St. Jean. The most unreliable, and indeed
erroneous, opinions in regard to the splendid errors of Inkerman and
Balaklava, appeared before the Crimean war was ended, and many a hero,
elevated by the verdict of contemporaneous eulogy to a temporary
pedestal in the Temple of Fame, has since been dethroned by the calmer
and more honest judgment of a later generation. When the Emperor
Napoleon called us a "nation of shopkeepers," he, perhaps,
intentionally, paid us a compliment; for peace, commerce, and
prosperity, have, as a rule, I venture to hold, been more regarded in
our islands than projects of violence, warfare, or conquest; and this
with us has ever been an honourable characteristic of the Spirit of our
present Age.
But as Sir Bartle Frere, one of England's greatest, wisest, and most
humane administrators, was well aware, the great and time-honoured law
of self-defence sometimes compels a State, like an individual, to resort
to arms, and the Appeal of Battle, when all peaceful modes of
arrangement have been vainly tried, becomes occasionally unavoidable.
Then, and perhaps only then, we may be allowed, even by the Peace
Society and the Acolytes who trim the lamps for Mr. John Bright, to take
an interest in and feel proud of the disciplined courage, the love of
honour, and the sense of duty of which we read in the campaigns, where
those who are near and dear to us have fought and fallen under the
British flag. Then the commanders we may have known as subalterns, but
whose names are now in all circles as veritable "Household Words;" whose
careers we have watched with proud, yet kindly sympathy, and whose
triumphs we have seemed as countrymen to share; whose powers of
intellect and prescience array, regulate, and wield at will the grim and
stern materials at command; whose daring, and yet coolness in the midst
of death, acts like a talisman upon the rank and file--whose
providence, when one path fails, is ever ready for fresh resources and
designs--are not these the men of whom we may say with Tacitus,--
_"Ratio et consilium propriæ Ducis artes"?_
and of this class, I venture to think, were Lord Chelmsford and his
lieutenants. And when we are ourselves in the "sere and yellow leaf," or
have joined, mayhap, that "larger majority" which Gladstonian tactics
and energy cannot hope to rival, our children and children's children,
when they read of such names as Bartle Frere, Chelmsford, Wood, Pearson,
Buller, and Piet Uys, may look back to English History and see that our
"island mastiffs" have not become degenerate, either in courage or
generosity, since the days of Harold, the Black Prince, or that knightly
Sydney who fell at Zutphen!
Some experience of the Kaffir tribes and their characteristics, of the
physical and geographical difficulties which attend upon a campaign in
South Africa,--dating, indeed, as far back as a score of years ago, and
the interest which I have since taken in colonies where, as an Adjutant,
I passed some very happy years among Boers, Bôk, and Kaffirs, had at the
commencement of the late war prompted me to follow its various phases,
with a view to write the story of the campaign. In this purpose I was
encouraged by the offers of many old comrades who were about to start
with their regiments for the seat of war, and who promised me by each
available opportunity the assistances of their several journals, notes,
and sketches.
"But one I would select from that proud throng,
· · · · ·
And partly that bright names will hallow song,
And his was of the bravest."
And to those who have known that most accomplished gentleman and gallant
soldier, young, brave, cheery, and _débonnaire_, Edmund Wyatt-Edgell, I
need not say how delighted I was at his undertaking to correspond with
me, and, as far as time and opportunity permitted, to keep me _au
courant_ with the march of events. From the time of his arrival at Natal
to the fatal day on which he fell, he fulfilled that promise, and if any
merit be due to the narrative I now present to public notice, it will, I
believe, come through those descriptions which I received from my dead
comrade and friend--_Sit tibi terra levis!_
Another motive, or perhaps more than one, "pricked the sides of my
intent," and invited me to wield the pen upon a soil where erst I had
drawn a "regulation" sword. In the "unvexed silence of a student's
cell," i.e., London chambers, I could only watch the progress of the
campaign, without hoping to share in its toils or its dangers. I might
envy, but I could not participate--
"For who can view the ripen'd rose, nor seek
To wear it?"
In default of this, I could, however, follow in spirit the adventures,
by flood and field, of more than a score of old comrades and companions
in arms, who were winning honour and renown in a land not unfamiliar to
me. In the hasty and, with all deference I say it, somewhat ignorant
criticism of those amateur mentors who tell us how battles ought or
ought not to be won, and who, from the calm solitudes of Fleet Street,
would make or mar a military reputation, I venture to believe, was much
injustice done to the Commander-in-chief of our forces in South Africa.
"A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure. Critics all are ready made."
And I was the more convinced of this partisan and hostile feeling from
the knowledge that, west of Temple Bar, and especially in the regions
where veterans do most congregate, in the clubs and haunts alike of
_vieilles moustaches_ and military neophytes, from the "Senior" to the
"Naval and Military," criticism was far less pronounced, and experience,
as it invariably is, was more moderate in stricture and charitable in
argument than elsewhere.
Lastly, the tragic fate of England's young chivalrous and knightly
guest, which formed such a terrible episode of the war and draped our
colours with mourning, even in the hour of victory, made a deep
impression upon my mind, and caused me insensibly to marvel at the
unworthy sentiments to which a large portion of the English public and
the English press at that time gave utterance. Political feeling seemed
then, as it now seems in poor Ireland, to override all sense of manly
honour, generosity, hospitality, or common decency. The slaughter, for
it was nothing less, of the princely and noble lad, who came to the
shores of his country's hereditary foe, as a messenger of hope, alliance
and future friendship, who had been taught by his father to love and
study our English laws and customs, and who, in his abandonment in that
fatal donga, must have felt shame for the comrades to whom his safety
was entrusted; the sacrifice, I say, of this pure and devoted spirit,
seemed to me to call for some record, less evanescent than a passing
note or a newspaper article. If I have spoken strongly of the living in
my sorrow for the dead, as a soldier I can but plead in vindication,
that, in all my remembrance of the records of our English army I can
recall no instance, save the one I have quoted, where an officer wearing
our royal uniform and holding a royal commission, galloped away in front
of his escort, and allowed a comrade to be done to death in unknightly
fashion!
In conclusion I may say that this little work, although written _con
amore_ and from details furnished to me by my friend, Captain the Hon.
E. V. Wyatt-Edgell, and others, lays no claim to historical value, but
assumes to be merely the _impressions de voyage_ of those who were
actors in the scenes described.
WALLER ASHE.
Hare Court, Temple,
_Nov. 1880._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Origin of Zulus--Their tribes--Senzagacone--Chaka--His
wars--Innovations--Administration--Standing
army--Death--Position of Zulus amongst kindred tribes--First
contact with whites--The Boers--The English--Panda--His reign
and death--Accession of Cetywayo--His promises to the
English--Breaches of faith--The boundary question--Its origin
and nature--The case of Sirayo--Its history--The Middle Drift
affair--Other causes of war--The Ultimatum sent--Official
declaration of war--State of the British forces--Cetywayo's
army and its organization--Their tactics. 1
CHAPTER II.
Plan of campaign--Native levies--Special service officers--The
advance--Pearson's column--Glyn's column--Wood's
column--Utrecht--First brush with the enemy--Difficulties of
transport--Action on Inyezani--Pearson at Ekowe--Glyn's
advance--Durnford's failure--Isandhlwana--Description of
camp--The battle--Details--Reconnaissance and return of Lord
Chelmsford--Rorke's Drift--Causes of Isandhlwana--Remarks. 24
CHAPTER III.
Ekowe described--The fort--Guard for the frontier--Raid on
Dabulamanzi's Kraal--Another raid--Life in Ekowe--Wood at
Potter's Kraal--Capture of Baglusini--Skirmish and capture
of cattle--Destruction of Manyanyoba Kraal--Colonel
Rowlands--Capture of Makatees Kop--Junction with Wood--Camp
at Kambula--Coming in of Oham--Disaster at Intombi
Drift--Death of Moriarty--Rescue of Oham's wives and
people--Events that led to the attack on Umbelini--The
Zlobani--The attack--Details--Death of Campbell--Narrow
escape of Wood--Death of Weatherly--St. Helena and H.M.S.
"Shah." 67
CHAPTER IV.
Effects of Zlobani--Description of Kambula Camp--Desperate Zulu
attack thereon--Description of the battle--Deaths of
Lieutenants Bright and Nicholson--Gallant rescue by Captain
Woodgate--Force and commanders of the Zulu attack--Their
losses--The English losses--Fortifications at Kambula
Kop--Block House--Arrival of despatches--Exciting scene. 132
CHAPTER V.
Organization of column for relief of Ekowe--The
march--Heliographic signals--Camp at Ginghilovo--Disposition
of the troops--Zulu advance--The battle--English
victory--Death of Colonel Northey--English losses--Zulu force
and loss--Relief of Ekowe--Meeting of Pearson and
Chelmsford--State of Ekowe garrison--Barrow's cavalry raid on
Dabulamanzi's kraal--British sentry firing on British troops. 156
CHAPTER VI.
End of first period of the Zulu war--Organization of fresh
advance--Reinforcements from England--Scene in
Durban--Disembarkation of troops--Cavalry camp at Berea--Lord
Chelmsford's arrival at Durban--His reception--Review of
Lancers and King's Dragoon Guards at Cato Manor--Plan of new
campaign--Composition of No. 1 column--Composition of No. 2
column--Cask bridge over Amatikula--Forts Crealock and
Chelmsford--Wood's reconnaissance to Blood River--Description
of Blood River and its scenery--Appearance of Buller's Light
Horse--Removal of Wood's Kambula camp--Grandier's capture and
escape--His tale--Description of Dabulamanzi and
Cetywayo--Death of Dabulamanzi. 184
CHAPTER VII.
Lord Chelmsford with Wood at Kambula--Patrol by Buller--Capture
of cattle--Scene from Kambula Kop--Zulu attack on
patrol--Removal of Wood's camp to Mayegwhana--Wood's
force--Scarcity of drivers and voorlopers--Newdigate at
Conference Hill--Fort and depôt at Conference Hill--Work of
No. 1 column--Exciting incident with a convoy--Distribution
of troops--Forts on the Tugela, Inyezani, and at
Ginghilovo--System of guards and precautions against
surprises--All ready for the advance--Recapitulation of
military situation--Newdigate's forts at Landsman's
Drift--Arrangements for garrisons in rear of advance--The
Lower Tugela command--Patrol by Wood and Buller in direction
of Isandhlwana--Second patrol by Buller--Zulu attack--The
Prince Imperial on patrol--Reconnaissance in force to
Isandhlwana and burial of the dead. 221
CHAPTER VIII.
Advance of the 2nd column--Landsman's Drift to Kopje
Allein--Description of camp--Plan of campaign--Discovery of
Port Durnford--It becomes the base of 1st division--Troops
composing 1st column--Crealock's journey to Durnford. 256
CHAPTER IX.
Death of the Prince Imperial--Lieutenant Carey's
account--Discrepancies in and comments thereon--Feeling in
the camp--Expedition under General Marshall to search for the
body--Description of the spot--Recovery of the
body--Court-martial on Carey. 268
CHAPTER X.
March of the 2nd column--Kopje Allein--Climate of the
locality--Sickness among the troops--Evil effects of
Cardwell's system--Embassy from Zulu chiefs--Cavalry
skirmish--Death of Adjutant Frith--Difficulties of
transport--Reinforcement of Wood--Appointment of Sir Garnet
Wolseley--Opinion of the troops thereon--Alleged
inhumanities--The helioscope. 295
CHAPTER XI.
Advance of 1st column--Description of route--Forts Crealock and
Chelmsford--Causes of delay--Sickness of troops and its
origin--Capture of cattle--Proposals for peace by
Umsintwanga--His interview with Crealock--Surrender of
Umguelumgwizi--Advance of 2nd division--Details of troops
composing it--A fortified kraal--Fort built by Wood on the
Umlatoosi--Patrol by Buller--Burning of five kraals in the
Usipexi district--Amhlabatini--Depôt there described--Envoys
from Cetywayo--Advance to White Umvolosi--Wood's camp--Lord
Chelmsford's ultimatum to Cetywayo. 311
CHAPTER XII.
Raid across the Umvolosi by Buller--Gallant rescue of a
sergeant by Lord William Beresford--Buller's losses--Umvolosi
crossed by the main body--Formation of troops into
square--Total numbers--Firing of kraals--Advance of Zulus
from Ulundi--The Zulu attack--Repulse of Zulus--Pursuit by
Cavalry--Death of Wyatt-Edgell--Losses of both
sides--Withdrawal of English army--Effects of the battle of
Ulundi--Surrender of 700 Zulus to Crealock--Cause of retreat
after Ulundi--Resignation of Lord Chelmsford--His farewell
parade--Epitome of work done by 1st column, and why it was
not present at Ulundi--Ondini burnt by Barrow. 337
CHAPTER XIII.
Arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley--Reception at Durban--Changes
made by Wolseley--His plans for the future--Attempt to land
at Port Durnford and its failure--Sir Garnet at St.
Paul's--Grand council of Zulu chiefs--Resignation of General
Crealock--His farewell to his troops at Camp Umlalasi--Fêtes
in honour of Lord Chelmsford--Wolseley at
Pietermaritzburg--Disturbances in Pondoland and
Transvaal--Wolseley at Rorke's Drift--McLeod and the
Swazis--Their appearance and habits--Wolseley at
Intanjaneni--Surrender of guns by Mbelebele--Adhesion of
various chiefs. 359
CHAPTER XIV.
Plans for the capture of Cetywayo--The Jantjis--Vijn's
appearance at Victoria--His narrative--Its
consequences--Despatch of Major Barrow and Lord Gifford in
pursuit of the king--Their march--Description of country
traversed--Gifford and Maurice sent on by Barrow--Marches and
countermarches--Physical characteristics of country; its
flora and fauna--Visit to kraal of friendly Zulus--Capture of
two of the king's attendants--Women of the king's household
captured--Captain and twenty Basutos join Lord
Gifford--Gifford's stratagem to obtain information of the
king's hiding-place--Cetywayo's refuge discovered--Forced
night-march--Message to Major Marter--His arrival on the
scene--Capture of the king. 379
* * * * *
NOTES 406
THE STORY OF THE ZULU CAMPAIGN
CHAPTER I.
Origin of Zulus--Their tribes--Senzagacone--Chaka--His
wars--Innovations--Administration--Standing army--Death--Position of
Zulus amongst kindred tribes--First contact with whites--The
Boers--The English--Panda--His reign and death--Accession of
Cetywayo--His promises to the English--Breaches of faith--The
boundary question--Its origin and nature--The case of Sirayo--Its
history--The Middle Drift affair--Other causes of war--The Ultimatum
sent--Official declaration of war--State of the British
forces--Cetywayo's army and its organization--Their tactics.
The Emashlabatini country was originally occupied by a small tribe
called the Abanguni; of its more ancient kings little is known beyond
that they seem to have been of peaceful habits, making no wars, but
breeding cattle; also that the name of one was Zulu. In their own
country the appellation of Abanguni in course of time died out, though
still used by their neighbours, and for it was substituted Abakwa-Zulu
(sons of Zulu), Zulu and Undabezita. The tribe was composed of several
families or clans, each having its own chieftain. In the time of
Cetywayo's reign the names of these clans and their respective chiefs
were as follows:--The Uhutilezi, a family having two branches; Umnyama,
Cetywayo's prime minister, was chief of one, and Umtyubane of the other;
the Ubixela and Umgazi, who were divisions of one family, the former
owning Umvumhlana as chief, the latter Sigodi--subsequently slain at
Isandhlwana--whose predecessor was Panda's prime minister Masipula, and
his successor Mapoko; the Umtombelo and Umblalosi, also two branches of
one family, whose respective chiefs were Mabanda and Segetwayo; the
Uquabe, whose chief was named Rouhlo; the Uzimgu, whose chieftain
rejoiced in the appellation of Unfanawenklela; the Fakazi, whose chief
was Umkasana; the Umtanzi, with a chieftain Umbono by name; and the
Igazi, whose head was Umkanyile; the Amagungebe, their chief was the
notorious Sirayo; the Ukanyile, whose chief was Upagatwayo; the Ulanga,
their chief Umhlaka; the Umpingose, whose chief was Ganse; and the
Umhloben, a scattered family having no head.
The word Zulu, or Undabezita, was invariably employed in addressing any
member of these families, whatever his rank or station might happen to
be.
The first king of whom any particulars are known was Senzagacone, son of
Ufaina. When this king began to reign he had no legitimate offspring: he
had, however, a natural son by Unamdi, daughter of Umkeki, chief of the
Langmene tribe, named Chaka (the bastard). He afterwards married this
Unamdi, by whom he had a daughter Nuncoba, but no sons. She being his
favourite wife, the king, according to the custom of the country, "gave
her for a son," his natural son Chaka, thus legitimating him. When Chaka
was fifteen, his father, thinking he might become troublesome, sent to
kill him; but Chaka, being warned, fled to Dingiswayo, chief of the
Umtwetwa, where he remained until the king's death, though on the
occasion of his legitimation an invitation was given him to return to
the paternal kraal.
Meanwhile Chaka had become an Induna of great influence and popularity
in the land of his refuge; so when on the death of Senzagacone the Zulu
tribe sent to him requesting him to be their king, and he consented, all
the tribes through which he passed on his way to the Zulus accompanied
him; and the whole of the Zulu clans assembled to meet him, and he was
made king with great rejoicings. In the interim between Senzagacone's
death and Chaka's accession, Umkaibye (paternal aunt of Chaka) ruled the
Zulus and arranged for Chaka's return. It was now that the jealousy long
smouldering between the Umdwandwe and the Umtwetwa, the two most
powerful tribes in that part of Africa, broke into an open quarrel.
Uzwidi, chief of the former, attacked and utterly routed the latter,
killing their chief, Dingiswayo, Chaka's friend and protector. The
worsted tribe naturally applied to Chaka for help. Thereupon Uzwidi
immediately marched to attack the Zulus, and a great battle ensued on
the south of the White Umvolosi. The result was that the left wing of
either army was victorious; but both lost so heavily that they retired
to their respective countries.
On his retreat, Chaka was attacked by the Langmeni, but failing in their
assault, this tribe then deserted their own country and joined the
Umdwandwe. Having defeated another coast tribe which assailed him, Chaka
occupied both these countries, leaving the Emashlabatini district waste
and uninhabited.
Uzwidi had now gathered a fresh army, which Chaka, by a night march,
surprised and defeated between Kwagmagwasa and the Umhlatuzi river. He
then retreated, but was rapidly followed up by Uzwidi, who had soon
regathered his forces, and who succeeded in capturing much Zulu cattle
and slaying a number of men, women, and children, surprised in their
kraals by the swiftness of his advance. He then again retreated. Uzwidi
now made a great and final effort to crush his adversary. All the tribes
around were pressed into his service, and the result was that he soon
had an army--collected from ten tribes--far superior in point of numbers
to the Zulu force, which represented only two tribes. Chaka therefore
retreated before Uzwidi's advance, and eventually occupied a strong
position on the Inkankla range. Here he awaited his opponent's onset. In
place of the old missile weapon, Chaka had armed his men with a shorter
and stronger assegai, intended for use at close quarters; he therefore
gave them strict orders not to throw their assegais but to charge the
foe and fight them hand to hand. He also skilfully placed his force
amidst broken ground, so that it was impossible for the enemy to attack
in a compact and organized body. The battle, as usual, began in the
early morn and continued till after midday. The Zulus, carrying out
their leader's instructions, waited till the assault was delivered, and
then charged so vigorously on the foe that they swept everything before
them. Chaka following up this defeat utterly dissipated the Umdwandwe
army. Uzwidi fled beyond his own country, which Chaka annexed, and thus
became the chief potentate in that part of Africa, levying tribute from
all the tribes around him. Chaka now waged several wars. First he
attacked and despoiled the Mangwani, a tribe on the Drakenberg; then he
fell upon and extirpated the clan of Zulukanafu, a chief residing to the
north of that range. Soon after he sent an army against the Pondos,
which captured a considerable amount of cattle and then retreated.
Again, in the following year, there was a similar expedition, and the
Pondos sued for peace, which was granted. By this time Chaka claimed to
rule over the entire country, from the sea to the Pondola, to the
Drakenberg, and to the land of the Pondos. His next object was to
consolidate his power. Accordingly, the petty kings under his rule were
no longer recognized as such, but became tributary chieftains; if any
one of these was remiss in payment of his tribute, an "impi" was sent
"to eat him" up. From time to time Chaka would also call up these chiefs
to his royal kraal, where he would receive them with marks of
distinction, and ask their advice on state matters. Another important
step to weaken the power of the chiefs, and at the same time to augment
his own, was the establishment of a standing army. Military service was
made compulsory on all males, each being told off to a certain regiment
according to his age. Thus a man ceased to serve under the chief of his
own clan, but belonged to a king's regiment, which was composed of men
of all tribes. Similar divisions were also made amongst the females,
who had to marry into regiments at the king's commands, though on a
marriage cattle was still handed over to the bride's father or brother.
Furthermore, regiments were not allowed wives till they were entitled to
wear "head-rings," and this did not occur till men had reached forty
years of age. Chaka's next war was against the Swazis, whom he defeated
and made to pay tribute.
In the following year an immense expedition was despatched against the
Sotshangana, a people dwelling across the Somba Mountains, beyond
Delagoa Bay.
So large was this army that Zululand was almost denuded of warriors, an
event which was taken advantage of by Dingaan and five more of the
king's brothers, to treacherously fall upon Chaka, whom they slew,
together with his chief councillor, Umxamana.
The benefits conferred on his people by Chaka can hardly be
over-estimated; he had raised them from a small tribe to a nation, and
that nation a dominant one. As the Quirites were amongst the component
tribes of the earlier Roman kingdom, so were the Zulus or Undabezita
amongst the various tribes subject to the central Zulu authority, and
curiously enough this resemblance extends still further; the Quirites
were subdivided into gentes, or families, each with a distinctive name,
and in a precisely similar manner, as has been before stated, the
Undabezita were divided into sub-tribes or clans, each with its own
gentile or family name. Nor were his people ungrateful to the memory of
their first great king, for after the time of Chaka, the bastard, that
name was never employed in its original signification, but to the
present day a substitute, "Umlandhwana," is always used by a Zulu to
express that idea.
That Chaka was not averse to civilization and white men was evinced by
his treatment of Fynn and five others who were rescued from a shipwreck
in St. Lucia Bay. He even went so far as to accompany Fynn the whole way
to Durban, to see him embark on a ship sent round from Cape Town for
him, and to send at considerable expenditure in the shape of cattle two
envoys to England, which he contemplated visiting himself, if their
report should prove favourable. But this latter project failed in
consequence of the king's murder, and the messengers got no further than
Cape Town.
A year or two after his departure Fynn returned, and with Chaka's
sanction established a trading-station at Durban (1824). Once Fynn and
some white men, being called upon for aid, assisted Chaka to punish a
refractory tribe. When Chaka's army for the second time invaded the
Pondos, it was through Fynn's representations that they would come into
collision with the white men that the army proceeded no further.
On the army returning from the Sotshangana expedition, Panda, a brother
of Chaka, was requested to assume the chief authority, but he declined,
so Dingaan became king. Dingaan commenced his reign by killing all his
brothers, except Panda, and all the late king's most trusted ministers.
This caused great uneasiness amongst the chiefs, one of whom named
Umquetu wishing therefore to withdraw from Dingaan's rule, departed with
all his clan and cattle to the south. Coming into collision with the
Pondos they were extirpated; hereupon Dingaan despatched an army to
recover the cattle, which he regarded as his, from the Pondos. About the
same time another chief, Umzilikazi, also revolted, and withdrew himself
to the spot where Pretoria now stands. An expedition was in a similar
manner despatched against him, and after capturing nearly all his
cattle, returned therewith to the king.
Meanwhile the Boers had appeared on the scene at Natal, and they now
claimed from Dingaan a considerable quantity of the cattle captured from
Umzilikazi, alleging it had been originally stolen from them. To this
Dingaan replied by bidding them recover some cattle that a petty chief
had taken from him. Having done this and imprisoned the captured chief
at Maritzburg, the Boers again applied for their own cattle, and a party
under the command of one Peter Retief was sent to Dingaan. There now
ensued a game of "diamond cut diamond," the Boers trying to outwit the
king and capture him in his kraal, and Dingaan acting in much the same
way to the Boers. The exact course of events is unknown, but for certain
in the result Retief and his party were surprised and slain (Feb. 5th,
1838). Dingaan then invaded Natal, slaughtered many of the Boers, and
captured much cattle. His forces penetrated as far as Ladismith, whence,
after a heavy repulse in an attack on the Dutch laager, they retired
home. Encounters from time to time continued to occur between the Zulus
and the Boers with varying success to either side, till at length a
peace was patched up. Panda showed himself so active in this war as to
excite Dingaan's jealousy, in consequence of which he, with all his
people went over and joined the Boers. Soon after this (Jan. 1840) the
Boers, in conjunction with Panda, invaded Zululand. The great fight
occurred at Magongo, on the Umkusi river. Dingaan was utterly defeated,
and retiring with a few attendants beyond the Bomba range, was killed by
the Swazis. Panda now became king, and peace was made between the Zulus
and Boers, the former ceding to the latter the Natal territory as far as
the Tugela.
It was about this time that there occurred a struggle at Natal between
the English and Dutch, in which the latter, being worsted, retired to
the Utrecht district, where they received permission from Panda to
dwell; Utrecht, it is said, being assigned as their outside limit.
Panda waged no more external wars, but lived peaceably in his kraal,
breeding cattle. Most conspicuous amongst the sons of Panda were
Cetywayo and Umbulazi; these two, having quarrelled, waged a sort of
civil war one against the other, and in the result Umbulazi was defeated
and killed. Amongst the army of Umbulazi were John Dunn and about thirty
other white men armed with rifles. Cetywayo then quarrelled with another
brother, and the same state of disorder continued till Panda's death,
which occurred in October, 1872.
Cetywayo being thereupon accepted as king by the Zulu nation, applied to
the English Government to recognize him. Accordingly, Sir
Theophilus--then Mr.--Shepstone was sent as envoy, and publicly crowned
Cetywayo at the Umlambongmenya kraal, on which occasion he spoke thus to
the assembled Zulus: "Here is your king. You have recognized him as
such, and I now do also, in the name of the Queen of England. Your kings
have often met violent deaths at the hands of their people, but if you
kill this one, we shall surely require his blood of you." He then went
on to say, "that as the English had recognized him as king, they would
expect him to give all men a fair trial before condemnation. Even a
witch should be let off, and merely sent away to another district." To
this the Zulus returned that they would kill any man who went with the
king's women, any man who ran away with another's wife, any thief of
cattle, royal or otherwise; that a witch should not be put to death on a
first accusation, but should any persist in witchcraft, he should be
killed. And to this Shepstone signified his assent. The chiefs then rose
in a body and said, "We will so govern the country under our King
Cetywayo, and we look to England to support him as the king of the Zulu
nation." Shepstone replied that he hoped the Zulus would live peaceably
under the new king, whom England would expect to adhere to the terms to
which he had just assented.
But these promises were broken on more than one occasion. Cetywayo
having called up his army, and finding them tardy in response, and many
absentees on the plea of illness, forthwith sent a regiment to slay all
those thus absent, saying, "Sick men are no good; I will save the
doctors the trouble of attending them." Again, one of the divisions of
females being ordered to marry a certain regiment, objected that they
were too few. Another regiment was named, and further objections raised.
Then an impi was sent to punish these women, and a great number were
killed. Great abuses in the practice of "smelling out" by witch-doctors
also prevailed, though in this respect Cetywayo appears slightly better
than his predecessors.
It is now time to turn attention to what is called the Boundary
Question.
It has been previously stated that in Panda's time the Boers had settled
in the Utrecht district. From time to time cattle undoubtedly was passed
between the Boers and the Zulu king. The former assert that it was the
price for the absolute ownership of the land they occupied, whilst on
behalf of Cetywayo it is urged that it was merely a tribute from the
Boers, whose outside limit had been fixed at Utrecht. Be this as it may,
there kept occurring at frequent intervals outrages, robberies, and
reprisals on either side, Sirayo, whose kraal was nearest the border,
being the most prominent actor in these scenes.
Umbelini also now appeared, to further complicate matters. Originally a
Swazi, he had fled from his native land, and settled in Zululand,
together with his uncle Umbeliani and his people. This uncle joined the
Boers, taking his cattle with him. Land was assigned to Umbeliani by the
Boers close to where Umbelini was dwelling. No sooner, therefore, had
the former built himself a kraal than the latter attacked and destroyed
it. Thus ensued a contest between the Boers and Umbelini. The Boers
drove Umbelini from his stronghold, but failed to capture him. He,
retreating, erected a new kraal on the Dumbe range, north of the
Zlobani, whence he continued to make raids into Swaziland and the
Transvaal, which had now become British soil.
At Cetywayo's coronation this vexed question of the boundary had been
referred to Mr. Shepstone, and he, in accordance with a promise then
given, subsequently met the Zulu envoys at Conference Hill to hear their
claims in this matter. They then claimed the Buffalo river as their
original and proper boundary. In reply, Mr. Shepstone said that he
considered this was asking too much; but that a fair line would be the
Blood river and the old hunting road running close by the Kambula Kop to
the Pongola or Zulu side of Luneberg. He would, however, examine the
question more closely before coming to a final decision, which, when
arrived at, would be communicated to them.
During all this time the Zulu army had been growing more and more
restless, and the younger men especially were clamorous for an
opportunity of "washing" their spears. For this sole purpose they
contemplated a raid on the Swazis, then in alliance with England. But on
Cetywayo's applying to the British Government for its sanction to this
project, it naturally declined to allow its allies to be thus wantonly
attacked.
There also existed amongst the Zulu an intense antipathy to the Boers;
and Cetywayo, after his capture, himself admitted that had the Transvaal
not been annexed, it was a mere question of time how soon a war broke
out between his people and the Dutch settlers; nor can this afford much
ground for wonder, when the characteristics of a Boer are had well in
mind. The typical Boer is doubtless a pattern of hospitality, simplicity
of heart, fondness for his home and family, and of those general
domestic attributes which are so dear to an Englishman. But in his
relations and contact with the native races and real owners of the soil,
the Dutch Boer seems to lose all sense of reason and justice, and to
remember only those early and blood-stained annals of pioneering, when
the white man and the black neither gave nor asked for quarter in their
struggle for supremacy in the land. Indeed his intolerance of a native
is so intense that he cannot be induced to look upon him as a human
being, but he regards the unfortunate aboriginal as a wild beast to be
hunted and shot down. But the Boer has his fairer side, although his
type has as yet been unchangeable. As he existed when he ruled in Cape
Colony in 1808, so he now exists in the present day in his settlements
in the interior. He is uneducated, uncultivated, unprogressive, and
obstinate; but he developes qualities under adverse circumstances which
must command English respect. He is certainly domestic as far as his own
family circle is concerned, but, at the same time, the reverse of
gregarious in regard to the world in general. When he first commences to
farm and settle he likes to possess not less than 6000 and not more than
20,000 acres of good undulating "veldt." When he has obtained this, he
starts in his waggon with his wife, his children, his scanty supply of
goods and chattels, his cattle and sheep, and his only literature, the
family Bible. He selects a good spring of water, being careful that no
neighbour is located within at least ten miles. He builds his house with
one large central hall, with the kitchen in rear, and four or five
bedrooms opening out of the hall, all on the ground floor, and sometimes
with a wide verandah outside. Kraals for his cattle, fences to his
garden, and enclosures of 50 or 100 acres, are quickly run up; and so
fertile is the soil and so favourable the climate, that in four or five
years his garden will be full of oranges, lemons, citrons, peaches,
apricots, figs, apples, pears, and vines. His herds and flocks multiply,
his wheat and Indian corn thrive, and thus he lives in a rude but
grateful abundance. His sons arrive at manhood and marry; his daughters
are sought as wives, and if the land is good and plenty they remain and
farm near, and for each generation and new family a new house is built a
few hundred yards from the original. More acres with each generation are
brought under the plough, and the man who is a good farmer, good father,
and good husband cannot be brought to see that he must not covet his
neighbour's land when that neighbour happens to be a black man! Without
sentiment, without tenderness, and without a particle of enthusiasm, and
with the most circumscribed intellectual horizon, he has a stubborn
practicability which is admirably suited for the work of a pioneer, but
which never developes into a power of civilization amongst savage
tribes.
As has been shown in the preceding narrative the relations between the
Zulu king and the English Government had been growing more and more
tense. Two conspicuous outrages in the early part of 1878 at length
brought matters to a climax. These two events were the Sirayo affair,
and the Middle Drift difficulty. To understand the Sirayo business it is
necessary to enter somewhat into detail. Sirayo and his tribe had a
quarrel with one of the royal tribes--the Ischeni. This, like many
another tribal dispute common enough in Zululand, never grew to an
"assegai" matter, but encounters frequently occurred, in which sticks
only were used, and the object of the rival factions was to drive off
the opponent's cattle. The result of this, and a "law-suit" between the
parties, settled by the king, was that Sirayo lost all his cattle.
Shortly after this, one of Sirayo's wives, who had already been put
aside on account of having a son whose legitimacy was suspected, being
again in the family-way, fled with her paramour into Natal. Another
wife, in a similar condition, also accompanied her. Nothing was done at
the time, but Sirayo's sons subsequently learning that these women were
in kraals close to the border, having collected an armed band, crossed
the river Buffalo in broad daylight, seized one of the women, recrossed
the stream, and then killed her. The Natal Kaffirs armed and threatened
a rescue, but made no attack on Sirayo's party, who, on the same night,
made another incursion, and the second woman suffered the same fate as
the first.
Thereupon the English demanded the surrender of Sirayo's sons. Cetywayo
sent to Sirayo advising him to hand over cattle instead of his sons.
Sirayo replied that in consequence of the Ischeni dispute he had no
cattle; that he was aware that his sons had transgressed; and that he
was sorry. Again the English insisted on the surrender of the two young
men. To this Cetywayo replied that they were very young, and therefore
their conduct should be excused, and mercy shown to them. He added, that
beyond all doubt they had done wrong; that the English had good cause
for anger, and that he himself was displeased with Sirayo for not
sending either his sons or cattle.
The Middle Drift affair occurred thus:--At the very beginning of 1878
the English were constructing a road from Kranz Kop to the middle drift
of the Tugela. The men at work on this were interrupted, and driven away
from their task by the Zulus living in the district, and Smith, the road
engineer, who had landed on the island at this drift, was seized,
stripped of all his clothing, and much maltreated by the same people.
Reparation was demanded by the Government for this outrage. Furthermore,
from June, 1877, it was evident that Cetywayo was instigating Secocoeni
to hostilities; and even allowing that part of this chief's claim for
compensation was just, it was necessary that the former chief should be
made to understand that while arbitration was going on the law could not
be broken by either side. With great tact, Sir T. Shepstone kept the
peace until the Galeka and Gaika war was over, when Lord Chelmsford and
his forces were freed, and it became possible to support words by
action. Such were the events which led to the sending of an ultimatum by
Sir Bartle Frere.
In the beginning of December, 1878, therefore, Messrs. John Shepstone,
Brownlie, Walker, Fynn, and Fyney were selected to be the messengers to
Cetywayo, to whom they were to communicate a message, of which the
following was the purport:--The boundary-line was to be drawn from the
junction of the Buffalo and Blood rivers to the Magedala Mountains, and
thence on to the district of Roundhill and the source of the Pongolo.
All the farmers on the frontier and disputed territory who could produce
any tangible evidence of damage or loss due to Zulu menace or warlike
demonstration were to receive a moderate but fixed compensation. A fine
of 500 head of cattle and the surrender of the guilty members of the
tribe was imposed upon Usirayo's (Sirayo) people, and twenty days only
allowed for the payment of the penalty; 100 head of cattle to be paid
for the outrage upon Lieut. Smith; Umbelini, who had given so much
trouble, to be handed over to and dealt with by the Transvaal
Government; the whole of King Cetywayo's large army at once to be
disbanded; freedom of marriage to be allowed when the parties thereto
were of age; justice to be impartially administered; missionaries to be
allowed to return to the Zulu country; British Residents to be
appointed; all disputes between Europeans to be referred to the king and
the resident; and, finally, no expulsion from Zulu territory to be
carried into effect without the distinct approval of the resident.
It was further intimated to the king that unless he showed his
compliance with these terms, on or before December 31st, then on January
1st, 1879, the British army would commence the invasion of his land, and
would enforce them at the point of the bayonet. The advance, it has been
said, originally was to have been made on the 1st; but his Excellency
the High Commissioner, allowing for the possibility of letters being
delayed by the swollen state of the river, the Tugela being then in
flood, extended his term of grace to the 11th. A _Gazette_ extraordinary
was published on January 6th, containing a declaration from Sir Bartle
Frere, demanding from Cetywayo unqualified submission, stating that the
general would after the 11th instant demand redress, and that the Zulu
people were to be protected. The following was its form:--
"NOTIFICATION BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER
"In July last two armed bodies of Zulus, retainers of the Chief
Usirago, led by his sons and brothers, entered Natal and took away
by force refugee women, who were claiming protection from the
resident magistrate of Umsinga. These women were dragged across the
border, and, it is believed, murdered. These acts of outrage were
promptly brought to Cetywayo's notice by his Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, but no explanation or redress could be
obtained from Cetywayo. Twenty-one days were allowed to the Zulu
king to surrender the three sons and brother of the Chief Usirago
for trial, and as this term expired on 31st December, 1878, the High
Commissioner entertains no hope that it is the intention of the Zulu
king to afford the redress which her Majesty's Government has a
right to demand.
"Therefore I hereby make known, for the information of Cetywayo and
all the Zulu people, that I have placed the further prosecution of
this and all other demands for redress and reparation in the hands
of his Excellency the Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford, commanding
her Majesty's Forces in South Africa, with the request that he will
take such steps as he may find necessary to protect the British
territory from further aggression, and to compel the Zulu king to
comply with all the demands made on him for satisfaction due to the
British Government, or for the greater security of the British
territory, or for the better and more peaceable government of the
Zulu people. Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford will carefully
notify to all Zulu chiefs and people who may come within his reach
that the commands of the British Government are made on Cetywayo, as
much in the interests of the Zulu people as of the English nation,
and that till the 11th January the Lieut.-General will be willing to
receive and to transmit to me any intimation of the unqualified
acceptance by Cetywayo of all the terms offered to him. If such
intimation of unqualified and complete acceptance be received by the
Lieut.-General before the 11th January no further hostile movement
will be made, unless rendered necessary by the action of the Zulu
forces, and up to the above date Lord Chelmsford will be ready to
consider any steps which the Zulu king may propose for the purpose
of giving real and permanent effect to the demands of the British
Government. But unless all these terms be fully complied with by the
above date, the Lieut.-General will no longer be bound by the terms
of the 11th December, but will take such measures as the forces
under his command will permit for compelling the submission of the
Zulu king; always bearing in mind that the British Government has no
quarrel with the Zulu nation, and that the future good government
and well-being of the Zulus is as much an object of the steps now
taken as the safety and protection of the British territories of
Natal and the Transvaal. And I do hereby warn all residents and
inhabitants of her Majesty's possessions and colonies in South
Africa, of whatever race, to be guided by this, my notification,
and I do strongly charge and command all her Majesty's officers,
ministers, and subjects, and all others whom it may concern, to
govern themselves and to act accordingly, and to take due notice of
and to pay due regard to the tenor thereof.
"H. B. E. FRERE,
High Commissioner.
"Pietermaritzburg, Natal, Jan. 4, 1879."
During the whole of December Lord Chelmsford had been indefatigable in
collecting and organizing the military forces at his command. The result
was that at this date (Jan. 11th) the return in the order-book was as
follows:--
GENERAL STATE OF THE FIELD FORCES.
NO. 1 COLUMN (Headquarters, Thring's Post, Lower Tugela).
Commandant--Colonel C. K. Pearson, the Buffs.
Naval Brigade--170 bluejackets and marines of H.M.S. "Active" (with
one Gatling and two 7-pounder guns), under Captain Campbell, R.N.
Royal Artillery--Two 7-pounder guns and rocket battery, under Lieut.
W. N. Lloyd, R.A.
Infantry--2nd battalion 3rd Buffs, under Lieut.-Col. H. Parnell.
Mounted Infantry--100 men under Captain Barrow, 19th Hussars.
Volunteers--Durban Rifles, Natal Hussars, Stanger Rifles, Victoria
Rifles, Alexandra Rifles. Average, forty men per corps, all
mounted.
Native Contingent--1000 men, under Major Graves, the Buffs.
NO. 2 COLUMN (Headquarters, Helpmakaar, near Rorke's Drift).
Commandant--Colonel Glyn, 1st battalion 24th Regiment.
Royal Artillery--N battery 5th brigade Royal Artillery (with
7-pounder guns), under Major A. Harness, R.A.
Infantry--Seven companies 1st battalion 24th Regiment and 2nd
battalion 24th Regiment, under Lieut.-Col. Degacher.
Natal Mounted Police--Commanded by Major Dartnell.
Volunteers--Natal Carabineers, Buffalo Border Guard, Newcastle
Mounted Rifles. All mounted; average forty men.
Native Contingent--1000 men, under Commandant Lonsdale, late 74th
Highlanders.
NO. 3 COLUMN (Headquarters, Utrecht).
Commandant--Colonel Evelyn Wood, V.C., C.B., 90th Regiment.
Royal Artillery--11th battery 7th brigade R.A. (with four 7-pounder
guns) under Major E. Tremlett, R.A.
Infantry--1st battalion 13th Regiment and 90th Regiment.
Mounted Infantry--100 men, under Major J. C. Russell, 12th Lancers.
Frontier Light Horse--200 strong, under Major Redvers Buller, C.B.,
60th Rifles.
Volunteers--The Kaffrarian Vanguard, Commandant Schermbrucker, 100
strong.
Native Contingent--The Swazis, our native allies, some 5000 strong.
An idea of the numbers and nature of Cetywayo's force may be gathered
from the report of the Government Intelligence Department made at this
time.
"The Zulu army, as at present constituted, is drawn from the entire male
population, as every male between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five is
called upon to serve, without any exemption. The military force consists
of fourteen corps or regiments, divided into wings right and left, and
the latter into companies. The companies, however, are not of equal
strength, but vary immensely, even from ten to 200, according to the
numerical strength of the corps to which they belong. In fact, the
companies and regiments would more correctly be termed families or
clans, and each corps possesses its own military headquarters, or
kraal, with the following hierarchy, namely, one commanding officer,
chief, or Iduna-Yesibaya; one second in command, major, or
Iduna-Yohlangoti, who has charge of the left wing; two wing officers,
and company officers according to the need of the battalion. As a rule,
all these officers are in command of men of the same ages as themselves,
and the method of recruiting is as follows:--At stated and periodical
intervals, generally from two to five years, a general levy takes place,
when all the youths who happen at that time to have attained the age of
fifteen are formed into a regiment and undergo a year's probation,
during which time they are supposed to pass from boyhood to manhood. As
the regiment becomes disciplined and seasoned it receives large drafts
from other corps, so that as the elders die out young men come in to
fill up the ranks. The entire Zulu army consists of thirty-three
regiments, married and unmarried. No one in Zululand, male or female, is
allowed to marry without the king's permission, and this permission is
never granted until the men are about forty years of age. They then have
to shave the crown of the head, and to put a ring round it, and carry a
white shield, in contradistinction to the unmarried regiments, who do
not shave their heads and carry coloured shields. Many of these
regiments are too young for active service, others are too old,
consequently it is estimated that only about twenty-five regiments would
be able to take the field, and these would muster perhaps 40,000. Of
these 4500 are between fifty and sixty years of age; 3400 are between
forty and fifty; 10,000 between thirty and forty; and 22,000 between
twenty and thirty. We have heard a great deal about the drill of these,
but their movements, as far as we can learn, are few and very simple,
but very quickly performed in their own way. They form circles of
regiments in order to outflank the enemy. From this formation they break
into columns of regiments or companies, and from these into skirmishing
order, with supports and reserves. The sole commissariat of the Zulu
army consists of three or four days' grain, carried by the lads who
follow each corps, and, if necessary, a herd of cattle driven with each
column."