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.
Two special orders were issued by Lord Chelmsford's command in regard to
this most melancholy affair. The first, dated Pietermaritzburg, June 5,
was signed by General Clifford:--"The Inspector-General of Lines of
Communication and Base has received from his Excellency the
Lieut.-General Commanding official confirmation of the calamity which
has befallen the forces under his command, by the death, on duty in the
field, of the late gallant young soldier, the Prince Imperial Louis
Napoleon, who, having, in his military training, been lately associated
with the British Army, came out to this country to take part in the Zulu
campaign. The General feels that he is carrying out the wishes of his
Excellency the Lieut.-General Commanding now in Zululand, by thus
recording the feelings of deep sorrow and sympathy, experienced by every
officer and man whose duty keeps him at his post in the colony with the
loss thus sustained."
The second order was issued by Major Butler to the troops at Durban,
and expressed the feeling and sympathy of all the columns:--"In
following the coffin which holds the body of the late Prince Imperial of
France, and paying to his ashes the final tribute of sorrow and honour,
the troops of the garrison will remember that he was the last inheritor
of a mighty name and great military renown; secondly, that he was the
son of England's firm allies in dangerous days; and, thirdly, that he
was the sole child of a widowed Empress, now left throneless and
childless in exile upon English shores, deepening the profound sorrow
and solemn reverence to those memories. The troops will also remember
that the Prince Imperial of France fell fighting as a British soldier."
On the 28th of May the second column or division quitted the camp at
Landsman's Drift, and proceeded to Kopje Allein, which is near the Blood
river, being about a mile to the north-east of it, at a point as near as
possible to the junction of that stream with the Buffalo. The position
of the camp there was all that could be desired, and the character of
the country was much more favourable than most of the previously
selected camps, inasmuch as no enemy could approach without being seen
for several miles. At Kopje Allein there was a further concentration,
and several reinforcements were received, the consequence being that the
whole force amounted to 2500 British infantry, 1100 British cavalry, 300
Artillery, 100 Engineers, 66 Colonial Horse, 1300 Native Infantry, and
in all, with Military Train and Hospital Staff, making 5700 men. It was
found impossible, for sanitary reasons, to form one undivided column,
and much as General Newdigate objected to straggling, the exigencies of
war compelled him to send his forces off in detachments. The King's
Dragoon Guards marched on Monday, the 26th, and these were followed by
Harness's Battery and a large convoy of stores on the following day,
Tuesday, the 27th. On the Wednesday the headquarter staff took the road,
accompanied by the 17th Lancers, Le Grice's Field Battery, the
field-hospital, and the 24th Regiment. They took with them fifteen days'
supplies, and to accomplish this General Newdigate wisely cut everything
down to the lowest possible limit, sixteen men being allotted to each
tent, and one tent only to six officers. Tents were really superfluous;
for the climate is simply magnificent, and no man out on a shooting
expedition would dream of carrying about with him such extra luxury as a
bell-tent. Of course the climate of this portion of Zululand being
semi-tropical, the usual precautions to be used in tropical lands must
be used here. The climate and diseases which prevail along the line,
from the Tugela, by which Crealock was advancing, are thus alluded to by
Dr. Jones, district surgeon, one of the most experienced authorities
upon the subject. He says that at a distance of fifteen miles from the
sea the fever is not more prevalent than in the interior; that the high
ground is comparatively safe in his district, and that the type of fever
is mild, the attack lasting usually from five to twenty days. It begins
about February, and is always at its worst in March, continuing more or
less till the end of May, and appearing to be more or less influenced by
the current of the north-east wind, which would, of course, carry the
miasma of the St. Lucia swamps in this direction. Dr. Dalzell, an
equally good authority as Dr. Jones, says that the high lands here are
remarkably healthy. The same holds good of the tract known as Oham's
country, situated in the valley of the Black Umvolosi river. It is
evident that the fever of this country has been greatly exaggerated, and
that it is merely intensified in localities which are within reach of
the poisonous malaria borne upon the wind. General Newdigate and General
Crealock both gave orders, that when the troops had to bivouac, they
were never on any account to pass the night either on a very low or on a
very wet situation, on account of fever, or on the hill-tops, on account
of thunderstorms. The position of the Zulu kraals should invariably be
noted, and a lesson taken from them in regard to choice of camp; while
the neighbourhood of a river that has been lately flooded should, if
possible, be always avoided. It is possible that a white man settling
here for good would sooner or later be attacked by fever, but white men
do not settle here, while a rapid march through the country appears to
injure no one. Dysentery and rheumatism troubled the troops but little,
and cases of sunstroke were rare. Sickness had prevailed certainly to a
considerable extent in some corps; but it was, as a rule, confined to
the young soldiers, unseasoned and of weak physique, who had been lately
sent out from England. The cause of our failures--and there were several
of a palpable nature--are not to be found in want of generalship, want
of organization, or want of transport. They were due undoubtedly to the
sending out of raw, sickly, unseasoned, and untutored boys, who, being
the sweepings of half the regiments in her Majesty's service, could not
possibly have any feeling of communion, or traditional sympathy, with
the corps into which, before a formidable enemy, they found themselves
pitchforked. Most of the battalions out there had to draw their
reinforcements not from its reserve battalion or depôt at home, as was
the case in former years, but from the army at large, and some
battalions arrived on the shores of Africa so drenched and diluted with
outsiders, that they had the appearance of a mongrel pack, unused to
discipline and useless in the field. That the destruction of the
regimental system by Lord Cardwell has been the original cause of
several of our reverses, surprises, and humiliations, there can be
little hesitation in saying. The men at Isandhlwana were not well
handled, it must be admitted; but it has since leaked out that many of
them would not rally round their officers, but attempted safety in
flight. Dozens of the men, sergeants and other non-commissioned
officers, have since declared they did not even know the names of their
company officers, or those of their right or left-hand man.
Another instance of the evil effects of Lord Cardwell's system may be
given. The 91st recruits in past days were the envy of all
recruiting-sergeants, and so particular was the colonel, backed up by
the surgeon of the corps, that a young fellow must have had chest,
constitution, and stamina--qualities unfortunately not now insisted
upon--before he could pass the sacred portals of the 91st barrack. Few
regiments, however, have suffered from the present system more than, or
so much as, this corps. On receiving its orders for Zululand, it could
not muster 200 men, so denuded was the regiment of rank and file by the
drafts it had previously given. The consequence was that to make up the
900 men which was supposed to be its fighting strength, volunteers and
drafts had to be obtained from half the regiments at home, and the
facings of the 91st on parade, until the master tailor had put matters a
little straight, represented almost all the colours of the rainbow,
while the men, drawn from all parts, neither knew one another nor the
officers set over them.
Rumours of negotiations for peace, and the granting of an armistice,
which were being circulated about this time, arose from the following
facts:--In the middle of May Zulu messengers, of some position, but not
of the highest rank, had presented themselves to General Crealock, with
a desire to know what terms would be granted to Cetywayo in case of his
wishing to come to terms of peace. The General, finding they had no
authority or commission from the king, sent them away, but believing
from their statements that they were sincere, and knowing at the same
time that Setewango, one of the king's most influential indunas, and
Samapo and Panato, the indunas who commanded against Pearson at Ekowe,
were in the neighbourhood of Ginghilovo, let Setewango know that he
would not object to see him. Setewango admitted that he had no
commission or authority direct from the king, but added, at the same
time, that many of the chiefs were sick of fighting, as they considered
the English too strong. General Crealock then said he had no power to
treat, but that Lord Chelmsford had, and if Cetywayo were first seen by
Setewango something might be arranged. After this Setewango went to
Ulundi, and after great difficulty he and the indunas persuaded the
king to allow them to visit Lord Chelmsford, at whose camp they arrived
early in June, having first presented themselves to General Wood. Lord
Chelmsford saw these men three times, when they were distinctly told
that before any negotiations could be entered into, as an evidence of
the King's sincerity the whole of the spoil taken at Isandhlwana,
especially the two captured 7-pounders, must be restored. With these
guns were to be sent accredited ambassadors and hostages of the highest
rank. These Zulu messengers seemed much awed and impressed with the
appearance of the camp, and particularly with Marshall's cavalry, and
they left on the 6th instant. They had not long departed when much of
their story was corroborated by Tongabena and Lampunda, two well-known
friendly Zulu spies, who had just arrived from Ulundi, where they
assured us there were few warriors, the men having declined to assemble.
Dabulamanzi, whose death has been so often reported, was still there,
and a large number of women, children, stores, and cattle. Umbelini was
really dead, having been three times severely wounded, and was hit
mortally in the back through the blade-bone as he was escaping on
horseback.
On June 5th, Marshall had a very exciting little brush with the Zulus
not far from Wood's camp on the Nondonini river. In this affair poor
young Frith, a capital soldier, a good adjutant, and a general
favourite, was unfortunately killed. He was sitting on his horse
receiving an order from Colonel Drury-Lowe, when a Martini-Henry bullet
struck him, probably to the heart, as he never spoke. The patrol was
brought about by information brought into Wood's camp by the ubiquitous
and indefatigable Buller, who had been out on the previous day and
discovered the whereabouts of a large Zulu force. The gallant 17th and
the smart King's Dragoon Guards were delighted to see themselves in
orders on the afternoon of the 4th, that they were to parade at four
a.m. under General Marshall, who was also to take with him Shepstone's
Basutos and Bettington's cavalry. It was not yet sunrise when they
arrived at Wood's camp on the Nondonini, and then found that Buller,
anxious to draw first blood, had already started in the night to scour
the country and report what he could discover of the enemy. After
partaking of some excellent coffee, a little beltong, and some well-made
and well-baked bread done in Wood's field-ovens, they were again in the
saddle, taking a course towards the south-east, till the summit of a
wild ridge overlooking a deep kloof was reached. In the plain below was
a pretty little river, and near its bank a number of Kaffir huts all
blazing, having been fired early by Buller and his men, who could be
seen slowly retiring before a number of Zulus, who were keeping up a hot
fire upon them, as well as from both sides of the valley. The order was
given to advance, and Buller soon came on to meet them, making his
report that he had been attacked by these Zulus as soon as he attempted
to fire the kraal. Frith was the only casualty, and the order was then
given by General Marshall to retire firing by alternate squadrons. As
the Zulus were posted in clefts and caves of the ridges on either side,
it was impossible to get at them, and so the troops were brought
steadily off without further loss.
Lord Chelmsford had intended having a large depôt formed on a portion of
the Ibabanango range; but owing to one of the principal staff officers
losing not only his own way, but his head, his lordship was compelled to
change the _venue_, and form the principal depôt upon the Upoko river,
not far from the spot where the Prince met his fate. This was called
Fort Newdigate, and was held by four companies of infantry, and a
detachment or two of cavalry to keep up communication with a still more
advanced depôt afterwards formed at Umsenguini, near the source of the
Upoko, where the main road from Utrecht and the Transvaal forms a
junction with that leading through Rorke's Drift and Isandhlwana.
How arduous were the duties of the cavalry in convoying large trains of
supplies from the bases to the front through the enemy's country may be
surmised, when it is borne in mind that Lord Chelmsford had to feed 7000
whites, 2000 natives, 350 English draught-horses, 850 saddle-horses,
2000 colonial horses and mules, and 10,634 oxen. From these figures also
may be formed an estimate of the work thrown upon the Commissariat.
In previous wars out in South Africa blame has been, and not unjustly,
thrown upon the Commissariat for the manner in which stores have been
wasted and frittered away while the troops have been without rations.
But in this war it would be impossible to cite any such instance of want
of management, as the troops were invariably well fed and cared for.
Want of success, therefore, could in no case be attributed to want of
supply. Great praise is due to Commissary-General Strickland for the
excellent manner in which all his plans were laid and executed. Another
instance of good work may be given. On the 4th instant Lord Chelmsford
had occasion to send a sudden order to Commissary-General Brownrigg for
the immediate furnishing and delivery of rations equal to six weeks'
supply for 9000 Europeans, 2500 natives, 1200 English horses, and 3000
cattle, and all these were sent in by the 10th.
On June 10th Sir Evelyn Wood's column received a valuable addition to
its force; viz. 450 men of the 80th Regiment, all old and seasoned
campaigners in South Africa, together with four splendid Gatling guns.
On the same day a report was made that Zulus had been seen near the
Inyezani, and on the following morning a patrol was sent out, consisting
of twenty Mounted Infantry, thirty Mounted Basutos, and fifty Light
Horse, under the command of Captain Brown, who had with him Lord William
Beresford, and Captains Cochrane, D'Arcy, and Berry. A reconnaissance
for fully twenty miles from the camp was made, and the patrol returned
about six the same evening, having made several sketches and surveys of
the country, but without seeing any Zulus.
Meanwhile grumblers and incompetent critics had kept so incessantly
bringing all sorts of reckless charges against Lord Chelmsford, of
incapacity as a soldier, that the home government thought it wise to
give way, and accordingly, to please the _vulgus profanum_, recalled Sir
Garnet Wolseley from Cyprus, and appointed him Governor of South Africa,
High Commissioner in Natal and the Transvaal, and Commander-in-chief of
her Majesty's forces in Africa, thus superseding Lord Chelmsford. This
news reached the troops actively employed against the Zulus about the
middle of June, and was received with considerable dissatisfaction by
both officers and men. It seemed to them unfair that their General
should be superseded just as a final advance was being made, and just as
he was about to reap the fruits of all his anxiety and labour. He had at
that time on the way to Ulundi a perfectly-equipped force of 9364
Imperial Infantry, 3957 Colonial Infantry, 1190 Imperial Cavalry, 1877
Colonial Cavalry, 775 Artillery, with a proportionate number of guns
(36), and 385 Royal Engineers. Generals Crealock and Newdigate had
received full instructions with regard to the concentration and movement
of this force, and all the organization had been planned and carried out
under the personal supervision of Lord Chelmsford, who had worked night
and day to get matters to a state of efficiency. It seemed, therefore,
rather hard and disheartening that the new General, who had had none of
the anxiety or the toil, should appear as the _Deus ex machina_ upon the
scene, and reap all the credit and glory of the campaign.
A great deal of rubbish was talked about the inhumanity of burning down
kraals, and accusations of shooting down women and children were not
unfrequently brought against the troops. Now most people in England do
not know that there are three distinct species of kraals. The king's or
royal kraals, the military kraals--i.e., the respective barracks or
official homes of the different corps--and, finally, the tribal and
domestic kraal, a sort of village of cabins, built together for
convenience and safety. Now, Lord Chelmsford and all his lieutenants
were too good soldiers to allow England's honour to be disgraced by
wanton cruelty or barbarous conduct even in fighting a barbarous enemy.
Military kraals, being the fortified depôts of the king's troops, their
mustering rendezvous and rallying-points, were attacked and destroyed
without compunction, as they represented the arsenals and strongholds of
the enemy. The king's royal kraals, on the other hand, were the places
where Cetywayo got together cattle, mealies, and other commissariat
supplies, wherewith to tempt or reward his warriors. These were
destroyed as a matter of course, as one would capture a convoy or
destroy a hostile magazine.
It has been stated on apparently good authority that the destruction of
a royal or military kraal was considered by the Zulus as scarcely any
loss, and that the rebuilding of such was a matter of the greatest ease.
This is a totally erroneous view, as all the kraals belonging to
Cetywayo and his great chiefs which had been destroyed were most
formidable as regards defence, and must have taken great time and
trouble to construct. All these kraals of the kings, princes, and
principal chiefs are protected with high wooden stockades, pierced here
and there with low entrances, large enough to admit only one person at a
time. The isigodhlo, or inner enclosure, where the chief huts are
situated, is guarded by zigzags of the same description of stockade work
very strongly put together. There are altogether about forty military
villages or kraals scattered through the country, of from 400 to 3000
huts each, in which for a portion of the year the troops are quartered,
averaging 2000 men in each. There are, however, other military kraals
not fortified, and used only as barracks. These consist of a dry stake
and wattle fence, generally oval in form and about five feet high.
Inside this fence are the huts of the men in single, double, or treble
rows, according to the size of the kraal, while inside the huts is
another fence similar to the one outside, and the central space is
invariably the cattle-pen. The king's kraal at Ulundi (afterwards
destroyed) was 800 yards in diameter, and had a normal garrison of 5000
men. The Umhlabatini plains, upon which it was situated, are fifteen by
twenty miles in extent, and completely shut in by hills studded with
thick bush. The White Umvolosi runs through this plain, in which were
also established the other kraals forming the headquarters of regiments.
These, too, were subsequently destroyed. Here in these kraals the
principal regiments were wont to assemble annually at the great national
military festival held in honour of the king, which is now a tradition
of the past. Some years ago, when Cetywayo was full of ambition in
regard to his military power, and anxious in every manner to consolidate
it, he had a new magazine or depôt of arms built at the junction of the
Black and White Umvolosi rivers. This magazine and kraal is called
Amanzekanze, and is surrounded by a dense bush. The Amanzekanze kraal
had, up to this time, held the reputation of being impregnable, and its
approaches, it was said, were so difficult that they could only be
forced at immense loss. The name of the kraal, Amanzekanze, translated
is "Let the enemy come now."
Coming now to the farming and domestic kraals, it may without fear of
contradiction be asserted, after minute and careful inquiries, that no
single instance can be adduced in which her Majesty's troops ever
attacked or molested such unless first attacked and fired upon.
A few words must here be said concerning the helioscope, which on more
than one occasion played a prominent part in this war.
One of the great features of the occupation of Port Durnford was the
establishment of mirror-signals from the "kop" at Port Durnford, and at
the post on the Inyezani down to the mouth of the Umlalasi. The use of
mirrors as a means of communication had been so fully demonstrated in
Afghanistan, that it seemed astonishing that army officers at Natal were
supremely ignorant of, and, indeed, indifferent to, the system. When it
is remembered that by this simple process it was found possible to flash
intelligence and words of sympathy and kindness to the half-famished
garrison at Ekowe, and that by means of this admirable invention, many
important items of intelligence were from time to time instantaneously
and surely communicated from one part of the British force to another,
which through the position of the enemy it was only possible to send by
messengers, who were compelled to take the most circuitous routes, thus
causing great delay and sometimes even failing to reach their
destination at all, the value of this simple yet grand discovery cannot
be too highly considered.
Its importance in some respects may indeed be declared to be in advance
of the electric telegraph, for that necessitates apparatus of delicate
mechanism and a friendly, or at least non-hostile territory, over which
the messages are sent. A predatory or hostile tribe may at any time
sever the line of telegraphic wire, and cut all communications between
neighbouring columns who are anxious to make their whereabouts and
intentions known; but this cannot be done to the mirror system, where
with no more apparatus than a small hand-glass telegraphy is established
which no mortal agency can interrupt. No invention, no discovery can
surpass in value this mode of silent yet eloquent communication, and
only the interruption of the sun's beams by clouds or fogs can interfere
with the transmission by signals, noiselessly, and in a manner almost
imperceptible to all save the two interlocutors, who may be distant ten,
twenty, thirty, or even forty miles.
At Gibraltar messages are by this process constantly sent across the
Straits; and in Australia, Mauritius, Singapore, and even Canada, the
invention has obtained for its discoverer the greatest reputation and
_kudos_.
Some four years ago Lieutenant Parrott, of the Volunteer Engineer Corps
of New South Wales, conducted a series of very successful operations in
mirror telegraphy, using discs, about six inches in diameter, of
polished metal covered with glass. At first the distance separating the
two mirrors was from six to ten miles, but eventually the system was
tested from the Kumagong mountain, about 2000 feet above the sea level,
to the lighthouse at the entrance to Port Jackson, 400 feet above sea
level, a direct distance of nearly forty miles. Now, when we consider
that the only apparatus required is a small hand-mirror, and that no
skill beyond the faculty of reflecting the sun's beam in the required
direction, and of flashing "dots" and "signals" by means of a simple
turn of the wrist, in the same way as the Morse telegraph is presented
by flag-signals, are necessary, we must allow the vast importance of
this discovery to the soldier and the sailor, more especially in savage
or uncivilized warfare. Of course the whole method is dependent on the
presence of sunshine, and, fortunately, Natal is seldom without this
great boon. In South Africa the sun's beams are more constant than in
almost any other clime, and they may be counted and depended upon during
the major portion of the dry season. It is not unworthy of notice that a
system of sun-signalling, not dissimilar to that established between
Port Durnford and General Crealock's column, has been known and
practised for some considerable time among the Nez Percés Indians of
North America. Mr. F. C. Browne, of Sydney, Australia, however, gives a
still more remarkable method of signalling, and states that successful
feats have also been accomplished by moonlight for distances of from
four to six miles. He considers, and doubtless he is correct, that it
would be quite possible to supplement this sun-and-moon telegraphy on
very dark nights by an analogous system of alternately obscuring and
displaying at longer or shorter intervals a powerfully reflected light.
Lately at Portsmouth some highly successful experiments in
night-signalling have been made by casting the electric and other
powerful lights upon columns of steam; a method evidently suggested by
the helioscope and use of reflecting mirrors.