Crossing the Buffalo

by Adrian Greaves

  8 Charles Norris-Newman, In Zululand with the British throughout the War of 1879 (W.H. Allen, London 1880).

  9 AZWHS Journal 6, December 1999.

  10 Keens of London supplied mustard to the troops during the Zulu War.

  11 Lord Chelmsford’s Zululand Campaign 1878–1879.

  12 The Hon Gerald French, Lord Chelmsford and the Zulu War (Unwin Brothers 1939).

  13 Lord Chelmsford’s Zululand Campaign 1878–1879.

  CHAPTER 15 The Battle of Ulundi

  1 John William Colenso, Colenso Papers, 25 July 1879; see also J. Guy, The Destruction of the Zulu Kingdom (Longman 1979).

  2 Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that Trooper Raubenheim was tortured. His body was found mutilated on 4 July where he had fallen – see Maj. Gen. W.C.F. Molyneux’s Campaigning in South Africa and Egypt (London 1896). The grass had been trampled where Zulus had gathered around the body to cut off certain body parts. There are no authenticated examples of torture employed by the Zulus during the Anglo-Zulu War.

  3 Melton Prior, Campaigns of a War Correspondent (London 1912).

  4 Ibid.

  5 Charles Norris-Newman, In Zululand with the British throughout the War of 1879 (W.H. Allen, London 1880).

  6 British Parliamentary Papers, C.2482. Chelmsford’s official dispatch.

  7 Campaigns of a War Correspondent.

  8 Parliamentary Papers C.2482.

  9 Parliamentary Papers C.2482. Drury-Lowe, official report.

  10 Account in the Cape Argus, reproduced in Frank Emery’s The Red Soldier (Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg 1977).

  11 J. Laband, The Battle of Ulundi (KwaZulu Monuments Council 1988).

  CHAPTER 16 Beginning of the End

  1 Damian O’Connor, The Life of Sir Bartle Frere (Able Publishing 2002).

  2 From the genus Caecilian (legless amphibians). Caecilians closely resemble burrowing snakes, but do not have external scales. They range in size from inches to several feet, with diameters up to an inch or two. Caecilians are carnivorous creatures, eating insects, insect larvae and worms. Some caecilians are oviparous (egg layers), some

  3 Sir Garnet Wolseley’s South African Journal, 12 July 1879.

  4 On 4 August Wolseley wrote in his journal that he would ‘like to let loose the Swazis upon these northern tribes at once but I have to think of the howling Societies at home who have sympathy with all black men’. Wolseley despised Villiers whom he described as ‘the arch adulterer’; see A. Preston, The South African Journal of Sir Garnet Wolseley (Cape Town 1973), entry 18 July 1879.

  5 W. Worsfold, Sir Bartle Frere: A Footnote to the History of the British Empire (London 1923). The ‘Further Correspondence’ relates to personal letters in the Blue Books which Frere believed, until his dying day, vindicated him.

  CHAPTER 17 Aftermath of the Zulu War

  1 Colonial Office Papers 879/16, 204, No. 151.

  2 A. Preston, The South African Journal of Sir Garnet Wolseley (Cape Town 1973).

  3 Ibid.

  4 Ibid. John Dunn, a local trader and known as a white Zulu chief, had befriended King Cetshwayo prior to the war. He became an influential adviser to King Cetshwayo who appointed him to the rank of chief and gave him title to land bordering the Tugela river. Dunn then changed sides for the duration of the war, reverting to the Zulus post-war.

  5 Ibid.

  6 British Parliamentary Papers C.2482.

  7 Colonial Office Papers 879/16, 204, No. 49.

  8 Colonial Office Papers 879/16, 204, No. 123.

  9 Colonial Office Papers 879/17, 215, No. 151.

  10 A. Greaves and I. Knight, A Review of the South African Campaign of 1879 (Debinair Publishing 2000).

  11 These cairns were carefully excavated and repaired by the official archaeological team from Glasgow University during 2000. See map at Appendix H.

  Bibliography

  Anglo Zulu War Historical Society Journals 1–16

  British Battles on Land and Sea (Cassell, 1898)

  Lord Chelmsford’s Zululand Campaign (Army Records Society), Vol. 10 (1994)

  Précis of Information (War Office, 1879)

  Parliamentary Papers 1878–1906 (C 2222–2295)

  Atkinson, C.T., The South Wales Borderers 24th Foot 1689-1937 (Cambridge, 1937)

  Bryant, A.T., The Zulu People (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 1949)

  Bulpin, T.V., Shaka’s Country (Capetown: Howard Timms, 1952)

  Castle, Ian and Knight, Ian, Fearful Hard Times (Greenhill, 1994)

  Chadwick, George, The Zulu War of 1879 (The Natal Educational Activities Association, undated).

  Clarke, Sonia, Invasion of Zululand (Brenthurst, 1979)

  Colenso, Francis, History of the Zulu War and its Origins (Chapman & Hall, 1880)

  Colenso, John William, Colenso Papers, 25 July 1879; see also J. Guy’s The Destruction of the Zulu Kingdom (Longmans, 1979)

  Cope, Richard, The Ploughshare of War (University of Natal Press, 1999)

  Cory, George (ed.), The Diaries of the Rev. Francis Owen (Cape Town, 1926)

  Creswicke, Louis, The Zulu War (Edinburgh: E.C. Jack, 1900)

  Cunynghame, Sir A, My Command in South Africa (Macmillan, 1879)

  Emery, F, The Red Soldier (London, 1977)

  Etherington, Norman, Anglo Zulu Relations 1856–1878 – New Perspectives (University of Natal Press, 1981)

  French, The Hon. Gerald, Lord Chelmsford and the Zulu War (Unwin, 1939)

  Gon, P., The Road to Isandlwana (London, 1979)

  Greaves, A. and Best, B., The Curling Letters (Pen & Sword, 2001)

  Greaves, A. and Knight, I., A Review of The South African Campaign of 1879 (Debinair, 2000)

  Greaves, Adrian, Fields of Battle: Isandlwana (Cassell, 2001)

  — Rorke’s Drift (Cassell, 2002)

  Guy, J.J., A note on firearms in the Zulu kingdom with special reference to the AngloZulu War 1879

  Journal of African History (4):557-570

  Hamilton-Browne, G., A Lost Legionary in South Africa (London: Werner Laurie, 1890)

  Hope, R., The 80th Regiment of Foot (Churnet Valley Books, 1997)

  — The Zulu War and the 80th Regiment of Foot (Churnet Valley Books, 1997)

  Knight, Ian, Reasons of defeat at Isandlwana 1879 (Military Illustrated, 1986)

  — The Zulu War Then and Now (Plaistow Press, 1993)

  — The Sun Turned Black (Watermans, 1995)

  — There Will Be An Awful Row At Home About This (Shoreham, 1987)

  Laband, J. and Thompson, P.S. with Sheila Henderson, The Buffalo Border (University of Natal Press, 1983)

  Laband, John, Lord Chelmsford’s Zululand Campaign (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996)

  — Rope of Sand (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 1995)

  Leach, Graham, The Afrikaners (Mandarin, 1989)

  Meintjes, Johannes, The Voortrekkers Corgi (1973)

  Milton, John, The Edges of War – A History of Frontier Wars 1702–1878 (Capetown: Juta & Co., 1983)

  Montague, W.E., Campaigning in South Africa (Blackwood, 1880)

  Maurice, Sir F and Arthur, Sir G., The Life of Lord Wolseley (London, 1924)

  Morris, Donald, The Washing of the Spears (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965)

  Mossop, George, Running the Gauntlet (Nelson, 1937)

  Newman-Norris, Charles, In Zululand with the British throughout the War of 1879 (London: W.H. Allen, 1880)

  O’Connor, Damian, The Life of Sir Bartle Frere (Able Publishing, 2002)

  — The Zulu and the Raj (Able Publishing, 2002)

  Paton, Glennie and Penn Symons, Records of the 24th Regiment (London, 1892)

  Peires, J.B., House of Phalo (Johannesburg, 1981)

  Preston, A., The South African Journal of Sir Garnet Wolseley (Cape Town, 1973)

  Prior, Melton, Campaigns of a War Correspondent (London, 1912)

  Reyburn, Lindsay, The 1879 Zulu War Diaries of RSM F. W. Cheffins (Pretoria: Private printing, 2001)

  Reynol
ds, Charles, A Civil Surgeon (Private publication, 2003)

  Smail, J., With Shield and Assegai (Cape Town, 1969)

  Stalker, John, The Natal Carbineers (Davis & Son, 1912)

  Swiss, A.H., Records of the 24th Regiment (London, 1882)

  Van der Post, L., The Heart of the Hunter, (Penguin, 1923)

  Whitehouse, Howard, A Widow-Making War: The Diaries of Capt. Warren Wynne (Paddy Griffiths Associates, 1995)

  Wilmot, A., The Zulu War (London, 1880)

  Wood, Sir Evelyn, Midshipman to Field Marshal (Methuen, 1906), Vol. 2

  Worsfold, W., Sir Bartle Frere; a Footnote to the History of the British Empire (London, 1923)

  Index

  Abel, Trooper 293, 295

  Active, HMS 225, 226, 240

  Adams, Pte 161, 168

  Adendorff, Lt 145, 157, 159–60, 295, 344

  Allen, Cpl W.W. 166, 168;

  wins VC 352

  Anderson, Capt. 257–8

  Anderson, Cpl 160

  Anstey, Capt. 338

  Ashton, Pte 184

  Attwood, Cpl 160, 171–2;

  wins DCM 353, 354

  Avery, Lt 145, 295

  Bainbridge, Pte John 220

  Bakaza 54

  Baker, Stanley 353

  Baker–Russell, Lt Col. 319

  Bambatha 336

  Banister, Lt George Stanhope 220

  Bantjes, Jan 39

  Bantu people 23–4, 25, 28, 30, 36, 50

  Barker, Trooper survives Isandlwana 123–4; 138, 144–5, 148–9, 352

  Barrow, Maj. 228, 238, 242, 247

  Barton, Capt. 273–4

  Bastaards 29, 51

  Basutoland 71

  Batshe valley 118, 320

  Beckett, Pte 167

  Bellairs, Col. 209

  Bemba’s Kop 106, 254

  Bengough, Maj. 83, 123, 155–6, 189, 214, 216, 217, 315

  Beresford, Capt. Lord William 293–4;

  wins VC 305, 354; 315

  Bezuidenhout, Frederick and Johannes 34–5

  Black, Col. 319

  Black, Maj. 194

  Biggarsberg 113

  Black’s Koppie 136 218

  Blair–Brown, Surgeon 197

  Blood river 72, 105, 106, 254, 299;

  battle of 43–5, 47

  Boadicea, HMS 242

  Boast, Alfred 338

  Boers 24;

  settling and expansion 27–8, 29;

  Frontier Wars with Xhosa 30, 32, 33;

  deteriorating relations with British 34–5;

  the Great Trek 35–8, 47;

  massacre by Dingane 37–41;

  battle of Blood River 43–5, 47;

  Isandlwana encourages them to oppose Britain 326, 335

  Booth, Serg. Anthony 258, 259–60, 262–3;

  wins VC 264, 266, 353

  Boundary Commission (1878) 75–8, 79, 80, 95, 101, 107, 254

  Boundary Commission (1879) 331, 333–4

  Bourne, Colour Serg. Frank 150–1, 159, 161, 174, 221;

  wins DCM 352, 354

  Bright, Lt 285, 286

  British in Southern Africa seize Cape 31, 32, 33;

  in Frontier Wars 32–3;

  administrative conflict with Boers 34–5

  British Army 85;

  Cardwell reforms 86–7; 88–9, 90–1, 97, 99

  British regiments: Army Service Corps 160, 343;

  Naval Landing Brigade 225, 227, 231, 232;

  Royal Artillery 121, 129, 176, 225, 232, 307, 310–11, 343, 344, 345, 346;

  Royal Engineers 111, 151, 193, 214, 216, 225, 231, 234, 343, 344, 346;

  1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards 290, 313, 346;

  3rd Regiment (the Buffs) 108, 224, 225, 227, 231, 232, 240, 242, 344;

  13th Regiment 106, 108, 254, 280, 319, 346;

  17th Lancers 290, 299–300, 307, 311, 313, 315, 346;

  21st Royal Scots Fusiliers 290, 309, 346;

  24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment 96, 103, 109, 111, 125, 136, 148, 154, 158, 171, 182, 201, 278, 283, 298, 338;

  1/24th 11–12, 103–4, 108, 111;

  1/24th at Isandlwana 119, 121, 122, 142–3, 145;

  1/24th at Rorke’s Drift 153; 202, 213, 290, 300, 305, 306, 343, 344;

  2/24th 103–4, 105, 108, 111, 117;

  2/24th at Isandlwana 121, 131; 139;

  2/24th at Rorke’s Drift 150, 152, 153, 156, 161, 179, 184, 193; 157, 176, 220, 343, 344;

  57th Regiment 242, 246–7;

  58th (Rutland) Regiment 290, 309, 346;

  60th Rifles 242, 246;

  80th Regiment 108, 147, 257, 259, 264–5, 266, 345;

  85th Regiment 151;

  90th Regiment 106, 108, 253, 254, 280, 285 343, 344, 346;

  91st Highlanders 242, 246, 318;

  94th Regiment 290;

  95th Regiment 136;

  98th Regiment 295;

  99th Regiment 117, 225, 226, 227, 233, 239, 240, 242, 246;

  104th Regiment 150

  see also Colonial regiments

  Bromhead, Lt Gonville 150–1, 152, 154, 157–8, 159, 160, 165, 166, 174, 176, 182, 183, 184;

  wins VC 202, 206, 352;

  his Rorke’s Drift report 221, 223;

  Curling on Bromhead 223;

  letter to Godwin–Austen 223, 356–7; 344

  Brown, Trooper R. wins DCM 278, 353

  Browne, Lt E.S. wins VC 278, 283, 354

  Buffalo river 41, 71–2, 82, 96;

  British invasion army crosses 108, 114;

  Isandlwana survivors retreat across 135, 136, 143; 154–5, 188, 352

  kwaBulawayo 56

  Buller, Lt Col. Redvers 68, 107, 148, 254, 255–6;

  at battle of Hlobane 267, 268, 270, 271, 272–3, 274–5, 276, 277, 278;

  wins VC 278, 353;

  at battle of Khambula 283, 285, 287;

  and death of Prince Imperial 292, 294;

  escapes ambush 304–5;

  at battle of Ulundi 309, 311; 318, 345, 347

  Bulwer, Sir Henry 75, 77, 187, 326

  Burgess, Lance Cpl 262

  Burnett, Colour Serg. 233

  Bush, Pte 173

  Buthelezi people 54, 55, 331

  Byrne, Acting Commissariat Officer Louis 151, 166, 193, 344

  Cambridge, Duke of 146, 203, 204, 206, 219, 222, 266, 289, 290, 297

  Campbell, Capt. the Hon. Ronald 270, 271–2

  Campbell, Commander 232

  Cane, John 56

  Cantwell, Gunner J. wins DCM 352, 354

  Cape Frontier Wars 30–1, 32–3, 50, 103, 151, 158

  Cape Colony discovery and early settlement 24–7, 29, 30;

  seized by British 31, 32, 33

  Carey, Lt Jahleel 292–4;

  court martial verdict annulled 295–7

  Carnarvon, Lord 74, 75

  Carrington, Capt. 104

  Carson, Cpl 239

  casualty figures 12, 316, 317, 343–7

  Cavaye, Lt 125, 129

  Centre Column (No. 3: Glyn’s) 92, 94;

  to Rorke’s Drift 95, 96, 99;

  component troops 103; 107, 109–11, 116;

  camp at Isandlwana 118–20;

  Chelmsford leads off half force 121–2; 123;

  battle of Isandlwana 129–34; 142;

  at Rorke’s Drift 152–5;

  battle of Rorke’s Drift 160–73; 177, 191, 214, 225, 255, 289, 343

  Cetshwayo, King 13, 57, 59, 60;

  installed as King with Victoria’s blessing 61, 62; 64, 68;

  fails to capitalize on Isandlwana 69;

  complains at Boer encroachment 72–3, 74, 75;

  response to Frere’s ultimatum 81, 112;

  prepares for war 82; 136, 155, 177, 227, 279–80, 282, 288, 298–9;

  attempts to negotiate with Chelmsford 299, 300, 301, 302, 303;

  leaves Ulundi before battle 306;

  his homestead destroyed 314; 316;

  orders surrender 319;

  captured by British 318, 320, 321, 325, 327;r />
  meets Victoria 321–2;

  returns to Ulundi 322;

  death 322–3; 330, 333

  Chard, Lt (Col.) John 151–2, 153–4;

  put in charge of Rorke’s Drift 154; 155, 157, 159–60, 165, 166, 168, 169–71, 172–3, 174;

  mopping up 174–5; 182, 183, 186, 194, 198;

  awarded VC 202, 352;

  Wolseley on Chard 204;

  dines with Victoria 206;

  his Rorke’s Drift report 221–2, 223;

  Curling on Chard 223;

  on march on Ulundi 300; 344;

  his medal authenticated 353

  Cheffins, Serg. Maj. 267

  Chelmsford, Lt Gen. Lord 11–12, 49, 63, 65, 68;

  prepares for war 78, 82, 83, 89–96;

  rebukes Durnford 102;

  praises 24th regiment 104;

  character 104; 106;

  launches invasion 114;

  ignores intelligence 118, 119–20, 156;

  overconfidence 120;

  lured out of Isandlwana 121, 153; 125;

  learns of trouble at Isandlwana 139–40;

  learns of defeat 140–1;

  telegraphs the news 358–9;

  his relief column reaches Rorke’s Drift 175–7; 189, 191–2, 193, 198–9;

  and Rorke’s Drift VCs 202;

  his court of enquiry blames Durnford 207–12;

  his contested orders to Durnford 213–18, 341;

  sick leave refused 219;

  orders report on defence of Rorke’s Drift 219; 222;

  order to Pearson 231, 235; 240;

  leads relief of Eshowe 241–3, 248, 267;

  at battle of Gingindlovu 244–7;

  abandons Eshowe 248; 249, 250, 254–5;

  report on Ntombe 264; 288–9, 290;

  and death of Prince Imperial 294; 297;

  refuses to negotiate with Cetshwayo 299, 300, 301–2;

  at battle of Ulundi 309, 310, 311, 315;

  returns home 318;

  his reception 320–1; 324, 346

  Chick, Pte 166

  Cilliers, Sarel 41, 43

  Clarke, Sir Andrew 215

  Clery, Maj. (Gen. Sir) Francis 119, 123, 183, 187–8, 198;

  evidence to Isandlwana enquiry 208

  Clifford VC, Maj. Gen. the Hon. Sir Henry 205, 290

  Coastal Column (No. 1: Pearson’s) 95, 99, 128; 224–8;

  at battle of Nyezane 229; 230–4;

  besieged at Eshowe 235, 238–41;

  relieved 248; 255, 289, 298