61. For laagering procedure as laid down by Chelmsford, see NAM, CP, 26/9, His Excellency the Lieutenant General Commanding, Special Instructions Regarding the Management of Ox Transport on the Line of March, and for Conducting the Line of March when Troops March with Ox Wagon Transport, and for Forming Wagon Laagers (Durban: ‘Mercury’ Press, n.d. [1879]), pp. 10–11, items 15–26.
62. Anon, Regulations for Field Forces in South Africa 1878, p. 3, item 19.
63. Arthur Harness, ‘The Zulu Campaign from a Military Point of View’, Fraser’s Magazine new series XXI, 101, April 1880, 478–79.
64. For a selection of anxious letters addressed by Chelmsford to his commanders on the eve of invasion, see John Laband, ed., Lord Chelmsford’s Zululand Campaign 1878–1879 (Stroud: Sutton Publishing for the Army Records Society, 1994), documents 13, 23, 24, 26, 28.
65. NAM, CP, 27, Chelmsford to Wood, 11 January 1879, and Chelmsford to Frere, 16 January 1879; Ashe and Wyatt-Edgell, Zulu Campaign, pp. 306-7; Harness, ‘Zulu Campaign’, p. 478.
66. NAM, CP, Chelmsford to Col Bellairs, 31 December 1878.
67. John Laband, ‘Zulu Civilians in the Rise and Fall of the Zulu Kingdom c. 1817–187’, in John Laband, ed., Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Africa from Slavery Days to Rwandan Genocide (Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp. 64–76.
68. John Laband, ‘The Cohesion of the Zulu Polity and the Impact of the Anglo-Zulu War: A Reassessment’, in Laband and Thompson, eds, Kingdom and Colony at War, pp. 3–7.
69. KZNA, Sir Theophilus Shepstone Papers (hereafter TS) 35, Chelmsford to Shepstone, 28 November 1878.
70. Callwell, Small Wars, pp. 37–39, 90–91, 93, 103–4, 106.
71. Burroughs, ‘Imperial Defence’, p. 61; Hew Strachan, European Armies and the Conduct of War (London and New York: Routledge, 2001), p. 82.
72. Laband, Kingdom in Crisis: the Zulu Response, p. 60.
73. For a first-hand account of the fighting so reminiscent of the campaign against the Xhosa, see Daphne Child, ed., The Zulu War Journal of Colonel Henry Harford, C.B. (Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 1978), pp. 18–21.
74. Clery to Alison, 13 April 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 126.
75. Clery to Alison, 18 March 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, pp. 121–22.
76. NAM, CP, 8/31, Notes by Chelmsford on the findings of the Court of Enquiry, n.d.
77. NAM, CP, 26/36, Gosset to Lady Chelmsford, 7 June 1906.
78. Clery to Harman, 17 February 1878 (actually 1879), cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 84. See also Clery to Alison, 28 April 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 129 for a reiteration of this statement.
79. Child, Zulu War Journal of Colonel Henry Harford, p. 23.
80. Henry Curling to his Mother, 2 February 1879, cited in Adrian Greaves and Brian Best, eds, The Curling Letters of the Zulu War: ‘There Was Awful Slaughter’ (Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 2001), pp. 91–92.
81. KZNA, TS, 35, Chelmsford to Shepstone, 7 December 1879.
82. Clery to Harman, 17 February 1878 (actually 1879), cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 84.
83. Clery to Alison, 18 March 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 122.
84. Clery to Harman, 17 February 1878 (actually 1879), cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 85.
85. ‘Letter from an Abergavenny Man’, Abergavenny Chronicle, 29 March 1879, cited in Edward Spiers, The Victorian Soldier in Africa (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2004), p. 42.
86. Clery to Harman, 17 February 1878 (actually 1879), cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 85.
87. NAM, CP, 8/15, Chelmsford to Frere, 23 January 1879.
88. Crealock to Alison, 2 and 9 February 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 93.
89. TNA, WO 32/7709, Chelmsford to Stanley, 9 February 1879.
90. Hansard, 3rd Series, vol. 244, cc. 1494–7, House of Lords: Statement by the Duke of Cambridge, 24 March 1879; Chelmsford to Dillon, 14 May 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 94.
91. KZNA, Wood Ms, II/2/2, Chelmsford to Wood, 29 January and 3 February 1879.
92. NAM, CP, 28, Chelmsford to Cambridge, 1 February 1879.
93. Clery to Harman, 17 February 1878 (actually 1879), cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, pp. 83–84.
94. The evidence is in TNA, WO 33/34, Zulu War, Miscellaneous, 1878–9, 234–42. It is conveniently reprinted in Ian F W Beckett, Isandlwana 1879 (London: Brassey’s/Chrysalis, 2003), pp. 105–21.
95. NAM, CP, 27, Chelmsford to Durnford, 19 January 1879.
96. Clery to Alison, 28 April 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 129.
97. R W F Drooglever, The Road to Isandhlwana (London: Greenhill Books, 1992), pp. 181–82; Beckett, Isandlwana, p. 75.
98. See Ron Lock and Peter Quantrill, Zulu Victory (London: Greenhill, 2002), pp. 236–46, 251–57 for their careful assessment of the evidence.
99. Maurice to Alison, 23 June 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 272. See also Clery to Alison, 11 and 18 March 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, pp. 100, 102, 125.
100. For typical, critical responses in the British press, see the Daily Telegraph, 3 March 1879 and the Standard, 3 and 8 March 1879. For the Natal press, see the Colonist, 15 February 1879 and the Natal Witness, 27 February 1879. See also Crealock to Alison, 24 February 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 96 for comment on the stance taken by the colonial press.
101. Clarke, Zululand at War, pp. 26–29.
102. Hansard, 3rd Series, vol. 244 cc. 907–24; cc. 1865–1950; cc. 1991–2090; vol. 245, cc. 20–127, House of Commons: Questions and Debate, 14, 27, 28 and 30 March 1879; and vol. 244 cc. 1605–1697, House of Lords: Debate, 25 March 1879.
103. For Chelmsford’s orders for procedures to be followed on the march, see NAM, CP, 3/37, Memorandum by Chelmsford, n.d. (c. 26 March 1879); for his long official report on the battle of Gingindlovu, see TNA, WO 32/7727, Chelmsford to Stanley, 10 April 1879.
104. KZNA, Wood Mss, II/2/2, Chelmsford to Wood (c. 15) April 1879.
105. Cambridge to Frere, 13 February 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 110. See also Ian Beckett, The Victorians at War (London and New York: Hambledon and London, 2003), chapter 13: ‘Chelmsford’s Major-Generals’.
106. KZNA, Wood Mss, II/2/2, Chelmsford to Wood, 19 May 1879. Chelmsford quoted the proverb in Italian: ‘Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano.’
107. NAM, CP, 28, Chelmsford to Cambridge, 11 April 1879; NAD, Wood Mss, II/2, Chelmsford to Wood, 25 April 1879.
108. See CP 13/19: Chelmsford to Stanley, 25 May 1879.
109. John Laband, ‘Bulwer, Chelmsford and the Border Levies: The Dispute over the Defence of Natal, 1879’, in Laband and Thompson, eds, Kingdom and Colony at War, pp. 150–65.
110. The cost of the war was eventually put at £5,230,328, considerably more than the government was willing to countenance for a colonial campaign.
111. W F Monypenny and G E Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, new and revised edn (New York: Macmillan, 1929), II, p. 1297.
112. Cambridge to Frere, 13 February 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 109.
113. TNA, WO 30/129, Ellice to Chelmsford, 6 March 1869; Lock and Quantrill, Zulu Victory, pp. 265–80.
114. NAM, CP, 17/34, Chelmsford to Clifford, 2 July 1879; Beckett, Victorians at War, pp. 123, 125–27.
115. Royal Archives, Cambridge Mss, VIC/ADD E/1/8658, Cambridge to Chelmsford, 8 May 1879. See also Cambridge to Frere, 20 March and 22 May 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 114.
116. Lord Beaconsfield to Queen Victoria, 27 May 1879, cited in Monypenny and Buckle, Disraeli, II, p. 1304.
117. Beaconsfield to Queen Victoria, 27 May 1879 and Beaconsfield to Anne Lady Chesterfield, 28 May 1879, cited in Monypenny and Buckle, Disraeli, II, pp. 1303–4, 1305–6; Adrian Preston, ed., Sir Garnet Wolseley’s South African Journal, 1879–1880 (Cape Town: A A Balkema, 1973), pp. 6–7.
> 118. Crealock to Alison, 9 July 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 245.
119. Mathews, ‘Chelmsford’, pp. 308–9.
120. Killie Campbell Africana Library, Wood Mss, 27/17, Adria Lady Chelmsford to Wood, 3 June 1879.
121. NAM, CP, 28, Chelmsford to Cambridge, 11 April 1879.
122. Ibid., 11/8, Chelmsford to Stanley, 2 June 1879.
123. Hansard, 3rd Series, vol. 247 cc. 401–3; 686–9: House of Commons: Questions, 19 and 26 June 1879.
124. For the authoritative account of the Prince Imperial in Zululand, his death and the aftermath, see Ian Knight, With His Face to the Foe. The Life and Death of Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial: Zululand 1879 (Staplehurst: Spellmount, 2001). Carey’s court martial and reception in England are discussed on pp. 229–32, 238–47, 256–64.
125. See John Laband and Ian Knight, The War Correspondents: The Anglo-Zulu War (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1996), pp. v–xix for a discussion on war reportage in the Anglo-Zulu War. For Chelmsford’s querulous comments about hostile war correspondents, see NAM, CP, 28, Chelmsford to Stanley, 10 June 1879.
126. John Laband, ‘Cohesion of the Zulu Polity’, in John Laband and Paul Thompson, eds, Kingdom and Colony at War, pp. 12–14.
127. See John Laband, ‘Humbugging the General? King Cetshwayo’s Peace Overtures during the Anglo-Zulu War’, in John Laband and Paul Thompson, eds, Kingdom and Colony at War, pp. 52–59.
128. Preston, South African Journal, pp. 43–52, journal entries 24 June to 7 July 1879.
129. Laband and Thompson, Anglo-Zulu War, pp. 60–61.
130. For Chelmsford’s official report of the battle of Ulundi, see TNA, WO 32/7763, Chelmsford to Stanley, 6 July 1879. See Laband, Kingdom in Crisis: the Zulu Response, pp. 206–36 for a description of the battle and its decisive impact.
131. NAM, CP, 28, Chelmsford to Stanley, n.d. (5 July 1879).
132. TNA, WO 32/7770, Chelmsford to Stanley, 9 July 1879.
133. Cambridge to Frere, 26 August 1878, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 275.
134. Clery to Alison, 12 July 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 248.
135. Mathews, ‘Chelmsford’, pp. 338–39.
136. NAM, CP, 21/9, Wolseley to Chelmsford, 12 July 1879.
137. TNA, WO 30/129, Ellice to Chelmsford, 11 August 1879.
138. Beaconsfield to Queen Victoria, 30 August 1879 and Queen Victoria to Beaconsfield, 1 September 1879, cited in Monypenny and Buckle, Disraeli, II, pp. 1331–32.
139. Preston, South African Journal, p. 107, journal entry, 4 September 1879.
140. Hansard, 3rd Series, vol. 256 c. 1035: House of Lords: Debate, 2 September 1880. For the full debates, see vol. 255 cc. 1543–67 and vol. 256 cc. 1025–35: House of Lords: Motion: 19 August and 2 September 1880.
141. See F E Colenso, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel E C L Durnford, History of the Zulu War and its Origin (London: Chapman Hall, 1881); and E C L Durnford, ed., A Soldier’s Life and Works in South Africa, 1872–1879: A Memory of the Late Colonel A W Durnford, Royal Engineers (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1882).
142. Gerald French, Lord Chelmsford and the Zulu War (London: John Lane at the Bodley Head, 1939), p. 316–23; Droogleever, Isandhlwana, pp. 243–46.
143. See NAM, CP, 22/5-7, 38-48, 52-3 for Chelmsford’s extremely pained correspondence on this matter.
144. The United Service Club closed its doors in 1976 and the premises were taken over by the Institute of Directors. See Anthony Lejeune and Malcolm Lewis, The Gentlemen’s Clubs of London (London: Bracken Books, 1984), pp. 276–83.
145. See French, Chelmsford, pp. 306–15, 324–67, 378–83. The inscription reads: ‘Frederic Augustus, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., General. Colonel of the 2nd Life Guards. May 31st 1827 – April 9th 1905.’ Twenty-one years later his widow joined him in his tomb (partially obscured in the summer of 2007 by ivy and uncut grass) surrounded by a cluster of other family members.
146. Vanity Fair, 3 September 1881.
147. Clery to Alison, 1 February 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 81.
148. Clery to Alison, 28 April 1879, cited in Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 129.
Chapter 6 Charles Gordon
1. John H Waller, Gordon of Khartoum: The Saga of a Victorian Hero (New York: Atheneum, 1988), p. 17.
2. Western Powers, led by Britain, had become increasingly frustrated with Chinese delays in carrying out the terms of the Treaty of Nanking and subsequent agreements. When ambassadorial missions were refused entry to the Chinese capital, the British and French resolved to end Manchu resistance.
3. The Taiping movement began with the preaching of Hong Xiuquan, a south China Hakka minority member who had several times failed the entrance examinations for the Chinese bureaucracy, learned about Christianity from an American missionary and described himself as a brother of Jesus. In 1851, he proclaimed himself the Heavenly King of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. Feeding on long-festering anti-Manchu and anti-foreigner resentments, demands for tax relief and social reform, and religious fervour, tens of thousands joined his ranks and they soon occupied much of the Yangsi valley and central China.
4. Roy MacGregor-Hastie, Never To Be Taken Alive: A Biography of General Gordon (New York: St Martin’s Press, 1985), pp. 67–68.
5. Memoirs of Li Hung-chang, quoted in Bernard Meredith Allen, Gordon in China, (London: Macmillan, 1933), p. 69.
6. Waller, Gordon of Khartoum, p. 104.
7. He did return early in 1865 to join remnants of the Taipings in Amoy. The Chinese government captured him in Changchow on 15 May, and his drowned body was found in Chekiang on 15 June.
8. Quoted in MacGregor-Hastie, Never To Be Taken Alive, pp. 76–77.
9. Octavia Freese, ‘One Who Knew Him Well’, in More About Gordon (London: Richard Bently & Sons, 1894), p. 44. These activities, combined with his awkward and, as far as is known, celibate relations with women, later led to allegations of latent homosexuality (or even paedophilia). The allegations were investigated by Frank M Richardson MD in a chapter of his Mars Without Venus (Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1981). John Pollock’s biography Gordon: The Man Behind the Legend (Oxford: Lion, 1993) suggests Asperger’s Syndrome as an alternative explanation for Gordon’s demeanour, behaviour and proclivities.
10. M. Augusta Gordon, ed., Letters of General C G Gordon to his Sister (London: Macmillan & Co., 1888), p. 91.
11. The Khedive, desperate for money and deeply in debt, was plotting with Zubeir to conquer Darfur, which they did in November, 1874, defeating one of Zubeir’s major rivals, Sultan Ibrahim, and opening a whole new region to his slaving operations. Zubeir had massacred a 1,200-man Egyptian army sent to subdue him in 1869 and Ismail had made him Governor of the region to bring him to heal. From the growing slaving revenues, Zubeir paid an annual bribe to the Khedive, which he used to pay Sir Samuel Baker’s salary. In November 1874, after Gordon complained to the British Consul in Cairo, he was given control over Bahr al-Ghazal and in August 1875, the Governor General ordered Zubeir back to Bahr al-Ghazal. The next June, Zubeir, wishing to rule Darfur as a direct vassal of the Khedive, travelled to Cairo to appeal the decision, leaving his son, Suleiman Zubeir, in control of his slaving operations. The Khedive detained Zubeir in Cairo. When bribes failed to gain his release, Zubeir appealed to Gordon to secure his freedom. When Gordon refused, Zubeir, it was widely believed, ordered his chieftains to organise a rebellion against him.
12. Khartoum was an Egyptian city, which began to be built in the wake of Ismail Pasha’s expedition. The name ‘Khartoum’ means elephant trunk. Egyptians sent to the Sudan regarded service there as exile and it was quickly relegated to inferior or disgraced officers. As Egyptian control extended southward, the slave trade exploded. Romulo Gessi, in Seven Years in the Sudan: Being a Record of Explorations, Adventures, and Campaigns against the Arab Slave Hunters, ed. Felix Gessi (London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co., 1892), p. 2, later reported that beginn
ing in 1860, ‘in the brief space of fourteen years more than four hundred thousand women and children were taken from their native country and sold in Egypt and Turkey, while thousands and thousands were massacred in the defence of their families’.
13. The two men discussed a plan to convince the Khedive to send a force to East Africa to push Mutesa into the Egyptian orbit. The Khedive obliged, sending Long to Zanzibar and thence to Juba. Fearful that this be seen as an effort to restore the slave trade, and eager to keep the friendly Sultan of Zanzibar free of Egyptian influence, the British government forced an end to the adventure.
14. George Birbeck Hill, ed., Colonel Gordon in Central Africa, 1874–1879 from Original Letters and Documents (London: Thomas de La Rue, 1884, 4th edn, facsimile reprint by Kraus Reprints, 1969), p. 67.
15. Quoted in MacGregor-Hastie, Never to be Taken Alive, p. 107.
16. Charles Chevenix Trench, The Road to Khartoum: A Life of General Charles Gordon (New York: W W Norton, 1978), p. 118.
17. W H Wilkins, The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton (London: Hutchinson, 1897), II, p. 645.
18. In 1876, the British Paymaster General reported that the Khedive’s debt had surpassed £81 million.
19. Though most Egyptians had little interest in altering either the customs or the lucrative slaving economy of the Sudan, they were interested in maintaining administrative and tax-collection control over the country, which involved not permitting the slavers to seize control of swathes of its territory.
20. British Library (hereafter BL) Add. MS 54495, 5 July, 1879, quoted in Trench, The Road to Khartoum, p. 144.
Victoria's Generals Page 34
