CHAPTER XVIII.

NGINGINDHLOVU—RELIEF OF ETSHOWE—BORDER RAIDING.

Lord Chelmsford, having moved down to Durban, reports (February 8th) that No. 1 Column is secure at Etshowe; that he is about to forward troops to the Lower Tugela; and that Durban, Stanger, Pietermaritzburg, and Greytown are prepared for defence, “with garrisons which should prevent panic among those living around;” the frontier quiet, and the road from Greytown quite open.

The first reinforcement for Natal was brought by H.M.S. _Shah_, which chanced to be at St. Helena (on her voyage home from the Pacific), when the news of the disaster in Zululand arrived. Captain Bradshaw, R.N., immediately decided to proceed to Natal with his ship; the Governor, after consultation with the officer commanding the troops, Colonel Philips, R.E., arranging to send in her all the available force that could be spared from the island. Accordingly she sailed on February 12th, with 3 officers and 52 men of the Royal Artillery, and 2 officers and 109 men of the 88th Regiment.

H.M.S. _Boadicea_ also arrived on the station, bringing Commodore Richards, who relieved Rear-Admiral Sullivan, C.B.

Communications had been established with Etshowe by means of flashing signals, which were conducted by Lieutenant Haynes, R.E., who, after some failure and discouragement at first, persevered until complete success was attained.

Previous to this there had been no communications with Colonel Pearson for a considerable time, but on March 11th a cypher message from him (dated 9th) said that the flashing signals had been understood, and that as officers and men were generally sickly, it would be desirable to relieve the whole of the garrison, and that any relieving force should bring a convoy and be prepared to fight.—(P. P. [C. 2316] p. 81).

On March 16th the signals from Etshowe were first made out, and one of the messages received was: “Short rations until 3rd April. Breadstuffs until 4th April. Plenty of trek oxen. Captain Williams, ‘The Buffs,’ died at Ekowe on 13th March” (_ibid._ p. 83).

Reinforcements arriving from England, Lord Chelmsford determined to effect the relief of Etshowe, and assembled a strong force on the Lower Tugela for that purpose. The column to be in two divisions: the first, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Law, R.A., composed of the Naval Brigade of _Shah_ and _Tenedos_, 57th Regiment, 2 companies “Buffs,” 5 companies 99th Regiment, mounted infantry, volunteers, and natives, and 5th Battalion Natal Native Contingent; artillery—2 9-pounders, 2 24-pounder rocket-tubes, and 1 Gatling gun; also 150 of John Dunn’s people as scouts. The second division—Lieut.-Colonel Pemberton, 60th Rifles, commanding—Naval Brigade of H.M.S. _Boadicea_, Royal Marines of _Shah_ and _Boadicea_, 60th Rifles, 91st Highlanders, and 4th Battalion Natal Native Contingent; artillery, 2 24-pounder rocket-tubes and 1 Gatling gun; making a total fighting strength of 3390 white troops and 2280 natives. The Lieut.-General decided to take command of the column himself, and directed that it should advance by the coast road, so as to avoid the bush country; to advance without tents, and with only a blanket and waterproof-sheet for each man. The convoy, taking one month’s provisions for the garrison and ten days’ supplies for the column, consisted of about 100 waggons and 44 carts.—(P. P. [C. 2318] pp. 74, 75).

The assembling of this column and preparation for an advance occupied some weeks, and on the 23rd March Lord Chelmsford assumed the personal command, the force being assembled on the left bank of the Tugela and organised in two brigades, as already detailed, by the 28th. Next day, at 6 A.M., the column marched from the Tugela and encamped at Inyone, reaching next day the Amatakulu River. _Now_, profiting by bitter experience, every precaution was taken, and an entrenched waggon-laager formed before nightfall at each halting-place.

The crossing of the Amatakulu River took nine hours, and the column encamped a mile and a half beyond it. Nothing had been seen of the enemy until the 31st, when the scouts noticed small bodies of Zulus near the Amatakulu bush. Captain Barrow, with a mounted force, reconnoitred towards the Engoya Forest, and burnt the kraal of one of the king’s brothers.

On April 1st, the column marched to Ngingindhlovu, and about a mile from the Inyezane River a laager was formed in a favourable position. From this point to Etshowe, the track, after crossing swampy ground, winds through a bushy and difficult country for about fifteen miles, the country covered with high grass, and thus affording easy cover.

Etshowe could be plainly seen from the laager, and flash signalling was at once established.

As this laager was destined to be the scene of an important engagement, we will describe the disposition of the troops: Front face (north), 60th Rifles; right flank, 57th Regiment; left flank, 99th Regiment and “Buffs;” rear face, 91st Regiment; the angles manned by blue-jackets and marines, and armed with the guns, Gatlings, and rocket-tubes. The night passed without alarm, and the troops stood to arms at 4 A.M., the mounted men being sent out scouting as usual at earliest dawn. From scouts and piquets came reports, at 5.45 A.M., that the enemy was advancing, and at six the attack commenced on the north front. The Zulus advanced with great rapidity and courage, taking advantage of every bit of cover; they even pushed forward to within twenty or thirty yards of the entrenchments, but were checked by the steady fire of the 60th and the Gatling gun. Lieut.-Colonel Northey, 3-60th Rifles, received a dangerous wound, but cheered on his men to the end of the engagement.

The attack, checked here, rolled round to the left face; and, whilst this was being developed, a fresh force came up against the rear, probably anticipating that all the faces of the laager could not be defended at the same time. Here they obstinately held their ground, finding cover in the long grass and undulations.

The mounted troops were now sent out, the mounted infantry and volunteers to clear the front face, and Captain Barrow to attack the enemy’s right flank. On their appearance the Zulus commenced to retreat. It was now 7.30 A.M.; and the Natal Native Contingent, clearing the ditch of the rear face, dashed out in pursuit, which, led by Captain Barrow’s horsemen, was carried on for several miles.

The loss of the enemy in this engagement is estimated at 1000: 671 bodies were actually counted. The attacking force is said to have numbered about 11,000 men.

Colonel Pearson, who had watched the fight through a glass, telegraphed his congratulations to the General.

The loss of the column was 2 officers and 9 men killed (including Lieut.-Colonel Northey, 60th Rifles), 5 officers and 57 men wounded.

On the 3rd April, leaving a garrison in the laager, Lord Chelmsford pushed on to Etshowe with a convoy of fifty-eight carts with stores. The advance was unopposed, but the difficulties of the country were such that it was nearly midnight before the rear guard had traversed the fifteen miles and entered Etshowe.

The garrison had suffered severely from sickness during the preceding month, losing by disease 4 officers and 20 non-commissioned officers and men; and when relieved there were sick in hospital, 8 officers and 44 non-commissioned officers and men, and attending hospital, 1 officer and 78 non-commissioned officers and men—out of a total force of 53 officers, 1289 non-commissioned officers and men, and 121 natives.

The constant wet weather and close quarters in the fort, with little or no shelter, the want of medicines, and insufficient food, might well have caused even heavier loss.

The General determined to evacuate Etshowe, as he found it so difficult of approach: future operations being planned to be carried on by the coast road. On the 4th Colonel Pearson evacuated the fort he had so tenaciously held, taking with him his waggons and all his stores that were of any use; unserviceable tools and metal-work were buried, but the fort was not destroyed.

Colonel Pearson’s march to the Tugela was performed without any interruption from the enemy.

On the 4th a kraal of Dabulamanzi’s on the Entumeni Hill was destroyed by a patrol from Etshowe, and on the 5th the relieving column left, and bivouacked near the Infuchini mission station. Early next morning an unfortunate alarm occurred, causing the death of three men. A sentry fired at what he thought was a body of the enemy, and the piquet on the opposite side of the entrenchment retired into shelter, together with native scouts who were out in front. Although it was a bright moonlight night, and no mistakes should have been made, fire was opened from the entrenchment, and five of the 60th were wounded and nine natives bayoneted as they attempted to gain the shelter of the laager.

On reaching Ngingindhlovu a new laager was formed, about a mile from the old one; this was garrisoned on the 7th, the column moving on to the Tugela.

The small mounted force under Captain Barrow, 19th Hussars, rendered excellent service, both during the engagement at Ngingindhlovu, and by the manner in which the scouting duties were carried out.

A party of Mr. John Dunn’s people (natives), 150 in number, were also of the greatest utility in scouting and outpost duties. Mr. Dunn himself accompanied the General; his knowledge of the country and sound advice being of much use (_ibid._ p. 122).

John Dunn was an Englishman, resident in Zululand, where he had lived for many years and adopted many Zulu customs. He amassed a considerable property, and had an extensive following. He invariably received the greatest kindness and consideration from the Zulu king, and was frequently employed by him in various communications with the English Government. When the danger of war between English and Zulus appeared imminent, John Dunn appealed to the English for protection for himself, his property, and people, who were ready, he said, to fight on the English side. At the same time Cetshwayo sent him a message to the effect that he saw the English were going to attack him, and therefore Dunn had better leave his country, with his people and cattle, and go to a place of safety. This John Dunn did, crossing the Tugela about the 3rd of January, and settling near Fort Pearson.

At the time the General determined to move to the relief of Etshowe he “sent secret instructions to the different commanders along the border, from the Lower Tugela up to Kambula Hill, requesting them to make strong demonstrations all along the line, and, if possible, to raid into Zululand in order to make a diversion in favour of the relieving column,” thinking he “might possibly have to meet the full strength of the Zulu army.”—(P. P. [C. 2318] p. 56).

On the 2nd of April a small force of Native Contingent crossed the Tugela and burnt two large kraals, no resistance being made. On the next day a force crossed again and burnt an unoccupied kraal, exchanging a few shots with Zulus, of whom a considerable number were seen at a distance. On the following day the natives refused to cross, and the Border Agent, Mr. Fannin, remarks: “I think it is fortunate it was not attempted, as the Zulus had assembled a considerable body of men to resist.”—(P. P. [C. 2367] p. 104).

The reserve native force had co-operated in these movements by being assembled and placed in position along the Tugela, but the colonial commander declined to proceed over the border, or send any of his force into Zululand, without the sanction of the Lieut.-Governor.

The Government of Natal had placed at Lord Chelmsford’s disposal a number of natives (over 8000) for service in the Zulu country. Some of these were intended for fighting purposes, and formed what we have already described as the Natal Native Contingent. The rest were supplied for transport, pioneer, and hospital-corps services, and all were expected to cross the border.

But besides these men, native levies were called out, when the war began, for service _in the colony_—that is to say, for the defence of the border under colonial district commanders. These levies were to be used solely as a border-guard, and were not intended to cross into Zululand at all. Sir Henry Bulwer, in permitting them to be raised, had been careful to protect as far as possible the interests of both the white and the native population of Natal, and had made very proper stipulations as to the services for which he placed these levies at the disposal of the General. The latter, indeed, expressed it as his opinion that every available fighting native in the colony should be called out; but Sir Henry, with a greater comprehension of consequences, demurred to this rash proposal, and a personal interview between the two resulted in the above-mentioned arrangement.

Consequently the Lieut.-Governor was not a little surprised to learn on the 8th April that the native levies had been ordered, in conjunction with the other troops, to make raids across the border into Zululand. To this he objected, writing to the High Commissioner on April 9th in the following terms: “I venture to suggest for your Excellency’s consideration the question of the policy of raids of this kind. The burning of empty kraals will neither inflict much damage upon the Zulus, nor be attended with much advantage to us; whilst acts of this nature are, so it seems to me, not only calculated to invite retaliation, but to alienate from us the whole of the Zulu nation, men, women, and children, including those who are well disposed to us. We started on this war on the ground that it was a war against the king and the Zulu Government, and not against the nation....”—(P. P. [C. 2367] p. 103).

A correspondence ensued between the Lieut.-Governor and the Lieut.-General, in which the two differed in a very decided manner. Lord Chelmsford complained that the action taken by the Lieut.-Governor, “in refusing to allow the orders issued by” him to the native forces to be carried out, appeared to him “fraught with such dangerous consequences” that he considered it necessary to refer the question to the Home Government. (P. P. [C. 2318] p. 56.) He implied that this interference had (in conjunction with the state of the Tugela River) prevented a general raid being made, which might have proved an important diversion in favour of the column relieving Etshowe, and he declared, in behalf of the raiding system, that “it would be madness to refrain from inflicting as much damage as possible upon our enemy” (_ibid._ p. 56).

It was a well-known fact that the fighting-men of the Zulu nation were with their army, and that the only occupants of the kraals to be raided were the women, children, and the infirm and other non-combatants; therefore the General’s following remark, “I am satisfied that the more the Zulu nation at large feels the strain brought upon them by the war, the more anxious will they be to see it brought to an end,” was of a highly Christian, wise, and soldierly nature, hardly to be matched by anything attributed to the Zulu monarch himself.

Sir Henry Bulwer’s replies were temperate but decided. He pointed out that the statement contained in Lord Chelmsford’s despatch to the Secretary of State for War, implying that the Governor’s interference had (or might have) seriously interfered with the relief of Etshowe, was erroneous; Etshowe having been relieved on the 3rd of April, five days before Sir Henry even heard of the order for the Natal natives to make raids. To the General himself he observes that his interference had been limited to approval of the action of the district commander, who declined to employ his force in a manner contrary to the express stipulations under which they were raised, and concludes: “The views of this Government are very strongly against the employment, under the present circumstances, of the native levies or native population along the border in making raids into the Zulu country, as being, in the opinion of the Government, calculated to invite retaliation, and also as being demoralising to the natives engaged in raiding” (_ibid._ p. 55).

The Lieut.-Governor’s views were that these native levies “were called out expressly and solely for service in the colony, and for the defence of the colony, and were placed under the colonial district commanders for that purpose only,” and that no authority had been given to employ these native levies “on any service in the Zulu country” (_ibid._ p. 54).

And it seems that raids along the border had been ordered _after_ the relief of Etshowe was effected.

Sir H. Bulwer writes, 16th April, that he had received, on the 7th, a copy of a military telegram written after the relief of Etshowe, showing that the General had “ordered raids to be made across the border wherever feasible,” and, on the following day, a copy of a memorandum, written from Etshowe by Colonel Crealock, the Assistant Military Secretary, and addressed to the officer commanding at the Lower Tugela, and, among other things, it contained the following instruction: “Send word up to the frontier to raid across the river wherever the river permits.” And the same evening he heard of the native levies having been required to cross (_ibid._ p. 53).

The question of the employment of the native levies in making raids across the border was referred by the Lieut.-Governor to the Executive Council of Natal, which, on the 23rd April, expressed itself as “strongly opposed to the employment, in making raids into the Zulu country, of the native levies, who ... have been called out for the _defence_ of the colony only.” But, in view of the Lieut.-General’s strongly-expressed opinions, the Council felt there was no alternative but that the General “should have the power of so employing the native levies on the border. At the same time, the Council desires ... to record emphatically its objections to the course proposed, and to such employment of the levies.”—(P. P. [C. 2367] p. 132).

This decision of the Executive Council was communicated to the General on April 25th by the Lieut.-Governor, with the remark: “Your Excellency will therefore have the power to employ the native levies across the border in the way named by you, should you think it imperatively necessary for military reasons. Your Excellency will not fail to perceive, however, that such employment of the native levies is against the decided opinion of this colony as to its inexpediency” (_ibid._ p. 133).

On the 20th May raids were again made into Zululand from three different points, under Major Twentyman’s command. One party crossed at the Elibomvu Drift, and burnt fifteen kraals and large quantities of grain; another burnt three kraals and captured a large herd of cattle; and the third burnt two kraals, and then, seeing the Zulus assembling in force, beat a hurried retreat across the Tugela.—(P. P. [C. 2374] p. 91).

Sir Henry Bulwer, on the 24th May, writes to the High Commissioner: “Major-General the Hon. H. H. Clifford, commanding the base of operations ... was wholly unaware that any such raid was being organised by Major Twentyman, who, I believe, acted under general instructions received from head-quarters.... The views of the Government of Natal on the subject of these raids, your Excellency is already acquainted with. The material advantage to be gained by the work of destruction or of plunder of Zulu property can be at the best but trifling and insignificant, and on every other account I fear our action will prove positively injurious to us, to our interests, and to our cause. We are absolutely provoking retaliation. Already, I am informed, since the raid reported in these papers took place, some native huts on the Natal side of the Tugela have been burned by Zulus; and to what extent this work of revenge and retaliation may be carried, with what losses of property, and even of life, inflicted on our border natives, it is impossible to say.... What result we have gained to justify even the risk of such retaliation against us, and of such a sacrifice to our own native population, I know not” (_ibid._ pp. 89, 90).

The fears of the Lieutenant-Governor were in some measure realised on the 25th June, when he writes: “A raid was made by two bodies of Zulus, numbering, it is estimated, about 1000, into the Tugela Valley, below the Krans Kop in this colony. The Zulus destroyed several kraals, and carried off a number of cattle. I regret to say also that several of our Natal natives, including women, were killed, and some women and children carried off.”

“There can be little doubt that this raid has been made in retaliation for the one that was made into the Zulu country opposite the Krans Kop by a force under Major Twentyman, of Her Majesty’s 4th Regiment, on the 20th May, and which was reported to you in my despatch of the 31st of that month.”—(P. P. [C. 2454] p. 150).

Thus the opinions expressed in Sir H. Bulwer’s despatch of 24th May were to some extent justified, with the probability of a blood-feud being set up between the two border populations, and widening the breach between ourselves and the Zulu people; and with it the increased difficulty of obtaining a satisfactory settlement for the future.