Crossing the Buffalo Read online

  adrian greaves

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  List of Maps

  Map of South Africa

  Preface

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary of terms

  1 Early Settlers in South Africa

  2 The Zulus, Defenders of the Buffalo River

  3 The Zulu Military and Their Tactics

  4 Trade, Diamonds and War

  5 The British, Invaders of Zululand

  6 The Five Invading Columns

  7 The First Invasion of Zululand, 11 January 1879

  The battle of Isandlwana, 22 January 1879

  8 An Appalling Disaster

  9 Rorke’s Drift, 22–23 January 1879

  10 Post-battle: A Deep Sigh of Relief

  11 Enquiry and Cover-Up

  12 The Coastal (No.1) Column

  The defence and relief of Eshowe

  The Battle of Gingindlovu

  13 The Northern Column

  The battle of Ntombe River (Meyer’s Drift)

  Hlobane, 28 March 1879

  Khambula, 29 March 1879

  14 The Second Invasion, 31 May – 4 July 1879

  The advance on Ulundi

  15 The Battle of Ulundi

  16 Beginning of the End

  17 Aftermath of the Zulu War

  APPENDICES

  A Chelmsford’s Memo

  B Composition of the Opposing Forces

  C The Referee’s Poem on Rorke’s Drift

  D Deaths Caused by Disease at Fort Melvill

  E Award of Zulu War Medals

  F Bromhead’s Letters

  G Lord Chelmsford’s Telegram

  H Map of the Excavation of Isandlwana in 2000

  I Conditions in Camps during 1879

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  Illustration

  About the Author

  By the same author

  Copyright

  List of Maps

  South Africa 1878

  The invasion of Zululand

  Isandlwana

  Fugitives’ Drift

  Rorke’s Drift

  Nyezane

  Eshowe

  Gingindlovu

  Ntombe River

  Hlobane

  Khambula

  Ulundi

  Facsimile of contemporary map of Ulundi

  The partition of Zululand 1879

  Preface

  In 1879 Queen Victoria’s military planners and politicians were actively preparing Britain for war in Afghanistan when, without their knowledge or the authority of Parliament, the British Army in South Africa invaded Zululand. The first the home government and people knew of the invasion was when devastating news reached London that part of Lord Chelmsford’s well-trained invasion force had been destroyed by the Zulus at the battle of Isandlwana.

  The battle lasted less than two hours but 4,000 bodies now lay across the British position. Dead Zulus, many blasted by volley fire and artillery, lay intertwined with slaughtered British soldiers. The ghastly blood-smeared debris of war littered the battlefield; Zulu war shields and spears lay tangled with Martini-Henry rifles, wrecked tents and wagons. Not content with a resounding victory and before the last British soldier had died, the victorious Zulus set about stripping the dead and dying soldiers for their red jackets – then adding to the horror by ritually disembowelling their bodies. When viewed that night by Lord Chelmsford and the passing survivors of his invasion column, the horrific scene seared itself into their memories and ensured the resulting war would be merciless.

  Chelmsford’s unexpected defeat involved the loss of nearly 1,300 well-trained officers and men, including the near annihilation of the prestigious 1/24th (Warwickshire) Regiment together with many hundreds of supporting colonial soldiers and black Natal auxiliaries. Isandlwana was a military disaster that shocked and outraged the nation; the defeat had to be decisively and swiftly avenged – especially when it was realized that the Zulu army responsible for crushing the experienced invasion force was part-time and ill equipped. With her reputation of invincibility severely shaken, Britain unleashed unconditional war against the previously friendly Zulus and from the outset both sides fought ferocious pitched battles that involved many thousands of combatants. During the vicious six-month-long Anglo-Zulu War, neither side took prisoners and terrible casualties were inflicted on both sides. According to the official history of the war1 a total of 76 officers and 1,007 British troops were killed in action during the campaign and 37 officers and 206 men seriously wounded; a further 17 British officers and 330 men died of disease and throughout 1879 a total of 99 officers and 1,286 men were invalided ‘from active duty for causes incidental to the campaign’ which unashamedly included numerous well-documented cases of psychological stress and battle fatigue. Officially, 604 African auxiliaries supporting the British were killed – a figure that is probably grossly underestimated as records relating to the auxiliaries were deficient in every respect; this figure would just about account for their losses at Isandlwana. Equally tragic is the fact that Zulu losses throughout the war can only be estimated, with historians calculating that well in excess of 10,000 warriors were killed with a similar number maimed by Martini-Henry bullets, artillery rounds or by the swords and lances of the cavalry.

  In three major engagements, Isandlwana, Ntombe and Hlobane, the British invasion force suffered unexpected and crushing defeats and in each of these battles only a handful of British soldiers survived to tell of their ordeal; conversely, at Rorke’s Drift, Khambula, Gingindlovu and Ulundi, it was the turn of the Zulus to suffer overwhelming defeat.

  Even today the memory of this conflict is still powerful, especially at the unchanged and haunting battlefields across Zululand. It is easy to visualize disciplined lines of young red-coated British soldiers, hopelessly outnumbered yet bravely standing shoulder to shoulder to defend Queen Victoria’s empire in the depths of uncharted Africa. Its allure is accentuated by the fact that the war was waged against the noblest of all African warriors, those of the Zulu nation. As it developed, the Zulu War became extremely savage in its execution, and brutality abounded even after the final British victory. Though so very different, each side deeply respected the other, a respect that continues through to today, which may explain why the war is still considered to be a ‘romantic’ war by both the British and the Zulu people. Certainly its unique and enduring popularity has set it apart from all other seventy-two colonial wars involving British soldiers during the sixty-four-year reign of Queen Victoria. There were no flagrant attacks on non-combatants, no concentration camps, very little rape and pillage, and only a little annexation of territory.2 The war also received greater newspaper coverage from on-the-spot reporters than any previous colonial war.

  In order to understand the significance and consequences of the seven major battles that constituted the Anglo-Zulu War, this book will necessarily pivot around the numerous accounts of conspicuous bravery and heroism on both sides. Some participants won medals while others, equally deserving, were deliberately overlooked. Both press and Parliament gloated over their troops’ successes, or were appalled by their defeats, and all the while the war that should have served to strengthen Britain’s reputation for being all-powerful throughout the world instead revealed serious military weaknesses in her chain of empire. Furthermore it was a war that was as unnecessary as it was unjust; Britain invaded the territory of her friend and ally, King Cetshwayo of the Zulus, much to his everlasting puzzlement. Within six months the war had cost the Zulu people a whole generation of young men and as proof of its being an utterly pointless war, following the final ruthless victory against the Zulus at Ul
undi, the British Army about-turned out of Zululand and marched for home. Worse was to come; only weeks later British troops captured King Cetshwayo and exiled him to Cape Town, leaving his leaderless and starving people to the modern African fate of famine and civil war.

  Nevertheless, the image of these soldiers, fighting fearlessly for their queen and country in the intense African heat, is immensely powerful and one that is regularly strengthened with each showing of popular and epic films such as Zulu and Zulu Dawn which depict the two famous battles of Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana; yet there is infinitely more to the Zulu War than these two battles in isolation. What of the daunting Zulu foe so feared and yet so respected by the British soldiers? Why were the British in South Africa, or more to the point, why did they invade Zululand? How was it that at Isandlwana an inexperienced part-time and poorly armed warrior army, which had been at peace for twenty-two years, managed to inflict such a devastating defeat on one of the most modern, well-equipped professional armies in the world? How, indeed, were they able to follow this victory with further triumphs at Hlobane and Ntombe River? Also to be considered is the mysterious role and death in Zululand of the French Prince Imperial while in the service of the British. And having finally routed the Zulu army at Ulundi and laid waste the countryside at such enormous cost to both sides, why did the British then abandon Zululand to its fate?

  This book will consider not only these questions but also the whole Anglo-Zulu War in the light of modern research, including that of recent archaeological examinations at the more accessible battlefields. Walking the largely unchanged battlefields of Zululand is always a moving experience and extremely useful when trying to enter the mind of the participants, but much more material can still be discovered by examining primary and secondary sources, including official army maps and volumes of beautifully drawn sketches, and newspaper and journal articles from those hardy news reporters and military artists who accompanied the army during the invasion. Yet it is the official reports and letters from the participants themselves that are most valuable source of fresh material. Both officers and soldiers, at least those who could write, wrote from the heart: of the battles, the conditions and hardships endured, the extremes of weather and of their experiences, fear and terror of pending battle. Even with the lapse of time, all these emotions pour forth from their letters; after all, this was one of the last wars without any form of official censorship. Although many of these letters are now housed in a number of fine military museums, many still remain in private hands, the property of proud descendants of men who took part in the Zulu War. It is due to the generosity of all the guardians of these poignant letters, both official and those still held by the participants’ descendants, that new information, different aspects and fresh interpretations of the Zulu War continue to emerge.

  This famous war has, remarkably, continued to intrigue successive generations. The ongoing popularity of the Zulu War may well lie in its indisputably exciting battles in a sensationally beautiful country, to which are added the thrilling accounts of bravery and unprecedented awards of medals. Conversely, the true story includes many acts of chilling cowardice, devious betrayal and official cover-ups following some astonishingly serious blunders and disasters; such aspects, previously overlooked or glossed over by authors and historians, are fully examined in their rightful place.

  This book is dedicated to the memory of all officers and men, British, Colonial, black Natalian and Zulu, who died in the Zulu War in the honest belief that what they were doing was right.

  Acknowledgements

  I dedicate this book to my wife Debbie for her unflinching love, encouragement and patience, especially since my accident in 1985 which so dramatically changed our lives.

  I also gratefully acknowledge the kind and generous assistance and permissions of the following people without whose co-operation and assistance this work would have been incomplete: Ian Knight for his general technical advice and support; David and Nicky Rattray for the use of their magnificent accommodation at Fugitives’ Drift Lodge in South Africa; Dave and Sue Charles for the loan of various artefacts and input of Zulu culture; Major Martin Everett of the South Wales Borderers and Monmouthshire Regimental Museum at Brecon for his generous support and advice; Ron Sheeley for the use of his photographs, and the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society for granting me access to their research material. I also acknowledge Dr Lita Webley of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa and my son, Captain Andrew Greaves RA, who provided me with archaeological material and advice relating to the battlefields. Brian Best kindly checked my research of the Victorian period and especially that relating to Zulu War medals; Nicki von der Hyde generously assisted me with her family’s drawings of Rorke’s Drift.

  I especially acknowledge Consultant Surgeon Cliff Stossel and his wife, Katie, for their ongoing support and kindness during the many years of surgery that I have undergone. Last year it was my great pleasure to accompany them around the stunning battlefields of Zululand and introduce them to my many South African and Zulu friends.

  Lastly, no one else had any direct control or influence over the final draft – although I respectfully acknowledge and thank Keith Lowe of Cassell for gently and tactfully steering me through the necessary ‘house style’; his suggestions always made sense. I alone accept responsibility for any factual errors or omissions although I have always based my conclusions on empirical research and primary sources.

  Adrian Greaves

  TENTERDEN, 2004

  Glossary of terms

  amabutho (s. ibutho) Age-grade regiments.

  amakhanda (s. ikhanda) Homesteads belonging to the king.

  Bastaards Early Dutch term used around the Cape denoting the children of mixed blood.

  battles, names of Battles of the Zulu War are usually named by the British after a local hill or river – the Zulus name these battles after the nearest homestead or settlement. To the Zulus, the battle of Ulundi is known as Nodwengu, although the place of Ulundi, or oNdini, means ‘The Heights’, a Zulu name for the Drakensberg range. Eshowe is named by the Zulus ‘Tshowe’ to sound like a sneeze – as Eshowe overlooks the low-lying coastal plain and is occasionally subjected to cool breezes.

  Boer Mainly Dutch-speaking white settlers, with some French, German and other Europeans, originating from the Cape.

  Column The British invading columns were known variously as the Coastal or No. 1 Column, the Centre or No. 3 Column and the Northern or No. 4 Column; Colonel Durnford and Rowland’s Reserve Columns were the No. 2 and No. 5 respectively.

  donga A rift in the ground caused by heavy rain and in depths of between 2 and 50 feet. The bane of early travellers in Zululand; usually occurring when least expected and frequently involving a detour of many miles.

  drift A shallow river crossing point.

  giya A show of individual prowess during a Zulu war dance.

  Helpmekaar or Helpmakaar The first spelling is colloquial; the second spelling is the British adaptation.

  ibutho (pl. amabutho) An age-grade regiment.

  ikhanda (pl. amakhanda) A homestead belonging to the king or a state barracks where amabutho were quartered when in the king’s service.

  ikwa (pl. amakwa) A stabbing spear.

  imizi (s. umuzi) Zulu homesteads.

  impi A fighting body of Zulu warriors.

  induna (pl. izinduna) An officer appointed by the king.

  isicoco The fibrous head-ring worn by married or senior men.

  isigodlo The royal enclosure quartering the women of the king’s household.

  isijula (pl. izijula) A throwing spear.

  kaffir Used in the historical context only, due to the sensitivity of the word. Commonly believed to be the Arabic word for ‘infidel’ or ‘non-believer’, which is odd as the word is not found elsewhere in Africa where the Arab traders flourished. The original usage of the word in South Africa could also have come from the following Zulu and Bantu sources:

  a Kafulwa, th
e Bantu name for the early shipwreck survivors ‘washed up’ along the Cape to Natal coast.

  b Following the umfecane, those refugees fleeing to the protection of the British Crown were known as the abakafula: the ‘washed out’ or dispossessed.

  c Kafula also has a modern usage, to denote the ‘washing away’ of an unhappy memory or washing away a bad taste.

  d See Through the Zulu Country (Griggs, Durban 1883) by Bertrand Mitford who wrote that ‘non Zulu blacks were known as Amakafula’ which is only a short step from ‘kaffir’. Similarly, the AmaFengu people later became known as Fingoes.

  kop or koppie. A small hill.

  kraal An enclosure for cattle; not to be confused with a Zulu homestead or umuzi.

  kwa The place of …

  laager A number of wagons formed into a circle to form a defensive perimeter.

  lobolo The bride price, normally involving cattle.

  mealie Maize.

  nek A saddle between two hills.

  pont A flat-bottomed punt or boat made of barrels.

  sangoma A Zulu diviner.

  spruit A small stream or tributary.

  uDibi (pl. izinDibi) A Zulu boy between the age of 12 and 16 years who supported older relatives on the march or other military tasks.

  umfecane or ‘crushing’: denotes the period of internecine clan fighting pre 1825.

  umKhosi or First Fruits. The annual gathering before the king to review the army and to usher in the new harvest.

  umuzi (pl. imizi) A Zulu homestead – often misnamed as a kraal.

  uSuthu The political party of King Cetshwayo – the term was the popular Zulu war cry during the 1879 war.

  CHAPTER 1

  Early Settlers in South Africa

  Due to the remorseless combination of time and the continent’s perniciously destructive climate much of the evidence of early human settlement in Africa has been lost. Nevertheless, some of the oldest human remains in the world have been discovered at a number of locations across southern Africa. Archaeological evidence indicates that, from the Holocene era 10,000 years ago, the southern tip of Africa was sparsely populated by a diminutive stone-age people, the San, whose tenacity and simple lifestyle enabled them to survive into modern times as the Bushmen. They lived in small groups hunting wild animals with puny bows from which they fired thin poison-tipped arrows; they supplemented their diet with highly nutritious grubs, termites, locusts, wild berries and roots. Living alongside the San, though rarely in harmony, were groups of pastoralists, the taller and brown-skinned Khoikhoi, meaning ‘men of men’. These aboriginal people had originally migrated south from modern-day Botswana; the Boers named them, for reasons unknown, the ‘Hottentots’.