History of the Zulu War

by Alexander Wilmot

It will thus be seen that very unfortunate differences of opinion existed between the supreme military power and the civil government of Natal. It certainly must be admitted that, as a rule, the friendly Zulus of the colony were of little good as fighting men in the campaign. Whether or not the opposite would have been the case if the dangerous experiment had been tried of allowing them to fight with their own weapons and in their own fashion is extremely doubtful. The tribal system, root and branch, is a failure in Natal, and a constant source of danger and anxiety. So soon, therefore, as by means of enlightened statesmanship it can be completely broken up and destroyed, the better for the protection and defence of the colony, as well as for the cause of civilization and the nation we are trying to civilize.

Correspondence.

On the 11th of April, the general, writing to the Secretary of State for War, says, "My orders regarding demonstrations were fully carried out, but the fullness of the Tugela would have prevented any general raid being made, even if the Natal natives had not been forbidden to cross the border by his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal." In order to enable my readers to understand the entire question fully, I subjoin that portion of Sir Henry Bulwer's despatch to the Secretary of State (April 16) which refers to the subject. He says, "I have placed under the command of the lieutenant-general, for service in the Zulu country, the Natal Mounted Police, most of the Natal Mounted Volunteers, a number of natives who have been formed into what is called the Natal Native Contingent, and a number of natives for pioneer, transport, and hospital service, and that I have never interfered with them, nor have I expected that the lieutenant-general's orders to them should be referred to me before being complied with; but with regard to the native levies, which have been called out for the defence of the colony, and placed under the command of colonial district commanders to protect the border and the colony, I have never placed them in any way, directly or indirectly, under the command of the lieutenant-general for service in the Zulu country, nor have I authorized, directly or indirectly, in any way, their being taken across the border, or their being employed in making raids into the Zulu country. These 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. The colonial district commanders were, of course, made subject, so far as regarded the defence of their districts, and the movement and disposition of any forces under them in their districts, to the military command; but no authority has been given, either to these colonial district commanders or to the lieutenant-general, to employ the native levies, which were exclusively called out for the defence of the colony, on any service in the Zulu country, and I submit that the lieutenant-general in issuing any instructions for these native levies to cross the border to make raids into Zulu country, in issuing these instructions as he has done, without my authority, without my concurrence, and positively without any reference to me, has exceeded his powers and acted without a due regard for the authority of this Government.

"I pass by the question of the expediency or policy of making raids into the Zulu country. In a letter addressed by me to the High Commissioner, I have ventured to put before his Excellency for his consideration the question of the expediency of such a policy, and the risks involved in such a course, namely, the risk of retaliation, and the risk of irritating and alienating unnecessarily those of the Zulu people who might otherwise be disposed to come to friendly terms with us, and through whose friendly disposition towards us a satisfactory solution of the difficulties between us and the Zulu people might eventually be more easily arrived at. But I do not claim to have any authority in respect of this question, and I have done no more than venture to lay my suggestion before the High Commissioner, and to forward a copy of my letter to the lieutenant-general.

Native levies.

"With regard to the employment of the native levies who had been called up for the defence of the border on service beyond the border and in making raids, I have already shown that the levies to which I refer were never in any way placed under the lieutenant-general for employment across the border; and I have also shown that they were levies which have nothing whatsoever to do with the Native Contingent battalions to which the lieutenant-general refers as having been hitherto associated with the British troops, and which were placed under his command for service across the border. The question, therefore, put by the lieutenant-general, in the way that it is put before the Secretary of State for War, by not distinguishing between the two descriptions of native forces, but, as is actually done in the last paragraph but one, by naming and associating the two together as if there were no distinction between them, fails, I think, to represent the real state of the case."

The general in command had felt extremely what he considered the absence of co-operation on the part of Sir Henry Bulwer. Writing to the Secretary of State for War on the 11th of April, Lord Chelmsford mentions that when he had determined to move up to Ekowe, secret instructions were sent 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. At this juncture the Lieutenant-Governor forbade the Natal natives to cross. A general raid into Zululand effected by a large body of native troops would, in the opinion of Lord Chelmsford, have produced very important results, and the general strongly resents the interference of Sir H. Bulwer with his plans. The quarrel—for it was nothing less—to which allusion has now been made, was very probably one of the reasons for the appointment of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who in his own person united both supreme civil and supreme military power.

In the Zulu war there were two campaigns—the first ended in Isandhlwana, the second at Ulundi. Between these battles there was an immense interval, chiefly occupied in moving great masses of men and greater masses of supplies to the front. Lord Chelmsford is blamed for want of foresight and care in the first campaign, want of energy and judgment in the second campaign, and want of generalship in both. There are two sides to the case, and it is necessary to advert to both. Great difficulties were in the way; but until the arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley and the joyful day of Ulundi, it must be admitted that the general did not conquer obstacles, but obstacles conquered him.

Review of the campaign.

Let us endeavour to view the general conduct of the first campaign in the light of facts about which there can be no question. Early in January Lord Chelmsford was at the head of an army sufficiently numerous and powerful for the conquest of Zululand. We shall see that at Ulundi 4000 soldiers, properly handled, were adequate to the complete defeat of 20,000 Zulus, comprising the flower of Cetywayo's army; therefore it is absurd to imagine that, if good generalship had been used, any defeat could have been sustained in the first advance. Colonel Pearson was thoroughly victorious at Inyezane, and Colonel Wood was also successful. Disastrous failure, however, overtook the column of the general-in-chief. Lord Chelmsford, conducting a large force with enormous stores, made Rorke's Drift on the Tugela his base of operations, and subsequently was forced to trust to the extraordinary efforts of a young Engineer officer for the safety of Natal. All experience of Zulu warfare had shown the absolute necessity of entrenchments, yet the central column marched into Zululand without constructing a single breastwork. The personal safety of the commander-in-chief and that of half his column became really due to a sudden inspiration and to a happy accident. Young subalterns conceived and carried a plan of defence where mealie-bags formed the breastworks and biscuit-boxes the entrenchments. It was providential that such officers as Chard and Bromhead were there to do the work.