Barker at once made arrangements to move as directed. He had all the officers and men quietly roused. Calling the former together, he read them the despatch and made known the order of march, anticipating he would be in time to lie in ambush at Tate gorge, that being a part of the country which lent itself well to such tactics.[233] The strictest orders were issued that there was to be neither smoking nor talking. Leaving a force sufficient to defend the camp, the rest of the column moved off at 2 a.m. It was made up as follows: T.M.R. (three squadrons—B, C and D); N.P. (90); N.F.A. (one section—two 15-pounders); one Maxim gun; one Colt gun; Nongqai (100); and a levy of about 800 Natives (Chiefs Mfungelwa and Hatshi).
When near Cetshwayo's grave, Inspector C.E. Fairlie, with Nongqai and levies, branched off to the right and proceeded to a position overlooking a small neck in that large bend of the Mome stream situate some 200 yards below where the "pear-shaped" forest (Dobo), tapering down, abuts on the said stream. He was directed to stop the rebels on their making an appearance at the neck. If nothing happened for an hour after daybreak, he was to proceed up to Sigananda's already burnt Enhlweni kraal and there, as directed, co-operate with McKenzie's forces.
On reaching the entrance of Mome gorge, the advanced guard of the main body, consisting of a troop of C squadron, had already moved across the comparatively level ground opposite the mouth, when Barker and those with him, glancing over their right shoulders, observed a number of fires burning brightly in the gorge, some 1,000 yards away. There were about sixty. It seemed as if the troops had come too late. Word to halt was immediately passed along. The guns at the moment were half a mile in rear. On looking intently, it seemed as if figures were moving in front of the fires. The time then was about 4 a.m. Barker dismounted, and, taking two or three men with him, advanced on foot along the slope of the small ridge on the west of the mouth of the gorge to obtain a nearer view. Having satisfied himself the enemy was actually bivouacked on an old mealie garden, and in considerable force, exactly where the fires were, he proceeded to make his dispositions for attack, which, it was arranged, should begin as soon as daylight came. B and D squadrons and a Maxim gun were posted on a ridge to the immediate east of the Mome stream, where a good field of fire could be commanded. C squadron and fifty N.P. with a Colt gun, occupied the eastern face of a low ridge on the west, whilst the rest of the Police, except the troop that formed an escort to the guns posted on a prominent and detached hillock (in front of the mouth of the gorge), were kept in reserve out of sight and close to where the road passes between the gun position and the said low ridge on the west. The object of the latter force was to prevent a possible breaking back of the enemy into Insuze valley. The guns, crossing at the drift, purposely made a big detour to the left, skirted the left bank of the Insuze, and came up the southern face of the hillock referred to.[234] As it was, it was feared the noise was enough to alarm the enemy.
When Fairlie arrived at his position, finding the enemy bivouacked immediately below him, he detached about twenty Nongqai and 400 of the Native levy, with two or three Europeans, to hold ground north of him, and opposite and within 100 yards of where the Dobo bush meets the Mome.
The orders were that not a shot was to be fired nor the slightest noise made until daybreak, when a round from the 15-pounders was to be taken as the signal for a general fusillade. Barker made it known that he himself was with the guns.
For about two hours everybody remained in position, perfectly still. As silent were they as their sleeping foes. The fires died out gradually, one by one. The time was one of the greatest anxiety for the commanding officer, as he did not know but that the whole of his remarkably elusive foe had slipped through the neck immediately in rear of their bivouac, which neck, owing to the nature of the country, it was impossible to completely block in rear without disclosing the presence of a hostile force. Owing to a heavy mist that arose towards dawn, making it difficult to discern objects at a distance of 200 yards, daylight was longer than usual in coming.
After watching for a long time through field-glasses, the mist cleared slightly, when Barker saw something resembling the outline of a burnt kraal where he had hoped to set eyes on the enemy himself. Suddenly remembering no burnt kraal existed on that particular spot a few days previously, he looked again, when he became convinced that what he beheld was nothing else but the enemy himself, drawn up in a circle—the inevitable circle in which orders are given as to engaging an enemy. Barker, moreover, saw enough to convince him that he had himself by then been seen.
The preconcerted signal was fired a few seconds later, not, however, by the 15-pounders, but by the Maxim under Lieut. R.G. Forbes, on the opposite or eastern side. What occurred at that point was this: D squadron under Capt. H. McKay, lay on Forbes's immediate right. Forbes's orders were not to fire without consulting McKay, and fire was on no account to be opened unless found to be absolutely imperative, viz. to prevent actual escape of the enemy up the gorge. If, however, it started in any other quarter, the Maxim was, of course, to do likewise. Just as it began to get light, the time being about 6.50 a.m., Forbes and McKay, using a good pair of field-glasses, 400 yards closer to the enemy than Barker, could see the rebels getting up and forming themselves into companies. It appeared as if they were about to move up the Mome and towards the redoubtable stronghold. McKay declined to give the order to fire until, after closer examination, he agreed that, by not opening, the first company, then obviously on the move, must be lost. "All right, have a go," he cried, whereupon the Maxim blazed forth at a range which, as it turned out, had been correctly fixed at 600 yards.
As soon as the Maxim started, practically simultaneous volleys broke from all troops east and west, including the two 15-pounders and Colt gun—the whole forming almost a semi-circle of flame in the gloomy, early dawn. The consternation among the rebels was such as, for a few moments, to paralyze action; they rushed wildly to and fro, throwing down coats, tin cans, equipment, etc. and seeking shelter in the greatest disorder, anywhere and everywhere. Large numbers dashed through the neck in the hope of escaping to their original destination, only to be met, first by well-directed fire of the men posted immediately above that part on the east, and, where these failed, by that of men (also on the east), detached from Fairlie and pushed forward still nearer the Dobo forest. Thus those fortunate in escaping the hail of bullets at the mouth had to continue to run the gauntlet for another 200 or 300 yards over rugged country. The day of reckoning had come, and come with a vengeance. Some, by sheer perseverance and good luck, succeeded in reaching the forest immediately below the waterfall, where they were, of course, safe; but, on this retreat being completely cut off by McKenzie, as will presently be seen, the fugitives found themselves forced to enter the then only available shelter, namely the Dobo forest; but to proceed thither was no better than jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. That forest was nothing less than a huge trap, capable of being completely surrounded and driven at leisure. Moreover, in attempting to gain entrance thereto, more than one sharp encounter took place with the Nongqai, levies, and supporting European troops.