The Story of the Zulu Campaign

by Waller Ashe; Edmund Verney Wyatt-Edgell

CHAPTER X.

March of the 2nd column—Kopje Allein—Climate of the locality—Sickness among the troops—Evil effects of Cardwell's system—Embassy from Zulu chiefs—Cavalry skirmish—Death of Adjutant Frith—Difficulties of transport—Reinforcement of Wood—Appointment of Sir Garnet Wolseley—Opinion of the troops thereon—Alleged inhumanities—The helioscope.

Two special orders were issued by Lord Chelmsford's command in regard to this most melancholy affair. The first, dated Pietermaritzburg, June 5, was signed by General Clifford:—"The Inspector-General of Lines of Communication and Base has received from his Excellency the Lieut.-General Commanding official confirmation of the calamity which has befallen the forces under his command, by the death, on duty in the field, of the late gallant young soldier, the Prince Imperial Louis Napoleon, who, having, in his military training, been lately associated with the British Army, came out to this country to take part in the Zulu campaign. The General feels that he is carrying out the wishes of his Excellency the Lieut.-General Commanding now in Zululand, by thus recording the feelings of deep sorrow and sympathy, experienced by every officer and man whose duty keeps him at his post in the colony with the loss thus sustained."

The second order was issued by Major Butler to the troops at Durban, and expressed the feeling and sympathy of all the columns:—"In following the coffin which holds the body of the late Prince Imperial of France, and paying to his ashes the final tribute of sorrow and honour, the troops of the garrison will remember that he was the last inheritor of a mighty name and great military renown; secondly, that he was the son of England's firm allies in dangerous days; and, thirdly, that he was the sole child of a widowed Empress, now left throneless and childless in exile upon English shores, deepening the profound sorrow and solemn reverence to those memories. The troops will also remember that the Prince Imperial of France fell fighting as a British soldier."

On the 28th of May the second column or division quitted the camp at Landsman's Drift, and proceeded to Kopje Allein, which is near the Blood river, being about a mile to the north-east of it, at a point as near as possible to the junction of that stream with the Buffalo. The position of the camp there was all that could be desired, and the character of the country was much more favourable than most of the previously selected camps, inasmuch as no enemy could approach without being seen for several miles. At Kopje Allein there was a further concentration, and several reinforcements were received, the consequence being that the whole force amounted to 2500 British infantry, 1100 British cavalry, 300 Artillery, 100 Engineers, 66 Colonial Horse, 1300 Native Infantry, and in all, with Military Train and Hospital Staff, making 5700 men. It was found impossible, for sanitary reasons, to form one undivided column, and much as General Newdigate objected to straggling, the exigencies of war compelled him to send his forces off in detachments. The King's Dragoon Guards marched on Monday, the 26th, and these were followed by Harness's Battery and a large convoy of stores on the following day, Tuesday, the 27th. On the Wednesday the headquarter staff took the road, accompanied by the 17th Lancers, Le Grice's Field Battery, the field-hospital, and the 24th Regiment. They took with them fifteen days' supplies, and to accomplish this General Newdigate wisely cut everything down to the lowest possible limit, sixteen men being allotted to each tent, and one tent only to six officers. Tents were really superfluous; for the climate is simply magnificent, and no man out on a shooting expedition would dream of carrying about with him such extra luxury as a bell-tent. Of course the climate of this portion of Zululand being semi-tropical, the usual precautions to be used in tropical lands must be used here. The climate and diseases which prevail along the line, from the Tugela, by which Crealock was advancing, are thus alluded to by Dr. Jones, district surgeon, one of the most experienced authorities upon the subject. He says that at a distance of fifteen miles from the sea the fever is not more prevalent than in the interior; that the high ground is comparatively safe in his district, and that the type of fever is mild, the attack lasting usually from five to twenty days. It begins about February, and is always at its worst in March, continuing more or less till the end of May, and appearing to be more or less influenced by the current of the north-east wind, which would, of course, carry the miasma of the St. Lucia swamps in this direction. Dr. Dalzell, an equally good authority as Dr. Jones, says that the high lands here are remarkably healthy. The same holds good of the tract known as Oham's country, situated in the valley of the Black Umvolosi river. It is evident that the fever of this country has been greatly exaggerated, and that it is merely intensified in localities which are within reach of the poisonous malaria borne upon the wind. General Newdigate and General Crealock both gave orders, that when the troops had to bivouac, they were never on any account to pass the night either on a very low or on a very wet situation, on account of fever, or on the hill-tops, on account of thunderstorms. The position of the Zulu kraals should invariably be noted, and a lesson taken from them in regard to choice of camp; while the neighbourhood of a river that has been lately flooded should, if possible, be always avoided. It is possible that a white man settling here for good would sooner or later be attacked by fever, but white men do not settle here, while a rapid march through the country appears to injure no one. Dysentery and rheumatism troubled the troops but little, and cases of sunstroke were rare. Sickness had prevailed certainly to a considerable extent in some corps; but it was, as a rule, confined to the young soldiers, unseasoned and of weak physique, who had been lately sent out from England. The cause of our failures—and there were several of a palpable nature—are not to be found in want of generalship, want of organization, or want of transport. They were due undoubtedly to the sending out of raw, sickly, unseasoned, and untutored boys, who, being the sweepings of half the regiments in her Majesty's service, could not possibly have any feeling of communion, or traditional sympathy, with the corps into which, before a formidable enemy, they found themselves pitchforked. Most of the battalions out there had to draw their reinforcements not from its reserve battalion or depôt at home, as was the case in former years, but from the army at large, and some battalions arrived on the shores of Africa so drenched and diluted with outsiders, that they had the appearance of a mongrel pack, unused to discipline and useless in the field. That the destruction of the regimental system by Lord Cardwell has been the original cause of several of our reverses, surprises, and humiliations, there can be little hesitation in saying. The men at Isandhlwana were not well handled, it must be admitted; but it has since leaked out that many of them would not rally round their officers, but attempted safety in flight. Dozens of the men, sergeants and other non-commissioned officers, have since declared they did not even know the names of their company officers, or those of their right or left-hand man.

Another instance of the evil effects of Lord Cardwell's system may be given. The 91st recruits in past days were the envy of all recruiting-sergeants, and so particular was the colonel, backed up by the surgeon of the corps, that a young fellow must have had chest, constitution, and stamina—qualities unfortunately not now insisted upon—before he could pass the sacred portals of the 91st barrack. Few regiments, however, have suffered from the present system more than, or so much as, this corps. On receiving its orders for Zululand, it could not muster 200 men, so denuded was the regiment of rank and file by the drafts it had previously given. The consequence was that to make up the 900 men which was supposed to be its fighting strength, volunteers and drafts had to be obtained from half the regiments at home, and the facings of the 91st on parade, until the master tailor had put matters a little straight, represented almost all the colours of the rainbow, while the men, drawn from all parts, neither knew one another nor the officers set over them.

Rumours of negotiations for peace, and the granting of an armistice, which were being circulated about this time, arose from the following facts:—In the middle of May Zulu messengers, of some position, but not of the highest rank, had presented themselves to General Crealock, with a desire to know what terms would be granted to Cetywayo in case of his wishing to come to terms of peace. The General, finding they had no authority or commission from the king, sent them away, but believing from their statements that they were sincere, and knowing at the same time that Setewango, one of the king's most influential indunas, and Samapo and Panato, the indunas who commanded against Pearson at Ekowe, were in the neighbourhood of Ginghilovo, let Setewango know that he would not object to see him. Setewango admitted that he had no commission or authority direct from the king, but added, at the same time, that many of the chiefs were sick of fighting, as they considered the English too strong. General Crealock then said he had no power to treat, but that Lord Chelmsford had, and if Cetywayo were first seen by Setewango something might be arranged. After this Setewango went to Ulundi, and after great difficulty he and the indunas persuaded the king to allow them to visit Lord Chelmsford, at whose camp they arrived early in June, having first presented themselves to General Wood. Lord Chelmsford saw these men three times, when they were distinctly told that before any negotiations could be entered into, as an evidence of the King's sincerity the whole of the spoil taken at Isandhlwana, especially the two captured 7-pounders, must be restored. With these guns were to be sent accredited ambassadors and hostages of the highest rank. These Zulu messengers seemed much awed and impressed with the appearance of the camp, and particularly with Marshall's cavalry, and they left on the 6th instant. They had not long departed when much of their story was corroborated by Tongabena and Lampunda, two well-known friendly Zulu spies, who had just arrived from Ulundi, where they assured us there were few warriors, the men having declined to assemble. Dabulamanzi, whose death has been so often reported, was still there, and a large number of women, children, stores, and cattle. Umbelini was really dead, having been three times severely wounded, and was hit mortally in the back through the blade-bone as he was escaping on horseback.

On June 5th, Marshall had a very exciting little brush with the Zulus not far from Wood's camp on the Nondonini river. In this affair poor young Frith, a capital soldier, a good adjutant, and a general favourite, was unfortunately killed. He was sitting on his horse receiving an order from Colonel Drury-Lowe, when a Martini-Henry bullet struck him, probably to the heart, as he never spoke. The patrol was brought about by information brought into Wood's camp by the ubiquitous and indefatigable Buller, who had been out on the previous day and discovered the whereabouts of a large Zulu force. The gallant 17th and the smart King's Dragoon Guards were delighted to see themselves in orders on the afternoon of the 4th, that they were to parade at four a.m. under General Marshall, who was also to take with him Shepstone's Basutos and Bettington's cavalry. It was not yet sunrise when they arrived at Wood's camp on the Nondonini, and then found that Buller, anxious to draw first blood, had already started in the night to scour the country and report what he could discover of the enemy. After partaking of some excellent coffee, a little beltong, and some well-made and well-baked bread done in Wood's field-ovens, they were again in the saddle, taking a course towards the south-east, till the summit of a wild ridge overlooking a deep kloof was reached. In the plain below was a pretty little river, and near its bank a number of Kaffir huts all blazing, having been fired early by Buller and his men, who could be seen slowly retiring before a number of Zulus, who were keeping up a hot fire upon them, as well as from both sides of the valley. The order was given to advance, and Buller soon came on to meet them, making his report that he had been attacked by these Zulus as soon as he attempted to fire the kraal. Frith was the only casualty, and the order was then given by General Marshall to retire firing by alternate squadrons. As the Zulus were posted in clefts and caves of the ridges on either side, it was impossible to get at them, and so the troops were brought steadily off without further loss.