Lord Chelmsford had intended having a large depôt formed on a portion of the Ibabanango range; but owing to one of the principal staff officers losing not only his own way, but his head, his lordship was compelled to change the venue, and form the principal depôt upon the Upoko river, not far from the spot where the Prince met his fate. This was called Fort Newdigate, and was held by four companies of infantry, and a detachment or two of cavalry to keep up communication with a still more advanced depôt afterwards formed at Umsenguini, near the source of the Upoko, where the main road from Utrecht and the Transvaal forms a junction with that leading through Rorke's Drift and Isandhlwana.
How arduous were the duties of the cavalry in convoying large trains of supplies from the bases to the front through the enemy's country may be surmised, when it is borne in mind that Lord Chelmsford had to feed 7000 whites, 2000 natives, 350 English draught-horses, 850 saddle-horses, 2000 colonial horses and mules, and 10,634 oxen. From these figures also may be formed an estimate of the work thrown upon the Commissariat.
In previous wars out in South Africa blame has been, and not unjustly, thrown upon the Commissariat for the manner in which stores have been wasted and frittered away while the troops have been without rations. But in this war it would be impossible to cite any such instance of want of management, as the troops were invariably well fed and cared for. Want of success, therefore, could in no case be attributed to want of supply. Great praise is due to Commissary-General Strickland for the excellent manner in which all his plans were laid and executed. Another instance of good work may be given. On the 4th instant Lord Chelmsford had occasion to send a sudden order to Commissary-General Brownrigg for the immediate furnishing and delivery of rations equal to six weeks' supply for 9000 Europeans, 2500 natives, 1200 English horses, and 3000 cattle, and all these were sent in by the 10th.
On June 10th Sir Evelyn Wood's column received a valuable addition to its force; viz. 450 men of the 80th Regiment, all old and seasoned campaigners in South Africa, together with four splendid Gatling guns. On the same day a report was made that Zulus had been seen near the Inyezani, and on the following morning a patrol was sent out, consisting of twenty Mounted Infantry, thirty Mounted Basutos, and fifty Light Horse, under the command of Captain Brown, who had with him Lord William Beresford, and Captains Cochrane, D'Arcy, and Berry. A reconnaissance for fully twenty miles from the camp was made, and the patrol returned about six the same evening, having made several sketches and surveys of the country, but without seeing any Zulus.
Meanwhile grumblers and incompetent critics had kept so incessantly bringing all sorts of reckless charges against Lord Chelmsford, of incapacity as a soldier, that the home government thought it wise to give way, and accordingly, to please the vulgus profanum, recalled Sir Garnet Wolseley from Cyprus, and appointed him Governor of South Africa, High Commissioner in Natal and the Transvaal, and Commander-in-chief of her Majesty's forces in Africa, thus superseding Lord Chelmsford. This news reached the troops actively employed against the Zulus about the middle of June, and was received with considerable dissatisfaction by both officers and men. It seemed to them unfair that their General should be superseded just as a final advance was being made, and just as he was about to reap the fruits of all his anxiety and labour. He had at that time on the way to Ulundi a perfectly-equipped force of 9364 Imperial Infantry, 3957 Colonial Infantry, 1190 Imperial Cavalry, 1877 Colonial Cavalry, 775 Artillery, with a proportionate number of guns (36), and 385 Royal Engineers. Generals Crealock and Newdigate had received full instructions with regard to the concentration and movement of this force, and all the organization had been planned and carried out under the personal supervision of Lord Chelmsford, who had worked night and day to get matters to a state of efficiency. It seemed, therefore, rather hard and disheartening that the new General, who had had none of the anxiety or the toil, should appear as the Deus ex machina upon the scene, and reap all the credit and glory of the campaign.
A great deal of rubbish was talked about the inhumanity of burning down kraals, and accusations of shooting down women and children were not unfrequently brought against the troops. Now most people in England do not know that there are three distinct species of kraals. The king's or royal kraals, the military kraals—i.e., the respective barracks or official homes of the different corps—and, finally, the tribal and domestic kraal, a sort of village of cabins, built together for convenience and safety. Now, Lord Chelmsford and all his lieutenants were too good soldiers to allow England's honour to be disgraced by wanton cruelty or barbarous conduct even in fighting a barbarous enemy. Military kraals, being the fortified depôts of the king's troops, their mustering rendezvous and rallying-points, were attacked and destroyed without compunction, as they represented the arsenals and strongholds of the enemy. The king's royal kraals, on the other hand, were the places where Cetywayo got together cattle, mealies, and other commissariat supplies, wherewith to tempt or reward his warriors. These were destroyed as a matter of course, as one would capture a convoy or destroy a hostile magazine.
It has been stated on apparently good authority that the destruction of a royal or military kraal was considered by the Zulus as scarcely any loss, and that the rebuilding of such was a matter of the greatest ease. This is a totally erroneous view, as all the kraals belonging to Cetywayo and his great chiefs which had been destroyed were most formidable as regards defence, and must have taken great time and trouble to construct. All these kraals of the kings, princes, and principal chiefs are protected with high wooden stockades, pierced here and there with low entrances, large enough to admit only one person at a time. The isigodhlo, or inner enclosure, where the chief huts are situated, is guarded by zigzags of the same description of stockade work very strongly put together. There are altogether about forty military villages or kraals scattered through the country, of from 400 to 3000 huts each, in which for a portion of the year the troops are quartered, averaging 2000 men in each. There are, however, other military kraals not fortified, and used only as barracks. These consist of a dry stake and wattle fence, generally oval in form and about five feet high. Inside this fence are the huts of the men in single, double, or treble rows, according to the size of the kraal, while inside the huts is another fence similar to the one outside, and the central space is invariably the cattle-pen. The king's kraal at Ulundi (afterwards destroyed) was 800 yards in diameter, and had a normal garrison of 5000 men. The Umhlabatini plains, upon which it was situated, are fifteen by twenty miles in extent, and completely shut in by hills studded with thick bush. The White Umvolosi runs through this plain, in which were also established the other kraals forming the headquarters of regiments. These, too, were subsequently destroyed. Here in these kraals the principal regiments were wont to assemble annually at the great national military festival held in honour of the king, which is now a tradition of the past. Some years ago, when Cetywayo was full of ambition in regard to his military power, and anxious in every manner to consolidate it, he had a new magazine or depôt of arms built at the junction of the Black and White Umvolosi rivers. This magazine and kraal is called Amanzekanze, and is surrounded by a dense bush. The Amanzekanze kraal had, up to this time, held the reputation of being impregnable, and its approaches, it was said, were so difficult that they could only be forced at immense loss. The name of the kraal, Amanzekanze, translated is "Let the enemy come now."
Coming now to the farming and domestic kraals, it may without fear of contradiction be asserted, after minute and careful inquiries, that no single instance can be adduced in which her Majesty's troops ever attacked or molested such unless first attacked and fired upon.
A few words must here be said concerning the helioscope, which on more than one occasion played a prominent part in this war.
One of the great features of the occupation of Port Durnford was the establishment of mirror-signals from the "kop" at Port Durnford, and at the post on the Inyezani down to the mouth of the Umlalasi. The use of mirrors as a means of communication had been so fully demonstrated in Afghanistan, that it seemed astonishing that army officers at Natal were supremely ignorant of, and, indeed, indifferent to, the system. When it is remembered that by this simple process it was found possible to flash intelligence and words of sympathy and kindness to the half-famished garrison at Ekowe, and that by means of this admirable invention, many important items of intelligence were from time to time instantaneously and surely communicated from one part of the British force to another, which through the position of the enemy it was only possible to send by messengers, who were compelled to take the most circuitous routes, thus causing great delay and sometimes even failing to reach their destination at all, the value of this simple yet grand discovery cannot be too highly considered.