In 1834-5 the Kaffirs in South Africa became very troublesome and necessitated the employment of armed force to subdue them, but the first serious Kaffir war broke out in 1846 owing to the outrages perpetrated by the Gaikas, and considerable fighting had to be done before the Kaffirs, by this time armed with firearms, were subdued, and Sandilli and his brother surrendered. In this campaign the following regiments were represented: 6th, 27th, 45th, 73rd, 90th, 91st, and 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade; 7th Dragoon Guards; Royal Artillery; Engineers, Sappers and Miners, also Cape Mounted Riflemen.

At the end of the year 1850 the Kaffirs were again in a turbulent condition, and Sir Harry Smith, a Peninsular veteran whose record in India I have indicated, summoned the chiefs to meet him, but Sandilli ignored the invitation and was outlawed. Then began another protracted war with the natives, during which several disasters befell the British troops. In the Keiskamma defile misfortune overtook Colonel Mackinnon, where with a force of 600 men, which included detachments of the 6th and 73rd Regiments, he was ambuscaded. He, however, reached Fort Cox, where the Governor, Sir Harry Smith, was surrounded by the dusky hordes. He managed to get away with a flying escort, and safely reached King William's Town. In June 1851 operations were conducted in the Amatola and Wolf Valley with comparatively severe losses to the British troops. In December the passage of the Kei was effected, despite the enemy's ingenious attempt—a new method in warfare to them—at constructing breastworks. Ultimately the chiefs of the Gaikas and Seyolo requested peace upon terms which could not be conceded, and the war was continued. In the spring of 1852 a determined advance was made by the British against Sandilli's stronghold in the Amatola mountains, from whence the 74th Highland Regiment, the "tortoises" as the Kaffirs called them in allusion to the markings of their kilt, after much hard fighting cleared them out. Sir Harry Smith was relieved of his command at the Cape by Sir George Cathcart, and ultimately the Water Kloof was cleared, and the Basutos under Moshesh defeated at Berea; Sandilli again surrendered, and the recalcitrant natives were expelled from the territory they had previously occupied.

The regiments represented in the campaign were the 2nd, 6th, 12th, 43rd, 45th; 2nd Batt. 60th Rifles; 73rd, 74th, 91st; 1st Batt. Rifle Brigade; 12th Lancers; Royal Artillery; Engineers, Sappers and Miners; Cape Mounted Rifles, Seamen and Marines.

Loss of the "Birkenhead."—The South African Wars of 1834-53 recall the loss of the troopship "Birkenhead" on February 26th, 1852, when 9 officers and 349 men, drawn up in parade order on the deck, went to a watery grave after placing the women and children, and sick, in the boats. They were on their way out as drafts for the regiments engaged in the third Kaffir war, which began at the end of 1850, and was not terminated until March 1853. The German Emperor was so impressed with the heroism of these British soldiers, who so calmly went to their death, that he caused an account of their gallant conduct to be read to every regiment of his army.

Those who took part in these wars were awarded a medal in a General Order issued in November 1854, and although many of the recipients had fought their battles twenty years previously, the medal, 1? in. in diameter, bore the date 1853 in the exergue, above which is an admirably modelled lion, crouching under a mimosa bush; above all the record SOUTH AFRICA. No bars were given with the medal, which was only awarded to survivors, and the only way to distinguish the campaign for which it was granted is by the name of the regiment indented on the edge of the medal; but this means of identification is not possible in medals issued to the Naval Brigade, for the rank only is frequently given, as for instance, J. SHORE, STOKER. The diademed head of Queen Victoria, as issued with the medal previously described, was used on the obverse of this medal, which was suspended by a scroll clasp. The ribbon is orange and watered, with two thick and thin stripes of dark blue, leaving a narrow orange margin at the edge; the names, etc., were indented on the edge in square Roman capitals. The illustration of the medal is from a photograph of the one awarded to Captain (afterwards Lieutenant-General) A. C. Bentinck of the 7th Dragoon Guards—father of the present Duke of Portland.

The regiments engaged in the three Kaffir wars were: 1834-5: 27th, 72nd, 75th. 1846-7: 6th, 27th, 45th, 73rd, 90th, 91st; Rifle Brigade and 7th Dragoon Guards. 1850-3: 2nd, 6th, 12th, 43rd; 2nd Batt. 60th; 73rd, 74th, 91st; 1st Batt. Rifle Brigade; Royal Marines; a Naval Brigade and Cape Mounted Rifles.