THE SERVICES OF NATIVE CONTINGENTS—LORD CHELMSFORD AND SIR H. BULWER—REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN—DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORT—IMMENSE DELAY—BURYING THE DEAD AT ISANDHLWANA.

The Native Contingent, composed of loyal Zulus, although a large force, turned out a comparatively useless one. After the battle of Isandhlwana, Colonel Glynn reports (on the 24th of January), "The whole of the Native Contingent walked off this morning." The reasons for this conduct are furnished elaborately in a minute of Sir H. Bulwer, Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, dated the 29th of January. These men had numerous complaints. On the night of the 23rd of January, whilst the European force at Rorke's Drift was entrenched, the Native Contingent had no such protection. The general and his staff leaving camp exercised a depressing influence. Uncertainty existed regarding their wives and families. These reasons, and reasons such as these, were furnished as explanations for their desertion. Sir Henry Bulwer had been always of opinion that to do away with the native system of organization for the purpose of substituting a regimental system was one of very doubtful advisableness. Nevertheless, he consented to give the men required, and no fewer than 7050 were sent into the field. Lord Chelmsford declared that he had never been able to understand what the tribal system was, and that as often as he had endeavoured to obtain information he had been baffled by vague generalities and oft-repeated laudations. So anxious, however, were the commandants to carry out what they considered the tribal system, that the companies were organized with uneven strength, in order that men of different tribes should be kept distinct. Sir Henry Bulwer believed that each column should have had a Native Contingent, and that these should have been led by officers who represented the Lieutenant-Governor, or Supreme Chief. They would have then moved and fought in accordance with their customs. The general could not agree to this. The natives must be divided into battalions 1000 strong, and into companies 100 strong. They were not to fight in their own fashion, and European officers, who did not know their language, were given commands among them. Dissatisfaction, discontent, and inefficiency resulted in such a manner that in all respects the large Native Contingent, numbering more than 7000 men, was a failure.

Later on, very serious differences of opinion arose between Lord Chelmsford and Sir Henry Bulwer. In reply to suggestions from the general, the Executive Council of Natal decided, on the 1st of March, that—

"(a.) In the opinion of this Council the proposition that raiding expeditions should be made into the Zulu country by the natives of this colony is unadvisable of adoption, as being an impolitic and undesirable system of war, as being calculated to provoke retaliation, and as tending to demoralize the people engaged in it.

"(b.) 1. That the proposition to call out every available native in the colony is open to serious objections.

"2. That a large proportion of the able-bodied male population has already been called out, and that this Council considers it undesirable to press the power of the Supreme Chief to a point that would probably cause serious discontent amongst the natives.

"3. That all trading, commercial, and farming operations would be thereby disorganized and ruinous consequences would ensue, the natives forming practically the only labouring portion of the population in the upper districts of the colony.

"4. That the calling out of the whole able-bodied male population would, in all probability, induce a panic, and be attended with serious inconveniences."

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.

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.

"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.

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.

Lord Chelmsford was woefully deficient in knowledge of the enemy's movements. An immense army lay in wait to destroy his camp while he, with scattered forces, pursued a Will-o'-the-wisp foe which found no difficulty in luring him on to destruction. He had mounted men, but does not seem to have used them efficiently as scouts. Colonel Buller, the able head of his intelligence branch, was in quite another part of the country. Lord Chelmsford either completely despised the enemy, which was a blunder in itself, or he was incapable of appreciating his real position, and of taking the evident means of preserving the column under his charge. He evidently wanted that genius or instinct so absolutely necessary to constitute a great military leader. A really great general, like a poet, is born, not made; and it was the misfortune of the British army not to have secured one on this important occasion.

No entrenchment or laager was either made or ordered to be made at Isandhlwana, although it must be admitted that if the general had been as lucky in subordinates there as at Rorke's Drift, a very different issue of the day would have been the result. Nothing could surpass the madness of Colonel Durnford in scattering his troops at the very moment when, by means of laagering, or at least forming a hollow square, it would have been possible to resist the attack of the enemy. It is a libel on our soldiers to hint that they did not behave well. The short service system is in no way responsible for the disaster. The gallant 24th, as well as the other troops, fought with the utmost bravery, and, if they had been commanded by such a man as Wood or Pearson, undoubtedly would have gained a brilliant victory. A few hundred Dutchmen, without breech-loading guns, had behind a rough fortification of waggons defied an entire Zulu army. Chard and Bromhead, with 100 infantry soldiers, at the back of mealie-bags and biscuit-boxes, were able to drive back immensely superior forces. It is therefore preposterous to imagine that our troops at Isandhlwana, assisted by well-served large guns, could not easily, if properly commanded, have been able to hold their own, at least until the rest of the column arrived.

In ten days' time Lord Chelmsford was so unfortunate as to sustain a most signal defeat, in which half his force was literally butchered, and his large quantity of ammunition and stores captured by the enemy. His flank was turned and his column surprised by an army of naked savages, without artillery, about whose movements his ignorance was as profound as it was surprising. A similar success to that gained by Colonel Pearson would have virtually concluded the war. A march to Ulundi by a strong flying column would have been possible, and Great Britain might then have saved the blood of many of her best soldiers, and fully three million pounds sterling of her treasure.

The opinions now expressed are those of the majority of military correspondents and military men, but the thorough novelty and difficulty of operations do not seem sufficiently taken into account. Besides, in judging Lord Chelmsford, it must be specially remembered that his instructions about concentrating at Isandhlwana camp were not attended to, and to this fact many attributed the disaster that ensued. Certainly no one deserved sympathy more than this general, whose misfortunes were quite as great as his faults. Subsequently, he did everything in his power to make the campaign successful. Reinforcements poured in, and were pushed forward to the front. It is true that delays occurred, but these, it is argued, were thoroughly unsurmountable. We shall find at last that Lord Chelmsford finished the campaign with glory and success at the great battle of Ulundi. The people of Natal and the Cape Colony, who had sympathized with his reverses, thoroughly recognized the greatness of this victory and rejoiced in his triumph. It is only fair, when furnishing opinions full of condemnation, to refer at the same time to the fact that contrary views are held by numerous men of intelligence, who have had every opportunity of studying the subject.

The disaster of Isandhlwana was pregnant with results almost too awful to contemplate. Natal was panic-stricken. Twenty thousand white people were threatened, not only with the victorious army, but with hundreds of thousands of natives, kept heathen and alien from motives of policy, who would have, out of fear of Cetywayo, quickly joined any army of massacre which that tyrant could have sent to devastate Natal. Fortunately, in spite of their much-vaunted strategy, the Zulus proved unequal to the task of taking advantage of their victory. Had they, in the first instance, only allowed the general to move forward into his new camp, the destruction of the column could have been made complete. It was by a miracle that Lord Chelmsford and the men with him escaped. If they had been attacked when, exhausted and dispirited, they flung themselves down on the reeking plain of Isandhlwana, it is extremely likely that the general and every man with him would have been killed. The gross absurdity of blaming Lord Chelmsford for not burying the dead on the field is only equalled by its injustice. The general and the remnant of his column were really fugitives, and it was not until they found that, by the heroic defence of Rorke's Drift, the base of operations was still held, that they were able to breathe with any degree of safety. It was hoping against hope to imagine that a place really left unfortified could have been held against a victorious army; and it is well to recognize the fact that not only Natal and its people, but Lord Chelmsford and the remnant of his column, were saved by the heroes of this colonial ThermopylÆ.

The awful pause of suspense, which lasted many weeks, passed by. The Tugela river and the indecision of the Zulu king saved the colony. Reinforcements which had been telegraphed for poured in with amazing celerity, and both Natal and British honour were saved. For nine weeks the beleaguered column under General Pearson had to suffer privations, and the Zulus, who had experienced what British soldiers could do behind biscuit-boxes at Rorke's Drift, hesitated to attack them when behind regular entrenchments at Ekowe. At last, as we had seen, relief was sent. Then another period of delay set in. Masses of troops continued to arrive, and early in May our strength in Natal comprised more than 22,000 men, divided as follows:—

First division (General Crealock's)	9,215
Second division (General Newdigate's)	10,238
General Wood's[32] flying column	3,092
Effective and non-effective	22,545

This was a large army, the most powerful force of Europeans ever engaged in war within South Africa. The occasion was supreme, as the greatest power of the native races had challenged the white man to a combat À l'outrance, and the question simply was whether the Queen or Cetywayo should rule supreme in the southern portion of this continent. Reinforcements were sent out with immense celerity, and landed with the utmost despatch and with neither casualty nor danger. But the delay in moving them was most disappointing. It must have puzzled the Zulus immensely to understand why we were so extraordinarily slow. Five weeks had elapsed since the battle of Ginghelovo without any set engagement with the enemy taking place, and the Press began to grumble. Transport rose to unprecedented rates. Twenty shillings per cwt., or £20 per ton, was charged for the carriage of provisions a distance of fifty-four miles, from D'Urban to Pietermaritzburg. Oxen died in hundreds, and the progress of the battalions of infantry which were marching against an enemy famous for their celerity was most disheartening. The plan of Lord Chelmsford was that of sending on masses of troops, whose impedimenta in the shape of baggage and means of supply was so enormous as to completely cripple their movements. At a subsequent period, after the arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley, we shall find that officer successfully employing more than 2000 Zulu carriers; but this method, cheap and efficient, does not seem to have been tried by Lord Chelmsford.

To lessen the enormous difficulties of transport, which crushed the efforts of our soldiers, a successful attempt was made to find a landing-place on the Zululand coast. H.M. gunboat Forester was sent on this quest, which was ultimately successful, and Port Durnford was established as a place for landing supplies. This cut off more than a hundred miles of difficult road, and was of immense service to the advancing columns. During May, 1879, the Forester[33] performed important duties in this service, and more than once fired at bands of the enemy near the seashore.

It is impossible to write any chronicle of the movements of General Crealock's column which would be of interest. It crawled along among hundreds of dead oxen killed in dragging its heavy baggage and supplies over bad roads. Enormous expenditure for commissariat and transport services went on, and it was very evident that this war would be waged at frightful cost. The British lion growled in England, and there was an undoubted echo in the colonies.

On the 15th of May, the head-quarters of the South African field force, under Major-General Newdigate, was situated on the Buffalo river, near Doornberg. The force comprised:—Right wing of the 17th Lancers; three companies 1-21st Regiment; six companies 58th; N battery, 5th Brigade, Royal Artillery, with six 7-pounders, under Colonel Harness; N Battery, 6th Brigade, with six 9-pounders; Army Service Corps, Army Hospital Corps, Bengaugh's Native Battalion, Natal Pioneers, and Natal Carbineers. Colonel Tatton Browne commanded the Royal Artillery, and Captain Anstey the Royal Engineers. Twelve miles further on, at Conference Hill, was the most advanced post, where Colonel Davies, Grenadier Guards, commanded. The garrison was composed of six companies of the 94th Regiment, Bettington's troop of Natal Horse, a detachment of the Royal Engineers, and Shepstone's Mounted Basutos. Another fort and laager had been erected for their defence, while eight miles further on towards the north-east was Brigadier-General Wood's new camp at Magwechana, close to the Sand Spruit, one of the sources of the White Umvolosi. General Marshall was with the cavalry camp. The experience of Isandhlwana was thoroughly sufficient, and the most complete precautions on all occasions were taken to prevent the possibility of disaster. Forts and fortified positions covered the country, but, nevertheless, there is excellent authority for saying that if a Zulu impi had been ordered to invade, there would have been no difficulty in driving back the weak border guard which lined the Tugela, getting behind the regular forces, and making a rapid destructive raid and an equally rapid retreat.[34] Cetywayo's neglect of his opportunities was more useful in protecting Natal than the immense armed force which, with infinite toil and a slowness almost passing description, moved on towards Ulundi. Loud were the public outcries at the transport break-down and the tardiness of operations. General Newdigate's magnificent force seemed paralyzed, and the difficulties of grass for horses and supplies for troops en route was the theme of every journal and the excuse for a delay which was as costly as it was disappointing.

On the 17th of May, a road was made in the direction of Landman's Drift, and a few days afterwards all the cavalry proceeded to Rorke's Drift, and thence to Isandhlwana, for the purpose of burying the dead. It was certainly full time to perform this duty. One of the disgraceful occurrences or sad consequences of the Zulu war is the fact, which cannot be slurred over without comment, that the bodies of our brave men who fell at Isandhlwana remained unburied for more than four months. Two regiments of Dragoon Guards, with the Lancers and numerous other troops, moved on with alacrity to perform the honourable task. The force advanced in line, Échelon, or column of squadrons, with extensive advance and rear guards, as well as flankers. At night the men bivouacked in groups of twelve, with their saddles turned inwards and placed in a circle. At last they looked down from the Biggarsberg upon Rorke's Drift and the Isandhlwana mountain in the distance. One regiment of the Lancers and one of the Dragoon Guards, as well as half the Natal Carbineers, swept the country in the neighbourhood. The smoke of blazing huts rose up like burnt-offerings from the hill-altars of Zululand. The signal-fires of the savages helped to light up the country at night, and the British were again on the field where Cetywayo had gained his first and last victory. General Marshall, with Dragoons, Lancers, irregular horse, police, and artillery, crossed the river at daybreak, and advanced in open order. But my readers will prefer to read an account of what was seen and done at Isandhlwana from the pen of a soldier who was there. The correspondent of the Times of Natal writes:—

"We pushed on very steadily and carefully, and at half-past nine our advance-guard was on the ridge overlooking the valley beyond Isandhlwana. There it lay, a magnificent stretch of country, with undulating plains for miles, only broken by dongas and small rises, and bordered by high hills on each side. Who would have thought, looking down on the quiet scene, that it had witnessed one of the most terrific fights and disasters of modern times? The grass had grown up over the whole site of what had once been our camp, and was thickly intermixed with mealie stalks and oat hay, green and growing yet. Among these lay the bodies of our poor soldiers, scattered about in all postures, and in all stages of decay; while the positions of our tents were indicated by the broken remains of boxes, trunks, tins of preserved meats, remnants of the tents themselves, and masses of disordered papers, books, and letters, etc., etc. The only thing, however, that at once drew the attention of a casual observer was the broken remains of waggons and the skeletons of horses and oxen. Everything else was hidden at first sight, and required searching for to be noticed. One thing we had observed coming along the road was the fresh spoor of a waggon or two, and we conjectured that it had been recently used in conveying crops from Sirayo's valley away into the strongholds further inland. The spoor of two mounted Kafirs, and one on foot, was also traced by the scouts fresh that morning; one of the horses was shod all round, and these men were evidently of the party left by the enemy to watch the coming of our troops. For some time after our arrival, and while preparations were being actively carried out to harness the horses to the best waggons, all the men except those on vedette or other duty were allowed to wander over the scene of the disaster. The Carbineers, under Captain Shepstone, made immediately for their camp, and tried to find any relics of their dead brethren. Nothing of any consequence was, however, found near their lines; but upon searching over the ground where the bodies of some of them had been seen on the night after Isandhlwana, Captain Shepstone came upon the bodies of Colonel Durnford, Lieutenant Scott, and nearly all the Carbineers, except London and Bullock, and those few who were killed along the fugitive path. Poor Durnford was easily recognizable, and he had on his mess waistcoat, from the pocket of which Shepstone took a small pocket-knife with his name on it. Two rings were also taken, and are with the knife to be sent home in memoriam to the colonel's father. Durrant Scott lay partially hidden under a broken piece of a waggon, and had evidently not been mutilated or touched after his death. He had his patrol jacket on, buttoned across, and although the rest of the body was only a skeleton, yet, strange to say, the face was like in life, all the hair being still on, and the skin strangely parched and dried up, although perfect. Both these bodies lay right in the midst of the rest of the young colonists who fell gallantly in defence of their country; and, judging from the position in which they all were, they must have made one last gallant stand, and have been killed altogether. None of these so found had attempted to run, but had stuck together in life as we found them in death. Knowing all of them well, and how they did their duty, I felt it almost impossible to examine any, and had to leave the scene for another one. I can only add that Durnford's body was wrapped in canvas and buried in a kind of waterwash, while all the others were covered over with stones, etc., and their names written in pencil on wood or a stone close by them.

"The bodies of the Royal Artillery and Natal Mounted Police were also buried, the only ones left untouched being those of the 24th Regiment, which was done at the express desire of Colonel Glyn and the officers, in the hope of their being able some day to do it themselves. This appeared, however, very strange to us, and many remarks were made about the seeming dishonour to part of our brave dead. However, let us hope that some day, not far distant, we may be able to return to that once blood-red field and bury all the bodies, bones, and relics that may be left. Great numbers of waggons have undoubtedly been taken away, as also everything of value in the camp, and many bodies have been, through one cause or another, either wholly or partially removed or disturbed, so as to effectually prevent recognition. I myself did not move far out of camp, and, therefore, may be a bad judge, but from what I saw there cannot have been more than 200 bodies in the camp itself, and out of these not 25 Kafirs. Doubtless, had I gone out to where the fighting first commenced, I should have found many more bodies, but I am glad for my own sake that I did not do so. Others, who had not perhaps so many bitter feelings or sorrowful remembrances of those lying around us, went further and saw more, although I cannot hear of any one having recognized any more bodies of officers, except those of the Hon. S. Vereker and young Gibson, both lieutenants in the Native Contingent. Many interesting relics were found and brought away by others, and I know of a few cases where letters addressed to relatives at home from those among the killed were found complete, and will be sent home, to be held in loving regard by the living, but will cause many sores scarce healed to be reopened. The general was anxious, for more reasons than one, to get away, and therefore, as soon as the waggons were ready, we made a start back at twelve, and reached Rorke's Drift at half-past three without any hitch whatever. Immediately on getting back I went inquiring among the different parties who had been over that day, and gleaned some other interesting facts from them. One officer in the Dragoon Guards, while out with his squadron burning kraals, found in one signs of very recent occupation, and the staff of the Queen's colour of the 1-24th. He also later on came across a kraal full of skeletons of Zulus; and this fact, taken in conjunction with the finding of large graves on the left of our camp containing bodies of the enemy, goes far to prove that the Zulus did move their dead bodies, and as the kraal was some two miles off where skeletons were found, they probably also moved them in our waggons. The forty waggons we brought away included two water carts in good preservation, one gun limber, a rocket battery cart, and three Scotch carts. All that we left behind, in number not more than twenty, were in a partially or entirely disabled condition. Counting all these, therefore, there are still sixty or seventy waggons missing, which have been taken away at different times."

The irregular horse recruited in the Cape Colony and Natal deserve special mention. Their services during the war were of a most important and valuable character. Most of them were attached to General Wood's column, and in the many daring raids in which their services were used proved excellent soldiers. Among the most prominent of these corps was that of the Kaffrarian Riflemen, under Commandant Schermbrucker. On the 30th of April, at Utrecht, on the occasion of the expiry of their engagement, that officer bade farewell to his officers and men in an eloquent address in which he recalled their principal services. Six months previously, on a public parade at Pietermaritzburg, they had been selected by Lord Chelmsford for a post of danger, in consequence of the manner in which they had fought on the borders of the Cape Colony during the Gaika rebellion. For nearly three months the important and dangerous post of Luneberg had been held, and the handful of white men had inflicted serious losses on the enemy, and secured safe communication vi Intombe to Derby. They had been attached to "that glorious column" commanded by Evelyn Wood, and formed part of the forces under Buller engaged in the rescue of Oham's people at his surrender. They were also in the disastrous storming of the Zlobane and the glorious battle of Kambula. Admirable obedience and cheerful discipline were maintained in the face of 20,000 enemies. Their last duties were the harassing ones of escorting convoys en route from Batlee Spruit to Kambula.[35] What was said, and said truly, of Schermbrucker's Irregular Horse might be said with little variation of the other corps—Baker's, Whalley's, etc. Colonial men, such as Schermbrucker, Nettleton, Shepstone, Lonsdale, Blaine, Pickering, Wilson, and many others, distinguished themselves in the field, and it can be said with equal truth and justice that the volunteer force and levies, officers and men, proved most valuable auxiliaries.

The Transvaal Republic had dragged along a sad existence for many years, troubled constantly by native incursions from without, and debt, quarrelling, and discontent from within, when the Rev. Thomas F. Burgers was elected President in the year 1872. He was to revolutionize the entire country, and to make a new and improved Holland in Southern Africa. Gifted with certain talents, among which that of oratory was conspicuous, Burgers was deplorably deficient in a knowledge of men and business. His plans were utopian, visionary, and unsound. He caused hundreds of Boers to leave their adopted country, by forcing on them a system of education from which the teachings of religion were excluded; contracted a loan of £300,000 for a railway from Delagoa Bay, which would have cost millions; designed a fanciful coat of arms and flag; caused gold coins to be issued with his own likeness stamped upon them, and played such "fantastic tricks before high heaven" as to help forward that crisis of bankruptcy and ruin from which it would have been very difficult, even by an exactly opposite course, to have saved the country.

During the absence of the President in Europe, in 1875, Sekukuni, the principal chief of the Bapedi people, broke out in rebellion. In April, 1876, he was called upon to submit, but in place of doing so boldly claimed the larger portion of the Lydenburg and Pretoria districts. A commando then marched against him, and succeeded in taking "Mathebi's Kop," which was grandiloquently styled the Gibraltar of South Africa. A subsequent attack upon Sekukuni's head kraal was a failure. The prosecution of the war was then entrusted to volunteers, and after a short time an inglorious peace was concluded. This treaty was only made to be broken, as it was repudiated and treated with contempt by Sekukuni.

The peace of all British South Africa was seriously jeopardized by the weakness and fatuity of the Government of the Transvaal Republic. They were unable to conquer Sekukuni, and were so threatened by Cetywayo as to make an incursion by that potentate exceedingly probable. If the outworks of civilization were not looked after there would soon be serious danger to the fortress. Sir Theophilus Shepstone was therefore appointed special Commissioner. He arrived at Pretoria in January, 1877, and an extraordinary session of the Volksraad was held in February. A radical reform, legislative, executive, and judicial, or the British flag, was the alternative laid before them. They chose the former, but remedies then came too late. The patient was incurable. President Burgers declared that a new constitution could not save them. On the 8th of March the Raad broke up, and on the 12th of April Sir Theophilus Shepstone formally annexed the Transvaal territory to the British crown. It was, without doubt, incomparably the best course for a bankrupt country, perfectly unable to cope either with its debts or its foes, but it is very doubtful whether it was the wisest course for the British Government. An immense burden was at once placed upon our shoulders, and the people furnished with a grievance easily fanned into discontent, and perhaps even into rebellion, by Hollanders and others who could make capital out of factious opposition and a trade out of revolution. If Sir Theophilus Shepstone had only waited long enough, the people would have begged upon their knees for protection and assistance when attacked by the enormous armies of the Zulu king. If we had intervened in such a crisis, we would have obtained the assistance—valuable assistance—of thousands of mounted burghers; whereas, when we did fight really for the Transvaal, its inhabitants were so disgusted with what had transpired, as to render almost no assistance. There is no doubt that we managed the annexation of this country badly, and have been compelled to suffer for it. By a policy of delay, which would certainly have been less kind but incomparably more wise, the people would have been forced to come as suppliants for protection and annexation. Their lives and property when threatened by Cetywayo, could have alone been saved by British intervention. It can certainly be argued, on the other side, that delay was particularly dangerous, and that if we had not at once established ourselves in the Transvaal, the Zulus would have lighted a fire which would have spread quickly throughout every native tribe, and have endangered the peace of all our settlements. Sir Theophilus Shepstone was in an excellent position to judge of the necessity, and her Majesty's Government has uniformly upheld the policy adopted by him in annexing the Transvaal.

Sekukuni had proved a thorn in the side of the Republic which they had really been unable to get rid of. The peace with this chief was quite illusory, and only betrayed weakness on the part of the Dutch. We cannot be surprised, therefore, that he soon resumed hostilities. Under British rule an expedition was, in 1878, sent against him, consisting of volunteers and native police, under the command of Captain Clark. This force was not strong enough, and portions of the 13th and 80th Regiments, together with mounted infantry and volunteers, were despatched under Colonel Rowland. An unprecedented drought rendered operations almost impossible, and the expedition had to return, after leaving a portion of the 80th Regiment to guard the passes. The great war with Cetywayo soon absorbed all our attention and efforts, therefore the attack on Sekukuni in his stronghold was postponed. It was reserved for Sir Garnet Wolseley to complete, late in 1879, that which had been commenced previous to the close of 1878. The rebellion of this native chief was specially one against the Republic of the Transvaal, and we had to take it over among the other heavy liabilities of that State.

Sir Bartle Frere found it desirable to proceed to Natal early in 1879, and remained there during the crisis which resulted from the Isandhlwana disaster. On his return the High Commissioner passed through the Transvaal, and found that grumbling and discontent had been fomented into incipient rebellion. Mass meetings of the farmers were held, a people's committee was appointed, and a determination to recover their independence was freely expressed. With perfect firmness and straightforwardness, accompanied by admirable tact and patience, Sir Bartle Frere pointed out the real position of affairs. Another petition to the Imperial Government for restoration of their independence was sent through the High Commissioner, and in this way the outbreak of feeling was calmed for the time. Special envoys had been previously sent in vain to gain this object, and it really seemed hoping against hope to imagine that the Imperial Government could again allow the re-establishment of such a republic as that which had been found unable either to defend or govern the people whom it was supposed to rule.

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