FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF THE KAFIR TRIBES, AND TO THE RECENT Despatches from Governor Sir H. G. Smith, Bart. COPY of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir H. G. SMITH, Bart., G.C.B., to Earl GREY. MY LORD, King William's Town, January 13, 1852. I HAVE the honour to report that the result of the operations I had projected beyond the Kei is one of signal success, and has occasioned a loss to the enemy of upwards of 30,000 head of fine cattle, many horses, and innumerable goats; a great number of his warriors having been slain on two occasions by the troops and native allies. No additional expense has been incurred, as I was enabled to take from the line of the Buffalo the transport forming the depôt of provisions, without hazarding too great a reduction of my stores at head quarters. The "prestige" of our power has been generally and emphatically re-established, and the black man sees that the white will be triumphant, on the just principles which have guided our proceedings in South Africa. The country of Kreili abounded in cattle and flocks of goats; the crops were large and flourishing; he was in no manner interfered with by this Government; nevertheless this restless and fickle savage aided and encouraged an unjust war with which he was in no degree identified; hence his punish ment. CAPE OF GOOD No. 1. No. 1. Eyre of 6th Dec. 1851, 2. My despatch, No. 229*, of the 20th ultimo, will have put your Lordship in possession of the reports of Major-General Somerset to the 15th of that month. Up to that period I had not received Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre's report of his able passage of the river Kei, and the peculiar ability shown by the enemy in its defence. I now enclose his very lucid despatch, and the general order which I have issued to mark my approbation of this enterprising Report of Lieut.-Col. officer and of the troops under his command. At a distance from the scene of and General Order. operations against these athletic and daring savages, I am aware that the language I use in recording the exertions of the troops may be regarded as extravagant. Such is not the case. This passage of the river, obstructed and defended as it was. merits my just encomium, and I confidently trust will receive that of your Lordship and his Grace the Duke of Wellington. I also enclose Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre's report of his energetic operations on the Reports of Lieut.Col"T'somo," included in which is one of Lieutenant Clifton, of the 12th Royal Dec. 1851. enclosing Lancers, displaying the spirit of a British dragoon in South Africa. No. 2. Eyre of 14th & 21st one from Lieut. Clifton. Dec. 1851. The various despatches of Major General Somerset show the successful No. 3. course of his proceedings subsequently to the 15th ultimo. That of the Report of Major-4th instant encloses a report from Colonel Mackinnon, by which it appears Genl. Somerset of 22d that the troops detached under him were so ably disposed as to ensure a No. 4. most successful result. The report of that very excellent and intrepid officer Report of Major-Gen. Captain Tylden describes a very smart affair between the Kafirs and his Somerset of 29th Dec. native levies. This officer is never mentioned, except in terms of the highest praise. He has during the war maintained the distant and isolated post of For Sir H. G. Smith's Despatch, No. 229, December 20, vide Correspondence with the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope relative to the State of the Kafir Tribes, presented to Parliament by Her Majesty's Command, 3d February 1852, page 221. 1851. No. 5. Report of MajorGen. Somerset of 4th Jan. 1852, enclosing those of Col. Mackinnon and Capt. Tylden. CAPE OF GOOD Whittlesea, and has constantly had some hundreds of levies and burghers available for the field. HOPE. No.6. Report of Major-Gen 1852, p. 16, enclosing Somerset of 5th Jan. one from Lieut.-Col. Eyre. No. 7. General Order, 3d 4. These distant and extensive operations have been ably conducted by Major General Somerset; and he has been well supported by Colonel Mackinnon, Lieutenant-Colonels Michel, Sixth Regiment, Nesbitt, 60th Rifles, Pole, 12th Lancers, Napier, Cape Mounted Rifles, Burns, Second Queen's Regiment, and Sutton, Cape Mounted Rifles, Assistant Quartermaster General, and indeed by every officer and soldier of the troops and levies under his command. Officers and men, with a single blanket, have been exposed to violent rains, in a country covered with high grass; their marches have been long and harassing; they have forded with great difficulty the swollen mountain torrents, having been obliged in some instances to swim them; all of which has been encountered and endured as their Queen and country expect. 5. Lieutenant Colonel Eyre has had a separate command beyond the Kei of a thousand cavalry and infantry, which he has exercised with his usual judgment, and, if possible, with a greater degree of enterprise and activity; twelve thousand head of cattle have been taken by his troops, and well has he been supported by Majors Pinckney, 73d Regiment, Bedford, 60th Rifles, Tottenham, 12th Lancers, and by Captain Robertson, Royal Engineers, Acting Assistant Quartermaster General, and every officer and soldier. 6. Lieut. Colonel Skipwith of the 43d Light Infantry has been placed in reserve with a corps on the right bank of the Kei. I had previously employed him in command of a column to Forts White and Cox, and his readiness and prompt obedience gave me that insight into his character which induces me to calculate on future valuable service from him in command of the 43d Light Infantry. 7. I have been compelled to regulate the disposal of this enormous herd of bullocks upon the principle established by my predecessor as commander of the forces, Sir George Berkeley, viz., making it the property of the captors. A practice of this nature, once adopted, becomes irrevocable among natives and levies, and I have consequently adhered to it. All the troops, whether beyond the Kei, within British Kaffraria, or on the colonial border, will share in the distribution. Numbers have been given to the Fingoes near Butterworth, in reward of their services; one hundred and fifty to the Chief "Toise," who accompanied the expedition, and exerted himself with much zeal, and eight hundred to the T'Slambie Tribes, with the exception of that of "Umhala,' with whom I have still, by fine or otherwise, to deal. Some few have been given to guides, interpreters, &c. When any branded colonial cattle has been recognized, it has been reserved for the owners. 6. 8. I must not conclude this despatch without acquainting your Lordship that I have been much urged, especially by the Rev. Mr. Gladwin, to retain a post at Butterworth, an isolated position 90 miles hence, and separated from British Kaffraria by a deep and rapid river, frequently impassable at this season of the year. Major General Somerset had left Lieut.-Colonel Eyre there, pending my approval of a measure totally foreign to my most explicit instructions, of which the following is an extract: "In the event of Kreili "submitting to the conditions imposed on him, or any other cause which may "induce the cessation of hostilities, Colonel Eyre will leave it optional with "the residents at Butterworth to remain there. If hostilities do not cease, he "will insist on every British subject quitting Butterworth with his column, "which will of course return to head quarters by the route by which it advanced, so soon as a just, though, I trust, severe chastisement, shall have "been inflicted on the fickle and deceitful Chief Kreili and his subjects. "Colonel Eyre will also, in conjunction with the British resident Mr. Fynn, "and the Rev. Mr. Gladwin, offer his protection to all Fingoes who may desire "the protection of the British Government; and if they wish to leave the territory of Kreili, Colonel Eyre will render them any aid to that effect they may require. It is my desire that Colonel Eyre make no unnecessary delay at Butterworth in returning to head quarters." Nothing has since occurred to induce me to deviate in any way from the line of proceeding laid down in these instructions, and I have accordingly ordered Colonel Eyre to return to head quarters, bringing with him the corps of reserve under LieutenantColonel Skipwith. Reasons may be advanced in favour of the occupation of Butterworth until Kreili should have sought terms (and I would have enter tained proposals for concession on his part, and payment for the injury committed 66 66 НОРЕ. on the traders); but for one in support of the measure there are fifty to con- CAPE OF GOOD demn it. In a military point of view, the matter admits of no discussion. In a political one, the case may be thus summed up:-The independent Chief Kreili had aided, abetted, and encouraged the rebel subjects of Her Majesty, who four years ago had voluntarily placed themselves in a position against which their turbulent and unruly nature revolted, and he had induced the Queen's Hottentot subjects to fraternize with them. Kreili had also robbed the traders whom he had received under his protection, and, in opposition to my injunctions, had admitted into his country the Hottentot rebels and the cattle of the rebel Gaikas. He thus entailed upon himself the punishment he has received from the troops as well as from the tribes of Faku and others who have fallen upon his rear. The necessary chastisement has been inflicted; and it is my duty to turn the whole weight of our present power upon the rebels close around me. The argument that the prosecution of continued operations against Kreili must, owing to his open country, have obliged him speedily to submit, and have caused him to induce the rebels to do the same, is contrary to my view. I will not acknowledge his interference in any shape. Sandili, Macomo, and all the other chiefs must be beaten down by physical force never to rise again, and not be partially subdued through the medium of feudal authority. Now is the time, if I rightly understand your Lordship's instructions, to subdue, and for ever, these turbulent Gaikas; and my next step will be, the moment the men are somewhat refreshed, to fill the Amatolas with troops, and to carry on systematically that devastation, the horrid result of savage war, which will induce the people to submit to my terms, based alone on what is calculated to ensure the future peace and tranquillity of the unoffending colonists. However liberal the British nation has been to this colony, I could neither ask nor expect that liberality to extend itself to my continued prosecution of distant wars. The object is to establish a future immutable frontier of security to this colony, and then to leave the savages beyond to fight or to "sit," as may please themselves, without our interference, which, although dictated by humanity and Christian principles, is productive of no good result. Their non-appreciation of our exertions for their benefit has been too clearly demonstrated by Moshesh (who himself expressed to me his desire as regarded his position, and who had previously, with all the other chiefs beyond the Orange River, memorialized Government to establish throughout a boundary line); by Kreili, who was never interfered with; by Sandili, Macomo, and all the Gaikas, who had freely submitted to the rule established in British Kaffraria; by the ungrateful Hottentot race of the Kat River and eastern frontier, so cherished and fostered by various institutions; and by the Kafirs, tolerated and sustained in the Blinkwater and Fuller's Hoek, all of whom became, without a single tangible cause, the bitter enemies and murderers of their benefactors, the white men. 9. There is nothing connected with war, however favourable its general features, that does not contain some subject of grief; and thus it is I have to lament in common with the whole army, the loss of that officer of great promise, Major Wilmot, in whom I ever justly placed so much confidence. He fell on the 1st instant in the command of a patrole, which he had originated, in the Fish River Bush. I am of opinion that his zeal on this occasion induced him to penetrate deeper into the dense bush, so infested with wary bandits, than was prudent with so small a force, for heretofore his caution had equalled his judicious spirit of enterprise. Be that as it may, Her Majesty has lost one of the brightest ornaments of the service, and this army an intrepid commander. The patrole was reconducted to Fort Peddie by Lieutenant A.W.Mackenzie, of the 91st Regiment, in a most gallant and organized manner, having destroyed many huts of the enemy's location, and taken a few cattle. No. 7. General Order, Jan. 3, 1852. CAPE OF GOOD Encl. 1 in No. 1. SCHEDULE of ENCLOSURES in Governor Sir H. SMITH'S DESPATCH to EARL GREY, Page ditto 2.-Reports of ditto of 14th and 21st December, enclosing one from Lieutenant 3. Report of Major General Somerset, 22d December 1851 Mackinnon and Captain Tylden) 7.-General Order, 3d January 1852 1.-Report of Lieutenant Colonel Eyre, 6th December 1851; and General Order, 7th January 1852 4 6 8 29th December 1851 of 4th January 1852 (enclosing those of Colonel Enclosure 1 in No. 1. Butterworth, Missionary Station, December 6, 1851. SIR, I HAVE the honour to report, for the information of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, that, agreeably to my instructions, I proceeded from King William's Town on the 1st instant, with a force as per margin, and reached that night the Doorrenlaagte, 3 miles short of the Gonubi. On the 2d we passed the site of old Fort Wellington, and bivouacked on the Konga. On the 3d we reached Fort Warden, and halted for the night. On the 4th we marched at daylight, and proceeded to the waggon drift over the Great Kei, en route to Butterworth. I gave strict orders, according to my instructions, that no act of aggression should be committed by the troops, and that no shot was to be fired, except in defence; but there was scarcely a necessity for such precaution, for the indications of the hostile intentions of the tribes around us were ample and unequivocal. Having advanced to the heights. which form the right bank of the great valley of the Kei, and previously to our descent, I observed a large body of Kafirs assembled at the drift, and others in irregular groups collected on all the various adjacent summits that command the ford. In our rear also, suddenly, and for the first time, appeared a large body of Kafirs, marching apparently in close order, preceded by an unusual proportion of horsemen. A portion only of this force was apparent above the distant heights; but I should estimate those I saw to be at least 300 or 400 men. Being apprehensive that they would endeavour to press upon us at the drift, or in our descent while entangled among the intricacies of the kloof, I thought it expedient to divide my force, and to leave in rear, concealed under the crest of the heights, four companies (three of the 73d and one of the 60th Rifles), under Major Pinckney, to keep in check the force that appeared hanging on our rear, until we had effected the passage of the river. I had scarcely placed these companies in ambush, and given the necessary order to Major Pinckney, when a volley was suddenly and quite unexpectedly fired at us on our right front. We soon drove the enemy away, but not without a sharp resistance, and some loss, which fell principally on Captain Campbell's company. Having reached the bed of the river, I found that the enemy occupied a strong position, which he seemed prepared to defend. The ford was temporarily rendered impracticable for waggons, by the enemy having ingeniously heaped large stones together in the river. On his side also (the left bank) were erected a number of stone breastworks one above the other, which formed a somewhat formidable flank defence, and was proof against musketry. To have attacked this position in front would have caused much loss. I therefore determined to turn it, and take it in reverse, the ground being favourable for such movement. I ordered the Grenadiers of the 73d, under Captain Bewes, immediately to cross the river higher up, under a krantz which concealed them from the enemy. I supported them by a company of the 60th Rifles under Captain Moseley. These companies having forded the river, and scrambled up the craggy heights on the opposite side, extended and advanced in admirable order and gallant style, cheering and rushing on the enemy whenever he showed himself. By this movement the enemy's position was effectually turned, and he speedily abandoned the drift. He fought, however, well, and, in some instances, desperately. One of our Grenadiers, Private Connor, received six assagai wounds, besides a gunshot wound, and forty dead bodies are reported to have been seen in that particular part of the field. While this was going on, I sent another company, under Captain Rennie, to drive off the enemy who had assembled on the right bank near a krantz which commanded the drift on that side. This duty was effectually performed by that officer. Having secured these points, I ordered * Rank and file, 12th Lancers, 99; Royal Engineers, 2; 60th Rifles, 216; 73d Regiment, 430; Cape Mounted Rifles, 63; Levies, 146. Total, 956. Captain Campbell's company to cross the river, and take up ground on the right of the CAPE OF GOOD Grenadiers. The passage was effected without resistance; but Captain Campbell soon became severely engaged, but he repulsed the enemy at all points. The Kafirs showed remarkable boldness. Many had not fire-arms, but they advanced close to our men, and in some instances threw stones at them. Having secured these points, and cleared away the obstacles from the drift, the cavalry and waggons crossed without impediment or resistance, and the rear was efficiently brought up by Major Bedford. As soon as we had reached the summit of the opposite heights, I signalled to Major Pinckney to follow us with the force under his command. That officer had been sharply engaged at first on his left flank, which was held by Lieutenant Knox's company; but the enemy having been repulsed and defeated, no longer offered any resistance, and these four companies descended into the bed of the river, and crossed without receiving a shot. We met with no further resistance until we reached the final ridge that bounds on that side the great valley of the Kei. Here we found, strongly posted, a fresh body of Kafirs under cover of the bush. They lined the crest of a narrow but steep ridge, having a kloof in their rear. I turned this position on our left, by sending the Light Company, under Lieutenant Gawler, to ascend the steep mountain which commanded it. In front I moved up four companies under Major Pinckney, two in extended order, and two in support. The enemy was soon driven from his position, but not without a sharp resistance. sharp resistance. We reached the springs at nine o'clock at night, the men having toiled and fought from daylight, without having once halted for refreshment. Having given orders for the infantry and waggons to follow on the following day, I proceeded with the cavalry to Butterworth that night, to ensure the safety of the European inhabitants of that station. The enemy's loss on this occasion I cannot myself estimate, but it must have been severe. The Kafir reports acknowledge to the loss of 100. Ours was as follows; three men killed of the 73d, two men wounded of the 60th Rifles, one of whom is since dead, 12 wounded of the 73d, of whom two since are dead, and one man wounded of the Levies; one horse shot and three wounded. I cannot speak in too high terms of the conduct of all engaged in this affair; but for the coolness and steadiness of the men, under the able direction of their officers, our loss, I am convinced, would have been considerable. I beg to express my thanks to the following officers especially for their assistance and support during this arduous day; viz., to Major Pinckney, my second in command, and who commanded the 73d Regiment on this occasion; Major Bedford, commanding the 60th Rifles; Major Tottenham, commanding the 12th Lancers, who, although the service was not one in which cavalry could be employed, rendered me personally every assistance; Captain Campbell, commanding the Cape Mounted Rifles, who dismounted, and in skirmishing order did good service; and Captain Fielding, commanding the Levies. To Captain Robertson, R.E., Acting Deputy Quartermaster General, I was much indebted for his able and valuable assistance. My adjutant, Lieutenant Reeve, also rendered me much assistance. My guide, Mr. Conway, I found most efficient. I start this evening in pursuit of Kreili's cattle, which I am in hopes of capturing. Lieut.-Colonel Cloete, C.B. and K.H., (Signed) I have, &c. HOPE. GENERAL ORDER. No. 218. Head Quarters, King William's Town, THE Commander-in-Chief has only this day received Lieut-Colonel Eyre's despatch, reporting the passage of the Kei River, on the 4th ultimo, the original and duplicate reports having been intercepted. His Excellency desires the publication of this despatch, so ably describing the gallant achievement, the bold and continued defence of the enemy, the quick perception and rapid judgment of Lieut.-Colonel Eyre, and the prompt and gallant execution of his orders by the officers and troops under his command. This is the first instance during this war, of the enemy throwing obstacles in fords and constructing breast-works; and this affair, while it reflects every honour and credit upon Lieut.-Colonel Eyre and the troops, has so proved their superiority to the enemy over the Kei that he has scarcely since offered resistance. Lieut.-Colonel Eyre, who has from the commencement of the war been so successful in every operation, has upon this occasion displayed, with cool judgment and determination, those qualities which constitute an able commander, and ensure that confidence which obtain success. The Lieut.-Colonel has clearly and impressively described his operations, as well with regard to his own disposition of the troops as to the activity and energy with which the respective Commanders obeyed his orders, affording a practical illustration of that military principle which directs a flank movement with skill, and thus avoids the unnecessary loss of gallant men. |