The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-05-03 00:00:00

IN ACTION WITH COLONEL PEARSON.

Messrs. Donald Currie and Co's Mail steamer Edin-
burgh Castle, which left the Cape on the Ist April,
arrived at London Docks on Saturday. Among the
passengers of the Edinburgh Castle was Dr. Edward
Mansell, M.D., who was one of the surgeons belonging
to Colonel Pearson's column. The doctor was attached
to the staff, and he was one of those shut up at Ekhowe,
Dr. Mansell, together with 25 other medical men, left
England about a year agJ to proceed to South Africa in
the employ of the Government He has said that
Pearson's command started from Fort Tenedos to ad-
vance into Zululand, well pleased with the Rrospect of
some lively work before them, and glad to be rid of
the sickly neighbourhood of the Tugela. He pro-
ceeded with the column on the march. The force ad-
vanced with a good deal of caution, the mounted
men keeping a sharp look out for the enemy. At
night the pickets were doubled, and the Native Con-
tingent were sent out in all directions to scout—a
service for which they were better qualified than the
whites. These native soldiers of ours were armed
with assegais and knobkerries. only every tenth man
having an Enfield rifle. At present, however, the
proportion of rifles allowed them was greater. At
the battle ef Inyezane. which was fought on the same
day as Isandula, the Natives showed the white feather,
and some of them tried to take shelter in the ambulance
waggons. The credit of defeating the 4,000 Zulus be-
longed to about 600 Englishmen, comprising portions
of the Buffs and 99th Regiment. They seized the hill,
which was the key to the position. and from there
broke the force of the Zulu attack. One or two of the
Zulu leaders were good marksmen, and made excellent
shooting that day. He saw two soldiers fall, shot
through the forehead by the same Zulu. Fortu-
nately, however, the mass of the enemy fired far
too high. Colonel Pearson's command reached
Ekhowe next day. The place was a deserted
Swedish mission station. The missionaries had been
ordered off by Cetewayo. Church, dwelling, and
other buildings at Ekhowe were uninhabited. Al-
though no one had been about the premises for a year,
the doors were locked and everything was intact. The
change from Tenedos was striking. The surrounding
country was hilly and the climate was invigorating.
The water however, although clear, was very bad, it
being full of impurities, which nothing but precipita-
tion with alum removed. At Ekhowe, when the
column arrived, there was one of the finest orange
groves in Natal to be seen, with the trees full of ripe
fruit. It seemed a shame, but every one of these trees
were cut down before he left to strengthen the defences
the Colonel had decided to construct. When the
column halted at Ekhowe the tents were at once put
up, and the waggons were collected together. Every-
body was in high spirits, and it was expected that the
force would soon meet Lord Chelmsford's column at the
rendezvous of Unablatusi, which was t wel ve miles further
on, and from which point the combined forces were to
march on Cetywayo's kraal, where the last and
only serious battle was expected to be fought. In
the course of two or three days it began to leak out
that the troops had met with a disaster at Isandula.
As the extent of the loss became known, the men
were much depressed about it. For quite a long time
the officers said nothing to the privates about the
matter. The work of fortifying Ekhowe was carried
on with much vigour once it was begun, and the bulk
of the labour devolved upon the regulars. They had
two wounded Zulu prisoners, and these men seemed
to be very grateful for the kind way they were
treated. Both Zulus bore their suffering with stoical
indifference, and one of them had first a leg and
then an arm amputated without flinching. The
doctor left Ekhowe on the 28th, by which time
the fortification was all but completed. The date in
question was the one on which Colonel Pearson sent off
the Native Contingent and the mounted men, in
order te put his camp in the best condition to stand a
siege. It was about noon when the force started, and
although they expected to encounter great difficulty
in getting through the Zulu country yet they. passed
along unmolested, and by dint ot hard riding and
marching the friendly shelter of Fort Tenedos was
gained about half-past ten the same night. He re-
mained there at Fort Pearson about six weeks, and
then left for home. The place from which the helio-
graph signals were made to Colonel Pearson, at
Ekhowe, was on a hill six miles north of Fort Tenedos.
—Daily Chronicle.