The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-05-24 00:00:00

THE BATTLE OF ZLOBANE
DESCRIBED.

The Standard of Tuesday gives a long letter from
their Special Correspondent with General Wood
(under date Kambula Camp, Zululand, April 2). We
make the following extracts from the letter, which
graphically describes the battle of the Zlobane
Mountain—the mountain itself being described by the
correspondent as "a remarkable place even in this
land of table-topped mountains

The mountain It-self runs nearly east and west, and it con-
sists of two plateaus—one, the larger or western, being
about three miles long by aimile and a half wide, and con-
siderably higher, and connected with the smaller plateau by
an %Iniost precipitous descent called a krantz and a narrow
neck of more level ground, commanded, however, by rocks and
caves on either side. The summit of those two plateaus can
only be attained by most difficult paths, one at the east
and the other at the west end of the mountain. The edges
of both plateaus are precipitous, with caves at the base of
the vertical descents, or " kratrzes," as they are here called,
and then occur alnacist precipitous elopes strewn with boulders
that make ascending or descending where even It is practi-
cable a work of the most severe labour. The caves are peopled
with Kaffirs, who herd their cattle on the summit, confining
them safely by a wall which has been erected over the neck.
between the two plateaus. The movement which took
place was one intended by Colonel Wood to create a
diversion in favour of the relieving column which was to
enter the Zulu country at the Tugela mouth, to open up com-
munications with the beleagured column of Colonel
Pearson at Ekowe. It was intended also to serve the,
further purpose of capturing the large numbers of,
cattle which were thought by the Zulus to be Betel
on the plateaus of this formidable mountain. . . . In addi-
tion to the mounted troops were two battalions of Wood's;
Irregulars (natives on foot) and some two hundred of Oham's ;
warriors, under Major W. Knox Leet, of the 13th Regiment..
Colonel Wood, V.C., commanding the column, and his Staff,
conesting of Captain the Hon. A. Campbell, Mr. Lloyd,
Political Agent and interpreter, Lieutenant Lysous, cf the
90th Regiment, orderly officer, and an escort composed half
of mounted men of toe 90th and half pf natives. All the
force, though proceeding separately, rounded the west end
of the Ziobane mountain, Colonel Bailer's force going to the
east end by a detour which took him five or six miles to the
south.

Though the march was by night, It does not seem to
have escaped the quick e) es of the 'Lahti. for two reports of
a gun were heard and fires were made at the krantzes under
the southern summit of the higher plateau, evidently as
signals giving warning of the hostile approach. Oue batta-
lion of Wood's Irregulars, under Major Lest, accompanied
Colonel Buller, while the other, with Oham's men, remained
at a place called Patter's Stone, a few miles from camp, to
join Colonel Russell's force. Colonel Buller's force
bivouacked about seven miles from the east end of
the mountain and then rode on again ih the dark
close to the path, where, after a rest of half an
hour, they commenced the ascent. The way up lay
in a sort of indent of the mountain and for eight hun-
dred yards the ground, though difficult, was passable on
horseback. Then came a small plateau, and then a second
steep ascent. While struggling up this a cross fire was
opened on the colums from both sides of the Indented
summit—volleys first saluting them, and a rapid indepen-
dent fire, which soon began to tell on the mounted
men, who were led by Buller himself. The assailants
were hidden in caves and rocks, and peppered the
horsemen with impunity, as they had to lead their
horses. It was here that Lieutenant Williams was shot,
one horse also being killed and several wounded. The
irregulars brought up the rear, and all climbed the ascent
with the most praiseworthy courage and rapidity. On
gaining the summit Baller's horsemen rode to the south side
of the mouniain, clearing away Kaffir,' who had climbed
over the edge and were firing. Major Lest also threw out
his natives acro3s the plate tu, aeuaing two companies over
the edge to drive off the Zulus who had so hampered the
ascent. There was not much d,filculty in clearing the upper
plat,eau, and only very few cattle were found there, but
from the top, about an hour after the summit was gained, a
large number of the irregulars of ituesell's force were seen
in the valley far below gathering numerous herds of
cattle, and indulging occasionally in a chase of some
of the Zulus who had been hunted out of the rocks. Toe
irregulars got together all the cattle on the upper plateau,
and proceeued to drive them down, when Major Lest taw
Zulus appearing along the edges, and the mounted men
making for the descent to the low, r plateau, followed by
numbers of the enemy. Colonel Batten had engaged them
with the different mounted corps, including the Burdher
force under Piet Uys, but they came over the edges of the
plateau at points inaccessible to any but a Zulu in such
numbers that he was obliged to retire towards the neck, and
order that every one should try and descend the krantz to the
lower Mountain. Ills almost perpendicular, three hundred
feet in height, composed of loose angular boulders, and very
narrow. To descend is exceedingly difficult, at the best of
times, but with so many men to go under fire of a mercilea,
pursuing enemy, it became impossible. some idea of the
character of the place may be obtained from the fact that
earlie. In the day, when It was proposed to tend down some
spare horses that way, those who suggested it came to the .
conclusion that it was impracticable.

The moment the descent began, the Zulus, who were
ljing perdu in the rocks and caves on either side the neck,
opened a heavy fire, which began to tell directly. S me few
who were leaoing did get down safely, but the inevitable
rush ensued, and the Pass was soon choked by struggling
men and horses, while a hail of ballets poured in from all
directions. Men and horses fell rapidly, and it was apparent
that a catastrophe must occur. Major Leet'a horse and a led
horse were shot almoit simultaneously, but he was lucky
enough to come across a pack horse of the Artillery, which he
secured, and having cleared the saddle as far as possible
managed to mount. Some of those who got safe'y on to the
lower plateau, and amongst them a Commandant Rad of a
light horse corps, rallied a few men and tried to cover the
retreat of the men still struggling down tire pass, and did
excellent work in keeping down the fire of the Zulus.
Colonel Buller, like the gallant soldier that he is, remained
on the higher plateau doing his best to lessen the paulc,
and was amongst the last to come down. A few of the rear
detacnment were overwhelmed by the advancing Zulus
and assegaid, and amongst them I believe was Piet Cis,
the gallant Dutch leader, who reiurned, it 13 said, to
try and save his sun, who was one of those in the
rear.. Once on the lower plateau, the wounded and
those who had lost their horses were, by Colonel
Boiler's orders, =anted behind the men who had
.Peeil rallied, with orders to descend the west end of the

lower mountain, while the others covered their retreat. The
order was carried out in tine style, Colonel Ballet seeming to
infuse his own coolness and self-possession into those about
hire. Whet, the covering party, however, fell hack, they
were followed by a rush of Zulus, who surged after them
like an angry wave that had just broken through a feeble
barrier. There was oely a steep, difficult descent, at the
wett end, and for which all were making; and, fear-
ing that the scene at the krantz would be re-enacted,
and remembering that the north side of the mountain
was not quite impracticable, Major Leet suggested that
an escape should be attempted that way. Colonel Buller at
once acquiesced, and shouted to the flying covering earty,
but they either did not hear or did not heed, and went on to
what proved the death of many amongst them. A similar
scene mast have ensued here, the Zulus above driving and
slaying the retreating mass before them, the survivors hav-
ing to run the gauntlet of a difficult descent under fire, and
Grey escaping by twos and' threes in an utterly broken and
disorganised condition.
What follows is only a tale of marvellous escapes.
Major Leet, who bed Suggested e descent tp the north, of
cqurse adopted this mode, and was followed beeLieuttnaut
Duacombe, of le ood's irregulars, and Lieuter ant Smith, of
the Frontier Light Horse, who was on foot, his horse having
been killed. Tney had only got a short way down when &
large body of Zulus descried them and gave chase. The way
was steep and encumbered by boulders, amongst which
they had to climb, while the Zulus sprang from one to
the other like apes. When half way down the fug:tives
found themselves on the edge of a precipice, and
their
succeeded, pursuers,et th ande exp
expense,
etlaveyreehtiaedehtleo.pteuthrn.
They
face
luckilyhowever, of greatly dimintshing the , distance between them
arid tbe enemy, who were now able to throw assegais as well
as fire at them. Lieutenant Duncombe, who was, I believe,
an efficer of the West York Militia, now found his horse
o f
give out dead beaten, and dismounted running along by the
side of Major Leet's horse, and turning now and theu to fire,
and killing three of hie foes as they came within aseegat
cyst of him. Smith, who had been on foot, now gave
out exhausted, arid sat down, and a moment's celay
would have been fatal. Mejor Leet made him lay hold
of his saddle and keep on, but the ground was too
rocky, and he could not go far. His preserver then, with ,
immense labour, managed to haul him up behiud on to the '
horse, neither having stirrups, arid they strugge d painfully
on, poor Danoomb being fluidly overtaken and assegaied, in
spite of his gallant defence. The two fugitives hate several
narrow escapes, but finally got down the mountain and
evaded a perty of Zulus who tried to cut them off, joining the
porticn of Bullet's command who managed to ve.. down the
west end of the mountain. Major Leet now pushed on to try
and find Colonel Russell to Lice him to cover the retreat ; but
after proceeding two miles in the direction that t Meer was
presumed to be, and seeing no sign of him, while the sorely
tried horse broke down, unable to proceed beyond a slow
walk, he returned to report his want of success to Colonel
Buller, who was drawing off the force which remained with
him, the retreat being conducted in an orderly manner, a
rear guard of the pluckiest shooting the enemy down as they
charged up often to within a hundred yards of the little
column.
Colonel Wood and his staff, contisting of Mr. Lloyd, the
political agent, Captain the Hon. A. Campbell, of the Cold-
streams, and Lieut. Lysons, of the 96th Light Infantry, a
very young soldier, hut an excellent specimen of the modern
type of highly and specially trained officers, took a part in
the transaction which deserves record in an account which,
however incomplete, is not likely to be much expanded.
They went out after the column had started on the
evening of the 27th, joining Colonel Russell's force at
their bivouac south of the mountain to be attacked.
Buller started in advance, and Colonel Wood and his
Staff did not reach the scene of the fight to force the
passage up at the eastern end of the mountain until after
Buller had attained the summit. The hidden foe which
had so annoyed Bailer's and Lee's force was still lying in
ambush, and the moment the group of officers and their
escort came within range they reopened fire, bullets patter-
ing about them with a c orectness of aim that boded no
good. Colonel Wood, however, who ha: taken part in as
many desperate ventures as any man in the British witty, was
not the man to be daunted by the fire, and he and his Staff
pressed on steadily up the steep ascent. Poor Mr.
Lloyd, whose knowledge of the Zulus was invaluable to his
chief, was the first to fall mortally wounded. Immediately
before Colonel Wood had seen a Zeta rise from a rook end
apparently cover him with his rifle. When the trigger was
pulled, however, Lloyd said, "Oh, lam hit." Colonel Wood
asked "Where are you hit t'' and the reply was, "In
the small of my back." Colonel Wood himself took
the dying man in his arms, but Captain Campbell ran
up andeeald, "I will take him, down, Sir." One of the
escort came to zesist, and the two bore the poor fellow
behind the shelter of e ledse of rock. Within four
seconds Colonel Wood's horse was shot. lie then
directed some of Weatherley's men who were following
to advance and dislodge the few Zulus who were doing. all
the damage. They did not much relish the task, and Cap-
tain Campbell at once asked permission to perform the
duty. It was absolutely eeeessetry to drive the enemy out,
and Colonel Wood gave permission. In a moment Campbell,
followed by Lysons and three of the mounted escoet---ait
men, I believe, of the 90th Light Infantry—charged at the
cave. Young Lysonk, who ts effectionately called "the boy"
by his Chief and his comradea of the Headquarters Staff,
raced for the honour of being first in, and beins young,
slight, red active, would probably have beaten the
gallant fauardsman, who was a large, powerful man.
His foot slipped, however, when the final ledge was almost
reached, and before he could recover himself Campbell
jumped on to the rock from behind wlitch thp shots had
come.. It was the front of a cave black so midnight to thoae
, first looking in from the outside. Poor Campbell had not
' time to look in before a shot was tired upwards from the in-
side of the cave, which struck him in the temple and shat-
tered the rear of the skull, so that his death must have been
instantat anus. Young Lysceie reacted his side as he fell,
and shot with his revoiver the Zulu who Mei iiied : a ene
yonug fellow of the escort, named Peter Fowler, who 'his
given repeated precfs of cool courage since the campaign com-
menced, fired at another who ems ,dimiy visible in the deep
sh de. It was thought by them that the were three Zulus in
the cave, and if their idea is correct Peter Fowlei's shot'
may beee killed a second; but the third was seen by
Colonel Wood to crewl out of a cranny higher up, and
ascend the mountain by a teach, only nossiule to a Zulu
or a monkey. Though still nyder a rare which never
ceased, the two dead bodies were borne half way (Mint
the mountain and buried, and Colonel Wood brought
back with him also a wee-aided men of the Frontier
Light Horse who would have surely been sesegaled. if he
had been ?eft behind. It was while engaged in this
humane work after reaching the valley that Umtonga, a
brother el Cetywayo, who has been gained over by Wood's
judic owl diplomacy, pointed nut to him a large Zulu army
appreaching across a perdu below. Fins force he estimated
as at lea‘t twenty thousand strong. There is no doubt that
it was tills large force which cut off and destroyed many of
the men who got safely down from the mountain, but who
have failed to reappear in camp.
The fate of the troop of Border Horse under Colonel
Weatherley, explains weat must have hiappened, This
smart and most effective little body, consieting of about
sixty-eight of all ranks, cordmand by Colonel Weatherley,
who was aceonmanied by one of his sons, followed
Colonel Wood up the eaet feet of the mountain,
and engaged the numerous Zulus, wh i were tenant'
tug the caves. They were fighting an hidden enemy,
but there le good reason to suppose that their search-
ing fire f?bm Martini-Henry rifles was not without
good effect. Be that as it may, they kept the Zulus in check
until it became necessary to retire, when they returned by
the same d.facult eastern pass that they had ascended in the
morning. At the end of the Ztobane mountain there rises
another, running in the same east and west direction, with
a Darrow gap only between them ot some eighty yards wide,
over which it is poesible to pass to the north As Colonel
Weatherley and his men descended they were followed
by Captain Barton, another gallant Guardsman on
special service, who had been sent with a few mounted
men to bury the eody of Lieutenant ;Smith, shot in
the morning, As the little force descended the pas: they
seem to have been followed by the large force of Zulus who
had been in the krantzea and ceves all day, not only of the
Zlobaue mountain, but of its neighbouring mountain to
the eastward. The men behaved in the most gallant manner,
obeying their e fibers and keeping their pursuers in check,
tahnedyw h
aIIBR wentte
Zuluwelt armyuntlld
theyr
drawn
gotw np
u down, when to their horror
iii a
semi-circle, entirely
closing them in, and cutting off all hope of escape. The
black warriors were in solid phalanx, which forbade all
hope of cutting through them, and Colonel Weatherley
and his officers promptly decided to face their pursuers, and
try to escape northward, acress the gap between the two
mountains. Even this was desperate, for the Zulus had
swarmed down like bees from both mountain tops, and now
stood to the number of between two thousand and three
thousand between them and their only line of retreat. There
was nothing for it but a desperate charge, and this was
made, the little band instantly becoming engulptted in the
surging mass of their enemies, who plied guns, assegaies,
and stones. The horses were feeble from twenty-four
hours work under the saddle, and they ware soon
stopped, a scene of slaughter ensuing which may be better
imagined than it is possible for the few survivors to describe
To the last the men and officers stuck together, showing a
pluck and discipline that was admirable. Young Weatherley
was soon stabbed in the back, after cutting clown several of
his assailants. His father, who fought like a Paladin, was
last seen slashing right and left, with a circle of ten or
twelve dead Zulus round, supporting his mortallyestricken
son with his left arm while he still dealt death to the circle
of yelling savages around him. At last there was a rush,
the circle forced in from the rear narrowed, and all was
over, a forest of tosegai handles rising and falling in the
midst as the prostrate bodies were stabbed. This was the
fate of nearly every man of the unfortunate troop, for o nly
one officer and five men survived to return to camp, after
hiding in the rocks when their horses were shot, and owing
their safety to nightfall and rare good luck. . . . .