The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-04-05 00:00:00

THE DISASTER AT ISANDLANA.

The following description of the disaster at Teaudiana,
taken from a letter from Captain Essex, of the 76th Regi-
ment, Bub•Dtrector et Transport, has been handed ,to us
(aye The Times of Wednesday) tor publication 7--

" Rorke's Drift, January 26, 1879.

" . . I had been present all this time, but
wishing to write some letters and thinking everything
was now quiet, I went to my tent and sat down and
VMS soon busy with my papers. About noon a ser-
geant came into my tent and told me that firing was
to be heard behind the hill where the company
of the let Battalion 24th had been sent. I had my
glasses over my shoulder and thought I might as well
take my revolver; but did not trouble to put On my
sword, as I thought nothing of the matter and expected
to be back in half an hour to complete my letters. I got
on my horse and galloped up the hill, passing a company
of the 24th on its way to the front and took a message
from the officer for the others on the hill. On arriving
at the top I saw the company in extended order firing
on a long line of Zulus 800 yards distant. I had been
living with the let Battalion 24th and knew all the
officers very well, and the men knew me. I therefore
acted as a company officer, directing them what to fire
at and not to waste their ammunition. The Zulus re-
turned our fire' but it was very wild, and nearly every
shot fell short or went over our heads. Their lines
was about 1,000 yards in extent, but arranged like a
horn—that is, very thin and extended on their right,
but gradually thick'ening towards ours.
"They did not advance but moved steadily towards
our left, each man running from rock to rock, for the
ground here was covered with large boulders, with the
evident intention of outflanking us. The company of
the 24th which I had passed en route took up its posi-
tion on our left on its arrival and entered into action,
as did also a body of our natives on the right. I did
not notice the latter much, save that they blazed away
at an absurd rate, The movement of the Zulus towards
our left still continued, and their line, which was now
assuming a circular form, appeared to be constantly
fed from their left and was increasing in thickness
in that direction. They skirmished beautifully, and I
saw that very few, considering we had now about 3,000
opposed to us, were hit.
"About 12.3 J the Adjutant of the Ist Battalion
24th arrived on the hill with an order for the line to
retire, slqwly firing, as another large force had appeared
in our rear. I assisted him in calling in the line and
went with the two companies down the hill. Arrived
at the foot, our natives took position on the right of
the 24th, then came Durnford's Basutos. The enemy's
left had hitherto been concealed by a hill, but the
attack now became developed, and I could see their
troops formed a dense black semi-circle, threatening
us on both flanks. Their line was constantly fed
from the rear of its centre, which seemed to be
inexhaustible. Affairs now looked rather serious
as our little body appeared altogether insigni-
ficant compared with the enormous masses
opposed to us. The 24th men, however, was as
cheery as possible, making remarks to one another
about their shooting, and the enemy opposed to them
made little progress; but they were now within SCO
yards of our line. The two companies which had been
moved from the hill were now getting short of ammuni-
tion, so I went to the camp to bring up a fresh supply. I
got such men as were not engaged, bandsmen, cooks,
&c., to assist me, and sent them up to the line under
charge of an officer, and I followed with more ammuni-
tion in a mule cart. In loading the latter I helped the
Quartermaster of the 2nd Battalion 24th to place the
boxes in the cart, and while doing so the poor
fellow was shot dead. The enemy's fire was now
increasing and I could hear the whiz of bullets all over
the place. In passing over the ground between the
camp and the 24th, now decreased to about 200 yards,
as the retirement had been slowly contimled, I noticed
that our natives were running away by twos and
threes. I looked round and was horrified to see that
the enemy had nearly surrounded us and was begin-
ning to fire from the rear, coming up in that direction
at a tremendous pace. I galloped off to the centre of
the line where our natives were to point this out to
Colonel Durnford, and see what could be done. He
had, I think, already observed the state of affairs, and
was looking very serious, He asked me if I could
bring some men to keep the enemy in check
in our rear; but he had hardly said this
when those natives who had not already stolen
off turned round and rushed past us followed
by thousands of Zulus, assegais in hand. The
right of the 24th was thus turned, and the men became
unsteady. A few fixed bayonets, and I heard the
officers calling on their men to keep together and be
steady. It was, however, no use. In a few seconds
the whole field was a rabble and the Zulus were amour.:
us. We were driven up through the camp towards the
road by which we had arrived, men falling right and
left. The road immediately in rear of our camp
led 'across a sort of neck between two hills, By the
time we arrived here the retreat had become a
stampede, horses, mules, oxen, waggons, all being
carried in the same direction.
"The worst was yet to come. On gaining the neck,
we found the circle our enemy had drawn round us
was nearly complete. the only apace not yet occupied
by them being a rugged and deep dry water-course to
the left of the road. A rush was made to gain this be-
fore the enemy, and I gave myself up for lost, I had,
thank God, a very good horse and a very sure-footed
one,, but I saw many poor fellows roll over, their
horse a stumbling over the rocky ground. It was
now a race for dear life. The Zulus kept up with
us on both sides, being able to run down the steep
rocky ground quite as fast as a horse could travel. I
passed our two guns, but one of the officers has since
told me that they were lost about half a minute later.
There was no regular road, but we followed our own
Caffres, who we felt sure would know some path
leading te, tho if .1
miles, and I cannot describe the terrible scenes I wit-
nessed further than to say that the Zulus take no pri-
soners, but employ the assegai in every case. At last
the river was reached at a point some five miles below
Rorke's Drift. There was no ford and many plunged
in only to be carried away by the strong stream. I
chose what seemed to be the best place for crossing,
though there was not much time for deliberation, and
luckily passed over in safety, my horse swimming with
me in the saddle. Our pursuers kept up with us until
near the river, where they appeared to halt, but still
kept firing on us. We had snow to determine what
course to pursue, whether to make for this place
(Rorke's Drift), where we knew a company of the 2nd
Battalion of the 24th had been left, or to go on to
Helpmakaar, where some one said another company
had just arrived.
"We observed, however, that our enemies had
crossed higher up, no doubt with the intention of cut-
ting us off from this place, and therefore resolved, as
few of us had any arms (I had thrown away my re-
volver long before) to make for Helpmakaar, 15 miles
distant. Only four officers of the regular army besides
myself were among the 30 or 40 who crossed the river
at this point, and, so far as I know, not one unmounted
man has'escaped. Two officers of the Ist Battalion of
the 24th, both mounted, one the adjutant, carrying
the colours, crossed just before us, but we have not
seen them since, and fear they made for this place and
fell into the hands of the Zulus,
"We saw Zulus on our right for the first five miles
after crossing the river, and arrived at Helpmakaar
between five and six o'clock. A very large provision
depot exists at that place' and we had, while still on
the road, determined to intrench and hold this, hoping
to be able to do so with the assistance of the company
of the Ist Battalion of the 24th we expected to find
there. On our arrival we learnt that two companies
of that regiment had left a few hours previously for
Rorke's Drift, so we had to depend on our own
resources. I found I was the senior officer present,
so I took the command and caused some waggons
to be drawn up at a short distance all round the
storehouse, a zinc building, quite indefensible.
I had sacks of oats placed under the wag-
gons and now had a barrier. We mustered,
of those who had escaped, about twenty-five Euro-
peans ; the others, about ten volunteers and camp
followers, continuing their retreat. A few others,
such as owners of waggons, two or three farmers with
their wives and children, now arrived, and my little
garrison numbered 48 men, of whom, however, only
28 had rifles. We expected the approach of the Zulus
every moment, but we had plenty of ammunition, and
I told every one to fire away as hard as he could in the
event of attack, so as to deceive the enemy as to the
number with whom he had to deal.
"We had an anxious time after dark, as we could
not see ten yards in front of us. Several false alarms
were given, and at 10'30 p.m. we were surprised to
hear waggons approaching. This was the return of
the two companies, who on their way down had met
a volunteer, who told them that the Zulus had sur-
prised and captured our post at Rorke's Drift. This
was bad news, and we increased our preparations
and made sure the enemy would soon arrive. However,
the night passed, and in the morning a messenger
arrived from Rorke's Drift to say the company had been
attacked the previous afternoon and during the night.
They called on us for assistance, and we had started
to help them, when the news came that the main body
of the column had arrived at Rorke's Drift. The two
companies then returned to garrison our intrenchment
at Helpmakaar, and I went to report the events of the
previous day to the General. I found that the com-
pany at Rorke's Drift had also formed an intrench-
ment with sacks of corn, &c., round a storehouse at
that place, and had kept off a large body of Zulus for
over twelve hours with but little loss, while the Zulus
left 350 dead round and about the place. These were,
no doubt, our pursuers of the day before."

A PIOUS WISH.
(By a Modest Baronet, in his Cups—of Tea.)
"The Government nre planting gum-trees in Cyprus."

The gum-tree, rich In leaf and blossom,
Forms the home of the Opossum;
The Government soon may I see
• In Cyprus safely up that tree I W. L.
—Punch.