The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-13 00:00:00

.4.

2512

THE KAFIR WA R.

(From the Herold.)
Oa Monday last we announced the arrival . 0 f the
Maria Soames, with Cape of Good Hope papers ti ) thl!
4th of August inclusive. This day we are put in PO'..
session of ether Caps journals of the same date, with
later news from the seat of war, of a highly i ntees sting,
character. The last intelligence acquainted us, ,that 1
the 16th of July Colonel Somerset, with his a: toll,
eeeees
passed the Buffalo at Bridle Drift. The prose: tt ase---
supply us with the important operations of thi g3.-It "nt
,
officer since that period, as &tailed by hi ne
official communication to Lieut.. Colonel Clo ere, fr°ll
which it will be seen that in the pursuit of Pato, be
made a rapid and held incursion into Kreli's to rritorisn
where he had a smart engagement with th e h:a6rs.'
thoroughly routing them, killing about forty of tlielm
and capturing 5,000 head of cattle, whnelt he COed:
ducted safely through the enemy's count] y to l'ea
quarters. The loss on the sine of. Colonel SOlZterset wnd/I
Field Captain Groenwaldt wounded, one Fi'sgoe killleo
and one Fingoe wounded. The Fingoesp yed ,tll
most intrepid conduct, arid appear to have hi erne ,8
brunt of the action. In addition to the above it eportan
news, we have also part;culars of the successf al °Pell;
thins of the troops under the command of Cole ;lel hart
and Sir Andreas Stockenstrom, in the Amatol 3 1‘1()f:
tains. In these engagements it was conjecse tred tus,l'
150 Kafirs were killed, irrespective of many s voundeu'
The loss on the side of the British troops w as ine°l/'
siderable. We subjoin extracts:—
(From the G, aham's Town Journal of Airs 1.) .1
OFFICIAL DISPATCHES.
Head quarters, Camp, Green River, Kt Sfnaria'
July 27.
The second division having driven the IT'Slao,b,ll
i:
tribes across the River Kye, is proceeding towards
.I'.l
Arnatola Mountains, in order to join and co-opi Tate ni`
the other divisions, against the enemy in that. c tnartened
On the 17th inst. the Commander-in-Chief detanb A
Colonel Somerset from the camp on the Ban
part of the division to follow up the enemy' in liffej
marching order. The result of this movement is Oct°
in the Colonel's report of the 24th inst. cieti
The operations of the division have been much retar
by the deplorably inefficient state of the eagle,l°ll
horses and oxen. The conduct of the troops is inst
entitled to commendation :
Camp, on the Memichie, July 24, 1846. ,
Sir, Having proceeded, agreeably to the
mandeo-in-Chief's instructions with the several tieles
ments of the division under my command on the 13,00
noon of the 17th it st ,in pursuit of the Kafirrss roe
the honour to acquaint you, for his Excellency's rj,sss
illation, that I came up with the rear of the .ellfse'-'o‘
cattle, late on the afternoon of the 18th inst., genisr
in all haste along the Genoubie Heights. Feeling !Jo
tied that these cattle were those belonging to Usisn't tt
tribe I did not pursue them, being determined
enteloss
allow anything to divert me from my object in I°' at
ing up Pato. I therefore continued my march to'
lower passes of the Kye River. Detaching Colfr-ge
Size's battalion -by a lower mute along the coast, I Pee
sued them to the Kye River, where they had crossed nos
cattle late on the 19th inst., and where I arrived latnsn
the afternoon of the 20th inst. Having reeel',v
information that the enemy had passed over witkos
their cattle to the east bank of the Kye River, I in.°ote
the troops up on the morning of the 21st inst., when ie
served large herds of cattle on the heights on the °Pro
~
site bank. The enemy having posted strong Piittlige
both mounted and dismounted, at several points, :to
mediately made the necessary dispositions for eroSIVi,
the river. In the course of the morning I was joine',lot
Captain Size's battalion, who had captured 270 hell'us
ca tie and taken four prisoners. Having placed the goo
under Captain Barnsley in position so as to cover dot
movements, I directed the Fort Peddie Fingoes 0” to
Mr. Shepstone to move down the bank of the- rifeoel
the ford. The Burgher forces under Command antli
Linde and Muller, having also moved down to thesis*
Captain Napier, with Captain Donovan's squsSnesj
C M.R., moved in support. These arrangements mr,
effected, I directed the whole of these troops Ws°oo
The movements were effected in the most spirited ost
ner by the whole of the force employed. In conseqn
ig,sge
sof
of the impoverished state of the horses the Dur
forces were obliged to move on foot. Observing , tbe
droves of cattle passing along the lower banks of lice
I river, I moved two companies of Captain Size's batt ssg
down the bank of the river to the southward, direed
Captain Melville's company to proceed up the river'
enter a large kloof on the oppo:site side. gOd
As the Fingoes advanced, I observed the pinn,e,tsa
detachments of the enemy retiring, and proceeninvOs
wards the large bodies of the cat tie on the heights• sae
troops continued to push on, asstacking the Kafirs wino.
ever they found them, and I lead the satisfaction e'rsi,
very short time, in observing the several detanh°l of
acting against the enemy, retarning in possession
large droves of cattle belonging to the chief Pato.
scis
A body of Commandant Li ode's Burghers,._ne
Captain Groenwaldt, were shar engaged with tole
enemy, a.2cl their spirited lead( tr was unfortuna
wounded by a musket ball through the arm. Ity
enemy seeing themselves hard pr. aced, drove the cl
bf
into several deep kloofs, where they were follow( et
the Fingoes under Mr. Shepstono, who with his
were twice surrounded by the enemy.; each time
disengaged themselves in the most ,spirited manner, to
secured large numbers of cattle. Captain Dollen
squadron marched on in support an d secured a droll
about 500 head o (cattle,
batty
The detached companies of Captain Size's oc'
who had entered the deep kloofs b slow the ford, hi:6
ceeded in capturing a drove of 1,500 head of cattle, W"
they seized from the enemy. ere;
I had directed the whole of the tros to return
the river before nightfall, and by fie P.M., I 113, h
tibe
satisfaction of seeing the whole of th e troops (•01J! bill
exception of Captain Melville's company, whinno
crossed higher up the river), returnine in possesslusel,
large droves of cattle. I took the necessary pre° ant'
of sending a supporting force of the Cape 144 till
Rifles down to the ford to assist in crossing wDare"
cattle, and by six P.N., I had the whole of the &Pth°,
cattle, about 4,000 head, sate in my camp. Earl):
igey
following morning I detached 100 men of .Captain rtllei
battalion to the ford in support of Captain nie-sein
whom I had observed spiritedly engaged with the en :10/
and in possession of about 1,000 head of cattle and "bd,
horses. Captain Melville joined me with the eattlesnsriv
ten A. having been the whole morning engager,
the enemy, who continued to fire upon his penl3ll
though I was on the bank of the river with a large '`)
in support.
I decided to avail myself of the services of the ,014,
soners to communicate with Kreli and Pato, the pitooL:
having acquainted me that Pato and Umhalla
three days previously received from Kreli his pert"(,
for crossing with their cattle over the Kye. I then el'
in the presence of the troops, sent to cad: chief stly
sage to the following purport —" Acquahst - Pan tho
Thnhalla that I have seized these cattle for the nse 0
,i
01
troops ; that I shall take these cattle to the go'-p°-
and I shall then return. I shall then attack shot ilnl
give no rest to them or their cattle. That r this
take this ground, which I have driven them out 's
'
the governor; that I shall fire three shots this ninriii-ns"
one for Kreli, one for Umhalla, and one for Pato, frii
is to be a warning to them; that I shall return an
tbl
'nand satisfaction for their uncalled-for attack 013,
colony. Acquaint Kreli, that I have followed litl-reo
the Kye; that I found he has given Pato, the gill;
enemy of the colony, place for his cattle in this connisio
that I fire this gun to tell him, that the Governor
call upon him to answer for his conduct." three
Having dispatched the messengers, and fired
04:
guns at twelve o'clock (mid-day), I commenced.l9l,l4
turn to the Buffalo River with 5,G00 head of the eneejge
cattle. I returned with the troops along the main
that intersects the Kye d Gonoubie Rivers. jeS
served on the liue of march that the Kafirs oceuPitei
that part of the country, were not at all aware ()i Se/
movements as I saw numerous bodies of Kafirs ist3ol9,
neighbourhood of all the kraals, which had evisie4o
been very recently abandoned. These Kafirs feli°_lol
I.IP my rear, endeavouring to disturb my enclinentss
each night, by firing shots at the piquets and into en,
camp, in order to set off the. cattle, but without snsecoso
Had it not been for the weak state of the horses, 'bind
have made a severe example of those Kafirs. 11.'106
to add that I was obliged to destroy 100 horses °nos
Burgher force, and upwards of 30 horses of the gLithe
Mounted Rifles, as from the harrassing nature °I
duty they were quite unable to move forward. tbt
I have to express my obligations and thanks ;11'
officers Commanding corps and Burgher forces fo'fise•
assistance afforded me in the execution of this 5000
and to all officers and troops for their steady 01341
under great fatigue, in the arduous services of condn'oe
5,000 head of cattle through the enemy's eountrft4
guarding them each night against the attack of nod
enemy, who, by setting fire to the grass, and Cc Der
pressing my flanks and rear, lost no opportunity 0'
missing my march, in order to get off the cattle. still
The loss sustained has been slight, Field Capooe
Groenwaldt of the Swellends,m Burghers wounded, why's
spirited conduct I beg to bring under his Excelle.neeti
notice ; ono Fingoe killed in the Kye, and one V.l"°.
wounded in the line of march. the
About forty of the enemy were wounded le the
several skirmishes, many more may have fallen inosf
bush, but it was nut so-sible to ascertain an c
account. sees

IA P

33
143/4

2%

1/2 di

22%

1p

41
11%
96

14%

....
VA

......
1%

5%

The troops and Burghers, together with the
gees, conducted themselvei to my entire satisfaction

I have, j&o,
IH. S4nOdNilnEg 11,25 d Fiji;
i69,01;',
Ct
Cloese, &e ,
CHAS. LENNOX MAITLAND.
Capt. Gretiadivr Guards, Assist. Military SL.cretaqiiii
In addition to the foregoing details, we learn aialv
affair has given Hs Excellency the greatest possibe4os
tisfaction—and certainly too much commendation OP-osici
be given to Colonel Somerset, and to all the officell
eta'
men withal. him, for the manner in wkich they su ere trie
fully performed one of the most arduous enterprisogoot
have yet had to record. King William's Tool3';ireli
which the camp had beets formed, was found en'; thedestroyed, the Katirs having fired it, as well as ".
missionary station:: havo as yet been 1"-,00
Nothing is known of Jan Tzatzoe's movemenUtcy of
fears are entertair_ed that he has fallen by the hal:000
his savage countrymen. It being deemed of the ti!gtell
moment that the blow thus struck should be immedifroo,
followedd-up before the enemy bad time to recover roc'
his panic, an express was immediately forlo
to the lieutenant-governor at Fort Beaufort,
„roc!,
to _ Sir Andies Strockenstrom to move for oikt

(Signed)

and which will account for the sudden 14e.;:y1
tgre of Colonel Hare. Mr. Abel kloole, his EiceDe*.