The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-17 00:00:00

THE SUN,

LONDON,

" Having assembled the troops at this point, it "My dispatch of the 3d instant will have informed
being then one o'clock, I halted the troops to refresh, your Lordship that I contemplated to detach a force
and proceeded myself to reconnoitre the ground and ;into the Fish River bush, to expel the Kafir and Hot-
country at the head of the Zanooka or Wolf River. tentot rebels, who were committing depredations
On the ridge at the left bank of the Zanooka I ob- within the colony, and endeavouring to interrupt my
servered a reconnoitering party of the Cape Mounted communication with Graham's Town. I have now
Rifles from, I imagine, one of the detached columns the honour to report that this service has been very
from head-quarters. On my returning to where I effectively performed by Lieutenant-Colonel Michel,
had left the troops, some of the rebels, I understood, of the 6th Royal Regiment, and Major Wilmot, Royal
had called out that they wished to surrender. Lieu- Artillery, under the latter of whom I placed the levies
tenant-Colonel Sutton rode out to hear what they had and Fingoea at Fort Peddie.
to say, when they stated that many of them wished "These operations continued during nine days,
to come away, but were afraid; that they wished little resistance having been offered by the enemy. A
time to collect their people, that they might consult, herd of 88 colonial cattle and six horses were captured,
and all come together ; and they requested a week. and an encampment of the Hottentot Theopolis rebels
I caused them to be informed that they must sur- was destroyed. Seven half-starved and miserable
render immediately, and that I would only give women, some with children, were taken, and have
them half an hour. been brought to head-quarters in one of the commis-
"At the expiration of the time, the troops being sariat waggons. They are either unable or unwilling
refreshed, I moved the 74th Regiment again upon to throw any light on the causes which led to the mis-
their position, flanked by the Fort Beaufort Fingoes ; conduct of their husbands and their sons at Theopo-
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce took the opportunity to lis, merely saying, The Kafirs fetched us away.' A
inter two men of the 74th who had fallen, and then quantity of clothes, and, among other things, a nura-
moved on ; some sharp firing took place, but the ber of Bibles, were found in the camp. The Fingoes,
enemy retired into the forest and up the mountains, whose comrades had been so treacherously and bar-
and abandoned the position ; one soldier of the 7th barously murdered at Theopolis, naturally showed
g
Regiment was, lam sorry to say, severely wounded great exasperation, but lam happy to say, beyond
upon this occasion. I then retired the troops into the spoiling the camp, they committed no acts of violence.
Amatola valley, and at five o'clock P.m. bivouacked "Your Lordship will thus perceive the result pro-
for the night. duced by my combined movements in the Amatolas.
eon the morning of the 27th inst. I made arrange- Meanwhile depredations have been committed within
meats for conveying the wounded to my camp on the the colony to a lamentable extent, so much so, that
Quisana, which occupied some time. Major-General Somerset, upon the urgent represen-
"At 12 o'clock I moved the force in three columns tation of the civil commissioner of the division of
up the eastern range of the Amatola mountain, the Somerset,' has moved a large mounted force, with
enemy showing in small bodies on several points. some Fingoes and levies, upon the Bush Neck' and
" The ascent of the mountain is precipitous and the Kaga and Koonap rivers, where he has been very
very difficult. Crossing the ridge I moved the troops successful in intercepting marauding parties, and re-
down the valley to the sources of the Zanooka, and capturing their spoil. I have requested the Major-
ordered them to encamp, taking the Cape Mounted General to establish posts of burghers, if they will
Rifles, and Kat River Levy and Alice Fingoes with turn out in their own defence, at every eligible point ;
me ; I proceeded along the ridges towards the head and I have expressed my wish that he should return
of the Ligney stream,
I observed a reconnoitring with his force to Fort Hare. Lamentable as the ex-
party of the enemy, posted in the forest bush which cesses are, former experience strongly inclines me to
intersects the ridge near Mount Macdonald. When believe that they are the last efforts of the enemy,
moving up with the Cape Mounted Rifles we were who in all previous wars has invariably made a rush
briskly attacked, but the enemy was driven back by a into the colony immediately before his final submis-
sharp fire from the Cape Mounted Rifles, and the sion. lam therefore the more anxious to continue
levies and Fingoes then coming up, the enemy was my combined operations in the Amatolas, which in
driven off, and descended into the valley of the Kei- the present dispirited state of the Gaikas would, I
kanama; it being then dusk, I returned and bivou- hope, bring hostilities to a close. All reports tend to
acked for the night in Zsuooka valley; during these the belief that now is the time to persevere in the ag-
operations I saw nothing of any force from Fort Cox. gressive. Desirous, however, as lam for peace, I
"On the morning of the 28th inst., moving shortly shall not fail to keep in mind your Lordship's injunc-
after sunrise, I proceeded with the force towards tions, so consonant with my own views, that it must
Mount Macdonald, where I reached at ten A.M., de- not be patched up on the hollow assurances of rehtls,
taching the corps of levies into the valley of the who flew treacherously to arms and.committed the
Zthooke to intercept the enemy's cattle. most atrocious murders ; but that it must be preceded
"I observed small detached parties of the enemy by their unconditional submission, and be established
at some distance, who descended into the valley of the upon such a basis of justice and equity, to both co-
Keiskamma, but I observed no troops or any force lonist and Kafir, as can hardly fail to ensure future
below in the valleys; the enemy made no show of tranquillity."
resistance. In a third dispatch Sir H. G. Smith observes :
" I proceeded with the Cape Mounted Rifles, and "My dispatch of the 19th inst. will have made
occupied the high point of the mountain at the head your Lordship acquainted with the success of my
of the Ligney, while the levies passed down the operations. in British Kafraria. No further infor-
Zanneka, and brought out about 350 head of cattle, melon than that previously reported had then reached.
chiefly cows and calves, all very poor. I returned me from Major-General Somerset or from Major
with the troops along the ridges, leaving the two Warden, the British Resident in the Orange River
companies of the 91st Regiment to cover the return territory. I have now the honour to transmit copiea
of the levies to the bivouack, which was done leisurely, of the reports which I received yesterday fraen both
leaving no part unscoured. While belted on the these officers, and of one from Major Donovan, corn-
Amatola range, a shot was fired from a high point of mending the troops at Bloom Fontein.
the forest, by which, I regret to say, Captain Mel- " The ucremitting zeal and activity of Major-
ville, of ,the George Levy, was severely wounded General Somerset, and his experience and abilities in
through the arm. The troops all assembled from their the direction of the force which I have placed under
several points of operations shortly after dusk. his authority, will I hope counteract all the evils,
"lam of opinion, from the appearance of the cattle within the colony which he so feelingly describes e
kraals, that the great body of the Kafir tcettie have and I rely with the greater confidence on such a re-
been sent away some time ago. There is no grass or suit from the judicious arrangements which he has.
herbage of 'any kind in the Amatola or Zanooka &ready made, set forth in the enclosed 'Frontier
valleys, and not sufficient grass even for horses. The Order.' They provide for much that is contained in.
cattle captured yesterday are miserably poor and a Memoir' addressed to me by the Board of Defence•
starved. at Graham's Town, the copy of which I enclose, to--
" L ite last evening a Hottentot from the rebel gether with that of my reply.
camp came in and surrendered; he brought me a "In the Orange River territory affairs are by no,
message to say that a large body of the rebels would means in so satisfactory a position as I could desire..
surrender in two days. In my memorandum to the officers in authority there,.
" Having expended all my provisions, and there it is far from my intention to convey censure, having'
being no grass whatever for jthe horses, I returned to full confidence in their discretion ; but risks should
my camp this morning.: never be run, nor any attempt made to carry an
"To the officers commanding corps and detach- enemy's position, especially in the commencement or
ments—Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, commanding a war, without every probability of success. It would
74th Highlanders, and commanding my first bri- have been gratifying to me to be able to extend my
Bade; Lieutenant, Colonel Sutton, C.M.R., command- report of successful operations in British Kafraria to
ing my second brigade ; Major Forbes, commanding the Orange River districts, and I trust that my next
the detachment 91st Regiment; and Major Somerset, intelligence will enable me to do so.
C.M.R., commanding the cavalry, lam greatly in- " Two strong patrols under Lieutenant-Colonel
debted for their exertions and assistance. Michel and Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre are now in the
"To the officers commanding levies—Captain Ste- field in British Hafraria in opposite directions, :in
venson, commanding first European Levy ; Captains order to follow up the recent successes: —I have, &c.,
Heathcote, Melville, and Hobbs, all commanding their " H. G. SMITH.
several corps of levies; as well as to Captains Cum- " P.S. Just as the mail was about to start the im-
bers, Verity, and Ayliff, commanding the Fingoe portant and sensible letter from Mr. Gladwin, at But-
levies, I have to express my thanks and approbation. terworth, of which the enclosed is a copy, reached
"I am not aware of what the enemy's loss was, the me, and I opened my dispatch in order to communi-
contiguity of the forest having given them every ad- cate to your Lordship this satisfactory intelligence,
vantage of carrying off their killed and wounded ; they which I hope may reach Cape Town in time for the
were observed carrying them into the bush. mail steamer. I shall be very guarded in my replies,
" RETURN OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED. and hold well the vantage ground I have obtained."
" 74th Regiment-3 rank and file killed ; 1 officer, The following passage in Major Warden's report
Lieutenant W. W. J. Bruce, and 9 rank and file, describes the incident which elicited the Commander-
wounded. in-Chief's memorandum above referred to
" Levies —1 sergeant and 2 rank and file killed ; 1 "In my letter of the 27th ult. to your Excellency's
officer, Captain Melville, and 4 rank and file, wounded, secretary, Colonel Garvock, I mentioned that the
2 mortally." force under Major Donovan would move on the fol-
Lieutenant- Colonel Mitchell's report to Colonel lowing day towards Sikongelars country, in order to
Mackinnon is dated King William's Town, July 1, enable that chief to join the tribe.
" We took the waggon-road, and when about ten
and states that he marched at 12 o'clock on the night ~
miles from rid Berg the advanced guard was fired
of the 28th of June, with a force of 1,777 men to the upon by a party concealed behind some rocks. Not
Gulu Mountains. a shot was returned on our side, and the troops with
"Having marched until daylight with the infantry the burghers and native contingents encamped near
I detached Colonel Eyre, with about 750 men, up the the mountain called Vier Voet: During the night
right ridge of the Gulu. some shots were again fired by the enemy, and a
With the remainder of the force I marched up Fingoe sentry badly wounded. The next day, being
the gorge of the Gulu, into a deep nest of kloofs, a Sunday, the commando made no movement, the ene-
fastness which a few resolute men might hold against my, however, was observed to be in force on the Vier
a host. At the entrance of the innermost kloof my Voet Mountain, and on the following morning Major
advance guard was received with a volley from a few Donovan gave the order for attack; most gallantly
men on the front and right, and at a few paces dis- was it made, and the stronghold of the enemy carried
tance, with, lam happy to say, no result. The men with severe loss to our opponents. The Barolongs,
dashed into the bush, and held it for an hour or two, 700 strong, after capturing some thousands of cattle,
while the Fingoes drove cut several large herds of and believing that no further fighting was required,
cattle and goats. remained on the mountain for the purpose of plunder-
"We then moved over tremendous steeps to a dis- ing the huts, and regaling themselves on Kafir beer,
taut spur of the Gulu, where we encamped for the which was found in large quantities. During this
night. During the capture of the cattle the Kafirs time two large Basontu commandoes, under Moshesh's
amused themselves with taking a few long shots at the brother Mosseni, and Molappa, Moshesh'e son,
men. The conduct of the men who had marched, gained the summit of the mountain and fell upon the
with little intermission, frem twelve at night until Barolongs, who were taken by surprise, and had it not
five o'clock in the evening, without food, was ad- been for the gallant stand made by the Boers under
mirahle. Commandant Erasmus: who had observed the ap-

"In this affair the Kafirs were entirely taken by
surprise ; the result has been the capture of 1,500
cattle, 500 goats, and 22 horses.
"On the 29th we marched back to your camp.
On approaching the Qeilly Qailly Mountain we per-
ceived a body of about 300 Kafirs on our left, and a
smaller body on the right. I sent Colonel Eyre, with
the 73d, to the left of the road, who, by his admirable
mode of handling his troops, did not permit the Kafirs
to coma fairly into action. They skirmished, how-
ever, with the 731, for about an hour, is the dense
bush.
"I dispatched the remainder of the troops to the
right, with the exception of the 6th, who covered the
rear, and having seized on every point, the cattle and
begeage moved on to the camp without a shot fired at
them. The Kafirs were not in numbers sufficient to
attack the right, and being held in check by the Ma-
rines, who were planted on a commanding abutting
rock, skirmished but feebly with the 6th and Rifle
Company, who believed very steadily and well under
comtnanders. The Kafirs followed
their respective
the troops till they reached the open country.
" Some few Kafirs were killed in the two days'
patrol, and on out side one man 731 wounded and
three horses ; these and four horses also were lost by
rolling clown the montains, and either breaking their
necks or being captured by the Kafirs,
"Nothing could exceed the excellent spirits with
which both English and natives did their duty.
"Captain Robertson, commanding a body of horse,
whom Colonel Michel directed to ascend the Ama-
toles to the right of the GUIU, succeeded in capturing
about 1,000 head of cattle and ten or twelve horses,
and in killing and wounding several Kafirs."
The following passage in Lieutenant-Colonel
Lyre's report to Colonel Michel, dated from the camp
on the Umdizini River, June 30, conveys an idea
of the nature of the services in which the troops were
enc god :
iiY.g to bring to the notice of his Exeellency'the
Cennnawler-ia-Ceief the conduct of Captaie Dar-
nell on this occasion. Io the performance of his duty
he pursued his prey with admirable pertinacity, in
spite of the natural obstacles of the ground, and the
presence of the enemy, relying with confidence on a
support which he knew to be sure, though distant.
This duty being performed, I immediately turned
my steps to the left, and proceeded to work may
way through a succession of kloofs at the head of
the valley, steep end thickly studded with bush,
through which there was not even a Kafir's path
perceptible. We notched the furthest tongue of
land which overlooked the main channel of the
valley; beyond that it was impossible to proceed. We
captured in the kloofs 286 head of cattle, which would
have escaped over the table ridge but for the presence
of Captain Robertson. Our division captured in a 11572
head of nettle, horses, and several hundred goats
The conduct of all—troops and levies—was admirable.
The men marched lecessantly for fourteen hours, and
during the latter six hears th,y toiled up and down
heights, and through kloofs all but inaccessible;,
but their, goodwill and cheerfulness never deserted
them."
Another dispatch to Earl Grey from Sir H. G.
Smith, dated the 19„b of July, continues the ac-
count of the military operations as follows :

proach of the Basontus, very few of the Barolongs
would have escaped ; as it was, 138 Barolongs were
killed and many wounded. A six-pounder gun, well
horsed, and supported by a detachment of Cape
Mounted Rifles, under Ensign Somerset, and a
party of Boers, under Mr. A. Eervee, was hard
pressed by the enemy for many hours, and escaped
with difficulty.
" Had the Barolongs left the mountains immedi-
ately after routing their first opponents, the loss of
life on our side would have been trifling compared to
that of the enemy, whereas it is now almost equal.
Moroko lost 131, the Koranas, Le Pith and Bethany
people 14, 'wsing a total of 152, besides a great many
wounded. Among the killed, I regret to say, are two
of Moroko's brothers, and the leader of the Bethany
natives.
" The Basutu tribe have joined the Battamy and
Koranas, under the Gert Lynks, we msy number
our enemy in this sovereignty at about 10,000 fight-
ing men.'
The following are the chief points in Mr. Glad-
win's letter, dated Butterworth, July 31, 1851, to
which Sir H. G. Smith attaches importance :
" Your Excellency will be gratified to hear of the
favourable turn in our affairs at Butterworth. On
Saturday, the 11th instant, the chief Rili came here,
and although he felt some difficulty in looking me
direct in the face, it was evident from his whole
deportment that a great change had passed ever him.
This doubtless was one of the results of the late
movements in the Amatola mountains; that affair
has opened his eyes, and he now professes to see a
little more clearly, although he tried, as every Kafir
chief will do; to argue through the whole subject;
but his feet were soon struck from under him, and he
was left without any plea in extenuation of his people's
conduct.
"On Monday, the 13th, he came again, when I
pointed out to him the consequence which must result
to himself and tribe by allowing his people to rob and
plunder without restraint. He professed to be very
thankful to me for showing him these things, as much
so as though he had never seen or thought of them
before. He also said, You have done right in not
leaving Butterworth ; by remaining you hove helped
me, and to-day you are Hinze.'
After arguing through the whole subject, I brought
him to the business part of the question, and having
had an intimation that he intended to request me to
write to your Excellency on behalf of Sandilli, I an-
ticipated him by distinctly telling him that the only
way for him to gain your Excellency's ear on any
subject was for him first to make all matters right
concerning himself. To this he replied by saying,
I will make my people pay for all the shops plun-
dered in my country.
"Not knowing the course your Excellency might
deem proper to pursue towards Rili, I endeavoured to
impress upon him the importance of sending men, as
requested by your Excellency, when to them every
point would be fully explained.
" I then called his attention to another subject on
which I thought your Exiellencie would requite some
explanation—viz., the Hottentots in his country. I
told him to prepare his answer on that point, as your
Excellency would hold him responsible for the mis-
chief they had done while in his country, and also
direct him as to his future course towards them.